< Chapter 45: Everyone is the Main Character >
Ning Zhuo could neither hear, see, nor smell; he was once again plunged into a dark world.
But he was pleased.
“I’ve finally made it in!”
“From now on, I can enter the Lava Immortal Palace this way, on my own initiative.”
The previous methods were too passive.
“Perhaps, I might even activate the ‘Trial Disciple’ imprint and leave the Immortal Palace on my own?”
This conjecture lingered in his mind, temporarily needing no confirmation.
While pondering, Ning Zhuo activated the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, bursting forth his spiritual power.
The dispersed spiritual power quickly attracted the first mechanical part.
As before, it was the left arm.
Then, the head.
Also, as before, it was a big head.
Ning Zhuo skillfully assembled himself and then hopped down the small mountain of mechanical parts.
He limped towards the door.
This time, to save some time, he did not focus on finding legs of equal length.
“With the hanging ring, even if I limp, it should be enough to get through room number two.”
“The urgent task at hand is to remain incognito. At the least, I am renowned in three lists, and by the most conservative estimate, I need to make three trips.”
However, when Ning Zhuo touched the door, he did not see the option for a hanging ring as a reward.
The three options were: a piece of spiritual stone, a return disc silk (mechanical part), and a breath of qi (spell).
“No hanging ring?!” Ning Zhuo was momentarily stunned.
At that moment, Ning Zhuo slapped his forehead. His wooden palm collided with his oversized head, creating a loud ‘bang’.
“Mistake!” he exclaimed.
“I should have guessed this earlier.”
“During my second exploration, I discovered that the Ice-Embracing Technique had been replaced by the Fire Grasping Technique.”
“This indicates that the reward options are not fixed. They likely rotate depending on what I previously chose.”
“If this is the case for spells, then it’s reasonable to assume that mechanical rewards would vary in the same way.”
“Only the spiritual stone option seems constant, which is why I wasn’t particularly sharp in noticing these changes.”
Everyone makes mistakes, and Ning Zhuo is no exception.
Of course, his eagerness to conceal his identity was also a contributing factor to his oversight.
Staring at the three rewards before him, Ning Zhuo thought briefly and then quickly chose the Return Disc Silk.
Selecting a spell was definitely out of the question; Ning Zhuo wanted to succeed in dropping off the list this time.
Though he could use the Trial Disciple’s imprint to voluntarily enter the palace, he hadn’t completely figured out this mechanism yet, and there might be other restrictions.
“Perhaps, I must wait several days before I can enter the palace again?”
Ning Zhuo did not want to complicate matters at this critical juncture. Right now, his primary goal was to drop off the list!
He did not want to take unnecessary risks.
Nor did he choose the spiritual stone.
His spiritual power was currently ample.
The Return Disc Silk was transported to him.
It was a loop of metal thread, quite thick. Upon closer inspection, one could see a mixed luster of gold and silver on the surface of the thread.
Ning Zhuo was very familiar with this.
He sat down on the ground, and disassembled both of his legs.
Then, he pulled out a piece of boomerang disc wire and wound it around his nimble fingers, twisting it into a spiraling upward shape, resembling a whirlwind.
Afterwards, he installed this spiraling metal wire at the knee joint, creating a new connection between his lower and upper legs.
Finally, he reattached his legs.
Following the same method, he also added boomerang disc wire to his elbows.
Standing up, he tried moving around, and it felt good.
With nothing much to practice in Room One, Ning Zhuo pushed the door open and entered Room Two.
He ran on the retreating floor tiles.
His legs were fitted with boomerang disc wire. Every time his feet hit the ground, the wire would compress. Once compressed to a certain extent, the wire would burst forth with a force, restoring itself to its original length. This provided Ning Zhuo with additional momentum.
Previously, Ning Zhuo had run straightforwardly through challenges. This time, he bounded and leaped, covering great distances with each jump.
In his first two attempts, he couldn’t outpace the retreating tiles midway. But this time, his running and jumping efficiency was so high that he passed the midpoint still outpacing the tiles.
A massive log swung towards him, but Ning Zhuo was prepared; with a light leap, he jumped right onto the log.
“Previously I needed to jump with both feet, but now the height and speed of jumping off one foot are both stronger than the last two times using both!”
Ning Zhuo leapt between towering trees and walls, occasionally landing on the floor tiles. He failed twice, but on his third attempt, he successfully crossed the final obstacle and landed in front of the door.
“The Boomerang disc wire is more suitable for navigating Room No. 2 than hanging rings,” Ning Zhuo concluded in his mind.
At that moment, he thought of the speed rankings.
“The venerable masters from the three sects set up these challenges not only as tests but also as teachings,” he reflected.
“The so-called speed rankings are actually an encouragement for us trial disciples to continuously hone our skills and train in using mechanical creations.”
“What would happen if Meng Chong were to attempt this challenge?”
“Could he skillfully use these mechanical components?”
“No, the decisive factor isn’t that; it’s his puppet. A puppet born from superior innate talent would definitely be much stronger than mine!”
Ning Zhuo had also witnessed Meng Chong’s assault on the Ziyang Courtyard through mechanical creations, where Meng Chong struck Han Ming.
“Though Meng Chong was surging with medicinal power and the dispersing mana around him, the force of his attack was still due to his exceptional innate talent, Wild Sprint Thunderclap.”
Ning Zhuo, himself a humanoid library, was well aware of the significance of superior innate talent, yet the firsthand sight of it still deeply stirred his soul.
What does superior mean?
Lower, middle, upper—all belong to one category. Superior, however, transcends the ordinary, exceeding the standard!
Such a one emerges perhaps only once among a million cultivators.
Monks with superior innate talent, once they mature, invariably become the pride of great sects and the pillars of their nations.
“The Meng family is a super clan in the Southern Dou Country, with tens of thousands of members. With such a vast number, a person with superior innate talent emerges every so often,” Ning Zhuo mused.
He felt no envy.
Since he himself possessed the lower innate talent of Early Wisdom and the mysterious talent of the Arm, why couldn’t others have talents? Why couldn’t they have better ones? What right did he have to resent that?
The year Ning Zhuo’s mother died, he understood a truth—the world does not revolve around him. He is merely the protagonist of his own life, and everyone is the protagonist of their own.
All these protagonists play out their roles of love, hate, ambition, and schemes on the grand stage of the world.
“It is precisely because of this that the world is so fascinating,” he thought.
Meng Chong hadn’t yet arrived, but Ning Zhuo already felt a pressure looming behind him.
Using a pseudonym was just a safety measure to secure his current head start. But with Meng Chong officially entering the fray, how long could he maintain this advantage?
Ning Zhuo was uncertain.
All he could do now was to keep moving forward.