Chapter 36: Running and Jumping with Arms

Unlike Ning Zhuo fell into thought.

He didn't know what the hanging ring on the mechanical component was.

He also didn't know what the spell "A Burst of Qi" was.

But he knew spirit stones, and he was clearly aware that he was currently lacking spirit stones.

"I spent a lot of time feeling around the surroundings before. Now, the spiritual power in the spirit stone inside my body is less than forty percent."

"I'll choose the spirit stone!"

Unlike Ning Zhuo made a decision in his heart.

The next moment, a circle of light appeared out of thin air in front of him. The circle of light expanded slightly and spat out a spirit stone.

Unlike Ning Zhuo hurriedly caught the spirit stone. At the same time, the circle of light dissipated rapidly.

Carrying the second spirit stone, Unlike Ning Zhuo pushed open the door with difficulty and entered Room Number Two.

Bang!

The door closed automatically behind him.

Unlike Ning Zhuo turned around to push the door, trying to return to Room Number One.

The door didn't budge.

"Fine." Unlike Ning Zhuo had no choice but to turn back and start examining Room Number Two carefully.

The layout of Room Number Two was very different from Room Number One. The room was long and narrow, empty, and the bricks on the floor and walls were all square, emitting the luster of brass.

Unlike Ning Zhuo saw the door at a glance.

The door was directly opposite him.

Information was conveyed again—pass through Room Number Two and enter Room Number Three.

Unlike Ning Zhuo observed for a moment, and after failing to gather any new information, he took a step and walked directly toward the door.

As a result, after walking a few steps, he discovered that he was moving backward.

He hurriedly lowered his head to check, and saw that the floor tiles were moving backward slowly!

Unlike Ning Zhuo had no choice but to speed up his pace and increase his speed.

The speed at which the floor tiles moved backward was also increasing.

He walked faster and faster, forced to run.

"If I had known this was the trial, I should have chosen the leg components carefully."

In Room Number One, Unlike Ning Zhuo was worried about spiritual power consumption and needed to save time, plus it was difficult to match the length of the legs, so he just made do.

As a result, now—his two feet were not level, and he ran with a limp, quite bumpy, which affected his speed.

When he ran to the middle section at his maximum speed.

Suddenly, a giant wooden log popped out from the right wall.

One end of the giant log was fixed in the wall, and the other end popped out, like a giant's arm sweeping across.

Unlike Ning Zhuo had been staying vigilant and hurriedly jumped up, dodging the giant log.

But just as he landed, another giant log popped out from the left wall.

Unlike Ning Zhuo had already made the jumping motion, but the floor tiles were constantly moving backward. He didn't exert enough force and was unstable, so this jump was too low.

Bang.

With a soft sound, his whole body was hit by the giant log, drawing a long arc in mid-air, and then he fell to the ground.

He slid backward a distance on the ground, finally slamming into the first door, and only then did he stop.

The puppet Unlike Ning Zhuo lay on the ground, dizzy, and only after a few breaths did he regain his senses.

"There's a mechanism like this?!"

"The runes on that giant log seem to possess the ability to weaken the soul."

Unlike Ning Zhuo felt his soul become weak for a moment.

He looked up and saw the black runes on the giant log gradually disappearing, and the entire giant log slowly retracting into the wall. Afterward, the wall bricks on both sides shifted with a click-clack sound and returned to normal.

"I understand!" Unlike Ning Zhuo's heart stirred.

"These giant logs sweeping across are both my obstacles and my stepping stones."

"I need to jump up when they sweep across, jump onto them, and then borrow their force to leap forward."

The speed of the mechanical puppet itself was very limited, and by the middle section, it was already less than the speed at which the floor tiles moved backward.

Relying solely on running, Unlike Ning Zhuo could never get close to the second door.

The original wall surface was extremely smooth and could not be used for leverage. But the horizontal logs popping out gave him an opportunity.

With a new discovery, Unlike Ning Zhuo tried again.

He aimed for the timing and jumped one after another. By the fifth giant log...

Bang.

He was swept away by the giant log.

"The closer to the door, the faster the floor tiles move backward. I must accurately judge the speed of the backward movement to land steadily."

After summarizing the lessons learned, Unlike Ning Zhuo continued.

Bang.

