Immortal Creation.

Chapter 721 A Small Test of Bamboo Puppetry
At the summit of Green Bamboo Peak, hundreds of cultivators gathered.

Before Qinghuangzi, the peak master of Qingzhu Peak, had even appeared, Ning Zhuo had already arrived.

It was early morning, and the sky was not yet bright.

The vast sea of ​​clouds rolled silently at the mountainside, like ten thousand cloud beasts slowly stretching their massive bodies in slumber.

The bamboo forests that can be seen everywhere on Qingzhu Peak are deep in color, neither green nor blue, but warm and restrained, and they also have a kind of tough and cold light that is almost metallic. When the light flows, the jade-like texture is faintly visible.

The bamboo leaves are extremely thin, with a ring of crystalline jade light around their edges. When the morning breeze blows, thousands of jade leaves rustle and make a soft sound. This sound is not like the rustling of grass and trees, but more like countless tiny jade chimes being gently struck by the breeze, forming a clear and ethereal sound of bamboo waves and jade chimes, washing away the hustle and bustle of the world.

Ning Zhuo was admiring the beautiful scenery when he noticed someone casting a glance at him.

He turned his head and, following the gaze, saw Banji.

Ning Zhuo smiled slightly and transmitted his thoughts: "Fellow Daoist Ban Ji, I didn't expect to meet you here."

Ban Ji's amber-like pupils revealed a hint of coldness as he recalled with his divine sense: "Fellow Daoist Ning Zhuo, I have already agreed to postpone our sparring session. I did not expect you to be so ungrateful as to come here specifically to make things difficult for me."

"how?"

"Did you investigate me and then conclude that Ban Ji from my family is an easy person to deal with?"

"You actually think you can stop me in the small-scale trial related to Xingyun in the government?"

"Heh, that's just wishful thinking!"

Ning Zhuo maintained his smile and communicated with his mind: "Fellow Daoist Ban Ji, to be honest, I also know a little about mechanisms."

"After inquiring about your situation, I have become quite interested in you, fellow Daoist."

"I hope you will not hesitate to offer your guidance during this small trial of Xingyun's work."

Ban Ji snorted and ignored Ning Zhuo.

His face was frosty, but he became even more vigilant.

Qinghuangzi's Xingyun Trial was something he had been planning for a long time. The purpose of setting up the Xingyun Trial was to select suitable cultivators to find successors for the inheritance of the mechanism.

For Banji, Qinghuangzi's mechanical skills are a powerful supplement.

Therefore, Banji has always attached great importance to it.

Now, Ning Zhuo suddenly came to cause trouble... This made Ban Ji feel slightly nervous.

“Ning Zhuo is my tribulation, but my clan has activated a mechanism, so he can also sense the abnormality in me.”

"So, he came!"

Will this small test encounter unexpected setbacks because of him?

A sense of unease lingered in Banji's heart.

Ning Zhuo's initiative in coming here was undoubtedly a strong offensive stance. This made Ban Ji immediately realize that Ning Zhuo's previous polite refusal to spar was not out of fear of battle, but rather a prudent strategy to gather intelligence first.

"This kid is indeed young and impetuous!"

"I didn't cause him any trouble, but he caused me trouble first. Haha."

"I want to see just how serious this human calamity really is!"

Thinking of this, a figure appeared gracefully.

Qinghuangzi stood before the crowd.

His gaze was calm, and he had three long wisps of beard. He was slender and upright, dressed in a simple blue robe. He held a nine-section jade bamboo staff, with a small bronze bell hanging from the top.

The surroundings quickly fell silent.

Qinghuangzi slowly began to explain the reason for holding this Xingyun Trial: his lifespan was coming to an end and he had no qualified successor, so he decided to take this Flying Cloud Assembly as an opportunity to set up a series of trials to select outstanding cultivators to inherit his legacy.

Clearly, many of the cultivators present had already learned of the situation beforehand, and their expressions remained unchanged upon hearing Qinghuangzi's words.

Some of them were elderly, some looked like young masters and ladies from noble families, and others were rogue cultivators dressed in martial attire and carrying swords.

"Alright, let's begin the trial." After explaining the reason, Qinghuangzi was quite decisive, slamming his bamboo staff on the ground to start, "Great Formation, activate!"

The bamboo staff touched the ground, and the emerald light rippled out like water. The figures of a hundred cultivators blurred and distorted in the light, as if they were cast into the shimmering emerald water.

Once Ning Zhuo's vision stabilized, he discovered that he and the others had already been transported to the inner space of the formation and left.

This is an open space, surrounded by walls of green bamboo that rise abruptly from the ground and soar into the clouds.

Banji took a deep breath; the air was filled with the slightly pungent smell of freshly broken bamboo branches and the heavy dampness of the soil.

Most of the cultivators were slightly flustered. They discovered that their cultivation level had been suppressed to the Foundation Establishment stage by the great formation, and that their personal talismans, magical artifacts, and even pills were all subject to a restrictive force, making them difficult to use.

Qinghuangzi was nowhere to be seen, but his voice came through: "The bamboo puppets are coming soon. Everyone must do their best to select one and try to control it by using only your divine sense and magic power to suspend it on the thread, and refine it for your own use."

