The arena was divided into three zones.
Two zones were for crafting mechanisms, each belonging to a competitor.
The central zone was the mechanism battle zone.
In front of Ning Zhuo lay a long table with a multitude of materials.
Ning Zhuo quickly scanned the materials, finding them to be of the Qi Refinement stage, their low-end nature feeling oddly familiar.
They were Fist Gold, Fire Essence, ancient wood with spiritual patterns, large water drops condensed with frost flowers, and charcoal-baked clay. Finally, there was a single middle-grade spirit stone.
“Are there any tools for crafting mechanisms?” A question arose in Ning Zhuo’s mind.
He hadn’t seen any yet.
Without crafting tools, relying solely on his hands, the difficulty of creating mechanisms would skyrocket tenfold, if not more.
However, Ning Zhuo noticed that the table had a large number of formation patterns. This immediately reminded him of the surgical tables in the medical hall.
“Perhaps this is the same setup as those surgical tables. The table contains many mechanism tools.”
Ning Zhuo wanted to verify this guess but found himself unable to move. An invisible force was restraining him.
It wasn’t until the announcement of the start of this round of the palace examination that this invisible force suddenly vanished, allowing Ning Zhuo to move freely.
Ning Zhuo first looked towards his front, where his opponent’s position should be.
It was a blurry mess, indistinct.
Ning Zhuo took a few steps forward and came to the table. He reached out and touched the tabletop, infusing it with mana, and indeed retrieved many mechanism tools, including a blowtorch, pliers, and so on.
After successfully verifying his guess, Ning Zhuo subconsciously glanced at the opposite side again, which remained blurry.
He then disregarded this and focused on examining the materials provided for the palace examination.
There were block after block of Fist Gold. At first glance, there were at least thirty blocks, each closely resembling a clenched fist. The name “Fist Gold” came from this resemblance.
Ning Zhuo knew clearly: this was a hard metallic ore with high strength and durability.
“I can use it to construct the skeleton of the mechanism puppet.”
After examining the Fist Gold, its quality was neither good nor bad, the most common type found on the market.
Ning Zhuo continued his inspection.
The second item was Fire Essence.
This stuff was one of the specialties of the Fire Persimmon Immortal City, and Ning Zhuo was most familiar with it, so his inspection was the quickest.
Ancient wood with spiritual patterns…
Ning Zhuo lifted a large section of ancient wood and placed it in front of him for observation.
Even though it had been sawed off, this large section of ancient wood still emitted a faint vitality.
The cross-section of the wood was covered with spiritual patterns.
Any plant that absorbed spiritual energy for a long time would produce these spiritual patterns. The longer the time, the more numerous and intricate the spiritual patterns would be.
Conversely, the more spiritual patterns, the higher the efficiency of absorbing spiritual energy.
“This section of ancient wood must have been a spiritual plant in its lifetime.”
When examining this material, Ning Zhuo focused on the distribution and direction of its spiritual patterns.
“It can be used to store spirit stones and construct spiritual power transmission pathways. There is only one spirit stone, so it must also retain a portion to create the formation plate for a spirit gathering formation!”
Ning Zhuo continued his inspection.
Large water drops condensed with frost flowers, as large as a basin.
The water drop was like a huge, round, azure steamed bun. Patches of frost flowers were distributed on the surface of the water drop. These frost flowers were all very large, comparable to an adult’s palm.
As Ning Zhuo’s hand approached, the frost flowers on the surface of the water drop quickly melted.
“It can be used to make weapon components or auxiliary components for self-cooling.” Ning Zhuo thought of the two main application directions.
Next was charcoal-baked clay.
This clay was blackish-grey in color.
It would undergo significant changes depending on the temperature.
When the temperature was high, it would become a hard solid. When the temperature was low, it would be sticky and easily moldable.
In addition, it had remarkable fire resistance.
Sometimes, it could also be used as charcoal, providing a base material for burning and accumulating heat for mechanism creations.
