Chapter 185

Unlike Ning Zhuo quickly finished reading the "Record of Clouds Falling to the End of the World" he had exchanged for.

The book, from Falling Cloud's perspective, told the story of his suffering from bad luck, wandering the world in displacement, and traveling to all four corners.

The story was quite interesting, and Unlike Ning Zhuo also felt many local customs and feelings from it.

But it only touched on the surface of related fate, luck-changing arts, etc., without any deep investigation.

And this was already the best classic Unlike Ning Zhuo could exchange for in the All-Book Tower at present. The other few involving fate, Unlike Ning Zhuo looked at the brief introductions, were even worse than "Record of Clouds Falling to the End of the World."

"Content related to fate is not a mainstream study; it only circulates within a narrow range."

"Currently, the Heavenly Track Mansion possesses the most mysteries of this kind."

"Although the Heavenly Track Mansion is a super sect, its population is sparse and extremely mysterious. According to Falling Cloud's own account, he once studied in the Heavenly Track Mansion, but 'Record of Clouds Falling to the End of the World' does not mention the Heavenly Track Mansion at all."

"However, Falling Cloud could change the luck of others for a period of time and within a certain range."

"Making people possess wealth luck, official luck, peach blossom luck, etc."

"But these spells have drawbacks; once a specific taboo is touched, the result will be even worse."

Unlike Ning Zhuo sighed secretly.

His previous plan fell through; he did not rely on "Record of Clouds Falling to the End of the World" to make the Human Life Hanging by a Thread divine ability prototype reach a qualitative change.

But it was not without gains.

At least he understood that changing the luck of others had many drawbacks.

"Then, Lord Meng Kui, what drawbacks does your Mountain-Watching divine ability have in creating different luck fields?"

Unlike Ning Zhuo pondered this question.

For him, Lord Meng Kui was also a competitor vying for the Magma Xian Gong.

Reality is cruel.

It would not be the case that because Lord Meng Kui was at the Nascent Soul stage and Unlike Ning Zhuo was only at the Qi Condensation stage, the two sides would not constitute a competitive relationship.

When the final moment arrived, Unlike Ning Zhuo would inevitably have to face the Nascent Soul stage Lord Meng Kui.

"But if I can find the weaknesses of his divine ability before then, it will undoubtedly increase my chances of winning."

Unlike Ning Zhuo continued his bitter cultivation.

His Spirit Sea cultivation had reached a point where it could not advance further.

His Qi Sea cultivation had also reached its upper limit, but the magic power needed purification.

His Essence Sea cultivation still had room for improvement; Unlike Ning Zhuo made the cultivation speed quite considerable by consuming large amounts of spiritual food and spiritual elixirs.

"However, even if my Essence Sea cultivation reaches the peak of the sixth layer, I cannot break through the current bottleneck."

Unlike Ning Zhuo could almost be certain that the difficulty behind the second demonic gate was consistent with the Buddhist and Daoist gates. If there were no accidents, he would still be stuck.

"Behind the second gate is a special level that distributes the Five-Element Spirit-Turning Disk. The more proficient I am in the Five-Element Mutual Generation and Restraint Art, the better the quality of the Spirit-Turning Disk I can obtain."

"Referring to the coffin room of the first Buddhist gate, I might only be able to choose once, so I must be extremely cautious."

"I must raise my attainments in the Five-Element Mutual Generation and Restraint Art as much as possible; before that, I will not choose the Five-Element Spirit-Turning Disk."

The Five-Element Mutual Generation and Restraint Art requires diligent practice, and the Fire Cremation Prajna Spirit-Resolving Scripture even more so.

Under Unlike Ning Zhuo's assessment, this cultivation technique was the key to his breaking the situation!

After all, compared to the Daoist and demonic gates, the Buddhist gate was his advantageous path.

Just like that, Unlike Ning Zhuo focused on the Fire Cremation Prajna Spirit-Resolving Scripture, followed by the Five-Element Mutual Generation and Restraint Art, and finally the Demon-Stained Blood Tendon Art.

He calculated his time for eating, drinking, relieving himself, and sleeping down to the precision of a snap of his fingers.

Unlike Ning Zhuo was so hardworking and diligent that the people around him were left tongue-tied.

"I always thought I was hardworking enough, but compared to Brother Zhuo, what am I!"

"To be so diligent and tireless, no wonder Brother Zhuo can achieve today's success. I am completely convinced."

"Brother Zhuo is so excellent and still works so hard; what qualifications do we have to be so slack?"

Ning Yong, Ning Chen, and others were greatly inspired.

They all took Unlike Ning Zhuo as an example and began crazy cultivation.

As Unlike Ning Zhuo's status continued to rise, his continuous successes brought about a surge in his influence.

Unlike Ning Zhuo did not need to act deliberately to directly change the physical and mental state of the people around him.

After discovering that Ning Chen, Ning Yong, and others were imitating him, Unlike Ning Zhuo decisively said to them: "Everyone is at the peak of the third layer of Qi Condensation; if you want to explore the Xian Gong and reach deeper levels, you must fully improve your attainments in mechanism arts."

"How about this, I can introduce you to the mechanism workshop."

"Once you get there, you can refine various mechanical creations and accumulate hands-on experience, which will be very helpful to you."

Ning Yong, Ning Chen, and others had no objections.

Since Unlike Ning Zhuo said so, there was naturally his reason.

These young cultivators all chose to obey, and not one refused.

Thus, Unlike Ning Zhuo introduced them to Chen Cha.

Unlike Ning Zhuo gave Chen Cha new mechanism blueprints: "This is a new model of the mechanical Fire-Exploding Monkey that I have modified; it is mainly used for combat."

