From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

The Dark Iron dwarf warriors, shields and warhammers in hand, bravely held their line against the surging flames of the Balrog, refusing to retreat.

Even though the Dark Iron Dwarves are naturally highly resistant to fire, they were still charred black by the flames released by the Balrog.

The iron shield was glowing red-hot, and the Black Iron Dwarf warrior still gripped it, his palms hissing as they burned.

Fortunately, a sea siren priest used river water to extinguish the flames, otherwise the battle line would have collapsed long ago.

If this continues, the Dark Iron dwarves won't be able to hold out for long.

Lu Heng immediately activated [Shadow Travel], burrowing underground to search for the source of the abyss's contamination.

In fact.

Two days ago, when they were discussing the plan, Lu Heng and the great wizard Hogrey both checked the underground of the Lava Crown and found no source of abyssal contamination.

If the source of abyssal contamination had been discovered two days ago, this plan certainly wouldn't have been carried out.

The resurrected Balrog exudes an aura of the abyss, suggesting only two possibilities.

Either the source of the abyss pollution is very well hidden, or it only appeared in the last two days.

After activating [Shadow Travel], Lu Heng's speed exceeded five times the speed of sound, allowing him to travel 1.7 kilometers per second.

In just 10 seconds, they checked the area ten kilometers underground of the Lava Crown and finally found a deep fissure in the underground lava layer.

Auras from the abyss were surging out from the rifts, flowing into the magma and supplying energy to the Flame Demon.

Finding the source of the abyss contamination will make things much easier.

Lu Heng shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, drew his Aurora Blade, and prepared to destroy the abyss rift with a single strike.

at this time.

The lava surged and coalesced into a hand that reached out to grab Lu Heng.

Lu Heng neither dodged nor evaded, but unleashed a Wind Dragon Slash, cleaving through the magma palm and plunging into the abyss rift.

In the shadows, the gaze passes through the abyss rift, and the scene behind the rift is vaguely visible.

Without a second thought, Lu Heng unleashed another sword strike, Soaring Dragon Hunting the Sky, the sword light imbued with the power of Rift Slash slashing into the abyss rift.

Bang!
The abyss rift shattered with a deafening roar, and space distorted before closing.

The abyssal energy that was originally surging forth was isolated on the other side of the world.

After destroying the abyssal rift, Lu Heng used the remaining 5 seconds to patrol the surroundings and return to the ground before the [Shadow Travel] time expired.

Deprived of the abyssal energy, the Balrog grew even angrier, waving its arms and spewing out pillars of fire that liquefied everything in its path, then burned it to ashes.

Lu Heng returned to the ground, gestured to Sona, and said, "The Abyss Rift has been destroyed. I will deliver the final blow to suppress its flames."

Sona nodded in agreement, then used her arms to fly onto the back of the sea monster Seragon. With a wave of her scepter, she commanded the sea monster to meet the fire demon Gross head-on.

Bang!
The collision of the two colossal beasts, each hundreds of meters tall, shook the ground.

The massive collapse of the Lava Crown's structures is heartbreaking for the Dark Iron dwarves.

However, this is a calamity that the Dark Iron dwarves must face. Once they overcome this calamity, the tribe will enter a period of rest and recuperation.

Sorevel Bronzeforge raised his warhammer high and roared, "Warriors, defend our homeland, defeat the Balrog, charge!"

"charge!"

The shouts of the Dark Iron dwarves echoed in unison across the wilderness, lingering for a long time.

The siren priests continued to control the river water, sprinkling it on the fire demon to suppress its raging flames.

Under the combined attack of Sona, the sea monster Seragon, the sirens priests, and the Dark Iron dwarves, the flames of Balrog were suppressed, and the flames in many places went out, revealing his charred black body.

Lu Heng seized the opportunity, released his clones, and attacked from both sides, unleashing the Wind Dragon Severing Slash.

The rift wind dragon roared, tearing apart the fire demon's body and severing its energy core.

The Flame Demon Gross roared in anger, and seeing that the energy core was about to be destroyed, it detonated the core directly.

A terrifying explosion, comparable to a nuclear explosion, erupted from the Flame Demon's body, unleashing a terrifying shockwave that spread in all directions.

Sona raised the Scepter of the Sea God, creating a curtain of water to block the power of the Balrog's core explosion.

boom!
Without the aid of seawater, the water curtain was broken by the explosion, but after breaking through the water curtain, the power of the explosion was greatly reduced. After overturning the sea beast Seragon, the remaining shockwave blew all the surrounding Black Iron dwarves away.

