Chapter 431: The Core of Earth’s Lava, Black Gale Crystal (I)

Beneath the apocalyptic sky, a mountain range stretching for dozens of kilometers had been sliced in half, forming an enormous rift over ten kilometers long and nearly a kilometer wide.

Seething lava churned at the bottom of the abyss-like rift, radiating intense heat and emitting a dark red glow, while thick black smoke billowed.

The black and red toxic fumes filled the air above the rift, their intense void energy producing a sizzle as they corroded Chen Chu’s external true power.

Whoosh!

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jets of scorching air erupted from behind the black-and-white mech, propelling Chen Chu, who was perched on its shoulders, across the rift.

The void's corrosive force surged as soon as they plunged into the toxic fumes. Golden flames erupted from Chen Chu, colliding with the void energy in a thunderous roar.

The energy shield of Gabriella’s mech consumed more power as the eight fully loaded energy slots visibly depleted.

Amid the cliffs shrouded in toxic fumes, there was a cave entrance about a hundred meters tall and several dozen meters wide. Gale-force winds howled, forming a wind vortex.

Boom!

The heavy mech plowed through the wind vortex, fighting against the fierce gusts before coming to a stop several hundred meters deep within the cave.

"According to the radar’s synthesized images, there are two main passages. One goes up, the other down. Should we split up or stick together?" Gabriella asked.

Chen Chu lowly replied, "Let’s split up. Night is falling, and we’re running out of time. Be cautious; we’re deep in the ruins now."

"I understand," Gabriella responded, and the two parted ways.

Battling through the howling gales, Chen Chu rushed toward a passage that was nearly a hundred meters high. Each step of his heavy battle boots shattered the rocks beneath him.

This was indeed a relic, with traces of ancient structures everywhere, though most had been eroded and destroyed by the long-lasting winds over the years.

Chen Chu found nothing when he ascended the spiral cave. Soon, he reached a massive stone platform at the top.

Amid the fierce winds, he picked up a black iron fragment from the corner. With a slight exertion, the once-hard steel crumbled like brittle stone.

Chen Chu narrowed his eyes, glancing upward. "Something’s wrong with these winds."

At the center of the cave ceiling was a pitch-black hole about twenty meters in diameter, from which tangible winds roared out with tremendous force.

Amid the gales, Chen Chu sensed a peculiar power, somewhat similar to the wind that Saixitia controlled.

Boom!

The stone platform collapsed, and under the immense recoil, Chen Chu transformed into a beam of golden light and shot into the wind tunnel. Instantly, an extreme force of impact assaulted him.

Boom!

Blinding golden flames burst from Chen Chu, clashing against the nearly tangible black whirlwind to create explosive shockwaves that radiated golden and black halos.

The fearsome, endless winds in the confined space of the cave were almost equivalent to the attack of a Sixth Heavenly Realm cultivator. They forced Chen Chu to unleash all of his true power, causing his flames to erupt and form a half-meter-thick golden-red scaled shield. The Dragon Blood Battle Armor then boosted it.

Amid the impacts and explosions, he fought through the black whirlwind, climbing upward with astonishing speed like a gecko scaling a wall.

After ascending nearly a thousand meters, the space above opened up, revealing a strange cavern. The place resembled a beehive, with black rock columns that were harder than alloy hanging down to form a circular staircase.

Around the area were wind vents, one to two meters wide. At their center, a head-sized spiral crystal slowly rotated, emitting the aura of laws and drawing the gales of the world toward it.

"As I expected, it’s a wind-based resource that contains the essence of laws."

Although Chen Chu had anticipated wind-related resources here, he hadn’t expected to find a god-level resource on par with the Profound Yellow Stone. Hence, the discovery took him by surprise and filled him with excitement.

It was the perfect addition to complete the missing attribute for his four "worlds."

Compared to the Soul-Suppressing Seal, which he had obtained from slaying the Dark Angel yesterday, this relic cost him little effort. There weren’t even any restrictions or obstacles.

No, that wasn’t entirely true. Earlier today, they had to slay the level 8 contaminated colossal beast that Gabriella had lured away.

While Chen Chu stored the wind crystal, Gabriella stood at the edge of a man-made circular lava pool deep within the cave’s core.

"The high-energy fluctuations we've detected indicate that the item should be inside that lava pool."

Gabriella said as she drew the giant sword from the back of her mech. Activating its energy, a five-meter-long energy blade formed along its edge, whipping up fierce winds as she slashed hard at the edge of the lava pool.

Boom!

Her powerful strike shattered the thick black rock wall at the edge of the lava pool, which was over ten meters deep. The attack left a ten-meter-wide, hundred-meter-deep rift.

The rolling lava inside thundered and cascaded downward, gushing through the rift and quickly turning the entire cave into a sea of molten fire.

