Xu Qing and the captain had no idea about the figure in the iron sphere.
At that moment, under Xu Qing's vigilant attention, the captain held Ning Yan's vine and slowly approached the sphere.
Although this object was riddled with holes, there was another world inside. The captain searched for a long time and finally found a cavity that looked relatively sturdy.
Here, he threaded the vine through, clearly a bit concerned about its stability. So, he threaded the vine through in multiple places, tied a knot, and then bit his finger to draw runes with his blood which he then merged with the knotted areas.
After doing this, the captain proudly patted the iron sphere and gestured at Xu Qing.
Outsiders couldn't understand but Xu Qing understood very well. He was a little speechless but he still took out the recording jade slip. After using his Purple Moon power to envelop it and prevent it from being invaded, he recorded the scene.
He imprinted this scene on the jade slip.
After doing this, the captain quickly returned and wanted to check the jade slip. He was quite satisfied with his appearance. After that, he winked at Xu Qing and continued to gesture.
Xu Qing shook his head and rejected the captain's invitation to record his beautiful life as well.
The two of them turned and quickly retreated in the direction of the vine.
The journey was quite smooth. After a few hours, they returned to the shore. The moment they walked out of the river, the captain grabbed the vine and immediately shouted.
"Get to work, get to work!"
"Big Jianjian, I saw it just now. There are inscriptions of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether on the large iron sphere below. Unfortunately, it was dim and I didn't see it clearly…"
Wu Jianwu, who was originally lying there to rest, instantly jumped up when he heard this. His eyes widened as he grabbed Ning Yan's vine. He let out a loud roar and his descendants appeared as well, grabbing the vine with him.
The parrot was no exception.
Ning Yan became nervous again. He hurriedly sat up straight and assumed his previous posture.
Li Youfei, who was at the side, was a discerning person. He immediately grabbed the vine, his expression showing determination, and he put all his effort into it. His face turned red, and he strained with all his might.
Everyone worked together and the river instantly rumbled and churned.
And with their combined efforts, the vine connecting to the massive iron sphere at the riverbed's end began to sway slightly, gradually being pulled up.
The ruler's heir, who was sitting cross-legged inside, felt the trembling and movement of the iron sphere. His expression became increasingly strange as he lifted his head and looked outside. He wanted to say something but hesitated…
Just like that, time flowed by and the iron sphere was finally completely pulled out of the mud. It was slowly dragged forward at the bottom of the river. Because it was huge, its speed wasn't fast.
However, every time it moved, a large amount of mud would be stirred up, causing the river to churn and large waves to surge continuously.
The commotion here was not insignificant, but the captain seemed to be well-prepared and had set up things meticulously. If it continued for a long time, it might be discovered, but for a short period, it was still manageable.
This was also the reason why he was anxious.
There were many rocks in the muddy riverbed, and although the massive iron sphere rolled over them, some bumps were inevitable. These disturbances transmitted into the iron sphere, most notably affecting the figure inside.
However, the expression of the ruler's heir was no longer strange. Instead, it turned calm. He sat there and allowed Xu Qing, the captain, and the others to slowly pull out the iron sphere he was hiding in.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Under the efforts of the captain and the others, the edge of this huge iron sphere finally appeared at the end of their vision. This was the first time it had appeared in the outside world after countless years.
It was covered in rust and had an obvious ancient feeling. Even the sky here rippled at this moment.
"It's out. Everyone, work harder!"
The captain was incomparably excited. His cultivation base erupted completely and he went all out.
The size of this iron sphere reached 100,000 feet, and its weight far exceeded that of the circular ring and the door frame. Consequently, its movement was slow, and the required force was tremendous. There were even two close calls where the vine almost broke.
Fortunately, the captain's power and Xu Qing's Purple Moon power barely maintained the vine.
At that moment, seeing that they were almost close to success and that everyone was using all their strength, Xu Qing's body expanded to 50 feet, like a small giant.
After a long and exhausting effort, the iron ball finally emerged from the river, revealing more and more of its massive size. Several hours passed before this 100,000-foot-sized iron ball, which loomed like a colossal monolith, appeared before them.
They had dragged it out of the Sacrificial Yin.
The moment it got ashore, a large amount of red river water flowed down from the holes in the iron sphere like a waterfall.
As for the ancientness and vicissitudes, they became even more intense at this moment, as though they were affecting time, causing the surroundings to become blurry and distorted.
This scene stirred intense emotions within Li Youfei, while Ning Yan took a deep breath. Only Wu Jianwu's eyes gleamed with curiosity as he quickly approached to search for the Mystic Nether's inscriptions mentioned by the captain.
As for the captain, he was lying there with his arms and legs spread out. He didn't have any strength left at all. However, looking at the huge iron ball, the corners of his mouth split open and he let out a smug laugh.
"Junior Brother, how is it? Am I amazing or not?!"
"Haha, the three suns are all with me!"
"In addition to Little Dumpling, I have four suns in my hand. Let me tell you, although the other five are with other races, I've left a backdoor in each of them!"
"When the time is right, the nine suns will descend with a thought of mine. But for these three, I'll need your help to give them an extra push!"
"Junior Brother, the day to do the final major thing here isn't far away!"
When Xu Qing heard this, he looked at the three huge objects and his heart trembled. He recalled what the parrot had said when it called him over back then and asked.
"Eldest Senior Brother, you called me here to light a fire. Do you mean to light these three suns?"
The captain got up, beaming with joy.
"That's right. Let's go. It will take some time for this large iron ball to release all the water. We should light the other two first."
