Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Chapter 1530: Chapter 630: Five Arts Gained Through Watching the Battle (Part 2)

The first one, Ning Zhuo named it "Seven-Turn Fire Technique".

The Nine Fire Dragon Lord’s Alchemy Seven Transitions taught Ning Zhuo a lot. While the Nine Fire Dragon Lord can simultaneously command nine fires, Ning Zhuo has yet to reach that level, as it is not his direction.

The "Seven-Turn Fire Technique" allows a flame to be clearly divided into seven different fire powers. It can protect the medicinal properties, unleash medicinal power, break the medicinal shell, identify impurities, guide spiritual mechanism, combine elixir qi, and finalize the pill shape.

The second spell Ning Zhuo named "Refining Furnace Flame Recovery Skill," which can re-gather scattered flames.

The third spell is "Fire Refining Technique," which, as the name suggests, involves deeper refining and mastering of a particular flame.

Ning Zhuo developed this after witnessing the Nine Fire Dragon Lord wielding nine fires throughout the battle, unveiling many mysteries of fire control.

Ning Zhuo took out elixir pills, tilted his neck back, and swallowed a few.

He stimulated Mana, quickly dissolving the medicinal power within, replenishing the Divine Sea and restoring personal energy.

Ning Zhuo practiced the three new spells.

First was the "Seven-Turn Fire Technique".

He took multiple ordinary herbs and placed them in a small ordinary pill furnace for practice.

The flame at the furnace bottom first became warm, adhering to the furnace and running smoothly. It then grew larger, climbing along the herb’s texture, slowly forcing out the medicinal properties. Thereafter, the flame with a bluish hue lightly touched the hardest part of the herbs, causing the shell to crack. Subsequently, the flame intensified, revealing three black impurity spots in the herbal liquid.

The flame turned ethereal, pulling the spiritual mechanism into fine threads, then twisting them into a strand. The flame expanded in volume, entirely enclosing the herbal liquid. Finally, the flame abruptly converged, forming the embryonic shape of the pill with the fire.

From the small pill furnace, a light medicinal fragrance quickly emerged.

The pill was refined.

"If this technique is mastered, my control over fire will be at least three times as precise in future alchemical processes, which means a significant increase in alchemy efficiency."

Ning Zhuo then practiced the "Refining Furnace Flame Recovery Skill".

He sealed with both hands, intentionally letting the furnace flame leak out by three inches. Medicinal smoke escaped through the lid gap, which would typically be a loss. Ning Zhuo was unhurried, drawing a circular fire pattern with his fingertips. The fire pattern acted like a reversing vortex, pulling back the escaping medicinal smoke, residual heat, and floating flames into the furnace belly.

The small pill furnace gently trembled.

The previously scattered Fire Qi returned to its place, not damaging the medicinal properties but rather making the elixir qi within the furnace rounder.

"This spell can remedy a misplaced fire, recover residual flames, and reclaim external firepower in combat, reducing consumption."

Lastly was the "Fire Refining Technique".

Ning Zhuo held the Blood Ash Tinder in his palm, activated the "Fire Refining Technique," and conducted deeper refining!

The Blood Ash Tinder leapt sharply.

Inside the Cave Mansion, the flames surged, casting dark red light on the surrounding walls.

Ning Zhuo’s face turned slightly pale, with the firelight on his palms and skin surface, delivering intense stinging sensations as if pierced by countless small fiery needles.

He did not withdraw his hand, instead exhaled slowly, continuously activating spells on the Blood Ash Tinder.

The Blood Ash Tinder, originally seamless, under the spell’s influence, unexpectedly divided into three layers.

The outermost layer was a layer of floating flames. The Fire Element was most active, igniting at blood contact, adorned with the redness of blood.

The middle layer was a layer of grey flames. The Fire Element was subdued, like the gray of burnt remains, most stubborn.

At the center was a layer of blue flames, as still as a gemstone, fixed and unmoving, difficult to communicate.

"Feasible." A hint of joy appeared in Ning Zhuo’s eyes.

He refined for a while, realizing increasingly deep mastery over the outer floating flames.

"It’s just a matter of time; it’s a skill requiring water-like persistence."

Ning Zhuo was satisfied internally, not expecting this unexpected gain from observing the Nine Fire Dragon Lord’s battle.

However, upon further thought, it also seemed logically inevitable.

Outside the Cave Mansion, the night grew deeper.

Ning Zhuo felt entirely awake.

Beyond the Fire Technique, the Cloud Skill surged repeatedly in his mind.

Being well-versed in the Water Realm, he was sensitive to water vapor, fog, flows, and gatherings. Clouds form from ascending water vapor, drift by wind, congeal in cold, and disperse in heat. Yun Wuji’s Cloud Path appears fleeting, yet covertly harmonizes with Water Realm changes.

Ning Zhuo closed his eyes, recalling cloud spells his mother once used.

