Chapter 7: The Young Guest

Ning clan.

Discussion Hall.

The spirit light lamp emitted a bright light.

The Ning clan leader, the young leader, and a group of clan elders gathered here.

Several jade slips rotated in their hands; what was recorded in the jade slips was the entire process of this Ning clan big exam.

Unlike previous years, this year his focus was on the assessment of the mechanical subject.

This year, the content of the Ning clan's big exam in mechanical arts had changed, becoming the manipulation of hanging-thread puppets.

Youth cultivators poured in magic power, which was continuously transmitted to the puppet through the hanging threads.

Www? TTKΛN? co

Through the dual action of divine sense and magic power, the puppet was made to produce action power and perform various movements.

However, even the best youth cultivator in this big exam only successfully made the puppet perform a few movements like walking, flipping in the air, and rolling on the ground.

The overall situation was devastating.

The clan leader slowly opened his eyes, withdrew his divine sense from the jade slip, and slowly placed the jade slip on the table beside his hand.

"In this clan big exam, there is no seed of a mechanical master among the younger generation." The Ning clan leader sighed.

The school clan elder felt the pressure and hurriedly spoke: "Clan leader, fellow clan elders, our Ning clan specializes in talismans. Among the hundred arts of cultivation, mechanical art is originally a subject with a bias. Our family has very little foundation in mechanical art, and the teachers who teach mechanical art in the school are also half-baked; how can we cultivate a seed of mechanical art?"

The Ning clan leader pacified: "Calm down, I am not blaming you. It's just that the Molten Palace is a mechanical immortal city, buried in the mountain by the Three Sects Ascendant in the past to suppress the eruption of Fire Persimmon Mountain. The best way for us to obtain the immortal treasures and mechanical art inheritance of the Molten Xian Gong is to start from mechanical masters."

"We only discovered the Molten Xian Gong this year. The other two great families and the City Lord's side have been ahead for a long time. They have had time to secretly cultivate mechanical seeds, but we cannot."

"We are latecomers, too late. Only by spending heavy gold to recruit outsiders to act as guest ministers of our clan can we have the possibility of contending."

The Ning clan leader took out a jade slip: "This records the famous mechanical masters in Fire Persimmon Xiancheng and the surrounding areas; you all should pass it around and read it."

After the clan elders had read it, the Ning clan leader said: "We must contact all mechanical masters and try our best to win them over. Especially the Young Guest! He is a mechanical master in Fire Persimmon City, and his strength is not bad; he should be the primary target to win over."

The young leader said: "The Young Guest's identity is mysterious and he has never appeared in public. The mechanical items he manufactures sell very well, but they are all sold through a black market once a month."

"The black market is controlled by Sun Lingtong. This person is an outer sect disciple of the Unoccupied Gate, and it is very difficult for us to truly contact the Young Guest."

The Ning clan leader frowned: "Xiaoren, I don't want to hear you describe the difficulties; what I need is for you to solve this problem."

The young leader Ning Xiaoren had sweat dripping from his forehead and hurriedly guaranteed: "Yes, father. I have already sent people to find ways to contact him personally, and there will definitely be results in a few days!"

The Ning clan leader then stroked his beard: "Good. I will wait for the results."

……

After the meeting, the Ning clan's young leader immediately summoned his subordinate Ning Ze.

"Ning Ze, you, this procurement manager of the Ning clan, were supported by me. I let you contact the Young Guest, but you have had no progress from beginning to end. What exactly are you doing?!" The young leader frowned.

Ning Ze was a middle-aged man, full of bitterness; if it were possible, he wouldn't want to touch this task at all.

"Young leader, the subordinate has failed your entrustment, handled the matter poorly, and really deserves to die."

"But this Young Guest is really hard to communicate with; I have repeatedly tried to persuade him during transactions in the black market when buying the Up-Down As-You-Wish Rope, but he has never been moved. He refuses to talk about any topic outside of the transaction."

"The Young Guest is too mysterious; I have tried every means to inquire about him, but as a result, I angered the black market owner Sun Lingtong, not only losing manpower but also being framed and losing a large amount of spirit stones. Up to now, this money is still paid by me..."

"Enough!" The young leader interrupted unhappily, "You were played by someone, which is already embarrassing enough, and you still want to find someone in the clan to bear the price of your mistake?"

"This time, our clan wants to purchase eighty Up-Down As-You-Wish Ropes; you go and handle it."

Ning Ze was surprised: "Eighty? So many?!"

The young leader said: "You take this big business as an opportunity and try your best. You have already contacted the Young Guest many times and have never been able to make friends with this person."

"Your performance really makes me doubt your ability, Ning Ze."

Ning Ze felt the pressure and repeatedly guaranteed that he would do his best.

……

Ning Ze came to the southeast area of Fire Persimmon City.

In Fire Persimmon Xiancheng, this area is where dragons and snakes are mixed, theft is rampant, and public security is the worst.

