Chapter 720

Inside the mechanism wandering dragon.

In front of the mechanism pedestal, Ning Zhuo had been working continuously for half a day.

There was only one type of mother-sound reed left for him to refine.

The "Mother-Sound Reed Book" recorded that this was the "Shadow Bee Needle." When triggered alone, it could emit a very short "yi" sound; under this sound effect, the mechanism carrier could have a swift burst of speed.

The materials had already been prepared on the table: Thunder-Struck Jade Bamboo, with a color like frozen fat and containing electric patterns; Golden-Ring Poisonous Bee, with fire threads hidden in its abdomen and golden light on its wings; North Ice Crystal Sand, like stardust and cold to the touch; and Spring Equinox Rootless Water, contained in a green jade lotus leaf cup.

Ning Zhuo started the mechanism pedestal, triggering a sharp golden light that sliced the jade bamboo longitudinally along its natural electric patterns.

Instantly, the cavity wall was revealed before Ning Zhuo’s eyes, full of thunder patterns, spiraling upward all the way.

Ning Zhuo could not help but recall what the "Mother-Sound Reed Book" said—the thunder patterns conduct energy, which is the musical track carved by heaven and earth using thunder as a knife.

Ning Zhuo took out the North Ice Crystal Sand, put it all into the green jade lotus leaf cup, and mixed it thoroughly with the Spring Equinox Rootless Water.

Following the detailed steps in the "Mother-Sound Reed Book," Ning Zhuo activated his Five Elements magic power to participate in the mixing process. Sometimes he used fire, sometimes water, and sometimes he switched to earth.

It must be said that Five Elements magic power has a wide coverage and is quite universal.

Finally, Ning Zhuo obtained a semi-transparent paste with a slight green tint.

Ning Zhuo carefully filled the jade bamboo walls with this semi-transparent paste, leaving only the last empty cavity as the vibration source nest.

"Thunder carved natural musical tracks into the bamboo cavity; using such precious materials saves quite a lot of manual labor."

Ning Zhuo secretly praised the ingenuity of Green Reed Child’s choice of materials in this regard.

He then proceeded to process the Golden-Ring Poisonous Bee.

As soon as the restriction was lifted, the poisonous bee flapped its wings and flew to attack, its tail needle stabbing straight at Ning Zhuo’s brow!

Ning Zhuo did not dodge or evade, triggering a burst of wood-element magic power to intercept the Golden-Ring Poisonous Bee.

The bee’s needle tip pierced three inches into the wood-element magic power and suddenly self-ignited, producing a poisonous fire.

The poisonous fire intertwined with the green energy, the bee’s body turned to ash, leaving only the poison-tempered sound needle suspended in the air, humming.

Ning Zhuo raced against time, and while the poisonous fire was still burning, he immediately started the next step.

He used the bee needle as a pen and the poisonous fire as ink, stabbing the needle tip into the ice sand paste three millimeters and then retreating. He continued this all the way, poking many fine holes.

Where ice and fire stimulated each other, sounds were made, and the depth and angle of each hole were different.

The first sound hole was as wide as a grain of wheat. The seven holes in the middle were as fine as needle tips, and the last sound hole was stabbed obliquely into the cavity wall.

The poisonous fire had been extinguished by the ice paste.

Ning Zhuo then embedded the bee needle into the last chamber.

Ning Zhuo bit his fingertip, dripped a drop of blood into it, and simultaneously activated his magic power.

A buzzing sound suddenly arose!

Ning Zhuo flipped his palm, pressed the two halves of the bamboo segment tightly together, and applied slight pressure.

The buzzing was forced back into the cavity, repeatedly refracting in the eight sound holes. When the ninth echo overlapped, the humming suddenly became clear, turning into a short "yi" sound, and then it became completely quiet.

Under Ning Zhuo’s blood refining, the jade bamboo merged back into one.

He held the warm jade bamboo in his palm and saw a golden needle light faintly appearing at the end of the bamboo segment.

