Random Recommendation:
“Bombard the golden furnace?” Ning Zhuo shook his head, decisively refusing the Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit. “While I can do that, the loss is too great!”

“The golden furnace is the essence of the gourd fire furnace forest. If I bombard it, my merit will be deducted back into the negative.”

“Unsuitable, very unsuitable!”

The Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit was anxious and passionately pleaded, “That’s just the ruins of the golden furnace, little master. A complete golden furnace has strong defenses and might survive the bombardment!”

Ning Zhuo shook his head again. “You can’t be sure either. That’s too risky!”

“Then do we just let Zhu Xuanji obtain the golden furnace clues?!” The Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit widened its eyes. It couldn’t understand why Ning Zhuo was so calm.

Ning Zhuo said, “Calm down, I’ve already made arrangements. Just watch!”

Soon, a large number of mechanical creations began to mobilize, forming several forces that actively charged towards the attacking Crimson Flame Demonic Beasts.

This scene astonished Zhu Xuanji and the others.

This was because they had anticipated this step and had all the reformed team members who had taken up positions on the General Appointing Stage try to ignore the defense tasks for the gourd fire furnace forest.

Zhu Xuanji and the others quickly contacted the cultivators holding the relevant positions.

As a result, they found that no one had made such troop arrangements.

Zhu Xuanji quickly believed their words.

The reason was simple: this large-scale deployment of troops was unprecedented. A cultivator who could achieve such a level must hold a very high position.

With the mechanical puppets intercepting, the Crimson Flame Demonic Beasts were blocked in the outer perimeter and couldn’t get close to the gourd fire furnace forest.

Zhu Xuanji and the others also found it inconvenient to act.

Ning Zhuo then mobilized the Five Elements Cannon Towers for continuous bombardment.

Even if many mechanical creations were within the range of the bombardment, Ning Zhuo didn’t hesitate.

After all, these weren’t cultivators, but mechanical creations.

Even if they were damaged, they could just be rebuilt.

In fact, these cannon fodder-positioned mechanical creations, sacrificing themselves here, had truly fulfilled their value!

With the General Appointing Stage arranging troops and the Five Elements Cannon Towers launching long-range bombardment, Ning Zhuo’s two consecutive moves quickly eliminated the crisis in the gourd fire furnace forest.

Zhu Xuanji’s hope was dashed, but he showed no sign of disappointment.

He stared at the direction of the General Appointing Stage with great interest.

After this battle, how could he not understand that the General Appointing Stage had also been infiltrated by the enemy? And the enemy who acted was very likely the Unbounded Gate!

“The cultivators secretly controlling all of this don’t need to enter or exit the cannon towers and the General Appointing Stage to control everything.”

“Do they have high-level positions, or have they grasped loopholes in the Lava Immortal Palace?”

“Regardless of who they are, whether they have high positions or have mastered loopholes, I understand that there must be important clues hidden here!”

“The enemy is wary of my talent and my ability to trace back the source, so they are trying every possible means to obstruct me.”

“Interesting, hehehe.”

Ning Zhuo’s actions, on the contrary, further fueled Zhu Xuanji’s determination to search the golden furnace ruins for clues.

The Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit paced around in the main hall.

It breathed a sigh of relief, the pressure in its heart easing considerably, but it still felt like a heavy stone was pressing down.

As long as Zhu Xuanji was not eliminated, or rather, as long as the golden furnace ruins were not destroyed, its grand plan for freedom was in danger of collapsing.

“Ning Zhuo, this guy is reliable for once!”

“But it’s still not stable.”

“Why not fire and destroy the golden furnace ruins directly? A decisive blow is the best!”

So, the Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit contacted Ning Zhuo and brought up this suggestion again.

Ning Zhuo shook his head. “I even surrendered my Buddha Mind Demon Seal. If I don’t become the Palace Master, I definitely won’t get it back.”

“I must become the Master of the Lava Immortal Palace!”

“Once I become the Palace Master, the entire Lava Immortal Palace will be mine. The value of the golden furnace is too high, how could I destroy my treasure?”

These words left the Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit completely speechless.

It muttered to itself, “What level are you? You’re just in the Qi Refining stage! What confidence do you have to achieve final victory in such a situation surrounded by powerful enemies?”

“Ning Zhuo, oh Ning Zhuo, you’re truly overly confident.”

“No, perhaps it’s not confidence. It’s that this gambler has already lost his eyes.”

“He gambled his Buddha Mind Demon Seal, he gambled his life, he can only gamble that he will win in the end!”

“This damned gambler!!”

“You gamble your life and death, don’t drag Dragon Yuan down with you.”

At this moment, Ning Zhuo sent another message. “Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit, I need your help!”

“Next, there will definitely be a continuous stream of schemes unfavorable to me.”

“Since the Lava Immortal Palace is your territory, you need to constantly pay attention to those people and things that are unfavorable to me. You must report to me in time!”

“If I am targeted and caught off guard, it will be your fault.”

“You must perform well and help me seize the position of Palace Master. Have confidence, the future is ours!”

The Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit snorted in anger.

It felt that Ning Zhuo was becoming increasingly impolite towards it. Before, he had a tone of discussion, but now he was giving direct orders.

