Returning to the ground from the canyon, Ding Meng and Ding Meng walked side by side. According to Xiao Zhi, Ding Meng finally discovered the uniqueness of this area. Almost every 50 kilometers, there would be a canyon similar to the one where the Holy Tree was located, but there were no Holy Trees in these deep canyons.
If not for the energy shield of the Flame Star itself, this area would look like a landscape of canyons scattered all over the place from space. At this moment, they were moving on the ground. The telekinesis model was the Green Spirit Divine Tree supported by Ding Meng, which established a link between Ding Meng, Jun Ling, and Xian Yuan.
Ding Meng suddenly said, "You're not being honest!"
Xian Yuan was surprised. "Oh?"
Ding Meng sneered. "There were too many people just now, so it wasn't easy for you to speak. You must know something, but you deliberately didn't say it."
Xian Yuan sighed. There was a disadvantage to dealing with people like Ding Meng, and that was that if there was anything wrong, he would be able to sense it.
Just now, Jun Ling took out such a big bag of Fire Origin Crystals. Although the energy was not large, it was definitely not small. At least, those crystals, together with the various energy bodies in the valley, were enough to fill up the Holy Lake that Xian Yuan had built. The problem was that Xian Yuan was the king of the Devouring Realm. How could he restore his immortal aperture to the Heavenly Book Body with the energy of such a small Holy Lake?
There were only two possibilities. One was that the sacred lake was not the true method to restore Xian Yuan's true body. At the very least, its scale was far greater than that. The other possibility was that Xian Yuan was still hiding something.
Xian Yuan sighed. "In fact, the Holy Tree you mentioned is the key to activating the Holy Lake. The so-called Holy Spirit is a special kind of energy that transcends space-time. It not only has the ability to teleport, but also the ability to communicate. This is what I learned from the ancient books. Unfortunately, I couldn't comprehend these two powers when I came here, so I could only build the Holy Lake. But now, as you can see, the Holy Spirit is gone."
Ding Meng hesitated. "You mean there is more than one Holy Tree on the Flame Star?"
Xian Yuan shook his head. "I can't promise you this, because I haven't been there."
At this moment, Jun Ling, who was walking at the front, suddenly said, "There's a situation!"
There was also a huge canyon in front of them. It was slanted downwards, but this canyon was completely dark. There were no colorful energy bodies at all. In the eyes of the Immortal Energy, this was a "death valley". However, Ding Meng would definitely believe Jun Ling's words.
The ground at the intersection was still dry. Jun Ling squatted down and pulled out his kukri knife to pry out some sand. Then, he carefully kneaded it and even put it to his nose to smell it. Only then did he turn his head and say, "Someone went in. The time should be 72 hours ago."
Ding Meng was also aware of Ding Meng's abilities in this area. She and the Elephant Little Arrow had lived in the cruel environment of Madison since they were young. They had already developed extraordinary tracking skills. In this aspect, even Ding Meng was ashamed of his inferiority.
"Who are they?" Ding Meng asked.
Jun Ling pondered and said, "It's not just one person. There should be many people. Not only is there the smell of humans, but there's also the smell of monsters."
Ding Meng said, "Then let's slow down and be careful!"
The environment of this canyon was even stranger. The further down they went, the lower the temperature. Moreover, the terrain became more humid and cold. The ground was no longer dry, but muddy. Previously, Ding Meng had thought that this planet was similar to Planet Extreme Flame. Now, he realized that this was simply a combination of Rain Forest Planet and Planet Extreme Flame.
After going down another 300 meters, the corpse of a strange beast appeared on the ground. It seemed to be a giant winged dragon. Just the spread of its wings was more than 30 meters long. However, this winged dragon had obviously been dead for a long time. Its entire body had been burned repeatedly, but the fatal wound was that its stomach had been cut open by a sharp weapon. It lay on the ground with its eyes closed.
"You should know about this thing, right?" Ding Meng asked.
Xian Yuan's tone was solemn. "The Six-Winged Demon Dragon is a strange beast from our Devouring World. Its strength is comparable to human high-level Battle-Lords. It's especially good at swallowing at low altitudes. It can also throw poison in a large area. It's not inferior to small combat starships. It can be considered an aerial weapon. Your Tyrael Battle Armor was designed based on its characteristics …"
What he meant was that this monster was most likely killed by the people who went in. However, to be able to kill this Six-Winged Demon Dragon, that person must be a Battle-Saint level expert.
Jun Ling frowned and said, "But that's not right. Look at the burn marks on this dragon's body. It seems like it was hit by a technological weapon."
Ding Meng said, "Let's continue down and we'll know."
As they continued down, the ground was littered with Demon Dragon corpses. There were more than ten corpses in total. All of them had their bellies cut open by a sharp weapon, or their throats had been slit.
They were now close to the bottom of the valley. Ding Meng and Jun Ling's expressions turned cold at the same time. The fluctuations of two Origin Ability users came from the depths of the earth's core. The fluctuations were about seven thousand meters away from them, but one of the auras was extremely thick and solid, while the other was sharp and incisive. It seemed like an Origin Ability user of the Thermodynamic System was fighting with an Origin Ability user of the Icy Light Speed System.
