To rent a *dongfu*, one must go to the Internal Affairs Hall. There, Ning Zhuo already had an acquaintance, Cao Gui. Previously, it was through Cao Gui that he cooperated to deal with Yu Henye.

Ning Zhuo thought for a moment and decided to seek him out.

When Cao Gui saw Ning Zhuo again, he narrowed his eyes and asked directly, “Daoist Ning, are you friend or foe?”

Ning Zhuo smiled, “Naturally, we are comrades-in-arms.”

Cao Gui shook his head, “If that is the case, why has Daoist Ning accepted Yu Henye’s invitations to banquets time and again?”

Yu Henye had offended the Cao family back then. One reason Cao Gui agreed to join forces with Ning Zhuo was to cause trouble for Yu Henye. Another reason was that Cao Gui himself was quite poor, and Ning Zhuo offered a substantial reward.

Ning Zhuo bowed respectfully and said sincerely, “The friction between Yu Henye and me was minor and has now been resolved. As a newcomer, turning an enemy Golden Core cultivator into a friend is the right path.”

“I personally believe this does not affect my friendship with you, Daoist. After all, the Cao family is the Cao family, and Daoist Cao Gui is a Daoist. Brother Cao, given your current situation, how much support has your family given you?”

Cao Gui sighed deeply, “Though I am a peripheral member of the family, this assignment was obtained through family connections.”

“How can a person forget their roots?”

With that, he waved his sleeve, “I can understand Daoist Ning’s choice. From now on, you and I shall be strangers.”

Ning Zhuo sighed, cupped his fists, and bowed, “Daoist, your integrity is high. It is my shallow fortune that I cannot be your friend. Farewell!”

Cao Gui watched Ning Zhuo leave before retracting his gaze and returning to his work.

Ning Zhuo rode his cloud away from this Internal Affairs Hall and went to another. His face was expressionless. Cao Gui’s change in attitude was one of the situations he had anticipated.

Originally, Ning Zhuo’s plan was to use the opportunity of dealing with Yu Henye to get closer to the Cao family. Although the Cao family had declined, they were still a force among the old Four Peaks.

But then an unexpected event occurred—Yu Henye proactively surrendered. As a Golden Core cultivator, his surrender represented greater value, and Ning Zhuo naturally chose the latter.

This meant that his relationship with Cao Gui was damaged. Their meeting today confirmed this.

“Becoming strangers, this situation is neither good nor bad.”

At least they didn’t become enemies. Having confirmed this relationship, Ning Zhuo put the Cao family line out of his mind.

It’s impossible for a person to be liked by everyone, or in other words, to maintain good relationships with all forces and individuals, especially in an environment full of struggles where one must compete for cultivation resources.

Between the Cao family and Yu Henye, Ning Zhuo chose the latter. Between Shen Xi and Pi Fujie, Ning Zhuo chose the former.

When the time is right, one must choose a side. In politics, neutrals are often the most dangerous. Absolute loyalty is not absolute disloyalty. Only by choosing a faction can relationships deepen. Ning Zhuo’s political acumen in this regard was absolutely sufficient.

Half an hour later.

Ning Zhuo stood inside the Green Stone *Dongfu*. This was his newly rented *dongfu*. The *dongfu* had five rooms and one hall.

The Moss Stone Entrance Hall was for receiving guests. The cultivation room was paved with green jade bricks and inscribed with a spirit gathering array. The pill and artifact refining room had an earth-fire array, satisfying basic pill refining and artifact crafting needs. The two living rooms had few facilities.

The last room was the martial arts training room, which had a martial arts array. This was the main reason Ning Zhuo chose it.

The matters at Shuyu Zhai were settled, with only the *Luoshu* pages remaining. This wouldn’t be resolved in a short time. Moreover, Yu Henye was now a hidden line for Ning Zhuo, and staying there for a long time would only attract attention. He had just made an enemy of Pi Fujie, and would surely make more enemies in the future. Withdrawing in time was naturally for the best.

It just so happened that Gongsun Yan had joined, and the original *dongfu* was no longer sufficient.

Ning Zhuo arranged the two living rooms of the Green Stone *Dongfu* for Old Chef and Qing Chi respectively. They were almost empty, which made it convenient for them to arrange as they pleased. As for Gongsun Yan, he was to live in the pill and artifact refining room. Ning Zhuo himself didn’t even have a living room; the cultivation room would suffice. He wasn’t particular about such things.

After Ning Zhuo made the arrangements, he activated the array in the martial arts training room and entered its array space.

