On the third day, the fourth day…

    Every day, nsmen from the branch families voluntarily pledged allegiance to Ning Zhuo, offering their services.

    Ning Zhuo did not refuse anyone, epting them all.

    What made him even happier were the former deacons.

    These elite Foundation Establishment cultivators privately approached Ning Zhuo, rmending their descendants to him.

    This act held significant meaning in the righteous path.

    It showed that these Foundation Establishment cultivators had truly given their loyalty to Ning Zhuo, acknowledging his future and entrusting their descendants to him, while also securing a future for them.

    Ning Zhuo had different expectations for this group.

    He noticed that the descendants of these former deacons were generally young and had lower cultivation levels.

    Ning Zhuo coldly said, “If you want me to ept them, let them disperse their cultivation and retrain with the Five Elements Qi Regtion Art!”

    Many were concerned about future cultivation issues, hesitating, with only a few former deacons immediately agreeing.

    In a small courtyard.

    Ning Houjun and Ning Youfu, two former elders of the family, were ying a game of chess.

    Ning Youfu held a chess piece, lost in thought for a long time.

    Ning Houjun couldn't help but urge, “Hurry up and make your move.”

    Ning Youfu ced his piece on the board and sighed, “It's too fast, too fast.”

    Ning Houjunughed heartily, “You’re talking about Ning Zhuo, aren’t you? This junior has indeed risen faster than we ever imagined.”

    Ning Youfu sighed again, correcting him, “It's much faster!”

    “The plot against Ning Xiaohui was a crisis, but Ning Zhuo resolved it perfectly, turning it into a great opportunity!”

    “What do you think? Does this kid have natural talent, or is someone guiding him from behind the scenes?”

    Ning Houjun red, “What do you mean? Are you praising yourself in front of me?”

    Ning Youfu burst outughing, “Old friend, you're still hiding things from me, huh? You’re taking your time with the chess, too.”

    In the patriarch's study.

    Ning Xiaohui’s grandmother dragged Ning Xiaohui along to visit the Ning family patriarch.

    “Kneel!” Ning Xiaohui’s grandmother’s voice was stern, “Look at the trouble you’ve caused!”

    Ning Xiaohui gritted her teeth, immediately kneeling before the Ning family patriarch, saying, “Patriarch, Xiaohui knows her mistake! I was too jealous of Ning Zhuo, and when I heard the ancestors needed the Night Breeze Soft Iron, I didn’t even think and reported Ning Zhuo.”

    “I acted too rashly.”

    “This, instead, gave him a perfect opportunity to rise!”

    Saying this, Ning Xiaohui bit her lip in anger.

    She was furious.

    She had thought that by framing Ning Zhuo, she would cause him significant losses and make him suffer in silence, but in the end, she became the fool.

    Her scheme, which was meant to harm him, instead gave Ning Zhuo an opportunity, putting him in the spotlight of several Golden Core cultivators and rapidly expanding his influence in just a few days.

    Thinking that she was the one who facilitated all of this, Ning Xiaohui felt like killing herself!

    Ning Xiaohui’s grandmother watched the Ning family patriarch’s expression carefully, saying, “Patriarch, Xiaohui may be my granddaughter, but she acted on her own this time, causing great losses to the main family! As for the punishment, I leave it entirely up to you, Patriarch!”

    The Ning family patriarch stared at the grandmother and granddaughter in front of him, knowing that by admitting their fault and epting punishment, they had taken the lightest possible route, causing him to snort coldly, “Naturally, she must be severely punished. However, Ning Xiaohui, you're currently involved in refining weapons for the ancestors, and your role is not insignificant.”

    “I’ll punish you by making you work off your crime!”

    Ning Xiaohui’s grandmother was overjoyed, “The patriarch is wise. Thank you, Patriarch!”

    After the two left, the Ning family patriarch, in his rage, grabbed an inkstone and threw it.

    He smashed a few items on his desk, venting his anger, before calming himself down, his face full of frustration.

    “Ning Zhuo, his influence has grown!”

