Random Recommendation:

Qingshi Dongfu.

“Young Master, you’re back,” Chef Lao greeted him. “Sun Tongzi hasn’t returned yet. Qingchi is currently practicing combat with your automaton puppet in the training array.”

Chef Lao gave a brief report. In his view, Sun Lingtong was merely Ning Zhuo’s page, so he often referred to Sun Lingtong as a boy (Tongzi).

Ning Zhuo nodded. “Chef Lao, please prepare a spirit meal for me, a dark cuisine dish. Please deliver it to the array space in half an hour.”

Ning Zhuo had a life thread hanging over him, giving him clear insight into Sun Lingtong’s movements. The latter was returning from Qianzao Peak.

As for Qingchi…

“Her practice sessions with Xuecainü Hui have noticeably increased recently.”

Ning Zhuo went to the training array and entered it, seeing Qingchi and Xuecainü Hui fighting back and forth.

Ning Zhuo watched for a moment, secretly nodding.

Although Qingchi had lost her memory, her physical body and temperament remained the same. Thus, during combat, many of her techniques naturally emerged, showing much of her pre-amnesia prowess.

However, she still couldn’t defeat Xuecainü Hui.

The latter was made of Jindan-level materials, which gave her a much deeper foundation than Qingchi, who was in the Zhuji stage.

“But if Qingchi regains her talent and uses it in combat, the outcome would be hard to predict.”

Ning Zhuo had personally witnessed Qingchi’s formidable talent multiple times, leaving a deep impression.

“For an ordinary automaton puppet, even one made of Jindan-level materials, it would be difficult to withstand Qingyan. However, Xuecainü Hui also possesses talent, so she might be able to contend.”

In Ning Zhuo’s opinion, both sides had significant room for improvement.

“Young Master, you’re back?” Seeing Ning Zhuo enter the array, Qingchi was overjoyed. She immediately abandoned her fight with Xuecainü Hui, took a step back to create distance, and rushed to Ning Zhuo’s side.

The ghost race girl’s upturned face was filled with affection for Ning Zhuo.

Although she had lost her memory, her feelings for Ning Zhuo had become purer. As time passed, this affection had grown intense again.

Ning Zhuo nodded slightly at her and glanced at Xuecainü Hui.

The latter stood with her arms crossed, head slightly tilted, looking at Ning Zhuo through her nostrils. Clearly, even for an owner like Ning Zhuo, she maintained her pride.

Ning Zhuo waved his hand at Qingchi. “You two may withdraw for now; I need this place.”

“Okay, Young Master.” Qingchi was obedient to Ning Zhuo, but before leaving, she asked with an expectant look, “Young Master, when shall we continue learning talismans? I have many questions to ask you.”

The girl’s enthusiasm for talisman crafting was overly fervent.

She had asked this question many times, but Ning Zhuo had been extremely busy since entering the main sect gate of Wanxiang Zong, and had repeatedly refused.

This time was no exception.

“Regarding talisman crafting, you can discuss and spar with Xuecainü Hui,” Ning Zhuo waved his hand. Although he knew entrusting Qingchi to an automaton puppet was unreliable, he indeed had more important matters to attend to.

After he was the only one left in the array space, he sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion and took out the Gongye Futu Pagoda.

This small pagoda was actively given to him by the old man surnamed Cang. It was ownerless, making it easy to refine.

Ning Zhuo acted decisively, using three methods simultaneously!

He splayed the fingers of his left hand, pressing them towards the exquisite pagoda suspended before him. In an instant, five-colored light flowed from his fingertips, and the Five Elements flew in, instantly wrapping around and enveloping the entire Gongye Futu Pagoda.

The verdant gold lotus petals at the pagoda’s base slightly unfurled, greedily absorbing the pure Five Elements Dharma power. The jade-colored light on the petals circulated faster, emitting a faint hum. The eight hundred Arhat phantoms on the glazed pagoda body seemed to become clearer amidst the golden glow, responding to the influx of Dharma power.

This was Dharma refinement.

At the same time, Ning Zhuo’s glabella glowed slightly, and a condensed, substantial divine sense slammed into the core of the Gongye Futu Pagoda!

Divine refinement activated!

The complex and profound Dharma restriction patterns and circuits within the pagoda body were clearly mapped into his Sea of Consciousness.

Divine sense rapidly spread, quickly permeating, carrying an undeniable will to control.

