Chapter 301: The Dream Woven by the World Serpent

The furnace before Ninglu, the flames instantly turned golden.

A dazzling light shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire village.

The people of Nocturne widened their eyes, looking toward the center of the light.

The light shone upon Ninglu, like a god descending to the world; they could not help but recall the words spoken by the pale-skinned man.

"He will surpass everyone in the competition, including you, Vulkan."

Alpharius watched Ninglu's movements; if one were to say Vulkan used Casting Technique to forge weapons with stronger all-around performance.

Ninglu relied on absolute strength, repeatedly processing the ore to continuously enhance the performance of the materials.

A large amount of ore was consumed rapidly, condensing quickly under the tempering of the flames.

The people of Nocturne brought him materials time and again, far exceeding the estimates before the competition began.

At the twenty-third hour since the casting began, when Vulkan was reheating the shaped Silver Hammer and putting it into the Fire Seed for quenching, Ninglu only then began to cast.

At this time, the ore Ninglu had consumed was hundreds of times more than what Vulkan had used, but before the competition started, there were no conditions limiting this aspect, so the elders of the Noble Council did not stop him.

A Master of Casting from the City of Warriors Themis, having broken free from the Shock of the golden flames, evaluated it from the dimension of casting craftsmanship.

"Although the outsider Ninglu's flames are far beyond the mundane, the casting art is too crude."

While forging the weapon, Vulkan was also paying attention to Ninglu's forging; his eyes gushed with flames as he spoke.

"Ninglu's forging also has unique techniques; he adds sword-casting materials in several batches, with different tempering times, thus possessing different characteristics."

"After multiple temperings, the crystal structure of the ore changes, the density increases, making it harder, less prone to deformation, and more suitable as a sword body."

"The sword tip is sharper and has stronger penetrating power."

"..."

"He adopts this method to utilize his ability to control flames to the maximum." Vulkan gave his final evaluation.

The stellar day of Nocturne is the same as a Terra Day, both being twenty-four hours.

The time Ninglu actually spent casting the sword was only one hour.

What appeared in his hand at the end was a Golden Longsword, while Vulkan's was a Silver Hammer.

The two Primarchs then headed toward the Death Volcano, the largest and most lethal volcano on Nocturne, which is also the heart and life source of this world.

Looking at the Death Volcano from afar, it was a piece of pure giant rock.

Ninglu arrived at the massive volcanic vent a step ahead, looking down to see countless lava pits with surging heat waves.

Through superhuman vision, he could see giant creatures lying beside the lava rivers and poking out of the caves.

Salamanders.

Among the creatures Ninglu had seen before, only the Kraken was larger than the Salamanders.

The largest Thunder Wolves on the land of Fenris were not even as big as their heads.

Ninglu activated Spirit Vision, staring at the Salamanders; he saw the eyes and teeth of the Salamanders flickering with spiritual radiance.

【Sure enough, there are Potion Material on the Salamanders.】

Beside Ninglu, the "Machine" John, who had mastered Divination after learning the prophetic knowledge of the Fulao people, was eager to try.

"Shall I divine the location of the largest Salamander?"

"No, this is a competition between him and me." Ninglu spoke again: "Soon, you will have the chance to show your abilities."

His eyes were deep as he activated "Warp Insight"; dense, large and small light spots appeared in his vision.

Generally speaking, the more powerful a creature is, the larger its projection in the Warp will be, and they are also most likely to be the largest creatures in size.

After a few breaths, Ninglu locked onto the largest light spot among them.

He leaped, jumping down from the mountain peak, and landed steadily in front of a cave entrance.

The cave Ninglu stepped into had no life present.

There was no need; he did not want to kill the Salamander, as that would be a waste of Potion Material.

Ninglu traveled through the cave tunnel, going deep into the depths of the Planet all the way.

He was shocked to see countless giant creatures coiled around the core of Nocturne.

The smallest one among them was countless times larger than any Salamander.

