Beneath the Red Dragon

However, the mage now carried a respect on his face that even he had not noticed.

The dragonfire, after consuming the white bone undead, had slowly extinguished, but the once-desolate sandy land had now transformed into a shimmering, high-temperature surface.

The sand and soil, melted by the Red Dragon’s flame, now resembled a shallow lake across the land, with flowing translucent liquid everywhere, reflecting the moonlight like a colossal mirror.

Such a scene, even some Saint Tier powerhouses adept in destructive magic and attack power would struggle to create; ordinary beings have their limits, yet this Red Dragon seemed to have no limit to the power coursing within him.

”It’s quite possible, it seems that before us, more than one group of visitors have come to this plane, unwelcome as well,” Karon nodded, his massive form crouching.

The mage at his feet would truly have to leap up to reach the Red Dragon’s knee.

”Although these innumerable undead were burnt away by your dragonfire, they left behind some valuable things,” the Squinting Mage spread open his hand, revealing a tiny transparent crystal, the size of a sesame seed, lying in his slender, pale palm.

”Is this... a Soul Crystal?” Karon lowered his broad head, staring at the sesame-sized transparent crystal in the mage’s palm. Such a Soul Crystal only forms in extremely unique places, birthed from resilient and pure souls.

Like magic crystals formed from pure magic power, Soul Crystals are used, but more focused on the soul and spirit.

However, despite their purity, Soul Crystals cannot be directly absorbed. The soul is one of the most wondrous creations in the world, each creature’s soul utterly unique.

Even demons, transformed from Abyss Worms, have their appearances and evolutionary paths determined by their unique soul characteristics.

Randomly absorbing Soul Crystals can indeed strengthen one’s soul power directly but will also be influenced by these souls.

Nonetheless, Soul Crystals remain rare treasures. Many beings with insufficiently strong souls also develop various methods to use Soul Crystals, minimizing the influence on themselves.

After all, a powerful soul signifies the threshold to Legend; while a strong soul and spirit do not guarantee becoming a Legend, a weak soul and spirit certainly mean one cannot become a Legend.

This is the shared understanding among all beings aspiring to Legend.

Of course, for those creatures seeking transformation into a lich, these Soul Crystals are the ultimate holy relics, the finest supplements.

After transforming into a lich, most of a being’s power depends on the original strength of their soul. If Karon were to sell these Soul Crystals to giant dragons finding it hard to surpass the Ancient Dragon stage and wishing to become Dragon Witch Demons, a crystal of this size could fetch at least twenty thousand Gold Coins.

In the eyes of giant dragons, twenty thousand Gold Coins.

Furthermore, Soul Crystals are hard currency in the Abyssal Hell, more favored than ordinary souls. Karon could even use Soul Crystals to hire the chaotic demons and devils for his service if the gathered Soul Crystals are plentiful enough.

”Yes, Soul Crystals, Karon, you could have your beloved collect these on the battlefield, for even in the hands of those legends, they’re considerably valuable, or rather, only in their hands can they realize their greatest potential,” the Squinting Mage Hughes shared what knowledge he possessed.

”Legends construct their understanding of the world’s system, then touch the laws of the real world based on their understanding, with strong souls being an indispensable foundation.”

”Once one could successfully construct a complete system of understanding and infuse it with the grasped laws, a unique Domain forms, with some powerful Domains even comparable to the Divine Kingdoms of lesser divine spirits,”

Mage Hughes revealed a trace of envy in his squinting eyes; the Domain prototype the Red Dragon already possessed gave this giant dragon a ticket to stepping onto that threshold.

Many legendary powerhouses explore the endless Star Realm, researching the mystical rules of the worlds, striving to perfect their understanding framework, all to condense a Domain, becoming a God of Mankind with an innate Divine Kingdom Domain.

Regrettably, even with the lifespan and power of legendary powerhouses, very few manage to take this step in their lifetime.

Much like many great beings attempting to ascend to a Divine Position, only a lucky few succeed.

Two similar yet different paths, both extremely challenging, but the former is arguably harder.

”I read in a magic scripture that in ancient times, a powerful mage could use the power of the soul from burning magic crystals to aid in researching the world’s rules’ mysteries, but unfortunately, that method was not recorded in the scripture,”

The Squinting Mage’s eyes revealed a look of regret; if Hughes knew this method, perhaps he could use the Soul Crystals at hand to help himself approach the gates of Legend in the future.

Karon, however, felt no such regret; his sub-brain cluster was prepared precisely for this, having set its target during initial strengthening, not shooting aimlessly.

However, he recalled the power of faith needed by faith divine spirits, seemingly having an extremely crucial connection with souls. Those faith divine spirits, who appeared omnipotent, would fall into slumber in the Star Realm if deprived of sufficient nourishing power of faith.