Elyon was the one who spotted the clue.
He stood near the edge of a large crevasse, his gaze fixed on sothing small, almost insignificant.
"Lin Mu," he called.
Lin Mu approached and observed the place. At first glance, it was just a rock. Unremarkable and ordinary, but upon closer inspection he saw sothing on it. There were markings or more accurately runes carved into its surface.
Lin Mu's eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to examine them. They were not in any language the others recognized.
It was not the common script and neither was it Dao script.
Yet, Lin Mu knew them.
"Dwarven script," he said.
His expression shifted as excitent and recognition appeared on it.
The word carved into the stone was clear.
"Mantleheim."
Lin Mu's lips curved slightly.
"That is it."
The na carried aning.
Mantle.
Mantleheim... the mantle beneath a world's surface. A place of depth. "They are below," Lin Mu said.
The search area narrowed significantly. They no longer needed to scan the entire surface. Only the deeper layers, the inner regions of the fragnt.
"That helps..." Cattaleya said.
Lin Mu nodded.
But it did not eliminate the danger. They could not take the ship further. The crevasses grew narrower. The paths more unstable. Hence Lin Mu stored the ship within his ring.
The group prepared while ng Bai stood at the edge, looking uncertain. Lin Mu handed him talismans.
ng Bai looked at them and was a bit surprised. "So many?"
There were over a hundred and there were protective, stabilizing and over all defensive talismans. ng Bai applied them carefully, his body soon surrounded by multiple layers of protective formations.
Cattaleya stepped forward.
"I'll carry him," she said.
Before he could protest, she grabbed him, holding him securely by the waist.
"Better safe than sorry."
ng Bai nodded quickly.
"Yes, yes... Very safe."
They began their descent into the depths. The crevasse walls closed in around them, the light fading as they moved deeper. Above them, fragnts shifted and drifted along erratic paths, their slow motion deceptively threatening. Lin Mu glanced upward once.
"These are the largest pieces," he said.
Cattaleya followed his gaze.
"If they collide..."
He did not finish the sentence.
There was no need.
Even with his strength and even with all his defenses, such a force would be overwhelming.
They continued downward. Careful and precise. Every movent of theirs was calculated. And as the darkness deepened they moved closer to Mantleheim. To the hidden domain of the dwarves, buried within the broken heart of a world. Lin Mu and the others descended deeper along the fractured interior of the Runweld Barren World, their movents careful and deliberate.
The further they went, the more oppressive the environnt beca. It was not a pressure one could asure in simple terms, but rather a constant sense of instability, as if the world itself was perpetually on the verge of collapse.
Their goal was simple in theory.
Find the entrance.
Since the dwarven base existed within one of the fragnts, it had to be accessible in so way. There would be a path, a gate, or at the very least a structure that stood apart from the natural formations.
Yet knowing this did little to ease the search.
Even a fragnt of a destroyed world retained imnse scale. The piece they were exploring stretched for thousands of kiloters, its surface and inner layers riddled with cracks, tunnels, and broken strata. Every turn presented new terrain, unfamiliar topography, and uncertainties.
Lin Mu led the way, his senses extended outward.
Cattaleya followed close behind, one arm firmly holding ng Bai, who remained wrapped in layers of protective talismans. Elyon moved with silent precision, his gaze scanning constantly for anything that might hint at artificial construction.
"Stay alert," Lin Mu said quietly.
They all knew the danger for it did not co from enemies, it ca from the
world itself.
The fragnts moved.
Slowly but relentlessly.
At tis, the movent was barely noticeable. At others, it beca all too
clear. A deep tremor would ripple through the rock beneath their feet. A faint
grinding sound would echo through the crevasses.
And then the space around them would begin to shift.
"Hide!" Lin Mu called once.
They reacted instantly, rushing into a nearby cavity in the rock.
The gap narrowed.
The sound of stone scraping against stone resonated through the space, low
and heavy.
ng Bai held his breath.
Cattaleya tightened her grip slightly.
Lin Mu remained still, his awareness focused outward.
The fragnts pressed closer.
Then... They stopped.
The movent reversed slowly, the tension easing as the pieces drifted apart
once more.
Only then did they move again.
It happened again and again. Sotis they found natural shelter. Other
tis... they had to carve it out themselves.
On one occasion, the warning ca too late.
Lin Mu felt the disturbance in the gravitational field, a subtle clash that signaled approaching mass. There was no cavity nearby, no place to retreat.
"Make one," he said.
Cattaleya did not hesitate.
Her fist struck the rock with trendous force.
BOOM! The impact shattered the surface, carving out a hollow just large enough for
them to squeeze into.
They barely made it inside before the fragnts closed in.
The walls trembled under the pressure, small cracks forming as the surrounding mass pressed against them. Lin Mu reinforced the space with his
Immortal Earth Qi. Cattaleya stood ready, her strength braced against the shifting rock. After several tense monts, the pressure eased.
They erged once more.
On another occasion, it was smaller fragnts that posed the threat.
A cluster of debris drifted toward them, its motion slow but steady. Individually, the pieces were manageable. Together, they ford a mass that could easily trap or crush them if left unchecked.
Lin Mu and Cattaleya moved in unison.
They struck the incoming fragnts, pushing them aside, redirecting their paths just enough to clear a safe route.
Their bodies strained as they forced the fragnts aside.
Even in the absence of atmospheric resistance, the mass of the rock was
considerable.
Still, they managed to get through it all.
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