Chapter 721: Ning Zhuo, I want you to be my dog!

"Come in, why haven't you come in yet?" The Spider-Silk Lady, hiding within the cave dwelling, was becoming somewhat impatient.

Ning Zhuo watched as the crowd squeezed into the cave dwelling; he, however, was unhurried.

His fingers subconsciously rubbed together, but the mechanical ring remained motionless.

Ning Zhuo was recalling.

The intelligence he had previously acquired was of a very high grade and had cost a significant price; naturally, it contained information regarding Che Zhuzi.

Ning Zhuo himself had some vague, hazy memories, but now that he tried to recall them, he couldn't remember clearly.

It was impossible for him to remember every single small detail.

"Perhaps, after I return, I should study this intelligence more thoroughly?"

It was like a child who had been given a long wooden stick; they wanted to poke at everything they saw and sweep it all away.

Ning Zhuo’s learning ability had surged; seeing anything, he wanted to try it and learn it.

He took out the intelligence jade slip directly, held it in his hand, probed it with his spiritual sense, and read through it; he quickly confirmed the relevant content.

"So it is Che Zhuzi."

"'Everything is Possible' Che Zhuzi—"

This referred to Che Zhuzi’s nickname.

In his early years, when Che Zhuzi had just transformed, because his original form was a demon insect, his intelligence was poor, and he was often deceived.

The void spider silk that Che Zhuzi’s body secreted and produced was a very practical and precious treasure material. As a result, any cultivator could exchange some trash for it with Che Zhuzi.

For the Che Zhuzi of that time, who had no experience at all, as long as it looked passable, or if he believed their flowery talk, he would trade his precious void spider silk for it.

This would work, and that would work too; therefore, he was given the nickname "Everything is Possible."

Of course, the current Che Zhuzi had already grown into a Jin Dan demon cultivator; his vision had broadened significantly, and his intelligence had grown along with his cultivation base.

Ning Zhuo pondered: "Void spider silk is indeed very practical."

"If I only use magic power to suspend threads, the range is far inferior to using it in conjunction with void spider silk."

"Although 'Human Life Hanging Threads' is powerful, as a divine ability, it has limitations—this method can only communicate with objects that possess spirit."

Although Ning Zhuo could temporarily imbue inanimate objects with spirit, it could not last. Using it once consumed a great deal of spirit; it was considered a trump card at the bottom of the box and could not be used routinely.

"If I use 'Human Life Hanging Threads,' I cannot control the newly forged Mother-Sound Bamboo puppets."

"But using void spider silk, I can. This treasure material is extremely practical!"

Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo made up his mind and slowly walked into the cave dwelling gate.

"He’s in, he finally came in!" Seeing this scene, the Spider-Silk Lady was so excited that her whole body trembled, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

This was clearly a space within an array.

Square gray stone bricks paved a huge plaza.

The "sky" overhead looked like an inverted lead basin, and the gray wisps of cloud were like dirty cotton balls, hanging low and ready to fall.

The ground stretched out in all directions, as if extending infinitely. The gray bricks gradually blurred at the edge of the field of vision, finally merging into the leaden clouds; it was impossible to tell where the horizon was, as if heaven and earth were originally one.

Che Zhuzi did not appear, but his voice spread out, announcing the rules.

"Fellow Daoists, welcome to participate in the 'Cloud-Raising Small Trial' I have set up."

"This small trial has only three rounds; this is the first round—'Pointing at Stars in the Wind'."

"Daoists only need to activate your control threads or hanging threads to light up the star points to achieve victory and enter the next round."

"Begin now."

As soon as Che Zhuzi’s voice fell, points of starlight appeared in the air in the distance.

These starlights were like fireflies, very sparse, and constantly moving, leaving deep blue short lines in mid-air.

Ning Zhuo focused his gaze and was shocked to find that observation-type spells could not be mobilized; clearly, they were suppressed by the grand array.

He could only observe with the naked eye.

"The speed of these starlights is sometimes fast and sometimes slow, and their movement has no pattern at all." Ning Zhuo narrowed his eyes, observed for a while, and discovered the difficulty.

While he was observing, some cultivators had already begun to act.

Threads of hanging magic power shot out, cutting through the air.

Suddenly, a strong wind attacked from nowhere.

This wind was clearly strange; it blew away the magic power directly, causing these magic power hanging threads to fail halfway.

Ning Zhuo understood in his heart: "The first round is called 'Pointing at Stars in the Wind'; so that's where it applies."

A white-faced cultivator snorted coldly, flicked his sleeve, and whipped out a thin green vine.

The thin vine was a physical object; infused with magic power and controlled by spiritual sense, it flew in the air and was very capable of resisting the strong wind.

Everyone’s eyes were focused on the thin vine.

The wind force grew stronger and stronger, but the thin vine was full of strength, extending in mid-air, at most being blown to sway.

