fanmtl Chapter 459 - 378: The Anomaly of the Canglan River and the "Elemental Heart
Chapter 459 - 378: The Anomaly of the Canglan River and the "Elemental Heart
Sun grumbled, his voice tinged with the arrogance befitting a Giant Dragon.
Clearly, Sun didn’t consider these Wind God Winged Dragons, whose bloodlines had been elevated by the Jade Dragon Emperor, to be true Giant Dragons.
"We’re in enemy territory. It’s best to be cautious."
Raylo said succinctly.
"Next time we come, we’ll catch a few and bleed them dry!"
Flying close to the ground was far more mentally taxing than cruising at high altitudes.
They had to constantly watch out for the massive tree trunks that shot skyward and the jutting mountain rocks.
"Stop!"
Raylo suddenly made a hand signal.
Almost at the same time, Baofeng and Sun halted, their massive bodies instantly sinking into the dense forest canopy below.
RUSTLE...
Thick branches and leaves bent under their weight, making a soft sound, but it was quickly masked by the omnipresent whisper of the wind and the rustling sea of leaves in the forest.
Raylo peered vigilantly toward the sky through the gaps in the foliage.
A few seconds later, a massive, iron-gray figure came screaming past the spot they had just flown over.
It was a Wind God Winged Dragon.
It let out a piercing shriek as it passed.
Raylo didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until the Wind God Winged Dragon’s silhouette vanished over the distant horizon.
"Looks like they patrol frequently."
"A swarm of annoying flies."
Sun’s voice was filled with disdain.
For a Golden Dragon, having to sneak around and hide like a thief was hardly a pleasant experience.
They didn’t emerge immediately, instead waiting a while longer beneath the canopy. Only after confirming it was safe did they ascend again, continuing to skim over the sea of trees as they flew deeper into the forest.
Raylo’s objective this time was the Elemental Stream, making it imperative to avoid attracting the attention of the Wind God Winged Dragons.
Attracting the Wind God Winged Dragon King again would be a massive headache.
Over the next few hours, they had another encounter with Wind God Winged Dragons.
This time there were more of them—three in total.
Drawing on their previous experience, they hid more quickly and covertly, narrowly avoiding the patrol’s line of sight.
As they ventured deeper, the surrounding air began to change in subtle ways.
The flora in the forest grew increasingly strange. The leaves of many trees shimmered with a faint, flowing light, and some unknown vines bore fruit as translucent and sparkling as Gemstones.
A refreshing fragrance permeated the air. With every breath, they could almost feel rich Magic Elements being drawn into their bodies, nourishing them down to their very bones.
Raylo knew they were close to their destination.
After flying for another ten kilometers or so, the sound of splashing water reached their ears.
The sound of the water was crisp and melodious, like countless silver bells swaying in the wind. It carried a strange rhythm that could soothe a restless soul.
Rounding a cliff face entangled in giant vines, the scene before them suddenly opened up.
A pool of water, not overly large, lay peacefully in a clearing in the forest.
It was like a Secret Realm that had no place in the mortal world.
A crystal-clear stream meandered down from a nearby rock face and fed into the pool.
A thin layer of mist hovered over the pool, refracting the sunlight into a dazzling array of colors.
Countless specks of light, each the size of a grain of rice and of a different color, danced and chased one another through the mist, like tens of thousands of playful Elemental Spirits.
The dense Magic Elements in the air had almost solidified. Every breath felt like inhaling the purest Magic Power.
"We’re here."
Raylo said softly, his eyes glinting with amazement and joy.
’The Element concentration here seems even denser than the last time I was here.’
Baofeng landed slowly on the grassy shore of the pool. It craned its neck curiously, sniffed at the water, and then let out a contented snort.
Sun landed as well. Its enormous golden body, set against the vibrant Secret Realm, created a fascinating contrast. There was no sense of discord; rather, it looked like a Divine Beast native to this very place.
Raylo leaped from Baofeng’s back, his feet landing on the soft grass.
He could clearly feel his body and his Spiritual Power rejoicing.
「Night fell like ink, silently blanketing the forest Secret Realm.」
The moonlight could not pierce the overlapping canopy, but the Elemental Stream itself served as the best source of light.
The specks of light dancing in the mist were like billions of tireless fireflies, casting a dreamlike, illusory glow around the pool.
Raylo wasted no time.
