Within the secluded chamber, layers of ethereal clouds drifted.

“Meng Chong, Meng Chong, formidable, truly formidable!” Ning Zhuo’s face was grave.

“Worthy of one who possesses Immortal Aptitude.”

Although Meng Chong was defeated in this clash, Ning Zhuo had already felt Meng Chong’s powerful impact!

“Each time I repel him, he can quickly recover, and his strength soars.”

“I am like a whetstone, constantly sharpening him to become even more keen.”

At this rate, perhaps one day, he will break through the obstacles I set, soar to the heavens, and become unstoppable.

The first victory of the Golden-Blood War Ape over Meng Chong was because Meng Chong overused his Immortal Aptitude, leading to a lack of stamina and a complete collapse of his lines.

But by the second encounter, Meng Chong had mastered a deeper application of his Immortal Aptitude, greatly reducing consumption and accelerating a part of his body, allowing him to fight Yuan Dasheng to a standstill.

He even gradually suppressed Yuan Dasheng.

“This time’s victory, I relied on sorcery!”

“With this trump card exposed, Meng Chong will surely find a way to counter it, but how long will it take him this time?”

Ning Zhuo had a premonition about this.

In fact, it is not difficult to resolve.

Meng Chong only needs to master some spells to counter spells.

Meng Chong only focused on breaking through the barriers, relying on his Immortal Aptitude and neglecting to master the spells that were rewards for passing through the trials.

Ning Zhuo examined the spoils of war.

Yuan Dasheng had many injuries, more severe than in the first battle.

Since Ning Zhuo couldn’t conveniently send Yuan Dasheng back right now, he controlled it to push open the door and head to the maintenance room.

Arriving at the maintenance room, Ning Zhuo controlled it, allowing it to pay spirit stones and select various mechanical tools to repair itself.

Yuan Dasheng sat cross-legged on the ground, holding a piece of fire-attributed wood in one hand and using the wood grafting technique.

The wood flowed like water, winding and stretching, probing into the wounds and completely filling them.

Ning Zhuo also used Yuan Dasheng to cast the Fire Bathing Spell, burning the wood into ashes to fill the cracks and fissures in the scars.

This repair method was not perfect.

Ning Zhuo’s previous repair method was actually quite good.

Although Yuan Dasheng has now treated the wounds, the wound sites are streaks of dark grey ash.

These charcoal-black scars are distributed all over its body, adding to its ferocious and ominous aura.

There was no other way.

Ning Zhuo could no longer openly use various tools under the guard of the four Ning family bodyguards to melt relevant fire rocks and create filling repair materials.

“Hmm? Its spirituality seems to have diminished.”

Ning Zhuo discovered a negative phenomenon during the maintenance.

Yuan Dasheng’s spirituality had decreased, originally at a full eighty percent, now at seventy-nine percent.

Ning Zhuo’s heart sank: “I need to rely on Yuan Dasheng to stop Meng Chong, so I need to find a way to replenish its spirituality.”

“Spirituality.”

Ning Zhuo knew very little about this.

Although he had memorized and mastered all the knowledge in the Ning family’s library, these were all publicly available books, not of a high standard.

Spirituality involves spiritual treasures, which are high-end powers in the cultivation world, only recorded in secret manuals!

The pressure in Ning Zhuo’s heart grew daily.

He had been planning for fourteen years, but when he truly faced the contest of the Lava Immortal Palace, unexpected events occurred frequently. Whether it was Yuan Dasheng or Zhu Xuanji, they all forced Ning Zhuo to change his plans and walk step by step to where he is now.

“Meng Chong is Meng Kui’s grandson, he must have life-saving treasures bestowed by a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

“I can’t possibly scheme against Meng Chong like I did to Yuan Dasheng.”

“Compared to the City Lord’s Mansion, the entire Ning family is nothing, and I am just a branch of the Ning family. If I really confront the City Lord’s Mansion head-on, how could the Ning family stand up for me?”

In this way, no matter how many times Meng Chong fails, he can make a comeback.

And Ning Zhuo’s energy, combat power, and time are greatly constrained by him, making it difficult to concentrate all his strength to explore the Immortal Palace.

“Take this battle, for example, I have no spoils of war, but instead have to spend all kinds of materials to repair Yuan Dasheng!”

“The only gain may be that in the spirit-linked state, I can fully feel Yuan Dasheng’s combat state, giving me a profound understanding of martial arts, and providing considerable inspiration.”

“Continuing to fight like this won’t work!”

“I will only become weaker and weaker.”

Ning Zhuo had a global perspective and was not at all deceived by the victory before his eyes.

As his thoughts deepened, he became increasingly worried.

City Lord’s Mansion!

Meng Chong slowly opened his eyes.

The muscles on his face twitched!

Phantom pain.

In the Lava Immortal Palace, he was burned alive, and this feeling was so immersive that it left a deep impression on him.

Meng Chong didn’t get up immediately, his eyes were somewhat dazed.

After mastering Lightning Shadow, his consumption of the Three Treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit had decreased a lot.

Clearly, he was able to sit up and move freely this time, but he didn’t.

He felt a lot of frustration and discouragement in his heart.

Meng Chong had been tested to have Immortal Aptitude since he was a child, and had always had smooth sailing, never encountering such a huge setback.

Not only was the setback huge, but it happened again and again.

Even though Meng Chong himself was naturally bold and high-spirited, he was ultimately depressed at this moment.

“The difficulty of exploring this Lava Immortal Palace is too high.”

Meng Chong remembered the mechanical monkey burning with raging flames, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

Lost and helpless.

His every move was watched by servants and maids.

