Ning Zhuo walked out of the medical hall.

Halfway down the road, three Golden Core cultivators descended from the sky: Zhu Xuanji, Ning Jiufan, and Zhou Nongying.

Ning Zhuo had expected the arrival of the Golden Core cultivators and quickly bowed in salute.

Zhou Nongying said, “Little fellow, what happened in the medical hall just now?”

Ning Jiufan followed, “My sense of you has temporarily disappeared. Tell me about your experience in the medical hall.”

Zhu Xuanji watched Ning Zhuo silently without speaking.

Ning Zhuo let out an “ah” and then earnestly told the three Golden Core cultivators that he had just accepted a high-paying mission in the medical hall and entered the severe treatment room.

“Perhaps that room is quite special and isolates the inside from the outside,” Ning Zhuo said.

The three Golden Cores quickly exchanged glances. Ning Zhuo’s answer was exactly as they had speculated and discussed earlier.

Ning Zhuo showed a look of concern and added, “Did entering the severe treatment room greatly weaken the sense the ancestors have of me? Um… can you add some more?”

Ning Zhuo proactively asked the Golden Core cultivators to increase the monitoring methods on him.

This display made Zhu Xuanji’s eyes slightly flicker.

Seeing Ning Zhuo’s fear of death, the Ning Family ancestor, Ning Jiufan, snorted lightly, “Look at your lack of ambition.”

Ning Zhuo quickly complained, “Old Ancestor, this junior only has a mere Qi Refining cultivation. If I had strength like yours, I would definitely traverse freely and be full of heroic spirit.”

“I am of the Ning family bloodline, so you must give me more protective measures, right?”

“How could this junior not know the current situation?”

“That villain who manipulated the Five Elements Cannon Tower to bombard Fire Persimmon Mountain is truly too vicious and wicked!”

“Even more terrifying is that we still haven’t found out who he is.”

“We reform team members, due to our status as trial disciples, have extremely convenient access to compete for various positions.”

“Our current large-scale accumulation of merit is certainly a thorn in the eye of the true culprit. He will definitely try to harm us.”

“It’s just that, due to the protection of the Golden Core ancestors, he hasn’t had a chance yet.”

“This trip to the medical hall, where I entered the treatment room alone, I was isolated. It’s like knowing there are tigers on the mountain but still heading towards the tiger’s lair.”

“How can this be considered fear of death? This is clearly the courage to face death as if returning home.”

These words left the three Golden Cores momentarily speechless.

Ning Jiufan snorted again, “You brat, you have a silver tongue.”

“Why don’t you mention that the medical hall is an important place, and only trial disciples can compete for positions?”

“That true culprit, like us, even with Golden Core cultivation, cannot get close to the medical hall.”

“You are very safe in there.”

“It was precisely because we considered this point that we were not in a hurry to act after losing our sense of you.”

“How is this considered facing death as if returning home?”

Ning Zhuo put on a serious expression and chose his words carefully, saying, “Reporting to the ancestors, this is how this junior sees it.”

“Currently, we’ve discovered that positions in the medical hall can only be claimed by trial disciples.”

“But is that the true answer? No one can be sure, right?”

“It’s just that currently, all the evidence points to this answer.”

“Perhaps it is also possible that even an outsider could join the medical hall through some channel or method.”

“I think the Lava Immortal Palace is, after all, a temporary palace left behind by the Three Sect Lords. The Three Sect Lords are compassionate. With their breadth of mind, they wouldn’t only benefit their own people and not leave a way out for others.”

“Perhaps it’s possible that the true culprit has a channel or a secret route to sneak into the medical hall and harm me.”

Ning Zhuo specifically said these words mainly to cover up the flaws that appeared on him.

As the commander of the Five Elements Cannon Tower, he had fully activated the Five Elements Cannon Tower and bombarded Fire Persimmon Mountain.

This action was a flaw.

Because, up until now, no one has been able to join the Five Elements Cannon Tower.

Similarly, no one has been able to join the Point General Stage and obtain positions related to the Point General Stage.

It’s just that currently, Zhu Xuanji and the others haven’t truly confirmed the fact that “only trial disciples are qualified to work in the Five Elements Cannon Tower.”

Once they confirm this point, they will likely narrow down the true culprit’s identity to the trial disciple level!

This would be extremely unfavorable to Ning Zhuo!

Therefore, before that, Ning Zhuo needed to use his speculation to mislead Zhu Xuanji and the others from future potential suspicions.

This was preparing for a rainy day.