Standing in the middle of the inferno, Gabriella excitedly fixed her gaze on the center of the lava pool, where a core about one meter in diameter emitted glowing halos. It resembled a planetary nucleus,

She smiled brightly. "The Heart of Earth’s Lava is still here."

Like how Li Daoyi had deliberately sought the Thunderbolt Monarch’s side residence, Gabriella had risked venturing thousands of kilometers deep into the ruins with a clear goal in mind.

On this continent, there had once been a unique sect that forged transcendent weapons and armor.

The sect was located within the towering peaks of Wanren Mountain—the heart of the Dragon Ring Mountain Range. The energy source for their forging came from the Heart of Earth’s Lava, an eternal flame that possessed boundless heat.

Such elemental cores were treasures for mech cultivators, serving as theoretical Eternal Power Reactors. If she could integrate it into her mech, she would never lack energy again.

Since the Federation had begun developing the mythical world, only four Hearts of Earth’s Lava had been discovered, each one used by top-level experts in West Meng.

Before her expedition, the academy’s dean had informed her of this location, suggesting a high probability of finding one here. Whether she could find it, however, depended on her luck.

After all, countless years had passed, and even if she located the relic, these items could have long since been lost to time.

Fortunately, her luck seemed to hold. These rare divine artifacts had preserved themselves, remaining unscathed.

With the scorching lava core in her mech’s hands, Gabriella returned to the rendezvous point, finding Chen Chu already waiting for her.

By this time, the howling winds in the cave had vanished, and the endless black-and-red toxic fog from outside had flooded in, making the environment even darker.

"Considering the winds have dissipated, you must have already retrieved the Black Gale Crystal, Chen Chu."

Chen Chu looked at the fiery red sphere in Gabriella’s mech’s hand. "Already retrieved it? You knew about this place, Gabriella?"

"I knew a bit about it, but not much..."

Instead of hiding anything, Gabriella shared the information that she had, including her objective in this mission.

Aside from the lava core, the Black Gale Crystal at the mountain’s peak was another energy source once used by the sect in their weapon forging.

Originally, Gabriella’s goal was to obtain the lava core to serve as her mech’s Eternal Power Reactor. The Black Gale Crystal could also be integrated into her mech to form the Sky-Piercing Wings, allowing her to control the winds.

However, since Chen Chu helped her out and explored the ruins with her, they naturally split their spoils between them.

Chen Chu nodded. "I see."

It all made sense now. West Meng’s genius wasn’t foolish. She insisted on venturing so far into the dangerous ruins because she had a map all along.

"Let’s go. This place becomes extremely dangerous at night."

With the sky growing darker, the two didn’t dare delay. Using the powerful thrust of the mech's engine, they shot out of the rift and quickly descended the mountainside.

The deeper they ventured into the ruins, the more violent the void energy became, and the more powerful the lurking monsters grew.

These void creatures, belonging to the realm of darkness, followed the instinctual cycle of day and night. At night, they would grow far more violent active, and aggressive.

Roar!

As the two flew down the mountain, a deafening roar erupted from afar, shaking the heavens and the earth. The black clouds in the sky were blown apart, forming a massive hole.

The terrifying aura of a peak level 8 creature was so overwhelming that even from dozens of kilometers away, it made both Chen Chu and Gabriella tense up. The mech's engine immediately unleashed even more powerful thrusts.

With winds howling around them, they flew at supersonic speed. In half an hour, they had returned to the spot where they had first met.

Chen Chu leaped down from the mech’s shoulder and landed on the ground.

"I still haven’t completed my task for today, Gabriella, so I’ll take my leave now,” he said.

"Task?" Gabriella replied from inside the mech, clearly puzzled.

"Yes. To grow stronger and hone my combat skills, I’ve set myself a goal of slaying two thousand void monsters every day."

Gabriella was momentarily stunned.

Two thousand? Is that a normal person’s goal?

Chen Chu didn't care about what she thought, though. Without waiting for a reply, he charged forward, shattering the air with a loud bang. He followed his original route as he resumed his slaughter.

Taking advantage of the remaining daylight, he furiously slew void monsters one after another. The massive black-and-white mech followed from a distance.

Boom!

Chen Chu blew apart a level 7 void monster with a strike from his halberd. He then paused and looked back at the mech trailing him from afar. "Gabriella, why are you following me?"

Inside the mech, Gabriella blinked. "No reason, really. I'm just curious. You go ahead and do your thing. Don't mind me."

Chen Chu glanced at her suspiciously, but since he couldn't see what the blonde girl was thinking through the mech, he decided not to bother; he went about his task once more.

With Gabriella watching, he swept through another wave of void monsters, mowing them down like weeds. Once the night had fully fallen, Chen Chu burst out of the ruins and returned to the familiar slope at the edge of the Oasis, where the flickering firelight dispelled the surrounding darkness.