In the small cultivation chamber, layers upon layers of clouds floated.
"Meng Chong, Meng Chong, truly impressive!" Ning Zhuo's face was filled with solemnity.
"As expected of someone with celestial talent."
Although Meng Chong was once again defeated in this confrontation, Ning Zhuo could already feel Meng Chong's powerful impact.
"Each time I push him back, he quickly returns with even greater strength. I am like a whetstone, constantly sharpening him, making him ever more formidable!
If this continues, there may come a day when he will break through the obstacles I have set, soar to great heights, and become unstoppable."
In the first battle, the Golden Blood Battle Ape, Yuan Dasheng, defeated Meng Chong because Meng Chong overused his celestial talent, leading to a severe depletion of his strength and a complete collapse.
But in the second battle, Meng Chong had already mastered a deeper level of his celestial talent's usage, greatly reducing wastage and accelerating parts of his body, allowing him to fight Yuan Dasheng to a standstill, even gradually suppressing him.
"This victory was because I relied on my spells. Having exposed this card, Meng Chong will surely find a way to counter it. The question is, how long will it take him this time?" Ning Zhuo had this premonition.
In fact, finding a solution wasn't difficult.
Meng Chong only needed to learn some spells to counter spells with spells.
Meng Chong was solely focused on breaking through, relying on his celestial talent without mastering and practicing the spells rewarded by the trials.
Ning Zhuo assessed the battle damage.
Yuan Dasheng had many injuries, more severe than in the first battle.
Currently, Ning Zhuo couldn't conveniently transport Yuan Dasheng back, so he directed him to open the door and head to the preparation room.
Once in the preparation room, Ning Zhuo controlled Yuan Dasheng to pay spirit stones and select many mechanical tools to repair himself.
Yuan Dasheng sat cross-legged on the ground, holding a piece of fire wood in one hand and using a wood-joining technique with the other.
The wood extended like a stream, weaving through and filling every wound completely.
Ning Zhuo then used Yuan Dasheng to cast the Flame Bath technique, burning the wood to ashes, filling in all the cracks and gaps.
This repair method was not perfect.
Ning Zhuo's previous repair methods were actually quite good.
Now, while Yuan Dasheng had treated the wounds, the scars were all black streaks of ashes. These charcoal-black scars spread all over his body, adding a fierce and savage look to him.
There was no other choice; Ning Zhuo couldn't openly use various tools to melt the related fire rocks and create filling materials under the watchful eyes of the four Ning family guards.
"Hmm? The spirituality seems to have diminished..."
While Ning Zhuo was repairing Yuan Dasheng, he discovered a concerning issue. Yuan Dasheng's spiritual essence had decreased from a full 80% to 79%. Ning Zhuo's heart sank, realizing, "I need to rely on Yuan Dasheng to stop Meng Chong, which means I need to find a way to replenish his spiritual essence."
Spiritual essence... Ning Zhuo knew little about it. Although he had memorized and mastered all the knowledge from the Ning family's library, these were public books and not of high caliber. Spiritual essence involved spiritual treasures, which were high-end forces in the cultivation world, recorded only in secret tomes.
The pressure on Ning Zhuo was increasing daily. He had planned for fourteen years, but once he began competing for the Lava Immortal Palace, unexpected events frequently occurred. Whether it was Yuan Dasheng or Zhu Xuanji, they forced Ning Zhuo to change his plans, leading him step by step to his current situation.
"Meng Chong is the grandson of Meng Kui, the City Lord, and surely carries life-saving items gifted by a Nascent Soul cultivator. I cannot design a trap for Meng Chong like I did for Yuan Dasheng. Compared to the City Lord's Mansion, the entire Ning family is insignificant. And I'm just a branch of the Ning family. If I directly confront the City Lord's Mansion, how could the Ning family stand by me?" As a result, no matter how many times Meng Chong fails, he can always come back.
In contrast, Ning Zhuo's energy, combat power, and time are heavily constrained by Meng Chong, making it difficult to focus entirely on exploring the Immortal Palace.
"Take this battle, for instance. I have no spoils of war and instead have to spend resources to repair Yuan Dasheng."
"The only gain might be the deep understanding I get from experiencing Yuan Dasheng's battle state through the spiritual connection, significantly enlightening my martial arts. But this won't work in the long run. I'll only grow weaker with each fight..."
Ning Zhuo, with his strategic vision, wasn't blinded by the immediate victory. The deeper he thought, the more worried he became.
At the City Lord's Mansion, Meng Chong slowly opened his eyes. His facial muscles twitched—phantom pain. In the Lava Immortal Palace, he was burned alive, and the sensation was vividly imprinted in his memory.
For a moment, Meng Chong didn't get up, his eyes dazed. Mastering the Thunder Shadow technique had significantly reduced his consumption of energy, spirit, and essence. Although he could sit up and move freely this time, he didn't. He felt a wave of discouragement and frustration.
From a young age, Meng Chong had been identified as having celestial talent and had always been successful without facing such significant setbacks. And not just one setback, but repeated ones.
Even with Meng Chong's naturally bold and spirited nature, he couldn't help but feel depressed at this moment. "The difficulty of exploring the Lava Immortal Palace is truly too high!"
Meng Chong thought of the mechanical monkey engulfed in flames and was at a loss. He felt utterly helpless. His every move was closely watched by his attendants and servants. Seeing the young master in such a state upon his soul's return, vastly different from usual, the servants quickly reported the situation.