Ning Zhuo gently stroked the bamboo segment and suddenly threw it into the air. The bamboo segment rotated in the air, emitting a series of short "yi-yi-yi" sounds.

The rotation speed of the bamboo segment also skyrocketed, almost becoming a black shadow.

Ning Zhuo reached out again and caught it.

The sound lingering in his ears also disappeared abruptly.

"With this, the twenty mother-sound reed mechanism components have been completely produced."

"Next is to manufacture the bamboo puppets."

According to the information distributed by Green Reed Child, the prerequisite for participating in the second Cloud-Raising Small Trial was for cultivators to bring their own manufactured bamboo puppets to participate.

"But Green Reed Child did not say the number of these bamboo puppets."

"Here, perhaps he is intentionally testing the ability of the participating cultivators to design mechanisms and analyze the situation."

Specifically, there are two extremes.

The first extreme is to concentrate all the mother-sound reed components on one huge bamboo puppet.

The second extreme is to make each mother-sound reed component into a small bamboo puppet. All the bamboo puppets gather together to form a small combat team of twenty people.

Ning Zhuo did not hesitate here.

"I don't know the specific situation of the second Cloud-Raising Small Trial, so taking the middle path is the most appropriate."

He prepared to make seven small bamboo puppets according to his inspiration, each with an average of three mother-sound reeds.

Ning Zhuo stood in front of the pedestal without moving his feet.

Soon, the time of a cup of tea passed, and Ning Zhuo produced the first small bamboo puppet.

The third reed was carefully designed by him to be the handle of a bamboo whip.

The body of the bamboo whip used ice silkworm crystal silk, assisted by spiritual sense for weaving. Many grooves were carved on the whip body, which could produce sound through the friction of airflow.

Magic power suspended threads!

Ning Zhuo extended his five fingers to control it.

*Pa.* The small bamboo puppet lashed out a whip.

The air quickly formed a vortex, a short "wu" sound moved by his ear, and then followed the bamboo whip, transmitting to the end of the handle, where it was magnified ten times in the bamboo cavity.

Then, it followed the small bamboo puppet’s arm, transmitting to the inside of its body, triggering the other two mother-sound reed components.

The next moment, a semi-transparent sound wave spider web erupted from the bamboo puppet’s body from the inside out, directly covering the surrounding ten feet.

The sound wave spider web carried triple power and was the trump card of this small bamboo puppet.

Ning Zhuo used a piece of dark iron and placed it in the sound wave spider web to test it.

The dark iron’s downward speed slowed down, almost stalling in mid-air.

Then, countless cracks appeared on the surface of the dark iron, crisscrossing each other. Finally, the dark iron vibrated continuously, and with a *peng* sound, it actually exploded!

Two days later, Ning Zhuo had finished making all seven small bamboo puppets, which initially met Green Reed Child’s requirements.

"Next is constant practice."

Ning Zhuo trained for another day.

He already had rich experience in drilling, so mastering these seven small bamboo puppets was not difficult; he soon got the hang of it and practiced until he was proficient.

"However, according to what I have learned, I can already estimate one direction of Green Reed Child’s small trial."

"His way of controlling bamboo puppets must be based on musical rhythm, with suspended threads as an auxiliary."

"To avoid being too late in the future, I might as well put more effort into musical rhythm first; only then will I have achieved something."

Thunder Sound Peak.

The Sound-Lost Pool was embedded in the mountain peak, like a piece of ink jade dropped and shattered by a heavenly god.

The edge of the pool was full of scaled thunder-struck rocks. Many black rocks had been burned by heavenly fire into a glazed luster.

The pool surface was waveless all year round, reflecting the gathering and scattering of clouds and the flickering of stars, but it swallowed all sounds—even if huge rocks collapsed, they only rippled out a silent circle, which was then swallowed by the deep pool, as if falling into a bottomless abyss.

