Chapter 92: Investigating Ning Zhuo

The head of the Ning family was quite curious about the sudden appearance of Ning Zhuo. After examining several pieces of information, he said with some relief, “So this child Ning Zhuo has long shown a talent for machinery.”

The first piece of intelligence revealed that Ning Zhuo’s mother, Meng Yaoyin, was a machinery cultivator. Although she passed away early, she left behind many ancient texts on mechanical arts. Ning Zhuo cherished these texts as his mother’s legacy and often fell asleep clutching them as a child. Growing up, he was deeply influenced by these works.

From a young age, Ning Zhuo displayed a strong interest in mechanical arts. He frequently visited the Orphanage of Benevolence to watch Li Leifeng’s puppet shows.

The Orphanage of Benevolence was a refuge for homeless children in Huoshi Immortal City, jointly supported by the city lord’s mansion and various prominent families. This was a national policy of the Southern Bean Kingdom.

Li Leifeng was the director of the orphanage. Possessing a Thunder Spirit Root and also a machinery cultivator, he constructed mechanical towers that absorbed external lightning to power themselves without consuming any spiritual energy. In battles, these towers stored electric energy, unleashing chains of lightning that bound enemies and continuously shocked and scorched them.

“Old Li’s puppet shows are truly unparalleled,” the head of the Ning family sighed in admiration. He had watched many of Li Leifeng’s performances and was amazed every time.

Perhaps influenced by Li Leifeng, Ning Zhuo loved puppets and similar toys from a young age. His favorite dolls were named One Wheel, Second Leg, and San Mao.

When he entered the family academy, Ning Zhuo’s passion for mechanical arts grew. He was diligent and inquisitive, though this caused him to neglect other subjects, which suffered in comparison.

It was only after he turned ten that his performance in various subjects gradually improved, and he rose to the upper-middle tier in the academy.

The Ning family prized talisman arts above all. Ning Zhuo’s eldest uncle and aunt naturally opposed his pursuit of mechanical arts, fearing he would ruin his future. They disciplined him strictly, smashing three large baskets full of mechanical dolls he had made.

Though suppressed outwardly, Ning Zhuo seized every opportunity in secret to study mechanical arts. He even took on child labor jobs in mechanical workshops without pay, simply happy to be around mechanical creations.

Perhaps because of his persistence and passion, Ning Zhuo’s mechanical skills steadily improved.

By the age of fifteen, a mechanical parrot he made surpassed all his peers’ work and was unexpectedly praised by a senior family elder in the academy.

However, Ning Zhuo, who had been slightly anticipated by some elders, performed poorly in the family’s major examination.

“He was too nervous!” the Ning family head sighed after reviewing the jade slip that detailed the exam scenario.

“Yes,” Ning Xiaoren agreed. “At that time, the puppet’s strings got tangled unexpectedly, and Ning Zhuo failed to notice. By the time he acted, the strings were knotted together, leaving no room for him to perform.”

“If I were the proctor, I would have allowed him a retake.”

The Ning family head shook his head. “The proctor made no mistake. According to the rules, candidates should thoroughly check before the exam. Ning Zhuo must bear responsibility for this.”

As the father and son discussed, a servant reported: Feng Jiqing had arrived.

“Please show him in,” the family head nodded.

Feng Jiqing was a middle-aged man with narrow eyes, long bluish hair, a tall and lean build, and carried a windmill-like blade wheel on his back.

He possessed a Wind Spirit Root and considerable mechanical craftsmanship. Though not a traditional machinery cultivator, the mechanical wind falcon he created and controlled was as fast as lightning and attacked like a raging storm, extremely sharp.

After failing to recruit young prodigies, the Ning family had not ceased to attract talent from outside.

Recently, they increased their efforts and finally recruited Feng Jiqing, who was their greatest external talent acquisition so far.

“Clan Leader, Young Clan Leader,” Feng Jiqing greeted with a straight posture. Being at the peak of foundation establishment stage and well-versed in machinery cultivators’ standards, he held himself in high esteem and treated the Ning family’s top two leaders with moderate respect.

The young clan leader Ning Xiaoren smiled, “Master Feng, we invited you this time to evaluate these two mechanical Firecracker Monkeys and assess the creator’s mechanical skills.”

The Ning family head and Ning Xiaoren did not want to reveal too quickly that Ning Zhuo was the inventor of the mechanical Firecracker Monkeys.

On one hand, Ning Xiaoren hoped to feign ignorance and create a favorable impression to make Ning Zhuo feel his “sincere intentions.”

On the other hand, the matter involved Fei Si, and revealing it would put Fei Si in a difficult position. The Ning family did not want to offend Fei Si, who effectively managed the daily affairs of Huoshi Immortal City and possessed considerable power.

Their concealment inadvertently caused Feng Jiqing to speculate, “Could the Ning family be trying to hire Chen Cha at a high price?”

Unwilling for this to happen, Feng Jiqing quietly began examining the two mechanical Firecracker Monkeys.