    In just a few days, everything had changed dramatically.

    A single sentence from the Ning family ancestor had been fully utilized by Ning Zhuo, causing his power to grow at least sevenfold!

    His status in the family had jumped several ranks.

    “Ning Zhuo is asking the descendants of some Foundation Establishment cultivators to retrain in the Five Elements Qi Regtion Art. He’s trying to bypass the family’s cultivation techniques and pave a new path to advancement.”

    “His ambition is as clear as day!”

    “It’s the Lava Immortal Pce that gave him this opportunity. Without it, no matter how talented he was, what could he have done? Such is fate.”

    “Wasn’t he supposed to be stingy and miserly? How did he manage to pull off something so impressive this time? Who exactly is guiding him from behind?”

    At this thought, the Ning family patriarch became even more despondent.

    “In the end, it doesn’t matter who is guiding Ning Zhuo.”

    “What matters is the attitude of the Golden Core ancestor!”

    The source of power, inrge part,es from force.

    The Golden Core cultivator Ning Jiufan is the highestbat power in the family, so he naturally holds the highest authority.

    Ning Jiufan was encouraging Ning Zhuo!

    This was Ning Jiufan’s attitude, and it was the reason the Ning family’s main branch was living in fear day and night.

    The Ning family patriarch bitterly smiled to himself, “Ning Jiufan, the ancestor, has a deep bond with the main branch, but over the years, we’ve troubled him too many times, and the emotional ties have been worn thin.”

    “The main branch and the side branches shed more than ten years ago, and the ancestor was already unhappy with how harshly the main branch was punished.”

    “He wishes for the entire Ning family to grow stronger, not just the main branch!”

    Realizing this, the Ning family patriarch knew he couldn’t stop Ning Zhuo.

    He had originally thought of using Ning Zhuo’s collection of nsmen’s blood and flesh as a point of contention.

    Now, however, with Ning Zhuo gaining the ancestor’s approval,ing forward to expose Ning Zhuo would be a p in the face to the Ning family ancestor.

    Doing that would make him a fool!

    The only thing the Ning family patriarch could do was secretly nt his people within Ning Zhuo’s growing forces.

    Ning Zhuo quietly expanded his influence.

    Now, the number of nsmen offering up their blood and flesh to him had tripledpared to before.

    This meant that Ning Zhuo’s cultivation of the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique had also increased threefold in speed!

    Ning Zhuo publicly imed that he needed to refine substitute puppets and required simr blood and flesh for research purposes.

    No one doubted him.

    Any suspicions were deeply buried under his current poprity.

    With the Golden Core ancestor’s recognition, who would dare to question him?

    Ning Houjun and Ning Youfu expressed their approval, feeling that Ning Zhuo’s cultivation level was too low, only at the thirdyer of Qi Refining, and he needed to master some life-saving methods.

    Ning Youfu even gave Ning Zhuo a talisman: “This is a Substitute Talisman. Study it well, and when your research is sessful, return it to me.”

    The Substitute Talisman could, at a critical moment, take a hit in ce of the cultivator. If used well, it could save a life.

    Life-saving resources and treasures were always the most valuable.

    Ning Youfu, seeing Ning Zhuo’s promising future, did not hesitate to offer his own life-saving item for Ning Zhuo to study, as a gesture of goodwill.

    Ning Zhuo’s rise was beyond imagination.

    This former elder of the family, sensing the situation, had to elerate his investments. Otherwise, when Ning Zhuo’s wings were fully grown, the cost of currying favor would be much higher, or he might not even get the chance.

    Ning Zhuo hadn’t expected such unexpected benefits.

    Immediately, he decided in secret that such a valuable item had to be kept.

    “Studying substitute puppets is incredibly difficult.”

    “If I take ten or eight years to research it, that wouldn't be unreasonable, right?”

    Losing the Night Breeze Soft Iron didn’t stop Ning Zhuo from continuing to refine the Golden Core-level Mechanical Ape.

    His reputation soared, and by coborating with the Zhou and Zheng families, he could make an even bigger impact.