But the white-faced cultivator’s expression grew increasingly somber.

Suddenly, the thin vine stopped extending and came to an abrupt halt halfway.

The cultivators hurriedly cast doubtful looks at the white-faced cultivator.

The white-faced cultivator’s face twitched, but he still explained forcefully with resentment: "I didn't expect the distance to be so far!"

His thin vine was a physical object, and its length was limited.

Ning Zhuo, taking advantage of this person's attempt, discovered the third difficulty of the first round: "This array space forbids spell observation; relying solely on the naked eye, it is very easy to make misjudgments."

"These star points are truly far away; to use physical control threads or hanging threads, the length must be guaranteed!"

Ning Zhuo thought of the intelligence he had just read and suddenly his heart stirred, producing a guess: "No, perhaps this distance can also be long or short. The grand array here is controlled by Che Zhuzi. He is very likely controlling it from behind the scenes, creating the situation most favorable to him."

The cultivators began their respective attempts.

There were not a few cultivators who possessed physical threads.

It was just that many fell into an awkward situation; like the white-faced cultivator, their control threads were not long enough to reach those points of starlight. Ning Zhuo knew that this situation was very normal.

Because using control threads and hanging threads to manipulate mechanical creations was usually done at medium range. If it were longer, the magic power and spiritual sense transmitted by the threads would have a delay.

And the longer the distance, the more interference there would be between the threads. At the same time, the huge flaws exposed would also make it very easy for enemies to attack these control threads and hanging threads.

Therefore, for those who used control threads and hanging threads to manipulate mechanical creations, this type of thread was often not too long.

And Che Zhuzi’s deliberate arrangement made the distance between the cultivators and the targets exceed expectations!

But this could not stump Ning Zhuo.

He observed for a while, and after testing several times with magic power hanging threads, he tested out the nature of the strong wind within the array.

He designed a spell on the spot, specifically targeting the strong wind, and created a special magic power hanging thread.

Life-bound—Five Elements Life-Destruction Art!

Five Viscera Temple Spirit God Art!

Under the blessing of two spells, the five-element magic power intertwined like a spiral, constantly generating each other, overcoming the strong wind, and the speed of extension was faster than physical threads.

After many failed attempts, Ning Zhuo suddenly succeeded in one fell swoop, successfully lighting up a star point and advancing to the next round.

Some interested people saw this scene and looked sideways, observing Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo was the only one in the field who achieved the passing standard by relying solely on magic power to condense threads.

In the dark, Che Zhuzi was slightly stunned; when he wanted to change the array and the nature of the strong wind, it was already a step too late. This made him quietly size up Ning Zhuo, knowing that the latter had used a paralyzing tactic at the time. Perhaps some of the early failures were fake, and the sudden success had dodged the changes.

Ning Zhuo scanned the surroundings and found that at least 40% of the cultivators had tried several times without success and were in a position to be eliminated.

These cultivators were somewhat panicked and anxious; some asked for help from the cultivators who had passed, trying to borrow their physical threads, but without exception, they were all refused.

After all, they were in a competitive relationship with each other.

The cultivators who had passed wished that as many people as possible would be eliminated in the first round.

But at this moment, Che Zhuzi’s voice came over, and at the same time, what appeared before everyone was a bundle of void spider silk.

"Only ten medium-grade spirit stones are needed to rent a piece of void spider silk for use."

"Please remember the rules, fellow Daoists: this piece of void spider silk can only be used in the first round; it is only a temporary rental."

This made the cultivators who could not pass overjoyed.

Some cultivators snorted coldly, while others were dumbfounded.

"It really came." Ning Zhuo had investigated the intelligence and was not surprised at all.

"The reason Che Zhuzi set up the 'Cloud-Raising Small Trial' is mainly to promote his void spider silk."

"Therefore, the cultivators who rent void spider silk before our eyes will all have a profound experience. Their performance will also leave a deep impression on others."

"Hmm... I'll rent one too."

Even though Ning Zhuo had already passed, he still rented a piece of void spider silk and tried again.

This attempt took him almost only 30% of the time compared to before; it was almost done in one go.

Those cultivators in the position of being eliminated were all overjoyed.

"This void spider silk can penetrate the void, so its length far exceeds that of physical objects."

"Easy to use, really too easy to use!"

"Buy, I want to buy a few to use. Where exactly can I buy them?"

"Rent? No, no, no, I don't lack this little money!"

Just by looking at the shouts of the cultivators, Ning Zhuo understood that Che Zhuzi’s promotion this time had already taken effect.

Ning Zhuo secretly praised Che Zhuzi’s arrangement: "Renting for ten medium-grade spirit stones, the vast majority of cultivators can afford it. This price was designed very carefully."

"It looks cheap, but in fact, it is not."