After hearing his analysis, the three Golden Cores were momentarily unable to refute him.

Before getting confirmation from the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, they indeed couldn’t be truly certain.

Speaking of which, Zhu Xuanji had entered the Immortal Palace many times and had tried to contact the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit several times without success.

In this situation, if Ning Zhuo insisted that he was risking his life and facing death without turning back, it was also acceptable.

Zhou Nongying suddenly chuckled and said to Ning Jiufan beside him, “Brother Ning, your Ning family descendants have indeed produced a talent. It’s truly enviable.”

Ning Jiufan quickly謙虛 (qianxu – was modest), “Where, where. Compared to your esteemed clan’s Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu, this brat Ning Zhuo still has a significant gap.”

“He does have some foresight regarding the situation, but don’t look at him arguing so forcefully and seemingly having courage. In reality, he is greedy by nature and only wants to gain rewards.”

Ning Zhuo’s eyes lit up, and he immediately showed a fawning smile, “Hehehe, Old Ancestor, I’m not just for myself.”

“This is me contributing to the family.”

“Look, my situation is so dangerous now. Do you want to bestow upon me some more protective measures?”

“Can you bear to see a junior of the family being harmed by that utterly wicked criminal?”

Ning Jiufan pointed at Ning Zhuo and laughingly scolded, “Look, look, this is a good descendant of my Ning family. I truly didn’t misjudge.”

Zhou Nongying and Zhu Xuanji also smiled upon hearing this, and the atmosphere suddenly relaxed.

Ning Jiufan continued, “Last time, this old man bestowed upon you many talismans for protection, and they haven’t been taken back.”

“This time, what else do you want?”

“You are indeed contributing to the family, but afterward, the family will certainly reward your merits, and your share will not be less!”

Ning Zhuo quickly said, “I actually want to split from the family. Old Ancestor, can I split from the family?”

“As for what rewards for merit, I don’t really count on them! It would be good if the main branch doesn’t accuse me of a crime when rewarding my merits.”

Ning Jiufan’s face instantly showed anger, “Presumptuous!”

He was about to say something reprimanding when Zhou Nongying on the side suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting him.

Zhou Nongying’s worry turned to joy.

Just now, he had seen Ning Zhuo’s excellence and felt worried.

Although the Ning family’s strength was not as great as the Zhou family’s, this junior Ning Zhuo had recently repeatedly gained attention and was indeed quite excellent, surpassing Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zeshen.

This made Zhou Nongying feel a slight threat and feel uncomfortable in his heart.

But now he saw that Ning Zhuo was exposing the Ning family’s shortcomings and revealing the contradiction between the branch and main lineages without any reservations.

This made Zhou Nongying unable to help but anticipate the scene of Ning Zhuo falling out with the main lineage in the future.

After laughing a few times, Zhou Nongying took out a magical artifact from his storage belt and directly threw it to Ning Zhuo.

It was a handkerchief.

The handkerchief was embroidered with countless disordered, irregular array patterns.

But in fact, this only looked irregular.

Zhou Nongying introduced, “This is the Four Directions Reversed Array Plate. In times of crisis, you only need to throw it out to use it. Perhaps it can help you seize a crucial chance at life.”

After Ning Zhuo received it, he showed a look of great joy and quickly expressed his thanks.

A glint flashed in Ning Jiufan’s eyes. He knew that Zhou Nongying was trying to cause trouble for him, but on the surface, he still had to speak up and express his gratitude to Zhou Nongying.

Zhu Xuanji smiled, flew down to the ground, and walked a few steps to Ning Zhuo’s side.

“You are indeed a meritorious official.”

“Recently, the reform team members have made great progress, thanks to your generous sharing of experience with them.”

“How about this, I’ll give you a checkup.”

Ning Zhuo inwardly snorted, fully aware of Zhu Xuanji’s suspicion. But on the surface, he showed a very happy expression and actively cooperated with Zhu Xuanji.

Zhu Xuanji placed his palm on Ning Zhuo’s back, activated a spell, and at the same time, a faint golden light flickered in his eyes.

After a checkup, Zhu Xuanji confirmed that his monitoring methods had not undergone any changes.

Only then did he feel relieved.

Ning Zhuo looked at Zhu Xuanji eagerly, “Lord Zhu, investigating the truth and searching for any clues about the true culprit are our undeniable duties. We must go all out, regardless of life and death.”

“Currently, it seems that this junior has risked his life and tested the medical hall – the true culprit should not be present in the medical hall.”