The captain, saying that, struggled to stand up and pulled Xu Qing with him, heading straight for the bronze door frame. He stood there and touched the door frame with anticipation in his expression.
Xu Qing looked up into the distance. He still couldn't quite understand how this object could become a sun.
"Junior Brother, have you heard of the eternal power?" The captain looked at Xu Qing and pointed at the door frame.
"This is the eternal power, and also the reason why it became an artificial sun."
With these words, the captain waved his hand, and in an instant, the little dumpling thing flew out, its radiance shrinking and illuminating the doorframe. In the next moment, the runic inscriptions on the bronze-colored giant stones began to shine brightly.
It seemed like it was building up energy. Under the continuous illumination of the little dumpling, all the runic inscriptions eventually began to flicker, accompanied by a resounding roar. The doorframe radiated with a brilliant light, catching the attention of Wu Jianwu and others.
Finally, when the light from the runes on the bronze door frame was piercing, the captain spoke loudly.
"Junior Brother, your Golden Crow is extraordinary, it's the best primal fire. With your Golden Crow's power, exhale the flames and ignite it!"
The Golden Crow in Xu Qing's body instantly erupted and transformed into a majestic body that swam in all directions. Under Li Youfei's horror, the huge Golden Crow spat out heavenly fire at the door frame.
The endless sea of fire instantly drowned the door frame. At the next instant, it was absorbed by the runic inscriptions. The door frame, now even more radiant, emitted undulating waves that converged onto the central conical spring.
The spring began to vibrate.
"Again!" The captain spat out a mouthful of blood. With the help of his blood, Xu Qing's power of the Golden Crow changed. The flames also transformed in an instant, causing the door frame to resonate with a deafening sound.
The light on it kept shining endlessly, and more energy gathered in the spring. Soon, the vibrations of the spring intensified, until finally… it abruptly sank down with great force!
The largest ring of the conical spring slammed down with tremendous force, creating a deafening roar that shook the earth. Countless rocks crumbled, and the surrounding people's bodies swayed as they stood. The spring that had fallen to the ground then catapulted upward, crashing into the top of the door frame.
At the next instant, it borrowed the momentum to sink again.
The cycle repeated endlessly and thunderous roars continued, as if powered by an eternal force. It erupted incessantly, forming a massive wall of flames that engulfed the entire door frame, creating a colossal fireball.
The sky changed color and the earth quaked.
This scene caused Xu Qing's heart to stir, let alone the others. Regardless of whether it was Ning Yan or Wu Jianwu, they were stunned instantly. As for Li Youfei, he was completely dumbfounded and cried out involuntarily.
The captain laughed loudly and waved his hand, shrinking the huge sun by the door frame until it became a beam of light that fused into his hand.
After putting it away, the captain pointed at the distant circular ring.
"Little Qing, light the second one!"
With that, the captain took out a headless corpse from his storage bag.
From the looks of it, it was clearly the captain's body in this life. He should have chopped it off some time ago…
After taking it out, he threw his corpse toward the ring. Immediately, his corpse continued to grow larger and eventually became the size of those human-shaped statues. It directly stood at the gap and lifted its hands, grabbing the hands of the human statues on its left and right.
At this moment, the ring was complete!
"Little Qing, light it!"
The captain shouted from the ground.
Xu Qing didn't hesitate. With a sway of the Golden Crow, he spat out heavenly fire at the ring. This fire instantly enveloped the ring and headed straight for the captain's corpse.
The captain's corpse burned and the fire rapidly spread toward the human-shaped statues on the left and right.
These human-shaped statues burned one after another. All of their eyes suddenly opened and as the sound of an incantation echoed, they actually moved like gears.
As rumbling sounds echoed, the flames grew increasingly intense. A while later, when it rotated to the extreme, the flames on the ring rose and transformed into a sun.
The captain leaped up and grabbed at the air. Immediately, the rotating sun shrunk rapidly like the door frame and headed straight for the captain. He put it away.
"Haha, everything went incredibly smoothly. It went so smoothly that I'm a little unused to it."
The captain laughed loudly, and Xu Qing instantly became vigilant. In his memory, every time the captain did something major, there would be some accidents. It was fine if the other party didn't say it, but now that he did, Xu Qing felt uneasy.
Noticing Xu Qing's expression, the captain was dissatisfied.
"Little Qing, you don't trust me. I told you that this isn't a big deal but a small matter. I've been planning this for a long time. There can't be any accidents."
"Look, isn't everything going very smoothly? Come, come, come. Let's finish this last bit and set off for the Bitter Life Mountain Range!"
The captain licked his lips and looked at the iron sphere. He discovered that there wasn't much river water inside. There were some evil spirits inside that seemed to be struggling after leaving the river, emitting malice in all directions.
"We can light it now. Set it ablaze and burn all the evil spirits inside. It can be considered a sacrifice for the rising sun."
Xu Qing hesitated, carefully considering the situation and finding no signs of trouble. So, he chose to believe and raised his hand. The Golden Crow soared into the sky and spewed a sea of flames towards the massive iron ball.
In an instant, an endless sea of fire headed straight for the iron sphere, enveloping it.
He lit the fire.
The captain was about to take out the corresponding item he had prepared to burn the iron sphere even more thoroughly. However, before he could take out the item, the huge iron sphere suddenly shook and rose into the air on its own.
The flames on it instantly erupted, and the temperature soared as though it had lost control. Its surface was instantly red, and so was its interior. It was as though it had transformed into a huge soldering iron.
That was fine, but at the next instant, it emitted an extremely terrifying energy fluctuation, as though… it was about to self-destruct!
