The talisman was oval shaped, with a dark green base, as if steeped in a faint sheen of oil.

At the center of the talisman was a flowing silver rune. The rune undulated like water waves, rising and falling, displaying a soft and agile power.

From the edges of the rune, lines extended outwards towards the four corners: upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right.

At the end of each line, it curled into a cluster, depicting a structure similar to the central rune, only much smaller than the large one in the center.

The structure of one large and four small runes was very clear.

Ning Jiufan handed this talisman to him and introduced it, “This is the Oil-Smooth Water-Slippery Talisman. It possesses spirituality and also seals many of this old man’s Golden Core level magic power.”

“As long as you are attacked, its spirituality will be triggered, enveloping you in a layer of oily, watery light.”

“The vast majority of attacks, as long as they do not exceed the Golden Core level, can almost all be resisted and dissipated by the oily shield, then deflected away.”

Ning Zhu was overjoyed and repeatedly said, “Good talisman, good talisman!”

Ning Jiufan, “Hmph, you little rascal, you are truly greedy. However, it is not impossible for you to have this talisman. You should know how to proceed next, right?”

Ning Zhu bowed again, “Ancestor, how could this junior be someone who fears death and clings to life?”

“It’s just that I want to preserve this useful body to repay your cultivation and contribute to our Ning family.”

“Ancestor, this junior will definitely go all out to争取更多关键职務 (strive for more crucial positions) for our Ning family.”

“However, are you sure this talisman can protect my life? Ancestor, to be safe, please give me a few more such talismans.”

Ning Jiufan curled his finger and knocked Ning Zhu’s large head, scolding, “A snake trying to swallow an elephant is never satisfied! Don’t overdo it. This talisman imbued with spirituality is a treasure of the family-guarding level and can be used multiple times.”

“Unless an Nascent Soul expert from the Empty Gate infiltrates, otherwise, this talisman will surely keep you safe. Even against Yang Chanyu, it is enough to last until I come to save you.”

“Quickly, scram, go out and do your work!”

Ning Jiufan waved his sleeve. Losing the spiritual talisman made him somewhat annoyed seeing Ning Zhu’s greedy face.

Ning Zhu left his residence and first went to find many members of the Ning family’s cultivation modification team.

They were exceptionally excited to see Ning Zhu.

Ning Zhu told them: He was weak in the past and was secretly controlled by the Empty Gate, but now everything is clear and he is at ease.

Furthermore, in the past two days, he has been by Ning Jiufan’s side, receiving the Golden Core Ancestor’s guidance and cultivation. Although his strength has not greatly increased, his vision has widened considerably.

The Ning family’s cultivation modification team was immediately greatly boosted in morale.

They complained to Ning Zhu, saying that the cultivation modification team members from the Zhou family and Zheng family had changed their usual attitude. They were clearly warm and friendly when Ning Zhu taught them experience before, but now, in order to compete for crucial positions, they have almost turned hostile.

Especially the Zheng family, whose family style was already rough and straightforward, now that Zheng Jian was the second to obtain the physician position, they all felt honored and started looking at people with their nostrils.

Ning Zhu obtained much information and achieved his goal, so he bid farewell to everyone and headed to the medical hall.

As he walked, he pondered and analyzed the current situation.

The new policy has led to swift and drastic adjustments for the three families.

Originally, the three families were closely united, forming a strong alliance. But now, they have begun to compete with each other because of the positions.

“This kind of competition will inevitably intensify.”

“Although the competition between righteous sects won’t necessarily involve killing, once it reaches a certain level, there will also be various underhanded tricks and methods.”

“Although the three families signed an alliance, they probably couldn’t have foreseen this situation at the time. Therefore, the content of the alliance will have very little restraint on the current situation.”

Analyzing this point, Ning Zhu couldn’t help but look up at the sky and sigh, “Meng Kui is indeed the wisdom general of the Meng family. With such a small political strategy, the three-family alliance has already begun to split.”

“This is not a conspiracy, but an overt scheme!”

“The three families and Zhu Xuanji all know Meng Kui’s calculations, but they simply can’t resist and can only follow his will.”

“As for the Zheng family…”

Ning Zhu greatly understood the Zheng family’s intention to seize the medical hall.

The medical hall is indeed one of the most valuable institutional buildings, and many related positions are very important. They are useful both in times of peace and war.

Ning Zhu secretly frowned.

The current situation is a bit troublesome for him.

Among the medical hall, the commander’s platform, and the cannon tower, the medical hall is the most important. This is because the severe illness treatment room in the medical hall can temporarily isolate Golden Core cultivators from detecting Ning Zhu.

This function is not available in the commander’s platform or the Five Elements Cannon Tower.

“It’s acceptable for outsiders like Zheng Jian to be mixed in the medical hall. It’s just that with people coming and going, it’s not as convenient as before.”

“But I am the curator, the supreme position in the medical hall, with great authority. I can completely designate the severe illness treatment room as my exclusive territory.”

“The Zheng family’s heavy investment is also beneficial to me. I’m just afraid…”

Ning Zhu entered the medical hall.

Zheng Jian was burying his head in dealing with the mechanical puppets on the desk. Hearing the movement, he quickly looked up at Ning Zhu with a look of surprise.

“Brother Ning Zhu, you’re here!” Zheng Jian smiled, then lowered his head again, “I have work right now, I can’t leave it. Let’s catch up later.”

Ning Zhu nodded, “Haha, Brother Zheng, let’s not be in a hurry to catch up. I haven’t accepted any missions for two days.”

After a simple greeting, Ning Zhu came to a corner of the main hall, chose a desk behind Zheng Jian, and began repairing.

