Infinite Sun in the East China Sea

Chapter 303 Killing the Flame Demon
In Chinese historical legends, Yu the Great cast nine tripods to establish the nine provinces. These nine tripods are often regarded as symbols of power in literary works and have special significance.

Westerners don't place as much emphasis on food as the Chinese. The symbol of power for them is the 'ring'. The earliest rings were essentially small seals—the so-called One Ring is actually similar to the Imperial Seal of the State in ancient China.

The fact that a Ringwraith becomes stronger after the death of another Ringwraith is related to that symbol; when the nine Ringwraiths unite as one, they can reach a special state, greatly enhancing their power.

However, Sauron himself does not want this change to occur. The Ringwraiths will become stronger in the process, but the One Ring's control over the Nine Rings of Man will weaken, and his own power will weaken accordingly, unless he truly conquers the entire Lord of the Rings world and becomes the master of this world.

But this is extremely difficult.

If the Valar were to conquer the entire world, they would most likely perish, much like the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age.

At the end of the First Age, Morgoth's power was immense, having amassed countless trump cards and conquered most of Middle-earth, with Elven kingdoms falling one after another; but after the Valar's departure, all powers became meaningless, and everything vanished under the overwhelming force.

Dragons, fire demons, and all those powerful monsters were nearly wiped out by the Vira army's encirclement and suppression.

At that time, Zoro's sliding knee speed was fast enough that he didn't suffer too much punishment.

Therefore, now that the Nine Rings, which represent human authority, have been damaged, Sauron's first thought is not to launch a war to conquer Middle-earth, but to recreate the Ringwraiths.

Xu Feng stared at the Ringwraith for a few more moments and said, "Since Mr. Sauron has important things to do, then you should go ahead and attend to your business. Hehe, people can grow faster if they have ambition, but if they have unrealistic ambitions, the final outcome will be very tragic."

Sauron glanced at the mysterious man with apprehension, then without hesitation led the Ringwraiths away from Mount Doom and Mordor, declaring the area a forbidden zone.

After losing the One Ring, his power was far inferior to that of this mysterious man.

If a conflict arises, he can only suffer in silence; the Central Continent is vast, and many forces submit to him, so there's no need to be neighbors with such a dangerous figure.

After confirming that Zoro and the others had left, Mei asked, "Captain, Zoro isn't cooperating much. Should we take down a few more Ringwraiths to put him in a better position?"

At this point, Zoro had absolutely no bargaining power.

His strength is far inferior to Xu Feng's, and his unrealistic ambitions have led to a host of weaknesses, making it far too easy to force this person to submit.

Xu Feng didn't kill him because he coveted the extraordinary knowledge he possessed. Now, this Dark Lord has become stingy when offering extraordinary knowledge. Mei believes that appropriate pressure can make this Dark Lord face reality.

"Let's keep a low profile for now." Xu Feng smiled and shook his head. "The primary research subject right now is Zhao Zhuikong. We must kill Zhao Zhuikong, the experimental subject, before returning to the Main God Space. As for Zoro, it's not too late when his knowledge returns to this cycle of reincarnation."

Xu Feng paused for a moment, then said, "Mei, let's go and deal with Moria's Balrog first. Hehe, it'll be good to add another general to your Eighth Chamber."

"A Flame Demon?" Mei's eyes lit up.

Among the eight dolls, only former teammate Park Chang-ho is strong enough; the others are only average.

"Its strength should be greater than Park Chang-ho's!"

Xu Feng nodded: "Yes, if I don't use my full strength, it will probably take me several minutes to kill it."

When he first arrived in this world, he led the others to spy on the Balrog from afar near Moria.

That Balrog was very powerful, a level stronger than Smaug.

At the time, Xu Feng was burdened by a bunch of newcomers, and he was worried that they might die in the aftermath of the battle. He was also worried that the East American team was too strong and did not want to go all out, fearing that it would affect his condition after the East American team arrived. He also needed to set up various combat systems in just one hour to welcome the arrival of the East American team, so he did not have time to deal with the Flame Demon.

Now that the entire East America team has been eliminated, there is no need to worry about the other team of reincarnators; the East China Sea team will not return to the Main God Space for another six months, giving them ample time to deal with the Flame Demon.

Moria.

Xu Feng had already left the mark of Shangri-La here, and in the blink of an eye, he brought the little witch to this area.

It's dangerous here.

It is even more dangerous than Dogur, where Zoro is located.

After entering this kingdom inside the mountain, Xu Feng first put a protective gear on Mei.

"Poison gas?"

Mei sensed something amiss in the environment; there was a faint smell of burning sulfur in the air: "The Balrog in the movie shouldn't have this ability. Has the main god been strengthened?"

