453: Chapter 438 Have you ever heard of the famous fertilizer?

The Elf King did not react violently to Zhang Mu's words.

Not to mention the content of the words was a bit embarrassing; if he could truly heal the life tree, being scolded by him would be perfectly acceptable.

The Elf King was a God-Blessed Professional. Below the Legendary level, this rank was the closest to the gods. Based on his understanding of the gods, the withering of the life tree had absolutely nothing to do with divine punishment.

If a god were to directly interfere with the Saul Continent—a continent that was extremely "fragile" relative to a god—it would be instantly shattered by the impact of divine power.

The Saul Continent was the foundation used by the gods to stabilize their divine positions. If it were gone, the gods would cease to exist as well.

The continent was still perfectly fine, so the withering of the life tree naturally couldn't be the work of a god.

The Elf King pondered whether he should provide Zhang Mu with a hiding place in exchange for his best efforts to treat the life tree.

He didn't care in the slightest about whether harboring a heretic would anger the gods.

Under normal circumstances, "mortals" didn't need to worry about being punished for offending a god. A small matter wouldn't be enough to provoke a god's wrath to the point of descending onto the continent in their true form at the risk of mutual destruction.

Of course, one shouldn't think that because of this constraint, they could insult or disobey the gods at will; the gods supported the strongest force on the continent—the Church.

Ordinary nobodies couldn't withstand the pursuit of local branches. For extraordinary nobodies, the Church would dispatch high-level Believers to handle them. For top-tier human organizations like empires, the Pope would take action personally.

In fact, the Church wasn't very interested in dealing with trivial matters; their mindset was roughly like that of an "office worker."

How enjoyable it is to sit in an office with air conditioning in the summer; who would want to conduct surveys on the streets in the sweltering heat? Unless it was something like the Lake incident, where a god handed down a divine oracle, which was equivalent to the big boss speaking.

Even so, the Church still tried its best to slack off—it had been two years since the divine oracle descended, and Zhang Mu had yet to face a direct attack from the Church's forces. They hadn't even issued an order to "encircle and suppress Lake."

Lake being besieged by neighboring countries and the Gangnuo Empire dispatching elite legions were all their own initiatives.

The Elf King understood all of this well and knew that hiding Zhang Mu within the clan's territory wasn't a risk. The only thing to be careful of was not letting the news leak, to avoid an onslaught from human empires eager to curry favor with the gods.

After weighing the pros and cons slightly, the Elf King felt that the disadvantages far outweighed the advantages.

Relative to the crisis of clan extinction, what does a little risk matter? As long as the life tree could be healed, the Elf King wouldn't even mind kowtowing to Zhang Mu.

“Mr. Zhang Mu.” The Elf King switched to a respectful title with extreme pragmatism and flashed a smile. “I hope you can heal the life tree as soon as possible. To prove the sincerity of the Elf Clan, I can promise...”

“No need.” Zhang Mu interrupted him, pulled a slip of paper from his Storage Pouch, and handed it over. “Anyway, I can't get out of your barrier. Send a few people to the Forest of Spirits, follow what's written on this, and come back tomorrow morning to report the results.”

“Then we can start saving the tree.”

The Elf King took the paper and scanned it quickly. “I'll go immediately.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he had already vanished.

Zhang Mu raised both arms and stretched comfortably. “Alright, smoothly resolved.”

Frederica didn't seem to care about the health of the life tree; she stared at him and asked, “So, you don't plan on returning to Lake for a short while?”

“At least for a month.”

“A month...” she murmured.

“What's wrong?”

Frederica snapped out of it, shook her head to indicate nothing was wrong, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, “When this is over, I want to continue traveling the continent.”

“Hmm? Aren't you going to compete for the throne?”

“My father's health is at its peak. It's too early to talk about competing for the throne, and... I've decided to give up my status as Crown Prince.”

“You traded your status as Crown Prince for command of the legion, so you lost your right of succession?”

“It's not entirely for that reason. After all, that was just a verbal agreement. If I really wanted to go back on my word and break the contract, no one could stop me.”

“Then why?”

“I...” Frederica turned her head to the side, avoiding Zhang Mu's gaze. “Because the Elf King cannot leave the clan territory without permission...”

Her voice grew fainter and fainter until, at the end, her lips were almost moving soundlessly.

Zhang Mu looked at Frederica's profile; a few strands of hair were scattered beside her flushed cheeks.

The air suddenly grew still. Frederica noticed his gaze, and her heart rate gradually quickened.

Why is he... not saying anything?

Frederica felt a bit uneasy, her fingers interlaced behind her back.

Does he think I...

“If you're not afraid of the constant wars in Lake and the risk of it being destroyed at any time, then I'd be very happy to have you travel to Lake.”

