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The Ning Family Ancestor was sitting inside a massive block of ice, meditating.

In his arms, a pot-shaped magical treasure emitted a layer of bright white light.

The ice block gradually melted away, until it was completely gone.

The Ning Family Ancestor slowly opened his eyes, exhaling a breath of stale air. Afterward, he reached up and touched his forehead.

Even now, there was still a dent on his forehead, though it was not as obvious as before.

The Ning Family Ancestor\'s heart was filled with anger and hatred.

To him, this had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

He had already entered the Immortal Palace, waiting for the moment when the side hall would be breached, just about to enter. Then, out of nowhere, the *Peach Core of External Fate* descended from the sky, seriously injuring him.

The Ning Family Ancestor was fully aware of Meng Kui\'s mountain-watching divine ability and the *Peach Core of External Fate*.

After being severely injured by the peach core, the Ning Family Ancestor could only flee with his head in his hands, leaving the Lava Immortal Palace on his own.

Just like that, the brilliant opportunity was utterly ruined by Meng Kui!

"Meng Kui is truly too domineering."

"The Lava Immortal Palace is originally an ownerless object, left for those fated. Anyone should have a chance."

"My Ning Family was already a latecomer. This time, we were fortunate enough to enter the side hall, yet Meng Kui couldn\'t even tolerate that and had to intervene!"

"He probably thinks the Lava Immortal Palace has long been his personal property."

"He really won\'t let anyone else lay a finger on it!"

The Ning Family Ancestor caressed the *Ice Heart Jade Pot*, gradually calming down.

The *Ice Heart Jade Pot* was the Ning Family’s treasured heirloom.

The entire jade pot was carved meticulously from a single block of pure, ice-like cold jade, its body clear and transparent, resembling a pristine icy lake, radiating a faint chill.

When the Ning Family Ancestor touched the pot, he never felt a biting cold, but instead, a warmth like that of smooth jade.

The Ning Family Ancestor pondered the current situation.

"Meng Kui has already reached the Nascent Soul stage and is also the city lord of Huoshi Immortal City."

"His reason for sealing the volcano’s mouth is justified and proper, appearing aboveboard. If I want to enter the Immortal Palace, I have to go in disguise. But once I’m disguised, I lose the identity of a righteous cultivator and will be shamelessly targeted by Meng Kui."

"Sigh, looking at it this way…"

"My family\'s greatest hope still lies in the Qi Refining stage competition."

"But in the Qi Refining stage competition, can Ning Xiaohui really compete with Meng Chong?"

Thinking of Meng Chong, who had immortal aptitude, the Ning Family Ancestor felt a heavy burden.

He couldn\'t help but wonder: Had Meng Chong already reached the later stages of the competition? Was he already close to the end?

Touching the dent on his forehead again, the Ning Family Ancestor\'s gaze firmed.

"It seems I must increase my support for the family’s reform team."

After a moment of reflection, the Ning Family Ancestor promptly gave an order.

Ning Xiaohui was the first to receive the good news within the reform team.

"Oh? The Ancestor himself gave the order, taking out the *Frost and Proud Snow Comprehension Diagram* and even activating three bottles of *Snow in Spring Pills* to distribute to the entire reform team. He’ll even use the *Ice Heart Jade Pot\'s Ice Jade Wine* to reward the most outstanding cultivators in the team?"

"Heh."

Ning Xiaohui glanced at her own hands and curled her lips, "Reward the most outstanding? They might as well just give it to me directly. This is completely unnecessary."

After experiencing a near-death crisis, Ning Xiaohui\'s mentality had undergone a massive transformation.

Later, with the help of her grandmother, she had initially mastered the innate *Ice Jade Hand*.

In this process, the power of the *Ice Jade Hand* completely healed Ning Xiaohui\'s injuries.

As a result, Ning Xiaohui, as a latecomer, had surpassed the Zhou family’s duo, as well as Zheng Jian of the Zheng family. While the other three were still recovering from their injuries, Ning Xiaohui had already begun special training.

Ning Zhuo returned to the family’s headquarters.

