Chapter 187

The group arrived at the Ning family's martial arts arena.

Unlike Ning Zhuo had originally intended to rent a martial arts arena within Fire Persimmon Xiancheng, but Zhou Zeshen said there was no need to spend that wasted money. There was also no need to make a special trip to the Zhou family; it would be better to have a small sparring match right here at the Ning family's arena.

This statement made Unlike Ning Zhuo take a look at Zhou Zeshen right then and there, and his heart began to ponder.

Ning Yong stood up immediately, raised his hand, and said, "Then I'll go contact the family's martial arts arena first."

Seeing Unlike Ning Zhuo nod, Ning Yong ran out of the small courtyard excitedly.

Zhou Zeshen wore a smile and suggested again, "Big bets hurt the body, small bets are for fun. Brother Ning, why don't we bet on something?"

Unlike Ning Zhuo also smiled and said, "It seems Brother Zhou was already prepared before coming here."

Zhou Zeshen spread his hands, "Brother Ning saw through it. I thought about it; I couldn't come to visit you empty-handed, right? So I brought this."

As he spoke, Zhou Zeshen took a crossbow from his storage belt.

This bow-crossbow was very compact, only about thirty percent larger than an adult's palm, with an exquisite structure and made of bronze.

What was worth noting was that it did not have a traditional arrow magazine; what replaced it was a small rectangular wooden box.

"This is a Rivet Power-Shot Crossbow. After some slight modifications by me, its power is not small." Zhou Zeshen revealed a confident smile, "Brother Ning, if you win, I will give this to you, and it comes with the mechanism blueprints."

Unlike Ning Zhuo's heart stirred, and he took out a mechanism Fire-Explosion Monkey, "If you win, I will give this to you, and also include the corresponding mechanism blueprints. What I'm worried about is that I'm afraid I won't be able to give it away."

"Hahaha." The two looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

Ning Yong returned very quickly, panting as he said he had booked the Ding-grade martial arts arena.

The group immediately left the small courtyard and came to the martial arts arena in a crowd.

The branch-line cultivator in charge of the martial arts arena was respectful and enthusiastic toward Unlike Ning Zhuo, asking what kind of battlefield was needed.

Unlike Ning Zhuo looked at Zhou Zeshen.

Zhou Zeshen then said, "Since we have overlapping mountains here, let's go with mountainous terrain."

Consequently, several magic arrays in the martial arts arena were activated one after another.

The originally flat ground immediately had countless red soil churning up, piling higher and higher.

It was as if an invisible giant force was molding the red soil into two small hills, the height of which greatly exceeded the family walls of the Ning family grounds.

This was not the end of it.

The power of the Wood Element acted on the hills, causing the grass and trees on them to be urged to maturity within a dozen breaths, forming dense mountain forests.

A dark cloud condensed and floated over the battlefield, scattering heavy rain along the way.

There was also a large amount of water flow generated out of thin air, forming a small river between the two hills.

According to Zhou Zeshen's request, the martial arts arena did not activate the concealment magic array.

Such a big commotion quickly attracted other Ning family members.

After introductions by Unlike Ning Zhuo's classmates, everyone quickly understood the situation.

"It's Young Master Unlike Ning Zhuo who is going to spar with the Zhou family's genius, Zhou Zeshen!"

"Why?"

"It was Zhou Zeshen who took the initiative to request the spar."

"Bad, this kid Zhou Zeshen looks insidious at first glance. Could Young Master Unlike Ning Zhuo have been schemed against by him? Does Zhou Zeshen want to use our Ning family's Unlike Ning Zhuo to make a name for himself?"

"Ahem, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Zhou Zeshen made a name for himself long ago, much earlier than Young Master Unlike Ning Zhuo."

"Didn't you see the two of them communicating quite well? They're both smiling."

"This is going to be bad. I've heard of this Zhou Zeshen; he possesses the natural talent 'Water Accumulates into an Abyss' and must have been cultivated by the family for a long time. But although Young Master Unlike Ning Zhuo has natural talent, it hasn't even been detected yet. How is he supposed to fight?"

"Young Master Unlike Ning Zhuo, rise up!"

