《Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree》 Chapter 1: Reborn as the World Tree Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Reborn as the World Tree Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html *Did humans really have souls?* *If they did, then what kind of world existed after death? Would consciousness still persist?* Having too much time on his hands during his lifetime, Yifu often pondered this question. ... And every time he concluded his thoughts, the answer was always the same, which was that he certainly had too much time on his hands. But when Yifu finally had the opportunity and time to verify this question, he found himself a bit at a loss... This was a dark world. Staring at the endless darkness before him, Yifu fell into contemplation. First and foremost, it could be determined that he was indeed dead, and then he had arrived in this strange space. Although Yifu didn¡¯t know why he still had consciousness, it was clear he was trapped here. Loneliness, darkness. The only thing he could see was two swirling orbs of light, one blue, and one green. Yifu tried to reach out his hand and then found that he had no body, seeming to exist purely as a consciousness. But fortunately, he seemed capable of drifting like a cloud. *Could this... be a soul?* This thought suddenly flashed in Yifu¡¯s mind. After pondering for a moment, Yifu tentatively drifted towards the two swirling orbs of light. The green one was large, its glow flickering, giving Yifu a wonderfully mysterious feeling. The blue one was small, its hue soft and serene, giving Yifu a sense of incredible closeness. After thinking for several seconds, Yifu decided to approach the latter first. However, just as Yifu reached out to touch it, countless indistinct prayers suddenly echoed throughout the space... The sound was ethereal, soft, and holy, seemingly possessing a wondrous power that caused involuntary calmness. Yifu was amazed, shifting his attention and discovering that the sound seemed to originate from the green orb of light. The prayer voices were intermittent, in a language Yifu had never heard, yet it imparted a sense of wonderful beauty. Although Yifu couldn¡¯t understand the content, he seemed to perceive innumerable sorrow and despair contained within the voice. Curiosity triumphed over everything else. In an inexplicable impulse, Yifu shifted his attention and reached out towards the green orb of light. At the moment Yifu touched the orb, the entire world transformed instantly. His awareness was momentarily dazed as a massive influx of information surged like an explosion. Yifu felt his vision go dark, followed by countless images flashing through his consciousness¡ª An ancient, desolate continent... A mysterious seed falling from the sky... A bizarre, giant tree emerging from the earth... Beautiful figures born from the tree... ¡°Elves...?¡± Seeing the figures often appearing in magical RPG games from his past life, this thought flashed in Yifu¡¯s consciousness. Before Yifu could contemplate further, the green orb of light exerted a strong pull, absorbing him in an instant... ... ¡°Suitable soul detected.¡± ¡°Conditions triggered, initiating World Tree awakening ceremony.¡± In a haze, Yifu heard an unfamiliar voice. It was a peculiar language, yet Yifu was surprised to find he understood it. As the voice ceased, Yifu¡¯s vision brightened. Yifu found himself in a world surrounded by countless green photons. It was a realm of countless flying orbs of green light, dazzling and dreamlike, indescribable with words. *What¡¯s happening?* Yifu was momentarily stunned. ¡°Commencing soul fusion, initiating World Tree inheritance ceremony...¡± The voice rang out again, followed by countless flying particles streaming towards Yifu¡¯s body. Yifu only felt a surge of powerful and mysterious energy pouring into him, accompanied by a multitude of information. And as the fusion continued, Yifu felt his five senses becoming increasingly clear. That mysterious prayer resounded once more, growing ever clearer. With the fusion of photons, Yifu¡¯s consciousness began to radiate a holy glow, light green energy continuously gathering until it engulfed the entire space... In the final second, Yifu heard that unfamiliar voice again, ¡°Fusion successful.¡± ¡°Welcome back, new World Tree of the Segis Continent¡ª¡± ¡°Eve Yggdrasil, Your Excellency.¡± ... When his consciousness returned, Eve fell into thought. She no longer resided in that strange space; instead, she seemed to have arrived in a world teeming with life. In the distance were rolling mountains, surrounded by dense forests. If ignoring the various plants in the forest that were distinctly different from those on Earth, Eve might have suspected she had arrived in a primordial forest. However, this forest and the mountains were far too tiny... This sensation was strange, as if participating in a tokusatsu film of Ultraman, or as if entering a land of Lilliputians; Eve felt as though she was overlooking everything in the world. The mountains were tiny, the woods were tiny, even the flock of birds in the sky resembled insects. And her vision was very odd, a 360-degree perspective without any blind spots, utterly unimaginable in her past life... With a slight shift in attention, Eve saw a small, hand-sized lake not far away. The lake was shiny and clear, vividly reflecting her own image¡ª Strong, coil-like roots, a massive, towering body, and branches that obscured the sky. With the influx of the newly received information, Eve quickly reached her conclusion: ¡°World Tree?¡± The World Tree¡ªYggdrasil. She was revered as the source of nature, the Mother Goddess of elves, a miracle of life... She was an ancient, enigmatic being on the Segis Plane, comparable in history to dragons, a true Mythical Creature, with powers akin to Divines. ¡°Indeed, the World Tree...¡± Gazing at the reflection of the withering leaves, Eve didn¡¯t know whether to feel melancholic or sighing. After sorting through the inherited information, Eve roughly grasped her current situation. She had transmigrated to a magical world called Segis. As one of the transmigrant army, she... seemed to have been chosen by the dying World Tree, her soul merged with the core of the mother tree and remaining memories, and inheritance, all while retaining her consciousness, becoming the new World Tree¡ªEve Yggdrasil. A half-alive existence. The inheritance of the World Tree seemed to possess a calming power over the spirit; Eve¡¯s heart did not stir with panic or confusion. Instead, she was surprised to find herself exceedingly calm at this moment, even with a hint of joy in her heart... ¡°Joy, huh...¡± *It was indeed joy, the joy of surviving a calamity.* Having fused with the World Tree¡¯s heritage, Eve already understood that she¡¯d had a stroke of luck. As a soul wandering in the void, without an accident, she would inevitably face destruction. However, this transmigration and fusion had offered her a new life. No, a new tree life. ¡°No matter how you see it, does this mean... I¡¯m alive again?¡± Gazing at the reflection in the lake and sensing her current peculiar body, Eve was filled with curiosity. But simultaneously, she sensed a certain decadence in this form. Undoubtedly, her current state was far from good. Just from the reflection in the lake, it was clear¡ªwithered branches and leaves, she was entirely in a state of dying. Yet, even so, Eve could still feel a kind of strong, ancient energy deep within, full of life, restless, as if just awakening from slumber... At the same time, a strange sensation arose spontaneously. It was a sensation of mastering the heavens and earth; Eve felt as though she was the ruler of everything in this domain, capable of dominating everything within several kilometers, should she wish to. Once the thought emerged, it was unstoppable, and Eve glanced towards a nearby withered oak tree, a slight flicker in her mind. And with her thought, something extraordinary happened. That withered tree suddenly regained life, budding and leafing, and within mere seconds, it once again became lush and verdant. Furthermore, Eve discovered that she seemed to have formed a mysterious connection with it, as if she could control its every move. But likewise, she realized that the mysterious energy within was rapidly depleting, and in an instant, a third of it had evaporated, startling her into halting the tree¡¯s revival. Having fused with the World Tree core, Eve knew that energy was life energy, as well as the source of the World Tree¡¯s power, or rather... Natural Divine Power. Once exhausted, the World Tree would fall into eternal slumber. Which also meant Eve¡¯s death. Sensing the remaining two-thirds of the Natural Divine Power, Eve felt a slight pang of heartache. *How careless.* *She hadn¡¯t expected that merely attempting ¡°awakening¡± would result in such a significant depletion.* Focusing her attention on the revived oak, Eve felt a sense of curiosity. At this moment, that once withered oak had completely transformed. Not only had it become lush and verdant again, but it had also grown nearly three times its former height. Comparing it with the surrounding trees, Eve estimated that this newly revitalized oak might be at least thirty meters tall... And then, to her amazement, the next scene unfolded. That lucky oak tree trembled slightly and began to struggle free from the soil, pulling out its roots. Its coiled roots twisted and turned, forming into two strange legs, while the trunk turned into two sturdy arms, the canopy into menacing hair, and a pair of bright eyes formed at the top of the trunk... In the blink of an eye, it had turned into a majestic Tree-man! Under Eve¡¯s astonished gaze, this thirty-meter-tall oak Tree-man shook the dirt from its legs, then, wobbling slightly, turned toward the World Tree, kneeling on one leg. A deep and powerful voice resonated with excitement and sincerity, ¡°By the Mother Goddess above... The Oak Guardian thanks you for your favor, please grant me a name, Mother Goddess!¡± *Mother Goddess? Oak Guardian? Name granting?* Gazing at the Oak Guardian, who was the size of a tiny collectible figure, Eve felt a twitch in her mind. Simultaneously, she sensed a connection had formed with it, as if she could directly convey commands. A mischievous impulse rose in her heart, a slight movement of thought, and in the mind of the Oak Guardian, a sacred, dignified, ethereal, and chilly voice resounded, ¡°In that case, you shall be called Berserker!¡± Chapter 2 - 2 Links to the World of the Internet Chapter 2: Chapter 2 Links to the World of the Internet Editor: Henyee Translations As soon as the words were spoken, the Oak Guardian¡¯s massive body trembled slightly again, and his kneeling posture became even more respectful. He bowed deeply, his voice trembling with excitement, like a child praised by his mother, ¡°Berserker, praise the Mother Goddess!¡± At the same time, Eve felt a pure, warm power emanate from the Oak Guardian and seemed to traverse the void to directly enhance her, eventually converging in the depths of her body, merging with her original Natural Divine Power. Then, Eve was surprised to find that the Natural Divine Power she had expended, which was a third depleted, had actually recovered slightly. With a little thought, combining the information in her consciousness, Eve quickly found the answer. ¡°Faith power?¡± ... The Segis Continent was a magical world where Divines existed, and True Gods ruled the world. The power of Divines stemmed from faith, the force of all beings¡¯ beliefs converged onto the Divines, and this faith was transformed by their divinity into pure Divine Power. And what had just come from the Oak Guardian was undoubtedly his faith power! Having been personally enlightened by Eve with Natural Divine Power, this Tree-man had undoubtedly become her loyal follower and would naturally provide faith power. Looking at the respectful and obedient Berserker before her, Eve became increasingly satisfied. *She felt she was beginning to touch upon how to restore her strength.* Thinking of this, Eve reviewed the inherited information again and, unsurprisingly, found the relevant details: The Segis Continent contained True Gods. Based on the sources of the True Gods¡¯ power, they could be divided into two factions: the New Gods and the Old Gods. The New Gods, also known as the Faith God Faction, were typically later Divines. They mainly relied on the faith power provided by believers to convert to Divine Power, strengthen their divinity, and simultaneously construct their Divine Country to perfect their world of faith. The Old Gods, also known as the Mythical Creatures Faction, belonged to the innate True Gods. Their power came from the laws bestowed by heaven and earth or inherently possessed the ability to acquire Divine Power from Void Energy or other means. The Old Gods did not need faith, but they could grow stronger through it. The World Tree belonged to this faction. If the World Tree were in its prime, it could draw energy directly from the void, gaining Divine Power, or transform other creatures¡¯ life force into its own Natural Divine Power. However, at this moment, the World Tree was in a dying state, and it had lost the ability to acquire Natural Divine Power from the void. A dying World Tree could not operate independently and could only influence the outside world indirectly through Divine Power. This meant Eve could not actively absorb the life force of plants in the forest to restore her strength because she was incapable of doing so... And the method Eve could think of to increase her Divine Power was temporarily limited to relying on faith. Yet, the path of faith was not easy. From the information she inherited, Eve learned that the competition for believers among the faith gods on the Segis Continent was quite fierce, and the fall of the previous World Tree seemed related to this. Thinking of this, Eve looked at the Tree-man she had created, feeling increasingly fond of him... A fanatic! Just a step away from being a saint! ¡°If only I could know more clearly about Berserker¡¯s abilities, like the data display in games...¡± *She couldn¡¯t help but think.* With that thought, Eve sensed a slight decrease in her Natural Divine Power, and a panel of information about the Oak Guardian appeared in her consciousness, just like the game panels she imagined! Name: Berserker Race: Oak Guardian Occupation: Druid Level: 51 (Silver Tier) True God of Faith: Eve Yggdrasil Faith Level: Fanatic Titles: Nature¡¯s Favored, World Tree Guardian Abilities: War Sacrifice, Oak Grip, Nature¡¯s Whisper... ... *Eve was astonished, with her mouth agape in her mind.* This... wish fulfillment? No, this was the power of a True God! Although she still found it a bit unbelievable, Eve, having merged with the core of the World Tree, understood that in a sense, she already counted as a True God now. The True God had already touched the laws of the world. Although Eve had not yet fully mastered her power, she could already use Natural Divine Power to achieve some miracles. Envisioning the data of the other party in her mind was already considered a normal operation. But even so, sensing the diminished Divine Power, Eve still felt a pang of heartache. *She felt like the CEO of a company on the brink of bankruptcy...* Having reviewed Berserker¡¯s information, Eve wasn¡¯t very satisfied. ¡°Silver Tier... It¡¯s a bit low.¡± Eve, who had merged with the World Tree¡¯s legacy, had a clear understanding of the world¡¯s power hierarchy. The Segis Plane¡¯s strength ranged from Mundane Level to Legendary, Demigod Level, and Mythical Level, four major tiers, each a chasm apart. The lowest Mundane Level, also known as the Secular Level, could be divided into Iron, Silver, and Gold, each subdivided into upper, middle, and lower ranks. Silver Tier, in the Mundane Level, was at best average strength, far from the likes of the Legendary Tier and others. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that just enlightening a middle-tier Silver follower would consume so much, it feels a bit wasteful...¡± *Eve murmured to herself.* ¡°Manifest my own state!¡± She thought again, commanding in her heart. A similar panel of information appeared in her consciousness once more. Name: Eve Yggdrasil Race: World Tree (Old God) Level: 150 (Mythical) State: Weak Divine Power (On the brink of slumber) Domain/Divinity: Nature, Life, Elves Titles: Mother Nature, Goddess of Life, Elf Sovereign Divine Power Value: 10/500 Number of Believers: 3 (Saints 0, Fanatics 1, Devout Believers 1, Shallow Believers 1) Abilities: Communication, Bestowal, Enlightenment, Healing, Summon, Divine Descent... *What the heck is Eve?!* Well... She was the Mother Goddess. The World Tree was originally the Mother Tree of Life, naturally also a Goddess. Having played various bizarre virtual games in her past life, now even becoming a Goddess didn¡¯t bother her. *Wait... So I even have a few believers?* Seeing the number of believers, Eve was a bit surprised. But recalling the faint prayers she heard before merging with the World Tree core, she felt at ease. If her guess was correct, those voices probably came from her other believers. 10 Divine Power Value, this was truly pitiful. In other words, enlightening Berserker just consumed 5 Divine Power Value! And gaining the ability to observe target states cost her another 1 Divine Power Value... ¡°I must strengthen myself... The Divine Power Value is far from enough.¡± Not to mention, just to gain the ability to move freely, Eve urgently needed to increase her Divine Power Value. A World Tree in a dying state was merely a stump; apart from being conscious, it was no different from a human vegetable, truly the saddest true god. When she first arrived, she was quite excited. But if she kept standing here like a stump, cosplaying as a background prop, Eve felt she would eventually go crazy... *I must gather enough Divine Power Value soon to recover from this dying state and simultaneously create a Divine Descent Avatar!* Once she had an avatar, Eve could move freely within a certain range. However, if she wanted to use the Divine Descent Avatar ability, Eve found it required 100 Divine Power Value to sustain it! For now, that seemed like an astronomical figure... Thinking of this, Eve sighed inwardly. *Too poor...* Fortunately, faith power provided by believers could be converted into Divine Power, but seeing just the meager number of three, Eve felt even more helpless. Three believers, one of whom just created, was there any True God in the world more miserable than her? Although the ancient True God World Tree belonged to the Old God faction and didn¡¯t rely on faith like the belief gods, currently, the only way Eve could replenish Divine Power seemed to be through faith... By the way, where were the other believers? Suddenly, Eve felt a slight curiosity rise in her heart. Since she could connect with the Oak Guardian, could she also connect with the others? She thought about it, then once again immersed herself in consciousness. Mysteriously, Eve found herself again in that mysterious green space. Only now, she already knew what this space was. It was the core of the World Tree¡¯s divinity, also the embryonic form of a Divine Country. At this moment, the green space was still shrouded in a misty glow, chaotic in appearance. Mysteriously, Eve sensed that she was the sovereign here, capable of manipulating and altering everything within this space, but she didn¡¯t attempt to change anything, as her current Divine Power was too weak to withstand any experimentation. Additionally, Eve discovered three clusters of green photons within the space, twinkling like starlight. These were the channels connecting her with her three believers. Aside from these, Eve was somewhat surprised to find the familiar blue light cluster from before she crossed, the one she felt close to, was also here. Moreover, the sense of intimacy from the blue cluster was getting stronger and stronger! After some hesitation, Eve abandoned her plan to directly connect with the other believers, opting to cautiously probe into the blue light cluster instead. Upon Eve¡¯s touch, an overwhelming flood of information, composed of numbers and symbols, suddenly surged forth! ¡°Virtual reality technology pioneering a new technological revolution?¡± ¡°Amazing, my country, virtual network coverage is expected by year-end!¡± ¡°Professional gamer dies after a week of staying up in a gaming pod...¡± ¡°...¡± After braving it for a few seconds, Eve hurriedly cut off the input of information. She dumbly stared at the blue light cluster before her, as a tumult surged within her heart¡ª This blue light cluster was actually connected to the network world of her previous life on Earth! Chapter 3: The Remaining Elf Believers Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Remaining Elf Believers Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Eve couldn¡¯t understand how she connected with the virtual world from her previous life. Thinking of the way she died in her past life, she had some suspicions. She remembered that before her death, she was happily enjoying a virtual reality game in a gaming pod, and her cause of death seemed to be due to several days of sleeplessness... That¡¯s right, the last piece of information that just emerged appeared to be about her. Virtual reality technology had become increasingly popular in recent years on Blue Star, a new type of network technology that directly connected human consciousness to the network, creating a virtual reality world. ... Eve suspected it was because she died while her consciousness was connected to the network, resulting in some kind of channel being established between her and the virtual world. Not only that, but by comparing the time flow on both sides, Eve discovered that time on the Segis Continent flowed about four times faster than on Blue Star. *What was this?* *Did she get to stay in touch with home after traveling through worlds?* Thinking about it, Eve didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. She had originally decided to embrace a new life and forget everything from the past. But with this happening, she suddenly felt a bit reluctant... * Yearning is a weird thing; once severed completely, it¡¯s fine, but once connected, it gives people hope.* Eve sighed inwardly. However, she was now the World Tree on the Segis Plane, and her past life¡¯s body had already been cremated to ashes. Even if she could establish a connection with Blue Star¡¯s network, what use was it? She had already tried; her Divine Power seemed to only affect the virtual world, incapable of mapping to the reality on that side, meaning that for Blue Star, even if she projected her consciousness there, it would be nothing more than an invisible cluster of data... And if she wanted to manifest her consciousness into that network world, the consumption would be terrifying. Just thinking about it, she implicitly judged that it would require at least ten thousand Divine Power points! She had already become a True God, with her soul having transformed into a Divine Soul. Without sufficient Divine Power support, the virtual world simply couldn¡¯t host her consciousness, not even a fraction of it. Merging with the World Tree gave Eve a new life and unimaginable power, but it was also a kind of prison... *Maybe... once she became stronger, there could still be a chance to return to Blue Star from her previous life?* Eve entertained the thought. But soon, she calmed down. That was too far off. To casually use over ten thousand Divine Power points meant at least a moderate level of Divine Power; right now, she was just a measly weak Divine Power! Let alone being in a near-death state... Weak Divine Power, Lesser Divine Power, Moderate Divine Power, Greater Divine Power, Mightiest Divine Power... *She had a long road ahead of her!* And her current focus wasn¡¯t even on this... Glancing at her pitiful status bar, Eve sighed inwardly. ¡°Better stabilize my state first! A dying True God is like a walking gold mine, at least stand firm in the Segis World for now, and then think about other things!¡± At this moment, Eve also formulated a long-term and clear goal for the future. That was to strengthen herself and gain true freedom! Thinking about it, Eve resolutely left the blue light cluster and returned to the three green photons. Excluding the Berserker, she looked at the remaining two photons. Suddenly, the ethereal, gentle, and sacred sound of prayers came again... This time, Eve finally found the source of the voice; it was the brightest of the two photons! Hesitating a bit, she extended her consciousness into it... Accompanied by a mystical sense of weightlessness, Eve felt her vision constantly rising, and the surrounding space began to blur. Soon, she exited the Divine Space, and her consciousness seemed to be drawn, flying in a certain direction... In a trance, Eve found herself in a majestic temple. The temple was made of vines and ancient wood, intricately carved with exquisite patterns, giving a sense of natural sanctity. However, it appeared quite dilapidated, with an ancient and desolate aura. In the center of the temple stood a simple altar, strange magic patterns long destroyed by cracks, and above the altar was a fragmented Elf Statue missing its head. *Where was this?* Eve hesitated a bit. When she spread out her consciousness, she felt a little strange inside. This temple... Was actually located on her! To be precise, it was on the main trunk of the World Tree; Eve just hadn¡¯t noticed it before because she had been observing the surroundings. *Was this being oblivious to what¡¯s under her nose?* Joking inwardly, Eve focused her attention on the altar. In front of the altar stood an Elf man and woman. The male Elf was very old, with white hair and beard, leaning on a staff, wearing gray priestly robes, exuding a sense of decay and desolation, deeply saddened and despairing in his eyes. Eve¡¯s attention quickly moved past him and focused on the female Elf in front of him. She was a beautiful Elf girl. About sixteen or seventeen years old, she knelt on the ground, clutching a leaf-shaped emblem with both hands, slightly hanging her head, eyes tightly closed, murmuring in prayer. She possessed all the legendary beauty of the Elves. Pointed ears, a slender neck, an exquisitely perfect face exuding purity and sanctity, snow-white delicate skin like the first snow, while her golden silk-like long hair cascaded to the ground, adding a touch of maturity to the girl. She wore a gorgeous priestly long dress adorned with hints of green, golden patterns, and vine designs, making her look sacred and majestic, complemented by an innate elegant and noble temperament that gave others a sense of inadequacy. The prayer Eve heard originated from her! The moment she saw the Elf girl, information about her surfaced in Eve¡¯s mind. [Name: Alice Wind] [Race: Elf] [Occupation: Natural Priest] [Level: 23 (Black Iron Middle Rank)] [Faith: Eve Yggdrasil] [Faith Level: Devout Believer] [Title: Natural Saintess] ... *People love beautiful things.* Seeing that her only devout believer was such a pure and beautiful Elf girl, the disappointment in Eve¡¯s heart instantly dissipated by half. As for the other one, he was merely the only shallow believer. The information showed that the old male Elf was named Samir Wind, a Level 30 Natural Priest and Druid. Both were Black Iron Middle Rank professionals, with the old Elf being the highest, just one level away from Black Iron Upper. Unexpectedly, this was her current team. Eve nodded inwardly. Next, she needed to communicate with them and find ways to expand her faith. Eve thought about using a bit of Divine Power to respond to them, but the Elf girl stopped praying. She opened her emerald eyes, wiped away a crystalline tear from the corner of her eye, twitched her slightly reddened nose, then stood up with difficulty, supporting herself on the ground. Turning around, she gave her long-waiting companion a reluctant smile; Alice¡¯s crisp voice was slightly hoarse and bleak, ¡°Grandpa Samir, the last prayer is over.¡± She had been kneeling here for three days and nights; all hope was ultimately turned into despair. Seeing the young girl¡¯s disappointed expression, the old Elf named Samir sighed. He concealed the trace of pain in his eyes, forced a smile, and consoled her, ¡°Alas... there¡¯s no helping it. No matter how persistent we are, no matter how hopeful we remain, we must accept this reality...¡± He said while raising his head, looking at the incomplete statue above the altar, a glimmer of tears faintly appearing in his murky eyes, ¡°The Mother Goddess has truly fallen...¡± In the great hall, the sound of intermittent sobbing echoed. A moment later, the old Elf took a deep sigh, ¡°Let¡¯s go...¡± ¡°We have held on for a millennium, but there¡¯s no need to persist here any longer...¡± At his words, in the World Tree Divine Space, the photons representing the two believers grew dimmer, almost extinguished... Eve: ... *Hey, hey! Is it really okay to give up on your faith right in front of your own True God?!* She was utterly frustrated. Originally intending to perform a Divine Miracle, boost the Elf girl¡¯s favor to that of a fanatic follower, and turn the other shallow believer into a devout one, she unexpectedly faced a harsh reality upon arrival. She unsurprisingly judged that if she did not act soon, these remaining two indigenous believers would probably say goodbye to her. *Calm, calm, everything starts difficult, and if it doesn¡¯t work out, there¡¯s still the loyal Berserker...* After some self-consolation, Eve decided to painfully use Divine Power to prove her existence, but suddenly she hesitated, putting her original plans on hold. Scanning a distant direction with her consciousness, Eve gradually calmed down. Divine Power was still too precious. What a coincidence, a pillow came when she was sleepy; now it seemed there might be an even more efficient, cost-effective way to persuade them... ... ¡°` Chapter 4: Half-Beast Hunting Team Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Half-Beast Hunting Team Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Deep within the Elf Forest, a hunting team made up of Half-Beast mercenaries was cautiously threading through. ¡°Hurry up, you useless fools! If we let the target escape, don¡¯t even think about getting a share this month.¡± The captain, Rock, cursed viciously, wielding a wolf fang club crafted from beast bones, Kicking one of his underlings¡¯ butts, Rock turned around. His previously sinister expression instantly dissipated, and he looked smilingly at the distant, towering World Tree, though his sharp teeth and ugly face made him appear quite fierce, ¡°Heh heh heh, the priest was right. As long as we keep watch near the World Tree, we¡¯ll definitely catch these foolish long-eared ones.¡± ... The thought of the possible spoils to come made Rock¡¯s heart fill with anticipation. Ever since the War of the Gods a thousand years ago, the Mother Nature, the Elf Main God, fell, the World Tree withered and decayed, and the Elf Clan lost the protection of the True God, their racial strength plummeting. And as the most beautiful and elegant race with long lifespans on the Segis Continent, the elves had long become the hot commodity in slave trade over the millennium. A young female elf could fetch a sky-high price in the Human World! Even adult male elves were in great demand in high-end slave markets! Living on the outskirts of the Elf Forest, the Half-Beast Tribe had grown rich by capturing elves and selling them to the Human World. Rock was exactly like this. He had already hunted more than ten elves, and even among the Half-Beast Royal Family, he was considered wealthy in the entire tribe. ¡°Once this job is done, I¡¯m going to propose to Biluo and then buy a property in the City of Chaos, completely saying goodbye to the savage life of a mercenary.¡± Rock thought to himself happily. ¡°Boss... We¡¯ve spotted the targets. Two in total! One is female, definitely top-grade! No... she¡¯s superb!¡± Suddenly, the scout¡¯s delighted voice came from ahead. Rock¡¯s spirits lifted, and he immediately brandished his wolf fang club, ¡°Idiots! Grab your weapons! We must surround them quickly, be careful not to expose ourselves, anyone who messes this up, I¡¯ll crush his skull!¡± ... Alice and her companion left the Natural Temple, walking silently. The Elf Girl turned back to look at the withered giant tree, her eyes red. This was their last time coming to worship... Every time she hoped to awaken the Mother Goddess, but each time, only disappointment followed. Now, even as the Natural Saintess, she had to admit that the Elf Main God might truly have fallen completely... The Main God¡¯s fall, the extinction of the Royal Family, the Elf Kingdom had long been shattered, the tribe scattered, the splendid Silver Civilization becoming history... Under the threat of hunting teams, all existing tribesmen could do was hide here and there. *The future of the elves seemed utterly devoid of hope.* Thinking of those bastards who treated her people as commodities, ruthlessly hunting and humiliating them, Alice nearly ground her teeth to powder. *But she also felt deeply powerless.* The elves had long lost their once mighty strength without the protection of the Divine. ¡°I wonder how many of us will be left a hundred years from now...¡± The girl sighed softly. Old Priest Samir remained silent. A hundred years... *Would a hundred years really remain?* *The Elf Clan didn¡¯t even have a coherent tribe left.* *Even if they regained strength now, without the Mother Goddess¡¯s protection or enough population, it would be very difficult to return to their former glory.* The two walked quietly, their hearts heavy. Suddenly, Samir¡¯s expression changed slightly, and his pointed ears twitched a bit. His body suddenly straightened, bending a tree branch, he put it to his nose and sniffed slightly, then his face changed dramatically. ¡°Trouble! There are Half-Beasts!¡± Before he finished speaking, the surrounding brush suddenly rustled, accompanied by excited howls, a dozen or so massive, grotesque figures emerged from ambush, encircling them tightly. *An ambush!* Seeing the suddenly appearing Half-Beasts, the two elves¡¯ faces changed dramatically. They immediately stood back-to-back, drawing their magic wands and weapons. A dozen Half-Beasts greedily eyed the Elf Girl, their lewd gazes causing Alice to tremble. Seeing those familiar outfits, the Elf Girl¡¯s heart surged with endless rage... *They had encountered a Half-Beast hunting team!* Old Priest Samir¡¯s face was solemn, he gritted his teeth and shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll hold them off, you run!¡± Finishing, he let out a loud shout, chanting a rhythmic incantation, and then transformed into a four-meter-tall black bear! This was his Druid skill, transforming into another form of natural creature for a short time and gaining 70% of its strength. The bear he transformed into was a uniquely powerful third-level Demon Beast from the Elf Forest with Black Iron Upper Rank strength! Sensing the giant bear¡¯s might, a faint commotion rippled through the Half-Beast mercenaries, their expressions becoming solemn. But before the bear-formed Samir could attack, a massive wolf fang club suddenly flew over, slamming into the bear¡¯s chest and abdomen. With a ¡°crack¡± of breaking bones, the bear let out a pained whine, spat out a mouthful of blood, then crashed to the ground, reverting to his elderly elf form. At this moment, the old priest lay unconscious in a pool of blood, his flesh and blood mangled... *In just one strike, their strongest combat power was disabled.* ¡°Heh heh heh, so weak.¡± The Half-Beasts let out a cheer, then slowly parted as a three-meter-tall Half-Beast leader, Rock, walked over. Rock picked up the wolf fang club from the ground, licking the blood dripping from the bone spikes with a teasing look in his eyes. Alice looked at him in disbelief, her voice trembling slightly, ¡°This... how is it possible?¡± The old priest possessed a level 30 strength, already the pinnacle of Black Iron Middle Rank. And to defeat him instantly, there was only one possibility... Black Iron Upper Rank! This leader was surely Black Iron Upper Rank! And likely had reached the pinnacle of Black Iron Upper Rank! Level 40! *A 10-level difference was insurmountable.* *At this moment, a sense of hopeless despair surged within her.* She glanced back at the withering World Tree, her eyes filled with sorrow. ¡°Mother Goddess... is this your punishment for us?¡± Rock smirked, ¡°Heh heh... Mother Goddess? Your Mother Tree was burned by the gods a thousand years ago.¡± Casting a dismissive glance at the distant giant tree, Rock licked his lips and shook his head. He was very satisfied with his earlier strike; just a few days ago, he had finally advanced to level 40, reaching the pinnacle of Black Iron Upper Rank, just one level shy of Silver Lower. *Father God above! Once this job is done, I¡¯ll have the funds to prepare for my advancement to become the strongest among the Half-Beasts.* Rock mused happily. He looked Alice up and down, a flash of amazement in his eyes, unable to hide his delight on his face, ¡°Excellent goods indeed! Not bad, the humans will surely love her!¡± Then he looked at the girl, threatening, ¡°Behave, and it will be less painful...¡± ¡°Heh heh heh heh...¡± The surrounding Half-Beasts let out laughter amongst themselves. Alice¡¯s eyes were filled with anger. She took a deep breath, drew her magic wand, and prepared to fight to the death. But before she could act, Rock¡¯s figure flickered slightly, and with a ¡°snap,¡± her weapon was knocked away. ¡°So weak... And you claim to be from a Silver Race?¡± The Half-Beast¡¯s voice was filled with mockery. *Silver Race...* Hearing those words, Alice¡¯s heart grew even sadder. *In the distant past, when the elves were still under the protection of the Main God, every adult elf had at least Silver strength.* *The race that became known as the Silver Race at adulthood.* *During that time, how brilliant was the elven civilization? Legends and demigods were everywhere...* *Now, they couldn¡¯t even produce a Black Iron Upper Rank practitioner...* *More so, being humiliated by the Half-Beasts barely considered a Black Iron Race!* Alice clenched her fists, heart filled with grief and anger. ¡°Heh heh heh, now, do you think you have any other options?¡± Rock taunted. Alice glared at him, feeling desolate. Thinking of her people whose lives were wrecked by plunder and slaughter, of those sold into slavery, the more she thought, the colder and more desperate her heart became... Gradually, she calmed down. The elf girl closed her eyes, silently chanting... Waves of suppressed magic power emanated from the golden-haired elf as the center. Rock¡¯s expression changed, ¡°Not good, she¡¯s reversing the magic flow to suicide, stop her fast!¡± At the leader¡¯s words, the Half-Beasts panicked. *Anger surged within Rock.* *An elf alive was a treasure, while a dead one was just a corpse!* Alice pressed her lips tightly, and at this moment, memories resurfaced in her mind... *Those were the times two hundred years ago when she lived happily with her mother...* *When the tribe still existed, and everyone devotedly prayed to the Mother Goddess...* *The scene when her mother passed, and she was chosen as the last Natural Saintess...* A crystalline tear dropped as Alice recited the last incantation, instantly detonating her power of faith! Brilliant light burst from the girl like a golden sun. Rock¡¯s features twisted as he yelled, ¡°Stop her...¡± Before he could finish, the sight before him silenced his words. A subtle ripple passed, and the light around the girl flickered before deflating like a punctured balloon... in the blink of an eye, it returned to calmness. The atmosphere felt eerie for a moment. Rock looked at the bewildered Elf Girl with a peculiar gaze, forcing his pumping heart down as he sneered, ¡°Useless!¡± Alice looked blankly at her hands, murmuring constantly, ¡°Why isn¡¯t it working...¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t chant the spell wrong... what just happened...¡± ¡°Mother Goddess... am I not even master of my own life...¡± Watching the dazed Elf Girl, Rock let out a sigh of relief, then nodded towards his men, ¡°Tie her up! Be careful not to hurt her!¡± After speaking, the Half-Beasts didn¡¯t move. Rock frowned, ¡°What are you all standing for? Get moving!¡± The Half-Beasts still didn¡¯t act, instead, they all stared at Rock in terror, continuously retreating backward. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Rock¡¯s expression darkened, a rising flicker of anger. A strong Half-Beast stared blankly behind Rock, swallowing a gulp, then pointed trembling, his voice croaky, ¡°Boss... be...h...behind...¡± *Behind?* Rock¡¯s brows furrowed. A cool breeze laced with the scent of earth blew from behind, a massive shadow enveloping them all. Rock¡¯s heart skipped, unease slowly spreading across his chest. Muttering quietly, Rock turned around warily... His expression instantly froze. Behind him, a towering Tree-man over thirty meters tall stood there coldly. Its massive body blotted out the sky, the enormous pressure so overwhelming it stilled the very air... Seeing the terrifying figure, Rock¡¯s pupils slightly contracted. His eyes widened, jaw dropping in shock, voice tinged with hoarseness and disbelief, ¡°Oa... Oak Guardian?