< Chapter 82: Golden Blood Battle Ape – Great Victory >
This Mechanical Ape was only half the height of Yuan Dasheng but appeared exceedingly robust and majestic!
Its overall appearance was a combination of gold and red, with monkey fur as deep red as blood and golden strips exposed on various parts of its body, inlaid with golden edges. The metal strips varied in length and thickness, combined and assembled like a set of hollow gold armor covering the Mechanical Ape’s entire body.
On closer inspection, it became evident that these were actually the exposed bones of the Mechanical Ape. Its forehead, brows, and nose bridge were all made of metal.
The appearance of the Mechanical Ape bore a striking resemblance to Yuan Dasheng.
Its pupils resembled blood jade, and beneath its sunken eye sockets were two heavy black eye shadows.
The puppet Ning Zhuo ran to the front of the Mechanical Ape, looked up for a moment, and then circled around it. The puppet’s small wooden hands reached out, occasionally pinching the Mechanical Ape’s thick legs, sometimes tapping the exposed metal bones with its fingers.
“Unfortunately, the puppet’s body lacks spiritual sense and cannot penetrate its interior for inspection.”
Ning Zhuo felt regret, his desire to research growing wildly with each breath.
At this moment, a message was conveyed—
Golden Blood Battle Ape!
Made with Zhu Fire Glaze baked from Zhu Yan Stone as the main material for the Battle Ape’s muscle body.
Using celestial spirit wood paired with scarlet gold mysterious iron to create the ape’s entire indestructible bone structure, extremely tough and resilient.
The surface of the indestructible bones was engraved with the full text of the Vajra Body Protection Technique, making this skeleton a powerful defensive magical instrument on its own.
Within the Battle Ape’s palms were eighteen types of martial arts talismans, and inside its head was a mass of celestial condensed mist, with each drop of mist capable of serving as a thought, used for thinking…
This was the first time since Ning Zhuo entered the palace that he received such a large amount of information.
The content was very rich, causing the puppet Ning Zhuo to stand in place and carefully savor it for quite a while.
“Yuan Dasheng’s body and soul were both used as the main materials to create this mechanical construct.”
“It has no memory of the past, but because of its spirituality, there will be some actions deeply imprinted in its heart.”
What caught Ning Zhuo’s attention the most was this sentence: “It contains eighty percent spirituality and can exhibit the Righteous Bone Gold Frame!”
“Spirituality…” Ning Zhuo muttered to himself.
Spirituality was truly remarkable.
According to common cultivation knowledge, the treasures used by cultivators are divided into: talisman treasures, magical instruments, magical treasures, and spirit treasures.
The reason spirit treasures are special lies in their spirituality.
In some large-scale cultivation sects and families, spirit treasures can even communicate normally with people, possessing considerable intelligence.
“The mechanical constructs created by the Lava Immortal Palace actually possess spirituality!”
“Doesn’t that mean it can mass-produce spirit treasures?”
“The three sect masters truly deserve to be great beings of the Void Refinement level.”
“But… eighty percent spirituality? Why not a hundred percent?”
“What would happen if it were a hundred percent?”
“How can spirituality be increased?”
The more Ning Zhuo thought about it, the more questions arose in his mind.
Thinking also brought results.
He realized the intention behind the arrangements the three sect masters made in the room following the Buddhist hall.
The mechanical constructs being endowed with spirituality was obviously meant to be paired with the Mirror Platform Spirit Technique.
This Buddhist technique specializes in refining the spirit. It allows one to construct a spiritual mirror in the Sea of Consciousness on the dantian, used to communicate with all things possessing spirituality.
Right now, wasn’t the Golden Blood Battle Ape in front of Ning Zhuo the most suitable target?
Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo activated the Mirror Platform Spirit Technique.
He had a puppet body and no dantian in the Sea of Consciousness, but the Life-Hanging Thread was always connected to his physical body, enabling him to communicate with his Sea of Consciousness and stimulate the spiritual mirror.
Soon, through the spiritual mirror, he established a close connection with the Golden Blood Battle Ape mechanism.
“Forward, backward, move left, turn right,” Ning Zhuo ordered in his mind, and the Golden Blood Battle Ape followed each command.
“Roll over, stick out your tongue, pucker your butt…” Ning Zhuo tried to command the mechanical ape to perform more precise actions.
The mechanical ape complied, then conveyed a sense of impatience.
Ning Zhuo was both surprised and excited. “Having spirituality really is different; it even throws little tantrums.”
He continued trying to communicate with the Golden Blood Battle Ape. The ape couldn’t talk to him but would convey emotions and some basic reactions.
