Chapter 195: Heart
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After gently pushing open the tightly shut gates, the scene that Lin Li saw was beyond his expectations. There was not a burning furnace, nor an unbearable temperture. There were only all sorts of bizarre runes, fluttering in the air like butterflies.
Beyond the tightly shut gates was a completely different world. Just standing there made Lin Li feel like he was dreaming. The sky above him was full of stars, and there was a bright and clear moonlight under a bright moon, while under his feet was a bottomless abyss that was a mix of red and black. With the shrilling howls, it was as if blood and darkness were relentlessly entangling together.
These two different sceneries had perfectly merged together. It was not in the slightest bit abrupt, but, in fact, had a harmonious sense of beauty.
“How is it, not bad, right?” The great soul trader was abnormally excited. It brought Lin Li into the endless void while proudly showing off. “This is the only Void Crack within Felan. It is in between the abyss and the star world. When Osric was building the Eternal Furnace, it was me that brought him here. Look below your feet, that is my hometown—the abyss where countless demons reside.”
“Oh…” Lin Li nodded; he seemed apathetic. Within a day, he had experienced too much excitement. The assassination of a level-16 archmage, the floating Infernal Palace, as well as a 1200 year old hammer. Oh, yes… within this hammer was a great soul trader. All of these felt like it was a dream.
Lin Li thought that since it was a dream, another Void Crack would be nothing much…
With such thoughts, Lin Li followed Connoris into the Void Crack. The feeling was really weird as all he saw was a boundless abyss, but it felt like solid ground when he stepped on it. Looking at that endless entanglement of blood and darkness made Lin Li feel curious.
The center of the Void was crimson red, and when Lin Li approached it, he could clearly see that this crimson red was heavy and palpitating.
“Dom, dom, dom! Dom, dom, dom!” The sound was slow but rhythmic—it was like a strong heartbeat. The numerous rays of crimson red radiating from this heart were entangled like a spider’s web. They stretched all the way to the boundaries of the void.
“This is the heart of the Eternal Furnace, the magical crystal of a fire dragon. Back in the day, after Osric had caught this fire dragon called Red Fang, he did not kill it immediately. Instead, he constrained it in the Void Crack, and used a sharp blade to split open its skull, extracting this magical crystal. He then channeled of Red Fang’s life force into this crystal when it was on the verge of dying so as to allow it to maintain life. Look at it now, doesn’t it look like it’s alive?”
“Indeed…” Lin Li nodded. The life force that was emitted from this magical crystal was indeed full of vigor. It was like heaven and earth when it was compared to the rock that he had extracted from the Dragon of Destruction.
“Look at these now…” After Connoris had finished speaking, it brought Lin Li to the spiderweb. “The Eternal Furnace and that heart are connected by these webs. Enormous amounts of energy are transferred through this and provide energy to operate the Eternal Furnace. This is also the method for Osric to pass down orders. So, from a certain perspective, this heart is actually the real controller of the Eternal Furnace. Obtaining it is the same as obtaining the whole Eternal Furnace.”
“What should I do?” Lin Li did not hesitate at all. For him, the temptation of the Eternal Furnace was too huge. This was related to Osric’s secret and a world that was untouched. It was related to a floating castle. In Lin Li’s perspective, all of these were filled with a lethal temptation.
“Just place the hand with the Brand Of Dusk on it.”
“So simple?” Lin Li looked at, but did not rush to place his hand. Instead, he reached out and grabbed Connoris, opening the Ring of Endless Storm at the same time.
“You… what are you doing?” Connoris immediately had a shock when it was grabbed. It was especially so when it saw the dark portal that emerged from the Ring of Endless Storm. It was so scared that its voice was shaky.
“Nothing…” Lin Li smiled, and, with an earnest look, explained, “This is the magical crystal of a fire dragon. I’m just worried it might hurt you if I stir up something too big. For your safety, I decided to put you into the portal. Relax, other that being a bit dark, it is absolutely safe…”
“What the hell! Put me down, I am not hiding in some damned portal!”
“Mr. Connoris, please cooperate. This will be better for both of us.”
“You’re still suspicious of me!”
