Chapter 275: Silver Dragon's Blood
Leon focused all his attention on controlling the Plane Path...
So much so that Leon didn't notice the Dragonblood Orc's return, nor the strange expression on his face—a barely restrained, wild joy, as if he'd stumbled upon a rare treasure but was terrified of anyone finding out...
By now, Leon had wandered the Void Graveyard for nearly two hours, brushing past all manner of corpses—some belonging to Five-Colored Dragons, others to pureblood elves. At one point, Leon even approached the remains of a Primordial Deity.
It happened as Leon passed through a densely packed zone of corpses—amidst the shadowy mass of bodies and broken relics, he caught sight of a Primordial Deity's remains.
It was the first time Leon had ever seen a Primordial Deity with his own eyes...
Even as a corpse, the impact it had on Leon defied description. It was a giant, as if a god had descended to earth—an imposing face, a majestic body, exuding an ancient, primordial aura. Now it drifted silently through the void, surrounded by endless depths of darkness, with not a single glimmer of light, not a sound. Yet, somehow, it felt as though all the world's light was focused on it; in this boundless emptiness, it was impossible not to notice it first.
In that moment, Leon almost instinctively wanted to steer the Plane Path closer...
But the instant the thought crossed his mind, Leon suddenly felt a chill run down his spine...
Leon knew this feeling all too well. Back when he hunted sand beasts in the desert, danger always brought on this sensation—a warning that he'd missed something crucial...
Startled, Leon quickly activated his Mana Array Device, analyzing the seemingly tranquil void...
Then, Leon's face suddenly turned deathly pale.
He realized that, despite the calm appearance of the void—just drifting corpses and fragments—his device revealed a hidden, boundless killing force...
Endless magical energy was converging around the Primordial Deity's corpse, forming a massive vortex that shredded anything daring to come near.
That's why there were no other corpses near the Primordial Deity's remains...
It wasn't that nothing could approach; everything that did was instantly obliterated by the invisible vortex of magic...
Still, Leon wasn't quite ready to give up.
He tried summoning a rock golem and sent it out using Vinecraft.
But the golem had barely flown a hundred meters before countless cracks appeared—like a thousand blades slicing through its body. In an instant, it shattered into a rain of fragments.
Witnessing this bizarre scene, Leon felt his skin crawl...
Good thing it was only a rock golem I sent out. If I'd approached the Primordial Deity's corpse myself, I would've been...
Without a second thought, Leon, still shaken, steered the Plane Path around and made a quick escape.
Who was he kidding...
The legacy of a Primordial Deity was tempting, sure, but facing such a terrifying vortex of magical power—Leon knew he was nowhere near strong enough for that...
So, he continued steering the Plane Path through the Void Graveyard, circling for two whole hours, and managed to explore only a tiny corner of this endless expanse.
Compared to the entire Void Graveyard, the area Leon explored was maybe a few percent at best. The place was impossibly vast—no end in sight, just a sea of corpses and debris. Who knew what kind of brutal war had once raged here to leave behind such devastation...
After another two hours, Leon finally found a safe route through the Void Graveyard.
At the end of this path lay the corpse of a Silver Dragon...
This Silver Dragon had only a single head—nowhere near the level of the Three-Headed Golden Dragon the Dragonblood Orc encountered.
Still, even a one-headed Silver Dragon was one of the Five-Colored Dragons, born with mastery over all magic. Just a scrap of its legacy could push Leon to a major breakthrough.
For Leon, that was already more than enough...
Everyone has their own path. The Dragonblood Orc's absurd luck—well, that's something most people can only envy.
More importantly, a single drop of blood still lingered on the Silver Dragon's chest...
A drop left behind by the Silver Dragon...
In an era where the Five-Colored Dragons have vanished, no one understands the value of a single drop of Silver Dragon's Blood better than Leon.
Leon wasn't a Dragonblood Orc; he couldn't fuse the blood into his own veins. But he was a mage—a mage with a Mana Array Device. With this single drop, he could further perfect his device. In some ways, its significance rivaled even the Eye of Reincarnation.
The Eye of Reincarnation let Leon endure a hundred lifetimes, accumulating a staggering ten thousand runes. The Silver Dragon's Blood promised a similar leap—he could use it to perfect the Mana Array Device, pushing it to an entirely new level.
Maybe even to a level no one had ever reached before...
"Still, it's not going to be easy..." Leon tightened his grip on the Crystal Balance Staff. Ahead, the void was packed with corpses and wreckage. Even after countless calculations with the Mana Array Device, he'd only managed to plot a barely passable route for the Plane Path.
But the space was incredibly tight...
Even Leon, with control far beyond most, had to focus every ounce of his will. His hands, gripping the Crystal Balance Staff, were slick with cold sweat. Guiding the Plane Path through that narrow route, he couldn't afford a single mistake...
Even the slightest tremor in Leon's hands could send the Plane Path crashing into a powerful corpse...
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
Ten minutes passed, yet Leon seemed no closer to the Silver Dragon's corpse.
Because the path Leon steered was winding; what looked like a few hundred meters in reality meant detouring hundreds, even thousands of kilometers.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes...
After an hour, Leon finally let out a long, shaky breath...
"Finally made it!" That hour had been pure torture for Leon—his nerves stretched to the breaking point, his Mana Array Device running at overload. Both mind and body were utterly spent. If not for the importance of that drop of Silver Dragon's Blood, he wasn't sure he could've lasted.
The Plane Path stopped less than twenty meters from the Silver Dragon's corpse. Leon immediately cast Vinecraft—a massive vine shot up, coiling tightly around his legs. With a muttered incantation, the vine whipped him through the void, sending him flying toward his prize...
At that moment, Leon couldn't spare a thought for the dizziness pounding in his head. Floating through the void, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a glass vial, and—passing the Silver Dragon's corpse—swiftly scooped up that single drop of blood...
"Time to head back!" At the same time, Leon uttered another incantation. The vine coiled around his legs suddenly contracted, ready to yank him back to the Plane Path.
But then, out of the corner of his eye, Leon caught a glimpse of something...
"Could it be...?" In a panic, Leon quickly interrupted the vine's pull. The contracting vine froze in the void for a split second.
It was only a moment.
But in that instant, Leon saw it clearly...
Two staffs were embedded in the Silver Dragon's chest...
The two staffs looked identical, each topped with a massive, radiant gemstone—one a moon, one a sun. Yet, like every other magical artifact Leon had seen, the gems had lost all power, now dull and lifeless, just ordinary stones...
But unlike the other artifacts Leon had seen, these two staffs themselves were completely intact.
Which meant, if the gemstones were replaced, both staffs could still be used...
Strictly speaking, this was a bit backwards.
For any staff, the gemstone at its tip is always the most important part. Take Leon's Spirit Staff, for instance—without that massive Elemental Amber, he'd have tossed it in storage ages ago. It's the Elemental Amber that supplies him with endless mana, making the staff indispensable.
In fact, the Elemental Amber accounts for at least ninety percent of the Spirit Staff's value.
If a staff's gemstone is destroyed, not replacing it makes the staff nearly worthless...
Of course, that's only true for ordinary staffs...
But the two Leon had found were anything but ordinary...
Unlike regular staffs, the two radiant gemstones were just components!