446: Chapter 431 She's the Crown Princess?!

Frederica decided to ignore the storm directed at her, but that didn't mean the trio had nothing to do.

The competition was to be held in five days. She was determined to set up a Magic Array alone on the night of the fourth day, sacrificing her own life to extend the life of the Elf Clan's life tree.

The setup of the Magic Array required many materials. To do it in secret, she naturally couldn't go to the treasury to collect them openly.

Frederica planned to make up an excuse to leave the Magic Array and collect the common materials needed to draw the array in the Forest of Spirits. Once mostly finished, she would go to the treasury for the rarer and more precious items that were hard to find outside.

Time was limited. She pushed open the window and looked up at the night sky. After a moment's thought, she turned to the wardrobe, changed into leather armor, and strode out of the room.

The night was late, and most of the clansmen had returned to their rooms to rest. On the way to the entrance of the Magic Array, only the patrolling Guards occasionally passed by.

Frederica noticed the Guards peeking at her with hesitation and a hint of confusion in their eyes. She didn't care, went straight to the exit, showed her Crown Prince badge as required, and walked out of the Magic Array.

Strolling through the forest shrouded in night, she kept an eye on the bushes under the trees to see if any of the materials she urgently needed were growing there, while her mind was filled with thoughts.

She idly wondered who might be targeting her, but unable to reach a conclusion, she turned to mentally reviewing her plan, checking for gaps and deficiencies.

After a while, her thoughts drifted involuntarily, and Zhang Mu's figure and face emerged.

I wonder how his life has been lately. Hmm, would he think of me in some quiet, lonely late night?

Probably not. Entangled in war, how could he have the energy to care about an elf far away.

What a pity. I was so ambitious before, thinking I wasn't inferior to your Princess. If I were serious, maybe I could...

A beam of silver moonlight fell through the gaps in the leaves into the forest. As Frederica passed through the moonlight, she suddenly stopped and looked back.

The bright moon hung high in the night sky, its radiance incredibly dazzling. She seemed to see a familiar smiling face on the smooth moon.

Frederica's eyes gradually became blurred, and everything before her grew hazy, except for that smile, which remained as clear as ever.

Her teacher had once asked her: Is there any meaning in longing for a human who doesn't have you in their heart at all, or has even completely forgotten you?

To this, not even a second of hesitation ever appeared in her heart—loving him is my business, does it require his consent?

Frederica exhaled gently.

"Are you doing well?"

...

"I'm doing just fine."

The elf escorting Gezhe back to the cell left. Facing Gezhe's inquiry, Zhang Mu sat on the edge of the bed with his legs crossed and answered.

After being treated by the elves, Gezhe's injuries were now "healed."

He walked with steady steps to the bedside and sat down. Magic power surged slightly as he set up a barrier to isolate sound.

After completing the action, he suddenly laughed: "Hehe."

Did the treatment mess up his head?

Zhang Mu shivered and moved his butt away from him.

Gezhe said to himself, "Interesting, very interesting."

"What did you find?"

"The Elf Clan is in internal conflict."

"Tell me more." Zhang Mu's interest was piqued, and he moved his butt back to his original position, his face full of curiosity.

"The elders of the Elf Clan seem to intend to force one of the two Crown Princes to take the initiative to sacrifice themselves."

"Sacrifice?" Zhang Mu thought for a moment and suddenly realized, "To save the life tree?"

"Save... Hehe, if sacrificing a Crown Prince could save the life tree, the elves would have done it long ago.

It's merely slightly delaying the speed of withering."

Gezhe spoke slowly, making Zhang Mu a bit irritable. He urged him to speak faster, preferably starting from the beginning.

He didn't keep him in suspense and recounted the intelligence he had gathered.

After listening, Zhang Mu rubbed his chin: "So you mean they haven't figured out a way to heal the life tree yet?"

"Yes."

This is trouble.

From an angle Gezhe couldn't see, a hint of anxiety appeared in Zhang Mu's eyes.

The purpose of traveling a long distance to the Elf Clan was for the tear drop, but now he was told the life tree was about to die.

This was intolerable.

Zhang Mu realized he had to find a way to break out of prison and investigate the source of the life tree's withering. If he delayed further in the cell and the life tree died, wouldn't his trip be in vain?

"What are you thinking about?" Gezhe asked, seeing him with his head lowered.

"Oh, I was thinking that if the tree dies, I won't be able to get the tear drop."

"Don't worry."

"Hmm? You have a way?"

"Within five days, the life tree will condense a tear drop. I've observed that tree; its remaining life force is enough to last five days."

"Really?!" Zhang Mu was pleasantly surprised; he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of saving the tree.

