Chapter 105: A Resounding Victory Over the Zhou Family

Lava Immortal Palace.

The first door was swiftly pushed open by Yuan Dasheng.

Zhou Zeshen, Zhou Zhu, and the others immediately turned around to look. The two sides locked eyes.

"The Zhou family!" Ning Zhuo, seeing this scene through Yuan Dasheng’s perspective, felt his pupils constrict slightly. Upon realizing that the second room contained not just the two Zhou family geniuses but three other cultivators as well, he immediately understood.

"They must have used the method I conceived earlier, combining wooden bodies to withstand the 'door-opening kill.' Aside from Zhou Zeshen, who is already at the peak of the Third Layer, there are actually three others who have reached the same level."

Ning Zhuo couldn't help but recall the tri-family joint test. The results for the Zhou family’s modified team showed that, other than Zhou Zhu, there wasn't a second person at the peak of the Third Layer, nor even one at the late stage of the Third Layer.

"The formation used for that test was provided by the Zhou family! It seems that even back then, the Zhou family had a plan and intentionally concealed the true cultivation levels of many of their members! Both the Zheng family and the Ning family were deceived. At the very least, I never suspected that the Zhou family already possessed several late-stage Third Layer cultivators."

Ning Zhuo immediately deduced the truth. Given the speed of the star signs, ordinary cultivators would not have had enough time to advance from the mid-stage of the Third Layer to the peak. The most likely scenario was that the Zhou family had been masking their cultivation for a long time.

"As expected of the formation-master Zhou family. They excel at setting arrays and plotting schemes. They were the leaders of the tri-family joint test, yet they had already begun their machinations. And now, I have caught them in the act."

When the Zhou family cultivators heard the movement behind the door, they tensed up, turning around in unison to stand their ground. Zhou Zeshen felt a bitter smile in his heart; no matter if the intruder was from the Ning family, the Zheng family, or the City Lord’s Mansion, their carefully laid plans were about to be exposed on their very first attempt.

However, the "person" who pushed the door open was something the Zhou family cultivators had never expected.

It was a mechanical ape.

The ape was tall, sturdy, and imposing, with golden bones exposed like a hollowed-out suit of armor. Its body was a deep crimson, covered in uniform monkey fur, with black, striped, and irregular marks distributed across its form, giving it a menacing and murderous aura.

Zhou Zeshen had been about to speak, having already prepared his words, but seeing such a monstrosity, he was stunned. "What is that?" the Zhou cultivators exclaimed in alarm.

Without waiting for Ning Zhuo’s command, the moment the Gold-Blood Battle Ape, Dasheng, sensed the presence of others, it launched its attack. It lunged forward with a massive stride, covering the distance instantly to stand before one of the Zhou cultivators.

The cultivator felt a violent gust of wind rush toward his face. In the next instant, the ape’s towering, heavy frame descended like a mountain falling from the sky. The cultivator raised his arms to block.

*Bang!*

Dasheng smashed down with a fist, the whistling wind striking like a giant hammer, shattering the Zhou cultivator from head to toe. The sheer ferocity of the blow left the other Zhou cultivators screaming in terror.

"Do not engage head-on! Scatter and stall for time!" Zhou Zeshen cried out, his voice shrill. He lived up to his reputation as the strategist that Zhou Zhu usually followed, coming up with the correct tactic in the briefest of moments.

However, while the tactic was sound, the battlefield environment was dire. The second room was far less spacious than the first. It was a narrow, elongated corridor. To create distance between themselves and Yuan Dasheng, the Zhou cultivators had to move toward the second door, but the floor tiles would slide backward as they moved, constantly dragging them back to their original positions.

Yuan Dasheng let out a low roar, spreading its arms and attacking with all its might.

*Bang.*

Another explosion rang out as the second Zhou family puppet was smashed to pieces by Dasheng, leaving it with no power to resist.

Only after passing six checkpoints do cultivators typically obtain spirit-rhyme mechanisms. Such devices are exceptionally powerful, often superior to the puppets of the trial disciples themselves. And the Gold-Blood Battle Ape, Dasheng, was beyond any limit—it was a primate-type mechanical creation that Ning Zhuo had obtained by identifying a key opportunity and sacrificing a body of celestial endowment. It was entirely beyond standard specifications.

"What on earth is that thing!" Zhou Zeshen shrieked.

"I don't know!" Zhou Zhu felt bewildered. Why was this exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace so different from any previous one? Where did this incredibly powerful mechanical ape come from?

"Lure it into the trap! Bait the monkey into the dark pit!" Zhou Zeshen quickly devised a second tactic. This dark pit was one of the traps Ning Zhuo had specifically set. Previously, while exploring the palace with Ning Xiaohui, Zhou Zhu, and Zheng Jian, these dark pits had trapped the other three, leading to a harrowing imprisonment experience.

Zhou Zeshen’s mind was quick; in just a few breaths, he found a potential solution. If they could use the terrain, perhaps sacrificing one Zhou cultivator would be enough to deal with the mechanical ape temporarily. Once the trap held the beast, they would only need to find a way to break through the second room and exit.

