327: Chapter 328 Internal Discussions of the Elven Race

"Your Majesty!" the Chief Court Archmage, an elderly man with white hair wearing a deep blue starry robe and holding a crystal staff, frowned slightly and cautioned, "Mobilizing the army, especially the main force in the Eastern Territory, will cause too much of a stir. Although the Iron Dome Empire is in civil turmoil, one cannot rule out the possibility of ambitious opportunists trying to take advantage of the situation. Should we first send an elite squad to investigate thoroughly, and then..."

"Enough!" Emperor Baisier rudely interrupted him, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes, "The Iron Dome Empire? Hmph, a bunch of fools who can't even handle their own affairs! Even if they wanted to move, what would they use? I intend to use thunderous force to crush any ants that dare to provoke the Empire's majesty! We will not only investigate but also punish! Pass the order down: the objective of this expedition against the Elf Race has changed—it is no longer pacification, but conquest and cleansing!"

He scanned the ministers below, who were silent as cicadas, and delivered his cruel verdict word by word: "The Sunlight Forest, I want it! Not a single elf inside shall be spared; capture them all and bring them back! The Empire will build a new hunting park in the south, specifically for keeping these long-eared exotic beasts, for the amusement of the royal family and meritorious officials! I want the entire continent to know the consequences of angering the Canglan Empire!"

The Emperor's fury and determination, like the fiercest storm, instantly swept through the Empire's entire decision-making echelon. Orders stamped with the Emperor's seal and the Military Department's seal were swiftly dispatched to all corners of the Empire via magic communication arrays and fast horses. The massive war machine began to rumble to life.

However, neither the enraged Emperor, the worried ministers, nor the legions that began assembling with excitement or tension after receiving the orders ever imagined that the target of their intended revenge and conquest was not currently preparing for war in a state of panic within the forest. Instead, they had already descended like ghosts directly above the heart of the Empire—Canglan City—which they believed to be an Impenetrable Fortress!

Under the high, clear night sky, the ten thousand lights of Canglan City looked like a galaxy that had fallen to earth. Lin Muyang, accompanied by Lilia, Gui Wanwan, and Feng Ling, hovered silently thousands of meters in the air, the silhouette and lights of the city below fully in view. A faint, light-bending force field enveloped them.

The night wind was biting, fluttering the long hair and robes of the young ladies. Lilia's light green eyes curiously overlooked the massive, brilliantly lit human city below; this was her first time observing a human capital from such a close distance and with such clarity. Completely different from the quiet beauty of the Elf Race forests in her memory, this place was filled with clamor, vitality, and a sense of cold order.

"Brother Muyang, are we not going down?" Lilia asked in a low voice, pointing toward the direction of the imperial palace below, "Are we going to find that bad Emperor directly?"

"No hurry." Lin Muyang shook his head, his gaze sweeping calmly over the city below, "Since we are here, we might as well take a good look. The Canglan Empire is the most powerful of the seven human kingdoms; understanding its social structure, the lives of its people, and the operation of its power will be helpful for our subsequent actions. After all, ensuring the Sunlight Elf Clan is completely safe might not be solved simply by killing the Emperor."

He looked at Lilia: "Your Elf Race's understanding of humans is mostly limited to border conflicts and the atrocities of slave-hunting groups; I'm afraid you know very little about the true situation within human society, right? Take this opportunity to observe the foundations of this Empire, how its commoners view the Elf Race, whether its system still has room for salvation, or if it has already rotted to the point of requiring complete reconstruction."

Lilia nodded, seemingly understanding, yet not quite. To her, those human nobles who captured and abused the Elf Race all deserved to die, but Brother Muyang was clearly thinking deeper and further ahead. Gui Wanwan stood quietly to the side; the power of the Underworld allowed her to perceive more clearly the various emotions permeating the city below—ambition, greed, numbness, pain, and the traces of fear hidden beneath the prosperity. Feng Ling, meanwhile, cast a few extra glances at several places in the city where energy fluctuations were particularly strong, evaluating the potential threat levels.

Just as the four of them were quietly observing from high above, news of the fall of the Canglan Empire's Third Prince, the Emperor's fury, and the impending departure of the army spread like wings to the ears of several other Elven Tribes around the Sunlight Forest.

Panic spread like a plague.

That night, in the Ancient Tree Council Hall.

This circular hall, built inside a massive tree trunk, was brightly lit, but the atmosphere was so heavy it could almost be wrung out like water. The Sunlight Elf King Elandir sat in the main seat, Queen Yiselah sat beside him, and Laigong sat on the sides with several respected elders of the clan.

Opposite them, and in the guest seats on both sides of the hall, sat representatives from five surrounding Elven Tribes. Some were elderly and steady, others in their prime, but at this moment, their faces were without exception filled with anxiety, fear, and even a hint of hidden resentment.

"Your Majesty Elandir, is the news true? Did your clan really kill the Third Prince of the Canglan Empire, that Dragon Rider?" An elder from the Azure Lake Elf Race, with hair as blue as the lake water, asked in a dry voice, his eyes full of disbelief.

"It is absolutely true." Elandir nodded with a calm expression, offering no further explanation. Regarding the details of the Emerald Dragon and Lilia's surge in strength, he strictly followed Lin Muyang's hint and did not mention them.