Their bodies were shaped like pythons, yet they had scales like giant dragons.

Their heads were in the shape of an inverted triangle.

World Serpent!

Ninglu saw the dragon-serpent-like creatures and immediately realized his Error.

What he was looking for using "Warp Insight" were the most powerful creatures mapped in the Warp.

But the largest creatures on Nocturne were not the Salamanders, but the World Serpents.

Ninglu knew that the World Serpents were the most ancient existence among the serpent species of Nocturne.

As part of this Planet's mythology, the giant dragon-serpents had been sleeping for thousands of years; they were coiled around the heart of Nocturne like rocks in the depths of this Planet.

【According to Vulkan's words, the World Serpents are completely beyond the scope of human understanding, and even for an Astartes, witnessing them with their own eyes is an extraordinary and incredible experience.

Future elite Warriors among the Salamanders would hunt Salamanders and use their teeth or other things as decorations.

The World Serpents are also incredible creatures to the Astartes, clearly of a higher order than the Salamanders.】

Ninglu activated Spirit Vision, looking at the World Serpents, and immediately saw their brains and hearts shining with blinding spiritual radiance.

The Potion Material on the Salamanders, compared to those on the World Serpents, were like the difference between fireflies and the bright moon.

【The World Serpents are likely mythical creatures!】

As Ninglu pondered, the dragon-serpents in his vision suddenly underwent a huge change.

They turned into long dragons of fire, flickering with dazzling fiery red light.

The next instant, what Ninglu saw changed abruptly.

He fell into the magma, his eyes filled with nothing but flames.

Heilang Freddy and Strong Brain Cat John both felt their eyelids grow heavy, their heads slowly resting on the ground.

Ninglu fell into the sea of fire, but he did not care; he had merged with the fragments of the Burner, and the flames could not harm him at all.

With a thought, he wanted to spread his golden wings.

The next moment, Ninglu frowned, his expression grim; the golden wings behind him had vanished.

【How is this possible?

What power could separate me from the C'tan Shard?

And I didn't feel a thing; I didn't perceive the process of it being stripped from me at all.】

As Ninglu pondered, he suddenly felt his body being swallowed by the raging flames.

The scorching flames seared his entire body with intense pain.

Light flickered in Ninglu's eyes as he tried to mobilize the energy of the Warp and raise a Psychic Shield to protect himself.

【Huh?】 A look of shock flashed in his eyes; he actually could not feel the existence of the Warp Tide.

Despite encountering consecutive accidents, Ninglu's brain continued to think calmly.

【I just saw countless World Serpents, and in an instant, I was swallowed by flames.

The golden wings disappeared, and I cannot feel the existence of the Warp.

This sudden change is illogical; even if the World Serpents spat fire or had other abilities, it would be impossible to instantly strip away my golden wings.】

A flash of inspiration struck Ninglu's mind: 【Unless it is a dream.】

As he realized this, the scene before his eyes shattered like a mirror, and the flames enveloping his body vanished.

Ninglu looked at Heilang Freddy and John, who were lying on the ground in a deep sleep, and became thoughtful.

He recalled his memories regarding the World Serpents; they were always sleeping, dreaming dreams related to fire.

【I have fallen into a dreamscape created by the World Serpents!

The World Serpents dream of fire, and Vulkan knows this; he should be like me, trapped in the fiery dreamscape they created.

The World Serpents can make a Primarch dream, and can even trap Heilang Freddy, who belongs to the "Darkness" pathway and is skilled at Pulling into Dreams at the Sequence 4 level—what kind of creatures are they exactly?】

Ninglu looked at their dragon-like, serpentine bodies and thought to himself.

【There is a radiance of Spirituality within the World Serpents; they are Beyonder creatures.

There are two pathways related to dreams: the "Visionary" pathway's Dream Weaving and the "Darkness" pathway's Pulling into Dreams.

