"Give me a moment to think," Dustin said.

Grace's words sent him into deep thought.

After all, carrying the fate of Dragonmarsh was no small burden. First, he had to be tough enough to handle it. Then, he needed the resolve to accept what came with it. Once he carried that burden, it meant taking on a heavyweight.

He used to act on his own terms and do things as he pleased without worrying too much about the consequences. But once the nation's fate was involved, everything changed.

Not that he had many options.

Dustin could either hide in Sacred Wrym Summit and hope Arion would protect him, or take a risk and absorb the Dragonmarsh's fate to push through his cultivation's bottleneck. Between the two, he was leaning toward the latter.

"I can give your plan a shot," Dustin said suddenly. "But we're still missing a piece of the Dracan essence. If we're doing this, we need to find that last one first."

Only once all five pieces of Dracan essence were united could he truly wield the