Ning Zhuo sank into thought.
He did not know what the Mechanical Components Hanging Ring was.
Nor did he know what the spell A Breath of Qi was.
But he knew what spirit stones were, and he also knew that spirit stones were exactly what he lacked right now.
"I spent a great deal of time feeling out the surroundings earlier. Of the spirit stones in my body, less than forty percent of their spiritual power remains."
"I'll choose the spirit stone!"
Ning Zhuo made his decision inwardly.
The next moment, a halo appeared out of thin air before him. It expanded slightly and spat out a spirit stone.
Ning Zhuo hurriedly caught the spirit stone. At the same time, the halo swiftly vanished.
Carrying the second spirit stone, Ning Zhuo laboriously pushed open the door and entered Room Two.
Bang!
The door automatically shut behind him.
Ning Zhuo turned and pushed at the door, trying to return to Room One.
The door did not budge in the slightest.
"All right." Ning Zhuo could only turn back and begin carefully inspecting Room Two.
The layout of Room Two differed greatly from that of Room One. The room was long and narrow, completely empty. The floor and wall tiles were all square, gleaming with the luster of brass.
Ning Zhuo spotted the door at a glance.
It stood directly opposite him.
Information came through again—pass through Room Two and enter Room Three.
After observing for a while and failing to gather any new information, Ning Zhuo took a step forward and headed straight for the door.
Yet after only a few steps, he discovered that he was moving backward.
He hurriedly Bowed his head to look, only to see that all the Floor Tiles were slowly shifting backward!
Ning Zhuo had no choice but to quicken his pace and increase his speed.
The Floor Tiles began shifting backward faster as well.
He walked faster and faster until he was forced to break into a run.
"If I'd known the trial would be like this, I should have chosen my leg and foot components properly."
Back in Room One, Ning Zhuo had feared spiritual power consumption and needed to save time. On top of that, it had been difficult to find legs of matching length, so he had made do.
And now—his two feet were uneven. When he ran, he limped and lurched, severely affecting his speed.
When he ran at full speed and reached the middle section—
A massive log suddenly shot out from the right wall.
One end of the log was fixed within the wall, while the other sprang out, sweeping across like a giant's arm.
Ning Zhuo had remained alert the entire time. He immediately leaped up and dodged the massive log.
But just as he landed, another massive log shot out from the left wall.
Ning Zhuo had already made the motion to jump, but the Floor Tiles were continuously shifting backward. He failed to exert enough force and could not find steady footing, so this jump fell short.
Bang.
With a soft sound, the massive log struck his entire body, sending him through the air in a long arc before he crashed to the ground.
He then slid backward along the ground for some distance before finally slamming into the First Gate and coming to a stop.
Puppet Ning Zhuo lay on the ground, dizzy and disoriented. Only after several breaths did he recover his senses.
"There was a mechanism like that too?!"
"The runes on that massive log seem to possess the ability to weaken the soul."
Ning Zhuo felt a wave of weakness wash over his soul.
He raised his eyes and observed. The black runes on the massive log gradually faded away, and the entire log slowly withdrew into the wall. Then the wall tiles on both sides shifted with a series of clicks, returning to their original state.
"I understand!" Ning Zhuo's heart stirred.
"Those massive logs sweeping over are both my obstacles and my stepping stones."
"When they strike horizontally, I need to leap onto them, then borrow their force to spring forward."
The Mechanism Puppet's own speed was quite limited. By the middle section, it had already become slower than the backward movement of the Floor Tiles.
Relying on running alone, Ning Zhuo could never approach the Second Door.
The walls had originally been incomparably smooth, offering no leverage. Yet the protruding logs gave him an opportunity instead.
With this new discovery, Ning Zhuo tried again.
He seized the timing and leaped repeatedly. By the fifth massive log...
Bang.
He was swept away by the massive log.
"The closer I get to the door, the faster the Floor Tiles shift backward. I have to precisely judge their speed, or I won't be able to land steadily."
Having summarized the lessons from his failure, Ning Zhuo continued.
Bang.
When he jumped onto the eighth massive log, the difficulty rose again. A massive log shot out from the ceiling and struck downward, directly smashing him away.
