Kieran stayed at the top of the valley, making a detour, moving as far away as he could from the Earth Drake and the Elepharak, looking for a place where the Earth Drake’s nest could be when he saw the entrance of a huge cave in the corner of the valley.

"Could this be the entrance to his nest?"

He moved quickly, paying attention to the movements of the two crystal beasts fighting in the distance, who paid no attention to their surroundings at all.

After spending a moment moving carefully, he arrived near the entrance to the cave, a dull yellow light emanating from within it.

Taking a final glance in the direction of the Earth Drake, he entered the cave.

The cave descended deeper. The more profound he descended into the cave, the more intense the dull yellow light became. He continued to progress when he arrived inside a large room.

Kieran stood in awe at the scene in front of him as a smile started to rise on his face.

The walls of the large room had a dull yellow color. Gemstones were embedded in the walls, which reflected a yellow light.

What looked like a huge bed formed entirely of earth elemental stones of different grades occupied a large part of the room. At a glance, there could be a thousand earth elemental stones here.

Next to the bed is a pile of crystal cores and soul crystals as high as four humans.

In the middle of the large room was a crystal as big as Kieran. The crystal emitted an intense yellow light that filled the entire cave.

He rushed to the earth elemental stones, storing a large amount inside his aurora collar while throwing the carcasses of crystal beasts that cluttered his spatial gem to fill it with more elemental stones until there was almost no space left inside it before reaching the pile of crystal cores and soul crystals.

There were about ten soul crystals inside the pile that Kieran picked up. His gaze then turned to the crystal in the middle of the room.

He could feel his body getting heavier as he got closer to the crystal.

"What kind of crystal is it?"

"It's a crystallized earth essence. No wonder the Elepharak fights the Earth Drake."

"What is a crystallized earth essence used for?"

"A crystallized earth essence forms after 1000 years when a high concentration of earth element gathers in a single point. The crystallized earth essence contains an immense amount of earth elements inside, which can allow a crystal beast related to the earth element to improve its rank. If a crystallized earth essence contains enough earth elements, it can even be used to breakthrough to the Transcendent realms. The Earth Drake guards it until he reaches a bottleneck in his cultivation."

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"Can only crystal beasts use it?"

"No, but unlike crystal beasts, who can completely absorb a crystalized essence, most races will only use it in large formations or to forge a weapon. If you can forge a weapon with a crystalized essence as a base, your attacks related to the earth element will be strengthened."

Kieran didn't hesitate, throwing away some of the earth elemental stones he picked up until he had enough space in his aurora collar to store the crystallized earth essence.

"I better leave quickly before the Earth Drake comes back."

He took a last look in the direction of all the elemental stones that were on the ground with a feeling of loss.

He rushed out of the cave when he heard a roar that shook the whole mountain.

***

While Kieran was busy stealing the nest, the Earth Drake and the Elepharak continued their fierce fight.

The entire valley trembled under the weight of their attack. Craters now emerged all over the verdant valley.

The roar of the Earth Drake echoed through the valley as he pursued the Elepharak relentlessly.

A yellow color invades the body of the Earth Drake before moving into the ground under him.

Pillars of earth formed all around the Earth Drake and the Elepharak, enclosing them both in an arena.

The Earth Drake lifted its head, concentrating its crystal essence through his ability to manipulate the earth. A ten meter long spike formed above its head before it threw it at the Elepharak.

Seeing the giant spike heading towards him, the Elepharak quickly circulated his crystal essence through his body. A yellow hue covered his entire body before concentrating entirely on his scythe.

The blade of the scythe, which was as tall as his arm, was covered with a blade-like layer of dirt that grew rapidly, quickly becoming taller than him.

The Elepharak swung his scythe at the spike of earth approaching him, cutting it in two.

The earth that had formed at the scythe's end crumbled instantly.

Lowering its body, the Elepharak leaned on its legs before throwing itself towards the Earth Drake. Its body disappeared from its previous spot. Only that blurry figure could be seen moving as platforms made of earth materialized in the air, forming a path to the head of the Earth Drake.

Unable to keep up with the rapid movements of the Elepharak, the Earth Drake mouth opened wide before spitting out a powerful breath in the direction of the Elepharak.

The Elepharak dodged the breath attack by stepping aside, twisting its body in the air before concentrating its crystal essence into his scythe and throwing it towards the Earth Drake's head.

Seeing the scythe grow bigger in his sight, the Earth Drake turned his head, using his breath to push the scythe away.

At the same time he managed to repel the scythe. A small figure appeared right next to its head.

The Elepharak clenched his right fist, a yellow color dyed all his arm. The next instant, a huge fist made of solid rock formed around his fist before it hit the head of the Earth Drake, projecting his enormous body towards the walls of the arena made of earth, destroying them under his weight.

The Elepharak dashed, retrieving his scythe that had fallen to the ground. He headed again towards the Earth Drake with his scythe lifted above his head.

The Earth Drake felt a sense of crisis, suddenly an armor made of earth covered his whole body, easily stopping the scythe of the Elepharak falling on him.

The scythe bounced off the armor before the Elepharak could react. The Earth Drake's huge paw slammed into him, throwing its small body away.

The Elepharak formed several platforms of earth to reduce its fall, reaching the ground safely. A faint trace of black blood could be seen dripping from under its helmet.

The Earth Drake rose slowly, his earth armor crumbling and falling to the ground.

The two crystal beasts were looking at each other, not making a single move, when both felt the crystallized earth essence disappear from their sense.

The gaze of the two beasts turned towards the Earth Drake's nest at the same time when the Earth Drake let out a roar before the two charged in the same direction.