But there were no "ifs." As the Zhou cultivator leaped into the trap, Dasheng stopped its charge instantly, standing right at the edge of the pit without moving a single inch. It was a joke; these were traps Ning Zhuo had personally laid, and he knew the layout of every single one by heart.

Seeing Yuan Dasheng look back at him with a chilling gaze, a sense of dread gripped Zhou Zeshen’s heart.

"Damn it! Zhou Zhu, go intercept it! I’m going to try to force my way through!" Zhou Zeshen shouted.

"Right!" Zhou Zhu stepped forward to engage Dasheng. Though he was large, he looked diminutive compared to the ape. Dasheng moved with fluid grace, effortlessly dodging Zhou Zhu’s attacks before seizing an opening and driving forward.

*Bang, bang.*

After two light thuds, Zhou Zhu knelt on the ground.

When Zhou Zeshen turned back and saw that Zhou Zhu hadn't even lasted a few breaths, the chill in his heart deepened. He rushed forward like a madman, but the floor tiles shifted backward faster and faster, constantly sending him back toward Yuan Dasheng.

"This damnable mechanism is working against me too!"

Zhou Zeshen struggled with all his might, but only managed to buy three breaths of time. Finally, his head was plucked off by Dasheng, which then opened its palm at an angle and tossed the severed head onto the ground.

The entire Zhou party was wiped out. Dasheng handled them with great ease, despite there being five of them. For one, they lacked celestial endowment and could not achieve the explosive power of Meng Chong. Secondly, they knew pitifully few spells. In their struggle against Dasheng, they mostly used simple qi-enhancing spells to speed up or turn, but in the eyes of Yuan Dasheng, a master of martial arts, these minor movements were not worth noting.

The final cleanup occurred as Dasheng, under Ning Zhuo’s control, voluntarily jumped into the dark pit to finish off the remaining Zhou cultivators. It then leaped out of the pit with the remnants of the enemy puppets. Since these traps were of Ning Zhuo’s own design, they posed no obstacle at all.

***

In the Main Hall, seeing the Gold-Blood Battle Ape, Dasheng, display such divine power and easily wipe out the Zhou family team, the Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit was so angry that its dragon claws clenched, constantly pounding against the throne. Ning Zhuo was far too arrogant; this time, he had sent only a single mechanical creation to clear the stage. He had no respect for the Lava Immortal Palace at all.

The Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit lacked the authority to intervene and could only watch helplessly as Dasheng swept the battlefield. Ning Zhuo controlled the mechanical ape to disembowel every Zhou cultivator, retrieving the unspent spirit stones from within.

"Not bad at all! If I had cleared this alone, I couldn't have harvested so many spirit stones in the second room. Oh, and two more hanging rings, too!"

With the contributions from the Zhou family team, Dasheng’s strength had seen a gratifying accumulation early on. Ning Zhuo controlled it and marched firmly toward the deeper reaches.

Meanwhile, in the Zheng family manor, "Catch the assassin! Quick! He ran that way! Pursue him!"

The Zheng family was in total chaos as cultivators swarmed, launching a frantic search and blockade.

"Young Master Zheng Jian, are you alright?" The Zheng family’s alchemist rushed over to provide treatment.

Zheng Jian nodded slightly. "At the critical moment, my 'Heart-Piercing Insight' was triggered, giving me a timely warning so I didn't walk into the assassin's ambush point."

"How did this assassin get in? This is the middle ring of the ancestral grounds; it’s simply outrageous." Zheng Jian clenched his fists, grinding his teeth in anger.

The alchemist suddenly gave a strange smile. The robust, middle-aged man’s voice shifted into a sinister, feminine tone. "What do you think?"

Zheng Jian’s pupils shrank, and he retreated instantly. But it was already too late. In the next moment, the alchemist suddenly bloated and exploded, splattering countless filthy, corrosive, and poisonous vapors onto Zheng Jian.

Most of Zheng Jian’s body was affected; his skin reddened, blistered, and rotted—the speed of which was terrifying. Zheng Jian hurriedly retrieved emergency medicine and downed a whole bottle, which barely managed to stem the corrosive poison within his body.

"I fell for it after all. They intentionally triggered my 'Heart-Piercing Insight' once so that I would be on high alert. Without a calm state of mind, the triggering of the insight can be greatly compromised. They came prepared."

At this moment, his face looked ghastly.

At the City Lord’s Mansion, Meng Chong was surrounded by shadows of lightning, beating the assassin until he was black and blue. He looked on with disdain: "You thought you could assassinate me?"

At the Zhou family residence, Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu opened their eyes simultaneously!

In the next moment, excruciating pain surged from their entire bodies. Zhou Zeshen saw his own flesh covered in ants. Countless ants, dense and layered, had already devoured his lower body until only bone remained. His abdomen had also been half-eaten, his intestines scattered and severed, all being feasted upon by the ant colony.

Zhou Zeshen’s pupils shrank to the size of needles, his terror absolute. In the next moment, his Five Elements mana erupted violently, whipping up a fierce gale that swept away countless ants.

On the other side, Zhou Zhu was also struggling to clear the ants; his situation was slightly better, but below the waist, there was nothing left but bone.

"Someone is plotting against us! There is a traitor in the family... Help! Someone, help!"