https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-922-The-Secrets-of-the-Sunlit-Labyrinth-Part-21-Reaching-a-Consensus/12827219/
Chapter 923: The Sunlight Secret Realm (Conclusion)
Chapter 923: The Sunlight Secret Realm (Conclusion)
At 6 AM, over a thousand villagers received a notification from the Matriarch to gather at the northern entrance of the village.
The Matriarch, the clan leader, held more authority than any village chief on Blue Star, and no one dared to ignore her summons.
Families rushed to the village entrance as soon as they received the message.
The Matriarch wasted no time.
Once most of the villagers had gathered, she immediately explained the situation.
Upon hearing the news, the villagers erupted into chaos.
"What? The volcano is about to erupt?!"
"Didn't it erupt 800 years ago? How could it happen so soon again?"
"Is the village going to be destroyed? I just built a new house for my daughter's wedding this year!"
"Thank goodness the divine oracle came in time, or we would have been burned to death by lava!"
The villagers were utterly shocked.
The threat to their survival put everyone on edge.
The Matriarch concluded loudly, "No matter what, this is the land we have lived on for generations. We cannot stand idly by and watch our land be destroyed. We must take action to save our home! All young, middle-aged, and able-bodied men and women, if you feel you can contribute, come with me to the mountain!"
"Up the mountain!"
"Up the mountain!"
"Up the mountain!"
The crowd's emotions were ignited, and their enthusiasm soared.
Everyone, except the old, weak, and young children, followed the Matriarch with red eyes, determined to defend their home.
The Matriarch left Jenny in charge of organizing the elderly and young for simple logistics while leading the main force up the mountain.
A massive, race-against-time project was thus launched.
...
The project continued for two days and two nights.
By the morning of the fifth day, the adventurers had entered the secret realm.
During these two days and nights, many significant events unfolded in Sunlight Village.
Let's start with the volcano.
Initially, the volcano showed no signs of activity.
However, as time passed, the volcano's internal movements became increasingly evident. Even ordinary people lying on the ground could hear the strange noises coming from within.
The roughly 700 able-bodied villagers of Sunlight Village worked tirelessly, digging, building embankments, and constructing diversion channels, racing against time.
However, the strength of ordinary people was limited.
Working such heavy labor, they would tire after an hour or two and need long breaks.
Moreover, ordinary people needed to sleep at night, meaning they could only work for two-thirds of the 24-hour day.
Low efficiency and short working hours.
Therefore, the bulk of the project fell on the 50 adventurers and 100 first-stage or higher Blue Star natives.
The adventurers exchanged all their Red Shell Coins for potions that restored stamina and energy, drinking them freely.
With ample food and water, these cultivators worked like excavators with always-full fuel tanks, operating non-stop for 24 hours.
Among the cultivators, Su Yu was the most prominent, contributing more than anyone else, save the Matriarch.
Su Yu operated like a heavy-duty excavator, working at high speed without stopping. His output was equivalent to that of three or four excavators!
Apart from occasionally participating in the Supervisory Committee's discussions, he spent his time diligently digging according to the plan.
Whenever he felt tired, he immediately drank a potion and continued working.
Even the legendary seven-times-a-night men from novels would be ashamed to see Su Yu's state.
Seeing Su Yu and the adventurers work so diligently, the Blue Star natives were filled with admiration.
It was truly thanks to these adventurers that such a massive project could be completed in just two days.
...
The Matriarch and the deity were not idle either.
The Matriarch, a spellcaster, did not personally dig the earth.
However, she continuously cast beneficial spells, such as enhancing the strength of Su Yu and the adventurers, and reducing the weight of the carts used to transport soil.
Her presence not only accelerated the project's progress but also made everyone's work more efficient and energetic.
The only drawback was that the Matriarch's mana value recovered very faster.
The deity, busy frequently bestowing divine miracles, could not use divine power to replenish the Matriarch's mana.
Once her mana was depleted, the Matriarch, as a spellcaster, found herself in an awkward position.
