Chapter 36: Running and Jumping with Arms

Ning Zhuo fell into thought.

He did not know what the mechanical component hanging ring was.

He also did not know what the spell "A Burst of Qi" was.

But he knew spirit stones, and he was clearly aware that he lacked spirit stones at the moment.

"I spent a lot of time groping around before. Now, the spiritual power in the spirit stone in my body is less than 40%."

"I’ll choose the spirit stone!"

Ning Zhuo made the decision in his heart.

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

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

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

Bang!

The door closed automatically behind him.

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

The door did not budge.

"Alright then." Ning Zhuo had no choice but to turn back and begin to examine 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 a brass luster.

Ning Zhuo saw the door at a glance.

The door was directly opposite him.

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

Ning Zhuo observed for a moment, and after failing to gather any new intelligence, he stepped forward and walked directly toward the door.

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

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

Ning Zhuo had no choice but to quicken his pace to increase his speed.

The speed of the floor tiles moving 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, Ning Zhuo was worried about spiritual power consumption and needed to save time, plus it was hard to match the length of the legs, so he just made do.

As a result, now—his two feet were not level, and he limped when running, quite bumpy, which affected his speed.

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

Suddenly, a giant 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.

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.

Ning Zhuo had already made the jumping motion, but the floor tiles were moving backward continuously. He did not exert enough force and was unsteady on his feet, jumping too low this time.

Bang.

With a light sound, he was hit by the giant log, drew a long arc in mid-air, and then fell to the ground.

He slid backward a distance on the ground and finally slammed into the first door, coming to a stop.

The puppet Ning Zhuo lay on the ground, dizzy, and only regained his senses after a few breaths.

"There’s a mechanism like this?!"

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

Ning Zhuo felt his soul weaken.

He looked up and observed: the pitch-black runes on the giant log gradually disappeared, and the entire giant log slowly retracted into the wall. Then, the wall bricks on both sides shifted with a clatter and returned to normal.

"I understand!" 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 the force to leap forward."

The mechanical puppet’s own speed was very limited, and by the middle section, it began to be less than the speed of the floor tiles moving backward.

Relying solely on running, Ning Zhuo could not get close to the second door no matter what.

Originally, the wall surface was extremely smooth and could not be used for leverage. But the horizontal logs that popped out provided an opportunity.

With a new discovery, Ning Zhuo tried again.

He timed it right and jumped continuously. By the fifth giant log...

Bang.

He was swept out 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, 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.

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

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

"The head component is also a bit big. Square, turning the head slowly; if I had known, I should have changed to a small head."

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

"Fortunately, I remember the positions where these giant logs pop out, and 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 back again.

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

The difficulty surged tenfold in an instant!

On the throne in the main hall, the Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit had been secretly observing the first trial-taker. When it saw the wooden puppet Ning Zhuo staying in place, it laughed with a gurgling sound.

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

Bang bang bang...

Ning Zhuo failed to pass the level continuously.

"Not enough spiritual power."

He sighed in his heart, sat down, and opened the small lid on his belly.

Under the lid, there was a secret compartment, and a spirit stone was placed in the secret compartment.

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

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

He closed the small lid on his belly and even patted it gently with his small palm to ensure it was fixed tightly.

"When replacing the spirit stone, I must be fast and make good use of the spiritual power still circulating in the puppet’s body. This is likely the puppet’s weakest moment."

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

But Ning Zhuo dared not continue to use it.

What if, when he was sprinting, the spiritual power was completely exhausted, and there was not 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 the soul is weakened to a certain degree, even with spiritual power, I will be paralyzed."

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

Ning Zhuo observed himself and found that there were cracks and fine seams on the arms, head, and other parts.

"The giant logs are positioned randomly, and there is no shortcut, so I can only work hard."

Concentrating his spirit and regrouping, Ning Zhuo launched a sprint again.

Bang, bang, bang...

Ning Zhuo was knocked back time and time again, and he also accumulated experience time and time again, increasing his proficiency in controlling the puppet body.

His progress was visible to the naked eye.

When he rushed to the last section of the road, seven or eight giant logs exerted their power at the same time. They were like having a seizure, popping out continuously. Some swept across, some stabbed straight, some fell from the sky, and some changed direction halfway.

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

Previously, both legs were bumpy.

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

After thinking, Ning Zhuo had a bold idea.

"Shall I try it?"

He dismantled his arms one after another and replaced them under his torso, replacing his thighs.

Then he inserted the only remaining thigh into his right arm.

He became a strange puppet man, with a quite eerie image.

Ning Zhuo did not rush to try, but stayed in place, practiced for a while, and gradually mastered his new form.

Half an hour later.

Ning Zhuo, with only one arm left, passed by luck and crawled to 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 transmitted down.

Just like before, there were still three options.

First, spirit stone.

Second, mechanical component.

Third, spell.

Ning Zhuo was at the end of his rope, too late to look carefully, and directly chose the spell.

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