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Pulled sharply through the main hall entrance, Ning Zhuo’s vision distorted into a chaotic swirl of five colors.

A strong sense of weightlessness and dizziness washed over him. Ning Zhuo recognized this feeling.

In the past, when Sun Lingtong used the Spatial Shift technique to teleport them, it was this exact sensation.

Suddenly, Ning Zhuo’s feet landed, and the swirling five-colored spectacle before his eyes abruptly vanished.

Ning Zhuo immediately went on high alert, scanning his surroundings.

The red-bronze walls, scorching temperature, and golden-yellow ceiling were quite familiar, making him momentarily believe he had entered the Immortal Palace realm again.

But unlike entering the Immortal Palace realm, this time Ning Zhuo’s soul had not been drawn out by a life-thread. Instead, both his physical body and soul had entered together.

New information flooded into his mind:

“Lava Immortal Palace Third Round Grand Tournament!”

“Cultivators will explore the Chambers of Turning Fortunes, accept unique challenges in each Mechanical Chamber, and win corresponding rewards.”

“Ultimately, the one who finds the correct path, breaks out of the Chambers of Turning Fortunes, enters the main hall, and sits upon the throne, shall become the Master of the Lava Immortal Palace!”

“Please note: Mechanical Chambers vary in difficulty.”

“Please note: During the exploration of the Chambers of Turning Fortunes and the path to the Immortal Palace’s main hall, cultivators’ cultivation bases will be suppressed to the Qi Refining Stage.”

“Please note: Cultivators’ personal magical artifacts, elixirs, etc., will be forbidden from use. Violators will be eliminated.”

“Please note: Cultivators are permitted to use various items provided within the Chambers and are allowed to use spells. Spell power will be suppressed to the Qi Refining level.”

“Please note: Mechanical constructs in the trial stages can be used unconditionally during exploration.”

“Please note: For every thirty-six accumulated explorations of the Chambers of Turning Fortunes, a Minor Turning will occur. For every one hundred and eight accumulated explorations, a Major Turning will occur.”

“Please note: Cultivators can inquire about the participant list at any time with a thought and can choose to surrender. Upon surrendering, they will be immediately teleported out.”

“Please note: Every change to the Grand Tournament participant list will be promptly announced to all participants.”

This flood of information caused Ning Zhuo to pause and carefully digest it before beginning his actions.

He scanned the first Mechanical Chamber he found himself in and discovered it was unremarkable, with only a single platform in the center.

The platform was enveloped by a beam of light, and on it rested a mechanical item.

It was a wooden ring. The body of the ring was quite thick and inlaid with eighteen rhombus-shaped crystals. The crystals emitted a faint blue-violet glow. When the viewing angle subtly changed, the blue-violet glow would also shift, making it quite exquisite.

“Hanging Ring.” For a moment, Ning Zhuo had the illusion of returning to the past.

He was cautious, his heart filled with twelve-point vigilance as he examined it. He used various spells, and after detecting no traps or mechanisms, he reached out and took the Hanging Ring.

The light beam covering the platform immediately dissipated, and the entire platform slowly sank until it was fully submerged in the floor.

Finally, the floor on both sides closed in the middle, sealing tightly without a single seam.

Ning Zhuo stood in place, scanning left and right, remaining alert for a while, but nothing stirred.

“That’s it?” Ning Zhuo was surprised.

In another part of the Chambers of Turning Fortunes…

“Waaah!” Sun Lingtong was sprinting desperately.

Behind him, a Foundation Establishment level Blazestep Lizard was charging like a wild bull, chasing him relentlessly.

The room was limited in size, forcing Sun Lingtong to jump and climb, sometimes having to run along the walls and eaves.

His small legs moved like wheels.

The Blazestep Lizard suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a stream of fire.

The tip of the fire stream touched Sun Lingtong’s buttocks, instantly setting his pants on fire.

Sun Lingtong had no choice but to sprint with all his might while covering his flaming backside with his hands and repeatedly slapping it.

In yet another part of the Chambers of Turning Fortunes…

Ning Jiufan was impaled by over a dozen long spears, pinned against one side of the wall.

Ning Jiufan’s face was contorted in agony. Enduring the intense pain, he pulled out the long spears one by one.

Unable to retrieve elixirs from his storage belt, he had to use the Ning Family’s Ice Arts to freeze himself, for emergency healing.

Ning Zhuo cautiously entered the second Chamber.

The layout was identical to before, with a platform in the middle of the room.

A beam of light shone down, making the mechanical construct on the platform very clear and conspicuous.

Ning Zhuo approached cautiously and took the mechanical construct, which turned out to be a Blood Dissolution Pool.

“This mechanical component can dissolve creatures with blood into countless streams of blood. Used with Blood Oil Flasks, it allows mechanical puppets to sustain themselves through combat.”

“However, my Golden Blood Battle Ape, Great Victory, is intricately designed, and there is no space left inside to add such a large Blood Dissolution Pool component.”

Currently, the Golden Blood Battle Ape, Great Victory, was still with Sun Lingtong.

Ning Zhuo had to meet Sun Lingtong first to retrieve Yuan Dasheng.

“Alas, I hope to meet Brother Sun soon.”

Since the storage belt was unusable, Ning Zhuo could only leave while carrying the bulky Blood Dissolution Pool.

There were exit doors on all sides – front, back, left, right, and even in the center of the ceiling above and the floor below.

Ning Zhuo randomly chose a door and pushed it open.

In the Scholar Gentleman’s Chamber, there was only one door.

A massive door.

The door had a large number of wooden blocks, which were pieced together and constrained within the doorframe.

