Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

The old lion fell into Alduin's belly, where its body was quickly digested by the magical furnace of its stomach and turned into nutrients.

Meanwhile, within the Sea of ​​Souls.

Alduin's dragon soul opened its eyes and gazed silently at the golden lion soul shrouded in gray mist before it, its eyes indifferent and devoid of any pity.

This was an unorthodox method he learned from the lich's notes.

Using the devouring of souls as a catalyst to forcibly extract complete memories is more efficient than any other method; its only drawback is that it is too cruel.

Unfortunately, the other party made the first move.

Since you dared to break his seal and provoke him, you should be prepared to be ruthlessly crushed.

Alduin closed his eyes, quietly processing the memories before him. After a moment, his consciousness withdrew from his soul sea, a look of understanding flashing in his eyes.

The crystal stolen by Leon is the Rock Emblem, one of the four emblems of the Wilderness.

In Renn's memory, this thing was an ancient legendary relic, scattered in various places.

The Lion Clan also possesses one, which is considered a sacred relic of the clan and is called the Rock Crack Emblem.

They risked everything, even sacrificing most of the Knights' fighting strength, to seize the emblems and save their race from annihilation.

According to this lion's memory, newborns of the Northern Lion Clan are born with a petrification curse and will not survive the winter.

Adult warriors also gradually stiffen, their bloodlines wither, and the earth no longer shelters them.

If the four emblems are not collected and the clan's ritual is not completed, the Lion Clan will be reduced to a desolate rocky wasteland within ten years.

Auduin's heart stirred slightly.

The Rock Emblem represents defense and foundation. This thing was probably formed from the power of a legendary strongman, but it was scattered in various places after his death.

It was precisely because of its stable and defensive characteristics that it was chosen by the mage who set up the seal back then and used directly as one of the core components of the Ancient Dragon of the Ruins.

The lions seem to have been cursed, causing their newborns to turn to stone, which is why they took the risk of bullying their young dragon.

but……

Auduin's eyes were cold, showing no pity whatsoever.

His sympathy could not save the Lion Clan from their curse, nor could it stop the seal from collapsing at any moment due to the loss of the emblem.

The Rock Emblem must be retrieved.

Whether the lions live or die is none of his business.

The Rock Emblem is the key to the seal. Once the seal breaks, the Ancient Dragon of the Ruins will return to the world, and the first to be destroyed will be the territory it has painstakingly built.

The goblins, stone giants, and orcs under his command, as well as the mines, workshops, and fortifications he has painstakingly built, will all be destroyed in an instant.

He had to make a trip to the North.

Alduin raised his claws and drew a magic circle, a simple communication circle.

Then, the old goblin Grimm, who had stayed behind to guard the territory, felt a chill run down his spine as he received an order.

"Grim, tell the orcs to take charge of the territory's defenses, reinforce the outer perimeter of the seal, suspend all non-essential mining, and be on high alert without fail."

The orcs' high shaman and chieftain are both seventh-tier epics, and with them in charge, the safety of the territory is not a problem.

Auduin looked north.

That was the territory of the Lion Clan, cold and desolate.

But there's one more thing before we go there.

He looked at the stone giant Blue beside him and calmly said, "Blue, go to the Krieg Cave. There's something there that you might find useful."

Bru nodded, asked no further questions, and turned to leave.

The dwarf runemaster happened to have a core that had been peeled off the giant serpent. It was a solidified power of earth element, originating from the same source as Bru's magic and belonging to the same earth power, which was perfect for Bru to use.

Alduin's figure turned black and vanished instantly, reappearing outside the dragon's nest.

He knew that this journey to the North was extremely dangerous. Although Leon had not shown his strength directly, his ability to activate spatial magic meant he was definitely a seventh-tier epic and not to be underestimated.

The Lion Clan has a legendary Lion King, which is the foundation of their ability to establish themselves in the North.

The good news is that the Lion King is in a deep sleep due to the petrification curse and can only barely maintain his strength with the power of the Rock Crack Emblem. He is unable to exert his full power in the short term.

Therefore, as long as we seize the Rock Emblem, there's no need to fight them to the death.

But we must be fully prepared so that even if an unexpected accident occurs, he can deal with it calmly and get out unscathed.

Auduin spread his dragon wings and soared into the sky, heading north.

He knew that this trip was not for fighting, but for reclaiming what belonged to him.

……

The North is bitterly cold year-round; the earth is frozen black soil, covered with ice and dry rocks, and devoid of vegetation.

The sky is overcast year-round, the cold wind is biting, and snowflakes fall incessantly.

The mountains were barren, with jagged rocks and frozen skeletons everywhere, a scene of deathly silence, devoid of any sign of life.

Compared to this place, the South is simply paradise.

Alduin used shadow leaps and continuous flight to reach this place in just half a month.

Leon was prepared and must have already used spatial magic to get back first. He had to find the other party's whereabouts immediately.

Although the North is desolate, the Lion Clan has occupied a territory there and even established a small kingdom, so their presence is not difficult to find.

Auduin had a thought and flew off in a certain direction.

As Alduin flew over a gray-white stone forest, he suddenly sensed unusual magical fluctuations below.

He looked down and saw the ground in the stone forest trembling slightly, with pebbles rolling, as if something was awakening from the ground.

The next moment, more than a dozen huge figures stood up from the crack in the rock.

Auduin looked closely and a sense of doubt crept into his mind.

These are... Rock Elemental Beasts, but they look different from what he remembers.

The bodies of ordinary rock elemental beasts are composed of gray-white rocks and semi-solidified magma, with dark red cracks covering their surfaces. The shortest of them is three meters tall, while the leader is as tall as five meters.

But these creatures before me were entirely grayish-blue, with vacant eyes and slow, stiff movements, yet they exuded a violent aura.

They discovered Alduin in the air.

The leading behemoth raised its thick arm and swung it violently, sending a millstone-sized rock hurtling into the sky with a whooshing sound.

Auduin didn't even try to dodge.

His figure turned into darkness, and the rock passed right through him, hitting nothing.

Upon reaching the Epic level, his control over his power improved further, allowing him to completely conceal himself within the Shadow Realm and become immune to physical attacks.

The leading rock elemental seemed to pause for a moment, then let out a piercing roar and led more than a dozen of its kind to charge at Alduin.

Their movements were clumsy yet incredibly swift; in the blink of an eye, they arrived in front of Alduin, leaping dozens of meters in a single bound, attempting to pounce Alduin down from mid-air.

Alduin hovered in mid-air, his dragon wings slowly unfolding, blotting out the sky.

He opened his mouth, and several thin golden beams shot out, heading straight for the leader's chest.

It seemed that it hadn't expected that, without any warning, the crystal core in its chest would be pierced through, and it would turn into a pile of yellow stones.

The remaining rock elemental beasts all stopped abruptly, stunned in place.

The next second, they all turned around and fled in panic, disappearing into the cracks in the rocks in the blink of an eye.

Alduin didn't chase after them; these small fry weren't worth his time and energy.

He landed on the ground and looked at the crystal core that had been pierced.

These elemental beings are completely different from flesh and blood beings. All their power is condensed in the crystal core. As long as the crystal core is destroyed, they will immediately disintegrate and perish.

However, what intrigued him was why there were so many Desolate Rock Beasts here, and... in such bizarre forms.