Chapter 639 - 258: Incinerating the Firmament, Celestial Flame Dragon Breath
HUMMM—
At the center of the stone disk, a faint but incredibly solid pillar of light shot into the sky. It pierced through the infernal glow of this purgatory, pointing steadfastly toward a specific direction deep within the Eternal Dragon Tomb.
「Meanwhile, in the Longyin Academy conference room.」
Yi Jiugao gently pressed his earpiece. The tense expression on his face finally gave way to a look of relief.
Hou Guanghe, seated at the head of the table, tilted his head slightly. "The girl from the Xia Family, what’s her condition?"
"Her injuries are severe."
Yi Jiugao said in a low voice, "But it’s mostly due to her forcibly channeling her power and overexerting herself."
"She fell into a deep coma the moment she was teleported out, but thankfully, her life isn’t in danger. The medical and nutritional teams have already taken over completely."
He paused, then added, "Also, the results of her spiritual assessment are in."
"Although her obsession during this battle was so intense she nearly lost her mind, she ultimately held on to a shred of clarity at the last moment. She didn’t actually sacrifice all of her affinity for other elements."
"Her elemental mastery... there’s a chance it can be restored later on."
At these words, Zhu Mingyi let out a long sigh of relief. His whole body relaxed as he leaned back in his chair.
"Thank goodness... Thank goodness..."
This was already the best possible outcome.
...
「Several days later.」
In the core region of the Eternal Dragon Tomb, Lin Ye’s figure sped through a withered, giant forest.
The closer he got to the direction indicated by the fragment, the more perilous his surroundings became. The alien races and monsters he encountered grew stronger and stranger.
And just as Yi Jiugao had said, the guidance from the stone disk’s pillar of light began to waver, sometimes pointing ahead to the left, and other times shifting to the right.
’The Eternal Dragon Tomb is just too vast.’
’Fifty thousand minions might seem like a lot, but scattered across this boundless world, they don’t even make a ripple.’
’Hmm... I have to expand the legion.’
’And I need more "fresh blood" with special abilities.’
Lin Ye continued his high-speed run for another half a day.
As he burst out of a swamp shrouded in gray mist, he finally saw the true form of the colossal, heaven-piercing shadow he had glimpsed from the world’s edge.
His steps came to an involuntary halt.
His pupils contracted in an instant.
It was a tree.
A world tree so enormous it defied all description.
Its trunk was so thick it looked as though it could support a continent. Even from dozens of kilometers away, he still had to crane his neck to see its crown, which vanished into the clouds.
But this world tree, which should have symbolized life and eternity, was now rotten and dead.
The massive trunk was riddled with bottomless holes and cracks. Viscous, ink-black ichor slowly oozed from these wounds, staining the ground below a foul shade of black.
An aura of deathly silence, decay, and despair hung over the land.
And halfway up the decaying world tree, an even more shocking sight assaulted Lin Ye’s eyes.
A Western dragon, a full kilometer in size, had been impaled through the abdomen by a massive, twisted branch extending from the world tree’s main trunk, pinning it dead in mid-air!
The dragon’s Scale Armor had long lost its luster, turning a dull, ashen gray. Its enormous wings drooped lifelessly, and its mountain-sized head hung low. Its empty eye sockets seemed to silently tell of the endless pain and despair it had suffered before its death.
Time itself seemed to stand still.
A dead tree, a dead dragon.
Together, they formed an apocalyptic tableau, epic and tragic, delivering an unparalleled visual impact.
Lin Ye stood frozen on the spot for a long time before he finally recovered from the shock.
He cast his gaze to the base of the world tree.
There, the ruins of an ancient city of ultimate grandeur lay silently upon the land.
The city was built from massive black stones in a rugged and powerful style.
Countless tall spires, majestic temples, and wide plazas were scattered about like stars in the sky.
Although most of it had collapsed into rubble and ruins, one could still glimpse its former glory and magnificence from the surviving outlines.
This was clearly the masterpiece of some highly intelligent Dragon Race civilization.
Meanwhile, the stone disk that had been guiding him was now shining brightly, pointing straight into the depths of the ruins.
Although he knew the guidance wasn’t necessarily accurate, Lin Ye didn’t hesitate. With a single movement, he stepped into the ruins of the dead Dragon City.
’I have to explore it anyway, and see if anyone else is here.’
The instant he passed through a collapsed, massive archway and stepped onto a wide main road...
...an impossibly fast black shadow lunged silently from the darkness behind and to his side. A pair of claws, gleaming with an Obsidian sheen, tore through the air, aiming straight for his back!
Lin Ye reacted in a flash, whipping his spear out in a backhanded strike!
However, the spear swept through, only to stir a ripple in empty space.
The ambusher had vanished.
Lin Ye stopped, his brow furrowed slightly, as his Spiritual Power instantly swept over the surroundings.
There was nothing.
No sign of life.
But in the next moment, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed something at his feet.
His shadow... was moving!