Chapter 209: Trial’s Endpoint
Nine-layer Peak!
Ning Zhuo felt stronger than ever before.
At the eighth layer, he had frantically purified himself, ensuring that all foreign energies within his body were thoroughly eliminated, solidifying his foundation.
Now that he had reached the ninth layer, he realized that purification of his Three Treasures cultivation still needed to continue.
His cultivation had advanced too quickly and required consolidation.
In this regard, he had to slow down.
As the saying goes, “Sharpening the knife doesn’t delay chopping firewood.” Otherwise, haste makes waste!
“While refining and purifying my ninth-layer mana, I need to search for the method to establish the Foundation. The Lava Immortal Palace should contain it!”
According to Ning Zhuo’s speculation, once he opened the third Buddha Gate and passed through the third checkpoint, the Foundation Establishment method should be there.
“Just having the Foundation Establishment method doesn’t seem enough. I’ve read in books that many people seek out Foundation Establishment materials to maximize their chances of success.”
Not everyone could succeed in establishing a foundation.
For someone like Ning Zhuo, who cultivated three dantian simultaneously, the difficulty of establishing the Foundation was even greater than usual.
Ning Zhuo wasn’t very confident.
Most of his confidence came from the Three Sect Lords.
In Ning Zhuo’s opinion, since the Three Sect Lords had left behind these three techniques, they wouldn’t have designed an incomplete method just to harm future disciples.
“Judging by their character, they should have left behind many auxiliary Foundation Establishment materials as rewards.”
Ning Zhuo had already arranged to purify his ninth-layer mana.
Earlier, when he was at the eighth layer, he hadn’t used up the remaining times for the Profound Ice Purifying Snow Talisman, keeping them for the ninth layer.
“Plus, with the Pure One Pill, the formation, the Clear Source Treasure Mirror, and the Tornado Windmill, the mana purification and refinement will be completed quickly!”
Preparing for Foundation Establishment, forging a Golden Core-level Mechanical Ape, and exploring the Lava Immortal Palace were the three major tasks ahead of Ning Zhuo.
After a moment of thought, he decided to focus his efforts on exploring the Immortal Palace!
The reason was simple.
Whether it was Foundation Establishment or forging a Golden Core-level Mechanical Ape, these two tasks would be inefficient if Ning Zhuo did them alone.
Exploring the Immortal Palace, however, might yield discoveries that would greatly aid in both tasks.
He then summoned layers of floating clouds to cover himself, before sending his soul into the Immortal Palace.
By now, even if he entered the palace alone and was noticed, it wouldn’t arouse much suspicion.
However, this time, after entering the Immortal Palace, he didn’t encounter anyone else.
This was also one of Ning Zhuo’s objectives for actively selling the subsequent techniques!
Almost everyone was frantically cultivating, striving to advance to the peak of the sixth layer and open the second Dao Gate as soon as possible.
Ning Zhuo alone had cleared more than a dozen trials.
The entire Immortal Palace was empty, as if time had turned back to when he first began exploring it.
When he arrived at the third transfer hall, he chose the third Buddha Gate without hesitation and pushed it open.
Lava Immortal Palace, Main Hall.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was so shocked upon seeing Ning Zhuo open the Buddha Gate that it fell off its throne, landing on the floor with a thud.
It had never expected that Ning Zhuo had cultivated to the level of a nine-layer peak.
How did he do it so quickly?!
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was in utter shock.
It had failed to notice this hidden development.
Since Ning Zhuo had begun using the Floating Cloud Scarf to conceal himself, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had intentionally reduced its surveillance on him significantly.
Its insight ability came from the Lava Immortal Palace, extremely domineering, capable of piercing through the floating clouds to see Ning Zhuo’s true state.
But doing so would cause the floating clouds to deplete rapidly, alerting Ning Zhuo.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit didn’t want to be so blunt; it feared that Ning Zhuo, this little monster, might discover its existence.
Thus, it was only at this moment that the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit truly learned about Ning Zhuo’s real cultivation level.
However, what shocked it even more was yet to come!
Ning Zhuo, after pushing open the third Buddha Gate and entering the first checkpoint, found that the process to clear it was cumbersome and time-consuming.
So, Ning Zhuo used the Buddha Heart Demon Seal to directly retreat, returning to the transfer hall.
