Chapter 2408: The Heartfire of the Earth Mother

And from the strain in their movements, it was clear the cart was unusually heavy.

Upon arriving here, the tiger demon pointed at the cave and told He Lingchuan and the others: "You all, go down and shovel ore!"

Ling Jinbao, disguised as a cyclops, spoke in a deep, muffled voice: "We're new here, this is, this is, what are we supposed to do?"

"Shovel the black crystal ore used to transport the strong oxen down to feed the heart fire!" the tiger demon said impatiently, "Someone's already shoveling down there—just follow their lead. Hurry up, hurry up, Mother Sovereign will get angry!"

So it turns out they were called over to do hard labor.

The forelimbs of ordinary demons are just not as dexterous as those of humans or humanoid monsters; they can't handle hauling work.

With so many demons around and everyone watching, the four of them couldn't very well turn hostile. Miao Ke Xianren whispered: "Let's just go down quickly."

Walking down the slope, it went even deeper inside. Don't be fooled by the small cave mouth—inside is a vast space, as if the entire mountain had been hollowed out.

As soon as He Lingchuan entered the cave, he knew what was glowing:

Magma.

The bottom of this cave is actually a boiling magma pool, a hundred zhang square, constantly gurgling and bubbling, emitting red light so intense it could almost scorch a person's eyes.

He Lingchuan had seen a magma pool housing a great fire spirit beneath Mount Xushan before—that one was much larger, but it didn't compare to the strangeness of this one:

The magma in the pool was flowing clockwise, forming an inward-sinking vortex at the center. Occasionally, it would erupt upward.

He Lingchuan had never heard of a vortex in a magma pool before.

Not to mention him—even Miao Ke Xianren felt he had broadened his horizons in Yujing City.

The temperature at the pool's edge was extraordinarily high, making it difficult for living beings to approach. Forty zhang above the magma pool, there was a protruding cliff where the strong oxen had pulled the cart.

The tiger demon said someone was shoveling, and indeed, there really were "people."

On the cliff, dozens of laborers were pushing the cart's black crystal ore toward the magma pool below—aside from orangutans and grizzly bears, there were also about ten or so humans, all wearing shackles.

Cities need humans to maintain them, so there actually are people in Yujing City to handle repairs, dredging, and hauling. But these humans are all slaves, often taken from cities ravaged by the Earth Mother or from clueless invaders.

He Lingchuan and the three others walked toward the cliff, picked up shovels under the overseers' shouts, and joined the ore-shoveling crew.

Black crystal is the hard currency of the current cultivation world—even the Sky Centipede army that invaded Cangyan Town only stole this much black crystal before being nearly killed by Cangyan. But in Yujing City, fine black crystal is simply shoved into the magma pool for nothing.

Ling Jinbao muttered: "Just where exactly is this place?"

His voice wasn't loud or soft, and a gray-bearded orangutan nearby heard it, turned its head, and said: "You're the new ones?"

"Yes." It's not strange for demons to keep defecting to the Earth Mother, and new faces often appear in Yujing City.

"This is the Earth Core Heart Fire. The entire Yujing City is built upon the body of Mother Sovereign, my lord. When enemies invade from outside, we must push the black crystal into the heart fire to supply power to Mother Sovereign, my lord!"

Everyone suddenly understood—the tiger demon had simply called the "Earth Core Heart Fire" the "heart fire."

This Yujing City is like the Earth Mother's outer shell, and the living beings within it are akin to parasites on the shell—if they don't want to be scraped off, they must work hard and diligently.

Ling Jinbao scratched his head, which, to other demons, looked like a cyclops scratching its head: "I thought Mother Sovereign, my lord, liked to eat people."

"Don't joke—those few people aren't even enough to fill a tooth gap for Mother Sovereign, my lord. How much energy could they provide?" To the Earth Mother, living beings are just snacks; black crystal is the staple.

Ling Jinbao whispered: "Could it be that this place leads to Mother Sovereign, my lord's heart?"

"Nonsense!" Miao Ke Xianren retorted, "Look whose heart grows in the mouth or stomach?"

This magma pool is like the Earth Mother's gastric juices—anything that goes in gets broken down and digested. Miao Ke Xianren was warning him; Ling Jinbao's twisted thoughts would get him killed.

"What I mean is, it would be great if we could hide the Stone Heart below this magma pool—who has the ability to jump in and fish it out?" Ling Jinbao coughed lightly, "Why bother hiding it in some white house?"

No one responded, because what he said made too much sense.

Just then, the overseer whipped over, lashing Ling Jinbao:

"Work! Who let you chitchat?"

"Ow!" Ling Jinbao bared his teeth from the pain.

The four of them thus buried themselves in work, all looking for a chance to escape. Zhu Xiuer lifted and carried the black crystal at a speed not slower than humans', so she could stay.

As for those humans nearby wearing shackles, He Lingchuan didn't strike up conversation with them. He had more important tasks, and human thoughts are often not as simple as demons', especially in a place like Yujing City. The last immortal thief who sneaked into Yujing City failed prematurely because he listened to the words of human slaves.

The cart pulled down by the strong oxen also had its particulars—the black crystal it carried looked piled high like a mountain, but the actual quantity was far greater than it appeared!

They dug and dug on that cart, yet the amount of black crystal in the pile hardly changed, as if no amount of shoveling could finish it.

Judging by this, those dozen or so carts of black crystal couldn't be stopped by just ten thousand catties.

He Lingchuan silently estimated: if the Earth Mother has such an appetite, just how powerful must her own strength be?

While the overseer turned away, Ling Jinbao quickly slipped a banana to the old orangutan: "These dozen or so carts of black crystal were originally in our city too—that is, inside Mother Sovereign, my lord's body. Why doesn't she just digest it herself, instead of making us haul it?"

He Lingchuan glanced at Ling Jinbao—this one's train of thought had always been clear.

"Mother Sovereign, my lord, is busy at war and has no time for these small matters." The old orangutan saw the banana, his eyes lit up, and he snatched it up and stashed it away: "If Mother Sovereign, my lord, handled everything herself, what would we even be doing?"

In Yujing City, these lowly demons who are only fit to haul groceries find it hard to get a bite of fresh fruit or vegetables.

His beard was white, he'd seen much, and this made sense. If Yujing City required Mother Sovereign, my lord to personally handle everything, then keeping these demons around would be pointless—better to just wash, chop, and serve them as side dishes.

For a city to function normally, there are countless matters to handle in every aspect. The Earth Mother cannot possibly do it all herself, especially now, during wartime, when the vast majority of her attention is directed outward.

However, He Lingchuan always felt something was off here. Ever since he entered Yujing City, this feeling had never left him.

The overseer turned back, and everyone sensibly fell silent.

They weren't allowed to talk while working, but they muttered to themselves anyway. One of them said: "When this heart fire burns bright, the two old things in Longfeng Valley will again be roasted until they squeak. This time, I don't know whose turn it is to press the mechanism, so they can properly enjoy themselves."

What? Longfeng Valley, old things? He Lingchuan and the others perked up at hearing a few key words, their ears standing straight.