Chapter 161 It's like a dead, strange fire
Most of the sea fires were located in the upper part of the river, with only the sea fires surrounding the edge of the frozen underground river being closest to them.
Mei Liangyu followed behind Zhong Lishan, the ice beneath her feet feeling very solid. Before she even reached the sea fire, Mei Liangyu stopped and looked down: "What's down there?"
Zhong Lishan looked at the ice with him: "Water?"
"Let's break it open and see," Mei Liangyu said.
Zhongli Shan instinctively reached for his sword, but as he touched his waist, he remembered that he had lost his sword in the sea eye. He shrugged helplessly and looked at Mei Liangyu.
Mei Liangyu gestured for him to step back, squatted down, placed his palm on the ice, and a golden protective aura ignited around him. He then struck the ice with great force, producing a dull thud from the ground, but the ice remained completely still.
Zhong Lishan also squatted down and tapped the ice surface with his hand. Judging from the appearance, the ice layer was not very thick, but it was very stable and as solid as a mysterious stone that was difficult to break.
“You’re poisoned, it’s affecting your performance, I’ll take over,” Zhong Lishan said.
Zhong Lishan managed to survive the state of the Five Elements in disarray, and he was much better when he woke up. He brushed Mei Liangyu aside and used his Five Elements energy to strike the ice surface, but he still couldn't budge it in the slightest.
The two men tapped and knocked at the ice, only managing to shake off a few ice shards.
"The temperature isn't low, and I haven't sensed any fluctuations of the Five Elements energy below." Zhong Lishan withdrew his hand from the ice and pondered, "It might be hidden deeper down, making it impossible to sense."
"It looks like we can't get out by going up there. The only options we can think of right now are either to put out the fire or to go down and take a look," Mei Liangyu said, walking towards the direction of the sea fire.
He used the Void Constellation Array to summon the Frost White Serpent to charge at the dying Sea Fire. However, the Sea Fire, whose flames were barely visible, suddenly rose up into a towering wall of fire, swallowing the fiercely attacking Frost White Serpent.
Zhong Lishan had only heard Xing Chun say that this flame was strange, but now that he saw it with his own eyes, it was indeed a bit eerie.
Mei Liangyu had overheard Xing Chun's ramblings intermittently and knew more than Zhong Lishan. He did not stop and continued to use different Nine Streams Techniques to try to extinguish the fire or bypass the sea fire to leave, but without exception, they were all engulfed by the flames.
No element of the Five Elements can overcome it.
Mei Liangyu then took out several mechanical rabbits and threw them into the sea fire, where they were burned to ashes in the blink of an eye.
Zhongli Shan stood to the side, deep in thought, and said, "It does indeed resemble a strange fire."
Upon hearing this, Mei Liangyu thought of Yu Sui and for some reason felt a little amused. He asked Zhongli Shan, "Have you ever seen a strange fire?"
"The abilities are similar, but fire that can devour the five elements is rare. This one doesn't give any chance at all, burning everything it sees. Isn't it similar to a strange fire?" Zhongli Shan asked.
"The ability to burn anything it sees and devour the five elements is similar to a strange fire, but I always feel that something is missing," Mei Liangyu pondered.
Zhongli Shan asked, "Have you ever seen a strange fire?"
He looked at Mei Liangyu with a hint of surprise; what he had just said did indeed have that implication.
"The Five Elements Water Field of the Yin-Yang School in the academy was destroyed by the Strange Fire. A World Destroyer died there at the time, and I happened to see it," Mei Liangyu replied casually.
Zhong Lishan stared at him for a long time without saying a word.
You've actually met him before, kid.
Mei Liangyu turned her head absentmindedly while thinking and found Zhong Lishan still staring at her. She raised her hand and nudged him with her elbow: "Are you looking at my face?"
"The college hasn't revealed a word about these matters," Zhong Lishan said.
Mei Liangyu said, "There's no need to make it public. It will cause too much speculation. If the Destroyer of Worlds can come to Taiyi and release strange fire, would you still think this place is safe?"
In recent years, there have been very few reports about the World Destroyer and the Strange Flame. Now it seems that they have always been there, but the relevant information has been concealed by many people.
"The Five Elements Water Field still hasn't been repaired properly. Compared to the destructive power of the strange fire, this flame is indeed lacking." Zhong Lishan didn't ask about the past and focused on solving the problem at hand.