In the center of the pool, there was a small sandbar with a solitary weeping paulownia tree standing on it.

The trunk was no more than three spans around, twisted like a dying dragon.

In every crack on the bark, resin was condensed, like amber tears.

The paulownia tree had branches but no leaves, and the branches were dense, forming an empty nest inside.

In the past, the pool water was dead silent, and the mountain wind hit the branches and the empty nest, being cut into shreds by the sharp loneliness. Frequent lightning strikes shattered into whimpering gang qi, and the residual heavenly fire tempered on the stones was like a lonely firework.

Only during the Flying Cloud Assembly would this place become lively.

The array of Thunder-Struck Peak would be activated, isolating the lightning falling from the sky, and a large number of cultivators would gather by the Sound-Lost Pool, actively participating in the Cloud-Raising Small Trial of the Solitary Weeping Paulownia.

When Ning Zhuo arrived here, the Solitary Weeping Paulownia moved slightly without wind, about to begin teaching the "Green Wind Spring Rain Score."

A large number of cultivators were already sitting cross-legged or standing by the pool, waiting in full battle array.

Ning Zhuo immediately found an empty space and sat cross-legged on a stone.

At first, he was not eye-catching.

But as he took out the hemp rope and wooden awl, he attracted attention.

Suspend hair from the beam, pierce thigh with an awl!

Ning Zhuo did not hesitate, directly pulling his hair tight while using the wooden awl to stab his own thigh.

"Is this a Confucian cultivation art?"

"Using a Confucian cultivation art before it has even started?"

Yes.

Ning Zhuo decided to stab himself first, find the pain, and enter the state early.

The Solitary Weeping Paulownia began to emit sounds, performing the "Green Wind Spring Rain Score" to the outside.

Suspending hair from the beam eliminated Ning Zhuo’s distracting thoughts, while piercing his thigh with an awl brought him penetrating thoughts.

He poured all his heart and soul into "listening."

He heard the sound of trees growing and stretching, and his whole body was bathed in the "Green Wind Spring Rain Score," also producing a numb, itchy, and subtle "feeling of growth."

Ning Zhuo sighed in his heart: "Growth is nothing more than this!"

The first time, he had a comprehensive and superficial understanding of the entire "Green Wind Spring Rain Score."

The second time, the hemp rope tightened at the roots of his hair, bringing a continuous dull pain. His right leg was already unrecognizable, and Ning Zhuo had to switch to his left leg.

!

The wooden awl in his hand stabbed down one after another, and there was not the slightest hesitation in every movement.

Some people who were paying attention to Ning Zhuo watched with twitching eyes, sighing in their hearts: "This big-headed boy can actually be so ruthless to himself!"

The previous sound of growth and stretching seemed to be constantly magnified, and Ning Zhuo heard countless details contained within.

These were the sounds of growth and stretching with different rhythms and tempos; he even heard every single note.

"The 'Green Wind Spring Rain Score' is using musical rhythm to awaken the life nature of trees, endowing them with power, and accelerating their growth."

By the third time.

At Ning Zhuo’s feet, blood had already gathered into a small pool.

The severe pain at the roots of his hair was somewhat numb. A large amount of hair was pulled out directly by the hemp rope.

Ning Zhuo’s eyes were dim, and his upper body swayed uncontrollably.

In his listening, all the sounds were mixed together, like heavy rain, frog croaks, and thunder as drums, noisy and chaotic, making one feel dizzy.

"Greed for too much leads to poor digestion!"

"I wanted to get it all in one step, but unfortunately, my learning ability is still a distance away."

Human life suspended by a thread!

Luoshu pages!

Ning Zhuo’s eyes were dim, and taking advantage of the fact that he was on the periphery of the crowd, he secretly hardened his heart, activated his divine ability, and touched the power of the Dao artifact.

Under the influence of the Luoshu pages, Ning Zhuo immediately became extremely organized. The sounds he heard were immediately classified by attribution, order, and size, no longer chaotic.

