Chapter 159: Chapter 150 Roasting
"To show your bodies to the ancestors is the most sacred virtue..."
"The effect of Ancestral Protection varies from person to person..."
"Some dwarves even gain new or more advanced divine techniques..."
"This process is full of burning pain. If you faint, the protection ends, and someone will take you away..."
The priest continually recited various precautions.
"Alright, now open your eyes wide, and look at the magma waterfall in front."
Zhou Leng slightly widened his eyes, looking at the fiery red waterfall ahead.
"Chant with me..."
"Ancestors descend, protect all beings..."
All the dwarves sang the ancient incantation song. Zhou Leng, who couldn’t sing it, followed along by reciting. Only Zhang Xinglie, who didn’t understand the dwarf language, decided to return and study dwarf language intensively.
The chanting lasted a full ten minutes.
"Welcome the ancestors!"
"Welcome the ancestors!"
All the dwarves bent over and bowed, Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie following suit.
Boom...
The volcano lightly trembled, and the magma waterfall violently churned. The waves of magma surged fiercely, dazzling and blinding, the heat waves rolling and terrifying in momentum.
The entire Lava Hall was about to be submerged in magma.
Powerful heat assaulted from all directions, and everyone let out painful gasps in unison.
Zhou Leng froze for a moment, immediately recalling his experience at the Gate of Purgatory.
It seemed that the tempering at the Gate of Purgatory had made him completely ignore such a degree of minor pain.
Gradually, the heat became increasingly intense.
One minute, two minutes...
Ten minutes.
On the weakest dwarves, the skin appeared densely covered with burns and blisters, terrifyingly odd.
"The function of Steel Skin has been somewhat suppressed."
"After all, it is the power of the ancestors..."
Eleven minutes.
"I can’t go on..." A dwarf screamed and fell to the ground.
A white light flashed, and that dwarf was teleported away.
Thirteen minutes.
More and more dwarves screamed and fainted.
Fourteen minutes, fifteen minutes...
Most non-Late Stage Body Refining dwarves like Ban Chui left.
By the time it reached twenty minutes, everyone still in the hall had not only burns on their body but were even starting to char black.
Even with elementary Steel Skin, the dwarves could not withstand such exotic heat.
Zhou Leng glanced at Zhang Xinglie.
Zhang Xinglie, on the verge of entering Yunhua’s top tier, had skin already charred black, his body trembling continuously, yet he still persevered with grit teeth.
Zhang Xinglie’s willpower was also extremely formidable.
From the twentieth minute, dense red lights emerged from the ground, hair-thin, about an inch long.
Like a swarm of red luminescent insects, they swam under everyone’s feet, entering their bodies.
Faces of joy appeared on everyone’s faces.
Twenty-one minutes, twenty-two minutes...
By the time it reached thirty minutes, the vast Lava Hall had only twenty-two dwarves left.
All were Ancient Royal Descendants, all top-notch Late Stage Body Refining. In terms of actual combat capabilities, they were above Mid-Stage Body Refining Zhang Xinglie.
Yet, Zhang Xinglie was still standing there.
The underground red lights did not increase, but with so many people leaving, more red light was averaged to each person.
Thirty-one minutes, thirty-two minutes...
At the thirty-seventh minute, Zhang Xinglie’s body tilted and fell to the ground.
Now, only three remained in the Lava Hall.
Two dwarves and Zhou Leng, all burned black all over, skin cracking, wounds charred.
Those two dwarves were already dazed, swaying left and right.
Zhou Leng’s injuries were just as severe, but his body didn’t sway at all.
This level of pain was not even close to the Red Lotus Fire Purgatory, let alone the Land of Blades.
Under the pressure of the heat, the power of the Original Demon and the Light of the Ancient Gods was accelerating the strengthening of the body.
He could advance to Body Refining Stage anytime he wanted.
However, he hadn’t finished consuming the Replenishing Essence Pills yet, and without the Three Pills at hand, it wasn’t suitable to advance now.
Yet, none of the power was wasted, constantly strengthening his body, making up for the weakest aspect.
The only pity was that this test was too weak on the mental level.
The Ice Crystal Water Drop above the Mountain of Will was not melting faster.
At forty-five minutes, a dwarf fell.
At fifty-seven minutes, the last dwarf looked at Zhou Leng and said, "Count you ruthless..."
Rolled his eyes, and fainted.
The dense swarm of red light on the ground all swarmed towards Zhou Leng, entering his body along the cracked flesh.
Sixty minutes, seventy minutes...
Until a hundred and twenty minutes, Zhou Leng’s body trembled with pain, but he still didn’t faint.
The heat here had reached its limit, the level of pain no longer rising.
As long as the body could endure, he could stand here indefinitely.
Outside the Lava Hall, a demonization mirror hung on the wall.
Three Demon Spirit Masters and over thirty dwarf high-ranking officers watched this scene, speechless for a long time.
The Giant Furnace slowly said, "The potential of this Human Race is extraordinary."
"Nevermind those below Innate; even with Innate, not everyone can endure this long."
"Had I known, he should have been awarded a higher dwarf prince title."
"Stop it. If he stands longer, the power of the next Ancestral Protection won’t be sufficient."
"It’s fine, he shouldn’t be able to absorb it all, most will dissipate."
"The power of Ancestral Protection should be enough, but the power of the Life Spring Water, let’s not have him drain it dry..."
"Let’s observe a bit more."
Three hours later, Zhou Leng, covered in cracks, opened his eyes.
The surface of the eyeball is covered with cracks.
The world before him was like a shattered mirror.
