I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield - Chapter 712 - 515: Divine Beasts and the Demon King Appear (Part 2)
In the mirror, the fierce battle between the Empire’s genius and the magical creatures unfolded tragically.
Within the ice mirror, Qin Tian had just cleaved open a magical creature’s chest. The purple lightning had not yet dissipated when Lan’s fingertip gently traced the ice surface, causing the image in the mirror to pause.
He turned his face slightly, his gaze sweeping over the four Guardian Beasts, his voice calm: “Are you ready?”
“Young Master, we have been preparing for this moment for thousands of years.”
The Ice Crystal Phoenix spread its wings and let out a low cry, its voice like jade striking, the ice-blue wings shimmering with tiny sparkles, “Since the day we accepted the guardianship legacy, we have known our destiny.”
“You will die.” Lan’s tone was unwavering, yet it caused the cold air in the secret hall to stagnate slightly.
“Death might be a relief for us.” White Xiong slowly turned his head, his gaze penetrating the thick ice wall, his eyes softening, “I miss my mother.”
Memories surged like tides.
Thousands of years ago, he was the youngest cub among the lineage of Guardian Divine Beasts. At that time, his father’s broad back shielded him from storms, his mother licked his fur and hummed ancient songs, and his brother chased auroras with him on icy plains, the days were carefree. Until that catastrophe descended, the shadow of Malgaga loomed over the territory of the Ice God Race, and all the Guardian Divine Beasts joined the battle. His father’s paws were stained with black blood, his mother protected him with her body in a final push, and his brother’s roar echoed in the sky…
After the war ended, the Guardian God Race was almost completely annihilated, leaving only him and a few young survivors like the Ice Crystal Phoenix.
They received an energy baptism at the Ice God Race’s holy altar, inheriting the ancestral guardianship power, and were thus trapped in this treasure trove, using their power to maintain the seal of the Ice Throne, suppressing Malgaga’s heart.
Thousands of years of bitter guardianship felt like a long imprisonment, the faces of relatives gradually blurred in memory, accompanied only by solitude and responsibility.
Their power grew over the years, but Malgaga’s heart was also frantically absorbing the treasure trove’s energy, the cracks in the Ice Throne deepening. In a hundred more years, the seal would completely shatter.
When that time comes, Malgaga will awaken, and the Ice God Race’s sacrifice will be entirely in vain, which they could not bear to see.
“So we must win.” The Spirit Deer gave a gentle cry, the light of her antlers becoming ever more dazzling, “With our lives, we’ll secure the seal, allowing Young Master to retrieve the Ice Seal Order—this is our mission.”
Hearing this, Lan sighed softly in his heart, a complex emotion flashed in his ice crystal-like eyes, then he clenched the magic staff, his fingertips gently manipulating Spiritual Energy. The ice crystal atop the staff suddenly brightened, a pale blue spatial rift unfolded before him, and in the next moment, his figure disappeared from the secret ice cavern.
…
Atop the ancient Ice Spirit Tree, the cold wind swept tiny ice flowers, a tall figure appeared out of thin air.
Lan raised the magic staff, gently pointing at the main trunk at the top of the ancient tree.
The instant the ice crystal at the top of the staff touched the tree, ice-blue light spread like a tide, swiftly flowing along the texture of the trunk.
The ancient tree emitted a low tremor, as if a sleeping Giant Beast was awakened, its branches stretching on either side, revealing a central recess—there, a gentle blue light was slowly condensing.
The blue light grew brighter, eventually forming a palm-sized token.
The token was entirely forged of ice crystal, its surface engraved with ancient runes sharing the same origin as the Ice Throne, exuding a pure and majestic aura. It slowly rose from the icy groove, suspended in front of Lan, as if awaiting the acceptance of its master.
Lan extended his left hand, and the token settled steadily into his palm.
He slowly poured his Spiritual Energy into the token, the runes immediately lit up, and a vast stream of information flooded into his mind—the core control rights of the Ice Throne, the coordinates of the slumbering clansmen of the Ice God Race, the ancient ritual to awaken the bloodline… All the secrets of the Ice God Race’s revival were hidden within this Ice Seal Order.
