The Duke stored the last philosopher's stone from the rich mineral pocket into the Divine Court and continued to plunge deeper into the mine without looking back.
His earth elemental form moved through the gray-white rock layers like a swimming fish, and where he passed, the dark red crystals embedded in the rock walls on both sides were peeled off, crushed, absorbed, leaving behind trails of gray-white debris exhausted of energy.
He moved at lightning speed, and the branch and main veins of the mine collapsed behind him, with rubble and dust surging through the narrow mine shaft like a flood breaking a dam.
Inside the Divine Court, the third tender leaf of the World Tree Seedling had fully unfolded, and the bud tip of the fourth leaf had emerged from the top of the stem.
The pile of philosopher's stone ore beside the seedling was continuously decreasing, replaced by a growing heap of gray-white residue.
