Chapter 712: Chapter 498: Divine Creatures and the Golden Apple Tree

The fiercely burning Soul Fire froze solid.

Then, its light visibly and rapidly faded.

Finally, it went out completely.

Lightning’s dragon claw slowly withdrew from the Elemental Core, which had already lost all its luster.

Grasped in its claw was a fist-sized, diamond-shaped crystal, as brilliant and translucent as a blue diamond.

The crystal contained immense and pure Ice Element Power.

That was the source of power for this Domain Level Ice Elemental Lord.

The Elemental Source Core.

The battle was over.

Lightning’s enormous body slowly flew out from within the massive crater.

The Dragon Soul that had been empowering it, a gift from the Raylo Domain, also receded swiftly like a tide.

It flew before Raylo, lowered its massive head, and presented the ice-blue crystal in its claw to him.

Raylo reached out and took the Elemental Source Core, which still carried a hint of chill.

"Good job, Lightning."

He praised, patting Lightning’s massive head.

This battle had been a perfect trial for Lightning.

It had not only familiarized the dragon with Domain Level combat, but the pressure of the life-or-death struggle had also elevated its control over its own power to a whole new level.

Raylo put away the Elemental Source Core and turned his gaze back to the mountaintop below, which was now a complete ruin.

"Alright, the main business is done."

"Now it’s time to find our real objective."

He turned, leaped down from Lightning’s back, and landed steadily on the ravaged ground below.

Moonlight and Coal Ball followed suit, landing lightly on his shoulders.

The cataclysmic battle had completely altered the mountain’s topography.

Raylo walked among the shattered Profound Ice and scorched rocks, his Spiritual Power spreading out like an invisible net, meticulously sweeping over every inch of the land.

He let no anomaly escape his notice.

The ground beneath his feet was a ruin of shattered ice and rock scorched black by thunderbolts, and the air was still thick with the residue of violent elemental power.

The battle had nearly leveled the mountain, a peak that had stood for untold millennia.

It had even blasted a seemingly bottomless crater into its heart.

The massive crater, the scorched rocks, and the countless shards of Profound Ice reflected a desolate light in the afterglow of the setting sun.

The violent tang of thunderbolts and the biting chill of ice and snow still lingered in the air.

"Hm?"

Raylo suddenly stopped.

As his Spiritual Power swept over a half-collapsed cliff face, he sensed an extremely faint, yet distinctly different, fluctuation of energy.

The fluctuation was warm and brimming with Life Force.

It was like a resilient bonfire burning in the dead of winter, buried under thick layers of ice and snow, with only the faintest, almost imperceptible hint of warmth seeping through.

"Interesting."

A slight smile touched Raylo’s lips.

He strode toward the collapsed cliff face.

The broken ice beneath his feet made a CRUNCH, CRUNCH sound.

Soon, he arrived before the cliff face.

This area had been bombarded by Lightning’s thunderbolts. Large chunks of rock and Profound Ice had tumbled down, piling up to form a small hill.

Raylo reached out and pressed his hand against a massive black boulder.

"VMMMM!"

His Fighting Spirit erupted.

Soon, a cave entrance, buried beneath rubble and ice, was revealed before him.

Without hesitation, Raylo walked straight inside.

Moonlight and Coal Ball followed close behind.

The cave’s interior was unexpectedly dry and... intact.

It was as if the cataclysmic battle outside hadn’t affected this place in the slightest.

The passage wasn’t long, and it wound its way downward.

After about a hundred meters, the tunnel suddenly opened up.

A soft golden glow emanated from the end of the passage, brightly illuminating the entire cavern.

The moment he saw the source of the light, Raylo’s breath caught in his throat.

It was a vast, open underground ice cavern.

And in the very center of the ice cavern, a small tree, about two men tall, stood silently.

It grew atop an immense, crystal-clear block of Profound Ice.

The entire tree, from its trunk and branches down to every last leaf, was a resplendent gold.

It looked like a work of art cast from pure Gold.

The tree had only a few, sparse leaves.

But hanging from its golden branches were three fist-sized fruits.

The three fruits were also pure gold, their surfaces as smooth as a mirror, shimmering with a honey-like luster.

They were like three small Suns, radiating a warm, immense, and pure aura of Life Force and Magic Power.

"The Golden Apple Tree..."

Raylo murmured to himself.

"Meow~"

Moonlight leaped down from Raylo’s shoulder and trotted curiously around the Golden Apple Tree. "Mreow!"

Coal Ball jumped down too. It wasn’t nearly as reserved as Moonlight. Its big, glistening black eyes were glued to the three golden apples, and it was practically drooling.

’It could sense that eating those things would be incredibly nourishing!’

"Coal Ball."

Raylo turned to look at the black cat, who was on the verge of pouncing.

"Aow?"

Coal Ball looked up, its face a picture of confusion, a glistening thread of drool hanging from its mouth.

"Stop thinking with your stomach."

Raylo said with a huff.

"Time to get to work."

"Take this tree, and the space below it, all of it!"

He pointed at the Golden Apple Tree.

Transplanting such a divine treasure required preserving the integrity of its growing environment. The slightest disruption could cause it to wither.

The safest method was to take the entire space it grew in.

"Aow!"

Hearing there was work to be done, Coal Ball instantly perked up.

It puffed out its little chest and let out a proud cry, as if to say, ’Piece of cake!’

Coal Ball tilted its head back.

"RAWR!"

A low roar rumbled from deep within its throat.

It opened its mouth.

And then.

A colossal, translucent phantom of a dragon’s head slowly materialized!

The phantom dragon head lowered its head, opened its giant maw, and silently "swallowed" the Golden Apple Tree below, along with the space it occupied.

Throughout the entire process, not a single leaf on the Golden Apple Tree so much as trembled.

Having swallowed the Treasure, the massive phantom dragon head slowly dissipated.

Coal Ball licked its paw.

"Nicely done."

Raylo rubbed its little head.

With the disappearance of the Golden Apple Tree, a massive, seemingly bottomless, square-shaped pit was left in its place.

The golden light within the ice cavern dissipated, plunging it back into darkness.

But deep within the solid ice at the bottom of the pit, Raylo’s Spiritual Power detected another strange presence.

’There’s something else down there?’

Raylo walked to the edge of the pit and peered down.

The pit was deep. Below lay a thick layer of Profound Ice, countless millennia old.

And deep within the transparent Profound Ice, he saw it.

A frozen... corpse.

It was the corpse of a humanoid creature.

It lay quietly within the Profound Ice, its form slender and its face obscured.

But on its back was a pair of enormous and magnificent... wings!

The wings were layered, each feather seeming to be woven from light itself. Even after being frozen for eons, they still emitted a faint, almost invisible luminescence.

An aura of Divinity, far surpassing that of any mortal creature, emanated from this corpse.

’The corpse of a Divine Creature!’

"Coal Ball!"

he called out.

"Take this... too!"

The same phantom appeared, and the dead Divine Creature was also taken by Coal Ball.

Raylo walked out of the now-empty cavern, completely satisfied.

Outside, the sky had grown completely dark.

The wind on the mountaintop was bone-chillingly cold.

A clear, resounding dragon’s cry echoed from the sky above.

Lightning’s massive form cut through the night sky, slowly descending before him.

Raylo leaped up, landing steadily on Lightning’s broad back.

Moonlight and Coal Ball followed suit.

"Let’s go home."

Raylo gave the command.

Lightning let out a roar. With a powerful beat of its wings that kicked up a gale, its massive body shot into the air, becoming a streak of light that vanished into the twilight.

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