Cloud Luo Evil Clothes.

That Cloud Luo Evil Clothes still deeply impressed him. Cloud Qi formed clothes, evil intention structured by bones, appearing gentle yet capable of defense, camouflage, transformation, and counterattacks. His mother once advised him to learn the Cloud Luo General Outline.

The Cloud Luo General Outline was left by Myriad Images Sect’s Yun Slaughter Daoist.

Ning Zhuo silently recited the phrase: "Cloud Luo is not cloth, but a symbol of Heavenly Dao’s mercy; evil clothes are not clothes, but born from the Reversed Scale of Qiankun!"

"Unfortunately, I have not truly joined the Myriad Images Sect." The deeper he thought, the more heart-wrenching he felt.

Regrettably, core legacies like the Cloud Luo General Outline were out of reach for him currently.

In the end, utilizing his own Water Realm as the foundation and referring to Yun Wuji’s combat techniques, he developed two minor Cloud Skills.

The first one is named "Cloud Gap Stepping".

This skill is used for evasion. As long as there is water vapor, fog, smoke, medicinal smoke, or even the humid heat from a pill furnace around, one can temporarily condense a cloud gap using Water Element Magic Power. A cultivator steps into the cloud gap, shifting their form several yards to several tens of yards using Cloud Qi.

It’s not instant movement, requiring reliance on water vapor and limited distance, but has low consumption of Mana and stamina.

Ning Zhuo practiced inside the Cave Mansion.

He first condensed a wisp of light cloud gap using pill furnace medicinal smoke, lightly tapped his toe, and his form shifted from the cushion to the stone wall three yards away. The motion wasn’t perfect as his garment’s edge was disordered by the airflow, but the effect was assured.

The second one is named "Cloud Skin Illusion".

This skill is used for disguise and evasion.

Ning Zhuo referenced Yun Wuji’s Cloud Skin Substitute and combined ideas from Cloud Luo Evil Clothes, designing an extremely thin cloud skin layer. The cloud skin adheres to the body surface, not seeking complete transformation, but merely intending to create a slightly offset false silhouette under enemy Divine Sense scanning or initial spell touch.

If the enemy’s attack lands, the cloud skin first fabricates false intelligence, receiving the attack while Ning Zhuo himself seizes the chance to escape.

Ning Zhuo raised his hand, condensing a light cloud skin.

The cloud skin draped over the white garment like a layer of transparent gauze. He stepped forward, while the cloud skin lagged half an inch, then gently swayed, leaving behind a faint shadow.

"Wait a moment, I remember there is an Xingyun Trial related to the Cloud Skill."

"Previously lacking confidence and interest, but now, I feel my chances of taking the lead are quite high."

"Maybe, I should give it a try."

Before dawn fully arrived, Ning Zhuo exited the Cave Mansion.

The morning wind blew from the mountainside, carrying slight moisture, brushing past his sleeves and condensing into tiny dew droplets at the sleeve edge.

Ning Zhuo lifted his hand, gently wiping the dew with his fingertip.

The dew rounded, water essence gathered and undispersed.

"Cloud rises from water." Ning Zhuo silently recited, eyes glowing, "Today to participate in the Xingyun Trial, to test the Cloud Skill."

In the Five Victories Martial Arts Competition, Nanming Village lost the first title, akin to a direct blow. After the first night passed, Chun Yangzi and others must respond.

But this matter was something Ning Zhuo no longer wished to partake in.

His capabilities were not yet sufficient for martial demonstrations.

The scheme he meticulously planned before had started to exhibit effectiveness, aiding him in digesting the Tribulation Fate.

He then took the opportunity to seek breakthroughs in other areas.

The Cloud Garden Headquarters was set in a mountain indentation where clouds perpetually hovered and never dispersed.

The indentation lacked ordinary spirit fields, possessing only hovering Cloud Gardens. Cloud Gardens varied in size, some only as large as a desk, others sprawling over ten yards, each cultivating various Cloud Materials.

Young white clouds, light azure wet clouds, faint red sunset clouds, dark gray turbid clouds, and thunder clouds with tiny electric glimmers were all enclosed within fine cloud fences. They steadily ingested water vapor, sometimes expanding, sometimes contracting, resembling breathing jade medicinal fields.

Outside the Cloud Garden Institute, many cultivators had already gathered.

The Xingyun Trial here was an old custom, already established for several months.

The trial tested not slaying nor realm, but cloud creation, nurturing, transitioning, herding, and other basic cloud arts. Traditionally, mostly low-level cultivators, loose cultivators, and those with weaker talents signed up to participate.

Ning Zhuo’s arrival made the field immediately quieter.

"It’s Ning Zhuo? Why is he here?"

"Nanming Village just lost the first round, isn’t he discussing the martial demonstration with Chun Yangzi but instead came here for the Xingyun Trial?"