Chapter 305

The black market encountering trouble was one of the situations Ning Zhuo had long anticipated.

He did not feel the slightest surprise.

"If it really doesn't work, just abandon the black market completely and turtle up."

Compared to the Lava Immortal Palace, the black market was just a minor detail. If Ning Zhuo was interfered with in this aspect, investing energy and time, it meant the enemy's conspiracy had succeeded.

Of course, a full retreat was only the final response measure. At this stage, it was not yet necessary.

Ning Zhuo immediately replied, asking the black market side to seek help from the two former family elders, Ning Youfu and Ning Houjun.

Ning Zhuo planned for the long term and had long anticipated many difficulties he would encounter during the palace examination. He therefore made arrangements in advance, one of which was to persuade the two former family elders, Ning Youfu and Ning Houjun.

These two played a very important role in the process of Ning Zhuo toppling Ning Xiaoren.

Being from the family's branch, they both thought highly of Ning Zhuo and were willing to fund him.

Only such heavyweight figures could stabilize people's hearts, giving the leaderless black market an authoritative high-level, so it wouldn't be panicked and at a loss.

In the letter, he also requested the black market side to draw out a group of people to enter the Lava Immortal Palace.

This group of people would be led by the two former stewards, Ning Xiangguo and Ning Xiangqian, leading a large number of Ning family cultivators, and also forcibly recruited members from the Monkey Head Gang, Turtle Breath Gang, and Crane Beak Gang, with a total number of over one hundred.

"The so-called power is for my use, not for me to invest too much in this power."

Regarding this point, Ning Zhuo's cognition was quite profound.

This power he had painstakingly managed, if not used now, when would it be used?

The second round of the palace examination.

The eleventh question.

Sun Lingtong won all his matches, making others' teeth itch with anger, but they could do nothing about it.

Ning Zhuo won more than he lost; although he tried his best to keep a low profile, he could no longer do so.

Whether in the arena or standing in the square, the way cultivators looked at him had changed. Even Jin Dan-level cultivators treated him solemnly as a strong enemy.

"I didn't expect a Qi Refining junior to stand out."

"Ning Zhuo indeed has some skills."

"Every time, when Ning Zhuo faces Zhu Xuanji or Ning Jiufan, he takes the initiative to concede. If he really fought, his battle record might be even higher!"

Many people praised him, but secretly their gazes exchanged obscurely, all realizing that they could not let Ning Zhuo continue winning like this.

However, Ning Zhuo was extremely cautious, turtling in his residence all day, right next to the Ning family ancestor, Ning Jiufan.

This made many people feel powerless, sighing helplessly.

The Lava Immortal Palace in the middle of the night was surging with fire, as bright as day.

Since the volcanic eruption and the surging beast tide, the sky above the Lava Immortal Palace had always been heavy with clouds and smoke, with no sun to be seen.

Ning Xiaoren had been fighting here for a period of time and had gradually become unable to distinguish whether it was day or night.

He had been fighting continuously for more than a dozen hours. His face was haggard, his eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, and the continuous high-intensity combat made him wish he could fall down immediately and sleep soundly.

But he couldn't; he could only endure the sleepiness and exhaustion.

"It appeared, there is a group of demonic beasts in the southeast corner." Suddenly, a cultivator shouted.

After a few breaths, this cultivator responsible for reconnaissance spoke again: "Be careful, this group of demonic beasts are all Fire-Treading Lizards; we must strike in advance and not let them impact our formation."

Ning Xiaoren and others formed a cultivator squad, stationed at the street corner, setting up magic arrays, and guarding the dangerous terrain.

They were mainly cultivators from the Ning family's main branch.

Although Ning Xiaoren was expelled from the family, cooperating at this time did not violate any family rules.

Hearing the warning, Ning Xiaoren gritted his teeth, urging the magic power in his body that was about to dry up to coordinate the magic array.

Casting spells with a magic array was much faster than an individual, and the power was greater.

Ice spears like giant trees condensed in an instant and fired one after another.

The ice spears killed several Fire-Treading Lizards and also angered the remaining half.

