Back at the foot of the Bone Mountain, Sun Fei found the nun and the lecherous old man rummaging through the hillside, their excitement resembling that of two stray dogs frantically searching for treasure in a garbage dump. Below the mountain, a makeshift tent had been erected, with a blacksmith's frame set up in front. With the help of several female Rogue, the blacksmith Charsi, was sweating profusely, hammering away at something. A large pile of gleaming white bone weapons lay before her.
The heavy, magical iron hammer was held in the slender, delicate hands of the blacksmith Charsi, and danced in a blur of dark light. This beautiful blacksmith had clearly become completely accustomed to forging bone tools. Watching her swing the hammer was like watching an elegant angel dance. Her red ponytail bounced nimbly in the air, like a lovely fire sprite, giving people a dazzling and mesmerizing beauty.
After Sun Fei completed the seven professions, the corresponding skills of everyone in [ Rogue Encampment ] were upgraded. Charsi's forging skill, Akara's potion-making and scroll-crafting skill, the lecherous old man Cain's magic research and tool appraisal skill, and the fat guy Gheed's swindling skill were all improved. Therefore, Charsi was able to adapt quickly and forge ' Demon Remains ' as if it were a dance. This was already within Sun Fei's expectations. The blacksmith's forging skills had improved by at least one level, and she could forge magical equipment and tools that were twice as powerful as before.
"Lord Sun Fei, you're finally back?" Seeing Sun Fei approaching from afar, Charsi waved happily and said, "Granny Akara and Cain have made another new discovery. Look at these stone pillars around us, it's incredible! They're all [ Black Iron Essence ] ore..." Charsi spoke, she showed Sun Fei a black stone in her hand. "Look, it's this legendary demonic metal. Although it's not as hard as ' Demon Remains,' it's much more malleable for forging armor. On the Rogue Continent, many legendary weapons are forged from this rare metal!"
"Uh... I really didn't expect this space to be full of treasures. No wonder it's the legendary treasure trove God and Demon Ruins that could rise to power in countless super empires!" Sun Fei took the black stone, rubbed it between his fingers, feeling its hardness and coolness. He was pleasantly surprised, but then, remembering something, he asked, "By the way, how do I smelt these ores? Are there any abnormal conditions required?"
"You guessed right this time!" Suddenly, the lecherous old man Cain appeared behind Sun Fei, wielding a brand-new white bone staff forged for him by Charsi. Sun Fei turned around and was startled, for the old man was completely white—white beard, white hair, white face, white staff, white robe. If he were to hop around on his feet, he could practically challenge the White Impermanence to a duel. The old man's eyes gleamed as he looked at the Dashi around him, and he said, "[ Black Iron Essence ] is indeed very difficult to smelt. To extract it from these pillars, one must use the flames of the depths of Hell— [ The Earthcore Flame ]!"
" The Earthcore Flame?"
"Yes, it's a terrifying flame said to be born from the burning power of demons. It possesses terrifying power, and legend has it that it can incinerate everything in the world. In the land of Pandemonium Fortress, far to the west of [ Rogue Encampment ], there is a river called the ' River of Flame,' in which the Earthcore Flame burn eternally. If one can obtain the flames from there, one can smelt this precious ore!"
"That sounds like a lot of trouble!"
Sun Fei habitually stroked his chin. If he remembered correctly, there was indeed a place called [ Pandemonium Fortress ] in the world of Diablo. However, that was the fourth difficulty map, accessible after completing the first three acts of the quests: [ Rogue Encampment ], [ Lut Gholein ], and [ Kurast Docks ]. The second quest in that map was called [ Hellforge ]. To complete this quest, one had to go to a river called [ River of Flame ], a dark and sunless underground world filled with flowing orange-yellow lava. That must be the [ Earthcore Flame ] that Cain mentioned. But obtaining such flames was far too difficult. Sun Fei had only just entered the second difficulty map, [ Lut Gholein ], and the fourth difficulty [ Pandemonium Fortress ] was still a long way off. At the most optimistic estimate, it would be at least a year later.
"It is indeed a bit troublesome. Legend has it that almost no one can reach the Pandemonium Fortress from the [ Rogue Continent ] alive. However, hehe, in this so-called God and Demon Ruins, things seem to be getting a little less troublesome. Look..." The white-bearded, lecherous old man stuck his bone staff into the crack in the ground beneath his feet. "There's something very interesting here!"
Sun Fei had noticed the strange phenomenon on the ground beneath his feet long ago. Everywhere he looked, there were countless cracks, each about two fingers wide, like a dried-up riverbed after a drought. Within these cracks, a barely perceptible red glow flickered intermittently, emitting wisps of heat... Could these strange fissures be related to the [ Earthcore Flame ]?
