Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Lava Immortal Palace.

It was Meng Chong's first time entering the preparation room.

The Five-faced Stone Pillar Leaderboard was quite eye-catching, especially as it rotated slowly and continuously.

Meng Chong immediately spotted the stone pillar.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been keeping an eye on him. Upon seeing Meng Chong enter the preparation room, its half-open eyelids widened slightly out of excitement.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was in poor condition.

Earlier, when the Lava Immortal Palace was under siege by the Red Flame Beasts, the situation had become quite dangerous.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit personally intervened, entering the Dao Master's mechanical puppet to take control and fight. After a fierce battle, it managed to turn the tide and finally killed the Golden Core-level Fire Fusion Demon Ape.

Its spiritual essence had been heavily depleted.

Even now, many Red Flame Beasts were still besieging the Lava Immortal Palace. The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had to organize the mechanical creations to set up defenses, arrange for various repairs, and also oversee the trials for the Qi Refining disciples.

This overwhelming workload was a constant and draining consumption of its spiritual essence.

Even so, upon seeing Meng Chong approach the leaderboard, it couldn’t help but feel excited and transmitted some crucial information.

In an instant, a flame whip materialized and lashed at it!

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit retracted its head and claws into its shell, enduring the pain in silence.

Meng Chong received the hint and, with a refreshed spirit, realized this was the preparation room and not a place of great danger.

He slightly lowered his guard and walked toward the Five-faced Stone Pillar Leaderboard.

Following the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit's guidance, Meng Chong first touched the stone pillar and obtained the Trial Disciple’s Mark.

Then, he raised his head to examine the leaderboard.

The leaderboard displayed rankings for the Qi Refining List, Essence Refining List, Spirit Refining List, Progress List, and Speedrun List.

Among these five leaderboards, Meng Chong ranked second on the Qi Refining List, Progress List, and Speedrun List. He was not listed on the Essence Refining List or Spirit Refining List.

Meng Chong felt a sense of indignation. From a young age, he had always strived to be number one.

He was blessed with immortal potential, a genius among geniuses, destined to surpass others and stand at the peak.

How could he settle for second place?!

However, when Meng Chong saw the name at the top, he became at ease.

The name occupying the first place on all five lists was the same — “Entry Standard.”

"Only by surpassing this standard can one be accepted into the Lava Immortal Palace?"

"The three masters of the sect truly live up to their reputation as great powers at the Void Refining level. Every trial here is incredibly difficult, and even the entry standard is so high."

"Good!"

"This makes me even more eager for the challenge."

"Moreover, there are rewards for being ranked on the leaderboard. That’s really nice."

"Hahaha!"

Meng Chong’s fighting spirit soared. After studying the room for a while, he proceeded to open the door and entered Room No. 4.

Inside the main hall of the Lava Immortal Palace.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, still curled up in its shell, shuddered as the flame whip struck it, and it rolled its eyes at Meng Chong in frustration.

It had clearly given Meng Chong a heads-up, specifically informing him that he ranked “second”! Yet Meng Chong didn’t think much of it and even laughed happily.

This gave the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit the feeling of wanting to spit blood.

It had already done everything within its ability, but Meng Chong failed to notice the strangeness of the situation.

Well!

It had endured that whip for nothing.

Checkpoint No. 2.

After Meng Chong left, Ning Zhuo quickly crawled out of the mechanical trap.

He first went to the first door and used the Buddha Heart Demon Seal to crack it open slightly, peeking into Room No. 1.

After confirming no one was there, he closed the door and summoned Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, inside.

Things weren’t like they used to be.

As more and more participants joined, even Ning Zhuo himself had difficulty entering and exiting the Lava Immortal Palace, let alone summoning Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng.

The trend was becoming clear.

In the future, the risk of Ning Zhuo summoning Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, would grow higher and higher.

A teleportation circle appeared, bringing Yuan Dasheng to Ning Zhuo’s puppet.

“Your subordinate greets the lord!” Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, knelt on one knee before Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo was very interested in Yuan Dasheng's performance during his Intelligence Spirit stage, but now was not the time for a detailed examination.

"The mechanical body of the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape is far inferior to the Tree Martial Ape."

"But it’s the only entity recognized by the Lava Immortal Palace, allowing it to freely enter and exit the palace."

"Just for this reason, the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape is of immense value and cannot be replaced."

Ning Zhuo took Yuan Dasheng through the second checkpoint and approached the second door.

To avoid the possibility that Meng Chong might still be in Room No. 3, Ning Zhuo left his puppet behind and had Yuan Dasheng push the door open to check the situation first.

What they found was chaos in Room No. 3 — the mechanical puppets had all been reduced to piles of scrap, scattered across the floor.

"As expected." When Ning Zhuo pushed open the door and saw this scene, he wasn’t surprised at all.

He had anticipated this.

Every time Meng Chong faced a setback or obstacle, he would return with a significant boost in strength.

"This is the potential of immortality, as well as the will of fate!"

Ning Zhuo sighed and led Yuan Dasheng through Room No. 3, arriving at the third door.

Once again, it was Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, who pushed open the door first.

They didn’t find Meng Chong.

Ning Zhuo didn’t rush in. Instead, he had Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, retrieve the surveillance components from a corner.

After reviewing them, Ning Zhuo obtained critical information through Yuan Dasheng. He now knew every step of Meng Chong's movements in this room.