Along the way, he smiled and nodded at the familiar clansmen he encountered.

After disarming Qi Bai and having a brief conversation with Sun Lingtong, Ning Zhuo rushed back in secret.

At this critical moment, he had to return to public view as soon as possible to prevent Han Ming from being captured and revealing that she had seen Yuan Dasheng’s corpse.

On the surface, it was Ning Zhuo who had acquired Yuan Dasheng’s corpse.

Even though there was no evidence linking Ning Zhuo and the young puppet master, if Ning Zhuo was investigated, he had plenty of excuses—such as selling the corpse on the black market or it simply being stolen by someone else.

However, it could indeed draw attention to Ning Zhuo himself.

To prepare for any potential investigations, Ning Zhuo couldn’t stay long at the underground base.

Ning Ze’s residence.

"Little Zhuo, you’re finally back. The whole city was in chaos yesterday with conflicts everywhere. You weren’t injured, were you?" Wang Lan hurried over, asking with concern.

Ning Zhuo shook his head slightly, "Aunt, you can rest assured. Ever since I was ambushed, I\'ve been very cautious. Besides, I also have the family’s assigned guards protecting me. Nothing can happen."

"That’s good, that’s good." Wang Lan suddenly sighed, "Sigh, you’re fine, but your uncle has suffered."

"The prisoner in the cell next to his suddenly lost his mind. Just over a small quarrel, he grabbed your uncle’s hair and slammed his head repeatedly against the bars."

"Your uncle is bleeding profusely and urgently needs a good environment to recover."

"Little Zhuo, please go and beg the Young Clan Leader again. Ask him to release your uncle!"

Ning Zhuo’s expression darkened, showing sadness, as he sighed, "Aunt, I didn’t know such a thing happened!"

"Uncle has truly suffered this time."

"But I already pleaded with the Young Clan Leader last time. Begging him again now has very little chance of success."

"Unless…"

"Aunt, you can repay all the cultivation resources you owe me from these past years."

"This…" Wang Lan’s face changed instantly, her brows furrowing, a look of distress covering her face, while a surge of anger rose fiercely within her.

She screamed in her heart, "That Ning Xiaoren never gave any cultivation resources at all, the truth isn’t like that at all!"

But she could only shout silently in her heart.

"Little Zhuo, to be honest, your uncle\'s household is really poor. We have so many daily expenses that there’s hardly any surplus."

"It’s completely unrealistic for me to give it all at once."

Ning Zhuo cut her off, "Aunt, I still need to cultivate. Pay back part of it first. You haven’t repaid anything so far."

Unwilling to continue entangling with Wang Lan, Ning Zhuo politely declined and then shut himself in the cultivation room.

He summoned the *Floating Cloud Scarf*, shrouding himself in layers of clouds, and took out the *Wooden Martial Ape: Dasheng* and the *Golden Blood Battle Ape* puppet.

The former had been reduced to just a skeleton after the fierce battle.

Had it not been for Yuan Dasheng’s use of his immortal aptitude, even the skeleton would have been burned away by the Nether Fire.

Ning Zhuo inspected the skeleton and found that its material was still the same, but it had become much more fragile than before.

"Is it because it bore the *Righteous Bone Gold Frame*?"

Ning Zhuo’s eyes flickered slightly.

He had always been puzzled as to how Yuan Dasheng had managed to use the *Righteous Bone Gold Frame* inside the *Wooden Martial Ape*. He planned to search for some related books to study later.

With the *Wooden Martial Ape: Dasheng* almost completely destroyed, Ning Zhuo took out the *Golden Blood Battle Ape* puppet.

Divine ability prototype—*Life Hanging by a Thread*!

He used the same method to extract Yuan Dasheng\'s spirit from the *Wooden Martial Ape* skeleton and placed it into the *Golden Blood Battle Ape* puppet.

"Yuan Dasheng’s spirit has undergone a significant change!"

The moment it was drawn out, Ning Zhuo made a discovery.

Previously, Yuan Dasheng’s spirit had appeared as a pink light sphere, with the surface of the sphere occasionally morphing into the shape of a baby monkey’s head.

