: The Star-Burning Crater

"Come to think of it, should I sneak near the main forces of Liangzhu Kingdom or into Cangling Immortal City for a secret farewell meeting with Generals Liu, Guan, and Zhang, or with General Mulán?"

Ning Zhuo hesitated inside the dragon-head cabin.

Resolving the divorce matter was out of the question. Going through official channels would definitely take a long time and expose him proactively.

For Ning Zhuo, it was all risk and no benefit—the stakes were too high.

Besides a formal farewell, Ning Zhuo mainly wanted to use the Three Generals Camp and Red Flower Camp to exchange part of his military merits for resources he could take with him.

After all, he had performed quite impressively in the second major battle, achieving remarkable feats. According to regulations, these should grant him significant rewards.

"That Three Palaces Treasure Talisman I exchanged for merits last time was really useful."

"Even if Liangzhu Kingdom is small, it's still a cultivation nation. To me personally, and even to the entire Ning family, it's a colossal entity with resources as vast as mountains and seas. I'm sure I can use my merits to exchange for treasures suitable for me."

"With these cultivation resources in hand before I leave, it'll greatly benefit my future cultivation."

As soon as Ning Zhuo had the thought, the mechanism ring on his finger suddenly tightened with considerable force.

Considering Ning Zhuo's current physical condition was far beyond what it used to be, the ring's contraction still made him grimace in pain.

"Would staying here be no different from seeking death?" Ning Zhuo's eyes narrowed sharply.

"Have the Heaven and Earth Ghosts tracked me back?"

"Or has Du Tiechuan been lying in wait for me all along?"

"Or maybe this time, the Whisker Dragon King captured a fake Old Monster in the Stone and indirectly found clues, leading them to me?"

For a moment, various speculations swirled in Ning Zhuo's mind.

So what about a secret meeting then?

Time to run!

"I'm just a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, small and weak. No need to jump around under the noses of these Nascent Soul and Soul Formation level experts."

"Although I performed well in the big battle earlier, it was really just taking advantage of them being too busy fighting each other to the death."

Anyway, the two captives, Lín Yōu and Wú Hén, had already been directly handed over to Ning Zhuo by Mulán.

With the main objective achieved, Ning Zhuo chose to quit while he was ahead.

"As the son-in-law of General Mulán, the military merits I established in the Liangzhu Kingdom's campaign should also receive consideration."

"First, due to national systems and reputation; second, the Mulán General's estate is closely tied to me. If they don't even help their own son-in-law, how can they talk about revitalization?"

Ning Zhuo once again realized the benefits of his marital relationship with Mulán.

"I'll collect the rewards and handle this relationship when I return to Liangzhu Kingdom in the future."

Having thought this far, Ning Zhuo felt no more attachment. He activated the Mechanical Roaming Dragon and headed straight forward.

The Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon穿梭虚空, an excellent means of transportation for long journeys.

Three or four days later, space rippled, and a small mechanical dragon appeared out of thin air.

It was the Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon.

The dragon deliberately stopped here. Ning Zhuo and Sūn Língtóng gathered in the dragon-head cabin, observing a magnificent scene outside.

It was a huge crater, eight hundred miles in diameter!

Viewed from above, mountains encircled it, with a massive deep pit at the center.

The pit walls were completely vitrified, covered with web-like cracks. The cracks periodically emitted blue-silver light, flickering rhythmically like the natural breathing of a giant.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, earth power surged, and large bursts of blue-silver fire erupted from various fissures. In an instant, the entire crater was filled with blazing flames.

The fire soared hundreds of feet high, tongues of flame licking the sky. The temperature surged violently, creating deadly heat around.

Sūn and Ning had taken precautions, positioning the Roaming Dragon far away. But when the blue-silver flames shot up, they still hastily操控the dragon to retreat.

The entire Roaming Dragon showed signs of melting. Fortunately, they retreated quickly, suffering only minor damage.

Sūn Língtóng broke out in a fine cold sweat: "This is the Star-Burning Crater! Even though the records described it, I still underestimated the power of this World-Cleansing Heavenly Fire."

Ning Zhuo gazed silently at the towering blue flames reflected in his eyes.

This was one of the wonders of the cultivation world.

Legend had it that a falling star struck the depths of these mountains, creating this massive impact crater.

The erupted World-Cleansing Heavenly Fire penetrated the earth veins, entwining and coexisting with this land, burning since ancient times until now.

Many legends surrounded this place.

For instance, during the Middle Antiquity era, outstanding spiritual roots emerged one after another. The seven super sects of that time jointly explored,投入thirty thousand cultivators, with only seven surviving.

