Starting from the eleventh floor, the fiery red underground world turned orange. It was obvious that the Origin Energy flames in the surroundings had risen in temperature, reaching an astonishing fifteen thousand degrees Celsius.
There were very few Ifrit monsters in the surroundings. Occasionally, an orange rock golem would pass by, but these rock golems were just like the guardian. They only glanced at Ding Meng before avoiding him.
"That's not right. Why aren't these Ifrit monsters as strong as the guardian?" Ding Meng was confused.
Little Rascal explained, "On the Mou Planet, there's a kind of high-grade Origin Energy called the Pearl Origin Energy. It has many miraculous uses, one of which is its ability to convert energy. It's similar to the Origin Energy Cores installed on battle armor, which can convert energy by several times."
Ding Meng pondered for a moment before saying, "You're saying that even though the guardian has a combat index of eight hundred million, it's actually formed from the Pearl Origin Energy?"
Little Rascal said, "That's right. The guardian's true strength should be around fifty million Battle Index. The so-called eight hundred million Battle Index should be formed from the Pearl Origin Energy."
Ding Meng was silent for a moment before saying, "But there's something off about this."
Xiao Ai said, "What's off about it?"
Ding Meng said, "Based on the surface's temperature and level, the creatures on the surface should be at the high-level Warrior level. The evolved Ifrit monsters from the first to ninth floors should be at the Battle Sovereign level, and the guardian at the entrance should be at the level of a Battle Sovereign. However, these rocks on the eleventh floor are only at the high-level Battle Sovereign level. They're not even at the level of a Battle Master."
Xiao Ai muttered, "Then let's continue down."
Continuing down wasn't too difficult for Ding Meng. Even though he was surrounded by orange flames and the temperature was still rising, his Origin Energy was still flowing smoothly through the first five Origin Cores. This was all thanks to the Diamond Star Technique's constant tempering of his body. In other words, Ding Meng's body was even harder than alloy.
According to the route marked on the map, there was indeed a guardian at the Quenching Pool on the twentieth floor. This guardian looked a little like a standing seal, and after sensing it for a bit, its strength was only at the advanced level war elder level, not even comparable to the guardian at the entrance of the tenth floor.
This orange seal wasn't speaking the human language, but the unique ventriloquism of the Flame Tribe. Its croaking was similar to the croaking of a frog. Xiao Ai had a detailed record of the Flame Tribe's language in the database, so Ding Meng had no problem understanding it.
"Hello, the tenth floor has been cleared. You are free to pass through."
The seal's attitude was very polite. "After so many years, you are the first human creature to be able to travel freely."
"Thank you!"
Ding Meng was about to step into the quenching pool when the seal called out to him again. "Human, you have to be careful. It will be dangerous if you go any deeper."
Ding Meng frowned. "What danger?"
The seal said, "It hasn't been very peaceful down there recently, so I don't recommend you go down. Our Flame Butterfly Tribe has been fighting with the Flame Dragon Tribe for Eternal Flame Crystals, and we've all suffered heavy casualties. It's not safe for you to go down."
Eternal Flame Crystals were actually high-grade Flame Crystals. They were much more expensive than the man-made Flame Crystals produced by Qian Huanyu because they were naturally formed underground on Planet Extreme Flame.
According to the database, in addition to the Quenching Pool, there was also a strange rock known as the Cast Flame Rock. Its specific composition was unknown, but it was specialized in absorbing the Origin Energy flames underground. Just like the Diamond Starfusing Art, it refined this energy and then turned it into Eternal Flame Crystals.
Eternal Flame Crystals were extremely valuable to both humans and the Flame Tribe. To put it bluntly, it was something that everyone fought over with their lives.
From the twenty-first layer to the thirtieth layer, the orange color of the underground world slowly turned from orange to yellow. The temperature had already reached forty-three thousand degrees. To be honest, even Ding Meng was finding it a little difficult to endure. The Origin Energy consumption in his body was too great, and he needed to circulate six Origin Points to resist the high temperature. This was a little too risky, because if he encountered the so-called Flame Dragon Tribe, he would be in trouble.
Little Rascal said, "Ding Meng, this layer is rich in Origin Energy. You can sit down and cultivate."
Xiao Ai immediately said, "Yes, I can cultivate, but I've already calculated the Origin Energy here. It will take me four years to absorb the Origin Energy here. I'm afraid there won't be enough time."
Actually, Ding Meng's cultivation had reached a bottleneck, and this bottleneck was extraordinarily large.
First of all, he no longer needed to practice his martial arts. During the three years he had spent on the Expedition, his projection had already practiced all kinds of martial arts to the point of perfection.
Second was telekinesis. On the Supreme, he had practiced the Blue Spirit Art with Jun Ling and Lu Qing. The general telekinesis was built on the foundation of Origin Energy, so it was very difficult to improve telekinesis.
In that case, what he really needed to cultivate was to strengthen and expand the tenth Origin Point. It must be known that the tenth Origin Point required a huge amount of resources. Just absorbing the Origin Energy in the air was minuscule. Even in the underground world of Planet Extreme Flame, where the density of Origin Energy had increased by dozens of times, it was only an indirect increase in efficiency. The amount of energy required was still astronomical.