    Outsourcing the dirty and exhausting work, Ning Zhuo leveraged the power of the three major righteous families in Huoshi Immortal City on a grand scale to refine treasures for him.

    “This junior, Ning Zhuo, is truly interesting,” said Zhou Nongying.

    “No wonder he managed to win over someone as scheming as Fei Si,” Zheng Jianlian chuckled.

    Ning Jiufan only smiled without speaking.

    The storm Ning Zhuo had stirred in the Ning family also affected the Zhou and Zheng families. Recently, Ning Zhuo had be the most prominent figure in the righteous path.

    And the source of all this was nothing more than a single sentence from Ning Jiufan.

    In the eyes of the Golden Core ancestors, Ning Zhuo’s affairs were no more than interesting topics for idle conversation.

    “The Night Breeze Soft Iron has been inspected, and there are no issues. It’s been preliminarily processed. Everyone, let’s begin refining!” said Zheng Shuangg

    ou.

    The Golden Core ancestors chose an auspicious time and sat in the crucial points of the formation.

    The light from the Heavenly Work Lamp suddenly intensified!

    The boundless underground fire, purified by the formation, had all its fire poisons, toxins, and impurities removed before being infused into the Heavenly Work Lamp.

    Themp’s me grew seven timesrger, from the size of a fingertip to the size of a cup.

    The spiritual sense of the Golden Core cultivators extended into the me, slowly being consumed.

    The me, though small, contained a hidden world, possessing the power of a mustard seed, with an ocean of fire within!

    As the scarlet mes zed fiercely, the mechanical soldiers, like ancient giant serpents, remained stubbornly defiant.

    Two Golden Core cultivators from the Zheng family took turns using their artifact refining techniques.

    A volcano rose from the sea of fire, towering over everything, suppressing the mechanical soldiers within its body.

    The mes outside the mountain surged, and as they flowed into the mountain, they transformed into streams of red light.

    The red light illuminated the inside of the mountain, gradually softening the mechanical soldiers.

    One by one, Golden Core-level materials were added into the volcano, transforming into streams of five-colored smoke, merging into the mechanical soldiers.

    Finally, the Night Breeze Soft Iron!

    As molten iron was poured in, merging with the smoke streams, it quickly solidified,pletely filling the gaps in the mechanical soldiers.

    However, the ck serpent roared, violently resisting, twisting its body, and turning its head to bite at its seven-inch weak spot.

    “Beast! Will you not submit and surrender?” Zheng Shuanggou roared, casting spells with all his might.

    The mes formed chains, binding the ck serpent tightly.

    The Zheng family patriarch stepped into the formation, unleashing his heavenly gift—Tempering Through a Thousand Trials!

    In the world of themp me, scarlet fire condensed into countless hammerheads, rushing forward, enveloping the ck serpent and striking it repeatedly.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    With each strike, the serpent’s resistance weakened slightly, and the fire hammers disintegrated in turn.

    After over a thousand hammer strikes, the ck serpent copsed, though its head still held a fierce and defiant expression.

    Zheng Shuanggou, drenched in sweat, ceased his control and hurriedly sat down to meditate, swallowing pills to replenish his energy.

    Zheng Jianlian took over the responsibility alone, continuing to manipte the mes to refine the mechanical soldiers.

    The ck serpent emitted a dense shadow, swaying like willow branches, effortlessly resisting the raging mes.

    Seeing this, Zhu Xuanji’s eyes shed with golden light: “This seems to be an artifact from the Night Rain Dynasty! You’ve calcted well, using a member of the Southern Dou royal family, a Detective Division officer like me, to help you refine a prohibited item!”

    Zhou Nongying smiled, “Lord Zhu, your words are inappropriate. As far as I know, the Southern Dou Dynasty has not banned items from the Night Rain era.”

    Zhu Xuanji’s expression was serious as he coldly snorted, “The Night Rain Demon Soldiers, though incredibly powerful, are deeply demonic in nature and often devour their masters. Mishandling them could lead to our downfall. This weapon cannot be used!”