Exposure?

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit gradually began to see through Ning Zhuo's scheme.

It disdainfully spat out a puff of reddish-brown smoke, certain that everything Ning Zhuo was doing was utterly useless.

Yet just as it raised a finger to stop Ning Zhuo, it changed its mind.

It suddenly felt that watching this little show was rather entertaining.

It was like toying with a tiny ant—each time, it would raise its palm to block the ant's path. Seeing no road ahead, the ant could only turn and take another route. As the palm kept blocking its way, the ant could only keep changing paths.

Wasn't that amusing?

Unaware that he had become a little ant, Ning Zhuo felt immense pressure.

"It has to work."

"I have to destroy my name!"

Ning Zhuo understood perfectly how serious this was.

The success or failure of this matter would nearly decide whether he lived or died!

Even if he did not die, his fate would certainly be miserable.

Seek refuge with the Ning family and confess everything to the Lineage?

Ning Zhuo hardly considered it.

Given the Ning family's traditions, if he voluntarily confessed, they would most likely support him openly while suppressing him in secret.

Support him? They would merely treat him as a tool.

His future life would surely be unbearably stifling, and everything he gained in the Immortal Palace would be taken by the Lineage.

Freedom? That was even more out of the question!

"What about joining one of the other three factions?"

Ning Zhuo secretly shook his head.

It would be very bad to seek refuge now. Meng Chong, Zhou Zhu, and the others had all been harmed in secret. As an outsider with such outstanding results, he would definitely become the focus of the other great powers' attention.

With his small frame, he could not bear it. Absolutely not!

"My greatest advantage has always been hiding my abilities and remaining in the shadows. But now, a simple ranking list has broken my concealment and turned over a decade of hiding my abilities into nothing."

"I refuse to accept this!"

Carrying such pressure and emotion, Ning Zhuo swiftly assembled a crude catapult.

He aimed it at the proper angle, calculated the distance, then quickly cut the rope.

In the next instant, the Thousand Jun Heavy Hammer Platform in the catapult basket was hurled out.

Bang.

With a muffled thud, the Thousand Jun Heavy Hammer Platform smashed heavily into the stone pillar, landing precisely where Ning Zhuo's name was.

Then came another thunderous bang.

The Thousand Jun Heavy Hammer Platform crashed onto the Floor Tiles, shattering all the nearby tiles.

Yet on the stone pillar's ranking list, Ning Zhuo's name remained completely unharmed—still as eye-catching, still as outstanding as ever!

At the sight, Ning Zhuo's heart sank fiercely.

He clenched his fists and stared rigidly up at his own name.

He had never expected that during his second exploration of the Magma Immortal Palace, he would encounter a life-or-death crisis!

If he had not been in a Puppet Body, he would surely already have been drenched in sweat.

All kinds of negative emotions inevitably arose and swiftly spread through his heart.

Ning Zhuo could not help recalling Mother's final instructions before her death.

"Mother told me to keep myself safe. If my life is endangered, then even if I must give up this Immortal Palace, that is completely acceptable."

"Life is still the most important thing!"

"Perhaps I should not have been greedy enough to explore the Magma Immortal Palace."

Ning Zhuo suddenly shook his head, cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Heh heh, what is wrong with me?"

"Even if I were given another chance, I would still choose to do this!"

"With such an opportunity laid before me, if I did not fight for it and lived so cowardly a life, I might as well die."

"Calm down!"

"Even if I am exposed in the end, I accept that worst possible outcome."

"Because these were all choices I made myself!"

Ning Zhuo adjusted himself extremely quickly and returned to a calm, composed state.

Once he calmed down, he quickly came up with other ideas.

"The stone pillar ranking list is difficult to destroy, but perhaps the Magma Immortal Palace itself provides a function to alter or disguise one's name?"

"There are still many places in the Preparation Room that I have not explored."

Ning Zhuo began searching everywhere.

He swiftly glanced over the worktables, mechanical crafting tools, and various types of Mechanical Platforms. He recognized some of them, but understood even less.

