Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Chapter 176: Ning Zhuo vs Zhou Zhenshen (2)

"This kind of sparring is a bit boring." Ning Zhuo let the Thunder Silence Bird above his head be mostly destroyed, feeling somewhat bored deep inside.

"Zhou Zhenshen took the initiative to suggest a sparring match, wanting to get closer to me."

"During the first exchange, he deliberately lost and held back, letting me gain the upper hand and giving me face."

"In the second round, I should reciprocate and let him show off a bit."

"Oh?"

At that moment, Ning Zhuo's eyes brightened as he saw Zhou Zhenshen take out the White Tiger Mechanical Beast.

"So, Brother Zhou, you're also feeling bored and want to add some excitement, huh…"

"Very well."

"This is the perfect time to let it make an appearance."

A flash of fire appeared, and a giant python emerged before him.

The python was about five zhang long and about one chi five cun in circumference, entirely red, made of wood, with eyes made of red crystal, coiled like a giant tree, looking majestic.

Zhou Zhenshen raised an eyebrow, feeling a sense of joy: "Very good, this is more like it."

"Show your full strength, Ning Zhuo!"

Zhou Zhenshen's fighting spirit surged.

At this moment, Ning Zhuo transmitted his voice, speaking gently: "Brother Zhou, look closely, this Fire Bamboo Snake is a new mechanism I recently created, used as an elite tool."

Zhou Zhenshen's pupils slightly contracted: "A newly created mechanism by Brother Ning? Interesting, you've piqued my curiosity."

"But Brother Ning, do be careful."

"My White Tiger Ram Car is a classic mechanism from the Mud Flow Sect, tested and refined, equipped with three different heads."

"If you lose, don't say I didn't warn you in advance."

Ning Zhuo laughed heartily and said no more, using mana to control the Fire Bamboo Snake, sending it forward.

The White Tiger Ram Car, under Zhou Zhenshen's command, also moved its four limbs, galloping through the forest.

Then, it suddenly leapt, its body gracefully stretching in midair, crossing over ten zhang in a single jump, landing on the opposite mountain.

Bang!

The mechanical tiger and snake collided hard on the mountainside, with their heads hitting each other, making a loud explosion.

The snake's head raised high, while the tiger's head shrank back into its neck.

The wheels inside the tiger's body spun, and when it extended again, the beast's head had been replaced with a ramming head.

Although the ram's head was carved with tiger patterns, it was a solid piece, made from durable materials, incredibly tough.

The White Tiger Ram charged forward, kicking up a strong gust of wind.

The Fire Bamboo Snake, under Ning Zhuo's control, dodged nimbly.

Suddenly, white light burst from the White Tiger's body, shining on the Fire Bamboo Snake, making its skin transparent, revealing the internal structure of the mechanism.

Inside the Fire Bamboo Snake, there were large round spheres connected to the snake's skeleton at regular intervals.

One side of the sphere was pitch black, while the other side was pure white. The black side bore the word "death," while the white side had the word "life."

With each movement of the Fire Bamboo Snake, the spheres would spin and pause, some stopping on the black death side, others on the white life side.

When the sphere faced the white life side, the joints would move freely. When it faced the black death side, the joints would lock in place.

The ingenious part was that the spheres and snake bones were arranged with formations, forming a tightly integrated whole.

"An interesting mechanical component…" Through the White Tiger Ram Car, Zhou Zhenshen saw this scene up close and immediately understood part of the reason behind the Fire Bamboo Snake's agility.

The spherical mechanism component was the Half-Life, Half-Death Pearl.

Back then, Chen Cha, feeling guilty, gave all his savings to Ning Zhuo as compensation.

The Half-Life, Half-Death Pearl was one of Chen Cha's original creations.

In addition, there was a collection of formations called the "Serpentine Flexure Formation Collection," which was a serendipitous find from Chen Cha's early years.

With these two items, plus Ning Zhuo's mechanical expertise and some accidental inspiration, the Fire Bamboo Snake was finally created.