Finally, there was the single middle-grade spirit stone.
“Ordinary quality.”
“A single spirit stone is not enough for a long battle. Therefore, a spirit gathering formation in the mechanism puppet is essential.”
“This spirit stone can at most serve as a starting stone.”
During the process of examining the materials, Ning Zhuo had already conceived many ideas.
Without rest, he raced against time and officially began forging.
The first step was to construct the skeleton.
Ning Zhuo processed the charcoal-baked clay.
He first lowered the temperature so that the clay could be easily shaped.
Under his skilled hands, a pile of clay was molded into a deep vessel, standing on the table, like a small, erected well that had been dug out.
Ning Zhuo picked up the blowtorch and began smelting the Fist Gold. The Fist Gold immediately turned into a pool of molten gold under the spray of the hot flame.
The flowing gold was stored in the small well molded from charcoal-baked clay.
Ning Zhuo performed the Gold Extraction technique on it!
This spell originated from the trial stages and could freely extract metal according to the cultivator’s will.
Under normal circumstances, it was difficult to purify gold from solid Fist Gold, with high difficulty and slow progress. But in a liquid state, it was twice the result with half the effort.
“How many times is it best to purify it?” Ning Zhuo faced this question.
Theoretically, of course, the more the better. But in reality, he had to consider the time.
Once the time limit was reached, he could not continue to craft mechanisms. Purifying too many times would affect the final product.
The question of how many times to purify was actually about having an overall control over the entire refining process.
If he could accurately plan the time for each step, it would be even better.
This question did not faze Ning Zhuo.
He had a clear plan deep in his heart. According to the plan, purifying three times at this stage was the most suitable.
Such a small detail could already show whether a mechanism cultivator was excellent.
Such details accumulated, and the final impact on the finished product was enormous.
Ning Zhuo quickly passed this step and began the next.
He molded the molten gold into the shape of a skeleton.
It is worth noting that these skeletons were hollow.
After completing this step, Ning Zhuo began to process the spiritual pattern ancient wood.
Since there was only one spirit stone, Ning Zhuo had to first use the ancient wood to cut out a formation plate and draw a spirit gathering formation.
After completing this step, Ning Zhuo followed the spiritual patterns to cut the ancient wood, and inserted the thin cylindrical wooden strips inside the gold skeleton, acting as bone cores.
Ning Zhuo used the spell from the trial stages again. A three-inch cylindrical ancient wood strip could grow up to five inches at most. Growing longer would be overdoing it, and the entire wooden strip would directly wither and die.
After completing this step, Ning Zhuo rested for a dozen breaths.
Skilled mechanism cultivators often had this good habit, not just working tirelessly, but also balancing tension and relaxation.
Because next, Ning Zhuo was going to process Fire Essence, he had to ensure his own state.
He began to process the Fire Essence.
Regarding this material, he was more familiar with it than anyone else.
Ning Zhuo crafted the Fire Essence into firecrackers. This was also a mechanism component he was quite familiar with. His Fire Blast Monkey mechanisms were generally equipped with these firecrackers as a common attack method.
And when facing the large water drop with frost flowers, Ning Zhuo fully displayed his formation attainments!
He arranged at least three magic formations in the large water drop with frost flowers, quickly and steadily. And in the formation eyes, Ning Zhuo filled several frost talismans he made on the spot.
Finally, this large water drop could change its shape freely according to Ning Zhuo’s will.
Ning Zhuo hung it on the skeleton.
Then, he molded the charcoal-baked clay again, making it into flesh and covering the skeleton completely.
In the remaining time, he went back again and manufactured a large number of firecrackers.
The final mechanism puppet, Ning Zhuo named it – Five Elements Junior Soldier.
Its attack method was mainly mechanism firecrackers, and its defense was undertaken by the large water drop with frost flowers, which could rush out of the body at critical moments and turn into armor or a shield.