The cost of the Martial Arts Training Hall wasn’t high, but Ning Zhuo dared not risk exposing Xuecai Nü Hui’s sentience.

He performed several rounds of Five Elements spells within the array space, causing ripples on the transparent boundary of the array space, thus testing its defensive strength.

However, Ning Zhuo did not directly release Xuecai Nü Hui. Instead, he left the Green Stone *Dongfu* alone.

He returned to Yu Henye’s peak, and using the mountain’s teleportation stone chamber, made a secret exchange with Sun Lingtong. Sun Lingtong returned to the Green Stone *Dongfu*, while Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged before the Water Vortex Array.

During this period, Sun Lingtong had made phased progress in his research of the Water Vortex Array. He constructed a small array outside the Water Vortex Array. Through this small array, Ning Zhuo could communicate with the core of the array within the water vortex—the *Luoshu* pages. Sun Lingtong himself didn’t have to use his spiritual eyes of talent every time, which was too exhausting.

Ning Zhuo was affected by the Dao artifact through the small array. Sun Lingtong also benefited from the *Luoshu* pages through the threads of fate.

With this influence, Sun Lingtong carefully inspected the Green Stone *Dongfu*’s array, confirmed its safety, and then quietly left.

Throughout the entire process, Old Chef, Qing Chi, and Gongsun Yan were kept in the dark. There was no need to tell them.

Sun Lingtong’s attainments in arrays were far superior to Ning Zhuo’s. And with the help of the *Luoshu* pages, the results of this inspection were highly likely to be accurate.

Crucially, when Ning Zhuo chose this *dongfu*, the mechanism ring also had no reaction. *Dongfu* of this level usually catered to wealthy Foundation Establishment cultivators, who were numerous in the Myriad Forms Sect. Unless Ning Zhuo was incredibly unlucky and chose a special one out of thousands of options, who would specifically try to harm him?

But when it came to luck, Ning Zhuo was not lacking in this regard. After Hundred Paper Immortal City, he obtained the Yang Tianqing, so his luck would definitely not be bad. It’s just that at the main gate of the Myriad Forms Sect, this influence of luck was not prominently displayed. Any super-force has its own exclusive treasures to suppress fate.

Given all this, Ning Zhuo was almost entirely certain that the Green Stone *Dongfu* was safe.

Only after his secret exchange with Sun Lingtong did he take out Xuecai Nü Hui in the martial arts training array.

He only used the threads of fate to secretly contact this automaton, then concealed himself and manipulated a large number of mechanical beasts to attack Xuecai Nü Hui.

Xuecai Nü Hui was besieged and fought back, tearing waves of mechanical beasts into pieces. Each battle, Ning Zhuo deliberately left gaps, allowing Xuecai Nü Hui to rest. After all, sentience was primary, and operating automata also consumed energy.

Each time Xuecai Nü Hui won, she would slightly tilt her head, standing proudly on the spot. Through the threads of fate, Ning Zhuo could clearly feel her emotions in her sentience being naturally expressed repeatedly. His connection with Xuecai Nü Hui became increasingly smooth.

“My guess must be the answer.”

“Xuecai Nü Hui’s nature is pride.”

“As long as this point is continuously satisfied, her nature can be expressed, allowing her to pass through the Spirit Awakening stage faster.”

Good times didn’t last long. Xuecai Nü Hui’s wins gradually increased, but the pride she gained after battles became less and less. Even if Ning Zhuo intentionally increased the difficulty, such as increasing the number of ordinary mechanical beasts or strengthening his control over them, the pride Xuecai Nü Hui expressed from winning significantly decreased. When the benefit decreased to a certain extent, Ning Zhuo decisively stopped.

“The joy of accomplishing the same thing indeed diminishes over time. For ordinary people, doing it too many times also leads to numbness.”

“Then let’s do something else.”

Ning Zhuo knew Ning Xiaohui quite well, and naturally thought of talisman crafting. Ning Xiaohui was quite skilled at talisman crafting during her lifetime.

Ning Zhuo summoned Qing Chi to the martial arts training room. This time, he appeared in person, arranging both Qing Chi and Xuecai Nü Hui to sit before him.

Qing Chi first curiously observed the automaton, marveling at her beauty, then her gaze lingered on Ning Zhuo. Even with amnesia, she showed a strong sense of attachment. Qing Chi responded enthusiastically to Ning Zhuo’s call.

Ning Zhuo said, “This time, I called you here to teach you the most basic talisman crafting. Pay close attention!”