Ding Meng and Jun Ling were experienced. They quickly held their breaths and slowed down their pace as they walked down.
There was another deep pit at the bottom of the valley, but this pit was not naturally formed. Instead, it was artificially dug. It was like a spiral staircase that led downwards in circles.
"This is definitely not dug out by the people from our Devouring World." Xian Yuan made a judgment.
Ding Meng quickly sensed the scale of the deep pit. The spiral staircase did not lead downwards vertically. Instead, it spread out in a wavy and disorderly manner. In other words, the aura he sensed from Jun Ling was seven thousand meters away, but the actual distance was much longer than that.
After the two of them felt around for a while, the underground palace of the ruins of Thousand Sails Planet appeared before their eyes. This palace was extremely large, comparable to the command center of a medium-sized starship. Ding Meng and Jun Ling's position was behind a pile of dirt and rocks dug out from the southern wall. The two of them crept forward in a very experienced manner, quietly observing the palace hall.
In the center of the hall, with the dried up Sacred Lake and sixteen giant pillars as the center, two men were locked in a fierce battle. All kinds of energy were flowing everywhere, and the strong light made it difficult to open one's eyes.
Ding Meng's telekinesis vision quickly began to spread out. He could see that the man with the Thermal and Iron System looked slightly young, but his strength was extremely profound. He was wearing the standard Steel Legion interstellar clothes. According to Jun Ling's description, this person did not have any steel rings on his wrist, which was enough to show that he was not a member of the Hidden Front Mercenaries.
The man fighting with the man was a short and stout old man with a malicious face. He was dressed in black clothes and black pants, and it was as if he had become one with the darkness. However, this old man's strength seemed to be inferior to the man's, and the latter was actually able to get close to him. Both sides' palms and fists collided, causing waves of energy to wreak havoc in the palace hall. For an Ice System user to fight with a Thermal System user like this, defeat was only a matter of time.
However, apart from these two people, Ding Meng also discovered that in the depths of the distant north, there was a group of strange people hiding in a tunnel. These people did not seem to be Origin Energy users, but ordinary humans. This was because they were wearing anti-gravity armor and oxygen masks. Although they were all squeezed together, none of them looked panicked.
Jun Ling turned to look at Ding Meng. "It seems that the Thermal Battle Sage is protecting this group of people?"
Ding Meng nodded. "I think it's most likely. They look like an expedition team."
Xian Yuan said, "But this expedition team is not ordinary. They actually managed to come so deep into this place."
Everyone understood what he meant. An expedition team made up of mostly ordinary people would have to go through a lot of difficulties to land on the Flame Star. The price they had to pay was simply unimaginable. Not to mention the distance, just the fact that a starship or spaceship could enter the Devouring World, even if it was only in the periphery, was enough to cause people to worry to death.
Ding Meng's interest suddenly grew. "This matter is getting more and more interesting. What exactly are they looking for?"
At this moment, the battle in the center of the clearing had ended. The old man had been knocked back. He clutched his chest and panted heavily, staring at the man with hatred in his eyes.
The man, on the other hand, was calm and composed. With his hands behind his back, he looked like a master of a famous sect. "The first time, I was merciful because you were also an Origin Energy user from the human world. The second time, I also considered that it wasn't easy for you to come here, so I didn't kill you. In the end, you've been haunting me again and again. What do you have to say now?"
Ding Meng and Jun Ling exchanged glances. Could it be that these two people had fought more than once since they came to the Flame Star?
The old man sneered disdainfully. "Do you really think that you can do whatever you want on this planet with your mediocre skills?"
The man said solemnly, "It doesn't matter if I can do whatever I want or not. What matters is that I'm righteous and upright. It's better than you following me secretly."
The old man said, "Bah, I bet that you were secretly teleported here if you were able to come to this planet. You still have the nerve to say that you're righteous and upright? I only came here because I happened to run into you. We all have our own masters. There's no tailing."
The man shook his head helplessly. "You're really stubborn. You won't yield until I cripple you."
The old man snorted. "Ignorant boy, I'm only doing this because you're young and promising. It's a pity to bury you here. I'll give you a chance. If you're willing to cooperate with me, I'll spare your lives."
The man's head shook even more violently. "You're really old and muddle-headed. In that case, I'll let you recuperate here for a few years. I respect the elders …"
Ding Meng suddenly frowned. This young man's strength was not bad, but the way he spoke was rather old-fashioned. They had already come to this kind of place, deep into this kind of environment, and the opponents they encountered were either friends or enemies. Everyone was often fighting to the death, but here they were talking about benevolence and morality. This was a bit strange.
Moreover, the old man gave Ding Meng a very ominous feeling. For some reason, Ding Meng felt that this old man was not as simple as he seemed. Although this underground world was dark and everyone could see clearly without the help of light sources, in Ding Meng's psychic vision, the old man's body was eerily dark, like a ghost emerging from the darkness.
Suddenly, the old man moved. He waved his hand and slapped the man across the air. A mirror image of a large black handprint appeared in the air. This time, Ding Meng suddenly turned his head to look at Ding Meng.
Ding Meng nodded expressionlessly. "I didn't expect them to be so persistent."