¡± Basa¡¯s cold gaze swept over him, voice icy and devoid of emotion, ¡°Just now, what did you say?¡± Chapter 5: The Revival of the Mother Goddess Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The Revival of the Mother Goddess Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Oak Guardian! To the wise beings of the Elf Forest and its surrounding regions, what this legendary divine creature signified was all too clear. A thousand years ago, during the existence of the Elf Kingdom, that was the pinnacle of the Silver Civilization. At that time, the Elf God reigned supreme over the world, and the Oak Guardian was her attendant, holding a status equivalent to the angels of the Divine! In its prime, the Elf God commanded an army of one hundred thousand naturals, all composed of powerful Oak Guardians. ... Even the weakest Oak Guardian possessed silver-level strength! Upon seeing this massive entity before him, comparable in size to a dragon, Rock felt an overwhelming surge within his heart... *Feeling the fierce magical pressure, his mind went blank.* *How could this be possible?* *Weren¡¯t the Oak Guardians supposed to have all perished with the fall of the Elf God?* *Could it be that he was mistaken?* He rubbed his eyes, yet everything before him told him it was not an illusion. Looking at the tall Tree-man, Rock felt his whole body trembling... *No... it couldn¡¯t be wrong. He had seen such a figure countless times in the tribal murals, there was no way he could mistake it!* This... this was definitely an Oak Guardian! An attendant of Mother Nature! *How... could this be possible?!* *Rock¡¯s not-so-high intelligence made it difficult for his mind to comprehend... but there was one thing that was very clear, and that was that the entity before them was definitely not here to invite them for a meal.* *He intended to kill them!* A sense of instinctual crisis flooded his heart. ¡°Run...¡± Rock muttered, then suddenly seemed to wake up and shouted: ¡°Run, quickly...!¡± After speaking, Rock didn¡¯t even bother to pick up his wolf fang club, turned around, and fled. *You¡¯re kidding!* *An Oak Guardian with at least silver-level strength, even ten of him would not be able to take it on!* *Even if the High Priest from the tribe came, it would be a fruitless effort!* A group of Half-Beast mercenaries were already stunned; they opened their mouths and then simultaneously turned around, fleeing desperately like scattered birds and beasts... At this moment, they had long since forgotten about hunting, with only one thought in mind, which was to save their lives... *The more Rock thought while fleeing, the more muddled he became, the more terrified...* *Why would an Oak Guardian appear again?* *It was well-known across the Segis Continent that the exalted one had already fallen!* *Without the patronage of a True God, how could there still be an existence like the Oak Guardian?!* *No...* *Could it be...* Suddenly, an unbelievable idea emerged from the depths of his heart. Somehow, the image of that majestic and ancient World Tree appeared in his mind... ¡°No... it couldn¡¯t be...¡± At this moment, Rock felt his throat dry and a chill rushing through his body. *Escape!* *Hurry up and escape! Return to the tribe!* This matter must be reported to the Priest! *If it truly was as he suspected, then the Half-Beast Tribe would be in danger!* ... Berserker was extremely furious. Moments ago, he had received an oracle from the great Mother Goddess. Being able to offer his strength to the great one, Oak Guardian Berserker felt an incredible excitement. However, when he arrived at the location designated by the Mother Goddess, he found a group of ugly, wicked Half-Beasts! What enraged him further was that this group of Half-Beasts was hunting the children of the Mother Goddess! Moreover, when he heard that one wicked Half-Beast dared to blaspheme the great Mother Nature, Berserker¡¯s last bit of sanity shattered instantly. At the same time, the icy voice of the Mother Goddess echoed once again in Berserker¡¯s mind, ¡°Destroy them.¡± Like unlocking the final shackles, the Oak Guardian became completely furious. ¡°Roar¡ª¡± A deafening roar startled countless birds in the forest. ¡°Blasphemers, die!¡± Immense magical power mixed with a touch of divinity spread out from the Oak Guardian as the center, his body, originally thirty meters tall, grew even larger. Berserker, with red eyes, swung his branch-formed arms with a roar, ¡°Warfare Ritual!¡± Chants of varying pitch began, and his arms transformed into rapidly growing vines, like flying ropes, chasing after the escaping Half-Beasts... The vines were incredibly fast; a dozen or so Half-Beasts were captured after only a few steps... ¡°What is this thing? Let me go! Let me go!¡± ¡°Help! Master Rock, help me!¡± ¡°Monster! It¡¯s a monster! He¡¯s draining my life force... ah...¡± ¡°Ah... my legs! My legs!¡± ¡°...¡± Hearing the countless screams of agony behind him made Rock¡¯s scalp tingle. Suddenly, a sense of crisis surged back into his mind. Rock was startled, and quickly dodged to one side just as a thick vine shot through the place he had just passed, shocking him to his core. Yet before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the vine charged at him once more. Gritting his teeth, he drew a curved knife from his waist and slashed fiercely at the vine. With a clang, the knife in his hand broke into two, while the vine remained unscathed. In Rock¡¯s dumbstruck gaze, the vine leaped up and tightly bound him. With the binding, a terrifying suction appeared on the vine, and in Rock¡¯s terrified eyes, he watched his once-strong body wither, his strength weaken, and his life force rapidly drain, aging him within seconds... ¡°Warfare Ritual...¡± His voice was old and dry, full of infinite fear. Warfare Ritual, a mid-level skill of the Druids. The user could transform into vines, absorbing the life force of targets for their own use, and offer part of the acquired power to Mother Nature. In his final moments of consciousness, Rock finally remembered this terrifying skill unique to the Furious Druids... In a blink of an eye, the entire hunting party of over twenty Half-Beasts was wiped out. This entire series of events occurred in less than ten seconds. Alice, who was sitting paralyzed on the ground, was already in shock. ¡°Oak Guardian... Warfare Ritual...¡± Watching the Half-Beasts turn to bones and ashes under the Oak Guardian¡¯s vines, the Elf Girl murmured. Suddenly, as if realizing something, two streams of crystalline tears flowed gently down her fair cheeks. Alice suddenly lifted her head with seventy percent joy and thirty percent apprehension, some confusion, anticipation, yet a bit of fear and guilt, looking toward the World Tree: ¡°Mother Goddess, is... it you?¡± A breeze blew across... Countless dazzling, pale green lights descended from the sky, incomparably sacred and solemn. The light carried a gentle power, as if commanded, rushed into Alice and Samir¡¯s bodies. The injuries the Elf Girl suffered from forcibly igniting her essence were healed instantly, and the damaged body of the Old Elf Samir also began to recover visibly, his consciousness gradually awakening... Everything was like a Divine Miracle. The old priest shakily stood up, looking unbelievably at the majestic Oak Guardian, then incredulously at his healed wounds before collapsing back to the ground upon realizing what had happened. His lips trembled, his expression filled with expectation tinged with anxiety, as though he wanted to believe in something, yet feared that he was experiencing a hollow dream... *Could... could this be true?* *Could he believe in it?* Suddenly, a grand, holy voice resonated in the awareness of the two... ¡°My name is Eve Yggdrasil.¡± Their bodies trembled. They looked at each other, seeing the fear and disbelief in each other¡¯s eyes, but it quickly turned into boundless joy... *It was the Mother Goddess!* *It truly was the Mother Goddess!* She, had returned... In an instant, Alice felt as though all her strength had been drained from her body; she wobbled and collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face. Hearing the voice, Samir opened his mouth slightly, the deep wrinkles on his face trembling uncontrollably, while cloudy tears fell like beads. Once dignified as the tribe¡¯s elder, Samir at that moment cried like a child... ¡°Mother... Mother Goddess... is it you? Is it you!¡± ¡°Mother Goddess... have you returned?¡± ¡°Have you... returned?!¡± The extinguished flame of faith once more ignited, soaring skyward. ¡°` Chapter 6 - 6 Regained Faith Chapter 6: Chapter 6 Regained Faith Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html In the Natural Temple on the trunk of the World Tree. Natural Saintess Alice and Old Priest Samir kneeled uneasily in front of the statue. They bowed their heads, their expressions filled with infinite joy and deep remorse... At this moment, Alice seemed to undergo some inexplicable change, exuding a sense of sanctity and divinity. The restored old priest also seemed to have experienced some subtle transformation. ... The Oak Guardian Berserker stood to the side, his expression serious and fanatical, like a statue... ¡°Did I overdo it with the deception?¡± In the Divine Space, Eve swallowed in her mind as she looked at the follower count in her status frame. [Follower Count: 3 (Saint 1, Fanatic 2, Devotee 0, Casual Believers 0)] The impact of Eve¡¯s actions far exceeded her own expectations. Originally, she thought that providing help in a time of crisis might better restore their faith, but she did not expect the effect to be so strong! Alice, who was previously a Devotee, not only regained her faith after the turmoil but also surpassed the level of a Fanatic, becoming the rare Saint shown in the data! And the old priest, who had been saved, also became a Fanatic like the Oak Guardian. Eve couldn¡¯t forget the image of the old priest realizing what had happened, collapsing to the ground, slapping himself, and crying like a child. *Endless anticipation combined with ultimate despair, followed by newfound hope¡ªsuch moments of shock and effect were truly extraordinary.* ¡°No wonder gods let followers suffer. Give them a bit of hardship and then a reward, and the effect is much stronger... Hmm, could this be... Stockholm Syndrome? Uh... that doesn¡¯t seem quite right, but it¡¯s a bit similar.¡± Eve mused, then checked her Divine Power value. [Divine Power Value: 20/500] Increasing followers could provide her with a continuous stream of faith, which could then be converted into Divine Power, something she had anticipated from the start. However, the amount of faith brought by high-level followers still surprised her. Originally, she had only 10 points of Divine Power left, and she used 1 point to heal the two elves, but when they restored their faith, they provided her with 6 points of Divine Power! This... was unbelievable. After all, it only took her 5 points of Divine Power to awaken Berserker. However, Eve quickly discovered that a mysterious power seemed to bless Alice and Samir during their faith restoration, causing the surge in Divine Power... This power was somewhat similar to the power of will. Additionally... Killing more than twenty half-beasts, the Oak Guardian Berserker provided her with 5 points of Divine Power! Eve found this very strange. If the changes in Alice and Samir surprised her, then the Oak Guardian Berserker shocked her. Though Berserker had dedicated all the life force of the half-beasts to her, no matter how one looked at it, the life force of twenty or so half-beasts at an average Black Iron Middle Rank was not enough for even 1 point of Divine Power, let alone 5 points. But those 5 points of Divine Power just now didn¡¯t seem to be entirely converted from the life force of the half-beasts; there seemed to be something else at play... This power was very similar to that on Alice and Samir. After consulting the heritage information of the World Tree, Eve arrived at a hypothesis. Those half-beasts had long been elf hunters, with their bodies steeped in the accumulated resentment of countless elves. As the Elf Main God, eliminating them fulfilled the wishes of the departed souls. The more powerful and intelligent a creature, the stronger its resentment after death. Elves, being a long-lived and intellectual species with natural magical bodies, had accumulated enormous resentment from the deaths of countless elves over centuries. Resentment was also a form of spiritual energy, akin to the power of faith. Ownerless resentment and souls would descend into the Netherworld upon a creature¡¯s death. Eve, by killing these hunters, fulfilled the duties of the ¡°Elf Main God,¡± transforming the accrued resentment into gratitude, which then elevated into the power of faith, crossing the void to be returned to Eve as Divine Power. Moreover, even the power of faith provided by the two priests contained traces of elf resentment! This... greatly delighted Eve. ¡°So, besides expanding faith, I could rapidly regain strength by eliminating the elves¡¯ enemies, restoring the elves¡¯ glory, and gaining recognition from the departed souls! Furthermore, the War Sacrifice skill seems to have considerable potential, providing me with power indirectly...¡± Eve drew this conclusion. But soon, she found this idea impractical... ¡°The enemies of the elves I can handle... to be precise, most of them should belong to the hunting parties. However, these hunting parties are limited, and even if I wiped them out completely, I¡¯m afraid I wouldn¡¯t recover much vitality. As for the indirect ones, and the real culprits, I¡¯m simply too weak to deal with them now...¡± ¡°Furthermore, the supposed abundance of resentment energy is very limited; it will likely only provide significant returns in the early stages. Relying solely on the return of resentment energy from the departed, may at most lift me out of critical condition.¡± ¡°To restore the glory of the Elf Race, I must have enough helpers¡ªmeaning, I need to gather the remaining elves. Additionally, for followers to provide me with power through War Sacrifice indirectly, a large base is needed to gradually accumulate strength...¡± ¡°This number would likely need to be at least in the tens of thousands, probably even hundreds of thousands to millions...¡± ¡°But how many elves are left?¡± Having ¡°overheard¡± the conversation between Alice and Samir earlier, Eve had a pretty good understanding of the elves¡¯ current state. In short, it was a case of the tree falling and the monkeys scattering, with fewer than one in ten surviving. The remaining elves were in hiding, and much of their once-glorious civilization was lost... ¡°If there were truly enough time to gather kin, my faith would almost be restored. In that case... this doesn¡¯t count as a shortcut...¡± ¡°Furthermore, rebuilding an elven civilization is even more difficult; the population base needed for a civilization is immense.¡± *The more Eve thought about it, the more disappointed she felt.* ¡°Still too weak. If it were the World Tree in its prime, there would be no worry about the population issue. You could just use Divine Power to create Primordial Elves.¡± The Primordial Elves were the first generation of the elf race, the first batch born from the World Tree. ¡°However, if I truly had the power to create Primordial Elves, there¡¯d be no need to rebuild elven civilization to restore my strength. It¡¯s a deadlock!¡± Thinking of this, Eve felt helpless. Creating Primordial Elves consumed too much Divine Power for the current Eve. More precisely, the effort of generating the soul of a Primordial Elf was too taxing for the unstable World Tree. Eve held the divine authority of ¡°Life,¡± theoretically possessing the ability to create souls. But in her current state, her ability to create souls was almost lost. If she forced it, the required Divine Power consumption would be disproportionately large compared to a normal state. To put it into perspective, if the cost of creating a soul in peak times was 1, then in a weakened state, the consumption could be as high as 10... Forget about creating souls; even just ¡°enlightening¡± Berserker¡¯s soul cost her 5 points of Divine Power! That¡¯s right, ¡°enlightening¡± the soul. When enlightening Berserker, Eve forced the use of her ability. Of the 5 points of Divine Power consumed, most went into the soul, with only a minimal amount spent on bestowing life and silver rank strength to the Oak Guardian... Given Eve¡¯s current state, creating a Primordial Elf¡¯s soul from nothing would require consuming even more. The creation of just a body wouldn¡¯t be as costly. But if no soul was endowed, the born entity would be mere shells, utterly useless. Of course, as Eve regains strength, the cost of creating souls will gradually decrease... Eventually reverting to the normal state of giving birth to Primordial Elves. At that time, she might not need even 1 point of Divine Power to create a soul! But that¡¯s too far away, and Eve couldn¡¯t wait that long. This was essentially a matter of time and efficiency. ¡°Must I slowly gather kin and restore faith to gain strength? In that case... it¡¯s likely to take tens or hundreds of years?¡± *Too long!* Moreover, she was not without enemies. Inheriting the World Tree, Eve also inherited the enemies of the previous World Tree, including some ancient beings who were themselves True Gods! The World Tree¡¯s body had remained stable for a thousand years because the previous World Tree had exhausted herself using a curse divine art during the final battle. Under this divine art, no one below a True God, except Natural believers, could approach the World Tree¡¯s body. Following the divine wars, the magic of the Segis World had declined, the Heavenly Realm¡¯s connections with the mundane plane closed, preventing True Gods from descending, and making the mundane world¡¯s True Gods enter slumber... In such circumstances, the World Tree had survived. But when Eve inherited the legacy, the divine art was already broken. If Eve lacked enough strength and remained in a dying state, even a couple of enemies with Legendary Power could threaten her existence. ¡°It would be great if I could find a large number of souls. With souls, I could focus only on the body. I¡¯d be able to cleverly create elves... Then, the population issue would be solved. Followed by gathering the remaining kin, strengthening faith, and rising up gradually...¡± But... where could she find souls? Because of faith, the souls in this world were mostly claimed! Moreover, she couldn¡¯t enter the Netherworld... Even if she found usable souls, they¡¯d have to be willing to serve her. ¡°Too difficult.¡± *Eve lamented as she aimlessly surfed the web in the Divine Space¡¯s network...* ¡°Wait...¡± Suddenly, as if connecting some dots, her consciousness trembled while she eyed the network channel of Blue Star: ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a way...¡± ¡°` Chapter 7 - 7 A Bold Idea Chapter 7: Chapter 7 A Bold Idea Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Looking at the light orb symbolizing the Blue Star World, Eve fell into contemplation... ¡°Lacking a soul, huh...¡± *She felt her divine core pounding, just like a heart in her previous life.* ¡°Then... could human consciousness work?¡± *In that moment, she suddenly came up with a bold idea.* ... *Virtual reality technology on Blue Star had rapidly developed, connecting consciousness to the network had become the main gameplay of new online games...* *In which case... could she borrow human consciousness from Blue Star through the network channel?* No doubt! She could completely connect Blue Star Humans¡¯ consciousness through the network channel, then be born using the body created by the World Tree, thereby achieving another kind of Elf birth! *Such a thing, perhaps other True Gods couldn¡¯t do it, but she, with the most unique ¡°life divine duty¡± and the Blue Star network coordinates, could!* *She could completely ¡°develop¡± a game on Blue Star¡¯s network, allowing humans to arrive in this world as ¡°players!¡±* Moreover, this way, there was no need to fear death because humans were merely connecting their consciousness with the Elf¡¯s body through the World Tree, their souls still existed on Blue Star, and once the body died, their consciousness connection would break, awakening on Blue Star, with no danger to their lives! Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã0 This way, she could completely create an undying player army! To rebuild the Elf civilization! At the same time, the players could assist her in gathering Elf Clan members worldwide, even help spread her faith! *Thinking of this, Eve felt more and more excited.* And... not only that! *She could also modify the rules for the birth of the body, slightly adjust the skill ¡°war sacrifice¡± and integrate it into the body¡¯s instinct. This way, every upgrade players achieved after arrival would also feedback to her!* As they leveled up, she would benefit as well, accumulating a substantial amount of Divine Power over time! *Reflecting on the obsessive gamers from the previous life network, Eve found the whole thing very promising!* *As long as they could level up, as long as they could become stronger, there was nothing they wouldn¡¯t attempt!* *These were premium chives!* At that time, she would be responsible for operations, letting the players handle everything, and all she had to do was leisurely collect Divine Power! ¡°I truly am a genius!¡± *Eve almost couldn¡¯t resist taking immediate action.* But soon, she restrained herself. ¡°Let¡¯s resolve things here first.¡± After making this decision, Eve exited the Divine Space. Her attention returned to the hall of the Natural Temple, where two Elves still sat kneeling piously. Saintess Alice lowered her head, praying and repenting: ¡°Alice is so foolish... truly...¡± ¡°How could the Mother Goddess ever truly abandon Alice... Alice¡¯s faith is not devout enough...¡± ¡°Mother Goddess, Alice is guilty... As a Saintess, how could Alice have blasphemous thoughts...¡± ¡°The Mother Goddess is almighty, Alice¡¯s prayers went unanswered, which just shows Alice¡¯s lack of devotion...¡± ¡°Even though Alice abandoned the Mother Goddess, the Mother Goddess never abandoned Alice...¡± ¡°All this is a test from the Mother Goddess, yet Alice didn¡¯t persevere...¡± ¡°Alice truly is the most undeserving Saintess...¡± ¡°Alice is so foolish... truly...¡± The old priest lay prostrate on the other side, his pious voice trembling: ¡°Mother Nature above, I am guilty...¡± ¡°I am guilty...¡± ¡°Great Mother Goddess... it must have been the demons tempting my soul, how could I doubt your return... I am guilty... I am so guilty...¡± *Listening to the two¡¯s endless chatter, feeling the immense remorse and pain in their words, Eve felt a bit guilty.* *Yet, persuasion still needed to be done, even if it brought about some shame...* *She mentally coughed lightly and gently stirred her Divine Power, beginning to assume an imposing demeanor¡ª* ¡°Ah...¡± A lofty sigh echoed through the hall. Majestic, sacred, yet ethereal and melodious, it carried a sense of ancient history, and also seemed to hold endless emotion and lament, stirring an involuntary feeling of worship. Pale green light suddenly illuminated the entire hall, and the two Elf believers raised their heads somewhat dazed yet expectantly, only to see the statue at the altar begin to emit a holy radiance... The Oak Guardian stood like a loyal knight, with only the light flickering in his bright eyes revealing his inner excitement... Under the gaze of the three, the ethereal sacred chant seemed to cross through antiquity, faintly resonating in the hall, and the once damaged Elf Statue began to restore itself... Before long, a pure and beautiful Elf Goddess statue reappeared on the altar. If those who had once seen the complete Elf Statue were present, they would certainly find that this statue, though eight or nine parts similar to the Ancient Times¡¯ Mother Nature, had distinct attributes of its own. The ornate Divine Dress bore the elegant and splendid style of traditional Elf civilization alongside the flair of Blue Star modern art, and the statue¡¯s face appeared younger, like a teenage girl, dignified, beautiful, holy, and noble. Looking at the reshaped statue, Eve was slightly surprised. This appearance was not something she deliberately crafted, but naturally formed with her restorative thoughts. *Is this my statue? The image I would embody after materializing?* *Pretty... quite nice.* *Eve pondered.* *At this moment, she felt a certain connection with the statue, as well as gaining a bit of insight:* *This statue had become her token and representative, any intelligent creature could pray to this statue for her response, and at the same time, the statue could absorb believers¡¯ faith power, continuously channeling it to her...* Perfect! Eve was very satisfied. *Though the cost was a bit high...* Eve thought painfully. Unsurprisingly, Eve¡¯s Divine Power depleted by another 2 points, leaving her with only 18 points. The three believers excitedly looked at the restored statue, their eyes blurred by tears... Nothing could better prove the True God¡¯s return than the resurrection of the statue! This time, even the Oak Guardian Berserker respectfully knelt on the ground, and the three¡¯s excited voices resounded in the hall: ¡°Praise the Main God!¡± ¡°Praise Mother Nature!¡± ¡°Praise the Great Life Goddess!¡± ¡°Your devoted servants Alice, Berserker, and Samir welcome the return of the Supreme!¡± *Truly a bit embarrassing...* *Eve shivered at a nonexistent chill.* *She cleared her throat mentally, then spoke,* ¡°Rise.¡± The majestic sacred voice remained ethereal and pleasing. The trio¡¯s bodies trembled, eyes filled with fervor and emotion, they deeply bowed to the continuously shimmering statue, then slowly stood up. After a momentary silence, the grand voice sounded again: ¡°I have known the matters of the Elves, and now that I have returned, I shall naturally restore the Silver Civilization.¡± Hearing these words, Alice and Samir¡¯s bodies slightly quivered again. They lifted their heads, gazing joyfully at the brilliant statue, tears obscuring their eyes. ¡°Praise the Elf Main God!¡± The voice, slightly choked. *How many years had it been...* *How many years had the Elf Clan waited!* *Finally... their Mother had returned, their True God... had returned!* ¡°To restore civilization and faith, I need your strength.¡± The grandeur voice resounded once more, and the three believers trembled, standing tall with fervent faces: ¡°Praise the Mother Goddess!¡± ¡°For your advancement! Alice, Berserker, and Samir are willing to offer their lives and souls!¡± .... In the Eternal Era of the year 1066, the immortal World Tree, the ancient God¡ªEve Yggdrasil awakened. The history of the Elves turned to a new page. ¡°` Chapter 8 - 8 Virtual Reality Games Chapter 8: Chapter 8 Virtual Reality Games Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html The spring rain drizzled on endlessly. The emerald forest seemed more vibrant after the rain¡¯s cleansing, the gentle breeze carrying the scent of earth, as all things came back to life... Standing in the side hall of the Natural Temple, the Elf Saintess Alice gazed dazedly at the tiny world outside the window, with a lingering sense of unreality in her heart. The Mother Goddess... had truly returned. Even though three days had passed, she still felt as if it all was a dream. ... At this moment, the Elf Girl looked more sacred and noble. Having ascended to become a Saint, her strength had undergone a tremendous change, directly surpassing the Black Iron Rank and leaping into the Silver Lower Peak (Level 50)! However, the girl was not joyful about her increase in power. *Her heart was only filled with endless joy for the return of the Mother Goddess and remorse and self-blame for almost abandoning her faith.* *I must practice diligently, not failing the Mother Goddess¡¯s instructions, striving for the faith of the Mother Goddess and the future of the Elf Clan!* Looking at the distant mountains, the girl pressed her pink lips together and clenched her small fists. ¡°Alice,¡± An old voice interrupted the girl¡¯s thoughts, and Alice¡¯s pointed ears twitched slightly. She turned her head to see the old priest Samir approaching her slowly. Samir was dressed in a gray-white priest robe, carrying a prepared pack on his back. He looked radiant, as if he had become decades younger. This appearance was hard to connect with the weary old man who had chosen to abandon his faith just three days ago. With his faith reinforced and blessed by the Goddess, Samir had also broken through the ranks, now becoming a Silver Lower (Level 41) strongman! ¡°Grandfather Samir,¡± Alice greeted the elder who had always taken care of her with a bow. She glanced at the pack on the old man¡¯s back, her eyes lighting up, and happily asked, ¡°Are you... prepared?¡± Samir nodded. He turned and looked towards the direction of the main hall, his expression passionate, ¡°The Mother Goddess needs to gather the clan. Perhaps only I can contact those remaining clanspeople now.¡± Three days ago, Mother Nature Eve Yggdrasil issued the first divine oracle: to regroup the Elf Clan. Among them, Samir was the most suitable person for this task. After he finished speaking, his expression once more carried a trace of shame, ¡°For the Mother Goddess, for the Elf Clan, and for my own sins, I¡¯m ready.¡± Sensing the power bestowed upon him by the Mother Goddess, Samir felt that he was nothing short of a fallen bastard for choosing to abandon his faith before! At the same time, his faith in Mother Nature grew even stronger. Upon hearing the old priest¡¯s words, Alice¡¯s emerald eyes shone brightly, ¡°To gather the clan... how wonderful...¡± After speaking, she expressed some concern, ¡°You¡¯re going alone; please be cautious.¡± Upon hearing her concerns, Samir¡¯s expression softened. He patted Alice¡¯s head and said, ¡°Do not worry! I alone am enough. Not to mention that under the Mother Goddess¡¯s blessing, I¡¯ve become a Silver Priest. Moreover, the Mother Goddess rewarded me with a divine artifact that can sense the whereabouts of the clanspeople within a certain distance, and it can also defend against attacks of the Gold level.¡± He extended his hand, revealing a piece of sacred-imbued green leaf in his palm. It was a leaf from the World Tree, strengthened by Eve with 1 point of divine power, now considered a rough sacred relic. Three days prior, Eve had bestowed this leaf to Samir, commanding him to begin seeking out the remaining clanspeople and guiding them back. ¡°That¡¯s good then...¡± Alice nodded, then, with some regret, said, ¡°How wonderful... I also want to help find our people.¡± Samir chuckled heartily, then earnestly said, ¡°You have a more important task ahead; you must assist the Mother Goddess and guide the Chosen Ones who will soon descend.¡± Guide the Chosen Ones... Hearing these words, Alice¡¯s eyes shone brightly, and she nodded gently. Recalling the Mother Goddess¡¯s oracle, *the admiration and fervor in her heart surged once again.* Chosen Ones! Three days ago, the Mother Goddess¡¯s second divine oracle declared that Chosen Ones from another world would soon arrive. They would, as ¡°heroes,¡± assist the Elf Clan in rebuilding their civilization! Simultaneously, the Mother Goddess commanded Saintess Alice and the Oak Guardian Berserker to prepare to guide these Chosen Ones and assist them in adapting to this world. What would the Chosen Ones be like? Would they also be elves? Or perhaps... Divine Envoys? Alice¡¯s expression bore a trace of longing. No matter what, since they were chosen by the Mother Goddess, they must surely be like us elves¡ªkind, righteous, honest, selfless beings! She couldn¡¯t help but think expectantly. Seeing the eager young girl, Samir¡¯s expression grew even softer. He looked up at the still withered crown of the World Tree, his gaze gradually becoming determined, ¡°The Mother Goddess has only just been resurrected, and her power is still quite limited. We must strive to spread faith, to help the Mother Goddess return to her peak soon, and lead us to prosperity...¡± After speaking, he and Alice exchanged glances and both smiled. ¡°Praise Mother Nature!¡± ¡°Praise Mother Nature!¡± Their voices were full of vitality and passion! ... After delivering the tasks to several believers, Eve dove back into her Divine Space. She once again connected to the internet world of Blue Star to begin constructing the ¡°game,¡± preparing for the arrival of the players. In three days, through various experiments, she had verified the feasibility of her idea. Now, what needs to be done is to perfect the game she had named ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± and make a name for it online! ¡°The level settings must be set properly. Actually, it can directly use Segis Continent¡¯s system as a template... Hmm, for the early stage, just go with the secular level¡¯s Black Iron Rank. Max level, 40.¡± ¡°The career system can be directly copied as well! Additionally, add the attribute settings; these are the basics...¡± ¡°For the early stage, I should make an appearance; use my character image for a system cutscene! And maybe give players a small gift to gain their affection...¡± ¡°As for the players¡¯ avatars, let¡¯s choose elves! Being born as an elf is inherent to the World Tree¡¯s capabilities. To conserve divine power, their strength could be adjusted to the minimum level of 1. After all, those gaming maniacs will surely grind levels with great effort...¡± ¡°Hmm... To facilitate their progression, the potential for their body¡¯s innate talents should be set to the highest level... Yes, all prodigy level!¡± ¡°Modify ¡®war sacrifice,¡¯ integrate this skill into the body, and combine it with leveling up. That way, each time the players level up, it provides me with power too!¡± ¡°Hmm... calculating like this, 1 point of divine power can create around 100 avatars. To be safe in the early stage, let¡¯s start with 300 people! After all, a reserve of divine power is necessary for protection, and we can¡¯t use it all up.¡± ¡°Selecting participants needs attention, best to choose people with long hours of online gaming, and perhaps some influencers with online presence... This way, a reputation will spread quickly, helping expand the player base later.¡± ¡°Oh, and there¡¯s the system¡¯s setup; this can be achieved with divine power.¡± ¡°Limit the activity range of the descended ones, so that if they die, it will be easier for me to resurrect their avatars. Meanwhile, it allows me to reclaim the remaining power from their bodies and send them back to work for me at level 1 again...¡± ¡°For experience points, rely on monitoring their physical state, represent it through some kind of data display...¡± ¡°The game¡¯s storyline... can refer to some materials online, yes... The theme will be the Elf Clan¡¯s rise!¡± ¡°Additionally, the promotional animation must be well made! In the World Tree¡¯s heritage, there are some snippets of ancient divine wars... They must be put to good use, with effects stronger than anything! As for the background music, the Elf Clan seems to have many quite classic pieces... The cover will be Alice; those beasts love cute girls... Hmm, and add some handsome guys to attract female players...¡± ¡°The difference in time flow between the two worlds could be a major highlight... How to market this? Hmm... Right, claim it uses black technology: mind acceleration technique! Game time is four times slower than reality! Ha, I¡¯m a genius!¡± Unbeknownst to her, three days had passed, and with divine power¡¯s assistance, a massive game gradually took shape... ¡°Finally done!¡± Looking at her creation, Eve was immensely satisfied. At that moment, her divine power value, originally as high as 20, had dwindled to just 11. The cost of operating across dimensions on the network was substantial. ¡°As for the beta test of the game, let¡¯s set it for a week later on Blue Star! See how many players we can entice in 7 days!¡± Observing her own state, Eve made her decision. Next, it was time for promotion. Utilizing divine power once more to interfere with Blue Star¡¯s network, Eve stealthily established a network game company named ¡°World Tree Black Technology Co., Ltd.,¡± and then registered ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± as a virtual reality game, subsequently releasing the promotional trailer online... Next, she would just wait for the trailer to go viral and welcome the first batch of players. ¡°` Chapter 9: Explosive Promo Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Explosive Promo Editor: Henyee Translations Li Mu, male, 22 years old, average appearance, average family background, was an ordinary university student in Tianchao. However, he had another identity¡ªa virtual reality game streamer. Since virtual reality games became a global sensation two years ago, his love for games and streaming had led him to join the streaming community. With his decent speaking skills and humor, he managed to earn a steady income. But unlike many single-game streamers, he focused on reviewing various virtual reality games. In his words, although numerous virtual games were constantly emerging and becoming more exciting, none had genuinely amazed him enough to keep playing... In the industry, he earned the nickname ¡°The Bug King¡± for specifically picking out flaws in various virtual games. In fact, this was quite normal. ... Although virtual reality networks had developed significantly in recent years and diving cabins had entered many ordinary homes, the majority of virtual engines in the market still had poor performance, constantly producing bugs that were both comical and frustrating. Li Mu made his mark by finding these bugs and getting a laugh from his audience. Sitting in front of the computer, he made himself a cup of instant coffee and opened his streaming dashboard. ¡°Time to find a target for a new episode of ¡®Little Mu¡¯s Reviews.¡¯ Looking at the data on the dashboard, he sighed. Recently, the quality of various newly released games was so poor that even he didn¡¯t feel like reviewing them. Source: , updated on ?0¦Í?0.?¦Ï This was because the boom in virtual reality had opened business opportunities to many, and all sorts of shady developers squeezed in to create games. Yet, limited by technology, the quality of many companies¡¯ games was simply appalling... Li Mu had become a somewhat famous streamer, and he looked down on those lousy games. What caught his interest were the expensive big productions! After all, finding bugs in big productions was where the real satisfaction lay! ¡°Haven¡¯t been online for a week, let¡¯s see if there are any new works on the platform!¡± Humming a little tune, Li Mu clicked into the virtual game recommendation platform. His eyes skimmed over one advertisement after another without the slightest pause. ¡°Another Xianxia? This genre has been done to death, hasn¡¯t it? Tsk, tsk, another with cheap special effects...¡± ¡°Shooter type? Hmm... not bad, but there are already plenty of good ones... and I reviewed this type in the recent episodes. I want to try something new this time...¡± ¡°Raising pretty girls? Hehehe... this one isn¡¯t bad... not bad at all... no, no, I don¡¯t want my account to get banned yet.¡± He muttered to himself as he browsed through game advertisements. ¡°Hmm?¡± Suddenly, he paused, and his mouse hovered over an advertisement. ¡°¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯?¡± It was a rather unremarkable ad, the cover featured a majestic world tree, and a beautiful, serene, golden-haired elf praying with closed eyes before it. Though the elf girl on the cover was nice to look at, in the vast sea of virtual game advertisements, this cover was at most considered good. After all, a cover is the face of a game; who can¡¯t make a good-looking cover? And there were just too many where the cover didn¡¯t match the actual game... Li Mu never believed in covers, and this time what caught his attention wasn¡¯t the cover but the click rate of this game advertisement. ¡°What on earth is three million clicks? Did they buy it on Taobao?¡± What surprised him was that this ad, just released two days ago, already had an astonishing three million clicks! Once curiosity sparked, it couldn¡¯t be suppressed. He took a sip of coffee and clicked on the advertisement. Like many ads, this one only had a promotional video and a reservation link for the game. To Li Mu¡¯s surprise, the comment count below had exceeded ten thousand. This was not common on a virtual gaming platform! He didn¡¯t immediately play the trailer but first glanced through a couple of comments. ¡°Demacia: Damn! Did the developers hire a movie company for the promotion? Is there no end to their budget!¡± This was the most liked comment. Fantasy genre? Li Mu raised an eyebrow. This genre had long declined in Tianchao, becoming the least popular of the unpopular ones. It was quite popular in Europe and America though... His interest diminished significantly, but since he was bored, he kept reading. ¡°African Emperor: The fantasy genre has long faded in Tianchao. If this game becomes popular, I¡¯ll stream myself eating shit.¡± This was the second most popular comment, and based on the likes, it seemed to be trending above the first. ¡°Pfft...