With the valuable experience of the first attempt, Ning Zhuo was no longer unfamiliar with the darkness.
Without hesitation, he focused all his efforts on drawing spiritual power from his spirit stones, circulating the Five Elements Qi Regulation Technique.
Click.
He drew over the first mechanical part and assembled it—a single arm.
Another part followed, and he successfully attached it—a wooden head.
Once again, Ning Zhuo could see.
He found himself lying atop a mountain of mechanical parts, reaching up to feel his head, only to discover it was still a large, blocky shape.
"Why is it this type again?"
"When running and jumping, it catches the wind, which negatively impacts my progress through Room Two."
Turning his oversized head, Ning Zhuo used his single arm to drag his body as he climbed around, patiently selecting a pair of legs, making sure to find two of the same length before settling.
From past experience, he knew that taking his time here was entirely worth it.
In addition, he decided to choose longer arms.
"I want long arms and legs."
"And I’ll switch to a smaller head if I can."
But Ning Zhuo was unsuccessful.
When he finally managed to pick up a smaller head, intending to swap it, he received new information—this initial puppet body could not be freely altered in Room One based on his innate talent.
"A restriction on this?"
Ning Zhuo paused, then began to reflect.
"If this puppet assembly depends on my innate talent, it means that… others like Meng Chong would start this room with a much stronger puppet body than mine."
"It also means that, even though these parts look similar in quality, their actual performance might vary significantly."
Then Ning Zhuo thought about himself.
"Since I took Early Wisdom Pills while still in the womb, I have the Early Wisdom talent."
"Could this be why I have this big head? Which means I can’t switch to a smaller one."
"It’s thanks to my Early Wisdom talent that I got this big head. There must be some advantage to it that just hasn’t shown itself yet."
"Moreover…"
Ning Zhuo thought of another detail.
The first mechanical part he drew wasn’t the head but an arm!
"This happened the first time too; the arm came before the head."
"Could it mean that I might have a hidden talent related to my arm that surpasses my Early Wisdom?"
Ning Zhuo’s mind was sharp, and he paid close attention to details, picking up on subtle hints.
This was indeed possible.
In cultivation, innate talents could vary infinitely, with countless strange and unique varieties.
Though the Ning family routinely conducted tests to identify Immortal Talents, they could only cover foundational talents and common types.
Many unique talents couldn’t be detected by conventional methods.
Perhaps Ning Zhuo’s arm held such a hidden talent, one the family had never discovered.
Ning Zhuo further pondered the message he had just received.
"The message said this is the 'initial puppet body,' and that parts can't be 'freely' replaced in 'Room One.'"
"Does this mean that in some other room, I might be able to change parts freely?"
In just a few breaths, Ning Zhuo managed to analyze this seemingly simple message, uncovering several critical implications.
Despite the hint, Ning Zhuo still decided to take a chance and attempted to attach wing parts.
Having wings would make getting through Room Two far easier.
But, as expected… it didn’t work.
"So, it seems wings, short horns, claws, and similar parts are meant for non-human entities."
"Could it be that, in the future, the Lava Immortal Palace will have non-human competitors?"
Ning Zhuo climbed down from the mountain of mechanical parts, making another significant observation along the way.
Soon, he discovered marks left from his first exploration.
"This confirms that this is indeed the same Room One I explored the first time."
This was an incredibly important finding!
"This room isn’t exclusive to me."
"The mountain of mechanical parts is another hint pointing to this."
"Moreover, it seems that changes I made during my last exploration were preserved here to some extent."
"Another critical question remains—could I encounter others in the same room while exploring the Immortal Palace?"
Ning Zhuo reached the first door and paused, extending his hand to touch its surface.
A message appeared as before, presenting three options.
A spirit stone.
A mechanical part, the Hanging Loop.
The technique Qi Breath Technique.
Ning Zhuo had already made his decision; without hesitation, he chose the Hanging Loop.
At this moment, he still had seventy percent of his spiritual energy, far more than during his first exploration.
And Room Two’s reward would likely include another spirit stone.
In the long run, choosing a technique was the most beneficial. But at this moment, Ning Zhuo needed combat capability.
Choosing the Hanging Loop would enable him to progress further in this exploration.
"At this early stage, information is the most critical resource."
"I need to explore as far as possible to gather enough information, and with a solid foundation, I can then make the right decisions."
"Sigh, I wonder how far Meng Chong and the others have gotten."
"Hopefully, I’ll soon find some trace of them."
The teleportation circle appeared again, releasing a wooden ring before slowly disappearing.
Ning Zhuo held the wooden ring up for closer inspection.
The ring was about half a foot in diameter, thick and embedded with eighteen diamond-shaped crystals.
Each crystal emitted a faint bluish-purple glow.
When Ning Zhuo adjusted his viewing angle slightly, the glow changed, dazzling to behold.
"So, this is the Hanging Loop? How do I use it?"
"No instructions?"
Ning Zhuo received no information about the Hanging Loop.
He understood: this mechanical part reward was also testing his proficiency in mechanical arts.
He would need to figure out its proper use on his own.
With this in mind, Ning Zhuo instinctively pressed the Hanging Loop to his forehead.
Nothing happened.
Ning Zhuo chuckled to himself, embarrassed. "I forgot I no longer have spiritual sense."
Spiritual sense originates from the Divine Sea, which is the cultivator’s upper dantian.
In this world, cultivators have three dantians: the upper dantian Divine Sea, the middle dantian Qi Sea, and the lower dantian Essence Sea.
The Divine Sea at the forehead is the gate to spiritual perception, the source of the Sea of Consciousness, where thoughts condense in the void.
The Qi Sea in the chest, the repository of spiritual power, where energy gathers like clouds, storing force and momentum.
The Essence Palace in the abdomen, the wellspring of blood and life force, where essence merges, the root of life.
Ning Zhuo’s current puppet body was made entirely of wood and lacked all three dantians.
Even the "spiritual power" he used was merely energy he drew from the spirit stone to mimic spiritual power.
Holding the Hanging Loop in his palm, Ning Zhuo tried channeling spiritual energy into it.
Quickly, the diamond-shaped blue-purple crystals embedded on the Hanging Loop lit up, one by one.