At the same time, this is also where the black market is located.

At one of the entrances to the black market, Ning Ze revealed a token.

A cultivator with a sinister expression glanced at Ning Ze, carefully checked the token, threw it back to Ning Ze, and said coldly: "Follow me."

He led Ning Ze into the small house behind him, then lifted the floorboards in the small house, revealing a hole.

He took Ning Ze into the hole, turned around in the tunnel, and finally arrived at an underground trading space.

This place was like a small market.

Ning Ze's gaze swept over, and he saw the target.

"Young Guest, we meet again." Ning Ze came to the Young Guest, his face full of enthusiastic smiles.

The Young Guest was an old man who was decrepit, his waist and back were hunched very severely, he leaned on a cane, and his entire posture was bent like a lobster. His face was weathered, his eye bags were black and purple, and his wrinkles were deep enough to pinch mosquitoes. His long hair was black and messy, spreading from the top of his head to his shoulders, hanging down to his feet, like a wide black cloak.

The Young Guest stood behind the mechanical pushcart, just swept a faint glance at Ning Ze, and did not speak.

The Young Guest was always like this, and Ning Ze, besides being helpless, also had anger constantly accumulating in his heart.

He was a cultivator of the Ning clan, but the Young Guest didn't give him any face at all!

However, the Ning clan's young leader always wanted to win over the Young Guest, so Ning Ze felt aggrieved in his heart, but floated a smile on his face: "Young Guest, this time I brought a big business."

"A full eighty Up-Down As-You-Wish Ropes!"

"Look, such a big business, can your price be a little more favorable?"

"I am your old customer, taking care of your business so much; in the future, there will be more such business. Every time it is two hundred spirit stones for one As-You-Wish Rope, this price has always been like this, which is somewhat unfeeling."

The Young Guest nodded slightly, his voice hoarse and weathered: "What you said is not bad."

"Then it will be two hundred and fifty spirit stones each."

Ning Ze was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Young Guest, don't tease me. That's not how you lower the price."

Who knew the Young Guest would snort coldly: "For every extra sentence of nonsense, the price will be raised by fifty spirit stones."

Ning Ze stared, frozen in place for a moment.

Anger surged in his stomach, and he really wanted to slap the old man in front of him to the ground. But he finally suppressed his anger and said in a muffled voice: "Fine, I will follow your price!"

"It's just that my clan wants to add some other functions, so that it can cooperate with my clan's techniques. The specific modifications..."

The Young Guest interrupted forcefully: "No modifications, buy it or not, if not, get lost."

Ning Ze choked.

After taking a deep breath, he smiled bitterly and nodded, agreeing to this transaction.

The Young Guest didn't have any movements, but on the mechanical cart in front of him, several mechanical puppets were lowered from the roof of the cart.

These mechanical puppets were all driven by hanging threads, each one like a real person, laughing and laughing.

They rolled, jumped, and even fought and pushed each other, finally opening the round lid inside the mechanical cart.

They drilled into the hole under the round lid one by one, and then dragged out the Up-Down As-You-Wish Ropes like dragging pythons.

Every time Ning Ze saw this scene, he was amazed.

This ability to manipulate mechanical hanging threads was skilled to the extreme, and the puppet little people seemed to have truly come alive.

If the youth cultivators of the Ning clan's big exam had one percent of this manipulation ability, the grades for the mechanical art subject of the big exam would definitely be superior!

"Mechanical art is the existence at the bottom of the hundred arts of cultivation. It has many weaknesses. The most obvious weakness is the method of manipulation!"

"Take these puppet little people, for example; as long as the hanging threads are cut, they will be paralyzed in an instant."

Ning Ze delivered the spirit stones, took the Up-Down As-You-Wish Ropes, and left the black market, only then revealing a trace of sinister and angry expression.

"Young Guest! Every time I speak to you in a gentle voice, I really gave you face."

"This time, I specially invited the Three Ghosts of the Huang Family for you! And I also carefully prepared a 'gift' for you!"

"Since you don't eat the toast, then eat the punishment."

Ning Ze was also forced to have no other way, and could only take a risk.

His plan was very simple: first invite the Three Ghosts of the Huang Family to deal with the Young Guest, and then he himself would come forward to save the situation, so as to show favor. If the Young Guest was seriously injured, then Ning Ze would not rule out the action of forcing him to submit.

In short, opening the situation and completing the task on himself was the first priority.

As for other problems, that was the business of other people in the Ning clan!

After the black market closed, the Young Guest, fully loaded, walked in the dark alley.

Suddenly.

Suppression Spirit Talisman!

A talisman was triggered instantly, sealing the surrounding space.

The Young Guest stopped in place, motionless.

"Hee hee hee..."

Light laughter echoed, and three little ghosts emerged from nearby, attacking the Young Guest.

The Young Guest was silent as a stone, until the little ghosts approached him, only then did his body shake.

