The ruins of Valyria were a maze of death, but for Ying Mo holding a map, it was as if he were using a wallhack—the route was clearly visible.
In *Forging Notes of Master Gaemon*, that rough yet crucial map served as his construction blueprint.
He was no longer a survivor wandering directionlessly through the ruins, but an engineer about to kick off a new project—cool-headed and clear-focused.
He studied the map carefully.
It lacked coordinates, showing only ancient Valyrian star charts, relative positions of key landmark buildings, and markings he couldn’t quite grasp that resembled wind directions or energy flows.
Master Gaemon had hidden the forge exceptionally deep, utilizing three of the tallest towers as anchor points to form an equilateral triangle.
The entrance to the forge lay right at the geometric center of this triangle.
Ying Mo cross-referenced the map with the real ruins while performing complex surveying calculations in his mind.
His greyscale was flaring up again.
The skin around his ankle had completely lost sensation, taking on a dark gray, rock-like texture, while that heart-chilling numbness was slowly creeping up toward his calf.
Time was his most precious resource—and his most lethal enemy.
“Let’s go, Comet.
Time to work,” Ying Mo patted Comet, who had grown to the size of a leopard, and swung onto its broad back.
Though they lacked a saddle, the mental link between man and dragon was more than enough.
Comet let out a low snort, dug its limbs into the ground, and bounded through the twisted cityscape, flawlessly executing the optimal route mapped out in Ying Mo’s mind.
Comet’s senses were far sharper than a human’s.
It could not only see and hear, but also perceive the flow of energy.
According to the notebook, the Ever-Burning Subterranean Forge continuously emitted a unique energy signature, like a beacon in a magical world.
Guided by Comet, they eventually arrived at the foot of a massive mountain.
Most of the mountain had melted together with surrounding structures, forming an impassable black cliff.
“This is it!” Ying Mo’s spirits rose.
Comet stopped before a smooth cliff face that looked as if it had been sheared by a giant sword.
There were no obvious signs of anything special here, but Comet clawed at the ground restlessly, uttering low growls.
It could feel a warm, majestic surge of flame energy hidden behind the wall.
The notes mentioned that the entrance to the forge could only be opened by someone of the Gaemon bloodline—an ancient magical authorization mechanism.
Ying Mo possessed no Targaryen or dragonlord blood; he wasn’t even from this world.
But he had his own trump card.
A so-called bloodline authorization was essentially a biological security key.
And Comet was a creation of the Dragon God, its lineage originating from an entity far older and grander than the Valyrian dragonlords.
If even Comet couldn’t pass it, no one in this world would ever open this door.
He reached out, meticulously searching the cliff face.
Soon, he located an area that felt distinctly different from the rest.
There was an indented groove resembling a dragon claw print.
Embedded in the center was a dark red stone pulsing like a beating heart.
*Energy core…* Ying Mo instantly identified it as the magic door’s “central processing unit.” He didn’t bother trying his own blood; that would be pointless.
Stepping back, he transmitted an instruction through their mental link.
*Comet, press your claw against it.* Understanding immediately, Comet stepped up to the wall, raised its silver-scute-covered claw, and pressed it squarely into the claw print.
*Buzz—* Countless hidden runes across the cliff face instantly activated, flaring with blood-red light.
Spreading like a massive spiderweb, energy surged frantically toward Comet’s claw, attempting to drain its life force.
*Trying to siphon my dragon’s energy?
In your dreams!* Ying Mo sneered silently.
*Comet, don’t resist!
Flow with its circuit and force-feed it power with your dragon qi!* It was a wild idea.
The magical runes functioned like a complex circuit board, and Ying Mo intended to blow its fuses by slamming it with a voltage far beyond its rated capacity!
Comet roared, the energy cores on its wingtips abruptly blazing to life.
A surge of crimson dragon energy, far purer and more tyrannical than the runes, flooded wildly down its claw and directly into the rune network!
*Sizzle—* Blinding, dazzling light burst across the cliff, accompanied by a grating sound like shattering glass echoing through the air.
Under the violent impact of the dragon qi, the glowing runes flickered wildly, threatening to collapse.
The dark red stone in the center reached a peak of brilliance!
*BOOM!* With a loud blast, the stone overloaded completely and exploded!
All the rune light instantly vanished.
With a deep, grinding shudder, the massive stone door integrated into the mountain slowly swung inward, revealing a pitch-black cavern.
A wave of scorching air, laced with sulfur and metallic fumes, billowed from within.
Standing at the entrance, Ying Mo felt the heat hit him—and to his surprise, the irritating numbness in his leg miraculously subsided quite a bit.
High heat really could inhibit the activity of greyscale!
Wild joy surged in his chest.
At the end of the cavern lay an underground chamber vast beyond imagination.
In the center was a bottomless vertical shaft where scorching magma churned slowly, emitting a dark red glow that illuminated the entire cavern like a hellish furnace.
This was the Ever-Burning Geothermal Fire!
Beside the shaft stood a massive, ancient set of forging equipment.
A bronze furnace body, an anvil crafted from an unknown metal—everything exuded the weight and power of ages past.
However, the giant bellows connected to the furnace had long since rotted away.
Its once-sturdy wooden frame had collapsed into a pile of decay, emitting a musty stench, while the leather covering the surface was tattered with thousands of holes, reduced to a few blackened, foul shreds that flaked into debris at the slightest breeze.
Yet a smile curled on Ying Mo’s lips.
“Excellent.
Looks like I’ll need to give this ancient relic a modern heart first.”