With that, Ning Zhuo demonstrated on the spot, crafting a Light Body Talisman.

The talisman’s effect was to reduce the target’s weight. If a mortal could activate this talisman, they could walk on snow without leaving a trace, fly swiftly over grass, and instantly become a master of light footwork.

Ning Zhuo demonstrated once, then had Qing Chi and Xuecai Nü Hui try to craft it.

Qing Chi looked confused. Her gaze had unconsciously lingered on Ning Zhuo’s face, so she hadn’t seen clearly how to craft the talisman. Xuecai Nü Hui, however, whose sentience was indeed derived from Ning Xiaohui, was deeply attracted when Ning Zhuo crafted the talisman, staring motionlessly and intently at his movements.

Ning Zhuo had the two girls begin to try crafting talismans.

Xuecai Nü Hui remained still for a long time before starting. Her movements were stiff and mechanical, and she quickly failed.

Failing to craft a talisman, at worst, consumed magic power and mental energy; at worst, it led to a backlash. Fortunately, the Light Body Talisman was too low-level and simple, and both Xuecai Nü Hui and Qing Chi had enough reserves to withstand the negative consequences of numerous failures.

After Xuecai Nü Hui failed, she continuously endured the negative consequences. Qing Chi was the same, but her movements became faster and faster, her progress rapid, and she got closer and closer to success.

Ning Zhuo was secretly surprised, “My progress in learning this talisman was even slightly slower than hers. I didn’t expect her to have such an extraordinary talent in this cultivation skill!”

He then looked at Xuecai Nü Hui. Because they were connected by threads of fate, Ning Zhuo could clearly feel that Xuecai Nü Hui had a sense of urgency. Clearly, she was very interested in talisman crafting and noticed Qing Chi’s rapid progress, not wanting to lose to others like this.

Ning Zhuo then looked at Qing Chi and saw her frowning, looking serious. Without the threads of fate, he could guess Qing Chi’s thoughts—”I must give it my all! If I can’t even surpass an automaton, wouldn’t Young Master Ning Zhuo be quite disappointed in me?”

Ning Zhuo sighed inwardly, thinking, “I’m sorry, Qing Chi.”

He then used the threads of fate to connect with Qing Chi and subtly influenced her fingers. Qing Chi was crafting a talisman when her movements suddenly distorted, drawing a rather exaggerated arc, and she failed instantly.

Qing Chi frowned, only thinking that her fine motor control was lacking, and immediately started again.

Thus, with Ning Zhuo’s partiality, Xuecai Nü Hui’s progress gradually surpassed Qing Chi’s, eventually succeeding in crafting a talisman first.

Her head tilted back even higher, with a more exaggerated arc than when she defeated the tiger demon!

Ning Zhuo also felt joy in his heart. Through the threads of fate, he could feel Xuecai Nü Hui’s pride being expressed intensely, the strongest it had ever been.

“This path is correct!”

Only Qing Chi was almost in tears. Why was she so useless? At every crucial moment, her fingers wouldn’t obey, and her movements distorted! She couldn’t even compare to an automaton, how could she bear it!

As for why the automaton was so lively, Qing Chi, having lost her memory and lacking common sense, did not find it strange.

Ning Zhuo nodded, praised Xuecai Nü Hui, which triggered another small wave of pride in her. Then, Ning Zhuo comforted and encouraged Qing Chi. The young girl bit her canine teeth, full of gratitude, and immediately declared that she would work even harder!

Ning Zhuo then had the two compete again. This time, Qing Chi gave her all, and Ning Zhuo did not interfere, resulting in significant progress. But just as she was only halfway through, Xuecai Nü Hui had already succeeded again.

“Because it’s a mechanism, does it succeed every time once it’s made once?” Ning Zhuo’s eyes flashed, keenly noticing that Xuecai Nü Hui’s talisman crafting movements were identical to before.

The Buddhist physician Meng Yaoyin was not his creation. Ning Zhuo had crafted the automaton bodies of Yuan Dasheng and Meng Yehu. But both of them were combat types, and Ning Zhuo didn’t make them learn any cultivation skills.

This situation with Xuecai Nü Hui was Ning Zhuo’s first encounter. He felt that he had guessed the truth.

Next, he began to experiment.

Sure enough, Xuecai Nü Hui succeeded in crafting the talisman every time, all her movements exactly the same.

Without Ning Zhuo’s secret interference, Qing Chi’s speed also became faster and faster after crafting her first Light Body Talisman. Because the talisman was too basic and simple, she never failed.

