Chapter 29: Hangman's Noose

With the precious experience from the first time, Ning Zhuo was no longer unfamiliar with the darkness.

He did not hesitate, mobilizing the spiritual power from the Spirit Stone with all his might, circulating the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.

Click.

He pulled the first mechanical part over and assembled it.

It was an arm.

He pulled another part over and successfully assembled it.

It was a wooden head.

Ning Zhuo once again had a view.

He lay on the mountain-like pile of mechanical parts, reaching out to touch his head, finding it was still a large, square head.

"Why is it this again?"

"Running and jumping creates air resistance, negatively impacting the attempt to get through Room No.2."

Ning Zhuo turned his large head and used his only arm to drag his body, climbing around.

He patiently selected legs, stopping only after finding two of the same length.

The previous experience told him that spending time on this was entirely worth it.

Not only that, but he also decided to choose longer arms if possible.

"I want long arms and legs."

"And I want to switch to a smaller head."

Ning Zhuo failed.

When he was about to replace the chosen small head, he received new information—the initial puppet body could not be freely replaced in Room No.1 according to innate talent.

"Is there such a limitation?"

Ning Zhuo was stunned, then fell into deep thought.

"If it is according to innate talent to assemble puppets, it means that Meng Chong and others would have much stronger puppets from the beginning in this room than I do."

"It also means that the mountain-like pile of mechanical parts here, despite appearing similar in quality, actually has significant differences in performance."

Ning Zhuo immediately thought of himself again.

"I took the Early Wisdom Pill in my mother's womb, so I have the talent of early wisdom."

"It is precisely this talent that gave me this big head. So, I can't replace it with a small head."

"I have this big head because of my early wisdom talent. It shows that having a big head has its advantages, which have not been shown yet."

"Besides…"

Ning Zhuo thought of a doubt.

The first mechanical part he pulled over was an arm, not a big head!

"It was like this the first time, and the second time as well. The arm part took precedence over the head part."

"Does this mean I actually have another hidden talent, related to arms, which is even better than my early wisdom talent?"

Ning Zhuo, quick-witted and observant, could discover issues from the details.

This was also possible.

Because cultivation talents came in all shapes and forms, too many and too varied. Although the Ning Family always conducted tests for immortal aptitude, they could only cover basic common and typical talents. Many special talents couldn't be detected by conventional means.

Perhaps, Ning Zhuo's arm contained such hidden talent that the family had never detected.

Ning Zhuo continued to ponder the information he had just received.

"The message said this was the 'initial puppet body' and that it couldn't be 'freely' replaced in 'Room No.1'."

"Does it mean that it is possible to update the body, and in some room number, it can be freely replaced?"

In just a few breaths, Ning Zhuo thoroughly analyzed this seemingly ordinary message, comprehending many hidden key points.

Despite the reminder from the information, Ning Zhuo still held onto a lucky hope and tried to assemble the wing parts.

If he could attach wings, it would be much easier to get through Room No.2.

As expected… it didn't work.

"Does this mean these wings, horns, claws, and other parts are meant for non-human beings?"

"In the future, will there be non-human competitors in the Magma Fairy Palace?"

Ning Zhuo crawled down from the small mountain of mechanical parts.

During this process, he also made a rather important observation.

Soon, he discovered various traces he had left during his first exploration.

"This means this room is exactly the same Room No.1 I explored the first time."

This observation was very important!

"This is not a room unique to me."

"In fact, the number of mechanical parts also indirectly reminded me of this point."

"The changes I left behind during exploration seem to have been retained to some extent?"

"And there's a critical question—when exploring the Immortal Palace, will I encounter others in the same room?"

Ning Zhuo walked to the doorway and then paused his thoughts, reaching out to touch the door.

The message came over, the same as before, still three options.

First, a piece of Spirit Stone.

Second, a mechanical part hangman's noose.

Third, a puff of spell mana.

Ning Zhuo had a plan, without hesitation, choosing the hangman's noose.

The current spiritual power was at seventy percent, much more than the first exploration. And the rewards for passing Room No.2 would still include Spirit Stones.

In the long run, choosing the spell was the most beneficial. But at the moment, Ning Zhuo needed immediate combat power. Choosing the hangman's noose allowed him to go further in this exploration.

"In the early stages, intelligence is the most important."

"Therefore, I must try to explore as far as possible to collect enough intelligence. With such a foundation, I can make the right decisions."

"Ah, I wonder what stage Meng Chong and the others have reached."

"I hope to see their trail soon."

Once again, a teleportation light ring appeared, spitting out a wooden ring before slowly disappearing.

Ning Zhuo took the wooden ring, observing it up close.

The whole wooden ring was about half a foot in diameter, with a thick body, inlaid with eighteen diamond-shaped crystals.

These crystals emitted a blue-violet glow. Whenever Ning Zhuo changed the angle of his observation slightly, the blue-violet glow also changed, looking quite dazzling.

"Is this the hangman's noose? How do you use it?"

"Is there no explanation?"

Ning Zhuo did not get any information about the hangman's noose.

He understood that the reward for mechanical parts also tested a cultivator's mastery of mechanical techniques.

He needed to find the correct usage method by himself.

Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo instinctively placed the hangman's noose against his forehead.

No reaction whatsoever.

Ning Zhuo chuckled awkwardly: "I forgot I don't have Divine Sense now."

Divine Sense originated from the Divine Sea, which was the cultivator's Upper Dantian.

In this world, cultivators had three Dantian in total, namely, the Upper Dantian Divine Sea, the Middle Dantian Qi Sea, and the Lower Dantian Essence Sea.

The Upper Dantian at the forehead, the Divine Sea, the spiritual opening, the gateway to the mysterious, the source of the sea of consciousness, thoughts condensed in the void.

The Middle Dantian at the chest, the Qi Sea, the repository of mana, the gathering of qi like clouds, storing strength and accumulating momentum.

The Lower Dantian within the abdomen, the Essence Palace, the confluence of bloodlines, the fusion of essence, the root of life.

Ning Zhuo's current puppet body was all wood, with no three Dantian. Even the "mana" he used was just "spiritual power" drawn from the Spirit Stones serving as a substitute.

Ning Zhuo held the hangman's noose, trying to infuse it with spiritual power.

Very quickly, the diamond-shaped blue-violet crystals inlaid in the hangman's noose lit up one by one.