Chapter 1436: Fiona's Gift

This golden pebble was the "Fragment of the Earth's Heart" that the Guardian had given Xia De at the banquet where the Royal Family and the Stonemason Society reconciled, intended to help Xilisi awaken the power of the earth.

However, Xilisi had later awakened the power of the earth through her father's memory crystal at the Church of the Forgotten, so this fragment had remained in Xia De's possession.

At this moment, the small golden pebble was constantly striking the side wall of the glass bottle, and Xia De felt that what was squirming in his pocket was indeed this bottle.

"What is this? It seems to want to move toward this side."

Emilia pointed to the area on the right front eroded by the night. Even though the torches on the side wall of the corridor were less than a step away from the front of that area, they could not illuminate the scenery within the night.

"This is a fragment, and this kind of fragment possesses the characteristic of self-aggregation."

After Xia De frowned slightly, he bent down and placed the bottle flat on the ground. Sure enough, as the golden pebble struck repeatedly, the bottle rolled toward the right front.

So Xia De asked Emilia not to follow, and he hugged Mia and took two quick steps, entering the night again. As the light of the sun and the moon dispelled the night, what was revealed was not the wall of the ancient stone corridor, but a fork in the road leading to the right.

That passage was completely filled with deep night at this moment. Even though Xia De continued to walk forward a step while holding Mia, it only illuminated the surroundings, rather than completely dispelling the night as before.

"There's a fork in the road here? I thought this was just a straight path."

Emilia said in surprise, but she also knew it was dangerous there, so she didn't dare to take a step forward. Xia De bent down to pick up the bottle, and after hesitating for a moment, he said to the elf girl behind him:

"Wait for me here. The night here cannot be completely dispelled; don't risk following me." Although somewhat unwilling, the young elf nodded:

"Then come back quickly, I'm a little... scared." She looked around uneasily:

"There are more secrets here than I thought. I'm afraid there might be other forks, and then something strange might appear." "I'll be back soon."

Xia De nodded and quickly walked into the fork on the right while holding Mia.

Although it was called a fork, it was actually a dead end; he had only walked about ten steps before reaching the end. At the end of the fork was a quite flat brick wall. Unlike the surrounding walls, a complete mural was painted on that wall using oil paint belonging only to the night.

In a city of night drizzling with rain, a young man with somewhat blurred features held the hand of a girl with a large tail behind him, with a cat standing on his shoulder, his right hand raised high, as if holding a silver moon in his palm.

The center of the entire scene was the man holding the moon. This was a typical "heroic knight oil painting," where the entire actions and details of the background and other characters were meant to set off the central figure.

"Fiona..."

Xia De took a deep breath and said softly. After a long while, he reached out his hand to touch Fiona's face on the wall. But when his hand touched the wall, it triggered ripples across the entire mural, centered on the point of contact.

Xia De felt a slight warmth, feeling as if something had also touched his hand. 【Outsider, you have obtained "Witch Echo: Red Dragon Witch Fiona."】

【You have gained insight into "Dragons."】

On the constantly fluctuating mural, the Red Dragon Witch held Xia De's hand and winked playfully at him. She pointed to the door of a shop in the bottom right corner of the oil painting's background.

"Don't keep me waiting too long, my hero."

She bit her lip lightly, lowered her head, and kissed the back of Xia De's hand, then turned back into an immobile mural.

Xia De let out a long sigh. While accepting the brand-new knowledge in his mind and knowing that he had mastered the Dragon language, he reached out and touched the shop pointed to by Fiona's portrait. The shop door on the mural slowly opened, revealing a hidden compartment behind it, and a box the size of two palms popped out from that small door.

It was a gray stone box, its surface rough and unpolished.

When Xia De touched the box, the box itself turned into ash. The ash flowed and slipped from Xia De's fingertips, falling into the white ash on the ground. And the two items inside the box thus fell into Xia De's hands.

In his left hand was a copper-colored metal pepper shaker. This was the relic "Pepper Shaker of the Lord of Blood Feast" that Xia De had seen on the menu of the 【Dragon Maid Cafe】, and the item description at the time was "Delicious Bait of the Blood Feast Master" (Chapter 1296).

Holding it in his hand, without even using it, Xia De heard two stomach growls, one from himself and one from the cat peeking at the pepper shaker. It felt as if half a month had passed since the last meal.

"An item sufficient to summon gods, the great desire of gluttony..."

In his right hand was a black stone larger than Xia De's single palm. Upon first contact, he felt no power, but then he felt as if he were holding up the entire earth.

This was the "Fragment of the Earth's Heart" that Xia De had seen on the exhibition list of the 【Midnight Art Museum】, and its page number was before that "Eggshell Book." Compared to the small golden pebble given by the Guardian, this stone, which had separated from the main body of the Earth's Heart in a more ancient era, was not only larger in volume but also contained a more profound and great power (Chapter 1391).