¡± Li Mu couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud. These days, there were always people trying to get free meals and drinks through deceit. He casually gave it a thumbs up and scrolled down further¡ª ¡°Attack on Leg Hair: Thought acceleration technology? Sounds impressive. Does such a thing really exist?¡± This was the third top comment. Thought acceleration technology? Li Mu blinked in confusion. What was this? It sounded completely unfamiliar to him. He carefully read through the comments and was amazed to find it mentioned in the game description by the developers as a new technology, supposedly allowing players¡¯ thoughts in the virtual world to accelerate. An hour in the game world would be only a quarter of an hour in reality! In other words, it would allow players more sensory game time! That cool? Wasn¡¯t that just boasting? Was it from some industry giant? Tencent or NetEase? Li Mu smirked, feeling quite skeptical, then glanced at the developer¡¯s name. ¡°World Tree Black Technology Co., Ltd....¡± His expression turned a bit puzzled. What kind of company was this? He had never heard of it... ¡°Could it be another small company boosting its own reputation?¡± Li Mu frowned slightly, feeling a bit resentful. These internet companies nowadays, always wanting to stir up big news without considering their actual capabilities... Li Mu shook his head, almost concluding that it was likely another hyped-up gimmick to attract attention. However, considering the staggering three million clicks, he decided to watch the promotional video. ¡°Let¡¯s watch the trailer! The reviews for the trailer seem pretty good.¡± He gently clicked and the screen transitioned to the promotional video interface... As it played, the computer screen suddenly darkened. Li Mu took a sip of coffee and started to watch absentmindedly. Accompanied by ethereal singing, the scene gradually brightened. The first thing in sight was a majestic world tree... The camera panned away from the world tree, revealing magnificent cities, where elegant and beautiful elves strolled amidst green vibrancy, chatting joyfully, depicting a true picture of elven civilization... Initially, Li Mu appeared indifferent but quickly became captivated by the ever-changing scenes. The enchanting and pleasant scenery, the majestic and unique cities, the elegant and noble elves, accompanied by the joyful yet soothing background music, made him feel as if he was truly there. A melodious female voice began narrating the story of the world tree and the Elf Clan on the Segis Continent... ¡°Interesting, quite realistic, the scenery is great, the character models are detailed, and the movements are very smooth. And what¡¯s the BGM? It¡¯s lovely, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard it before...¡± Li Mu couldn¡¯t help but admire. Regardless of how the game was, the opening animation was indeed meticulously detailed and realistic! Gradually, Li Mu started to focus more intently. The story continued... The elves¡¯ powerful strength gifted them a brilliant civilization, but it also led to arrogance and pride. Abundance and prosperity finally drew greed. The power of conspiracy relentlessly gathered, ultimately leading to a crisis. Suddenly, the scene changed, with golden light illuminating the sky. Along with sacred chants and roars, colossal indistinct figures appeared. The war began. Soon, lava rained from the heavens, earth trembled, sacred angels of faith clashed with massive Oak Guardians, and serene landscapes transformed into grand battlefields... Brutal combat, dazzling magic, spilled blood, magnificent divine miracles... Clip after clip alternated, the tragic and breathtaking scenes, set against ethereal yet powerful and solemn background music, made Li Mu widen his eyes, blood surging, unable to help but exclaim, ¡°Wow.¡± He marveled at the extraordinary special effects, yet deep inside felt a twinge of worry and sympathy for the Elf Clan. Li Mu became even more engrossed. The war culminated in disputes among gods, and under countless divine arts¡¯ attacks, the lush world tree stood at its end, withering to demise... Amid wails of lamentation, the elven civilization faded into history... With the ethereal, sorrowful singing, the screen fell into darkness. The poignant, moving music began to echo. Fully immersed, Li Mu inadvertently let out a long sigh, mysteriously resonating with it: ¡°Thriving in adversity, dying in complacency... This is the rise and fall of civilization...¡± A moment later, the screen shifted again. An elegant elf girl appeared on screen. She wore a magnificent priestess gown, kneeling in the broken Natural Temple, tearfully praying to the idol... As the girl¡¯s prayer continued, the ethereal singing gradually reached a climax. Finally, with the last note, a thunderous bell tolled! The idol flickered slightly... The screen darkened once again, all sounds ceased alongside it. Seconds later, lines of powerful yet indescribably artistic text appeared on screen: ¡°Magical thought acceleration technology lets you enjoy the game world!¡± ¡°AI intelligence provides an unprecedented gaming experience!¡± ¡°Create the most realistic, immersive, epic fantasy with the highest degree of freedom ever!¡± ¡°On June 1st, the virtual reality online game ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ kicks off its uncut beta! You¡¯re welcome to sign up!¡± ¡°Elf Kingdom¡ªwaiting for your rescue!¡± The promotional video concluded. Li Mu sat there dumbfounded, seemingly not yet recovered from the shocking scenes of divine warfare. A moment later, he pinched his thigh: ¡°Damn! How much did they spend scripting and creating those effects?!¡± Chapter 10: Final Preparations (Vote for Recommendations!) Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Final Preparations (Vote for Recommendations!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html The ten-minute-long promotional video seemed like a burning pile of RMB to Li Mu. *He wondered just how much money it took to make it...* If he were to rate it, out of a hundred points, Li Mu would give it 99, taking off one point just to keep the creators from getting arrogant. The visuals, characters, sound effects, special effects... absolutely top-tier in the industry, even fit to be a movie. No, most movies might not even reach this level... And the so-called ¡°thought acceleration technology¡± piqued his curiosity. ... However, unlike other netizens whose enthusiasm peaked after watching it, Li Mu remained very calm. ¡°The promotional video is great, but... can the game really be as good as the video?¡± *Countless facts had proven that in these years where virtual reality was just emerging, many games were false advertising.* Although this promotional piece titled ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was explosively impactful, it didn¡¯t necessarily mean the game would be the same. He turned off the video and opened a search engine, soon discovering that ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had already sparked widespread discussion on major social networks. Clearly, such a high-quality promotional video, coupled with mysterious new technology, had whetted the appetites of the netizens. In fact, Li Mu felt the same; he was quite curious now. To say nothing of the fact that he had never heard of this game company before, but he could tell this was undoubtedly a major production! After all, the promotional video was blatantly burning RMB like joss paper, and Li Mu estimated its budget was higher than many existing virtual reality games. Under such circumstances, he thought about it and felt the game wouldn¡¯t be too bad, even at its worst... Moreover, he was thoroughly intrigued by that ¡°thought acceleration technology.¡± Not only that, the ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± promotional video had already exploded in the media, serving as the perfect video material... With this thought, Li Mu nodded: ¡°This game is worth investing in.¡± Then he clicked on the game registration link. The webpage changed again, leading to the official site of ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± The site was quite crude, like it was randomly scrawled by an amateur, giving Li Mu serious doubts about whether the creators of the spectacular promotional video were from the same company. Though rough, it had all necessary components like forums, message boards, and information sections, despite its small sparrow size. Li Mu glanced at it and clicked on the registration button on the homepage ¡ª The screen flashed and jumped to the registration page. ¡°Welcome to register for the June 1st open beta of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ with no data wipes.¡± ¡°For the best gaming experience, please fill in your identity information and related materials. Thank you for your cooperation...¡± Li Mu wasn¡¯t surprised upon seeing the registration requirements. *Given the high addictiveness of virtual reality games, regulations requiring real-name verification had been implemented over a year ago.* He filled in his information effortlessly and clicked on register. ¡°Registration successful! You are the 515,494th player to register for ¡®Elf Kingdom.¡¯ Thank you for your participation!¡± Seeing this number, Li Mu¡¯s mouth opened slightly. ¡°Wow! Five hundred thousand registrations... that¡¯s insane...¡± ¡°Can the server handle that?¡± *Virtual reality game servers had a carrying capacity that was much lower than ordinary online games!* Slightly amazed, he continued reading. ¡°The first batch of the closed beta has 300 slots. We will randomly select registrants within a week, so please keep an eye on your email and text messages.¡± ¡°Thank you for your understanding and support!¡± Li Mu: ... ¡°Three hundred slots? Are they kidding?!¡± *For a moment, he felt the urge to smash his keyboard.* His expression changed unpredictably, and Li Mu emptied his mug of coffee. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll just borrow an account to play when the time comes.¡± His anticipation diminished significantly. Li Mu shook his head, closed the webpage, and went to find other prey... ... Time passed quickly. In the ancient Segis Plane, within the Elf Forest. Nearly a month had passed, and there were some changes to the World Tree now. While the majority of branches remained withered, some in the lower and upper areas had faint hints of green. This wasn¡¯t Eve¡¯s intention; rather, with her awakening, the World Tree naturally began a subconscious recovery. Although this process was slow and the World Tree was still in a critical condition, given time, it could slowly recover on its own, even without intervention... However, this process would be quite lengthy, potentially taking thousands to tens of thousands of years to reach its peak without external assistance. Eve certainly wouldn¡¯t just wait around, knowing full well an enemy could appear at any moment. In recent days, she commanded the Oak Guardian to eliminate all threats within a ten-kilometer radius, preparing for the upcoming ¡°game¡± test. In the future, this would be the hub of elven civilization. Additionally, she spent 3 points of Divine Power to establish a concealment barrier, covering the largest range she could manage¡ªten kilometers¡ªso the outside world wouldn¡¯t see the changes happening to the World Tree. This period was when Eve was at her weakest, and she had to ensure she wasn¡¯t disturbed until her Divine Power reached 100. When Divine Power reached 100, she would officially escape her critical condition and could create avatars, making it easier to use her abilities. Glimpsing at her status, Eve sighed in her heart. ¡°Divine Power is still at 11 points... I hope ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ won¡¯t disappoint me.¡± It was only due to the Oak Guardian Berserker wiping out another Half-Beast Hunting Team in recent days that her Divine Power remained above 10 points. However, the continued presence of Half-Beasts also served as a warning sign for Eve. Nearby the Elf Forest was a Half-Beast Tribe, which Eve had confirmed. Although its power wasn¡¯t significant among the numerous Half-Beast Tribes, its proximity to the Elf Forest was undeniably a threat. Not to mention, behind the Half-Beasts was one of her adversaries¡ªthe Hunting God Uller. Unfortunately, Eve¡¯s influence was currently limited to only ten kilometers, her power was finite, and Berserker was alone and couldn¡¯t uproot them... ¡°Perhaps, once the first batch of players arrives and levels up, I can entrust them with it...¡± ¡°Level 1 is still too low. By then, I can first assist them in advancing through quests, breaking through Apprentice Rank, and leveling up to Level 11 Black Iron Lower...¡± Actually, with Eve¡¯s power, directly granting players Level 11 wouldn¡¯t consume much, but she decided to fix player strength upon descent and revival at Level 1 to discourage reckless behavior. At least for the initial stages. ¡°This way, maybe those guys would value their lives a bit more? It would also make things easier for me.¡± The player activity range was much broader than Eve¡¯s. Through tests, she determined that the furthest distance her current elven bodies could maintain contact was a hundred kilometers; any further, and the link would sever. Of course, if they were believers, the connection could reach even further. Believers and the Divine share a faith channel linking them. But, as a Blue Star person, Eve didn¡¯t expect her fellow Earthlings to provide faith, as, to them, this was just a game. And the hundred kilometers would be the initial player activity range planned by Eve. To prevent straying, she had set it so when players crossed this boundary, they would automatically reconnect with the Mother Tree and be forcibly teleported back. Additionally, as her power increased, the player¡¯s activity range could expand too. If she became a strong Divine, she could even allow players to roam freely across the entire plane! Subsequently, Eve once again immersed her consciousness into the Divine Space... Testing the game system¡¯s operations in her consciousness, feeling there were no issues, she shifted her focus to the center of her canopy. There, three hundred egg-shaped orbs, glowing with lustrous light and exuding the aura of life, hung suspended. These were the first batch of bodies she had created. The bodies had matured, and the resurrection mechanism had long been set up; now, she just needed to designate players and prepare for the arrival of the little darlings! Eve was very satisfied and connected to the Blue Star Network again to begin selecting potential candidates. ... Chapter 11: The Player Arrives (Please Vote for Recommendations!) Chapter 11: Chapter 11: The Player Arrives (Please Vote for Recommendations!) Editor: Henyee Translations University City. Li Mu dragged his flip-flops while wearing baggy shorts and carried freshly bought fried dough sticks and soy milk as he walked toward his rental apartment. The rental was specifically for his live streaming and also served as his dormitory. Suddenly, a pleasant ringtone rang from his pocket. He paused briefly, wiped his greasy hands on his white tank top, and nonchalantly pulled out his phone. On the screen was a text message, ... ¡°Congratulations! You have been selected as one of the first beta testers for ¡®Elf Kingdom!¡¯ Your invitation code is: 233-123-124.¡± ¡°On June 1st, ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ welcomes your arrival!¡± Li Mu was momentarily stunned, as if he hadn¡¯t fully processed it. After confirming the message once more, he slapped his thigh and grinned, ¡°Hey! I knew it!¡± ¡°My luck has always been great!¡± ...... At this moment, the major gaming chat groups exploded into chaos. ¡°Ahhhhh! I got selected! I got selected!¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on? So excited?¡± ¡°¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯! I got selected as a beta tester!¡± ¡°Holy crap! That¡¯s awesome! I heard the sign-ups for that game¡¯s beta test have already surpassed a million!¡± ¡°Totally! Haha, I¡¯ll send you screenshots when the time comes!¡± ¡°Jealous! I watched the trailer. It¡¯s amazing! If it¡¯s really as the officials say, and the trailer¡¯s quality is the actual game graphics, then it¡¯s a masterpiece! Some enthusiasts claim the developers specifically designed languages and music! That¡¯s so wild!¡± ¡°It¡¯s out of control! The beta tester groups over there have already started selling their slots!¡± ¡°Damn, that extreme? How much is it?¡± ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s been speculated to over seven thousand... Everyone wants to try the so-called thought acceleration! Moreover, the officials will introduce a brand-new 100% adjustable realism sensory system. You know, the perception systems in those virtual games on the market are all poor right now.¡± ¡°Scary.¡± ¡°Us regular folks can¡¯t understand the thoughts of rich people.¡± ¡°It¡¯s useless, it¡¯s useless, the officials said the account is bound to identity. When logging into the game, identity verification is required. It¡¯s impossible to get online if you¡¯re not the person...¡± ¡°Ah... We can only wait for the open beta.¡± ¡°Honestly, I think the officials are bragging... It¡¯s too fake. Thought acceleration and real perception, if that technology really existed, who would develop games!¡± ¡°I doubt it too... The debate online is intense. But let¡¯s wait and see, there should be live streams from big names when the time comes...¡± ¡°Live streams? Didn¡¯t they say thought acceleration? If true, can you really live stream in that situation?¡± While Li Mu peeked at the screen and nibbled on his fried dough sticks, he slightly curled his lips. After some thought, he typed a line, ¡°Got the slot, on June 1st at 12 noon, I¡¯ll start live streaming ¡®Elf Kingdom,¡¯ welcome everyone to watch.¡± The gaming group exploded once again. ¡°Holy crap! It¡¯s Mu!¡± ¡°Mu got the slot?¡± ¡°Mu is going to live stream?!¡± ¡°Front row with popcorn! This game has been all the rage online, I can¡¯t wait to see what it¡¯s really like!¡± ¡°Mu! Mu! I¡¯m ¡®Demacia,¡¯ I got the slot too. Let¡¯s add each other as friends in advance! Please guide me in the game!¡± ¡°...¡± With messages popping up continuously, Li Mu felt his mood uplifted. ... Time passed swiftly, and the beta test time for ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ finally arrived. June 1st at exactly 12 noon. Having finished lunch early, Li Mu climbed into the gaming pod and activated the streaming function. ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ had long been downloaded. He effortlessly found the start button and launched the game... It loaded normally, and the first thing that appeared was the character creation screen. The only race available for selection was Elf, along with a face-customization feature. To be honest, Li Mu seriously doubted if this feature was even necessary. Because even looking at the system¡¯s random face, he already felt like it was strikingly handsome. The live streaming chat lit up with comments, ¡°The character models are amazing!¡± ¡°Is this a preset face from the system? Did the developers directly use the faces of male celebrities?¡± ¡°So handsome!¡± ¡°Well, they are elves!¡± ¡°Mu! Mu! I¡¯m ¡®Demacia,¡¯ add me as a friend! Please guide me later!¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t Mu choose a female character? What¡¯s the point of staring at a man¡¯s buttocks while gaming?¡± Glancing at the chat, Li Mu explained, ¡°Can¡¯t do it, this game¡¯s gender is bound to your identity.¡± After explaining, he set his hair and pupil color to black, adjusted the hairstyle to long, and made his physique slightly slender and his appearance somewhat androgynous. ¡°Ha... Mu, you cross-dressing fan, are you cosplaying Tongzi?¡± ¡°Tongzi +1¡± ¡°Tongzi +2¡± ¡°...¡± Ignoring the teasing from the chat, Li Mu set his character name as ¡°Li Mu.¡± That¡¯s right, just that hardcore! Then, he entered the game. His consciousness suddenly shifted, an indescribable weightlessness flooded his mind, and his brain went blank in an instant... It felt like he had traversed countless epochs, or perhaps spanned eternity. When his consciousness became clear again, Li Mu found himself in a vast and magnificent world. Accompanied by melodic classical music, grand and spectacular scenes unfolded in his view. The towering World Tree, the majestic Elf City, the dazzling Silver Civilization, and the grand, tragic wars... Li Mu, as an onlooker, observed everything from a single perspective. ¡°Cinematic scene! It¡¯s a cinematic scene!¡± ¡°These effects are so realistic!¡± ¡°Hey, haven¡¯t you seen the trailer before?¡± ¡°The background music is so moving... Ah... I feel like my emotions are being affected.¡± In the live stream, the audience expressed their admiration. Indeed, it was a cinematic scene. This was crafted based on Eve Yggdrasil¡¯s heritage imagery through the World Tree, aiming to introduce players entering the game to Elven history while instilling the central theme of the ¡°game¡±¡ª Assist the great ancient goddess Eve Yggdrasil in revitalizing the civilization! The quality of the cinematic scene was excellent. Li Mu did not choose to skip it and instead watched it together with the live streaming audience. Two minutes later, the animation finally concluded... Leaving him wanting more. Accompanied by sacred singing, the world in front of Li Mu changed again. This time, he found himself in a white, boundless space while regaining control over himself. Li Mu felt a surge of energy, then extended his own hands. No longer familiar greasy big hands, they became slender and fair, yet with an indescribable sense of power. He touched his own body, and the real touch made him feel as if he had truly traversed... At this moment, all previous doubts vanished into thin air. A delightful surprise of discovering a treasure overwhelmed him, and he couldn¡¯t help but exclaim, ¡°It really is a masterpiece! The character modeling is extremely realistic! And it truly replicates perception! The sense of gravity is just like the real world!¡± He pinched his own face hard, feeling a slight pain. ¡°Ouch¡ª the sense of pain is so real! If I didn¡¯t know this was a game, I¡¯d even doubt I¡¯d time-traveled! But this seems adjustable, with pain perception tunable down to 0%.¡± He then pulled out his character card. [Name: Li Mu] [Race: Elf] [Class: None] [Level: 1 (Apprentice)] [Experience: 0/100] [Health: 50/50] [Magic Power: 50/50] [Attributes: Constitution (5), Strength (5), Agility (5), Magic Power (5)] ... While Li Mu curiously explored, an ethereal and distant voice caught his attention, ¡°Welcome, Chosen One of another world.¡± The voice was pleasant, ethereal, intimate yet distant, and also carried an indescribable sense of sanctity, instigating an urge to revere instinctively. As the voice reached his ears, Li Mu felt as if his entire mind had been cleansed, becoming exceedingly tranquil. He instinctively raised his head, then widened his mouth in slight astonishment... Chapter 12 - 12 Goddess! I want to join the religion! (Seeking recommendation tickets) Chapter 12: Chapter 12 Goddess! I want to join the religion! (Seeking recommendation tickets) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html In front of Li Mu appeared a holy Goddess, radiating a gentle glow. She wore an elegant and dazzling divine dress, with silver hair cascading to her waist. Her purple eyes sparkled with mystery and wisdom, inspiring a sense of reverence. She was so beautiful and dignified that Li Mu could hardly find suitable words to describe her, feeling that all the beauty in the world was insufficient to express even a fraction of her splendor... He stared, eyes wide, momentarily forgetting to comment on the live stream... A gentle power shone upon him, and Li Mu felt a warmth throughout his body. The Goddess¡¯s majestic and holy voice echoed once more, ... ¡°I am the World Tree, the ancient Goddess who controls nature, life, and elves¡ªEve Yggdrasil.¡± ¡°Brave Chosen One, welcome to the world of sword and magic.¡± Her voice was so melodious, yet it evoked a sense of sacredness that one dared not desecrate. Li Mu unconsciously swallowed, with only one thought left in his mind, ¡°Holy crap! The model and effects are freaking awesome!¡± He had seen impressive NPC models before. But one so stunningly illegal, complete with beautification and divine effects, he was seeing for the first time. Meanwhile, the live stream had already been flooded with comments... ¡°Holy crap!¡± ¡°Holy crap!!¡± ¡°awsl¡± ¡°In love, in love...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t stop me, I want to join the faith!¡± ¡°Goddess, can I touch your little skirt?¡± ¡°As expected... In fantasy-themed games, a Goddess is a standard feature!¡± ¡°Wait, you bunch of simps! Did you hear them clearly? The speech felt so fast...¡± Of course, the last comment was already buried under the ¡°Awei has died¡± barrage. ... Indeed, this Goddess was the anthropomorphized form that came after Eve gained her avatar. To guide players and imprint them with her mark, Eve specially used divine power to create an introduction program, led by her human figure image, based on her statue. Every player who entered the game would go through this process of receiving the Goddess¡¯s blessing, which was part of the game system. ¡°Brave Chosen One, to better adapt to this world, I will grant you your own power.¡± The Goddess¡¯s ethereal and melodious voice resonated again as she gently pointed at Li Mu, and a system window appeared in front of him. [Please choose your class system:] [Strength-based] [Spellcasting] A choice of class? Li Mu stroked his chin. Before entering the game, he had read the game information on the official website, knowing that the class system of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was divided into [Strength-based] and [Spellcasting]. At level 10, players could further change their profession, selecting more refined classes such as warriors, archers, mages, etc... Which one should he choose? Li Mu fell into contemplation. The comments in the live stream also erupted into arguments. ¡°Strength, definitely strength! Elves have high agility; you can later switch to assassin or archer!¡± ¡°Better go with spellcasting. It¡¯s virtual reality; you don¡¯t want to miss the experience of magic, do you still want to hack with a big knife?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not right! Cutting in virtual reality has more texture! The feeling of each slash is so satisfying!¡± ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t it be more tactile in reality?¡± ¡°Would you dare to slash in reality?¡± ¡°Are you all demons?¡± ¡°...¡± Watching the increasingly skewed comments, Li Mu twitched the corners of his mouth. He thought for a moment and clicked on [Spellcasting]. Yes, magic seemed more interesting. *For an intellectual, fighting violently was uncivilized. It insults gentility.* *Civilized people speak without using hands; chanting spells is enough.* ¡°Chosen One, you have selected the Spellcasting system. I will bestow upon you my blessings, granting you two random magical skills.¡± With an ethereal and melodious voice, the beautiful Goddess gently pointed toward Li Mu. Receiving the inheritance of the World Tree, Eve¡¯s mind already had a somewhat complete class system, picking some basic skills to bestow upon players was no difficulty. In an instant, Li Mu felt a gentle and warm power flow into his body, and his five senses seemed to experience some subtle change. Li Mu couldn¡¯t help but check his system status bar again. [Name: Li Mu] [Race: Elf] [Class: Spellcaster] [Level: 1 (Apprentice)] [Experience: 0/100] [HP: 50/50] [MP: 100/100] [Attributes: Constitution (5), Strength (5), Agility (5), Magic Power (10)] [Skills: Heal Minor Injuries, Ensnare Vine] ¡°The attributes related to magic are enhanced!¡± Li Mu felt a surge of joy. ¡°Chosen One, you have received my blessings. Please equip yourself and embark on your journey!¡± The Goddess¡¯s voice rose once more, and Li Mu¡¯s body began to shine as a rough robe appeared on him, a wooden magic wand in his hand, and a wooden dagger at his waist. [You have obtained: Rough Linen Robe (White)] [You have obtained: Rough Wooden Magic Wand (White)] [You have obtained: Rough Black Wood Dagger (White)] These were the initial equipment Eve prepared for the players, using trees and linen from the forest. These items were mass-produced as standard equipment for when players arrived, considered a small gift from Eve. Of course, this was the extent of what she could do, anything more, and she¡¯d be begrudging her divine power. Crafting three hundred sets of equipment took a whole 0.1 point of her divine power value. With the Goddess¡¯s blessing, Li Mu¡¯s vision changed once more. A brilliant radiance flashed by, causing Li Mu to instinctively close his eyes. He felt like he was breaking through some kind of barrier, like being born from an eggshell, as his five senses became increasingly vivid... The fresh air greeted him, accompanied by distant bird calls. Li Mu slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a different world. Massive branches, ancient and magnificent Natural Temples, awe-inspiring distant mountains, and nearly three hundred uniquely styled elves in his immediate vicinity... Standing on the World Tree¡¯s branch, looking at the dense, tiny forest below, Li Mu fell into silence... ¡°Whoa! This is truly 100% texture quality!¡± ¡°I love it! This game will explode in popularity! The scenery is amazing!¡± ¡°Hahaha... dying of laughter, these players are such creative geniuses, why does each look more non-mainstream than the last!¡± ¡°What¡¯s with the red explosion hairstyle? Why not use the system face honestly?¡± ¡°Spellcasting equipment is robe and wand, and Strength-based is wooden armor and wooden knife?¡± ¡°I love this scenery. Anyone else in the scenery club? Let¡¯s form a group to take pictures when it¡¯s officially launched!¡± ¡°Huh? Why isn¡¯t Mu speaking?¡± ¡°Mu! Mu! Add me as a friend! I¡¯m ¡®Demacia¡¯! I also joined the game!¡± The live stream, filled with comments, grew more lively. After a long silence, Li Mu¡¯s voice trembled slightly, and his eyes gleamed with a hint of moisture, ¡°Damn it...¡± ¡°I...¡± The viewers were stunned watching the tearful Li Mu. ¡°Holy crap, no way? Mu was moved to tears?¡± ¡°It must be the expression function...¡± ¡°The tears are so realistic!¡± ¡°Is the game experience really this strong?¡± Seeing the fleeting comments, Li Mu¡¯s expression turned dark. He cautiously glanced down and then took a deep breath, quickly lifting his head, rubbing his chest as he explained, ¡°It¡¯s not that, I... I¡¯m just a bit afraid of heights...¡± For a moment, the live stream went silent. ¡°What did Mu just say? It was too fast to catch...¡± ¡°Yeah, the speed was too fast, couldn¡¯t catch it... like it was on fast forward...¡± ¡°You¡¯re just noticing it now!¡± Li Mu: ... ¡°...¡± ¡°Fast forward...?¡± ¡°Accelerated thinking! It¡¯s accelerated thinking! Mu¡¯s speaking speed is fast because of accelerated thinking! Absolutely accelerated thinking!¡± ¡°Holy crap! Really accelerated thinking?!¡± ¡°Does it mean game time is really one hour to one real-life quarter?!¡± ¡°Oh my god! This game is going to be legendary! Unbeatable visuals and black technology; if it doesn¡¯t explode, it defies reason.¡± ¡°That guy¡¯s gonna eat crow!¡± The comments exploded immediately. ¡°` Chapter 13 - 13 Is This... the Chosen One? (Seeking recommendation tickets!) Chapter 13: Chapter 13 Is This... the Chosen One? (Seeking recommendation tickets!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html *What is the most frustrating thing about playing a game?* *It¡¯s when you¡¯ve just started playing, and before you even notice, hours have passed, and it¡¯s time to log off.* *In-game time is always the enemy of the players.* *But doesn¡¯t ¡®accelerated thinking¡¯ mean that, in a way, players will have more game time, sensation-wise?* *Even though only an hour passes in reality, after accelerating your thinking, it¡¯s like four hours in the game!* ... *¡±Elf Kingdom¡± attracted a lot of players, not only because of its top-notch trailers but also because of this technology.* *Of course, they didn¡¯t know that it was simply because the time flow in the two worlds was different.* *However, in practice, aside from the eye-catching ¡®accelerated thinking,¡¯ the quality of this game, ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± greatly exceeded players¡¯ expectations.* *Too real! It¡¯s really too real! Completely different from those rough virtual online games on the market!* *Just as the advertisements described, it makes you feel immersed, as if you have entered a real world!* *At this moment, all the lucky players involved in the beta test were filled with novelty and excitement.* *Three hundred differently styled elves were excitedly exploring and examining this unfamiliar world in their own ways...* *Some stood in open places, marveling at the far-off scenery, exclaiming, ¡°So high! So beautiful!¡±...* *Some swung their arms, feeling the weight of gravity no different from reality, shock written all over their faces...* *Others were pinching their own faces, exclaiming, ¡°Feels just like real!¡±...* *However... there were also some with abnormal behaviors...* *One guy with an afro actually started stripping in public... causing cries of ¡°Ah!¡± in surprise.* *Other players around laughed and jeered...* *Even some blushing female players were covering their faces while peeking with curiosity through their fingers...* *However, this guy was clearly in for disappointment.* *After stripping down a few pieces, while he did manage to take off his clothes, critical parts were obscured by golden Holy Light, and nothing could be seen.* ¡°Sheesh! It¡¯s a game for all ages after all!¡± *The guy who stripped spat regretfully.* *Witnessing this, Eve felt her stomach clench...* *Luckily, she had already prepared the harmonious Holy Light; otherwise, the game would have been reported to Blue Star for indecency right at the launch.* *She certainly did not want the game to be banned unilaterally by Blue Star for impure content!* *Glancing at the person who stripped, Eve mentally noted him down, simultaneously summoning Saintess Alice to quickly assign tasks to these ruffians before they caused any more trouble.* *Most of the people she roped in this time were old hands at playing online games.* *Eve didn¡¯t dare to gamble on what kind of antics these players might come up with.* *...* ¡°The Chosen Ones have arrived!¡± *Inside the Natural Temple.* *Sensing a massive spatial energy fluctuation, Alice, who was kneeling and praying in front of the statue with closed eyes, suddenly opened them, her emerald eyes filled with excitement and anticipation.* *She lifted the hem of her sacrificial dress and stood up, ready to welcome them. At the same time, Eve¡¯s solemn and dignified voice echoed in her mind,* ¡°Alice, assist the Chosen Ones in familiarizing themselves with this world.¡± *For some reason, she sensed a hint of fatigue in the Mother Goddess¡¯s voice.* *It seems summoning the Chosen Ones had consumed quite a bit of the Mother Goddess¡¯s power... As soon as the Mother Goddess woke up, she was already toiling for the future of the Elf Clan. I mustn¡¯t let the Mother Goddess down!* *With this thought, Alice¡¯s resolve grew stronger, and her faith in nature deepened.* *Mother Goddess, I will not disappoint your teachings!* *With profound emotion, she bowed slightly toward the statue, drew a tree-shaped symbol representing Mother Nature over her chest, and eagerly headed toward the main trunk of the World Tree...* *As soon as she stepped out of the temple, Alice heard cheers and shouts.* ¡°It¡¯s the Chosen Ones!¡± *Her eyes lit up. She tidied her appearance, patted her cheeks, mentally rehearsed her prepared welcome speech, then with a sweet smile and elegant steps, approached the source of the sound.* *The presence that the Mother Goddess paid so much attention to¡ªwhat could they possibly be like?* *As she walked, Alice¡¯s thoughts wandered.* *Being a young girl not yet three hundred years old, Alice was filled with yearning and curiosity about these ¡®Chosen Ones,¡¯ these hero-like figures.* *At this moment, she was already imagining various scenarios...* *Yes, the Chosen Ones, favored by nature, must be like heroes described in stories, riding noble Unicorns, clad in magnificent armor, wielding Holy Swords and Magic Wands, and carrying the blessings of the Divine...* *They must be real brave, handsome and elegant, humble and noble, mysterious and powerful!* *They must have iron discipline and faith, just like the legendary Natural Army!* *At this thought, Alice felt an inexplicable nervousness in her heart.* *¡±Ugh, what am I daydreaming about... You¡¯re the Natural Saintess! Don¡¯t embarrass the Mother Goddess!¡±* *She shook her head vigorously, clearing the wild thoughts from her mind, but couldn¡¯t help quickening her pace.* *Parting a branch that blocked her view, Alice finally saw the ¡°heroes¡± she anticipated so dearly...* *On the main trunk, hundreds of elf ¡°Chosen Ones¡± in coarse robes and ragged wooden armor were jostling around in chaos.* *Some were playfully tussling, some experimenting with magic, some carving bark with wooden knives and plucking leaves, and others singing loudly from afar...* *Even more extravagantly, a few male elves, completely naked and shimmering with brilliant Holy Light, were jumping around the branches, blinding others...* ¡°This bark is pretty tough! Can¡¯t even carve it with a knife...¡± ¡°Where¡¯s my gear? Who stole my gear?!¡± ¡°Hey, hey... could you guys cool it down a little? Can we at least read the beginner¡¯s guide?¡± ¡°What skills did everyone get?¡± ¡°I¡¯m in the power class, the Goddess gave me Cross Slash and Spin Attack.¡± ¡°Cross Slash looks cool!¡± ¡°Does anyone know how to view the mini-map?¡± ¡°Any ladies want a screenshot? The scenery is nice, I want to post it on my story.¡± *Of course, if you observed closely, only a couple dozen were actually causing a ruckus, while the majority were normally studying the beginner¡¯s guide. But even so, a few dozen people were enough to skew the overall style of the players...* *From the players¡¯ perspective, it¡¯s not entirely incomprehensible... You could only say that the game¡¯s realism was too breathtaking¡ªplayers were so thrilled and intrigued, they wanted to try everything.* *But... it wasn¡¯t the same for the native elves.* *Looking at the chaotic scene in front of her, Alice¡¯s smile froze on her face.* ¡°Are these... the Chosen Ones?¡± *She rubbed her eyes, doubting if she was hallucinating.* *After taking a deep breath, Alice looked again...* ¡°Hey, hey! That¡¯s my gear from earlier! Don¡¯t wear it!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t have a name on it, how do you know it¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you guys, cut it out! Play the game properly!¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t we supposed to get a beginner guide NPC? Where are they?¡± *Still in chaos...* *¡±Crash...¡± Alice felt as if something inside her shattered.* *The combination of the elves¡¯ beautiful and noble appearance with such crude and rude behavior almost overturned the girl¡¯s entire worldview...* *She stared blankly, mouth gaping, her mind in turmoil.* *What... what¡¯s going on?* *Aren¡¯t the Chosen Ones the favored of the Divine?* *Aren¡¯t the favored supposed to be noble and wise?* *Weren¡¯t heroes and warriors supposed to descend?* *This... this...* *Why was there an utter lack of discipline, like beings possessed by goblins, with no manners like half-beasts, and not even a shred of shame, in these elves?* *Suddenly, she noticed the group carving bark with wooden knives...* *Her expression changed, anger boiling, and she couldn¡¯t help but shout,* ¡°Stop! What are you doing! Do not be disrespectful to the Mother Goddess!¡± *The crisp voice suddenly appeared, and all the hundreds of players were attracted.* *In an instant, three hundred pairs of different-colored eyes turned to the young girl...* *The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.* *With hundreds of glances fixed on her, Alice felt her scalp tingle. She couldn¡¯t help but take a step back, timid but trying to maintain her composure, she shouted,* ¡°What... what are you looking at? Even if you are chosen by the Mother Goddess, you mustn¡¯t be disrespectful to her essence...¡± *Her oriole-like voice trembled slightly, with a sense of bravado.* *The players looked at one another, and then the noise rose once again.* ¡°An elf chick?¡± ¡°So... so cute!¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t have a name on her head! She¡¯s an NPC!¡± ¡°No kidding! Look at her gear; it¡¯s so flashy, she must be an NPC!¡± ¡°Her expressions are so vivid and lifelike! You can¡¯t see the stiff AI feel of other virtual online games at all!¡± ¡°Pretty lady, are you a priest?¡± ¡°Hey, hey, you guys calm down, you seem to have scared her!¡± *Seeing the small-animal-like wary and adorable Alice, some gentlemanly male players became curious and excited.* ¡°Oh no... her expression is kind of against the rules... makes one want to tease her...¡± ¡°Miss, what¡¯s your name? Are you a priest?