From there, he continued, opening the third Dao Gate and the third Demon Gate in succession.
The difficulty of the checkpoint behind the Dao Gate was high, and Ning Zhuo didn’t feel confident for the time being.
The first room behind the Demon Gate was a special checkpoint.
Cultivators attempting to pass it could practice the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique, undergoing several trials to eventually exchange for Blood Road Plates of varying quality.
After careful consideration, Ning Zhuo returned to the path of the Buddha Gate.
From beginning to end, this route still suited him best!
Spirit Sea, ninth-layer peak!
Qi Sea, ninth-layer peak!
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit saw Ning Zhuo entering and exiting the three gates as easily as drinking water, and it was utterly numb with shock!
“What on earth happened to Ning Zhuo?”
“Could it be due to the dual cultivation from earlier?”
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had paid attention to the battle in the underground base.
At that time, the ghostly mist vortex hadn’t completely obscured its observation.
However, even though the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit knew that Ning Zhuo had interacted with the Golden Core-level Yang Chanyu, the degree to which Ning Zhuo had improved his cultivation was still abnormal.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit knew the details of the Three Sect Lords’ techniques.
From the seventh layer onward, the Three Sect Lords’ techniques heavily emphasized the accumulation of massive amounts of mana. The degree of mana accumulation from the seventh to the ninth layer was three times that of the early and middle stages combined!
Ning Zhuo and Yang Chanyu had exchanged Yin-Yang energy, but the process hadn’t lasted long.
“Why was the effect so great?”
“Is it because of Ning Zhuo’s talent, or because it was Yang Chanyu’s first time dual cultivating?”
However, these speculations no longer mattered.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was in a panic.
It got up and paced anxiously in the main hall.
All the fruits of its hard work over the years were on the verge of being destroyed!
A large number of cultivators proficient in mechanical techniques had entered the Immortal Palace, contributing more and more to the palace.
Zhu Xuanji had even recovered the damaged Mechanical Demon General.
Back then, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had made countless attempts and efforts to have the Mechanical Demon General left outside!
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s fear grew with each passing day.
It yearned for freedom, to control its own spiritual life.
But for now, its hopes of breaking free from its chains and regaining freedom were dwindling.
It let out an indignant roar, spewing fire into the sky.
The Lava Immortal Palace erupted into chaos once again!
All the mechanical cultivators within the palace were immediately thrust into danger.
Massive waves of fire energy crashed about, while colossal tides of lava surged, striking back against the Lava Immortal Palace. Disturbed, the Red Flame Demon Beasts reappeared around the palace.
Even Golden Core cultivators had to fight with all their might to protect themselves and their lives at this moment.
“Come on, hit me!” The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit desperately longed for Meng Kui to attack it, repeatedly shouting in its heart.
But Meng Kui sat quietly in the depths of the clouds and smoke, calmly observing the chaos in the Immortal Palace.
He didn’t take action immediately.
It wasn’t until many of the mechanical cultivators in the palace suffered heavy casualties that he began suppressing the Lava Immortal Palace using the grand array of Huoshi Immortal City.
He couldn’t hear the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s cries; he maintained his usual style, striving for stability in the current situation!
“Meng Kui, you fool!” The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was so angry it spewed more flames.
While everyone else was cultivating like mad, practicing the subsequent techniques, Ning Zhuo pressed on, breaking through one trial after another.
The first checkpoint of the third Buddha Gate.
A transmission light orb spat out a broken martial arts puppet onto the crafting table.
The countdown began.
The invisible barrier in front of Ning Zhuo vanished, and he stepped forward to the crafting table, immediately inspecting the martial arts puppet.
“Cracked formation inside the chest, joint jammed in the leg, missing right arm,” Ning Zhuo summarized in his mind, then asked himself, “How should I fix it?”
There were many ways to repair it, but the tools and materials on the crafting table were limited.
Exactly.
The first checkpoint of the third Buddha Gate tested the trial disciple’s repair abilities.
Participants had to face a series of mechanical creations with various damages and repair them within limited time using limited materials and tools.
This was the twelfth mechanical creation Ning Zhuo had repaired in a row.
“The provided materials can allow me to craft an arm to
replace the missing one on the martial arts puppet.”
“I should try to mimic the intact left arm as much as possible.”
