Chapter 145: Mechanical Puppet - Qi Bai

The Dragon-Chelonian Fire Spirit was consumed by burning anxiety, spitting fire everywhere within the main hall amidst continuous roars.

Meng Kui exerted himself to the utmost to suppress the chaos, strictly refusing to overstep his bounds by even half a step.

The crimson flame beasts had not been beaten back; large numbers of them continued their relentless assault on the immortal palace.

In an instant, the battle situation at the summit grew immensely complex, doubling the difficulty of Meng Kui’s suppression efforts and making his task grueling.

Yet, he had no other choice.

Who else could it be? He was the current City Lord of Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

Ensuring that the Magma Immortal Palace remained secure was his bounden duty.

He could only endure the hardship bitterly.

……

Within the trial chambers, however, peace and tranquility reigned.

Looking at Sun Lingtong’s soul, Ning Zhuo tilted his large wooden head and muttered to himself, "Does this... count as a success?"

If one were to call it a success, Sun Lingtong’s soul had indeed been drawn inside.

Yet, if one were to claim it was a failure, there were grounds for that as well.

When a normal trial disciple first entered Chamber Number One, their soul would reside within an initial puppet torso, after which they would urge the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Scripture to attract other puppet components for assembly.

However, although Sun Lingtong’s soul had entered, it merely floated in mid-air, sensing no puppet components whatsoever.

A wisp of red soul flame hovered around Sun Lingtong’s soul.

This was the lingering effect of the Phoenix Soul Blood Fragrance Pill he had recently taken to heal his soul.

As the red soul fire flickered, resembling a phoenix’s tail feathers, it carried the profound meaning of nirvana and rebirth.

"Since you haven't been assigned any initial puppet components, I'll try arranging one for you!"

Taking the initiative, Ning Zhuo selected a puppet body, limbs, and other components for Sun Lingtong.

First, he had Sun Lingtong’s soul inhabit the puppet torso, and then guided and assisted him in assembling the rest of his puppet body.

"Is this what it feels like to become a puppet? Truly marvelous."

Sun Lingtong looked at his wooden palms, stamped his feet, and hopped a few times, full of excitement.

"Let's go. In Chamber Number One, another cultivator's soul might enter the immortal palace at any moment to explore, which isn't safe."

Ning Zhuo urged.

Sun Lingtong nodded repeatedly.

Deeply aware of the stakes, he quickly strode dozens of paces toward the first doorway.

He touched the portal, yet received no information whatsoever, let alone the three rewards.

Ning Zhuo’s heart sank slightly; he knew this was because Sun Lingtong had entered through a loophole via cheating.

Because he had bypassed the proper method of foundation establishment and had not practiced the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Scripture, he could not be recognized by the trial stage.

What if he tried the Buddha’s Heart Demon Seal, then?

The next moment, Ning Zhuo’s soul power was rapidly depleted, and Sun Lingtong immediately received the prompt.

^ "The three rewards, which one should I choose... Ugh!"

Just as Sun Lingtong spoke these words, he found that the three rewards had vanished, and he could no longer make a selection.

Ning Zhuo offered comfort, saying, "Don't worry, I just stopped channeling the Mortal Thread of Fate!"

Naturally, this was a lie.

In truth, Ning Zhuo had employed the Buddha’s Heart Demon Seal.

Ning Zhuo felt no psychological burden whatsoever in telling such a lie to Sun Lingtong.

This was because when Ning Zhuo was only two or three years old, Sun Lingtong had explicitly told him: Everyone may have secrets of their own; one must respect others and honor the small secrets they choose to keep.

With their deep mutual understanding, Sun Lingtong heard Ning Zhuo’s words and instantly grasped his underlying intention: "Indeed, we needed to test this aspect out!"

The result of the test was—Ning Zhuo needed to use the Buddha’s Heart Demon Seal every single time, cooperating with the Mortal Thread of Fate to deepen their connection, in order to temporarily resolve Sun Lingtong's status as an unregistered outsider, granting him temporary recognition by the Magma Immortal Palace and eligibility to select pass rewards.

"This is simply fantastic!"

Ning Zhuo praised heartily, "This way, Boss Sun, you might not even need to have your name recorded on the leaderboard!"

Leading the puppet Sun Lingtong, he smashed through the trials all the way into the preparation room.

Sure enough, he discovered only two "names" on the leaderboard: "Entry Standard" and "Meng Chong".

