Chapter 524: Unclear Rules
One thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, the four worked together and barely constructed a puppet core.
When they finally came out of the time formation, none of the four looked good.
"One hundred years outside and one thousand inside the formation." Wang Peng sighed.
"I am afraid this is my limit." The female cultivator suddenly said.
The female cultivator’s name was Song Ruoqi.
Her cultivation was at the seventh level of the reincarnation realm and her weapon was a mallet.
"I feel the same." Wang Peng said with a solemn look in his eyes.
Although they somehow managed to construct a puppet core, he and Song Ruoqi didn’t contribute a lot.
When he thought about it, he couldn’t help but feel grateful to Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue.
"I have been meaning to ask..." Jiang Yue started and everyone turned to look at him.
"Is something on your mind fellow Daoist Yu?" Wang Peng asked.
"Do either of you need to cross the tribulation?"
Hearing this, Song Ruoqi and Wang Peng were startled.
Altogether, they had been in the ruin for more than one hundred years.
During that time, they were in a constant state of tension and the tribulation was momentarily ignored.
Now that Jiang Yue mentioned it, they couldn’t help but think about it.
"I still have three hundred years before my next tribulation." Wang Peng said.
However, although he had time, he didn’t look happy.
After all, it took one hundred years to complete the task in the third room.
If they proceeded to a fourth room, they would probably need a lot more time to complete the task.
Most importantly, his cultivation was not up to par.
Unless he left the ruin right away, he would have no time to perfect his cultivation before the next tribulation.
"What about fellow Daoist Song?" Jiang Yue asked.
"I have six hundred years." The woman said and Jiang Yue nodded.
After that, no one spoke.
In the end, all of them were prisoners.
Without a way to leave their situation, encouraging words were meaningless.
"There are five days before the deadline. Let’s wait quietly." Jiang Yue finally said and looked at his lover.
Seeing this, Yu Nianzhen held Jiang Yue’s hand and the two walked to a corner of the room.
[We barely made it.] Jiang Yue transmitted with a solemn look in his eyes.
[Mmmmh. It’s getting harder and harder to keep up.] Yu Nianzhen agreed.
[Even if we don’t get the inheritance, the manuals we currently possess are treasures for our Cangxing mountain.]
[True.] Yu Nianzhen said and nodded.
Even in the Reincarnation world, puppetry was a niche mastery.
Because of this, the Cangxing Mountain had yet to encounter useful resources for puppet masters.
With what Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue currently had, the Cangxing mountain puppet masters had enough materials to study for a long time.
[What do you think the next test will be?] Jiang Yue asked and Yu Nianzhen fell into thought.
Less than ten breaths later, the swordsman sighed and looked at his lover.
[If I am not mistaken, there will be parts but no manual in the next room.] Yu Nianzhen said and Jiang Yue shuddered.
Although he didn’t want to believe it, he felt Yu Nianzhen was right.
Considering everything they had been through; the logical progression was what Yu Nianzhen suggested.
[Should we review the previous manuals?] Jiang Yue asked but without waiting for an answer, he removed the manuals from his storage ring.
After that, the two spent five days reviewing the manuals from the second and third rooms.
At the same time, they discussed some of their understandings and rationales derived from the manuals.
When the deadline came, the two stopped their discussions and gathered with the other two.
"It’s finally time." Wang Peng said with a hint of impatience in his voice.
Since he realised his situation, Wang Peng felt a little desperate.
"Will there be another room?" He asked, desperately hoping there would be no other room.
Unfortunately, wishes were not horses.
As soon as the deadline passed, another door appeared.
"Damned it." Wang Peng cursed.
"At least we get to keep the eagle puppets." Jiang Yue said.
"They need reincarnation stones or spirit stones to operate. At the moment, we don’t have either so the eagle puppets are nothing more than chunks of metal." Wang Peng said.
"Fellow Daoist Wang, you should adjust your mood." Jiang Yue kindly reminded.
