Nie Tian headed deeper and deeper into the dark and endless tunnel as he pursued the sparks released by the Flame Dragon Armor.
There had always been some kind of link between him and the dragon bone that was now embedded within the armor, so he didn’t need to search for it with his psychic awareness.
Even without the sparks given off by the Flame Dragon Armor, he would have still been able to accurately locate its position just by relying on the subtle interactions between the dragon bone and himself.
The stone tunnel built by the equipment forgers of the Spiritual Treasure sect seemed unfathomable. Nie Tian continued his way downwards, not knowing how much distance he had covered. Suddenly, he came to a stop.
He didn’t stop because he was tired, but rather because the Flame Dragon Armor had reached the end of the tunnel.
The end of the tunnel was so narrow that only two people could stand shoulder to shoulder in it, and at the very end, there was evidence of mining here and there.
The Flame Dragon Armor, together with the dragon bone in it, released raging flames while fiercely striking the stones at the end of the tunnel.
CRACK! CRACK!
The solid stone wall at the end immediately exploded into tiny bits. It was as if the Flame Dragon Armor had turned into a sharp drill, unceasingly boring its way downwards.
Nie Tian stared blankly at the Flame Dragon Armor as it forcefully opened up a new path using such a method.
He was clueless about what was happening. However, he was aware that he would put himself in great danger if he were to spend too much time down there without doing anything.
“Flame Dragon Armor, Blood Core…” He called out the words in his heart over and over, hoping that the Flame Dragon armor would hear his voice and return to his bracelet of holding like it had before.
He was fully aware that other people might be unwilling to wait for him. In fact, they might have already left without him. But An Shiyi would very likely stay and wait for him because of the gratitude she held towards him.
Staying there for too long would make it really easy for experts from both the Blood sect and Ghost sect to detect their aura, and possibly put An Shiyi in a dangerous situation.
He only hoped that the Flame Dragon Armor would respond to his cries, stop its exploration towards the earth core, and return to the surface with him as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, it appeared that neither did the Flame Dragon Armor nor the Blood Core hear his cries. They seemed to be still drilling with all their might towards the depths of the earth.
He felt helpless. He was fully aware that staying any longer would further endanger him, but he couldn’t bear to abandon the Flame Dragon Armor. Therefore, he could only follow it deeper and deeper.
CRUNCH!
A huge amount of crushed rock was dug up by the Flame Dragon Armor, causing a blockage further back in the stone tunnel.
Nie Tian would swiftly dodge the flying rocks, making his way forward before the stone tunnel was blocked. He kept a few meters away from the Flame Dragon Armor while proceeding downwards.
The miraculous Flame Dragon Armor seemed to have gone crazy for unknown reasons, breaking out with astonishing power and madly drilling towards the earth core like a sharp awl.
Trembling with fear, Nie Tian followed along. The further he felt he was from the surface, the more anxious he became.
BOOM!
After an unknown period of time, a clash could be heard as a huge stone exploded upon the strike by the Flame Dragon Armor, leaving a huge open space.
The Flame Dragon Armor remained unmoving there, as if it were hesitating.
Nie Tian noticed that strange gurgling sounds, coupled with a red mist, were coming out from under it.
He could smell sulfur in air.
“What’s going on?” He slowly drew closer and observed with rapt attention. His expression suddenly flickered.
He saw blazing magma filling the bottom of the huge hole, which flowed and had enormous, flaming bubbles emerging out of it, releasing a red mist.
Nie Tian stood there aghast. “Is that magma from the earth core? But, shouldn’t this be an extinct volcano?”
According to Pan Tao, long, long ago, the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range had once been covered with numerous lava-spurting volcanoes. But, as times changed, the only remaining active volcanoes on the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range became the three surrounding the Spiritual Treasure sect.
Furthermore, those three had been controlled by the Heaven Burning Earth Flame formation, and thus would never erupt blazing earth flames.
The raging magma at the earth’s core below the three volcanoes had been channeled by the spell formation, flowing into the equipment forging caves and facilitating the equipment forging process.
Whenever the Spiritual Treasure sect was hit by calamity, the defense of the grand formation would be activated; fierce magma would be drawn out from the earth core and turned into the source of energy, propelling the entire formation.
Apart from the three of them, the rest of the peaks of the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range were all extinct volcanoes that hadn’t erupted for countless years.
The earth flame beneath them had long since disappeared, not leaving a trace.
However, with the continuous digging of the Flame Dragon Armor, deep beneath the surface of the small volcano that had been declared extinct by Pan Tao, he actually saw fiercely burning magma flowing!
He suddenly came to a realization. “Has the Flame Dragon Armor come for the magma?”
The Blood Core required a huge amount of flame power in order to condense the drop of blood, and the formation of it would lead to a good deal of usage.
The Blood Core had absorbed every last bit of the flame power contained in the flamecloud gems in the Nie clan to condense that drop of blood.
The drop of blood seemed to have consumed a huge amount of energy, and had shrunk several-fold after teleporting him in and out of the mysterious land.
Now, the Flame Dragon Armor and the Blood Core seemed to be after a more intense and surging flame energy. The fierce magma flowing at the earth’s core seemed to be exactly what the Flame Dragon Armor needed.
However, the Flame Dragon Armor had obviously pierced its way through layers upon layers of the thick stones to reach this place. Why did it now seem somewhat hesitant?
While he was frowning in confusion, he suddenly saw the Flame Dragon Armor plummet towards the huge, magma-filled hole while emanating heaven-shaking flames.
At that moment, an unusual change suddenly occurred!
