My daughter has been possessed.

Chapter 26 Increased Strength

Another dimension, the Morning Palace.

At this moment, the sky outside the hall had begun to turn yellow, just like the feeling of dusk in the normal world.

This was the eighth time Li Jiuhe had placed the incense burner on one side of the bronze balance.

The seven attempts I just made have all failed. Either the tray on my side was too heavy, or the tray on the side where the incense burners were placed was too heavy.

Each time, the stone figure would come to life instantly after the scales came to a stop with a click, and then a weight would be thrown at Li Jiuhe.

During this time, Li Jiuhe also showed quick reflexes, jumping off the tray ahead of time to try and escape the pursuit.

But after the stone man was resurrected, he was like a god of war. Not only was he agile, but the weight in his hand was like a toy to him. He spun it around and no matter how Li Jiuhe dodged, he could hit him accurately every time and crush him into mincemeat.

Therefore, Li Jiuhe has already died seven times.

Now he understood that the main problem was that finding an incense burner that was exactly equal to his own weight was too difficult.

Because these incense burners varied in size and weight, he could only make adjustments through trial and error and by feeling.

However, he has now figured out some patterns. For example, an incense burner larger than a watermelon weighs about 27 or 28 jin (18.5 catties), a slightly smaller one weighs about 21 or 22 jin (10.5-11.5 kg), and then the smallest ones weigh about 14 or 15 jin (7.5-8.5 kg)...

And so on, including those weighing ten to sixty grams, seventy to eighty grams, with the smallest weighing less than a pound.

Last time, he felt it was almost balanced because the scale only tilted slightly towards the incense burner, indicating that one side was a little heavier.

This time, he replaced one of the incense burners with a smaller one.

It seemed the weight was still a little too much, so we switched to another one.

By now, Li Jiuhe had a profound realization: those trapped in the Morning Bell alternate dimension were practically doomed, even if they knew they had to find the rules to escape.

These rules are extremely strict, and the punishments are the most severe; a slight mistake can lead to immediate death.

If anyone else had come in before me, they probably would have been crushed to death by the weight on their first attempt to balance the scales.

Unless this person is incredibly lucky and manages to place an incense burner exactly the same weight as themselves on the first try—which is probably even less likely than winning a lottery ticket—the odds of success are slim.

Thankfully, I have the task reset feature.

Before long, he was standing on the other side of the scale, on the tray.

The balance scale begins to move towards equilibrium with the weights on both sides. This process is very slow, which means that the weights on both sides are very close.

Li Jiuhe didn't dare to breathe, trying his best to stay still, watching the scales tilt towards him until they were perfectly balanced.

Just then, a click sounded, and the scales stopped moving.

Li Jiuhe dared not turn his head quickly, for fear that doing so would increase the weight on his side. Instead, he glanced at the stone figure beside him out of the corner of his eye.

They found that the stone figure remained motionless and had not come to life.

He was immediately overjoyed.

The next second, a huge force suddenly rose out of thin air within his body. Li Jiuhe was startled and saw that all the incense burners on the tray opposite him scattered and slid quickly to the ground, piling up again.

He quickly jumped off the tray, looked up at the stone figure, and found that the stone figure still did not move.

Clearly, my operation was successful and did not revive it.

However, the power that had suddenly surged within him remained.

He felt something was off, clenched his fist, and found that he felt a surge of power.

It was as if, after the two sides of the scale had reached equilibrium, all the power from the incense burner had gathered on his body.

In other words, his power has now doubled.

"Does doubling my strength mean I'm one step closer to lifting that enormous weight?"

Li Jiuhe guessed what was going on and turned to look at the large weight on the ground.

However, he knew very well that even if his strength doubled at this moment, it would be extremely difficult to lift this thing, and it might still cause the stone man to revive and kill him.

It seems best not to touch this weight until I have accumulated enough strength to lift it.

With each trial and error and the results of each success, Li Jiuhe realized that he was getting closer and closer to the answer to the balance puzzle.

However, the sky outside the palace had now completely darkened.

Thinking back to the scene when the Morning Palace and the Evening Palace intersected at the very beginning, he suspected that the current Morning Palace might be about to end, while the Evening Palace, which had turned deathly gray, might reappear.

But the bells in the square did not ring, nor did the eerie sound of the millstone appear. The two halls would only alternate when that sound appeared.

So I still have some time.

The mission was not over, and because Li Jiuhe had spent a lot of time resetting the mission and accumulating incense burners, the mission time would be recalculated after each reset.

However, time in this alternate dimension kept passing, causing a mission to continue until nightfall.

However, it was clearly inconvenient to continue solving the balance puzzle at this moment, as the hall was dimly lit and the surrounding scenery was not clearly visible.

All the incense burners had become scattered, and he had to find the suitable incense burners one by one and pile them on the tray.

They proceeded in the dark for a while, and the process was extremely difficult.

Soon after, he sat down to rest and wait.

This task is extremely complex and clearly cannot be completed in a single day.

After an unknown amount of time, the entire hall trembled, and the familiar sound of a millstone rang out, accompanied by a rumbling vibration.

Without hesitation, Li Jiuhe immediately got up and ran out of the main hall.

Upon arriving at the open-air plaza, a glance around revealed that the vast Morning Palace was gradually darkening from an eerie, bright color.

In contrast, the Hall of Dusk next to the Hall of Morning, although still dark, was gradually becoming clearer in terms of its outline, beams, and pillars, and the somber feeling was disappearing.

Although he couldn't see the time, Li Jiuhe guessed it must be 2 a.m.

Within this alternate dimension of the Two-Seven Morning Bell, the two-seven rule still applies: at 2 a.m., the Morning Hall is replaced by the Evening Hall, and at 7 a.m., the Evening Hall is replaced by the Morning Hall again.

Therefore, the Hall of Dusk existed for a very short time, but there may have been similar tasks to those in the Hall of Dawn within it.

At the same time, news of the mission's failure surfaced, an outcome Li Jiuhe had anticipated.

A deep, muffled chime emanated from the morning bell in the center of the square, and he felt a ringing in his ears again, while the rumbling of the millstone gradually ceased.

This marks the completion of the transition between the Morning Temple and the Evening Temple.

Having gained experience and knowing that the Hall of Dusk would only exist for a short time, Li Jiuhe did not delay and immediately headed towards it.

There was also a stone tablet in front of the dark hall. After careful examination, it also had eight characters, but it read "Use one's own cause to destroy one's own effect".

Looking at the dimly lit interior of the hall, he took a few deep breaths, feeling the power within him that had doubled compared to before, and then stepped across the threshold of the dimly lit hall.