Chapter 9: The Heart of the Earth
The descent down the ventilation shaft felt endless. The air grew hotter, denser, and smelled heavily of sulfur and molten rock.
Lin Yun fell for nearly a minute before he saw the glow of magma below. He adjusted his posture, angling his feet downward, channeling the Blue Lotus energy to cushion his landing.
BOOM!
He slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of red dust. The impact cratered the stone floor, but his Bronze Skin absorbed the shock without issue.
He stood up and looked around.
He was in a colossal circular chamber, illuminated by rivers of magma flowing through channels in the walls. The heat here was intense enough to melt ordinary steel, but to Lin Yun, who harbored a Spirit Fire, it felt merely warm.
In the center of the chamber, floating atop a dais made of obsidian, was a pulsing, spherical gem. It was roughly the size of a human head, radiating a deep, ochre light. The gravity around it was visibly distorted. Pebbles on the ground floated and danced in its orbit.
"The Heart of the Earth," Long Xi's voice whispered, filled with longing. "Pure, condensed Earth Essence. With that, your bones will become harder than high grade spirit weapons."
Lin Yun took a step forward.
GRIND.
A sound like mountains rubbing together echoed through the chamber.
From the shadows behind the dais, a massive shape stirred. It was not flesh and blood. It was a construct of black iron and rune etched stone, standing five meters tall. Its eyes were two burning red gems.
It held a massive stone pillar as a club.
[Ancient War Golem, Rank 2 Peak]
"Intruder…" a mechanical, grinding voice emanated from its chest. "Detected."
"It speaks?" Lin Yun raised an eyebrow, reaching for the Bone Greatblade on his back.
"It has a basic spirit array for a brain," Long Xi explained rapidly. "Be careful, Lin Yun. That body is made of Black Meteoric Iron. It is immune to most elemental attacks, and its physical defense is absolute for anything under the Earth Spirit Realm."
The Golem stepped forward. The ground shook. It raised the stone pillar, a weapon weighing at least five thousand pounds, and swung it down with terrifying speed.
Lin Yun did not try to block. He rolled to the side.
SMASH!
The pillar struck where he had been standing. The stone floor exploded, sending shards of rock flying like shrapnel. A shockwave knocked the breath out of Lin Yun's lungs even from three meters away.
"Fast," Lin Yun grunted, regaining his footing. "For a pile of rocks, it's fast."
The Golem did not pause. It swept the pillar horizontally.
Lin Yun could not dodge this time. The reach was too wide. He brought his Bone Greatblade up to parry.
CLANG!
The impact was cataclysmic.
Lin Yun felt like he had been hit by a falling castle. His feet were driven six inches into the solid rock floor. The bones in his arms groaned under the strain, his muscles screaming.
He was slid backward ten meters, carving deep furrows in the ground, before finally coming to a stop.
His hands were numb. The Bone Greatblade, made from the hardest part of the Obsidian Bear, had a hairline crack in it.
"Strength check failed," Lin Yun spat out a mouthful of blood. "It's stronger than me. Maybe fifteen thousand Jin of force."
"Do not compete in brute strength with a machine," Long Xi scolded. "Use your head. It is a construct. It has joints. It has a core. Find them."
The Golem charged again, raising the pillar for another overhead smash.
Lin Yun's eyes narrowed. The golden pupil dilated, slowing down his perception of the world. He scanned the massive construct.
Solid iron chest. Solid iron legs. Stone joints at the knees and elbows.
"Stone joints," Lin Yun realized. "The iron was too heavy for full articulation, so the creator used reinforced stone for the moving parts."
"Stone cracks," Lin Yun grinned savagely under his mask.
He sheathed the heavy blade. Speed was key now.
As the pillar descended, Lin Yun activated Flash Step, pushing his physical speed to the limit. He blurred forward, diving under the Golem's swing.
He appeared right between the Golem's massive legs.
"Freeze!"
Lin Yun slammed both hands onto the Golem's left knee joint.
Blue Lotus Spirit Fire: Flash Freeze.
A concentrated blast of absolute cold erupted from his palms. The red hot stone of the knee joint instantly turned white with frost. The metal groaned as it contracted rapidly.
"Now, burn!"
Lin Yun did not retreat. He withdrew the cold and immediately pumped the Dragon Blood's Yang heat into his fist.
Sovereign Art: Crumbling Mountain Punch!
He struck the frozen knee with a superheated fist.
Thermal Shock.
The rapid expansion and contraction was too much for the ancient stone.
CRACK. POW!
The knee joint exploded into dust.
The Golem lurched. Its massive leg buckled. The giant construct toppled sideways, crashing onto one knee.
"Error… Error… Structural Integrity Compromised…" the Golem droned, dropping its pillar to try and push itself up.
"I'm not done!"