The boiling magma seemed hot enough to instantly turn any living creature into a pile of blood. Within the thin layer of space above it, numerous bright, glittering ribbons suddenly emerged.
They looked as if they were formed as a result of mixing jades and crystals, but were at the same time, long and soft like silk.
The countless crystal-like ribbons, that reflected various colors, interweaved with each other, and like a large, elegant net, covered the surface of the magma.
At first glance, Nie Tian noticed that the crystal-like ribbons were like veins, with numerous exquisite magical symbols running along in them.
The magical symbols each had a different color and shape. Some looked like tree leaves, some looked like stars, while some looked like wiggling, ferocious beasts. Many of them looked quite bizarre.
Overwhelmed, Nie Tian’s face turned pale. “These are the ancient magical symbols that equipment forgers of ancient times used to channel the power of heaven and earth!”
Recently, he had learned quite a few things regarding ancient Qi warriors from Wu Ji. He had also obtained a brief understanding of those profound, ancient magical symbols, and he was still learning.
Evidently, the delicate and beautiful magical symbols flowing within those crystal-like ribbons were the ancient magical symbols that contained a mysterious power capable of connecting heaven and earth and reforming mountains and rivers.
Only at that moment did he realize that the ribbons had been there all along. It was just that they had been so well hidden that they were hard to find.
FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!
All of a sudden, glaring light shot out from the magical symbols.
An irresistible surge of power burst forth from the mesh of ribbons, charging directly towards the Flame Dragon Armor.
In the middle of its dive toward the magma, the Flame Dragon Armor was pushed back by the invisible force. It fell onto a piece of rock next to Nie Tian’s feet.
After its attempt had been denied by those crystal-like ribbons, the Flame Dragon Armor seemed less radiant.
“It seemed that they are stopping the Flame Dragon Armor from diving into the magma. It also seemed that they are sealing and holding down the boiling magma, preventing it from rushing out from the earth’s core and spouting madly.” Nie Tian went blank for a while, his wide eyes full of amazement. He wondered why those densely interlaced ribbons existed at the heart of the earth.
WHOOSH!
While Nie Tian was contemplating, the Flame Dragon Armor once again flew out. It plummeted straight down towards the magma filling the bottom of the huge hole.
Just like last time, the numerous, elegant, ancient magical symbols within the crystal-like ribbons suddenly lit up.
In the next second, Nie Tian saw the Flame Dragon Armor once again pushed back by an enormous force, bouncing back.
By this point, Nie Tian was convinced that the reason why the Flame Dragon Armor refused to return to his bracelet of holding and insisting on piercing into the earth core was to dive into the flaming magma.
However, unfortunately, the ribbons covering the magma seemed to be preventing any objects or living creatures from entering.
Not only that, it was also stopping the boiling, violent magma from rushing out of the earth’s core and making this extinct volcano blazing and rampant again.
Seconds later, the Flame Dragon Armor once again made an attempt under Nie Tian’s gaze.
However, the result was the same.
After three failed attempts, the flaming light released by the Flame Dragon Armor gradually turned dim.
It finally calmed and stopped making moves. Nevertheless, it still ignored Nie Tian’s urgings and insisted on staying outside his bracelet.
It seemed to be reluctant to give up, and waiting for something.
Time slipped away little by little. Nie Tian suddenly noticed that the fiery mist, that had boiled out from the magma, was flowing into the Blood Core on the chest plate of the Flame Dragon Armor.
The mist rose from the magma in the earth’s core, so it also possessed faint flame power.
After three fruitless attempts, the Flame Dragon Armor seemed to have exhausted its power, and it was now storing up energy using the faint, fiery mist, preparing for its next attempt.
Deep down, Nie Tian felt extremely anxious. He wanted to leave that bloody place as soon as possible, and get out of the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range.
However, the Flame Dragon Armor was still waiting. He couldn’t bear to abandon the Flame Dragon Armor, so he had no choice but to wait.
Until that moment, he was gradually convinced that Flame Dragon Armor, in its complete form was a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool!
Only Spirit Channeling spiritual tools would be capable of responding to the cry of his soul, establishing a mysterious spiritual connection with him, breaking away from his control, and moving about willfully.
It was only when the spirit tool had developed its own independent will and intelligence that it would be able to communicate with one’s spirit, and thus be called a Spirit Channeling spiritual tool.
According to what his master Wu Ji had told him, let alone the Realm of Flame Heaven, even in the whole Land of Falling Stars, Spirit Channeling spiritual tools would still be as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns.
Facing such a rare treasure, he would even put his life in danger before letting it go.
Therefore he decided to wait till the point the Flame Dragon Armor gave up, and then immediately take it and get as far away from that place as possible.
A period of time had passed, and he was still staring blankly at the magma beneath the large hole. Suddenly, he saw the magma begin to boil more and more violently.
This time, the Flame Dragon Armor showed no sign of movement. However, the ancient magical symbols within the numerous crystal-like ribbons unexpectedly became dazzling and brilliant.
Eyes wide and filled with amazement, Nie Tian looked down at them. Suddenly, he saw that there seemed to be a vague but huge shadow moving about in the blazing magma.
Naturally, he released his psychic awareness to sense it.
FIZZ!
However, as soon as the strands of his psychic awareness approached the miraculous crystal-like ribbons, they were vaporized, not leaving a trace.
“ROOOOOOAR!”
At that very moment, a heaven-shaking beast roar echoed out from the blurry shadow in the magma.
BOOM!
It caught Nie Tian off guard. He immediately experienced a mind-splitting headache, while wisps of blood flowed out from his nostrils and the corner of his mouth.