The evil bone longsword sliced through the wind and snow, its black-and-red evil power carrying bitter cold as it cleaved an ice trench several meters deep before Loran. Loran hastily blocked with his knight's sword. The instant the three-colored light collided with the evil power, he felt a tremendous force surge up his arm, as though all his internal organs had been knocked out of place. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the snow, where it instantly froze into dark red ice crystals.
"Is that all you've got?" The Pope hovered in midair, his bone wings whipping up gusts of sinister wind. "I thought you could last a few more exchanges. It seems the 'guardian' of Fallen Maple Territory is nothing more than a brat who can't withstand a single blow!"
He waved a hand, and dozens of evil bone spears burst from the ice, stabbing at vital points all over Loran's body. Lei Lin leaped in front of Loran, forming a shield of golden-red flames, but the spears pierced several holes through it. Snow Spirit Qilin breathed out icy mist to freeze the spears, yet the evil power soon melted the ice, and the spears continued without losing momentum. The Icefield Wolf lunged at the Pope from the side, swiping golden claws at his bone wings, only to be thrown back by the evil power. The wolf fell onto the snow, blood seeping from the corner of its mouth.
"You two! Icefield Wolf!" Loran struggled to his feet, the power of his three elements circulating chaotically within him-even his peak fourth-tier strength was so fragile before the late Saint-level Pope. He looked toward the top of the altar. The bone heart was beating faster and faster, its black-and-red light almost enveloping the entire ice mountain. The Pope's aura was still slowly rising. If this dragged on any longer, he might truly break through to the Divine level.
Just then, an earthshaking roar came from the west-the Evil Ice Dragon Lizard's skull cracked beneath Chief Tongchui's warhammer, and emerald-green power of nature poured through the wound, completely purifying the evil soul within its body. Elder Aila waved a staff, and countless vines coiled around the remaining evil beasts. Liya led the elven guard in firing sacred arrows that precisely pierced the beasts' evil power cores.
"Young Loran! We're here to help!" Elder White rushed over first, pale golden light power forming a shield around Loran to block the following evil bone spears. Chief Tongchui followed close behind with his warhammer over his shoulder, the sacred runes on it lighting up. "Boy, don't try to tough it out! Let's break his bone wings together!"
But the Pope sneered and pointed his bone staff at the approaching group. "A bunch of ants dare meddle? Evil Bone Domain: Imprison!" Black-and-red evil power spread beneath their feet, forming a massive evil bone cage that trapped Elder White and Chief Tongchui inside. The sinister markings on its surface kept contracting, slowly devouring even their pale golden light power and sacred power.
"Elder!" Alarm surged through Loran. He tried to rush over to help, but the Pope's evil bone longsword blocked his way. "Your opponent is me!" The Pope's blade slid along Loran's knight's sword, evil power seeping through the blade into Loran's body in an attempt to corrupt his mind. "Give up. As long as you submit to me, I can make you a lord of the Evil Bone Plane. That's a hundred times better than guarding tiny Fallen Maple Territory!"
"I spit on that!" Determination flashed in Loran's eyes as he forcibly circulated his three elemental powers to expel the evil power from his body. "What I protect isn't the land of Fallen Maple Territory. It's the smiles of its people and the peace of the continent! A demon like you who slaughters living beings-even if I'm smashed to pieces, I'll stop you!"
He swung his sword fiercely, sending three-colored light slashing toward the Pope's chest, but the Pope blocked it with his bone wings. Evil power spread along the wings and coiled around Loran's blade, trying to wrest his knight's sword away. Loran held the hilt in a death grip, his knuckles whitening with the force. The three elemental cores inside him began to throb violently, yet he still could not break through the bottleneck.
"Loran, use our power!" Lei Lin's voice rang out in Loran's mind with a trace of resolve. "Our power and your three elemental origins came from the same source to begin with. If we sacrifice part of our qilin origin, we can help you break through to the fifth tier and truly fuse your three elemental powers!"
Snow Spirit Qilin added, "This is the only way. If this drags on, everyone will die! Trust us. We'll be fine!"
Loran's pupils contracted sharply. "No! Sacrificing your origins will leave you seriously injured. You could even lose your power!"
"What does our power matter compared with the continent's safety?" Lei Lin's golden-red flames began to blaze brilliantly. "Do you remember our promise in Fallen Maple Territory? We would protect this land together. Now it's time to keep that promise!"
Without waiting for Loran to argue, the two qilin leaped up together. Golden-red flames and luminous white icy mist intertwined above Loran's head, forming a two-colored cocoon of light. Within it, two qilin phantoms slowly emerged and breathed two streams of origin power toward the point between Loran's brows-the qilin origins the two had cultivated for a thousand years, containing the purest power of light, ice, and fire.
"Aah!" The instant the origin power poured into his body, Loran felt as though every meridian was being burned and frozen at once. The agony forced a roar from him. But he knew this was a chance the two qilin had paid for with their lives. He could not give up! He forcibly circulated his three elemental powers, guiding the qilin origins to merge with his own powers of ice, fire, and light-
The three-colored core in his dantian began to spin. Gold, silver, and white light gradually intertwined into a single pure white radiance, containing power that could destroy heaven and earth yet nourish all things. Loran's aura began to soar wildly: peak fourth tier, early fifth tier, middle fifth tier... Within just a few breaths, he had actually broken through to the late fifth tier!