The most frequent response was—”Master, what do you need me to do? Please give the order.”
Though it was made using Yuan Dasheng’s corpse as the main material, it had spirituality but no memory. Even if it had memories, Yuan Dasheng never knew that Ning Zhuo was the enemy who framed him, even up to his death.
The more Ning Zhuo experimented, the more excited he became. He discovered that the commands the Golden Blood Battle Ape could execute could be relatively complex in content.
Usually, with mechanical constructs, even if Ning Zhuo used his heart seal, he needed to constantly direct and focus his mind on them.
However, with the Golden Blood Battle Ape, it was almost equivalent to having a subordinate cultivator. After Ning Zhuo issued a command, he didn’t need to worry about it; the ape would execute it on its own.
“Wonderful, truly wonderful!”
Ning Zhuo, with the Golden Blood Battle Ape, officially pushed open the door, entering the second trial after the Buddhist hall.
Upon entering, a cage immediately dropped down.
Ning Zhuo tried to dodge, but the surrounding space was locked, trapping him inside the cage.
In contrast, the Golden Blood Battle Ape remained free.
At this moment, information was transmitted to him—control the Golden Blood Battle Ape to protect himself and repel six waves of attacking puppets.
In the darkness, a dozen pairs of eyes lit up.
Then, nearly ten mechanical wolves charged out.
The pack of wolves rushed toward Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo understood and immediately issued a command to the Golden Blood Battle Ape.
The Golden Blood Battle Ape stepped forward to fight. Its movements were agile, displaying stunning martial skills, repeatedly tearing the mechanical wolves apart in close combat.
Ning Zhuo did not intervene; relying solely on the Golden Blood Battle Ape’s combat abilities, he survived five waves.
In the final wave, over thirty kung fu puppets arrived.
The Golden Blood Battle Ape was somewhat outnumbered, so Ning Zhuo used the Mirror Platform to cast spells.
The spiritual energy stored within the Golden Blood Battle Ape was consumed under Ning Zhuo’s guidance, causing the ape’s hands to be surrounded by a gentle breeze, greatly increasing its speed. Additionally, the ape emitted cold air, freezing its enemies.
As soon as Ning Zhuo intervened to assist, the situation immediately turned around. The Golden Blood Battle Ape gained a significant advantage and ultimately won with ease.
“Logically, the difficulty of this trial should be comparable to that of the Daoist and Demonic sects. Yet, I did not find it difficult at all.”
“Is the Golden Blood Battle Ape just too excellent?”
Ning Zhuo guessed correctly.
He continued to push the door, but encountered difficulties again at the third trial.
“My coordination with the Golden Blood Battle Ape still needs a lot of practice.”
“This time, I ventured into the Buddhist hall alone, and I don’t have any blood energy on me.”
“The Lava Immortal Palace changes every three trials. I wonder what good things the Buddhist path will offer after passing this trial.”
Ning Zhuo tested it for a while, then wisely retreated.
He didn’t rush to the Demonic Hall to absorb blood energy but instead tried to exit the Immortal Palace.
A message came, asking whether Ning Zhuo wanted to leave the mechanical ape behind or take it with him.
Ning Zhuo tried both options and confirmed that he could indeed take the Golden Blood Battle Ape in and out at will.
What surprised him was that even if he left the Golden Blood Battle Ape in the Immortal Palace, he could still use the spiritual mirror to observe its condition and issue orders to it!
“So, does this mean I can…”
Not long after.
The puppet Meng Chong broke through the second room.
“I’ve been training hard, day and night. Now, the second room can’t hinder me in the slightest!”
“Hahaha.” Meng Chong laughed loudly as he pushed open the door and entered the third room again.
The numerous puppets inside the third room quickly surrounded him.
“Wild Sprint Thunderclap!” Meng Chong activated his celestial power, moving like lightning, weaving effortlessly among the kung fu puppets.
His speed varied; after slowing down and then accelerating again, the speed of Wild Sprint Thunderclap surpassed his previous limits.
Meng Chong’s control over his celestial power had reached a new height!
Just as he knocked down all the kung fu puppets and was about to push open the door, the Golden Blood Battle Ape, activated by Ning Zhuo, appeared.
“Oh? There’s still a straggler left.” Meng Chong clenched his fists and charged forward.
Wham.
The next moment, he was thrown over the shoulder by the Golden Blood Battle Ape and forcefully slammed into the ground.
Meng Chong was momentarily stunned but quickly stood up, fiercely saying, “Come on, I’m going to smash you to pieces!”