¡± ¡°Miss, is there a quest we can do?¡± ¡°Miss, can I join your religion?¡± ¡°Miss, can I feel your sacrificial dress?¡± *Since Eve had made adjustments for language communication beforehand, the players¡¯ words automatically translated to Segis World¡¯s language, and vice versa, allowing Alice to understand what the Chosen Ones were saying clearly...* *Listening to the flirty remarks, the elf girl¡¯s face turned red with shame, trembling with anger.* ¡°She¡¯s embarrassed! She¡¯s embarrassed!¡± ¡°Wow! Such a strong sense of interaction! This NPC is so realistic!¡± ¡°Err... I think she seems angry now...¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you guys, enough! Even if it¡¯s an AI, can¡¯t you at least be polite?¡± ¡°Err... never seen such a lifelike NPC. Just a bit curious...¡± ¡°Why is she not saying anything? Speaking of which, who has the Identify skill? Can we use it to identify her?¡± ¡°I do! I do! I¡¯ll identify... um... this lady¡¯s name is Alice Wind, her profession is Natural Priest, level... can¡¯t see... huh? When identifying, it unlocks the target¡¯s favorability? Damn...! Why is her favorability negative with me?! Damn! It went down again!¡± ¡°Hahaha! It¡¯s because your face is too ugly! Hahaha, let me identify... damn! Why is my favorability negative too...¡± *Looking at these unruly hooligans acting like bandits, Alice trembled with anger.* *She took a deep breath, at the same time desperately reminding herself...* *Calm down! Calm down!* *Alice, you must stay calm!* *This must be a test from the Mother Goddess! You must not let the Mother Goddess down!* ¡°Miss, why aren¡¯t you talking?¡± ¡°Her hair is so long! I wonder how it feels...¡± *Suddenly, the bold player who had undressed earlier, cloaked in Holy Light, sneaked up and sneakily reached for Alice¡¯s golden hair.* *The elf girl was startled, unable to hold back, and swung her Magic Wand.* *In a flash of bright light, accompanied by a scream, the player with ¡°Demacia¡± floating over his head got flung away by the Protective Holy Spell and straight off the World Tree.* *So weak!* *That was Alice¡¯s first thought.* *Gosh! What have I done? I actually knocked him off!* *That was the second...* *Alice was startled, quickly stepping forward to peer down from the World Tree...* *However, the unfortunate player was already out of sight.* ¡°Mother Nature above! Did I... did I actually kill a Chosen One?¡± *Alice¡¯s vision went black.* ¡°Hahaha! Deserved it!¡± ¡°Challenging an NPC at level 1, serves him right!¡± ¡°Hahaha!¡± *Behind her, the mocking voices of the other elves, now players, echoed, accompanied by a bout of laughter.* *Alice incredulously turned her head, staring blankly at these elves who, witnessing a comrade¡¯s ¡°death,¡± not only weren¡¯t afraid but were even more excited. Her mind struggled to comprehend...* *Are these Chosen Ones perhaps out of their minds?* ¡°` Chapter 14 - 14 They Are the Best Coolies (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 14: Chapter 14 They Are the Best Coolies (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html *Something¡¯s off, absolutely off!* *Why is the Chosen One¡¯s style like this?!* Alice felt her mind growing increasingly confused. After a while, a faint green light appeared on the branches of the World Tree, and a humanoid light cluster slowly formed. A moment later, a figure glowing all over with Holy Light, sporting a red afro, emerged from it. It was Demacia, the unfortunate soul whom Alice had just knocked away. ... He panted and said with lingering fear, ¡°Oh my god, that NPC is so strong... Luckily I reduced the pain sensitivity in advance...¡± *Resur... Resurrected?!* Looking at the familiar figure, Alice was a bit dazed. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, Alice, these Chosen Ones are all immortal beings.¡± Suddenly, Eve¡¯s words echoed in her mind, as if they had a calming power. ¡°Mother Goddess!¡± Hearing that familiar voice, Alice felt at ease, but then her eyes reddened, almost on the verge of tears. She couldn¡¯t tell whether it was due to excitement or grievance... ¡°Mother Goddess... they... they...¡± The girl was somewhat incoherent. ¡°Ahem... don¡¯t be afraid.¡± Eve coughed lightly and comforted her with a bit of guilt, ¡°They are residents from another world oppressed by life. Due to high mental stress, they need a certain release. Becoming Chosen Ones is precisely their way to escape reality. However, despite their recklessness, they¡¯re also quite capable...¡± Eve had somewhat anticipated that she might attract some quite neurotic players. Through Her selection, among the three hundred people, there were either seasoned players or extreme gaming enthusiasts, game streamers. The prolonged gaming hours or some ¡°occupational diseases¡± had already cultivated in them a lawless, unrestrained game personality, so it was normal for them to not follow the conventions of the game before fully understanding the mechanics... However, the same goes for their capability in the game, which undoubtedly wasn¡¯t weak either. In a nutshell, those elites were often also comical figures. Of course, there was no way to explain all this to Alice... After a moment of silence, Eve said to the girl, ¡°Just consider them mentally unstable.¡± Alice: ... ¡°But rest assured, they are inherently good, diligent, and can be freely commanded by you... Moreover, these three hundred are just the first batch; subsequent Chosen Ones will be much more normal.¡± *There¡¯s more? There¡¯s more?!* Alice was completely stunned. Sensing the unease in the girl¡¯s heart, Eve hurriedly supplemented, ¡°Rest assured, they won¡¯t always be like this.¡± After speaking, She once again manipulated the Divine Power, transmitting a piece of information into the girl¡¯s mind, ¡°This is a list of daily tasks that you can assign to them. It could greatly shift their focus.¡± Eve did not intend to handle everything personally. Since there were native believers, their roles should be maximized, having them become NPCs for some common game tasks, while She only needed to oversee the overall direction and key plot points of the game. This was also Eve¡¯s way of promoting interaction between players and native elves. According to Her vision, She aimed to build a new civilization with strong unity between players and native elves! And Alice¡¯s positioning in Her plan was to be a newcomer guide plus daily task NPC, as well as a future assistant for players who wanted to switch to the Priest profession. As for Eve¡¯s immediate goal, it was to have players complete tasks to hone their levels while building their own camp! The newborn elf civilization would start from this point! After a glow passed, Alice realized there was something new in her mind. *Task list?* Alice checked the content and muttered to herself, ¡°Repair the temple...¡± ¡°Collect wood...¡± ¡°Build houses...¡± Alice: ... *Isn¡¯t this just manual labor?* *Are the Chosen Ones willing to do these kinds of tasks?* These odd jobs, even when the Elf Clan was still around, were all thrown to low-level servant demons... but these are Chosen Ones! Moreover, they seem not even to be believers of the Mother Goddess. And... they¡¯re so lawless, undisciplined... *In such a case, will they really listen?* *These tasks require teamwork!* Alice was a bit at a loss. *No... I can¡¯t think like this!* Seemingly guilty of her growing suspicion, the girl shook her head vigorously. *The Mother Goddess¡¯s words must be right!* *I am the Natural Saintess, the most favored by the Mother Goddess. This must be a test from the Mother Goddess herself that I must complete perfectly!* With this in mind, Alice silently prayed to the Mother Goddess and then traced a Nature Mother tree symbol in front of her chest once again. She took a deep breath and looked at the players anew. The players were still in chaos, yet no one was reckless again. Looking at the buzzing elves, Alice, who had just been teeming with determination, felt deflated again, increasingly feeling overwhelmed... *How should I begin? How can I make them willingly accept the task?* *If it¡¯s really like what the Mother Goddess said, then they¡¯re quite pitiful...* *Being so extreme in handling things must be due to enormous mental and spiritual stress...* *They must be living such painful and repressed lives in another world...* Thinking of this, Alice felt that the group of impulsive fools before her didn¡¯t seem so bothersome anymore. And thinking about her earlier actions, the elf girl felt a sense of guilt... *Was I too much just now?* *Although that red-haired guy was annoying, the fact remains that he was chosen by the Mother Goddess, should I apologize?* As she pondered, Alice noticed these Chosen Ones suddenly all fell silent. She raised her head in confusion, then noticed that hundreds of people were all, by coincidence, looking at her. Their eyes were shining, watching like she was a moving treasure... That kind of gaze, Alice had only seen in greedy human merchants and daredevil adventurers, making her shudder involuntarily. Among the players, soft murmurings began, and some seemed excited, ¡°Hey, did you get the system notification? We can get daily quests from Natural Saintess Alice!¡± ¡°Heard it, and it even calls me the brave hero who can save the Elf Clan...¡± ¡°I got it too!¡± ¡°Saintess! So, the young lady is a Saintess!¡± ¡°Get the quest! Quick, get the quest! Early quests surely level you up faster, hurry and level up! I¡¯m even waiting to switch to the Mage profession!¡± Suddenly, as if receiving some kind of command, all the Chosen Ones rushed toward Alice, startling her. *Did the Mother Goddess convey Her prophecy to them?* Having some speculation in her heart, Alice tried to calm herself and tentatively said, ¡°Do you... want to get a quest?¡± An army of players¡¯ eyes brightened, each raising their hand. ¡°Yes, yes, yes!¡± ¡°Young lady, you¡¯re the best! Quickly give me a quest!¡± ¡°Lord Alice! I want a quest!¡± ¡°Sister Alice, your little skirt is so pretty! Can I have a quest?¡± Alice: ... In the blink of an eye, all the players turned into fawning sycophants. Seeing the elves eagerly accepting menial tasks and then leaving with utmost excitement, Alice was completely numb. ¡°The Mother Goddess was right, they definitely have something wrong in their heads.¡± ... Struggling out from the crowd of players, Li Mu panted and shook his head, ¡°This game is too real, even getting a quest requires squeezing through people... it¡¯s going to explode when it gets to open beta...¡± Even though he was grumbling, his heart was still filled with excitement. Opening his system interface, Li Mu checked the random task he just received from Saintess Alice, ¡°[Random Daily: Collect lumber, reward 50-300 experience points]¡± ¡°Collecting lumber, huh? Seems to be for building houses, doesn¡¯t sound too hard; after all, this is my old line of work!¡± When Li Mu was young, he lived in a logging camp and was quite familiar with tree cutting. ¡°And it gives at least 50 experience points at once! Plus, it¡¯s repeatable! Looks like I can rely on this to accumulate experience for fast leveling up! Although it seems like the task content is always random...¡± He curiously checked as he walked toward the direction mentioned in the task details, where the Natural Temple¡¯s Teleportation Array was. There, players could be directly transported to the base of the World Tree a thousand meters below. Other player elves also sprang into action. In no time, hundreds of elves scattered and flocked mightily towards the Elf Forest. ... High above, Eve watched the players gradually moving on the right track, and finally, she could heave a sigh of relief in her heart. ¡°` Chapter 15: Starting with a Tree (Please Vote!) Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Starting with a Tree (Please Vote!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html When he arrived in the forest, Li Mu felt even more deeply the reality of the ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± The ancient trees stood tall, branches embracing each other, their gray-black bark covered with dark green moss. The vines wrapped around the trees like a web of layers upon layers, and the lush undergrowth reached as tall as a person... The air carried the unique fragrance of plants and soil, incredibly fresh and pure. Occasionally, a bird flew by, its chirping exceptionally crisp, while unknown beastly cries echoed, mysterious and ancient. Here, it was entirely the appearance of a primeval forest. ... Combined with the elf-style music designed by Eve resonating in the players¡¯ consciousness through the game¡¯s system, *a sense of dreaminess, far removed from the hustle of the world, inevitably rose in Li Mu¡¯s heart.* Plucking a branch and tearing off a leaf, looking at the clear outline of the veins and the light green sap at the wound, Li Mu had to admire the fine workmanship of the game¡¯s developers. ¡°If I wasn¡¯t personally logged into this game, along with this fantastic BGM, I¡¯d really think I had traveled to another world.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but sigh. The live streaming function was already turned off, switched to recording instead. In fact, in the ¡°accelerated thinking¡± state, he couldn¡¯t really live stream well. After a moment of contemplation, Li Mu swiped open the game¡¯s system and checked the newbie guide: ¡°Within a ten-kilometer radius is the newbie safe zone, where you can freely move and collect quest items.¡± ¡°Beyond ten kilometers, powerful creatures may appear, and it¡¯s best not to court death before reaching level 11 Black Iron Lower...¡± ¡°For levels under 10, doing daily quests is the fastest way to level up. Once the experience meets the Black Iron advancement standard, you can go to the Natural Temple to change your profession...¡± After closing the newbie guide, Li Mu checked the map in the upper right corner of his vision. The map was circular, centered around the World Tree, currently only displaying a ten-kilometer radius, which was also the maximum range Eve could effectively control. Beyond that lay darkness, waiting for players to explore. In the forest, what they never lacked was trees. Yet, when he looked for a suitable target, Li Mu was stumped. Looking at those towering trees with trunk diameters of at least a meter, Li Mu felt a tingling on his scalp, ¡°Aren¡¯t these trees just too enormous? I should have formed a team.¡± Every tree as far as he could see soared into the clouds. After searching for a long time, he finally found one that seemed acceptable. It was a tree more than ten meters tall, its bark an unusual golden color. ¡°Is this... cedar?¡± Li Mu raised an eyebrow. As a college guy who had taken elective courses in forestry, Li Mu had some knowledge of trees. Although the tree in front of him was slightly different and its bark an unusual color, it was very similar to the cedar in his memory, with only minor differences. ¡°Cedar is excellent building material!¡± He felt a rush of joy and began to take action. Having grown up in the countryside, with parents working in a forest farm, he had often done labor with his elders during his youth; chopping trees was second nature to him. Picking up a stone axe he had just made from rocks, wood, and vines, Li Mu began chopping. ¡°Crack! Crack!¡± The impact sensation in his hands was so real. With each chop, Li Mu felt as if he were back in his younger years. *Except now, this body was lighter and more agile.* *He really liked this feeling.* Finally, with a resounding ¡°crash,¡± the cedar swayed a few times and then fell as expected. At the moment the tree fell, Li Mu felt something like a force surge into him, warming his entire body. This was the life force of the cedar. When he chopped down the tree, the modified ¡°war ritual¡± within his body activated, absorbing a portion of the cedar¡¯s life force. The absorption rate of this life force could be controlled in the game¡¯s system, up to 100% of the target, and by default, the loot couldn¡¯t be completely destroyed without control, only absorbing about 20%, like Li Mu this time. The energy he absorbed was split, half for himself and the other half given back to Eve. Of course, Eve did not care about such meager life force now; this function was actually her long-term investment. The feeling of energy surging into his body was extremely strange, indescribable by words for Li Mu. If he had to say something, it was ¡°exhilarating!¡± Meanwhile, he noticed his experience increased slightly, gaining 10 points. ¡°Cutting trees can also level up!¡± Li Mu was delighted. At this moment, he felt his half-hour of labor was worth it. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he shook his head, ¡°One person is still too slow. This kind of task is best done with more people in cooperation.¡± Using the ¡°Entangling Vine¡± spell to bind the felled cedar, Li Mu dragged it back toward the World Tree... ... The task submission point was a clearing below the World Tree, originally overgrown with shrubs and low grasslands. This was where Eve intended for players to build a base, which would also be the starting point for a new elven civilization. As Li Mu entered the camp, the mysterious and ethereal BGM in his game system transformed into a cheerful one that filled the heart with joy. Arriving there, he found many players already, seemingly undertaking cleaning tasks, removing weeds and shrubs. Some players appeared to have already started the second round of tasks, trying to form teams: ¡°Anyone got a wood collection task? We¡¯re missing one! Need a spellcaster to help fix the big trees.¡± ¡°Is there anyone who studied construction? I¡¯ve got a building task but I need someone to command!¡± ¡°Does any logging team need a power-type member? I¡¯ve drawn Berserk and Whirlwind Slash! Guaranteed one cut!¡± ... After searching around, Li Mu quickly spotted the NPC girl surrounded by players. Alice was busy at the moment but seemed in a good mood, her emerald eyes bright and pure. Li Mu swore, *this was absolutely the most expressive, realistic, and intelligent NPC he had ever seen!* However, every time she saw the players¡¯ cheeky faces, Alice¡¯s expression would slightly cool. Once players understood Alice¡¯s identity, they unlocked the NPC favorability system. But for most people, the girl¡¯s favorability was entirely negative. This was especially true for male players; it was said the most exaggerated cases reached as low as negative one hundred. There was no help for it; the biggest shock Alice had received before was from these shameless folks, who would either tease or play pranks after meeting the girl, leaving an impression that couldn¡¯t possibly be worse. In contrast, female players were much more gentle and obedient, leading to much better treatment from Alice. Even so, Li Mu could sense a faint barrier between Alice and the players. Watching her ever-changing expressions and noting the players¡¯ expressions and actions while interacting with Alice, Li Mu pondered... He thought for a moment, and suddenly, an idea struck him. Taking a deep breath, Li Mu dragged his felled cedar over. Having settled a task with a female player, Alice noticed Li Mu returning. Seeing that the newcomer was a male Chosen One, her expression cooled slightly again. ¡°Did you complete the task?¡± Her sweet voice carried a hint of detachment. Li Mu nodded, neither haughty nor humble, gazing sincerely at the girl with a voice full of respect, as if conversing with a senior in a university in the real world, ¡°Miss Alice, these are the supplies I am submitting. Please check them.¡± Seeing the male elf in front of her with proper demeanor, Alice couldn¡¯t help but give him a second look. Today, he was the first male Chosen One able to engage in normal conversation with her; the others were either frivolous and shameless or audacious and presumptuous. Although she said nothing, Alice could clearly feel those guys seemed to have a vague sense of superiority when talking to her, viewing her not as a companion but as a tool or an object. This feeling made her extremely uncomfortable, reminding her of those humans who hunted elves. Yet the thin male elf before her now possessed sincere eyes. In an instant, the discomfort in her heart lessened significantly, and her impression of Li Mu improved greatly. Her expression softened slightly, and she nodded to Li Mu, ¡°Alright, let me take a look at your harvest.¡± ¡°Please.¡± Li Mu dragged out the cedar. ¡°Sun Cedar!¡± Alice¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°This is excellent wood! It has strong light affinity and can be used not only in the construction of temples but also in making magic wands! I didn¡¯t expect you to find it.¡± The girl looked at Li Mu with surprise. She didn¡¯t find anything wrong with chopping down trees. In fact, unlike many elves in literary works and games on Blue Star, most elves on the Segis Continent accepted moderate logging. For them, it was about maintaining ecological balance. Being nature¡¯s darlings did not mean being nature¡¯s slaves. Although they respected life, unless the trees gained awareness and developed souls, they wouldn¡¯t be specially protected. Hearing Alice¡¯s words, Li Mu was slightly taken aback, then his lips curled up. It seemed to be a rare item... It looked like his luck wasn¡¯t too bad. Alice closed her eyes and mouthed a prayer over the Sun Cedar, then said to Li Mu: ¡°Your task is complete. Here is your reward.¡± With a soft chime from the system, Li Mu was pleasantly surprised to find he earned 300 experience points in one go! This task was so profitable! He could level up! Li Mu rejoiced. Eagerly, he clicked the level-up button on the game¡¯s interface on the spot. In Alice¡¯s surprised gaze, a burst of brilliant Holy Light enveloped Li Mu, and mysteriously, a force from the void flowed into his body. It was Eve¡¯s Divine Power, diluted countless times. Unlike other games, the thrill of leveling up in this game was so real and so powerful. Li Mu felt warm all over, as if basking in the sun, while his internal strength rapidly grew, and in an instant, he felt all his senses enhanced... That real sense of gain was beyond satisfying. A hundred experience points were deducted, and his level rose to 2. Checking his character card, Li Mu was slightly pleased: ¡°All of my attributes increased by 1 point! My Magic Power increased by 2 points!¡± He tried casting ¡°Entangling Vine¡± and found his casting speed improved by almost a quarter, and the spell¡¯s effect became more powerful, originally only summoning one vine, but now two! In terms of combat effectiveness, Li Mu felt he could easily take down his pre-upgraded self now! Just by leveling up once, the effect was so evident... What would level 11 be like? At that moment, Li Mu was even more excited for the future. ¡°Congratulations on your promotion.¡± Alice¡¯s congratulatory words came just then. Looking over, Li Mu realized her favorability had returned to a positive value. His heart stirred, and he had some guesses about the game¡¯s NPC system. Thanking the girl, Li Mu took on another task. He planned to accelerate his leveling pace. However, to complete tasks more efficiently, he intended to team up with other players next time. ¡°` Chapter 16 - 16 This is More Than Just a Game (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 16: Chapter 16 This is More Than Just a Game (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations In the blink of an eye, it was already dusk. In the Elf Forest, ancient trees of various forms towered into the clouds, with interwoven branches, and lush foliage that blocked out the sun. The golden sunset shone through the leafy canopy like twinkling stars, exuding an elusive tranquility. A rhythmic chant slowly sounded, and several sturdy vines suddenly shot out from the soil, flying in from all directions to wrap around a towering ancient tree. Li Mu put down the magic wand in his hand, let out a small sigh of relief, and spoke to the person behind him, ¡°It¡¯s secured!¡± ... ¡°Nice! The Entanglement Technique really comes in handy!¡± ¡°Hey, now we don¡¯t have to worry about the tree accidentally falling and crushing someone!¡± ¡°Pfft... Dema, you were just unlucky, standing in the wrong spot. Otherwise, why is it always you getting hit?¡± ¡°Get lost!¡± ¡°Hahaha!¡± A few elves in linen armor bickered as they rushed forward together, wielding their wooden knives to start hacking at the base of the ancient tree... ¡°Honestly, this feels so strange... The Goddess being the World Tree, yet our task is to chop them down...¡± ¡°Maybe the Goddess isn¡¯t in good shape, you see even the World Tree has withered.¡± ¡°But this forest has no shortage of timber; the Goddess probably doesn¡¯t mind, right?¡± ¡°Hardcore Nature God Sect...¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a game, don¡¯t take it too seriously.¡± ¡°Ugh... I almost forgot this was a game if you hadn¡¯t mentioned it...¡± The players chatted as they worked. They were Li Mu¡¯s teammates. After completing the first task, Li Mu teamed up with a few players to do daily tasks more efficiently. Amidst cries of ¡°one, two, three¡± and hacking sounds, the towering ancient tree shook slightly, then more violently... ¡°Push together! Quick! One! Two! Three...!¡± ¡°It¡¯s breaking! It¡¯s breaking!¡± Amid cheers, the massive ancient tree wobbled slightly and finally fell, startling a flock of birds... Several elves surged forward again with their wooden knives, and flashes of dazzling sword techniques broke up the ancient tree into segments as if they were dedicated lumberjacks. ¡°This tree is enough for us to complete our tasks, right?¡± They wiped their sweat as they spoke. ¡°It¡¯s more than enough. This tree is huge; I suspect we won¡¯t be able to carry it all in one trip.¡± Li Mu said as he and the others lifted the segmented trunk together. This was already his sixth mission, and after teaming up with several other players, his efficiency had greatly improved. Without realizing it, Li Mu had played the game for an entire day. To be precise, he had chopped trees for a whole day. Glancing at his character card, he smiled, ¡°After completing this mission, I should reach level 5.¡± ¡°Whoa! Master!¡± ¡°You¡¯re grinding so hard! It¡¯s only been almost a day, right? In Blue Star time, that¡¯s just three or four hours, and you¡¯re reaching level 5 already?¡± ¡°As expected of Brother Mu!¡± A few players immediately looked over, full of admiration. Li smiled sheepishly, his handsome face showing a hint of a smile, explaining, ¡°It was just luck. After the first mission, I found a sun cedar with light affinity, and Alice gave me 300 experience points directly.¡± ¡°Luck King!¡± ¡°Is it the gold one at the camp entrance?¡± Envy and jealousy surrounded him. ¡°So nice! Why am I so unlucky? Previously, all my tasks were cleaning the temple, and the experience points were pitifully low. Finally got a task for collecting wood, only to be crushed to death by falling trees several times, resetting all my experience points.¡± The elf with the tag ¡°Demacia¡± above his head, said mournfully. ¡°Hahahaha, maybe you¡¯re just unlucky! Hahahaha!¡± ¡°In some sense, getting crushed by falling trees every time makes you quite the talent.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the only one who stripped at launch and even flirted with Alice, you¡¯re the only one in the whole server I look up to.¡± ¡°I gotta ask, ¡®Demacia,¡¯ what¡¯s your favorability with Alice now?¡± Dema checked his system panel, and both his pointy ears drooped. He touched his wild red hair, saying weakly, ¡°Minus... minus one hundred...¡± ¡°Hahahahahaha!¡± ¡°You¡¯re killing me hahaha!¡± ¡°No wonder you keep getting trash tasks, hahaha...¡± ¡°No, I think it¡¯s just his bad luck...¡± Amidst the laughter, the self-organized lumberjacking team carried the wood back to the camp under the World Tree. The camp used to be a stretch of low shrubs, but now the players had cleared a large open area. Dozens of players in groups of two or three were building homes with felled timber and collected stones. Although the roughly-shaped wooden houses were simple, they had faintly taken shape; and some faster players had even built a two-story wooden building. Looking at the composed structures, Dema couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°Such talent! Building a house in such a short time!¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of the skills! To be honest, magic and sword techniques are indeed useful sometimes, and the higher your level, the stronger you are, allowing you to accomplish more...¡± Someone explained. ¡°Of course, the design is crucial too.¡± Saying this, he pointed to the center of the construction site, where a tall, pink-haired female elf in a robe stood, holding blueprints of unknown materials, discussing with a few other players. Above her head were the green characters ¡°Cuckoo Bird¡±: ¡°See her? That girl named ¡®Cuckoo Bird¡¯ is the real pro. Apparently, she¡¯s studying civil engineering in Jinghua, and several of these houses were designed by her. It seems she¡¯s about to reach level 5 just from the construction tasks.¡± Li Mu glanced over curiously, discreetly noting the name ¡°Cuckoo Bird.¡± The other players were astounded, ¡°Oh my! Not even a day has passed!¡± ¡°Yes, and I heard they plan to design an Elf Town with some other players studying urban planning and gardening... and they¡¯ve already received the Goddess¡¯s divine mandate.¡± ¡°Wow, what talent!¡± ¡°In real life, knowledge changes destiny...¡± ¡°This is just too real!¡± ¡°Now I see, the real purpose of these tasks is probably to make us build the town, right?¡± ¡°Pfft, it really is about reviving the Elf Clan! Even the beginner village has to be built by us beta players.¡± ¡°Is the official team really this lazy?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called involvement!¡± ¡°Honestly, I think tree hollows are more fitting for elves... besides, all this tree chopping doesn¡¯t feel ¡®natural¡¯.¡± ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a deeper meaning?¡± ¡°...¡± There was no deeper meaning for Eve, she merely wanted to conserve power and absorb a little life force. After all, preserving her life took precedence over everything else now. Besides, she wasn¡¯t an idol God but an ancient God who directly controlled the Power of Nature with no strict adherence to divine duties. Building a beginner village... Listening to the players¡¯ discussions, Li Mu was thoughtful. He carried the wood and, with his teammates, went to the center of the camp. A campfire had been lit at the center, with several elf players gathered around the fire, munching on fruits picked from somewhere, chatting and laughing. Meanwhile, Natural Saintess Alice stood nearby, busily distributing and settling tasks with the players. To move comfortably, she had her golden hair tied into a high ponytail; her expression was focused. Her fair face had a few smudges, and the sweat glistened under the firelight, making her look adorable. The group approached the girl to settle their tasks. Alice looked up, and upon seeing them, especially Li Mu among them, her eyes lit up a bit, ¡°Mission completed?¡± She had a strong impression of this male elf. Though this Chosen One was frail, he always worked hard and even found a high-quality sun cedar. Also, he was very polite, completely unlike some rude folks... Her eyes flickered towards the red-haired individual in the group, and her smile faded, letting out a light hum, while Dema shivered and sheepishly hid behind Li Mu. It seemed his streaking and flirting antics had left a lasting impression on the girl. Li Mu coughed, speaking respectfully, ¡°Miss Alice, we¡¯re here to turn in the mission.¡± Alice withdrew her gaze, her eyes brightening upon seeing the timber they carried, ¡°High-quality pine wood!¡± She nodded at them, ¡°Place it in the timber area; your mission is complete.¡± As her words fell, they simultaneously received a system notification, bursting into cheers. Seeing the 150 points of experience credited, Li Mu rejoiced internally. He could level up! After thanking Alice, Li Mu left the task area with the others. Along the way, a few teammates chattered excitedly, ¡°Brother Mu, you¡¯re amazing! Why does it seem like Alice treats you so well!¡± ¡°Brother Mu, what¡¯s your favorability with Alice!¡± Li Mu hesitated slightly before saying, ¡°Not much, just 20 points.¡± Hearing this, the other players exploded. ¡°Whoa! That¡¯s already high! I only have 2 points!¡± ¡°2 points? That¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m at negatives, and that¡¯s after working hard for a long time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even start, we also have negatives. We¡¯ve done so many tasks, and logically, our favorability should have increased, but Alice has never smiled at us...¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard there are quite a few female players with positive points.¡± ¡°The favorability system is so tough...¡± ¡°Quit your whining! I¡¯m at minus a hundred and haven¡¯t said a word...¡± ¡°That¡¯s your own doing; who told you to mess with her hair?¡± ¡°Brother Mu, how did you get your favorability with the Holy Daughter so high? I only gain 1 point per task!¡± Li Mu didn¡¯t answer immediately. He walked slowly to a stump, patted his backside, and sat down. The sky had already turned completely dark, the night sky pure and fathomless, with a galaxy of stars painting a magnificent nightscape, splendid and mysterious... The bonfire crackled and popped, flickering with flashes of light. Most of the players gathering materials and wood had stopped, encircling the fire, eating fruits gathered from the forest, laughing and chatting. There were also small groups of players partying around the fire, singing, dancing, and some even found a way to make bagpipes to play music as an accompaniment. The whole camp was enveloped in a lively and joyous atmosphere, bustling and cheerful, as if celebrating a festival. Staring at it all, Li Mu¡¯s eyes blurred slightly. He picked a purplish-blue berry that he had casually picked on the way and popped it into his mouth. With a gentle bite, the milky white juice overflowed, sweet with a hint of sourness. The evening breeze blew through the forest, casting shadows on the bonfire, with the players¡¯ laughter ringing melodically, dreamlike... *Everything felt like a remote, pure land away from the world.* He sat quietly on the stump, *entranced as he gazed at everything before him.* *This feeling was quite peculiar, unlike any other virtual games he had played before. Li Mu felt as though he wasn¡¯t playing a game but attending a fun, large-scale outdoor camping trip in reality.* *A group of strangers, far away from the hustle and bustle and real-world troubles, coming together here, to complete tasks and share happiness...* *It all felt like an unreal dream.* *Yet, this dream was so beautifully unreal.* Taking a deep breath, Li Mu felt a unprecedented calmness wash over him, as if all his worries had been left behind. After a moment of silence, he began to explain, ¡°It might be the sense of immersion.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you all feel like, even though this is a game, it¡¯s also a world?¡± Chapter 17 - 17 Im Going to Blow Up! (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!) Chapter 17: Chapter 17 I¡¯m Going to Blow Up! (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°To us, this place was not just a game, but a haven away from the clamor...¡± ¡°Every tree, every blade of grass, every flower and wooden structure felt so real here.¡± ¡°The fully recreated five senses, the seamless NPCs...¡± ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the game system and Blue Star Network, I would have really thought I was transported to a world of swords and magic.¡± ¡°I think I truly understood that line from the official trailer now¡ª¡± ¡°Creating the most realistic, profound, immersive, and open epic fantasy in history!¡± ... ¡°The developers genuinely wanted to paint a real world for us...¡± Li Mu lamented as he turned to the others and said with a smile, ¡°Speaking of which, we¡¯ve been here for so long. Think carefully about what we¡¯ve actually done?¡± They looked at each other. ¡°Chopped trees?¡± ¡°Swept the floor?¡± Source: , updated on ?0¦Í?0.§ã¦Ï ¡°Teased the NPCs?¡± ¡°...¡± Li Mu: ... He glared at Demacia, who had spoken last, and continued, ¡°All day long, we¡¯ve essentially been doing hard labor. In reality, it would be like moving bricks! Who would want to do that? But look at us, hundreds of people were excited like fools all day, even chopping trees felt like a euphoric experience. So why is that?¡± Demacia tugged at his red afro and, unsure, said, ¡°Because here we can *run around naked, free as a bird*?¡± Li Mu: ... He glared at the unpredictable guy again and said, ¡°It¡¯s the immersion! Everything here felt so real that we unconsciously forgot this was a game. Here, it was as if we started another life. That¡¯s the essence of this game!¡± The others listened and deeply agreed, ¡°Brother Mu, you¡¯re right. Now that you mention it, I feel the same way. Maybe it¡¯s because the scenery of the forest is so beautiful. I felt like all my worries disappeared in this game.¡± ¡°Me too, me too, sometimes I think, how great it would be if this were a real world... The mysterious magic, endless adventures, it couldn¡¯t get any better...¡± Listening to his companions, Li Mu nodded, ¡°Exactly, this realistic immersion is the crux of Elf Kingdom! The creators of this game are geniuses!¡± ¡°But Brother Mu, what does this have to do with Alice¡¯s favorability?¡± Demacia asked. Li Mu finished eating a berry, spat out a few seeds, and said, ¡°NPC favorability is the same. Since the core of this game is immersion, we can¡¯t just treat NPCs as NPCs. This is not an ordinary game where simply completing NPC tasks would easily raise favorability. You have to communicate with them as equals...¡± Speaking, Li Mu slowly stood up, faced the bonfire, leaving a profound silhouette to the players, his voice becoming tranquil, like a wise elder, ¡°As long as you¡¯re in the game, you should treat this as a real world. Similarly, you should respect NPCs, just like you respect humans. Only in this way can you truly increase your favorability with them. I believe this is the true intent of the designers and the core of the favorability system.¡± ¡°The reason I could have 20 favorability points with Alice was precisely because I never saw her as an NPC. Instead, I communicated with her as a respected natural priestess. It was my respect that earned her recognition.¡± The players, after hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, suddenly understood, ¡°So that¡¯s it!¡± ¡°No wonder, no matter how many tasks I completed, Alice just looked a bit friendlier, but the favorability never went high.¡± ¡°I¡¯m doomed! Why did I stupidly try to touch the NPC back then...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even mention it. Demacia, you just like to mess around.¡± Listening to the players¡¯ jokes about Demacia, Li Mu suddenly turned around and gave them a radiant smile, his expression becoming somewhat mysterious, ¡°Actually, immersion was one aspect, but what truly made me fall in love with this game was not just its realism.¡± ¡°Then what was it?¡± The players were puzzled. Li Mu chuckled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that in this game, as long as you put in the effort, you¡¯ll be rewarded? As long as you work, you¡¯ll see your experience points increase. Although it¡¯s little, once you complete a mission, it¡¯ll skyrocket... This sense of achievement is the core of all games!¡± The others nodded in agreement, ¡°Exactly! I also feel that way.¡± ¡°Even when chopping trees, it¡¯s slow, but the experience points do increase, although very little.¡± ¡°Although most games reward effort with level-ups, this game felt more real and satisfying!¡± ¡°Yes! It¡¯s the perfect combination of realism and a sense of achievement!¡± ¡°That palpable feeling of getting stronger is unbeatable!¡± ¡°Casting magic in this immersive world was fantastic!¡± ¡°And the sword skills! I always thought that Cross Slash was super cool!¡± ¡°Right, right!¡± Seeing the unanimous agreement, Li Mu beamed brightly. While opening his system interface, he talked to the players, ¡°Yes, exactly. The combination of a sense of achievement and realism is the most wonderful. And what¡¯s even more wonderful...¡± He paused slightly and, under the expectant looks of the others, Li Mu clicked the upgrade button. ¡°Ding¡ª¡± Accompanied by the system¡¯s adorable chime, amid a brilliant glow, Li Mu leveled up to 5. Seeing the envious looks from the others, Li Mu grinned cheekily, revealing his white teeth, ¡°It¡¯s seeing your envious, jealous, and resentful expressions at my level-up...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Sorry, everyone, I¡¯m one step closer to a job change. You all need to work harder!¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± ...... The players¡¯ celebration continued until midnight. Even elves could become fatigued. For low-level creatures, sleep was essential. Although players could turn off this feeling of tiredness caused by lack of rest in the game system, they couldn¡¯t completely avoid the body¡¯s fatigue debuff. Under such circumstances, the body¡¯s various abilities would decline to a certain extent, and in severe cases, it could even lead to death. Therefore, aside from a few hardcore players, most chose to rest after weighing their gains and losses, planning to log out first and resume playing after recovering their stamina in a few hours. By then, the in-game sun should have risen, making activities more convenient. Countless players entered the built wooden houses, gathered together, and fell into a deep sleep while their consciousness awoke on Blue Star. Li Mu also chose to log out. Exiting the game pod, he checked the time and found that only 4 hours had passed, as if the long entertainment he experienced before was just a dream. Taking a deep breath, he felt a surge within and, for the first time, had an urge to continue playing a game. ¡°This will be a great game marked in history!¡± After a moment of reflection, Li Mu turned on his computer and planned to do a quick review based on his gaming experience. This time, he intended to sing its praises to the heavens! Chapter 18 - 18 Game Review (Request for Recommendation Tickets!) Chapter 18: Chapter 18 Game Review (Request for Recommendation Tickets!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html After the half-day inner test of ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± the first game review was published online with texts and videos. The publisher was the veteran streamer Little Mu, and his review was quickly shared innumerable times... When Eve discovered this lengthy article, it was already a day later on Blue Star, and at this moment, the post had already surpassed a million clicks, with comments breaking into five figures. Eve did recognize Little Mu. In the previous life, Eve had also watched many of his videos, but this time, in order to be first, Little Mu had clearly abandoned his usual form of video commentary. Eve didn¡¯t hesitate, but rather, with great interest, clicked it open: ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m the streamer Little Mu. I bet recently, your social media has been flooded by a newly released virtual reality game. Yes, I¡¯m talking about the fantasy masterpiece that claims to use ¡®mind acceleration technology¡¯ and perfectly mimics reality¡ª¡¯Elf Kingdom¡¯!¡± ... ¡°Luckily, this time I was also selected by the game officials to become one of the 300 inner test players. This time, I won¡¯t discuss game strategies, as there are many strategy players selected for the inner test, and their guides should be released soon. I just want to talk about my personal experience with this masterpiece.¡± ¡°Yes, masterpiece. This truly is a masterpiece! A cross-century masterpiece!¡± ¡°I think most people must have been shocked by the promotional video of this game a while ago online, and doubted whether the game could indeed achieve such effects. Well, here, I want to say¡ªevery word in the game¡¯s promotional video is true!¡± ¡°First and foremost, there¡¯s the mind acceleration technology that everyone is most curious about. Before the game, I was also dubious about its authenticity, but after entering the game, I found out it was real.¡± ¡°Although only half a day has passed since the game opened for the inner test, in the game, our real experience is that we have already spent an entire day! To prove this, I¡¯ve uploaded a 12-hour-long recording from the game onto the video site, here¡¯s the link...¡± ¡°Friends planning to stream this game might be disappointed because everything in the game appears in quadruple speed in reality due to the presence of mind acceleration; the streaming effect is thus very poor. This point, my live audience can attest to. Below is a screenshot of the barrage from the live stream at that time...¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what technology the officials used, but the facts prove that they did extend the game time in a certain sense. By this alone, other online games can never surpass it!¡± ¡°And about the graphics, after experiencing the game I want to say, discussing graphics with respect to this game would be an insult!¡± ¡°The game graphics of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ can no longer be described by mere high quality. As the propaganda says, it has really achieved ¡®the most realistic,¡¯ ¡®the most profound!¡¯ It¡¯s truly immersive! Moreover, the scenery in the game is exceptionally magnificent, each screenshot far surpasses most wallpapers on the market.¡± ¡°Friends who like scenery can take a look. I¡¯ve specially captured a video of the primeval forest scenery in the game for everyone to experience. It¡¯s far superior to Jiuzhai, and Shennong streams! Here¡¯s the link...¡± ¡°Besides, you guys should know my nickname, during this time in the game, I¡¯ve always been looking for bugs, but facts have proven that even I couldn¡¯t pick out the slightest fault.¡± ¡°Furthermore, you know that although there are more and more virtual reality games, and more are trying to incorporate gravity and perception, most of them are not perfect¡ªif not rough¡ªand have poor realism...¡± ¡°But ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ is different, the game¡¯s gravity engine and sensual experience are definitely the most advanced in the industry, with nothing out of place. If I didn¡¯t clearly know I was logging into a game, I would really think I traveled to another world!¡± ¡°As for the game content... Currently, it seems like building a town belonging to the elves, as the main script is the revival of the Elf Clan. I strongly suspect this will be the novice village during the public test...¡± ¡°I have to say, the officials¡¯ way of letting players participate in game construction is indeed clever. It can be predicted that as the plot progresses, the historical sense of depth will become increasingly strong.¡± ¡°Due to the real perception, the experience of magic and sword skills is unbelievably realistic, and the sense of accomplishment in leveling up is unprecedentedly wonderful. Personally, I¡¯m not very keen on grinding and upgrading, but this game has rekindled my interest! Haha, although in the game, I¡¯ve only been cutting down trees for a day...¡± ¡°However, none of this is what surprises me the most. What surprises me the most is the NPC system of this game!¡± ¡°So far, I¡¯ve only seen two NPCs in the game. One is a goddess named Eve Yggdrasil. I have to say, this is the best model of a character I¡¯ve ever seen, my absolute favorite. Here are some images...¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t she beautiful? Isn¡¯t she awesome? Bow down, mortals!¡± ¡°She¡¯s the embodiment of the World Tree and only appears at character creation to randomly give players two initial skills. What skills you draw depends on your luck. Other intelligence is temporarily insufficient, but according to the game¡¯s main storyline, players are tasked with helping the Goddess Eve to rebuild the Elf Clan.¡± ¡°The current goddess is very weak but allegedly will have an incarnation after recovering strength. Players can look forward to interacting with the goddess in the future...¡± ¡°And the other is the goddess¡¯s believer, the Natural Saintess Alice Wind, an innocent and lovely Elf Lady. The initial tasks for players primarily revolve around her. Here are character screenshots...¡± ¡°Apart from these two NPCs, it¡¯s said there¡¯s also an Oak Guardian, but I couldn¡¯t find him. People say they¡¯ve seen him on the edge of the safe zone, seemingly exploring something. I¡¯ve heard he¡¯s quite mighty. I suspect this NPC is likely related to the plot after level 11...¡± ¡°Next, I¡¯ll detail the NPC system.¡± ¡°If you compare the NPCs in this game to those in other games, I think you¡¯ll miss out on a lot of fun. The NPCs in ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ are absolutely the most intelligent AI I¡¯ve ever seen! Enough to pass off as real!¡± ¡°This doesn¡¯t just show in NPC expressions or language mannerisms but also in interactions with players. If they had the green name, you¡¯d even think they were players! Here¡¯s a video...¡± ¡°This is a video of our interaction with the NPCs upon first meeting. As you can see, when teased by players, NPC reactions are quite lively, even showing states like shyness or anger...¡± ¡°Initially, many of us communicated with NPCs using the old set concepts, summarizing that although reckless behavior persisted, completing tasks well could still curry favor with the NPCs. However, this is a common issue with NPCs in major virtual online games currently on the market.¡± ¡°But in fact, all the players who held this view were all dropped in favorability by the NPCs in ¡®Elf Kingdom.''¡± ¡°If my analysis is correct, the officials might have developed independent emotion systems and thinking systems for the NPCs, possibly with memory functions. Every action you take toward the NPCs will get a human-like response, and every player who has interacted with them will be remembered by the NPCs. For example, the player who teased the NPC never got a good expression again...¡± ¡°Only by truly immersing yourself in the game and communicating equally with the NPCs will you gain their favor.¡± ¡°I think... This is also the intention of the officials. If there were only realistic graphics and perception, then at most, ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ is a great work with an overwhelming sense of substitution and an excellent experience. But once you add a lifelike NPC system, the entire game experience is sublimated again...¡± ¡°It¡¯s no longer a great work but a masterpiece!¡± ¡°For me, it feels like this is not just a game but a real world full of fantasy and mystery!¡± ¡°Yes, this is a game that reaches the pinnacle of the virtual online gaming pursuit, which is to paint a real world for players! Unprecedented immersion!¡± ¡°Trust me, in this game, you will have an unprecedented experience not found in other games and embark on a new life journey!¡± ¡°I won¡¯t say much more, it¡¯s daybreak in the game, I¡¯m off to cut trees!¡± After finishing reading this not-so-long review, Eve felt enlightened: ¡°No wonder players have been taking the game more seriously lately... So that¡¯s why.¡± Then she looked at the comments below. Unsurprisingly, the review once again ignited public opinion, attracting countless players¡¯ attention, and what was most discussed in the comments was when ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± would open for public testing. Seeing this, Eve knew that one of her objectives had been achieved: ¡°From now on, no shortage of players.¡± But thinking about the recent consumption since the player arrivals, Eve sighed helplessly: ¡°Still underestimated the difficulty of connecting the two worlds, and in just less than a week, I¡¯ve consumed around 0.3 divine power, while the output from investing in players is far from enough...¡± ¡°Alas, I don¡¯t know when this group of compatriots will let me turn a profit...¡± Thinking of her divine power which was less than 11 points, Eve felt her heart was bleeding. ¡°When can I manage to accumulate 100 points...¡± And just as Eve sighed, she suddenly heard mumbling prayers coming again, ethereal. Eve identified that it came from her enlightened silver mid-rank Oak Guardian¡ªBerserker. At this moment, his emotions seemed to carry a hint of excitement. Berserker? Could it be he discovered something? Eve¡¯s heart was stirred. These days, after Berserker cleaned threats within a ten-kilometer range, Eve ordered him to start exploring regions beyond the ten kilometers. Although Eve inherited the heritage of the former World Tree and part of its memories, those memories were incomplete, and Eve¡¯s understanding of the Elf Forest was not comprehensive. Plus, after a divine war, time had quietly slipped by millennia. The present-day Elf Forest had long been unrecognizable, urgently needing further exploration. And Eve, due to her weak state, could not examine the surroundings personally. Therefore, until human players grew stronger, the Oak Guardian Berserker became the best choice for exploration. Thinking of this, Eve immediately contacted through the faith channel and cast her consciousness over... ¡°` Chapter 19 - 19 Divine Blood Crystal (Please vote!) Chapter 19: Chapter 19 Divine Blood Crystal (Please vote!) Editor: Henyee Translations The view changed, and Eve quickly ¡°saw¡± the situation of the Berserker. At this moment, the Oak Guardian, towering over thirty meters high, was kneeling among ancient trees, praying with closed eyes. His massive form was hidden within the tall forest, making it difficult to detect. *This guy seems to be hiding from something... Could it be that he encountered other intelligent beings he couldn¡¯t oppose?* Eve¡¯s heart stirred. Although the Berserker was currently the only choice for exploring the map, sending him to explore the unknown also posed certain risks. ... The risk was that the Oak Guardian¡¯s identity might be unveiled by other intelligent beings. The Oak Guardian was too unique; as a creature enlightened by the World Tree, his status was equivalent to that of an angel. If the existence of the Berserker was discovered by the followers of other deities and reported, the revival of the World Tree would no longer be a secret. Once Eve came to the forefront, the enemies Mother Nature had a thousand years ago would undoubtedly not let her go and would return with force. If Eve were in good condition, it would be fine. Presently, the Segis Continent¡¯s magic power was feeble, and the gods residing in the Heavenly Realm could not descend to the mortal world, including Eve¡¯s potential enemies. Therefore, as long as Eve recovered to a certain state, she could protect herself by occupying a favorable position. Unfortunately, she was still in a near-death state, and if other divine beings¡¯ favored ones came, even three or five legends might put her in danger. Fortunately, the Berserker was a Tree-man by nature, capable of hiding well in the forest. The wise creatures around the Elf Forest were few, and according to Alice¡¯s feedback, there seemed to be only a hostile Half-Beast Tribe. Among the Half-Beasts, only priests could communicate with Uller, the God of Winter and Hunting, whom they believed in. The Half-Beast Priests did not easily leave their tribe. Therefore, as long as the Berserker was careful not to intrude into the Half-Beasts¡¯ tribe and sent the unfortunate Half-Beasts who unfortunately saw him back to the Netherworld when exploring the forest, he would not be exposed. But now it seemed... he had encountered the Half-Beast Priest? Had he found the Half-Beasts¡¯ tribe? Eve sensed the Berserker¡¯s position and quickly dismissed this speculation. The Berserker, at this moment, although having left the safe zone, was only thirty kilometers northeast of her. If there were a Half-Beast Tribe within this range, it would have been exposed long ago. Hence, Eve estimated that the Half-Beast Tribe had to be at least sixty kilometers away from her. But if it wasn¡¯t the Half-Beast Tribe, what could it be? Thinking of this, Eve¡¯s gaze moved past the Berserker, looking behind him. Her gaze froze at once. Several hundred meters behind the Berserker were ruins covered in vegetation. Even though vines and weeds covered them, they couldn¡¯t conceal the exquisite patterns on the marble remnants, and the steles carved with Ancient Elf Language revealed the true identity of these ruins before her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a city of the Ancient Elf Kingdom, and based on the Elf Language, it should be the Holy City, Feilengcui.¡± With the World Tree¡¯s legacy, Eve quickly reached this conclusion. Feilengcui was the Elf City closest to the World Tree in the Elf Kingdom and also a sacred place for the Nature God Sect. Of course, at this moment, Feilengcui was already in ruins. In fact, by letting the Berserker explore the surrounding areas, Eve was already thinking of searching for Elf Ruins. She just didn¡¯t expect feedback so soon. But why was the Berserker hiding? Could it be that some kind of change occurred in the Elf Ruins? After pondering for a while, Eve decided to ask the Oak Guardian directly. She manipulated her divine power and entered the Berserker¡¯s consciousness... The praying Berserker suddenly felt a gentle, warm force touch his heart, transforming his excitement into calmness in an instant. It was the focus of the Mother Goddess! Instantly, this Nature Favored understood something. He lowered his towering head even further, his demeanor becoming more reverent. At the same time, Eve¡¯s solemn and ethereal voice resonated: ¡°What troubles you so?¡± The Berserker steadied his mind, extended his thick arm, drew a tree-shaped symbol before his chest, and respectfully replied, ¡°Mother Goddess, I have found the former Holy City, Feilengcui. While exploring the area around it, I discovered this...¡± Having said this, the trunk of the Oak Guardian split open on both sides, revealing a tree hollow. The Berserker reached into it and pulled out a glittering item. It was a light green, irregular crystal radiating a gentle glow, seemingly imbued with some mysterious, sacred power that made one irresistibly want to claim it. A Divine Blood Crystal! With the World Tree¡¯s inheritance, Eve immediately recognized it. Suddenly, Eve¡¯s spirit quivered, and she couldn¡¯t help but want to forcibly descend her consciousness to the scene. Divine Blood Crystal, as the name implies, is a crystal formed from the solidification of a True God¡¯s blood. For ordinary beings, the power of Divine Blood Crystals was too strong to be absorbed and utilized, yet they were the best materials for creating Divine Artifacts and Holy Artifacts or drawing forbidden Array spells. To legends and demigods, Divine Blood Crystals were invaluable, allowing analytical study, the key to approaching gods, and exploring myths. For a True God, each Divine Blood Crystal contained a portion of the corresponding True God¡¯s Divine Power and domain knowledge, which could be absorbed and utilized or parsed for other deities¡¯ domain! The crystal in the Berserker¡¯s hand was a Divine Blood Crystal belonging to the World Tree from ancient times! In an instant, Eve guessed the story behind it... This Divine Blood Crystal must have been left during the divine war a thousand years ago. At that time, the World Tree was besieged by the gods, nearly falling, with golden divine blood raining down like droplets... This light green crystal was likely a product of that time. Over the millennium, due to the presence of curse divine arts, the Divine Blood Crystals became self-sealed, unperceived, thus fortunately remaining to this day. With Eve¡¯s awakening, the disappearance of the divine arts, and the unsealing of the Divine Blood Crystal, the crystal imbued with divine power naturally began to be discovered. *This... is truly luck!* Seeing the size of this Divine Blood Crystal, it could at least bring her 1 point of Divine Power! Eve felt joy in her heart. However, she quickly calmed down. If it were merely finding a Divine Blood Crystal, the Berserker could just pray and sacrifice; there was no need to hide himself... *It seems he hadn¡¯t finished speaking...* With this thought, Eve¡¯s sacred voice echoed in the Berserker¡¯s mind, ¡°How did you discover it?¡± Upon hearing the Mother Goddess¡¯s inquiry, the Berserker seemed unsurprised and respectfully replied, ¡°Mother Goddess, after eliminating a few goblins, I found it on their leader.¡± Goblins? Eve was slightly taken aback. Goblins were small humanoid creatures, with green skin and long pointed ears, capable of crafting and using simple weapons and tools. Their strength was weak, at most level 10 apprentice. Due to their low intelligence, ugly appearance, combined with violent laziness and low strength, goblins were not a welcomed existence. Generally, unless under special circumstances, even gods would not deem them as believers... But how could there be goblins in the Elf Forest? Eve felt puzzled. However, recalling the habits of these weak creatures described in the legacy, she became enlightened. Right, goblins typically lived in underground caves or certain ruins, possessing their own social order and tribe. They probably regarded the ruins of the Holy City, Feilengcui, as their lair. So they¡¯re the ones collecting the World Tree¡¯s Divine Blood Crystals? But what are they using them for? Could it be... there¡¯s some force driving them from behind? Eve fell into contemplation. ¡°Moreover, I also found traces of a goblin priest within the ruins of Feilengcui,¡± the Berserker continued. Chapter 20: Winter and the Hunting God (Please Vote!) Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Winter and the Hunting God (Please Vote!) Editor: Henyee Translations Goblin priest? Eve¡¯s heart sank. Generally speaking, goblins couldn¡¯t produce priests because they have neither totems nor faith. But once a goblin priest was born, it could mean that this race might have developed a racial totem or allied with some Divine... If it were the former, it wouldn¡¯t be so bad, but if it were the latter... Thinking of Berserker¡¯s deliberate hiding, Eve had a few suspicions... ... Only by allying with a Divine would make the Oak Guardians so apprehensive! ¡°Who is it?¡± A majestic voice echoed in Berserker¡¯s mind, but this time, the voice had a hint of seriousness. Berserker instantly understood what the Mother Goddess meant, and he took a deep breath, replying respectfully in his consciousness, ¡°Based on my observations, it should be the God of Winter and Hunting¡ªUller.¡± Indeed! Eve felt a bit heavy-hearted. It was exactly the target she had guessed! She knew that a Half-Beast Tribe had been planted near the Elf Forest. And as Uller¡¯s major source of believers, the Half-Beast Tribe also meant Uller¡¯s surveillance. From the World Tree¡¯s knowledge, Eve already had some understanding of Uller. Uller was a relatively young faith-based Divine, reportedly conceived from primitive totems two thousand years ago, with the power to reach the peak of weak divine might. His divine duties were winter and hunting; even in ancient times, he was at odds with the World Tree, which controlled nature, life, and elves, and as such, was an enemy in the War of the Gods. After the fall of the World Tree, this cruel Divine had not given up the persecution of elves and was currently the greatest enemy of the Elf Clan. Thus, he was also on Eve¡¯s must-kill list, whether for vengeance for her predecessor or for her own safety and strength... And it seemed that this Divine might also be collecting Divine Blood Crystals from the World Tree! In search of her target, he even recruited goblins! Creatures like goblins, although low in intelligence and offering a pitiful amount of belief power, feared the strong and were well-suited as laborers. Therefore, it was no surprise that Uller chose them for his tasks, Eve thought. However, Uller¡¯s collection actions probably hadn¡¯t been going on for long, as the Divine Blood Crystals had been sealed and difficult to detect by other beings until recently. Thinking of this, she had some speculation, ¡°Could it be... that the God of Winter and Hunting, Uller, noticed the change in the Divine Blood Crystals and wants to analyze them to obtain the divine duties of nature and life?¡± Uller¡¯s duties of winter and hunting were sub-divine duties, inferior to the main duties of nature and life, naturally making him weaker. And the reason Uller had remained in weak divine power for so many years was because his duties were too poor. Winter and hunting were, after all, related to nature and life. Therefore, Eve wasn¡¯t surprised that Uller wanted to analyze the World Tree¡¯s Divine Blood to gain duties related to nature and life. After all, for a True God, analyzing Divine Blood Crystals was the fastest way to gain information about other true gods¡¯ duties. However, Eve didn¡¯t think Uller would immediately associate the change in the Divine Blood Crystals with the resurrection of the World Tree, at most, he would think the curse divine spell had vanished. After all, after a thousand years, the disappearance of an ownerless divine spell was normal... Furthermore, Eve wasn¡¯t worried about Uller¡¯s plan succeeding. Now that she had resurrected as the World Tree and regained control over nature and life. And, with the uniqueness of duties and control, even if Uller tried his hardest, he couldn¡¯t possibly deduce the duties he hoped for. Uller¡¯s actual plan had already fallen apart the moment Eve resurrected. But even so, absorbing the World Tree¡¯s Divine Blood Crystals would still provide Uller with some divine power, making him stronger. This was not something Eve wanted to see. After all, the World Tree¡¯s Divine Blood Crystals should have belonged to her as the successor, and this also meant a chance for her to rapidly restore her power! Thinking this, Eve continued to ask, ¡°How strong are those goblins?¡± ¡°Mostly above level 5, a few elite at level 10, but the goblin priest has the strength of a level 11 Black Iron Lower rank. Currently, the exact number of priests is unknown.¡± Berserker responded. Their strength wasn¡¯t too formidable. Eve nodded in her heart. At this level of power, if not for the possibility of being discovered by Uller, Berserker could have cleaned them out with just a finger. ¡°The priest leader is level 11, elites are level 10, and others are from levels 5 to 9...¡± ¡°At this level, they¡¯re quite suitable for players to practice with.¡± Eve murmured to herself. After a few days of tasks, the strength of the three hundred players had improved drastically, with the majority advancing beyond level 7. Furthermore, some grind day-and-night players and master designers had already progressed to the last level of apprentice, level 10, just a step away from transitioning to the Black Iron Rank. This strength made dealing with other powerful black iron monsters challenging, but fighting goblins was more than sufficient. Even with a level 11 Black Iron Lower rank priest, players could unite and overcome them. These days, although players had been diligently completing tasks, the long-term repetitive work also made many feel bored. Until now, many daring players had ignored the system¡¯s newbie guide and attempted to explore outside the safe zone. At this point, the best solution was to find them something fun to do. Originally, Eve planned to have Berserker drive some suitable monsters from outside the safe zone for players to fight and level up until they reached level 11; then she¡¯d encourage them to venture out. But the appearance of goblins showed Eve another, better way. ¡°After all, Berserker is a Druid who venerates nature. Although he wouldn¡¯t say it, if I really made him drive out beasts, it would definitely affect his faith... But goblins are different.¡± ¡°Goblins belong to the enemy camp, and with their relatively weak strength, hunting them won¡¯t affect the local believers¡¯ perception and their threat to players is minimal.¡± ¡°Moreover, sending players to hunt goblins can also disrupt Uller¡¯s plan, indirectly gaining the recognition of the Elf Souls.¡± ¡°Additionally, players could assist me in finding Divine Blood Crystals! Helping me quickly escape from a state of near death!¡± ¡°Haha, it seems I¡¯ll soon receive my first return on investment from the players!¡± Thinking of this, Eve had already formed a plan. She intended to devise a subplot, developing the game¡¯s first ¡°instance task¡± on the Feilengcui Ruins, and let the players handle the goblins! Players were different from Berserker. Berserker was Eve¡¯s follower and believer; attacking Uller¡¯s minion priest would draw attention. But players were not. Though they appeared as elves, they were not believers. As non-believers, it meant their souls bore no Divine imprint. Even if players were believers, it wouldn¡¯t matter; their souls resided on Blue Star, and only their consciousnesses came here. If Uller wanted to inspect belief imprints, he would have to visit Blue Star first. A millennium ago, in the War of the Gods, the deities had witnessed the downfall of the World Tree firsthand... and were steadfast in that belief. With the players taking action, Uller might only suspect that some faithless elves had returned to the Elf Forest, and it wouldn¡¯t lead him to suspect the World Tree¡¯s revival. Moreover, the goblins residing in the Feilengcui Ruins were already an insult to the proud Elf Clan; incensed elves taking action wouldn¡¯t be surprising. Under these circumstances, without the involvement of Divine believers, the mere extermination of some goblins wouldn¡¯t raise too much attention from Uller. Eve didn¡¯t believe that the goblins in Feilengcui were all Uller had recruited. Since they were even here, other Elf City ruins around the Elf Forest might have also been infiltrated by Uller. Of course, Eve didn¡¯t believe she could hide for long. Since Uller had already noticed the unsealing of the Divine Blood Crystals, sooner or later, he would realize that the World Tree¡¯s curse had also been lifted. In such a case, sending followers to investigate the World Tree was only a matter of time... So, Eve¡¯s exposure was only a matter of time. Thankfully, the only True God who had noticed the Divine Blood Crystals was Uller, a relatively weak godling. Eve needed to quickly boost her own power... For this, taking some risks was worth it. Having thought all this through, Eve made her decision. ¡°Berserker, I have something to instruct you.¡± Chapter 21 - 21 Is this a Hidden Plot? (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 21: Chapter 21 Is this a Hidden Plot? (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations Three Earth days had passed since the closed beta of ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± while twelve days had elapsed in the Segis Continent. As time went by, more and more of the three hundred players leveled up to level 10. Demacia was no exception. As early as the day before, he had become a level 10 power-type player. However, the experience required to advance from level 10 to level 11 far exceeded the players¡¯ expectations, requiring a whopping 10,000 points. Meanwhile, advancing from level 9 to level 10 required only 3,000 points. ... Over the past few days, players had nearly figured out how to gain experience in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± Currently, it seemed there were only two ways: completing quests or killing monsters like in other games to level up. Unlike other games, the special effects after killing monsters were incredibly realistic, with a level of graphic violence that made players wonder how the game passed censorship. Initially, many players were not accustomed to it, but over time, they became numb to it... After all, it was claimed to be the most realistic virtual game! If players couldn¡¯t handle it, they could always choose to pixelate the bloody graphics in the game system. After reaching level 9, players were divided into two factions regarding advancing further. The more conservative players, like Cuckoo Bird, chose to stay in the camp, planning to continue leveling up by completing tasks to reach Black Iron. The other faction, consisting of eager adventurers, chose to leave the safety zone of ten kilometers in radius, seeking their fortune outside. Chopping down trees or killing monsters would earn some experience points, but the creatures in the safety zone were too weak, and the earned experience was pitifully low, far less than tasks. So some players suggested that once their strength was sufficient, they should venture beyond the safety zone, hoping to find powerful monsters that could provide ample experience. Some players decided to leave the safety zone after reaching level 9, exploring the dark areas and hoping to stumble upon wild creatures that offered experience points. As it turned out, their choice was not wrong. That very day, a player named ¡°Boxed Lunch¡± led a team and encountered a level 9 Forest Python outside the safety zone, and after slaying it together, they gained considerable experience points. When the news reached the camp, it caused quite a stir, enticing many players. Several players who originally planned to level up to 11 by completing tasks even directly joined those daring pioneers. However, most people chose to follow the system¡¯s newbie guidelines, safely leveling up through tasks. After all, as one¡¯s level increased, the game¡¯s death penalty also became harsher. Nobody wanted to accidentally fall back to square one and start over from scratch. In fact, the game¡¯s god-level difficulty resurrection mechanism had already drawn complaints from some players, who had vented their frustrations on the official forum countless times... Eve was considering making improvements. Moreover, even with the graphics pixelated, the bloody scenes from fighting monsters made some players uncomfortable. Thus, in the end, only a few players chose to take risks, and most were male. Demacia, however, became interested in exploration. He had died a few times before reaching level 5 and had to grind relentlessly to catch up, while at this very moment, Li Mu and Cuckoo Bird were already racing towards Black Iron! He did not want to fall too far behind Brother Mu, so he finally chose adventure and enlisted three other level 10 male players who were also seeking their fortune. The four of them, three power types and one spellcaster, decided to leave the safety zone and explore the dark area together. ... The further they got from the safety zone, the denser and more challenging the vegetation in the Elf Forest became. Demacia and his group moved through the forest, using weapons to clear a path while staying alert to their surroundings, looking for possible monsters. ¡°There are so many plants, it¡¯s hard to walk.¡± ¡°It is a primeval forest, after all.¡± ¡°Brother Demacia, is your information reliable? Is there really a Forest Python here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Absolutely! I bought the information with a Solar Cedar from ¡®Boxed Lunch,¡¯ who saw it with his own eyes.¡± As he listened to his teammates¡¯ inquiries, Demacia patted his chest with assurance. Since resources were not abundant, the currency system in Elf Kingdom had not been established. Players could only barter. However, Eve had designed a contribution system to replace currency, which would officially launch after players reached level 11. ¡°I see!¡± After hearing Demacia¡¯s explanation, the players felt much relieved. The group continued their journey. A few hundred meters away from Demacia and his group, a pair of bright, shining eyes watched everything intently. It was Berserker, the Oak Guardian. Berserker was hiding in the gap of ancient trees, observing the players with a shivering Goblin in his hand... He had caught this Goblin at the edge of the Feilengcui Ruins, possessing level 10 strength, but it was already half-dead from his beating. Berserker was holding the Goblin as if it were a baby chick while keeping an eye on the players¡¯ movements. Demacia and his party hadn¡¯t noticed they were being watched. They continued to chat quietly as they progressed. ¡°How far have we walked out?¡± ¡°Almost seven kilometers from the safety zone.¡± ¡°Shh, keep it down, this is not the safety zone. If we encounter Black Iron-level creatures, we¡¯re doomed.¡± Suddenly, walking at the front, Demacia¡¯s expression changed, and his pointed ears twitched. He gestured for silence and whispered to his teammates, ¡°Quiet! I think I heard something!¡± His tone was strained with a hint of excitement. The group immediately quieted down, instantly becoming highly alert. They crouched down, held their breath, and opened their eyes wide to observe the surroundings. ¡°Yah yah yah yah!!!¡± Suddenly, a sharp, shrill voice came from the front, startling a flock of birds. The players tensed up and quickly drew their weapons. ¡°Yah yah yah¡ª!¡± The screams grew closer, tinged with madness. The players tightened their focus, quickly adopting battle stances, their hearts pounding. ¡°It¡¯s ahead...¡± Demacia said gravely. Just as he finished speaking, the underbrush ahead rustled, and a thin green-skinned creature burst out. This creature was dressed in tattered clothes, with a ferocious expression and eyes full of bloodshot veins, charging towards them as if possessed. ¡°Gob...Goblin?!¡± The players all shouted in unison. The lone spellcaster cast an identify spell, his eyes lighting up: ¡°Level 10! But it seems to be injured!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t have a weapon!¡± ¡°It¡¯s so fierce! Is it not afraid of us?¡± Demacia¡¯s eyes gleamed with a trace of excitement, he waved his large sword and excitedly said, ¡°Who cares?! It¡¯s free experience! Let¡¯s take it down!¡± ¡°Get it!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let it escape!¡± The others shouted as well. Then, shouting ¡°Wah Wah,¡± they swung their wooden swords at the Goblin. But to their surprise, the Goblin did not dodge at all, directly crashing into their attacks, blood splattering everywhere, and perished under a rain of blades. In its final moments, a hint of relief flashed through its eyes. The hidden war ritual slowly activated, causing the Goblin¡¯s body to age in an instant, disintegrating into ashes in the blink of an eye. Simultaneously, the system alerted the four players that they had received experience points. Yet at that moment, the four players were momentarily stunned. ¡°Why didn¡¯t it dodge?¡± ¡°*It seemed like it was seeking death...*¡± ¡°*I also thought that, as if something was chasing it.*¡± ¡°Ugh... Pull me up, I¡¯m feeling queasy from the blood...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Wait, what¡¯s this?¡± Suddenly, one player crouched down, rummaging through the ashes of the Goblin, and pulled out a shiny crystal. It was an irregular pale green crystal that seemed to contain a mysterious power. ¡°Huh? A drop item?¡± ¡°Could it be a gemstone?¡± ¡°Let me appraise it... Huh? Unable to appraise it. Could it be a quest item?¡± The players were a bit excited, yet a little puzzled. At this time, the underbrush ahead rustled again, and a massive figure loomed over the four players. Berserker walked out from the forest and stood before them. Looking at the suddenly emerged Oak Guardian, towering over thirty meters tall, the players couldn¡¯t help but swallow... ¡°Holy shit! What is that?¡± ¡°Tree-man?¡± ¡°So...so big...¡± Demacia thought for a moment and then brightened up: ¡°It¡¯s the Oak Guardian! We¡¯ve encountered the Oak Guardian!¡± ¡°Oak Guardian? The rare NPC Mu mentioned before?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! It must be! I¡¯ve seen the screenshot!¡± Having said this, Demacia suddenly realized: ¡°No wonder the Goblin was running for its life, the Oak Guardian must have been chasing it...¡± Saying that he paused... Wait... Could it be that they had snatched the Oak Guardian¡¯s prey? The other players also thought of this, exchanged glances, and then somewhat cautiously looked up, ready to bolt if necessary. They had already learned that NPCs in this game could not be judged by other games¡¯ standards. NPCs here also had emotions, and even though the Oak Guardian was part of the nature faction, they hadn¡¯t interacted with it yet... What if it had a bad temper... Looking at that over thirty-meter-tall figure and its fierce appearance, everyone felt a little intimidated. This giant didn¡¯t look easy to deal with... Yet, what happened next left them astonished. They saw the enormous Tree-man stop abruptly, bow slightly to them, and draw a natural symbol on its chest with its hand, speaking in a deep voice like an old gentleman: ¡°Honorable Chosen Ones, thank you for vanquishing this evil thief for me. To express my gratitude, I can grant you one appropriate request.¡± They glanced at each other, seemingly not yet comprehending the Oak Guardian¡¯s words. ¡°Thief?¡± ¡°Is it about that gemstone?¡± ¡°One request?¡± Suddenly, Demacia felt invigorated, as if he had realized something. He slapped his thigh and said: ¡°You fools...! Hidden quest, it must be a hidden quest! We¡¯ve stumbled into a hidden storyline!¡± Chapter 22 - 22 Teaming Up with an NPC (Vote for Recommendations!) Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Teaming Up with an NPC (Vote for Recommendations!) Editor: Henyee Translations Hidden quest? The three other players were initially stunned when they heard Dema¡¯s words, and then delighted: ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Are you sure, bro?¡± Dema thumped his chest and said, ¡°Absolutely! I¡¯ve been gaming for years, and I¡¯ve seen this type of game mechanic more times than I can count!¡± ... ¡°But didn¡¯t Brother Mu say ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ can¡¯t be judged by conventional wisdom...¡± someone whispered. Dema was taken aback. He coughed awkwardly and then waved his hand with a bit of embarrassment, saying, ¡°Well, well! How do you know if you don¡¯t try?¡± After speaking, he excitedly glanced at the Oak Guardian who was quietly waiting for their response, and reminded his teammates, ¡°I¡¯ll handle the negotiation, you guys just follow my lead and keep quiet! If we get a good deal, we¡¯ll split the rewards evenly!¡± The remaining three players nodded and fell silent. They trusted Dema fairly well. Although this guy was a bit of a clown, he had a sense of loyalty. ¡°Have you finished discussing?