Ning Zhuo fell into deep thought.
He didn't know what the hangman's noose mechanism was.
Nor did he know what the spell's aura was.
But he knew the spirit stone, and he was well aware that he was currently lacking a spirit stone.
"When I was exploring around earlier, I spent a lot of time. Now, the spiritual power in the spirit stones within me is less than forty percent."
"I'll choose the spirit stone!"
Ning Zhuo made his decision in his heart.
In the next moment, a ring of light appeared out of thin air before him. The ring slightly expanded and spat out a spirit stone.
Ning Zhuo hastily caught the spirit stone. Meanwhile, the light ring quickly dissipated.
Carrying the second spirit stone, Ning Zhuo laboriously pushed open the door and entered Room No. 2.
Bang!
The door automatically closed behind him.
Ning Zhuo turned and tried to push the door, attempting to return to Room No. 1.
The door didn't budge.
"Alright." Ning Zhuo had no choice but to turn around and start carefully examining Room No. 2.
The layout of Room No. 2 was significantly different from Room No. 1. The room was a long, empty strip, the bricks on the floor and walls were square-shaped and emitted a brass-like sheen.
Ning Zhuo immediately saw the door.
The door was directly opposite him.
The information was conveyed again: pass through Room No. 2 to enter Room No. 3.
After observing for a moment and finding no new information, Ning Zhuo started walking directly toward the door.
After a few steps, he found himself moving backward.
He quickly looked down and saw that the floor tiles were slowly moving backward!
Ning Zhuo had no choice but to quicken his pace, increasing his speed.
The speed of the floor tiles moving backward also increased.
The faster he walked, the faster he was forced to run.
"If I had known it was this kind of challenge, I should have chosen better leg parts."
In Room No. 1, worried about the consumption of spiritual power and wanting to save time, plus the difficulty in matching the length of the legs, he made do with what he had.
As a result—his two legs weren't even, making his run hobble and bumpy, affecting his speed.
When he ran at his fastest speed and reached the middle section.
Suddenly, from the right wall, a giant wood shot out.
One end of the giant wood was fixed inside the wall, while the other end shot out, sweeping like a giant arm.
Ning Zhuo remained vigilant and quickly leaped up, dodging the giant wood.
But just as he landed, another giant wood shot out from the left wall.
Ning Zhuo had already made the jump, but the moving floor tiles disrupted his footing. His leap fell short.
Bang.
He was struck by the giant wood, drawing a long arc in the air, and then fell to the ground.
Sliding backward, he finally slammed into the first door and came to a stop.
Wooden puppet Ning Zhuo lay on the ground, dizzy and disoriented. After a few breaths, he recovered his senses.
"There's a mechanism like this?!"
"The runes on that giant wood seem to have a soul-weakening ability."
Ning Zhuo felt his soul weakening.
He looked up and saw: the dark runes on the giant wood gradually disappeared, the entire wood slowly retracted into the wall. Then, the wall bricks shifted with a clicking sound and returned to their original state.
"I understand!" Ning Zhuo's heart stirred.
"These sweeping giant woods are both obstacles and stepping stones for me."
"I need to jump onto them as they sweep across and then use them to propel myself forward."
The speed of the mechanical puppet itself was limited. Reaching the midway point, it started to fall behind the speed of the moving floor tiles.
By running alone, Ning Zhuo couldn't get close to the second door.
The originally smooth wall offered no leverage. But the springing woods provided an opportunity.
With new insights, Ning Zhuo tried again.
Timing his jumps perfectly, he reached the fifth giant wood…
Bang.
He was swept away by the giant wood.
"The closer I get to the door, the faster the floor tiles move. I have to accurately judge the moving speed to land steadily."
After summarizing his experience and lessons, Ning Zhuo continued.
Bang.
Reached the eighth giant wood, the difficulty increased again. A giant wood shot out from the ceiling, slamming him from above.
Ning Zhuo crashed into the door, his body falling apart.
He reassembled himself, eventually stretching out his hands to pick up his head and placing it back on his neck.
"The head part is also a bit too big. It's square-shaped and slow to turn, should have chosen a smaller head."
"The uneven legs are the biggest issue."
"Fortunately, I remember the positions of these giant woods. With continuous trial and error, I should be able to pass!"
Bang!
This time, he only jumped over three giant woods before being swept back.
Ning Zhuo looked at the slowly retracting giant wood, dumbfounded: "Wait, the positions of these giant woods aren't fixed? They can change at will?"
The difficulty instantly increased tenfold!
On the throne in the main hall, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been secretly watching the first trial challenger. When it saw the wooden puppet Ning Zhuo staying still, it laughed with gurgling sounds.
The goofy wooden puppet Ning Zhuo seemed to be performing a lively puppet show for it. The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had a lot of fun watching the show.
Bang, bang, bang…
Ning Zhuo repeatedly failed the challenge.
"I'm running out of spiritual power."
He sighed inwardly, sat down cross-legged, and opened a small cover on his belly.
Underneath the cover was a hidden compartment, in which lay a spirit stone.
This spirit stone had become dull and nearly exhausted of spiritual power.
Ning Zhuo pried off this spirit stone and quickly inserted the second one.
He closed the small cover on his belly and gently patted it with his small palm to ensure it was securely fastened.
"When replacing the spirit stone, you must be quick, making good use of the spiritual power still operating in the puppet. This is probably the puppet's weakest moment."
The replaced spirit stone still had a bit of spiritual power.
But Ning Zhuo dared not continue using it.
If, while sprinting, the spiritual power drained completely, leaving not a drop in the puppet's body, he would be utterly stranded.
"In the puppet form, consumption isn't limited to the spiritual power within the spirit stone."
"Every time I'm hit, the runes on the giant woods weaken my soul."
"I entered the palace with my soul. If my soul becomes too weak, even with spiritual power, I'll be stranded."
"This puppet body is also accumulating injuries."
Ning Zhuo observed himself, finding cracks and fine lines on his arms, head, and other parts.
"The positions of the giant woods are random, offering no clever tricks. It will take hard work."
Concentrating, regrouping, Ning Zhuo started sprinting again.
Bang, bang, bang…
Ning Zhuo was repeatedly swept back, each time accumulating experience and improving his control over the puppet body.
His progress was visible to the naked eye.
When he reached the final section, seven or eight giant woods attacked simultaneously. They sprang out continuously, some sweeping horizontally, some directly hitting, some descending from above, and some changing direction midway.
Ning Zhuo was knocked down again, one of his legs shattered upon impact. After falling to the ground, he was brought back by the moving floor tiles to the first door.
Previously, both legs had been battered.
Now missing a leg, how would he cope?
After thinking, Ning Zhuo had a bold idea.
"Shall I give it a try?"
He removed his arms one by one, placing them below his torso to replace his thighs.
Then he inserted the remaining thigh into his right arm socket.
He became a bizarre wooden puppet, looking quite odd.
Ning Zhuo didn't rush to try but practiced for a while, gradually mastering his new form.
Half an hour later.
With only one arm left, Ning Zhuo narrowly climbed to the front of the second door.
His condition was terrible, his soul greatly weakened by the runes.
"Hurry, hurry up!"
He urged himself, strenuously stretching out his hand to touch the door.
In an instant, information was conveyed.
As before, there were still three options.
First, a spirit stone.
Second, mechanical parts.
Third, a spell.
Ning Zhuo was at his wit's end, unable to look closely, he directly chose the spell.
The next moment, he passed out.