Elara still had many pieces of the map inside the glowing divine fruit in her consciousness that were not yet collected. If she could activate and absorb all the divine runes and totems here, the map would nearly be complete and the location it pointed to could be revealed.
With rare excitement in Elara's eyes, the silver-haired man nodded again and stepped two paces closer to her, his figure long and cool with icy energy. "Yes, Your Majesty, your final test is to absorb these divine runes."
"These divine gifts have been collected over thousands of years by the Divine Attendant Palace. The purpose has always been for the chosen one, foretold by the Divine Lord's prophecy, to appear and absorb them. That person will ultimately awaken the two most important 'salvation relics' left behind by the Divine Lord."
Elara looked back at the silver-haired man. "Salvation relics?"
The silver-haired man nodded. "If you are indeed the chosen one, absorbing the divine power left in these runes will greatly benefit you. When you gather enough of the Divine Lord's legacy power, you will receive a map and a key left by the Divine Lord."
Elara's expression shifted slightly... they wanted the map too? Could it be the same one she had been trying to piece together?
And the key... was it hidden in that tree?
Also... once she activated the divine runes, the divine artifacts inside would become hers... just how deep were the Divine Attendant Palace's foundations, to give up such ancient collections without regret?
"If I activate these divine runes, the divine gifts inside will no longer be under your control."
"Naturally. You need not worry about that."
The silver-haired man continued, "These divine runes and artifacts were always meant for the chosen one. If you obtain the map and the key, your identity will be beyond doubt. Our Divine Attendant Palace will honor you as the new successor of the divine, and everything we have will obey your commands."
"The Divine Attendant Palace has waited thousands of years for that moment."
Elara had previously been troubled about where to find enough high-grade divine gifts to complete the map fragments. Especially now, during the widespread crisis of Puppet Soldier attacks.
She never expected such a perfect opportunity to arise. The Divine Attendant Palace's collection of divine runes, gathered over countless generations, was now laid out before her for the taking.
After speaking, the silver-haired man stepped aside, letting her move freely within the vast ice crystal chamber.
Elara walked around the massive "library" twice, trying to activate and absorb a few divine runes. She discovered the divine runes here were not only all of high quality, but the energy they poured into her was also dense and pure.
The glowing divine tree deep in her mind grew taller with the inflow of energy. One by one, semi-transparent fruits formed and overflowed with map fragments.
After letting the System carefully verify everything, confirming the divine energy and artifacts from the Divine Attendant Palace were safe, Elara began to absorb them in large numbers.
With the vast number of high-grade divine runes in the Divine Attendant Palace, Elara spent the next two days inside the giant ice crystal library, continuously activating and absorbing.
The more runes she absorbed, the more divine gifts she mastered, and all were of high quality.
After two days, Elara could barely remember how many high-grade divine artifacts she had absorbed and controlled.
Only the rapidly growing glowing divine tree in her mind, and the nearly completed map, showed how her collected divine power now exceeded all her previous gains combined by several dozen times.
But what caught Elara's attention more than the divine artifacts was that a small portion of the energy had begun to merge into her body. It seeped into her meridians and her latent mental power, strengthening both and causing a subtle but remarkable transformation.
Her mental power became denser, and faint silvery divine light flickered within, as if it had inherited the mystical energy of the glowing tree.
Her spiritual power grew significantly.
If she now attempted to expel Puppet Soldier eggs from infected hosts, Elara felt she wouldn't need to do much. Simply touching the host's skin with her spiritual tendrils would cause the eggs to be forced out.
As she absorbed more energy, the changes in her spiritual power became more pronounced.
But just as the silvery glow in her mental energy approached a critical point, and seemed ready to undergo a second transformation, no matter how many more divine runes Elara activated, the remaining divine power within them was not enough. It only let her touch the threshold, never breaking through it.
After several more tries, still unable to cross the threshold, Elara had to stop. When she opened her eyes, she found the entire library's runes were nearly exhausted.
The glowing tree deep in her consciousness had grown into a towering tree laden with radiant fruits.
Elara, astonished, sank her awareness deeper and stared at the magnificent divine tree, now shimmering with silver light and crystal-like brilliance.
Countless semi-transparent fruits hung from the tree, their leaking map fragments covering the base like fallen leaves.
At the highest central fork of the massive tree, a faint golden glow flickered.
Elara looked closer and realized the golden light was growing from the tree's center and shaped like a key.
Was this the key the silver-haired man had mentioned?
Elara tried reaching into the tree's core, but the key seemed not yet fully formed. It remained fused with the tree, and she could not remove it.
Helpless, Elara stared at the key a little longer. Once sure it couldn't be taken yet, she turned her attention to the other ripe, translucent fruits on the tree.
With a thought, all the map fragments from the fruits rose and floated into the air, aligning with the older pieces and gradually forming a complete map.
She raised her hand, and the enormous map shrank until it was normal size and landed in her palm.
The map glowed with a sci-fi style, a 3D holographic projection visible to the naked eye.
