Soul of Burning Steel

An old diary with blackened skin, yellowed pages, and scattered traces of corrosion.

June 19 - sunny

Took old Abel to herd sheep today and he looked out of breath. Liya is right, the flock is getting bigger and bigger, and Abel is a bit powerless. Maybe I should change to a shepherd dog, so that old Abel, who has worked hard for seven or eight years, can have a good rest.

June 22 - cloudy

Two ewes are giving birth today! It was a good thing, but the strange thing is that for some reason, the lamb seems to be in a bad condition, and it is difficult to breathe. Could it be that the ewe did not have a good baby when she was pregnant? Anyway, my flock is getting bigger again, maybe I can consider selling a few sheep, let my little Ebra go to the academy in the city to study, and see if he can become a magic warrior!

June 23rd - overcast

The lambs are all dead... Maybe it's because they didn't have a safe baby, and it's my fault that I didn't take care of them. Although Leah advised me not to be too sad, it's still a little sad. The ewes also looked sad, after all, these are their children too. Strange to say, how could there be such gloomy weather in the grassland? This has been going on for days.

June 27 - overcast

The flock dared not leave the sheepfold——Old Abel tried his best to yell and yell but couldn't drive out even a lamb, and the cloudy sky outside was getting darker and darker, and he couldn't even see the way clearly. It's misty, but not wet, and it doesn't look like it's going to rain, which is weird.

June 29 - heavy fog

The grass is dead, the mist seems to be poisonous, and it feels like all the plants are starting to wither... The ewes didn't know when they died. When they were found, the corpses seemed to have been decomposed for a long time. Speaking of which, the lambs died At that time, they looked very strange, could it be that at that time... the black dirty marks glued the subsequent pages together, it seemed like blood, and it seemed like ink.

July 7th - sunny

The fog has finally lifted! Those weird beings that appear at night seem to be afraid of the sun! Blessed by the ancestors, our family is safe and sound, but all the shepherds around are dead. What is going on? ! Anyway, I wish my diary would continue.

July 9 - The Storm

earthquake! I was planning to take my family out early in the morning to go to the city, but the earthquake hit me right after I woke up! The house is fine, but the sheepfold was shaken, but no sheep ran out, so I dare not go to see it... The heavy rain came again at noon, so I had to pack up my things and stay at home and wait. The road here must have turned into a quagmire long ago. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Abel for several days. Where did it go?

July 11 - heavy fog

That monster that ate all the sheep... and what are those black shadows that suddenly appeared in the weapon at night... Leah's arm was injured, but I don't know why it can't stop the bleeding... Now I'm sleeping with a bandage on I'm sick, I don't know if it will get better...

After that, the diary was in a mess, with traces of being wet by water and swaying black traces, which seemed to be smeared with tears mixed with ink.

Leah...dead...monster...Abel...Ebra...

August 1st - Sunny

Through the grasslands, I finally came to the sanctuary. There is a sacred breath in this forest...but I am dying.

My child... May your life be safe in this crazy world.

Late at night, heavy fog, in the west of Gradia mainland, in a dense primitive jungle, there is a simple human village built on an island in the river. Amid the sound of the river rushing, you can see a big fire in the village, intermittent black The smoke brushed the wooden eaves in the flickering firelight, and the light of the dancing flames was uncertain.

In a wooden house that was about to collapse, the black-haired, red-eyed soldier silently put down the diary in his hand. He frowned, and held the hand of a little boy covered in blood with a frightened expression, his expression gloomy.

"Your grandpa, he seems to love your father very much."

Joshua muttered to himself, "And your father also loves you very much."

Last night, after the warrior bid farewell to Titan, he headed west all the way, following the guidance of the holy mirror, and galloped towards the direction of the inheritance of the fourth sage.

The huge life energy giant was successfully shaped by releasing most of the life force contained in the Azure Orb. It was an energy far beyond the limit of his body. That's why Joshua needed to learn the compression of the Titan and the evil spirit of the atmosphere. The method is to force these energies into the body, so that the energy and flesh can be integrated into one - not relying on the relics of saints and sages, but relying on one's own strength to carry out this step.