"That's great. By the way, what do you plan to do next? Stick to the original plan and wait for the tree to die before ambushing the Elf King?"

"Unexpected circumstances have arisen; the plan must change."

"Change again?"

"That's right, because a better opportunity has appeared."

"As you wish. Anyway, I must get my hands on the tear drop."

"Of course. As I said, our interests are perfectly aligned."

Gezhe stood up: "Let's go."

"Where to?"

"The life tree."

After speaking, he strode toward the vine-barred gate.

The Shadow Technique was ineffective within the Magic Array. Zhang Mu would definitely be discovered if he acted alone, so he quickly caught up.

Gezhe's "stealth" was quite unique. When he reached the gate, he waved his hand lightly, and the two vine bars automatically bent to the left and right. He nimbly stepped out of the cell through the widened gap, not caring about the elf Guards outside at all.

Zhang Mu followed him out and looked left and right. The two elf Guards seemed to have lost their five senses and ignored them completely.

—Can we talk?

Zhang Mu sent a voice transmission to Gezhe.

He replied: "We can."

"What are we going to the life tree for?"

"The elders of the Elf Clan are plotting to set up a Magic Array under the tree. That Magic Array is very dangerous. Once activated, I won't be able to destroy it with my current strength, so I need to tamper with it in advance."

"Even Gods Blessing can't dismantle it? What kind of Magic Array is so awesome?"

"Awesome?" Gezhe stopped and looked back in confusion.

"It means powerful."

"Oh." Gezhe probably found it hard to understand why there was a connection between 'powerful' and 'awesome,' so he gave a half-understanding grunt and turned to continue walking.

"The effect of that Magic Array is sacrifice."

"I've seen sacrificial arrays before, even large-scale ones that cover a whole city, but it shouldn't be to the point where even you can't do anything about it, right?"

"I can indeed handle ordinary ones easily."

"This one isn't ordinary?"

"With Gods Blessing as the array Core, do you think it would be ordinary?"

"Whoa, then it's definitely not simple."

Patrol squads passed by the two of them one by one. Just like the elves guarding the cell, they acted as if the two didn't exist. With someone guarding him and no need to worry about being exposed, Zhang Mu was in a very good mood and strode forward happily.

"Oh, right." Zhang Mu walked a few steps faster to be side-by-side with him, tilting his head to look at him. "You said earlier the Elf Clan is in internal conflict, and the elders are plotting to force a Crown Prince to sacrifice themselves."

"Yes."

"So, the Elf King doesn't know about this?"

"If he knew, he wouldn't let the elders mess around."

"Something feels a bit off." Zhang Mu scratched his head in thought. "The elders setting up an array without permission must be hiding it from the Elf King; that's an offense against their own King.

On the day the array is activated, the conspiracy will be fully exposed. When the Elf King finds out he's been deceived by his subjects, he'd be merciful if he didn't blast them to death with a spell. How could he possibly take the initiative to serve as the array Core?"

"Hehe, when the time comes, you'll find out."

Gezhe was unwilling to reveal the secret, and Zhang Mu didn't bother to ask further. He had already tentatively formulated a plan to help the elves, or rather, Frederica.

On the eve of the array's activation, the top combat power of the Elf Clan would surely all be present.

If he jumped out and shouted, "Gezhe is here," he believed that no matter how sharp the conflict between the elves was, they would set it aside and join forces to take down their common enemy before dealing with internal affairs.

Regarding Gezhe's revenge, Zhang Mu himself actually had no stance. He wasn't familiar with the elves.

The main reason he chose to help the elves was Frederica. After all, they were friends. If he could save her without much effort, Zhang Mu was still willing to lend a hand.

He remained calm on the surface and continued walking.

"Gezhe."

"Hmm?"

"Why is there such a huge gap in prestige between the two Crown Princes of the Elf Clan? All nineteen elders actually support one of them.

Tsk tsk, this struggle for the throne has no suspense at all."

"It doesn't matter; both Crown Princes must die in the end."

"Eh, why?"

"When the time..."

"Fine, fine, fine, I get it."

After walking for a while longer, they finally emerged from the corridor. What met their eyes was a primeval forest that looked like a paradise on earth.

Thick trees soared into the sky, all sorts of strange flowers Zhang Mu had never seen before were in full bloom everywhere, and under the trees, there were odd plants with green leaves so large they could serve as slides. From behind the bushes not far away came the sound of gurgling water.

"It's night already." Zhang Mu looked up at the sky, then lowered his head to see that Gezhe had already walked far ahead.

Jogging to catch up, he pretended to be very curious about the environment and asked all sorts of questions, but in reality, he was probing Gezhe's specific actions to ensure that no sudden changes would occur in the final battle five days later.

