Chapter 45: Everyone Is the Protagonist

Ning Zhuo could no longer hear, see, or smell; once again, he was plunged into a world of darkness.

Yet he was delighted.

“I finally made it in!”

“From now on, I can enter the Lava Immortal Palace at will, using this method.”

The previous way was too passive.

“Perhaps I can even activate the ‘Trial Disciple’ mark and leave the palace of my own accord?”

This speculation lingered in his mind, but for now, it needed no confirmation.

As he mused, Ning Zhuo activated the Five Elements Spiritual Regulation Technique, unleashing spiritual power.

His outward-flowing spiritual power quickly latched onto the first mechanical component.

As with the previous two times, it was the left arm.

Then, the head.

Again, as before, it was an oversized head.

With practiced ease, Ning Zhuo assembled himself, then hopped nimbly down the little mountain of mechanical parts.

Limping, he hurried toward the door.

This time, to save time, he didn’t bother finding legs of equal length.

“With the hanging loop, even if I’m hobbling, it’s enough to get me through Room Two.”

“The most pressing task is to erase my name from the rankings. I’m listed on at least three boards, so at the very least, I’ll need to do this three times.”

But when Ning Zhuo touched the door, he found the hanging loop missing from the reward options.

The three choices were: a spirit stone, a Recoil Wire (mechanical part), and a burst of energy (spell).

“No hanging loop?!” Ning Zhuo was momentarily stunned.

Then, he slapped his forehead. The small wooden palm struck his oversized head with a resounding thunk.

“A mistake!”

“I should have realized this earlier.”

“During my second exploration, I noticed the Ice Embrace spell was replaced by the Fire Grasp spell.”

“This means the reward options aren’t fixed. It’s likely that once I select an option, it rotates out.”

“If this is true for spells, it must also apply to mechanical rewards.”

“It’s just that the spirit stone option is always present, so I wasn’t alert to the rotation.”

Everyone makes mistakes.

Ning Zhuo was no exception.

Of course, his eagerness to conceal his identity was the main reason for his oversight.

Staring at the three rewards before him, Ning Zhuo considered briefly, then quickly chose the Recoil Wire.

He couldn’t pick the spell—he wanted to succeed in removing his name from the rankings this time.

True, he could probably enter the palace at will with the Trial Disciple’s mark, but he hadn’t fully explored this mechanism yet; there might be other restrictions.

“For example, maybe I have to wait a few days before I can enter again?”

He didn’t want any complications at this critical moment. What he needed most was to get off the rankings!

He refused to take needless risks.

Nor did he choose the spirit stone.

He was already full of spiritual power.

The Recoil Wire was teleported to him.

It was a coil of metal wire, rather thick. Looking closely, one could see gold and silver luster intertwined along its surface.

Ning Zhuo was very familiar with this.

He plopped down on the floor and removed both of his lower legs.

Then, he pulled out a length of Recoil Wire and, with nimble fingers, twisted it into a spiraling shape, like a rising whirlwind.

He then installed this spiraled metal wire at his knees, adding a new connection between thigh and calf.

Finally, he reattached his lower legs.

He did the same at his elbows, adding Recoil Wire there as well.

He stood up and moved around a little—everything felt good.

There was nothing more to practice in Room One, so Ning Zhuo pushed open the door and stepped into Room Two.

He dashed across the retreating floor tiles.

With Recoil Wire now between his thighs and calves, each time his foot landed, the wire compressed. Once compressed enough, it would spring back, forcing itself to its normal length and propelling him forward.

This gave Ning Zhuo much more momentum.

Previously, he had run across the room in a straightforward manner. Now, he bounced and leapt, covering great distances with each jump.

Before, by midway through, he would lose out to the retreating tiles. But this time, his running and jumping were so efficient that he kept ahead of the receding floor even past the midway point.

A massive wooden beam swung across his path, but Ning Zhuo was ready. He leapt lightly, landing directly on the beam.

“Before, I needed both feet for such jumps; now, even on one leg, I can jump higher and faster than before with two!”

He bounded between the beam and the wall, occasionally landing back on the tiles.

He failed twice, but on the third attempt he overcame the final obstacle and landed at the door.

“The Recoil Wire is actually better than the hanging loop for clearing Room Two,” Ning Zhuo concluded.

At that moment, he thought of the speedrun leaderboard.

“These trials set by the three sect elders are more than just tests—they’re meant to teach as well.”

“The so-called speedrun is really an encouragement for us trial disciples to hone our skills and master the use of mechanical constructs.”

“What if Meng Chong attempted this challenge?”

“Could he use these mechanical parts as deftly?”

“No, that’s not the key—the decisive factor is his puppet. With an extraordinary talent, his puppet is surely much stronger than mine!”

During the raid on the Ziyang Villa, Ning Zhuo had seen Meng Chong, through mechanical constructs, launch a surprise attack on Han Ming.

“Though Meng Chong was surging with medicinal power and surrounded by leaking arcane energy at the time, what gave him such overwhelming force was his talent for surging thunder.”

Ning Zhuo, himself a walking library, understood perfectly what extraordinary talent meant. Yet, having witnessed it firsthand, he was still shaken.

What does extraordinary mean?

Lesser, moderate, and greater talents are all in the same league. Extraordinary is something that transcends the norm, an existence above equality!

Perhaps only one in a million cultivators is so gifted.

Any cultivator with extraordinary talent, once matured, would inevitably become a genius of a great sect, a pillar of a nation.

“The Meng family is a super clan in the Southern Bean Kingdom, with countless members. With such vast numbers, an extraordinary talent emerges every so often.”

Ning Zhuo felt no envy.

He himself possessed the lesser Early Wisdom talent and a mysterious Arm talent—why shouldn’t others have their own gifts?

Why should others not be blessed with something greater than his?

On what grounds?

The year his mother died, Ning Zhuo understood a profound truth: the world does not revolve around him!

He is only the protagonist of his own life, and everyone is the protagonist of theirs.

On the grand stage of the world, all these protagonists play out their struggles, ambitions, enmities, and plots.

“It is precisely this that makes the world so fascinating.”

Meng Chong had yet to enter, but Ning Zhuo already felt the pressure at his back.

Hiding his name was just a safety net, a way to secure his current head start.

But once Meng Chong truly joined, how long could he maintain this lead?

Ning Zhuo had no certainty.

All he could do now was keep moving forward.