Little Rascal suddenly had an idea. "Didn't the guard say that the Flame Butterfly Tribe and the Flame Dragon Tribe are fighting over Eternal Flame Crystals?
Let's go and fight for them too. Won't we be able to get the resources once we get them? "
Ding Meng's eyes lit up. That made sense. If he helped the Flame Butterfly Tribe get the Eternal Flame Crystals, they would get a share, right?
With this thought, Ding Meng directly rushed to the thirtieth floor's quenching pool. The guard at the entrance to this floor was very small, only about the size of a coffee table. It looked like a golden dragonfly dancing in the air. It was a female guard.
"Didn't you say that they were fighting over Eternal Flame Crystals with the Flame Dragon Tribe?
Is there any Cast Fire Rock around here? "Ding Meng asked bluntly.
The dragonfly guard flapped its wings curiously. "It's already very good that a human like you can come here. You're still thinking about Eternal Flame Crystals?"
Ding Meng said, "Then do you have them or not?"
The dragonfly guard immediately went on alert. "What are you trying to do?
Don't think that you can do whatever you want down here just because the other guards gave you the order to remove them. "
Ding Meng said, "I'll help you guys get them. Can you give me some of them when I get them?"
The dragonfly guard couldn't help but laugh. "You dare to steal from a Flame Dragon Tribe expert?"
Ding Meng was a little annoyed. "What expert? I need Eternal Flame Crystals right now. Just tell me the approximate location, and I'll give you some if I get them. How about it?
You won't lose anything. "
He was gambling again. He was betting that the Flame Tribe creatures would be greedy for these precious resources. The dragonfly guard was no exception. Its eyes widened, and its pupils kept changing color. It was clearly thinking about Ding Meng's words.
"Okay. Head west now. There's a crystal well 1,800 kilometers away. Most of our people have been killed or injured. If you find any survivors, tell them my name and tell them that I called for you," the dragonfly guard said.
Ding Meng said, "What's your name?"
The dragonfly guard thought for a moment and said, "In your human language, you can call me Kouqi. What about you?
Human, what's your name? "
"Ding Meng!" After saying this, Ding Meng immediately headed west.
Seeing his figure disappear into the yellow fog, Kouqi's tone became thoughtful. "This human is interesting. He finally came down, but he's rushing to his death …"
1,800 kilometers was a piece of cake for Ding Meng. However, it was still quite troublesome to get there. According to the map, after leaving the territory of the Flame Butterfly Tribe, there was a more primitive rock and lava terrain. This was the border between the Flame Tribe tribes. There were large and small caves scattered all over, and it was difficult to tell the direction. Of course, this was not a problem. With his Telekinesis vision, Ding Meng quickly arrived at the so-called crystal well.
His first impression was that he seemed to have returned to Star Splendor University. During the exam, he had battled with Jiang Haiyi on the map called "Purgatory Furnace".
It was a huge cave. In the middle of the cave, there was a circular pit that was about forty to fifty meters deep. Below it, there was a mass of chaos. Of course, it was not really chaos, but a mixture of seven different colors. The temperature was as high as a hundred thousand degrees Celsius.
At this temperature, apart from the starship's propulsion furnace, anything else would be vaporized immediately. Ding Meng was no exception. He would die if he came into contact with it.
With this thirty-meter-wide crystal well as the center, there were steep and uneven forts and densely packed caves all around. The deep pit was surrounded by a group of creatures that looked like crocodiles. These crocodiles were definitely from the Flame Dragon Tribe because they were very different from the Flame Butterfly Tribe. Their bodies were like rough and heavy stones, and their surface was covered in shiny black scales, which were very similar to the scales of the Demon Dragon that the water droplet had encountered.
"It's the Ancient Demon Tribe!" the water droplet said. "They're very durable."
Little Rascal said, "Are you sure?"
The water droplet said, "I'm sure. They're the same as Origin Ability users who have quenched their system."
On a hillside to the north of the deep pit, a group of dragonflies were flying around. Many of the dragonflies were injured. Many of them had broken limbs and were being taken care of by their companions. These creatures were like Kouqi, bursting with yellow flames all over their bodies. Obviously, they were from the Flame Butterfly Tribe.
Ding Meng secretly used his telekinesis vision to scan the entire area. Then, he quickly ran to the hillside to the north.
The group of dragonflies immediately became nervous. Many of them flew into the air and spread their wings, ready to fight.
The Flame Dragon Tribe was also a bit restless. A human had actually come to this place. This was something that had never happened before.
"Don't panic, everyone. I was called by Kouqi to help," Ding Meng hurriedly explained.
The group of dragonflies didn't have much of a reaction to this. Those that flew up immediately landed. Everyone was talking at once.
"Where's Lord Kouqi?"
"Is Lord Kouqi coming?"
"What can a human like you help with?
Go away! "
"Ridiculous, you're so short among humans. Don't make trouble."
"Where did this shorty come from?"
...
Well, Ding Meng was a little speechless. When he was about to explain, the crocodiles of the Flame Dragon Tribe below suddenly cheered.
"Here it comes, the crystal tide is coming. Everyone, get ready!"