"We all support you!!"

The Ning family members gathered more and more, and after discussing for a while, they shouted one after another to cheer for Unlike Ning Zhuo.

Unlike Ning Zhuo waved his hand to greet everyone, which caused the crowd's cheers and shouts to grow by another thirty percent.

The battlefield was set up, and Unlike Ning Zhuo and Zhou Zeshen entered the martial arts arena at the same time, each choosing a mountaintop to stand on, facing each other.

Zhou Zeshen transmitted his voice, "Brother Ning, please."

Unlike Ning Zhuo then said, "Brother Zhou is a guest, you should please go first."

"Alright, then I will show my incompetence." Zhou Zeshen patted his storage belt and directly released ten mechanism Burrowing Rats.

The mechanism Burrowing Rats were very fast and extremely agile, shuttling through the dense mountain forest with ease.

Each mechanism rat dragged a magic power thread on its body. As the distance between the mechanism rats and Zhou Zeshen lengthened, the magic power threads also continuously lengthened, elegant and stable.

On Unlike Ning Zhuo's side, he also patted his belt and took out five mechanism Fire-Explosion Monkeys.

He also adopted magic power thread manipulation, letting the mechanism monkeys flip and jump between the branches and leaves.

The scope of the martial arts arena was limited after all, and the speed of both sides' mechanisms was not slow, so they soon met at the foot of the mountain where Unlike Ning Zhuo was located.

The front end of the mechanism rats was a spiral drill, very sharp; hitting a mechanism monkey would drill out a hole.

The mechanism monkeys themselves were much larger than the mechanism rats and had more strength. Their movements were quite flexible, and they could also cooperate with each other, quickly gaining the upper hand.

Snap, snap, snap...

Zhou Zeshen's magic power threads were each connected to the tips of his ten fingers. After the clash, three of his fingertips trembled slightly in succession, and the magic power threads snapped.

This meant that he had lost three mechanism Burrowing Rats in a row!

Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhou Zeshen buckled the ten fingers of his outstretched hands inward, and the remaining seven mechanism rats retreated at the same time.

"Good!" The Ning family members watching the battle then roared in approval.

Just now, their vision was largely obscured by the forest. Moreover, there were many mechanism rats and monkeys, and the scene of the battle was chaotic, making it quite difficult for everyone to distinguish.

Now that Zhou Zeshen's mechanism rats had retreated and the two sides were separated, everyone could see clearly.

Zhou Zeshen's side had lost three mechanism rats, while Unlike Ning Zhuo's side had almost no losses, with only one Fire-Explosion mechanism monkey falling behind during the pursuit.

Obviously, its mechanism thigh had suffered damage, affecting its mobility.

In the first wave of probing clashes, Zhou Zeshen decisively retreated, wanting the mechanism rats to widen the distance between the enemy and himself.

Unlike Ning Zhuo was naturally unwilling and directly increased his magic power output, commanding the mechanism Fire-Explosion Monkeys to pursue the victory.

But the speed of the mechanism rats was twenty percent faster than the monkeys, giving them a relatively obvious advantage.

Seeing that the Fire-Explosion Monkeys couldn't catch up, Unlike Ning Zhuo said, "Brother Zhou, be careful, I'm going to use weapon accessories."

The next moment, the Fire-Explosion Monkeys opened their mouths and spat out fire-red firecrackers.

The mechanism monkeys threw the firecrackers hard.

The bang-bang-bang explosions caused the soil and rocks to collapse, trees to fall, and smoke and dust to rise everywhere.

When the smoke and dust dissipated, only a few mechanism remains were left at the explosion site.

It turned out that at the critical moment, the mechanism rats had burrowed into the ground and escaped.

Only two of them, although they also burrowed, were unfortunately located at the firepower points where the firecracker explosion was relatively concentrated.

Even after burrowing, they were blown into fragments.

"Only five left." Unlike Ning Zhuo calculated secretly.

He frowned slightly.

This was because the Burrowing Rats had entered the mountainous terrain, causing Unlike Ning Zhuo to lose his targets, not knowing where they had gone.

They might have returned to Zhou Zeshen's side, or they might be launching a surprise attack on Unlike Ning Zhuo from underground.