Thaurisser Bronzeforge led the Dark Iron dwarf warriors, raising their shields to hold up the last line of defense.

even so.

The buildings of the Lava Crown continue to collapse outwards like dominoes.

The explosion created a deep crater in the center of the Lava Crown, from which magma spewed forth.

After the energy core of the Flame Demon Gross exploded, its body split into multiple low-level Flame Demons.

The fiends that split off had been of a much lower rank. They held out for more than an hour under the siege of the Siren priests and the Dark Iron dwarves before being completely wiped out.

陆恒一剑斩掉炎魔格罗斯，源能等级提升到58级，属性提升到力量210、敏捷270、体质211、精神215、感知208。

After defeating the Flame Demon, the crisis finally came to an end.

As the Dark Iron dwarves watched their capital city crumble, many had tears welling in their eyes.

Soreville Bronzeforge was also overwhelmed with emotion, but as the Dwarf King, he had no time for sentimentality.

He walked up to his people and said loudly, "From this day forward, we are completely free from the threat of the Flame Demon. Although our city has been destroyed, our hands possess boundless power."

"Fellow tribesmen, let us work together to rebuild the most magnificent Black Iron City, let us rebuild our homeland."

"Rebuild our homes!"

"Rebuild our homes!"

The Black Iron Dwarves raised their iron hammers and shouted in unison.

Soreville Copper Furnace quickly arranged for the tribe's shamans to treat the wounded warriors immediately.

The Dark Iron dwarves began clearing the battlefield.

Occasionally, one or two fire sprites can be found in the ruins of collapsed buildings, but they are immediately smashed to pieces by the dark iron dwarves.

The Siren priests continued to spray river water to help cool the Lava Crown.

Lu Heng and Sona returned to the temporary Dwarf King's camp with Soreville Copperforge.

After sitting down, Lu Heng recounted his discoveries underground:
"I just discovered an abyssal rift underground. The abyssal energy of the Balrog Gross comes from this rift."

“I checked that location two days ago and didn’t find any abyssal rifts.”

"Therefore, this abyssal rift must have appeared in the last two days. "Now there is a problem: the abyssal rift appeared so precisely, there must be someone controlling it behind the scenes."

"In other words, when we were carrying out our plan, a certain group of abyssal demons found out about it."

Soreville Bronzeforge frowned and pondered, saying, "This plan is on a very large scale. The entire city's Dark Iron dwarves have been relocated. With such a commotion, it's not surprising that the Abyss Demons discovered it."

Lu Heng nodded and said, "Yes, that's what I think too, but no matter how the Abyss Demons discovered it, it at least shows that there are Abyss Demons watching the Copper Furnace Kingdom."

Soreville Copperfurnace nodded and replied, "I understand. I will keep an eye on it and increase patrols in the surrounding area once Lava Crown is rebuilt."

Lu Heng remembered something else and asked, "How's the research on the [Astral Sawtooth] that we brought back from the Sea of ​​Chaos coming along?"

Soreville Copperfurnace replied, "We have been trying to forge the Astral Sawtooth into a material, but progress is slow so far. The current furnace temperature is not high enough to affect the Astral Sawtooth."

"I plan to take advantage of this Lava Crown reconstruction to build the largest forge in the history of the Black Iron Clan, to smelt the Astral Sawtooth."

"I have already discussed this matter with Master Gulu. I hope Mr. Lu Heng will bring Master Gulu with him next time so that we can study the construction of the forging furnace together."

Lu Heng nodded in agreement: "Okay, that's easy. I'll bring Master Gulu over when I get back."

……

With the Balrog incident over, Sorevel Bronzeforge, representing the Dark Iron Dwarf Kingdom, officially joined the Swordholders.

Sona stayed for a day before bidding farewell to the siren priests and returning to the Tidal Sea.

Soreville Bronzeforge personally led his people to the sea to see them off. A group of Dark Iron dwarves stood on the shore waving goodbye, watching the huge sea beast slowly walk into the seabed until it disappeared from sight. It was a long time before they lowered their hands.

After the Siren Clan left, Lu Heng also took his leave and returned to Blue Star.

This astral journey took us through quite a few worlds.

First, we went to Stonehammer Fortress, then to the Elf World, then to the Siren Territory, and finally to the Dark Iron Dwarf Kingdom.

More than a month has passed since we arrived, even in the world of Earth.

After Lu Heng returned to Earth, he received many messages.

The importance and urgency of information vary.

Lu Heng replied to the messages to let Qi Jinghui know he was safe, and then called him.