The Scholar Gentleman held the doorknob. He needed to expend spiritual energy and mental effort to shift these wooden blocks so that the text on each block was arranged in the correct sequence. The final arrangement of text had to form a complete and accurate copy of the 《Blood Streak Demon Sealing Technique》.

But the problem was…

“I have absolutely no idea what the 《Blood Streak Demon Sealing Technique》 is!” The Scholar Gentleman roared in his heart, frustrated.

At this moment, he regretted terribly why he hadn’t participated in the Golden Core level chaotic battle for the authentic demon scripture in Fire Persimmon Immortal City before.

Even if it was a fake scripture, there would still have been some genuine gains.

“Or, even if someone sold me some demon scripture content in the second round of the Grand Tournament, that would be fine. At least I could deduce a lot from it, and wouldn’t be stuck here now.”

This was the second Chamber the Scholar Gentleman had entered.

The giant door blocked his path forward.

After a period of effort, the Scholar Gentleman, with a slightly pale face, voluntarily gave up.

“My strength is suppressed to the Qi Refining Stage.”

“Not only the total amount of spiritual energy and mental power, but even the recovery speed is limited to the Qi Refining Stage.”

“I cannot consume too much here at this door.”

“I must always be on guard against others entering this Chamber and potentially engaging in combat with me.”

Before leaving, the Scholar Gentleman took a final, lingering look at the large door.

A feeling in his heart told him that the room behind the door undoubtedly held great benefits.

“Unfortunately, I am not a trial disciple.”

“It can be seen from the first and second rounds of the Grand Tournament that the Venerables of the Three Sects are quite benevolent towards their own disciples.”

This Chamber had two external passages.

One was the large door, and the other was the small door.

The small door was the way the Scholar Gentleman had entered.

He sighed, opened the small door, and returned to the first Chamber he had entered.

This time, he chose another small door and left.

He was still unwilling to give up and silently memorized the route in his heart.

Ning Zhuo had just left his third Chamber.

From this Chamber, he had obtained an elixir. After consuming it, he could quickly recover his spiritual energy.

As he pushed open the door and entered the fourth Chamber, the entire room suddenly began to shake.

The shaking was not violent, and a clanking sound echoed throughout the room.

The clanking lasted for a dozen breaths and then abruptly stopped. During this time, the room had been vibrating. As the clanking stopped, the room also settled down.

“Ha!” A Qi Refining level martial arts puppet assumed a stance, standing ready for Ning Zhuo.

“Finally, something different.” Ning Zhuo’s eyes lit up, and he stepped forward.

The martial arts puppet charged at him.

Ning Zhuo was well aware of his limitations. He immediately retreated and used spells for long-range attacks.

The martial arts puppet was gradually bound tightly by rapidly growing vines.

“Blood Streak Demon Sealing!” Ning Zhuo walked unhurriedly towards it. Using his own vital blood, he cast the Blood Streak Demon Sealing Technique, forcibly subduing the puppet.

“Before I get back the Golden Blood Battle Ape, Great Victory, I’ll just make do with this for now.” Ning Zhuo left his fourth Chamber, and the demonized martial arts puppet followed him closely.

This time, he chose to return the way he came.

However, upon pushing open the small door he had entered through, he entered an unfamiliar room.

This confirmed one of his conjectures.

The information had mentioned: For every thirty-six accumulated explorations of the Chambers of Turning Fortunes, a Minor Turning will occur. For every one hundred and eight accumulated explorations, a Major Turning will occur.

“Is this the so-called ‘Minor Turning’? The connections between the Chambers of Turning Fortunes have been disrupted, rendering the previously memorized routes completely useless.”

“I have explored up to the fourth Chamber here. There are thirteen cultivators participating in the second round of the Grand Tournament. Some have explored fewer Chambers than me, so the total number of Chambers explored by everyone combined just reached thirty-six.”

“Upon reaching this number, the mechanism was triggered, and a Minor Turning occurred.”

“If this is a Minor Turning, what is a Major Turning?”

Ning Zhuo’s mind raced, constantly thinking. Regarding the rules of the third round of the Grand Tournament, he needed a period of exploration to truly develop a deep understanding.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was closely observing the Chambers of Turning Fortunes.

This was a skillfully constructed mechanical building, the final defense line of the Lava Immortal Palace’s main hall.

The trial stages set up by the Venerables of the Three Sects were made possible by this uniquely functional mechanical building.

And the various trial stages only utilized a fraction of the power of these Chambers.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was the sole observer. It had a panoramic view of the entire situation. After the first Minor Turning was triggered, it immediately summarized the experiences of each cultivator.

Some were doing well, others poorly. Some were wracking their brains, while others were still being chased.

“The ones with the most gains are Mong Chong and Ning Zhuo.”

“These two have gained something in every Chamber. Currently, their accumulated mechanical constructs are evenly matched, firmly occupying the first tier.”

In the first tier, there were only Mong Chong and Ning Zhuo.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s expression was solemn: “The route selection in the Chambers of Turning Fortunes is actually testing the cultivator’s fortune.”

“The more prosperous their fortune, the better the route the cultivator chooses, and the more profitable it is. The reverse is also true.”

“Mong Chong is an Immortal Seed, with naturally strong and prosperous fortune. Ning Zhuo is showing such performance? Although he possesses the Life-Thread Divine Ability, the total sum of his fortunes only creates a common fortune pool, putting everyone at the same level.”

“He has not shown any detected innate talent, could he also be an Immortal Seed?”

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit inevitably entertained this conjecture.

“But that doesn’t make sense.”

“If he were an Immortal Seed, having lived in Fire Persimmon Immortal City for sixteen years, why would his life be so unfavorable, so suppressed?”

“This is definitely not the fortune manifestation of a super-grade innate talent!”

(End of Chapter)