Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Chapter 1486: Chapter 609: Post-Battle Strategies

Ning Zhuo returned to his own cave mansion, feeling unwell.

The medicinal power from the Five Qi Returning Essence Pill still flushed through his meridians, causing them to swell painfully. His Qi Sea was depleted, and the Mana Pool was drained empty. The pit walls inside were sparse with spirit light like remnants of the dawn glow, and the Soul Absorption Box was cracked, its lid charred black, array patterns half-destroyed.

After resting, Ning Zhuo began to examine his spoils of war.

On the table, he laid out the spoils one by one.

The Alarm Whistle, Thousand Weight Plunge, Thunder Breaking Pearl, Breakup Blade Talisman, Golden Marrow Life-extending Pill, Flame Avoidance Blood Protection Pill, Iron Bone Stiffening Pill, and a Jade Scroll Copy of the Golden Stone Opening Skill. Furthest inside was a Cold Jade Sealing Box, inside which was sealed the Nine Orifice Blood Gold Embryo.

Ning Zhuo first picked up the Alarm Whistle, lightly rubbing its body with his fingertips.

This item was small and had a warm texture like beast bones in hand. Deep within the whistle holes, there were faint beast patterns, like countless startled birds and beasts whose spiritual sense was compressed within. Rather than blowing it, Ning Zhuo sent his Divine Sense inside and felt a sharp, piercing sensation as though thousands of wings were simultaneously flapping against his heart lake.

"Good stuff," Ning Zhuo softly muttered.

This treasure could disrupt sound rhythm and Divine Sense. Held by Bird and Beast Manor, it was an instrument for hunting. In the hands of Flowing Gold Guest, it could counteract the Mechanical Bird Group.

Ning Zhuo placed the Alarm Whistle down, having already made plans in his heart.

This item might not be used solely against enemies in the future. If he studied the principle of disruption within it and applied it to the modification of the Mechanical Bird Group, it could actually enhance the bird group’s resistance to disturbances.

The way of mechanisms does not fear being countered; it fears not understanding why it was countered.

Similarly, the Alarm Whistle could also serve as a practice tool to hone his Music Skill.

Ning Zhuo then picked up the Thousand Weight Plunge.

A dark, heavy pendant that appeared unremarkable. Yet when a thread of mana was channeled into it, the table’s surface subtly sank, and the table legs let out an almost inaudible groan.

Ning Zhuo promptly withdrew his force, his eyes showing a trace of appreciation.

The Thousand Weight Plunge does not kill by sharpness but can change the battlefield. Once it is activated, the whole Martial Arts Arena seems suppressed by earth power, greatly affecting the speed of the Green Forest Python Chariot.

If not for Ning Zhuo having a Magic Pool, Elixir Pills, and Talismans to sustain him in advance, merely dragging in such heavy earth power would be enough for him to be slowly cornered by Flowing Gold Guest.

In holding ground, trapping enemies, and suppressing charges, this treasure could prove valuable and is worth anticipating.

Especially when Nanming Village charges Flowing Cloud Peak in the future. If they want to occupy a mountain belly, cloud nest, or fire vein, the Thousand Weight Plunge could temporarily strengthen the terrain and slow the enemy’s advance.

There were few Thunder Breaking Pearls left, and Ning Zhuo only picked up one to observe.

The pearl was a mix of blue and purple, with thunder light flickering inside like a small thunder eye. In the previous battle, when it exploded continuously, the defenses of the Golden Light Necklace and Green-White Jade Ring were cracked with dense lines. It does not aim to kill in one blow but excels at breaking external mana barriers and protective light screens, proving highly practical.

"Thunder Cloud Association." Ning Zhuo thought about this name.

These forces of Flowing Cloud Peak, although each claimed different ideas, their actions were incredibly precise—

The Alarm Whistle disrupted his bird flock, the Thousand Weight Plunge slowed his speed, the Thunder Breaking Pearl shattered his defenses, and the Breakup Blade Talisman severed his hanging thread. If Flowing Gold Guest did not lack Divine Sense and if many conventional magic treasures were not able to fit seamlessly, this battle would have been even more difficult.

"To deal with me, they surely exchanged information secretly long ago and agreed to support Flowing Gold Guest together."

Ning Zhuo picked up the Breakup Blade Talisman.

Only one unused talisman remained, with its surface bearing a jet-black trace as if a knife was etched in the night. Ning Zhuo scrutinized it for a long time, his expression becoming more serious than before. This talisman cuts through not common ropes but mana links, divine sense threads, and control puppet lines. Used well at critical moments, it can cause a mechanism master to fail in an instant.

"This thing is very helpful to me."

Ning Zhuo did not shy away from admitting the enemy’s skillful tactics.

The more he looked, the more he felt this talisman was worth studying. Life Hanging Thread, mechanism manipulation, and mystic armor deployment all revolve around the word "connection." The Breakup Blade Talisman can cut these connections, but conversely, it also makes him ponder how to strengthen connections, how to set virtual lines, false lines, substitute lines.

"To be honest, after two consecutive public operations, despite my best efforts to hide, this battle will inevitably trigger more specific targeting."

"Especially when people see my mana suspended threads being easily targeted, the various forces of Flowing Cloud Peak are surely pondering how to tackle it at this moment."

"Perhaps, I should learn a method of Mechanical Techniques specifically for suspended threads to enhance them?"

Ning Zhuo suppressed this sudden thought.

Finally, he held the Jade Slip of the Golden Stone Opening Skill in his palm.

After examining it briefly, Ning Zhuo gained some insight.

The so-called "Golden Stone Opening" is not about Gold beating Wood, nor about piercing sharpness, but about using Gold Element’s "judgment" to touch the "closure" of stone nature, turning all things from "close" to "open."

The real mystery of this magic lies in the word "open."

Mechanical artifacts are capable of moving not just because components are assembled but because of mortise and tenon interlocking, axles and springs bearing together, array patterns continuing, talismanic roads connecting, and spiritual mechanisms harmonizing. There’s an inherent "cohesive nature" among them. When a mechanism master refines artifacts, they continuously strengthen this cohesive nature, turning dead objects into implements, assembling scattered pieces into form.

The mortise and tenon no longer interlock.

The bearings no longer align.

The array patterns no longer link...

So to outsiders, the mechanism appears as if it were disassembled by an invisible hand, with bamboo bones, iron pieces, talisman pages, and spirit silk falling apart. But essentially, it’s not smashed but "opened."

"Therefore, the Golden Stone Opening Skill indeed requires ’seam drilling,’ but seam drilling is not the focus."

Seam drilling is only to allow the Gold Element’s opening command to touch the internal cohesive points of the mechanism. The more intricate the mechanism, the more plentiful the gaps, junctions, pivots, hidden clasps, talismanic road nodes, and thus more easily this skill finds the ’door.’