Chapter 82: Golden-Blood Battle Ape, Crushing Victory

This mechanical ape was only half as tall as Yuan Dasheng, yet it was imposing and majestic beyond measure.

Its colors were gold and crimson. The fur was a deep, bloodlike red, while every part of its body exposed gleaming golden bars inset with fine gold edges. The metal strips varied in length, thickness, and form, assembled and joined together so that the ape seemed clad from head to toe in a hollow suit of golden armor.

But on closer inspection, one realized that this was in fact the machinery skeleton laid bare. Its forehead, brow ridges, nose bridge, and more were all made of metal.

Its appearance closely resembled Yuan Dasheng’s.

Its pupils were like blood jade, and beneath its sunken eye sockets lay two heavy streaks of black shadow.

The puppet Ning Zhuo ran up to the mechanical ape, looked up at it, then circled around it. A pair of tiny wooden hands reached out, sometimes pinching the great ape’s thighs, sometimes rapping their knuckles against the exposed metal bones.

“Pity that a puppet body has no divine sense, so I can’t probe inside to inspect it.”

Ning Zhuo lamented, while his hunger to study it swelled wildly with every breath.

Then a stream of information came through—

Blood-and-Gold War Ape!

Its battle body is fashioned chiefly from Vermilion Fire Glazed Amber, fired from Crimson Flame Stone.

With immortal spirit wood combined with red gold and black iron, it bears a body of vajra bones, tenacious beyond compare.

The surface of the vajra bones is inscribed with the complete prohibitions of the Vajra Protecting Body Art, making this skeletal frame itself a formidable defensive magical implement.

Hidden within the war ape’s palms are eighteen martial talisman arrays. Inside its head lies a mass of immortal condensed cloud-mist, and every drop of that vapor may serve as a thought for contemplation...

This was the first time since Ning Zhuo entered the palace that he had received such a long string of information.

The content was richly detailed, and the puppet Ning Zhuo stood there savoring it for quite a while.

“Yuan Dasheng’s body and soul were both taken as chief materials to forge this mechanism.”

“It has no memories of the past at all, but because it possesses spirituality, it will still retain certain actions engraved deep in its being.”

What caught Ning Zhuo’s attention most was a single line within it: eighty percent spirituality contained within; capable of unleashing the Immortal Talent of Righteous Bone and Golden Hardness!

“Spirituality...” Ning Zhuo secretly clicked his tongue.

Spirituality was no trivial matter.

According to common cultivation knowledge, treasures used by cultivators were divided into talismans, magical implements, magical treasures, and spiritual treasures.

What made spiritual treasures special was precisely their spirituality.

In some vast cultivation sects and clans, spiritual treasures could even communicate normally with people and possessed considerable intelligence.

“A mechanism creation forged by the Magma Immortal Palace actually possesses spirituality!”

“Does that not mean it can mass-produce spiritual treasures?”

“No wonder the Venerable of the Three Sects is a great master at the Void Refinement level.”

“Only... eighty percent spirituality? Why not full?”

“What would happen if it were full?”

“How is spirituality increased?”

The more Ning Zhuo thought, the more questions arose in his mind.

Thinking, however, had its rewards.

He came to understand the purpose behind the arrangements made by the Venerable of the Three Sects in the room behind the Buddhist gate.

These mechanical creations were endowed with spirituality, clearly so they could be paired with the Spirit-Communing Mirror Terrace Art.

This Buddhist technique specialized in refining the spirit. It could construct a divine sense mirror in the upper dantian of the sea of spirit, allowing communication with all living things endowed with spirit.

And now, was not the Blood-and-Gold War Ape before him the perfect target?

With that thought, Ning Zhuo activated the Spirit-Communing Mirror Terrace Art.

Though his was a puppet body without an upper dantian in the sea of spirit, the thread of life connecting him to his flesh had never been severed, allowing him to commune with his own sea of spirit and summon the mirror of divine sense.

Soon, through that mirror, he formed a close connection with the Blood-and-Gold War Ape mechanism.

“Forward, back, shift left, turn right.”

Ning Zhuo gave the commands in his heart, and the Blood-and-Gold War Ape obeyed one by one.

“Roll over, stick out your tongue, stick out your backside...” Ning Zhuo tried issuing even finer commands to the mechanical war ape.

The war ape carried them out, then conveyed a feeling of impatience.

Ning Zhuo was astonished and delighted. “So this is what spirituality can do. It even throws little tantrums.”

He then tried to communicate with the Blood-and-Gold War Ape. It could not speak with him, but it could convey emotions and basic reactions.