Elara took one look and immediately saw that the recorded location looked exactly like the offshore region south of Plumera Kingdom she had previously suspected.
No, not just similar—it was a more detailed and dimensional version of the southern offshore region.
Because it was a 3D compressed map, Elara could zoom in and out as she touched the holographic projection, inspecting every recorded location in detail.
At the center of the glowing map was a uniquely shaped island.
But the map did not show what was on the island.
Elara examined the map again and again. Once the System had recorded every detail into its archive, she exited her consciousness, still holding the map.
"This is the map you were talking about?"
Elara handed the faintly glowing 3D holographic map to the silver-haired man guarding the front of the library.
Seeing the silver-glowing 3D dynamic map in Elara's hand, the silver-haired man froze for two seconds. His clear, gentle eyes turned back toward Elara, now filled with complicated and indescribable emotions.
He took half a step back, lifted his robe slightly, then surprisingly knelt on one knee before her. His right hand rested in front of him in an elegant yet solemn gesture.
"It really is you. You have finally returned, Divine Master."
Elara was stunned by his gesture and title. She frowned and stepped aside, avoiding his kneeling posture.
"Divine Master? Even if I managed to get this map, at most I'm just the so-called 'Predestined One' you speak of, right? I haven't even obtained the key yet."
The silver-haired man remained kneeling. He looked up at her, his clear and gentle eyes filled with a strong joy, as though he was seeing someone he had waited for an eternity. He did not move the hand he had placed on his chest.
"I know, Divine Master. To avoid the suppression of the world's source laws, you traveled through so many worlds. You sealed your memories and most of your powers within us five Sacred Beasts. That's why you don't remember anything now. But it's alright…"
Seeing Elara's brows furrowing more tightly, the man's smile became gentler and warmer. He bowed again.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself, Divine Master. I am Winslow, the half-beast of the Snowling Clan whom you rescued on the battlefield at the border of ACKL1963548256 planet in the Eternal Glacier Starfield. I am your third Sacred Battle Beast."
"Besides me, you also have your first battle beast Emeraldo, second Salvatore, fourth Gabriel, and fifth Nicomedus."
"Back then, we followed you and the Empire's First Starship Legion to resist the Zerg invasion. Under your lead, we counterattacked all the way to the Zerg Hive."
"You intended to destroy the Hive Queen in one strike, to eliminate the threat to the empire once and for all. But during your battle with the Zerg Hive Queen, the energy was too immense and tore open space and time, causing us and the Hive Queen to fall into this world. Here, we were suppressed by the world's source laws. For thousands upon thousands of years, we had no choice but to gather strength bit by bit, waiting for the day you would return."
Winslow spoke slowly, but the information hidden in his words nearly overwhelmed Elara.
She had suspected that the so-called "Divine" and those in the Divine Servant Palace who followed the "Divine" were likely beings from other advanced civilizations in the universe.
Winslow's words mostly confirmed this guess.
But something was wrong. Why was he calling her Divine Master?!
And all that talk about her leading them into battle with the Zerg—what nonsense… Elara's mind could only produce two words: completely absurd.
From previous conversations, the "Divine Master" he referred to was supposedly a god they had followed for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, right?!
But she had only been in this world for around two years. How could she suddenly become some god?! Even if she was technically from another world, she came from the twenty-first century!
Seeing Elara's clearly doubtful expression, Winslow chuckled softly. His eyes were full of nostalgia.
"Master, you are still as cautious as ever."
"It's alright. Allow me to summon Emeraldo, Salvatore, Gabriel, and Nicomedus. Once we return the sealed energy you placed inside us to your body, you should be able to immediately break through to the peak level of Divine Mystic Arts, retrieve the A1 key, and recover your sealed memories from all these years."
After he finished speaking, Winslow slowly stood up, gave Elara a bow, then raised his hand in her increasingly confused gaze. With a wave of his wide, snow-colored robe sleeve, several palm-sized icy crystals emitting colorful auras flew out and landed in the vast space around them in a five-pointed formation.
A few seconds later, a strong light burst from the four icy crystals. Elara squinted. In the dazzling but not blinding lights, she saw four enormous Sacred Beasts that seemed to have walked straight out of a mythical bestiary—
A massive and fierce black-armored Emeraldo, a giant and mighty golden Salvatore, a smooth and round but equally massive Nicomedus, and finally, a pale green nine-headed serpent-bodied Gabriel…
Elara stared blankly at the towering beast forms before her, then watched as their forms gradually shrank and transformed into tall, slender humanoid figures.
Emeraldo was a tall, imposing man with sword brows and star-like eyes. His demeanor was stern and composed. Elara clearly didn't know him, yet when she looked at him, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Was it because Winslow's words had influenced her?
Emeraldo also froze for a brief moment when he saw her.
Besides Emeraldo, the other three men were all people Elara actually recognized.
Salvatore had taken the form of the golden-haired, golden-eyed man she had seen at the Hundred Nations Banquet and in the "Divine Ruins."