Chapter 141: Ning Xiaohui vs. Meng Chong

Meltwater Immortal Palace.

Room 1.

All kinds of mechanism components were piled up like a small mountain.

The puppet Ning Zhuo jumped down from the pile.

"You're a bit slow." Puppet Ning Xiaohui crossed her arms, staring at Ning Zhuo with a hint of pride in her voice.

Ning Zhuo shrugged. "I've been obsessed with improving the mechanism tree martial ape lately, so my condition isn't great. Ning Xiaohui, you insisted on having me tag along to clear the trials, but with just the two of us, are you confident?"

Ning Xiaohui snorted coldly. "The opportunities of Meltwater Immortal Palace are right before our eyes, and the four major factions of Fiery Persimmon Immortal City are competing fiercely, with our Ning family currently trailing at the bottom."

"I asked you to come simply because you are a member of the Ning family!"

"You don't need to do anything. This time, just stay behind me!"

With that, Ning Xiaohui turned and walked away.

Ning Zhuo paused slightly, thinking to himself, "Ning Xiaohui's demeanor is completely different from before. Speaking with such bold confidence, she must have made a major breakthrough or secured a huge backing!"

Ning Zhuo felt a flicker of curiosity.

As for Ning Xiaohui asking him to enter the palace together, although he had put on a reluctant appearance, he was actually overjoyed.

Joining the refitting team was the right choice.

This action kept providing him with positive feedback.

Ning Zhuo had been fretting over finding an excuse to enter Meltwater Immortal Palace, and right when he was sleepy, a pillow was brought to him as Ning Xiaohui took the initiative to seek him out.

As for Ning Xiaohui's arrangements, Ning Zhuo was more than happy to tag along behind her and slack off.

The first door!

Ning Xiaohui and Ning Zhuo stepped forward separately to claim their rewards.

"Choose the spirit stones, I have a use for them!"

Ning Xiaohui instructed.

"Understood."

Ning Zhuo went along with the flow.

Currently, among the Ning family members, only the two of them were at the peak of the third layer of Qi Refining, as Ning Zhuo's true cultivation level had not been exposed.

Therefore, among their peers, Ning Xiaohui could really only call upon him to participate.

After claiming the spirit stones, Ning Zhuo handed them directly to Ning Xiaohui.

This action satisfied Ning Xiaohui.

She nodded and took them. "You've got some sense!"

Ning Zhuo gave a soft smile. "As long as you can lead me deeper, I'm willing to cooperate with you!"

"Watch closely," Ning Xiaohui pushed the door open.

Though she only pushed it open a tiny crack.

That was enough.

Then, she silently activated her innate talent.

Frost-Fat Jade Hands.

Puppet Ning Xiaohui's hands emitted a white glow, radiating a fierce freezing aura.

The freezing aura rapidly spread, covering the walls and ceiling of Room 2 all the way along the gap of the door, freezing everything solid.

Only the doorway was spared.

Ning Xiaohui pushed the door open and stepped through unhurriedly.

Ning Zhuo followed closely behind, showering her with endless praise: "Amazing, simply too amazing."

Ning Xiaohui, you truly live up to your reputation!"

"What kind of spell is this?"

Ning Zhuo asked intentionally.

"Hmph, with your shallow knowledge, spells are all you know!"

Ning Xiaohui let out a cold snort. Inside, she loved hearing flattery and praise, but on the surface, she maintained an icy expression, acting as though achieving all this was a trivial, insignificant matter to her.

"This is my innate talent—Frost-Fat Jade Hands."

Ning Xiaohui raised her chin slightly and announced calmly.

"Frost-Fat Jade Hands?"

Ning Zhuo let out an exclamation of surprise, then widened his eyes and stared at Ning Xiaohui. "Your innate talent can reach this level?"

Ning Zhuo acted thoroughly astonished.

This made Ning Xiaohui feel immensely gratified.

Ning Zhuo continued, "Since you could do this, why didn't you use it earlier?"

Ning Xiaohui sneered. "For one, I hadn't fully mastered it yet and couldn't use it at will. Secondly, are you a pig-brained fool? There were outsiders around at the time, why would I expose this trump card?"

Ning Zhuo nodded repeatedly. "Understood, it has to be you, Xiaohui!"

"As expected of the genius of our generation, you've been this outstanding since you were a child."

"No wonder you told me earlier that I just needed to follow you!"

"You are truly amazing!"

"With you in our family, the Ning family will definitely rank at the top and leave the other three factions far behind."

Ning Xiaohui thoroughly enjoyed Ning Zhuo's praise.

Her purpose in specifically bringing Ning Zhuo along this time was to subdue this talent from a branch family and let the entire refitting team know who the true leader was.

Now it seemed the plan was progressing exceptionally smoothly.

"You're part of the Ning family, as long as you know that!"

"From now on, as long as you follow me, you'll continuously achieve victory."