Its most frequent response was: “Master, what do you need me to do? Please give the order.”

Though fashioned from Yuan Dasheng’s remains, it possessed only spirituality, not memory. Even if it had memory, Yuan Dasheng never knew, until death, that Ning Zhuo was the enemy who had framed him.

The more Ning Zhuo experimented, the more excited he became. He discovered that the Blood-and-Gold War Ape could execute commands of relatively complex content.

Ordinary mechanical creations, even with his mind seal, still required him to direct them constantly, keeping his spirit fixed upon them.

But with the Blood-and-Gold War Ape, it was almost equivalent to having a cultivator subordinate. Once Ning Zhuo issued the order, he need not concern himself further; it would carry it out on its own.

“Marvelous, truly marvelous!”

Leading the Blood-and-Gold War Ape, Ning Zhuo formally pushed open the door and entered the second trial beyond the Buddhist gate.

The moment he stepped inside, a prison cage descended upon him.

Ning Zhuo wanted to dodge, but the surrounding space was already sealed, leaving him no choice but to be trapped within it.

The Blood-and-Gold War Ape, by contrast, remained untouched and free.

Then the message came through: control the Blood-and-Gold War Ape, protect yourself, and repel six waves of invading puppets.

In the darkness, more than a dozen pairs of eyes lit up.

Then nearly ten mechanical wolves burst forth.

The pack lunged at Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo immediately understood and issued orders to the Blood-and-Gold War Ape.

The Blood-and-Gold War Ape sprang into battle, nimble and fierce, displaying astonishing martial skill as it repeatedly tore the mechanical wolves apart in close combat.

Ning Zhuo never once made a move himself, relying solely on the Blood-and-Gold War Ape to fight off five waves.

By the final wave, more than thirty martial puppets came rushing in.

The Blood-and-Gold War Ape was somewhat outnumbered, so Ning Zhuo intervened through the mirror terrace and cast spells.

The spiritual energy stored within the war ape was consumed at his direction, causing fresh wind to swirl around both its hands and greatly increasing its speed. He also filled the war ape with a lingering chill, freezing its foes.

Once Ning Zhuo stepped in to assist, the situation immediately reversed. The Blood-and-Gold War Ape gained a commanding advantage and won with ease in the end.

“By rights, the difficulty of this trial should rival that of the Daoist and demonic gates. Yet I didn’t feel any hardship at all.”

“Is the Blood-and-Gold War Ape simply too excellent?”

Ning Zhuo guessed correctly.

He continued pushing the door, but on the third trial he again encountered difficulty.

“The cooperation between the Blood-and-Gold War Ape and me still needs a great deal of practice.”

“This time I entered the Buddhist gate alone, and I also have no blood aura on me.”

“The Magma Immortal Palace changes every third trial. I wonder what good things this Buddhist route will offer after I pass this hurdle.”

Ning Zhuo tested the waters a little, then withdrew with perfect rationality.

He did not hurry to the demonic gate to draw in blood aura, but instead attempted to leave the immortal palace.

A message arrived, asking whether Ning Zhuo wished to leave the mechanical ape behind or take it with him.

Ning Zhuo tried both options and confirmed that, indeed, the Blood-and-Gold War Ape could be brought in and taken out at will.

What delighted him even more was that even if he left the Blood-and-Gold War Ape inside the immortal palace, he could still observe its condition through the divine sense mirror and issue it commands!

“Then does that mean I could...”

Not long after.

The puppet Meng Chong cleared the second chamber.

“I’ve trained bitterly in special drills, day and night; now the second chamber can no longer hinder me in the slightest!”

“Hahaha!”

Meng Chong laughed aloud, pushed open the door, and once again entered the third chamber.

The many puppets within immediately rushed in to surround and kill him.

“Charging Thunder!” Meng Chong unleashed his immortal talent. His form was swift as lightning, weaving freely among the martial puppets.

At times he moved fast, at times slow. When he eased his speed and then surged forward again, the Charging Thunder technique’s velocity actually surpassed its previous limit.

Meng Chong’s mastery over his immortal talent had risen to a whole new level.

Just as he knocked down every martial puppet and was about to push open the door, Ning Zhuo activated the Blood-and-Gold War Ape, and it revealed itself.

“Oh? Another one slipped through the net.”

Meng Chong clenched his fist and charged forward.

The next instant, he was thrown hard to the ground by the Blood-and-Gold War Ape in a shoulder-throw.

Meng Chong stared blankly for a moment, then rose to his feet and said savagely, “Again. I’m going to smash you to pieces.”