"Should I continue the attack? Or cast a reconnaissance spell?"

Unlike Ning Zhuo chose to cast a spell to scout his surroundings.

"Did he choose to hold his ground first?" Standing on the mountaintop, Zhou Zeshen saw this scene, and a sharp glint flashed across his eyes.

He secretly noted this detail.

From a battle, one's temperament can often be revealed more directly and frankly.

This was one of the reasons why Zhou Zeshen proposed the spar.

The Zhou family wanted to win over Unlike Ning Zhuo, and Zhou Zeshen also deeply realized that Unlike Ning Zhuo possessed huge potential for development; following the current trend, he would inevitably become a pivotal figure in Fire Persimmon Xiancheng in the future.

And to win over a key figure, the prerequisite is to have sufficient understanding.

A friendly spar can often allow cultivators to quickly close the distance and increase their understanding of each other.

"There are only five Fire-Explosion Monkeys, the pressure on Unlike Ning Zhuo's manipulation is not high at all."

"He could have cast a reconnaissance spell while commanding the mechanism Fire-Explosion Monkeys."

"Sure enough."

"He understood the main intention of my spar!"

"He is worthy of being a genius of the same type as me."

Zhou Zeshen's mouth curled slightly, feeling that dealing with a smart person like Unlike Ning Zhuo was just comfortable! Many things didn't need to be stated clearly to understand each other.

Unlike Ning Zhuo deliberately slowed down the battle rhythm, while Zhou Zeshen threw out a storage bag.

The storage bag fell to the ground, its mouth wide open, and more than a dozen mechanism bats—Night Sky Bats—flew out from it.

The Night Sky Bats streaked across the sky, flying toward Unlike Ning Zhuo.

Seeing this, Unlike Ning Zhuo patted his belt and released a flock of Thunder-Silence Birds.

This type of mechanism was very common, and because it was simple to manipulate and easy to learn, it was widely acclaimed.

The Thunder-Silence Birds and Night Sky Bats collided in mid-air, unfolding the second direct clash between Unlike Ning Zhuo and Zhou Zeshen.

The Thunder-Silence Birds' attacks were straightforward, while the Night Sky Bats were erratic, turning nimbly, with evasion capabilities far exceeding the Thunder-Silence Birds.

The Night Sky Bats were mechanisms of the Mud Flow Gate, clearly a cut above common mechanisms like the Thunder-Silence Birds in terms of performance.

Unlike Ning Zhuo's number of Thunder-Silence Birds was greater than the Night Sky Bats, but after the clash, the Thunder-Silence Birds were rapidly depleted, clearly at a disadvantage.

The Ning family members had serious expressions, some with furrowed brows, secretly worrying for Unlike Ning Zhuo.

"He is holding back." Zhou Zeshen's heart stirred.

Just now, Unlike Ning Zhuo manipulated five mechanism monkeys, which was very agile, showing a high level of manipulation.

But in this wave of air combat, Unlike Ning Zhuo's Thunder-Silence Birds had almost no operation, going straight back and forth, making it quite easy to judge the attack path.

This gave Zhou Zeshen a huge upper hand.

"Is it because my Burrowing Rat group retreated in the first clash? So Unlike Ning Zhuo is deliberately losing a hand to me here to take care of my face."

"This guy..."

Zhou Zeshen gritted his teeth, his mood somewhat complicated.

There was gratitude that Unlike Ning Zhuo was thinking of his face, such tacit understanding. There was also a lot of displeasure; being yielded to like this, Zhou Zeshen, this genius, rarely had such an experience.

"Although it's a friendly spar, I have always been very serious."

"I am using my full strength, yet you are holding back..."

"Although this is a good intention, to me, it is also a different kind of humiliation."

"Unlike Ning Zhuo!"

"I want you to look at me squarely!!"

Zhou Zeshen shouted in his heart.

Inspired by this, he took out a medium-sized mechanism from his storage belt.

This mechanism creation looked like a fierce tiger, about two zhang and five feet long, with a shoulder height of five feet, claws three inches long, teeth two inches long, white skin with black stripes, and golden tiger eyes, quite fierce.