Chapter 570: Star-Burning Pit
“Speaking of which, should I sneak near the Liangzhu Kingdom army, or into Canglin Immortal City, and secretly meet the three generals Liu, Guan, and Zhang, as well as General Mu Lan, to say farewell once?”
Inside the Dragon Head Cabin, Ning Zhuo hesitated for a moment.
Resolving the matter of divorce was out of the question. That required going through official departments, which would certainly take a long time and would expose him proactively.
For Ning Zhuo, it brought no benefit—only danger and trouble.
Besides formally saying goodbye, Ning Zhuo mainly wanted to use the Three Generals Camp and the Red Flower Camp to exchange a portion of his military merits, making it convenient to take those rewards with him.
After all, in the second grand decisive battle, he had performed brilliantly and achieved outstanding results. According to the rules, such achievements should earn Ning Zhuo tremendous commendations.
“The Three-Constellation Exchange Talisman I obtained with military merit last time was truly useful.”
“Even if Liangzhu Kingdom is small, it’s still a cultivation nation. To me personally—or even to the entire Ning Family—it’s a colossal entity. The resources it controls are like mountains and seas. With military merit, I’ll definitely be able to exchange for treasures suitable for my cultivation.”
“Once I obtain that portion of cultivation resources, setting out afterward will surely benefit my future cultivation greatly.”
Just as Ning Zhuo formed the thought, the Mechanical Ring on his hand suddenly contracted with considerable force.
One had to know that Ning Zhuo’s physical body was now vastly stronger than before. Yet even so, the sudden tightening of the ring made him grit his teeth in pain.
“If I linger here, would that not be courting death?”
Ning Zhuo’s pupils abruptly shrank.
“Did the Heaven-and-Earth Twin Ghosts track me back?”
“Or has Du Tiechuan been lying in wait for me this whole time?”
“Or perhaps when the Dragon Ginseng King captured the fake Stone Dwelling Old Monster, he indirectly uncovered clues and followed them here?”
For a moment, countless speculations circulated in Ning Zhuo’s mind.
If that was the case, what secret meeting was there to hold?
Run!
“I’m merely a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. With such tiny arms and legs, there’s no need to jump around in front of Soul Formation–level or Nascent Soul–level powerhouses.”
“Even my previous performance on the grand battlefield was only possible because they were fighting each other desperately and had no time to pay attention.”
In any case, the two captives, Lin You and Wu Hen, had already been handed over to Ning Zhuo directly by Mu Lan.
The most important objective had already been achieved. Ning Zhuo chose to stop while he was ahead.
“As the son-in-law of Grand General Mu, the military merits I established during Liangzhu Kingdom’s punitive campaign should also receive some consideration.”
“First, there is the nation’s system and reputation. Second, the Grand General Mu’s Mansion has close ties with me. If they don’t help their own son-in-law, how could they speak of revival?”
Ning Zhuo once again realized the benefits of his marital relationship with Mu Lan.
“When I return to Liangzhu Kingdom in the future, I’ll deal with the results and settle this relationship then.”
Thinking this, Ning Zhuo no longer felt any attachment. He activated the Puppet Dragon and rushed forward.
The Wanli Dragon could traverse the void, making it an excellent vehicle for long-distance travel.
Three or four days later, ripples appeared in space, and a small mechanical dragon suddenly emerged.
It was precisely the Wanli Dragon.
The Wanli Dragon deliberately halted here. Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong gathered inside the Dragon Head Cabin, observing the magnificent scene outside.
This was an enormous crater with a diameter of eight hundred li.
From high in the sky, the surrounding mountains formed a ring, enclosing a vast abyss at the center.
The walls of the pit had completely vitrified and were covered with spiderweb-like cracks. From time to time, blue-silver light seeped out of the cracks, flashing rhythmically like the natural breathing of a giant.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the power of the earth surged, and a massive plume of blue-silver flames burst out from the cracks everywhere. In an instant, blazing fire filled the entire crater.
The flames reached hundreds of meters high, their tongues shooting straight into the clouds. The temperature rose violently, creating deadly heat across the surroundings.
The two of them had already taken precautions and placed the Wanli Dragon far away. Yet when the blue-silver flames shot skyward, they still hastily controlled the Wanli Dragon to retreat.
Signs of melting appeared all over the Wanli Dragon. Fortunately, it withdrew quickly, suffering only minor damage.
Cold sweat appeared on Sun Lingtong’s forehead. “This is the Star-Burning Pit! Even though it was recorded in books, I still underestimated the power of this Purifying World Heavenly Fire.”
Blue flames reflected in Ning Zhuo’s eyes as he remained silent for a long time.
This place was one of the wonders of the cultivation world.
According to legend, a star had fallen from the heavens, smashing into the depths of this mountain range and creating the enormous crater.
