Darkness.
An endless darkness.
In the depths of this black void, Ning Zhuo gradually regained consciousness.
“What exactly happened?”
“Where am I?!”
At that moment, a message traveled along the Life-Hanging Thread, directly embedding itself into his mind: “Lava Immortal Palace, mechanical inheritance, soul-guiding thread, Qi Refining test… leave Room One and enter Room Two.”
Ning Zhuo’s spirit suddenly stirred, understanding the situation.
“So, reaching the peak of the third layer of Qi Refining is the initial selection criterion.”
“Since I’ve met that requirement, my soul was drawn into the Lava Immortal Palace, triggering the second test.”
“This is quite different from the message Mother left behind!”
“Indeed, the appearance of the Dharma Transmission Bell was already hinting that the method for Qi Refining cultivators to compete for the Lava Immortal Palace differs entirely from the Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, or Nascent Soul stages.”
“Thinking it over, this actually makes sense.”
“Once a cultivator reaches Foundation Establishment, their dantian is transformed and stabilized, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to switch to a new cultivation technique.”
“But while I was still in the Qi Refining stage, I switched paths before my dantian fully formed, directly cultivating the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique."
"To the Lava Immortal Palace, that makes me one of its own disciples.”
“Compared to those who cultivate other techniques, the distinction between kin and outsiders is as clear as day.”
“Only…”
“Leave Room One and enter Room Two? How am I supposed to do that?”
Ning Zhuo calmed his mind, patiently feeling his way through the boundless darkness.
Gradually, he sensed that his soul wasn’t freestanding but was housed within some object, and within this object lay a small cluster of spiritual power.
He tried channeling this spiritual power but to no avail.
After a moment’s thought, he employed the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique to manipulate it, which immediately produced a response.
The spiritual power began to flow, circulating along the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique’s path, slowly moving within the object where his soul resided.
From this, Ning Zhuo slowly came to realize that his soul’s dwelling resembled a long rectangular box.
“A coffin?” Ning Zhuo guessed.
“Moreover, this sensation of spiritual power manipulation feels very familiar.”
“It seems to be coming from a spirit stone. I’m drawing spiritual power directly from it.”
“Spirit stones have a finite supply of spiritual power, so by circulating this technique, I’m continuously depleting its energy.”
Ning Zhuo stopped his technique, hesitating for a moment.
Lost in thought, he couldn’t find any additional clues in the darkness.
“It seems like this is my only option…”
Gritting his teeth, Ning Zhuo decided to take a chance.
He had never lacked the courage to take risks.
This time, he fully activated the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique, allowing the spiritual power to drain rapidly without pause.
The spiritual energy started to seep out of the “rectangular box” in wisps.
The leaking energy acted like his extended feelers, enabling Ning Zhuo to gradually sense his surroundings.
“There seems to be something over in that direction,” Ning Zhuo detected a presence in the darkness.
Moreover, this presence seemed to faintly respond to him.
With determination, Ning Zhuo pushed the spiritual power to its maximum.
The sensation of resonance intensified, escalating tenfold within several breaths!
Until, suddenly, a hard object struck the rectangular box where Ning Zhuo’s soul resided.
The dispersed spiritual energy swiftly intertwined the box and the mysterious hard object, binding them tightly together.
The spiritual energy he emitted now had a new path to follow.
As he infused energy into the hard object, Ning Zhuo slowly discerned its shape.
“It seems like… an arm?”
A flash of insight struck him like a bolt of lightning, giving him a guess.
He continued circulating his technique, confirming his earlier hypothesis.
It was indeed an arm, with a hand at the end bearing four fingers.
In the darkness, Ning Zhuo carefully explored.
He attempted to swing the arm, then opened the hand, flexing the fingers, groping around.
Although he had no sense of touch, the spiritual energy radiating outward began resonating with other mysterious objects.
A moment later, a cube-like object also adhered to him, fusing into his form.
Suddenly, the surrounding darkness vanished, and Ning Zhuo’s vision was illuminated.
At last, he could see everything around him!
He was in an enormous room, filled with countless mechanical parts: torsos, heads, limbs, tails, horns, wings, and so on.
All these parts were wooden, in varying shades of brown.
And he, Ning Zhuo, was currently perched atop a small mountain of these mechanical parts.
Ning Zhuo examined himself.
“My guess was correct!”
The rectangular box his soul had inhabited was a rectangular mechanical torso component.
The first item he had drawn in with spiritual energy was a left arm.
The second was a cube-shaped mechanical head.
“Looks like I’ve got a head!”
“And it’s quite a large head.”
Ning Zhuo felt delighted.
The head component included eye-like fixtures, allowing him to see.
With sight, he now had far greater convenience.
Following the same method, he located additional parts within the heap of mechanical pieces, attaching them to his form.
By the time he climbed down from the small mountain of parts, he was fully equipped with both arms and legs.
“A puppet body, huh…”
At this point, Ning Zhuo’s torso was still a rectangular box.
He had two legs, one slightly thinner and one slightly thicker, and they were of uneven length.
Both arms were of equal length, but one hand had three fingers while the other had four.
And his head, perfectly square, was disproportionately large compared to his body, giving him a somewhat silly appearance.
“Now that I have a body, I can move like a person, but it also increases the spiritual energy consumption.”
Ning Zhuo monitored the spirit stone inside his torso.
So far, he had already used up nearly half of its energy.
“There should be spirit stones in the other torso components. I can take them for backup.”
However, just as Ning Zhuo targeted a torso component and prepared to act, a new message arrived, informing him that he was prohibited from damaging other parts.
“Then I’ll just assemble a second body.” Ning Zhuo had only just moved when another message arrived—currently, he was allowed only one spiritual component.
Left with no choice, Ning Zhuo stood up.
He recalled the initial message—he was instructed to leave Room One and enter Room Two.
This was the assessment criterion.
“The second trial appears to have no time limit, but that’s not the case.”
“Since only one spiritual component is allowed, and the spirit stone’s power continually depletes.”
“I must complete the first test before it runs out.”
“I should leave here as soon as possible.”
Room One was enormous, with copper-red walls, a golden ceiling, and bright lighting.
Ning Zhuo had already spotted the room’s only door.
Limping slightly, he headed toward the door.
As he reached the door, his fingers just touched its surface when another message came through.
A spirit stone, a hook attached to a mechanical component, and a technique called Qi Breath Technique.
“I can only choose one?”