Ning Zhuo then pulled out the Ling Shuang and Ao Xue Enlightenment Diagrams. He sighed, having never had the time to study them. “I hope I’ll have time in the future.”

The most valuable items among them were the *Gao Sheng Yishu* and the *Difu Xingshu*. Ning Zhuo also found a Wanxiang Yunzhong at the bottom of the box, which he had acquired back in Huoshi Xiancheng. Not to mention the captives, Lin You, Wu Hen, and Gumu Dao Ren. Oh, and there was also a Tianshuang Guimian. If used well, this could be a Nascent Soul-level combat force!

Ning Zhuo looked surprised. “Strange, why didn’t I think of using it during the Wangchuan Fujun battle? Not just it, but also Ru Dien Niang, I seem to have forgotten about both of them. Was it just because I was nervous?!”

Ning Zhuo squinted, unable to understand why he had forgotten. It was incredible! He only remembered them when he was checking his possessions and saw these items.

Overall, Ning Zhuo’s assets were extremely substantial. While he wasn’t rich enough to rival a nation, he had the potential to be compared to a prosperous village or town. What allowed for the formation of a village or town was often abundant cultivation resources; otherwise, cultivators wouldn’t gather there.

However, Ning Zhuo’s asset distribution was also severely imbalanced. Many aspects demonstrated this. For example, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was suited for magical tools. Magical treasures were difficult for Foundation Establishment cultivators to fully utilize. Even genius Foundation Establishment cultivators like Lin Jinglong and Shen Xi only had two or three magical treasures with family support, and they didn’t use them frequently in battle. They were usually reserved for changing the tide of a battle or delivering a decisive blow, offering tremendous assistance. After all, Foundation Establishment-stage magical power struggled to sustain magical treasures.

Ning Zhuo had too many magical treasures, and most of them were for cultivation. He had two defensive magical treasures but none for offense. Most cultivators invested their assets in pills and talismans. The former was the biggest necessity during cultivation, while the latter offered excellent value for money, being far more convenient than diligently cultivating spells oneself.

Ning Zhuo had the least assets in these two categories; he hadn’t even invested heavily. He had many talismans, all of which were gifts, and they were all high-quality, even imbued with spirituality. He didn’t need many pills because he had Guoli Zhuan! He also had a chef with him. Both spiritual food and Guoli Zhuan had far fewer side effects than pills.

After checking his assets, Ning Zhuo became aware of this situation and muttered to himself, “Next, within Wanxiang Zong, I need to make adjustments and lean more towards pills and talismans. At the very least, purchasing a batch of pills and talismans for physical cultivation would certainly enhance my physical foundation and quickly resolve the issue of my soul suppressing my body. My spiritual stone reserves are too low; I need to increase them again!” Ning Zhuo was a man of immense wealth, but the battle at Baizhi Xiancheng had left him financially drained.

After his review, Ning Zhuo took out the Fubing Baiyu Shou and Tianqiqiu Bingjing Xue. The young man with the large head showed a wry smile. “My Ning family is renowned for its ice attribute, yet I am not skilled in this aspect. I am still too weak, and there’s too much to learn. This time, to resolve Yuan Dasheng’s predicament, I might have to rely on my own clan members—”

The spirituality in Fubing Baiyu Shou came from Ning Xiaohui, already at a full ten, possessing the innate talent of Bingzhi Yushou. The spirituality in Tianqiqiu Bingjing Xue came from Ning Xie. She was an elder of the Ning family in life and a Foundation Establishment ghost cultivator after death, serving as a hidden foundation for the Ning family. She possessed the innate talent of Xuehun Bingpo, and her spirituality had also reached a full ten.

Such conditions were already sufficient to create automaton puppets. Ning Zhuo had not done so before for a reason. On one hand, what he had was enough. The heavy-armored blood ape, Dasheng, and the shadowy blade, Yehu, served as main combatants, even performing well in the Wangchuan Fujun battle. The Buddhist physician, Meng Yaoyin, was Ning Zhuo’s ultimate trump card! Fubing Baiyu Shou served as a healing method, and Tianqiqiu Bingjing Xue was used to set up the battlefield, providing auxiliary support.

On the other hand, Ning Zhuo simply couldn’t design them. Designing an automaton puppet was very challenging. Think of the original automaton Huobao Hou; Ning Zhuo secretly spent a long time and invested a great deal of effort and resources. After countless improvements and adjustments, he finally produced a relatively mature work. Yuan Dasheng’s automaton puppet wasn’t conjured out of thin air. When Ning Zhuo designed his automaton body, he already had the foundation of Huobao Hou, as well as the automaton templates from the Rongyan Xiangong. Even so, Yuan Dasheng’s automaton version underwent numerous improvements, eventually becoming the heavy-armored blood ape type.

