The Ning Family Clan Leader gave a wry smile, "State your conditions."
With each condition Ning Xiaohui proposed, his expression grew increasingly dark.
After she listed five, he could no longer endure and raised a hand to stop her, "Enough, let's pause for now."
Grandmother Ning, a respected elder, spoke disapprovingly, "Pause? My granddaughter is prepared to risk her life this time."
An elder of the Talisman Hall chimed in, "Clan Leader, are you aware? The City Lord's Mansion has intensified its efforts, dispatching multiple patrols of city guards to conduct rigorous checks throughout Fire Persimmon Immortal City on cultivators practicing the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique."
"If Xiaohui takes part in this competition, the dangers won’t be limited to the Lava Immortal Palace."
Grandmother Ning snorted coldly, "We are all from the main branch, part of the same family. It’s not like we're outsiders from a branch family, so why are you being so stingy, Clan Leader?"
Ning Zhuo awoke the next day at noon, feeling much better.
"It seems I’ll need some soul-nourishing and restorative pills."
Though he typically kept a stock of various pills, he didn’t have many suited to strengthening the soul.
From his first exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace, he knew such pills would be indispensable in the future.
"It’s not just the giant tree in Room Two that drains the soul."
"When the soul is extracted and resides in a mechanical puppet, it also slowly depletes soul power."
"The stronger the foundation of one's soul, the better one’s chances in exploring the Lava Immortal Palace."
Once he made up his mind, Ning Zhuo acted promptly.
He decided to purchase soul-nourishing pills from various pill pavilions and pharmacies in the city, buying other pills each time as cover.
On his way, he overheard complaints about city guards arresting people everywhere.
He also saw numerous notices posted on walls, announcing that the City Lord’s Mansion was accelerating checks on the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique, concerned that it might be a demonic art disguised as a Daoist technique.
Fearing the worst, they had ordered all cultivators in the city to temporarily refrain from practicing it.
Ning Zhuo immediately changed his plan, avoiding the pill pavilions and pharmacies altogether.
As he hurried back, he overheard further rumors that made his heart skip a beat.
"Meng Chong, Zheng Jian, and Zhou Zhu have all suffered attacks and hidden threats?"
"How terrifying."
"These geniuses are under heavy family protection, and yet they still encountered such troubles."
"If I, a common person, were exposed, I’d fare even worse!"
"Mother was right—I should just stay hidden."
Back at home, Ning Zhuo knew he needed to stockpile more soul-nourishing pills, but given the tense atmosphere, he decided to hold off for now.
He considered the Black Market. However, ever since his explosive entry into the Immortal Palace, his Azure Iron Armor had been significantly damaged, especially the back.
The most critical issue was that one of its core components, a Foundation Establishment Pill, was nearly depleted, with only ten percent remaining.
This was his trump card, something he couldn’t afford to use recklessly.
"Better to start practicing that spell I received as a reward from the Immortal Palace."
The spell Ning Zhuo had acquired was called Ice Embrace Technique. Once activated, it could freeze any object he held into solid ice.
After studying it, his initial impression was that the technique seemed somewhat weak.
Previously, his primary cultivation method was the Snow Domain Talisman Diagram, which granted him ice-element spiritual power and several techniques.
He knew spells like Ice Spear Technique, Frost Flower Technique, and Snowball Technique.
"The biggest drawback of Ice Embrace Technique is that it requires close combat to take effect."
"Whereas techniques like Ice Spear Technique and Snowball Technique can all be used for ranged attacks."
In actual combat, this limitation was significant enough that Ning Zhuo considered relying on Ice Spear Technique.
In fact, he’d wanted to use it in the Lava Immortal Palace, but it hadn’t been possible.
This brought him to the relationship between cultivation methods and techniques.
A cultivation method like the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique or the Snow Domain Talisman Diagram primarily produces spiritual power.
Techniques, on the other hand, like Ice Spear Technique, Frost Flower Technique, and Ice Embrace Technique, are specific methods or skills for wielding that power.
Techniques are built upon the foundation provided by cultivation methods.
A cultivator’s spiritual power can vary widely; ice-based power can’t be used to cast fire based techniques like Fire Dragon Technique, at best, only Ice Dragon Technique or Snow Whale Technique.
After acquiring Five Elements spiritual power, Ning Zhuo had attempted to use techniques like Ice Spear Technique, only to find he couldn’t activate them.
His spiritual power contained all five elements, so to use a single-element technique, he would first have to extract the relevant power.
His Ice Spear Technique didn’t align with the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique, thus requiring modification to work.
Such situations were common in the cultivation world.
If Ning Zhuo switched to a different ice-based cultivation method, he would likely be able to cast Ice Spear Technique immediately.
However, the original technique and his current spiritual power were not a perfect match, resulting in power loss unless adjusted to fit perfectly.
Ice Embrace Technique, however, was fully compatible with the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique.
After a few practice sessions, Ning Zhuo successfully isolated the water element of his Five Elements spiritual power, channeling it into the Ice Embrace Technique.
The wooden stool he held rapidly frosted over, ice spreading thicker and thicker until it was frozen solid in just a few breaths.
Ning Zhuo couldn’t hide his surprise, "The power of this Ice Embrace Technique is astonishing!"
Comparing it to standard techniques like Ice Spear Technique, Snowball Technique, or Frost Flower Technique, Ice Embrace Technique was noticeably more potent.
From then on, Ning Zhuo focused on practicing the technique in his underground workspace.
He froze stools, chairs, mirrors, bricks—everything turned to ice.
Engrossed in training, he soon filled the ground and corners of the room with chunks of frozen objects, turning his workspace into a frigid underground ice cellar.
"As I recall, the first door’s options were spirit stones, a hanging loop, and the Qi Breath Technique."
"Thinking it over, each of these options likely aided me in passing the trials."
"Spirit stones are self-explanatory. The hanging loop is probably similar to the wish-fulfilling rope I crafted, while the Qi Breath Technique could allow a mechanical puppet to change direction mid-air or even float briefly."
"Following this logic, the options in front of the second door must also be intended to aid me in passing the trials."
"Aside from spirit stones, I couldn’t see what the mechanical component was. But given the nature of Ice Embrace Technique, Room Three might require combat."
Ning Zhuo calmly analyzed the situation, piecing together clues. Ice Embrace Technique was a typical offensive technique.
"Room One required assembling mechanical puppets; Room Two tested the puppet’s jumping, running, and dodging abilities; Room Three might involve combat."
"It seems that each test in the Lava Immortal Palace serves as both a trial and a teaching experience. The Sage of the Three Sects is not only selecting worthy candidates but also training them in the mechanical arts."
"Sigh, my soul is almost fully restored. The only question now is, when will I be able to re-enter the Immortal Palace?"
Exhausted from his training, Ning Zhuo slept soundly that night.
He sensed something was off, tried to open his eyes, but found only darkness.
After a few moments of confusion, he sensed his surroundings and was instantly elated.
"My soul has been extracted again and entered the Lava Immortal Palace!"