"How foolish!" Another old elf from the Starlight Forest Elf Race, whose face was covered in wrinkles, beat his knees in distress, "That was a Dragon Rider! And a Prince of the Empire! Killing him, how could the Canglan Emperor let it go? This... this is dragging all of us forest elves into the flames of war, pushing us to the brink of extinction!"

"Indeed, Your Majesty Elandir, you were too impulsive!" A representative from the Twilight Song Tribe, a middle-aged female elf, sighed, "In the past, when humans hunted slaves, we could still maneuver; although the losses were painful, the clan survived. Now that the Prince has been killed, the mask is completely torn off, and it is a battle to the death! Once the Canglan Empire's million-strong army presses on our borders, how long can our barrier hold? How long can our clansmen resist?"

"I heard that the Canglan Emperor has already issued an order to build some kind of hunting park, to capture all of us elves and keep us in captivity..." A young representative from the relatively weaker Thorn Valley Elf Race said with a trembling voice, all color drained from his face, "Your Majesty, shouldn't we... shouldn't we surrender now? Hand over the culprits, compensate for the losses, perhaps... perhaps there might still be a glimmer of hope?"

"Silence!" Before Elandir could speak, Laigong, who was sitting below him, could no longer contain himself and shouted sternly, "Surrender? Hand over the culprits? And then what? To be locked in cages like livestock, becoming playthings for humans for generations to come? Is this the glimmer of hope you want?!"

"But resisting is a dead end!" The Azure Lake elder argued excitedly, "Combined, our six tribes have no more than a million warriors! The Canglan Empire alone has more than that in its standing legions, not to mention Dragon Riders, war beasts, and legendary mages! What do we have to resist with? Throwing eggs against a rock?"

The council hall immediately erupted into chaos. Voices of pessimism, fear, and compromise took the upper hand. Except for the Sunlight Elf Clan itself, the representatives of the other four tribes almost unanimously believed that the Sunlight Elf Clan had caused a catastrophic disaster, implicating everyone, and that the only way out now was to compromise, plead guilty, and strive for lenient treatment. Some representatives even hinted that the Sunlight Elf Clan should bear the consequences alone and not drag their allies down.

Elandir listened quietly, his face devoid of expression, but Queen Yiselah and Laigong, who knew him well, could both see a glimmer of coldness and disappointment flashing deep in his eyes. Were these the allies who once fought side by side, resisting human slave-hunting groups together? When disaster struck, they were not thinking of uniting against the common enemy, but were instead eager to distance themselves and even blame the victims?

Just as the argument grew more intense and the atmosphere dropped to freezing point—

"Enough."

A cold and firm female voice rang out; it was not loud, but it clearly drowned out all the noise.

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a beautiful female elf sitting at the head of the guest seats on the right slowly rise. She was wearing dark green elven battle armor with a light cyan cloak draped over it, her features exquisite but carrying the determined look of one who had weathered many storms. She had long, silver-white hair like moonlight, neatly tied back, and her emerald-green eyes were like cold pools, sweeping over the representatives who had been arguing the most intensely, her gaze filled with undisguised disdain.

She was Xiyier, the current chieftain of the Wind Whisper Elves and the daughter of the late old chieftain, known among the surrounding Elven Tribes for her unyielding courage and superb archery.

"Look at yourselves!" Xiyier's voice was like cold spring water flowing through the heated hall, "The enemy hasn't even attacked yet, and you are already in a chaotic mess, busy shirking responsibility and thinking of surrendering to save your own skins! Have you swallowed the pride and courage of the Elf Race along with your morning dew?"

She walked to the center of the hall, first solemnly performing an elven warrior salute to Elandir and Yiselah, then turned to face the crowd and said loudly:

"The greed and cruelty of the Canglan Empire have never changed for hundreds of years! Hunting slaves, killing, plundering our forests and holy lands! Compromise? Surrender? Do you think that if you hand over a few culprits and offer some treasures, they will be satisfied and let us go?"

She sneered, hatred flashing in her eyes: "They will only become more ruthless! They will view us as lambs to be slaughtered at will! Today they dare to demand a Prince, tomorrow they will dare to demand a Princess, and the day after, they will want our entire race as slaves! Once you retreat from your bottom line, there will be no end to it!"

Her gaze swept over the representatives whose faces were changing: "I watched Lilia grow up from a child; she is the pearl that all of us elves watched grow up! No matter what she did or why she did it, I only know that she killed the son of the executioner who has harmed countless of our kin! She killed the vanguard of the invaders! What wrong is there in that?!"

Xiyier took a deep breath, straightened her spine, and her voice rang out powerfully, echoing in the council hall:

"I, Xiyier, in the name of the chieftain of the Wind Whisper Elves, declare—the Wind Whisper Elves will fight side by side with the Sunlight Elf Clan until the last drop of blood is shed! We would rather die in battle, embracing the eternal nature in the way of the Elf Race, than wag our tails and beg for mercy, allowing our descendants to live in the shackles and humiliation of humans!"

She paused, looked at Elandir, her gaze burning: "Your Majesty Elandir, the three thousand seven hundred combat-ready troops of the Wind Whisper Elves, along with our Wind Whisper Barrier, are willing to follow your command! For the forest, for freedom, for the dignity of the Elf Race!"

The resounding declaration left the entire council hall instantly silent. Those representatives who had originally been clamoring for compromise and surrender, under the pressure of Xiyier's burning, torch-like gaze, lowered their heads one after another, their faces burning, not daring to meet her eyes.