"This is truly a strange space. I can sense the aura of [ Earthcore Flame ] from these cracks. Legend has it that some naturally formed divine objects are born together. There is a large amount of [ Black Iron Essence ] here, and indeed there is [ Earthcore Flame ] that can restrain it. However, these cracks are too deep, and the ground is made of hard stone. It will be quite difficult to draw out the [ Earthcore Flame ] from within!" The white-bearded old man stroked his long white beard, shaking his head as he said, "However, I can try to set up a small magic array to see if I can draw out some [ Earthcore Flame ]."
Having obtained over a dozen gems of various colors from Sun Fei, the white-bearded old man began using his bone staff as a brush to slowly draw a magic circle diagram on the ground. The staff, crafted from ' Demon Remains,' was incredibly convenient to use, with smooth magic flow and even an amplifying effect. The tip of the staff easily drew exquisite and delicate lines on the hard stone surface with unparalleled fluidity. Old Man Cain's skill in magic circles was truly masterful, a level that could be considered top-tier in the Jedi Order.
This is a rare learning opportunity.
Sun Fei observed attentively from the side.
Through his time learning from the nun, Sun Fei had gained considerable knowledge of magic and had a basic understanding of magic arrays. He was no longer the idiot with magical skills but no knowledge of magic. Magic arrays are divided into six types: pentagram non-elemental, hexagram elemental, combination, decomposition, symbolic, and physical combination, each with different power and effects. Because [ Earthcore Flame ] belongs to the fire element, the magic array that Grandpa Cain was currently meticulously crafting was a physical combination hexagram elemental magic array. During this process, he abandoned his lewd demeanor and displayed unusual caution and seriousness, focusing intently to avoid the danger of a backlash caused by a misalignment of highly concentrated elemental power.
After half an hour, a profound magic circle with a diameter of about one meter was finally engraved.
The outermost layer of a magic circle is almost entirely circular, representing circulation and preventing magic power loss. Inside the circle are magic circuits, the wires that ensure the transmission of magic power. The more magic circuits there are, the more complex and advanced the magic circle is, and the more magic power it requires. Generally, drawing a magic circle requires magic stone powder, but since the lecherous old man Cain possesses a bone staff forged from ' Demon Remains,' this step can be omitted. Furthermore, the power of a magic circle depends on the level of the magician's powder and the caster's magic power... Whether in the Azeroth Continent or the world of Diablo, these are the basic knowledge and principles of magic circles.
The white-bearded, lecherous old man was so exhausted that he was panting heavily, his tongue lolling out. After resting for a while, he carefully inlaid six red [ Flawed Ruby ] into the six-pointed star of the formation, and then infused them with a weak amount of magic.
Then, something magical happened--
Stimulated and activated, the magic array began to operate. Pale red flames flickered on the ruby, and energy fluctuations flowed precisely along the array's patterns. Fine red lines appeared on the ground, eventually converging at the very center of the magic array. Then, the entire magic array radiated crimson light, soaring into the sky. A tremendous suction force and vortex fluctuations emanated from the array, and the ground began to tremble slightly. A few minutes later, a faint orange-yellow flame slowly emerged from the center circle of the magic array.
"It's out... Haha, look, it really is [ Earthcore Flame ]!"
The white-bearded, lecherous old man jumped up and down excitedly, but soon, just like a rooster that was about to crow suddenly having its neck grabbed, his joyful cries came to an abrupt halt. Because at this crucial moment, for some unknown reason, the magic array on the ground instantly dimmed and quickly lost its magical fluctuations, and the orange-yellow flame that had been eagerly awaited disappeared without a trace after its first soft pop.
"Ah, the magic stone level is not high enough..." Old Man Cain went over to check and was very disappointed to find that the six [ Flawed Ruby ] had run out of magic power and turned into ordinary gray stones.
"That's no good. I don't have six higher-grade rubies right now. I'll try again tomorrow!" Seeing what had just happened, Sun Fei suddenly remembered the magic array diagram that had been copied from the stone chamber in the distant stone wall passage. He immediately took it out and showed it to the madman in front of him.
"Huh? What's this? That's strange, the array patterns look so familiar..."
Cain's professional habit kicked in instantly. He had this habit of immediately entering a state of frenzied obsession when he found something that interested him. He wouldn't pay attention to anyone until he had thoroughly figured out what he was looking for. So he decisively left Sun Fei, who was standing by waiting for the result, aside, turned around and went into the distant Teleport to return to [ Rogue Encampment ] to study the magic array on the rubbing.