"Renting it can only be used in the first round. I believe that similar situations will inevitably appear in the subsequent rounds."

While Ning Zhuo was pondering, he did not know that the Spider-Silk Lady had been observing him all along.

Seeing that Ning Zhuo had rented the void spider silk, the Spider-Silk Lady laughed proudly at the sky: "He fell for my scheme! For such a young man, making him fall for a scheme is not difficult at all."

"You just need to use your brain."

"Sigh, Ban Ji and his group really have no brains; they don't understand what is called a detour, what is called a layout!"

All the cultivators who could not pass rented the void spider silk.

After all, ten medium-grade spirit stones were really not expensive!

Thus, everyone obtained the qualification to enter the second round.

Che Zhuzi’s voice came over, full of encouragement: "Congratulations to all fellow Daoists for successfully entering the next round."

"A good start is half the battle!"

"My 'Cloud-Raising Small Trial' only has three rounds."

"Next is the second round—'Taking the Heart from the Poisonous Flower'!"

The array space shook for a while; the star points in the far distance all disappeared without a trace, and poisonous flowers the size of carriages appeared out of thin air and were placed on the floor tiles, separated by a great distance from each other.

These poisonous flowers were colorful and quickly released powdery, greasy poisonous gas outward.

Soon, the poisonous gas accumulated more and more, forming paths of poisonous miasma.

And according to Che Zhuzi’s introduction, the cultivators needed to use control threads and hanging threads to extract the stamens of the poisonous flowers.

Finally, a ranking admission method would be used to let the first half of the cultivators enter the third round.

"Reminding all fellow Daoists, there is void spider silk here; the quantity is limited, buy quickly!" Che Zhuzi didn't even pretend and directly promoted his own product.

Immediately, someone asked about the price.

As a result, the price was more than a hundred times higher, causing some cultivators’ faces to change drastically, directly calling it "robbery."

The Myriad Phenomena Sect recruited members widely, so there were many ordinary, and even bottom-level, people among the cultivators who came to participate in the Flying Cloud Assembly.

Many cultivators did not want to spend money unjustly and immediately urged their hanging threads and control threads, shooting them toward the poisonous flowers one after another.

The poisonous miasma was fierce; it quickly corroded and dissolved these hanging threads and control threads.

The cultivators’ faces were gloomy, but they were still unwilling to give up, and they all displayed their methods.

Spell—Mysterious Ice Plain Wrap!

Spell—Flame Attachment Art.

Spell—Golden Thousand Patterns.

Various spells blessed the control threads and hanging threads, causing their strength to surge, forming a fierce consumption with the poisonous miasma, causing the field to resound with noise.

Some people succeeded, while others suffered failure.

Ning Zhuo watched with interest for a while: "I didn't expect there to be so many spells that can bless control threads and hanging threads; this is much more than in the classics left by Mother."

Ning Zhuo truly had his eyes opened.

Che Zhuzi was in the dark, staring closely at Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo’s performance in the first round amazed him; in his countless 'Cloud-Raising Small Trials', the number of cultivators who could pass the Foundation Establishment stage by purely using magic power hanging threads could be counted on one hand.

Once Ning Zhuo used magic power hanging threads, Che Zhuzi would immediately operate behind the scenes to change the composition of the poisonous miasma.

But what surprised him was that Ning Zhuo did not use the five-element magic power hanging threads, but directly purchased a piece of void spider silk.

Che Zhuzi provided thoughtful service for this purchase—he also gifted a jade slip, the content of which was the method of using void spider silk.

Ning Zhuo referred to it and studied it; after trying several times, he successfully made the front end of the spider silk penetrate the void and extend from a distance.

Visually, the spider silk he controlled was missing a large section in the middle.

Ning Zhuo used the void spider silk to directly cross the void, avoid the poisonous miasma, enter the flower heart, and after grabbing the stamen, he pulled the void spider silk back violently; its resistance to the poisonous miasma was also very strong.

Even when carrying the stamen through, it did not dissolve much.

Seeing Ning Zhuo succeed, many cultivators became somewhat anxious.

After all, the rule of the second round was to take the first half of the cultivators.

Ning Zhuo was the first cultivator to buy void spider silk; this won him Che Zhuzi’s favor, but also offended most of the cultivators; many cultivators cast resentful looks at him, blaming him for being too competitive.

Ning Zhuo had expected this long ago and remained expressionless, as if these gazes did not exist.

This little money was nothing to Ning Zhuo.

"Hahaha." The Spider-Silk Lady in the dark laughed happily.

She had placed hidden poison on all the void spider silk.

Since Ning Zhuo used it so heavily, the poison would accumulate more and more in his body.

"Keep using it, use it hard!"

"Once you are poisoned by me, when you reach the third round, I will close the net."

"At that time, I want you to be my dog!"