64: Chapter 64 The Abyss Demon God's "Buffet," and the First Internal Combustion Engine in the Cultivation World

The Setting Sun Plains, that name was now a thing of the past.

Now, it had a new designation — the Tianhe No. 1 Oilfield.

The aesthetic here had also completely severed any connection with the words 'immortal grace and Taoist elegance'.

As far as the eye could see, there were no longer any verdant mountains.

In their place stood a black forest forged from steel and rock.

Thick conduits, forged from special Materials provided by the Shadow Sect, plunged deep into the mountain like the blood vessels of a giant beast.

Black, viscous liquid gurgled as it flowed through these conduits.

That was the grease of an Ancient God.

The highest-grade Origin energy in this plane.

It converged ceaselessly into massive oil storage tanks that stood tall like mountains.

"Heave-ho! One, two, three! Push!"

A group of bare-chested, heavily muscled Shadow Sect assassins shouted a rough work chant as they strained together to turn a massive winch. Sweat mixed with oil stains glistened on their bronze skin.

Not far away, in the Artifact Refining zone, a frenzied creativity was in full swing.

The Grand Elder was leading a group of Artifact Refiners in what could only be described as a deranged modification of a pile of Flying Swords of various shapes.

"Grand Elder! Isn't the exhaust pipe on this Flying Sword a bit too thick?" a Disciple asked, his face full of confusion.

"Too thick?!"

The Grand Elder's eyes widened. Gripping a massive wrench, he spat as he spoke.

"We're burning 'Divine Oil'!"

"If the exhaust pipe isn't thick enough, how can we unleash the power?! Add twin turbochargers! I want it to go from zero to a hundred kilometers in half a breath!"

BOOM——!!!

Before his words had even faded, a Disciple nearby had just completed his test flight.

The modified "fuel-powered Flying Sword" suddenly shot a dazzling blue flame, ten zhang long, from its tail.

The Disciple didn't even have time to scream before he let out a 'whoosh' and vanished into the sky as a streak of light.

High in the firmament, only a lingering ring of white sonic boom clouds remained.

"Good! Very spirited!"

Lei Wanjun, the current Deputy Head of Security and Energy Director, watched this shocking scene, his beard trembling slightly in the agitated Spiritual Qi from excitement.

"This is power!"

"This is the beauty of industry!"

...

At the same time, on the original Scripture Pavilion second-floor balcony of the tianhe vessel.

Li Mo held a cup of specially brewed "oil coffee", which was in fact a type of preliminary refined black spiritual liquid.

He looked down upon the bustling scene below, taking it all in.

The Cultivation World's "First Industrial Revolution" had officially begun.

"Cousin..."

Chu Linger wrinkled her small nose, pinched it, and leaned over, her face a mask of disgust.

"This smell is so pungent, and... are you really sure this stuff can be used for Cultivation?"

"Of course it can."

Li Mo put down his cup, his tone certain.

"This is the life-fat of an Ancient God. Its energy density is ten thousand times that of a Top-Grade Spirit Stone."

"As long as we perfectly solve the potential Qi Deviation problem caused by 'incomplete combustion', it is the most perfect Cultivation energy source in this Universe."

No sooner had the words left his mouth.

[Alert! Alert!]

[High-dimensional, high-energy biological signature detected!]

[Source: Abyssal Realm, 66th Layer.]

[Target is tearing through planar barrier... Target has locked onto the 'oilfield' area!]

Li Mo's System interface was instantly flooded with glaring crimson warning boxes.

The next second.

The previously clear sky darkened without warning.

The thick, greasy odor over the oilfield was instantly overwhelmed by a more primal, more fetid, disgusting stench mixing sulfur and rot.

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

A tremendous stomach rumble, like rolling thunder from the Nine Heavens, echoed across the sky.

The space directly above the oilfield began to violently distort before being torn asunder by a brutal force!

An enormous rift tore open in mid-air.

A fat, bloated, giant hand covered in festering sores and black fangs thrust out from the crack, gripping the edge of the rift with a death grip.

Next, an enormous head squeezed through.

It was a giant monster resembling a cross between a toad and a fat pig.

It had no eyes. Its entire face was dominated by a giant maw occupying two-thirds of the area.

A waterfall of foul-smelling drool poured from the maw, landing on the storage tanks below and immediately sizzling with intense corrosive sounds.