Designing an automaton puppet alone was not easy. What was even harder was continuously improving it through use and practice, adding and subtracting components, to gradually mature it. The Buddhist physician, Meng Yaoyin, utilized the automaton templates from the Rongyan Xiangong, effectively standing on the shoulders of the three sect elders. The shadowy blade, Yehu, was somewhat special. Ning Zhuo had a stroke of luck during that period; design drawings were scattered on the ground and accidentally combined to form a design plan. It proved to be an excellent design. Ning Zhuo had used this Meng Yehu until now.

Now, Ning Zhuo wanted to upgrade both of them to puppet form, and he also faced the design challenge. Compared to before, he had more confidence! The reason was simple: the Luoshu book pages. This Dao artifact was the origin of all arithmetic in the world. With its help, Ning Zhuo could save a vast amount of time and effort in calculations. He was sure to get the correct answers!

“I need to design and build these two puppets. Perhaps I can use them to rescue Yuan Dasheng from the ice. Even if it doesn’t work—” Even if it didn’t work, it could timely supplement Ning Zhuo’s automaton combat power. With the Buddhist physician, Meng Yaoyin, the heavy-armored blood ape, Dasheng, and the shadowy blade, Yehu, all absent, Ning Zhuo needed other automaton puppets to step up. The Underworld Emissary, Qi Bai, wouldn’t do. Although his automaton body was very strong, possessing magical treasure-level automaton components, and despite having his Golden Core from life and innate talents, his spirituality had not reached a full ten. Moreover, because Ning Zhuo had been traveling, his spirituality had also decreased somewhat.

A full ten in spirituality was a qualitative change. Below this point, spirituality would be eroded by time. Once reached, even if spirituality was damaged, it could recover on its own.

“Boss, help me!” Ning Zhuo immediately sent a spiritual message, contacting Sun Lingtong through Renming Xuansi. Sun Lingtong was using the Luoshu book pages to study formation arrays, deeply immersed. Disturbed by Ning Zhuo, he felt helpless. “What is it again?”

Ning Zhuo didn’t immediately bring up the automaton puppet plan but first mentioned another matter. “Boss, I just checked my assets and made a surprising discovery. Do you remember the Tianshuang Guimian and Ru Dien Niang? During the Wangchuan Fujun battle, I actually completely forgot about such valuable combat forces; I didn’t think of them at all. This is very unusual!”

The Underworld Emissary, Qi Bai, was an exception. His spirituality was insufficient, and even if Ning Zhuo used him, he would have to control him himself. Moreover, his combat power was concentrated on soul cultivation, and using him against the Wangchuan Fujun or the imperial guards carried the risk of “teaching a fish to swim.”

Sun Lingtong’s expression became solemn, his eyes flickering. “Xiao Zhuo, you’re right! It’s a bit scary. I also knew about them, but I forgot too! I couldn’t even remind you. Strange, this is too strange. Do you think this might be because of being misled by destiny?”

Ning Zhuo nodded slightly; Sun Lingtong had hit upon his own guess; he also thought the same. “I am the savior of Baizhi Xiancheng, sent by Yang Tian. Perhaps these two brought me more harm than good, so under the operation of destiny, I completely forgot about them.”

The two discussed for a while but came up with no results. Instead, it further ignited the brothers’ strong desire for the art of destiny calculation! “I really want a heritage like that. But my mother told me it’s very difficult to obtain—sigh.”

Sun Lingtong: “Speak, what do you need me for?”

Ning Zhuo stated his intention. Sun Lingtong readily agreed without any hesitation. He himself had some automaton expertise but was not as good as Ning Zhuo. Ning Zhuo, in turn, was not as good as Sun Lingtong in array formation. The two brothers worked together on the design, further aided by the Luoshu book pages, and quickly produced a preliminary design.

Ning Zhuo, as if following a prescription, had Chef Lao and Gongsun Yan go out to purchase the relevant precious materials. Lacking sufficient spiritual stones, Ning Zhuo first took out three ghost dao golden cores and put them in the Tongshang Tang to exchange for enough funds for procurement.

Gongsun Yan, seeing Ning Zhuo purchasing many materials, had a guess in his heart and proactively said to Ning Zhuo, “Young Master, are you planning to refine artifacts? I am not talented, but I am willing to contribute my meager strength.”

Ning Zhuo saw Gongsun Yan volunteer and, after a moment’s thought, nodded gently. “Very well, I’ll give you some tasks, and you can refine them.”

Gongsun Yan then received some blueprints, his expression showing surprise, and he thought to himself, “So Young Master wants to refine automaton components. Does Young Master also study automaton techniques? This cultivation skill is uncommon and difficult to achieve results in. Why would Young Master be interested in it? But it seems his natal fan also uses some automaton techniques?”

