< Chapter 53: Yuan Dasheng >
A colossal mechanical ape appeared before Ning Zhuo’s eyes. The height of the ape was at least four or five times that of the puppet Ning Zhuo. Its body was immensely robust, with arms as thick as Ning Zhuo’s torso. Despite its size, the ape was not clumsy at all.
With a gentle push, it opened the first door and stooped to enter. The door frame came nowhere near reaching its waistline. As it stepped inside, the mechanism was triggered, and a massive hammer weighing thousands of pounds smashed down towards it.
The mechanical ape didn’t even look up, instead stretching out its arms to catch the hammer. At the same time, it straightened its body, rising like a towering mountain. The thick arms met the descending hammer not with brute force but with a gentle resistance, cleverly redirecting the trajectory of the hammer.
Bang!
The massive hammer was deflected by the ape’s arms and crashed into a wall beside it. The mechanical ape remained composed throughout.
From the moment it entered the room, it had stood firm, straightening its body without moving an inch. Having neutralized this trap, the mechanical ape examined its arms.
Had it resisted forcefully, its wooden arms would have shattered long ago. But now, there were only a few minor cracks.
“Using softness to overcome strength!” Ning Zhuo realized in an instant: the mechanical ape’s close combat skills were probably superior to those of any combat puppet. The action had been effortless, a combination of softness and strength, displaying an elegant power.
The mechanical ape continued forward.
Bang.
It triggered the mechanism again, and the golden silk fishing net came sweeping up from below.
With a gentle leap, it stretched out its arms, and its hands accurately grasped the edges of the golden silk net.
It performed a backflip in mid-air.
When its heavy body landed on the ground, it only made a faint sound.
The golden silk fishing net was torn apart by its strength and draped over its body, becoming a makeshift cloak with a hint of protective quality!
Ning Zhuo watched, utterly dumbfounded.
“This is definitely a martial arts master!”
The Mechanical Ape moved with fluid grace, turning the enemy’s tool into its own, possessing great strength that could tear apart the net’s connections. Yet, its control over its power was extremely precise.
Next, Ning Zhuo observed as the Mechanical Ape continuously broke through, moving so quickly that it surpassed the retreat speed of the floor tiles.
During this, numerous logs struck towards it; the Mechanical Ape swung its arms, sometimes smashing the huge logs like a heavy hammer and sometimes piercing obstacles like a long spear.
It alternated between leaping with agile and effortless motions and standing firm and immovable like a grand hall’s pillar.
Thus, it progressively smashed through the various triggered mechanical traps, resembling an elegantly dancing bulldozer.
Upon reaching the second gate, it paused, showing a contemplative expression. After a few breaths, it chose the spirit stones as a reward.
Seeing this, Ning Zhuo thought, “Its body is so massive, it must consume a substantial amount of spiritual power. Hence, it needs the spirit stones.”
After watching, Ning Zhuo reinserted the surveillance mechanism component back into the corner.
He immediately proceeded to room number three.
The scene in room number three made his heart tremble once more.
Three to four dozen kung fu puppets were already toppled and scattered about, most of them severely disabled, some completely dismantled.
Over the past forty to fifty days, Ning Zhuo’s visits to the Lava Immortal Palace had become too numerous to count.
This was the first time he discovered that kung fu puppets could be destroyed!
Ning Zhuo immediately took out the monitoring mechanism to inspect it, and for a moment, was at a loss for words.
When the Mechanical Ape arrived at Room Three, it was immediately besieged by numerous kung fu puppets.
Its body was massive and its martial skills were exceptional, but it had only two fists and two legs—common sense dictated it would be at a disadvantage.
However, after inspecting it, Ning Zhuo understood what it meant that “any part of a martial arts master’s body can become a weapon!”
In Room Three, the Mechanical Ape rolled, jumped, and crawled; its fists, elbows, head, chest, back, and even its tail and buttocks were its weapons.
It swung its arms, sweeping across the area.
Its elbows, sharp as awls, pierced through the chests of the kung fu puppets.
With a thrust of its head, it knocked a puppet up to the ceiling. When the puppet fell back down, the Mechanical Ape whipped its tail like a lash, flinging the mechanical puppet and knocking over three or four others.
Just like that, the Mechanical Ape seemed to stir up countless whirlwinds, spinning multiple circles around the room.
Kung fu puppets fell one after another, then were successively sent flying.
Eventually, when the Mechanical Ape stood still in the center of the room, all the kung fu puppets lay defeated on the ground, the yellow light fading from their eyes.
Ning Zhuo had a realization: “I’m starting to understand.”
“This is the correct way to pass through Room Three!”
“Using martial arts to fight can destroy kung fu puppets. If one resorts to using spells to cheat, then destroying the puppets is expressly forbidden.”
“This Mechanical Ape’s martial skills are truly remarkable!” Ning Zhuo sincerely marveled.
Each time he passed through Room Three, he had used spells to take shortcuts.
He had not only learned all the spells but also gained a wealth of casting experience through weekly ranking rewards, becoming quite the veteran.
“If I were to battle it, I would need to keep my distance and use spells for long-range attacks to stand a chance of winning.”
“In close combat, there would be no chance at all!”
Sometimes, cultivators at the first three layers of Qi Refining are killed by mortal martial artists. Such cases are not uncommon.
Seeing the Mechanical Ape choose the spirit stone reward and leave Room Three, Ning Zhuo quickly replaced the monitoring mechanism component and hurried after it.
In the preparation room, aside from himself, there was no one else.
This gave Ning Zhuo a slight relief, but he immediately became more anxious.
On one hand, he did not need to fight in the preparation room. The space here was still rather narrow; on the other hand, it meant that the Mechanical Ape had already passed through here and gone deeper.
After picking up the monitoring mechanism component, Ning Zhuo noticed that the Mechanical Ape had turned several times in this area, carefully inspecting each mechanism pedestal, even picking up some manufacturing tools to examine briefly before putting them down.
Finally, the Mechanical Ape stopped in front of the five-faced stone pillar leaderboard, scrutinizing it for a long time.
Ning Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, for the Mechanical Ape had not infused spiritual energy into the stone pillar, nor had it received the imprint of a trial disciple.
Ning Zhuo also approached the five-faced stone pillar.
When he saw the leaderboard, his heart shook!
He was first on four lists, but on one list, he had been pushed to second place.
“The Qi Refining list shows me tied for first, but I’ve fallen behind on the Essence Refining list. I’m already at the third layer of essence refining.”
“What’s going on?”
It appeared the Mechanical Ape had its own fortune, having practiced the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique early on!
“Yuan Dasheng?” Ning Zhuo stared at the name of the Mechanical Ape, lost in thought.
“Clearly, the Mechanical Ape is a non-human demon cultivator.”
“From its expertise in martial techniques and its various behaviors in the preparation room, it’s clear it possesses remarkable intelligence.”
“It has a name, and this name… I seem to have seen it somewhere before…”
Ning Zhuo had many questions.
How did this demon cultivator named Yuan Dasheng come to learn the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique in advance?
Does it reside within the Puppet Immortal City?
Initially, Ning Zhuo thought this Mechanical Ape might be one of the volcanic fire melt demon apes. But further discoveries led him to dismiss this guess.
“Where have I heard this name before?”