318: Chapter 319 Arrival in the Elf World

Velos Continent.

A vast, boundless, and vibrant magical world filled with countless legends and mysteries. Here, magic is not some profound and obscure secret knowledge, but a fundamental law that permeates every corner of the world, much like air and water. Elemental tides ebb and flow regularly between heaven and earth, providing infinite energy and possibilities for all living things.

Across the continent, numerous races stand tall and civilizations shine brilliantly. Relying on their resilient will, exceptional learning ability, and massive population, humans have established several powerful empires and countless city-states. Occupying the richest plains and riverbanks, they are the undisputed masters of the land.

Their magic academies feature towering spires, and their knight orders wear bright armor. Legend even speaks of top-tier experts who can forge equal contracts with giant dragons soaring in the nine heavens, becoming Dragon Riders feared and respected by all races—the ultimate symbol of human military might.

However, humans are not the only protagonists. Deep within the dense, ancient, and uninhabited forests dwell the elegant and long-lived elves who live in harmony with nature. Atop the towering, mist-shrouded mountain peaks reside dwarves skilled in smithing and heavy drinking. Across the vast and desolate grasslands and Gobi deserts, fierce and valiant orc tribes roam freely. And beneath marshes, ancient battlefields, or ruins filled with the aura of death, undead groups that make people turn pale at their mention may lie hidden...

Beyond these, there are even more strange, friendly, or dangerous intelligent races and magical creatures, together forming the magnificent tapestry of life on the Velos Continent.

Among them, located in the eastern part of the continent and stretching for untold tens of thousands of miles, is the Sunlight Woods—the sacred land where the Sunlight Elf Clan has lived for generations.

This forest features towering ancient trees with interlaced branches and leaves that filter most of the sky's light into hazy, soft emerald-green spots. The most prominent feature of the forest is the ubiquitous sunlight flowers blooming in every corner.

These flowers have an elegant shape, with petals displaying a deep and pure blue, as if the colors of the clearest night sky were condensed within them. Their vitality is extremely tenacious; from fertile woodlands to rocky crevices and even the branches of ancient trees, their swaying forms can be seen everywhere.

sunlight flowers are not only beautiful but also possess significant medicinal value and an affinity for the water element. They are crucial materials for the Elf Race to create potions, perform natural rituals, and even for daily bathing and cleansing. They are also a food source for many gentle magical creatures in the forest. The entire forest is named after this endless sea of blue flowers, and the air is perennially filled with a crisp, slightly sweet floral fragrance that can calm the mind.

The rulers and guardians of the Sunlight Woods are the Sunlight Elf Clan, who hold faith in moonlight and nature and possess a long history and superb magical skills.

However, for the past three months or so, a faint layer of worry and confusion has shrouded the usually peaceful and harmonious Sunlight Elf Clan. The root cause is that their most beloved princess, Lilia, who is regarded as a candidate for the next generation of leaders, has mysteriously gone missing.

This young lady, with her exquisite beauty, lively nature, and a hint of princess-like haughtiness, suddenly vanished from the clan one day without leaving any message or clues. The Elf King and Queen were frantic with worry, sending out large numbers of elite guards and Druids skilled in tracking deep into the forest and even to the human kingdoms at the forest's edge to search, but they found nothing. Lilia seemed to have evaporated into thin air.

The clan elders were incredibly worried; in the Sunlight Elf Clan's thousand-year recorded history, such a strange situation had never occurred. The Princess's disappearance became a mystery lingering in the hearts of every elf, especially among the members of the royalty and the Elder Council.

And today, this mystery that has lasted for over three months seems finally to have reached the moment of revelation.

Deep within the Sunlight Woods, by the shores of Moonlight Lake.

The lake water here is as clear as a mirror, reflecting the blue sky, white clouds, and the verdant green of the surrounding ancient trees. The lakeshore is lush with green grass dotted with speckles of sunlight flowers. A few timid Moonlight Deer and Rainbow Squirrels are cautiously drinking water by the lake, enjoying the afternoon tranquility.

Suddenly—

Above the lakeshore, the calm air is stirred as if by an invisible hand, creating ripples visible to the naked eye. Immediately following, without any warning, a narrow rift with chaotic gray mist flowing at its edges and deep starlight swirling inside is forced open! Violent and unfamiliar spatial energy fluctuations sweep out like a hurricane, instantly shattering the tranquility of the lakeshore!

Startled, the drinking Moonlight Deer and Rainbow Squirrels let out short cries and turned to dash into the dense bushes, leaving behind only a mess of small paw prints on the ground.

