Huoshi Immortal City.
The Ning family's carriage moved along the street at a moderate pace.
Pedestrians along the way consciously stepped aside.
This was because the carriage bore the large character "Ning" on both the carriage and the flag. The carriage itself exuded the aura of multiple magical instruments, indicating its high status—typically reserved for important figures.
Even without recognizing these signs, onlookers could easily identify the grandeur—a total of eight cultivators guarded the carriage, four at the Qi Refining Stage and four at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
From such a display, even a fool could understand that the carriage must be carrying an important member of the Ning family.
However, the one seated inside was Ning Zhuo.
The geniuses of the Qi Refining Stage from the four major forces in Huoshi Immortal City had recently been targeted by assassinations in rapid succession.
The four forces, being severely provoked, not only strengthened their cooperation but also enhanced the protection of their geniuses.
At this moment, he sat cross-legged inside the carriage, surrounded by floating clouds.
The Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators of the Ning family used their spiritual senses to probe the scene and couldn't help but admire Ning Zhuo's diligence.
Those who had guarded him for a long time gradually realized how hard he worked in his daily cultivation. He had pushed himself to the extreme, almost never engaging in leisure or relaxation.
It was as if some terrifying beast were chasing him from behind, and if he slowed down even a little, he would be devoured!
The floating clouds could shield the fluctuations of his breathing exercises, though even if the fluctuations were revealed, it wouldn't matter.
After all, when a cultivation technique reaches its limit, it still requires daily breathing exercises to refine new mana for use.
Covering each session with floating clouds was reasonable.
Given his past of hardship and loneliness, and the recent assassination attempts, anyone would have a profound sense of insecurity. Using such actions to slightly fill this void of safety was understandable.
But in fact, Ning Zhuo was remotely controlling Yuan Dasheng!
Ning Zhuo first took out the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, and secretly placed it in Ning Ze's residence.
Once he left the family's territory and boarded the carriage, drawing everyone's attention, he quietly began to remotely control Yuan Dasheng, activating it to start another operation.
With the Mirror Platform Spirit Technique, Ning Zhuo could constantly monitor the surroundings of Yuan Dasheng.
With the Heart Seal planted by the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, Ning Zhuo could control Yuan Dasheng even without spiritual sense or puppet strings.
Moreover, Yuan Dasheng itself was intelligent enough to understand relatively complex instructions… This made Ning Zhuo's operation highly likely to succeed.
Yuan Dasheng donned the Cang Tie Han Armor, which had the ability to disguise itself. This time, it disguised itself as an ordinary cultivator.
As Ning Zhuo sat in the carriage, Yuan Dasheng walked down another nearby street, blending in with the passing pedestrians.
When it neared Ning Zhuo's small courtyard, Yuan Dasheng quickly slipped into an alleyway. Seeing no one around, it dove into the sewer.
Somewhere in the sewer, it made contact with a specific wall brick, activating a hidden teleportation array.
The next moment, Ning Zhuo felt a significant weakening in his control as Yuan Dasheng was teleported to an underground base.
This place currently held Han Ming captive. It was also Ning Zhuo's transit point every time he visited the black market and where he had once stored his Fire Essence.
Yuan Dasheng approached the furnace.
It opened its storage bag, dumping everything inside into the furnace.
Afterward, it shut the furnace door, infused it with spiritual power, and slowly increased the furnace's power.
As the temperature of the air rose, the red glow gradually dispelled the surrounding darkness.
The Cang Tie Han Armor still covered Yuan Dasheng.
It sat cross-legged in front of the furnace and, with Ning Zhuo's help, began to activate the Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Resolving Sutra!
Spiritual power followed the sutra's path, gradually revealing its profound abilities.
Within the furnace, red flames burned fiercely, quickly melting all the items related to Yuan Dasheng.
From the flames, specks of pink light rose.
The pink light danced gracefully at the tips of the flames, like snowflakes.
When the cremation ended, and Yuan Dasheng opened the furnace door, these specks of spiritual light, like young swallows returning home, naturally flew into Yuan Dasheng's embrace, filling its spirit.
The original seven-point-nine spirit quickly climbed.
After a few breaths, some of the pink light particles circled outside Yuan Dasheng's body, unable to enter, and regretfully dissipated.
This was because Yuan Dasheng's spirit was now complete!
Full spiritual essence!
Self-sufficient spirit!
This was an absolute qualitative change. From now on, Yuan Dasheng's spirit could restore itself, no longer relying solely on external supplements.
"Very good, very good!" Ning Zhuo smiled inside the carriage, though he looked exhausted.
After all, it was his first time fully activating the Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Resolving Sutra, and he did it remotely.
Fortunately, his soul was deeply rooted, and his mind was sharp. His current Mirror Platform Spirit Technique had already reached the sixth level. Such a level of cultivation made it stand out among his three techniques!
"Return by the original route." Ning Zhuo issued this command, but in the next moment, his smile froze.
From the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, came a very clear refusal!
The Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, controlled by the Cang Tie Han Armor, slowly stood up.
It looked around in confusion, then looked down at its hands and body, feeling utterly perplexed.
It didn't know who it was, nor where it was.