He tightly grasped the token, a faint light finally appeared in his cold eyes, the thousand-year wait and guardianship had finally seen the dawn.
At the moment Lan appeared, everyone and all magical creatures on the battlefield froze simultaneously.
Ji Taiyan had just slain a magical creature with a spear, his perception instantaneously spread out, and upon “seeing” the figure at the top of the ancient tree, his eyes inevitably moved.
That face was as if carved by ice and snow, a perfect countenance, with the crown and robe outlining extreme nobility, like a snow elf, a strange feeling quietly sprouted in his heart.
“Who is she?”
Geniuses from various parts of the battlefield also spread their perceptions, focusing on the top of the ancient tree.
Some were shocked by Lan’s presence, almost caught off guard by magical creatures; others furrowed their brows, full of confusion—when did such a mysterious power appear in this treasure trove?
“Lan has finally appeared.”
Qin Tian slashed open a magical creature’s head with a blade, and upon seeing that familiar figure, the heart he had been carrying for so long finally relaxed, a faint smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Since entering the relic, Lan had mysteriously disappeared. Although he hadn’t said it out loud, he had been thinking about it. Now seeing Lan safe and sound, he finally felt relieved.
But upon closer inspection, Qin Tian found the Lan before him somewhat unfamiliar.
His appearance hadn’t changed much, but with the crown and robe, his demeanor was entirely different—previously, he was somewhat ethereal and aloof; now, he seemed like a sovereign commanding the ice and snow, so majestic that no one dared to look directly.
His eyes fell on the magic staff in Lan’s hands, a flicker of an unusual color passing through his gaze.
When he and Zhuge Yu had broken into the first treasure trove, the last challenge depicted a Divine Statue with hands seemingly gripping an object, but at that time, it was empty-handed.
Yet the magic staff in Lan’s hand, whether the ice patterns on the staff or the ice crystal at its top, perfectly matched the Divine Statue’s silhouette.
Apart from the magic staff, was the crown, robe, and necklace also the “pearls” from each treasure trove?
If this was true…
A thought emerged in his mind: could it be that since they stepped into the relic, everything they did was part of Lan’s scheme?
Their clearing of magical creatures, breaking of seals, and even mutual contention for resources were all laying the path for Lan, helping him retrieve the Divine Artifact and legacy from the treasuries?
If this was true, then these geniuses of the Empire had been Lan’s “tools” from the start to the end.
“Lan indeed is not the same anymore.”
Qin Tian smiled; previously, Lan was an “amnesiac” who had just awoken and was in a state of bewilderment, lacking basic life knowledge, unable even to communicate with others, let alone set up schemes.
But now, Lan seemed to have recalled something after entering the relic, becoming the “chess master,” turning both the Holy Blood and other Heaven and mortal into pieces he could use.
As for himself seemingly being used, Qin Tian did not mind.
After all, he and Lan were considered friends. Helping Lan recover his memories, and even retrieve things originally belonging to him, was what friends ought to do.
Moreover, he had gained a lot from Lan.
The axe and the Zhanshou saber, seemingly custom-made for him, and the ten-thousand-year Ice Heart Lotus Seed, which perfectly countered the Heart Demon Tribulation, now it seems, were indeed Lan’s handiwork.
He was just about to call out to Lan when, diagonally above the ice-blue ancient tree, space suddenly distorted like crumpled paper.
A figure stepped out slowly, suspended in mid-air.
His stature was as tall as Lan’s, his features had seven parts similar to Lan’s, only lacking Lan’s exquisite refinement, with sharper, bold contours, high cheekbones, deep eye sockets, and a pair of crimson eyes like burning blood jade, locked onto Lan at the top of the ancient tree.
What followed was an even more horrifying scene.
As soon as the man appeared, all the magical creatures on the battlefield became stiff, their roars abruptly silenced.
The next second, a series of “bang! bang! bang!” explosions erupted in succession, with hundreds of Tier Seven magical creatures exploding spontaneously, their dark green pus, broken bones, and twisted flesh pouring off the ground like torrents, crazily converging towards the man in mid-air.
Witnessing this scene, everyone’s faces changed dramatically.