"Speaking of which, you also have an innate talent!"

"But before you can develop it, you first need to test which kind it actually is!"

"I look forward to your future performance."

"Understood, I will definitely work hard!"

Ning Zhuo played along with Ning Xiaohui's words, keeping a very humble posture.

Ning Xiaohui then continued pressing forward with the trials.

She continuously activated her innate talent, emitting rolling waves of freezing aura to gradually freeze Room 2 solid.

From the front section to the middle, and from the middle spreading to the back half.

Ning Xiaohui was so exhausted that her mind reeled and her soul power plummeted rapidly.

There was no help for it; this was merely a puppet body, not her original flesh and blood.

Transferring energy through the mortal-life hanging threads consumed a massive amount of energy.

After all, Ning Xiaohui lacked any related embryonic divine abilities.

Ning Xiaohui was worked to the bone like a dog, while Ning Zhuo strolled behind her leisurely and at ease.

However, he naturally did not let a single trace of ease show on the outside.

He acted extremely nervous, chattering away incessantly—sometimes lavishing praise on Ning Xiaohui, sometimes expressing deep anxiety about their future prospects, and sometimes urging Ning Xiaohui to rest for a moment.

Ning Xiaohui coldly rejected the suggestion to rest.

Because the freezing aura emitted by her innate talent could not keep things frozen permanently and would thaw very quickly.

Therefore, Ning Xiaohui had no choice but to give it her all.

Reaching the second door as quickly as possible was the wisest choice.

"Xiaohui, you are truly incredible."

"With just a dozen more steps, we can reach the second door and completely clear this stage."

"Why is there still such a long way to go?"

Ning Xiaohui felt the immense hardship, but on the surface, she had to maintain a strong front, gritting her teeth in secret and pushing herself to her absolute limits.

Just as she and Ning Zhuo were about to succeed, the door behind them suddenly opened.

The next moment, puppet Meng Chong walked in.

He caught sight of Ning Zhuo and Ning Xiaohui and froze slightly.

"It's Meng Chong!"

Ning Zhuo cried out, his voice trembling slightly, revealing a heavy sense of dread.

"Meng Chong!"

Ning Xiaohui's gaze sharpened. In her mind, Meng Chong was her only enemy and her greatest rival.

However, Meng Chong merely swept a glance over the two Ning family members and withdrew his gaze.

Crack.

Electric arcs flickered as Meng Chong moved lightning-fast, bouncing back and forth across the walls and ceiling.

"You guys..."

He spoke while standing before the first door.

"Are too slow!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Chong dissipated the lightning arcs and already landed before the second door.

Ning Xiaohui: ...

Meng Chong's overwhelming dominance deeply shocked her.

She took a slight breath. "Meng Chong, cooperation benefits us both. You've seen my strength as well—let's team up and explore the immortal palace together!"

Ning Xiaohui took the initiative to extend an invitation.

Meng Chong, however, stretched out his palm and aimed it straight at her: "Just based on you?"

Immortal Talent — Raging Sprinting Thunder.

Spell — A Gust of Wind.

Enhanced by the lightning arcs, the speed of the surging airflow became terrifyingly fast.

A spell originally meant merely for utility was forcefully turned into an offensive technique.

Too fast.

Ning Xiaohui had no time to react whatsoever before she was swept away by the airflow, slammed violently against one of the walls, which in turn triggered a trap where a heavy mechanism hammer came crashing down, smashing her completely to pieces.

Ning Zhuo rushed over to rescue Ning Xiaohui, but ended up stepping into a trap halfway, plunging once more into pitch darkness, trapped there until his soul power was completely exhausted.

"Two little fries!"

Meng Chong laughed dismissively, turned around to claim his reward, and stepped into the third trial with a deadpan, serious expression.

Filled with fighting spirit, upon entering Room 3, he shouted loudly, "I, Meng Chong, have returned!"

"That mechanism ape, today I am going to exact my revenge."

"Huh?"

"Where are they?"

Meng Chong scanned the room once, and then scanned it a second time, still failing to find the mechanism ape he had been "dreaming of and yearning for day and night."

"What is going on?"

"Where is that mechanism monkey?"

Meng Chong felt an overwhelming sense of frustration, as if he had thrown a punch at cotton, leaving him with an intense feeling of loss.

He had practiced diligently and made tremendous progress in his strength, only to find that the target he aimed to surpass had vanished.

"If I keep clearing the trials, will I run into it again?"

Meng Chong sparked a sliver of hope.

With Yuan Dasheng missing, though there were many martial puppets inside Room 3, they couldn't block Meng Chong at all.

After spending some time beating all the mechanism puppets to the ground, Meng Chong pushed the door open and officially entered the preparation room.

"This trial stage seems a bit unusual?"

"What is that?"

He spotted the leaderboard stone pillar at a single glance.