The Fire-Treading Lizards hissed and charged toward Ning Xiaoren's position.

In the magic array, cultivators immediately manipulated the array to deploy a large number of mechanical creations.

These mechanisms were mainly battering rams, charging forward; although they were all smashed to pieces by the Fire-Treading Lizards, they successfully blocked their charge, causing their speed to decrease greatly.

Ning Xiaoren gasped for air, feeling nauseous. His magic power was exhausted, and he could only retreat temporarily.

Immediately, reserve cultivators replaced him, occupying the formation eye and manipulating the magic array.

After the fierce bombardment of spells, one Fire-Treading Lizard still rushed to the front.

"Terrible, we haven't recruited any body cultivators yet!" The cultivators' faces turned pale.

Just then, a crazy voice came: "Afraid! Who made my little Hui afraid? Look at grandma's, little Hui, don't be afraid!"

Saying this, Ning Xiaohui's grandmother rushed out of the magic array and charged straight at this Fire-Treading Lizard.

She collided with the Fire-Treading Lizard, then flew backward, crashing through two buildings before falling to the ground and not moving.

Almost all her bones were broken, she coughed up blood continuously, and her protective magic artifact was directly shattered.

"This lunatic!" Ning Xiaoren's pupils shrank when he saw this scene.

The cultivators of the Ning family's main branch also had different expressions.

Thanks to the desperate obstruction of Ning Xiaohui's grandmother, they finally seized the last opportunity, and a round of spell coverage bombarded the last Fire-Treading Lizard to death.

The magic array turned from danger to safety, but Ning Xiaoren felt heavy in his heart.

"The demonic beasts have thick skin and flesh; this was just a group of Foundation Establishment-level Red Flame demonic beasts."

"If it were Jin Dan-level, could I retreat safely?"

Ning Xiaoren had no confidence at all.

He looked at Ning Xiaohui's grandmother again. At this time, Ning family cultivators had already run out of the magic array to her side and began treatment.

"She has already gone mad."

"Ning Xiaohui's death was too big a blow to her."

"I actually lived day and night with such a lunatic, in the same magic array?"

Ning Xiaoren felt a lingering fear.

"It's all Ning Zhuo, that little bastard's fault!"

"If it weren't for him, how could I have become a prisoner? If it weren't for him, would I be here risking my life to earn merit under the identity of being expelled from the family?"

"Ning Zhuo deserves to die, deserves to die!"

"Heaven has no eyes, actually letting this treacherous and insidious evil thief get better and better. He is even ranked at the forefront of the second round of the palace examination! What are those Jin Dan cultivators and geniuses doing?"

"Can't they even deal with Ning Zhuo?!"

Ning Xiaoren's situation was just a microcosm of the Lava Immortal Palace.

The destruction of the Lava Immortal Palace had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, even without any mechanical attainments, could enter it.

Under the leadership of Meng Kui and Zhu Xuanji, the Fire Persimmon Immortal City drew out a large number of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators to station in the Lava Immortal Palace.

This group of cultivators was large in number, like a timely rain, filling all the battle lines.

With their participation, the defense line of the inner circle of the Lava Immortal Palace was made solid, firmly blocking the advance of the beast tide.

After all, among the Red Flame demonic beasts, there were not many Jin Dan-level individuals. Once they appeared, they would be targeted by concentrated fire, and few survived.

As for the real threat to the Lava Immortal Palace, those two Nascent Soul-level demonic beasts were also blocked and entangled by Meng Kui.

It was just that from the battle situation, Meng Kui, fighting one against two, often fell into a disadvantage.

Nascent Soul-level demonic beasts often had battle achievements, shattering the periphery of the Lava Immortal Palace piece by piece.

The more the Lava Immortal Palace was shattered and lost, the lower the power of the restrictions.

Now it was Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators who could take advantage of the loopholes and enter the Immortal Palace directly. According to this trend, later it would be Jin Dan and Nascent Soul cultivators who could enter the palace.

"Ning Xiaoren, you are too tired. Go back and rest; when your state is adjusted, come back to fight!" The Ning family main branch cultivators still cared quite a bit about Ning Xiaoren.

