Chapter 393: Acceptance

"Oh, right," Sun Lingtong continued to remind him.

"Don't forget about the Fetal Breath Spirit Boat. If we want to discuss the price of acquiring this ancestral treasure in the future, I simply dare not imagine it."

Sun Lingtong proposed: "Why don't we strike together and steal the Myriad Medicine Sect blind!"

"We'll harvest all their medicinal herbs and sell them on a massive scale; we're bound to make a fortune."

"Then, we'll find an opportunity to steal that Fetal Breath Spirit Boat, and that will be the end of it!"

Ning Zhuo shook his head and remained silent.

Sun Lingtong: "We have a high chance of success if we rely on the Ten Thousand Mile Wandering Dragon."

"Right, I'll do the deed. You, Little Zhuo, can move around and forge an alibi for yourself."

"You still need your reputation."

Ning Zhuo shook his head and sighed: "Boss, let's discuss this later. Let's wait for my ancestor to arrive first."

Yesterday, he had already received the letter Ning Jiufan sent specifically before his departure.

The letter was continuously relayed through post stations and arrived at Myriad Medicine Valley faster than Ning Jiufan himself.

A few days later.

Little Contention Peak, martial arts arena.

Ning Zhuo and Hanzhou finished their sparring.

Ning Zhuo was drenched in sweat, staring at Hanzhou with a somewhat vacant gaze.

A thought occurred to him—if he were to treat Hanzhou as a precious material to craft a mechanical puppet, he wondered how much cost he could save?

"I really am dirt poor," Ning Zhuo chuckled, shaking his head to dispel this absurd thought.

"Human resources are precious! It would be too wasteful to use Hanzhou like that."

Ever since Sun Lingtong reminded him last time, he had been feeling the pressure on his finances and was racking his brain to think of ways to make big money.

Hanzhou, exhausted, asked with curiosity and a certain expectation: "Fellow Daoist Ning Zhuo, the Day of Little Contention is approaching. Who do you intend to challenge this time?"

Ning Zhuo shook his head: "I plan to settle down for a while. For me, the only ones worth challenging are Zheng Xingchen and Lai Wuying."

Hanzhou nodded.

He had sparred with Ning Zhuo many times and had a more thorough understanding of the latter's combat power.

Don't be fooled by Ning Zhuo's mere Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivation; relying on his mechanical martial arts, his combat power was quite considerable, definitely in the top tier on Little Contention Peak.

Chang Yan, Hua Guzi, and Ning Zhuo were already recognized as being in the same bracket.

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And faintly above this bracket were only two people, whose past combat records were far ahead of the rest. Even when Zheng and Lai fought against Chang Yan, Hua Guzi, or Luo Xiao, they rarely lost.

The two left the martial arts arena and walked side by side.

Passersby who saw them mostly took the initiative to bow and greet them.

Whether it was Ning Zhuo or Hanzhou, both were figures renowned on Little Contention Peak.

Hanzhou's strength was not bad; the reason his cave dwelling ranking was so low was mainly due to two reasons:

One was that he cultivated the Bitter Suffering Scripture, which required him to seek out suffering—even if there was none, he had to force himself to endure it—to maintain the bitter cold true intent in his upper dantian.

The other was that it was convenient for him to challenge cave dwellings from the bottom up and then voluntarily "lose" to others to earn relevant profits.

The Bitter Suffering Scripture was the cultivation method Ning Zhuo currently knew that required the least amount of resources.

But even so, Hanzhou still had to work hard to earn spirit stones and the like to accumulate magic power and maintain his own cultivation.

So-called cultivation is nothing more than converting external materials and energy into one's own strength through certain methods (cultivation techniques).

As for Ning Zhuo, he had also become famous throughout Myriad Medicine Valley.

His battle with Hua Guzi had thoroughly demonstrated his combat power, silencing those who doubted him.

Once his combat power was recognized, Ning Zhuo's life became much more stable, and there was no more public opinion targeting him.

Ning Zhuo knew clearly: besides his own display of strength, the Myriad Medicine Sect's senior brother, Linghu Jiu, must have also intervened, causing his junior brothers to restrain themselves and stop bothering Ning Zhuo.

The only downside was...

