The core reason for the formation of the barren land was the dispersed energy from the death of the Hanba and the explosion of the Xu Ri Golden Bead. This energy was exceptionally high in level and impure due to their intermingling.
Those with low cultivation couldn't handle or absorb it.
Those with high cultivation found the energy too impure and violent, prone to damaging meridians and polluting spiritual power upon absorption.
This was why no one had bothered to manage the barren land.
When Ding Yun broke through previously, she had absorbed a considerable amount of solar energy in space. She then recalled how the Xu Ri Golden Bead could seal the essence of an unmoving skeleton and aid in absorbing solar energy. This led her to consider refining a similar magical artifact specifically for absorbing the Blazing Sun energy from the core of the barren land.
Once that Blazing Sun energy was absorbed, the remaining heat would be of no concern.
As for the material to refine an artifact capable of absorbing energy as potent, if not more violent, than solar energy, Ding Yun only acquired suitable materials after her breakthrough.
It was the Solar Star within the sea of her Dantian universe.
When Ding Yun broke through earlier, wasn't it because she absorbed too much Yin and Yang energy, stellar energy, and cosmic energy, causing the fragments of her Golden Core's outer shell to transform into a vast cosmic sea?
Among the myriad stars in the cosmic sea, the Solar Star and the Lunar Star were the most prominent, even containing a trace of Yin and Yang essence. Coupled with the slight immortal properties inherent in the Golden Core fragments, their essence was no longer mere illusory energy. They were miniature, low-tier versions of the actual Solar and Lunar Stars.
Refining such an existence into a magical artifact naturally meant there was no need to worry about it withstanding the high temperature of the Blazing Sun energy. After absorbing the Blazing Sun energy, Ding Yun could also retrieve it into her Dantian, re-transforming it into the Solar Star, and through the cosmic sea, obliterate and digest the contained Blazing Sun energy.
This would completely eliminate the hidden danger.
With this idea, and believing it had a high chance of success, Ding Yun immediately went into seclusion to refine artifacts upon her return. To avoid failure, she even spent several thousand years of her lifespan to elevate her artifact refining skills to an extremely high level before formally commencing.
She directly refined and modified the Solar Star within her Dantian.
And precisely half an hour before the Great Qian Dynasty's royal family, in conjunction with several great aristocratic families and sects, gathered five Nascent Soul Venerables and seventeen Golden Core True Lords, she officially succeeded.
Since the item had been refined, and Ding Yun didn't suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder about choosing an auspicious date, the next logical step was to fly directly to the center of the barren land and deploy her newly refined Solar Bead.
She activated the Solar Bead to frantically absorb the Blazing Sun energy.
The process was exceedingly smooth.
The ten-thousand-degree Celsius sea of fire in the central region, under the suction of the Solar Bead, transformed into towering dragons of flame without any resistance, being devoured by the Solar Bead, which had evolved into a small sun. The colossal sea of fire rapidly vanished at a visible rate, and the surrounding temperature began to drop. In some places, the ground had already been scorched to a glassy sheen by the flames.
When the ancestor of the Great Qian royal family, along with the Nascent Soul Venerables from the major sects and aristocratic families, arrived at the barren land,
It was difficult not to notice the scene.
"What... what is she doing?"
"How can she possibly resolve the sea of fire?"
"Wait, that sun-like object must be controlled by her. She's using that artifact to absorb the sea of fire from the Xu Ri Sect ruins. Damn it, what were the people you assigned to investigate doing? They missed something so important! With such an artifact in her possession,"
"and having absorbed so much Blazing Sun energy,"
"that artifact alone could spell our doom!"
Those Nascent Soul Venerables weren't fools. The moment they saw Ding Yun's actions, they immediately understood that their plan was doomed to fail. Regardless of the cultivation level of this Liu family patriarch, the artifact she currently held in her hand was enough to deal with them.
It was preposterous. The sea of fire in the barren land's core was already something they could barely resist. Now that she could absorb the flames from the sea of fire with that artifact, she could certainly release the flames from it as well.
In that case, who could oppose her?
A single misstep and being burned could lead to the annihilation of their souls.
They were here to gain benefits, not to seek death.
The two with more irritable tempers even turned to glare fiercely at the Great Qian royal family's Nascent Soul Venerables.
"Isn't this a trap?!"
"You call this a Golden Core True Lord that can be easily killed? This is clearly someone who can easily kill us!"
Seeing the scene before them, the Great Qian royal family's ancestor, deeply feeling that missing this opportunity would mean no future chances, immediately began to persuade the surrounding Nascent Souls:
"Esteemed sirs, in my opinion, now is the true golden opportunity! Given her Golden Core stage strength, even if she can control that artifact, it must be extremely taxing. If we don't act now,"
"we will never find such a good chance again."
"Aren't you tempted by that artifact?"
"I can guarantee that after success, I will not touch that artifact at all. I don't want any of the other items either."
"I only want this land and the population on it."
"Listen to me, everyone, let's act!"
Needless to say, his words indeed ignited the greed within the hearts of several Nascent Soul Venerables present. In their view, even if Ding Yun's artifact was not as good as the Xu Ri Bead, it couldn't be far off.
It was definitely a Nascent Soul-level treasure.
If they could obtain it, it would undoubtedly be a supreme treasure for their sect.
However, before they could finish their internal debate, Ding Yun felt that the Solar Bead's absorption speed was too slow. She directly channeled her spiritual power, pushing the Solar Bead to its absolute limit. In an instant, not only did she leak some of her Tribulation Crossing realm's pressure,
but the Solar Bead also truly transformed into a small sun.
A small sun with a diameter of several thousand miles.
Fervently drawing in the flames and heat from below.
Then, those Nascent Soul Venerables who had been vaguely tempted and greedy immediately deflated.
No matter how bold they were, they wouldn't be so reckless as to not sense the terrifying pressure and spiritual power level Ding Yun had just released. It was far beyond the Nascent Soul stage. Who knew what kind of ancient monster she was.
And the fiery sphere artifact becoming so large now,
only confirmed their previous perception.
"A Golden Core True Lord? If this person were a Golden Core True Lord, we'd eat the fireball in the sky. This is clearly feigning weakness, no, or perhaps just being low-key."
"In any case, this person can easily crush us."
With this thought, everyone present completely disregarded the Great Qian royal family ancestor's attempts at persuasion and quickly transformed into streaks of light, fleeing away.
Although the royal ancestor still harbored some doubts as to whether Ding Yun had seen them and was deliberately creating a false impression to scare them, with everyone else gone, he lacked the courage to act alone.
In the end, he could only sigh and leave as well.