The Purifying World Heavenly Fire that erupted from it penetrated deep into the earth veins and became entangled with this region, burning continuously from ancient times until now.
Many legends surrounded this place.
For example, during the Middle Ancient Era, outstanding spiritual roots emerged one after another. At that time, seven super sects jointly explored the Star-Burning Pit, sending in thirty thousand cultivators. In the end, only seven survived.
Those seven benefited greatly during the exploration and were later known as the Seven Sons Who Patrol the Heavens.
Then in the Near Ancient Era, spiritual energy flourished and extraordinary talents emerged. The Star-Burning Pit also benefited from this, and after long accumulation of spirituality, a qualitative transformation occurred. A powerful fire spirit was born, capable of cultivating on its own. She called herself the Purifying World Heavenly Maiden.
The Purifying World Heavenly Maiden left the Star-Burning Pit and brought catastrophe to the entire cultivation world, burning countless living beings. Most forces perished because of her.
The blue-silver flames were unimaginably vast, like a gigantic mountain of fire.
Centered on the flames, a mysterious force spread outward. Wherever it reached, it immediately transformed the surroundings, forming a peculiar space of azure cosmos.
The space was completely open, freely accessible. Countless starlights sparkled brilliantly, while lines of starlight drew straight and curved paths crisscrossing throughout the azure cosmos.
Boom boom boom…
The clouds split apart as three meteorites descended from the sky, drawn into the azure cosmos.
Then the three meteors plunged straight into the Star-Burning Pit, producing three consecutive explosions.
The massive mountain-like flame trembled three times for the first time before stabilizing again. It continued burning, occasionally flinging out specks of star ash from within.
“Burning Star Powder!” Sun Lingtong’s eyes lit up. He controlled the Wanli Dragon to move slightly closer and collected some of the star ash impurities.
Burning Star Powder was an excellent combustion catalyst that could drastically lower the melting point of materials.
Sun Lingtong only gathered a small portion and deliberately abandoned the majority.
The reason was simple: harvesting it was extremely dangerous. If the Wanli Dragon truly entered the flames, it would be burned to ashes in a single breath.
A Nascent Soul–level mechanical construct was insignificant before a world-level wonder.
When the Fire Mountain burned, the azure cosmos that spread outward formed an ownerless Dao-Field.
Its former owner was the Purifying World Heavenly Maiden of the Near Ancient Era.
During the Forbidden Dynasty era, the cultivation world once widely believed that controlling this Dao-Field meant controlling the Star-Burning Pit.
This was a world-wonder-level resource node with unimaginable benefits.
With gods and buddhas emerging endlessly during that era, many ambitious individuals ventured into the Star-Burning Pit, attempting to seize control of the ownerless Dao-Field.
Driven by profit, countless renowned experts and organizations paid the price with their lives or complete destruction.
The most famous recorded in history was Layman Xingyun.
This Buddhist cultivator was a Mahayana-level existence, yet he still perished during the attempt to control it.
He had prepared many methods to deal with the Purifying World Heavenly Fire, but he never expected the presence of Star-Core Ghost Remains within the pit. It devoured him, turning him into a Starfire Ghost Demon that rampaged within the Star-Burning Pit, slaughtering countless later explorers.
Eventually, the many attempts around the Star-Burning Pit provoked the Forbidden Dynasty into action.
An entire dynasty mobilized its power to subdue the Star-Burning Pit.
Yet they still returned in defeat. The survivors afterward refused to speak of it. Officially, the dynasty only announced one thing:
“Deep within the Star-Burning Pit lies a great terror.”
If even an imperial dynasty failed, no one dared attempt to subdue it again. Thus, the Star-Burning Pit came to be recognized as one of the wonders of this world.
Although no force could control it, many cultivators still risked their lives living nearby.
Their main purpose was to collect the unique cultivation resources around the Star-Burning Pit.
Burning Star Powder was merely one of them—and could even be considered insignificant.
The larvae of Starlight Worms were as large as elephants and could roam freely around the pit.
Every time a star was captured by the ownerless Dao-Field and burned away, Star Marrow would form. This rare treasure could counter the Fire Tribulation among the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations and was extremely valuable.
Sometimes, the mountain walls of the pit would naturally form Fire Pattern Diagrams, recording the principles of fire. There were also Star Trace Diagrams containing the principles of stars.
Among them, the Fire Seeds of the Purifying World Heavenly Fire were some of the most precious treasures. But seeking those seeds required entering deep into the Star-Burning Pit itself, which was far too dangerous.
Though the pit appeared open and flat at first glance, any cultivator who stepped inside would inevitably become trapped within the Dao-Field. No matter how far they traveled, the distance covered would not equal even a small step in reality.
Moreover, there existed spatial labyrinths formed by residual star-void gaps. Each time the flames erupted, their structure would change drastically.