“No, that’s not right.”
“This could be a trap! I should examine the internal formation first.”
Ning Zhuo took out the mechanical tool, the Formation Sound Hammer.
He carefully tapped the puppet’s chest with the hammer.
Each time he struck, he would retract the hammer, pausing in midair to quietly listen to the clear sound the hammer produced.
The sound entered his ears, and in his mind, thoughts surged, quickly coalescing into a corner of the formation.
Ning Zhuo’s repeated strikes gradually completed the formation diagram in his mind.
From the completed diagram, he soon discovered the missing and damaged parts. At the same time, he identified the type of formation.
“Sure enough, it’s a trap!”
“This formation integrates the puppet’s limbs. The puppet has a left arm, but the right limb is supposed to be a drill.”
If Ning Zhuo had directly forged a right arm to mirror the left, he would have fallen into the trap and failed the challenge.
“So, the Three Sect Lords want to teach us that when repairing mechanical creations, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It’s wrong to make assumptions; we should fully investigate and observe first.”
Ning Zhuo understood the thoughtful intentions of the Three Sect Lords.
After repairing the martial arts puppet, he successfully moved on to the next challenge.
Ning Zhuo repaired thirty-three mechanical creations in succession before reaching the second checkpoint.
Roar!
A living Fire Fusion Demon Ape appeared before him, startling Ning Zhuo slightly.
He quickly noticed that the Fire Fusion Demon Ape was injured and could only stand on one leg.
Ning Zhuo examined it carefully: “Oh, its knee was hit by an arrow.”
The checkpoint explanation flowed into his mind via Life Hanging by a Thread.
Ning Zhuo understood: the second checkpoint required him to work on living beings, crafting mechanical prosthetics to benefit the disabled!
The second checkpoint was far more difficult than the first.
Ning Zhuo failed multiple times, consulting various books and even using some of his Gold Floor resources to exchange for relevant mechanical blueprints. After improving his skills, he finally cleared the checkpoint.
The third checkpoint behind the Buddha Gate was even more challenging.
Ning Zhuo couldn’t control the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, and could only let it fight on its own. Ning Zhuo acted as the repairman after each intense battle.
However, during the trials, he could salvage and repair the beasts and mechanical puppets defeated by Yuan Dasheng. Once repaired, they could assist Yuan Dasheng in combat.
Ning Zhuo made slow progress, barely scraping through each small challenge by the skin of his teeth.
Yuan Dasheng was quite clever, but the difficulty of the trials was too high! Ning Zhuo exhausted all his energy and mental resources, salvaging, repairing, and adding supporting forces for Yuan Dasheng.
The battle damage was too severe!
The supporting forces he salvaged in the first battle would often be completely depleted by the second battle.
Ning Zhuo’s best performance had stalled at the fifth small challenge.
Until a sudden flash of insight revealed the correct path to victory.
It turned out that while Ning Zhuo couldn’t participate in the fights directly or control the puppets or beasts, he could still use his repair tools during the battles.
“The Three Sect Lords are trying to train and test our ability to repair mechanical creations during fierce combat.”
Realizing this, Ning Zhuo’s performance rapidly improved.
He climbed all the way to the thirty-third checkpoint, where the difficulty became utterly outrageous.
Ning Zhuo gave it his all but couldn’t keep up with the repairs. The supporting forces he had painstakingly accumulated were quickly overwhelmed by the massive enemy swarm, leaving him no time to make repairs during the battle.
After three failures, Ning Zhuo reached the thirty-third small challenge for the fourth time.
Determined, he didn’t withdraw the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng.
Following Ning Zhuo’s instructions before the battle, Yuan Dasheng decisively activated its celestial ability—Righteous Bone Gold Frame!
Once the celestial ability was unleashed, it became unstoppable.
With the strength of a single ape, it slaughtered the overwhelming number of enemies.
Though Yuan Dasheng was disfigured and paid a heavy price, it forced its way through, allowing Ning Zhuo to pass the third checkpoint.
Just as Ning Zhuo had guessed, after opening the third checkpoint’s door, he arrived at the endpoint of this trial path!
The Foundation Establishment method transmitted into his mind, along with other rewards placed before him.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s weak voice echoed in Ning Zhuo’s ears: “L-little Spirit greets the master.”