Chapter 1 Yi Chang Sheng Wu Jian Wen Lu

The Tortoise Rock Table slowed down, approaching the shattered area deep underground, while the three drones left the formation first to begin a comprehensive and detailed inspection of the area.

This cavity was already located in the deepest part of the mantle, right next to the molten core. The extremely high temperature made it seem like a purgatory. In a normal planet, it would be impossible for any stable cavity to exist in this high-temperature, high-pressure environment. Everything here would be swallowed by magma, and any cavities and faults would collapse—however, the existence of the Firstborn turned this star structure that defied the laws of nature into reality.

Around the core, there were cavities like the ones Hao Ren had seen everywhere. The Firstborn's tentacles hollowed out and reinforced these places to accommodate its vast organs or for other purposes. In these cavities, the most spectacular and terrifying scenery could be seen: above were scorching, solid domes thousands of kilometers thick, and below were surging magma and extremely rare floating islands solidified by the Firstborn's tentacles. Connecting them were thick tentacles and crimson deep-layer quartz pillars. Due to the weak gravity, the magma droplets produced by the impact of the surging magma on these tentacles and quartz pillars fell slowly, like slow motion, beautiful and deadly.

Below the magma was the molten core, but usually the Firstborn did not directly immerse itself in the core: it would grow around the core and bury its brain core in a cavern deep in the mantle. Hao Ren believed that behind the rock walls with a large number of main tentacles spreading out were such caverns.

"According to the shape and direction of the large fissure we came through, this should be the 'deep structure' exposed after the Firstborn opened the crust. See those shattered tentacle remains ahead? That's the deepest part," Hao Ren pointed to the image on the holographic projection and tilted his head slightly to Vivian. "The description mentioned by n-4 should refer to that. That's what the human observer saw in space three thousand years ago."

Vivian frowned, looking at the fractured rock layers and the crystals scattered among them. "I didn't expect it to not have healed after so many years, still in this fragmented state. I thought the temperature near the Earth's core would fuse everything together."

"Those black fragments are no longer stones. They are a mixture of the Firstborn's shed tentacle debris and rocks. Ordinary magma can't do anything to this material," Hao Ren shook his head. "Only the temperature of the sun can burn these things."

Lily blinked, staring straight at the crystal fragments scattered among the broken rocks. "Such pretty stones! Landlord, Landlord, can we pick up a couple of pieces later?"

Vivian glared at her. "Can't you restrain your hobbies at such a serious time?"

Hao Ren didn't mind the husky girl's unserious remarks, but said thoughtfully, "If I'm not mistaken, those crystal-like things should be the product of the meteor shower mentioned by n-4 three thousand years ago. Nolan, let the drone swarm collect some samples and put them in the laboratory first. By the way, if it's confirmed that there's no harm, cut off a small piece and let Lily play with it."

The husky girl immediately beamed with joy when she heard this—completely unaware that Hao Ren looked like he was saying, "My dog is tired of her old toys again, so I have to buy her a new ball"...

The drones collected the required crystal samples and found a fissure on the fractured rock layer that led to a deeper place.

A powerful energy fluctuation came from the depths of that fissure.

"The spaceship can't get in, the fissure is too small," Hao Ren glanced at the data transmitted by the drone and shook his head slightly. "And it's too close to the Firstborn's brain core here. The nerve lines are intricate and complicated. If we let the drones dig, something might happen. We have to go ourselves. Who's coming with me?"

"Me, me!" Lily had just received the new toy Hao Ren had promised (though not yet in hand), and was in a state of surging loyalty. She would probably "help" with whatever Hao Ren did. "I'm strong and good at digging. If it's blocked inside, I can help dig a hole!"

"You're a Siberian husky who pulls sleds, are you going to a place that can roast a dog?" Nangong Wuyue looked at Lily suspiciously. "Just looking at it makes me feel like I'm starting to evaporate!"

Lily flicked her tail. "It's okay, I have a life-support collar anyway. The shield creates a spring-like atmosphere, always 26 degrees Celsius wherever I go."

Vivian gave the husky a contemptuous look for joining in on any fun and nodded slightly to Hao Ren. "I'll go with you too."

"I'll go with you," Izhaks stepped forward and said with a smile, a nostalgic look on his face. "This place reminds me of the bathing pool back in my old home. It's quite nostalgic."

Hao Ren: "..."

The Tortoise Rock Table slowly lowered its altitude and hovered over a relatively flat area on the edge of the broken rock layer. Hao Ren and his group of four left the spaceship and personally stepped into this hellishly hot underground world.

