442: Chapter 428 Anti-theft (Text will be updated in one hour)

Zhang Mu sat on the edge of the bed, watching Gezhe with a worried gaze, perfectly feigning the role of an ordinary human concerned for his friend's safety.

In reality, the two were communicating via telepathy.

—Gezhe, how long do you plan on lying in bed?

—The original plan was to act immediately after entering the Magic Array, but the situation has changed.

—How so?

—Whether the mission to destroy the life tree succeeded or not, I was certain to die. But now, it seems I won't have to.

—Please finish it all at once, can you stop with the nonsense?

—The life tree is sick; it's withering. Once the life tree is completely dead, the strength of the Elf King and that stupid Treant will plummet.

—And so?

—Once their level drops to the Saint rank, I alone can easily slaughter the entire Elf Clan.

Zhang Mu leaned back slightly, becoming curious about Gezhe's origins.

According to the information revealed by Aunt Sadou, those with Gods Blessing on the Saul Continent carry various restrictions.

The details were unclear, but one thing was certain: those with Gods Blessing cannot freely use magic within their rank. Once the limit is exceeded, they would likely face something terrifying.

Under this premise, Gezhe was willing to face that terror just to plot the destruction of the Elf Clan. Just how deep was their grudge?

Zhang Mu didn't know what kind of existence this "terror" was, but for it to make so many Gods Blessing holders on the Saul Continent so wary that they hadn't had a major war for thousands of years—or even dared to hold friendly spars—it couldn't be simple.

Hmm? A battle between Gods Blessing holders?

A flash of inspiration crossed Zhang Mu's mind.

Gods Blessing, major war, none for thousands of years... when was the most recent battle at the Gods Blessing level?

Scenes of Avril recounting the Elf Clan's past surfaced before his eyes. Zhang Mu looked at Gezhe with a strange expression.

—Hey, Gezhe.

—Speak.

—Are you one of the three Gods Blessing holders who teamed up years ago to steal the tear drop?

Gezhe didn't reply and seemed to fall silent, his relaxed right hand slowly clenching into a fist.

After a long while.

—Yes.

—It really is you?

—I thought you would have guessed it long ago.

—Uh, mainly because I didn't think a person could be shameless to this extent.

Zhang Mu said without any tact.

—I don't understand.

—Getting injured while trying to rob someone, and then coming back to kill them under the guise of 'revenge'... an ordinary person really couldn't pull that off.

—You've seen too little of human despicableness.

—I've seen plenty, but most of those people have 'despicable' written all over their faces.

—Heh.

—Don't 'heh' me. Let me ask you something. I heard one died and two escaped, meaning two others are still alive. If you're back to cause trouble for the Elf Clan, isn't the other person helping?

—The rumors say one died and two escaped, but in fact, two died and one was heavily injured.

Zhang Mu understood; Gezhe was the one who was heavily injured.

—You're quite loyal, still thinking about avenging your friends.

—You're thinking too much. Re-entering the Elf Clan is only to heal my injuries, and the magic item that can heal me is a supreme treasure of the Elf Clan. I can't get it without exterminating them.

As for their deaths, what does that have to do with me?

Sorry, I overestimated your moral bottom line.

Zhang Mu silently apologized in his heart for his rashness, then stood up and walked toward the cell door.

Gezhe's goal was to destroy the life tree. Now that the life tree was mysteriously withering, he didn't need to act and could just wait quietly. Zhang Mu, however, could not.

His goal for this trip was to obtain the tear drop of the life tree. If the tree died, what tear drop would there be to talk about?

He had to find a way to save the tree first. As for whether the Elf Clan would be willing to give him an extremely precious tear drop, or how Zhang Mu would seize it if they refused, that was all for later.

Of course, this could not be exposed, otherwise Gezhe would erupt on the spot.

Without the advantages of the Shadow Technique and Transformation Technique, Zhang Mu didn't think he, a Magister, could take down a Gods Blessing holder.

Although he wasn't without means of retaliation, that nuclear bomb thing... this was Frederica's hometown after all. Zhang Mu didn't want to destroy it unless he was cornered.

Coming to the cell door, Zhang Mu knocked on the wall. Just as he was about to speak, a hand suddenly grabbed the vine bars and pulled the door open from the outside.

Three Elves walked in, ignoring Zhang Mu and going straight to Gezhe's side to examine his body.

After a moment.

“It's not a fatal wound, but it's very serious. He needs the Moon Well to assist in treatment.”

“Go immediately.” After this Elf finished speaking, he turned and saw Zhang Mu standing by the door, momentarily stunned.