“When the time limit is up, cultivators who fail to seize the bamboo puppet will be eliminated.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the air vibrated, creating a series of translucent ripples.

Immediately, countless bamboo puppets, like a flock of startled kingfishers, fell from mid-air.

Everyone was already on high alert, and at that moment, they simultaneously activated their divine senses to conduct large-scale detection.

Ning Zhuo's eyes gleamed, and his divine sense spread out. He immediately discovered that the vast majority of bamboo puppets were only at the level of magic tools, but there were also a few that emitted a precious light and had reached the level of magic treasures.

Without a doubt, the magic weapon-grade bamboo puppet is the focus of everyone's competition!
As expected, dozens of magical threads shot out, heading straight for the magical treasures among the bamboo puppets.

The magical threads intertwined in mid-air, consuming each other and disintegrating in mid-air.

However, a small number of high-quality bamboo puppets managed to break through the competition and become part of these bamboo puppets.

Ning Zhuo's Five Qi Suspension Silk is naturally included in this category.

His divine sense followed the magical power thread and quickly invaded the bamboo puppet's interior, but other cultivators were doing the same.

As a result, multiple divine senses clashed and fiercely clashed within the bamboo puppet.

"Hehehe, hahaha!" Banji transmitted his thoughts, letting out a wild laugh, "You are nothing but this, all of you get out of my way!"

His divine sense emanated a torrent of demonic intent, eroding the divine senses of other cultivators, rapidly disintegrating them, and then turning them into his own.

Ban Ji's cultivation of the demonic art "Greedy Demon Heart Technique" was not a family heirloom of the Ban family, but rather something else entirely.

This technique emphasizes: feed the demon with greed, and the demon will become powerful and dangerous; seize opportunities to nurture greed, and the demon will become rampant.

With the help of his demonic and frenzied thoughts, Banji swept away his opponents and became invincible.

Even Ning Zhuo's divine sense was repeatedly defeated and unable to hold on, so he had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill of defeat.

Ban Ji specifically challenged Ning Zhuo: "Ning Zhuo, I thought you were something special. How could your meager spiritual sense be enough? You dare to try and stop me?"

He seized the opportunity to demoralize Ning Zhuo.

"Interesting!" Ning Zhuo's eyes lit up, showing great interest.

Although he had participated in several major battles, this was the first time he had encountered a clash between divine senses.

"This is the 'Greedy Demon Heart Technique'? It must be a first-class technique, truly powerful!"

"Although my 'Mirror Platform Spirit Communication Technique' is also a first-class technique, its strength lies in spiritual communication, not in the aspect of divine sense."

"It's only right that we lost to an opponent like Banji."

Ning Zhuo was not discouraged and was very self-aware.

In fact, the Mirror Platform Spirit Communication Technique has a significant weakness in cultivating spiritual consciousness. Therefore, the Three Masters specially designed many mechanical mirrors to complement it, helping to expand the scope of spiritual consciousness, or to make it more precise, or to make it more profound, and so on.

Ning Zhuo wanted to use these methods, but there was no way to do so. This was because Qinghuangzi had long stipulated that only divine sense and magical power could be used to suspend the threads.

Ning Zhuo suffered a minor setback, but remained calm and immediately shifted his focus to other magical artifact-level bamboo puppets.

Ban Ji grinned maliciously: "Ning Zhuo, I'll make you understand the pain of being in trouble with me!"

He successfully seized a bamboo puppet, but he did not give up. He immediately activated his magical power and divine sense to participate in the struggle for other bamboo puppets.

The rules stipulate that each person is allowed a maximum of one bamboo puppet. Banji has already secured his minimum reward; now the main focus is on disrupting Ningzhuo!

Ning Zhuo tried several times, but failed each time.

Besides Banji, there are many other cultivators whose spiritual senses are very special. They either practice corresponding cultivation techniques or use some kind of secret arts or skills.

In short, it is not surprising that Ning Zhuo's divine sense was present.

Of course, he is not without advantages.

Ning Zhuo's advantage lies in the fact that his spiritual consciousness can last longer and recover more quickly. This is not due to the "Mirror Platform Spirit Communication Technique," but rather to Ning Zhuo's own profound foundation, with his physical body and soul far surpassing those of ordinary people.

Ning Zhuo only saw an opportunity with the last magic weapon-level puppet.

"This guy's spiritual sense isn't anything special, yet he always manages to fight on despite repeated defeats, and he has incredible staying power."

"He is my nemesis, I must not underestimate him!"

"To be on the safe side, I need to seize every opportunity. Ideally, I should eliminate him in the very first round!"

As Banji thought of this, his breathing became heavy and labored, like a broken bellows being pulled.

He pressed on with undiminished force, and the greed within his consciousness surged like a tidal wave towards Ning Zhuo's consciousness.

Ning Zhuo immediately felt Ban Ji's intense desire—"Mine!" "Take it!" "Tear you apart!"

Ning Zhuo's divine sense was steadily defeated, and Qing Huangzi's voice came again, telling everyone that there were only thirty breaths left.

