**: The Turning Point Secret Pavilion**

Suddenly pulled through the main hall's entrance, Ning Zhuo's vision warped dramatically, flooded with a chaotic blur of five colors.

A powerful sense of weightlessness and dizziness assaulted him—a feeling he recognized.

Back when Sun Lingtong used his Void Traversal Art to teleport them, this was exactly the sensation.

Abruptly, Ning Zhuo's feet hit solid ground, and the kaleidoscopic scene before him vanished instantly.

He immediately assumed a defensive stance, scanning his surroundings.

The familiar sight of copper-red walls, scorching air, and a golden-yellow ceiling made him briefly think his soul had entered the immortal palace again.

But unlike those previous soul entries, this time his soul hadn't been extracted via the Life-Thread Suspension technique; both his physical body and soul had entered together.

New information flooded his mind—

"Molten Rock Immortal Palace, Third Hall Examination!"

"Cultivators will explore the Turning Point Secret Pavilion, accepting the unique challenges within each mechanism room to earn corresponding rewards."

"Ultimately, the one who finds the correct path, breaks out of the Turning Point Secret Pavilion, enters the main hall, and ascends the throne will become the Master of the Molten Rock Immortal Palace!"

"Note: The difficulty of mechanism rooms varies."

"Note: While exploring the Turning Point Secret Pavilion and treading the path to the main hall, all cultivators' cultivation bases will be suppressed to the Qi Refining stage."

"Note: Personal magical tools, pills, etc., carried by cultivators are prohibited. Violators will be eliminated."

"Note: Cultivators are permitted to use various props provided within the Secret Pavilion and are allowed to use spells. Spell potency will be suppressed to the Qi Refining level."

"Note: Mechanism constructs encountered in the trial stages can be used unconditionally during exploration."

"Note: A minor turning point will occur after every cumulative 36 explorations of the Secret Pavilion. A major turning point will occur after every cumulative 108 explorations."

"Note: Cultivators can mentally request the participant list at any time and may choose to concede defeat. Upon concession, they will be immediately teleported away."

"Note: Any changes to the examination participant list will be promptly announced to all participants."

This deluge of information made Ning Zhuo pause where he stood. Only after carefully digesting it did he begin to move properly.

He scanned the room and found himself in a rather plain first mechanism room, with only a pedestal in the center.

A pillar of light enveloped the pedestal, upon which sat a mechanical device.

It was a wooden ring. The body of the ring was thick, inlaid with eighteen rhombus-shaped crystals. The crystals emitted a faint blue-purple glow that shifted subtly with the viewing angle, quite exquisite.

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

He proceeded with extreme caution, employing various detection spells to scrutinize the area. Finding no traps, he reached out and retrieved the Hanging Ring.

The light pillar covering the pedestal immediately dissipated, and the entire pedestal slowly sank into the floor until it disappeared completely.

Finally, the floor panels on both sides slid together, meeting seamlessly without a single gap.

Ning Zhuo stood still, vigilantly scanning left and right for a while, but nothing happened.

"Is that it?" Ning Zhuo was puzzled.

Elsewhere in the Turning Point Secret Pavilion...

"Whoaaaah!" Sun Lingtong sprinted frantically.

Close behind him, a Foundation Establishment-level Treading Flame Lizard charged like a mad bull, hot on his heels.

The room's limited space forced Sun Lingtong to leap and dodge, sometimes having to run along the walls.

His little legs churned like wheels.

The Treading Flame Lizard suddenly opened its mouth and spat a line of fire.

The tip of the fire line brushed against Sun Lingtong's backside, instantly setting his pants ablaze.

Sun Lingtong had no choice but to sprint full tilt while slapping his burning rear with one hand.

In another part of the Turning Point Secret Pavilion...

Ning Jiufan was pinned against a wall by over a dozen long spears.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Ning Jiufan pulled the spears out one by one.

Unable to access the healing pills in his storage belt, he resorted to the Ning Family's Ice Art to freeze his wounds, providing emergency treatment.

Ning Zhuo cautiously stepped into his second secret pavilion.

The layout was identical to the first: a single pedestal in the room.

A beam of light shone down, clearly illuminating the mechanism construct on the pedestal.

Wary, Ning Zhuo approached and retrieved the construct. It was a Blood Dissolution Pool.

"This component can dissolve blood-based lifeforms into vast amounts of blood. Used with a Blood Oil Flask, it can allow mechanical puppets to sustain themselves through combat."

"However, my Golden Blood Battle Ape, 'Great Victory,' is intricately designed with no internal space left to incorporate such a large Blood Dissolution Pool component."

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

Ning Zhuo needed to meet up with Sun Lingtong first to retrieve Yuan Dasheng (the ape).

"Sigh, I hope I run into Boss Sun soon."

Unable to use his storage belt, Ning Zhuo had no choice but to carry the bulky Blood Dissolution Pool with him.

Doors leading out were located on all sides—front, back, left, right, even the center of the ceiling and the floor.

Ning Zhuo randomly chose a door and pushed it open.

In Shu Zhongjun's secret pavilion, there was only one door.

A massive door.

The door was composed of numerous wooden blocks, all interlocked and constrained within the doorframe.