The speed of divine sense probing and permeating became slower and slower. Ning Zhuo’s understanding of Buddhist and Demonic sects was not high. But at this moment, the Wo Fo Xin Mo Yin suddenly emitted a radiance. Golden Sanskrit characters and profound demonic intent appeared on the precious seal, following the divine sense into the Gongye Futu Pagoda.

In an instant, the subtle repulsion and resistance Ning Zhuo felt during his divine refinement of the pagoda suddenly vanished; some even became welcoming forces.

The obstacle to divine refinement instantly diminished greatly, and the divine sense imprint spread across the core Dharma restrictions at an incredibly fast pace, rapidly stabilizing.

With the rapid progress of divine refinement, he gravely pointed his right hand like a sword, and a drop of his natal essence blood was forced out from his fingertip.

Blood refinement!

The essence blood fell into the Buddhist beads at the top of the pagoda and was quickly absorbed by them.

Moran Xiejin Gong!

Crimson light shimmered, forming strands of blood-colored veins on the pagoda body. Like sentient demonic vines, they frantically spread inwards and outwards from the Dharani beads as their starting point!

The vivid crimson veins, like a fine spiderweb, instantly covered the crystal-clear glazed pagoda body. They domineeringly overlaid the emerging phantoms of the eight hundred Arhats, but the refining speed was slow.

Golden glow and blood light intertwined, mutually entangled, giving a contradictory yet shocking feeling.

But when the blood veins reached a certain level within the pagoda body, their speed was swift and extremely brutal, even more efficient than divine refinement.

The three great Dharma techniques were simultaneously unleashed!

Divine refinement, Dharma refinement, and blood refinement, with the added contribution of the Wo Fo Xin Mo Yin after it was triggered.

An ordinary cultivator would only choose one method to refine a treasure. After all, most people’s cultivation techniques primarily focused on a single Dantian; only one of the three refining methods would be powerful for them, while the other two would be negligible.

But Ning Zhuo was not like this.

He cultivated all three Dantians simultaneously, allowing him to use three refining methods at once, which complemented each other, resulting in astonishing efficiency.

The pagoda continuously hummed and vibrated. In just a moment, the pagoda’s vibration reached its peak, emitting a clear, prolonged hum that seemed to cleanse the soul!

The Five Elements light surrounding the pagoda body suddenly retracted inward and vanished. The spreading blood veins transformed from chaotic to docile, like dark red, intricate patterns, deeply imprinted within the glaze and upon the lotus pedestal, integrating with the pagoda body. And the divine sense that permeated the core quietly completed its imprinting and thorough control over the core Dharma restrictions.

The humming ceased, and the Gongye Futu Pagoda became completely silent, its entire body exuding a warm, restrained brilliance that was nonetheless perfectly integrated with Ning Zhuo’s aura.

When Ning Zhuo willed it with his divine sense, it transformed into a stream of light and submerged into Ning Zhuo’s Upper Dantian at his glabella—docile and responsive as an arm to a finger!

Upon entering the Upper Dantian, the Gongye Futu Pagoda immediately emanated a golden glow, intending to stretch its form. However, the Wo Fo Xin Mo Yin subtly vibrated, and the spreading golden glow of the pagoda body instantly receded, completely absorbed into the pagoda body, suppressed without question.

Ning Zhuo was not surprised by this scene: “Although the Wo Fo Xin Mo Yin and the Gongye Futu Pagoda are both magic treasures and both have the function of suppressing destiny, there is still a significant disparity between magic treasures.”

“The primary materials in the Gongye Futu Pagoda are at most Jindan level. But the Wo Fo Xin Mo Yin is a complete entity; I can’t even determine the level of its primary materials.”

“The Gongye Futu Pagoda suppresses individual destiny and cannot extend to relatives and friends. But the Wo Fo Xin Mo Yin should be comparable to the true body of the Gongye Futu Pagoda, capable of suppressing the destiny of an organization.”

Since the Gongye Futu Pagoda was “living a repressed life” in the Upper Dantian of the Sea of Consciousness, Ning Zhuo used his divine sense to transfer it from the Upper Dantian to the Middle Dantian.

In the Qi Sea of the Middle Dantian, the Gongye Futu Pagoda seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, its body gently vibrated, and golden glows emanated once again.

It wanted to occupy the center, but the center of the Middle Dantian had always been a tornado-like column of Five Elements Dharma power.