The spatial rift stabilizes, appearing like a portal to another world.

In the next second, four figures step lightly out of that chaotic rift as if passing through a water curtain, landing on the soft grass.

At the head is a human youth. He looks to be only about twenty years old, with a tall and straight posture, wearing simple yet extraordinarily high-quality black form-fitting clothes, covered by a long trench coat of the same color. The hem of his coat flutters slightly in the aftershocks of the spatial energy.

Beside him are three young ladies with different temperaments, yet all possessing world-startling beauty.

On the left is an Elf Maiden—it is the long-missing Sunlight Elf Princess, Lilia! Today, she is not wearing the gorgeous and complex Elf Princess gown she used to wear in the clan, but has changed into a set of light-colored magic robes that are well-tailored and easy to move in.

The material of the magic robes is neither silk nor gauze, with a faint lunar luster flowing over the surface, perfectly outlining her graceful figure. Her long hair is draped smoothly behind her shoulders, and her pointed elf ears peek out from her hair, twitching slightly to reveal her currently somewhat excited mood.

She is currently glowing with the joy of returning home, a hint of the trepidation that comes with returning to one's birthplace, and an undisguised dependence and intimacy when looking at the human youth beside her. In her hand, she holds an elegantly styled short staff, its body entwined with vibrant green vines and its tip embedded with a teardrop-shaped milky-white gemstone, emitting a rich aura of nature and life.

These four are precisely Lin Muyang and the young ladies who have crossed the world barrier from Blue Star.

"Brother Muyang, this is Moonlight Lake. Pretty, isn't it?" As soon as Lilia stepped onto her homeland's soil, her light green eyes lit up as if filled with starlight. Like a happy little bird, she did a light twirl and took a deep breath of the familiar, sweet forest air, her face overflowing with a pure, joyful smile. Returning to the home she had been away from for so long, even in such an unconventional way, was enough to make her heart surge.

"Yeah, the environment is really nice." Lin Muyang also took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over the mirror-clear lake surface, the lush ancient trees, the sunlight flowers blooming everywhere, and the faintly visible elf treehouses in the distance that looked like emerald palaces, offering his sincere praise.

The natural scenery here is pure and full of life, completely different from the urban forests of Blue Star or the treacherous wilderness of Atlantis. It has a unique charm that brings peace to the soul. The rich magic elements in the air also made the power within him become slightly active.

"It's a pity it's daytime now, so we can't see the most beautiful moonlight." Lilia pursed her lips with some regret, but then became happy again, pointing toward the lake. "When night falls and the moon rises, and the moonlight spills onto the lake, that's when it's truly beautiful! The water reflects the moon and starlight, and the entire lake surface looks like it's covered in crushed silver and sapphires. Many glowing little spirits and Moonlight Flowers will come out in the forest too. It's so lovely! I used to sneak out here to play all the time when I was little..."

She chattered away, as if wanting to share all the beautiful memories of Moonlight Lake with Lin Muyang. Gui Wanwan and Feng Ling also curiously observed the environment, which was completely different from their homelands. Gui Wanwan felt a bit uncomfortable with the rich life aura in the air, but was mostly curious; Feng Ling felt a sense of kinship with the forest's vitality. As a phoenix, she was naturally close to nature and fire, and the life energy here made her very comfortable.

"Sister Wan, let's not just stand here. Let's go back to the tribe!" Lilia excitedly grabbed Gui Wanwan with one hand and wanted to grab Feng Ling with the other, but remembering that Feng Ling might not be used to such intimacy, she pulled back. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at them. "I want to introduce Brother Muyang and all of you to my Father, Mother, and the Elder Grandpas! They will definitely like you!"

Seeing her jubilant appearance, Lin Muyang smiled, but secretly raised his guard. An introduction? Given the typical attitude of the Elf Race toward humans, and Lilia suddenly bringing back three outsiders after being missing for over three months, this introduction process would likely not be as smooth and peaceful as Lilia imagined.

"Let's go." Lin Muyang nodded, signaling Lilia to lead the way.

Under Lilia's lighthearted guidance, the group crossed the lakeshore grass and stepped into the deeper woodland. The ancient trees around them grew taller and thicker, with many branches hosting elegantly styled treehouses that blended seamlessly with the trees. Small, glowing insects and birds flew through the leaves, letting out melodious chirps. The fragrance of sunlight flowers in the air became increasingly dense.

As they continued deeper, the magical fluctuations around them also significantly strengthened and became more orderly, as if they had entered the interior of a massive, meticulously maintained magic formation. Lin Muyang could feel some hidden magical warning runes and monitoring plant magic sweeping over them.

