At the same time, Terraen's face lit up with a brilliant smile. His small body erupted with a fierce, earthy yellow light—the pure, core power of this mountain spirit's essence.Without hesitation, he poured all of his condensed earth energy—accumulated over countless years—into a thick, surging yellow torrent. It followed Cyran's blue pillar of light, merging with it as they both surged toward Dustin, buried beneath the ruins.Two streams of power collided in him—Cyran's life force with years of cultivation, and the fire of his soul, combined with Terraen's purest, most elemental earth energy as a mountain spirit. Together, they flooded Dustin without restraint, a torrent of raw, overwhelming power."No…" the demonized Malthor roared, a mix of fury and disbelief.His dragon claw slammed down, but it tore through nothing but the fleeting illusions Cyran and Terraen had left behind. Their bodies were gone, having poured every last ounce of themselves into that final act. All that

The dead silence was broken by the sound of scuffling footsteps emerging from the edge of the rubble."Someone's coming!" Rhydian snapped to attention and let out a low warning.The surviving guards instantly closed ranks, forming a protective shield in front of Grace.Dustin lifted his gaze slightly, his divine sense sweeping over the rubble. He relaxed almost immediately, as if he had been expecting them.Through the haze of smoke and fallen columns, a group of figures moved cautiously. Leading them were Tristan, Matthias, and Nathaniel, who had been separated from them on the island for some time.The soldiers trailing behind were noticeably fewer in number. Every one of them bore injuries, their clothes torn to rags, faces haggard with exhaustion. Whatever they'd encountered on the way here had clearly been brutal.The three brothers looked disheveled. Their fine robes were torn, crowns sat crooked, and their faces were smeared with grime and blood.Following the tremors fro

Dustin's immortal essence light carried them a thousand miles in a blink. In less than half a day, they had crossed the endless sea and reached the central plains. He didn't linger along the coast but headed straight for the heart of Dragonmarsh, Oakvale.Below the clouds, mountains and rivers rushed past, and towns and villages spread out like a chessboard.The familiar warmth of the mortal world rushed toward them. It was a stark contrast to Elysium Isle, where paradise and demonic energy had collided into something uncanny. That place already felt like a world apart, as if it belonged to another life.Grace clutched the box containing the immortal essence tablet so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her heart raced with the thrill of finally returning home, but worry for her father ran just as deep.Dustin had said the tablet could extend Valon's life by ten years. But until she saw her father recover with her own eyes, the knot in her chest wouldn't loosen.Tristan, Matthias,

The hustle and bustle of Oakvale faded behind them.Dustin didn't leave immediately. On a night when the moon hung clear and bright, he appeared without warning in the courtyard of Grace's private residence outside the palace. A few dishes sat on the stone table beside a bottle of wine.Dressing in a simple, elegant casual dress, she sat alone and drank under the moonlight. When she saw him, she didn't seem surprised. Instead, she smiled and gestured to the stone bench across from her, as if she'd known he'd come to say goodbye."Leaving already?" she asked casually, filling a glass for him. Dustin sat and took the glass, letting the smooth warmth of it settle in his hand, and nodded. "Yes. My business here is done," he replied.Grace raised her glass and spoke earnestly. "I truly owe you my thanks. Without you, I wouldn't have even made it to Elysium Isle, let alone obtained the immortal essence tablet to save my father."He clinked his glass lightly against hers, the crisp r

After leaving the West Lucozian castle, Dustin returned to Oakvale.The trip to Elysium Isle hadn't been for nothing. Cyran and Terraen had passed on their lifetime of cultivation, life essence, and their soul flames. Dustin had also inherited fragments of Cyran's memories. It turned out that beyond the martial arts, immortal cultivators also existed in this world. But people like them were so withdrawn from the mortal world that most people would never meet one in their lifetime.Malthor from Elysium Isle was an immortal cultivator. However, he had strayed onto the wrong path and was essentially called a demonic cultivator.When martial artists spoke of reaching the terrestrial immortal realm, immortal cultivators called it peak core formation.Dustin had already reached that level. He was just one step away from breaking through to form his nascent soul. The process wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't simple either.He could already sense that the threshold to nascent soul