Mei Liangyu was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "If I had to say... I think it's like a dead strange fire."
The strange fire released by the Destroyer could not stay still; it spread so fast that it was impossible to resist, and it brought great destructive power, with obvious signs of burning.
In Mei Liangyu's view, when the strange fire erupted and scattered, it seemed as if it had a life of its own and was moving towards the world with self-awareness.
These that remain in place and do not cause destruction are like strange flames that have lost their life force; although they look like they are on their last legs, their power is still there.
After hearing Mei Liangyu's explanation, Zhongli Shan said helplessly, "If it's a strange fire, then we really won't be able to get out, and..."
He looked up, his eyes reflecting the sky where the cave met the black stone, a chaotic and overlapping expanse that blocked the way upwards, yet mercifully revealed a few rays of light to them: "If the sea eye brought us here, then the destruction it brought should not be underestimated. The underwater mechanical city will definitely be aware of it and will take action. Can't you summon Saint Changgen?"
Mei Liangyu also looked up, her eyes cold and deep: "Summoning the Master... will be troublesome, and he may not be able to come."
Zhong Lishan's answer was not surprising. Mei Liangyu indeed disliked summoning the Sage Changgen, and he would not let the Sage Changgen appear unless absolutely necessary.
Most of the time, Mei Liangyu only listened to the words of Saint Changgen, and did whatever his master said. But sometimes, he would make his own choices.
"Using the sea surface as a reference, the sea eye pierces through both the surface and the seabed, but it stops here." Zhong Lishan turned and looked down at the ice layer below. "Is it only this far, or is something blocking it?"
“Fighting this fire is pointless,” Mei Liangyu said, looking down. “We still need to find a way to break the ice and see what’s below.”
After a brief discussion, the two began their operation. Fortunately, they both knew many powerful low-level techniques and chose a point to launch a fierce attack on the ice.
Xing Chun was startled awake by the noise and jumped up to be on guard. He turned around and saw Zhong Lishan with his sleeves rolled up, his fists clenched and punching rapidly at the ice.
"What are you doing?" Xing Chun wiped his face.
Mei Liangyu waved her hand, indicating that you should ignore it and continue sleeping.
Xing Chun went back for a short while, then got up again, went over to the two of them, and asked, "Have you thought of any ideas?"
“Let’s try going down there,” Mei Liangyu said.
Xing Chun said, "I can't break it open. I've tried to break it open before."
Mei Liangyu: "This kind of work should be done by soldiers who are trained in physical strength."
Xing Chun, persuaded by Mei Liangyu, yawned and watched from the side, asking, "Is his hand alright?"
“I’ve already treated him,” Mei Liangyu said, “He won’t suffer a second time.”
"Why don't you smash it?" Xing Chun asked, looking at him in bewilderment.
Mei Liangyu stared at the ice below, not even looking up, and said, "I've been poisoned."
"Is it Six-Element Wood or Milky Way Water?" Xing Chun started to get nervous again. "If it's Milky Way Water, you're in trouble..."
“I won’t die,” Mei Liangyu said. “Whether it’s Six Profound Wood or Milky Way Water, we’ll have to go out and investigate to find out. I’ve temporarily suppressed the poison. As long as the Five Elements don’t go into reversal, there shouldn’t be any major problems.”
Xing Chun finally breathed a sigh of relief. He squatted down, tapped the ice with his finger, and sighed, "We came here at a loss."
Mei Liangyu didn't respond, because this operation in the Abyss Sea wasn't a loss for him.
“When I was alone before, I was thinking about whether I could bring a fire over and burn away these ice layers.” Xing Chun stared intently at the flames in front of him. “Everything has its counter.”
After hearing this, Zhong Lishan, who was struggling to break through the ice, looked up at him and slowly withdrew his fist.
Mei Liangyu reached out and touched his chin, seemingly lost in thought, and said, "It's not impossible."
Zhong Lishan thought the idea was unlikely: "It might draw the ice over and burn it, but it could also burn us too."
Mei Liangyu said, "The question is how to lure them here."
Zhong Lishan: "Is this the key point?"