"You want to tamper with the Magic Array in advance. Isn't it a bit early now? There are still five days. If you're noticed, things will go bad."

"They won't go to set up the Magic Array until the fourth day."

"Oh, so you'll act immediately after they finish, right?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll just stay by the life tree for these four days?"

"Yes."

“Uh, if the elf Guards find out we’re not in the pri—”

"Would I not consider even that small detail?" Perhaps annoyed by the questioning, Gezhe's tone was somewhat brusque.

Zhang Mu didn't dare to probe further, lest he notice something abnormal, so he simply changed the subject to ease the atmosphere.

"The Elf Clan has two Crown Princes. Are they both male?"

"A pair of half-sisters."

"Do you know their names?"

"The younger sister is Sinéad, and the elder sister is Frederica."

"Hahaha—"

Zhang Mu suddenly laughed. Gezhe didn't stop but asked with his back to him, "What are you laughing at?"

"The styles of their names are just too different."

"It's the tradition of the Elf Clan for the mother to name the child. Their mothers aren't the same elf, so their name styles are different. What's there to be surprised about?"

"True."

In Gezhe's eyes, Zhang Mu seemed to have finished chatting and quieted down. Then his shoulder shrugged, as if his left chest was a bit itchy, and he raised his hand to scratch it.

Phew—

With his palm against his skin, feeling his violent heartbeat slowly calming down, Zhang Mu secretly felt lucky—good thing I reacted fast, I almost gave myself away.

With the perception strength of a Gods Blessing, even though Gezhe was a heavily injured one and his attention wasn't on him, it was absolutely impossible to ignore a violent heartbeat that almost jumped out of the chest.

After a few minutes, Zhang Mu's pace returned to steady, but the shock in his eyes showed that his heart was still churning.

She... is actually the Crown Prince of the Elf Clan?!

Gezhe said the Elf Clan was in internal conflict and nineteen elders were plotting to force one of them to sacrifice themselves. Which "one" was it?

There was no need to ask Gezhe; Zhang Mu guessed instantly that it must be Frederica. Why would a prestigious Crown Prince travel abroad for a long time with only four weak Guards by her side?

How should he save her? What was her own attitude?

Zhang Mu fell into hesitation. He wasn't sure if Frederica needed his rescue.

Although the two were acquaintances and Frederica still held some special feelings for him, that was over a year ago. There had been no contact since then, and those feelings had probably been forgotten with the passage of time.

Besides, what about her own thoughts?

As the Crown Prince of the Elf Clan, would she willingly sacrifice herself to save her people?

Would she make such a decision?

He had to investigate clearly before acting. Otherwise, if he made a huge scene and the person just said, "Who the hell are you, why are you interfering in the Elf Clan's internal affairs?" it would be so embarrassing.

The two crossed the garden, passed through the quiet woods, and came to a meadow.

In the distance, seemingly in the center of the meadow, stood a huge ancient tree.

The appearance of the ancient tree wasn't strange; overall, it looked like an ordinary tree. If there was anything divine about it, it was probably its terrifying size.

The specific thickness of the trunk couldn't be estimated by sight. Looking from afar, it seemed like Pillar Mountain standing tall. The lush branches and leaves blotted out the sun, casting a huge shade on the grass as if to cover the earth.

Zhang Mu stepped onto the grass and into the shade. His gaze followed the mountain-like trunk upward, and his head slowly tilted back until it was parallel to the ground before the branches and leaves of the ancient tree came into view.

As far as the eye could see, there was only awe.

However, he quickly snapped out of it because of the yellowing leaves.

It was clearly springtime, yet the edges of most of the ancient tree's leaves were turning yellow, revealing twilight and old age, as if it were truly an old man about to reach the end of his life.

"Hide." Gezhe suddenly interrupted his observation and walked away from the ancient tree.

Zhang Mu followed and asked curiously, "Is something happening?"

"Look over there."

He looked toward the woods. Three elves wearing luxurious robes, seemingly high-ranking, walked side-by-side to the tree.

Gezhe held his index finger to his lips, signaling for silence.

—Three Saint-levels. I'm heavily injured now, and my magic fluctuations are very chaotic. We'll be discovered if we're too close.

—Understood.

Although they were moving away, it wasn't actually very far. Zhang Mu could vaguely hear the conversation of the three elves.

"Frederica Highness... lead army... actually... is to rescue the heretic, I really can't... believe it."

"Heh, after the King rejected her, she didn't hesitate to exchange her qualification as the successor to the throne for temporary command of the legion. Third Elder, you are her teacher, do you think..." This elf's voice was relatively loud.

"I think... Anna's plan... is feasible."

"Since... opinions are unified, then let's... it."

The three elves were silent for a moment after that, then turned and left together, quickly entering the woods.