Chapter 29: Hanging Rings

Having tasted the precious fruit of his first foray, Ning Zhuo was no longer a stranger to the dark.

Without hesitation, he channeled the spiritual essence within his spirit stones, circulating it according to the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Manual.

*Clack*.

He drew the first mechanical component to himself, assembling it in place.

It was an arm.

He drew another component, successfully assembling it.

It was a wooden head.

Once again, Ning Zhuo possessed a field of vision.

He lay atop the mountainous heap of mechanical components, reaching out a hand to feel his head, discovering it was still a square, blocky thing.

"Why is it always this kind?"

"The wind resistance when running and jumping will negatively impact clearing the second room."

Ning Zhuo rotated his large head, dragging his body with his lone hand, clambering around.

He patiently selected legs, only stopping when he had chosen two of equal length.

Previous experience had taught him that spending time on this aspect was entirely worthwhile.

Not only that, but when selecting arms, he decided to choose ones that were as long as possible.

"I want long arms and legs."

"And I need to swap out this big head for a smaller one."

Ning Zhuo failed.

Just as he was rummaging through the pile, selecting a smaller cranium, and about to replace his own, he received new information: Initial Puppet Body, according to inherent talent, cannot be freely exchanged in Room One.

"There's this restriction as well?"

Ning Zhuo was stunned, then plunged into thought.

"If the puppet is assembled based on inherent talent, that means... Meng Chong and the others will have puppets much stronger than mine from the start of this room."

"It also means that these mountains of mechanical parts, despite appearing similar in quality, actually have significant differences in performance."

Ning Zhuo then thought of himself.

"I used Early Wisdom Elixir in the womb, so I have the talent of Early Wisdom."

"Is it this talent that gave me this big head? So, I can't replace it with a smaller one."

"I can only possess this large head by virtue of the Early Wisdom talent. That means having a big head is also beneficial, it just hasn't manifested yet."

"Furthermore..."

Ning Zhuo thought of a suspicious point.

The first mechanical component he attracted was an arm, not a big head!

"The first time was like that, the second time too. Arm components take precedence over head components."

"Does this mean that I actually have a hidden talent, and this talent is related to arms, even more outstanding than the Early Wisdom talent?"

Ning Zhuo's mind was quick, his observation meticulous, capable of discovering problems in the details.

This was also possible.

Because the talents for cultivation were myriad, bizarre, and countless. Although the Ning family had been working on testing for immortal aptitude, it could only cover the basic, common, and typical talents. Many special talents could not be detected by conventional means.

Perhaps Ning Zhuo's arms harbored such a talent, one that the family had never been able to examine.

Ning Zhuo continued to ponder the information he'd just received.

"The message says this is the 'Initial Puppet Body', and that it cannot be 'freely' exchanged in 'Room One'."

"Does this mean that it's actually possible to update the body? And in a certain room, one can freely exchange parts?"

In just a few breaths, Ning Zhuo thoroughly pondered this seemingly ordinary message, comprehending many hidden key points.

Despite the warning, Ning Zhuo still clung to a sliver of hope, attempting to assemble wing components.

If he could attach wings, clearing the second room would be much easier.

As expected... it didn't work.

"So, these wings, short horns, claws, and other parts are prepared for non-human existences."

"In the future, will there be non-human competitors in the Molten Rock Immortal Palace?"

Ning Zhuo climbed down from the mountain of mechanical components.

During this process, he made a crucial observation.

He quickly discovered the traces he had left behind during his first exploration.

"In other words, this room is exactly the same as the first room I explored."

This observation was extremely important!

"This isn't a room that belongs exclusively to me."

"In fact, this many mechanical components is also a subtle reminder of that."

"The changes I left behind during my exploration seem to have been retained to some extent?"

"And another question is crucial - when I explore the Immortal Palace, will I encounter other people in the same room?"

Ning Zhuo walked to the first door, only pausing his thoughts there, and reached out to touch the door.

The message conveyed was the same as before, still three options.

One, a single spirit stone.

Two, a grappling ring on a mechanical component.

Three, a wisp of magic.

Ning Zhuo already had a plan, and without hesitation, directly chose the grappling ring.

His current spiritual essence was at seventy percent, far more than during his first exploration. And the reward for clearing the second room would still include spirit stones.

In the long run, choosing magic would be the most beneficial. But currently, Ning Zhuo needed immediate combat power the most. Choosing the grappling ring would allow him to go further in this exploration.

"In the early stages, information is the most important."

"Therefore, I must explore as far as possible. Only by collecting enough information can I make the right decisions."

"Alas, I wonder how far Meng Chong and the others have gotten."

"Hopefully, I can see traces of them soon."

The teleportation halo appeared once again, spat out a wooden ring, and slowly disappeared.

Ning Zhuo took the wooden ring, observing it up close.

The entire wooden ring was about half a foot in diameter, the ring itself was quite thick, and it was inlaid with eighteen rhomboid crystals.

These crystals all displayed a faint bluish-purple light. Whenever Ning Zhuo slightly changed his angle of observation, the bluish-purple light would also change, quite dazzling.

"This is the grappling ring? How do I use it?"

"There are no instructions?"

Ning Zhuo received no information about the grappling ring.

He understood: mechanical component rewards were actually also testing the cultivator's skill in the art of mechanical contraptions.

He needed to personally figure out the correct usage.

Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo subconsciously pressed the grappling ring to the space between his eyebrows.

Nothing happened.

Ning Zhuo laughed awkwardly in his heart: "I forgot, I don't have spiritual sense anymore."

Spiritual sense originated from the divine sea, and the divine sea was the cultivator's upper dantian.

In this world, cultivators had three dantians: the upper dantian, the divine sea; the middle dantian, the qi sea; and the lower dantian, the essence sea.

The upper dantian, the divine sea between the eyebrows, was the spiritual orifice and mysterious gateway, the source of the sea of consciousness, where thoughts solidified in the void.

The middle dantian, the qi sea in the chest, was the residence of magical power, where qi gathered like clouds, storing potential.

The lower dantian, the essence palace within the abdomen, was the confluence of bloodlines, where essences fused, the root of life.

Ning Zhuo's current puppet body was entirely made of wood, lacking the three dantians. Even the "magical power" he used was merely "spiritual essence" channeled from the spirit stones.

Ning Zhuo held the grappling ring in his hand, trying to pour spiritual essence into it.

Soon, the rhomboid bluish-purple gemstones inlaid on the surface of the grappling ring were all lit up one by one.