“Of course. You operate a soul trading business. Whom else can I be suspicious of? Don’t forget, you lied to me once just now and told me that you are the relic of the Dark Iron Dwarves, Moradin. Now, there is a red dragon’s magical crystal. How can I know you’re not lying to me again?” After recounting Connoris’ lies, Lin Li then showed an earnest look again. “But don’t worry, I am a virtuous person. I won’t do anything to you. I’ll just place you inside the portal, and release you once it is safe.”
“Really?”
“Of course! However, if anything were to happen to me, don’t think about living peacefully. Let me tell you honestly, this ring is called Endless Storm. Whatever secret it has, even I am not clear. I only know that whatever is placed inside… unless I am the one that does it, not even Osric can release you if he is resurrected.”
After he finished speaking, he affectionately patted Connoris with his hand. “So, Mr Connoris, you’d better start praying now that I don’t run into any trouble. Otherwise, you better be prepared to stay inside the portal forever…”
“Shameless!” Connoris struggled within Lin Li’s hand. Its angry roar seemingly echoed throughout the whole portal. “You’re actually suspicious of such a kind demon like me!”
“Cut the bullsh*t…” Lin Li was too lazy to listen to him. He lifted his hand and shoved it into the Ring of Endless Storm.
“You… Wooo…”
Connoris’ voice drowned within the Ring of Endless Storm. The Void Crack immediately became unusually quiet. Other than Lin Li’s breathing, there was only the sound of the gigantic heart’s beating…
Lin Li stood in front of the gigantic heart, feeling the heat that seemed to be palpable. This time, Connoris was not lying. This was indeed a fire dragon’s magical crystal. This was definite. Lin Li could clearly feel the pure yet powerful aura. Only magical beasts that surpassed the legendary-level could produce such a terrifying power.
Lin Li took a breath, and slowly stretched out his right hand. The Brand Of Dusk on the ring finger started to shimmer…
“Boom!” Just when the right hand had come in contact with the heart, Lin Li heard a loud sound.
Following this loud sound, an endless stream of energy started to leak out from the gigantic heart instantaneously like flood waters. It surged towards the Brand Of Dusk, and, in that instant, the Brand Of Dusk that was already scorching became as hot as white-hot iron. It was so hot that Lin Li felt like cutting off his finger.
Yet, at the same time, Lin Li’s boundless mental strength also seemed to have found an opening, and surged towards the Brand Of Dusk. Two kinds of energy of the same scale were clashing together like Mars crashing into Earth. Suddenly, there was a bloom of a blinding light…
“Boom!” Lin Li seemed to have heard a loud sound.
After that, everything was deathly quiet.
It seemed like everything had disappeared. The gigantic heart stopped beating; the sky full of stars was now dark. The Demonic Abyss that was an entanglement of red and black seemed to be blocked by a fog. Even Lin Li could not feel not feel the existence of his body. It was like his soul had separated from his body, leaving behind a weak consciousness fumbling about with difficulty.
There was no sound nor light—just an endless darkness and solitude…
Nobody knew how long this state continued for. Maybe a year, or maybe a second. In short, it was under these circumstances that Lin Li suddenly saw a ball of fire rising, and then he felt countless memories entering his brain…
These were fragments of memories that were like shattered glass that had been cut up by someone. Some were images, some were voices. There were even some that were a vague feeling. If he wanted to find out what they had in common, then it would still be as messy and incomprehensible.
With the surge of the countless fragmented memories entering his brain, Lin Li instantly felt a sharp pain. This pain was at the level far from anything that a human would be able to tolerate. It was like an invisible hand had reached into his brain and relentlessly roiled.
The entanglement of the chaotic fragments of memories was like a mess. Both the old and current memories were repelling and swallowing each other. No matter how powerful Lin Li’s mental strength was, he almost fainted. He was hugging his head with red eyes and rolling on the floor as if he had went mad. There were consecutive painful groans as pain that’d never been felt before was continuously torturing him.
This torture went on for a long while before Lin Li finally felt that the fragments of memories that almost drove him mad had finally calmed down.
When Lin Li opened his eyes, a thought appeared in his head. So that’s what happened…
This was a natural realization that was like the time when he used the Scroll of Wishes—he suddenly felt that he knew all of the life skills thoroughly. It was just that the previous process was more peaceful; this time, it was incomparably painful.