Finally, after passing through an archway naturally formed by glowing vines, the scene before them suddenly opened up.

They had arrived at a massive forest clearing. In the center of the clearing was not a building, but a giant tree so enormous it defied imagination! Its trunk's diameter was likely over a hundred meters, with dark brown bark covered in the weathered textures of time and naturally formed profound runes.

The tree crown was like an inverted emerald sky, with foliage so lush it extended thousands of meters in all directions, shrouding most of the clearing in its shade. Sunlight filtered through the layers of leaves, turning into thousands of soft light pillars that cast shifting spots of light on the ground covered in soft moss and tiny sunlight flowers.

The roots of the giant tree were gnarled and intertwined, forming natural stairs and platforms. Near the trunk, there was a spring that constantly overflowed with milky-white water emitting a rich lunar and life energy—that was the sacred land of the Sunlight Elf Clan, the Moon Well. Around the well grew the most brilliant and lush sunlight flowers, like stars surrounding the moon.

This was the settlement of the Sunlight Elf royalty and core clansmen, the center of the Sunlight Elf Clan's faith.

Lilia led the three of them just as they stepped into the clearing area shrouded by the giant tree—

"Who goes there?!" A crisp and wary shout came from above.

Immediately after, the sound of breaking air rang out! Several agile figures, like light birds, leaped down from the branches of the surrounding tall trees or manifested from the shadows at the roots of the giant tree, instantly surrounding Lin Muyang and the others!

They were eight fully armed elf guards. Both male and female, they wore light vine and leather armor that fit closely to their bodies, inscribed with simple defense and agility runes. They held finely polished longbows, shortswords embedded with magic crystals, or natural staves. Each one was handsome or beautiful, with slender builds, sharp gazes, and fierce auras. Their levels were roughly at the standard of high-level warriors or Elf Magic Archers of the Velos Continent.

At the head was a male elf squad leader with short silver-gray hair and long pointed ears. His gaze was locked tightly onto the human, Lin Muyang, like a hawk's. His longbow was already half-drawn, and an emerald-green magic arrow was condensing on the bowstring.

"It's a human! Be on guard!" the squad leader shouted again. All the elf guards aimed their weapons at Lin Muyang, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

But in the next moment, the squad leader's gaze swept past Lin Muyang. When he saw the Elf Maiden wearing the light-colored magic robes, his cold and wary expression suddenly froze, turning into unbelievable shock.

"Wait! Is that Princess Lilia?!"

The other elf guards also widened their eyes, unconsciously lowering their weapons slightly, their faces filled with bewilderment and confusion.

Princess Lilia?! The Princess who had been missing for over three months and occasionally acted so mysteriously that no one could catch her had actually appeared openly now? And she was with a human?

Seeing the Princess standing side-by-side with that leading human youth, and the undisguised closeness and trust in her eyes when she looked at him... this relationship seemed far from ordinary!

The elf guards looked at each other, seeing shock, confusion, and a hint of unease in each other's eyes. In the Sunlight Elf Clan, being overly close with humans was already a sensitive matter. Not to mention the Princess had been missing for so long and had actually brought back a human man—this was simply...

The squad leader reacted the fastest. Suppressing the storm in his heart, he quickly whispered a sentence to a very young elf guard beside him. That young guard understood, immediately turned, and with a few leaps like a nimble ape, climbed up the branches of the giant tree, rushing toward the higher royal treehouse area, clearly going to report the news.

The squad leader himself gripped his longbow again, took a step forward, and let his gaze sweep back and forth between Lin Muyang and Lilia. He spoke with a complex tone, his voice carrying a deliberately suppressed severity: "Princess Lilia! Where... where exactly have you been all this time? Her Majesty the Queen, His Highness the Prince, and the various Elders have all been very worried about you! Also, who are these people...?"

His gaze finally settled on Lin Muyang, the scrutinizing intent more than obvious.

Seeing the guards so tense and even pointing weapons at Lin Muyang, Lilia's small face immediately stiffened, and she became unhappy. "Captain Elvin! Put down your bow! This is Brother Muyang; he is my... he is my Master! He is also the most important person to me! They are guests I have brought; do not be rude!"

"Mas... Master?!" The squad leader named Elvin and the elf guards behind him felt as if thunder had exploded in their heads upon hearing this word!

The Princess called a human 'Master'? This information was too much! It was so much that they were completely unable to process it for a moment, and they all froze in place, their facial expressions losing all control.