First, Meng Chong examined the leaderboard stone pillar, then interacted with various mechanical platforms and tools, and finally left the room to proceed to the next checkpoint.

"Meng Chong obtained the Trial Disciple's Mark… Strange, it’s as if he already knew the precise steps here and didn’t need to experiment. He just completed it effortlessly."

Ning Zhuo passed by the leaderboard stone pillar.

At that moment, two names once again appeared on the leaderboard.

Previously, Yuan Dasheng had been the one ranked.

But after Yuan Dasheng was secretly plotted against by Ning Zhuo and eventually turned into his mechanical creation, there had only been Ning Zhuo's name on the leaderboard for a while.

Ning Zhuo had put a lot of thought into what name to use.

Firstly, he couldn’t change the name to someone else from the immortal city. Once the city lord’s mansion or the other factions conducted a thorough investigation, they could easily capture the individual and verify the truth. From there, they would deduce that the names on the leaderboard could be altered or someone was cheating. This would be extremely disadvantageous to Ning Zhuo.

Secondly, he couldn’t use a dead person’s name.

Because Yuan Dasheng had been removed from the list.

This proved that dead competitors would be excluded.

Ning Zhuo needed his name to remain on the leaderboard without drawing suspicion.

"Living people’s and dead people’s names won’t work. I guess I’ll have to play a trick."

That was Ning Zhuo's thought at the time.

In the end, he changed the name to "Entry Standard."

There were many advantages to this.

The first was that it concealed his identity as a competitor.

The second was that it corresponded with the Trial Disciple’s Mark, mutually "confirming" each other.

In Ning Zhuo’s judgment, since he had figured out the Trial Disciple's Mark, others would likely do so as well.

By then, each Trial Disciple's Mark would serve as the best endorsement for Ning Zhuo.

The third benefit was that it allowed for flexibility in his ranking.

If, in the future, someone surpassed the "Entry Standard," they would think, "I made the cut; I met the requirements to become an entry disciple."

And if the "Entry Standard" later surpassed others, they would think, "Oh, the entry standard is flexible." It’s like many family assessments that only reward the top ten. The entry standard of the Lava Immortal Palace also adjusts based on the trial disciples’ performance.

Ning Zhuo passed by the leaderboard stone pillar.

Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, pushed open the door to Room No. 4 first.

Through the surveillance components, Ning Zhuo discovered that when Meng Chong entered the room, he paused slightly, then cast several spells in succession, obtaining mechanical components corresponding to each spell.

Ning Zhuo muttered, “Strange! It’s as if Meng Chong already knew what to do. There was no exploration, and he just found the answers directly.”

Ning Zhuo quickened his pace with Yuan Dasheng.

There was no sign of Meng Chong in Room No. 5 either.

The surveillance components showed Meng Chong’s relaxed demeanor as he cleared the checkpoint.

Ning Zhuo carefully reviewed everything and confirmed once again that

Meng Chong had made significant progress — he had learned how to channel his immortal potential into his spells!

This made Ning Zhuo even more solemn.

Room No. 6.

Meng Chong laughed heartily, "Now this is interesting. Wild Sprint Thunderclap!"

With a shout, his body moved like lightning, dodging several spell strikes.

He then used his immortal potential again, this time enhancing the Ice-Embracing Technique and a breath of Qi.

The Ice-Embracing Technique and the breath of Qi merged, forming a straight blast of freezing air. In the flicker of lightning, it swiftly hit a spell-casting puppet.

The spell-casting puppet was instantly frozen.

Meng Chong created an opening and took the opportunity to break out of the puppet’s encirclement.

However, just as he was about to revel in his success, Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, suddenly appeared!

"Ah, it's you!!" Meng Chong was wildly excited upon seeing it.

Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, charged forward, wreathed in flames, to engage Meng Chong in close combat.

Meng Chong was unafraid, even thrilled, "Last time, I was burned to death by the flames. This time, I won’t. I have spells to protect me."

Meng Chong cast the Ice-Embracing Technique and a breath of Qi, combining them with the Release Qi Ring, surrounding himself with a thick layer of freezing air.

With the freezing air countering the flames, Meng Chong no longer feared being burned.

But in the next moment, Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng’s palm slammed into Meng Chong’s chest.

The spell — Five Elements Disorder Technique!

This was a reward from Dao Gate’s third checkpoint, and Ning Zhuo was using it in actual combat against Meng Chong for the first time.

As for its effect… it was outstanding!

In an instant, the spiritual energy inside Meng Chong's body went from being well-ordered to a chaotic mess.

“I…” Meng Chong's body was immobilized, while also suffering from the backlash of the interrupted Ice-Embracing Technique and other spells.

Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, struck again, easily plucking off Meng Chong’s puppet head.

Then, with a powerful squeeze, he crushed the puppet head instantly.

Meng Chong could only return to his body outside the palace with overwhelming reluctance, his soul flying out.

Inside the City Lord’s Mansion.

He suddenly opened his eyes, still in disbelief, “What kind of spell was that? It seemed to completely counter the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art?”

“Lost again!”

“No matter, this time I gained a lot.”

Meng Chong was filled with anticipation for the next time he would enter the palace, his fighting spirit burning even brighter.

“By the way, send the latest intelligence to Fei Si and my grandfather. Let them help me figure out if there’s a faster way to clear the checkpoints.”

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