Darkness.
An expanse of darkness.
In the endless darkness, Ning Zhuo gradually became aware again.
"What exactly happened?"
"Where is this?!"
At that moment, a piece of information traveled directly to his heart via the Life Hanging Thread, "Lava Fairy Palace, mechanical inheritance, Hanging Thread Soul Attraction, Qi Refining Test... Leave Room One and enter Room Two."
Ning Zhuo's spirit was suddenly invigorated, understanding the situation.
"It seems that reaching the peak of the third layer of the Qi Refinement Realm is the first standard for selection."
"I have reached it, so my soul was drawn into the Lava Fairy Palace, initiating the second test."
"This is significantly different from the message my mother left behind!"
"Indeed, the appearance of the Dharma Transmission Bell has already indicated that the method of competing for the Lava Fairy Palace during the Qi Refinement Realm is completely different from the past during the Foundation Establishment Stage, Golden Core Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, and others!"
"Upon careful thought, this is reasonable."
"Once a cultivator reaches the Foundation Establishment Stage, the dantian is thoroughly transformed and stabilized. Changing the cultivation technique requires tremendous effort, almost impossible."
"And I took advantage of the Qi Refinement Realm, when the dantian wasn't yet fully formed, to directly switch to the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art. To the Lava Fairy Palace, this makes me like one of their own disciples."
"Compared to those who practice other cultivation techniques, the closeness and familiarity are clearly discernible."
"But..."
"Leaving Room One and entering Room Two? How should I proceed?"
Ning Zhuo calmed his mind, carefully sensing in the endless darkness.
He gradually sensed that his soul did not exist independently but was residing within some object, and hidden within this object was a bundle of spiritual power.
Ning Zhuo attempted to harness this spiritual power, without success.
He racked his brains and used the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art to mobilize it, and it immediately responded.
The spiritual power began to flow, following the path of the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, starting to circulate slowly within the object housing his soul.
From this, Ning Zhuo gradually perceived that the place his soul resided was like a long rectangular box.
"A coffin?" Ning Zhuo speculated.
"Additionally, the feeling of mobilizing the spiritual power feels very familiar to me."
"It must be a spirit stone. I'm drawing the spiritual power from it."
"The spiritual power in a spirit stone is limited. By using the cultivation technique this way, I'm continuously depleting the spiritual power."
Ning Zhuo stopped the technique, falling into hesitation.
In the darkness, he pondered, unable to find more clues.
"It seems there's only this one option..."
Ning Zhuo gritted his teeth, deciding to take a gamble.
He never lacked the courage to take risks.
This time, he fully urged the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, causing intense spiritual power consumption, yet he did not stop.
Spiritual energy began to seep out from the "long rectangular box."
The seeping spiritual energy acted like his tentacles, allowing Ning Zhuo to gradually sense something vaguely.
"There seems to be something in that direction." Ning Zhuo felt the presence of something in the darkness.
Moreover, this presence seemed to respond to him faintly.
Ning Zhuo steeled his resolve, pushing his spiritual power to its peak.
The sense of response suddenly intensified, and within a few breaths, it surged dozens of times!
Until a mysterious hard object suddenly collided with the long rectangular box housing Ning Zhuo's soul.
The scattered spiritual energy quickly drew the long rectangular box and the mysterious hard object together, combining them directly.
The spiritual energy radiating from Ning Zhuo now had a new outlet.
As the spiritual power infused the mysterious hard object, Ning Zhuo gradually sensed its shape.
"It seems like... like an arm?"
In his heart, like a flash of lightning, Ning Zhuo had a guess.
He continued the cultivation technique, confirming his previous suspicion.
It indeed was an arm, with a palm at its end, and four fingers on the hand.
In the darkness, Ning Zhuo felt it deeply.
He attempted to wave the arm, then extend the palm, move the fingers, and explore around.
He had no tactile sensation, but the spiritual power spreading out began to echo with other mysterious objects.
After a moment, a cubic hard object was also absorbed by Ning Zhuo to form a combination.
The darkness confounding him suddenly dissipated, and Ning Zhuo's vision lit up instantly.
He finally saw everything around him!
It was a vast room with countless mechanical components piled around. There were torsos, heads, legs, tails, horns, wings, and so on.
These mechanical parts varied widely and were all wooden, in brown-yellow color.
And he, Ning Zhuo, was atop a small mountain made up of these mechanical components.
Ning Zhuo examined himself.
"My guess was correct!"
The long rectangular box his soul previously inhabited was a rectangular mechanical torso component.
The first thing attracted by spiritual power was the left arm.
The second combo was a square mechanical head component.
"Indeed a head!"
"I have a head now!"
"This head is quite large."
Ning Zhuo was delighted.
The head component had eye-like parts, enabling him to see.
With the ability to observe, Ning Zhuo found things much easier.
He replicated his previous technique in the heap of mechanical components, finding other parts and attaching them to himself.
When he climbed down from the heap of mechanical parts to the floor, he had both hands and feet complete.
"A mechanical puppet body..."
Ning Zhuo's main torso was a long rectangular box at this point. He had two legs, one slightly thin, one slightly thick, and the height was not entirely even.
His two arms were of even length, but one hand had three fingers, the other four.
And his big head, perfectly square, didn't match the torso, looked a bit silly.
"Having a body allows for free movement like a human, but it also increases spiritual power consumption significantly."
Ning Zhuo constantly monitored the spirit stone inside the torso. By now, he had consumed almost half of its spiritual power.
"Other torso components should have spirit stones stored within them. I could extract them as backups."
However, as Ning Zhuo aimed for a torso component and was about to proceed, new information arrived, stating that damaging other parts was not permitted.
"Then I'll assemble another body." Ning Zhuo was about to act again when further information arrived, saying the allowed limit for spiritual power components was currently one.
Ning Zhuo had no choice but to stand up.
He remembered the first piece of information, instructing him to move from the first room to the second room.
This was the assessment standard.
"The second test seemingly has no time limit, but that's actually not the case."
"Because the number of spiritual power components is limited to one, and the spiritual power in the spirit stone will continuously deplete."
"I need to complete the first test before the spiritual power is entirely drained."
"I should leave here as quickly as possible."
Room One was spacious, with red copper walls and a golden ceiling, bright lighting.
Ning Zhuo had already seen the room's only door.
He began to limp toward the door.
As he reached the door, his fingers just touching the door, another piece of information arrived.
A spirit stone, a mechanical component Hangman's Noose, and a spell "One Breath."
"Can I choose only one?"