“If you really become the Palace Master and order me around all day, will I still have a good life?”

Thinking of such a situation, even as a fire spirit, it couldn’t help but feel a chill in its heart.

Ning Zhuo continued, “Did you hear me? We need to cooperate fully.”

“You warn me, I will resist Zhu Xuanji, and at the same time, I can prevent the schemes targeting me in advance.”

The Dragon Yuan Fire Spirit shouted in anger, “So annoying!”

It took a few heavy breaths before pretending to be weak and agreeing to Ning Zhuo, while also encouraging the latter to do his best to fight and strive to seize the position of Palace Master as soon as possible.

Second round of the Palace Examination.

Eighth question.

Ning Zhuo stepped through the teleportation light circle onto the arena and immediately saw his opponent.

His first opponent today was none other than Meng Chong.

Meng Chong also saw Ning Zhuo and gritted his teeth. “It’s you! You barely won the previous times, this time I’ll make you taste defeat!”

Meng Chong’s mechanical skills were very low, so he naturally had a complete losing record against Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo cupped his hands and smiled. “Brother Meng Chong, I’m fortunate to be able to compete with you in the first battle today, it’s a great honor.”

Meng Chong waved his hand. “Save the useless, hypocritical nonsense. Huh? I can actually see you?”

This was still in the preparation stage, but everyone’s vision was clear.

Ning Zhuo nodded slightly. “It seems the rules for today’s competition have changed slightly again.”

The content of each question would change slightly.

After these past few days, the cultivators had already become accustomed to it.

Indeed, new information arrived, announcing that for this question, the crafting process would not be concealed and could be known to others.

The Palace Examination officially began!

Meng Chong charged forward, rushing to the desk and beginning to analyze and inspect the materials.

Ning Zhuo, on the other hand, walked leisurely to the desk with his hands behind his back, scanning the materials and observing the surroundings.

The materials varied in quantity, some were of the Qi Refining level, and some were of the Foundation Establishment level.

The material supply had already changed from before after continuous evolution.

Immortal Talent – Raging Thunder Charge!

After completing the inspection, Meng Chong brazenly unleashed his most powerful trump card.

His entire body flickered with electric light, making each of his movements at least twice as fast as others!

Whether it was smelting or cutting, these actions were also doubled under the enhancement of the Immortal Talent.

In the same amount of time, others could only create one mechanical puppet, with maybe a little time left over. But Meng Chong could create two.

It was precisely with this trump card that he was able to achieve more wins than losses by fighting two against one.

“His Immortal Talent ability has been developed to such an extent, he truly lives up to his title as a favored child of heaven.”

Even though Ning Zhuo had a good understanding of Meng Chong, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration at this moment.

One had to know that in the process of crafting mechanisms, many steps and details required meticulous control.

Meng Chong had achieved this, and he still managed to reach this level even at double the speed.

His progress in developing his Immortal Talent was truly rapid.

Ning Zhuo clearly remembered that at the beginning, when Meng Chong used Raging Thunder Charge, he could only charge in a straight line. Because he couldn’t stop, his entire puppet body would crash into the wire traps, cutting into countless pieces.

Now, he was effortless.

“However, you still don’t want to use your brain.”

“Today’s question isn’t about being faster.” Ning Zhuo’s mouth curved slightly, and he was very relaxed.

Meng Chong’s movements were fast, his progress exceeded Ning Zhuo’s, and the entire crafting process was clearly visible to Ning Zhuo.

Therefore, during Ning Zhuo’s crafting, he deliberately adjusted his design plan, specifically creating mechanical components to counter Meng Chong’s mechanisms.

After the battle began, Ning Zhuo fought one against two, using the mechanical components to counter them and easily won.

“Ahhh!” Meng Chong grabbed his hair, somewhat frantic.

He had hoped to defeat Ning Zhuo and regain his face after consecutive losses, but unexpectedly, this time he lost even more decisively!

“Good, good, good, Ning Zhuo! Next time, we’ll compete again!” Meng Chong wasn’t discouraged and said something harsh before stepping off the arena.

This scene was witnessed by several cultivators under the arena.

One of them was from the Meng family.

He frowned. “This Qi Refining junior, Ning Zhuo, seems to be winning a bit too often.”

Upon realizing this, he quickly checked the battle statistics and was surprised to find that it wasn’t his illusion, Ning Zhuo’s personal record was actually in the forefront!

Ning Zhuo’s previous battles were always difficult, and he often won by a narrow margin, which easily led to misunderstandings.

But this time, he defeated Meng Chong cleanly and decisively, making him noticeable to those with ulterior motives.

That night.

Ning Zhuo received bad news. There were multiple public security incidents in the black market, and even though the former Ning family stewards were dispatched collectively, they were met with counterattacks from the criminals.

The order in the black market was in chaos, and every merchant and stall owner suffered varying degrees of losses.

And these people quickly banded together, collectively demanding compensation from the black market side!

On the black market side, no one could take charge, and the City Lord’s mansion was also holding them accountable. Facing such tremendous pressure, they had no other choice but to send a message to Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo saw the message and his heart became clear. “It seems someone has finally realized my excellent record.”

Although he really wanted to continue hiding, his extraordinary mechanical talent could not be concealed after all.