The panic welling up in the young girl's heart instantly receded, and her tightly interlaced fingers relaxed.

“Yes, Lake is very suitable for traveling.”

...

Elder Anna's house.

The nineteen Elders of the Elf Clan, who had finished the sacrificial ceremony, and Sinéad were all gathered inside.

They seemed very anxious and restless, most of them pacing back and forth in the living room. Only Anna and the Third Elder sat facing each other at a tree-stump table.

Sinéad had pulled up a wooden chair and sat in the corner, her feet on the crossbar between the chair legs, her elbows on her knees, and her chin resting in her palms. This posture caused her back to hunch, her body curled into a ball, and her entire being exuded a gloomy aura.

“It's obvious we've all been toyed with by the King,” one Elder said, unable to keep their composure and stopping their pace.

“Is it strange for a King to toy with his subjects?” Anna replied.

“It's not strange, but we've offended the Crown Prince because of it.”

“I've said it before, I will take full responsibility for all the consequences.”

“Anna, please don't think the Crown Prince is an idiot.” The Elder who spoke first glared at her. “The fact that we didn't show up when the clansmen were sacrificing the Crown Prince under the life tree is enough to illustrate the problem.”

“What else could we do? If you had gone, wouldn't that be equivalent to admitting you were involved in framing Frederica?”

The Third Elder looked up. “It wasn't framing. Her Highness knows the heretic, and her trip to Lake was indeed to rescue him.”

One Elder said expectantly, “So, we didn't slander Her Highness? Are we innocent?”

“Heh.” Anna sneered, looking at him with a mocking gaze. “Innocent? What are you fantasizing about?”

The Elder's smile suddenly stiffened. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“The heretic said that the withering of the life tree has nothing to do with the gods. The King remained silent. Don't you understand yet?”

The Third Elder sighed. “The King has been in the palace, watching our schemes.”

“Since Her Highness was wronged and the King knew what we were doing, why didn't he stop us?”

“Who knows? You'll have to ask the King himself for that.”

To know the truth, one would have to ask the King. The problem was, who would dare to go?

The crime of conspiring to frame the Crown Prince had not yet been judged by the Elf King. If it weren't for the fact that leaving the fruit would cause their bodies to weaken until death, everyone would have wanted to flee the clan territory immediately. Who would have the courage to actively approach the King?

Everyone fell into a dead silence. No one knew how to choose the next step—whether to honestly wait for the King's prosecution or to go and confess their guilt to him.

Sinéad noticed the sudden silence around her and looked up in confusion.

“Elders, what's wrong?”

“Princess Sinéad, we are discussing...”

“Discussing how to die a bit more gracefully.” Anna seemed to have given up struggling. Although her tone was the same as usual, her words were filled with despondency.

“Father couldn't possibly—”

The door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, startling everyone. In the entire clan territory, there was only one person who would push open an Elder's door without asking.

Those sitting stood up, and those with their backs to the door turned around; they all knelt on one knee together.

“King, good day.”

Fear surged in the Elders' hearts, and they subconsciously held their breath. They knew the punishment would eventually come, but they hadn't expected it to be so soon.

What will he do to us?

Will it be expulsion from the clan territory, stripping of magic, or a death sentence?

The Elders bowed their heads deeply, waiting for the King's judgment.

However, the Elf King only scanned them and then said, “Anna.”

“Here.”

“According to what's written on the paper, go to the Forest of Spirits immediately and slaughter a high-level magic beast. Leave the corpse where it is, observe its changes, and return to the territory tomorrow morning to report the results.”

Anna, who thought she was about to face execution, fell into a daze upon hearing the command.

“Hmm?” Seeing that she hadn't moved for a long time, the Elf King frowned. “This matter concerns the treatment of the life tree. Why are you staring blankly?”

“Ah? I understand. I'll go do it immediately.”

Anna realized she didn't seem to have to die. She stood up in pleasant surprise and took the paper, scanning the text on it as she walked out the door.

The Third Elder observed the change in her expression, and the corners of his mouth twitched mockingly.

The Elf King was in a stable mood and didn't look like he had come to prosecute them. The Elders' shoulders, which had been held up by sheer will, suddenly slumped as they breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

At this moment, the only one who remained panicked was Sinéad.

That using secret techniques required preparation was the King's lie. Anna's plan had always been within the King's sight. Sinéad couldn't help but be terrified—had her father also seen her inducing Teacher Anna?

“Sinéad.”

“Here... I'm here!” Sinéad, who was feeling anxious, almost jumped when she suddenly heard her father call her name.

Her abnormal behavior and panicked expression caused the Elders to be confused. Her Highness hadn't participated in the incident, so why was she so afraid?

“The competition is canceled. As punishment, go to the Forbidden Ground.”