Ning Zhuo crashed into the door, and his body fell apart.
After a bout of reassembly, he finally stretched out both hands, picked up his head, and put it back onto his neck.
"My head component is a little too big too. It's square, and turning my head is slow. I should have switched to a smaller head."
"The key issue is my uneven legs. That affects me the most."
"Fortunately, I remember where those massive logs launch from. If I keep making mistakes and trying again, I should be able to pass!"
Bang!
This time, he had only jumped over three massive logs before being smashed back again.
Ning Zhuo stared at the massive logs slowly retracting into the walls, utterly stunned. "Wait, the positions of these massive logs aren't fixed? They can actually change freely?"
The difficulty instantly skyrocketed tenfold!
Upon the throne in the Main Hall, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been secretly watching the first trial-taker all along. When it saw Puppet Ning Zhuo standing motionlessly in place, it laughed so happily that gurgling sounds escaped it.
Dull-witted Puppet Ning Zhuo was like a vivid puppet show being staged for it. Having watched the entire spectacle, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit found much amusement.
Bang bang bang...
Ning Zhuo failed his attempts to break through time and again.
"My spiritual power is running out."
He sighed inwardly, sat cross-legged, and opened the small cover on his belly.
Beneath the cover was a hidden compartment, within which lay a spirit stone.
This spirit stone had already dimmed, and the spiritual power inside had been almost completely depleted.
Ning Zhuo pried out this spirit stone, then swiftly inserted the second one.
He closed the small cover on his belly and even lightly patted it with his little palm, making sure it was firmly secured.
"When replacing spirit stones, I have to be quick and make good use of the spiritual power still circulating in the puppet's body. This is probably when the puppet is at its weakest."
The replaced spirit stone actually still contained a trace of spiritual power.
But Ning Zhuo did not dare continue using it.
If, while charging forward, all its spiritual power was completely exhausted and not a single drop remained in the entire Puppet Body, then he would be utterly stranded.
"In puppet form, what gets consumed isn't only the spiritual power within the spirit stones."
"Every time I'm hit, the talismans on those massive logs weaken my soul once."
"My soul entered the palace. If my soul weakens to a certain extent, then even with spiritual power, I'll still be stranded."
"And this Puppet Body is also continuously accumulating injuries."
Ning Zhuo examined himself and found cracks and fine fissures appearing in components everywhere, including his arms and head.
"The massive logs can appear anywhere, with no tricks to exploit. Then I can only put in hard work."
Focusing his mind and rallying himself again, Ning Zhuo launched another charge.
Bang, bang, bang...
Ning Zhuo was sent flying back again and again, yet he also accumulated experience with every attempt, increasing his proficiency in controlling the Puppet Body.
His improvement was visible to the naked eye.
When he charged into the final stretch, seven or eight massive logs unleashed their might at once. As though possessed, they kept shooting out. Some swept sideways, some thrust straight ahead, some descended from above, and some even changed direction midway.
Ning Zhuo was knocked down once more. One of his legs was smashed to pieces. After falling to the ground, he was carried back to the First Door by the backward-moving Floor Tiles.
His two legs had both been battered and bruised before.
Now that he had lost one leg, what was he supposed to do?
After thinking it over, Ning Zhuo came up with a bold idea.
"Shall I give it a try?"
He removed both arms one after the other and attached them beneath his torso to replace his thighs.
Then he inserted his sole remaining thigh into the position of his right arm.
He became a bizarre puppet man, his appearance exceedingly eerie.
Ning Zhuo did not hurry to try. Instead, he stayed where he was and practiced for a while, gradually mastering his new form.
Half an hour later.
With only one arm left, Ning Zhuo narrowly made it through and crawled to the Second Door.
He was in terrible condition, his soul having been weakened too much by the runes.
"Quick, faster!"
He urged himself on, stretched out a hand with difficulty, and touched the door.
In an instant, information came through.
Just like before, there were still three options.
First, a spirit stone.
Second, mechanism components.
Third, a spell.
Ning Zhuo was already at the end of his tether. Without time to inspect closely, he directly chose the spell.
The next moment, he passed out.