CHAPTER 225: THE WORLD’S CORE

Chapter 225: The World’s Core

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The small world within Zhu Rong’s secret realm, unlike all the other secret realms, was particular, unique, in a certain sense,

because the matter that composed it was not a small fraction that had been assembled to give shape to a separate dimension with some precise type of purpose,

but rather the matter here had been condensed into a true, standalone world, with its own rules and laws which, no matter how weak they may have seemed at the beginning, possessed the ability to become stronger.

Zhu Rong’s past self had created this space while taking into consideration many factors and situations that could occur in the future, all in preparation for a single moment, one for which Yuan Lan herself had needed to do something that no cultivator, whether of the Mortal Realm or Spirit Realm, would have ever even thought to attempt in this plane of existence.

It was something that, however dangerous, was necessary; and considering that the woman was still alive, it was clear that she had succeeded in the task her master had given her before he too disappeared.

In this moment, in the deepest inner regions of the small world, two figures floated suspended in a void that seemed endless, illuminated only by a gigantic yellow, incandescent sphere.

It was the core of the small world, a blazing, compressed mass, similar to the molten heart of a miniature earth, from which came all the heat and stability of everything that existed on its surface.

The light it emitted was blinding, but even more so was the heat coming from it, more than enough to completely melt most of the materials known by the natives of this plane of existence.

Not to mention the enormous spiritual energy condensed beyond any limit contained within it, the precious source of the entire core that nourished it and provided life to all the ecosystem existing on its surface.

And in the presence of this enormous incandescent mass, the two figures stood there, undisturbed, as if it had no effect on them at all.

They were Zhu Rong and Yuan Lan.

Almost a week had passed since the family reunion, and since then mother and daughter had more time to get to know each other better, as well as explore the secret realm with Lin Xian as their guide.

Although the secret realm had been founded when all three of them were still alive, those who had actually founded it were largely Zhu Rong’s past self, and partly Lin Xian as well, who, thanks to her abundance of natural treasures, was of immense help in giving life to this place.

Though she was, in this moment, only a fragment of her original self, the knowledge of the geography of this place was still present within her mind, and like a strangely enthusiastic tour guide in her unpaid job, she decided to take her friend and her daughter on a little tour.

Zhu Rong, on the other hand, continued working on improving the secret realm, and after a certain amount of work, he managed to successfully sprout the Qi Flower seeds he had planted in various important strategic points of the secret realm, something that had raised the density of Qi in this little world to completely new levels.

All of this was in preparation for the process of restoring his divine weapon, a process he was almost completely ready to initiate.

But before that, he needed to take care of one last thing, one he had postponed for various reasons both in the past and in recent days, but now the moment had finally arrived.

"Well, I’d say it’s time to begin. Take it out," he said as he released his cultivation base and manipulated his Qi, condensing it into strands of light that intertwined continuously until a strange runic formation appeared in the air, steadily growing and beginning to reach every point of the small world’s core.

It was a high level runic formation that he had designed specifically for this moment.

A formation whose uses were immense but whose energy consumption was abominable—so much so that if a Grandmaster specialized in arrays saw it, they would spit several liters of blood at the mere thought of how much energy one would need to provide to activate it and maintain such a formation.

A formation of this type, no matter how useful, had such a huge flaw that it would normally be considered useless and a failure, but in the eyes of the two present, it was an entirely different story.

Receiving the signal from her master, Yuan Lan wasted no time and raised her right arm forward, her hand facing upward.

Empty, but soon a spark lit upon it, one that expanded from the size of a marble to a sphere as large as an adult’s head before expanding even further, seeming to grow faster and faster.

But just as it expanded, strands of light appeared from every direction, binding it and wrapping around it until they enveloped it and halted its expansion, stopping it at around half a meter in diameter.

Though small and restricted in size, it released a wave of energy far superior to that of the small world’s core itself, which seemed to tremble in reaction to its presence.

The atmosphere of the surrounding environment itself seemed to change when the sphere of light appeared, one that not only emitted an incredible force but also an intensity of spiritual energy that would pulverize any Spirit Realm cultivator if they even attempted to absorb a mere trace of it.

Zhu Rong was someone who, in his long life, had worked with materials of every kind, rare, high quality materials often priceless and almost entirely impossible to find, so very few still existing could surprise him.

Yet, seeing the sphere Yuan Lan had summoned, he could not help but be astonished by the enormous power contained within it.

He knew exactly what it was, and why wouldn’t he? After all, he was the one who had asked her to obtain it.

It was something few knew about, and most likely something no one in this plane of existence had ever had the opportunity to acquire.

It was the hearth of a dying star.