He successively completed the repair work of three mechanical creations, and secretly used his position as curator to arrange a big task for Zheng Jian. Then he ended his pretense and quietly walked up the stairs to the upper floor.

He went directly into the severe illness treatment room and firmly closed the door.

Zheng Jian was sweating profusely, concentrating on his work, and did not notice Ning Zhu’s small actions.

Ning Zhu first checked the supplies.

Previously, Sun Lingtong and Yang Chanyu had stolen some treasures from the cloud merchant and given a portion to Ning Zhu. After checking, Ning Zhu only found that one drop of supreme goodness was missing.

A spiritual casket was added.

The spiritual casket can contain spirituality for a period of time.

Ning Zhu had long wanted to come to the medical hall and open the spiritual casket. But in order to hide it more perfectly, he endured for two days until Ning Jiufan couldn’t stand it anymore before he took action.

What was stored in the spiritual casket was Ning Xiaohui’s spirituality!

Ning Zhu’s heart stirred slightly, but he first took out a talisman.

This talisman was elongated, with a pale blue color throughout, like a sapphire washed clean by water.

The surface of the talisman was smooth, emitting a soft watery light, and felt cool to the touch.

The runes were elegant, like clouds and water. If you stared at them for a few breaths, you could see the runes flowing slowly on the talisman paper like running water.

It was the Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman!

This Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman was one of the Ning family’s foundational treasures, and like the Oil-Smooth Water-Slippery Talisman, it contained spirituality.

It’s just that before, the Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman was given to Ning Xiaohui to use, and a lot of spirituality was consumed.

Ning Zhu had been thinking about how to add spirituality to the Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman before.

Now, he brought this talisman close to the spiritual casket, and then slightly opened a thin slit in the spiritual casket.

The next moment, a little spirituality, like fireflies, floated out and directly flowed into the Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman!

Ning Zhu’s eyes suddenly lit up: “It can really be done!!!”

For a moment, he was overjoyed, and his eyes even turned red.

Previously, this was just his idea, but now that he has put it into practice, his idea has been perfectly verified.

To replenish the spirituality of the Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman, one can completely start from cultivators.

Ning Xiaohui used this talisman when she was alive and was quite fond of the Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman itself, almost considering it her personal treasure.

This relationship caused a small part of Ning Xiaohui’s spirituality to be absorbed by the Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman after she was refined into a ball of spirituality by fire, adding to the latter’s foundation.

Ning Zhu quickly closed the spiritual casket, held the Smooth Flowing Clouds Talisman, and stood still for a while.

He gradually calmed his excited mood, pulled out various materials from his storage belt, and then used the facilities in the severe illness treatment room to start making mechanisms.

He had a design plan long ago, and his skills were quite proficient as he hammered and tapped.

Half an hour later, a pair of mechanical floating hands were created.

At first glance, this pair of arms looked like crystal clear ice crystals. The ten fingers were slender and delicate, like white jade. Every joint was as round and smooth as jade, like a work of art.

Detailed ice-like runes were painted on the surface of the palms and backs of the hands, emitting a cold and sacred aura.

The entire pair of arms was filled with a sense of feminine curves and softness.

Mechanism – Floating Ice White Jade Hands!

Ning Zhu attempted to control and verify the effect of this pair of Floating Ice White Jade Hands.

It could release frost, freezing targets into blocks of ice. However, it did not have the ability to heal.

Ning Zhu tried to use it to draw talismans. It could not draw talismans automatically, but Ning Zhu had a deep feeling when making some frost talismans through it. Many rune paths that he personally drew himself were not effective, but using this pair of mechanical arms made it effortless and natural.

“This is innate talent – Ice Jade Hands!”

“It’s just that currently, Ning Xiaohui’s spirituality is less than ten percent, and needs to be replenished.”

Only when the spirituality reaches a certain level can the innate talent Ice Jade Hands be reproduced, and the frozen ice blocks can possess the power of healing.

“When it reaches the Spirit Intelligence stage in the future and possesses a certain level of wisdom, I can even use it to continuously make talismans every day!”

“As for how to get Ning Xiaohui’s frequently used items when she was alive, it shouldn’t be difficult…”

Ning Zhu calculated the time and then pushed the door open.

Staying in the severe illness treatment room for a long time would attract suspicion.

He also left the newly created Floating Ice White Jade Hands mechanism in the room and did not bring it out.

His storage artifacts might still be inspected by other Golden Core cultivators.

Although this possibility is much less than before, Ning Zhu will still not take such unnecessary risks.

“Brother Ning Zhu! You’re finally out. Please wait a moment. How about I finish the task at hand and then we talk further?” Zheng Jian saw Ning Zhu come out and quickly greeted him.

Ning Zhu nodded and agreed.

After Zheng Jian finished the repair task, he packed up his desk and walked to Ning Zhu, “I didn’t expect you to be able to accept the task in the severe illness treatment room as soon as you came in. Is there any trick?”

Ning Zhu shook his head, “What? Haven’t you seen it before, Brother Zheng Jian? Perhaps each of our tasks will vary from person to person.”

Zheng Jian nodded, “Everyone’s time is limited, Brother Ning Zhu, I’ll be direct.”

“Our Zheng family wants this medical hall, so I ask for your understanding.”

Ning Zhu couldn’t help but frown slightly, “What does this mean?”

He wanted to coexist peacefully with the Zheng family, but judging by Zheng Jian’s words, it seemed that the Zheng family wanted to monopolize the positions in the medical hall and take everything for themselves.

Zheng Jian chuckled, “This is our Zheng family’s decision. Since it has been made, it will not be easily changed.”

“Brother Ning Zhu, we have cooperated before, and I know you have some skills.”

“Name your price. How can you, how can you make you lead the Ning family’s cultivation modification team to detour around the medical hall from now on?”

(End of this chapter)