"Young Master Ning Zhuo, we've met by chance again!" At the corner, Hua Guzi rushed out like a ball of fast-moving flame.

Ning Zhuo and Hanzhou stared blankly.

"Met by chance?" Ning Zhuo's mouth twitched, "Three chance meetings in one day... Fellow Daoist Hua, I have already made it very clear to you: there is no need for you to apologize, and there is no need for your dumplings."

Ning Zhuo sighed, feeling very helpless.

Hanzhou, on the other hand, was filled with emotion; if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never believe that this scene before him was real!

A few days ago, Hua Guzi came to apologize and even brought spirit food dumplings, which were rejected by Ning Zhuo on the spot.

Hanzhou thought Hua Guzi would make a scene.

As it turned out, the next day, she apologized again and brought different dumplings. This really surprised Hanzhou.

And what surprised him even more was that Ning Zhuo still refused, looking as if he wanted to avoid her.

Hanzhou privately advised Ning Zhuo to lower his guard a little; after all, Hua Guzi's combat power was not bad, and since she had already apologized, there was no need to turn a potential friend into an enemy.

As a result, Ning Zhuo only said to him: "You don't understand."

The subsequent development of events greatly shook Hanzhou's understanding of things and the world.

No matter how Ning Zhuo refused, Hua Guzi wouldn't turn hostile; instead, she shamelessly continued to apologize. Before it was once a day, now it was three times a day—it was getting worse!

The more cold-hearted Ning Zhuo was to her, the more enthusiastic she became; her attitude toward Ning Zhuo was almost fawning!

"Is this necessary?!" Hanzhou had always felt that even if Hua Guzi lost to Ning Zhuo, she was still in the same bracket in terms of combat power and was a Foundation Establishment expert on Little Contention Peak.

But she had lost all the demeanor of an expert, acting almost like a dog.

Of course, toward others, Hua Guzi remained the same as before. Once she faced Ning Zhuo, her attitude changed abruptly, becoming very humble and fawning.

After being extremely puzzled, Hanzhou finally set his gaze on Ning Zhuo's face.

He understood.

"Has Hua Guzi reached the time when her heart is overflowing with spring?"

Only this answer could barely help Hanzhou resolve his confusion.

"Young Master Ning Zhuo clearly sees Hua Guzi's intentions and doesn't want to delay the other party, so he has been coldly rejecting her."

Ning Zhuo's strange behavior before suddenly had an explanation.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Come to think of it, Young Master Ning Zhuo's reaction is quite sharp. That very day, he sensed something was wrong and was cold toward Hua Guzi."

Hanzhou secretly admired Ning Zhuo; if it were him, he definitely wouldn't have sensed Hua Guzi's change in mindset.

"As expected of a young master carefully cultivated by this cultivation family."

"Presumably, Young Master Ning Zhuo has experienced being pursued by women many times. That's why Hua Guzi's behavior immediately made him react."

"Comparing people to people, it really is..."

Hanzhou looked at Ning Zhuo, then scanned himself, shaking his head endlessly, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

"Young Master Ning Zhuo, this is the Gilded Phoenix-Tail Flower I carefully cultivated. I implore you to accept it, please!" Hua Guzi widened her eyes, staring tightly at Ning Zhuo, her face full of longing and expectation.

Her pitiful appearance seemed as if she would burst into tears the next moment, making even a cultivator like Hanzhou, who practiced Buddhist scriptures, unable to refuse.

But Ning Zhuo still ruthlessly refused.

"I've said it many times, I don't need your apology. Farewell, Fellow Daoist Hua."

Ning Zhuo bypassed Hua Guzi and continued on his way.

"Young Master Ning Zhuo!" Behind him, Hua Guzi turned around and cried out miserably, tears rolling down, making one's heart feel desolate.

Ning Zhuo walked even faster, all because he sensed the intense excitement and joy in Hua Guzi's heart through the Human Thread of Life.

Yuan Shan.

Lin Shanshan stared at the intelligence in her hand, her face looking very ugly: "What is going on with this Hua Guzi?"

"Ever since she lost to Young Master Ning Zhuo, she has been pestering him; she has absolutely no shame!"

Lin Shanshan gritted her teeth.

The good news of Ning Zhuo defeating Hua Guzi hadn't made her happy for more than a few days before she received such intelligence.