While Sun Lingtong collected Burning Star Powder, he noticed many other cultivators gathering resources as well.
Each displayed different techniques and methods. Their cultivation levels varied, but the lowest were Golden Core cultivators. Sun Lingtong alone observed three Soul Formation–level cultivators.
In some sense, the level of this world wonder far exceeded Liangzhu Kingdom’s punitive campaign against the Thousand Peaks Forest.
“Daoist friend…”
Before Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong had acted for long, a Nascent Soul cultivator flew over to strike up a conversation.
He introduced himself as a subordinate of a Soul Formation–level cultivator and politely invited them to a gathering.
Since the Wanli Dragon was a Nascent Soul–level construct, strangers assumed there was at least a Nascent Soul cultivator inside.
Ning Zhuo did not hesitate. He simply said they were passing through and merely sightseeing, and that they would leave shortly.
The Nascent Soul cultivator left behind a token before departing, maintaining a warm attitude throughout.
Sun Lingtong sighed. “Where there are people, there are conflicts. Though the Star-Burning Pit has no owner, its immense benefits have already formed a fixed structure among the cultivators here. The interests have long been divided.”
“Mhm.” Ning Zhuo nodded. “We’re only passing by. Let’s not get involved in the complicated struggles here. We should leave.”
They had mainly come out of curiosity. After taking a look, they prepared to depart.
“Once we leave here, we’ll be outside Liangzhu Kingdom’s borders,” Sun Lingtong remarked.
Ning Zhuo subconsciously looked back toward the direction of the Thousand Peaks Forest, his expression slightly complicated.
This trip to Liangzhu Kingdom had been extremely dangerous. Several times his life hung by a thread. But the gains had been tremendous.
Not only had he achieved his original goals smoothly, he had become extremely wealthy. Both his strength and mentality had undergone qualitative transformation.
The Wanli Dragon slipped into the void and vanished.
“So they really left.”
Many gazes withdrew.
The Wanli Dragon was a classic mechanical construct. Because it possessed little combat power and served purely for travel and escape, it was not standard equipment. For most Nascent Soul cultivators, it was a luxury.
A cultivator possessing one was either extremely powerful or extraordinarily wealthy.
Thus Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong were greatly overestimated. From the moment they appeared, they attracted the attention of many cultivators, none suspecting that the two inside were merely Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The two continued their journey, heading directly toward Flying Cloud Country.
Void traversal was far more convenient than flying.
Flying through the sky risked encountering demon beasts and dangerous weather. Traveling through the void was relatively safer and far more lonely.
Of course, everything had its pros and cons.
Traveling like this consumed enormous resources.
Every moment burned money.
“If we could capture a Nascent Soul cultivator, we could save a lot of spirit stones. Unfortunately, during both grand decisive battles and the smaller skirmishes before and after, we never had the chance to capture one alive.”
Ning Zhuo felt regret.
The main reason was insufficient ability.
Nascent Souls could escape through void flight and were extremely adept at survival.
Before and after the Thousand Peaks Forest campaign, many Nascent Soul cultivators died, but most of their Nascent Souls escaped.
For example, Bi Tengyi could continue cultivating after reconstructing her body.
At the Nascent Soul stage, a cultivator’s survival ability underwent a qualitative leap. Even if the physical body was destroyed, the cultivation path was not severed.
Mu Lan’s Divine Ability—Crimson-Heart Swan Arrow—was extremely powerful and capable of annihilating Nascent Souls. Such methods were exceedingly rare; even within Liangzhu Kingdom they could be counted on one hand.
Capturing a Nascent Soul alive, however, was countless times harder than killing one.
Thus Ning Zhuo’s chances of capturing one alive were extremely slim.
Although he had no Nascent Souls, he had seized many Golden Cores. Earlier, he had exchanged three Golden Cores from Zhao Xi. After the second grand decisive battle, the number in his possession had surged to eight.
Flying Cloud Country was quite far away. While traveling, Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong took turns cultivating.
Ning Zhuo first repaired his mechanical constructs.
Heavy Armor Blood Ape, Dasheng and Shadowblade—Night Tiger had both suffered severe damage on the battlefield.
As for the ordinary Mechanical Puppets, they had been completely wiped out.
Only ten percent of the Mechanical Golden Swallows remained.
“Now that I’ve left Liangzhu Kingdom, my military rank and military roster slot will most likely be revoked soon. Without a personal military rank and without a military roster slot, I can’t form an army anymore.”
From now on, when Ning Zhuo used those mechanical puppets, it would be similar to how the Heaven-and-Earth Twin Ghosts controlled soul ghosts—merely summoned beasts. Military strategist techniques would also become difficult to use.
Even cultivators of the beast-taming path like Lone Fang and Giant Bing had difficulty utilizing military strategist arts.
Cultivating military strategist techniques individually was not very difficult.
The difficult part was forming an army.