Shu Zhongjun gripped the door handle, needing to expend mana and mental energy to rearrange these blocks. He had to sequence the characters on each block correctly so that the overall text formed a complete and accurate copy of the "Demon Tainted Blood Sinew Art."

The problem was...

"I have no idea what the 'Demon Tainted Blood Sinew Art' even is!" Shu Zhongjun raged inwardly.

At this moment, he deeply regretted not participating in the Golden Core melee in Fire Persimmon Immortal City when they fought over the Demonic Art true scripture.

Even if it was a fake scripture, there were still some genuine insights to be gained.

"Or if someone had sold me some content from the Demonic Art during the second hall exam, that would have worked too. At least I could have inferred much from it, instead of being stuck here now."

This was Shu Zhongjun's second secret pavilion.

The giant door blocked his progress.

After struggling for a while, his face slightly pale, Shu Zhongjun actively gave up.

"My strength is suppressed to the Qi Refining stage."

"Not just the total amount of mana and mental energy, but even my recovery rate is limited to Qi Refining levels."

"I can't afford to expend too much here at this door."

"I must always be prepared for others to enter this pavilion and potentially engage me in combat."

Before leaving, Shu Zhongjun took one last, longing look at the giant door.

A feeling in his heart told him that the room behind this door must hold great rewards.

"Unfortunately, I'm not a trial disciple."

"The first and second hall exams showed that the Three Sects' Masters are quite favorable towards their own disciples."

This secret pavilion had two external passages.

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

The small door was how Shu Zhongjun had entered.

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

This time, he chose a different small door to leave.

Still unwilling, he mentally noted the route.

Ning Zhuo had just left his third secret pavilion.

From this one, he had obtained a pill that, when consumed, rapidly restored mana.

He had just pushed open a door and entered his fourth secret pavilion when the entire room suddenly shook.

The shaking wasn't violent, and the sound of mechanisms echoed throughout the room.

The mechanical sounds lasted for a dozen breaths before cutting off abruptly. The room continued to vibrate during this time, only calming down once the sounds stopped.

"Ha!" A Qi Refining-level Kung Fu Puppet assumed a stance, poised against Ning Zhuo.

"Finally, something different." Ning Zhuo's eyes lit up as he stepped forward.

The Kung Fu Puppet charged at him.

Knowing his own limitations, Ning Zhuo immediately retreated, attacking from a distance with spells.

The puppet was quickly entangled by rapidly growing vines, trussed up tightly.

"Blood Sinew Demon Taint!" Ning Zhuo walked leisurely up to it, using his own essence blood to activate the Demon Tainted Blood Sinew Art, forcibly subduing the puppet.

"I'll make do with this until I get the Golden Blood Battle Ape, 'Great Victory,' back." Ning Zhuo left his fourth secret pavilion, the demonically tainted Kung Fu Puppet following closely behind.

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

However, pushing open the small door he had entered from led him into an unfamiliar room.

This confirmed one of his suspicions.

The information had stated: A minor turning point occurs after every cumulative 36 explorations of the Secret Pavilion. A major turning point occurs after every cumulative 108 explorations.

"So this is the so-called 'minor turning point'? It scrambles the connections between the secret pavilions, rendering any previously memorized routes useless."

"I've explored up to the fourth pavilion. There are thirteen cultivators who passed the second exam. Some have explored fewer pavilions than me, so the total number explored by everyone just reached thirty-six."

"Hitting that number triggered the mechanism, causing a minor turning point."

"If this is a minor turning point, what would a major one be like?"

Ning Zhuo's mind raced, constantly thinking. He needed time to摸索 (explore) and truly develop a deep understanding of the third hall exam's rules.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit watched the Turning Point Secret Pavilion intently.

This was an exquisitely structured mechanical building, the final defensive line of the Molten Rock Immortal Palace's main hall.

The trial stages set by the Three Sects' Masters were realized by leveraging the unique functions of this structure.

And the various trial stages only utilized a fraction of this Secret Pavilion's capabilities.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit was the sole spectator, overseeing the entire situation. After the first minor turning point was triggered, it immediately summarized the various cultivators' fortunes.

Some were faring well, others poorly; some were racking their brains, while others were still being pursued.

"Those with the greatest gains are undoubtedly Meng Chong and Ning Zhuo."

"These two have obtained something in every secret pavilion they've entered. Currently, their accumulated mechanism constructs are neck and neck, firmly occupying the top tier."

The top tier consisted of only Meng Chong and Ning Zhuo.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit's expression was grave. "The path choices within the Turning Point Secret Pavilion actually test a cultivator's fortune/luck."

"The greater and more prosperous one's fortune, the more optimal and profitable the path chosen. The opposite holds true as well."

"Meng Chong possesses Immortal Aptitude, born with powerfully strong fortune. And Ning Zhuo shows such performance? Although he has the Life-Thread Suspension supernatural ability, the combined fortune merely creates a common pool, putting everyone on a similar level."

"He has no detected innate aptitude... could he also have Immortal Aptitude?"

The Longyuan Fire Spirit couldn't help but speculate.

"But that doesn't make sense."

"If he had Immortal Aptitude, why would his life in Fire Persimmon Immortal City over sixteen years have been so不顺 (unsmooth) and压抑 (oppressive)?"

"That is definitely not the manifestation of fortune for a supreme-grade innate aptitude!"

(End of )