"Young Master Ning Zhuo refused again?"

"Refusing is truly for the best!"

"Young Master Ning Zhuo, what kind of insight he has—naturally, he knows your ulterior motives; how could he be easily deceived by you?"

Lin Shanshan's gaze was cold.

Her personal maid, Xiaoju, reached out fearfully and waved in front of Lin Shanshan: "Miss, please wake up, don't look at me like that; I'm Xiaoju, I'm Xiaoju, not Hua Guzi."

Lin Shanshan was stunned, then realized and hurriedly apologized to Xiaoju.

Little Contention Peak.

Ning Zhuo's cave dwelling.

"What is going on with this Hua Guzi?" Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, also feeling quite troubled.

He didn't expect that his cold-hearted, direct refusal not only failed to discourage Hua Guzi but instead made her more excited and more persistent.

"Boss, what should we do in this situation?" Ning Zhuo had encountered such a person for the first time and didn't want to hurt her casually, so he asked Sun Lingtong for his opinion.

Sun Lingtong, inside the mechanical wandering dragon, laughed until he held his stomach.

It was too funny.

As Ning Zhuo grew older, Sun Lingtong saw fewer and fewer instances of the former being thwarted.

Sun Lingtong really wanted to keep watching, so he immediately held back his laughter and pretended to be serious: "Little Zhuo, actually, Hua Guzi is a pitiful person."

Ning Zhuo: "?"

Sun Lingtong continued: "Think about it, is such a temperament normal?"

"The more twisted the temperament, the more trauma she suffered in her childhood, and the more terrifying it is."

Ning Zhuo was silent for a while: "Hearing you say that, Boss, it actually gives me a different feeling about Hua Guzi."

Sun Lingtong slapped his palm with his fist: "So, you have to take action and save her."

Ning Zhuo: "Ah?"

Sun Lingtong said again: "People with this kind of temperament are extremely prone to going to extremes. If you keep refusing her like this, what if she thinks of something desperate one day and takes her own life?"

Ning Zhuo still had his own ideas: "That's not very likely, is it? I see that every time she is refused, she is secretly happy in her heart."

Sun Lingtong shook his head: "You can't be sure with these kinds of people."

"I'm afraid she'll turn love into hate; if she can't get you, she'll want to destroy you!"

Ning Zhuo frowned and sneered: "The reason I don't take action against her is just out of concern for the rules here and my own reputation. Once she in the future..."

"No, no, no." Sun Lingtong interrupted, "Little Zhuo, you misunderstood my meaning."

"What I want to say is, rather than letting her turn love into hate in the future, it would be better for you to take action in advance and recruit her."

"People with her temperament are usually trained as dead soldiers."

"This is a crazy sharp blade; you need to be cautious when using it. If used poorly, it will hurt you instead."

Ning Zhuo shook his head repeatedly: "She is too crazy; to think there is such a person in this world! Sigh, I actually don't want to have any interaction with her."

Sun Lingtong: "It's very dangerous if you really leave her alone. Even if she doesn't deal with you, what if she deals with the branch family you created?"

"According to her attitude toward you now, tell me, after we leave this place and she can't find you, will she go to Fire Persimmon Immortal City?"

Ning Zhuo's brows furrowed even tighter.

"Boss, you're right. But I have a premonition that if I agree and partially accept Hua Guzi, I'm afraid I won't get any good out of it in the future."

Just then, a flying letter arrived.

Unfolding it, it was a letter from Hua Guzi.

Ning Zhuo's face turned slightly pale, and his tone was even a little terrified: "Boss, what should I do? She has now chased me directly to my cave dwelling!"

Sun Lingtong scanned the letter with his spiritual sense: "Little Zhuo, don't panic. Look carefully at the content of the letter; Hua Guzi is actually offering to compensate with the cultivation methods of seven strange flowers."

"These are good things. If you take them for the family to use, and if they can be scaled up in the future and become a business, won't our cultivation resources be guaranteed?"

"These are all very rare things on the market; once they appear, they are bound to be snatched up."

Ning Zhuo looked carefully, and it was indeed so.

He fell into a brief silence.

A moment later, he invited Hua Guzi into the cave dwelling.