Within the gloomy tunnel, Nie Tian headed directly underground as he pursued the sparks released from the Flame Dragon Armor. 

Because there was an indistinct relation between the animal bone that was within the armor and himself, he didn’t need to feel for it with his spiritual consciousness. 

Even without the sparks given off by the Flame Dragon Armor, he could have accurately located its position just by the response between the animal bone and himself. 

The rocky path opened by the Ling Bao Court Lianqi masters was so deep that it couldn’t be measured. Nie Tian continued his path downwards. Without being aware of how much he had walked, he suddenly came to a stop. 

His abrupt stop wasn’t because of himself, but rather it was because the Flame Dragon Armor had reached the end.

There was evidence of extractions scattered around the rocky path that could only contain two people standing shoulder to shoulder.

The Flame Dragon Armor, and the animal bone that was inserted in it, released a turbulent flame. Suddenly, it fiercely struck the end of the rocky path.

- Ka Cha! Ka cha! -

The solid stone wall exploded bit by bit. The Flame Dragon Armor constantly made its way downwards through the endless stone wall, as if it had turned into a sharp drill.

Nie Tian watched the Flame Dragon Armor forcefully dig up a new path using such a method.

Nie Tian was clueless about what had happened. But he was aware that his safety would be put at extreme risk if he wasted too much time at that place while waiting for the Flame Dragon Armor.

“Flame Dragon Armor, animal bone…”

He screamed in his mind one after the other, wishing that the Flame Dragon armor could hear his voice and return once more to his storage bracelet. 

When he arrived inside the stone cave, he knew that other people might be unwilling to wait for him. They might just leave him and go. But An Shiyi would wait for him at the same spot because of the grat.i.tude she held towards him. 

Waiting for too long would make it really easy for the experts from both the Blood Sect and Ghost Sect to catch wind of them. This could possibly put An Shiyi, who stayed behind, in a dangerous situation.

He could only hope that the Flame Dragon Armor would respond to him, stop its underground exploration, and go back with him as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, both the Flame Dragon Armor and the animal bone appeared to not have heard his summons. They were still digging with all their might in the stone wall which led to the earth. They continued to fall downwards.

He had no way out. He was fully aware that staying here would endanger him even more, but he was unable to abandon the Flame Dragon Armor. He could only pa.s.sively submerge deep underground along with it. 

- Ka Cha! -

A huge amount of crushed rock was dug up by the Flame Dragon Armor. Soon, blockages would start to arise behind him on the stone path.

Nie Tian swiftly dodged the flying rocks from time to time before the stone path was blocked. He kept a distance of about a few metres away from the Flame Dragon Armor while constantly proceeding his way downwards.
The foreign Flame Dragon Armor had gone crazy for unknown reasons. It burst out with astonishing power and madly pierced through the ground like a sharp drill. 

Nie Tian followed apprehensively as he felt himself moving further and further away from the surface of the earth. He felt more and more uneasy. 

- Hong! -

Not knowing how long it had been, a huge explosion burst out from the stone that was under attack by the Flame Dragon Armor.

Deep within the earth, it was as if a huge hole had been pierced open by the Flame Dragon Armor. The Flame Dragon Armor hovered above the huge hole as if it were hesitating to do something. 

Nie Tian noticed that weird gurgling noises were coming out from within the huge hole. A red mist ascended out from within. 

That mist smelled somewhat sulfuric, as if it came from magma.

“What’s going on?” He slowly drew closer as he observed with rapt attention. The expression on his face suddenly changed. 

He saw impressive magma, that burned fiercely, inside the huge hole below the Flame Dragon Armor. The magma surged as it moved, giving rise to enormous, flaming bubbles while releasing a red mist. 

“The magma from the earth"s core? But, shouldn’t this place be a dormant volcano?” Nie Tian was startled. 

According to Pan Tao’s statement, extremely long ago, the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range had been covered with rows after rows of volcanoes that spouted fierce flames. But, as things changed with the pa.s.sage of time, now the only remaining active volcanoes on the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range were the three that were closest to the Ling Bao Court.

Furthermore, the three volcanoes were controlled by the “Heaven Burning Earth Fire” array of the Ling Bao Court. They would never erupt blazing earth flames.

