Chapter 56: Steel Bulwark, Moonlight Trial, and the Whisper of Corruption

The roar of the Leyline Furnace became the new heartbeat of Thornheart. Under Copperbeard's almost exacting craftsmanship demands and Wrench's frenzied yet practical designs, the first true "Thornheart Fire-Grain Steel Ingot" was born within the orange-red lava! Its entire body was dark red, its surface flowing with natural orange-red lava patterns, heavy to handle yet warm and smooth, radiating pure fire-attribute energy and an earth-like sense of toughness.

"Fine steel!" Copperbeard stroked the scalding ingot with his mechanical prosthetic hand, his hawk-eyes full of admiration. "Earth-fire smelting, with a faint seepage of Emerald Breath — this steel's toughness and energy affinity far exceed my expectations! Kid, your city wall is as good as done!"

Lin Mo looked at this ingot that condensed hope and strength, and nodded: "Master Copperbeard, the Bedrock Bulwark is in your hands."

"Leave it to me!" Copperbeard's spirit soared to the clouds. He immediately directed Wrench to begin forging the wall's foundation. They threw the massive fire-grain steel ingot back into the furnace to reheat. Copperbeard swung his short-handled, square-headed forging hammer; under the precise control of his mechanical prosthetic hand, the hammerhead became a blur of afterimages, carrying a muffled thunderous roar, and smashed viciously into the glowing red ingot!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew in all directions, like an iron tree with silver blossoms! Every hammer-fall was accompanied by the metallic's joyous cry and the trembling of energy! Under the dwarf master's skill of a thousand hammerings and a hundred refinings, the massive ingot was shaped and stretched like dough! Wrench was in charge of quenching and assisting with shaping nearby; the two cooperated with perfect tacit understanding, their efficiency astonishing.

Very soon, one after another, enormously thick, regularly shaped giant steel bricks, their surfaces inscribed with rough thorn and furnace patterns, were forged out! Each of these steel bricks weighed several hundred jin, radiating a scorching aura and the cold gleam of metal. Under Copperbeard's direction, Lin Mo manipulated the dark-gold thorn roots, like the most powerful hoisting machine, precisely stacking these steel bricks at the preset positions along the edge of the depression.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The heavy thud of the steel bricks hitting the ground was like the final-drum beat struck for the territory. One, two… the dark-red steel bulwark rose from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye! It was not a smooth city wall, but one bearing edges and rivet marks, full of a rugged industrial beauty and the constructed thickness of dwarven forging. In the gaps of the bulwark, Copperbeard cleverly embedded energy-conducting copper wires, connecting back to the Leyline Furnace, so that the entire bulwark could, when needed, be instantly activated and covered with a layer of scorching energy shield.

Thornheart now possessed a true body of steel!

While the wall's construction was in full swing, the interior of the territory was also quietly changing. Sister Ai Li's "Emerald Nursery," nourished by the Emerald Heart fragment, had doubled in range. Besides the tenaciously growing Star-Glow Moss, she had also successfully cultivated several tuber plants similar to potatoes that could survive under the wasteland's faint radiation, named "Bedrock Root." Although the yield was not high, it was a stable food source.

And Sister Ai Li began the arduous mastery of her newborn power.

In a corner of the depression, far from the noisy furnace area. Sister Ai Li stood alone on the scorched-black open ground, eyes closed in concentration. A wisp of condensed silver moonlight lingered at her fingertips, like a leaping cold flame. She tried to shape it — into a dagger, into a thread, into a shield… but the moonlight power was cold and sharp, extremely difficult to control. With the slightest carelessness, the silver gleam would lose control and scatter, leaving deep scorch marks on the ground, or triggering small-scale cold energy storms that made the surrounding temperature plummet.

"Ugh…" One attempt to condense a moonlight shield failed; the backlash of uncontrolled energy made her grunt, and the silver scar on her chest throbbed faintly. The withering pollution within her body, which had been suppressed by the Emerald Heart fragment, like a lurking venomous snake, grew restless at the instant her power lost control, bringing waves of cold, stinging pain.

"Power… needs control." Lin Mo's voice came from behind her. He walked to Sister Ai Li's side, holding the "Leyline Arbiter" in his hand, its blade radiating a steady, heavy aura. "Your moonlight is like the sharpest ice blade. Too rigid, it breaks; too sharp, it wounds. Try… feeling the thorn's will to protect? Perhaps it can help you find balance."

Sister Ai Li was silent for a moment. Her cold eyes looked at the war-blade in Lin Mo's hand, then at the steel bulwark rising in the distance, and at the dark-gold thorn patterns flowing faintly upon the bulwark. She drew a deep breath and once again condensed her moonlight power. This time, she no longer forcibly suppressed or shaped it, but tried to feel the resilient will — rooted in the earth, guarding the homeland — within the thorn emblem branded upon the sword-guard.

A wondrous thing happened. The instant the violent moonlight power touched that will to protect, though it remained cold and sharp, it gained a trace of… resilience? Like an ice blade wrapped in a layer of supple vines. The silver gleam at her fingertips no longer scattered and splashed, but stably condensed into a small round shield woven from countless fine, dense silver thorns! Upon the shield's surface, faint moonlight runes flowed!

Success! Though only an embryonic form, it was a tremendous breakthrough!

"Very good." A trace of approval appeared in Lin Mo's eyes. He could feel that Sister Ai Li's moonlight power and Thornheart's will to protect were producing a subtle resonance.

However, just as Sister Ai Li's mind relaxed slightly, savoring this hard-won sense of mastery —

An extremely faint, cold, viscous whisper, like a bone-burrowing maggot, sounded without warning in the depths of her consciousness:

"Moonlight… purification… foolish…"

"Power… springs from… devouring… returns to… decay…"

"Join… me… I shall grant… true… eternity…"

This whisper was full of temptation and a fallen aura, identical in nature to the Rotclaw's will, yet more direct, more targeted at the moonlight power within her! Was it the residual withering pollution at work? Or… was the Rotclaw, across the planes, launching a spiritual erosion against her, this individual who possessed the power of purification?

Sister Ai Li's face went deathly pale in an instant. The thorn-moonlight shield she had just condensed fluctuated violently, nearly collapsing! The silver gleam in her eyes flared brilliantly as she forcibly suppressed that nauseating whisper. Her cold gaze stared fixedly toward the direction of the Withered Forest, killing intent piercingly cold!

"Rotclaw…" she gritted her teeth, her voice like ice. This newborn power brought not only responsibility, but also deeper malice!

And Lin Mo, at the instant Sister Ai Li's power lost control and was forcibly suppressed, clearly sensed the cold, sinister fluctuation within her. At the same time, deep within his own 【Seed of Life】 core, that thread of lurking dark-purple pattern, as if stirred by some resonance, also extremely faintly… writhed!

Crisis, like a venomous snake lurking in shadow, had never been far away. The Doctor's surveillance, the Rotclaw's whisper, and the hidden danger buried deep within the power core — all, amid the newborn prosperity