Meng Chong's condition was of the utmost priority. Very soon, Meng Kui learned of it.
"Hmm?" He immediately sensed something was wrong. Meng Kui, in his true form at the peak of Fire Persimmon Mountain, emitted divine light from his eyes that pierced through the sky and obstacles, directly observing his grandson lying there, silent and dazed.
"Something's not right. Let me calculate." Meng Kui tried to divinate but couldn't find the answer. He immediately took out an abacus artifact, his fingers flying as he consumed vast amounts of mana and divine sense, constantly moving the abacus beads.
When the beads settled, Meng Kui deduced Meng Chong's fate energy.
"How could it be this low?" The Nascent Soul cultivator was taken aback. In his understanding, Meng Chong possessed celestial talent with naturally abundant fate energy, making such a low state extremely rare.
Unlike the Meng family ancestors, Meng Kui's talent was of the high-grade level, known as "Mountainous Perspective." This talent allowed him to stand like a mountain; as long as he remained still, his own fate energy would stabilize, allowing him to calmly observe his surroundings and perceive the entire landscape.
Because of this, he earned the nickname "Mountain Chancellor." In confrontations, he was always immovable like a mountain, observing the layout and luring the enemy to attack. His fate energy was stable and rarely shaken, leading to fewer losses compared to his enemies. This often resulted in the enemy exposing weaknesses over time. Meng Kui would remain motionless until enough weaknesses accumulated, then he would strike with full force, often securing victory with a single blow.
Meng Kui also practiced the art of divination, which was rare. In the cultivation world, mastering divination required rare spiritual roots or talent as a prerequisite. Mountainous Perspective was such a talent; when reaching a certain level of foresight, one could "observe" glimpses of the future.
Meng Chong's situation reminded Meng Kui of the chaos in the world and the rise of many contenders. Often, the dragons that initially garnered the most attention weren't the true kings. In the early to mid-stages of contention, they attracted too much firepower, leading to severe depletion of their fate energy through mutual strife. Meanwhile, the true king's seed would quietly grow stronger, eventually accumulating enough momentum to establish a lasting rule and create a cultivation kingdom.
"According to Zhu Xuanji, the Lava Immortal Palace was not meant to emerge at this time... Therefore, our forceful seizure of the palace is contrary to its fate energy. Chong'er is currently making the most progress and is at the forefront, leading to excessive depletion of his fate energy. If only we could obtain a fate-stabilizing treasure or a fate energy treasure from the Lava Immortal Palace, it could greatly mitigate this fate energy conflict!" Thinking of this, Meng Kui sent a distant transmission while using his abacus artifact to temporarily boost Meng Chong's fate energy.
"Foolish child, aren't you awake yet?"
"Ah, Grandfather!" Meng Chong's spirit suddenly rose, his fate energy returning to normal, clearing his mind entirely. His gaze sharpened, and a flash of insight struck him. "I've got it! I know what to do."
"If the opponent is using spells, I can use spells too. One of the rewards for passing the levels includes the Ice Embrace spell. I need to undergo special training to master this spell; then I can counter that monkey's flames, right?"
"Hahaha!"
Meng Chong laughed heartily, suddenly jumping up and leaping to the ground. He strode forward, pushing open the door. "Someone, bring me food. I need to eat, eat, eat!"
"After eating, I will train, train, train!"
The servants, seeing this, all sighed in relief. This was the Meng Chong they remembered.
Meng Kui, watching from afar, nodded slightly at the scene. He then turned his gaze toward the territories of the Zhou, Zheng, and Ning families, his expression darkening.
"Chong'er and the Lava Immortal Palace's fate energy are in conflict, like two strong forces clashing. Now, with the three families united, even though combining their fate energy isn't easy, it ultimately makes it easier for them to pick up the pieces. Measures must be taken to curb this."
Ning family.
Ning Zhuo was led into the Treasure Pavilion.
"This is 'Theory on Spirituality'. Please read it here, Ning Zhuo," a Zhou family cultivator instructed.
Ning Zhuo nodded, taking the jade slip. After inspecting it, he placed it against his forehead. Infusing his divine sense, he began to read the jade slip.
"Theory on Spirituality" was not a cultivation method or secret technique but a compendium of knowledge about spirituality.
After finishing, Ning Zhuo's eyes sparkled with brilliance for a long while. His perspective had broadened significantly, marking a qualitative change with substantial gains.
"So, there are so many aspects to spirituality."
"Theory on Spirituality" divides spirituality into five levels. The lowest level is 'Non-spiritual'. Then comes 'Dead Spirit'. After that is 'Living Spirit'. A higher level is 'Intelligent Spirit'. The highest level is 'Divine Spirit'.
The term 'utterly stubborn' refers to the 'Non-spiritual' stage, where there are no signs of spirituality.
The 'Dead Spirit' stage is further divided into Spirit Charm, Spirit Pattern, Spirit Root, Spirit Shadow, and Spirit Image.
The 'Living Spirit' stage, from lower to higher, includes Spirit Star, Spirit Activity, Spirit Growth, Spirit Movement, and Spirit Sensitivity.
According to the book, Yuan Dasheng's spirituality is at the 'Spirit Growth' stage within the 'Living Spirit' stage.
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