After receiving the call, Qi Jinghui exchanged a few words and got straight to the point: "You've been away for quite a while this time, and there are a few things I need to tell you."

"First, the astral merchants have started operating on Earth, and their target also seems to be the Reincarnation Essence."

"Secondly, the number of contacts between the Zero Civilization and the human recruits began to increase. Our soldiers who had been to the Zero Civilization in our war zone were once again touched by the white light of the Zero Civilization."

"Thirdly, the Astral Merchant has been in contact with Master Gollum, and I'm worried that the ownership of Quenching Fortress may change, so I need your confirmation."

The main reason why Quenching Fortress remained in the human world was because Master Gulu and Lu Heng had a good relationship.

Without Lu Heng's connections, Quenching Fortress would definitely not be what it is today.

The Astral Merchants are of a very high civilization level. If the Astral Merchants and Master Gollum reach some kind of agreement, it could very well affect Lu Heng's status in the Tempering Fortress.

This possibility exists, so the Great Xia government is quite nervous, but there's nothing they can do but be nervous.

Of the seven billion humans on Earth, only a handful can actually speak with Master Gollum.

Even Lin Zeyu only had a good relationship with Master Gulu, but he couldn't influence Master Gulu's decisions.

"Okay, I understand. I'll make time to go to Quenching Fortress."

After ending the call, Lu Heng checked his phone and realized it wasn't dinner time yet, so he went to Quenching Fortress first.

As always, Quenching Keep can be entered from the Fire Emblem Tower.

The Fire Emblem Fortress is now open to humans. Any ability user who has passed the Fire Emblem's review has the opportunity to enter the Fire Emblem Fortress.

Of course, there is a limit to the number of people allowed in, so you will usually be refused entry without a valid reason.

After all, Quenching Fortress is not a tourist attraction, so there is no need for tourists who just want to visit and take photos to see it.

Those who can enter the Quenching Fortress are basically blacksmiths, quenchers, and other secondary professions.

Lu Heng stepped into Fire Emblem, waved to the guards at the gate, and then passed through the portal into the Fortified Fortress.

After asking a tempering master I met in Tempering Fortress, I learned the location of Master Gulu and went straight there.

Master Gollum is studying the newly acquired forging blueprints in his workshop.

When Lu Heng entered, he saw him holding a magnifying glass, peering at the blueprints.

Lu Heng had never seen this forging blueprint before. He leaned over and looked at it curiously for a few moments, then asked, "Was it a gift from the Star Realm merchant?"

Master Guru didn't put down the magnifying glass, but nodded and replied, "Yes, how did you know?"

Lu Heng smiled and said, "I guessed it because I heard that the Star Realm Merchants had been to the Tempering Fortress."

Master Gulu put down the magnifying glass, straightened up, and said excitedly, "The astral merchant is really generous. He gave me a set of blueprints for demigod weapons. It's amazing! I didn't understand a lot of the blueprints."

No wonder the Great Xia government was so nervous; the Astral Merchant actually gave Master Gulu a set of blueprints for demigod weapons.

For blacksmiths, the blueprints for demigod-level weapons are priceless treasures.

There must be a purpose behind giving away such a valuable gift.

There's no such thing as a free lunch in any world.

Lu Heng asked, "What does the Star Realm merchant want?"

Master Gollum didn't care about these complicated matters at all and casually replied, "The astral merchant didn't ask for anything, he just hoped that he could come to Quenching Fortress more often in the future."

"You agreed?" Lu Heng had already guessed the outcome.

"Yes, I agree. This is a demigod-level blueprint. They're giving us such valuable blueprints; I can't refuse such a small request, can I?" Master Gollum replied matter-of-factly.

Lu Heng naturally agreed with this view, but he felt in his heart that the Star Realm Merchants' purpose could not be so simple: "What other demands do they have?"

"I don't have any other requests. Um... they said they wanted to be friends with you, and I said you and I are best friends, so they want to be friends with me too." Master Gollum was completely guileless, acting as if he already considered the astral merchants as friends.

Lu Heng then asked, "Since they want to make friends, they should have left their contact information, right?"

Master Gollum pointed to a spherical crystal core on the table and said, "Look, that's the one left behind by the astral merchant."

Lu Heng walked over and picked up the spherical crystal core to examine it.

This spherical crystal core looks like a crystal ball, containing some buildings, plants, and some snowflakes that can be shaken.

After examining the spherical crystal core, Lu Heng asked, "Can you hear me?"

A spherical crystal core lit up, followed by a voice: "Hello, Mr. Lu Heng, my name is Galmawi, it's a pleasure to meet you." (End of Chapter)