I. The Clash of Empires
Kael's signal was not a shout; it was an earthquake. Just as General Fang (Beast Empire) and his war rhinoceroses collided with the Alliance's rear guard, the side wall of the canyon exploded.
Kael leapt from the ledge, falling like a crimson meteor into the heart of the chaos. —"Dragon Slash: Heavenfall!" His greatsword slammed into the ground, creating a shockwave that upended pack beasts and Alliance disciples alike. Dust and static electricity blinded everyone for a heartbeat.
—"Now!" Violeta ordered. She, Eris, and Elara landed behind Kael. Violeta extended her hands, and a dome of spatial distortion covered the team, deflecting the stray arrows and spells whistling through the battlefield.
In the center, Jian (Heavenly Sword) blocked General Fang's axe with his silver blade, creating sparks that rivaled the valley's lightning. —"Cursed savages!" Jian screamed. "How dare you interfere!" —"The Root is ours!" Fang roared, pushing with the raw, Origin Realm Stage 8 brute force.
Amidst these two titans, the Morningstar team sprinted like a direct arrow toward the cave.
II. The Wall of Fire and Poison
—"They're ignoring us!" Eris laughed, watching the Alliance and the Beasts tear each other apart. "They're so arrogant they think we're irrelevant!"
But not everyone was ignoring them. Lysa (Alchemy Pavilion), seeing that Jian was occupied, noticed the Morningstar group's movement. —"Don't let them near the cave!" she shrieked, shattering three black glass vials on the ground before them.
The vials exploded, releasing a cloud of green Necrotic Gas that melted the very rock. Simultaneously, five Heavenly Sword disciples blocked their path, charging their weapons with Qi.
—"I'll handle the poison," Eris said, stepping forward. Her eyes glowed with black fire. —"Flame of Ruin: Ravenous Purification!" Eris didn't just throw a fireball; she became a vortex. The fire of Ruin consumed the poisonous gas, using it as fuel to grow even larger. The green cloud transformed into a tornado of black fire that swept through the sword disciples, incinerating their defenses.
—"Path's clear!" Eris shouted, wiping a smudge of soot from her cheek.
III. The Guardian Awakens
They were fifty meters from the cave entrance. But they had forgotten one detail: the owner of the house.
The Armored Thunder Lizard (Half-Step Saint), fed up with being attacked from all sides, decided enough was enough. Its horn glowed with a blinding radiance. —"ROOOOARRR!"
It didn't fire at a single target. It fired at the sky. The valley's storm clouds answered. Hundreds of lightning bolts struck simultaneously, turning the battlefield into an electric cage.
—"Violeta!" Kael yelled. Violeta gritted her teeth, blood dripping from her nose. —"Void Sanctuary!" She expanded her barrier to its limit, sheltering her three companions. The lightning struck the invisible barrier like divine hammers. Crack. Crack. The shield began to fracture.
—"I won't hold much longer," Violeta gasped. "We need to get into that cave now!"
But a War Rhinoceros, ridden by Prince Draken, blocked the cave's mouth. Draken, protected by golden armor, smiled from the safety of the entrance. —"Die in the rain, rats!"
IV. The Moment of the Mist
Kael was busy deflecting debris. Eris was catching her breath after burning the poison. Violeta was holding up the sky. No one could attack Draken.
Except for one. Elara, who had stayed in the center of the formation, "disappeared." She didn't teleport; she simply ceased to be perceived. She used the chaos, the noise, and the blinding light of the lightning to become a shadow in Draken's retina. —"Mist Step: The Silence."
Elara sprinted through the lightning's impact zone. Her body was coated in frost to insulate against the electricity. Draken was watching Kael, laughing. He didn't see the white-haired girl slip beneath his rhinoceros's belly.
Elara leapt. She didn't attack Draken—his armor was too thick. She attacked the mount's cinch. Slash!
With a precise cut from her ice daggers, the saddle gave way. Draken lost his balance and tumbled from the rhino, rolling through the muddy ground. Elara didn't stop. She landed on the Prince's chest, pressed a dagger to his throat, and used him as a human shield.
—"Move, and I'll open another mouth in your neck!" Elara whispered into the prince's ear.
The rhinoceros, riderless and spooked by the lightning, charged forward... straight into the Thunder Lizard, creating the perfect distraction. —"Now!" Elara shouted to her team.
V. The Star Dragon Cave
Kael, Violeta, and Eris seized the gap Elara had created. They sprinted toward the cave, scooping up Elara (who kicked Draken into a puddle of mud) along the way.
They plunged into the darkness of the cavern just as a massive discharge from the Lizard vitrified the entrance behind them, partially sealing them in but also shielding them from the armies outside.
The silence inside was absolute, a brutal contrast to the hell outside. The cave glowed with a soft blue light. The walls were covered in Star Iron crystals. And at the far end, growing in a small pond of pure water that reflected galaxies that didn't exist in the sky, it sat.
The Star Dragon Root. It looked like a crystal sculpture in the shape of an ascending dragon, pulsing like a living heart.
—"It's beautiful," Eris whispered. —"It is the Patriarch's life," Kael corrected, pulling out a special sealed jade box to harvest it.
Violeta approached carefully. —"Elara, watch the entrance. Eris, light. Kael, get ready. These things usually have one last guardian..."
Kael reached the root. He extended his hand. Nothing happened. He plucked it with a swift, gentle motion, placing it in the jade box and sealing it with three containment talismans.
—"Too easy?" Kael asked, feeling a shiver.
VI. Epilogue: The Greed Trap
Suddenly, the cave trembled. It wasn't a tremor of the earth. It was a tremor of Qi. From the shadows at the back of the cave, where the light did not reach, two yellow eyes opened. It wasn't a beast. It was a man. An old man dressed in grey rags, sitting in a lotus position, looking as though he had been there for a thousand years.
—"You have taken my garden," the old man said. His voice sounded like stones rubbing together. "The Alliance and the Beasts outside are noisy. You are thieves."
The old man stood up. His aura was not Origin Realm. He was a Half-Step Saint, but his control was perfect. —"Leave the root and one arm each. Or serve as fertilizer for the next harvest."
Kael clutched the box to his chest and raised his sword with one hand. —"Come and get it, old man."
[End of Chapter 93]