Beneath him, there was a dense swarm of red light insects, swirling around like living creatures, no longer entering his body.
"Full..." Zhou Leng closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground.
A flash of white light, and Zhou Leng fell into a hot spring.
His whole body seemed like red-hot iron plunged into water, sending up swirls of steam, a constant sizzling sound in the air.
In the spring water, threads of green light, like slender fish, swam toward Zhou Leng.
The red light in Zhou Leng’s body absorbed the green light from the spring, nourishing his body.
The red and green light fused, forming an exotic power that connected with flesh and blood, regenerating visibly to the naked eye.
Layer upon layer of skin peeled off the flesh.
Eventually, the skin disappeared, revealing blood vessels and muscles.
Then, the red light, like threads of cotton, adhered to the body surface, weaving into new skin.
The people before the Demonization Mirror tutted in amazement.
"He should be the first human to obtain ’Steel Skin’ below the Innate stage."
"Steel Skin combined with Human Race True Qi...each one is a Chen Fenghu."
"If he can obtain the Giant Body of Wonders, the achievements are unimaginable."
"A monster among humans..."
Three days later, Zhou Leng slowly opened his eyes.
"Hmm?"
A powerful force surged through his body.
Zhou Leng looked down at his body, the muscles only slightly larger.
However, inside his body, it felt like magma was flowing.
He walked out of the hot spring, stood at its edge, and slowly performed a set of Overlapping Waves Palm, sensing the power in his body.
"The meridians have been strengthened, more True Qi output..."
"Bone changes are not much, but the muscles are noticeably stronger, like pieces of iron, especially resembling dwarven characteristics..."
"Skin..."
Zhou Leng stopped, staring at his skin, reached out to touch it.
It was clearly smoother than before, but from a martial arts perception, the current skin strength far exceeded leather armor.
Equivalent to a thin steel armor.
Zhou Leng nodded lightly, it seems he has obtained the Dwarf Race’s divine technique, Steel Skin.
Without Steel Skin, humans would need to reach the Grandmaster level for their skin to achieve such strength.
Skin as hard as steel.
Impenetrable by swords and spears.
The skin itself is more resilient than steel, and with True Qi, the strength far surpasses thin steel armor.
Now, ordinary people using swords and knives could only leave slight white marks.
"More confident in the Giant Trial now..."
Zhou Leng took a deep breath, as if magma glowed in his eyes.
This body might not compare to the top geniuses, but it is on par with the average talents.
Zhou Leng walked out of the hot spring, got dressed, gathered his belongings, and walked out.
The Golden Hammer Warrior respectfully escorted Zhou Leng back to his palace residence.
On the way, they handed over a wooden box sealed with Demonization Power to Zhou Leng, two feet long and four inches wide.
Dragon Bone Medicine.
Passing by the cultivation ground, it was empty.
"Where is everyone?" Zhou Leng asked.
"Except for your friends and a few humans, everyone else has left. The Demon City Army’s demonized fighters are parked outside the palace, probably to pick you up."
Zhou Leng nodded, the Giant Furnace must have reported the matter of the Divine Text.
The Demonized Watch rang.
Zhou Leng opened it to see messages from Molten Hammer and Zhang Xinglie.
"The Demon City Army’s people have come, Brigadier General Chen Shouhu...no, it’s General Chen Shouhu, personally leading the team."
"General Chen Shouhu has been promoted to Grandmaster, he’s become a Brigadier General, and soon he’ll be promoted to Major General."
"We’re all waiting for you..."
After reading the messages from the two, Zhou Leng followed the Golden Hammer Warrior to his small palace courtyard.
Inside the courtyard, it was filled with people.
Some were Lou Fei Qiong and others, while others were dwarf comrades from the Ancient King’s Treasure.
Lastly, there stood a team of Demon City Army personnel wearing camouflage uniforms.
Zhang Xinglie’s hair stood up like a Lion King, already imposing.
But beside him stood a man twice as large.
His muscles almost burst through his clothes, a smile at the corner of his mouth, at first glance just tall and strong, but with a fierce glint in his eyes.
Though he was speaking casually, there was a hint of madness in his eyes, a terrifying aura.
Zhou Leng had met him once before at the Martial Arts Bureau testing ground, and today Chen Shouhu’s ferocity was even greater than before.
Whether it was due to his personality or cultivation technique was unknown.
"Are you out?" Chen Shouhu smiled, his eyes blazing like fire, looking Zhou Leng up and down.
Everyone looked toward Zhou Leng.
Molten Hammer and other dwarves wanted to say Zhou Leng seemed to have obtained Steel Skin but, seeing there were outsiders, opened their mouths then closed them.
Everyone present was a practitioner, just one look at Zhou Leng and they felt the difference.
Compared to before, Zhou Leng’s body was clearly more robust, his pace slower, but steadier.
Although he was simply walking, it was like a giant boulder rolling down a narrow mountain path, instinctively making one want to dodge.
This is the aura after the body’s strength reaches a certain level.
Movement like a falling stone.
Beneath Zhou Leng’s skin, there was a faint radiance like jade, like firelight, like steel.
The crowd vaguely guessed that even if Zhou Leng hadn’t obtained the Steel Skin divine technique, his muscle and skin were certainly significantly strengthened, undergoing a qualitative change.
"Hello, Senior Chen," Zhou Leng said.
"Go inside and pack up, we’ll be leaving soon," Chen Fenghu said.
"Understood."
Zhou Leng went inside to quickly pack, then came out.
"Let’s go," Chen Shouhu said, striding towards the outside of the palace.