He sat cross-legged on a smooth, blue-gray stone by the edge of the pool, closed his eyes, and settled into a long, slow rhythm of breathing.
His Spiritual Power reached out like intangible tentacles, making gentle contact with the surrounding Magic Elements, which were so dense they were nearly liquid.
BUZZ!
The Magic Elements rejoiced, surging madly into Raylo’s body with every breath he took.
The pure energy washed through his entire being, nourishing every inch of his flesh and bone.
In his Sea of Spiritual, ripples disturbed the once-calm surface of the lake. With every breath, the spiritual lake expanded, growing ever wider.
Moonlight, in her rarely seen true form as a Silver Dragon, was inhaling massive clouds of the elemental mist like a great whale drinking the sea.
Her silver scales shimmered with a divine halo under the radiance of the Elements.
Nearby, Sun found a giant boulder to rest on. Coal Ball and Lightning huddled close to Moonlight, following their big sister as they all absorbed the elemental Magic Power.
Baofeng was much more subdued. It tucked its head beneath its wing, its body rising and falling rhythmically with each breath. Tiny whirlwinds formed from fine Wind Element particles would occasionally flash across its yellowish-brown Iron Feathers before vanishing.
「The night passed in silence.」
As the first light of dawn streaked the horizon, morning rays struggled to pierce the gaps in the foliage, gilding the Secret Realm with a hazy golden fringe.
Raylo slowly opened his eyes, a sharp glint of light flashing within them before vanishing.
He exhaled a long, turbid breath. The air he expelled actually condensed into tiny ice crystals before dissolving back into the purest Elements.
’A single night of cultivation here is worth more than days of arduous training in the outside world.’
He could clearly feel his spiritual Barrier beginning to loosen. The chasm between Earth Knight and Sky Knight was now within his grasp.
’If I could build a hut here and focus on my cultivation, I could probably break through my shackles, command the skies, and become a true Sky Knight in less than a month.’
Just then, the environment underwent a strange transformation.
Without warning, dense plumes of white mist billowed up from the pool, blanketing the entire area in a matter of seconds.
The white mist wasn’t condensed water vapor, but was composed of incomparably pure Magic Power. Reaching out to touch it revealed a viscous, icy texture.
The once-docile specks of Element light grew agitated and restless.
"Hm?"
Sun rose to his feet, his hundred-meter-long draconic body like a small, golden mountain, as he scanned his surroundings warily.
"The energy here is going haywire."
Baofeng also stood, a low growl rumbling in its throat, its draconic eyes fixed on the pool.
Raylo also looked toward the center of the pool. Clearly, the source of all these changes was the pool itself.
BLUB... BLUB...
A few minutes later, scattered bubbles began to break the calm surface of the water.
The bubbles grew more numerous and dense, swelling from the size of a fingernail to the size of a fist.
Each time a bubble popped, it sent a splendid ripple of Elements expanding through the air.
In the center of the pool, the light flared brilliantly.
Raylo held his breath.
’The Elemental Heart!’
’It’s finally finished forming!’
Moonlight, still in her Silver Dragon form, drew closer to the edge of the pool, her eyes fixed on its depths.
Raylo remembered that during his last visit, Moonlight had shown a keen interest in the pool. It was clearly the then-unformed Elemental Heart within that had attracted her.
However, just as everyone was craning their necks in anticipation of the Elemental Heart’s emergence...
SCREEE!
A sharp, high-pitched cry, like a thunderclap from the heavens, suddenly pierced the thick fog and shattered the tranquility of the Secret Realm.
Even the rampaging Elements seemed to falter at the sound.
Raylo snapped his head up.
A vast shadow fell over them, shrouding the entire area around the pool.
The morning light that had just begun to filter into the forest was completely blotted out, and the world plunged into darkness.
The white mist was violently ripped apart by an unseen gale, revealing the sky above.
A Giant Beast with a wingspan of over three hundred meters was circling above their heads.
It had a ferocious, blue-black head, and its long, narrow beak was like a sharp Long Spear, glinting with a cold, metallic light.
Its pair of enormous, membranous wings blotted out the sky. Each slight flap stirred a gale through the sea of trees, causing countless towering ancient trees to sway as if they might topple at any moment.
’An old rival—the Wind God Winged Dragon King!’
’That thing must have smelled its way here, too!’