He came to the room's exit and touched the door, but there was no reaction at all.

"It seems the Preparation Room does not provide any rewards."

At last, he turned his gaze to the Five-Sided Stone Pillar at the center of the room.

Just now, he had touched the stone pillar in an attempt to erase his name, but nothing had happened.

Yet after thinking it over, Ning Zhuo still felt that the stone pillar should not be so simple.

He tried pouring spiritual power into it. In the next moment, the stone pillar shot out a thin ray of light that struck Ning Zhuo squarely in the chest.

The thin light stamped a seal upon Ning Zhuo's chest.

After several breaths, the seal faded away.

"Trial Disciple?" Ning Zhuo had seen the seal clearly, and it somehow seemed familiar.

Suddenly, he understood: the style of the seal's characters matched My Buddha Heart Demon Seal.

"That is not strange. Mother seized My Buddha Heart Demon Seal from the Magma Immortal Palace."

The seal of the Magma Immortal Palace had not truly disappeared; it had merely concealed its traces.

Then, further information was conveyed into Ning Zhuo's heart.

"So, those on the ranking list receive rewards every week. Furthermore, those rewards are related to one's specific ranking. The higher one's rank, the richer the rewards."

"One week... from when does it begin counting?"

"It also did not state what the specific rewards are."

Ning Zhuo held the stone pillar and gazed up at his ranking, sighing bitterly in his heart.

"That is not the problem."

"I would rather give up all those rewards if it means getting my name removed."

To Ning Zhuo, rewards were merely icing on the cake. But exposing his name was almost a calamity that would crush him beneath the sky!

"I want off the list. Off the list!"

"How do I do that?"

"I do not want my name displayed up there!"

Ning Zhuo racked his brains, yet could not think of any good solution.

But because he was searching his mind and exhausting every thought, he gradually sensed something extremely vague yet quite familiar.

"This sensation..."

"Could it be My Buddha Heart Demon Seal?!"

In an instant, Ning Zhuo was like a drowning man clutching at his only lifeline. Whether it would work or not, this was his sole hope at present.

At once, he concentrated his mind, cast aside stray thoughts, and did everything he could to strengthen his connection with My Buddha Heart Demon Seal.

Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

Ning Zhuo's physical body lay on the bed, no different from someone sleeping normally.

But within the divine sea of his upper dantian, the mountain-like Treasure Seal began to glow slowly.

Its radiance steadily intensified. It actually started from his physical body, traveled along the Life Hanging by a Thread, and reached Ning Zhuo's soul.

Ning Zhuo's soul resided within the puppet, which had been touching the Five-Sided Stone Pillar all this time.

Through this transmission, the influence of My Buddha Heart Demon Seal spread over the Five-Sided Stone Pillar.

Ning Zhuo: "It works, it really works!!!"

Under Ning Zhuo's intense desire, his name truly began to sink downward.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been watching Ning Zhuo the entire time.

Ning Zhuo had tried every possible means to wear away his name, only to fail each time. Then he sank into deep thought, which the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit found quite entertaining.

It lay sprawled across the throne, its gaze piercing through space as it watched with great relish.

In the next moment, its body froze, and its eyes suddenly burst forth with dazzling red light.

It sensed My Buddha Heart Demon Seal!

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was incomparably excited. It sprang to its feet, leaped up, and flew into the air.

Roar!

It opened its mouth and roared. Its delicate little body actually released an astonishing bellow. The entire Magma Immortal Palace once again bloomed with brilliant Treasure Light!

At the summit of Fire Persimmon Mountain, Treasure Light rose like gigantic pillars, hundreds upon thousands of beams shooting straight into the azure vault.

The entire Immortal Palace trembled without end. Lava churned violently, and thick smoke surged and rolled.

The ever-vigilant Fire Persimmon City Lord was jolted awake and hurriedly acted to suppress it, preventing Fire Persimmon Mountain from erupting.

"What happened?!" His heart was filled with confusion.