Not only that, but the various sounds of growth and stretching were combined in a way that was close to nature and flowed freely, performing by Ning Zhuo’s ears.

At this moment, Ning Zhuo was somewhat infatuated.

He heard a rhythm of life, flowing and erupting.

Thus, he understood the core essence of the "Green Wind Spring Rain Score."

Learned in three times!

Ning Zhuo put away the hemp rope and wooden awl, healed himself, cleaned up the bloodstains, and quietly left the scene.

According to the pattern, the Solitary Weeping Paulownia would perform the same musical score at least twenty times.

Although some people noticed the movement and glanced at Ning Zhuo, seeing his pale face, bloodstains, and messy hair, looking somewhat disheveled, they just assumed he had suffered a setback and defeat, so they didn't take it to heart.

The Solitary Weeping Paulownia was originally a demon cultivator who, in order to save his Dao companion—who was also his soulmate for life—tried his best, but ultimately failed against heaven, watching his soulmate perish in the heavenly tribulation.

The Solitary Weeping Paulownia suffered heavy damage to both body and mind, his cultivation base was almost shattered, and he finally turned into his original form—a paulownia tree, repeatedly performing different musical scores in the ruins caused by the heavenly tribulation.

This was a rather special one in the Myriad Phenomena Sect’s Flying Cloud Small Trial.

If a cultivator could respond to the Solitary Weeping Paulownia with high-quality music, they would very likely receive the paulownia’s amber tree tears as a reward.

"I won't join in the fun!" Ning Zhuo had already learned it, but he was still willing to endure it and didn't want to show off casually.

He was secretly happy: "Among all the musical scores, this 'Green Wind Spring Rain Score' is the most suitable for bamboo puppets."

"Although I have learned it, I still need to practice this musical score."

"In the future, perhaps I can use the 'Green Wind Spring Rain Score' to control the bamboo puppet team with music."

Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo could not help but sigh again: This Flying Cloud Assembly and Cloud-Raising Small Trial are really too good; all kinds of things can be learned at will, and there is rarely a need to consider other external factors.

"Eh, what is this?"

When Ning Zhuo was passing by a mountain peak on a cloud, he unexpectedly found a group of cultivators gathered, discussing this Cloud-Raising Small Trial.

"There is a mechanism small trial here; why don't I give it a try?" Ning Zhuo was immediately interested.

He had added "suspend hair from the beam" and "pierce thigh with an awl," and he also had the Intuition Brush, Bitter Ink, and Luoshu pages; his set of learning methods made him interested and impulsive to learn all kinds of things.

What’s more, this was a Cloud-Raising Small Trial for mechanism arts!

Ning Zhuo lowered his cloud, arrived at the mountainside, and competed with the other cultivators.

The stone door at the mountainside opened, revealing a burly man who, besides being broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, also had a large bushy black beard that almost circled his face.

The bearded burly man grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "I am Che Zhuzi, come on in, everyone."

"Che Zhuzi, does what you say count? Whoever can pass your Cloud-Raising Small Trial can take away a magic treasure or other equivalent treasures?" Someone asked immediately.

Che Zhuzi nodded: "Of course, of course! What I have said is naturally as good as gold, it absolutely counts!"

"Alright, I'll go first!" The cultivator who asked earlier took the lead.

The cultivators who reacted scrambled to drill into the door.

Ning Zhuo felt it was funny: "These hired shills have a somewhat rough act."

But this time he guessed wrong.

These were really not shills.

Pan Si Niangzi, hidden deep in the cave dwelling, was secretly excited: "It’s here, this little brat Ning Zhuo has finally been lured in by me."

"It was not in vain that I had Che Zhuzi send out the message directly, using heavy rewards to motivate cultivators to participate in the Cloud-Raising Small Trial!"

"Come on, hurry in!"

Pan Si Niangzi licked her bright red lips, malice looming in her eyes.