These seven greatly benefited from the exploration and were collectively known as the Seven Sky-Roaming Children.

By the Late Antiquity era, spiritual energy was abundant, and talents manifested. The Star-Burning Crater also benefited, accumulating spirituality over the long years until quantity triggered quality, forming an exceptionally powerful fire spirit capable of self-cultivation, who called herself the World-Cleansing Celestial Maiden.

The Celestial Maiden left the crater, bringing calamity to the entire cultivation world, burning all life, causing the downfall of most forces due to her.

The blue-silver flames were so immense, like a giant mountain range!

Centered on the flames, a mysterious force spread out, immediately transforming the surroundings into a peculiar space of azure cosmos.

The space was completely open, free to enter and exit. Countless starlights shimmered brilliantly, lines of starlight drawing纵横交错straight and curved lines within the azure cosmos.

Boom, boom, boom...

Clouds parted as three流星meteorites fell from the sky, drawn into the azure cosmos space.

Then, the three流星plunged into the Star-Burning Crater, creating three consecutive explosions.

The mountain-like flames shook three times for the first time, then stabilized and continued burning, occasionally spewing out some impurity star ash.

"Star-Burning Powder!" Sūn Língtóng's eyes lit up,操控the Roaming Dragon to approach slightly and collect some of the impurity star ash.

This Star-Burning Powder was an excellent combustion aid, significantly lowering the melting point of materials.

Sūn only collected a small portion,主动放弃most of it.

The reason was simple: this collection task was too dangerous. If the Roaming Dragon actually entered the flames, it would be incinerated to ash in just one breath.

A Nascent Soul level mechanical construct was completely insignificant before a world-class wonder.

When the flame mountain burned, the spreading azure cosmos was an ownerless domain.

Its original owner was the World-Cleansing Celestial Maiden from the Late Antiquity era.

During the era of the Forbidden Dynasty, it was once公认by the cultivation world that controlling this domain meant controlling the Star-Burning Crater!

This was a world wonder-level resource point, with immense利益.

Coupled with the emergence of numerous gods and buddhas, many ambitious individuals ventured deep into the crater, attempting to掌控this ownerless domain.

Men die for wealth, birds for food. Many well-known experts and organizations paid the price with their lives or destruction.

The most famous in historical records was the Star Cloud Lay Buddhist. This Buddhist cultivator was a Mahayana stage existence but fell during the attempt to control it.

He had prepared many methods to deal with the World-Cleansing Heavenly Fire's threat but didn't expect the existence of Star Core Ghost Remains within the crater. The latter devoured the Star Cloud Lay Buddhist, causing him to temporarily turn into a Starfire Ghost Demon, wreaking havoc in the crater and slaughtering countless subsequent attempts.

Eventually, the numerous attempts on the Star-Burning Crater prompted the then Forbidden Dynasty to mobilize its power.

An entire imperial dynasty exerted its strength, attempting to subdue the Star-Burning Crater!

Yet they still returned in defeat. Survivors afterward were tight-lipped. The official only stated publicly—"Great terror lies within the depths of the Star-Burning Crater!"

After even an imperial dynasty failed, no one else attempted to subdue the Star-Burning Crater. It was henceforth公认as one of the wonders of this world.

Although no force could subdue it, many cultivators still risked their lives living around it.

They mainly ventured to collect the many unique cultivation resources of the Star-Burning Crater.

Star-Burning Powder was just one of them, even微不足道.

The larvae of Starlight Worms were as huge as elephants and could live freely around the crater.

Every time a star was captured and consumed by the ownerless domain, Star Marrow would be produced. This rare treasure material could counteract the fire calamity among the Three Disasters and Nine Tribulations, making it extremely precious.

Sometimes, by chance, fire pattern diagrams would form on the crater walls, recording the principles of fire. There were also star trace diagrams containing the principles of stars.

The World-Cleansing Heavenly Fire seed was one of the most precious treasures, but seeking it involved immense risk, requiring deep penetration into the crater.

Though the crater seemed一目了然, with flat terrain and open space, any cultivator setting foot inside would inevitably fall into the domain. The result of long跋涉wouldn't equal a small step in reality.

Plus, there were spatial mazes constructed by Star Gap Remnant Spaces, whose structure changed drastically after each flame eruption.

While Sūn Língtóng操控the Roaming Dragon to collect Star-Burning Powder, they noticed many other cultivators also collecting.

They employed various methods, their skills diverse, cultivation levels ranging high and low, but the lowest were at Golden Core level. From Sūn's observation alone, there were three Nascent Soul level cultivators!