He remained silent, seemingly hesitating. A few seconds later, his expression returned to normal, and he walked out of the cell, muttering: “It won't be that easy to die, hmph. Stay obedient and accept the judgment of the Academy.”

Two Elves lifted Gezhe and followed behind him, exiting together.

Zhang Mu chuckled helplessly. Why did it feel like Gezhe's view wasn't a prejudice? Elves really were quite stupid.

He shook his head, his smile fading. It was good that Gezhe was taken away; it saved him from having to make up reasons to fool him.

Zhang Mu knocked on the wall to get the attention of the Elf guards.

“Two big brothers, I have three Elf friends. Can you take me to see them?”

One Elf's head poked out from the side of the vine bars: “Who?”

“Frederica, Saldari, Alice.”

The Elf guard froze for a moment, then stood back in his original position with a blank expression.

Zhang Mu scratched his head. What was that supposed to mean?

“Take me to see them, or you can call them to see me.”

The Elf guard's head poked back: “If you had only mentioned Lord Saldari and Lady Alice, I might have believed your story.

But Her Highness... Human, Her Highness would never become friends with a human.”

Zhang Mu was utterly bewildered: “Buddy, is there something wrong with your head?

I'm not lying. Can't you just call them here to verify it?”

“There is no need to verify. What you say is certainly a lie.”

“Why?”

The Elf guard suddenly began to laugh: “Human, do you know what the highest level for a Professional is?”

“I've heard of it—Legendary. There's only one in the entire Saul Continent.”

“I can help you promote to Legendary.”

“What nonsense are you talking?”

“No need to verify?”

“What is there to verify? If it were true, wouldn't you have promoted yourself to Legendary first?”

The Elf guard shrugged and retreated to the side of the door.

Zhang Mu dazed for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed, turned back to the bed, and lay down on it.

I'll just wait for Gezhe to come back, Zhang Mu said to himself, staring at the leaf ceiling above.

...

Elf Clan Council Hall.

The environment of the hall was like the impression Elves gave, exuding a natural aura. The floor was not paved with modules but was formed from a single, massive leaf spread flat; no seams from joined bricks could be seen, only fine, winding leaf veins.

The surrounding walls had the texture of tree bark, without any polishing or processing, presenting a primitive appearance full of ridges and feeling rough to the touch.

If there was any trace of artificial work, it was likely the windows carved into the bark walls, with vine strips arranged into surfaces that served as curtains and window glass, blocking wind, rain, and the light of the sun and moon.

The main doors of the hall were closed, and the interior was completely sealed, so that not even a sliver of light could leak in. However, the place was as bright as day. The light source came from the leaf dome. The entire dome was emitting a faint green light.

The Council Hall was the place where the Elf Clan held major meetings and should have been filled with tables and chairs, but the hall had none of these. Only at the deepest end stood a throne woven from vines.

The King of the Elf Clan was currently seated upon it.

The door was suddenly pushed open, and an Elf walked in.

“King.” She came before the throne and performed a half-kneeling salute.

“You've come.” The Elf King was wearing luxurious robes, primarily in green and white, with dark gold lace trim at the cuffs and collar.

She stood up and looked around in confusion: “Father, didn't you say there would be a clan-wide meeting?”

“Yes.”

“How is it that not a single person...”

“The meeting time I told you was a bit early.”

“Does Father have something to say to me alone?”

The Elf King gazed at her face: “Frederica, do you resent me?”

“Never.” Frederica looked back at her father, and after a few seconds of silence, added, “I believe Mother and she did it voluntarily, using themselves to replenish the life tree.”

“I did not stop them.”

“You did it for our clan.”

The Elf King looked at her calm expression, feeling an inexplicable sense of melancholy; he could no longer see through his daughter's thoughts.

He wasn't sure of the reason. Perhaps it was the result of her many years of traveling abroad. His daughter had grown up and now possessed the qualifications to serve as King.

The Elf King clearly remembered his past disappointment in this daughter.

Timid, lacking the courage to strive, and completely without a sense of responsibility. Back then, his only hope was for Frederica to mature.

Yet when that wish was truly realized, and the transformed Frederica stood before him with the loneliness a King should have in her eyes, he found himself wishing she would return to her former self.

Heh, truly despicable. The Elf King mocked himself in his heart, then quickly gathered his thoughts.

“Frederica.”

“Yes.”

“The life tree is about to wither and die. I still haven't found a way to cure it. Therefore, we need to prolong the life tree's vitality.”

Frederica nodded: “I have already heard.”

“I cannot sacrifice my life for the time being, so I can only choose one from among the other members of the royal family.”

“Aside from Father, the only members of the Elf royal family left are me and my sister.”

“Yes.”

“I understand.”

