The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

"This is……"

The closer they got, the stronger that feeling became.

That is a desire.

The body harbors a deep-seated desire.

Lei Zhan gazed at the enormous fiery star in the distance, sensing the fiery power permeating the void, a hint of doubt appearing in his eyes.

"It seems to be related to my body."

Lei Zhan's heart stirred. As he entered this void, he could clearly sense wisps of flame energy swirling around him, almost as if they were eager to penetrate his body.

Initially, the fortifications were simply considered special because of the nature of this territory.

But now, the closer we get to this star, the more active the surrounding fiery energy becomes.

“But this star…” Lei Zhan looked warily at the star that was getting closer and closer in the distance, “its pressure is so great, there might be danger.”

From a distance of countless billions of miles before, it is now only tens of millions of miles away, making it very close to that enormous star in the distance.

At the same time, Lei Zhan could also clearly sense the threat posed by that enormous fiery star.

"Leave? Go somewhere else?" Lei Zhan hesitated.

"But the distance between each fiery star in this territory is extremely far, and..."

You should know that the star in front of him was the closest one to him, and it took him nearly ten months to fly there, even after he had traveled through small parts of space and time.

"Let's go take a look!" Lei Zhan said softly. "If we dare not investigate this one which is so close at hand, the rest of the stars are probably not much different from this one."

"And the source of that feeling that makes me tremble should be related to my second primordial spirit body, which I also need to figure out."

Lei Zhan pondered to himself that everything was unknown, and he was extremely cautious when he couldn't be sure if it was safe.

Fortunately, although the enormous star in front of him posed a great threat, it was still within his tolerance range.

"However, before confirming, it wouldn't hurt to take the risk and investigate first."

Wow~~~
With a thought, an invisible mental force swept across the void, directly enveloping the enormous fiery star tens of millions of miles away.

"Huh? There are still lives?" Lei Zhan was taken aback by the sweep.

"In such a place, there is still life. The power of the flames in the void must be at least comparable to the level of ancestral fire."

Like an egg, it has layers that are interlocked.

In the outermost void of this enormous and majestic fiery star, there is an invisible layer of gas, within which lies a very thick layer of blazing flames.

Like an eggshell, Lei Zhan's mental strength clearly revealed that life existed within these layers of flames.

Those were humanoid life forms formed from countless flames, numbering only around a million.

Besides these special life forms, Lei Zhan could even vaguely see strangely shaped cities standing amidst the endless flames.

“These should be considered a kind of strange life form. The weakest of them are roughly at the level of a celestial god, while the strongest should even have reached the level of an ancestral god.” A glint flashed in Lei Zhan’s eyes.

"Able to survive in flames, able to build cities..."

The ability of life to survive in flames is not unfamiliar to Lei Zhan.

For example, the Sun Star in the Three Realms gave birth to a special being called the Three-Legged Golden Crow. The Three-Legged Golden Crow born on the Sun Star possessed the strength of a celestial being from birth.

"Such a massive star, with beings at the level of ancestral gods born there, most likely gave birth to beings at the level of world realms. Moreover, the presence of cities indicates that these strange beings are quite intelligent and should possess the information I need."

Lei Zhan carefully sensed it, "However... the outermost edge of this star is a flame at the level of ancestral fire. If it were inside the star, there would probably be even more powerful flames... perhaps there would be a terrifying power that could threaten me."

Wow~~~
With a thought, Lei Zhan saw a golden-robed youth who looked exactly like him emerge from his body and stand beside him in the void, gazing into the distance.

This young man in golden robes was one of Lei Zhan's many clones.

"I just used my mental energy to probe that star and found no immediate danger. However, the threat lingers, which might be because my mental energy is still at the fifth level..."

"I have to go check it out no matter what, but I have to be careful." This thought flashed through Lei Zhan's mind. In a situation where he knew nothing about his surroundings, he couldn't be too careful.

Sending out an avatar also grants the strength of a world god at its peak. While not as powerful as the original body combined, it is sufficient for Lei Zhan to handle most situations.

His second primordial spirit is composed of seventeen avatars combined into one, and can be gathered and dispersed at will.

The main body is currently far away, and has sent out an avatar to investigate. The avatar also possesses the strength of a peak world god.