After a pause, Ning Zhuo changed his tone, “But I believe that the medical hall can only be considered temporarily safe.”

“Right now, fierce beasts are rampant. That ruthless villain, if he wants to earn merit, only needs to kill a large number of fierce beasts. It’s much more convenient and faster than before.”

“If he really has mastered some shortcut or loophole that allows him to join the medical hall, then we will be in trouble!”

“However, whenever I think of how important the Lava Immortal Palace is, and that I have such an opportunity to contribute to the family and shine for the Southern Bean Kingdom, my heart is filled with motivation, my blood feels like it’s boiling, I…”

“Alright, alright.” Zhu Xuanji waved his hand, showing a trace of helplessness, and interrupted Ning Zhuo.

“I know what you want to say, and I understand what you mean.”

“Take this as a reward for your recent good performance.”

Saying that, he threw an object.

Ning Zhuo quickly caught it and took a closer look. It was a crystal stone.

The crystal stone was completely transparent, quite heavy, as if made of pure glass, without a trace of impurity.

Ning Zhuo was surprised and exclaimed in a low voice, “This is a top-grade crystal stone!”

Zhu Xuanji said, “This crystal stone originally contained the natural spiritual power of the ice attribute, but I have used it up.”

“But it is still extremely valuable!”

“This is because any top-grade crystal stone will automatically absorb spiritual energy from the outside to replenish itself.”

“However, top-grade spirit stones of the ice attribute can only be filled with ice attribute spiritual power.”

“You like making mechanisms, don’t you? This kind of top-grade crystal stone is a natural mana pool and is very suitable for your use.”

“However, if you want to fill its ice attribute mana in an environment like Fire Persimmon Mountain and Lava Immortal Palace, you’ll have to put in a little more effort.”

Ning Zhuo profusely thanked him, holding the top-grade crystal stone in one hand and the array plate handkerchief in the other, looking eagerly at Ning Jiufan.

He didn’t speak, but his eyes said it all.

Zhou Nongying and Zhu Xuanji also looked at Ning Jiufan.

Ning Jiufan coughed and said expressionlessly, “If you are worried about the reward for merit, then I will tell you. This time, the reward for merit will be personally presided over by this old man. Are you satisfied?”

Ning Zhuo quickly expressed satisfaction and was about to continue speaking.

Ning Jiufan had already flicked his sleeve and turned around, flying directly away from the place.

Zhu Xuanji and Zhou Nongying each laughed and also flew into the air.

After the three Golden Core cultivators flew out of Ning Zhuo’s sight, the latter subtly let out a sigh of relief.

He had long anticipated such a scene.

Sun Lingtong’s reminder to him was very reasonable.

If he had used those three drops of Supreme Goodness is Like Water in the severe treatment room just now, it’s likely that the three Golden Core cultivators would have re-implanted monitoring methods on him.

Ning Zhuo put the handkerchief array plate and the top-grade crystal stone into his storage belt.

It seemed that every time, he could get some wool from the Golden Core ancestors.

Ning Zhuo knew the reason behind this.

“The potential and ability I’ve displayed have made the Golden Core ancestors believe that there will definitely be a place for me in the future Fire Persimmon Immortal City.”

“Whether they are investing in me or trying to suppress the Ning family and stir up internal conflict within the Ning family, they are inclined to win me over when I am still insignificant.”

“After all, at this stage, the cost of winning me over is the lowest. It will be different when I reach the Foundation Establishment stage.”

Ning Zhuo returned to his dwelling.

He unexpectedly found a jade slip beside the bed.

After examining it and browsing the contents, he discovered that this jade slip actually came from Ning Jiufan.

In the jade slip, Ning Jiufan had specially left a message for Ning Zhuo, telling him that this talisman annotation contained his insights and experiences from studying the Ning family’s talismans, and for Ning Zhuo to read it secretly. He should not say anything he shouldn’t say.

Ning Zhuo understood Ning Jiufan’s meaning.

On one hand, he had just put on a show of face in front of Zhu Xuanji and Zhou Nongying and didn’t directly give Ning Zhuo some rewards. This jade slip was compensation.

On the other hand, he was also worried that Ning Zhuo would take advantage of the situation and spread this jade slip everywhere to enhance Ning Zhuo’s prestige in the Ning family.

Ning Jiufan’s worry was not unfounded.

If it weren’t for the message Ning Jiufan specifically left, Ning Zhuo had indeed planned to do so.

Ning Zhuo put away the jade slip.

The item was a good one, but currently, he had no time or energy to study it.