Magma Fairy Palace.
It was Meng Chong's first time entering the preparatory room.
The five stone pillars ranking list was very conspicuous, especially since it kept slowly rotating.
Meng Chong immediately noticed the stone pillars.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been watching him. Seeing Meng Chong enter the preparatory room, its half-open eyelids widened slightly in excitement.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was in poor condition.
Previously, in resisting the collective attack of the Red Flame Demon Beasts, the Magma Fairy Palace had been in a very dangerous situation.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit personally took action, merging into the Taoist Master's mechanical puppet to control it. After a strenuous battle, it managed to turn the tide and eventually killed the Golden Core-level Magma Demon Ape.
Its spiritual nature was greatly depleted.
Primarily because it didn't match the Taoist Master's mechanism artifact at all.
Now, there were still many Red Flame Demon Beasts besieging the Magma Fairy Palace. The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had to organize mechanism artifacts to build a defensive line, arrange various repairs, and also manage the trials of the Qi Refinement Realm disciples.
Such a complex and immense workload was a long-term, continuous drain on its spiritual nature.
Even so, seeing Meng Chong approach the ranking list, it couldn't help but get excited and sent out key information.
In an instant, a flaming whip materialized and whipped at it!
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit retracted its head and dragon claws into its turtle shell, enduring the pain.
Meng Chong, reminded, felt a surge of spirit, realizing that this was the preparatory room and there was little danger.
He slightly lowered his guard and walked up to the ranking list of the five stone pillars.
Following the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit's prompt, Meng Chong first touched the stone pillars to obtain the trial disciple's mark.
Then, he looked up at the ranking list.
Qi Refinement List, Refining Essence List, Spirit Refining List, Progression List, and Speed Pass List.
Among the five rankings, he was second on the Qi Refinement List, Progression List, and Speed Pass List. He wasn't on the Refining Essence List or the Spirit Refining List.
Unconvinced, Meng Chong thought to himself that he had always strived for first place since childhood.
He had Immortal Aptitude and was a genius among geniuses, meant to be above others and destined to occupy the pinnacle.
How could he settle for second place?!
But when Meng Chong saw the name at the top, he felt relieved.
The first place on all five lists was the same——Entry Standard!
"Only by surpassing this standard can one be admitted into the Magma Fairy Palace?"
"The Three Ancestral Masters truly live up to their reputation as Cultivating the Void-level elites, each trial is extremely difficult, and even the entry standard is so high."
"Excellent!"
"This makes the challenge even more exciting."
"Moreover, being on the ranking list comes with rewards, really nice."
"Hahaha!"
Feeling greatly encouraged, Meng Chong studied the preparatory room for a while before stepping through the door to room number four.
Magma Fairy Palace main hall.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit shrank into its turtle shell, trembling from the flaming whipping and rolling its eyes in exasperation at Meng Chong.
Even though it had warned him, specifically telling Meng Chong he was the "second place"! But Meng Chong hadn't thought much of it and still laughed heartily.
This gave the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit a sense of exasperation that made it feel like vomiting blood.
It had done everything it could, but Meng Chong didn't grasp the hidden subtleties at all.
Fine!
This flaming whip, it took in vain.
Checkpoint two.
After Meng Chong left, Ning Zhuo swiftly crawled out from a mechanical trap.
He first went to the first door, using the Buddha Heart Demon Seal to push it open slightly and peek into the first room.
Confirming no one was coming, he then closed the door and summoned the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng inside.
It wasn't like before.
With more participants now, it had become very inconvenient for Ning Zhuo to enter and exit the Magma Fairy Palace, let alone summon the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng inside.
The trend was clear.
In the future, the risk of Ning Zhuo summoning the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng would only grow higher.
A teleportation circle appeared, bringing Yuan Dasheng beside wooden Ning Zhuo.
"Your humble servant greets my lord!" The Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng knelt on one knee before Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo was very interested in Yuan Dasheng's performance during the Wisdom Spirit stage, but now was not the time for detailed research.
"The mechanical body of the Golden Blood Battle Ape is much inferior to that of the Martial Fighting Ape."
"But it is the only thing recognized by the Magma Fairy Palace that can freely enter and exit the palace."
"Just this alone gives the Golden Blood Battle Ape extremely high, irreplaceable value."
Ning Zhuo led Yuan Dasheng through the second checkpoint to the second door.
To prevent Meng Chong from still being in room number three, wooden Ning Zhuo stayed behind and let Yuan Dasheng push open the door to check the situation first.
He found room number three in disarray, with the Kung Fu dolls broken into heaps scattered on the ground.
"As expected." When Ning Zhuo entered and saw the scene, he was not surprised.
He had anticipated this earlier.
Each time Meng Chong had faced setbacks, upon his return, his strength would substantially increase.
"This is Immortal Aptitude, and destiny!"
Sighing, Ning Zhuo led Yuan Dasheng through room number three to the third door.
Again, it was the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng who pushed open the door first.
Meng Chong was not there.
Ning Zhuo didn't rush in but instead had the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng retrieve the monitoring mechanism components from a corner.