When he jumped to the eighth giant log, the difficulty increased again. A giant log shot out from the roof, from top to bottom, and slapped him away directly.

Unlike Ning Zhuo slammed into the door, and his body fell apart.

He assembled himself for a while, finally stretched out his hands, picked up his head, and put it back on his neck.

"The head component is also a bit big. It's square, and turning the head is slow; if I had known, I should have changed to a smaller head."

"The key is that the legs are not level, which has the greatest impact."

"Fortunately, I remember the positions where these giant logs shoot out; by constantly trying and failing, I should be able to pass!"

Bang!

In this attempt, he only jumped over three giant logs before being slapped away again.

Unlike Ning Zhuo looked at the giant log slowly retracting into the wall, very astonished: "No, the positions of these giant logs are not fixed? They can change freely?"

The difficulty surged tenfold instantly!

On the throne of the main hall, the Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit had been secretly watching the first trial-taker. When it saw the puppet Unlike Ning Zhuo staying in place, motionless, it was so happy it let out a cooing sound.

The dull-headed puppet Unlike Ning Zhuo seemed to be performing a vivid puppet show for it. The Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit, watching the whole thing, gained a lot of fun.

Bang, bang, bang...

Unlike Ning Zhuo failed to break through repeatedly.

"Not enough spiritual power."

He sighed in his heart, sat down cross-legged, and opened the small cover on his belly.

Under the cover, there was a secret compartment, and a spirit stone was placed inside the secret compartment.

This spirit stone was already dim and lusterless, and the spiritual power inside was almost exhausted.

Unlike Ning Zhuo pried this spirit stone out and then quickly filled in the second spirit stone.

He closed the small cover on his belly and even patted it lightly with his small palm to ensure it was fixed securely.

"When replacing the spirit stone, I must be fast and make good use of the spiritual power still running inside the puppet. This is probably when the puppet is at its weakest."

The spirit stone that was replaced actually still had a little spiritual power.

But Unlike Ning Zhuo didn't dare to continue using it.

What if, when he was sprinting, the spiritual power was completely exhausted, and there wasn't a drop left in the entire puppet body? Then he would be completely paralyzed.

"In puppet form, the consumption is not just the spiritual power in the spirit stone."

"Every time I am hit, the runes on the giant log will weaken my soul once."

"I entered the palace with my soul; if my soul is weakened to a certain degree, even if I have spiritual power, I will still be paralyzed."

"And this puppet body is also constantly accumulating injuries."

Unlike Ning Zhuo observed himself and found that cracks and fine seams had appeared in various components such as the arms and head.

"The giant log positions are random, and there are no shortcuts, so I can only put in the hard work."

Concentrating his spirit and reorganizing his forces, Unlike Ning Zhuo launched another sprint.

Bang, bang, bang...

Unlike Ning Zhuo was knocked away again and again, but he was also accumulating experience again and again, increasing his proficiency in controlling the puppet body.

His progress was visible to the naked eye.

When he rushed to the last stretch of the road, seven or eight giant logs exerted their power at the same time. They were like they were having a spasm, shooting out constantly. Some swept horizontally, some stabbed straight, some fell from the sky, and some changed direction halfway.

Unlike Ning Zhuo was knocked down again, and one of his legs was smashed directly. After his whole body fell to the ground, he was brought back to the front of the first door by the backward-moving floor tiles.

The previous two legs were both bumpy.

Now that one leg was missing, what should he do?

After thinking, Unlike Ning Zhuo had a bold idea.

"Shall I try it?"

He dismantled his arms one after another and moved them under his torso to replace his thighs.

Then he installed the only remaining thigh onto his right arm.

He turned into a strange puppet man, with a quite eerie image.

Unlike Ning Zhuo didn't rush to try it, but stayed in place and practiced for a while, gradually mastering his new form.

Half an hour later.

Unlike Ning Zhuo, with only one arm left, luckily passed through and climbed to the front of the second door.

His state was extremely poor, and his soul had been weakened too much by the runes.

"Fast, a little faster!"

He urged himself, reached out with difficulty, and touched the door.

In an instant, information was conveyed.

Just like before, there were still three options.

First, spirit stone.

Second, mechanical component.

Third, spell.

Unlike Ning Zhuo was at the end of his rope, had no time to look closely, and directly chose the spell.

The next moment, he passed out. ===== CHAPTER 37 =====