Darkness.
Utter darkness.
In the endless darkness, Ning Zhuo gradually regained his senses.
"What exactly happened?"
"Where is this place?!"
Just at this moment, a piece of information followed the Life Hanging Thread and directly reached his heart: "Magma Fairy Palace, mechanical inheritance, Hanging Thread Soul Attraction, Qi Refining Test… Leave Room No. 1 and enter Room No. 2."
Ning Zhuo's spirit suddenly lifted, understanding the situation.
"So it seems, reaching the peak of the third layer of the Qi Refinement Realm is the first selection criterion."
"I have achieved it, so my soul was drawn here, entering the Magma Fairy Palace, and initiating the second test."
"This is very different from the message left by my mother!"
"Indeed, the appearance of the Dharma Transmission Bell already suggested that the method of competition for the Magma Fairy Palace for Qi Refinement cultivators is completely different from that of the Foundation Establishment Stage, the Golden Core Stage, and the Nascent Soul Stage before!"
"Thinking carefully, it does make sense."
"Once a cultivator reaches the Foundation Establishment Stage, the dantian is thoroughly transformed and stabilized. Changing cultivation techniques then is extremely difficult, nearly impossible."
"But while I am in the Qi Refinement Realm, I switched to the cultivation technique before my dantian was fully formed, practicing the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art. This makes me akin to a family disciple of the Magma Fairy Palace."
"Compared to those outsiders practicing other techniques, the status difference is clear."
"But…"
"Leave Room No. 1 and enter Room No. 2? How should I do that?"
Ning Zhuo calmed his mind, carefully sensing in the endless darkness.
He gradually felt that his soul did not exist independently; instead, it was residing within some object, and there was a cluster of spiritual power hidden inside this object.
Ning Zhuo tried to mobilize this spiritual power, but it had no effect.
He used his wits and employed the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art to mobilize it, and immediately there was a reaction.
Spiritual power was mobilized, following the operation path of the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, and began to flow slowly inside the object where his soul resided.
Thus, Ning Zhuo gradually sensed that his soul's residence was like a long rectangular box.
"A coffin?" Ning Zhuo speculated.
"Additionally, this feeling of mobilizing spiritual power is very familiar to me."
"It should be a spirit stone. I am drawing spiritual power from it."
"The spiritual power in a spirit stone is limited. Running the cultivation technique like this is continuously consuming spiritual power."
Ning Zhuo stopped the cultivation technique and fell into hesitation.
He pondered deeply in the darkness, unable to find more clues.
"It seems there is only this one option…"
Ning Zhuo gritted his teeth and decided to take a chance.
He never lacked the courage to take risks.
This time, he fully urged the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, depleting spiritual power rapidly, but he did not stop.
Spiritual energy began to escape from the "long rectangular box."
The escaping spiritual energy was like his tendrils, allowing Ning Zhuo to gradually sense something faintly.
"In that direction, it seems something exists." Ning Zhuo sensed a presence in the darkness.
Moreover, this presence seemed to faintly respond to him.
Ning Zhuo steeled his heart and pushed his spiritual power to its limit.
The feeling of response immediately intensified, skyrocketing in intensity within the next few breaths!
Until a mysterious hard object suddenly collided with the long rectangular box where Ning Zhuo's soul resided.
The scattered spiritual energy quickly drew the long rectangular box and the mysterious hard object together, directly assembling them.
The spiritual energy that Ning Zhuo emitted suddenly found a new path.
As spiritual energy flowed into the mysterious hard object, Ning Zhuo gradually felt the shape of this mysterious object.
"It looks like… an arm?"
A flash of realization struck Ning Zhuo's mind, and he immediately had a guess.
He continued to operate the cultivation technique, confirming his previous speculation.
It was indeed an arm, with a hand at the end of it, and the hand had four fingers.
In the darkness, Ning Zhuo felt carefully.
He tried to move his arm, then extended his hand, moved his fingers, and explored around.
He had no sense of touch, but the spiritual energy he emitted began to resonate with other mysterious objects.
Moments later, a cube-shaped object was absorbed by Ning Zhuo and assembled with him.
The darkness that had beset him suddenly dissipated, and his vision lit up in an instant.
He finally saw everything around him!
It was an enormously spacious room, filled with countless mechanical components like torsos, heads, arms, legs, tails, horns, and wings.
These mechanical components were diverse and made of wood, brownish-yellow in color.
And Ning Zhuo was at the peak of a small mountain of mechanical parts.
Ning Zhuo examined himself.
"My guess was correct!"
The long rectangular box his soul previously resided in was a rectangular mechanical torso component.
The first object he drew over with spiritual power was the left arm.
The second cube that was assembled was a square mechanical head component.
"It's indeed a head!"
"I have a head now!"
"And this head is quite large."
Ning Zhuo was pleased.
There were components resembling eyes on the head, enabling him to see.
Having the ability to observe made everything much easier for Ning Zhuo.
Following the same method, he found other components within the pile of mechanical parts and assembled them onto himself.
When he climbed down from the mountain of mechanical parts to the ground, he was already equipped with both hands and feet.
"A mechanical puppet body…"
At this moment, Ning Zhuo's torso was a long rectangular box. He had two legs, one slightly thinner and one slightly thicker, not completely equal in height.
His two arms were the same length, but each hand had three and four fingers, respectively.
And his large, square head was mismatched with the torso, making him look a bit dumb.
"Having a body allows me to move freely like a person, but it also greatly increases the consumption of spiritual power."
Ning Zhuo constantly paid attention to the spirit stone within the torso. So far, he had already consumed nearly half of its spiritual power.
"Other torso components should contain spirit stones. I can extract them for backup."
However, just as Ning Zhuo targeted a torso component and was about to make a move, new information arrived, indicating that he was not allowed to destroy other components.
"Then I will assemble another body." As Ning Zhuo moved again, new information arrived: the current limit for allowed spiritual power components was one.
Ning Zhuo could only stand up.
He recalled the first piece of information, which required him to move from Room No. 1 to Room No. 2.
This was the evaluation criterion.
"The second test seems to have no time limit on the surface, but that's not actually the case."
"Because the number of spiritual power components is limited to one, and the spiritual power in the spirit stone will continue to deplete."
"I must complete the first test before the spiritual power is completely exhausted."
"I should leave here as soon as possible."
Room No. 1 was very spacious, with red copper walls and a golden ceiling, brightly lit.
Ning Zhuo had long since noticed the room's only door.
He limped towards the door.
When he reached the door, just as his fingers touched the door panel, new information was conveyed.
A spirit stone, a mechanical component hangman's noose, and a spell named "Burst of Energy."
"I can only choose one of them?"