Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Chapter 1288: Chapter 501: First Place

For Ning Zhuo, the path of time was undoubtedly a weak point.

He rarely interacted with it.

It’s like the path of Qi Fortune, which are Hidden Skills, unlike Confucianism, Daoism, or Buddhism, which are clear skills.

Indeed, few cultivators master it, let alone having deep interaction with it. Ning Zhuo absorbed three waves of Demon Souls, and none had deep interaction in this aspect.

Because the path of time often involves lifespan.

The Magic Techniques to extend life have always been treasured secrets, a strategic element impacting the overall situation!

Master Level Array Realm once again provided Ning Zhuo with tremendous help. Knowing this answer, the mysterious veil of this Sixth Song corridor formation was completely lifted, quickly becoming clear in Ning Zhuo’s eyes.

"The change in time flow has its pattern."

"Fast, slow, and reverse flow, these three states alternate to form a cycle. The length of this cycle is thirty-six breaths. Fast for twelve breaths, slow for twelve breaths, reverse flow for twelve breaths..."

When it’s fast, he goes all out, every action precisely executed, dismantling formations.

When it’s slow, he accumulates power for the next fast round.

During reverse flow, he stays still, allowing time to work its course without futile effort.

After thirty minutes, Ning Zhuo felt light all over.

The Sixth Song, passed.

Meanwhile, Shen Xi was still setting up his Array-in-Array.

The cultivators of the main formation naturally took note of this scene.

In fact, by this point in the trial, the progress of Ning Zhuo and Shen Xi was already within the top five.

The leading cultivators naturally attracted most of the attention.

"Ning Zhuo has overtaken Shen Xi!"

"He passed the Sixth Song remarkably fast."

"Could it be that his array dao proficiency surpasses Shen Xi’s? This is Ning Zhuo’s first time encountering the Sixth Song, right?"

This scene made many cultivators feel absurd. Yet the fact remains, contradicting almost everyone’s perceptions.

At this moment, most of the attention was focused on Ning Zhuo.

Everyone wanted to see Ning Zhuo’s performance in the Seventh Song.

Ning Zhuo probed around with a conflicted expression on his face.

He used his divine sense to scout the surroundings smoothly. The range of divine sense within the Seventh Song wasn’t suppressed, even expanded a bit.

He smoothly discovered various formation marks, quickly deducing the approximate formation structure in his mind.

But the strange thing was this—too smooth!

Ning Zhuo rarely showed hesitancy. It made no sense for the Seventh Song’s difficulty to be simpler than the previous six, and too simple by far.

Thus, Ning Zhuo employed various means, including Breaking Array Treasure, to continuously probe.

The final result was exactly the same as before.

"Shall I try it then?" Ning Zhuo pondered momentarily and decided to proceed.

In such situations, overthinking is of no benefit.

Ning Zhuo used his mana to activate the Eye-catching Talisman.

Boom.

The Eye-catching Talisman was shattered after burning halfway.

The next moment, the formation’s power backfired, causing Ning Zhuo’s body to tremble, throat tasting bloody.

The backlash from the talisman was much more indirect than other means. Even so, Ning Zhuo nearly coughed up blood.

Ning Zhuo’s pupils almost shrank to needle points: "So, the mystery of this song lies in the true and false!"

In the corridor, every pillar, every tile, every shingle, has truth and falsehood.

"There’s an Illusion Array here!"

The "truth" of the formation Ning Zhuo deduced before was obviously far from the true answer. Otherwise, using the Eye-catching Talisman wouldn’t be so absurdly wrong.

Ning Zhuo couldn’t help but fall into contemplation: "How to break it?"

"Break for me—!" Shen Xi was shouting.

The Nine Palace Small Array he was leading erupted with dazzling light columns, shooting straight into the sky, across the rainbow. Finally, with full force, under severe interference of time flow, he broke through the Sixth Song.

At the moment of breakthrough, the Nine Palace Small Array reached its limit and completely collapsed.

And Shen Xi, who was leading the array, inevitably suffered backlash, staggered, suddenly appeared with more than a dozen wounds all over his body, each wound spurting blood outward.

Shen Xi nearly fell into the Seventh Song, kneeled down exhaustedly, bathed in blood, with a defeated look on his face.

He almost fainted, holding on barely at the brink of his limits, halted the bleeding, and after a long while, finally regained his crucial breath.

He hurriedly sat cross-legged, urgently recovering.

His injuries were only partly healed, from severe to mild, Shen Xi immediately raced against time to scout the surroundings.

"Time is running out; this Seventh Song is peculiar!"

"Ah, I hope I can uncover its secrets."

While Shen Xi raced against time, Ning Zhuo had already used the Breaking Array Treasure repeatedly, continuously tapping the pillars.

On the eighteenth pillar, the tapping sound changed.

Ning Zhuo laughed heartily, instantly using the Array Gap Traveling Shuttle to propel himself, directly crashing into the pillar.

The next moment, his vision changed dramatically, entering the Eighth Song from the Seventh Song.

"Ning Zhuo has left Shen Xi behind, entering the Eighth Song!"

"His proficiency in array dao is quite deep. What’s with the first trial, a deliberate blunder? What benefit does it offer him?"

"Currently, there are three people who have reached the Ninth Song; initially, there were sixteen in the Eighth Song. Ning Zhuo became the seventeenth!" a cultivator was summarizing.

These few individuals are the most hopeful candidates to break through the Ninth Song in this Xingyun Trial and seize the top place.

Whoever breaks through first will be the top winner of this trial!

The cultivators leading the Great Array were briefly silent.

At the start of this trial, none of them could anticipate Ning Zhuo would directly breakthrough to the Eighth Song. It means he had already become one of the seeds in this trial!