Ning Xiaoren nodded, and after recovering a little magic power, he couldn't wait to retreat from the front line.

On the way back, he saw a large group of people gathered together.

Out of curiosity, he approached to ask and found it was a murder case. A Foundation Establishment cultivator had been ambushed and killed, the state of death being that the heart was pierced and the soul had disappeared.

"The Unoccupied Gate has struck again! The deceased participated in the palace examination during the day and lost his life at night, sigh..."

"These demons truly use every means to obtain the Lava Immortal Palace!"

Ning Xiaoren found out the specific facts and couldn't help but grit his teeth: "Why didn't they assassinate Ning Zhuo? Good people don't live long, while disasters last for a thousand years. This damn world!"

This was already the third murder case targeting palace examination members recently.

Two had successfully killed their targets, and there was one case of serious injury.

Strictly speaking, serious injury could also be considered a success. Because the injured cultivator's state was extremely poor, and they lost every arena match.

Palace examination personnel could not attack each other, but they could completely use the hands of others to implement assassinations and suppression.

The competition for the Lava Immortal Palace was not just the palace examination during the day, but also the assassinations at night.

It was foreseeable that rogue cultivators who fought alone without deep foundations or backers would be eliminated one after another and lose their lives.

Ning Xiaoren returned to his residence and fell asleep on the bed.

The next moment, he was awakened by the coldness of a dagger held to his throat.

"Who is it?!" Ning Xiaoren was shocked.

The masked assassin held the dagger, threatening Ning Xiaoren's life at all times: "Tell me about Ning Zhuo."

"You, you want to deal with him?" Ning Xiaoren reacted, his expression stunned, "No, I will not betray my clansman."

The comer sneered: "Don't pretend, who doesn't know about your grudge with him?"

"Besides, you have already been expelled from the family; this is all thanks to Ning Zhuo! He is no longer your clansman, former young patriarch of the Ning family."

Ning Xiaoren's face quickly darkened, and a look of resentment flashed in his eyes: "What do you want to know?"

"Everything." The masked person's tone was calm.

Ning Xiaoren: "How do I know that if I tell you everything, you will let me go?"

The masked person shook his head: "You don't know, and I can't guarantee it. You only need to know that you must satisfy me. If not satisfied, I will directly cut off your head."

Ning Xiaoren hurriedly said: "Good, good, good, I'll say it, I'll say it."

He spoke in great detail.

The masked assassin was not satisfied: "I already know these."

He used the tip of the dagger to pry open Ning Xiaoren's teeth and sent a Gu worm into his mouth.

The Gu worm drilled all the way down, drilling into Ning Xiaoren's heart.

The masked assassin activated it gently, and Ning Xiaoren immediately covered his heart, twisting and rolling on the bed in pain, like a maggot being electrocuted.

The masked assassin tortured him fiercely for a period of time before stopping: "Your answer made me very dissatisfied."

"I am now assigning you a task: try your best to obstruct Ning Zhuo and interfere with him with all your might."

"Otherwise, I will let you die miserably in this heart-eating pain."

Ning Xiaoren hurriedly waved his hand, begging for mercy desperately: "My lord, this lord, don't be impulsive, I will do as you say, I will definitely do as you say."

"Ning Zhuo is my enemy in the first place; we are on the same side, we are our own people!"

The masked assassin sneered: "It's good that you have this realization. I give you three days to achieve results, otherwise you will die."

After speaking, the masked assassin disappeared before Ning Xiaoren's eyes.

Coming without a shadow, leaving without a trace.

Leaving Ning Xiaoren to bite his lip and smash his fist fiercely against the bedside: "Ning Zhuo! Ning Zhuo!! I almost died because of you, you damn thing!"

"I want to kill you, I want to kill you!"

However, after being fierce for a while, Ning Xiaoren gradually regained his sobriety.

"Ning Zhuo, this dog bastard, has done too many heartless things in his daily life. Since the palace examination, he has been turtling, living next to Ning Jiufan."

"Under the protection of a Jin Dan cultivator, what do I have to kill him with?"

"This dog thief, too dog, too dog!"