Chapter 51: Furnace Fire Rekindled, the Dwarf's Hammer Sound and Sister Ai Li's Silver Gleam

The "Heart of Thorns" territory took root like resilient thorns growing stubbornly on scorched earth amidst the ruins. The steady pulse of the Leyline Heart resembled the earth's calm breathing; orange-red light seeped through the cracks, scattering warmth and hope across the once lifeless depression. A domain of dark-gold thorn roots covered the core area, isolating it from the desolation of the wasteland and the erosion of radiation, forming a relatively safe sanctuary.

Wrench entered a state of unprecedented excitement. He jumped up and down around the leyline crack and those energy roots, his mung-bean eyes gleaming, spittle flying from his mouth as he frantically sketched blueprints on a half-piece of rusted metal he had scavenged.

"Look! Boss Lin Mo!" Wrench presented the graffiti to Lin Mo as if it were a treasure. "Phase One of the 'Heart of Thorns'! The core—the Leyline Furnace! Using the crack's subterranean fire and the Leyline Heart's energy to directly smelt Fire-Runed Steel! Efficiency is... uh... ten thousand times the previous level! Next to it is the 'Root Energy Tower', converting leyline energy into stable electricity! Beside that, the 'Rock Fortress', building city walls with the smelted Fire-Runed Steel! Unbreakable! And also..."

Lin Mo looked at the crooked lines on the metal plate, full of wild fantasies yet not lacking feasibility, and nodded. With a stable energy source and materials available (the Fire-Runed Steel vein was right beside the crack), Wrench's mad imagination finally had a stage to perform. "Solve the water source and Ai Li's injuries first." He interrupted Wrench's torrent of words, his voice steady.

"Water source? Simple!" Wrench slapped his head. "High-temperature steam right next to the leyline crack! Condense it! Filter it! Add little Lingna's 'Starlight Moss' purification! Guaranteed to be sweeter than old-world mineral water!" He pointed to a relatively low-lying area in the depression, previously cracked dry by the subterranean fire, where wisps of white vapor were rising from the crack's edge.

"Starlight Moss..." Lingna looked at the few pale-gold seedlings surviving stubbornly at the edge of the root domain, her small face full of seriousness. "They... like warmth... like clean water vapor... I can feel it!"

"Then I leave it to you, Lingna." Lin Mo rubbed Lingna's hair. This young girl's affinity for plants might be another key to the territory's revival, besides the Leyline Heart.

Lin Mo walked over to Ai Li. She remained unconscious, but her breathing had stabilized considerably. Under the cover of the Moonlight Silver Halo, the wound on her chest no longer bled, and the purple patterns at its edges had further faded. Lin Mo gently placed his hand on her forehead, channeling the power of the 【Seed of Life】, mixing it with the gentle nourishing energy of the root domain, and slowly infused it. He could feel a new, cold, and resilient force within Ai Li waging a tug-of-war against the lingering withered pollution, while his own life energy acted like a lubricant, accelerating the purification process.

Just then, a rhythmic, muffled-thunder-like knocking sensation came from the thorn channel node deep in his consciousness! This feeling was not a mental intent, but rather... something physical knocking on the spatial barrier?

Lin Mo's heart stirred; he focused his spirit to sense the channel node. The stable channel was like a root spanning the void, its other end connected to that silent withered forest. At this moment, in the "soil" on the Spirit World side of the channel node, something seemed to be desperately... digging? Knocking?

"Could it be..." A flicker of surprise and expectation flashed in Lin Mo's eyes. He guided the power of the 【Seed of Life】, carefully injecting it into the channel node, as if providing guidance and strength to that digger.

Thump, thump, thump! Thump, thump, thump!

The knocking sound became clearer and more powerful! The spatial barrier of the channel node began to show subtle ripples! Suddenly!

Pfft!

A sharp, metallic-hued cone tip, flashing with cold light, suddenly pierced the spatial barrier on the Spirit World side of the channel node! Immediately following, a large hand wrapped in thick leather gloves, muscular and knotted, covered in burn scars, gripped a short-handled heavy hammer and smashed it fiercely onto the cone handle!

Crack!

Like glass shattering! An irregular spatial Kong Dong, large enough for only one person to pass through, with edges flashing with emerald thorn light patterns, was forcibly chiseled open beside the channel node!