The body has been further sublimated, and the warrior's speed is faster than before. In just one night, he completely flew out of the Shaya Mountains and crossed a prairie, but with the increasingly gloomy sky and thick fog, Shenghui The guidance of the mirror gradually became unstable, until in the end, it simply became an ordinary mirror, which could no longer provide the direction of the transmission of the power of the holy light.

Joshua was not surprised by this. The Holy Brilliance Mirror has been able to operate for so long in a world where the basic free energy is very different. It is considered that Pope Eagle is fully prepared. You know, Even he, a strong man with extreme intentions, has been restrained for most of his strength, but a small mirror of it can last for so long, which can only show that its maker is worthy of being the strongest among the legendary pinnacles, the one who walks in the world God.

According to the direction finally pointed by the mirror, Joshua flew towards the southwest direction slightly. At this time, the sun was shining on the earth, and the soldier saw many scenes that made his heart sink.

Villages destroyed by brute force, caves buried by landslides, small islands in the lake that were sunk into the bottom of the lake, and sheltered forests that were completely burned by fire... All the way, there is a dead silence all the way, and the soldiers can even tell that these are not long ago Previously, from the traces that appeared in the middle of the night, it could be distinguished that some strong men had fought around these ruins, but the result was without exception that the village was destroyed, and all the human beings who used to live here died here.

until here.

Joshua sensed an extremely faint breath of life.

This is a simple village built on an island in the middle of the river. It looks defenseless, and the scattered thick wooden walls seem to be unable to stop wild boars, but the soldiers know that these are just the appearance of the village, and those seemingly simple The defensive means and the ubiquitous wooden stakes, as long as they are controlled by a spellcaster who is proficient in plant spells, or a druid who can manipulate the power of nature, will be an unattainable barrier and ubiquitous traps.

But now, none of these methods of demonizing plants are used. Joshua restored the scene not long ago - a huge fireball fell from the sky and directly ignited the entire village. A flying enemy fought and was defeated, while the ubiquitous Death Shadow took advantage of the commotion and killed all the villagers.

Except this one.

Leading people out of the fire house that was about to collapse, Joshua, who came to the center of the village, couldn't help shaking his head when he saw the distraught little boy he was holding in his hands.

This child was stunned by his father and hid in a large earthen jar used to hold flour, and the man pressed the lid of the earthen jar with his body like this, even if he was forced by those unintelligent undead. He tore off all the flesh and blood on his back, took out most of the internal organs, and never let go of his hand.

The father used his remaining flesh and blood to cover up his child's breath of life, hiding the undead and the existence behind them, until Joshua came and pulled the boy out of the crock.

"Your name is Adair."

From the information written by Ebra in the second half of the yellowed diary, Joshua knew the name of the other party’s child. His father's bloody corpse didn't cry either, he just stood there in a daze, his eyes wandering.

But Joshua didn't care about it, he patted the little boy's head, and the soldier motioned for him to look at the burning village in front of him, with no ups and downs in his voice: "Adair, this is the village you live in, it has been destroyed Lost."

The boy, who seemed to be still dreaming, suddenly trembled all over his body.

Joshua looked at this scene, with a faint fire reflected in his eyes, he said calmly: "You have also seen the father's body."

The boy named Adair suddenly contracted painfully like a shrimp. He squatted on the ground and covered his ears with his hands, as if refusing all reality.

But the soldier only used one sentence to make him raise his head instinctively, waking up from the deep despair of losing a loved one.

"I can give you the power to revenge."

In his hand, the red dou qi condensed into a small short sword. Joshua looked at the shadow of the bat flying around the flames in the dark mist, and his voice was indefinite. He handed out the dagger, and said softly to the boy whose panic expression gradually calmed down: "The most basic thing for revenge is to live."