Ning Zhuo hurriedly issued another command!
As a result, Yuan Dasheng felt a voice in its mind, telling it what to do.
But Yuan Dasheng chose not to listen to this voice. Instead, it placed a hand on its chest.
Deep within its heart, there was a strong emotion of anger and hatred, like a flood from an opened gate, surging forth and overwhelming it.
Yuan Dasheng was almost instantly buried by this intense emotion.
It let out a low roar, emitting a tragic ape howl.
The sound startled Han Ming in her cell.
Han Ming had been resting and recuperating these past few days.
Before Ning Zhuo left, he had loosened her restraints. Although she was still chained, her range of movement now covered half of the cell.
At the same time, Ning Zhuo had set up mechanisms here to feed Han Ming at regular intervals.
Considering Han Ming's needs, Ning Zhuo had added a small wooden compartment in a corner of the cell, containing a waste bucket.
When the bucket's contents accumulated to a certain level, a floor tile at the bottom would open, and water would spray in, flushing the waste away.
To prevent Han Ming from feeling lonely, Ning Zhuo had also placed some books in the cell, covering a wide range of topics, to help her pass the time.
Even so, Han Ming was about to lose it!
She longed to see the young puppet master. Even seeing a cockroach would lift her spirits and bring her a sense of happiness.
So, when she heard the ape's howl, she was instantly horrified, then overjoyed.
She quickly ran toward the cell door, but the chains yanked her back midway.
Han Ming fell onto the cold floor tiles, screaming toward the cell door, "I'm here, I'm here!"
"Master, is that you? Have you come?"
Yuan Dasheng heard Han Ming's voice but paid no attention.
The intense hatred subsided as quickly as it had come, like a layer of ice on the sea's surface. Beneath the ice lay the vast ocean, filled with endless sorrow.
The sorrow was so overwhelming that it buried Yuan Dasheng's spirit deep within.
Yuan Dasheng's eyes, which had been mechanical and lifeless, now revealed an incredibly deep sadness and grief.
It moved slowly, its footsteps heavy, like a walking corpse, and left the underground base through the teleportation array.
Han Ming was still screaming, struggling as if trying to resist, not wanting the dungeon to return to its silent state.
"Please, master, are you out there?"
"Please, I don't want to be locked up anymore!"
"I'll do anything, just let me out; I can't take it anymore! Sob, sob…"
The underground base returned to its calm, as if the despair of life had gripped her throat.
She cried for a long time until she passed out.
Ning Zhuo, through Yuan Dasheng, sensed Han Ming's movements, but he could no longer care!
"Yuan Dasheng, stop, halt!"
"Return by the original route, return by the original route!!"
Ning Zhuo desperately communicated with Yuan Dasheng through the Mirror Platform Spirit Technique.
Yuan Dasheng's spirit refused to follow the command.
"Full spirit! Who would've thought there'd be such a drawback!"
Ning Zhuo, sitting in the carriage, was extremely nervous. If Yuan Dasheng were exposed, it would directly point to his fatal flaw.
The Buddha Heart Demon Seal!!
Ning Zhuo closed his eyes tightly, trying to resonate with the seal, causing blood to quickly flow from both nostrils.
He was only at the Qi Refining
Stage and could only draw out a tiny bit of the seal's power. The distance between him and Yuan Dasheng was too far, and with Yuan Dasheng acting on its own, the distance was growing even more.
Even using the Heart Seal only made Yuan Dasheng's movements stiffen slightly, slowing it down but having no decisive effect.
Through the Mirror Platform Spirit Technique, Ning Zhuo saw that Yuan Dasheng had already left the sewer, exited the alley, and entered the bustling street.
For a moment, Ning Zhuo had the urge to jump out of the carriage and run directly toward Yuan Dasheng.
But he quickly suppressed such a foolish thought.
"Calm down, calm down."
Ning Zhuo's breathing steadied, his eyes filled with cold light.
He told himself to stay calm, and to his surprise, he adjusted his mindset almost instantly.
The efficiency of this adjustment left him a little astonished.
He quickly assessed the situation.
Yuan Dasheng was covered in the Cang Tie Han Armor, not in its ape form, but as an ordinary cultivator. In Huoshi Immortal City, this was unremarkable.
"The situation isn't the worst yet."
"Emotions have strong impacts, but they don't last. The previous rage and hatred were quickly replaced by sorrow."
"Once the emotions subside to a certain level, my control over Yuan Dasheng will return."
"On the contrary, if I lose composure, jump off the carriage, and run near Yuan Dasheng, that would be the biggest mistake."
Amid the floating clouds, Ning Zhuo took a deep breath, fully calming himself.
With so many guards around him, he needed to continue heading to the Zheng family.
"Even if Yuan Dasheng is exposed, I still have my final trump card."
"This sudden change is nothing compared to the crisis of renaming the leaderboard or the plot to kill Yuan Dasheng."
Since the bombing of the Immortal Palace, Ning Zhuo had grown rapidly.
Not only had his cultivation advanced, but so had his temperament.
The pressure of difficulties, challenges, and death had stripped away his mortal bones, giving him a trace of a strongman's demeanor.