CHAPTER 2073: CHAPTER 2071: JIULI’S GREATEST SECRET

What the hell is this?

A swarm of dense bugs crawled out; they looked like ants, yet were much larger, with legs like centipedes, long and thin, and quite a few pairs.

Bai Ruozhu didn’t have time to count how many legs those strange bugs had; the moment she saw them, she had just one thought: escape!

This place was too disadvantageous for her, full of Mechanical Puppets, and her Poison was useless.

She used her agility to flee while using her Dagger to fend off the Mechanical monsters’ attacks, a thought rapidly emerging in her mind.

These things were lifeless and couldn’t be poisoned to death, but she could use Poison to paralyze them.

She remembered someone once doing something at the Yingerlai, using the juice of the lamp’s wick to destroy the railing on the second floor of the Yingerlai, causing it to break and injure a guest.

Most Mechanical Puppets are made of Wood and Metal, and if she could use Poison to destroy the Wood or Metal, could they still be arrogant?

Thinking of this, Bai Ruozhu regained her confidence, quickly escaping and soon creating a Minor Array to hide within.

She swiftly took out several bottles of Medicine Liquid and mixed them together; in no time at all, those Mechanical Puppets were upon her again.

This time she didn’t run; she threw the Medicine Liquid directly out and poured it around her, drawing a circle like a jail, enclosing herself within.

She quickly formed seals with her hands, using Magic Techniques to protect herself, and then saw the dense swarm of Mechanical strange bugs surrounding her, but soon their long, thin legs broke, followed by their tails. In less than 15 minutes, the ground was littered with broken Mechanical limbs.

Bai Ruozhu’s mouth slightly curled; indeed, sometimes a change in perspective could find a different answer.

That most formidable creature, a hybrid of sorts, also slowed significantly and quickly collapsed to the ground.

Seeing there was no danger, Bai Ruozhu carefully lifted it with her Dagger to examine it closely.

These Mechanical Puppets weren’t controlled by anyone; they couldn’t compare to those with a master, but their craftsmanship was exquisite, and their materials were very special, appearing much better than those of the Jiuli Clan.

Bai Ruozhu felt a bit puzzled since these Puppets were even better than the ones her aunt Jiao Ling had. She’d also encountered Fo Lanying’s Puppets before, including those Fo Lanying borrowed from her parents, none as precise as these Puppets before her.

If there were better Puppets, why not use them oneself and instead leave them in the Trial Ground to test the young participants? Isn’t that a bit wasteful?

And Fo Lanying’s father, wasn’t he a Mechanist obsessed with researching Mechanical Puppets? Did he not take some out from the Trial Ground?

Could it be the Jiuli’s clan rules are like this? Bai Ruozhu couldn’t quite figure it out. She really wanted to collect these Mechanical Puppets into her Space and take them back for her aunt to study, but she was afraid someone might be secretly watching, so she gave up.

In the end, she still picked up the core part of that most formidable hybrid and tucked it into her sleeve.

At this moment, she didn’t know she was in the central area of the Trial Ground; it was not somewhere one could reach with mere strength but also required great luck, possibly with no one entering for years, so most in the Jiuli Clan had never seen the Mechanical Puppets inside.

She continued onward and soon saw a small Stream. The Stream meandered down, making the sound of rushing water, like a jade belt extending towards the south.

Checking her surroundings carefully to ensure there was no danger, Bai Ruozhu walked over. She looked at the water in the river again, made sure it wasn’t poisoned, and then quickly washed her face and tidied herself up.

While she was washing her face, some small black shadows slowly appeared from the bottom of the Stream and quickly gathered toward her.

Bai Ruozhu suddenly widened her eyes; her sense was very strong, and in an instant, she felt a huge crisis.

Sure enough, the next second, one by one, black spikes shot towards her. Fortunately, she had used Magic Techniques to protect herself, narrowly escaping the danger.

The black spikes fell back into the water, instantly turning into small fish, and then quickly hid back in the mud at the bottom of the Stream.

Bai Ruozhu’s eyes were wide with shock. Were those also Mechanical Puppets? How could they be made so small and with such a strong ability to ambush?

She formed seals with her hands again and cautiously approached the water’s edge. Soon, another group of small fish surfaced, again transforming into spikes to attack her, blocked by her Magic Techniques, falling back into the water and turning back into fish.

With keen eyes and quick hands, Bai Ruozhu caught one, using her sleeve to avoid getting cut, then used some of her metal-melting Medicines to finally calm the leaping little fish.

Leaving the Stream and finding a safe place, she examined the fish she had caught, marveling at its exquisite design, but she also discovered that these small fish couldn’t change form for a while after launching a spike attack, so when they missed, they sank back into the mud.

Of course, this didn’t mean they had intelligence but was how the creator designed them.

Bai Ruozhu had only just begun learning Mechanical Techniques and, in the face of such powerful craftsmanship, felt her head was overwhelmed, unable to fathom how these Mechanical Puppets were made.

Luckily, she found a way to break them, continuing forward with her Poison and quickly encountering several more waves of Mechanical Puppets, paralyzing them once again.

Finally, she saw a few towering Stone Pillars in the distance, arranged very neatly, seemingly serving a special purpose.

Cautiously approaching, Bai Ruozhu increasingly felt she had reached some central area, like the very center of the Trial Ground.

"Huh, does this look like a Teleportation Array?" Bai Ruozhu muttered to herself. If it were anyone else, they might not think much of it, but these rootless Stone Pillars resembled a Teleportation Array from a game she had played in a past life, which required players to click the Stone Pillars in the correct order, lighting them up to activate the Teleportation Array, connecting to another map.

Not daring to rashly touch the Stone Pillars, she cautiously began to inspect them. Circling the rootless Stone Pillars, she soon discovered some carved lines on them, which, upon closer inspection, seemed to be murals and some simple text.

She studied them intently and soon became immersed in the simple images. By the time she finished looking at the fifth Stone Pillar, her expression had become extremely peculiar.

"Is this the biggest secret of the Jiuli Clan?" Bai Ruozhu muttered, somewhat lost in thought.

And whether these rootless Stone Pillars really connected to somewhere else, a sudden sense of dread surged in her heart. It seemed she had stumbled upon something incredible, something she didn’t want to know at all; isn’t it said that the more you know, the faster you meet your end?

Thinking this, she decided to turn back immediately; she could forgo continuing the trial, and she didn’t want to take any risks. Even if it meant being called a coward, it didn’t matter. She had family, a lover, and three children, many things to consider carefully.

Just as she was about to turn around, the Stone Pillars suddenly emitted a faint red light...