However, Wang Peng was in the grips of pessimism and didn’t take the advice seriously.
Seeing this, Jiang Yue didn’t say more.
"Let’s go in." Yu Nianzhen said and Jiang Yue nodded.
Soon after, the four entered the fourth room.
As Yu Nianzhen supposed, there were no writings on the wall.
However, there were millions of puppet pieces in the middle of the room.
When Jiang Yue saw this, he sighed and glared at his lover.
’I didn’t do anything.’ Yu Nianzhen wanted to protest.
However, he didn’t dare to and also secretly felt he had a crow’s mouth.
"There is no manual." Wang Peng said with a solemn look in his eyes.
"How much time do we have?" Song Ruoqi asked but no one knew the answer.
"No manual and we don’t even know the deadline. How can this ruin be so crazy?" Wang Peng grumbled.
"Since we don’t know how much time we have, let’s divide the pieces as quickly as we can." Yu Nianzhen suggested and the others agreed.
Seven days later, each person received a pile of puppet parts but no one looked happy.
"These pieces are for a puppet shell. However, this time, the parts are a little different from the eagle shell." Jiang Yue observed.
"I also think so." Song Ruoqi said with a frown on her face.
Without knowing the shape of the puppet, it was extremely difficult to assemble the shell.
"Our deadline should be about one year." Yu Nianzhen suddenly said.
"Our proficiency has improved but we don’t know what the puppet is supposed to look like. It will be difficult to assemble it." Jiang Yue added and everyone fell silent.
However, they didn’t linger for too long.
Knowing they didn’t have much time; they settled close to their puppet parts and began to study them.
[Azhen, I think the shell is a four-legged beast.] Jiang Yue transmitted.
[Why do you think so?]
[Look at the parts in front of me.]
Hearing that, Yu Nianzhen looked at the mentioned parts.
In front of Jiang Yue were four parts that vaguely looked like paws.
[They could be paws.] Yu Nianzhen said and Jiang Yue nodded.
[We can begin working from here.]
[Good.] Yu Nianzhen said and began searching for similar parts in his own pile.
Soon after, he located the parts and placed them before him.
[Although we don’t know the specific beast, we can try to figure it out as we assemble.]
Seven months later, the two managed to assemble four legs but the main body and head were still unassembled.
[If the deadline is one year, we won’t make it.] Jiang Yue stated.
Originally, they thought about entering the time formation.
However, the rules of the task were too unclear.
If they entered the time formation, they ran the risk of missing the deadline or impromptu instructions.
In the end, they could only stay out of the formation and try to complete the task as fast as they could.
[The deadline may not be one year.] Yu Nianzhen said.
After all, the current situation was different from the situation in the second room.
This time, they didn’t have a procedural manual and didn’t know what kind of puppet they were supposed to assemble.
Most importantly, the number and complexity of puppet parts were vastly different.
Compared to the second room, the parts in the current task were more complex and at least two to three times more.
[I am hoping for at least five years.] Jiang Yue said.
Considering his previous experience, Jiang Yue knew the legs were the least troublesome to assemble.
Since it took more than seven months to assemble the limbs, it would definitely take years to assemble the main body and head.
[I wonder if the beast will have a tail.] Jiang Yue suddenly wondered.
[It’s likely.] Yu Nianzhen said and a smile flashed in his eyes.
[What’s the use of a tail on a mechanical puppet.] Jiang Yue couldn’t help but grumble.
[Don’t stress yourself. If we fall into danger, we will directly activate the golden teleportation talisman and escape from here.]
[Fortunately, we have that.] Jiang Yue said and subconsciously looked across the room.
[Fellow Daoist Wang and fellow Daoist Song have also made progress.] He said and Yu Nianzhen also looked over.
A moment later, Jiang Yue snorted and Yu Nianzhen forcibly suppressed the smile threatening to curl his lips.
[They started with the tail.] Jiang Yue stated and quickly continued.
[I guess that answers my question. The beast indeed has a tail.]
