Prime Originator

While searching the molten ground inside the vast rift, Leon furrowed his brows before spreading his divine sense.

However, all he found were a few broken parts of scorched corpses belonging to weaker blacksmiths like how charcoal would crack apart like chalk.

Duke Ignis was nowhere to be seen.

"With Duke Ignis's strength, his body shouldn't be among one of these scorched corpses," Leon muttered with a frown.

He was not aware of what level his future father-in-law had reached in his cultivation, but he was confident that Duke Ignis was the strongest Fire Awakener within the group of blacksmiths.

It did not make sense for such a person to fall while 3-Star Ranked Awakeners survived, albeit with a single breath of life left in them.

"Hm? The molten lava is flowing into the tiny passageways, leading deeper into the subterranean world. Could Duke Ignis have been swept inside one of these passages?" Leon's frown deepened in thought.

At the same time, more Three-Legged Golden Crows and Blue Luans began falling out of the skies over time, crashing into the ground with heavy thuds.

Their robust bodies formed craters from the impact while their blood splattered out from their pre-existing wounds accumulated in battle.

Even in death, their slightly awakened bloodline did not stop affecting their surroundings as their blood either burned the already corroded battlefield or slowly froze the blackened soil in the region.

Back on the Great Wall, the blacksmiths quickly showed signs of recovering under the medicinal effect of Tier 2 All-Purpose Healings Pills.

Even so, the healing pills were limited in their degree of healing due to the range of damage inflicted on the blacksmiths' bodies.

They were pulled out from the jaws of death, but their fleshly bodies were scabbed all over, making them painfully sore and unable to move.

"This beautiful lady, will you be so kind as to escort us back to the Elder Tree so we can receive some treatment from the elves?" A blacksmith requested after he managed to open his eyes and spotted Duna seated on the edge of the wall.

Duna casually glanced back at the blacksmiths lying on the floor with blackened skin while pus oozed out from some cracks in between as new skin was formed underneath.

"Not interested." Duna spat.

"You…" The blacksmith was triggered by Duna's heartless response. However, he quickly restrained his anger before formally said, "I am a Baron of this empire. If you take me to seek the elves' treatment, I will reward you handsomely. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise, what?" Duna immediately narrowed her eyes coldly with a dangerous glint. Her malevolent aura surged outwards before she questioned the blacksmith, "Are you going to threaten me?"

"You… you're not human!" The blacksmith's face was quickly drained of blood under Duna's intimidation.

At the same time, the other wounded blacksmiths were also alarmed. However, they kept their silence for fear of getting implicated.

"That's right. I'm a ghost, and a devil. If you want to ask a favor from a devil, you have to pay the price!" Duna stated menacingly.

The blacksmith shivered slightly before asking, "May I ask what sort of price that is?"

"Hmm… how about you offer your souls to me?" Duna licked her lips.

The blacksmiths were immediately shocked.

Such a small favor required their souls as payment? Isn't that the same as asking for their life? This lady really is a devil!

"Hold on, aren't you a friend of His Highness? You're just scaring us, right? We are in so much pain. Can't you just help us out a little?" A blacksmith suddenly mentioned.

"Ah? Is that so? I was wondering there was a ghost here…" Another blacksmith uttered before saying, "Please help us out, Miss Ghost. This pain is unbearable."

"Quit cryin' like little bitches over a little bit of pain and wait patiently. Help will come to you soon enough!" Duna spat after her fun was ruined before she added with indifference, "And the name's Duna, not some Miss Ghost."

The blacksmiths were immediately silenced with bitter looks.

They were scorched from top to bottom. Even though new flesh was formed underneath, causing their charred skin to become scabs, the mixture of pain and itchiness was killing them.

Nevertheless, Duna did not lie.

After some time passed, a group of elven warriors really did come to pick them up. Evidently, they only arrived after Aria departed earlier to inform the elves.

Meanwhile, somewhere deeper inside the subterranean world filled with flowing magma, Duke Ignis's scorched body was carried with the current.

After passing through a long underground passageway, his body was spat back into the open space before plunging into a pool of boiling hot water at the center and bottommost parts of the vast rift.

The remnant element power of the Paragon-level Three-Legged Golden Crow and Blue Luan was strong in this area.

Although the Blue Luan's icicle powers were melted into boiling water with rising steam by the Three-Legged Golden Crow's golden flames at the bottom, it was not entirely evaporated by the heat.

Gallons of blood could be seen at the very bottom of the boiling pool as their elemental powers of fire and ice continued to clash.

After Duke Ignis's scorched body appeared and fell into this pool, Leon was quick to discover.

However, Leon only flew for a short moment before he suddenly paused in the air and silently gazed down at the boiling pool with a raised eyebrow.

"Duke Ignis's scorched body is already beginning to absorb the Fiery Energy inside the Three-Legged Golden Crow's blood. This could be his lucky chance to achieve a breakthrough in the revised [Fiery God Manual]…" Leon's eyes flickered in observation.

He could see that while Duke Ignis's body was scorched from top to bottom without a single hair left on his head, he was in a fair better situation compared to the other blacksmiths, who only had a single breath of life left in them when he found them.

Duke Ignis's disaster was actually a blessing in disguise.

"Perhaps, only Fire Awakeners can follow the authentic practice of the true [Divine Fiery God Manual] that father and I were unable to back in the Divine Realm…"