The Ring: Sell Dung Beetles in Junction

Chapter 482: Molten Mud Eruption
The town of Tower is where all the big shots gather.

Gefrey, Michaela, Andros...all the important figures in Shadow City are here.

The people in the horns no longer cared about their former enemies, and everyone's attention was focused on the south.

Everyone was shocked and nervous by the blue-black mud.

"What's going on?" Wuming looked at Patch, "How come your trip caused such a big commotion? What is that?"

"How should I know?" Patch rolled his eyes at Wuming, refusing to take the blame. "We found a big hole in the south, with black mud surging up. I noticed something was wrong, so I quickly called Lance Shanks to pick us up. Fortunately, I made a quick judgment, otherwise we would have nowhere to run."

Lance Sanx had a sad face and cried to Monget: "It hurts so much, it's so dark, that stinky mud slapped me in the air, and I almost broke another wing."

Mongette stroked Lance Shanks' waist and rubbed her wings.

Wuming recalled the feeling he got from the black mud: "I felt a nature very similar to me."

"That must be related to death," said Feiya.

Everyone present, whether it was the Golden Tree or the Horned Man, had a shadow over their hearts.

Death, this word is always associated with the great enemy.

That was before the Golden Tree, an even greater enemy, the common threat of the Horned Man and the Golden Tree.

"But Death has been killed," said Andros. "Lord Malikus killed the Queen of the Night Eyes and sealed the Rune of Death. From now on, life and death should be controlled by the Golden Tree."

Roger said, "It's definitely not the case now. After the Night of the Black Knife, death has been revealed. The frequent appearance of the Dead Born at the border has proved that the order of the Golden Rule has been disrupted."

For the Golden People, the breaking of the law was like the end of the world. But Andros did not refute. He looked at the black monster raging in the south and had to admit that it was indeed like the end of the world.

When humans face their greatest fears, they cannot turn a blind eye.

"We have to find out the cause of this thing and how to deal with it as soon as possible," Patch said. "If the black mud continues to spread, it will definitely surge onto the cliff."

Everyone understood this truth. When the black mud climbed up the cliff, Barrett would be the first to bear the brunt. That was why everyone came to Barrett, not far from the Tomb Plain, to discuss.

The people of Jiao finally got their land back, but now they are facing such a crisis. They feel very upset.

"The Horned People have been living here. Do you know what that is?" Wuming asked the Horned People.

The answer was negative. The people in the horns did not understand such filthy and ominous things.

"It's molten mud." Michaela began.

"What is molten mud?" Wuming asked.

"You must have seen it all," Michaela said, "after the battle, the minced meat that was no longer in shape but was still wriggling."

Wuming suddenly realized: "Oh, it's that kind of stuff. I just saw Senye Sanx poop out a few puddles of it."

"It turns out you're a lot like shit," Patch said.

"Old man, tell me the truth, did you urinate and defecate there?" Wuming said.

Wuming grabbed the scabbard and hit Patch. Patch relied on his long arms to continuously deflect Wuming's attacks.

Michaela was helpless: "Are you children?"

The old woman of the horned people said: "But if it is molten mud, why did it erupt and why is it so huge?"

Michaela groaned: "It is indeed a problem..."

Outside the tower town, a group of people rushed over, alerting the Horned Man and the Black Knight guards.

They were a group of extremely thin people, shaped like monkeys, with rags wrapped around their bodies and holding simple wooden sticks and other weapons.

However, the leader of this group of demi-humans - a demi-human who looked a little old, had a very exquisite weapon in his hand. It was a long curved sword with a lake blue blade that seemed to contain stars.

"Demi-humans." Wuming recognized the group of people, "It's okay, let them come over."

After letting the Asians go, they saw that there was a boat following them.

Tibia's calling ship also appeared here along with the demi-humans.

Wuming recognized it at a glance. It was the ship that brought him here.

"What is this?" Wuming didn't understand.

The leading demihuman leader stepped forward and spoke clearly:

"We saw some Asians on your side and thought they were friends, so we came to join you."

"Those are my employees." Wuming said, "You guys are... coming from the south?"

The demihuman leader nodded. "The molten mud erupted, destroying our homeland. We had no choice but to flee to the coast. How do you know where we came from?"

Wuming looked at the calling ship:
"I asked around before and heard that the ship was in the south. Was it also here to escape disaster?"

The Asian leader said, "We have always been neighbors with the ship and have some friendship, so we set out together."