Several mechanical little birds were shaken off by him and shot away.

Mechanical - Lei Ji Bird!

In the darkness, several electric lights suddenly lit up, exploding into clusters of thunder light, but they were silent.

In an instant, the Lei Ji Bird pierced and killed the three little ghosts.

"How is it possible?"

"Clearly used the Suppression Spirit Talisman, you should not be able to use divine sense to manipulate the mechanical items!"

"There is something strange. Clearly it is a mechanical puppet, but I didn't see him use hanging threads at all."

"Forget it, let's go together!"

The Three Ghosts of the Huang Family jumped out, attacked at the same time, each displaying their means, besieging the Young Guest.

For a time, more than a dozen ghosts gushed out, and there were evil ghosts in all directions, baring fangs and brandishing claws, sinister and cruel.

The Young Guest was as motionless as a mountain, and his messy black hair hanging to his feet suddenly condensed with each other, forming long whips.

The pitch-black long whips danced wildly like dragons and snakes, but without a trace of wind, in the silence, it was all terrifying killing intent.

Mechanical - Young Guest Fishing Death Whip!

The whip momentum was incomparably fierce, as if it could swallow everything, and wherever it passed, souls vanished and spirits scattered.

The Three Ghosts of the Huang Family had their fierce light surge in their eyes, about to receive the move.

In the Young Guest's sea of consciousness, a magic treasure seal, as huge as a treasure mountain, both Buddha and Demon, suddenly bloomed with strange light.

Magic Treasure - My Buddha Heart Demon Seal!

The three ghosts stagnated at the same time, revealing a fatal flaw. In terror, they hurriedly retreated, but it was too late.

Two screams, and two ghosts died.

The eldest was furious, his anger rushing to the sky, trying his best to squeeze his Foundation Establishment dantian, launching a desperate counterattack against the Young Guest.

The magic tool dagger that entrusted his hope of revenge was as fast as lightning, instantly hitting the middle of the Young Guest's forehead.

Ding.

A crisp sound of metal clashing.

The eldest of the Huang family was instantly dull, finding it hard to believe.

Pu pu pu.

The next instant, more than a dozen Young Guest Fishing Death Whips gathered, piercing him from top, bottom, front, back, left, and right.

The eldest of the Huang family stared wide-eyed, his body pierced by the fishing death whip, hanging in mid-air, blood like rain, spraying out from the wound, splashing on the ground and walls, but covered by the heavy night.

Waiting until nearby cultivators heard the strange movement and came to this alley to check.

"What happened?" The cultivator was puzzled.

In the alley, not a single corpse or drop of blood could be found.

Ning Ze, who had been waiting for news for a long time, felt his body and mind turn cold: "Why is there still no news? It's been so long, it should have succeeded."

"The Young Guest is Foundation Establishment, and the Three Ghosts of the Huang Family are also Foundation Establishment. Even in Fire Persimmon Xiancheng, combat power is suppressed. Three against one, there is no reason to fail." He was still comforting himself.

"I gave them the Suppression Spirit Talisman, and also gave them the spirit pet Green Blade Mantis, which can cut hanging threads. With such preparations, the mechanical master will be severely restrained!"

"Wait a little longer."

This kind of waiting was destined to have no results.

The Young Guest walked in the underground secret passage.

Three Young Guest Fishing Death Whips were raised behind him, each hanging a cultivator's corpse. As he walked, he cast a monster-like terrifying shadow on the wall of the secret passage.

Red light gradually appeared in front, and the temperature became scorching.

Turning the corner, a large alchemy furnace appeared in front of the Young Guest.

The furnace door opened, and the Young Guest threw the three corpses into it, his movements extremely skilled.

Closing the furnace door, he came to the storage room on the side.

He threw the several catties of fire essence he had purchased from the black market this time into the storage room.

Years of accumulation made the fire essence in the storage room already piled into a small mountain.

"Still missing the last ten catties of fire essence."

The Young Guest came to the transmission room and opened the transmission array.

The next moment, he returned to his underground workshop.

The Young Guest's body began to change.

The strange black hair hanging to the ground quickly retracted, the hunched posture gradually straightened, and the old man's body under the black robe changed through light and shadow, gradually restoring its original appearance—

This was a silver-gray mechanical battle armor.

The surface of the armor flowed with faint treasure light. There were runes and array patterns all over the armor. On the helmet of the armor, a new scar was added. This was the result of the desperate counterattack of the eldest of the Three Ghosts of the Huang Family before he died.

The chest armor, abdominal armor, and leg armor of the armor opened symmetrically to the left and right sides.

From it walked out a youth.

The youth's face was clean and white, his eyes were as clear as water, and his temperament was calm and peaceful.

The armor was named: Cang Tie Han Jia.

Youth: Surname Ning, given name Zhuo. ===== CHAPTER 8 =====

A youth: surnamed Ning, named Zhuo.