Chapter 174: Zhou Zhenshen's Challenge Invitation

Ning Xiangqian's "Life Hanging by a Thread" was normal, but Ning Xiangguo's "Life Hanging by a Thread" was the smallest and most transparent.

Based on Ning Zhuo's understanding of this divine ability, he speculated that either Ning Xiangguo was hiding many secrets or his heart was elsewhere, not truly loyal to Ning Zhuo.

Considering the City Lord's Mansion's infiltration of the three major families and their consistently superior intelligence advantage, Ning Zhuo made an initial judgment: Ning Xiangguo was likely a spy developed by the City Lord's Mansion.

Divine Ability—Life Hanging by a Thread.

As Ning Zhuo used it, he increasingly realized its wonderful uses.

When Ning Zhuo activated it, he could forcibly control another person's movements. As for the specific actions, the range of movement, etc., these depended on the strength of both parties.

Ning Zhuo had discovered that he could extract Yuan Dasheng's spirituality and Sun Lingtong's soul. However, these were based on the voluntary and full cooperation of the latter two. For others, under resistance or ignorance, Ning Zhuo was unable to achieve this.

At least, for now, this was the case.

"Since setting up 'Life Hanging by a Thread,' it has remained in place without requiring me to replenish it."

"Even without activating 'Life Hanging by a Thread,' I can infer the size of a target's hidden secrets and their true intentions through the state of the thread."

This meant that Ning Zhuo could, to some extent, detect the "loyalty" of his subordinates.

This was already incredibly powerful!

Not to mention, it had other wonderful uses as well.

"Furthermore, after setting 'Life Hanging by a Thread,' the luck between people can gather together and fully combine."

"No matter how you look at it, this divine ability is an unparalleled tool for managing power!"

"I wonder what the divine ability will look like after the lotus fully blooms and undergoes its final transformation."

Ning Zhuo grew increasingly curious about the answer to this question.

As for Ning Xiangguo, Ning Zhuo pretended not to know and still entrusted him with important tasks.

It had to be said, among all the Foundation Establishment cultivators, Ning Xiangguo had the best vision and handled matters meticulously. Assigning tasks to him gave people peace of mind.

In comparison, although Ning Xiangqian was the strongest in combat, having once been the steward of the family's battle hall, he was not as reliable as Ning Xiangguo.

After handling the matters of the black market, Ning Zhuo returned to his secluded cultivation.

He reduced his external activities to a minimum.

What used to be a spell exchange session every three days was now held every five days.

The content of the exchange also changed.

In the past, it was only about sparring and exchanging insights on spellcasting experiences. Now, there was an additional segment on reviewing mechanical creations.

Ning Zhuo's classmates would bring out the Mechanical Explosive Monkeys and other creations they made in Chen Cha's workshop and hand them over to Ning Zhuo.

After inspecting them, Ning Zhuo would give one-by-one feedback on the Explosive Monkeys.

Each time he pointed out flaws, he made it simple and easy to understand, causing the creators to have sudden realizations. Ning Zhuo also explained how to better and more quickly create mechanical devices.

This behavior greatly benefited his classmates in the modification team.

As a result, Ning Zhuo's authority among the group was firmly established.

When he encountered mechanical creations that met the standard, Ning Zhuo would publicly take out spirit stones and purchase them on the spot at market price.

Seeing their mechanical creations being purchased by Ning Zhuo, the creators all stood tall with pride.

If there were any innovative gadgets, Ning Zhuo would even exchange pills or spirit food for them. This was a higher level of recognition, and the young cultivators who received such treatment were all overjoyed.

Zhou Zhenshen sat in a corner, watching the lively scene, his eyes flashing with brilliance.

"Like the stars surrounding the moon, Ning Zhuo has completely taken control of this team."

"And in Ning Family's modification team, the main branch of the Ning Family is small in number, while the collateral branches are the majority. In other words, Ning Zhuo has essentially become the actual controller of Ning Family's modification team."

Since being summoned by the Zhou Family patriarch and ordered to build a good relationship with Ning Zhuo, Zhou Zhenshen had been actively inviting Ning Zhuo, trying to increase the frequency of their meetings to foster cooperation between the two sides.

However, Ning Zhuo had been focused on cultivation these past days and politely declined all of Zhou Zhenshen's invitations.

Zhou Zhenshen was quite persistent. Seeing that constant refusal was not a solution, Ning Zhuo told him that he held a modification team exchange meeting every five days. If Zhou Zhenshen was interested, he could attend; otherwise, he'd have to wait seven days until Ning Zhuo visited the Kindergarten for Benevolence.

Zhou Zhenshen decisively chose to participate, finding a corner in the courtyard to sit.

He watched coldly and soon noticed someone in the Ning family who was out of place with the enthusiastic atmosphere.

"It's Ning Ji, Ning Zhuo's cousin."

Ordinarily, Zhou Zhenshen wouldn't pay special attention to a small character like Ning Ji.

But Zhou Zhenshen remembered every piece of information about Ning Zhuo, and thus, he knew about Ning Ji.

"This guy once asked for a share when Ning Zhuo was heavily rewarded by the main branch of the family, even requesting to borrow Ning Zhuo's magic tools for cultivation."

"In the end, Ning Zhuo sternly rejected him."

Zhou Zhenshen looked at Ning Zhuo again, silently admiring him.

So far, Ning Zhuo had handled everything perfectly!

If Ning Zhuo had relented back then, he would have undoubtedly fallen into a trap.

Such unconditional assistance would only fuel others' greed, leading to endless entanglements.

How could someone like Ning Ji ever be satisfied?