If a special situation arises, even if one clone is lost, it can be quickly recovered through cultivation.

But the purpose of the clone is to give Lei Zhan ample reaction time, whether he's escaping or fighting. Whoosh!
A dark blue flying boat appeared in the air, and Lei Zhan's clone immediately entered the flying boat.

Controlling the flying boat, it instantly transformed into a streak of rainbow light, flying towards the enormous fiery star in the distance.

……

"What beautiful stars."

The deep blue flying boat descended from beyond the stars, incredibly close, allowing Lei Zhan to see it clearly.

The enormous fiery star before them was like the Sun, the supreme star beyond the Three Realms, magnified a thousand times.

And in this outermost void, there is a thick protective layer that looks like a wall formed from air.

Within this protective layer lies a layer of raging flames.

With this extended perception, he could fully confirm the power of this flame, confirming that it had reached the level of ancestral fire.

And through the flames enveloping the void, reaching the stars themselves, the power of those crimson flames far surpassed that of the ancestral fire.

"Chaotic Divine Fire!"

Lei Zhan carefully sensed it, his eyes lighting up. "The flames on the surface of this star are far more powerful than the incomplete Golden Serpent Divine Thunder I obtained. It is definitely a flame at the level of Chaos Divine Fire."

"As for the core, it seems to hold some secret, one that even my divine sense cannot penetrate. It is very likely the source of that tremor I felt!"

After examining the fiery star up close, Lei Zhan became increasingly curious about the source of the desire that aroused his body.

The second primordial spirit that was cultivated by possessing a dead golden crow egg still had a relatively mixed golden crow bloodline.

If it weren't for a series of fortuitous events, he would not have been able to transform from merely a second primordial spirit with pure Golden Crow bloodline into a pure-blooded Golden Crow capable of controlling the golden flames and rainbows of the sun.

The bloodline of the three-legged golden crow provided tremendous help to Lei Zhan when he was weak.

"This secret cannot be let go. Even if there are some dangers, if it can really help me, it is completely worth the risk!" Lei Zhan thought to himself.

"Go and have a look first."

call.

Lei Zhan piloted the Flying Trench Divine Wooden Boat, which began to fly slowly and soon approached the first protective layer outside the star.

Without disturbing the strange life forms made of flames, Lei Zhan carefully crawled into the 'wall of air'.

The almost transparent layer of air was incredibly dense, and as soon as the Flying Trench Divine Wooden Boat entered it, it felt a terrifying force of obstruction.

Chi chi chi~~~
As the dark blue flying boat continued to penetrate deeper, the resistance became increasingly intense. After traveling nearly a million miles, Lei Zhan finally managed to completely enter the atmosphere.

“This layer of gas seems to be naturally formed? It’s very rough, but…” Lei Zhan looked at the endless flames below, which were almost within reach, and pondered something.

"But there seems to be some trace of cultivators in this."

……

Although Lei Zhan was very cautious and did not dare to be arrogant and directly use his divine sense to sweep through in this special environment, he chose to use his mental energy in a more concealed and less noticeable way.

After all, this star truly made him feel a tremendous threat.

If he were too arrogant, he might lose his own life. So, whether he was using his mental energy to probe for a moment and then immediately dissipating, or sending out a clone to carefully probe, Lei Zhan was extremely cautious.

Deep within the core of this enormous fiery star.

"Hmm? Heart power?"

Deep within the fiery star, there is bubbling golden-red magma, and in the center of the magma lies a majestic fiery beast.

The fiery beast lay in the lava as if bathing in a tub, its head resting against the rock wall, its entire body completely covered by the golden lava.

"Mental power... a cultivator?"

The fiery beast seemed to be startled by the fleeting mental energy, awakening from its slumber. Its aura was powerful, and its pair of bright golden eyes opened, making the entire core space of the star incredibly dazzling.

"However, his mental strength level seems rather ordinary?" The fire beast pondered for a moment. "It shouldn't be that annoying idiot armadillo. Although I'm reluctant to admit it, that idiot is stronger than me, but he's also not good at mental strength. So... it must be an outsider cultivator!"

The fire beast, not sensing the familiar aura that it disliked, immediately felt relieved.

"However, since I came here, hundreds of chaotic eras have passed, and no cultivators have broken in for a long time."

...(End of chapter)