Sinéad's face quickly turned pale. She had been to the Forbidden Ground many times, and the difficulty wasn't high, but that was under normal conditions.

The Elf King had said "punishment," which meant that this time, she wouldn't be passing through a Forbidden Ground with most of its functions turned off, but one that was fully operational.

Father really does know!

It's over...

The King's orders were not to be disobeyed. Although Sinéad was extremely unwilling, she still shuffled out of the room.

The Elders who witnessed this scene began to catch on.

In the entire incident, Sinéad hadn't participated in any part. From beginning to end, she had only appeared once during the sacrifice and had a brief chat with Frederica.

At that time, Sinéad had released a soundproofing barrier. The Elders thought the two sisters were talking about private topics, so they intentionally withdrew their Mental Energy and didn't eavesdrop.

Looking at what the King just said, what those two talked about probably wasn't some private topic.

Among the eighteen Elders present, even the youngest was hundreds of years old, and they all possessed sharp analytical skills.

Previously, out of panic from not knowing how light or heavy their punishment would be, they had ignored Sinéad's unusual behavior. Now that their hearts had calmed down and their reason had returned, a little bit of thought made them realize something was wrong.

Anna's relationship with Frederica was very cold, and they rarely even spoke on a daily basis. It was absolutely impossible for the latter to reveal to her that she knew the heretic, let alone tell her that her trip to Lake was to rescue him.

Saldari and Alice were Her Highness's confidants and had followed her for many years; they surely knew about this. But for the same reason, why would they tell such an important secret to Anna, who was not close to their master?

Then who exactly did Anna hear it from?

Looking at it from another angle, who would Frederica talk to about the heretic, this extremely dangerous person?

The Elders understood why the King had never prosecuted them.

...

Anna found it difficult to understand the content of the note or what it had to do with healing the life tree.

Kill a high-level magic beast, leave the corpse where it is, observe it for a night, and return to the territory the next morning to report the results.

After reciting it in her mind several times, Anna still couldn't make sense of it. She simply gave up thinking and focused on rushing to the Forest of Spirits, striving to complete this task beautifully.

Walking out of the clan's barrier, she searched everywhere for a high-level magic beast, accidentally bumping into Saldari and Alice on the way.

Anna understood that the two should have followed Frederica's orders to flee the Forest of Spirits.

If Frederica had been sacrificed, as her confidants, their end would not have been good.

Of course, there was no need to worry now. The King seemed to have reached a deal with the heretic and was temporarily living in peace; Frederica's crime was out of the question.

Stopping the two who were about to flee, Anna informed them of the situation.

They were both surprised and delighted—surprised at why Zhang Mu had appeared in the clan territory, and delighted that their Princess had kept her life.

The two didn't think Anna was tricking them into going back. With her Saint-level strength, if she really wanted to capture them and bring them back to the territory, she could just use force.

Saldari and Alice excitedly headed back the way they came, while Anna continued to search for the magic beast.

The Forest of Spirits was vast and inhabited by a large number of high-level magic beasts, but in recent years, magic beasts had been frequently disappearing, and their numbers had plummeted. As a result, it took her a full three hours to find one that met the criteria.

For a Saint-level against a high-level, the difference in strength was too vast; the entire battle lasted less than ten seconds.

She didn't even cast a spell; she just condensed her Mental Energy to pierce the target, and the magic beast became a corpse the next second.

She flew up and sat on a high branch, her eyes fixed on the corpse that had crashed to the ground.

Previously, because she was certain the King would sentence her to death, Anna's thinking had come to a halt, and she hadn't thought about anything in detail. Now that there was no one around and it was very quiet, she subconsciously sorted through the course of events.

Anna was not stupid; on the contrary, she was very intelligent. Only a minute after she started reminiscing, she detected a hint of abnormality.

Was the timing of Sinéad's appearance a bit too... deliberate?

If she had intervened a bit earlier, the clansmen's anger wouldn't have reached its peak, and she would have had a chance to calm the conflict. If it had been a bit later... no, even a second later, she wouldn't have seen Frederica for the last time.

Anna's face was covered in gloom.

“Looking at it this way, the words those sisters spoke at the time probably weren't a mutual outpouring of feelings before parting.”

The deeper she thought, the more unusual parts there were.

For example, although the Elf Clan had no explicit regulations strictly forbidding elves from contacting humans, the clansmen generally held an opposing attitude.

Sinéad, who had a deep relationship with her sister, knew clearly that she loathed Frederica. Why would she talk to her about Frederica knowing a human?

Wasn't she afraid Anna would spread it everywhere?

After thinking for a night, Anna roughly pieced together the truth from the fragmented clues.

“One piece of the puzzle is still missing.” Anna knew who held the missing piece.

Standing up, she looked down at the small patch of open ground where only weeds grew.

“The corpse... was eaten.”