Faced with Ning Zhanji's sudden test, the others looked at one another.
Ning Zhuo guessed aloud, "These spirit plants are all very young and worth little. Harvesting them naturally isn't for the plants themselves. I think it is meant to maintain this passage and deliberately clear it out. Spirit plants attract spirit beasts and demon beasts. If our Lineage intends to use this passage for the long term, then we must obviously nip trouble in the bud."
"Correct." Ning Zhanji nodded. "The Lineage school's training has indeed produced results."
"Choose one of these spirit plants as your reward for answering correctly."
"As for which one you can pick, that will depend on your eye."
Without hesitation, Ning Zhuo reached out and took a Fire Crystal Grass, then thanked him. "Thank you, Lord Ning Zhanji! I have some knowledge of the herb market. Among these spirit plants, this Fire Crystal Grass has the finest quality and will certainly sell for the highest price."
Ning Zhanji nodded, then shook his head. "Choosing the one with the highest market price is not bad either."
"But if I were you, I would choose the Vigorous Ginseng."
"As members of the Ning Lineage, we cultivate ice-element techniques. Spirit plants like Fire Crystal Grass do not suit our constitutions. Vigorous Ginseng, however, does. It can nourish our Physical Bodies."
"You are still young. Do not bury yourselves blindly in the eyes of money. You must understand that investing in yourselves is the best path to success."
"Once you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, you will enter an entirely different stage of life."
Hearing this, Ning Zhuo put on a solemn expression as though he had received instruction.
Ning Zhanji took the opportunity to instill more into them. "Outstanding cultivators are those who dare to strive and fight. You must fully assess the balance between risks and returns. If you join the War Hall and are assigned to guard this place, you can harvest several spirit plants every day while enjoying the protection of the temporary camp. This is a rare opportunity."
"Many times, refusing risk means refusing opportunity."
Ning Zhuo showed a tempted expression.
Every change in his expression fell into Ning Zhanji's eyes, and the latter chuckled inwardly. A youth, after all...
"My lord, I want to be stationed here," Ning Yong shouted.
Ning Zhanji chuckled. "Newcomer, pass the special training first before you talk."
The Ning cultivator squad entered an underground hall.
This was clearly a frontline position deliberately built by the Ning Lineage.
Two Ning cultivators were stationed inside the hall.
The stationed cultivators hurriedly came forward to receive them.
Ning Zhanji ordered a temporary rest. He himself stood at the center of the underground hall, stirred his mana, and formed hand seals.
In the next instant, intricate array markings emerged across the cave wall above the hall.
At the center of the markings, an array disk the size of a millstone slowly descended, eventually landing before Ning Zhanji.
Ning Zhanji placed both hands on the array disk and used his divine sense to connect with it, swiftly reviewing the records stored within. Thus, in only a few breaths, he gained a complete grasp of everything that had happened at this frontline camp.
After doing so, he took spirit stones from his money pouch, removed the ones in the array disk that had completely turned into gray stone or dimmed by more than half, and replaced them all.
After a brief rest, the Ning cultivator squad continued onward.
Along the way, Ning Zhuo passed through three more forward camps.
They rested at some and passed directly through others.
As they gradually ventured deeper beneath the volcano, the threats steadily grew.
Demon beast traces became noticeably more frequent.
There were Fire Velvet Rats the size of palms, stone heads that could float through the air—the Crimson Rock Demon Heads—and Flame Treading Lizards.
"Stop!" Ning Zhanji had been leading the way when he suddenly raised a hand and halted in place.
The cultivators swiftly came to a standstill, shifting from motion to stillness with Strict Discipline, displaying excellent tactical qualities.
Ning Zhanji Bowed his head and carefully examined a small trench before him.
He extended a finger and lightly touched the surface of the trench's concave interior. The surface was smooth and faintly shone with a glass-like luster.
"It is a Fire Walking Snake. It should be more than a hundred years old, a demon beast at the Foundation Establishment Realm." After the introduction, Ning Zhanji ordered the entire squad to be on guard.
Ning Yong, however, was careless and excited. "Have we finally encountered one? With Lord Ning Zhanji here, why fear some petty demon beast?"
