sinovels Chapter 95 [Found it! The core material for the legendary quest!]
Chapter 95 [Found it! The core material for the legendary quest!]
The gate rose, and the four arrived at the core area of Earthquake No. 1.
The usual scorching heat has turned into a chilly cold, which already makes things quite strange.
The furnace well in the center of the core area is bottomless.
A wisp of grayish-white cold fire flickered in the well, slowly dying out.
It resembled a flame, but had no temperature; layers of black frost spread across the surrounding pipes.
"Huff—huff—!" Several strong dwarf craftsmen, shirtless, worked together to push and pull the massive bellows, trying to inject air into the subterranean fire using the most primitive method.
But when the airflow was poured in, the flame only lit up for a moment, and the black frost on the pipe spread even faster.
"Stop! Stop it all!" Brenner roared.
The craftsmen slumped to the ground, staring helplessly at the strange flame.
"This is the situation," Brenner pleaded. "Divine messengers, what... what is this?"
Wang Xuan and Ai Jia exchanged a glance and walked around the furnace well.
"Under the influence of some force, [fire] was forcibly grafted with [coldness]."
Ai Jia nodded: "They conflict with each other, consume each other, and the final result is extinguishing. The black frost we see is just a byproduct of the consumption process."
With just a few simple words, the two defined this disaster that the dwarves could not comprehend.
Brenner and Mason, who were standing nearby, were completely bewildered by what they heard, but they became respectful simply because of these profound ideas.
"We have two options," Ai Jia said, looking at Wang Xuan.
Wang Xuan understood: "The first solution is called [Concept Replacement]; we will use the power of the Chaos Seed to forcibly turn it back into a normal flame. This solution is safe and can solve the problem."
Upon hearing this, Brenner nodded immediately: "That's great! We'll use this one!"
"However," Wang Xuan changed the subject, "this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause; if similar pollution occurs again, you still won't be able to do anything about it."
He held up two fingers.
"Therefore, there is a second option: redefinition."
"We don't separate them; instead, we allow the concept of 'fire' to be compatible with 'coldness,' and even... allow fire to use ice as fuel!"
When this idea came out, Chen Kai and Li Yao were both shocked by this crazy idea.
Brenner was dumbfounded. Fire burning ice? Is this...right?
"It's too risky." Aija frowned. "If we fail, the outbreak of conflict could raze the entire Blackrock Fortress to the ground."
"No, we have fuses." Wang Xuan said meaningfully, and the heavy responsibility naturally fell on Li Yao, who was at the back of the group.
Wang Xuan looked at Brenner and said, word by word, "Just like the philosophy of your dwarf race, you are born to bow to thunder only once, but they will worship the god who redefined thunder forever; this is a chance to solve everything once and for all."
Brenner was persuaded.
The operation officially began, with Ai Jia taking the lead and Wang Xuan assisting her.
Chen Kai, holding a battle axe, stood guard on the outermost perimeter, alert to any unexpected events.
Li Yao stood at the back, connecting her will with the [Seed of Chaos] floating in mid-air, ready to intervene at any time.
hum-
Guided by Ai Jia and Wang Xuan, the tendrils of the Chaos Seed's power reached towards the core of the earth fire.
"The first step is to define the interface...establish a connection..."
"The second step is to write the logical condition statement: IF Fire = Cold THEN..."
However, the grayish-white flame at the core of the subterranean fire first contracted and then expanded.
"Oh no! It's out of control!" Ai Jia's face turned pale.
"It's rejecting us!" Wang Xuan realized.
The chill intensified in the core area.
Frost covered the entire core area, and eerily black ice crystals condensed in the air.
Li Yao, who had always acted as the fuse, got involved.
Li Yao poured all her obsession with "rebirth" into the "Seed of Chaos" that was about to spiral out of control.
The pure will to live forcibly unified the "coldness" that represents death with the "flame" that represents existence.
—Do you want to live?
—Then go and devour everything that caused your death!
The ball of fire did not disappear; instead, it turned into a dark blue color with burning black ice crystals!
It no longer emitted heat, and dark blue flames opened.
All the black frost was pulled and transformed into black currents of air, which were then sucked into the flames!
Pollution source transformed into new energy source!
Once the task was completed, the reward was naturally paid out.
Led by Commander Brenner, the four-man squad passed through several rune-driven, heavy iron gates.
We stopped in front of a huge steel door.
The door has no handle, and its surface is completely smooth, except for a complex keyhole in the center made of seven different metals.
"According to the fortress's oldest law," Brenner said solemnly, "the ancient archives may only be opened when facing a crisis for the survival of civilization, or when welcoming a messenger from God."
He waved away all the guards who followed him, ordering them to stand guard at a distance at the other end of the passage.
Brenner took out a strangely shaped brass key from his pocket. It had seven independently rotating metal rings on it, and its structure was very complicated.
They began to slowly rotate the metal rings.
"Click".
"Click..."
Each rotation of a ring represents the breaking of a layer of seal.
Wang Xuan noticed that Brenner's face would turn paler with each layer he unraveled.
As the seventh crisp sound rang out, the black metal on the surface slid to both sides, revealing a rock layer several meters thick behind it.
The protective runes carved into the rock strata lit up one by one, and then went out one by one.
"Rumble—" The heavy stone door rose upwards.
Brenner swayed slightly, turned to the side, and bowed deeply to the four of them.
"My esteemed messengers."
"please."
The four exchanged a glance and stepped into the forbidden area of the fortress.
This place contains endless records.
