The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, consumed by a raging fire of impatience, spewed flames throughout the main hall, its roars echoing endlessly.

Meng Kui, with arduous effort, suppressed the chaos, not allowing it to breach the slightest boundary.

The Crimson Flame Fiend Beasts, undeterred, continued their relentless assault on the Immortal Palace in large numbers.

In an instant, the battle atop the mountain grew incredibly complex, making Meng Kui’s task of suppression exponentially harder, a truly arduous ordeal.

But there was no choice.

He was, after all, the current City Lord of Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

Ensuring the Lava Immortal Palace remained secure was his duty.

He could only endure this bitter struggle.

Within the trial chamber, however, a scene of tranquil beauty unfolded.

Ning Zhuo gazed upon Sun Lingtong’s soul, tilting his wooden head in puzzlement. “Does this…count as a success?”

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

But if one were to call it a failure, there were reasons for that as well.

Normal trial participants, upon entering Room One, would have their souls housed within the initial wooden puppet frame, and then, by channeling the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art, attract other mechanical components to assemble their bodies.

But Sun Lingtong’s soul, upon entering, simply floated in mid-air, not resonating with any of the mechanical parts.

A wisp of crimson soul flame encircled Sun Lingtong’s spirit.

This was the Phoenix Soul Blood Incense Pill, which he had recently used to heal the soul, bestowing a part of its essence.

The crimson soul fire flickered, resembling a phoenix’s tail feathers, imbued with the profound meaning of nirvana and rebirth.

“Since you haven’t been assigned an initial mechanical component, then I’ll try to arrange one for you!”

Ning Zhuo took the initiative, selecting a mechanical body, mechanical limbs, and other parts for Sun Lingtong.

He first had Sun Lingtong’s soul reside within the mechanical body, and then guided and assisted him in assembling the rest of his wooden puppet form.

“Is this the feeling of becoming a mechanical puppet? It’s truly wondrous.”

Sun Lingtong gazed at his wooden puppet hand, then stamped his foot, jumping a few times, filled with excitement.

“Let’s go. Within Room One, there might be a cultivator’s soul entering the Immortal Palace to explore at any moment. It’s not safe here.”

Ning Zhuo urged.

Sun Lingtong nodded repeatedly.

He deeply understood their current situation, and quickly stepped forward, reaching the first door.

Upon touching the door, he received no information, let alone the three rewards.

Ning Zhuo’s heart sank slightly, knowing this was because Sun Lingtong had entered through deceit.

Because he had established his foundation through unorthodox means, and hadn’t cultivated the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art, he couldn’t gain the trial’s acknowledgment.

Then, what about trying the Myriad Buddha Heart Devil Seal?

In the next moment, Ning Zhuo’s soul force rapidly depleted, and Sun Lingtong immediately received the information.

“Three rewards, which should I choose…uh!”

Sun Lingtong had just spoken these words when he noticed the three rewards disappear, and he was no longer able to choose.

Ning Zhuo, however, consoled him: “Don’t worry, I just stopped channeling the Thread of Life!”

This was, of course, a falsehood.

In reality, Ning Zhuo had employed the Myriad Buddha Heart Devil Seal.

He felt no psychological burden in telling such lies to Sun Lingtong.

Because Sun Lingtong, when Ning Zhuo was only two or three years old, had explicitly told him: everyone may have their own secrets, and one must respect others, understanding their right to keep small secrets.

Sun Lingtong and Ning Zhuo shared a deep understanding, and upon hearing Ning Zhuo’s words, immediately understood the latter’s intent: “Indeed, this aspect needs to be tested!”

The result of the test was——Ning Zhuo needed to use the Myriad Buddha Heart Devil Seal every time, cooperating with the Thread of Life to deepen the connection, in order to temporarily solve Sun Lingtong’s blacklisted status, allowing him to temporarily gain the Lava Immortal Palace’s recognition, and be qualified to choose the rewards for passing through the trials.

“This is simply amazing!”

Ning Zhuo praised, “With this, Senior Sun, you might not need to have your name on the leaderboard!”