Reluctantly, she had to use over a dozen high-grade mana restoration potions she had stored for years, restoring some mana and continuing to cast buffs.
This potion was purchased by the Matriarch from a distant city and is extremely precious.
Additionally, Su Yu noticed that the potion the Matriarch drank had a manufacturing process very similar to that in the Evolution game, which is entirely different from the Skrul planet's technology.
Combined with the information he gathered from the Matriarch, the secret realm contains many large cities and countries with well-established governmental structures.
This made him wonder—could this be a real world?
...
Now, let's talk about the deities.
The greatest ability of the deities is to use their divine power to control the weather.
Originally, on the first day of their work, a heavy rainstorm was expected.
If the rain had fallen, the entire area would have turned into a muddy mess, making it impossible for ordinary people to work, and their project would have been doomed!
However, the deities used their powerful divine powers to disperse the dark clouds overhead.
The sky cleared up, allowing the project to proceed smoothly.
Apart from controlling the weather, the deities continuously issued divine decrees to accelerate the project's progress in every way possible.
The deities were fighting for their own survival, and in the past two days, they issued more divine decrees than in the previous 20 years combined.
...
Trucks loaded with soil and rocks were continuously transported down the mountain, and the project progressed rapidly with the combined efforts of all parties involved.
Finally, on the morning of the fifth day, the project was officially completed!
It took two days and two nights, but this massive project was miraculously finished!
In the past, if lava erupted from the top of the volcano, it would flow unimpeded down the slope, destroying the entire village before flowing into the lake.
But things are different now!
Through the joint efforts of the adventurers and the villagers, they built a 5-meter-high, 200-meter-long defensive embankment along the path the lava must take. The embankment is strong enough to block the lava's path.
To prevent the lava from accumulating, they also dug a 30-meter-wide, 3-kilometer-long drainage channel on one side of the embankment.
This channel can directly divert the lava blocked by the embankment into the gorges on the other side of the mountain.
Most impressively, the deities used their divine powers to conduct numerous simulations.
After the tests, it was confirmed that the embankment and the drainage channel would work together with 100% effectiveness, putting everyone at ease.
...
Two hours after the completion of the project, the inevitable happened—the volcano was about to erupt!
The signs of an impending eruption were already very evident.
Most of the snow on the mountaintop had melted, likely due to the high temperature.
The rumbling sounds from inside the mountain grew more intense, accompanied by occasional minor earthquakes.
Su Yu and the stronger adventurers and villagers stood 30 meters behind the embankment, nervously watching the volcano about to erupt.
The weaker villagers and the elderly, women, and children had already been evacuated to the opposite side of the Sunlake, where the eruption would have no impact.
Among the crowd, Jenny stood beside Su Yu.
She had forgotten all about etiquette and was tightly gripping Su Yu's hand.
Su Yu could feel that the girl's palms were sweaty.
Although he couldn't comfort her much, he gently squeezed her hand to reassure her.
While comforting Jenny, Su Yu asked the deity, "The eruption is about to start. Will our current position be burned by the lava? Should we retreat further?"
"No need," the deity's voice echoed overhead. "We have many fire-resistant stones here. The shields they release will be enough to protect everyone's safety."
"Alright," Su Yu nodded.
Old Li stood behind Su Yu.
Looking at the impending eruption, he sighed, "To be honest, this is the first time I've seen a real volcano outside of videos and games!"
Cloud Shepherd, standing beside him, smiled bitterly, "To tell the truth, I've seen a real volcano. The first time I came to Skrul, I emerged from the volcano's crater, wading through lava."
"Did you taste the lava while you were at it?" Old Li asked.
Cloud Shepherd replied, "Of course, but it was too hot and didn't taste good at all."
Their conversation left the blue-skinned natives behind them speechless.
What were these two talking about? They couldn't follow their train of thought at all.
But soon, the natives' attention was drawn away.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the long-awaited volcano finally erupted!
A massive hole appeared at the top of the volcano, causing the ground to shake violently.
Immediately, fiery red lava shot out like a giant fountain, reaching several dozen meters high!
