Hot...
So hot...
It felt like it was about to melt, forcing Tony, who was unconscious, to open his eyes and jump up from the hot ground. He looked around in confusion.
The scene that came into view shocked him so much that his jaw almost dislocated.
Flames!
The entire sky and the earth were like a huge bronze furnace. The interior was filled with raging flames, emitting a terrifying high temperature.
His skin became cracked due to the high temperature. The saliva in his mouth was evaporated, and sweat continued to ooze out of his pores.
Maybe in a few minutes...
Even if he was not burned to death, he would still die from a severe lack of water in his body.
"Is this... hell?" Tony widened his eyes and asked in disbelief.
"No."
In the midst of the burning flames, a burly man walked out. "This is the scene in the depths of your heart."
Its voice was like thunder, rumbling between heaven and earth, shaking Tony's brain until it buzzed.
Tony's Adam's apple moved up and down, swallowed a non-existent saliva, resisted the dry feeling of dehydration, and asked, "Who... who are you? Why do you say that this is the deepest part of my heart?"
"How sad, Tony Stark."
A deep sadness flashed through the burly man's eyes. "You have clearly stepped into this space, but you still don't know my name?"
Tony was confused, "What do you mean?"
"This is your inner world." The burly man sat on the ground and stared at Tony with his fiery red eyes. He slowly said, "And you... Tony Stark, are the master of this space."
"I am... the master of this place?" Tony opened his mouth and seemed to be in disbelief.
"Yes."
The burly man nodded slightly and said, "If you can understand it, this place is equivalent to a world of 'self' built in the depths of your subconscious."
"... I understand."
A hint of enlightenment flashed through Tony's heart, but then he looked at the burly man and asked doubtfully, "But... since this is my subconscious, who are you? Why are you here?"
"Haha..."
The burly man suddenly let out a thunderous laugh. "That's why I said it was sad, Tony Stark."
"Hey, don't think that I'm afraid of you just because you're tall!" Tony frowned and said unhappily, "I've been going around since just now. Tell me clearly what is so sad about me?"
The burly man supported his face with one hand and said indifferently, "You don't even know my name. Isn't that sad?"
Tony was angry and mocked, "I'm really sorry. I've seen too many people. Not everyone is qualified for me to remember. So, big guy, you either tell me who you are or get out of here!"
"Your courage is commendable."
The burly man sneered.
Zanpakuto and death god were one with one heart, and each of them had their own thoughts. What death god needed to do was to communicate with them, and in the process of deepening their soul connection, he would obtain zanpakuto's real name to liberate his battle.
Obviously...
Tony had violated zanpakuto's taboo!
"Of course. Men of the Stark Family never lack the courage to face them head-on." Tony Stark's old habit flared up again. He arrogantly said, "Hurry up and tell me who you are and why I came here."
"Alright, I'll tell you."
The burly man slowly got up and said coldly, "Don't you want to have death god's power? It's very simple. As long as you can conquer me, you can become the real death god."
"Wait a minute... I'm a little confused..." Tony raised his head and looked at the burly man who was three or four meters tall. He suddenly felt his brain was in chaos. "What is the necessary connection between me becoming death god and conquering you?"
"Heh, of course it has something to do with you."
The burly man was expressionless. "Every death god has his own ' zanpakuto'. That is the weapon of self-manifestation and the foundation of all death god's power. I am the zanpakuto that belongs to you. Only by conquering me can you become death god."
"Aiyo ---Why didn't you say so earlier!"
Tony rolled his eyes and put on a fawning expression. "Since our relationship is so close, we don't need to fight at all. Why don't you just give me strength?"
"I refuse."
The burly man's eyes were cold, and he said seriously, "Tony Stark, although I belong to your power, I also have my own dignity. If you can't conquer me, then scram back to your real world."
Tony's face froze.
He could see that the burly man's words were not the least bit false. If he could not conquer this burly man, he would really send himself back to the real world!
Since he was unable to bypass the test, he could only face it head on. After Tony vented his anger for himself in his heart, he said in a low voice, "Tell me, how do I conquer you?"
"It's very simple."
The burly man leaned over and slapped his palm on the bronze ground.
Rumble!!!
The bronze ground suddenly cracked open, and a pitch-black anvil slowly appeared.
The anvil was two meters long and two meters wide. It was entirely made of unknown pitch-black metal, and there was a pitch-black metal with a diameter of one meter and a short hammer on it.
"... This is?" Tony was confused for a moment. "Didn't I say I was going to conquer you? Why are you showing me this?"
"Go to the anvil, pick up the hammer, and forge that thing into a sword." The burly man crossed his arms as if he was telling a trivial matter. "If you can do it, I will admit that you have conquered me."
"Are you sure that you didn't take revenge on purpose?" Tony opened his mouth to the maximum and widened his eyes. "That piece of iron is more than one meter long and half a meter thick. You want me to hold a broken hammer and hammer it into a sword?"
The burly man was expressionless as he said, "If you can't do it, then hurry up and get out. If you want to use my power, then prove yourself to me."
Tony was stunned once again as his gaze fell on the anvil with difficulty.
If this was outside, with the help of all sorts of high-tech equipment, forging a simple thing like sword would only take a few minutes. He could even secretly make a cup of coffee during the forging period and then leisurely wait for the forging to end.
But here...
Using such a simple and tattered prop to forge a huge piece of pig iron and to forge it into a piece of sword was simply a fantasy!
"You can refuse."
The burly man mocked from the side, "After all, you are a great scientist, a playboy, a billionaire. You don't have to be like a blacksmith here."
"Why do i want to refuse?"
Tony calmly walked to the anvil, then slowly picked up the hammer and said lightly, "Since you are hiding in my subconscious, you should know how Mark I was born."
The burly man grinned. "I'll wait and see."
Hu ---
Tony's eyes were firm as he raised his hammer high up and heavily smashed it down!