"Is this... three-element unification?" For the first time, terror appeared on the Pope's face. "Impossible! How could a human comprehend the unification of three elemental origins?!"
Loran slowly opened his eyes, pure white light shining within them, and the radiance dispersed the wind and snow around him. He raised his knight's sword. Its blade no longer bore three-colored light, but a pure white "origin light blade." Wherever it passed, evil power was instantly purified, and even the air grew fresh.
"Pope, your end has come!" Loran leaped up, slashing his light blade toward the Pope's bone wings. This time, the evil power could no longer resist. The light blade easily severed the wings, and black-and-red evil blood sprayed onto the snow with a corrosive hiss.
The Pope screamed and fell onto the snow. He stared at Loran in disbelief. "No... I can't lose! I still have the bone heart. I can reach the Divine level!" He rushed toward the altar like a madman, trying to absorb all the bone heart's power.
Yet the instant his hand touched the bone heart, it suddenly erupted with brilliant white light-the two qilin's origins and the bone heart's evil bone origin had been powers from the same source in ancient times, only later becoming polluted by evil power. Loran's power of three-element unification had awakened the pure power sleeping within the bone heart, and it began to turn on the Pope!
"Aah! My body!" The Pope let out a piercing scream. Black-and-red evil power poured wildly from his body, absorbed by the bone heart's white light. His body began to shrivel, his evil core emerged from his chest, and his soul crystal also lost its glow and fell onto the snow.
Seizing the chance, Loran leaped to the top of the altar and drove his knight's sword into the Pope's chest. "Three-Element Unification: Purification Slash!" Pure white light flowed along the blade into the Pope's body, completely purifying his evil power and evil soul. His body gradually turned to black ash and scattered in the wind and snow, leaving only a roar of defiance before he vanished completely from the icefield.
The evil bone cage trapping Elder White and Chief Tongchui dissipated as well. Everyone rushed to the altar, their eyes full of delighted surprise as they looked at Loran and the bone heart. Lei Lin and Snow Spirit Qilin landed beside Loran. Though their auras were weak, they still smiled at him. "We knew you could do it."
Loran gently stroked the two qilin's heads, his eyes full of gratitude. "Thank you. Without you, I couldn't have won."
Elder Aila walked over to the bone heart and examined it carefully before saying, "The pure power within the bone heart has awakened, but it is still the core of the Evil Bone Plane. If we don't seal it, sooner or later it will be polluted by evil power again. We need to combine the elves' Tree of Life, the dwarves' sacred ore, and the Radiant Temple's holy spring to create a sealing formation."
Chief Tongchui nodded. "We brought plenty of sacred ore. Elder White, you should be able to arrange access to the Radiant Temple's holy spring, right?"
Elder White smiled and nodded. "As long as we pour the holy spring's power into the sealing formation and add the nourishment of the Tree of Life, we can seal the bone heart permanently and sever the connection between the Evil Bone Plane and the continent."
Over the next three days, everyone constructed the sealing formation on the icefield. Elven vines coiled around the bone heart, the dwarves fashioned a sealing base from sacred ore, Elder White poured in the holy spring's power, and Loran used his power of three-element unification to guide the three powers into merging. When the final ray of pure white light entered the sealing formation, the bone heart's black-and-red glow vanished completely. It became a pale white crystal, permanently sealed within the base.
The evil power across the Extreme Cold Icefield began to dissipate rapidly. The dark purple snowflakes turned pure white again, and the polluted icefield gradually regained its vitality. Without evil power to sustain them, the distant evil beasts either became ordinary magical beasts or dissipated completely.
"It's finally over." Liya looked at the icefield, pure once more, her emerald-green eyes full of relief.
Loran stood before the sealing formation, looking at the two qilin beside him, the Icefield Wolf, and the companions who had fought at his side, his heart full of emotion. From a third-tier knight of Fallen Maple Territory to a fifth-tier powerhouse capable of protecting the continent, every step he had taken had depended on the support of those around him.
"It's time we returned to Fallen Maple Territory," Loran said with a smile. "Uncle Byrne must still be waiting for us, and the people must be hoping we'll return too."
Everyone nodded, packed their belongings, and set off toward Fallen Maple Territory. The wind and snow of the Extreme Cold Icefield remained, yet they were no longer cold. Instead, they carried a trace of warmth-the warmth of hope, the warmth of peace.
One month later, in Fallen Maple Territory.
The people held a grand celebration in the square to celebrate the restoration of peace to the continent. Leaning on a wooden staff, Old Byrne watched Loran surrounded by the crowd, his clouded eyes full of relief. Lei Lin and Snow Spirit Qilin lay beside Loran, accepting the people's blessings, while the Icefield Wolf ran merrily around the square, playing with the children.
Elder Aila and Chief Tongchui stood at the edge of the square. Watching the scene before them, they exchanged smiles. Holding a letter from the Radiant Temple, Elder White walked over to Loran. "The Temple invites you to become an Emissary of Light, responsible for protecting the continent's peace. Are you willing?"
Loran looked at the people in the square, then at the two qilin beside him, and shook his head with a smile. "I still prefer Fallen Maple Territory. My family and companions are here. But if the continent faces danger again, I'll still step forward."
Elder White smiled and nodded. "Good! That's Loran Kane!"