The lava was accompanied by several silver-white lightning bolts, adding even more to the volcano's terrifying presence.
Under the force of gravity, the sky-high lava fell back to the ground.
At the same time, a massive black smoke column formed directly above the volcano, shooting up into the sky.
The overflowing lava erupted from the volcano, with one stream following the terrain toward Su Yu and his companions.
"Wow, this is absolutely breathtaking! Nature truly is a master of its craft!" Old Li exclaimed, "For the entire planet, a volcanic eruption must be like a pimple bursting on our face, right?"
"No, not that exaggerated," Yun Zhongmudi replied, "Proportionally, a mountain's height relative to the planet is much less than the height of a goosebump on a person, so it's not as dramatic as a pimple."
Old Li was speechless for a moment.
But he quickly added, "This volcano is erupting with lightning and thunder? That must be different from our Blue Planet, right? The videos I've seen don't show anything like this."
"Cough, actually, it's quite similar," Yun Zhongmudi said, scratching his nose. "On our Blue Planet, lightning and thunder can also occur during volcanic eruptions. The appearance of lightning is actually a physical phenomenon. When a volcano erupts, it creates an upward thermal current, forming a low-pressure area above it. The surrounding area is cold air, creating conditions for air convection. When the thermal current is strong enough, the convection intensity increases, generating electric currents through friction. When the current reaches a certain level, it forms lightning..."
"Stop, stop, stop! I didn't come here for a physics lesson!" Old Li's head was spinning, and he quickly interrupted.
At that moment, Zhong Feng's eyes lit up. "Here it comes! Everyone, be careful!"
While Yun Zhongmudi was explaining the physics, the fiery lava had already flowed down the terrain and crashed into the defensive embankment.
The lava splashed against the embankment, sending sparks flying. As the lava approached, the temperature around them rapidly increased.
The deity immediately used a large Fire Shield Stone, creating a massive egg-shaped red protective barrier with a diameter of fifty to sixty meters around them, enveloping them inside.
This protective barrier not only resisted the fire but also effectively absorbed the surrounding heat.
Soon, Su Yu and his companions felt the temperature around them return to normal, no longer as scorching as before.
...
After crashing into the embankment, the lava had nowhere to go.
Reluctantly, the lava flowed toward the lower side of the embankment and successfully entered the drainage channel.
The large Fire Shield Stone's protective barrier played a significant role, helping the embankment withstand much of the lava's impact.
Gradually, the lava failed to overflow the embankment and was diverted into the drainage channels.
Volcanic eruptions are typically most intense at the beginning, and the lava flow weakens over time.
Seeing the embankment and drainage channels successfully hold back the first wave of lava, the Blue Planet natives were elated. "Yay! We did it!"
"Our village is safe!"
Jenny also threw herself into Su Yu's arms, jumping up to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you, adventurer, for saving our village!"
"Ah, you're welcome," Su Yu said, caught off guard by Jenny's sudden "attack."
Zhong Feng stood nearby, teasing, "No wonder, Su Yu. You always seem to have a way with women, no matter where you go."
"Let's not talk about that. We need to leave soon," Su Yu replied with a faint smile.
He called out into the air, "Deities, the 10,000 shell coins you promised us—can we have them now?"
The deity's voice soon echoed from the void. "Of course. But let's skip the shell coins. I'll give you what you want directly."
Suddenly, a golden rain fell from the sky.
The golden rain quickly descended, transforming into droplets that landed in each adventurer's hand.
These "droplets" were golden rhombic crystals, known as "Sun Essence."
Using the essence, they could leave the secret realm smoothly.
Holding the essence in their hands, the 50 adventurers all smiled with relief.
Their hard work had not been in vain, and they could finally leave alive!
"Jenny, we have to go. See you again!" Su Yu didn't hesitate and used the essence.
Jenny was clearly very reluctant to let him go.
But she had no choice, watching as Su Yu's figure gradually disappeared. "Yes, see you again, Su Yu."
(End of Chapter)
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