The raging magma at the earth’s core, below the three volcanoes, under the influence of the array, was guided to each of the Lianqi caves as a supply for the members of the Treasure Pavilion to refine spirit weapons. 

Whenever the Ling Bao Court experienced huge changes and opened that array, it would once again draw out the fierce magma from the earth’s core and turn it into a source of energy for it. 

Besides that, the rest of the peaks of the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range were all dormant volcanoes that had stopped erupting for an unknown number of years.

The earth core’s flame that was beneath the dormant volcanoes had long since disappeared completely, leaving no trace at all. 

However, with the continuous digging of the Flame Dragon Armor beneath the surface of the small volcano that had been delcared dormant by Pan Tao, he could clearly see that the thing that was flowing beneath the huge hole was precisely fiercely burning magma!

“The Flame Dragon Armor, it came for the magma that is within the earth’s core?” He suddenly came to his senses as he changed his state of mind. 

The animal bone required a huge amount of flame energy in order to condense a single drop of fresh blood. The formation of a drop of fresh blood would lead to a good deal of usage. 

Despite all of the Fire Cloud Stones in the mine of the Nie Family, the flame energy had been able to condense only a single drop of blood.

Yet that drop of blood had brought him in and out of the mysterious and foreign land. That, however, seemed to have consumed a huge amount of energy and had shrunk the drop by a number of folds. 

And now, the Flame Dragon Armor and the animal bone seemed to desire a more intense and surging flame energy. The fierce magma and flames that came from the earth’s core at that place, seemed to be exactly what the Flame Dragon Armor needed. 

It was just that the Flame Dragon Armor had obviously purposefully pierced its way through layers upon layers of the thick stone wall. Why would it seem somewhat hesitant now that it had finally reached this place?

While he frowned and felt puzzled, he suddenly saw the Flame Dragon Armor release an intense flame. It quickly dropped towards the huge hole with the magma flame.

At that moment, an unusual change suddenly occured!

A thin layer of s.p.a.ce surfaced on the boiling, turbulent magma that looked as if it could instantly turn any living creature into a b.l.o.o.d.y mess. In a flash, threads of bright, glittering, and coloured ribbons emerged. 

Threads after threads of the coloured ribbons looked as if they were formed as a result of mixing jades and crystal lumps. They were long and soft like silk.

Numerous crystal-shaped coloured threads of these ribbons interweaved like an elegant and large net, and covered the surface of the magma. 

Nie Tian took only one glance and had already noticed the numerous and exquisite runes that ran along the crystal-shaped coloured ribbons, just like veins. 

The runes had each a different colour and shape. Some of them looked like tree leaves, some looked like stars, while some looked like wiggling, fierce beasts. Overall, they looked quite bizarre. 

“The Lianqi masters of the bygone era. These are the runes that connected the power of heaven and earth!” Nie Tian was overwhelmed with shock and turned pale. 

During the time he followed Wu Ji, he had heard about numerous incidents regarding the ancient Lianqi Warriors. He also knew a bit about the essence of immemorial runes. Furthermore, he had also recently attempted to learn to decipher them. 

Delicate runes flowed within the crystal shaped coloured-ribbons. Those were evidently the immemorial runes containing the mysterious power that were capable of connecting heaven and earth and cracking mountains and rivers.

Only at that moment did he realize that the coloured ribbons had existed all along. It had just been so well hidden that he couldn’t see it. 

- Chi chi! Chi chi chi! -

A glaring light suddenly emerged from the runes that were inside the numerous coloured ribbons.

An irresistible power burst forth from the grid formed by the intersection of the coloured ribbons. The ribbons immediately charged towards the Flame Dragon Armor. 

The Flame Dragon Armor that had attempted to sink downwards flew back and returned to Nie Tian under the influence of the power. It fell onto a crushed rock that was below Nie Tian legs. 

The Flame Dragon Armor attempted again but couldn’t break the crystal-shaped coloured-ribbons, and eventually the glowing blaze it released seemed to even dim. 