Sun Fei looked back and saw Sister Akara still greedily climbing the mountain of bones, picking through the remains. He shook his head and turned back to the [ Rogue Encampment ] through the Teleport.
Over the next five or six days, Sun Fei's exploration proceeded relatively smoothly, without any new discoveries.
He used Horadric Cube to synthesize a sufficient number of perfect-level gems in the Rogue Encampment, then returned to the stone chamber in the passageway opposite the Cold Abyss. He embedded perfect-level gems into the five small stone pillars and activated all five small magic circles. Sure enough, a new change occurred. On the wordless stone tablet in the middle, a crystal blue pattern appeared that Sun Fei couldn't understand no matter how he studied it. At first glance, it looked like a huge magic circle, but it was obviously not. Not only did it lack the alien circular loop, but the direction of the magic circuit was also completely different. Rather than a magic circle, it was more like a map with unknown meaning. It was covered with fine lines and complex routes, just like the circuit diagrams in his previous life. A small red dot caught his eye and appeared on the blue lines.
Unfortunately, all the discoveries have been limited to this.
Sun Fei couldn't understand the meaning of the patterns on the blank stone tablet at all. The power of the five stone pillar magic arrays seemed to be limited to activating the patterns on the blank stone tablet. Apart from that, no matter how he activated the magic arrays on the stone pillars, he made no discovery. The lecherous old man Cain was still studying the rubbings of the five magic array diagrams, only guessing that they might be a Teleport- type magic auxiliary array diagram, lacking a central part and difficult to operate. During this time, Sun Fei had also brought Sister Akara to the stone chamber to observe, but unfortunately, they still didn't find anything additional.
Sun Fei had no choice but to be patient and take it one step at a time.
Over the next ten days or so, Sun Fei dedicated half a day each day to exploring the thousands of passageways carved into the stone wall, hoping to find the correct path through it and uncover the mysteries hidden behind this labyrinth of passageways. Although progress was slow, he was gradually delving deeper. Sun Fei estimated that in another ten days or so, he might actually find the right path. In addition, he carefully searched the entire mysterious and vast space, discovering that this space, spanning at least tens of square kilometers, was surrounded on three sides by dark, bottomless, icy abysses. Except for the side that connected to the stone wall when he entered, the other three sides were completely isolated by the abyss, forming a horseshoe shape.
Besides exploring the mysterious space, Sun Fei certainly didn't forget to kill monsters and level up in the Diablo World.
Fifteen days later, he had completed the first two quests of the second difficulty map, [ Lut Gholein ], using all seven classes. His Barbarian character had reached level 27, his Master level 27, his Amazon level 26, his Paladin level 26, his Druid level 25, his Assassin level 26, and his Necromancer level 24. His strength had improved significantly, and combined with the unpredictable skills of each class, Sun Fei's overall combat power was approaching that of Five-Star Class Intermediate Stage player. He could even attempt to challenge Five-Star Class Peak players.
Besides leveling up, Sun Fei would switch to [ Assassin Mode ] every day to experience the flow of True Qi qi within his body. He would constantly refer to the Dou Qi manual he obtained from the storage ring, creating new Dou Qi channels and unprecedented new Dou Qi manuals. In fifteen days, Sun Fei improved the [ Lightning Lightspeed Fist ] manual for Lightning-Element Dou Qi, and also created several other new Dou Qi manuals with different abilities. After personally practicing, testing, and improving them, he handed them over to Elena to take back to [ City of Heroes ], where they were given to specific trusted confidants to practice.
Sun Fei kept working hard, and the others didn't slack off either.
During the same fifteen days, the lecherous old man Cain used five perfect-grade gems to activate a magic array, finally drawing out the legendary [ Earthcore Flame ] from the underground crevice. He gave it to the blacksmith Charsi to smelt [ Black Iron Essence ] ore, extracting a large amount of high-purity [ Black Iron Essence ]. This legendary magical metal was a perfect match for the ' Demon Remains '. Charsi used the [ Black Iron Essence ] to coat the Demon Remains, forging a large number of pure black armors and weapons. This concealed the ' Demon Remains ' ashen white bones, preventing the armor and weapons from appearing too terrifying when equipped on the soldiers and generals of Chambord City, thus avoiding the accusations of a vengeful Holy Church and the Holy See's condemnation. It also wouldn't reduce the demonic and Dou Qi conductivity of the Demon Remains. All these bone armors coated with [ Black Iron Essence ] were stored in Sun Fei's storage ring.