Wuming asked: "Do you know any inside information? Did you create the molten mud?"

The demihuman leader pointed at the call ship:
"The old man should be more clear about this matter. He has always lived next to the cemetery in the south."

He stepped forward on the boat, looking old as a dry bone. He opened his mouth and made an inaudible sound.

"I don't understand." Wuming said.

"Let me translate," said the demihuman leader. "He speaks an ancient language that you no longer understand."

The demihuman leader changed his tone and imitated the words of the call ship:

"The final form of the filthy lives placed in the sarcophagus is molten mud. They are the final form of the dead."

"We already know this," Patch said.

The leader of the subhumans continued, "The molten mud is the dead. It is our job to guide and deal with the dead."

"Then why is it so rampant?" Wuming said, "You haven't been working hard, old man."

The Calling Ship raised its huge horn tremblingly, poked it into the ground, and vented its emotions:

"I am the only one left to guide the dead in Shadowland, and there is only one Death Bird left to burn the molten mud and bring death to them. But wars have been breaking out here for thousands of years, and people have been dying constantly. There are always dead people who need to be guided and corpses that need to be dealt with. I have to guide the dead every day at my age, and the Death Bird, which used to work at night, has to work during the day."

"It's so tragic and hard." Wuming comforted the old man, "Come to my caravan, we are not tired here."

Wuming turned around and pointed at Andros and the Horned Man: "Listen, listen, listen to what they have to say from the bottom of their hearts. You guys, it's a good thing I stopped them, otherwise you would have become so tired and thin."

The calling ship is still exciting:
"Originally, a group of warring factions killed people every day and could barely maintain a balance. One of the factions was using flames to burn souls, which could replace some of the work of the Death Birds. But recently, there was suddenly no flame, and all the tasks of burning souls fell on the Death Birds. Then the death rate suddenly increased by hundreds of times. Moreover, the Death Birds were caught and tortured by someone some time ago, and their efficiency dropped significantly."

The call ship struck its horn:

"Half a month ago, some bastard came to the southern coast and released countless souls. We were busy dealing with the newly emerged souls of the dead, and finally we were careless. The balance was completely broken, and the molten mud in the big hole gushed out."

He put down the finger that was pointing at him, and fumbled with his leg armor. He was silent, his figure slightly hunched, and there was a smile in his eyes behind his cheek, which was a bit shy and awkward.

"Yeah, that bastard." Patch echoed, glancing at Wuming.

"Yes, who is it?" Wuming pretended to look at the melting mud in the south, and then said righteously,

"Alas, the past is like the wind, don't worry about it. What we need to do is to seize the present and embrace the future. Let's see how to solve it."

After hearing this, Andros was very excited: "What did I say? What did I say! Lady Marika instructed us to do that, there must be a reason for her!"

Michaela smiled and said, "It has nothing to do with Brother Wuming. You are definitely not the main cause of such a huge amount of melted mud. The ice is three feet thick and it didn't freeze overnight."

"It's not just one day, it's been a thousand years." said the old woman of the horned man.

Michaela shook her head. "It wasn't caused by the war between you. Over the past thousand years, most of the casualties of the Crusades were solved by fire, so there wouldn't be so much molten mud accumulated. Although you were the fuse, it's not your fault."

"What do you mean?" Everyone was confused.

"It's mainly the melted mud in the sarcophagus," Michaela said. "It's silt deposited in the ancient times."

Patch was a little surprised: "So it's here."

"What? What are you talking about?" Wuming was confused. "It seems that I am the only one who doesn't understand."

But when Wuming looked around, he found that most people were confused, even the older generation of strong men like Gefulei and Manyue.

"Laws will create an era, and the era will also give birth to new laws." Michaela said, "Just like in the era of the golden tree, corruption will be particularly terrifying. And when the holy war raises fire and disaster, the gods of blood and wounds and the gods of corruption will rise again. There was an era when death was the most sacred and powerful."

Michaela said, "I have seen it in ancient books, which were written by my mother's grandmother. Corruption once had its strongest era. At that time, death was equal, and no matter what the law was, this rule would be defaulted. Death was also sacred, and those who presided over death and funerals were the most respected. They were respected and feared by everyone."

"The Queen of the Night Eyes." said Andros.

Mikaela nodded. "Of course, by the time of the Queen of the Night Eyes, death was no longer that important. People began to pursue life again and avoid death. But the panic of the ancient times still remained in the hearts of the people. This can still be seen in the Golden Law and in today's era."