Ning Zhuo examined them and obtained key information through Yuan Dasheng. Meng Chong's entire process of activity here was revealed to him.
First, the ranking stone pillars, then he interacted with various mechanism pedestals and mechanism-making tools, before finally leaving for the next checkpoint.
"Meng Chong acquired the trial disciple's mark… Strange, he seemed to already know the detailed steps here and didn't attempt much, he just did it directly."
Ning Zhuo passed by the ranking stone pillars.
Now, the ranking lists had two names again.
Last time, it had been Yuan Dasheng on the list.
But with Yuan Dasheng being schemed against and permanently turned into Ning Zhuo's mechanism artifact, the ranking list once had only Ning Zhuo's name.
Deciding on what name to use had taken some thought from Ning Zhuo.
First, he couldn't use names of other people in the Immortal City. Once the City Lord's Mansion and other four directional powers launched a full investigation, they could easily hunt the person and verify the truths, discovering that the ranking names could be changed, hinting at possible cheating, which was extremely unfavorable to Ning Zhuo.
Secondly, he couldn't use names of dead people.
Because Yuan Dasheng was removed from the list.
This proved that deceased competitors would be eliminated from the list.
To keep Ning Zhuo's name always on the list would create a glaring flaw.
"Neither names of living people nor dead ones will work, so I can only get creative." This had been Ning Zhuo's thought.
He finally changed the name to "Entry Standard."
This had many benefits.
First, it concealed his identity as a competitor.
Second, it corresponded with the trial disciple's mark, mutually "testifying."
In Ning Zhuo's assessment, if he could work out the trial disciple's mark, others would likely figure it out too.
By then, each trial disciple mark would be his best credibility endorsement.
The third benefit allowed for flexibility in his ranking changes.
Once someone surpassed the "Entry Standard" in the future, they would think——"I met the standard, I've reached the level to become an entry disciple."
If the "Entry Standard" surpassed others, they'd think——oh, the entry standard is flexible and variable. Like how many family assessments only reward the top ten, the Magma Fairy Palace's entry standard also fluctuated based on the trial disciples' status.
Ning Zhuo brushed past the ranking stone pillars.
Once again, it was the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng who opened the door first and entered room number four.
Through monitoring mechanism components, Ning Zhuo discovered that after entering the room, Meng Chong paused slightly, then consecutively cast spells, obtaining mechanism components corresponding to each spell.
Ning Zhuo: "Strange! Here too, Meng Chong seemed to already know. Without any exploration, he immediately found the answer."
Ning Zhuo accelerated with Yuan Dasheng.
Meng Chong was absent from room number five.
The monitoring mechanism components showed Meng Chong's fluid and elegant manner while passing the checkpoint.
Ning Zhuo scrutinized and confirmed Meng Chong's significant progress——he could now bless his spells with Immortal Aptitude!
This made Ning Zhuo even more solemn.
Room six.
Meng Chong laughed heartily: "This is more like it. Frenzied Rushing Thunder!"
He shouted, moving like lightning to dodge multiple spell attacks.
He used Immortal Aptitude again, this time on the Embrace Ice Technique and his Qi.
The Embrace Ice Technique and his Qi fused, forming a straight line of cold Qi, which swiftly hit a magic puppet amidst flashing lightning.
The magic puppet was instantly frozen.
Meng Chong created an opening and seized the chance to break out of the magic puppet's encirclement.
However, just as he was about to feel pleased, the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng suddenly appeared!
"Ah, it's you!!" Meng Chong felt a thrill of excitement.
The Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng, engulfed in flames, charged forward to engage in close combat.
Meng Chong showed no fear, even feeling excited: "Last time, I was burned to death by the flames. This time, I have spells to protect myself."
Meng Chong cast the Embrace Ice Technique and his Qi, combined with the Dispelling Qi Ring, enveloping himself in dense cold Qi.
With the cold Qi neutralizing the flames, Meng Chong was no longer afraid of being burned to death.
But the next moment, the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng's palm struck Meng Chong's chest.
Spell——Five Elements Chaos Qi Technique!
This was a reward from the third checkpoint of the Taoist Path, obtained by Ning Zhuo and now used for the first time in battle against Meng Chong.
The effect… was terrific!
In an instant, the spiritual energy within Meng Chong's body became completely chaotic, turning from orderly to a tangled mess.
"I…" Meng Chong's body couldn't move, also suffering from backlashes due to interrupted spells like the Embrace Ice Technique.
The Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng then struck, lightly tearing off Meng Chong's puppet head.
Then, with a strong grasp, the puppet head was instantly crushed.
Meng Chong departed with intense reluctance, his soul flying out of the palace and returning to his own body.
At the City Lord's Mansion.
He suddenly opened his eyes, still incredulous: "What kind of spell is this? It seems to strongly counter the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art?"
"Lost again!"
"It's okay, I gained a lot this time."
Meng Chong felt strongly anticipated for the next entry into the palace, filled with fighting spirit.
"By the way, send the latest information to Fei Si and grandpa, let them help me think of faster ways to clear the trials."