¡± At this moment, the deep voice of Berserker also resounded from above. Dema¡¯s eyes darted around, and then he started laughing slyly. He wanted to appear harmless and earn the Oak Guardian¡¯s favor, but somehow, his originally handsome elf looks combined with his demeanor always gave off a comically sleazy vibe. ¡°Ahem, hello! We¡¯ve finished discussing. Um... may I ask, are you the Oak Guardian?¡± Dema imitated the other by drawing a tree-shaped symbol on his chest. However, the motion was quite awkward and looked particularly amusing. Berserker paused and responded, ¡°That¡¯s right, I am the Silver Oak Guardian, named Berserker. I¡¯ve been tasked by the Mother Goddess to track the divine relic.¡± ¡°Wow! Silver? What level is that?¡± ¡°Berserker? Uncle B?¡± ¡°You know, he does kind of resemble that...¡± Hearing the Oak Guardian¡¯s response, the other players couldn¡¯t help but whisper. Dema turned around and glared at them, making a ¡°shush¡± gesture, then turned back to Berserker, rubbing his hands together, and cheerfully said, ¡°Ah, so it¡¯s Lord Berserker, cough cough... uh... my apologies... Is this the divine relic you mentioned?¡± Saying this, he took out the light green crystal he had just found in the Goblin¡¯s ashes. The Oak Guardian¡¯s eyes flashed, and he nodded, ¡°Indeed.¡± It really was that! Dema¡¯s heart fluttered. He pondered for a moment, cautiously double-checking, ¡°You said... you could fulfill one appropriate request for us?¡± Berserker glanced at him, nodded, and said meaningfully, ¡°Yes, appropriate.¡± He emphasized the key point. Being glanced at by the Oak Guardian, for a moment, Dema felt as if his thoughts had been seen through entirely. He shuddered, coughed a couple of times, and extinguished his earlier greedy intention. He hesitated a moment, then finally gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Could you... tell us what this is?¡± He was gambling that this unknown crystal was the key to unlocking a certain storyline! Judging by the Oak Guardian¡¯s stance, acquiring the divine relic was likely out of the question for them. In that case, if it was indeed a hidden quest, it definitely had something to do with the relic¡¯s information! After hearing Dema¡¯s words, Berserker paused and asked, ¡°Is this your request?¡± Upon hearing his question, Dema¡¯s spirits lifted. There¡¯s hope! Being able to continue the conversation indicated that the direction he chose was right! His excitement grew. The other players also realized this. They exchanged glances and saw a hint of anticipation in each other¡¯s eyes. They all nodded collectively, then said in unison, ¡°Yes! Please tell us the origin of this divine relic!¡± After hearing the player¡¯s response, the massive Oak Guardian extended his hand toward Dema. Initially stunned, Dema then understood. He then took out the crystal and placed it in Berserker¡¯s giant hand. Having retrieved the divine relic, Berserker once again drew a tree-shaped symbol on his chest, and then passionately exclaimed, ¡°This is the Divine Blood Crystal, leftover from the Mother Goddess¡¯s divine battle a millennium ago, helping Her restore strength faster.¡± It was actually meant for the Goddess to regain strength? Upon hearing this, the players were all shocked internally. Then, they suddenly recalled the main storyline of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ ¡ª To aid the ancient deity, Eve Yggdrasil, in regaining power and revitalizing the Elf Clan! Could they... have actually stumbled upon a hidden quest? Their hearts raced with excitement, and they felt a hint of anticipation. After speaking, Berserker glanced at the players, his deep eyes revealing a trace of admiration, ¡°Chosen Ones, thank you for your assistance. Your integrity and bravery are commendable. I will head to the Natural Temple to report the recovery of the relic to the Mother Goddess, while also reporting your merits. Would you be willing to accompany me?¡± As soon as his words ended, a few lines of system prompts appeared in Dema and the others¡¯ field of vision, accompanied by a pleasant sound: {¡°Ding¡ª¡ªBerserker¡¯s favorability toward you has increased by 20 points, and your relationship is now friendly.¡±} {¡°Berserker invites you to form a team, do you accept?¡±} Team up? The players¡¯ eyes lit up. ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ had a team system. After teaming up, the experience gained would be evenly distributed based on team contribution, and the mini-map would be shared. However, previously, only players could form teams with each other, and this was the first time an NPC had proposed teaming up! At that moment, the players were almost certain they encountered a hidden quest! Dema and the others were almost overwhelmed with joy. They nodded repeatedly, afraid the Oak Guardian might change his mind, ¡°Accept! We accept!¡± ¡°Excellent!¡± The massive Oak Guardian nodded. He bent down slightly, making a gesture to invite them, ¡°Climb on, it¡¯s a long journey, and I¡¯ll carry you back.¡± He could do that? The players glanced at each other, even more excited. Having the Oak Guardian as a mount, this was a rare opportunity! Indeed, a hidden quest truly was a hidden quest ¡ª and even before it officially started, they could experience having a Silver Mount! Imagining the expression on the other players¡¯ faces when they returned to camp riding on the Oak Guardian¡¯s shoulder, they were almost laughing out loud. ¡°Let¡¯s go! We¡¯re getting on!¡± They cheered and, like agile monkeys, climbed up the Tree-man¡¯s branches onto his shoulder, sitting down excitedly. ¡°This height is amazing!¡± ¡°Uncle B is the best!¡± ¡°Move over a bit, I want to sit on the side and see the view!¡± The players were overjoyed. ¡°Hold on tight, we¡¯re heading out.¡± Seeing the players seated, Berserker slowly stood up and started towards the World Tree... ... Elf Forest, beneath the World Tree. Everything here was already very different from more than ten days ago. With the addition of magic and sword skills, along with continuous effort, three hundred players had finally taken Tianchao people¡¯s penchant for infrastructure to the extreme... After several days of construction, the camp beneath the World Tree had undergone a tremendous transformation, and the elf town envisioned by game designers like Cuckoo Bird had finally taken shape. At the center of the town was a small and exquisite Natural Temple, dedicated to the ancient deity Eve Yggdrasil, which was also the residence of the Natural Saintess, Alice Wind. In front of the temple was a vast bonfire plaza, which could accommodate up to a thousand people. Additionally, Alice had constructed a Teleportation Array here, leading directly to player respawn points on the World Tree. Centered around the plaza were four roads extending outward, with diverse and distinctive wooden houses lining the streets, each belonging to different players, many of which included their own courtyards. Vaguely, a uniquely styled novice village had gradually taken shape... At this moment, it was afternoon. Countless players in the town remained busy, performing various construction tasks to gain experience. ¡°Boom...¡± ¡°Boom...¡± Suddenly, a rumbling noise came from the distance, that grew closer, resembling the footsteps of some giant creature. ¡°What¡¯s that sound?¡± The players stopped what they were doing, raised their heads in curiosity, and looked towards the source of the sound... In the southeastern forest of the town, the rustling sound suddenly arose, and a flock of startled birds flew up from it. Then, a gigantic Tree-man, over thirty meters tall, pushed through the branches and emerged from within. This massive Tree-man was so majestic that it instantly captured the attention of countless players upon appearance. ¡°Whoa! What is that? A Tree-man?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s an Oak Guardian! I saw one near the safe zone¡¯s edge! Tremendously powerful!¡± ¡°Why is he coming to the camp?¡± The players fell into a hubbub, filled with extreme curiosity. ¡°Wait a minute... aren¡¯t those people on his shoulder Dema and the others?¡± Suddenly, someone sharp-eyed spotted the people on the Oak Guardian¡¯s shoulder and exclaimed in disbelief. With this, the players were stunned. As the Oak Guardian approached, the cheeky yet blissful expression of Dema fell into everyone¡¯s eyes, causing an uproar among the players, ¡°Oh my god! It really is this guy!¡± ¡°It really is them! How did they manage to get onto the Oak Guardian¡¯s shoulder?¡± ¡°That¡¯s so cool! So jealous!¡± ¡°What happened with them?¡± ¡°Dema! Dema! How did you guys pull this off?¡± In an instant, the players abandoned their work and swarmed around, curious and excited. Receiving those envious, jealous, and admiring looks mixed with curiosity, Dema stood up while holding onto Berserker¡¯s treetop. He placed his hands on his hips, tilted his head, and said proudly, ¡°Hehehe! We triggered a hidden quest!¡± Hidden quest? With these words, the players erupted into excitement. Chapter 23 - 23 Eve Yggdrasil (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 23: Chapter 23 Eve Yggdrasil (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html ¡°No way! Did I hear that right? A hidden mission triggered?¡± ¡°Does this game really have hidden plots?¡± ¡°Demacia, is it finally your time to shine?¡± ¡°What mission is it? What mission is it?¡± The players¡¯ chatter rose and fell. ... Standing on the shoulder of the Oak Guardian, looking down at the tiny players, Demacia and his group felt elated, ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m just this lucky!¡± ¡°Hahaha! No time to chat, we¡¯re off to the temple to see the Goddess!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll fill you in when we get back! Hahaha!¡± Their voices were filled with pride. ¡°Going to see the Goddess?¡± ¡°No way!¡± ¡°Is it Goddess Eve?!¡± ¡°Ahhh! Why didn¡¯t I trigger the plot? So jealous!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the mission, exactly? It involves the Goddess directly?¡± ¡°Could it be the main storyline?¡± ¡°The reward must be substantial...¡± ¡°This is way too envy-worthy!¡± The players¡¯ voices were filled with jealousy and envy. Berserker ignored the others and quietly walked toward the Natural Temple in the central square. As he proceeded, players excitedly and curiously followed behind, like a trailing army. ¡°Hurry! Let¡¯s see what this is all about!¡± ¡°The Oak Guardian is so cool!¡± ¡°Quick, screenshot! Screenshot!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the mission? Give us a hint...¡± ¡°Slow down! Slow down! I want to get up there too! I want up too!¡± Some overly excited players even tried climbing up Berserker¡¯s leg... ¡°Hmph!¡± With a deep grunt, Berserker cast a cold glance at the player attempting to climb. A powerful pressure swept over, making the player shiver and fall to the ground. Suddenly, silence fell among the players. Seconds later, the crowd erupted again! ¡°Whoa! Such strong pressure!¡± ¡°That¡¯s terrifying... how strong is this Oak Guardian?¡± ¡°Definitely stronger than bronze, maybe it¡¯s the silver mentioned in the guides?¡± ¡°Too scary!¡± ¡°That glance nearly killed me.¡± The players broke out in a cold sweat and calmed down significantly. No one dared to offend the Oak Guardian again. Soon, the Oak Guardian carrying Demacia and the others arrived at the Natural Temple. At this moment, Saintess Alice, who had long received Eve¡¯s oracle, was waiting there. Berserker knelt on one knee again, allowing Demacia and the others to jump down onto the branches. After the players dismounted, Berserker stood up again, chanting melodious incantations, his form shrinking gradually... In no time, he was reduced to only four meters tall. Looking at the calm and reliable Oak Guardian, Alice smiled sweetly, ¡°Praise Mother Nature! Welcome back, Lord Berserker.¡± She drew a tree-shaped symbol on her chest. ¡°Praise Mother Nature, Your Highness Holy Daughter.¡± Berserker did the same. Alice nodded and then turned to bow to the players, her smile fading slightly upon seeing Demacia. With a slight sigh, she said, ¡°Come with me, the ceremony is ready.¡± Then she turned and walked into the temple. Demacia chuckled awkwardly, exchanged glances with his teammates, and followed one behind the other. Before entering, he paused a bit, thought for a moment, and then turned on the system¡¯s recording function. Berserker walked last, pausing slightly at the entrance. He addressed the players gathering behind him, ¡°No unauthorized personnel allowed inside.¡± His voice was deep and commanding. With that said, he entered and shut the temple door. ¡°No way! Is it this mysterious?¡± ¡°I really want to see!¡± ¡°Look through the window! Look through the window! The window¡¯s not shut!¡± Suddenly, a large group of players gathered, peering through windows or cracks in the door... Inside the Natural Temple. Demacia and his team looked around curiously. Though this temple was also player-built, they hadn¡¯t participated and it was their first time inside. Having just finished construction, the temple was still sparse, with only a small altar and a sacred statue of the Goddess. The altar was intricately inscribed with arrays, emitting faint waves of Divine Arts, soothing to the soul. *Even the overexcited Demacia group gradually calmed down.* Alice and Berserker knelt devoutly in front of the statue, drawing a tree symbol on their chests while piously reciting, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, Praise the Goddess of Life, Praise the Great Elf Ruler¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± After speaking, they turned their heads to look at the four players. Demacia and the others hesitated for a moment before realizing. They knelt with one knee and mimicked the indigenous believers¡¯ gestures while shouting, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, Praise the Goddess of Life, Praise the Great Elf Ruler¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± As soon as they finished, a golden light erupted from the statue on the altar, enveloping them... Demacia felt a mysterious force tugging at his consciousness, the view turned completely blank, and control over his body was instantly stripped away. *Could it be... a cutscene?* Demacia was shaken inside. Accompanied by an indescribable weightlessness, Demacia gradually regained control over himself. The view slowly returned. As Demacia opened his eyes and took in his surroundings, his mouth fell open in awe. He found himself in an incredibly majestic temple, with vast space and giant stone pillars intricately carved with beautiful patterns on both sides. This temple seemed to be located among the stars. Through its sides, the deep and magnificent galaxy could be seen, so mysterious and brilliant. Faint sounds of prayers and chants came from the void, sacred and mysterious, soothing the soul and inducing immense reverence and awe. At the front of the temple stood a high platform, inscribed with ancient and elegant script and adorned with magnificent reliefs. The reliefs faintly depicted nature, life, and elves... Upon the platform was a magnificent throne composed of gold, vines, flowers, and branches. A mesmerizing figure emanating holy radiance sat imposingly on it. Ancient deity¡ªEve Yggdrasil. She wore a white divine dress adorned with floral patterns, a delicate and luxurious flower crown upon her head. Her silver hair spilled down to her waist, and her mysterious purple eyes sparkled with the brilliance of Divine Power, her flawless and exquisite face seemingly a dream... The Holy Light accompanied her like the most devoted servant. Sitting there, she propped her chin with one hand and rhythmically tapped the armrest of the throne with the other, a smile playing at her lips, both kind and imposing. She gazed at them, her deep starlit eyes radiating splendor like they had embraced the entire galaxy, ¡°Chosen Ones, we meet again.¡± Ethereal and holy. ¡°` Chapter 24 - 24 The First Main Quest (Seeking Recommendation Votes!) Chapter 24: Chapter 24 The First Main Quest (Seeking Recommendation Votes!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Eve sat high on the divine throne conjured in the consciousness space, smiling at the few people she had pulled in. That¡¯s right, consciousness space. Everything here was manifested by Eve according to the Heavenly Realm Temple of Mother Nature from the world tree inheritance during the Ancient Times. The players from Blue Star were already consciousnesses she lured through the network channel, so naturally, she could draw them into her consciousness space. Berserker and Alice, as her believers, could also be summoned. Although Eve¡¯s current state was poor, preventing her from creating an avatar, it was different in the consciousness space. Inside, everything was as she imagined, and it was the best place to pull the wool over one¡¯s eyes. ... The discovery of the Divine Blood Crystal involved Eve¡¯s further awakening, a matter of great significance. If handled correctly, it could provide Eve with an opportunity to reverse the current unfavorable situation, so this time she decided to take the field personally. Additionally, Eve aimed to strengthen her presence among players, cultivating the consciousness of players and believers to fight for her... ahem, for the Elf Kingdom, establishing her leadership position in the game. After all, Eve positioned herself not only as a backstage GM but also as an important NPC guiding players. If everything relied on the natives, she would differ little from a background setting. Players wouldn¡¯t care if you were a god or a tree, unless you truly participated in their game, truly benefited them, and truly gained their approval of your role, only then would they wholeheartedly support you. And facts proved that Eve¡¯s choice of appearance worked quite well. Not to mention Berserker and Alice, brought to tears and devoutly worshipping due to the Mother Goddess¡¯s summons, the four Blue Star players were genuinely awed. Although they had seen Eve once when creating their characters, back then, she was merely a transition program set in the game system¡ªa far cry from the impact of this time. The magnificent divine temple, the vast starry river, the sacred ethereal chanting, and... the flawless, unblemished Goddess who left no room for profanation. True God! This was a True God! The pinnacle of the Elf Kingdom world, the true ruler! Upon entering the temple, Demacia had thoughts of subtly casting an appraisal spell after seeing the True God, but upon genuinely seeing Eve, all those thoughts vanished. *It was the instinctual awe ordinary people felt upon encountering something beyond their comprehension!* *At this moment, Demacia nearly forgot he was in a game...* At this very moment, he was left with only one thought: *Goddess, are you still accepting believers?* ¡°Mother Goddess.¡± As Demacia was lost in stray thoughts, Oak Guardian Berserker¡¯s fanatical voice echoed: ¡°I have brought back the divine artifact that belongs to you.¡± Finishing, he kneeled on one knee, bowing his head respectfully while holding up the pale green Divine Blood Crystal high. ¡°Not bad.¡± On the divine throne, Eve nodded slightly, her majestic voice carrying an air of kindness mixed with seven parts satisfaction. She lifted her right hand lightly, and the pale green crystal in Berserker¡¯s hand flew up, merging into her body. With the fusion of the Divine Blood Crystal, the magnificent temple trembled slightly, the Holy Light shone more brilliantly, and the chanting became more ethereal. The few people in the temple even felt that the Goddess¡¯s power seemed to subtly grow stronger... Feeling her divine power value instantly rise to 12 points, Eve was quite delighted. ¡°Congratulations, Mother Goddess, for getting one step closer to your former glory.¡± Apparently sensing the Mother Goddess¡¯s delight, Alice and Berserker congratulated joyfully, and Demacia and the others quickly followed suit in congratulating the Goddess. Having said that, the Oak Guardian continued: ¡°Mother Goddess, it was also thanks to the help of several brave and righteous Chosen Ones that this divine artifact was successfully retrieved.¡± *Thanks to them? Just... just him?!* Alice couldn¡¯t help but glance incredulously at Demacia. *The main event has arrived!* Hearing Berserker¡¯s words, the players all felt a jolt in their hearts. The grand divine temple fell into silence. ¡°Tap...¡± ¡°Tap...¡± ¡°Tap...¡± ... Accompanied by the light tapping sound, Eve¡¯s solemn and venerable voice arose once again: ¡°I already know the causes and effects. Chosen Ones, thank you for your assistance.¡± With the Goddess¡¯s gratitude, a new system frame appeared in the vision of Demacia and the others. [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Main storyline triggered: The Goddess¡¯s Revival] *The storyline is here!* *The storyline really is here!* *And it¡¯s even the main storyline!* *They actually triggered the main storyline!* The players, filled with excitement, immediately became joyful. In recent days, the beta players had been discussing when the main storyline would start and in what form, but they hadn¡¯t expected it to be triggered by players. Not only that, this honor of triggering the main storyline seemed to fall upon the four of them! [Engage in dialog option mode, please choose a representative to communicate with the Goddess] The system frame popped up again. ¡°Let me handle it, I¡¯ve played many text dialogue games, conquered thousands of characters.¡± Demacia made a gesture to a few others, stepping slightly forward with a calm and proud expression. Only his slightly rubbing fingers revealed the unrest in his heart. [Representative determined: Demacia] After the players decided on the candidate, Eve¡¯s sacred and ethereal voice came again: ¡°Chosen Ones, what kind of reward do you want?¡± As soon as she spoke, three options appeared in Demacia¡¯s view. [Option A: Supreme Goddess, thank you for your favor, honorable and selfless Chosen Ones do not need rewards!] [Option B: Supreme Goddess, serving you is our duty, we do not need rewards!] [Option C: Supreme Goddess, can you talk about the divine artifact?] Demacia: ... *Damn, the person planning the dialogue options has holes in their head.* Demacia cursed inwardly and responded: ¡°Supreme Goddess, can you talk about the divine artifact?¡± Listening to his words, the Goddess¡¯s expression seemed to soften further. She nodded gently and said: ¡°It is the Divine Blood Crystal of the world tree, scattered across the Elf Forest after the divine war a thousand years ago. Now, Uller is dispatching her minions¡ªthe wicked goblins¡ªto collect the Divine Blood Crystals, attempting to gain my power through them.¡± After speaking, she paused, then continued to explain: ¡°Uller is the God of Winter and Hunting, also my enemy, having participated in the divine war that destroyed the elf civilization a thousand years ago.¡± *God of Winter and Hunting, Uller? Another Divine?* *And seen as an enemy by the Goddess wielding such power!* The players felt a surge of excitement, understanding that this marked the formal entry into the main storyline. After the Goddess finished speaking, new options appeared once more in Demacia¡¯s view: [Option A: Supreme Goddess, is there anything we can do for you?] [Option B: Supreme Goddess, do you need our assistance?] [Option C: Supreme Goddess, can we become your strength?] Demacia: ... *Are there any differences in these options?!* ¡°Supreme Goddess, is there anything we can do for you?¡± Randomly picking one, he answered. ¡°Of course.¡± Eve¡¯s smile grew even brighter: ¡°To thwart Uller¡¯s plot, and for my further revival, I need your strength.¡± After speaking, she raised her hand, a gentle divine power emerged, transforming into a realistic scene in mid-air: It depicted a ruin overgrown with plants, occupied by numerous goblins. They erected altars and offered the pale green Divine Blood Crystals to deities during their sacrifices... ¡°This was once the Holy City of Feilengcui in the Elf Kingdom, now turned into a ruin...¡± The feminine voice carried a trace of lament and sorrow. ¡°Now, it has become a nest for goblins. They occupy it, desecrate the elves¡¯ glory, and steal the power of the world tree... Sadly, my power has not recovered enough to act directly, lest it draws Uller¡¯s attention.¡± As she spoke, the Goddess cast her gaze expectantly toward the few: ¡°Chosen Ones, would you be willing to act in my stead, annihilate these vile desecrators, and reclaim my power?¡± [Option A: Supreme Goddess, we are willing!] [Option B: Supreme Goddess, we will do whatever it takes!] [Option C: Supreme Goddess, we will spare no effort!] Demacia: ... He had already become numb to the options. However, being stared at with such hopeful eyes by the Goddess, even if there were no options, his answer remained unchanged. Furthermore, this involved the main storyline. ¡°Supreme Goddess, we are willing!¡± Demacia answered. As soon as he finished speaking, the system¡¯s voice rang out again¡ª [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Main storyline Chapter One started¡ª¡ª] [Scene One: Uller¡¯s Conspiracy] [Activate Main Quest: Former Holy City] [Quest Goal: 1. Establish a stable Teleportation Array in Feilengcui; 2. Eradicate goblins occupying the Holy City of Feilengcui; 3. Retrieve the Divine Blood Crystals of the world tree.] [Quest Duration: Unlimited] [Quest Participants: Unlimited] [Quest Level: 9+] [Quest Rewards: Complete any objective for a chance to receive experience points, perfect revival times, or task contribution] [Quest Hint 1: Berserker possesses the map coordinates of Feilengcui, available from him.] [Quest Hint 2: Alice Wind can draw the Teleportation Array, seek her assistance.] [Quest Hint 3: Strength lies in unity. Many goblins exist, please team up with other players to proceed.] [Quest Hint 4: The quest carries high death risks, strive to ensure you¡¯ve secured perfect revival times pre-battle, players with the perfect revival buff have unchanged levels on death and revival, one buff revives once.] Perfect revival was Eve¡¯s revision to the resurrection mechanism. To enable players to fight more confidently and work harder, she specifically added a new penalty-free revival mechanism. Anyway, for Eve, merely reviving bodies didn¡¯t consume much and didn¡¯t come close to the energy cost of creating players¡¯ bodies. Of course, players must undertake tasks to earn perfect revival times... *The first instance!* Seeing the system¡¯s prompts, the players were suddenly ecstatic. *They really triggered the main storyline! And it¡¯s the first instance!* And when they saw the rewards, their eyes lit up. ¡°Perfect revival? Maintain level stability post-revival?!¡± *A treasure indeed! Such a treasure!* As someone who had died several times before reaching level 5, Demacia nearly cried upon seeing this reward. The three players excitedly patted his shoulder: ¡°Great job, brother! All your options were right!¡± Demacia: ... He twitched his mouth, replying: ¡°They would all have been right if you chose too.¡± As the group was overwhelmed with excitement, Eve¡¯s voice once again resonated: ¡°Brave Chosen Ones, thank you for your support. To express my gratitude, I will grant you exclusive titles and rewards you deserve.¡± *There are actually titles and rewards too?!* The players¡¯ eyes all brightened. Demacia, invigorated, slapped his thigh: ¡°Of course! How could there be no rewards for starting the storyline!¡± ¡°Long live the Goddess!¡± In the players¡¯ cheers, Eve once again waved her right hand... [Ding¡ª¡ª] [You received an exclusive title: Guardian of the World Tree] [You received a reward: Perfect Revival Times ¡Á5] ¡°` Chapter 25 - 25 Are These People Reliable? (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 25: Chapter 25 Are These People Reliable? (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html With the system notification, everyone noticed a new line of purple title under their green names: World Tree Guardian. The fancy font looked very cool, and it even came with a flashing effect. ¡°Wow! A special title!¡± ¡°Five perfect revivals?¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome!¡± ... They were all incredibly excited. ¡°Brave Chosen Ones, please take my blessing and set off on your journey again.¡± Seeing the four excited players, Eve smiled slightly and waved her hand to send their consciousness back to the real world of Sagas. In the grand hall, only Alice and Berserker were left. ¡°Alice, Berserker, this matter concerns my revival, you must assist them well.¡± Eve instructed again. ¡°Yes, Mother Goddess.¡± The two native believers replied respectfully. ¡°Mother Goddess...¡± Oak Guardian Berserker hesitated for a moment, as if he had something to say. ¡°Speak.¡± Eve nodded. With the permission of the True God, Berserker breathed a sigh of relief, then respectfully asked, ¡°Actually... you could just let me convey the instructions. There¡¯s really no need...¡± ¡°No need to direct personally and summon them here?¡± Eve laughed. Berserker lowered his head and answered in a deep voice, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Tap...¡± ¡°Tap...¡± ¡°Tap...¡± Eve gently tapped the armrest of the divine throne, with nothing but the sound of tapping echoing in the temple. After a moment, she let out a light laugh and said, ¡°This is their unique way of entertainment, you¡¯ll understand it in the future.¡± After speaking, she waved her hand again, sending the two disciples out of her consciousness space as well. ... The minds of Demacia and the others cleared for a moment, and they found themselves back in the Natural Temple of the small town. Except this time, a title appeared above their heads, and an additional line appeared in the system bar: [Perfect Revival Times: 5] They exchanged glances, then let out a cheer and turned to rush out of the Natural Temple. ¡°Hahaha! I need to share this news with everyone!¡± ¡°A special title! Heh, just the four of us! Limited edition!¡± ¡°I recorded the whole scene just now. It¡¯s so exciting, I want to upload the video right away!¡± When they pushed open the temple doors, they found players already crowded outside. Watching the bustling crowd, Demacia shouted excitedly, ¡°Brothers! Sisters! We¡¯ve started the main storyline! There¡¯s a main quest now!¡± However, at this moment, the players in the town were already in a frenzy. ¡°Team up for exploration! Team up for exploration! Feilengcui Holy City instance! Need a level 10 strength type! No queasy ones!¡± ¡°Need a magic control! 4=1!¡± ¡°Is there anyone who can command? We need a commander for our team!¡± Demacia: ??? The four players stared blankly at the bustling crowd forming teams. Huh? What¡¯s happening? *Why does it feel like the whole world knew about the instance being unlocked in an instant?* Just then, a player came over, gave him a thumbs-up, and said, ¡°Demacia, you¡¯re amazing! You really unlocked the main story!¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome! I wish I could talk to the Goddess too!¡± Hearing this, Demacia was slightly taken aback: ¡°You all knew?¡± The players nodded: ¡°Yeah! When you were summoned by the Goddess, we watched the scene, just from a spectator viewpoint. We¡¯re so envious of you...¡± ¡°Yeah! The scene effects were so cool! Eve Goddess, you¡¯re the best!¡± ¡°Haha, I recorded it and uploaded the video online, let those who didn¡¯t get the beta testing qualification be envious and jealous, haha!¡± Demacia: ... *Right, unlocking an instance is such a big deal, it certainly had to be announced server-wide.* Demacia slapped his forehead, feeling a bit deflated. *I wanted to tell everyone about it personally.* Wait... Someone already recorded and uploaded it before me? F©–©–K... At this moment, someone came over, enviously eyeing his title, ¡°That¡¯s great! World Tree Guardian! Ah, I wonder if we¡¯ll have a chance to get it in the future.¡± Upon hearing this, Demacia couldn¡¯t help but curl his lips, and his previously gloomy mood vanished instantly. He proudly put his hands on his hips and boasted, ¡°Heh, that¡¯s right, it¡¯s our special title.¡± Then, he added, ¡°Hey, hey, by the way, the quest says it¡¯s best to have perfect revivals, be careful when forming your teams!¡± While speaking, he moved slightly to proudly show off his [Perfect Revival Times: 5] status bar. Listening to Demacia¡¯s words, the person smiled and also displayed their status bar: ¡°Heh, you don¡¯t have to worry about that. After the main quest was unlocked, all players who chose to participate in the first mission got three perfect revival chances from the Goddess.¡± Demacia: ... ¡°Ah, well, that¡¯s good.¡± He chuckled awkwardly, waved his hand, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave you now, I need to find Brother Mu!¡± After saying this, Demacia left the person with only his back, shaking his head and sighing, ¡°Ah... Being ¡®World Tree Guardian¡¯ is just too dazzling, too dazzling...¡± ... ¡°Elf Kingdom¡¯s¡± main storyline began! The first main quest, [City of the Past], has been released! Completing the quest will not only grant a large amount of experience points but also provide opportunities to earn perfect revival times and contribution points that unlock after level 11! Moreover, to enhance the player experience, the great Mother Nature, Eve Yggdrasil, has generously given each participant three extra perfect revivals! One announcement after another rolled out, and all players above level 9 went wild. Almost everyone, except for a few, eagerly signed up to form teams. ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± didn¡¯t limit team sizes, but to maximize everyone¡¯s strength, most players instinctively formed 5-person teams, which was a common configuration in virtual reality games. In ¡°Elf Kingdom¡±¡®s latest strategy guide, some experts even analyzed that a 5-person team is the most efficient way to attack wild monsters, like the ¡°Lunch Box¡± team, which worked together to defeat the powerful Forest Python. In just fifteen minutes, the beta players formed 21 teams, totaling 91 players, all with a minimum level of 9, with 37 players reaching level 10! However, when it came to establishing the Teleportation Array, players found themselves at odds... ¡°What? Miss Alice can only make one set of materials for placing the Teleportation Array?¡± ¡°I heard there¡¯s a lack of magic ingredients...¡± ¡°So that means... Only one team can complete task objective 1?¡± ¡°That can¡¯t work... The reward can¡¯t be split!¡± ¡°How should it be decided? How about... drawing lots?¡± ¡°Drawing lots isn¡¯t good, the Teleportation Array¡¯s materials are limited to one set, which means only one chance to complete the task, and keeping the array stable will need protection from players, since enemies will probably try to destroy it...¡± ¡°I think we should rely on strength, let teams compete.¡± ¡°How to compete? Do we have to fight each other?!¡± ¡°How do we split the reward? Can¡¯t it be fair?¡± Players started arguing all at once. Seeing the noisy Chosen Ones, waiting for quite a while on the side, Berserker frowned. *When did the Elves become so disorganized and undisciplined? The task hasn¡¯t even started, and they¡¯re already fighting over a single array?* *Don¡¯t they have any sense of Elven unity and humility?* *Can these undisciplined people really complete the Mother Goddess¡¯s task?* *Goblins, although weak, seem to have better combat strength compared to these chaotic newbies.* Although the Chosen Ones amazed him in town construction, the next task was going to be actual combat! Berserker still remembered when he spied on Demacia and the others in the forest, with their casual demeanor... *It was clear that this group of Chosen Ones hadn¡¯t experienced real combat; some of them might even faint at the sight of blood!* *Moreover, Goblins have already developed a Priest, which means they have someone to command intelligently.* *And these Chosen Ones, they¡¯re noisy and quarrelsome, with no one leading them...* *None of them have even ascended to Black Iron yet.* *Could they succeed under these circumstances?* *Mother Goddess, were Your choices... really serious?* Thinking of this, Berserker furrowed his brows even more deeply. Seeing the increasingly displeased expression on Berserker¡¯s face, Saintess Alice gave him a look that said, ¡°I understand you.¡± Inwardly, she felt a sense of finding a kindred spirit. *These ones, covered in Elven appearance, didn¡¯t have a trace of the noble character of the Elf Clan, instead, they were very much like those profit-driven humans!* *No, they didn¡¯t even have human discipline! Utterly slack!* ¡°Clang! Clang! Clang¡ª!¡± ¡°Silence!¡± While Berserker was frowning in thought, a shout accompanied by a knocking sound dominated everything else. Everyone¡¯s attention was instantly captivated... Demacia stood atop a pile of logs, holding a wooden sword to tap the stone block with one hand, using a large leaf folded into a megaphone in the other: ¡°Stop arguing! Stop arguing! Brother Mu has something to say!¡± Brother Mu? Li Mu? Hearing Demacia¡¯s shout, the crowd gradually quieted down. ¡°` Chapter 26 - 26 The Most Shameless Player (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 26: Chapter 26 The Most Shameless Player (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html This is how humans are¡ªwhen a group is leaderless, just one slightly capable person stepping up can get everyone¡¯s attention. The name of streamer Little Mu had a little fame in the gaming world, and since he was the first to post a game review, everyone was willing to give him face. Seeing the players quiet down, Demacia was very satisfied. He stepped aside slightly and handed the megaphone to Li Mu who was walking onto the stage. Li Mu took the megaphone, coughed a few times first, and then said, ¡°Everyone, please calm down. The mission hasn¡¯t started yet, and we can¡¯t get flustered. This game is different from the ones we¡¯ve played before. Without adequate preparation, we can¡¯t act on our own whim...¡± ... The players stirred at his words. ¡°Brother Mu, what do you mean by that?¡± Someone asked in confusion. Li Mu continued, ¡°That means, although we¡¯ve received the mission, we have no clue what the instance is like or the situation with the Goblins. If we rush in like scattered sand, we might end up failing. After all... besides Demacia and them, we each only have three perfect revival opportunities.¡± Hearing his words, the players¡¯ expressions gradually turned serious. Seeing everyone was listening to him, Li Mu was satisfied. He cleared his throat and continued, ¡°This isn¡¯t a typical pioneering mission. We don¡¯t have unlimited revivals. After dying three times, everything resets. And judging by the mission description, this might be a prolonged battle... Therefore, before we set off, we must develop a detailed plan instead of splitting into countless small teams and rushing in.¡± ¡°Uncle B also told us that Feilengcui is thirty kilometers away from us, a full twenty kilometers outside the safe zone. If we all dash there, there are too many uncertainties. Not to mention the possible dangers on the road, we might even startle the enemy.¡± ¡°Moreover, we only have one Array. If we cannot maintain it against the Goblin¡¯s counterattack after setting it up, the mission objective might still fail...¡± Watching Li Mu speak eloquently, a hint of surprise flashed in Berserker¡¯s eyes. *Mother Goddess above, it seems there are some sensible people among these Chosen Ones.* But... ¡°Who is Uncle B?¡± Berserker fell into contemplation. *It¡¯s you!* Observing everything from high above, Eve sensed her Believer¡¯s confusion and secretly commented in her heart. ¡°Brother Mu, what¡¯s your idea?¡± Someone asked. Li Mu smiled and replied, ¡°Of course, I suggest forming a special assault team composed of players good at stealth. They can take the Array materials and head to Feilengcui first, but instead of entering it, they can choose a safe place nearby to set up the Array.¡± At this point, he smirked, ¡°The task has no time limit, and doesn¡¯t mean we have to complete Objective 1 first. The Array materials are pre-set, and all we need to do is place and activate them. Therefore, we can establish a hidden Teleportation Array outside the mission site as a base, then everyone gradually teleports there, completes Mission Objectives 2 and 3, and finally, we all team up to dismantle the Array and re-establish it in Feilengcui.¡± ¡°This way, when we set up the Array, the Holy City will already have been recaptured by us, so the Teleportation Array will not be destroyed by the Goblins, and everyone will be guaranteed a share in the Array setup rewards!¡± *Can we really do that?* The players¡¯ eyes lit up. *No wonder he¡¯s a veteran glitch streamer.* Eve, watching from afar, sighed slightly. ¡°Not only that, but after setting up the first Teleportation Array outside the city, we can first tempt a part of the Goblins out to test their strength.¡± ¡°If they¡¯re weak, we¡¯ll attack actively. If they¡¯re strong, we¡¯ll engage in guerrilla warfare outside Feilengcui, gradually wearing them down.¡± ¡°I guess this time hunting in the safe zone made everyone realize that the monsters in this game don¡¯t respawn. They simulate real-world ecosystems, so the Goblins are the same¡ªkilling one means there¡¯s one less. We can afford a prolonged war!