A short, stout figure, accompanied by a strong scent of smoke, machine oil, and rock dust, squeezed out of the Kong Dong and landed heavily on the scorched earth of the Heart of Thorns territory!

He was less than 1.4 meters tall but as wide as a wall. His fiery red beard was like a burning bush, covering most of his face, revealing only a pair of sharp, hawk-like eyes, bloodshot yet bright and spirited. He wore thick leather armor stained with oil and rock debris, over which was a leather apron scorched by sparks into countless holes. Crossed on his back were two short-handled forging hammers with square hammerheads, flashing with a dark metallic luster. Most striking was his right hand—a mechanical prosthetic limb flashing with cold metallic light, its structure precise, currently gripping a smoke-emitting Boundary-Breaking Drill!

"Pah, pah, pah! Damn spatial dust! More choking than the gray dwarf mines!" The dwarf spat out the dust from his mouth, his voice booming like iron forging, making the air hum. He raised his mechanical prosthetic hand, wiped his face, revealing a weathered, wrinkled but spirited face. His sharp hawk eyes swept over the surroundings—the blackened earth, the dark-gold thorn roots, the pulsating orange-red light cluster deep in the crack, Lin Mo, Wrench, Lingna, the unconscious Ai Li... Finally, his gaze fixed firmly on the "Leyline Arbiter" battle blade stuck in the ground in Lin Mo's hand, and the energy roots surrounding the blade.

"Ho! What a strong scent of subterranean fire! And... the sour rot of elven thorns?" The dwarf sniffed, his eyes bursting with light. "This is it! The 'Lighthouse' lit by Priestess Liyana burning herself! And this blade... tsk, tsk, tsk, molten rock as bone, thorns as soul, moonlight tempered edge? Good heavens! Whose handiwork is this?!"

He strode confidently to Lin Mo, looked up, and gazed fearlessly at Lin Mo, extending his intact, calloused left hand: "I am Bronzebeard! The last anvil of the Hill Clan! Following Priestess Liyana's final guidance, I have crossed the withered mist and those damn spatial fissures to find the Lord of the 'Heart of Thorns'! That's you, kid, right?"

Lin Mo looked at the dwarf before him, who radiated an aura as resilient as rock and as scorching as a furnace. Feeling the familiarity and respect for Liyana in his words, the last trace of doubt in his heart vanished. He extended his hand and shook Bronzebeard's calloused, incredibly powerful hand with a heavy grip.

"Lin Mo. Lord of the Heart of Thorns. Welcome, Master Bronzebeard."

"Master? Haha! I'm just a blacksmith!" Bronzebeard laughed heartily, making Lingna cover her ears. His gaze turned to the leyline crack and the surrounding Fire-Runed Steel ores, and his mung-bean eyes instantly burst with a light even more scorching than the Leyline Heart: "Good ore! Top-tier Fire-Runed Steel! And a ready-made subterranean fire furnace! Hahahaha! Heaven has not abandoned me, Bronzebeard! Heaven has not abandoned the heritage of my Hill Clan! Kid! I, Bronzebeard, am staying here! Speak, what do you want to make first? Knives? Swords? Armor? Or... first fix this broken place into a den fit for humans to live in?"

The addition of the dwarf craftsman was like injecting a shot of adrenaline into the newborn Heart of Thorns. Bronzebeard's forging skills and experience were a precious treasure that Wrench's mad imagination could not compare to.

Just then, another strange change occurred!

Ai Li, who had been unconscious, suddenly began to trem violently! The Moonlight Silver Halo on her chest blazed with light, becoming extremely blinding! A cold, sharp aura carrying the will of purification erupted uncontrollably from her body! She suddenly opened her eyes! Her pupils were no longer deep black but had turned into... pure silver-white! Emotionless, like two cold full moons!

"Ugh-ah—!" Ai Li let out a painful and suppressed scream, her remaining right hand instinctively reaching out to grasp at the void!

Screech—!

A condensed silver blade made of pure moonlight, appearing like a crescent moon out of nowhere, carrying a shriek that tore the air, instantly slashed out!

The target—was Lingna, who was squatting beside Ai Li, trying to soothe her!