Now, though Yuan Dasheng\'s spirit was still a pink light sphere, its size had increased more than threefold. The monkey head that emerged was no longer that of a baby monkey, but of an adult monkey.

The outline of the adult monkey head was more vivid and lifelike compared to the baby monkey’s head before.

Moreover, while it hovered in midair, Yuan Dasheng’s spirit was now enveloped in a layer of radiance.

This was a feature that hadn’t existed before.

Based on this, Ning Zhuo quickly thought of the relevant records in *On Spirits*.

"This layer of radiance is called ‘spirit glow’."

"When the spirit becomes abundant enough to overflow, reaching a certain threshold, spirit glow will appear."

"As the spirit

continues to grow, the spirit glow will become more and more intense, allowing it to interact with and analyze all things."

"So, Yuan Dasheng has already entered the *Wisdom Spirit Stage*!"

The stages of spirits are classified as follows.

The first stage is the *Non-Spirit Stage*, the second is the *Dead Spirit Stage*, the third is the *Living Spirit Stage*, the fourth is the *Wisdom Spirit Stage*, and the fifth is the *Divine Spirit Stage*.

The *Dead Spirit Stage* is divided into five levels, as is the *Living Spirit Stage*. From lowest to highest, the *Living Spirit Stage* is divided into: Spirit Star, Spirit Agile, Spirit Long, Spirit Active, and Spirit Keen.

Previously, after Yuan Dasheng’s spirit had become full, he had reached the *Spirit Active* level. At this level, the spirit was lively and active, greatly influenced by emotions.

According to Ning Zhuo’s research, as long as he commanded in line with the spirit’s tendencies, he could once again regain full control.

After the *Spirit Active* stage came the *Spirit Keen* stage.

"Looking at it now, Yuan Dasheng skipped the *Spirit Keen* stage and directly advanced to the first stage of the *Wisdom Spirit Stage*—*Spirit Connection*."

"The *Living Spirit Stage* is also called the beast spirit stage, as it follows instinct. The *Wisdom Spirit Stage* spirit, on the other hand, is a wise spirit. The first major transformation that occurs is the ability to communicate."

"This explains why Yuan Dasheng can speak."

The first stage of the *Wisdom Spirit Stage*, *Spirit Connection*, refers to the spirit’s ability to start normal communication with its surroundings.

Ning Zhuo placed Yuan Dasheng’s spirit into the *Golden Blood Battle Ape* puppet but did not immediately communicate with him, instead putting it away in a storage bag.

Wrapped tightly in layers of floating clouds, Ning Zhuo took out a meditation cushion and began his daily cultivation.

*Mirror Platform Spirit Technique*, sixth level.

*Five Elements Qi Regulation Art*, fifth level.

*Demonic Blood Tendon Technique*, fifth level.

"My cultivation is still too weak, far too weak."

"This time, I only defeated Qi Bai thanks to Meng Kui’s peach core, and secondly, my years of accumulated preparation."

"When will I be able to rely on my own cultivation to defeat powerful enemies?"

"What other methods are there to help me cultivate faster?"

"I must cultivate faster. I must become stronger!"

Having just survived a life-and-death battle, Ning Zhuo’s desire for cultivation was ten times stronger than before!

At the same time.

In another part of the Ning Family’s territory.

"Third layer peak of Qi Refining, *Ice Jade Hand*! Just based on these two points, how could Zhou Zhu, Zhou Zhenshen, or Zheng Jian be my match?"

Ning Xiaohui’s face was filled with pride.

This was all because the talents of Zheng Jian and the other two were not suited for combat.

But *Ice Jade Hand* was different!

"*Frost and Proud Snow Comprehension Diagrams*…" Ning Xiaohui unfolded the two scrolls, examining them carefully.

"I have the *Ice Jade Hand*, which gives me a natural affinity for understanding this."

"As long as I comprehend the *Frost Technique* and *Proud Snow Technique*, I will be like a tiger with wings!"

"By then, only Meng Chong could be considered my true rival."

"As for the others, they are not worth worrying about."