¡± ¡°The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue!¡± Li Mu was in full flow. *This idea is not bad!* The players nodded one after another, ¡°No wonder he¡¯s a veteran streamer... His command and insight skills are unparalleled...¡± ¡°Brother Mu, you¡¯re right! We¡¯ll follow your lead on this mission!¡± Meanwhile, many were suddenly enlightened, ¡°No wonder there hasn¡¯t been any fresh prey in the safe zone lately... we¡¯ve only been able to eat fruits. Turns out it¡¯s because monsters don¡¯t respawn.¡± ¡°Wait a minute... was that roast meat smell I detected in the forest last time from you all?!¡± ¡°Duh, eating only fruit every day doesn¡¯t provide any fat¡ªgrilled meat is way better, especially this certain mountain chicken in the safe zone, all-natural, no pollution, extremely tender meat. If the Holy Daughter weren¡¯t watching at the camp, we would have already held a barbecue feast.¡± ¡°...¡± Listening to the players¡¯ discussions, Alice was almost stunned. *Mother Goddess above, so this was the reason why the forest animals have disappeared recently?!* *These... these...* She gritted her teeth, unsure of how to articulate her feelings. And the players¡¯ discussion continued: ¡°But, Brother Mu, how do we lure the Goblins?¡± Someone asked. Upon hearing the question, Li Mu frowned and thought for a moment, hesitantly saying, ¡°This is indeed a problem. I think we can try using food to lure¡ª¡± ¡°Wait! Wait! Brother Mu! Brother Mu! I have a great idea! I have a great idea!¡± Before Li Mu could finish, Demacia rushed over, face full of excitement, ¡°I have an excellent idea! It will definitely lure the Goblins!¡± Li Mu gave him a surprised look and handed over the megaphone. Demacia took it with a big hand, letting out a string of sleazy laughter, looking as lecherous as could be, ¡°Hehehe, well... we¡¯ll need our female players to put in a little effort.¡± ¡°Female players?¡± ¡°Demacia, you¡¯re not thinking of doing something indecent again, are you?¡± The male players heckled, while the female players frowned slightly. ¡°No, no...¡± Demacia grinned awkwardly, then his eyes twitched as he continued with a mischievous giggle, ¡°Well... I think it comes down to the Goblin¡¯s habits...¡± ¡°Hehehe, remember? In many games¡¯ monster info, it¡¯s mentioned that Goblins have no females. They rely on female humans and near-human creatures as breeding beds, hehehe... and now it¡¯s springtime, the season when everything revives...¡± He said animatedly, ¡°You see, aren¡¯t we elves naturally good-looking? The Goblins, being humanoid, actually have a similar aesthetic to ours. So, why not have the ladies sacrifice their allure...¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that called a honey trap? Of course, just to lure them; safety precautions must still be taken!¡± Demacia said triumphantly. Alice: ... Berserker: ... The players: ... Everyone was dumbfounded. Observing everything from the high altitude, Eve choked for a moment and couldn¡¯t help but comment, *This guy truly is the most shameless human player in the game...* ¡°` Chapter 27 - 27 Dress Up, Boy! (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 27: Chapter 27 Dress Up, Boy! (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Upon hearing Demacia¡¯s proposal, the Oak Guardian¡¯s gaze towards him immediately changed. Berserker¡¯s eyes flashed with a hint of disappointment and disgust, ¡°Chosen One, I thought you were an upright warrior, but I didn¡¯t expect you to be such a sneaky bastard, truly a disgrace to the ¡®World Tree¡¯s Guardian¡¯!¡± Alice looked coldly at him, her gaze growing increasingly icy, as if she were staring at a pile of toxic waste. [Ding¡ªYour favorability with Berserker has decreased by 40 points, reaching ¡®Dislike¡¯] ... [Ding¡ªYour favorability with Alice Wind has decreased by 40 points, maintaining ¡®Disgust¡¯] Demacia looked at the system notification that flashed before his eyes, momentarily dumbfounded, ¡°Really? This decreases favorability too?¡± And the players hesitated... ¡°This... doesn¡¯t seem quite right, does it?¡± ¡°What if there¡¯s danger? Even though it¡¯s a game, the consequences... are unimaginable.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not like those old 2D online games, this is a virtual reality game with almost 100% realism...¡± ¡°Once in combat mode, you can¡¯t log off. Even if you force quit the game, your body stays in place. What if you can¡¯t commit suicide...¡± ¡°In that case... there would be psychological trauma, right? There definitely would be, right?¡± ¡°At the very least, I¡¯d feel very uncomfortable. Those goblins look too disgusting.¡± ¡°No way I¡¯m going. Whoever wants to can go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going either.¡± ¡°Demacia, you must be a total loner in real life, right?¡± ¡°Deserve to not have a girlfriend.¡± Demacia, ... Li Mu, however, didn¡¯t speak. He seemed thoughtful, then suddenly had a realization, ¡°A honey trap? Actually, that¡¯s not a bad idea.¡± The players were taken aback, ¡°Oh my, Brother Mu, do you really think so?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this not okay!¡± ¡°Brother Mu, are you a loner too? The kind who wears floral boxers and flip-flops and buys soy milk and churros for himself in the morning?¡± Li Mu, ... He cleared his throat a few times and quickly said, ¡°No, no... even though we¡¯re saying it¡¯s a honey trap, it doesn¡¯t have to be the female players taking risks.¡± As he spoke, he looked Demacia up and down, stroked his chin, and said, ¡°I remember someone drew a disguise skill.¡± Demacia shivered, suddenly feeling a chill on his back... ... It was a dense primordial forest. The giant trees blocked out the sky, and the lush bushes made the already difficult-to-navigate jungle even more complex. However, for the Oak Guardian, this was nothing. Berserker walked through the forest as if it were his own backyard, with four elves in hemp robes and wooden armor sitting on his shoulders from left to right, followed by a sweaty Demacia. The five were the commando team selected by the players. Besides Demacia, those sitting on Berserker¡¯s shoulders were Li Mu, Coo Coo Bird, and two players named Box Lunch and Little Xian Miao. Among the players, Li Mu and Little Xian Miao were spellcasters, while Demacia, Box Lunch, and Coo Coo Bird were strength types. Originally, Li Mu planned for a team of five players skilled in stealth, but since there were too few players with stealth skills, they had to settle for a relatively strong and complementary kamikaze squad. Li Mu had the skills to heal minor injuries and entwine vines, skilled in healing and control, and was also the team commander. Little Xian Miao was a petite female player who drew a rare illusion technique skill¡ªDisguise, which could change the target¡¯s appearance temporarily, lasting twenty minutes. Coo Coo Bird, although a girl, had practiced taekwondo in real life and was strong in close combat. She also had the skill Sharp Ear, able to hear distant sounds for reconnaissance. Box Lunch was a silent male player. He didn¡¯t have any stealth or detection skills, but he had quite strong scouting abilities, allowing him to discover a level 9 Forest Python early on. As for Demacia, with the skills Whirlwind Slash and Unyielding, he was a pure damage output and tank. Hmm... after everyone¡¯s research and decision, he was also assigned the important role of ¡®Taunt.¡¯ All five were uniformly level 10 players. After agreeing on the plan, they set off with Berserker, but the Oak Guardian refused to let Demacia ride along, so he had to trot behind. Meanwhile, other players watched their action via live streaming, waiting for teleportation. Correct, live streaming. Although time flowed differently in the Segis World and Blue Star, it didn¡¯t stop players from connecting to the internet through the game system. The commandos¡¯ live broadcast online allowed other players to watch through the system window. This became a new gameplay discovery for players, reminiscent of the early days of YY and QQ voice, only a video version. Previously, during monster hunting, some players used this method for solo reconnaissance. When Eve discovered it, she marveled at the players¡¯ cunning tactics, so she also opened a live stream in the Divine Space, mingling with the audience. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Suddenly, the giant Oak Guardian stopped. He knelt halfway, putting everyone on the ground, and said, ¡°We¡¯re less than a kilometer from Feilengcui. To prevent the goblin priest from identifying me, I won¡¯t approach any closer. You¡¯ll have to proceed on your own.¡± With that, he turned silently and vanished into the forest. Having finally caught up, Demacia clung to a tree, panting. He bent over, rubbing his sore knees, and looked at Berserker¡¯s indifferent demeanor, sighing, ¡°I mean, was it really necessary... Wasn¡¯t it just a suggestion...? My favorability dropped so much, and they won¡¯t even let me ride.¡± ¡°Do you even realize what a ridiculous idea you proposed?¡± Coo Coo Bird gave him a cold glance. The live stream chat was also filled with teasing from players, ¡°Running more can improve your health and earn you a point or two of experience, so why not?¡± ¡°Haha, Demacia, have you and Berserker¡¯s favorability dropped to negative too?¡± ¡°Pfft... I remember this guy bragging about reaching a friendly level with Uncle B, and then promptly causing a disaster.¡± ¡°Hahaha! I just found out goblins are the most despised intelligent creatures by NPCs in the game. Only you¡¯d think of using a honey trap to lure monsters, no wonder you¡¯re hated by NPCs, hahaha!¡± ¡°The Elf Clan and Oak Guardians are indeed proud.¡± ¡°Hahaha, and eventually the ¡®taunt¡¯ duty fell on yourself.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t wait for the lure attempt!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t wait +1¡± ¡°Can¡¯t wait +2¡± Seeing the scrolling comments, Demacia¡¯s face turned green. Coo Coo Bird didn¡¯t continue mocking. She turned her ear to one side, listening intently... Skill¡ªSharp Ear. ¡°No other creatures nearby.¡± A moment later, she said. After scouting the surroundings, Box Lunch also shook his head. The group breathed a sigh of relief. Li Mu looked around, took out a set of array tools that Alice had given him, and said, ¡°I think this terrain looks good. Let¡¯s clear it up and set up the array. A kilometer distance is just right; any closer, and the risk of exposure increases.¡± After speaking, he glanced at Demacia, his smile slightly teasing, ¡°You should start getting ready too. Once we¡¯ve set up the array, we¡¯ll go and lure a goblin to test their strength.¡± Hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, Demacia instantly deflated like a punctured ball, cautiously stepping aside and laughing awkwardly, ¡°Brother Mu... uh... you guys aren¡¯t serious, are you?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t the idea suggested by Demacia?¡± Little Xian Miao said, smiling, as she took out a light green long dress from behind her, ¡°Put it on quickly, Miss Alice gave it with love.¡± Seeing the dress, Demacia¡¯s face turned green, ¡°What the fuck! You guys are serious? You really want me to cross-dress?! I suggested a honey trap, not a male honey trap! I¡¯m a big guy!¡± ¡°No problem, Little Xian Miao¡¯s disguise skill is perfect for this, guaranteed to transform you beyond recognition.¡± Little Xian Miao chuckled. Demacia, ... ¡°I remember your house isn¡¯t built yet, right?¡± Asked Coo Coo Bird, the player¡¯s camp construction captain, casually. Demacia, ... ¡°Do you really think female players should take the risk?¡± Box Lunch frowned. Demacia, ... Even the live stream chat was full of happy banter, ¡°Hahaha! Brave Demacia, put on the dress and transform into a muscly girl!¡± ¡°Quick, wear it, and you¡¯ll definitely become stronger!¡± ¡°It was your brilliant idea, hahahaha!¡± ¡°Hurry, put it on; otherwise, your house will turn into a construction site, hahahaha...¡± Demacia, ... Li Mu coughed lightly and patted Demacia on the shoulder, ¡°Demacia, you just go. You¡¯ve got lives to spare, right? Including the quest rewards, that¡¯s eight in total. And you¡¯re a guy; you¡¯re not afraid of death or getting caught by goblins, which is a much lower risk than having the ladies take the risk. Cough, cough... if caught, you can always just commit suicide or force log out if necessary.¡± Demacia, ... Was it really not dangerous for guys?! But looking at everyone¡¯s non-negotiable expressions, he had no choice but to grab the dress with a mournful face, ¡°Fine... fine, I¡¯ll go.¡± Saying this, he reluctantly began to change. ¡°Don¡¯t change here; the Holy Light hurts the eyes.¡± Demacia, ... ¡°Hahaha!¡± ¡°Hahahahaha...¡± The livestream burst into laughter, completely drowning out the screen... Even Eve, watching the stream, was amused, but as she watched, a hint of sadness crept into her heart, ¡°How nice...¡± ¡°I really wish I could have a body with the freedom to move...¡± Some things aren¡¯t cherished when available and realized precious once lost. Unfortunately, without sufficient Divine Power, Eve couldn¡¯t create an avatar body to host her Divine Soul. At that moment, Eve felt like the joy and clamor of the live-stream were so far away... So far away... As if from two worlds. ¡°Someday...¡± She murmured to herself. ¡°` Chapter 28 - 28 Youve Been Duped, Melon Peels (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!) Chapter 28: Chapter 28 You¡¯ve Been Duped, Melon Peels (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html In the Feilengcui Ruins. Green-skinned goblins were scattered everywhere, sitting in groups of two or three; some were sleeping, some were cooking in large pots over campfires, emitting indescribable odors, while others gathered to play with dirt... Four elves and a ¡°human girl¡± were stealthily crouching in a patch of grass not far away; they were the player strike team that had infiltrated after setting up the Teleportation Array. Looking at the ruins in the distance, still majestic even in their collapse, Little Xian Miao couldn¡¯t help but express a sound of admiration, ¡°So this is Feilengcui... I wonder how beautiful the city must have been before.¡± ... Gugu Bird closed his eyes, listened carefully, and his expression became somewhat serious, ¡°There are a lot of goblins¡ªbesides the ones we see, I can¡¯t even figure out how many are hidden in the ruins. Additionally... there are some strong presences, very possibly Black Iron level, among them one is extremely chilling, making me feel very afraid.¡± ¡°Hiss¡ª¡± Hearing this news, several Chosen Ones drew in a sharp breath. ¡°Good thing we didn¡¯t let the players all rush in at once, otherwise we might have been wiped out.¡± Boxed Lunch said gravely. Li Mu lightly patted Demacia on the shoulder and said, ¡°Demacia, stick to the plan. Just those three goblins playing with dirt over there¡ªthey don¡¯t seem strong, poorly equipped, likely under level ten. Whether we can lure the monsters over depends on you!¡± Demacia: ... He forced a wry smile, ¡°Can I... not go?¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t.¡± The four of them said in unison. Demacia: ... ¡°Ah, whatever, whatever, the wind is blowing, and the river is cold...¡± Demacia gave up the struggle. He flicked his long, flowing hair after the disguise and stood up from the bushes. ... At the edge of the ruins. Three goblins sat around happily playing with dirt blocks, occasionally letting out strange ¡°gah-yaa-yaa¡± laughter. Suddenly, a stone flew over from behind, landing squarely on one goblin¡¯s head. ¡°Thud!¡± It struck, and blood started to flow. The goblin hit by the stone was instantly dumbfounded. It stood up, looked left and right, meeting the gaze of a companion. Suddenly, anger flared. It screeched and gave its companion a solid smack on the head, leaving the other goblin stunned. Then the two goblins started wrestling... ¡°Thud!¡± ¡°Thud!¡± Two more stones flew in with precise aim, hitting the skulls of the fighting goblins. The third goblin stood up, eyes wide, pointing in the distance and shouting ¡°Aah aah.¡± The two goblins, attracted by their companion¡¯s voice, immediately stopped fighting and looked in the direction it pointed... A few dozen meters outside the ruins. An enchanting woman was leaning against an ancient tree, one hand playing with a curl of her hair, the other stroking her own thigh. ¡°She¡± saw the three goblins looking at her, winked at them, then licked her lips and blew a kiss. The goblins¡¯ eyes immediately lit up. At this moment, their simple minds began the most complex calculation of a goblin¡¯s life... Head + two legs + upright + nice clothes = human Human + xx + xx = woman Woman = offspring ... Their eyes lit up. They grabbed their weapons, shouting excitedly as they sprinted towards the ¡°woman.¡± The ¡°woman,¡± in turn, spun around and ran into the depths of the forest like a graceful leopard. The goblins didn¡¯t notice anything amiss; they followed like fish caught on a hook, running further and further... A few minutes later, the three goblins felt something was off... This woman, she was running way too fast, as fast as a ¡°Child of Nature¡± elf. By now, they had chased her to a clearing surrounded by lush bushes and trees. The woman in front stopped and turned around, showing a roguish smile as she spoke in a rough and teasing voice, ¡°Suckers, you¡¯ve been tricked.¡± As soon as the words fell, ¡°she¡± flashed with a brilliance, transforming into a red afro-cross-dressing elf¡ªDemacia. The three goblins were instantly stunned at this sight. Before they could react, several vines suddenly sprang up from all directions, shooting towards the goblins. It was Li Mu¡¯s Entangling Vines skill. Then, Gugu Bird and Boxed Lunch leaped out from the bushes, forming a triangle with Demacia to surround the goblins. ¡°Get them!¡± Demacia drew the wooden sword he¡¯d hidden earlier and charged in with excitement. The three goblins were at first flustered, then they let out an angry roar, drew their weapons, and started hacking at the vines... ¡°Crack¡±... Under Li Mu¡¯s astonished gaze, the magic vines were cut by the goblins¡¯ scimitars, and the three players engaged in combat with the goblins. However, once the fighting started, the scene became rather comical... ¡°Whoa! Gugu Bird, you almost kicked me!¡± ¡°Sorry, you were in my way.¡± ¡°These goblins are so strong!¡± ¡°Wait, I think I got hit...¡± ¡°Healing minor wounds!¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the magic support? Little Xian Miao, magic support!¡± ¡°Coming, coming!¡± ¡°Damn, your Fireball Technique burned me! Can you aim better?¡± ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t rush the fight! Conserve magic power and stamina, prioritize self-preservation! Attack when there¡¯s an opening! We have strength in numbers, they can¡¯t outlast us!¡± Once truly engaged in combat, all plans went out the window. Under the goblins¡¯ frenzied attacks, the five players were surprisingly caught in a fluster... For a moment, they were even being suppressed. Especially the three strength-based fighters in close combat; if it weren¡¯t for the agile Boxed Lunch constantly salvaging the situation, Demacia and Gugu Bird would probably have been badly wounded by now. But even so, the three of them struggled to hold on. Basa hid in the nearby forest, watching everything with furrowed brows. ¡°Five level 10 Chosen Ones being pressed down by three mere level 8 goblins, what a joke.¡± His voice carried deep disappointment. It was well known that goblins on the Segis Continent were synonymous with stupidity and weakness. To make a comparison, it was akin to the human disdain for pigs and cockroaches on Earth combined. In the Segis Continent, goblin wasn¡¯t just a term for a species; it was also an insult. ¡°You goblin!¡± was the greatest taunt to inflame any intelligent creature. This was precisely why, when Demacia suggested the lure tactic, both Basa and Alice were so averse... It was akin to asking a human on Earth to seduce a wild boar or cockroach, and there was even a risk of backfiring... ¡°Mother Goddess, it seems they are good at construction but not so much at combat. Why do you have such high expectations for them?¡± Basa knew Eve was also watching the fight, so he didn¡¯t hide his doubts. The observing Eve let out a gentle laugh, then her dignified voice echoed in Basa¡¯s mind, ¡°No rush, just keep watching.¡± Hearing Eve¡¯s reply, Basa was inwardly resigned but continued to frown as he watched. *Fine, let the goblins curb their arrogance, so they don¡¯t fool around all the time.* However, gradually, the situation seemed to start changing subtly.* ¡°` Chapter 29: Truly Enticing (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Truly Enticing (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html After the initial chaos, the players seemed to gradually get the hang of the goblins¡¯ rhythm. They stopped their offensive approach and started to defend, conserving their stamina while improving their coordination with each other. Even though several players were slightly injured, they gradually gained the upper hand and shifted from passive defense to active defense. As for the goblins, they gradually couldn¡¯t hold on. Level 8 was still level 8, and due to their inherent racial disadvantages, even with richer battle experience, they began to tire. Finally, after both sides fought for five to six minutes, the players started their counterattack. ... ¡°Their speed has slowed down!¡± ¡°They¡¯re tired, what a chance! Demacia, use your ultimate!¡± ¡°Unyielding...! Whirlwind Slash!¡± Demacia roared, first applying an unyielding buff to himself which instantly increased his defense and attack power. Then, he performed his powerful attack skill, Whirlwind Slash, causing his little green skirt to be blown upwards, revealing the Holy Light underneath. With three loud ¡°thwack¡± sounds, the weapons in three goblins¡¯ hands were immediately struck away by him. ¡°Charge!¡± Following a loud shout, Boxed Lunch and Cuckoo Bird rushed forward, simultaneously using their skills to effortlessly eliminate two goblins. The third goblin, seeing the unfavorable situation, turned to flee but was ensnared by a vine from Li Mu, and then reduced to ashes by a fireball from Little Xian Miao... The three goblins were finally dead, and their bodies turned to ashes under the operation of the war sacrifice, leaving only their tattered equipment. The five players received a system notification, each gaining a generous amount of experience points. Additionally, a new quest prompt appeared in their system tab: [Eliminate Goblins: 3]. As the goblins perished, Eve also felt two forces crossing the void towards her. The weaker one was the goblins¡¯ life force, and the stronger one was the resentment of the Elf Souls, both feeding back into her, providing her approximately 0.03 points of Divine Power. The players slumped to the ground, panting heavily while receiving treatment from Li Mu. ¡°Finally got rid of them.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t expect these goblins to be so troublesome.¡± ¡°Boxed Lunch, your moves were impressive earlier! If it weren¡¯t for you, I might have died once.¡± Demacia lay on the ground, speaking while exhaling. Boxed Lunch didn¡¯t say a word but nodded, silently collecting the weapons left behind by the goblins. Seeing those weapons, Cuckoo Bird¡¯s eyes lit up: ¡°These scimitars are nice, sharper than our wooden swords.¡± ¡°Haha, our first loot.¡± *¡±Ah... no Divine Blood Crystal drop, a bit of a letdown.¡±* The players chatted away. Watching the players¡¯ good mood, Berserker¡¯s mood wasn¡¯t as bright. *¡±Why are you so proud of just eliminating three goblins at such a great expense?¡±* *¡±Don¡¯t worry, just keep watching.¡±* Eve smiled slightly, responding in his mind. Berserker sighed, continuing his observation. After some healing, the players finally recovered from their injuries. The five players gathered for a meeting. Li Mu had a somewhat serious expression. He sighed and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect just three goblins to be this troublesome. It seems our coordination and combat skills need improvement.¡± Cuckoo Bird nodded, ¡°Agreed.¡± This game¡¯s combat was too realistic, and the techniques they used on those mindless, weak monsters were almost useless against the somewhat intelligent goblins. ¡°However, this experiment proved that Demacia¡¯s strategy was usable. Though risks still existed, the goblins had short legs and couldn¡¯t run as fast as us elves...¡± ¡°Not directly entering Feilengcui was a wise choice. These were just the weakest three goblins; can¡¯t imagine how strong the ones inside are.¡± ¡°A war of attrition is still possible; we can pick off the weakest ones first, improving our coordination and skills gradually, and confront the stronger goblins once we grow stronger.¡± ¡°Their endurance is quite poor, as long as you survive the initial frenzy, they become easier to handle.¡± ¡°Their vision seems a bit problematic; using high-attack-speed skills during battles might work wonders.¡± ¡°Agreed, and I think we could involve other players, but it¡¯s best if everyone in the team is level 10. If not, it¡¯s better to have two teams acting together.¡± ¡°Those with magic should be careful, as it¡¯s too easy for friendly fire...¡± ¡°Everyone needs to stay quiet and develop stealthily. Don¡¯t alert all the goblins; if they all come, we¡¯re done for...¡± ¡°We can pull about a dozen at a time, have someone lure them far, then each small team targets one. We can¡¯t handle them one-on-one, so we¡¯ll gang up on them instead.¡± ¡°In a brawl, the goblins are no match for us. Once we grow stronger, we can counterattack!¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°...¡± The five players¡¯ discussion also reached Berserker¡¯s ears. Hearing their analysis, Berserker felt a slight surprise: *¡±By the Mother Goddess... it seems, they aren¡¯t entirely lacking in unity and discipline. Whether or not they possess the noble qualities of the elves, they do seem to share some human-like cunning and intelligence. Trapping and ganging up on goblins... what an idea they have.¡±* Listening to Berserker¡¯s exclamation, Eve shook her head. *They were just a group of humans in elf skins...* After their discussion, the strike team summarized their battle experience into a simple guide and shared it with other players through the live stream. Meanwhile, the other players waiting at camp began to teleport through the completed Teleportation Array. Before long, dozens of players appeared in the forest one after another. ¡°Let¡¯s get the party started!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been looking forward to this! Watching the stream just got my blood pumping!¡± ¡°Demacia¡¯s moves were so stiff! If it weren¡¯t for Boxed Lunch showing up, I thought he would¡¯ve been down!¡± Seeing the excited players, the five pioneers quickly reminded them, ¡°Don¡¯t get too worked up, these goblins aren¡¯t pushovers, don¡¯t let them get the better of you.¡± The players remained optimistic, ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just a matter of ganging up on them; five against one is always doable. Besides, we have three perfect revives.¡± ¡°The combat experience in this game looks incredibly realistic! I wonder if it can be used in real life once we get skilled...¡± ¡°Is anyone going to lure them? Demacia, how about you do it again?¡± Demacia: ... Someone¡¯s expression darkened, responding firmly, ¡°If you want to go, go yourselves, I¡¯m not doing it again!¡± What a joke, he, a strapping man, once was enough for the drag thing! ¡°If you lure them, our small team¡¯s loot can be shared with you.¡± ¡°Our team could too.¡± Demacia remained silent for a few seconds, then turned to look at Little Xian Miao, who was snickering on the side, and said blandly, ¡°Got any Magic Power left? Disguise spell, right? Alright, I¡¯m all set.¡± ¡°` Chapter 30: Chopping Vegetables (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!) Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Chopping Vegetables (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html One kilometer outside the Feilengcui Ruins, twenty-one instance groups formed by players, totaling over ninety people, waited quietly. Demacia, once again bribed by loot, transformed back into Dema, taking on the glorious task of luring monsters. This time, he delved deeper than before and attracted over a dozen goblins at once, including three that had reached level 10, which were elite goblins. More than ten goblins wielding curved swords and wooden clubs chased after him, chattering excitedly. Not only that, but a few goblins had bows and arrows. However, when they intended to shoot, they were stopped by the elite goblins. ... They wanted an intact female humanoid; capturing alive without injury was best. This goblin mindset made Dema¡¯s luring plan go even more smoothly. He led the goblins back to the clearing where they had been before and then stopped. Just as the dozen or so goblins thought the ¡°human¡± they were chasing was exhausted from running, suddenly, at the command of ¡°attack,¡± nearly a hundred tall figures sprang out from the surrounding grass. El... elves? The dozen goblins were instantly stunned. ¡°It¡¯s the goblins!¡± ¡°The goblins are here!¡± ¡°One, two, three... a total of eighteen! Everyone, one goblin per team! Those three level 10 elites, two teams per goblin!¡± ¡°Charge! Swarm them!¡± The elves, their eyes red, panting heavily, seemed in a state of excitement. They charged forward, swinging wooden swords and yelling, afraid that if they were even a second slow, someone else would steal their monsters. The goblins were completely dumbfounded. *Where did this bunch of crazy elves come from?* *Where did so many elves pop out of the Elf Forest?! Weren¡¯t they all gone?* *Wait a minute... are these really the lofty, elegant, reserved long-eared beings?* *By the Hunting God, have they gone mad?* The goblins wanted to flee, but they were already surrounded by players. ¡°Quick! Spellcasters, use control skills to separate them! Attack magic works too!¡± ¡°Encircle! Encircle! There¡¯s one trying to escape over there!¡± ¡°Whoa, don¡¯t use area damage! You almost hit an ally!¡± With various long-range magical disturbances, the goblins were gradually separated, starting to face one team of players after another... If the five pioneer players had struggled against three goblins earlier, now ninety-plus facing eighteen green-skins was no challenge at all. With strategies passed down from predecessors, players completely entered a cooperative combat state. Every team found their target, taking turns to move forward, swinging a blade each, hitting then retreating without engagement; if goblins wanted to chase, they used magic to harass, if goblins tried to run, they used control skills to stop... Even with the goblins¡¯ rich combat experience, they couldn¡¯t withstand the players¡¯ frenzy. Over ten minutes later, the last goblin was hacked to death by the players, while they paid the price of only a dozen light injuries and one death. The person who died was unfortunately taken out by friendly magic. Even Li Mu and his group were stunned by the players¡¯ bursting combat power: ¡°Wow, you guys are ruthless...¡± The players were not yet satisfied: ¡°This scene, a bit bloody... but so refreshing.¡± ¡°Not enough, not enough, only a dozen for experience is too little...¡± ¡°I only got in one strike...¡± ¡°Dema, how about luring some more?¡± Dema choked for a moment... ¡°Hurry up, go lure, we¡¯ll split the loot with you!¡± ¡°If a Divine Blood Crystal drops, you¡¯ll get a share of the rewards exchanged from the Goddess!¡± The players added. Hearing this, Dema¡¯s expression turned serious: ¡°You better keep your word!¡± ¡°Here I go!¡± With a loud shout, he flicked his small green skirt and once again headed towards Feilengcui. Moments later, over a dozen goblins, shrieking loudly, chased after... The battle began again... Thus, the players began their monster farming mission around Feilengcui. With continuous battles, their teamwork grew better and better. At first, it was one team against one goblin, then it became one team against two. Later, even with level 10 elite goblins, a level 10 player team could compete against three. They may not have been stronger than their opponents individually, but the battles became more rhythmic. The players had clear roles, some attracting targets, others ambushing, each taking turns striking goblins down, persevering until the goblins wore out... Not only that, the players enjoyed the sweetness of experience points, switching to the relatively sharp curved swords wielded by goblins, making fights more efficient and enjoyable... and even a dozen level 9 players leveled up directly. With continuous goblin defeat, the second Divine Blood Crystal was discovered. ¡°Divine Blood Crystal! We found the Divine Blood Crystal!¡± A player excitedly exclaimed, holding up a light green crystal. ¡°Whoa! Luck King!¡± ¡°Which monster did it drop from?¡± ¡°It was an elite goblin!¡± The lucky player replied excitedly. It was a goblin who had just collected the Divine Blood Crystal from the forest, preparing to return to its lair to hand it over to the priest, only to be lured in by Dema halfway... Elite Goblin? Upon hearing this, all the players¡¯ eyes lit up. ¡°So it¡¯s rare items that drop from elite goblins...¡± ¡°The drop rate is so low, over ninety people up against nearly a hundred goblins, almost twenty elites, and it only dropped one piece...¡± ¡°Ugh, what a frustrating drop rate.¡± ¡°The developers should ride a horse.¡± ¡°You guys should be content! Back when I played online games to farm phantom crystals, that drop rate was truly emotional. Twenty or more elite goblins dropping one Divine Blood Crystal is already quite good.¡± ¡°Whatever, let¡¯s lure more elite goblins, I won¡¯t believe we can¡¯t farm out a Divine Blood Crystal today!¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the mock tank? Where¡¯s the mock tank?¡± ¡°Hey¡ªDema, go lure some monsters! Bring more, especially elites!¡± The players shouted. Dema: ... Seeing the increasingly enthusiastic, ever stronger players, the observing Berserker was finally moved. This group, Chosen Ones, showed unity and vigor against the goblins far beyond his imagination! Not only that, their speed of improvement was astonishing, and their battle frenzy was mind-blowing. What was even more touching was that although they weren¡¯t Believers of the Mother Goddess Her Excellency, they willingly fought for the Goddess without fear! At this moment, Berserker felt a slight respect for the players. ¡°By the Mother Goddess above, Your wisdom awes Berserker.¡± ¡°I finally understood why You summoned them. These Chosen Ones may not have been born warriors, but they have infinite potential to become a powerful army! Though not Your Believers, they are more fervent than typical Believers!¡± ¡°However, they lack even a shred of chivalry... and tend to be a bit greedy, even somewhat disgraceful.¡± Watching players nearly fight over discarded goblin curved swords, Berserker shook his head helplessly. Eve? could understand this though. She provided players with crudely made wooden swords, while the goblins¡¯ curved swords, though not of great quality, were at least metal and sharper, taken from Human Caravans. To players, these were better equipment. Feeling the feedback from the goblins killed by players, Eve?¡¯s mood grew more delightful. ¡°Accumulated 1.2 Divine Power points.¡± She thought cheerfully. Perhaps due to long-term occupation of the elves¡¯ sacred grounds, the resentment of Elf Souls feedback from the slain goblins was considerable. In less than half a day, Eve? was recouping her investment in creating players¡¯ bodies. If you counted the new Divine Blood Crystal discovered by players, She was already making a profit. ¡°Though distant, I¡¯m one step closer to having a physical incarnation.¡± Looking at Her nearly 13 points of Divine Power, envisioning the 100-point goal, Eve? consoled herself. She was tired of being an immobile background figure... The players¡¯ battles continued, and as the goblins in Feilengcui dwindled in number, the goblin priest in the ruins finally noticed something was amiss. ¡°` Chapter 31 - 31 Goblin High Priest (Vote for recommendation!) Chapter 31: Chapter 31 Goblin High Priest (Vote for recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html This was a toppled and dilapidated temple. The symbols of the Mother Nature and the Elf Rune Stele had long been destroyed by sharp weapons and desecrated with filthy blood. The statue, originally belonging to the Goddess, had also been smashed, replaced by a wooden male Divine clad in furs and holding a battle axe and a longbow. This was Uller, the god of winter and hunting. At the base of the statue, an elderly, hunched goblin was kneeling and worshiping. ... It wore a tattered mage robe stolen from a human caravan, an awkward felt hat, and in front of it lay a crystal glowing faintly green. ¡°Great god of winter and hunting, this is the third Divine Blood Crystal your servant has found this month, only seven more to reach the minimum offering of thirty-three required to be sacrificed to you.¡± It hunched its body, eyes cloudy, with wrinkles seemingly etched into its bones, its expression fervent and devout. Because Uller resided in the Heavenly Realm, a cross-realm sacrifice required considerable energy. Thus, to conserve Divine Power, She instructed her followers to gather enough offerings before making a concentrated sacrifice, only engaging in simple communications with believers at most during ordinary times. As the goblin prayed, the statue emitted a faint golden light that gently brushed over its body. For a moment, the old goblin felt as if its aged body had regained some youth. ¡°Praise be to the god of winter and hunting!¡± The old goblin expressed slight joy, bowing its head even lower. After finishing its prayer to the Divine, the old goblin stood up. It adjusted the felt hat on its head, carefully picked up the Skull Wand with a massive Treasure Bead embedded in it from under its body, and lovingly wiped it clean before leaving the ruined temple, satisfied. The old goblin¡¯s name was Gululu, an 11-level Black Iron Lower goblin priest. However, Gululu preferred to call itself the High Priest, because in the goblin tribe dominating the Feilengcui Ruins, it possessed the strongest power; the other three goblin priests were no match for it, submitting to its rule. Its strength did not stem from abundant Divine Favor but rather from a fortunate encounter before being recruited by Uller when it obtained a Magic Wand, becoming a rare goblin spellcaster. Moreover, it also mastered mysterious Undead Magic! It was because of this Undead Magic that it could suppress the other two goblin priests of the same 11-level so thoroughly. *However, it was already too old.* *If things developed normally, it would have at most three years left to live.* Fortunately, Uller¡¯s appearance offered it hope. The magnificent deity promised that if it could collect thirty-three shards of the World Tree¡¯s Divine Blood Crystal by the year¡¯s end, she would grant it a new life. Gululu¡¯s luck was not too bad. For some reason, since the Great War of the Gods a millennium ago, the World Tree¡¯s Divine Blood Crystals lost in the Elf Forest had been nearly forgotten, with Uller only recently discreetly initiating a divine oracle to search for them. Thus, for believers who worked hard, gathering some crystals was not exceedingly difficult. With the tribe¡¯s power, in just a few months, it had amassed a total of twenty-six. ¡°*Thus, strength is the foundation of this world!*¡± Gululu caressed its Skull Wand, saying to itself in ecstasy. After walking out of the temple, Gululu arrived at the street in the Feilengcui Ruins. However, seeing the vast emptiness of the broken ruins, its aged eyebrows gradually furrowed. ¡°*Why are there so few people?*¡± Gululu looked around and saw a goblin sleeping soundly. It sneered quietly, walked over, and kicked it awake. The goblin woke up angrily, grabbing a stick to retaliate, but after recognizing Gululu, it immediately changed its expression, crouching like a docile chick, muttering ¡°Ah-yah, ah-yah¡± while kissing Gululu¡¯s toes... A trace of disdain flashed in Gululu¡¯s eyes. It looked down on these intellectually inferior kin. *In its perspective, although they shared the same appearance, they were entirely different species.* *This group of inept waste couldn¡¯t even speak Common Language!* *If it weren¡¯t for its inability to summon undead capable of touching Divine Blood Crystals with its Undead Magic, crucial to its treasure hunt, it wouldn¡¯t even bother acknowledging this bunch of waste.* However, the tribe¡¯s strength was indispensable at present to achieve its goals. With this in mind, it nudged the goblin on the ground and asked, ¡°Where are the others? Why did so many suddenly disappear?¡± Upon hearing Gululu¡¯s words, the goblin¡¯s face showed a hint of bewilderment, then realization dawned, and it began to exclaim ¡°Ah-ah-ah¡± while gesturing something. ¡°*Hmm? You say they saw a human woman passing by outside the ruins? They went to capture her?