One of the Seven Great Abyssal Demon Gods.

[Gluttony Demon God · Beelzebub (Clone)].]

"Smells... good..."

"Such... a... good... smell..."

Beelzebub uttered a slurred, yet heaven-shaking murmur.

Its sense of smell was number one in the Abyss. Even across hundreds of planes, it had accurately caught the scent of the "Ancient God grease" emanating from this place.

To an Abyssal creature, what was this but oil?

This was clearly a pot of "Supreme braised pork soup" stewed for eons with divine bones!

"Meat... soup..."

Beelzebub's mountainous body violently squeezed completely through the spatial rift.

It crashed down right in the center of the oilfield, instantly crushing over a dozen newly built derricks, shaking the earth.

"Wha... what kind of monster is that?!"

The Grand Elder, who had been refining artifacts, was so frightened his wrench clattered to the ground. "That size... it's even bigger than the gastric acid giant from before?!"

"ROAR!" (Chow time!)

Beelzebub completely ignored the "insects" surrounding it that it considered as insignificant as ants.

All its senses were focused on the massive storage tanks filled with black liquid.

It extended a giant hand, grabbing a several-hundred-ton storage tank as easily as a Mortal would pick up a wine cup.

Then, it tilted its head back and opened its abyssal maw.

Gulp! Gulp!

Several hundred tons of unrefined Ancient God crude oil were poured down its throat in one go.

"BURP—"

Beelzebub let out a snapping burp, its face (if it could be called that) showing an expression of extreme intoxication.

"De...li...cious... High... en...ergy..."

Not yet satisfied, it grabbed a second, then a third storage tank...

"Stop! That's my oil!"

Lei Wanjun's eyes turned crimson. This was the strategic resource he and his brothers had worked so hard to extract!

He immediately summoned his newly modified "fuel-powered Flying Sword", ready to charge and fight the monster to the death.

"Stand down."

Li Mo's voice, calm to the point of coldness, came through the vessel's amplification array.

"Let it drink."

"Mr. Li?!" Lei Wanjun couldn't understand.

"Old Lei, didn't you attend my lecture on 'Basic Principles of Internal Combustion Engines'?"

Li Mo stood at the vessel's bow, donning a pair of special goggles. A peculiarly shaped red remote control appeared in his hand.

His voice spread across the entire oilfield via the array.

"For an engine to work, it requires three core steps."

"Step one: The intake stroke. It's breathing, so air is already present."

"Step two: Fuel injection. As you can see, it's drinking quite happily now."

"Now, its stomach is filled with a mixture of highly compressed air and ultra-high-energy fuel."

Li Mo's gaze fell upon the Gluttony Demon God, who had already consumed thousands of tons of crude oil, its belly swollen like a ball.

The corner of his mouth curled into a "nuclear-friendly" smile.

"So the only thing it's missing now..."

"is just a spark plug to ignite it."

Below.

Beelzebub was already drunk on the oil.

It felt its whole body burning hot, the energy inside it churning wildly. This "Ancient God grease" was too potent! More nourishing than any powerful Soul it had ever devoured in the Abyss!

"Need... more..."

It staggered to its feet, casting a greedy gaze towards the central main pipeline of the oilfield, the one directly connected to the earth's veins.

Just as it prepared to pounce and drink directly from the pipeline.

Whoosh!

A crimson spear burning with strange runes shot down from the tianhe vessel in the sky!

That was no ordinary spear.

It was a — [Abyss-Specialized · Remote Ignition Device] — personally crafted by Li Mo using a combination of "Explosion Aesthetics" and "Second Law of Thermodynamics Runes".

"Step three: Compression and power stroke."

"In other words — ignition."

Li Mo casually pressed the button on his remote control.

The spear shot with pinpoint accuracy into Beelzebub's gaping maw, sliding down its esophagus and into its stomach, now filled with crude oil and air.

BOOM——!!!

A muffled sound, deep as tectonic plates grinding against each other, erupted from within Beelzebub's belly.

Its movements froze instantly.

The next moment, its massive body began to glow with an ominous crimson light from within, growing brighter and brighter!

The thousands of tons of Ancient God crude oil inside it were completely ignited at that moment by that tiny "spark plug"!

