Chapter 288: Five Elements Pawn
The stage was divided into three areas.
Two of the areas were for crafting mechanisms, each belonging to a contestant.
The middle area was for the mechanism battle.
In front of Ning Zhuo was a long table, on which many materials were placed.
Ning Zhuo quickly scanned these materials and found that they were all of the Qi Refining level, low-end enough to make him feel familiar.
They consisted of Fist Gold, Fire Essence, ancient wood with spirit patterns, a large water droplet covered in frost, and carbon-baked clay. Lastly, there was a mid-grade spirit stone.
"Are there tools for making mechanisms?" Ning Zhuo wondered.
He didn't see any for the time being.
Without crafting tools, doing everything by hand would increase the difficulty of making mechanisms tenfold, if not more.
However, Ning Zhuo noticed a large number of formation patterns on the table. This immediately reminded him of the operating tables in medical halls.
"Perhaps this is arranged the same way as those operating tables. Many mechanism tools might be stored within the table."
Ning Zhuo wanted to verify this guess but found himself unable to move. An invisible force was binding him.
It wasn’t until the start of this round of the palace examination was announced that the invisible force abruptly vanished, allowing Ning Zhuo to move freely.
Ning Zhuo first looked directly ahead, where his opponent's position should be.
It was a blur, indistinct.
Ning Zhuo took a few steps forward and approached the table. He touched the surface, poured his mana into it, and indeed, many mechanism tools appeared. There were welding torches, tiger-head pliers, and so on.
After confirming his guess, Ning Zhuo instinctively glanced again at the opposite side, but it was still a blur.
He ignored it and focused on inspecting the materials provided for the palace examination.
Fist Gold came in pieces, one after another. At first glance, there were at least thirty pieces, each resembling a clenched fist. The name Fist Gold came from this resemblance.
Ning Zhuo knew clearly: this was a type of hard metal ore, known for its high strength and durability.
"I can use it to construct the skeleton of the mechanism puppet."
After inspecting the Fist Gold, Ning Zhuo found its quality to be neither good nor bad, just the most common type found on the market.
He continued with his inspection.
The second material was Fire Essence.
This was one of the specialties of Puppet Immortal City, something Ning Zhuo was very familiar with, and thus he inspected it the quickest.
As for the ancient wood with spirit patterns...
Ning Zhuo lifted a large section of the ancient wood and placed it in front of him for observation.
Even though it had been cut, this large section of ancient wood still emitted a faint vitality.
The cross-section of the wood was covered in spirit patterns.
Whenever a plant absorbed spiritual energy for a long time, these spirit patterns would form. The longer the time, the more numerous and intricate the patterns would be.
On the other hand, the more spirit patterns there were, the more efficiently the plant could absorb spiritual energy.
"This ancient wood must have been a spirit plant while it was alive."
When inspecting this material, Ning Zhuo focused on the distribution and direction of the spirit patterns.
"It can be used to store the spirit stone and construct the pathway for spiritual energy transmission. Since there’s only one spirit stone, I need to reserve part of it to create the formation disc for the spirit-gathering array!"
Ning Zhuo continued with the inspection.
The large water droplet covered in frost was as big as a basin.
The droplet looked like a huge blue steamed bun, round and plump. On its surface, large frost flowers spread, each the size of an adult’s hand.
As Ning Zhuo's hand approached, the frost flowers on the surface of the droplet quickly melted.
"It can be used to make weapon parts or as auxiliary components for self-cooling." Ning Zhuo thought of two main applications.
Next was the carbon-baked clay.
This clay had a dark gray color.
Its nature would change dramatically with temperature.
When heated, it would become a hard solid. When cooled, it would be sticky and malleable, easily shaped.
In addition, it had exceptional fire resistance.
Sometimes, it could even be used as coal to provide a burning substrate, storing heat for mechanism creations.
Lastly, there was the only mid-grade spirit stone.
"The quality is average."
"One spirit stone alone won’t last for long in battle. So, a spirit-gathering array in the mechanism puppet is a must."
"This spirit stone can only serve as the activation stone."
During the inspection of the materials, Ning Zhuo had already conceived many ideas.
Without resting, he raced against time and officially began crafting.
The first step was to construct the skeleton.
Ning Zhuo handled the carbon-baked clay.
He lowered its temperature to make it easy to shape.
With his skillful hands, he molded the clay into a deep container, standing on the table like a small, upright well.
Ning Zhuo picked up the welding torch and melted the Fist Gold. The Fist Gold immediately turned into a pool of molten gold under the intense flame.
The flowing gold was stored in the small well made of carbon-baked clay.
Ning Zhuo then used the Metal Attraction Technique!
This spell, learned from the trial stages, allowed a cultivator to freely extract metals at will.
In its normal state, solid Fist Gold was difficult to refine into pure gold, with the process being quite challenging and slow. But in its liquid state, it was much more efficient.
"How many times should I refine it for the best result?" Ning Zhuo faced this question.
In theory, the more, the better. But in practice, he had to consider time.
Once the time was up, he wouldn’t be able to continue crafting mechanisms. Refining too many times would affect the final product.
The number of times to refine was actually a question of overall control of the entire crafting process.
If each step’s time could be accurately planned, it would be even better.
This question did not trouble Ning Zhuo.
Deep in his heart, he had a clear plan, and according to it, refining three times at this stage was the most appropriate.
This small detail already showed whether a mechanism cultivator was excellent or not.
These small details, when accumulated, had a huge impact on the final product.
Ning Zhuo quickly completed this step and moved on to the next.
He molded the molten gold into the shape of a skeleton.
It was worth mentioning that these skeletons were hollow.
After completing this step, Ning Zhuo began processing the spirit-patterned ancient wood.
Since there was only one spirit stone, Ning Zhuo had to first use the ancient wood to cut out a formation disc and inscribe the spirit-gathering array.
After doing this, Ning Zhuo followed the spirit patterns and cut the ancient wood into thin cylindrical wooden strips, inserting them into the hollow gold skeleton as the core bones.
Ning Zhuo used another spell from the trial stages. A three-inch cylindrical piece of ancient wood could grow up to five inches at most. If it grew longer, it would wither and die.
After completing this step, Ning Zhuo rested for several breaths.
Skilled mechanism cultivators often had this good habit of not working endlessly, but rather pacing themselves.
Because next, Ning Zhuo had to process the Fire Essence, and he needed to ensure his state was optimal.
He began handling the Fire Essence.
He was more than familiar with this material.
Ning Zhuo crafted the Fire Essence into firecrackers. This was also a mechanism component he was very familiar with, as his Explosive Monkey mechanism was commonly equipped with these firecrackers as a regular attack method.
When facing the large frost-covered water droplet, Ning Zhuo fully displayed his array formation skills!
He placed at least three arrays within the frost-covered water droplet, completing them quickly and steadily. At the array cores, Ning Zhuo inserted several ice talismans that he made on the spot.
In the end, this large water droplet could change its shape at Ning Zhuo's will.
Ning Zhuo hung it on the skeleton.
Then, he shaped the carbon-baked clay again, crafting it into the body, fully covering the skeleton.
In the remaining time, he went back and made a large number of firecrackers.
The final mechanism puppet, Ning Zhuo named it—the Five Elements Pawn.
Its primary attack method was through mechanism firecrackers, while its defense was handled by the frost-covered water droplet, which could rush out of the body at critical moments, transforming into armor or a shield.
(End of Chapter)