Gazing at the entry standard, Sun Lingtong gave Ning Zhuo a thumbs-up, saying, "Not bad at all, little brother, you really know what you're doing!"

Accompanied by the Golden-Blood War Ape's great victory, Ning Zhuo brought Sun Lingtong all the way through the obstacles.

They pushed onward until they reached the first Buddhist trial stage.

As Sun Lingtong placed himself within the coffin chamber, Ning Zhuo concentrated all his focus on the Buddha’s Heart Demon Seal and channeled the Mortal Thread of Fate to its utmost limit.

The Dragon-Chelonian Fire Spirit threw back its head and roared in profound grief and indignation.

Yet, constrained by its duty, it had no choice but to transmit the information across.

Outside, Meng Kui was panting heavily as he worked to suppress the immortal palace.

Sun Lingtong called out, "Alright, I've received the message!"

Following the steps Ning Zhuo had previously outlined, Sun Lingtong began to execute them.

Before long, his puppet body scattered across the ground, and his soul returned entirely back to his physical flesh.

Down in the underground base, he poured all the divine sense, dharma power, and vital blood he had previously extracted right back into himself.

In accordance with the plan discussed with the Ning Zhuo, Sun Lingtong shoved the Netherworld Ghostly Deity Seal, the Soul-Reeling Demonic Drum, and the shattered Brocade Garment back into their respective dantians.

Even the cluster of Ghost Gate Escape Grass was dealt with: Sun Lingtong snapped off three of its blades and stuffed them into his lower essence-sea dantian.

Having completed these preparations, Sun Lingtong could only wait quietly for Ning Zhuo to pull him back in.

Very soon.

Ning Zhuo once again drew a soul into the palace, pulling Sun Lingtong into his previous puppet body.

And along with this action, the teleportation aperture materialized, spitting out Qi Bai.

"Success!"

"We did it!"

Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong excitedly slapped palms in celebration.

"The Magma Immortal Palace! I shall use it to craft puppet creations," Sun Lingtong shouted loudly as the victorious Golden-Blood War Ape dragged Qi Bai toward the portal.

Standing behind him, Ning Zhuo was his most steadfast supporter; at that moment, Ning Zhuo exerted every ounce of his strength to summon the Buddha’s Heart Demon Seal while frantically driving the Mortal Thread of Fate.

"Roar..."

The Dragon-Chelonian Fire Spirit wailed mournfully, while Meng Kui pressed his lips tightly together, striving desperately to maintain suppression.

The Yuan Dasheng that Ning Zhuo had previously utilized possessed immortal endowments, but fundamentally, it was merely an aged Fire-Melting Demonic Ape at the Qi Refinement stage.

This time, however, things were different.

Qi Bai was a genuine, full-fledged Golden Core cultivator, and he carried upon his person two magical treasures along with three blades of Nascent Soul-grade precious plant foliage.

Within the Magma Immortal Palace, there were four tiers of furnaces: copper furnaces, iron furnaces, silver furnaces, and golden furnaces.

To refine raw materials with immortal endowments, one was forced to employ a golden furnace.

Furthermore, once immortal materials were to be refined, even a golden furnace could only be used a single time.

Qi Bai’s innate talent fell short of the supreme grade, rendering him unable to utilize a golden furnace.

However, possessing upper-grade talent, the use of a silver furnace was an absolute certainty.

The crux of the matter was that a single silver furnace was utterly insufficient.

Qi Bai simply carried too many items on his person.

Left with no alternative, the Dragon-Chelonian Fire Spirit had to grit its teeth and perform the grueling refinement to its absolute limit for Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong.

This was precisely one of the principal reasons why it loathed living within the Magma Immortal Palace so intensely.

It possessed no freedom; no matter how deeply unwilling it might be, it had no choice but to obey.

Bang, bang, bang...

Silver furnaces exploded one after another, unable to withstand the overwhelming burden.

Only after a staggering twenty-one silver furnaces had been destroyed did the Dragon-Chelonian Fire Spirit finally succeed in refining a single puppet.

During this process, Meng Kui finally managed to let out a sigh of relief.

This was because the Dragon-Chelonian Fire Spirit had to devote its entire focus to the refinement, draining away much of the energy it would have otherwise spent stirring up turmoil and causing riots within the Magma Immortal Palace.

At last, the puppet was successfully refined.

Even though the Dragon-Chelonian Fire Spirit felt extreme reluctance, it still had to teleport the puppet back, delivering it straight before Sun Lingtong.

Netherworld Envoy—Qi Bai.

End of Chapter.