Michaela looked at the huge molten mud in the distance leisurely:

"The dead of that era are preserved here. They lie in stone coffins, waiting for the favor of the Night Eyes' flames that can even kill gods."

"Is there anyone who still desires the fire?" The Horned Man and the Golden Tree felt a little uncomfortable after hearing this. "That was a completely different era after all," Michaela said. "What you see as a serious crime may be redemption in their eyes."

"Melting mud is a product of that era?" Wuming was surprised, "How many people died then?"

“Forty billion.” Michaela said slowly, “There were once forty billion souls who lived on this land and died on this land.”

"Think about the funeral pressure, and you'll understand why corruption and death are the top priorities." Patch smiled, "Now you understand why the Golden People are against having children, right? Some fears are ingrained in their genes."

"Four hundred billion?" Wuming was shocked, staring, salivating, "Why don't I have that many people? Why do I have to dig up the dead's graves..."

Wuming suddenly had an idea: "Hey, can this molten mud be guided and utilized by us like the dead born?"

Roger said, "If it can be guided, the Calling Ship should not have fled here, right?"

"Yeah." Wuming's hope was shattered, "Let's get rid of them."

Mungot spread a map on the table and marked several places:

"The molten mud mainly spreads from the southwest of Shadowland to the Blue Coast. But some molten mud has also appeared in other places. There are molten mud in the cemetery plains, the east side of Shadow City, and the east side of Ensis City."

Mongert said, "The Horned Men will deal with the Cemetery Plains, and the Black Knights will deal with Shadow City. As for Ensis City, Lance Shanks and I will take the soldiers to deal with it."

Monggot looked at Wuming:
"You have the heaviest mission - you need to go to the Blue Coast and try to eliminate the source."

Wuming thought: "Since they burned it with fire, it should be OK for me to burn it with fire."

Wuming set out immediately, and headed for the cemetery plain with the Horned Man.

With the horned warrior leading the way, Wuming moved like the wind - the horned warrior stirred up a storm and carried Wuming on the road very quickly.

When they reached the cemetery plain, the Horned Men fought against the molten mud, while Wuming continued forward and jumped off the cliff.

Wuming inserted his straight sword into the cliff wall and slid down all the way to mid-air. He looked at the almost pitch-black area below, sheathed his sword, and landed on the ground like a tiger, landing on all fours on the molten mud.

The molten mud beneath him became boiling and red, and flames shot up from the ground, forming a swirling storm that swept away all the molten mud around him.

The molten mud rolled and boiled in the nameless flames, as if it was sighing before death, or wailing.

After dealing with the molten mud in front of him, the subsequent molten mud came again, more ferocious and thicker.

Wuming put his feet on the ground, and a raging flame exploded from his hands, burning a big hole in the oncoming wave of molten mud. He rushed out of the hole, hurling flames in all directions, burning the molten mud with maximum efficiency.

The molten mud in which he burned a big hole was just merged and burned by the flames, without any waste.

A raging fire started from Wuming's body, burning the molten mud and himself at the same time.

Wuming thought about it, and a black snake burst out from his hand again, which was quite similar to the dark blue and black molten mud.

The black snake was also infected by the flames on Wuming's body and struggled violently, dispersing the molten mud around it and igniting it at the same time.

When the black snake got slightly accustomed to the flames, it opened its bloody mouth and swallowed the molten mud in one gulp.

Wuming's body was like a furnace, the melted mud turned into fuel, making the flames in Wuming's body even more vigorous.

"It can be burned, not bad." Wuming was relieved now. The black mud burst out of his body and bloomed everywhere. While burning the molten mud, it also fed back to himself. Although he was also consuming it, the income and expenditure were much more balanced.

Wuming burned for about a day, then he stopped and jumped into the air to check the condition of the molten mud.

It is still the same as when I first came down, with almost no changes.

Wuming's expression became more and more strange.

He retreated backwards, the molten mud pursuing him.

Wuming arrived at the cliff, swept the flames, and this time he did not aim, but just blocked behind him. Then he inserted the shield into the shield, activated the gravity magic, and jumped high on the shield.

Wuming looked back and found that the molten mud was surging, extinguishing all the flames he had released, and even the deflected flames were swallowed up by the molten mud.

After taking a quick glance, Wuming climbed back up the cliff.

On the cliff, the Horned People were still fighting. The Horned People's spiral magic was very effective against the molten mud, and with its strong sacredness and penetrating power, it tore the molten mud giant into pieces.