Lin Yun leaped onto the Golem's back. He scrambled up the iron plating like a spider, reaching the neck.
The Golem thrashed, trying to swat him off, but Lin Yun was too close.
He drew the Bone Greatblade again.
"The head controls the body," Lin Yun roared. "Off with it!"
He did not slash. He thrust the tip of the blade into the gap between the iron helmet and the shoulder plate, the neck mechanism.
He poured every ounce of his strength into the hilt, using the blade as a lever.
"OPEN!"
His muscles bulged, tearing his beast hide shirt. The veins on his neck popped.
CREAK… SNAP!
The neck joint gave way.
With a final, savage yank, Lin Yun pried the Golem's head loose. Wires sparked and snapped. The red light in the Golem's eyes flickered and died.
The massive body went limp, crashing fully onto the floor with a metallic thud that shook the chamber.
Lin Yun slid off the carcass, landing on the ground. He was panting heavily, his hands trembling. That fight had lasted less than two minutes, but it had consumed nearly half his stamina.
"Brutal," Long Xi commented, though her tone was pleased. "Using thermal shock to weaken the joint. You are learning."
"It was the only way," Lin Yun gasped, sheathing his weapon. "My blade couldn't cut that iron."
He walked over to the dais.
The Heart of the Earth was still pulsing, indifferent to the violence that had just occurred.
Up close, the pressure was immense. It felt like standing next to a localized black hole. The gravity pulled at Lin Yun's blood, making his heart work double time.
"How do I absorb this?" Lin Yun asked. "If I swallow it, it will crush my insides into paste."
"You don't swallow this one," Long Xi said. "You merge it with your skeleton."
She appeared from the token, her spectral form floating beside the gem.
"Strip," she ordered. "Sit in the lotus position. You must draw the Earth Essence into your pores and guide it directly into your bones. You must visualize your bones turning into liquid metal, then reforming."
"It will feel like every bone in your body is being broken and reset, over and over again."
Lin Yun did not hesitate. He removed his armor and clothes, sitting naked before the floating gem.
"I've had my heart ripped out," Lin Yun said, closing his eyes. "Breaking a few bones is a massage."
"Arrogant brat," Long Xi smirked. "Begin."
Lin Yun placed both hands on the Heart of the Earth.
HUMMM.
A vibration shot through his arms, rattling his teeth. A golden brown energy flowed from the gem into his hands.
CRACK.
His finger bones fractured instantly.
Lin Yun bit his tongue to keep from screaming. The energy did not stop. It flowed up his arms, shattering the radius and ulna, grinding the fragments into dust, and then fusing them with the heavy earth essence.
The dust swirled, reforming into bone that was no longer white, but a shimmering, metallic silver.
The pain was blinding. It was not sharp. It was a dull, grinding agony that encompassed his entire existence. It moved to his shoulders, his ribs, his spine.
Lin Yun sweated blood, literally. The pressure was forcing impurities out of his marrow.
Endure. Devour. Rebirth.
He chanted the mantra of the Sovereign Path in his mind.
As his spine began to reform, turning into a column of silver, the surrounding magma in the room began to bubble violently. The Earth Qi in the ruins was rushing toward him, forming a vortex.
Above, on the upper levels of the ruins, the entire mountain shook.
"Earthquake?"
"What's happening?"
Disciples in the Hall of Traps stumbled.
In the lower chamber, Lin Yun was unaware of the chaos he was causing. He was lost in the reconstruction of his own body.
An hour passed. Then two.
The Heart of the Earth dimmed, turning from a radiant gem into a dull grey stone. Its essence was gone.
Lin Yun opened his eyes.
They were clear. Calm.
He stood up.
CLINK.
His movement made a sound like metal striking metal.
He looked at his hand. The skin was still bronze, but beneath it, he could feel the structure. His bones were heavy, dense, and practically indestructible.
He punched the air. The sound barrier cracked.
[Sovereign Body Upgrade: Silver Bones, Initial Stage]
[Physical Strength: 18,000 Jin]
"Eighteen thousand Jin…" Lin Yun whispered. He clenched his fist, and the air popped. "I could crush that Golem's head with my bare hands now."
"You have entered the realm of true monstrosity," Long Xi nodded. "But do not celebrate yet. The commotion you caused… it has attracted guests."
Lin Yun looked up at the ventilation shaft. He could hear voices echoing down.
"He's down here! I saw the light!"
"The treasure must be below!"
"It's Liu Xue's voice," Lin Yun recognized it instantly.
A dark, predatory smile spread across his face. He picked up his bone mask and secured it over his face.
"They want the treasure?" Lin Yun laughed, a low, rumbling sound that echoed in the chamber.
He grabbed the massive iron pillar the Golem had dropped. It was heavy, awkward, and crude. But to him, it felt perfect.
"Let them come. I need to test my new bones."