Chen Cha took it, looked at it, and nodded with satisfaction: "The materials used are much more solid than last time."

Unlike Ning Zhuo smiled: "It is mainly for the Monkey Head Gang; it is better for this kind of combat mechanism to be more reliable, after all, it concerns human lives."

More than ten days passed in a flash.

This afternoon, according to the arrangement, Unlike Ning Zhuo specifically set aside a small amount of time to listen to the reports of Ning Xiangguo and Ning Xiangqian.

Many of the stewards dismissed by the main lineage were almost all recruited by Unlike Ning Zhuo, among whom Ning Xiangguo and Ning Xiangqian were the most outstanding. Unlike Ning Zhuo appointed these two as leaders.

After Unlike Ning Zhuo unified the black market and set the rules, he almost became a hands-off manager.

For more than half a month, he had relied on the Ning family's Foundation Establishment cultivators to maintain it.

The emergence of the Magma Xian Gong and the recruitment order attracted a great many outsiders, who continuously poured into Fire Persimmon Xiancheng, bringing with them black market business that was more than ten times hotter than before.

While the black market's revenue soared, the difficulty of management also surged.

Fortunately, these cultivators of the Ning family were all at the Foundation Establishment stage, and they were not ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators—Foundation Establishment cultivators who could be selected as stewards by the main lineage naturally had specialties.

These cultivators were the elite among Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The frost spells they cast were also very suitable for capturing people. After cultivators were frozen, they could often still retain their lives.

If it were according to Sun Lingtong's arrangements and forces, he really wouldn't be able to hold down the current black market.

But these former stewards of the Ning family managed the black market in an orderly manner.

"You have all worked hard these days." After listening to the report, Unlike Ning Zhuo immediately made distributions.

He had already investigated the specific salaries of these Foundation Establishment cultivators when they served as Ning family stewards; Unlike Ning Zhuo took eighty percent of the revenue from managing the black market to distribute.

In this way, the monthly salary standard that these Foundation Establishment cultivators once had was reached.

"It just happens to be the end of the month, so let's distribute it to everyone."

Ning Xiangguo said: "Young Master Zhuo, it seems like it was calculated wrong. We have only served for half a month, and this is a month's salary."

Unlike Ning Zhuo nodded: "The extra part is a welcome gift from me to everyone."

"In the future, every clansman who joins our side will receive an entry gift of half their salary in the first month."

Ning Xiangqian was overjoyed: "This is a good idea; everyone will like it!"

Unlike Ning Zhuo continued: "Next, the bonus for this month will be calculated based on individual specific assessments and achievements."

"Calculate in detail according to the rules I gave before. Both the calculation process and the results must be handed over to the cultivator themselves for verification."

"This part of the bonus will be distributed at the end of next month, together with next month's salary."

"In a word, the salary is distributed at the end of the current month, and the bonus is distributed at the end of the following month. Doing this makes it convenient for those who have objections to the bonus calculation to report and correct it."

Ning Xiangqian nodded repeatedly: "This method is good. In this way, when everyone works in the black market, what they get will at least be the same as in the family. Those who contribute more get more, this is very fair!"

Ning Xiangguo frowned slightly: "In this way, there is almost no revenue left in the black market. Young Master Zhuo, you should still keep some in your own hands. Forgive me for speaking bluntly, you are distributing too much."

Ning Xiangqian was stunned for a moment, thought about it carefully, and nodded: "It seems to be the case."

Unlike Ning Zhuo smiled and waved his hand: "It's only the first month, I believe we will live better in the future."

"There will be more outsiders coming to the black market."

"In fact, as long as the Magma Xian Gong is not claimed, there will be a continuous stream of cultivators coming from ten thousand miles away."

"They come from afar, and even if they are not recognized by the palace spirit and cannot enter the Xian Gong, the vast majority will choose to live in Fire Persimmon Xiancheng for a period of time."

"These people will greatly activate the business in the Xiancheng, and the scale of the black market is getting bigger and bigger, isn't it?"

Ning Xiangqian grinned: "That's the logic!"

Ning Xiangguo said with deep eyes: "But Young Master Zhuo, do you really want to hold the black market forever?"

"I privately think that this is not a long-term plan."

"We need legitimate business; the black market is not something the righteous path does after all."

"Holding it for too long and getting too deeply involved will hinder our Ning family's reputation."

"It's okay to say it like this now; everyone will think: the four major forces reached a tacit understanding, letting the Ning family intervene in the black market, aiming for the stability of the overall situation in the Xiancheng."

"In the future, once there are fewer outsiders and the Xian Gong is claimed, we will not be able to hold this territory and can only abandon it."

Ning Xiangqian frowned immediately, puzzled: "Why can't we hold it? The black market was fought for by us."

Obviously, Ning Xiangguo was more strategic than him, could recognize the situation, and had a long-term vision.

Ning Xiangguo continued: "Therefore, I sincerely suggest that Young Master Zhuo, you don't have to be so lavish. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to collect as much wealth as possible and save it in your own hands. When you withdraw from the black market in the future, at least you will have a guarantee of supplies."

Unlike Ning Zhuo looked deeply at Ning Xiangguo.

During this period, although Unlike Ning Zhuo lived in seclusion, he still used his daily fragmented time to contact the Ning family's Foundation Establishment cultivators one-on-one.

In the process, Unlike Ning Zhuo also found out more real information about each of them through the Turtle-Breathing Gang.

Nowadays, most of the Ning family's Foundation Establishment cultivators already had Human Life Hanging by a Thread.

Ning Xiangguo and Ning Xiangqian were both among them.