It was just that each time, she never won against Xuecai Nü Hui.

“Once Xiaohui learns to craft talismans, her crafting speed will be the fastest inherently.”

“Qing Chi’s potential is great to be unearthed. If they compete a dozen more times, her speed will surpass Xiaohui’s.”

“Each talisman crafting victory expresses far more pride than fighting mechanical beasts.”

“It seems that Xuecai Nü Hui inherited some traits of Ning Xiaohui during her lifetime. Compared to combat, she prefers talisman crafting!”

With this discovery, the automaton’s positioning in Ning Zhuo’s mind directly shifted from combat-type to production-type.

“She should possess a certain combat ability to fill the combat power gap for me during the period when Yuan Dasheng and Meng Yehu are not repaired.”

“But in reality, she is more suited for crafting talismans.”

“When her sentience grows in the future, I should equip her with a cultivation technique specifically for talisman crafting!”

“Of course, before that, I will have her try other cultivation arts to ascertain her true situation.”

Ning Zhuo had a premonition that Xuecai Nü Hui’s positioning should be talisman crafting. But to be safe, he still needed to try all cultivation skills.

Seeing Qing Chi about to surpass Xuecai Nü Hui, Ning Zhuo decisively spoke, “Alright, next I will teach you the second type of talisman.”

Qing Chi gasped, but Ning Zhuo had already started demonstrating, so she could only put aside her regret and concentrate on observing.

Having learned from the previous lesson, Qing Chi observed quite carefully this time. But when she tried to craft the talisman, she still began to make frequent mistakes.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“It shouldn’t be difficult! Why am I so nervous?”

“Am I too eager to show off in front of Young Master?”

Qing Chi grew more anxious and gradually began to doubt herself.

On the other side, Xuecai Nü Hui’s learning progress was naturally far weaker than Qing Chi’s. After all, she was only in the Spirit Awakening stage and had not yet grown to the Spirit Intelligence stage.

Ning Zhuo naturally wouldn’t let Qing Chi continue to doubt. He decisively stood up, walked over to Qing Chi, and directly reached out, taking Qing Chi’s hand. “I’ll help you. Don’t be nervous, try to control your fingers and don’t tremble.”

Qing Chi felt as if she heard the sound of hot air rushing, shooting out from the top of her head. At this moment, she felt like she was about to explode, her heart pounding. She stared blankly at Ning Zhuo’s hand, which was holding hers, feeling as if she had fallen into a beautiful dream.

Ning Zhuo taught her hand-in-hand, patiently telling her where she had made mistakes, more carefully and patiently than teaching a child. On the other side, Ning Zhuo secretly observed Xuecai Nü Hui, seeing her begin to move, failing repeatedly, and making progress, nodding secretly.

Qing Chi’s expression was stiff, her whole body tensed up. Her heart was no longer focused on crafting talismans, but on Ning Zhuo, constantly feeling the warmth of his palm. She forgot the passage of time, only feeling that everything was wonderful! It was only when Xuecai Nü Hui succeeded in crafting the talisman again and Ning Zhuo let go that she snapped out of it.

The automaton once again tilted her head back, with a greater arc than before. The reason was simple: her opponent, despite having more guidance, still lost to her. For a moment, intense pride was evident!

Ning Zhuo then had them craft the second type of talisman again. After Qing Chi snapped out of it, she began to concentrate and give her all, relying on her talent, which was even better than Ning Zhuo’s, to quickly catch up again. After her first successful talisman, she also had a 100% success rate, and her speed became faster and faster.

But when she once again showed signs of surpassing Xuecai Nü Hui, Ning Zhuo decisively began to teach them the third type of talisman. After demonstrating once, Ning Zhuo had them both try.

Qing Chi’s first line was crooked!

She was filled with shyness, mustered her courage, and looked at Ning Zhuo with longing and expectation, “Young Master, my talent in talisman crafting is too low. Please help me.”

Ning Zhuo:

This time, he had not used the threads of fate to influence her.

Ning Zhuo sighed inwardly, pretending not to know, and once again taught Qing Chi hand-in-hand. Thus, all three parties achieved their goals.

Most of the day passed, and Xuecai Nü Hui still needed to continually express emotions, not yet having directly passed the Spirit Awakening stage. Ning Zhuo compared her to Yuan Dasheng, secretly guessing, “Yuan Dasheng directly broke free from control before, acting independently, and his emotions were expressed extremely intensely.”

“Ning Xiaohui is not like that. Her pride is a steady stream. Perhaps this determines that this will be a slow process.”

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