Before the morning mist had fully dissipated from the Watchkeep, the Holy Spring Crystal of the twelve arrow towers suddenly lit up simultaneously. Loran, who was patrolling, immediately stopped—the crystal's light was more urgent than usual, and carried a barely perceptible tremor, echoing the core avatar within the Purification Tower. The Icefield Wolf suddenly pricked up its ears, its golden eyes fixed on the direction of the abyssal rift, and a low, warning growl escaped its throat.
"It's the Qilin Clan's warships!" the elven archer on the arrow tower suddenly shouted. Loran looked up and saw three streamlined, silver-white warships emerging from the sea of clouds. The hulls were carved with winged Qilin patterns, and the sails shimmered with a shimmering light of ice and fire—the reinforcements of their own kind that Lei Lin had been waiting for. The warships slowly docked at the fortress pier. The leading Qilin elder, dressed in a robe embroidered with star patterns and holding a staff with a two-colored crystal at the top, bowed towards the Purification Tower as soon as he stepped onto the pier. "I am Elder Cangxuan of the Qilin Clan, leading my people back to guard the holy land."
Elder Cangxuan's staff swept across the purification tower, the two-colored crystal resonating with the core clone, pale gold and shimmering white light intertwining to form ancient runes. "The fluctuations of this core clone are incorrect." He frowned slightly, pointing his staff towards the abyssal rift, "We sensed ' Shadow-Erosion Fel Energy ' along the way—that's a dark power even older than the Abyss Matriarch, sealed within the core of the Abyss by the Qilin Ancestor in ancient times, and now the seal has loosened."
Before the words were even finished, the Evil-Awakening Flower surrounding the fortress suddenly bloomed in unison, their petals instantly turning jet black. Immediately afterward, the trees in the Purification Forest began to shake violently, their vibrant green leaves withering at a visible speed. The Water Whisperer's communication talisman blared urgently. "The water array has been breached! Something is devouring the Soul-Purifying Water!"
Loran immediately climbed the arrow tower. Through the telescope, the black mist of the abyssal rift was expanding at an eerie speed. A semi-transparent beast-like outline vaguely appeared within the mist, and wherever the outline passed, the runic light of the Holy Iron point instantly dimmed. "It's Shadow-Erosion Beast!" Elder Cangxuan rushed over, the crystal at the tip of his staff projecting an ancient image—a silver-white Qilin battling the beast-like form within the black mist. The black mist melted upon touching the Qilin's body, which glowed with both ice and fire. "They survive by devouring pure energy; physical attacks are ineffective against them. Only primal power can subdue them!"
The black mist had spread to the outer walls of the fortress. Several Shadow-Erosion Beast broke through the water array defenses, their translucent bodies passing through the Holy Iron City walls and heading straight for the Purification Tower! The guarding Holy Spring Knight raised his spear, and the power of the Holy Spring struck the Shadow-Erosion Beast, but it only created a ripple. Instead, the spear was swallowed by the Shadow-Erosion Beast's gaping maw. The knight's armor instantly lost its luster, and he collapsed to the ground—his spirit had been corrupted by Evil Energy.
" Copper Hammer! Activate the ' Holy Iron Dome Amplification Array '!" Loran leaped off the arrow tower, the pale purple light of the Purification Core Avatar condensing into a protective shield around him. The Chief Tongchui immediately pressed the button on the fortress control panel, and the twelve Holy Iron chains simultaneously lit up with golden light, reversing the Purification Power absorbed by the Evil Power Confinement Dome and transferring it to the city walls. The pale golden light membrane instantly covered the entire fortress, and the Shadow-Erosion Beast crashed into the light membrane, emitting a piercing screech.
Elder Cangxuan waved his staff, and thirty Qilin Clan formed an ice and fire array. Pale gold and shimmering white light intertwined to form a giant net, trapping the Shadow Shadow-Erosion Beast that had invaded the fortress in the center. " Lei Lin, Snow Spirit Qilin! Infuse your primal power! The ancient seal requires the resonance of three layers of ice and fire power to be restarted!" Lei Lin's fire wings and Snow Spirit Qilin's icy mist merged into the giant net at the same time, and the three-colored light surged. The Shadow-Erosion Beast's body began to etherealize, but it was still struggling frantically. Black mist continuously poured out from the cracks, repairing its scorched body.
Liya suddenly shouted, "The Illustrated Catalog of Plants it! The core of the Shadow-Erosion Beast is hidden in the thickest part of the black mist! It needs the power of nature to locate it!" She pressed the atlas onto the runes of the purification tower, and the pages automatically turned to the ancient chapter. Emerald light spread along the ground, outlining a glowing trajectory in the black mist—at the end of the trajectory, embedded in the black mist, was a dark red crystal, the very energy core of the Shadow-Erosion Beast.
" A Ze! Use water element to create a 'light mirror'!" Loran's voice pierced through the roar. A Ze immediately led the Water Whisperer into a circular formation, and pale blue water element condensed into a giant light mirror in mid-air, reflecting the core location marked by Liya to the elven archers on the arrow tower. At Elder Aila's command, the elven archers fired rune arrows inlaid with natural crystals, their feathers trailing emerald light, accurately hitting the dark red crystal—the moment the crystal shattered, the Shadow-Erosion Beast's body, trapped in the ice and fire net, turned into black smoke and was purified by the light membrane.