Ning Chen analyzed, "Aside from us newcomers, there are six Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators here. Everyone else is an advanced Qi Refining Stage cultivator."
"It is only one Foundation Establishment Realm demon beast."
Ning Zhuo, however, secretly remained vigilant.
He knew that demon beasts' innate Physical Bodies often far surpassed those of human cultivators. Moreover, this was the Crimson Flame Demon Lava Cave. If a prolonged battle truly broke out, it would likely draw other demon beasts over to besiege them.
The Ning cultivator squad continued onward.
But this time, their pace clearly slowed, and the atmosphere within the team changed as well.
Before long, they discovered the Fire Walking Snake.
The Fire Walking Snake had a long, slender body and blazed with dazzling firelight all over. The entire snake resembled a long strip of fiercely burning flame.
In truth, it was flame that had gained sentience; it possessed none of the flesh and blood of conventional demon beasts.
Fire Walking Snakes were fierce by nature and incredibly swift. As they traveled through rock, they often melted snake-like paths across stone surfaces.
Earlier, Ning Zhanji had discovered such a snake path and judged its strength from its width and the extent to which its concave surface had been scorched.
Now that they had encountered the true culprit, they found that Ning Zhanji's judgment had not been wrong in the slightest.
This truly was a demon beast at the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The Ning cultivators began battle preparations.
First, a cultivator threw out an array disk and hastily set up an array to conceal everyone's auras.
Then, a large number of cultivators began preparing spells.
Before long, streams of water arrows shot toward the Fire Walking Snake.
The Fire Walking Snake was first struck by a concentrated barrage, its flame-light weakened by more than half before it finally reacted.
The Fire Walking Snake pounced toward the Ning cultivator squad with ferocious momentum.
Two burly men rushed from among the Ning cultivators, shrouded in various spells. They confronted the Fire Walking Snake head-on and held it in place.
The remaining cultivators cast spells again, bolstering the close-combat cultivators on one hand while actively injuring the Fire Walking Snake on the other.
The Fire Walking Snake's two fists could not fend off four hands. It was soon battered by repeated water-element and ice-element spells until its body had shrunk by a third.
Knowing it was outmatched, the Fire Walking Snake tried to flee.
Ning Zhanji moved like lightning and intercepted it. With a clap of both palms, he sent out two palm imprints condensed from frost.
The palm imprints flew through the air, cold energy spilling in all directions. The Fire Walking Snake was engulfed, and even its movements slowed by several degrees.
Bang! Bang!
The two nearly overlapping sounds rang out as the frosty palm imprints directly struck down the Fire Walking Snake.
A beautiful ambush battle!
Ning Yong's eyes shone brightly, and he grew even more excited. "This is Lord Ning Zhanji!"
His words revealed intense longing and admiration.
Ning Zhuo nodded repeatedly, wearing an expression much like Ning Yong's, yet inwardly he was puzzled. Within this volcano, fire-element spiritual energy is exceptionally dense. Using frost spells takes twice the effort for half the result. Why are they all using them?
After several more battles hunting demon beasts, Ning Zhuo gradually understood.
It turned out Ning Zhanji was deliberately training the troops.
When they encountered weaker demon beasts or demons, they used spells to fight, training their coordination with one another.
When they encountered powerful demon beasts, the Ning cultivators employed all kinds of magic artifacts, while Ning Zhanji took the lead in attacking.
To avoid dragging things out until complications arose, the Ning cultivators focused on swift battles, striving to end each fight in the shortest possible time.
"There is a Fire Melt Demon Ape ahead!" A cultivator responsible for scouting suddenly cried out a warning from within the squad.
The entire team stalled.
An adult Fire Melt Demon Ape was extremely troublesome. One demon ape could match ten Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
Clearly, the likelihood that a demon ape capable of reaching this place was juvenile was very low.
Even Ning Zhanji frowned.
"Wait, the demon ape's condition seems wrong." The scouting cultivator had his eyes tightly shut, while the headband he wore emitted a faint glow.
"It seems to be dead?!" The scouting cultivator opened his eyes, somewhat unable to believe it.