The mood lightened slightly.
Jing Wei then turned his attention toward the distance, where the Earth Elental still stood, its massive form slowly settling after the battle.
"Rocky," Jing Wei called out.
The Earth Elental responded with a low rumble, its body shifting as it turned toward him.
"Good work," Jing Wei said. "You can go rest now."
The elental let out a softer sound, almost like acknowledgnt, before turning and walking away. Its heavy steps caused the ground to tremble slightly as it moved into the distance, eventually disappearing among the rocky formations.
ng Bai watched the entire exchange with wide eyes.
"How... how did you do that?" he asked, unable to hold back his curiosity any longer. "How can you talk to it like that?"
Jing Wei glanced at him.
"It is a technique," he said simply. "A dwarven one"
ng Bai looked even more confused.
"I thought only elves and so special races could do that," he said. "Like forming contracts with nature spirits."
"That is usually the case," Jing Wei replied. "But things change over ti." He gestured toward the surrounding molten environnt.
"The dwarves here have been living in this place for a very long ti," he continued. "Long enough for certain... side effects to occur."
"What kind of side effects?" ng Bai asked.
Jing Wei pointed toward the lava.
"When dwarves forge weapons and armor, they refine ores and minerals," he said. "The process produces impurities. Slag. Residue. Normally, that would be
discarded."
He paused.
"But here, it accumulated."
Lin Mu understood imdiately.
"In one place," Lin Mu said.
Jing Wei nodded.
"For a very long ti," he added. "Enough ti for it to develop awareness." ng Bai's eyes widened.
"So that is how the elentals ford?"
"Yes," Jing Wei said. "Not just one either."
ng Bai frowned slightly.
"But if it ca from tal refining... should it not be a tal Elental?" Jing Wei smiled faintly.
"It was not that simple," he explained. "The slag separated over ti. So of it beca aligned with earth. So with tal. There are multiple elentals here, not just one type."
He looked in the direction where Rocky had gone.
"They have lived alongside the dwarves for a long ti," he continued. "There is mutual understanding between them now."
ng Bai listened carefully.
"The dwarves help them?" he asked.
"And they help the dwarves," Jing Wei replied. "It is a balanced relationship. The dwarves provide them with materials, leftover resources. In return, the
elentals assist in dealing with threats."
"Like the fire and lava elentals," Lin Mu said.
"Exactly," Jing Wei confird. "Those tend to be more aggressive. They disrupt forging operations, damage structures, and create instability. The earth and
tal elentals help keep them in check."
ng Bai nodded slowly.
"That makes sense now," he said.
Little Shrubby stretched at that mont, his body expanding to its full size. The massive beast lowered himself slightly, allowing everyone to climb onto his back once again.
Lin Mu stepped up last, standing near the front.
"Where do we go?" he asked.
Jing Wei moved ahead slightly, taking the lead.
"You are close," he said. "Closer than you think."
Lin Mu's eyes sharpened.
"Mantleheim?" he asked again.
Jing Wei glanced back and gave a small nod.
"Yes," he said. "It is not far from here."
Shrubby leapt forward.
The journey resud.
They traveled for another twelve hours.
This ti, the path felt different.
There was direction.
Purpose.
Jing Wei guided them with ease, navigating through the molten terrain as if he had walked it countless tis before. He pointed out safe paths, avoided unstable regions, and led them through areas that would have otherwise been
difficult to cross.
As they moved, Lin Mu and Jing Wei spoke.
About the past.
About the Xiaofan World.
About the events that had shaped them both.
The others listened quietly, occasionally exchanging glances as they realized
just how much history existed between the two.
For Lin Mu, this was more than just a reunion.
It was a return to a part of himself he had not revisited in a long ti.
And for Jing Wei it was proof that the boy he had once guided had grown into sothing far greater than he had ever expected.
The journey continued.
And with each passing mont, they drew closer to Mantleheim.
They traveled for hours more, guided by Jing Wei through the shifting landscape of molten rock and unstable terrain. The path he chose felt deliberate, almost practiced, as if he had walked it countless tis before.
Little Shrubby moved with controlled strength, leaping across hardened ridges and gliding over sections where the lava had thinned into glowing streams. The oppressive heat continued to press against them, though by now they had grown accustod to it.
Then, gradually, the environnt began to change.
At first, it was subtle.
The lava flows beca more structured, no longer random currents but
organized channels that curved and split like veins across the terrain. The density of Fire Qi shifted as well, becoming less chaotic and more controlled, as
if influenced by sothing beyond natural formation.
Lin Mu noticed it imdiately.
"This place is different," he said quietly.
Jing Wei glanced back with a faint smile. "We are close," he replied.
A few minutes later, the molten terrain opened.
And what lay ahead caused all of them to pause.
Mantleheim.
It was nothing like what they had imagined.
Lin Mu had expected a hidden base, perhaps a fortified underground complex, sothing concealed and compact. Instead, what stood before them was vast,
expansive, and alive with activity.
It was not a base.
It was not even a city.
It was a kingdom.
In the middle of an imnse lava sea, a massive island rose from the molten
depths. Its size alone was staggering. From where they hovered, the edges could not be seen clearly, fading into the distant glow of the surrounding lava. Lin Mu estimated it to span over a hundred kiloters, perhaps even more.
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