Todd slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the surrounding temple ruins, his dragon eyes faintly glowing with sorrow.

Meredith walked over from a short distance away, looked at the silent dragon, and said, "Let me guess, after hearing what I said last time, you went to see Rachel."

Todd crawled slowly on the ground toward Meredith, his dragon mouth shrouded in the aura of flames, his voice filled with barely suppressed rage: "You must know where Rachel is right now?!"

"It seems your conversation didn't go well."

Todd shouted at Meredith, "Tell me where she is?!"

“Even if you find her, so what?” Meredith looked directly into Todd’s eyes. “The key question is, can you accept her?”

"Whether she is human or monster, she was always the one who stayed by my side and never gave up on me during my most painful and desperate times."

Meredith looked at the black dragon before her and suddenly asked expressionlessly, "Todd, if you had to choose between power and emotion, what would you choose?"

Todd struggled to his feet and roared at Meredith, "If humans have no emotions, what's the difference between them and corpses crawling out of their graves?!"

The latter suddenly laughed and said, "Todd, you've passed."

Hearing Meredith's words, Todd looked confused. "Qualified? What does that mean?"

“I have seen too many people who have lost their humanity in pursuit of power. So even if you show restraint in your power and think about the future, I still have deep concerns about your humanity.”

Meredith smiled and said, "The relationship between you and Rachel is my final test for you. It's a test of whether you, as a tyrant, are like a sharpened blade, and whether there is a sheath to restrain your behavior."

Todd glared angrily at Meredith. "Stop your tricks! I don't care if you trust me or not, I just want to know where Rachel is?!"

The latter did not answer Todd's question, but looked at his body and muttered to himself, "It looks like your injuries have basically healed."

After saying this, Meredith turned around and walked straight outside.

Todd stared at Meredith's retreating figure. "Where are you going?"

Meredith said without turning her head, "Didn't you want to see Rachel? Come with me."

With difficulty, Todd straightened up and followed Meredith toward the edge of the temple.

Reaching a quiet, open space, Meredith looked around and nodded, saying, "This will do."

Todd was completely confused. "What exactly do you want to do?"

Meredith looked at the black dragon's enormous body, crossed her arms, and said leisurely, "Transform into human form. In your current state, I can't take you to see her."

Todd's eyes widened, but in the end he followed Meredith's instructions and transformed from dragon form into human form.

Meredith took out a cloak that had been prepared beforehand from under the raven feathers, tossed it to Todd, and said, "You might feel a little uncomfortable for a moment, but it will only last for a second."

"What?"

Before Todd could react, Meredith suddenly grabbed his hand.

A large amount of electrical charge began to gather in the air around the two of them. Accompanied by crackling sounds, arcs of electricity formed a huge ball of electricity, enveloping the two of them.

Suddenly, after a deafening roar, the electric ball vanished in an instant, leaving only a sparkling path on the ground.

Todd truly experienced what it meant to be "lightning fast." The surrounding scenery seemed to move at the speed of light, constantly rushing past him. When he came to his senses, he was already standing in a desert.

Meredith's face was somewhat pale. Sitting on the hot sand, she took a few deep breaths and said softly, "It's been too long since I used my powers, and my body isn't recovering as well."

Todd looked around in surprise. "We were just in the Land of Shadows, how did we suddenly end up in the desert? Where is this?!"

“The Abbasid Empire, the Supuha Mountains.” Meredith stood up, brushing the sand off his body with obvious disgust. “I hate the desert. Once sand gets into my feathers, it’s especially hard to clean.”

Todd suddenly realized, "You mean the Supuha Mountains? The location of the Elders' Temple?"

Meredith glanced in the direction of the sun and walked forward on her own. "Didn't you want to know where Rachel is? Follow me."

Having no other choice, Todd had to follow Meredith and head deeper into the desert.

After a long journey of more than half an hour, Todd was dizzy and lightheaded from the intense sunlight.

Meredith walked to the shady side of a large rock, stepped on the sand nearby, and muttered to himself, "If I remember correctly, it should be here."

Todd walked over to her and asked, "What's here?"

Meredith crouched down, found a protrusion under the large rock, pressed it down hard, and smiled at Todd, saying, "The secret entrance to the Elder Council's underground temple."

"Uh, you mean..."

Before Todd could finish speaking, a huge hole suddenly appeared beneath his feet, instantly swallowing him up.

Driven by quicksand, Todd slid down a long sled and finally crashed into a dark room.

Meredith quickly jumped off the slide and came to a steady stop next to Todd.

Meredith raised her right hand and snapped her fingers. A dazzling arc of electricity shot out from her hand, quickly circling the room and igniting the torches on the walls.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!