Lin Mu stood above the magma sea, feeling more than a little awkward as countless dwarves stared at him with expressions ranging from relief to irritation to outright disbelief.

The gigantic magma colossus that had nearly caused the entirety of Mantleheim to mobilize for war had completely vanished now. The oceans of lava that had risen into the skies slowly settled back down while the rivers flowing through the dwarven city gradually returned to normal.

Even the oppressive pressure hanging over the realm dispersed little by little.

Lin Mu himself had already returned to his ordinary appearance.

Or at least as ordinary as he could appear after spending eight months cultivating beneath a magma ocean.

The faint magma-like cracks beneath his skin had faded away and his aura had calmed considerably. Still, traces of the terrifying elemental pressure lingered around him unconsciously.

Shrubby meanwhile sat beside him proudly as if he had personally defeated the giant magma monster himself.

Several dwarves looked at the beast with complicated expressions.

They still vividly remembered the moment the giant molten colossus had appeared and how Shrubby had immediately charged at it without hesitation.

One younger dwarf muttered under his breath that the beast either possessed terrifying courage or absolutely no intelligence. A nearby elder immediately replied that those two qualities were often the same thing among powerful beasts.

It took several minutes of explanation before the atmosphere finally calmed down.

Thankfully, once Lin Mu began describing what had happened, the transcendents quickly understood that he truly had not done any of it intentionally.

Apparently, while cultivating within the magma sea, one of his techniques had naturally evolved after reaching a new stage of comprehension.

Daoist Chu immediately narrowed his eyes thoughtfully upon hearing that.

Unlike the others, he already had a fairly good guess regarding what had happened.

"The Longgui Bulwark Armor Technique?" he asked.

Lin Mu nodded.

"The third skill within it," he explained. "Magma Fury reached a new level of understanding during cultivation."

Meng Bai’s eyes widened instantly.

"Master, was that giant form really part of the technique?" he asked excitedly.

Lin Mu nodded again.

"The technique evolved after resonating with my Fire, Earth, and Metal Dao Embryos," he explained calmly. "The magma sea amplified it greatly."

Cattaleya meanwhile looked genuinely excited now.

The earlier tension vanished entirely from her face and was replaced with battle intent.

"You mean you can actually turn into that thing?" she asked while grinning widely.

"Partially," Lin Mu answered honestly.

The Fireforge transcendents also became interested now.

One of the elder dwarves crossed his arms while looking toward the magma sea thoughtfully.

"If the technique evolved," he said slowly, "then you should give the new form a proper name."

Lin Mu thought quietly for several moments.

The image of the towering magma giant naturally surfaced within his mind once more.

The colossal body.

The molten armor.

The overwhelming force.

Finally, he spoke.

"Longgui Bulwark Armor Technique," he began slowly. "Magma Fury... Magma Colossus."

The surrounding dwarves immediately nodded approvingly.

"That fits well."

"Aye, definitely a colossus."

"That thing looked like it could wrestle a world fragment."

Meng Bai looked even more excited now.

"Master, can you really grow that tall now?" he asked eagerly.

Lin Mu immediately shook his head.

"That size was only possible because I was inside the magma sea," he explained. "The surrounding magma became part of the technique itself. Without external material, the form should only reach around a hundred meters."

Silence briefly followed his words.

Then several dwarves simultaneously choked.

"Only a hundred meters?" one repeated weakly.

Even Cattaleya stared at him strangely.

Lin Mu blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"A hundred meter tall battle form is not normal," Elyon finally said flatly.

Lin Mu paused for a second.

"...Fair enough."

Even among immortal beasts, reaching such size was uncommon unless one specialized in gigantism or possessed ancient bloodlines. Many celestial beasts themselves never reached that scale physically.

Yet Lin Mu had casually spoken of it as though discussing minor details.

Jing Wei burst into laughter beside them.

"You really got stronger again," he said while shaking his head.

Lin Mu smiled faintly.

"I learned quite a bit," he admitted honestly.

And that was the truth.

The last eight months had not merely been simple secluded cultivation.

Completing three elemental cores had fundamentally changed the way he interacted with the world itself. Combined with the forging process, his understanding of elemental resonance and natural forces had deepened enormously.

The magma sea had simply become the final catalyst.

Eventually, once everyone confirmed there was no danger anymore, Mantleheim slowly returned to normal.

The defensive formations powered down.

The dwarves returned to their forges.

And countless exaggerated stories about Lin Mu accidentally becoming a world-ending magma titan immediately started spreading across the hidden kingdom.

Somewhere in the distance, Lin Mu could already hear drunken dwarves arguing whether the magma colossus could wrestle a celestial dragon.

An hour later, Lin Mu finally sat together with his companions again within one of the large stone halls overlooking the magma rivers. For the first time in months, everyone was gathered peacefully.

Food and liquor were spread across the large table while the atmosphere felt relaxed.

Naturally, the moment they settled down, everyone immediately started discussing what they had been doing during Lin Mu’s absence.

To Lin Mu’s surprise, Elyon was the most eager to show his progress.

The wolfkin usually remained calm and reserved, rarely boasting about anything. Yet this time there was unmistakable pride in his expression.

Without saying much, Elyon extended one arm.

Metallic claws immediately slid out with a low mechanical sound.

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly in surprise.

The claws looked completely different now.

Previously, Elyon’s claw weapons only covered his fingers and knuckles. They had resembled simple bladed gauntlets more than true immortal armaments.

Now they were vastly more refined.

Dark metallic armor extended from his fingertips all the way to his forearms. The surface possessed a matte black finish with faint violet patterns flowing beneath it like hidden veins.