“Stopping the Flame Dragon Armor from falling into the magma. The earth core’s magma that was surging up and erupting also looked as if it is being blocked by the crystal-shaped coloured-ribbons. It can’t rush out from the earth’s core, nor can it spout madly.” Nie Tian looked for a while, his eyes full of amazement. He wondered about what existed deep below the thickly interlaced ribbons.

- Hu! -

While Nie Tian was secretly contemplating, the Flame Dragon Armor, that had stopped for a while, once again flew out. It went straight down towards the magma that was inside the huge hole. 

Just like last time, numerous, elegant, immemorial runes suddenly shone from within the crystal-shaped coloured-ribbons 

In the next second, Nie Tian saw the Flame Dragon Armor being pushed back by an enormous force and was once again flung out. 

This time, Nie Tian could finally venture to confirm that the reason behind the Flame Dragon Armor refusal to return to his storage bracelet and insisting on arriving deep within the earth’s core was all in order to rush into the raging magma that came from the earth’s core. 

Unfortunately, the coloured-ribbons that were covering the magma seemed to prevent any objects or living creatures from falling into it. 

It’s wasn’t just that, but even the boiling and violent flames from the earth’s core were also being stopped. 

Nie Tian, who was standing at the side, after stopping for a short while, saw the Flame Dragon Armor once again make an attempt. 

After three tries, the bright flame released by the Flame Dragon Armor turned increasingly dim.

It finally stopped for a while and didn’t continue making any sudden moves. Nevertheless, it still ignored Nie Tian’s shout and insisted on staying outside.

It seemed to be unwilling to give up. It seemed to still be waiting for something. 

Time pa.s.sed little by little. Nie Tian noticed the fiery mist that boiled out little by little flowing into the animal bone on the chest plate of the Flame Dragon Armor. 

The mist was also from the magma in the earth’s core. It too possessed a weak flame energy. 

After three fruitless attempts from the Flame Dragon Armor and the resulting depletion of its power, it seemed to store up power again using the weak, fiery mist, preparing for its next attack. 

Deep in his heart, Nie Tian felt extremely anxious. He wanted to leave that b.l.o.o.d.y place as soon as possible. He wanted to leave the volcano. 

However, the Flame Dragon Armor was still waiting. He didn’t want to abandon the Flame Dragon Armor, so he had no choice but to wait. 

Until that moment, he gradually started to believe that the fused Flame Dragon Armor and animal bone had reached the level of a Psychic Grade spirit weapon.

Only Psychic Grade spirit weapons were capable of responding to the cry of his soul, building up a subtle spiritual connection with him, and spontaneously separating itself from him and moving about independently with its own consciousness. 

It was only when the spirit weapon had developed its own conscious and knowledge that it could communicate with the spirits and be called a Psychic Grade spirit weapon. 

According to what his master Wu Ji said, let alone the Heaven Leading Domain, even in the whole Land of the Meteorite, a Psychic Grade spirit weapon would still be an extremely rare object. 

Facing such a rare treasure, even if he were in danger of dying, he would undoubtedly not let it go. 

Therefore he waited persistently for the moment when the Flame Dragon Armor decided to give up and would immediately bring it as far away from that place as possible. 

A period of time had pa.s.sed yet again and he looked apathetically at the magma that was beneath the large hole. Suddenly, he saw the magma surging up while boiling more violently. 

This time, the Flame Dragon Armor showed no sign of movement. The ancient writing within the numerous, crystal-shaped coloured ribbons unexpectedly became dazzlingly brilliant. 

Nie Tian opened his eyes widely. He looked down with amazement. Suddenly, he saw that there seemed to be a huge and vague shadow moving about in the blazing magma.

Naturally, he released his mental consciousness, wanting to sense it. 

- Chi! -

However, as the strand of mental consciousness that he released moved closer towards the exotic coloured ribbons, in the shape of crystals, it turned formless and disappeared without a trace. 

“Ao!”

Also at that moment, a fierce beast’s roar that shook heaven and earth could be heard coming from the blurry shadow in the magma. 

- Hong! -

Nie Tian, who didn’t manage to defend himself in time, had a mind-splitting headache. Threads of blood flowed out from his nostrils and the corner of his mouth. 

……

Translator: Amazon Aaron
Editors: Zesty Zach and s.l.u.tty Sietse
From XianXiaWorld