The snake and tiger clashed fiercely, trees snapped one after another, dust billowed around the battlefield, and for a time, it was hard to tell who had the upper hand.

Zhou Zhenshen's ten fingers twitched like he was plucking strings, constantly flexing. His main focus was on controlling the White Tiger Ram Car.

The remaining portion of his attention was on the Burrowing Mice.

Although the first exchange had been unfavorable, the retreating Burrowing Mice did not return to Zhou Zhenshen's side but burrowed underground, tunneling toward Ning Zhuo.

Although there were more Night Bats in the sky, and they could fly, allowing them to reach Ning Zhuo faster, Zhou Zhenshen cared about his dignity.

He thought: Since Ning Zhuo deliberately held back during the aerial combat, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to exploit this advantage that was given on purpose.

So, he chose the Burrowing Mice.

When the Burrowing Mice were within ten zhang of Ning Zhuo, he noticed them.

Ning Zhuo had been maintaining a spell for scouting.

After discovering the Burrowing Mice, he didn't move, instead taking out a new Mechanical Explosive Monkey to guard his surroundings.

Zhou Zhenshen's pupils contracted at this sight.

Ning Zhuo's control ability was clearly superior to his.

At this moment, Ning Zhuo was simultaneously controlling the Fire Bamboo Snake and the five Mechanical Explosive Monkeys from the first wave, sending them toward Zhou Zhenshen.

At the same time, he added five more Mechanical Explosive Monkeys.

Under Ning Zhuo's command, the second wave of Explosive Monkeys was equally agile, as if they were real monkeys.

Zhou Zhenshen knew he couldn't achieve such a level of precision.

His current limit was controlling nearly thirty mechanisms.

But there were two conditions for this number. One was that it only counted simpler mechanisms like Night Bats or Burrowing Mice. The second was that Zhou Zhenshen had to take Split Mind Powder or other pills.

Controlling the White Tiger Ram Car required more effort to unleash its true power.

This one mechanism alone took up most of Zhou Zhenshen's attention. He also controlled three Burrowing Mice, leaving only a fraction of his attention for emergency spellcasting.

In short, Zhou Zhenshen had already pushed his normal control abilities to the limit.

Meanwhile, Ning Zhuo, still calm, took out five more Mechanical Explosive Monkeys and controlled them with ease.

If Zhou Zhenshen wanted to improve his control, he would have to take pills.

"Indeed, Ning Zhuo's talent lies in his intellect."

"This allows him to have far superior control under normal conditions."

"What percentage of his strength is this now? Eighty percent? Or ninety percent?"

Zhou Zhenshen pondered, constantly analyzing.

Ning Zhuo used the five Explosive Monkeys for defense, giving the Burrowing Mice no opportunity. He also used the powerful Fire Bamboo Snake to hold off the White Tiger Ram Car.

Finally, when Zhou Zhenshen saw the five Explosive Monkeys surrounding him, he exhaled heavily, laughed aloud, and admitted defeat.

The sparring match ended, and the onlookers from the Ning family began discussing it enthusiastically, talking about the mechanisms and control methods displayed in the match.

What was most discussed was Ning Zhuo's new Fire Bamboo Snake.

In front of everyone, Zhou Zhenshen handed over the Riveted Strong Crossbow and the mechanism blueprint to Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo developed a newfound respect for Zhou Zhenshen.

He thought to himself: "Zhou Zhenshen proposed the sparring match, deliberately held back, and voluntarily admitted defeat to boost my reputation and fame."

"This was his true gift."

"He knew I had just risen and needed fame, so he didn't mind sacrificing his own face to help me."

"This level of generosity surpasses the ordinary."

Zhou Zhenshen looked at Ning Zhuo, observing his reactions, and felt that Ning Zhuo had become much friendlier.

He thought: "A passionate fight often reveals as much as an intimate conversation."

"Although this full-strength sparring match didn’t reach the level of baring our hearts, it was enough to show our sincere personalities."

"The only regret is that I couldn't test Ning Zhuo's upper limit in normal combat."

"Unless I take Split Mind Powder or similar pills…"

But that was clearly not possible.