However, the molten mud had extremely strong vitality. Although it was torn apart, small clumps of molten mud were scattered everywhere. No matter how hard the soldiers chopped, they could hardly destroy it.

Even a powerful horn warrior needs to use the spirit summoning skill to summon a huge spirit horn and chop it multiple times before he can completely destroy a mass of molten mud.

The torturer's torture magic was progressing rapidly, but there were not many torturers and priest horns left.

Wuming saw that the Horned Man was not done yet, so he swept the Fire Whip across and helped the Horned Man deal with the small melted muds.

The people in the horns looked at the nameless flame with mixed feelings.

The Horned People's moves were very weak against the molten mud. To effectively remove the molten mud, only fire was effective. They suddenly understood the blasphemy of the Crusades and why the Crusades used fire.

After ending the battle at Cemetery Plains, the Horned Man brought Nameless back to Barrett and reunited with the others.

The other teams didn't have as much trouble as the Horned Ones, and the Black Knights had a great record. Their holy power was quite useful against the molten mud.

As for the Mongot pair, thanks to Mongot's cursed blood and Lance Shanks's blood flame, they successfully ended the battle and temporarily solved the urgent problem.

The three teams all finished their missions and looked at Wuming, waiting for his report.

Wuming hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me put it this way - I didn't even get close to the big hole. I was just busy melting the mud."

"How much was burned?" Patch asked.

"Let me put it this way—" Wuming said, "I don't know."

"You're the only one who can't." Patch rolled his eyes.

"I have a lot of work to do here." Wuming said, "But I still found some things."

"What?" Everyone looked at Wuming.

Wuming patted his belly and said, "I said before that I think the molten mud is very similar to me - it is indeed very similar, both are highly corrosive, just like swallowing a dark soul."

"Dark Soul?" others asked.

"To put it simply, the molten mud soul is difficult to erase." Wuming said, "Although it can be digested, the digestion process will erode and assimilate others from the soul. I originally wanted to see if I could swallow it all, but looking at the amount, I might lose myself if I swallow it all."

Wuming spread his hands and said, "Forty billion souls are too much. I can't digest them even if I die of fullness. Let the ancient dragons go. Ten thousand ancient dragons can eat them for a thousand years. That should be enough."

Ring finger pointing to Lance Shanks:
"It can't be this kind of useless ancient dragon."

"Why did you suddenly attack me?" Lance Shanks bared his teeth at Wuming.

Everyone felt a chill in their hearts when they heard Wuming's words:
"That's not the end. We can't keep Shadow Land anymore."

"It's not just this one characteristic that we have in common." Wuming covered his stomach, "This molten mud is just like me, it has immortality."

"It's still moving even though it's turned into mud, so it's immortal," said Patch.

"But they seem to want to die." Wuming said, "I set the fire, even if I miss, they will rush to be burned."

Patch nodded. "This is a classic situation. Only a psychopath like you can accept the curse of immortality."

"Can I take advantage of this?" Wuming pondered.

"You can put a brazier in the middle of the cave and the molten mud will flow over," said Patch.

"It's not that easy." Wuming sighed, "If the firepower is not strong enough, the fire will be extinguished by the molten mud."

"You could turn up the heat," Patch said.

"You don't know what happened last time when I used so much firepower, right?" Wuming said, "Besides, I'm a little worried... that kind of firepower is not enough."

Andros said: "In any case, we should restart the Burning Golem first. With the Burning Golem as a defense, we can hold out for a while. We can think of another way later."

Michaela groaned, "There is actually a way."

"Oh?" Wuming said, "Tell me quickly."

"The curse of immortality was not imposed on them by the Night Eyes. The molten mud seeks to rest in peace." Michaela said, "As long as Malicus releases the death rune, the molten mud will naturally lose its activity, and then we can slowly deal with the souls."

Andros's face changed drastically: "How can this be possible?"

"Why not?" Mikaela said, "As long as Black Sword agrees."

"Do you know what releasing the Death Rune means?" Andros glared at Michaela.

“Death is loosed,” Michaela said. “But you mean, the Golden Rule, right?”

"The Golden Rule only holds true if you remove the necessity of death," Andros said. "You are turning the law upside down."

"I'm a god, remember?" Michaela smiled, "Two fingers made me subvert. Go find the two-finger theory."

Michaela said to Moore who was beside her:
"Go and invite Lord Black Sword."

(End of this chapter)