The Will

Underground workshop.

The gentle light of the spirit lamp evenly filled the entire space.

Ning Zhuo sat at the table, checking the storage bag in his hand for the last time.

These were the spoils he had obtained from the three ghosts of the Huang family in the black market before.

After confirming its safety, Ning Zhuo began to crack the miniature formation on the first storage bag, then forged the original owner's aura and divine sense, and finally tricked the storage bag into opening successfully.

In the first storage bag, there were a few Spirit Stones, a Spirit Pet Green Blade Mantis, and some materials suitable for ghost cultivators, such as Dark Essence, Soul Essence, and Netherworld Flower.

The second storage bag contained hundreds of Spirit Stones. The ghost cultivation materials only included a ball of Yin Wind and a jade slip containing a ghost cultivation technique, the Yin Bone Art, which could modify one's bones.

The third storage bag belonged to the leader of the three Huang family ghosts. It had two layers of formations, which greatly increased the difficulty and time for Ning Zhuo to crack.

"Interesting," the young man's eyes shone brightly.

The higher the difficulty and the stronger the resistance, the more it stimulated his fighting spirit.

He was fully invested, enjoying the pleasure of challenging difficult problems.

After nearly half an hour, he finally succeeded in cracking it.

As soon as it opened, a Little Ghost Head pounced towards Ning Zhuo's face.

Ning Zhuo snorted inwardly, having been prepared. At the critical moment, the My Buddha Heart Demon Seal in his sea of consciousness flashed, restraining the Little Ghost Head. Then, the defensive formation on the handmade desktop activated, instantly annihilating the Little Ghost Head's soul.

The Little Ghost Head seemed to be the last stubbornness of the Huang family's ghost leader.

From then on, his storage bag had no defenses against Ning Zhuo.

There were over a thousand Spirit Stones, two jade slips, which were the ghost cultivation technique Netherworld Heart Sutra and the ghost cultivation spell Soul Guiding Art Detailed Explanation. There was also a large pile of cultivation materials, not just those suitable for ghost cultivation.

"Fire Essence?!" Ning Zhuo's pupils slightly widened, discovering about ten catties of Fire Essence.

Joy immediately appeared on his face.

Suppressing his excitement, Ning Zhuo pulled out a drawer and grabbed a handful of Golden Silk Jade Dew Cake from it.

With a surge of magic power, he burned away the packaging paper on the surface of the cake. A little ash flew out, like the ash from burning corpses in an alchemy furnace.

He opened his mouth and stuffed all the pastries in his hand into it.

Chewing.

Under the illumination of the spirit lamp, his lips were bright red, occasionally revealing his clean white teeth. The Golden Silk Jade Dew Cake was crushed between his teeth and lips, the filling flowing out and mixing together. It was as if the many cultivators who had fallen into his hands were wailing in the grinding, then their flesh and blood were pulverized, turning into nourishment for Ning Zhuo's growth.

The world of cultivators was cruel. Without gray businesses like the As-You-Wish Rope, and without the contributions of these demonic cultivators, how could Ning Zhuo afford to eat so much Golden Silk Jade Dew Cake?

While eating the Golden Silk Jade Dew Cake, Ning Zhuo happily counted the earnings from the black market yesterday.

Selling the As-You-Wish Rope brought him 24,000 Spirit Stones.

Among them, his uncle Ning Ze purchased 80 As-You-Wish Ropes for the Ning family, contributing the largest share.

In comparison, the Spirit Stones on the three Huang family ghosts were pitifully few.

"The As-You-Wish Rope I make is the best down-cave rope available on the market. Therefore, this business has always been good."

"So, it seems the Ning Family is making such extensive preparations for war because they're planning a big move?"

"Alas, the cultivation world is a place where people devour each other!"

"There are always those with ill intentions, bullying ordinary youths like me."

"Since those three ghost cultivators came out to rob, they must have been poor. However, those ten catties of Fire Essence were beyond my expectation, truly a pleasant surprise."

"With this, the Fire Essence I've accumulated has reached over a thousand catties, which is enough!"

Over the past few years, Ning Zhuo had been secretly accumulating Fire Essence. For safety, he only bought a little bit from the market each time, accumulating it bit by bit. At his previous pace, it would have taken him over a month to gather ten catties of Fire Essence.

Now, this large batch of Fire Essence immediately filled his last gap.

After tallying his gains, Ning Zhuo calculated the losses from the black market last night.

He took out a silver-gray token from hisHuai.

The front of the token had the character "Cang" (Cāng), and the back had the character "Han" (Hàn).

Ning Zhuo lightly tossed it, and the token disintegrated, extended, and expanded in the air, radiating dazzling light. After the light dissipated, the mechanical battle armor, Azure Iron Han Armor, floated quietly in mid-air.

Ning Zhuo opened a section of the mechanical battle armor's spine, where a Foundation Establishment Pill was embedded.

"There's only thirty percent of the Foundation Establishment Pill left."

This pill was quite crucial, being one of the factors that allowed the Azure Iron Han Armor to exert Foundation Establishment stage combat power. Ning Zhuo himself only had Qi Refining stage cultivation.

"If the Foundation Establishment Pill is used up, the Azure Iron Han Armor will also be unusable."

"Alas, it's very difficult to get Foundation Establishment Pills." Ning Zhuo frowned slightly.

This was Ning Zhuo's biggest loss yesterday.

Another scar was added last night.