The Gongye Futu Pagoda tried for a bit, found it couldn’t contend, and settled for a corner.

Seeing this, Ning Zhuo then transferred the Gongye Futu Pagoda to the Lower Dantian’s Essence Sea.

The center of the Essence Sea was still occupied by a blood pool, leaving no space for the Gongye Futu Pagoda.

As the Gongye Futu Pagoda remained there, its Buddhist light and golden glow were quite at odds with the environment of the Essence Sea, and Ning Zhuo immediately felt a sense of awkwardness.

After three attempts, Ning Zhuo finally transferred the Gongye Futu Pagoda back to the Qi Sea in the Middle Dantian.

“I successfully used all three refinement methods, so the treasure can be placed in the upper, middle, and lower Dantians.”

“But clearly, this magic treasure is most suitable for the Middle Dantian. The Five Elements Qilü Jue is ultimately balanced and harmonious, whereas the Sea of Consciousness and Essence Sea have clear biases towards Buddhism and Demonic arts, respectively!”

“Besides that, there’s another reason—this Gongye Futu Pagoda has a special characteristic—it’s a composite treasure.”

Ning Zhuo had now successfully refined and completely mastered this magic treasure, giving him a clear view of its internal structure.

The pagoda had three layers.

The first layer was like a prison cell. In the center, a red crystal furnace was placed. The furnace wall emitted a murky dark light, and within the furnace burned a Jiuhuo.

The second layer resembled a study. Streams of purple energy supported a green jade table, on which lay a thread-bound book. The large characters “Pinggong Lunye Shu” were conspicuous on the cover.

The third layer seemed like a temple. In the center, a thick black stone divine throne was placed, and on the throne sat a wooden statue of a judge (Pan Guan). Divine radiance flowed over the wooden statue, clearly indicating a successful summoning of a deity.

“Jiuhuo, Zuiyan, Yuan Du Lin, Xuenie Huang, Chi Hui Ling Fan, and so on, are all inferior fire seeds of Honglian Yehhuo. They possess certain characteristics of Honglian Yehhuo, but their power and efficacy are far less than Honglian Yehhuo of the same scale.”

“The true body of the Gongye Futu Pagoda must contain Honglian Yehhuo. However, in the pagoda gifted to the top performer, a subordinate fire seed was used as a substitute.”

Even if it was only Jiuhuo, Ning Zhuo was delighted.

After all, this was a fire seed.

In his travels so far, he had only obtained the Mu Zhong Huo once, and it had already been used up.

Of course, in terms of value for alchemy and artifact refining, Jiuhuo was far inferior to Mu Zhong Huo.

“*Pinggong Lunye Shu*…” Ning Zhuo was also very familiar with this cultivation method.

This was because this method originated from the Confucian school, but it was so widely circulated that it was extensively used in today’s cultivation nations!

The creator of the *Pinggong Lunye Shu* was the great Confucian scholar Ding Wen Gong Ding Ming. He drew upon the righteous qi of heaven and earth and the principles of human Dao, thus enabling him to measure merits and punish sins, and evaluate the achievements of individuals. It served as a guiding principle for the governmental structure and the selection of civil and military officials in cultivation nations.

“It is said that Ding Wen Gong Ding Ming was proficient in Confucian classics. He used the ‘Shangshu’ to establish the ‘Nine Awards for Meritorious Service,’ adapted the ‘Zhouli’ into the ‘Six Methods of Performance Appraisal,’ clarified loyalty, chastity, filial piety with the ‘Xiaojing,’ and enabled the ‘Chunqiu’ to discern human affairs. During the creation of the ‘Pinggong Lunye Shu,’ he endured several natural and earthly calamities, ultimately nearly exhausting the profound scholarly lineage of Jixia Academy before finally achieving success with great difficulty.”

The Pan Guan statue on the third floor of the pagoda was also essential.

“The *Pinggong Lunye Shu* alone is merely a mortal technique. With a successful deity summoning, leveraging the deity’s divine abilities, one can borrow the power of heaven and earth.”

“The combination of these two is the cornerstone of the Gongye Futu Pagoda’s ability to discern merit and sin.”

“The true body of the Gongye Futu Pagoda is composed of only six main parts.”

“The lotus pedestal of good leaves at the base, the formless glazed body, and the karmic Dharani bead at the top. As well as the Honglian Yehhuo on the first layer, the *Pinggong Lunye Shu* on the second layer, and the statue of the Underworld Judge on the third layer.”