In mid-air, a shrill beast screamed, but it disappeared quickly.

The night passed, and the surviving boy stood in the middle of the ruined village, standing still, but in his hand, he held a blood-stained red short sword, hundreds of dead bats and bloodthirsty figures. The dead shadow of the beast just died at his feet, and then turned into fly ash under the sun's rays, becoming a part of his victory.

The warrior leaves a portion of his strength, and a fishing net to harvest it, and goes away.

The fighting spirit from the Mycroft Continent and the magic energy of this world, the first breathing method produced by the fusion of the two, was unknowingly taught by the warrior to the man in the darkness of last night. Adair's child, the strange rhythm of breathing accumulated strength in the opponent's body, turning this ordinary boy into a strong man with the ability to fight against beasts overnight.

Of course, Joshua did not deny that he was using the body of Adair, an aboriginal child, to experiment with the process of fusing the power systems of the two worlds, but even if he replayed it thousands of times that night, the boy would definitely He will not refuse his request—those who want revenge will always be filled with restless fire in their hearts, and they can't wait to burn others and burn themselves, no matter how dangerous the opportunity is, they are willing to do so.

In fact, there are many such scenes. The soldiers came to the west side of the mainland, just the ruins that they saw on the roadside every day. There are more than a dozen scenes similar to abandoned villages, which are simply too numerous to count. Of course, there are survivors in some villages, but most of the dilapidated shelters have no life at all, leaving only dead silence.

Joshua will definitely help those who can help. He will not hesitate to teach these survivors the breathing method he has carefully thought out, so that these people can practice the power of the fusion of battle energy and magic energy. The practice method does not require the original crystal, and only requires meditation to absorb free energy from the atmosphere for practice. Although the speed is relatively slow, it does save a lot of effort in finding the original crystal. Comparing the two, in this apocalyptic world, this new method is actually safer.

At every moment, the cultivation methods of the two worlds deduced in the warrior's mind will change, so that the breathing methods obtained by every survivor who encounters him are very different, and even conflict with each other, but even so, they It is the same at the core, that is, by sharpening the life energy in the body, one's own existence can be sublimated, and one's own existence can be sublimated, getting closer to the root power of the "force of steel".

This is a method of practice that leads directly to the ultimate intention, and even to a higher level!

In just a few days, Joshua left his inheritance on this continent, giving countless survivors who lost their shelter and could only hide in the mountains and forests a chance to live desperately.

As a result, many people or shadows, whether open or dark, have noticed the existence of the warrior.

At this time, Joshua was still facing west, the direction the shining mirror was originally pointing at.

Along the way, the soldiers also got some news about the Commander of the Dead Shadow—many survivors said that they once saw three-color crystal streamers cutting through the clouds in the northern sky and flying towards the distance. This is undoubtedly the trace left by those crystal golems flying.

However, although Joshua really wanted to obtain the Seed of the Holy Stone and take a step towards the legend, he did not forget his real goal.

Joshua knew that he had come to find the inheritance of the fourth sage, and got the information about the initial fire hidden in the inheritance of the sage. Pope Eagle and even all living beings in the entire Mycroft Continent were there. waiting for his action.

Grantia Continent, although it was invaded by undead natural disasters, was extremely sad, and all living beings sank into the vortex of despair and pain, experienced blood and wailing, but it was precisely because of this that the soldier could not look back, and he could not make Mycroft Continent become This world is like this, the holy stone seed on the leader of the undead is certainly an opportunity for him to advance to legend, but it’s nothing more than going in the same way. It's a trade-off.

But for some reason, Joshua, who may have been the destination of Urbani's teleportation for a long time, has come to a barren wilderness, but he still hasn't found his target.

The dragon-winged girl Shiriya seemed to have completely disappeared into the land just like that, without a trace.

I'm sorry... I went out to pick up people today. I originally planned to pick them up after noon, but the plane was late, and I couldn't help it...

4100 words

I can only congratulate Li Kui for winning the championship...