Ban Ji laughed loudly and shouted at Ning Zhuo, "You're doomed!"

Ning Zhuo's lips suddenly curled into a smile.

He transmitted his thoughts: "Everyone, how much longer must we endure? Now is the last chance to fight!"

The cultivators, their expressions solemn, suddenly launched a coordinated attack on Ban Ji!

Ban Ji's expression changed drastically.

It turns out that thoughts can be conveyed even while spiritual consciousness clashes.

While Ning Zhuo clashed with Ban Ji, he also contacted like-minded people.

Ban Ji relentlessly pursued Ning Zhuo's spiritual sense, doing his utmost to suppress the latter, displaying an arrogant and conceited arrogance.

This made other cultivators wary and fearful, and under Ning Zhuo's coordination, they secretly formed an alliance against Ban Ji.

"With Banji's strength being so formidable, it's hopeless to let him dominate from behind!"

“He’s suppressing Ning Zhuo now. Once Ning Zhuo is defeated, we’ll be the only ones left.”

"Go all out and eliminate Banji first!"

The cultivators, united in their hatred of the enemy, launched a joint attack to annihilate them.

Banji hurriedly tried his best to fight back, but the cultivators outnumbered him and Banji had also exhausted his spiritual energy from chasing Ning Zhuo around, which led to his defeat.

"Oops!"

"I was so focused on suppressing Ning Zhuo and trying to squeeze him out that I forgot about these cultivators."

“My Ban family is one of the few mechanical families in Feiyun Kingdom, and I am the only candidate recommended by the Ban family to join the Myriad Manifestations Sect. This in itself makes me a target of envy and jealousy.”

“Ning Zhuo is not well-known and does not receive the attention he deserves.”

"damn it……"

"Hold on, we have to hold on!!!"

Banji gritted his teeth, and his body began to sway.

He desperately unleashed his divine sense, causing his upper dantian to tremble violently, as if it were being pierced and stirred by thousands of rusty steel needles!
"I can't lose!"

"I can't fall here; I'll hold on even if it kills me."

"Hold on!!"

Banji was pushing himself to the limit, his eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was extremely ferocious and terrifying.

In those short thirty breaths, he felt as if each day was an eternity.

Ning Zhuo always rushed to the front. When his divine sense was exhausted, he would mobilize his divine sea to generate new divine sense.

If we don't set an example, how will other cultivators follow?
People's hearts must not be disturbed!

"Three, two, one, time's up," Qinghuangzi announced.

Ning Zhuo's vision went black, his face turned pale, and he felt dizzy and disoriented.

"No!!!" Banji let out a painful howl, tearing at his hair, his eyes fierce, as if he wanted to devour someone.

He persevered to the very end, fighting desperately, but ultimately failed to hold onto the last stronghold—the bamboo puppet he had captured was also taken away by others.

He never expected that he would collapse at the very beginning.

To prepare for the test, he meticulously researched Qinghuangzi's intelligence, even figuring out how Qinghuangzi would test his successor. He firmly believed that his preparations would lead to his success.

As a result, he was eliminated in the very first round!
"The most deserving culprit is Ning Zhuo!"

"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him!!!"

Ban Ji was so angry he felt like he was going to die on the spot, wishing he could devour Ning Zhuo alive.

Ning Zhuo responded with a smile.

His smile was pale and weak. This victory, for him, was also a Pyrrhic one.

He was not among the cultivators who seized the magic-grade bamboo puppet.

In the end, Ning Zhuo only managed to obtain a magic-grade bamboo puppet.

However, Banji was eliminated and lost the qualification to participate in the next stage.

Ning Zhuo was already satisfied with such results!
Ning Zhuo manipulated a palm-sized bamboo puppet, guiding it through a small maze made of green bamboo.

A sharp, piercing sound suddenly rang out, and more than a dozen bamboo spears emerged from the walls on both sides, aiming to riddle the bamboo puppet controlled by Ning Zhuo with holes.

Ning Zhuo tried his best to control the bamboo puppet to dodge, but the previous mental energy depletion was too severe and had not yet fully recovered.

Because of this, although Ning Zhuo's bamboo puppet made it through this section of the road, its chest was still pierced, leaving a hole.

"What should we do?" Ning Zhuo frowned, feeling worried.

This is only the second stage, and it's already this difficult. The next stages will probably be even more challenging.

In a flash of inspiration, Ning Zhuo chose the exposed bamboo spear, chopped it off, and used it as material to repair himself.

The hole in the bamboo puppet's chest was covered up with new bamboo strips. It carried two other bamboo spears in its hands and set off again.

Having navigated the maze, we arrived at the third stage.

On a rather spacious arena, the cultivators controlled their respective bamboo puppets and engaged in a chaotic battle.

"Damn it, how hateful! I already anticipated this part and made extensive preparations!"

"Ah—! Why did I lose? How could I lose here?"

Ban was so angry he almost fainted; he simply couldn't accept the reality before him.

When he discovered that Ning Zhuo had become one of the final twelve winners, he clutched his chest, gasped for breath, and almost roared to the sky before spitting out three liters of blood.

"My calamity!"

"He is my nemesis!!"

(End of this chapter)