“The one I have does not have Honglian Yehhuo; Jiuhuo is used in its place. The materials for the base, body, and top are only of Jindan level.”

“The statue and the *Pinggong Lunye Shu* of the main body must be of a higher grade.”

This was the art of combining artifacts.

Normal magic treasures and artifacts are made by using and refining various precious materials, forging them into a tightly unified whole. For example, the Wo Fo Xin Mo Yin in Ning Zhuo’s hand prevents him from identifying what precious materials were used.

The Gongye Futu Pagoda, on the other hand, involves building a basic framework and then filling it with precious materials or treasures.

The lotus pedestal of good leaves at the base, the formless glazed body, and the karmic Dharani bead at the top form a basic framework. The Honglian Yehhuo on the first layer is a precious material, while the second and third layers can vary from person to person and are interchangeable.

This approach has both advantages and disadvantages. The most obvious benefit is the ability to combine magic treasures and precious materials to create new, wondrous effects.

Chef Lao, following Ning Zhuo’s instructions, brought the prepared spirit meal and entered the array. Sun Lingtong accompanied him into the array as well.

“These are the souls that Yu Heiye and I collected together,” Sun Lingtong handed Ning Zhuo many gray pottery jars.

Chef Lao’s eyes lit up, and he immediately asked if he could have some to help him prepare dark cuisine.

Ning Zhuo shook his head. “I have a use for all of these.”

Saying that, he took out the Gongye Futu Pagoda and, in front of the two, activated this magic treasure.

As a Zhuji stage cultivator, activating a magic treasure was naturally strenuous for him. The Five Elements Qilü Jue was also not known for its large reserves.

However, Ning Zhuo chose to detect only Qi Refining stage souls. This was akin to using cannon fire to swat a mosquito.

So, in just a few breaths, the Gongye Futu Pagoda reacted.

One could see the Gongye Futu Pagoda humming and vibrating, its top, the karmic Dharani bead, flashing in black and white, constantly changing.

The Jiuhuo burned more vigorously.

The *Pinggong Lunye Shu* in the second layer automatically turned pages. On the blank pages, blood-red characters grew like a waterfall, displaying various sins.

Kicking over beggars’ rice bowls for fun…

Falsely claiming reduced spiritual grain yields to extort tenants…

Slaughtering mortal villages to refine a hundred-soul banner…

Enticing fellow cultivators to explore ancient tombs as scapegoats…

Stealing master’s Zhuji Dan and framing junior brother…

There were a few lines of golden characters, such as:

Giving half a饼 to a dying old dog…

Returning a lost hairpin to a crying girl…

Finally, the industrial Futu Pagoda stopped vibrating, and the Buddhist beads at the top turned pitch black. The blood characters on the *Pinggong Lunye Shu* dripped. The halo around the divine statue gradually dissipated.

Ning Zhuo nodded, confirming that the seller had not cheated; at least these Qi Refining stage souls were all heinous criminals whose sins were too numerous to count.

The big-headed youth dismissed Chef Lao, leaving Sun Lingtong behind, and began to use the Fen Zhou Du Hun Shu.

Although he could draw on soul-cloth for sustainable development, he still needed to use it once with full effort to accumulate such valuable experience.

The souls were ignited, letting out incomparably mournful wails in the flames.

Ning Zhuo’s soul emerged and plunged into them. The ignited souls transformed into a soul boat, still burning fiercely, carrying Ning Zhuo’s soul.

After a few breaths, the soul boat dissipated, and Ning Zhuo’s soul had become at least three liang heavier, successfully returning to his physical body.

Ning Zhuo opened his eyes and righteously declared, “Good! As the saying goes, evil must be eradicated. These criminals fully deserved death. Eliminating them can be considered a contribution to the righteous path of humanity.”

Sun Lingtong looked around, feeling confused. “There are no outsiders, just the two of us. Why say all this?”

“Cough, cough.” Ning Zhuo coughed twice.

Sun Lingtong rolled his eyes at him. He had watched Ning Zhuo grow up and knew him inside out. He directly urged, “Come on, tell me, what did you gain this time?”

Ning Zhuo truthfully recounted, leaving Sun Lingtong wide-eyed.

After a long while, Sun Lingtong finally reacted and shouted, “Little brother, you’re about to soar!”