To some extent, the level of such world wonders far surpassed that of Liangzhu Kingdom's campaign against the Thousand Peaks Forest.

"Fellow Daoist..." Not long after Sūn and Ning made their move, a Nascent Soul level cultivator主动flew over to chat.

He introduced himself as a subordinate of a Soul Formation level expert, politely inviting Sūn and Ning to a gathering.

The Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon was Nascent Soul level, leading strangers to mistakenly believe that there was at least a Nascent Soul level cultivator inside the mechanism.

Ning Zhuo didn't hesitate, saying they were just passing through, merely sightseeing, and would leave soon.

The inviting Nascent Soul cultivator主动left a token before departing, his attitude enthusiastic throughout.

Sūn Língtóng sighed: "Where there are people, there's conflict. Although the Star-Burning Crater is ownerless, its利益are huge. The cultivators around it have already formed established patterns and divided the利益long ago."

"Mm." Ning Zhuo nodded. "We're just passing through. Let's not get involved in the complex博弈. Better to leave."

They came here more out of慕名而来, intending to leave after a visit.

"Leaving here means we've exited Liangzhu Kingdom's borders," Sūn Língtóng remarked with feeling.

Ning Zhuo instinctively glanced back towards the direction of the Thousand Peaks Forest, his expression slightly复杂.

This trip to Liangzhu Kingdom had involved many risks, with several生死垂于一线moments, but the收获were also immense. Not only were his original objectives smoothly achieved, but he also became wealthy, with both his personal strength and temperament undergoing qualitative changes.

The Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon遁入虚空, disappearing from the spot.

"They really left," many watching eyes withdrew.

The Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon was a classic mechanical construct. Since it had little combat power and was purely for transportation and escape, it wasn't standard equipment. To most Nascent Soul cultivators, it was a luxury item.

Cultivators possessing the Roaming Dragon were either highly advanced in cultivation or wealthy and noble.

This led to Sūn and Ning being严重高估. Their appearance immediately caught the attention of many cultivators. They would never have guessed that the two cultivators inside the mechanical dragon were merely at the Foundation Establishment level.

Sūn and Ning continued their journey, heading straight for Feiyun Kingdom.

穿梭虚空was much more convenient than flying.

Flying at high altitudes also encountered dangers like demon beasts and恶劣天气. But the process of穿梭虚空was relatively safer and more isolated.

Of course, everything has its pros and cons.

Traveling this way consumed a lot of resources.

It was burning money every moment!

"If only we could capture a Nascent Soul, that would save a lot of spirit stones. Pity there was no chance to capture one alive during the two major battles and the smaller skirmishes before and after."

Ning Zhuo regretted.

Mainly due to insufficient capability.

Nascent Souls excel at escaping through space.

During the campaign against the Thousand Peaks Forest, many Nascent Soul cultivators fell. Most of them managed to escape with their Nascent Souls.

Like Bì Téng Yī, who could continue cultivating after重塑肉身.

At the Nascent Soul level, a cultivator's survival ability undergoes a qualitative leap. Even if the physical body is destroyed, it doesn't necessarily mean the end of the cultivation path.

Mulán's supernatural power, the Red Heart Stork Arrow, was very powerful, capable of incinerating Nascent Souls. Such means were extremely rare,屈指可数even within Liangzhu Kingdom.

Capturing a Nascent Soul alive, however, was无数倍more difficult than killing one.

So, the possibility of Ning Zhuo capturing a Nascent Soul alive was very low.

Although he had no Nascent Souls, Ning Zhuo had seized many Golden Cores. He had previously exchanged for three Golden Cores from Zhào Xī. After the second major battle, the number in his possession surged to eight!

Feiyun Kingdom was quite far. Sūn and Ning took turns cultivating while traveling.

Ning Zhuo first repaired his mechanical constructs.

The Heavy Armor Blood Ape·Great Victory and Shadow Blade·Night Tiger had both suffered severe damage on the battlefield, with high degrees of destruction.

As for the ordinary mechanical puppets, they were completely wiped out.

Only ten percent of the mechanical golden swallows remained.

"Once I leave Liangzhu Kingdom, my military position and unit assignment will likely be canceled soon. Without a personal military position or unit assignment, I can't form an army anymore."

Henceforth, when Ning Zhuo used these mechanical puppets, it would be similar to how the Heaven and Earth Ghosts controlled soul ghosts—just treating them as summoned pets. Military tactics would also be hard to employ.

Isolated practitioners like Gū Yá and Jù Bǐng from the beast-taming流派also found it difficult to use military tactics.

The difficulty of个人修行military tactics wasn't very high. The hard part was forming an army.

(End of )