The lecherous old man Cain and the nun Akara spent most of their time sorting and classifying the ' Demon Remains '. These remains varied in quality, and apart from being Summon to teach the first batch of university students in the [ City of Heroes ], the two of them worked day and night to sort and classify the ' Demon Remains ' according to their quality and bring them back to the Rogue Encampment for storage.
As time passed, when Sun Fei had completed two-thirds of his exploration of the bee swarm passage in the stone wall, the mysterious space finally changed.
"What's going on? I feel like the temperature is slowly rising?"
Charsi, the female blacksmith who was using the [ Earthcore Flame ] to smelt and extract [ Black Iron Essence ] with the help of the Rogue, frowned in confusion. As a blacksmith and forger with exceptional talent, her sensitivity to temperature far surpassed that of ordinary people. Even the slightest change in temperature could not escape Charsi's senses.
Hearing Charsi's words, the female Rogue who were helping her stopped what they were doing. A little Loli with long, flaxen hair looked around and suddenly pointed to the dense cracks in the ground, saying, "Hey, look, there's heat coming out of here..."
As everyone looked, they indeed saw wisps of heat slowly rising from the numerous cracks in the ground.
Sun Fei gently inserted his hand into the crack and could clearly feel the temperature rising slowly and steadily from underground. In the blink of an eye, the entire mysterious space became somewhat stuffy. At this moment, he noticed a strange phenomenon: a thin layer of white mist had risen in the air.
"It's foggy? How could it be foggy?"
Sun Fei was startled, then immediately realized something. His expression changed, and with a loud boom, the rocks beneath his feet shattered. His figure shot out like a cannonball, rushing towards the cold abyss defense line at the edge of the distant space, becoming a phantom. At the same time, his voice clearly rang in the ears of Charsi and the female Rogue: "Hurry up and pack your things! Get back to camp within ten minutes! Don't delay!"
No one dared disobey the Supreme Leader's orders. Charsi and the female Rogue sensed the gravity in Sun Fei's words, packed up their tents and the finished and unfinished armor and weapons they had created, and retreated back to the [ Rogue Encampment ] in the Diablo World through the Teleport.
In the blink of an eye, Sun Fei arrived at the edge of the dark and cold abyss.
As he expected, the abyss was filled with intense cold, and icy, damp air surged wildly from its bottomless depths. The frigid air from the abyss clashed with the hot air that continuously billowed from the cracks in the ground beneath his feet, instantly creating a large amount of white mist. The rapid movement and collision of the air also created wind...
wind?
A flash of insight struck Sun Fei, and almost instantly, he understood the source of the immense suction he had encountered when he first entered the tunnel. He had been wondering how wind could be generated when there was no large-scale air movement in the space, despite the smooth airflow. Now he realized that the root of the problem lay here.
In the short time Sun Fei was pondering, a terrifying howl echoed from the bottomless abyss, like countless ancient demons roaring and struggling below. It sounded terrifying. Then, countless cold fragments were sprayed out by the icy air. Sun Fei grabbed them and examined them closely; they were actually fine, dense ice shards. However, before he could figure out where the ice shards were, suddenly, there were a series of loud bangs. Countless huge, Rock -like blocks of ice roared out of the dark abyss and crashed onto the ground beside him.
Damn it!
Caught off guard, Sun Fei quickly Dodge.
Time flew by, and the ice blocks spewing from the abyss grew larger and larger, from the size of millstones to the size of small mountains, as if an invisible hand had hurled them out. Terrifying cold air flew out with the ice shards, and a thick layer of white frost instantly formed on Sun Fei's eyebrows and hair, even freezing his nose hairs stiff. He hurriedly switched to [Master Mode], donned the [ Arcanna's Trajectory ] set, and activated a thin layer of fire magic to dispel the cold.
However, the cold intensified quickly, and even with Sun Fei's level 27 master-level strength, he found it difficult to Resist the cold and was in danger of being frozen stiff.
Sun Fei flew backward rapidly.
The heat from the cracks in the earth beneath their feet grew increasingly intense, with crimson flames and even wisps of orange-yellow fire emanating from every crack. The heat and cold air met in the air, instantly creating a vast expanse of thick white fog. Then, hail mixed with large raindrops pelted down from the sky... A torrential downpour had begun in the mysterious space.
Rumble--!
A rumble of thunder sounded, and flashes of lightning could be faintly seen within the thick fog.
Then, the air in the mysterious space began to swirl and convection wildly. Sun Fei quickly moved to Avoid in front of a Dashi near the Mountain of Bones, and when he looked up, he saw a scene that horrified him...