The World Serpents are born with dragon scales, which fits the characteristics of Beyonder creatures of the "Visionary" pathway.】

After confirming the pathway the World Serpents belonged to, Ninglu could not help but think.

【What Sequence level of Beyonder creature does a World Serpent correspond to?

It was not one World Serpent that made me, Vulkan, and Heilang Freddy fall into a dream, but a dream collectively woven by countless World Serpents.

Therefore, it may not necessarily be a Sequence 1 or Sequence 2 Beyonder creature, but it should at least be a Sequence 4 Beyonder creature.】

A Sequence 4 Beyonder creature is on a different level from Sequence 5 and below, having initially mastered a Mythical Creature Form.

Only creatures of this level could exert dream influence on a Primarch and a Sequence 4 Heilang.

【The dreamscape created by this group of World Serpents actually made me fall into it without any reaction; the greatest possibility is that they are Sequence 3 "Dream Weaver" level Beyonder creatures.

This corresponds to what Vulkan said in my memories about them always dreaming of fire.

In other words, a dreamscape created by a group of Sequence 3 Beyonder creatures—no wonder it could make me fall into a dream without me noticing at all.】

Ninglu's brain spun rapidly, trying to understand everything about the World Serpents.

He looked at the World Serpents coiled at the earth's core, sleeping within the dreamscape they had woven themselves.

【A group of Sequence 3 level Beyonder creatures—what is before me is a treasure trove!

The problem is, do I have the ability to get my hands on them?】

In Ninglu's mind, the entire process from seeing the World Serpents to falling into the dream and then waking up flashed by rapidly.

After a breath, his eyes suddenly lit up.

【I remained conscious the entire time I was trapped in the dream.

Because I possess the "Kingdom of Disorder," the Source Essence allowed me to remain conscious in the dream.

The Spear of Dionysus is a divine artifact that can kill the World Serpents, and my golden wings can catch up to them.】

Thinking of this, Ninglu suddenly spread his wings and simultaneously drew the Spear of Dionysus.

He flew toward the largest one, the one circling the equator of the earth's core.

In an instant, Ninglu flew above the inverted triangular head, leveled the spear in his hand, and thrust downward.

The Spear of Dionysus pierced the dragon scales; the scales, as large as a house and several meters thick, were instantly penetrated by the Spearhead like a piece of paper.

Ninglu flew out from the neck of the World Serpent, the Spear of Dionysus having pierced through the neck of the gargantuan creature.

He deliberately avoided the brain, not destroying the Potion Material.

The Primarch grabbed the World Serpent's head and threw it toward a lava platform.

The body of the dead World Serpent still remained coiled around the earth's core by inertia.

The other World Serpents' bodies trembled in unison; they felt that the dream they had collectively created had lost its greatest "Dream Weaver."

Their eyes remained tightly shut, yet their bodies detached from the earth's core and crawled toward caves in different directions.

【The network of caves beneath Nocturne was dug out by the World Serpents.

No wonder even the Astartes of the Salamanders had not mastered the entire underground tunnel network.】

Ninglu's golden wings vibrated, and he instantly caught up to the second-largest World Serpent.

When he had killed four World Serpents in a row, Heilang Freddy suddenly woke up from his dream, and he said in astonishment.

"I spend my days pulling others into dreams, yet I actually fell into someone else's..."

"No, it is within a dreamscape created by other snakes."

After Ninglu killed forty-eight World Snakes, he only stopped once all other snakes had left his line of sight.

He did not activate "Warp Insight" to continue hunting the other World Snakes.

【That is enough.

There is no need to exterminate them all; let them continue to propagate.

When they are needed in the future, I can simply come back to hunt them.】

Thinking this, Ninglu flew back to the Earth's core, loosened his grip, and the Spear of Dionysus plummeted straight into the core, swallowed by the raging flames.

The corners of his mouth curled up, "Oops! My hand slipped!"

Ninglu chuckled, then began to drag and transport the corpses of the World Snakes to the "Kingdom of Disorder."

(End of this chapter)