“The Elders and I have deliberated and decided to use a competition to determine the candidate.”

“Please go on.”

The Elf King stood up from his throne: “Whoever passes through the Forbidden Land first shall be the winner.”

“And the loser goes to be sacrificed?” Frederica confirmed.

As the Crown Prince, even when facing her closest kin, she had to ensure rational thinking rather than blind trust—a teaching from the Elf King himself.

He seemed gratified, his lips twitching slightly: “Correct.”

After saying this, he added: “Your sister Sined has entered the Forbidden Land many times. For you, who have never entered it, this competition is very unfair. But this is already the most fair I could secure for you...”

“I know,” Frederica interrupted him.

The Elf King felt somewhat helpless: “Initially, I proposed a magic duel, but...”

She smiled: “But the Elders and the clansmen rejected it. They believe the reason the life tree is withering is that my failed expedition to Lake angered the gods.”

“Speaking of that expedition, why did you go to crusade against Lake?

Even if it was a divine oracle, there was no need for the Elves to participate. We should have just let the humans handle it themselves.”

The Elf King looked confused, as if he were truly curious about the reason, or perhaps he wanted to change the subject.

Frederica blocked his evasion: “Do you also believe that I brought about this disaster?”

The Elf King shook his head. Perhaps it was a denial, or perhaps he was indicating he couldn't judge.

Whichever the answer was, she suddenly didn't care. She stood to the right of the throne, quietly waiting for the clansmen to gather and the meeting to begin.

About half an hour later, the Elf clansmen arrived at the venue one after another.

The first to arrive were the Elf Elders, nineteen in total. They were the backbone of the Elf Clan, all nineteen at the Saint rank, holding great power and status. Except for matters concerning the survival of the Elf Clan, all other clan affairs, large and small, were decided by them.

The nineteen walked in silently, crossed the hall to three meters before the throne, and knelt on one knee. This was the limit of the distance clansmen were allowed to approach the King.

The Elf King gestured for them to rise. They stood up, cast intentional or unintentional glances at Frederica beside the throne, and retreated to stand on the left and right.

Those arriving later were the ordinary Elves.

Ordinary Elves had no right to vote or propose. Theoretically, there was no need for them to come, but since this assembly would decide which Crown Prince would make the sacrifice, tradition dictated that all Elves be present to witness it.

Considering the limited space in the Council Hall, which was not enough to hold all Elves, the Elf King only summoned clansmen whose Professional level reached the High-rank.

Despite setting criteria for screening, the remaining number was still as high as over eight hundred.

Time passed bit by bit, and basically all eligible Elves had arrived, filling the hall to capacity, even the corridors outside the door were crowded with pointy-eared Elves.

The latter were not participants but Elves below the High-rank and Elf children. The former were worried about the survival of the clan and, not being qualified to enter the hall, listened from outside. The latter clearly didn't know the importance of the matter and were just there for the excitement.

The Elf standing at the end of the crowd turned to close the main doors but was stopped by the Elf King's voice.

Allowing the doors to remain open, the Elf King stood up from the throne: “The meeting begins.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a male Elder immediately spoke: “Before coming to the Council Hall, I went to check the life tree.”

“How is the situation?” the Elf King asked.

“It's very serious. The moon water we poured onto the roots has no effect. The withering speed of the life tree hasn't slowed down at all; in fact, it's accelerating.”

“How could this be?!”

“Wasn't it still effective a few days ago?”

“The reason? Any clues?”

The Elders' expressions changed, and they asked one after another. Only one female Elder frowned, looking down as she pondered something.

After a while, she looked up and interrupted the crowd's chatter: “Speaking of moon water, our reserves are running low, aren't they?”

The Elder who spoke first nodded: “Indeed, not much is left. Even if moon water still had an effect, in another half month, there would be no water left to pour.”

The female Elder turned to the Elf King: “On my way here, I saw several clansmen carrying a human toward the Moon Well.”

An Elder who knew the details explained: “It's a human rescued by the patrol. His injuries are very severe and require the Moon Well to assist in treatment.”

The female Elder looked dissatisfied: “Our clan is facing a disaster, and we're going to waste moon water on a human?

If the withering of the life tree cannot be saved, moon water is the last hope for our clan's continuation.”

“Anna, that's just an ethereal legend; it's not reliable.”

“Indeed.

Besides, treating a human won't use much moon water.”

Several Elders tried to persuade her. She opened her mouth as if to say something but ultimately said no more.

The Elf King looked around at the now quiet crowd: “Since all methods have failed, we will proceed as discussed, choosing a Crown Prince through the Forbidden Land to—”

“King, I believe this is unfair.”