"With this, can I directly awaken the Guardian?" Xia De thought in surprise, while "She" reminded him gently in his ear:

【Not only can you attempt to awaken it, but by holding this fragment, your "Earth Power: Healing Aura" can be greatly amplified. You can attempt to sink into the location where the "Earth's Heart" is located. If you are willing to devour the power within this fragment, you might even completely master the power of the earth. At the same time, consuming the power of this Earth's Heart (fragment) can also heal those who have been petrified due to contamination by twisted earth power.】

After a light laugh, she continued:

【It seems Fiona Fiona Delage still remembers the items you noticed in the Eternal Night City. So she specially left them for you as a gift.】

When Xia De saw the "Fragment of the Earth's Heart," although Fiona was still in that dream of the moon, after Xia De awakened her using that haphazardly assembled ritual, Xia De had told her about his observations, so Fiona knew that Xia De actually wanted this thing very much.

"She really is..."

Xia De stuffed the pepper shaker and the huge stone into his clothes, pursed his lips, and stared at Fiona on the oil painting: "I won't keep you waiting too long."

Crack~

As soon as Xia De finished speaking, cracks appeared on Fiona's face on the mural, and then the cracks ran through the entire mural. Xia De perceived almost immediately that the space where the entire corridor was located began to become unstable. He knew that the significance of this corridor's existence was gone; this would be the last time this path was used.

After reuniting with the elf girl and the unicorn, who were terrified by the surrounding shaking and flickering firelight, the two hurried forward. The end of the corridor was indeed not the white fog door leading to the "Witch Council," but another curtain with the colors of the night.

Although the shaking corridor did not collapse, the sense of crisis had already made it almost impossible for the two to breathe. The faster unicorn rushed out first, and then Xia De hugged Emilia and jumped forward violently, also crossing the curtain and leaving the corridor.

The two rolled on the snowy surface, and the chaotic feeling of the earth's power beneath their bodies was almost immediately perceived by Xia De, making the unicorn that followed restless.

In the woods where gray snow was flying, Miss Danister and Miss Sylvia walked out from the shadows of the withered trees. They had just had a pleasant conversation about the moon and spatial power, and now seeing Xia De and Emilia finally appear, they walked over.

Miss Sylvia helped Xia De up, and seeing the unicorn, she immediately cast an interested look; no girl could refuse such a beautiful creature.

And Miss Danister asked Xia De, who was patting the gray snow off his body: "In this way, your business should be finished, right?"

"Yes. Please allow me to express my gratitude to you again."

The Thirteen-Ring Witch waved her hand, signaling for Emilia, who was climbing up slowly and looking around with great interest, clearly not wanting to return to the Academy, to go back. After the elf left, she still wanted to tell Xia De a few things.

The elf girl looked at Xia De with pleading eyes, while Xia De gestured toward the air behind him and said regretfully:

"If you want to find that passage from just now, I think it has disappeared." "What?"

Miss Danister asked suspiciously: "How did it disappear?"

Miss Sylvia, on the side, explained:

"Nothing can exist forever; everything will disappear. It's just that this time it was a bit of a coincidence, but fortunately, neither of them was hurt."

"But it disappeared after Xia De walked through it once; isn't that too much of a coincidence?"

Miss Danister asked, but shook her head, knowing that now was not the time to talk about this:

"Xia De, after the Randall Valley matter is over, I will talk to you personally. Be prepared. But for now, let Miss Emilia Sinod follow me. After this matter is over, I will take her back. However, you must guarantee that you won't run around."

Miss Danister looked at the elf girl, who looked as if she had won a grand prize and was nodding desperately. Then she said to Xia De:

"I know you have other things to do, but I want to know, tonight, is there any possibility I will see you again?"

The witch's eyes were fixed on Xia De's eyes; this was actually asking whether Xia De would still deeply participate in the matters of the Chosen. "Absolutely not."

Xia De promised amidst the light laughter in his ear.

"Your credibility in my eyes is currently at a failing level. Last time you also said you wouldn't jump out of the bushes." The witch teased, and then asked Miss Sylvia:

"You take him away; I think you should be able to ensure his safety. Also, your relationship with him..." She hesitated, but still didn't express more opinions on her student's private life:

"Be careful."

Miss Sylvia nodded, and turned with Xia De toward the bushes. The sound of footsteps continued for a while, and then Miss Danister and Emilia heard the sound of glass shattering, and then their voices were gone.

"Can you tell me what happened just now?"

The librarian lady asked the elf, who was blushing with excitement. Just as the latter was about to speak, they heard a roar from afar, and then a mountain in the night collapsed completely under the elf's gaze. Two figures chased each other across the sky in the night, and fireballs falling due to the battle ignited the nearby woods. From an unknown source in the east, a pitch-black beam of light swept across the top of the woods, then leveled the top of another towering hill.

Emilia hurriedly hugged the neck of the pure white small beast. The latter was not afraid of the mountain collapsing, but was very worried about the earth beneath its feet; it hated such a dirty place.

"Forget it, let's wait until the matter is over to talk about what just happened. Follow me, don't stray even a step. Now we are going back to the camp, and I will protect you well."

The witch said with a headache, and the two figures soon disappeared into the woods. ===== CHAPTER 1437 =====

The sorceress said with a headache, and the two figures soon disappeared into the woods.