Xing Chun was eager to leave this gloomy and dark place, so he tried to come up with a plan: "I wanted to take off your clothes and make a knot to lure you here, but I was afraid that you would wake up and take off my clothes, and I was also afraid that you would not have time to escape and would be burned to death, so I didn't dare. Now that you are awake, take them off yourselves!"
Mei Liangyu and Zhong Lishan listened in silence.
Zhong Lishan noticed that Xing Chun's eyes were filled with the thought, "I'll do anything to get out of this hellhole." If he refused, Xing Chun would pounce on him. So he said, "One item for each of us."
That's the most I can have.
The three of them each took off an outer garment, connected them together, and twisted them into a long rope. Before taking them off, they put away all the ornaments on the outer garments, fixed one end to the ice, and Mei Liangyu took the other end and approached Hai Huo.
Zhong Lishan and Xing Chun were chased far away by Mei Liangyu. Xing Chun shouted to Mei Liangyu, "You'd better run fast when the time comes, or you'll get burned!"
"Can it work?" Zhong Lishan was still in a state of doubt.
Mei Liangyu, standing in front, said, "I'll throw it away."
Zhong Lishan was too late to stop her. He watched helplessly as Mei Liangyu threw the rope into the fire. The flames at the junction of the underground river and the stone wall suddenly flared up. The moment Mei Liangyu let go, the long rope was burned to ashes.
The speed was too fast, not even in the blink of an eye. The clothes and ropes that were just lying on the ice had completely disappeared without even a trace of charring.
The three of them stared at the empty ice layer, speechless.
"Did you see it burning over here?" Xing Chun asked, looking gloomy.
Zhong Lishan shook his head. "Too fast."
Mei Liangyu squatted down, pressed his hand on the ice, and after a moment said, "Try again."
"What did you find?" Xing Chun asked.
“We need something to make it stay there longer,” Mei Liangyu said, pointing to the ice surface. “Attach the five elements to the clothes and draw them down into the ice.”
They couldn't break the ice, but they could find a way to let the five elements penetrate it.
This seemingly dying flame will exert all its strength to burn away all the five elements, and then it will definitely burrow into the ice layer.
Mei Liangyu couldn't directly use the Five Elements Qi to guide it to burn over, because that would burn himself.
Seeing that he still had a solution, Xing Chun readily agreed: "Then take it off."
As Zhong Lishan was taking off his clothes, he asked, "How do you draw the five elements' energy downwards from the ice layer?"
He had discovered when he broke through the ice that the ice could block their Nine Streams Technique and draw the Five Elements Qi downwards, making it impossible for them to do so.
Mei Liangyu said, "Okay, you all stay far away."
His divine calculations can solve it.
After Zhong Lishan and Xing Chun took off their clothes, they hid far away. Mei Liangyu told them to retreat to the wall of the cave passage, which was the furthest distance they could go. Xing Chun leaned out over the fence with both hands.
Mei Liangyu tied a knot in her clothes, glancing at the weakening flames out of the corner of her eye. Recalling the rope that had been burned the moment she let go, she couldn't help but think, if her junior sister could freely use the strange fire, she would go on a killing spree.
I wish she were here.
The Destroyer himself might even know more about the strange fire.
However, it's hard to say whether this thing is actually a different kind of fire.
It's too dangerous for her; she shouldn't come.
Mei Liangyu's mind worked quickly, and he wrapped the knot of his clothes with the five elements. He glanced at the other end, which was sticking to the ice. He lowered his eyes and frowned, and with steady movements, he threw the other end toward the sea fire.
Zhongli Shan and Xing Chun didn't know what method Mei Liangyu intended to use to guide the Five Elements Qi down through the ice. They only saw Mei Liangyu release the rope and throw it away, and then they heard the sound of the ice cracking.
It was unclear how far below was frozen, but it seemed as if the vast ice layer had been struck and shattered into pieces. The crisp sound of the ice shattering against the stone wall was also heard, and the sound of the ice breaking was transmitted through the black mystic stone that connected the entire North Kun City.
The mechanical sorcerers searching for people underground, Lin Chenghai and Hu Gui who finally reunited, Zhang Xiangyun and Luo Fu who were still resting in the Spirit Puppet Pit, Situ Jin who brought Li Jinshuang to the surface, and Yu Sui who was still guarding the Situ Spirit Puppet, all heard the crisp sound of ice shattering coming from the depths of the underground, carrying a terrifying intent that could crush everything.
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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