Seeing that Meng Chong’s return this time was different from usual, something was wrong, the servants quickly reported the situation.

Meng Chong’s situation was the top priority.

Soon, Meng Kui learned of this.

Meng Kui’s true body was on the top of Fire Persimmon Mountain, his eyes radiating divine light, directly crossing the sky, penetrating the obstacles along the way, and seeing his beloved grandson lying silently in the room, his eyes unfocused.

“Something’s wrong, let me calculate!”

Meng Kui pinched his fingers to calculate, but couldn’t figure it out.

He immediately took out an abacus magic treasure, his fingers moving rapidly, his magic power and divine sense being consumed drastically, constantly moving the beads in the abacus.

The beads settled, and Meng Kui calculated Meng Chong’s fortune.

“How can it be so low?”

The Nascent Soul cultivator was secretly shocked.

In his understanding, Meng Chong was of Immortal Aptitude, and his natural fortune was very prosperous. Such a low state was extremely rare.

Unlike the Meng family’s predecessors, Meng Kui’s aptitude was of the upper level, named High Mountain Far Sight.
This aptitude allowed him to stand like a mountain. As long as he remained still, his family’s fate would be stabilized. He could calmly survey his surroundings and observe the entire landscape.

Therefore, he had another name: “The Prime Minister of the Mountaintop.”

When faced with competition, he always remained as still as a mountain, observing the layout and luring his enemies to attack.

His fate was self-determined and difficult to shake. The debuffs he suffered were far less than those of his enemies.

This often led to situations where enemies, after attacking for a long time without success, would expose their own weaknesses.

Meng Kui would still remain unmoved until the flaws accumulated to a sufficient degree. Only then would he strike with full force, often eliminating the enemy with a single blow and securing victory in one fell swoop.

He also cultivated the art of calculation, which was rare.

In the world of cultivation, mastering the art of deduction required rare spiritual roots or exceptional talent as a prerequisite.

Having a vantage point like a high mountain was precisely this kind of talent. When farsightedness reached a certain level, one could “observe” a few glimpses of the future.

Meng Kui was reminded of the chaos in the world, where heroes vied for supremacy, by Meng Chong’s situation.

Often, the dragons that initially showed the most promise were not the true destined rulers.

In the early and mid-stages of the struggle, they attracted too much firepower, and the dragons’ fates clashed and consumed each other too much.

The seeds of the true rulers seized the opportunity to develop and grow stronger, eventually accumulating great power, establishing dominance, and founding a cultivation kingdom.

“According to Zhu Xuanji, the Lava Immortal Palace was not supposed to appear yet.”

“Therefore, our forceful seizure of the Immortal Palace goes against its fate!”

“Chong’er is currently in the lead, rushing ahead of everyone else, which has caused him to lose too much of his fate.”

“If we can acquire a treasure that suppresses luck or fate within the Lava Immortal Palace, we can minimize this clash of fate as much as possible.”

Thinking of this, Meng Kui transmitted his voice from afar while also using his abacus magic treasure to temporarily boost Meng Chong’s fate.

“Foolish child, why haven’t you woken up?”

“Ah, Grandpa.” Meng Chong’s mind was shaken, and his fate returned to normal, with no more confusion.

His gaze was sharp, and a flash of inspiration struck his mind: “I’ve got it!”

“I’ve thought of a way!”

“Since the other party is using magic, I can use magic too!”

“The rewards for clearing a trial include the Ice Embracing Art. If I undergo special training to master this magic, wouldn’t I be able to deal with that monkey’s flames?”

“Hahaha.”

Meng Chong laughed, suddenly stood up, and jumped to the ground.

He strode forward and pushed open the door: “Someone, get me food!”

“I want to eat, eat, eat!”

“After eating, I want to practice, practice, practice!”

Upon seeing this, the servants breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the Meng Chong they remembered.

Meng Kui watched from afar and nodded slightly upon seeing this situation.

He then looked towards the Zhou, Zheng, and Ning families’ territories, his gaze darkening slightly.

“Chong’er’s clash of fate with the Lava Immortal Palace is like a conflict between two powerful forces.”

“Now that the three families have joined forces, although it’s not easy to simply stack their fates, it will ultimately be easier for them to find an opportunity to take advantage of us.”

“I have to curb them.”

Zhou Family!

Ning Zhuo was led into the Treasure Tome Pavilion.

“This is ‘On Spirituality.’ Guide Ning Zhuo, please view it here!” the Zhou family cultivator instructed.

Ning Zhuo nodded and took the jade slip.

After examining it, he placed the jade slip against his brow.

He infused his divine sense and read the jade slip.

“On Spirituality” was not a cultivation technique or a secret art, but rather a knowledge compendium about spirituality.

After Ning Zhuo finished reading, his eyes shone brightly for quite a while.

His vision broadened, completely transforming, and his gains were immense.

“So spirituality has so many intricacies!”

In “On Spirituality,” spirituality was divided into five levels. The lowest level was Non-Spiritual!

Then there was Dead Spirit.

After that was Living Spirit.

One level higher was Intelligent Spirit.

The highest level was Divine Spirit.

What was referred to as stubbornness was the Non-Spiritual stage, with no signs of spirituality.

The Dead Spirit stage, from low to high, was divided into: Spiritual Charm, Spiritual Mark, Spiritual Root, Spiritual Shadow, and Spiritual Image.

The Living Spirit stage, from low to high, was: Spiritual Star, Spiritual Spark, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Movement, and Spiritual Sensitivity.

According to the book, Yuan Dasheng’s spirituality was in the Spiritual Growth stage of the Living Spirit phase.

End of this chapter.