The cave is so high that its top is invisible, and countless bookshelves inside extend from the ground to the dark dome.
On the bookshelf were stone slabs so large that it would take several people to encircle them, covered with intricate ancient dwarven runes.
There were also silver scrolls and bronze scrolls that gleamed with a metallic sheen in the dim light, piled up everywhere, layer upon layer.
There were even many memory crystals suspended in huge glass containers, rhythmically contracting and expanding, emitting a soft halo.
"My God..." Wang Xuan exclaimed, "This must have taken so many years of accumulation."
"The dwarves are a terrifyingly fanatical race."
"This is perfect! The database of civilization information here spans thousands of years, and it's completely closed off and unorganized!"
Dr. Aijia got to work, found a relatively smooth stone slab, and quickly drew a table on it with a piece of charcoal pencil.
"We can start with basic classification, based on the recording medium: stone slabs, metal scrolls, and crystal. Then, we can make a rough determination of the age based on the engraving style of the runes."
She picked up the nearest bronze scroll and studied it, trying to find some patterns that could be analyzed.
Half an hour later, Ai Jia discovered that this method simply wouldn't work.
These records have no discernible pattern.
On some stone slabs, several different styles of runes from different eras appeared at the same time.
Some crystal recorders record a brutal war one second and a dwarf craftsman's wedding toast the next.
The worst part is that things here are piled up haphazardly.
Myths and legends, resource lists, personal diaries, and official battle reports are all mixed together.
The vast majority of it is useless information.
Finding clues about the Obsidian of the Heart of the Abyss here is virtually impossible.
Seeing Ai Jia's defeated expression, Wang Xuan smiled and stepped forward.
"Dr. Aija, your method is correct; however, you are dealing with a living history that is full of lies, contradictions, and personal emotions."
He reached out and gently pressed his hand on an epic stone tablet that told the story of a dwarf hero slaying a fire dragon.
"For example, this story is very exciting, but judging from the list of supplies next to it, the output of geothermal energy declined year after year that year; so, there was no hero slaying the fire dragon at all; the truth is, the volcano went out that year, and they were just using mythology to find a respectable reason for their own decline."
After Wang Xuan finished speaking, he, as a history student, took the records and began to analyze them in his mind.
"The Second Legion is still short of 300 sets of winter clothing."
"In the year 1247 of the Black Iron Calendar, a massive landslide sealed away the Weeping Mountains."
"God, what is that thing?! It ate our watchtower!"
"The Star Dragon flew from the north, its scales like the stars in the sky."
Threat Level: Highest! (Repeated! Highest!)
After verifying countless historical records, the target was finally found.
He strode forward, heading straight for a forgotten corner deep within the archives.
The other three followed.
Brenner followed at the back, and it seemed that the divine messenger had found the answer.
Wang Xuan stopped in a corner piled with discarded parts and broken stone slabs.
He bent down and dragged a rusty metal box out of a pile of garbage.
The box wasn't large, but it was sealed with three interlocking locks, a unique feature of dwarves.
"Move aside." Chen Kai stepped forward.
He picked up a broken spearhead from the ground, aimed at the intricate keyhole, and thrust it in.
"Crack!" With a metallic twisting sound, the three hidden locks snapped.
Wang Xuan opened the box, and inside was only a single scale.
The scales, about the size of a palm and dark red in color, lay on a velvet cushion.
The scales have a warm, smooth texture, and a slight burning sensation remains on the surface.
On the surface of the scales, an ancient rune was branded with a long-forgotten battle report.
[Blackrock Fortress Ancient Battle Report: Highest Threat File]
Wang Xuan's fingertips gently brushed over the words, and he read them aloud.
"In the year 977 of the Black Iron Calendar, we encountered an incomprehensible enemy. A terrifying living creature awoke from the bottomless pit in the north. It could devour and assimilate all physical matter, and we named it the Obsidian Behemoth."
"Our warhammers cannot harm it, our walls are easily destroyed before it, and it can even devour our flesh and blood, turning it into part of its body."
"After sacrificing nearly half of our elite rune warriors' lives, we have finally discovered its two characteristics."
"First, it cannot digest pure energy. Second, when its core is exposed to a powerful energy attack, it will enter a brief state of paralysis."
"On the day of the final battle, the High Tinker furiously hammered Torin, binding himself to the core of the fortress's subterranean furnace. He then self-destructed, launching a full-force attack on the behemoth's core, successfully crippling it and rendering it paralyzed for half an hour."
"But we... still can't kill it."
"It has no life, and it is not subject to death."
"In the end, our ancestors abandoned the idea of destroying it; they paid a heavy price, using the lives of countless warriors as bait, to lure this terrifying beast all the way to the [Weeping Mountains] in the southeast."
"And by taking advantage of its ability to devour matter, it triggered a massive avalanche and a violent geological collapse, ultimately sealing it forever in the bottomless pit of that mountain range."
After Wang Xuan finished reading the report, he turned the scales over.
In the appendix of the report, an ancient map, drawn with vermilion mineral pigments, bears the marks of repeated revisions and additions.
On the map, a bright red cross marks the approximate coordinates of the "Bottomless Pit".
"Found it." Wang Xuan showed the scale to his team members.
The acquisition path for the first material in the legendary quest "Imprisonment of Chaos," "Heart of the Abyss Obsidian," is now clear.
It is very likely the core of that obsidian behemoth sealed deep within the earth by the dwarven ancestors.
My long-standing confusion has finally been answered.
After leaving the starting village, the four of them had a target they could actively pursue for the first time.