"The ventilation system built by the dwarves has long ceased to function, and the poisonous gas has accumulated for a considerable time. Anyone lacking sufficient strength who enters here will quickly succumb to poisoning! The Fellowship of the Ring in the original story was able to pass through here... perhaps it's related to Balin from the Lonely Mountain Expedition?"

Shortly after Thorin's expedition recaptured Erebor, the dwarves felt that Erebor was too small, and thus began to plan the recapture of their original nation, Moria.

The Moria Expedition was led by Bahrain, a member of the Lonely Mountain Expedition.

That group of dwarves survived for several years after entering Moria, but were eventually all killed in an attack by orcs.

"That's how it should be." Xu Feng gazed at the imposing monster below: "The Flame Demons are indeed Maiar-level creatures; their souls are quite unique."

He did not act immediately.

Know yourself and know your enemy.

He doesn't know much about the Balrog at the moment.

In Xu Feng's view, such a powerful creature could be a valuable asset. The biological structure, special abilities, and methods of becoming stronger of the Flame Demon... if the reincarnators understood these things, they too could become stronger.

The danger that can threaten the life of a reincarnator means a power that is close to or even stronger than the reincarnator. If there is no power, how can it harm a reincarnator? It is simply a matter of the different forms of power.

If you can understand the origins and development of those 'powers', you can naturally become stronger.

In a sense, becoming stronger in this way is more meaningful than being strengthened directly by the main god.

Xu Feng didn't immediately kill the Flame Demon when he first arrived in this world because he had this in mind; killing the Flame Demon too easily wouldn't yield much benefit from it.

soon.

The enormous monster, about eighteen meters tall, sensed the presence of the two intruders.

It opened its eyes, and the blazing flames in its pupils illuminated the cave.

"In the original story, Gandalf seemed to have the advantage of terrain when he defeated the Balrog. After falling off the cliff, the large amount of groundwater weakened the Balrog's flames considerably." Xu Feng's heart stirred: "I wonder if the water drawn from the ground could suppress the Balrog?"

Upon realizing this, the Swallow Domain immediately covered the groundwater thousands of meters below. In an instant, a water column hundreds of meters thick gushed out, covering the Flame Demon that had just opened its eyes, giving it a cool bath.

Upon the collision of water and fire, countless water vapors immediately appeared.

Under the influence of the Balrog's scorching flames, they exploded and quickly spread throughout most of Moria's cavern.

The rapidly expanding steam even seeped out from various crevices in Moria, washing away a portion of the dirt and toxic gases. From the outside, the scene looked just like a volcanic eruption.

The orcs living in Moria screamed in agony as they were scalded by the extremely hot steam.

The vast majority of orcs simply died in the aftermath.

This tentative exchange, however, disinfected the cave in the mountains in a unique way, making it much cleaner.

But this situation also proves one thing... ordinary water flow is difficult to suppress the flames on the Balrog's body.

In the original story, several beings appeared who suppressed and defeated the Balrog using water currents, presumably with the help of the Valar. Most of the fourteen Valar in Valinor are very passive and will only intervene when absolutely necessary; a small number can even have negative effects... The two strongest Maiar under the command of Auli, the god of craftsmen, rebelled and joined the dark side. Without this god, Middle-earth would probably not have so many troubles.

Ulmo, the lord of all waters, is considered the god who has given the most help to elves and humans.

It's not impossible that this Vala secretly intervened when the elves or Maiar were fighting the Balrog. She appeared in the elves' dreams and directed the water flow towards evil.

"The flames on its body are extraordinary, and the energy inside its body is exceptionally abundant, as if a fusion reactor is installed inside it!" Mei exclaimed.

The fact that such a massive amount of water could be burned into steam indicates that this fire demon possesses extraordinary energy.

Even in her divine form, she wouldn't be a match for this fire demon.

Xu Feng said, "Indeed, it's quite good... If we can thoroughly analyze its body structure, I should be able to create a high-energy legion. With the combination of magical bloodline and sci-fi energy, that legion's combat power might be quite impressive."

At this time.

A beam of axe light cleaved from the area where the Flame Demon was located.

Normal Balrogs wield whips and longswords, but only the Balrog King Gothmog possesses a large axe.

The Balrog of Moria is not Gothmog... that Balrog has been dead for who knows how long.

"Turin's battle axe?" Xu Feng remained motionless, a huge phantom image of Buddha enveloping him and Mei, easily blocking the axe light with enough power to slice off a mountain.

"Not bad weapon. Dwarves aren't without their treasures."

The Turin Battle Axe is the weapon of Turin, the progenitor of the dwarves, and one of the symbols of status for the dwarf kings of Turin's lineage. The dwarves lost this battle axe here when they retreated from Moria.