He led the puppet Sun Lingtong through the trials, entering the armory room.

As expected, he found the ‘names’ ‘Entry Standard’ and ‘Meng Chong’ on the leaderboard.

Sun Lingtong looked at ‘Entry Standard’, and gave Ning Zhuo a thumbs up: “Not bad, not bad, little brother, you’re quite resourceful!”

Ning Zhuo cooperated with the Golden Blood War Ape to win a great victory, leading Sun Lingtong all the way through the trials.

They kept pushing until they reached the first Buddhist trial.

When Sun Lingtong found himself in the coffin room, Ning Zhuo fully sensed the Myriad Buddha Heart Devil Seal, and urged the Thread of Life to its limit.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit roared upwards, filled with sorrow and indignation.

But constrained by its duties, it had no choice but to transmit the information.

Meng Kui was outside, suppressing the Immortal Palace, panting heavily.

Sun Lingtong called out: “Alright, I’ve received the message!”

Following Ning Zhuo’s previous steps, Sun Lingtong began to do the same.

Soon, his puppet body was scattered on the ground, his entire soul returning to his physical body.

In the underground base, he poured all the previously extracted divine sense, magic power, and essence blood back into himself.

According to the plan they had discussed, Sun Lingtong also stuffed the Underworld Ghost God Seal, the Soul-Warding Rattle, and the shattered Golden Thread Armor back into their respective dantian.

Even the clump of Ghost Gate Escape Grass was broken, Sun Lingtong broke off three blades of grass and stuffed them into his essence sea lower dantian.

Having done this step, Sun Lingtong could only patiently wait for Ning Zhuo to pull him back.

Soon.

Ning Zhuo re-entered the palace, drawing Sun Lingtong into his previous puppet body.

And accompanying this action, the teleportation circle manifested, spitting out Qi Bai.

“Success!”

“We did it!”

Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong excitedly clapped each other’s hands in celebration.

“Lava Immortal Palace, I’ll use him to create mechanical constructs.” The Golden Blood War Ape Yuan Dasheng dragged Qi Bai to the doorway, Sun Lingtong shouted loudly.

And standing behind him, Ning Zhuo was the most supportive person. At this moment, Ning Zhuo wholeheartedly called upon the Myriad Buddha Heart Devil Seal, and simultaneously urged the Thread of Life to its extreme.

“Roar…”

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was wailing, Meng Kui tightly pursed his lips, working hard to suppress the chaos.

The Yuan Dasheng that Ning Zhuo used back then, although he had Immortal aptitude, was essentially an elderly Fire Melt Demon Ape with a Qi Refining stage cultivation.

It would not be so easy this time.

Qi Bai was a proper Golden Core cultivator, and he even carried two magical treasures, and the blades of three nascent soul-level precious plants.

Within the Lava Immortal Palace, there were copper furnaces, iron furnaces, silver furnaces, and golden furnaces, four levels of refinement.

To refine Immortal-grade materials, one had to use the golden furnace.

And once an Immortal material was to be refined, even the golden furnace could only be used once.

Qi Bai’s talent was not high enough to be super-grade, so he couldn’t use the golden furnace.

But with superior talent, using a silver furnace was certain.

The key was that one silver furnace was not enough.

Qi Bai had a little too much stuff on him.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had no choice but to pinch its nose and fully refine it for Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong.

This was also an important reason why it hated living in the Lava Immortal Palace so much.

It had no freedom, and even if it was unwilling, it could only do it.

Bang bang bang…

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

After twenty-one silver furnaces were destroyed, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit finally refined a mechanical puppet.

During this period, Meng Kui breathed a sigh of relief.

All because the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had to concentrate on refining, leaving it with less energy to stir up trouble, causing the Lava Immortal Palace to riot.

Finally, the mechanical puppet was refined.

Even if the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was extremely unwilling, it still teleported the mechanical puppet back and sent it to Sun Lingtong.

Nether Envoy · Qi Bai.

End of this chapter.