The Dark Star fell out of the seal, already dead when it hit the ground.
Immediately, a powerful presence surged out from beneath the seal, causing the earth to tremble. A formidable being slowly rose from the underground, and even the swirling black substance around seemed to boil, as if trying to avoid the sharpness of this powerful presence.
Everyone present felt this immense pressure and turned their heads toward the direction of the seal.
They saw an elf skeleton clad in battle armor rising slowly from the seal, floating in mid-air, holding the Inheriting Divine Sword, Dragon’s Tooth, in its hand.
Even after being buried in the seal for three hundred years, the sword remained unrivaled in its sharpness.
Seeing this elf skeleton appear, the elves present were shocked. Some of the elf elders who had experienced the events back then recognized the identity of this skeleton.
"Lord Santos!" An elderly Arcane Master called out this name that few mentioned anymore.
Among the elves present, the most emotionally stirred was Terres.
His eyes were fixed on the skeleton, filled with complex emotions.
His voice trembled slightly, as if suppressing the sorrow within.
He was all too familiar with the person before him, recognizing him at a glance, even though he had passed away.
So much time had passed, he had slowly become a new generation Sword Saint of the Elf Clan, accepting his teacher’s passing within his heart.
However, seeing his teacher revived now awoke memories of his youth.
His emotions were indescribably complex, with sorrow mixed with a hint of solace, and solace mingled with anger.
Sorrowful because he and his teacher were separated by life and death.
Consoled because, after so long, he could see his teacher once more, even if things were different now.
Upon hearing the word "teacher," the skeleton of Santos turned its head slowly, its hollow eye sockets flickering with ghostly blue flames, exuding a chilling pressure.
Santos surprisingly uttered in a low, hoarse voice, "You... have grown up."
Upon hearing these words, Terres’s body shuddered, his face filled with a tempest of emotions.
After three hundred years, he heard his teacher’s voice once again. Although the words seemed to come from the depths of hell, he knew it was his teacher speaking.
At this moment, memories of his youth involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Back then, he was a young Elf Knight, neither talented nor skilled in combat, but fortunate to meet Santos and thus followed him to learn swordsmanship.
Although long years had passed, he still remembered those years of studying the arts.
Even when he performed poorly and was scolded, those days remained the most cherished period of his life.
Santos was the guide on his path of cultivation, and the person he respected most in his life.
Santos raised the Dragon’s Tooth in his hand, pointing it at Terres, with a grating sound issuing from the rusted armor.
The Dragon’s Tooth in his hand suddenly burst into an aurora of green and purple flames, leaving lightning-like traces in the air as it swung—a sharpness that struck fear into the Abyss Demons three hundred years ago, now pointed at his student.
Terres’s pupils quivered, watching Santos’s sword-wielding motion as memories of his teacher imparting sword skills resurfaced in his mind.
In the morning mist of the Jade Forest, his teacher would tap his numbed wrist with a wooden sword, sternly instructing, "Hold the sword as though grasping the heart of the wind, that is the essence of the Wind Dragon Breathless Slash..."
Each lesson echoed through three centuries of space into his mind.
"Hesitation will cost you your life!"
"When you grip the sword’s hilt, you bear the responsibility of saving the Quel’dorei."
Reuniting after countless ages, they now faced each other with drawn swords.
Suppressing the turmoil within, Terres asked, "Teacher, do you intend to draw your sword against me?"
Santos saw the emblem on his student’s battle armor—a sign only the Sword Saints of the Elf Clan could wear.
He understood that the student before him had grown into the new Sword Saint of Quel’dorei.
With a face void of flesh, he seemed to wear a consoling smile, saying in a low, hoarse voice, "Terres, draw your sword. To defeat me, you must become a true Sword Saint."
Terres’s right hand grasped the sword’s hilt, yet he could not muster the strength to draw it: "I...I cannot..."
Santos reprimanded, his voice severe, "You must, or I will kill all your kin behind you."
Upon hearing this, Terres’s expression sharpened, only then realizing the situation, though he still could not believe it in his heart: "No, teacher, you wouldn’t."
Santos affirmed firmly, "I will, because I can no longer act according to my will."
After saying this, a low roar escaped him, and the Dragon’s Tooth whipped up a gale encasing ice shards, slashing towards Terres with the Wind Dragon Breathless Slash.
A Wind Dragon formed, smashing through the space around, charging at Terres and the elves behind him responsible for stopping the Abyss Pollution Source’s spread.
With a sharp expression, Terres leaped forward, positioning himself in front of the Wind Dragon, his blade tracing a spiral path around, exerting all his strength to unleash the Wind Dragon Breathless Slash as well.
A second Wind Dragon took shape, surging forth.
The two Wind Dragons collided and bit into each other in mid-air, creating intense shockwaves that flung boulders and earth into the sky.
Dust and giant rocks swirled in a frenzy, as if the heavens and earth were collapsing in an instant.
Santos cleaved through the wind pressure with a sword slash, charging at Terres, swinging his sword to chop.