Gongsun Yan was a little puzzled. In his opinion, Ning Zhuo’s attainments in the Five Elements were unfathomable, and such a bright future was the right path. Automaton techniques were too niche. However, these doubts did not prevent Gongsun Yan from giving his all. “This is the first task Young Master has given me; I must exert my full strength and strive for perfection!”

He examined the automaton blueprints multiple times and first chose to refine the Nuanyu Lun. Gongsun Yan’s refining steps were somewhat different from others. He first forged a rough blank, then placed it in a furnace magical tool. Gongsun Yan pressed his palm against the furnace wall, activated his magical power and innate talent, transforming it into a ball of heart fire, gently enveloping the jade wheel blank.

Heart fire was best at delicate work. Under Gongsun Yan’s skilled hands, the Nuanyu Lun blank was meticulously carved. Gongsun Yan took out cold steel and put it into the furnace. Immediately, he pointed his fingers like a sword and rapidly tapped in the air. The cold steel melted and was embedded into the Nuanyu Lun, forming a honeycomb-like grid. The heart fire continuously enveloped the Nuanyu Lun; any slightly protruding cold steel would be precisely melted away.

Gongsun Yan successively added three precious materials. The materials melted in the furnace, turning into a unified mixed color. These mixed colors fell onto the grid, forming three-color enamel. Gongsun Yan activated the heart fire, drilling into the Nuanyu Lun and burning three hundred and sixty tiny holes within it. After reaching this step, he infused his spiritual consciousness, pulling intensely, guiding the enamel along the tiny holes deep into the jade wheel.

Finally, the Nuanyu Lun emerged from the furnace. It floated in the air, slowly rotating. The outer ring of enamel flowed with three colors and frost marks, while the inner ring of three hundred and sixty orifices produced warm smoke. Gongsun Yan looked utterly exhausted after completing the refinement. “This is the most exquisite work I have ever refined. I wonder what kind of automaton Young Master will assemble with it?”

Gongsun Yan had rich experience in artifact refining. Even though he didn’t understand automaton techniques, he had some insight. He knew that such exquisite automaton components were uncommon and used two Golden Core-level precious materials as main components. This meant that the assembled automaton creation should be Golden Core-level! “Young Master and I are both Foundation Establishment cultivators. Can we really assemble a Golden Core-level automaton? Regardless of success or failure, this is truly a grand undertaking!”

Gongsun Yan rested for over an hour, adjusting his state back to its peak. He began refining the next automaton component, named Han Zhu. Three days later, Gongsun Yan presented Ning Zhuo with five automaton components. Ning Zhuo inspected them and showed a satisfied smile.

He looked up at the extremely tired Gongsun Yan and said softly, “As expected of heart fire, it’s very suitable for such delicate artifact refining. Thank you, it saved me a lot of hard work.” Gongsun Yan quickly replied that he dared not claim credit and that he was very happy to contribute his strength. Ning Zhuo nodded, instructing him to rest well. Gongsun Yan felt a pang of disappointment that he hadn’t seen Ning Zhuo assemble the automatons and dutifully withdrew.

During these three days, Ning Zhuo utilized the three automaton bases to create the remaining automaton components. In Wanli Youlong, there were already two puppet prototypes. They only lacked the assembly of key components. Soon, the assembly was complete, and Ning Zhuo then used Renming Xuansi to draw out two clumps of spirituality, inserting them into their respective automaton bodies.

The next moment, the automaton components activated one after another, and the two automaton puppets came to life. The puppet on the left was six chi and three cun tall, with a tall, graceful figure, and was in female form. Her body was covered in a layer of three-color enamel armor, her cheeks were made of snow porcelain face armor, and her dark hair was woven primarily from ice silkworm threads. Below her main pair of arms were two additional pairs of auxiliary arms. This was Xuecai Nü Hui!

The automaton puppet on the right was also six chi tall, but slightly shorter than Xuecai Nü Hui. She was also in female form, wearing an ice mirror helmet with reconnaissance functions. She was clad in six-sided profound ice armor, with armor plates resembling interconnected hexagonal honeycombs. Her shoulder pads were roaring ice beast heads, and her eyes were set with aurora glaze, capable of emitting cold light during attacks. Around her, six automaton spheres constantly floated. The spheres were colored cold steel, covered with an ice crystal spiderweb array, capable of spouting cold currents and generating blizzards. This was Xuexuyu Xie!

Xuecai Nü Hui looked down at her hands, first her main hands, then her two pairs of auxiliary hands, alternating their movements. Xuexuyu Xie, on the other hand, surveyed her surroundings, finally fixing her gaze on Ning Zhuo. She slowly bowed, speaking in the voice of an older woman, “Greetings—Clan Leader.”