Within the sealed, high-pressure environment formed by the Demon God's incredibly resilient stomach walls, the terrifying expansive force generated by the combustion had nowhere to vent.

Except... through the one and only exit.

"Roar...?" (What's happening? My stomach feels so hot... so scalding...)

Beelzebub didn't even have time to figure it out.

POOF——!!!

A terrifying blue pillar of fire, bright enough to illuminate the entire Southern Wastes night sky, violently erupted from its... rear end!

Newton's Third Law of Motion demonstrated its equally tyrannical nature in the Cultivation World at this moment.

The immense reaction force transformed into unparalleled, terrifying thrust!

"Woo-hoo——!!!"

Accompanied by a bizarre shriek that belonged neither to this world nor to an Abyssal Demon God.

That mountain of flesh, the Gluttony Demon God, transformed into an ultra-large-yield "biomass energy rocket", and shot into the sky at a speed invisible to the naked eye with a 'whoosh'!

Its speed was so great it even left behind a slowly dissipating Residual Shadow in its original spot.

"It... it flew away?"

On the ground, Kong Mengchang pushed up his askew safety helmet, dumbfounded.

"This... this is what Mr. Li calls... science Cultivation?"

"No."

Sima Xing beside him corrected solemnly, holding a speed-measuring Magic Treasure.

"This is called 'biomass energy directional propulsion technology'."

High in the sky.

Beelzebub was utterly bewildered.

It wanted to stop, but the terrifying pillar of fire behind it was completely out of its control. The crude oil inside its body continued to burn steadily, propelling it towards higher, more distant reaches of the firmament.

It passed through the cloud layer.

It passed through the astral wind layer.

Finally, propelled by its terrifying, unstoppable speed, it crashed headlong towards the recently closed, lofty... Immortal Realm's Celestial Gate hanging in the sky.

THUD——!!!

A sound loud enough to shatter stars reverberated throughout the entire Human Realm.

Beelzebub's massive and incredibly hard Demon God body became the most primitive, most savage battering ram, smashing violently against that massive azure cloud gate.

The "Celestial Punishment Inspector" nailed to the gate as a door knocker watched helplessly as a giant, still-flaming rear end rapidly expanded in his vision, not even having time to close his eyes.

"NO——!!!"

BOOM!

Under this earth-shattering impact, the massive azure cloud gate... was actually forced open a huge crack.

Beelzebub was jammed perfectly in the crack.

Its upper body had barged into the Immortal Realm, its lower half remained in the Human Realm, the fire on its rear end gradually extinguishing due to insufficient fuel.

"Help... me..."

Beelzebub emitted an extremely weak plea for help.

But the Immortal Realm side clearly had no intention of welcoming it.

Several terrifying beams of immortal light, brimming with destructive aura, immediately locked onto its "invader" head and blasted down.

"AHHH!!!"

Beelzebub let out a final scream, struggling desperately.

"It seems our 'carrier rocket' failed to achieve orbit."

Li Mo looked at the wondrous sight in the sky, a hint of a project manager's regret in his tone.

"But it's fine."

"At the very least, we successfully collected valuable experimental data, proving that the Ancient God brand crude oil's combustion value... is indeed very high."

He turned and looked at the petrified Lei Wanjun, Gu Canghai, and the others behind him.

"Alright, stop staring."

"Was all the experimental data recorded?"

"This is precious first-hand data for our journey towards the stars and the sea."

"From now on, our Shadow Sect's standard vessels will be modified to this specification."

"I've even thought of a name."

"Let's call them — [Gluttony-class · Interstellar Cruisers]."

Lei Wanjun's hand trembled as he noted down this moment, destined to be recorded in history.

At that moment.

Jammed in the Celestial Gate, Beelzebub, having completely exhausted its energy, finally stopped spewing fire.

It was like a giant, ugly plug, firmly blocking the entrance from the Immortal Realm to the Human Realm.

Those from the Immortal Realm could not come down.

And all the Cultivators in the Human Realm looked up at the massive, clearly outlined rear end in the sky and collectively fell into silence.

"Mr. Li."

Kong Mengchang hesitated for a long time before finally asking, "That... the rear end hanging in the sky... isn't it a bit... unsightly?"

Li Mo looked up.

He replied calmly:

"Then consider it... tonight's sunset."

"After all, it is quite round, and quite red."