Despite the protection of the life-support collar and shield system, Hao Ren felt as if a heat wave was coming at him the moment he stepped onto the rock layer—this was of course not a real sensation, but an involuntary illusion after seeing the surging magma in front of him. He couldn't help but wipe the non-existent sweat on his forehead. "This damn place is deadly. Why does the Firstborn like the Earth's core so much?"

Lily thought for a while. "Sleeping in the Earth's core and waking up occasionally to suck on some magma. Probably in the Firstborn's worldview, that's the most wonderful life."

Hao Ren shrugged indifferently. Behind him, Izhaks moved his muscles in place, then took a breath and twisted his waist, and with a "ha," he dispelled the transformation spell he had cast on himself. Accompanied by a burst of flames, the five-meter-tall Demon Lord stepped out from the rolling smoke and flames.

He was in his element here, standing in a place of several thousand degrees Celsius without even needing a life-support collar. Instead, he took a breath comfortably after transforming. "Hey—tsk, it really is the taste of home..."

Hao Ren shielded himself from the sparks spraying from Izhaks' mouth while muttering to Vivian next to him. "Old Wang seems pretty happy."

"After all, we can't provide him with magma 24 hours a day—if you had to rent a house and only take cold showers for four years, would you be happy?"

"...You make me feel so guilty."

Izhaks didn't hear what Hao Ren and Vivian were whispering about. He just took a few deep breaths of the "taste of home air" (which was actually rock vapor), then bent down and casually scooped up a semi-molten rock core from the magma, gnawing on it like a sweet potato as he walked forward. "I see the fissure. Let's go in and check it out."

The old demon's true lifestyle was indeed unrestrained.

The rock fissure was less than two hundred meters ahead of the landing point. There was a steep rock wall extending upwards, with cracks of all sizes and crystal fragments scattered among them. Red light could be seen overflowing from the larger fissures, obviously leading to the deepest place.

For the Tortoise Rock Table, which was hundreds of meters long, even the largest of these fissures was not enough for the spaceship to pass through, but for Hao Ren and his group—even for Izhaks, who was five meters tall—these fissures were wide enough to lie down and pass through.

Thick nerve lines meandered out from between the rock crevices, some submerged in magma, and more extending upwards and eventually disappearing into the high rock dome above. Hao Ren chose the widest passage, carefully avoiding the nerve tissue while leading the team into it.

"This place was indeed opened up, and later the Firstborn used external force to close it again," Vivian pointed to the uneven structure above the passage. "But he should have lost control of his limbs at that time, so this 'rock cavity' used to accommodate the brain core was not completely closed, leaving such a passage."

"Watch your step, some cracks can lead directly into the magma river," Hao Ren reminded. "Lily! I'm talking about you—stop knocking on the stones. I'll dig you a pile later and let you knock on them as you please."

After advancing for a while, the scene in front of the group suddenly opened up.

A dark red underground cave appeared before Hao Ren.

The cave was extremely vast, but its shape was not very regular. Like the Firstborn nests found on other planets, the center of this cave was slightly recessed and filled with a viscous liquid that was dark red like blood. A large number of dark tentacles gathered from all directions of the cave, all converging on an organ immersed in that dark red liquid.

That indescribable giant organ quietly hibernated in the center of the blood lake. Its surface still had a faint shimmer, but Hao Ren could tell at a glance that this flesh organ used to accommodate the brain core had been severely damaged and showed no signs of recovery.

Its upper half was almost completely torn apart. A terrifying wound almost penetrated two-thirds of the entire organ. In that torn wound, the dark red source blood wriggled slowly and weakly, and a brain core that had severely shrunk and whose surface had begun to turn black was immersed in the source blood that was about to lose its vitality. The culprit that caused this fatal damage was inserted next to the brain core—a narrow, blue-white crystal.

Exactly the same as those crystals scattered on the fractured rock layer outside.

"It really was these things that caused it," Hao Ren muttered, carefully approaching the blood lake in front. Vivian quickly followed and reminded, "Be careful, I don't think this brain core is completely dead yet."

"Nerve activity is on the verge of disappearing. Even if it suddenly comes alive, it will only twitch a couple of times," Hao Ren waved his hand. "I just feel... these crystals look a bit familiar."

As soon as he finished speaking, memories from not long ago suddenly flashed in his mind.

"This seems to be the same crystal I saw in the last illusion!" Hao Ren exclaimed, turning to look at Vivian. "There are also such crystal clusters at the bottom of your Red Sea!"