509: The eerie bronze sphere

The Universe is cold and desolate.

Li Heng's figure abruptly appeared in this void, surrounded by absolute darkness and silence, with only distant stars emitting insignificant points of light.

Earth had become a tiny azure marble behind him.

He had used only a single step.

In one step, he had traversed hundreds of millions of kilometers from his office on Kunlun Mountain to the vicinity of Jupiter's orbit.

"Tsk, it's huge."

Suspended in the void, Li Heng couldn't help but utter a sigh of admiration as he gazed at the massive gas giant planet wrapped in magnificent storm bands before him.

The energy contained within this planet was more violent than imaginable.

The terrifying gravitational force present everywhere could easily tear steel apart, and storms moving at tens of thousands of kilometers per hour were enough to grind mountains to dust.

Deep within the planet, the powerful magnetic field generated by liquid metallic hydrogen formed a natural death zone.

Even an ordinary Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator would have to tread carefully in such a hellish place; a single misstep, and their Divine Soul could be shredded by the violent energy storms.

"Choosing this hellhole for a lair? Are they out of their minds?"

Li Heng stroked his chin, his interest piqued.

Logically, Cultivators prefer blessed lands rich in Spiritual Qi and with stable environments.

But these guys from Guixu were the opposite, establishing their headquarters in this lifeless inferno.

Where there is abnormality, there must be something sinister.

He wasn't afraid of the planet's environment. His Mahayana Stage cultivation allowed him to walk sideways across the Universe.

It's just... He glanced at the massive storm eye, comparable to a doomsday scene, and thought it would be a bit troublesome to personally dive into it.

What if his clothes got dirty?

Thinking this, Li Heng willed his thoughts into action.

"One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones."

The space beside him rippled slightly, and a figure identical to himself walked out.

"Go, scout the way down," the Li Heng original lazily waved his hand, as if sending off an errand boy.

"Received."

The Clone nodded without another word, transforming into a streak of light and charging directly into Jupiter's thick, violent atmosphere.

The Li Heng original casually pulled a Grand Master's chair from the void and took out a pack of spicy stripss. Leaning back with his legs crossed, he tore open the packaging and watched the Clone's performance with leisurely anticipation... The Clone's speed was extreme, plunging headfirst into the orange-red storm in the blink of an eye.

Boom!

The moment it entered, a terrifying pressure, enough to crush an aircraft carrier fleet, surged from all directions.

The surrounding air currents were no longer wind but near-solid torrents of energy, carrying countless ionized particles that frantically scoured and slashed at the Clone's body.

Crack! Crack!

In the sky, massive lightning bolts thicker than mountain ranges appeared out of thin air and struck down without warning. The power of each bolt was enough to instantly vaporize a city.

The Clone paid no heed, a faint golden light enveloping its body, blocking all attacks.

Like a stone cast into a raging sea, it sank unwaveringly toward the planet's depths.

The deeper it went, the greater the pressure and the more violent the energy became.

Gradually, the surroundings were no longer gaseous but turned into a viscous liquid.

This was an ocean of liquid hydrogen compressed by ultra-high pressure, with temperature and pressure reaching unimaginable levels.

"This is getting interesting."

Far away in space, the Li Heng original, connected to the Clone, sensed everything. Chewing on a spicy strips, a glint of genuine interest finally appeared in his eyes.

Such an environment could indeed block most external Divine Thought probes.

If he hadn't come personally, he probably wouldn't have discovered the trickery here.

The Clone continued to descend.

After traversing an unknown depth, what lay below was no longer liquid hydrogen but a bizarre metallic luster.

Liquid metallic hydrogen!

This was the source of Jupiter's magnetic field.

At that moment, the Clone stopped.

It sensed an extremely subtle yet familiar fluctuation from below.

It was the aura of that eerie flesh from inside Mount Fuji.

Found it.

Without hesitation, the Clone transformed into a sharp sword, instantly piercing through the churning metallic ocean and arriving at the very core of this gas giant planet.

The expected rocky core did not appear.

The scene before it caused the Clone to halt in place.

Even the Li Heng original, far away in orbit and about to open another pack of spicy stripss, paused his movements.

The core of Jupiter was actually hollow.

An incredibly massive bronze sphere floated in this core region.

The sphere was as large as the Moon. Its surface was inscribed with countless intricate and sinister runes, forming an unprecedented super array.

Countless black pipes, as thick as mountain ranges, extended from the giant bronze sphere, deeply embedded into the surrounding liquid metallic hydrogen like greedy straws, frantically siphoning the planet's most fundamental Origin energy.

The entire Jupiter had become a giant "battery" providing it with power!

And right at the center of the bronze sphere, there was a huge gap.

Through the gap, the Clone saw the interior.

Its pupils constricted sharply.

Inside the sphere, densely packed were hundreds of millions of giant flesh cocoons suspended in the air.

Each flesh cocoon was a hundred meters tall, its surface covered with vein-like patterns that pulsed rhythmically with the infusion of energy, like enormous hearts.

Waves of evil, chaotic, and destructive auras emanated from these flesh cocoons.

This wasn't a lair; it was more like a... munitions factory!

An incubation ground for breeding terrifying creatures!

Just as the Clone was shocked.

One of the flesh cocoons located at the very center suddenly glowed with a sinister red light from its surface veins.

"Squelch—"

A crack split open at the top of the cocoon, and thick green liquid flowed out.

Immediately after, a pale, emaciated arm covered with sharp bone spikes reached out from the crack.

The arm pushed forcefully, and a naked, pitch-black humanoid creature with a pair of tattered bat wings on its back struggled to crawl out of the flesh cocoon.

The Clone clearly saw that the creature's face was unmistakably a distorted, agonized human visage!

And at that very moment, far away in the void billions of kilometers distant.

"Plop."

The spicy strips in Li Heng's hand fell to the ground.

He slowly sat up straight.

For the first time, a serious expression appeared on his perpetually indifferent, lazy face.