Likewise, it would incite more people to swarm to cling to Ning Zhuo.

Over time, even the greatest fortune would be lost.

On the surface, it would seem like Ning Zhuo had won the people's favor and garnered admiration, but it would all be an illusion!

Once Ning Zhuo stopped offering aid, those who had benefited before and whose expectations were unmet would grow resentful, even hateful.

Thus, from the beginning, Ning Zhuo had cleanly and decisively refused.

What followed was even more crucial!

Ning Zhuo commanded his classmates to participate in the production of Mechanical Explosive Monkeys.

And once the mechanical monkeys were produced, Ning Zhuo would evaluate them. Then, he would purchase most of them with spirit stones, and a few exceptional ones would receive additional rewards.

Through this, even though Ning Zhuo expended resources, it wasn't an unconditional outlay. It wasn't about giving away things for free to those who merely extended their hands and wanted to gain without effort.

This created a positive cycle, and more importantly, it established the foundation of the team—

Fairness and justice!

Every word of Ning Zhuo's feedback was public and explicit. This brought about clear rewards and punishments, open and transparent, eliminating favoritism and corruption while fostering an upwardly positive atmosphere, thus winning over more people.

Watching the eloquent and smiling Ning Zhuo in front of him, Zhou Zhenshen found it hard to believe that Ning Zhuo had once been a marginal figure from the collateral branch!

"Isn't someone like this supposed to have been cultivated by the family since childhood, personally taught by the elders?"

"This is the kind of awareness and skill only possessed by a cultivator raised from childhood to be an heir."

Who would have expected Ning Zhuo to have such depth?

Zhou Zhenshen thought secretly, "Ning Zhuo is very good at hiding his talents. He hides it too well!"

"It was precisely because no one realized he was such a person that the main branch of the Ning family suffered a major loss this time."

It was understandable.

A typical sixteen-year-old cultivator spent most of their life in school—what could they know?

Especially Ning Zhuo, who had lost his parents at a young age and had been raised by his uncle, enduring hardship and harsh treatment his whole life.

"How could he have such understanding, such vision, such skills?"

Zhou Zhenshen couldn't figure it out.

He believed that the main branch of the Ning Family's great defeat this time was mainly due to underestimating Ning Zhuo, thinking that such a scheme could easily solve him.

As a result, Ning Zhuo had effortlessly defused it.

Ning Zhuo avoided the pitfall, organized his classmates, and turned the tables by getting involved in the black market, leaving the main branch of the Ning Family to suffer a great loss instead!

Now, Ning Zhuo had become the master of the black market.

A sixteen-year-old, at the third layer of Qi Refining, the master of the black market!

He commanded nearly twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators, and these Foundation Establishment cultivators were not ordinary—they were elites among their ranks.

Ning Zhuo's series of actions left Zhou Zhenshen filled with admiration and he couldn't help but marvel at their brilliance.

Zhou Zhenshen, skilled in strategy, greatly enjoyed such intellectual confrontations.

In his view, the competition in the righteous path was far more interesting, deeper, and more meaningful than direct bloody battles, and far more worthy of appreciation!

"Among the Qi Refining geniuses in the four major forces of Huoshi Immortal City, only Ning Zhuo and I are alike. We are the same kind of people

!" Zhou Zhenshen's admiration for Ning Zhuo grew immensely.

He appreciated Ning Zhuo and also envied him quite a bit.

"Ning Zhuo's current power—how is it any different from that of an elder?"

"Though I have talent, I'm restricted everywhere in my family. Even though I am the son of an elder, I am far from free."

"How can I compare to Ning Zhuo's glory?"

"More crucially, it's the profits!"

"Ning Zhuo is now reaping the benefits of the black market."

"Oh, right. The members of the modification team all follow Ning Zhuo's lead. These are his manpower, for him to use!"

After Ning Zhuo finished commenting on all the mechanical creations, he began to exchange insights on spellcasting.

Zhou Zhenshen quietly listened, growing more and more astonished—so Ning Zhuo's talent wasn't just in mechanical techniques; he had terrifying comprehension in traditional spells as well.

The five-faced leaderboard was filled with people from the City Lord's Mansion.

The Zhou and Zheng families were still clueless about the rewards tied to the leaderboard.

The more Zhou Zhenshen listened, the more engrossed he became, and a fascinated expression gradually appeared on his face. The corners of his mouth slightly curled up, unable to hide his joy at the immense benefits gained from listening to this session.

When it came time for the question-and-answer segment, Zhou Zhenshen joined in, asking a few questions.

After careful thought, Ning Zhuo provided detailed answers.

Zhou Zhenshen was deeply touched, having gained so much, and sincerely expressed his gratitude.

This made the other Ning Family cultivators feel a great sense of pride, thinking that Ning Zhuo had "convinced" the Zhou family genius with his personal talent.

Zhou Zhenshen didn't only take from the session—he was well aware that his purpose here was to perform and build a relationship with Ning Zhuo.

During the exchange, he also shared his own insights into spellcasting and even actively invited Ning Zhuo to a public mechanical technique duel, to be held in front of everyone present.

Ning Chen and Ning Yong's eyes sparkled with excitement, feeling greatly anticipated.

Ning Zhuo only pondered for a moment before decisively agreeing: "Then I will respectfully accept Brother Zhou's challenge."

He had always wanted to spar with Zhou Zhenshen and Zhou Zhu, to experience the mechanical techniques of the Mud Flow Sect.

Now that Zhou Zhenshen had brought it up himself, it was precisely what Ning Zhuo wanted.

How could Ning Zhuo not agree?