Once pills were involved, the friendly nature of the sparring would be lost, signaling desperation and an urgent desire for victory.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhenshen still felt a bit unwilling.

He couldn't help but probe Ning Zhuo with words, secretly transmitting his voice and using provocation: "Brother Ning, this time I was just playing around and lost to you. But next time, I'll be a bit more serious and use at least fifty percent of my strength."

Ning Zhuo's heart stirred: "As expected, Zhou Zhenshen hasn't even used half of his strength."

He smiled slightly and responded with honesty: "Brother Zhou, if you're so inclined, I'll do my best to accompany you. Next time, I'll use at least forty percent of my strength."

Zhou Zhenshen patted Ning Zhuo's shoulder, laughing heartily, "You…"

At the same time, he secretly cursed: "Such a braggart!"

"You know

I'm testing you, so you're using this method to brush me off, huh?"

"Heh."

"Of course, I shouldn't have expected to figure out your strength with just one sentence."

Zhou Zhenshen felt that Ning Zhuo was the same type of person as himself, and Ning Zhuo also felt a certain tacit understanding with Zhou Zhenshen.

The two of them exchanged smiles, both realizing that the other was a smart person, with many things unspoken but understood between them.

Back at the small courtyard, the group chatted for a while longer.

Zhou Zhenshen took the opportunity to ask Ning Zhuo for help, requesting his assistance with the Zhou family's modification team to challenge the leaderboard in the Lava Immortal Palace, aiming to push some of the City Lord's Mansion's cultivators out of the top ten.

"Of course, if we could keep advancing and exceed the entry standards, that would be even better!"

Ning Zhuo shook his head: "Brother Zhou's ambitions are admirable."

"Exceed the entry standards?" Ning Zhuo sighed, "That's beyond my capabilities. Please forgive me, but I truly cannot accept."

Zhou Zhenshen did not give up: "Brother Ning, why don't you first listen to the conditions our Zhou family offers for your assistance?"

He then listed a long string of resources, which left Ning Chen, Ning Yong, and others in shock.

After reacting, they were all breathing heavily, clearly enticed by the massive and generous rewards.

However, Ning Zhuo still shook his head, smiling gently, his attitude polite, firm, and unwavering.

In return, Ning Zhuo proposed a new collaboration: "The Lava Immortal Palace holds mechanical legacies. We're all stuck at the peak of the third layer and can only accumulate more knowledge in mechanical techniques."

"Since our three families are allied, why not establish a joint school specifically for teaching mechanical techniques?"

"The teachers could be the various mechanism cultivators."

"In my opinion, the guest cultivator you recruited, Chu Xiyao, would be very suitable."

Zhou Zhenshen listened, his eyes flickering as he thought: "Among the three families, the Ning family's knowledge and accumulation in mechanical techniques are the weakest."

"If the joint school succeeds, the Ning family stands to benefit the most."

"But this is indeed a good suggestion and would also help my Zhou family."

With this in mind, Zhou Zhenshen expressed his appreciation for the idea, saying he liked and supported it. However, this was not a decision he could make alone, and he needed to report it to his family.

Ning Zhuo agreed.

As he was leaving, Zhou Zhenshen transmitted a message to Ning Zhuo as a gesture of goodwill: "The three family patriarchs have nearly finalized a plan to gather the elite members of our three families for a full-scale exploration of the Immortal Palace."

"We aim to encounter and defeat the Mechanical Ape!"

"Many speculate that the Mechanical Ape may be a challenge set by the Three Sect Lords. If defeated, we could likely receive significant rewards from the Three Sect Lords."

"If we can truly kill the Mechanical Ape, we can study its internal structure and develop targeted countermeasures for the future."

Ning Zhuo was surprised: "There's such a thing? Thank you for telling me. When will it start?"

Zhou Zhenshen replied: "In the next few days. Before the full exploration, all participants will be summoned for secret training."

"Brother Ning, you might want to prepare more."

Ning Zhuo looked serious, nodding deeply and meaningfully: "Indeed, I need to be well-prepared!"