It was the stab wound left by the leader of the Huang Family's three ghosts in his desperate struggle. Ning Zhuo was helpless against it.

Looking closely, one would find that the surface of this mechanical battle armor was actually covered in scars.

Some were old wounds from years past, and some were marks left from battles after Ning Zhuo started wearing it.

"Mother..." Ning Zhuo stroked the old scars, his eyes filled with sadness.

Fourteen years ago, when he was only two years old, his mother had given him instructions before she died.

He learned from this that there was a Lava Immortal Palace in Fire Persimmon Mountain, which was a mechanical immortal city. The city spirit secretly selected cultivators to inherit the immortal city. His mother was one of the selected Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. The immortal city's trials were numerous and extremely difficult. Because his mother's strength was outstanding, she was jointly targeted by other competitors, and ultimately suffered severe injuries that were incurable.

"The immortal city is constantly decaying, and the selection criteria are lowering accordingly. Zhuo'er, by the time you are fourteen, the selection criteria for the mechanical immortal city will have lowered to the Qi Refining stage. This will be your greatest opportunity!"

"Zhuo'er, you must study mechanical arts diligently and not let others know about your investment in this area."

"You must personally design mechanical creations, personally assemble them, and personally control them. These are all assessment contents of the mechanical immortal city."

"If you are among the top few among the other selectors, you will be recognized as a mechanical seed and will receive focused cultivation from the mechanical city. This is especially important for you, because you need the cultivation resources of the Mechanical Immortal Palace more than others with backgrounds."

"Absolutely do not cultivate to the Foundation Establishment stage using the Ning Family's cultivation method! Your mother was a mechanical seed in the Foundation Establishment stage, but unfortunately, my dantian was already set and I couldn't change my cultivation method. Many trials within the Lava Palace became doubly difficult because I didn't cultivate the cultivation methods left by the three sect lords, and I could only stop helplessly in the end."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The two-year-old Ning Zhuo cried in extreme fear: "Mother, don't talk anymore, you're spitting blood!"

Ning Zhuo's mother reached out and stroked Ning Zhuo's little head, her eyes filled with reluctance and worry: "Zhuo'er, Mother is sorry, I can't protect you. You have no father and no mother, from now on you are alone, you can only rely on yourself."

"Don't be too loyal to the family. Your father made this mistake!"

"Before your father died, he entrusted the young patriarch Ning Xiaoren to take care of you. But I have seen through this person, he is two-faced and cannot be relied upon."

"Your uncle and aunt, one is obsessed with saving face, the other is extremely stingy, neither are generous people, you must also be careful."

"Sometimes, the relatives and friends around you are often more dangerous than enemies!"

"Don't show too much excellence. Your parents are gone, there is no one you can truly rely on. You must hide yourself well, don't perform too poorly, mediocrity is fine. You must grow up ordinarily, accumulate quietly, and don't attract attention."

"Mother has seen too much, how many geniuses die young..."

"Mother's Azure Iron Han Armor is left for you to protect yourself, it has the might of the Foundation Establishment stage."

"And this magic treasure - My Buddha Heart Demon Seal! This is what Mother luckily obtained from the Lava Immortal Palace, you must never expose it."

When Ning Zhuo's mother said this, her voice had weakened to the extreme.

She wept incessantly, gazing intently at the two-year-old Ning Zhuo. She wanted to look at him, to keep looking, but her vision gradually dimmed.

In the last moments of her life, she fell into hesitation: "Mother doesn't know if teaching you this way is right or not."

"Zhuo'er, you must take good care of yourself. If it's really impossible, then give up on the Lava Immortal Palace."

"Life is the most important thing. Mother hopes you live, live well!"

"If you live, Mother will be happy."

The two-year-old Ning Zhuo clutched his mother's blood-stained clothes tightly: "Mother, Mother, don't talk anymore. I don't want you to die, don't die, woo woo woo..."

Ning Zhuo's mother finally said: "Good Zhuo'er, don't be afraid, don't be afraid... Mother is here, Mother, Mother will protect you from underground..."

The next moment, his mother's heart stopped beating, and her hand slowly slid from Ning Zhuo's head.

The two-year-old Ning Zhuo's body trembled violently as if struck by lightning. He suddenly looked up - he was already sixteen years old.

The once extremely tender child's face, covered in tears and snot, was now replaced by the resolute expression of a grown youth.

He had grown up, bearing the dying wishes and expectations of his mother.

"Mother, the situation has changed!"

"The City Lord and the Zhou Family and Zheng Family have joined forces to intensify the cleanup of the Crimson Flame Demon Lava Cave, greatly reducing the defensive pressure on the Lava Immortal Palace and significantly lowering its wear and tear. Without external pressure, the damage to the Lava Immortal Palace remains well-maintained, and the palace spirit has not actively lowered the selection criteria."

"This year, the Ning Family also discovered the secret of the Lava Immortal Palace. If we wait for them to also participate in the defense, then when will I be able to wait for the criteria to lower?"

"Perhaps I will never wait in this life!"

"The major forces in Fire Persimmon Immortal City are trying every possible means to conceal the Lava Immortal Palace, wanting to digest this opportunity within their own ranks. How can this be?"

"Therefore, I must take action myself!"

"Now, I have accumulated enough Fire Essence, absolutely enough to bomb the immortal palace into disrepair, thereby lowering the criteria."

"All that's left is the Fire Ape."