Xu Feng never expected that it would fall into the hands of the Flame Demon and become its weapon.

Judging from the intensity of the Flame Demon's attacks, this weapon is quite powerful.

As the Flame Demon unleashed its attack, Xu Feng noticed the energy core within the Flame Demon's body operating an energy circuit that converts energy into the attack's energy.

The progress of constructing the Flame Demon in the Fantasy Mode has increased again.

I'm not far from completely imagining the Flame Demon.

"If that's all you've got... then you'll be my reward points."

Xu Feng controlled the golden Buddha statue to launch an attack. In order to avoid killing the Flame Demon too quickly, he suppressed his palm power as much as possible, only forcing the Flame Demon to continuously display its strength.

He collected more and more data.

The fire demon constructed from fantasy also became more and more perfect.

After five minutes of fighting, Xu Feng, whose fantasy construction progress had reached 100%, no longer held back and gently swung out a palm.

The golden Buddha's palm wasn't very big, only about one size larger than the Flame Demon's.

But to the Flame Demon, it was as if it covered the entire surrounding space-time, and no matter which direction it fled in, it would inevitably have to face this palm strike.

We can only fight back desperately!

Clearly... its resistance is futile.

The palm strike landed on its body but did not harm it; it only eroded its will from the inside out.

Afterwards, Murasame pierced through the Flame Demon's corpse and absorbed the body into it.

"Another A-level side quest, even higher than I expected, even though the fight was quite easy." Xu Feng smiled.

His own strength far surpassed that of the Flame Demon. He originally thought that killing a monster of the Flame Demon's level would at most earn him a B-level side quest, but to his surprise, the main god was very generous this time and still gave him an A-level side quest.

“This fire demon is actually very powerful,” Mei remarked. “It will take me a long time to fully master this puppet.”

Xu Feng defeated the Flame Demon with ease; neither of them moved, and the attacks and defenses were carried out entirely by golden Buddha statues formed from true energy.

The Flame Demon was powerless to fight back under that attack. Its dying struggles were only to provide data for Xu Feng. The entire battle was a complete crushing defeat.

But to the rest of the East Sea team, this Flame Demon was a real monster.

Xu Feng has already helped her take the Flame Demon into the Eighth Chamber and has almost refined the monster, but it will take her some time to completely master the monster. She needs to refine it for a long time to leave a spiritual imprint on the monster's body.

Controlling this fire demon won't be easy for her in the future.

“Not only Balrog, but also Smaug in the Eighth House if we have the chance. Hehe, its strength is much greater than in the movie, and it's also stronger than Park Chang-ho,” Xu Feng said with a smile.

The dark faction in this world is severely suppressed, and there are not many monsters with sufficient strength.

The only monsters worth including in the House of Eight are Balrog and Smaug.

This is how the East Sea Team efficiently utilizes these monsters... turning lives into reward points and using bodies to fight for the reincarnators, without wasting a single moment.

Mei hugged Shinmura Amane, gazing intently at Xu Feng.

With the help of this powerful figure, the puppet in the knife has surpassed her own strength, and her ability to survive has been greatly enhanced once again.

"Thank you... my God."

Xu Feng laughed and pulled her into his arms: "Hahaha, little witch, I'm still a long way from being a true god... But we can get a preview of how witches serve the gods."

After the Balrog died, only two reincarnators remained in Moria. The once filthy Moria had been cleaned by high-pressure steam and had become relatively clean.

After briefly adjusting the environment of the area, Xu Feng began to explore the relationship between priestesses and gods.

The desolate mountain kingdom resonates with discordant notes.

north.

Xiangzi flew behind the newcomers, scanning the road ahead to ensure they wouldn't encounter overly powerful enemies, thus preventing too many deaths and point deductions.

"Dragonblood horses are fast; even on long journeys, they can reach speeds of 120 kilometers per hour. Maintaining this speed is actually to accommodate the newcomers. At this speed, they can reunite with the hobbits in about sixteen hours."

This is actually one of the challenges that newcomers face.

The back of the Dragonblood Horse is relatively stable when it is running, and the equipment provided by experienced riders can also prevent these newcomers from falling off the horse. However, staying on the back of a Dragonblood Horse running at high speed for a long time is definitely a test of willpower.

Xiangzi thought to himself, "The dwarves hadn't left the Shire yet at that time."

"Overall, these newcomers will experience the entire journey to Lonely Mountain, and if they don't perform poorly, we should be able to build a good enough relationship with Gandalf."

"Hehe, even newcomers, with the logistical support we provide, are actually moving faster than the characters in this world's storyline."

(End of this chapter)