One was finely crafted with solid materials—the earlier version. The other was roughly made, already damaged in several places—the revised version by Ning Zhuo.

After inspection, Feng Jiqing said, “The main material for the monkey’s skin is fire-fluff mouse hide, embroidered with traditional spiritual energy stitching. It’s a conventional technique, nothing remarkable.”

“Using heavenly gold for the frame is necessary to set up the storage array. Heavenly gold is usually the best choice.”

“But if it were me, I’d go further and choose the hollow lung of a cloud whale. This allows the array to store living creatures, whereas this one can only store dead objects.”

“The mechanical Firecracker Monkey was designed to harvest fire persimmons. Though fire persimmons can be considered fire spirits to a degree, they are essentially living fruit from the fire persimmon tree. Placing them in a living creature storage array better preserves their flavor.”

Feng Jiqing only mentioned the advantages of his proposal and did not speak of the rarity of the cloud whale’s hollow lung.

“The material used for the monkey’s body is good,” one of the main highlights was casually overshadowed by Feng Jiqing.

“The palms contain many arrays arranged in relatively new combinations, quite decent,” he grudgingly praised when he had to.

“The walking projectile in the monkey’s brain is, in my opinion, the brightest feature of this mechanical design.”

He quickly complimented then immediately turned critical.

“However, this choice of material, though cost-saving, cannot be used by those below foundation establishment stage, greatly limiting the potential buyers.”

“Without this flaw, sales of the mechanical Firecracker Monkey could multiply several to over ten-fold.”

“This design has defects,” Feng Jiqing concluded.

The Ning family head and Ning Xiaoren exchanged a glance. The former remained silent, while the latter asked, “Would you say the designer’s mechanical skills are strong?”

Among the myriad arts of cultivation, machinery is the least esteemed.

The father and son were not knowledgeable in this field. Being high-ranking family leaders, they were either burdened with heavy affairs or engaged in political intrigue, and thus could not grasp the intricacies of the mechanical Firecracker Monkey.

In fact, they could not even properly evaluate a brand-new alchemical formula.

They were neither alchemists nor specialized machinery cultivators.

In ancient times, foundation establishment cultivators were few. Families were generally weaker than sects, and cultivation states were extremely rare, often fleeting in the early ages.

But as cultivation evolved, the arts became vast and profound, and for most cultivators, expertise in other fields felt like insurmountable mountains.

Feng Jiqing pondered, “Chen Cha managed the Flying Disk Workshop for many years before finally producing such a mechanical creation.”

“Quite rare indeed.”

“This mechanical creation is clever, but not much so. Even though it sells well now, next year’s fire persimmon harvesting business will definitely decline, limiting its utility.”

“Overall, I’d rate this mechanical creation as average, slightly above.”

“As for the maker, I’ll withhold further comment.”

The Ning family head and Ning Xiaoren exchanged looks again.

The former thought, “Feng Jiqing is a foundation establishment cultivator. Calling it average is already high praise for Ning Zhuo, who is still at the Qi Refining stage.”

The latter’s resolve to win over Ning Zhuo grew stronger.

Meanwhile, at the Orphanage of Benevolence, Zhu Xuanji concealed his presence as he entered the grounds.

An old man basking in the sun suddenly furrowed his brow, looking toward the invisible Zhu Xuanji: “Who’s there?!”

Startled, Zhu Xuanji revealed himself.

He formed finger seals, eyes glowing golden as he activated a certain reconnaissance spell to survey his surroundings.

“I see. This courtyard carries an electric aura with an invisible potential difference. If I step inside, the potential difference before and after will trigger your sensing.”

While praising this, Zhu Xuanji stomped his foot.

A small thunderburst exploded underfoot, blowing away a layer of soil to reveal bricks beneath, inscribed with runes that dazzled the eye.

These bricks were scattered beneath the ground at intervals, not forming a full array.

Because no complete array was formed, Zhu Xuanji had difficulty detecting or guarding against it. Since arriving in Huoshi Immortal City, this was the first time his movements had been uncovered.

“Ah, it’s Lord Zhu Xuanji. Please sit,” the old man said, still lying motionless in his chair.

Zhu Xuanji had already revealed himself publicly in Huoshi Immortal City; this was widely known.

Curiously, the old man was only in the early foundation establishment stage, yet treated a Golden Core cultivator like Zhu Xuanji with casual ease.

Zhu Xuanji felt no offense. Smiling, he approached the old man, “Senior Li Leifeng, I have long heard your great name and came to pay my respects.”

Li Leifeng snorted coldly, “If you wanted to see this old man, Lord Zhu, you’re far too late.”

“‘To see’ was actually to verify if I am that shadow demon cultivator?”

Zhu Xuanji smiled awkwardly.

Li Leifeng sighed, “I’ve lived a long life and seen many things. Lord Zhu, feel free to investigate.”

Zhu Xuanji cupped his hands, “Sorry to trouble you.”