*¡± Gululu frowned. The goblin nodded repeatedly. Having the confirmation, Gululu¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. ¡°*A human woman?*¡± *The closest human kingdom to the Elf Forest was several hundred kilometers away; human caravans only passed through in the summer, and where would that leave room for any human woman?* *This pack of waste must be longing for females madly!* It flung away the responding goblin, then walked toward the edge of Feilengcui. As it moved forward, Gululu¡¯s expression darkened increasingly. Because it realized the goblin numbers in the ruins dwindled far more than it anticipated. ¡°*At least two hundred must have run off...*¡± It muttered through gritted teeth. As Gululu advanced, a commotion erupted from the southwest direction of the Feilengcui Ruins. Gululu raised an eyebrow, walking over inconspicuously... ... Southwest entrance of Feilengcui. The disguised Demacia continued to flaunt as usual. Not only that, but to attract more elite monsters, he also boldly ventured deeper into the ruins. ¡°*Come on, you adorable little creatures!*¡± Watching the goblins gradually attracted by him, Demacia sneered inwardly. Yet suddenly, a sense of impending danger arose instinctively within. Demacia¡¯s heart tightened, feeling as though a venomous snake had targeted him... The Elf body¡¯s senses were highly acute. Demacia almost instinctively turned his head toward a certain direction. As soon as he identified the source of danger, he felt the scalp-tingling terror envelop him. On a ruined stele within the ruins, a goblin shrouded in a shady mage robe was coldly staring at him. It was none other than the Goblin High Priest, Gululu. The eerie, terrifying aura emanating from him was palpable to Demacia even from several dozen meters away. ¡°*Damn... such bad luck, definitely triggered a BOSS!*¡± Sensing Gululu¡¯s gaze, Demacia cursed inwardly. ¡°*Time to scram...*¡± He hesitated not for a moment, turning to flee. ¡°*A human woman, is it...*¡± Gululu let out a soft chuckle. Upon first laying eyes on this so-called ¡°woman,¡± it discerned that a certain disguise magic seemed to shroud them. ¡°*Could it be a mercenary?*¡± Gululu speculated within. But since it had discovered Demacia, it intended not to let him escape. *Two hundred missing goblins were no small matter!* *He had to catch this detestable bastard!* Gululu resolved with clenched teeth. It worried not about any hidden mercenary forces backing him; Demacia didn¡¯t dare appear openly before Gululu, indicating his awareness of his inferior strength. *Resorting to sneaky tactics even to deal with goblins, demonstrating his guilty conscience!* With this realization, it decisively swung the giant Skull Wand, releasing a chilling energy from the Treasure Bead. Amid eerie energy fluctuations, skeletal hands emerged beneath Demacia, fiercely grabbing at his legs... Meanwhile, watching the live player broadcast within the Divine Space, Eve¡¯s Divine Soul trembled, suddenly sensing a stirring unease welling up from within. ¡°` Chapter 32: World Boss! (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 32: Chapter 32: World Boss! (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html ¡°What happened?¡± Eve¡¯s heart skipped a beat. She quickly turned off the live stream and left the Divine Space, directing her consciousness into reality. At this moment, that feeling of restlessness still existed. More accurately, it seemed to be a mysterious call. This situation was the first Eve had encountered. Unlike the prayers she had heard before, this sense of restlessness was an inexplicable familiarity, yet seemed to be mixed with something else, or perhaps... emotions.* ... *Sadness, pain, despair...* *This sensation made Eve very uncomfortable.* After pondering for a moment, she emptied her mind. Once her Divine Soul calmed down, she finally found the source of this restlessness... ¡°Northeast, huh...¡± Eve felt a surge in her heart and looked toward a certain place in the Elf Forest. In that direction lay the area where the players were concentrated. *Did they trigger something?* Eve furrowed her brow in her consciousness. *But it can¡¯t be. I was just watching over ninety players in the live stream, and they weren¡¯t doing anything outlandish...* She dismissed her previous thought. However, suddenly, Eve realized something... No. No, that¡¯s not right! There was one player she hadn¡¯t been paying attention to! Eve realized she had overlooked someone, so she hurriedly returned to the Divine Space and went straight to the Blue Star Network channel. In the light green Divine Space, around the blue light sphere symbolizing the Blue Star Network world, three hundred smaller photons flashed continuously, rotating around it. This was the connection channel between Eve and the three hundred players, an essential part of the game system network. And as soon as she arrived here, Eve also sensed that mysterious calling. Her spirits lifted, and she instantly pinpointed the source of the restlessness¡ªa continuously flashing photon. ¡°This is... Demacia¡¯s photon, did he encounter something? He should be luring monsters in Feilengcui...¡± Eve¡¯s heart leapt. She didn¡¯t hesitate, immediately splitting a thread of Divine Sense to touch the connection channel, instantly ¡°seeing¡± Demacia¡¯s location... ... ¡°What the hell?! What the hell is this?!¡± At the edge of Feilengcui, Demacia, looking at the skeletal hands sprouting from the ground, turned green in the face. ¡°Undead Magic?!¡± He took a deep breath and roared: ¡°Unyielding!¡± The tank skill activated, instantly boosting his defensive and offensive power. Demacia¡¯s strength doubled for a brief moment. He used all his might to kick away the bone hands reaching for him, then sprinted off... ¡°Damn, it¡¯s a priest... It¡¯s definitely a Goblin priest, it¡¯s definitely that creepy and terrifying aura Gululu mentioned. We¡¯re screwed this time.¡± Demacia cursed as he ran. When he used his skill, the disguise spell on him broke, revealing his true form. ¡°An elf?!¡± In the distance, Gululu watched Demacia¡¯s back, a bit dumbfounded. He thought it would be a human, but unexpectedly it was a male elf! *Why would a male elf disguise himself as a human female? Where is the pride and arrogance of the Elf Clan?* *Wait a second, his strength is so weak!* Gululu had never seen an adult elf without any Black Iron Power! It squinted slightly, as if realizing something. ¡°An elf? I¡¯ve never killed an elf before... Heh.¡± Gululu smiled slightly, licking his cracked lips: ¡°The Hunting God despises the elf race most. If I can catch this elf and offer him and a Divine Blood Crystal as a blood sacrifice to Her Excellency, it will surely please Her...¡± With this thought, it waved the Skull Wand again. As it moved, the Treasure Bead on the wand released deep purple energy, transforming into more than ten humanoid skeleton undead, each with the strength of a level 10 peak! Despite summoning so many skeletons, Gululu looked unhurried, as if the exertion was negligible. ¡°Catch him,¡± it commanded. Following the order, the undead made creaking noises, clawing toward Demacia... Feeling the chilling wind at his back, Demacia instinctively glanced back, and what he saw almost made him wet his pants. ¡°What the hell?! Is this really an 11th-level priest? This summoning skill is way over the top! Are they hacking?!¡± Cursing the ¡°damn developers¡± in his heart, Demacia ran back with every ounce of strength he had. After only two steps, he hesitated, then quickly changed direction. ¡°No... This NPC is a bit tough. If I lure it back and everyone can¡¯t beat it, it would be a wipeout. Better to lure it away. If it doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll just die...¡± Demacia muttered to himself. He still had enough virtue not to screw over his teammates. If the teleportation array was destroyed, the quest would be over. The agility of elves was indeed high. Once he burst out his escape power, Demacia managed to ditch the undead for a moment. ¡°Trying to escape?¡± Gululu squinted, holding its wand with a cold smile, chasing after him. In its view, the fate of this daring elf was already sealed. *He would become a sacrifice for the True God!* At the same time, Eve¡¯s gaze also fell on Demacia. ¡°Undead?!¡± Seeing the skeletons chasing Demacia, Eve was slightly taken aback. Then instantly, her mood sank. ¡°They¡¯re Elf Clan undead...¡± Eve made the judgment. Elf bones were similar to humans and usually hard to differentiate. However, being the master of the elves, Eve recognized them immediately upon seeing the other party. At that moment, she finally understood what the mysterious restlessness was. Someone was blatantly enslaving the undead of the Elf Clan in her domain, and for Eve, the master of the elves, it was abnormal not to have any reaction. Seeing Gululu, who was enslaving the undead, made Eve¡¯s mood even worse. ¡°A Goblin priest worshiping Uller?¡± Eve¡¯s voice was icy, already giving a death sentence in her heart. Yet simultaneously, a trace of doubt rose in her heart. An 11th-level Goblin with such Magic Power to enslave so many elf undead? Although the elf undead it summoned were only level 10, the number was excessive. Furthermore, Eve could feel it hadn¡¯t fully unleashed its power. Upon seeing the wand glowing continuously in Gululu¡¯s hand, Eve made some connections. ¡°It¡¯s the power of that wand. There¡¯s something strange about it...¡± Understanding the cause, Eve calmed down. Watching the Goblin priest crazily chase Demacia, she suddenly let out a low laugh: ¡°Heh... Elf undead?¡± If this Goblin were enslaving other undead, with its 11th-level strength, perhaps the players wouldn¡¯t stand a chance. But elf undead... The wooden swords Eve made for the players already had cleansing effects. As the master of elves, the weapons she created were best at purifying Elf Souls! ¡°Well, the players have trained enough, and they haven¡¯t used the perfect revivals much. It¡¯s a good time to test the effects.¡± With this thought, Eve activated her Divine Power once again, making a grand gesture¡ª At the same time, a new game system alert appeared in the vision of all players, the entire system flashing red! [Ding¡ª¡ª] [WARNING! WARNING!] [Player ¡°Demacia¡± has triggered a world BOSS! Player ¡°Demacia¡± has triggered a world BOSS!] [World BOSS mission initiated¡ª] [Mission target: Goblin Undead Priest (level 11 / Black Iron Lower)] [Mission objective: Kill the Goblin Undead Priest and offer the Undead Staff to the Goddess Eve] [Mission reward: Exclusive title ¡°Goblin Slayer,¡± 3 perfect revivals, a large amount of experience and contributions] [Mission hint: The weapons blessed by the Goddess have a cleansing effect, increasing the damage to undead] [Brave Chosen Ones, charge for the honor of the Goddess and the Elf Clan!] The players were initially stunned, then suddenly erupted into excitement! ¡°` Chapter 33 - 33 Lets Do It! (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 33: Chapter 33 Let¡¯s Do It! (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations 33. Get It! ¡°Holy crap! It¡¯s a world BOSS!¡± ¡°What¡¯s with Demacia¡¯s luck? Isn¡¯t he usually unlucky?¡± ¡°The rewards are amazing, the exclusive title of ¡®Goblin Slayer!¡¯ Plus 3 perfect revival chances, loads of experience points, and contribution!¡± ¡°I just need a few hundred experience to reach level 11.¡± ¡°Same here! Me too!¡± ... The players instantly became as energized as if they were on a caffeine high, each one acting like a wolf with bright eyes. In online games, world BOSS tasks, where the whole server takes on an elite monster mission, were always immensely profitable and cost-effective. ¡°Huh? Why is Demacia running farther away with the BOSS?¡± At this moment, someone noticed that the red dot on the mini-map had a strange movement pattern. ¡°No way, could he be lost and running in a panic?¡± ¡°Maybe he¡¯s trying to protect the Teleportation Array...¡± Suddenly, as if realizing something, someone¡¯s expression slightly changed: ¡°This isn¡¯t good, he¡¯s definitely going to be overwhelmed by himself. If he dies and the BOSS disengages, the mission might just fail.¡± ¡°Oh crap, that¡¯s totally possible!¡± ¡°Makes sense! We better get over there quick!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go! Take on the world BOSS!¡± The players quickly analyzed the situation and decided to set off immediately for fear that the BOSS might run away. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Take down the world BOSS!¡± ¡°Everyone, switch to wooden swords and staffs! The mission hint suggests a damage bonus!¡± ¡°Hold on, notify everyone at the camp. Tell them to accept all the tasks asap, come and deal some damage to catch some world BOSS experience, this is the first world BOSS!¡± In an instant, the entire player army operated like a giant machine. Nearly a hundred elves carried the collected scimitars and bows on their backs, switched to their starting weapons, and headed towards the direction of the red dot on the mini-map in an imposing manner. After countless battles, they gained some experience, and now that they were in action, they had an intimidating air about them. Meanwhile, countless players from the camp who got word geared up excitedly and rushed over from the Teleportation Array. They all accepted the task, planning to deal some damage and get a slice of the pie, each one filled with excitement. In no time, three hundred Chosen Ones moved out in full force! Berserker, observing them secretly, was totally stunned by this suddenly frenzied group of Chosen Ones. ¡°Mother Goddess above, what¡¯s happened to them?¡± ¡°A goblin priest appeared, and it¡¯s a powerful goblin priest that has enslaved countless Elf Souls, I informed them about this.¡± Seeing the players acting like they¡¯re on a caffeine high, the heart of Eve eased slightly, so she explained in Berserker¡¯s mind. A goblin priest that enslaves Elf Souls? Hearing this, Berserker was furious. Evil and degenerated goblins, this is the greatest insult to the Divine Crown! He couldn¡¯t wait to rush over and slap that brazen guy to death! However, thinking of the one behind the goblins, he could only suppress his urge. No... He couldn¡¯t disrupt the Divine Crown¡¯s plan... Wait a minute... Wait... Suddenly, Berserker¡¯s mind cleared up, he stood up from the woods, and looked in disbelief at the players charging in a certain direction, saying in shock: ¡°Mother Goddess... You... You mean, these Chosen Ones are going to kill the goblin priest?¡± A goblin priest capable of enslaving Elf Souls, even without meeting the opponent, Berserker could guess that they were undoubtedly powerful. At least for the Chosen Ones, this was definitely a challenge. They were not believers of the Mother Goddess, but when the dignity of the Mother Goddess was challenged, these Chosen Ones hesitated not a second, took the initiative and charged forward courageously! Listening to the distant slogans of the players, ¡°Charge!¡± ¡°For the Elves! For the Goddess!¡±... At this moment, Berserker felt somewhat touched. Mother Goddess above, these Chosen Ones, although cunning and greedy, could be so devoted, reliable, and brave to protect the Mother Goddess at times like this... Mother Goddess, Your choice, is truly perceptive! Thinking about his previous prejudices against the Chosen Ones, Berserker felt he might have to reevaluate them. Not only that, when Berserker saw the reddened eyes of the players and their slightly twisted faces from excitement, his perception changed once more. *It seemed as though they weren¡¯t heading into a grim battle, but a celebration!* They weren¡¯t true warriors, but they were definitely true heroes! Recalling the various battles of the Chosen Ones earlier, at this moment, Berserker couldn¡¯t help but sigh: ¡°Mother Goddess above, Your wisdom and vision put me to shame...¡± ¡°The Chosen Ones¡¯ enthusiasm for battle is astounding, far surpassing that of ordinary elves... It¡¯s precisely this quality that the peace-loving Elf Clan has been missing on its road to rise...¡± ¡°Mother Goddess, You were right. I think they will surely lead the Elf Clan to rise again and stand proudly on the Segis Continent one day!¡± ... Within the dense forest. Demacia stared at the system prompt in his vision, completely stunned. ¡°Wo...World BOSS...¡± He pinched his face and muttered, ¡°Is this good luck or bad luck?¡± Glancing at the undead getting closer behind him, Demacia felt terrible. ¡°Oh man, do they have to chase this closely...¡± He took a deep breath and accelerated once more. ¡°Since it¡¯s a world BOSS, I¡¯ll keep running in circles. Brother Mu will definitely come over once he receives the system message. Until then, I can¡¯t die. If the BOSS disengages and returns, the mission might just fail.¡± Demacia changed his idea of luring mobs into a suicidal run. And once the new target was set, he changed direction and started running in circles. Gululu, surrounded by undead, rode on the shoulder of a towering skeleton, tightly following Demacia. ¡°Hehe... Trying to buy time, are you?¡± Looking at the sweat-drenched elf, his eyes were filled with ridicule: ¡°Or rather, are you waiting for your companions?¡± By now, Gululu was a hundred percent sure that there was definitely some hidden force behind this elf. However, possessing undead magic, he was never afraid of being outnumbered. His undead, despite lacking intelligence, were numerous, and felt no pain, knew nothing of death or fear, making them fearless tools for group fights! Moreover, he didn¡¯t think his opponent was really strong, or they would have come straight at him already. ¡°This is an opportunity. I want to see who¡¯s playing tricks behind the scenes... Hehe, with elves involved, maybe I can catch some big fish this time.¡± He planned to use this chance to lure his opponent out... With continuous running, Demacia¡¯s stamina dropped rapidly. Even though he turned off the fatigue sensation, the physical fatigue debuff still made his actions increasingly ineffective. Finally, it seemed like he couldn¡¯t run any further and gradually came to a stop. ¡°Can¡¯t run anymore?¡± Gululu jumped down from the undead¡¯s shoulder, glaring coldly at Demacia. He waved his hand, and over a dozen level 10 undead swarmed, surrounding Demacia. Demacia turned his head, gasping for breath, wiping the sweat off his forehead, yet his expression held no tension or despair. Gululu¡¯s eyes flashed with surprise: ¡°You¡¯re not scared?¡± Demacia looked at the goblin priest dressed as a mage in front of him, suddenly grinned, displaying a row of white teeth: ¡°Scared of what?¡± He spat, ¡°My backup has arrived!¡± As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of excited shouts erupted around: ¡°It¡¯s the world BOSS! It¡¯s the world BOSS!¡± ¡°Kill it! Don¡¯t let it escape!¡± ¡°For the Elf Clan! For Her Highness Eve!¡± ¡°Down with the goblins!!¡± ¡°Get it!!!¡± Chapter 34: The Mad Elf (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 34: Chapter 34: The Mad Elf (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html With a chorus of cheers, countless figures dressed in hemp robes and wooden armor, wielding wooden swords and magic wands, emerged from all directions of the forest. The Goblin High Priest, Gululu, was startled by these excited cries. He raised his head, and upon clearly seeing those tall figures, he immediately exclaimed, ¡°Elves?!¡± By the Winter and Hunting God, where did so many elves emerge from in the Elf Forest?! ... Hadn¡¯t they already migrated everywhere? Gululu instinctively wanted to run. *For no other reason, this had been a long-standing belief for centuries; even if the Elf Clan had declined, an average elf still possessed strength above black iron.* *And he, a mere little goblin, even if he had encountered a lucky break and become a priest, could never handle dozens or even hundreds of elves.* However, the thought of fleeing was quickly extinguished by himself. ¡°Hmm? Something¡¯s not right...¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï???.§ã¦Ï Gululu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. If there truly were so many powerful elves, then his tribe would have long been driven out of the Elf Ruins. With this thought, Gululu looked more carefully, and upon closer inspection, he found peace of mind... This group of elves was nothing more than amateurs who hadn¡¯t even reached the strength of practitioners! In an instant, Gululu understood the cause and effect of the situation. *Yes, the disappearance of his goblin tribe had to be their doing!* But soon, this elderly goblin became more puzzled. Where did so many elves, not even level 11, come from? He pondered with his limited brain capacity... Couldn¡¯t figure it out... So he simply stopped thinking and became eager instead, ¡°Never mind, by the Winter and Hunting God! No matter where you came from, encountering me means bad luck for you! Offering your lives to the True God, I will surely receive Her rewards.¡± Eliminating so many elves would certainly earn him the favor of the Divine! Though the Elf Clan was powerful, they were not a warrior race, and their combat effectiveness had always been weaker at the same level. And in Gululu¡¯s eyes, these novice elves, not even level 11, were likely inferior to a group of level 10 goblins! These were opponents of such caliber that he could easily deal with them alone! Ha, he thought the elves would panic and flee at the first sign of injury, if not at the mere sight of his Undead Army... With this thought, Gululu let out a cold laugh and waved his wand. Purplish-black energy was released from the Skull Wand, and in the blink of an eye, another dozen or so skeleton undead appeared... ¡°Exterminate them! Let none escape!¡± Gululu commanded. Upon receiving Gululu¡¯s directive, the undead drew their bone knives and charged at the elves with ferocity... ¡°Damn, that¡¯s really undead magic!¡± The players who had arrived were shocked and momentarily stopped in their tracks. The Goblin High Priest watched the players with wide eyes, feeling even more smug. Heh heh... *Scared, aren¡¯t you?* The appearance of the skeleton undead was indeed frightening, and the undead he summoned were even more special, with their aura of death capable of eroding the souls of the weak! *No living being could witness his army without some degree of fear!* *Yes, this was the power of death, this was the power of an Undead Mage!* Feeling the surging energy within his wand, Gululu was enraptured... *Fear it!* *Flee from it!* *Then endure the relentless pursuit of the undead!* However, what the elves said next made him pause slightly. ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s so realistic... really gave me a fright...¡± ¡°No wonder it¡¯s a 100% realistic virtual reality game, even the undead magic effects are awesome!¡± ¡°These skeleton undead look so cool!¡± The elves were looking at the summoned undead with great excitement, without a hint of fear. They... weren¡¯t afraid? Their souls weren¡¯t affected by the aura of death? Gululu was astonished. But then, his expression turned derisive once more. Heh heh... *They must not yet understand the power of the undead, nor how they would gradually be consumed...* *What a bunch of inexperienced novices...* *They knew nothing of the power of the undead.* *Soon, they would witness what a true Undead Army was, and what fate worse than death meant!* With this thought, Gululu waved his wand once more, unleashing the full extent of his power... In an instant, another dozen skeleton undead were summoned. Countless undead gathered, exuding a dense aura of death, causing the temperature in the forest to drop by several degrees. Feeling the power of the undead, the Goblin High Priest was immensely proud. He sought to utterly overwhelm these clueless novices and show them the terror of death! ¡°Whoa! Summoned again!¡± ¡°Quick, identify their strength!¡± ¡°The boss is level 11, and the minions are level 10!¡± ¡°The minions protect the boss, attack the minions first! Clear the minions!¡± ¡°Melee attackers, go in first, casters, support from the rear!¡± ¡°Each team takes on two skeletons, the max-level teams target the boss! Look for weaknesses and attack mechanisms! Don¡¯t let it summon again!¡± ¡°Those who died, hurry from the resurrection point!¡± The elves chattered with terms Gululu couldn¡¯t understand and sprang into action. To the Goblin High Priest¡¯s surprise, not a single elf chose to flee; instead, they became increasingly excited. The elves, wielding wooden swords, charged at his Undead Army! The two forces instantly clashed. Blood splattered everywhere. The level 10 undead were indeed formidable; although the players had been somewhat seasoned, they were still no match. In no time, the first group that engaged was heavily injured, falling one after another under the undead¡¯s attack. Watching the elves, who were quickly suffering heavy casualties, the Goblin High Priest couldn¡¯t help but let out a cold laugh. Heh, trying to engage in close combat with the undead, what a bunch of fools. He could almost foresee the elves¡¯ shock and retreat. With the Elf Clan already scarce in population, Gululu believed they couldn¡¯t withstand significant casualties! He was convinced that once a few had died, the elves would start to flee. However, what happened next was beyond Gululu¡¯s expectations. Those injured elves who had fallen struggled to stand up again, all exceedingly excited and completely ignoring the bleeding wounds on their bodies. Especially the male elves. They wielded their weapons, as if the injuries and bleeding weren¡¯t their own, yelling as they continued rampaging against the undead. Gululu had no game system to sanitize the not-so-harmonious scenes. So, in his eyes, this battle was terrifyingly brutal... He saw an elf whose leg was severed, yet they didn¡¯t retreat but hopped around, still hacking with their wooden sword. He saw an elf whose arm was blown off by a companion¡¯s magic, only to turn around and curse, ¡°Aim better, you moron!¡± before plunging back into battle... He even saw an elf stabbed through the abdomen by an undead, intestines hanging out and swaying, yet acting as if they weren¡¯t hurt, laughing maniacally while fighting a skeleton undead... They traded blows with reckless abandon, completely ignoring their injuries and dwindling life forces. Every elf approaching death wore a look of exhilaration and satisfaction... At most, they¡¯d leave with an unexpected ¡°Whoa, I¡¯m gonna die!¡± before rolling their eyes shut and expiring. They also seemed indifferent to their comrades¡¯ fates. None mourned the death of a companion; they had eyes only for their enemies. Moreover, some elves, upon seeing a fallen comrade, even laughed mockingly and nonchalantly collected their fallen gear... Gululu was dumbfounded. *What... what was wrong with this group of elves?* *Didn¡¯t they feel pain?* *Did they lack emotions?* *Weren¡¯t they afraid of death?!* No, they truly weren¡¯t afraid of death... Gululu even saw an elf shout, intentionally throwing himself onto an undead¡¯s bone knife, getting skewered yet still clutching the undead tightly, exclaiming to his companions with excitement while spitting out blood, ¡°I got a hold of this skeleton, quick, let¡¯s tear it apart!¡± At that moment, Gululu was utterly stunned. He shivered involuntarily, muttering, ¡°Mad...¡± ¡°They must be mad...¡± ¡°These elves must have gone insane!¡± Chapter 35: The Collapse of the High Priest (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 35: Chapter 35: The Collapse of the High Priest (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Was it necessary? Gululu wanted to ask these elves, ¡°Was it necessary?¡± If it were them, they would have run away long ago. Why keep sending themselves to death...? Were these the elves who prided themselves on being elegant, noble, and loving life? Were these the elves who cherished peace and were cautious and conservative? ... Gululu swore... These were the most insane, most incomprehensible elves it had ever seen in its life! No, no... These were the most insane intelligent beings it had ever seen in its life! Not afraid of death, not afraid of pain, willing to die alongside their enemies to destroy them... *For a moment, Gululu even doubted if these elves were higher undead wrapped in elf skin!* Too terrifying... Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã0 Really too terrifying! Although their strength wasn¡¯t great, their fearlessness of pain and death made even the old goblin priest shiver in its heart! Not only that... Gululu had thought it could quickly eliminate this group of elves, but what surprised it was, after killing one, another would soon appear, as if they were endless. Of course, this was also because of racial reasons. It couldn¡¯t tell the elves apart, unable to see that many had ¡°died¡± and returned. However, Gululu also noticed that after these elves died, their bodies would slowly disappear... Seeing this incomprehensible scene, Gululu¡¯s eyes widened: ¡°Demons... They must be demons!¡± The hand holding the magic wand trembled slightly, doubting if it was seeing an illusion. However, the constantly falling undead conveyed a brutal reality to it, that none of this was an illusion! This was what made Gululu gradually feel something was wrong. The undead it summoned, after being destroyed, should have returned as pure energy to the magic wand, but this time, they were all severed from it, as if truly eliminated... And with the continuous decrease of undead, Gululu finally began to panic... It looked up at the Elf Army, discovering the number was still as many, or even more... Just a moment ago, there were only a few hundred, but now it seemed close to three hundred! Not only that, but their strength also seemed greater... From only dozens with a level 10 power just now, Gululu roughly estimated, noticing that the elves at the power level of 10 were likely over a hundred! ¡°Could it be that there were stronger elves coming?¡± Gululu was stunned. In the name of the God of Winter and Hunting, did all the elves in the world come over? A small retreat intention rose in its heart. As the battle continued, though it killed countless elves, somehow, Gululu¡¯s magic wand didn¡¯t capture new souls; instead, its summoned undead were being continuously consumed... Feeling the increasingly sparse energy in the Undead Staff, Gululu finally made a decision. It gritted its teeth, looked at the Elf Army hatefully, and turned to leave. The remaining dozen undead were also called to it, freeing themselves from the elves and surrounding it as they left. Seeing the Goblin High Priest trying to leave, the elves were rejuvenated: ¡°It¡¯s running away!¡± ¡°It must be out of mana!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let it escape! Catch up to it!¡± Because their levels were lower than Gululu¡¯s, the players couldn¡¯t identify Gululu¡¯s exact magic power, but its actions led them to speculate, guessing correctly¡ªwhile Gululu wasn¡¯t hurt, its magic was depleted. And a mage without magic power at a low level was as good as helpless. ¡°Seize it! Don¡¯t let it recover from the battle state!¡± The elves roared with anger, their eyes red, and pursued fiercely. *In an instant, they became even more aggressive.* Under Gululu¡¯s incredulous gaze, dozens of the forward-running elves pounced on the undead, opting to die together. With a brilliant display of magic, over ten skeleton undead disbanded, taking the elves with them... And more elves waved their weapons, fiercely charging at Gululu as if pursuing the murderers of their fathers. *It was already alone.* Seeing the relentless elves, Gululu was about to collapse. ¡°Was it necessary? Was it necessary for you?!¡± It turned and ran, its trembling voice tinged with grievance. However, it was a short-legged, elderly goblin. How could it outrun the elves? A gust of wind from behind, and a slight sense of danger rose in Gululu¡¯s heart. Suddenly, a nimble figure rushed up, embracing its frail body in an instant. Gululu looked back in horror and was immediately met with a grinning face. Pointed ears, a big, red afro, and that irritating grin at the corner of the mouth... *Even if goblins couldn¡¯t distinguish elf appearances, Gululu recognized the identity in an instant:* ¡°It¡¯s you, you bastard pretending to be human!¡± It gritted its teeth, cursing. That guy again! That guy again!! *It regretted; it regretted so much!* *Why did it follow that guy out from the ruins?* ¡°I got it under control!¡± Demacia tightly held onto Gululu, excitedly shouting: ¡°Comrades! Fire at will!¡± Accompanied by waves of chanting, countless magic rose, followed by innumerable swords gleaming with skill, drowning both of them in Gululu¡¯s horrified eyes and Demacia¡¯s triumphant laughter... [Ding¡ª] [Goblin Undead Priest has died] [World BOSS mission: Target 1 completed] [All participating players have received the exclusive title¡ª¡±Goblin Slayer¡±] [Players who participated in eliminating 1 undead received 3 perfect revival chances, 1000 experience] [Players who participated in eliminating 2 undead received 3 perfect revival chances, 2000 experience] [Players who participated in eliminating 3 undead received 3 perfect revival chances, 3000 experience] ... [Players who helped eliminate the goblin priest received an additional 1 perfect revival chance, 3000 extra experience] With the wonderful sound of the system, all players received the notification of mission completion... along with a host of rewards. All the players were momentarily stunned, then erupted in cheers. ¡°Hahaha! We won!¡± ¡°Wow, I got 4 perfect revivals, plus 5000 experience!¡± ¡°I can level up to 11!¡± ¡°Huh? Weren¡¯t there supposed to be contribution points? Where are they?¡± ... Seeing the excited Chosen Ones, the Oak Guardian, Berserker, somewhat dazed, walked out from the hidden forest. ¡°In the name of the Mother Goddess... these Chosen Ones are truly terrifying.¡± He murmured, as if still not recovered from the elves¡¯ suicidal assault just now. And seeing Berserker, the players¡¯ eyes lit up: ¡°Uncle B! Uncle B is here!¡± ¡°Right, right! The mission had another goal, to offer the magic wand to the Goddess! That must be for contribution points as rewards!¡± ¡°What are contribution points for?¡± ¡°It¡¯s said to unlock something at level 11, once we level up, we¡¯ll know! It¡¯s related to the Goddess, so it must be good!¡± ¡°Stop talking, quickly give the wand to Uncle B, have him offer it to the Goddess!¡± The players excitedly, hastily fished the wand out from Gululu¡¯s ashes. Aside from the wand, the rest of Gululu¡¯s equipment had been shattered by magical attacks. ¡°Wow, what material is this wand made of? It¡¯s completely intact...¡± ¡°Let me appraise it... Uh, can¡¯t appraise it.¡± ¡°Since the Goddess wants it, it must be a mission item, right?¡± The players curiously touched the wand, and after finding nothing, stuffed it into the bewildered Berserker¡¯s hand. ¡°Uncle B, quickly offer it!¡± They looked at the Oak Guardian with expectant starry eyes. Berserker: ... ¡°` Chapter 36 - 36 The Death Gods Treasure Bead (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 36: Chapter 36 The Death God¡¯s Treasure Bead (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html At the World Tree, Eve, who had just finished distributing player rewards, quickly sensed Berserker¡¯s sacrificial prayer. Feeling a spark of curiosity, she opened the sacrificial channel, and a small Skull Wand appeared in the Divine Space. Eve was slightly delighted; she waved her hand again, notifying every involved player via a system message that ¡°Mission Objective 2 is completed¡± and rewarded each with 300 contribution points. Contribution points were a feature that became available only when players reached level 11. They were used for class transitions and skill or equipment exchanges in Eve¡¯s temple, and players could trade their contribution points, making them a form of currency in the early game stages. In the early game, Eve had too few NPCs under her command, and the player base was not large, so she handled class transitions, skill learning, and equipment exchanges by implementing a contribution point exchange system within her temples. ... However, in the future, Eve planned to gradually delegate these basic functions to other NPCs, to both boost player-NPC interactions and reduce the game system¡¯s workload to conserve divine energy. She would then focus the exchange system on special skills or rare equipment. After rewarding the players, Eve concentrated her attention on Gululu¡¯s Undead Staff. As soon as the Undead Staff entered the Divine Space, Eve felt a strong sense of foreboding. Using her divine power, she gently prodded it, and a pure force of Elf Souls was suddenly emitted from the Treasure Bead at the Staff¡¯s tip. Sensing the despair and sadness within the souls, Eve sighed inwardly and proceeded to purify them: ¡°Your nightmare is over.¡± The holy and gentle divine power swept over, purifying the dark purple energy, transforming it into images of elves who bowed down to Eve, gratefully chanting songs of nature. Then they turned into pure faith energy and surged into Eve¡¯s Divine Space. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.?? The purple Treasure Bead, now devoid of its color, turned into a crystal-clear transparent object. Were it not for a tiny crack, it would have been a perfect piece of craftsmanship. At the moment of purifying the undead energy, Eve clearly felt her divine power value increased by five points. Previously, the players eliminated over two hundred Goblins, providing her with a total of 2.4 divine power points; defeating the Goblin High Priest and his Undead Army gave her an additional four points, and finding a Divine Blood Crystal contributed another 1.5 points. Even without various expenditures, her divine power value exceeded twenty-five points, reaching an all-time high! Looking at her divine power value, Eve felt a wave of joy in her heart. ¡°It seems, eliminating Goblins is indeed a feasible approach. If we can eradicate all the Goblins in Feilengcui, my divine power value might increase by several points!¡± ¡°Hmm, once the players level up and transition classes, they can be tasked with completely eliminating the remaining Goblins in Feilengcui. The remaining priests should not pose a threat. The Divine Blood Crystals they¡¯ve collected ought to be hidden somewhere in the ruins... At least four or five pieces, perhaps?¡± Eve pondered expectantly. ¡°Moreover... there should be six or seven Elf city ruins in the Elf Forest, including the Elf Capital...¡± ¡°Even Feilengcui, which is the closest to me, has Goblins in it. These areas might have also been infiltrated by Uller. If we can eliminate all the Goblins in these places, my divine power value could break the fifty-point threshold!¡± ¡°Not to mention, this doesn¡¯t even account for the Divine Blood Crystals. Including those, I might be able to free myself from this near-death state sooner than expected!¡± With this in mind, Eve¡¯s mood became increasingly jubilant, feeling that she was getting closer to regaining her freedom. In her delight, she planned to use divine power to transform the Undead Staff into a high-quality legendary staff and then place it into the contribution point exchange system for the players to acquire. This wasn¡¯t her first time modifying or enhancing equipment. Eve categorized the equipment on the Segis Continent into four tiers: gold legendary, purple epic, blue rare, and white common. Not to mention the wooden weapons and equipment given to players when logging in for the first time, all the equipment left behind by the Half-Beast defeated by the Oak Guardian Berserker was reclaimed by her. She refurbished them using a total of 0.1 divine power points and tossed them into the exchange system, all marked as purple equipment. She was just waiting for the players to transition classes, open the exchange system, and earn contribution points to exchange. Eve understood the players¡¯ obsession with equipment all too well. Once this system was implemented, players would complete tasks for contribution points without hesitation. Thinking of this, Eve allocated 0.05 divine power points, intending to forge this wand into a unique black iron-grade gold weapon within the server. However, as soon as the divine power entered the wand, something unexpected happened. The anticipated equipment modification did not occur. Surprisingly, the wand¡¯s Treasure Bead directly absorbed her divine power! ¡°Hmm?¡± Eve¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Every high-quality wand had a bead at the top to store magic power, but she was releasing divine power! Divine power was not ordinary power but the power of a True God, the highest quality and strongest energy in existence. ¡°What is with this bead?¡± Eve examined the wand again closely and immediately detected a clue: ¡°This wand¡¯s shaft material is Devil Wood? Is it a sealing object?¡± Devil Wood, a special and rare plant from a different plane, had the effect of sealing objects. If it was over a thousand years old, it could even block a True God¡¯s vision to some extent! To her surprise, Eve discovered upon closer inspection that the wand¡¯s shaft was used to seal the bead atop the wand! She had initially thought this was merely a wand storing undead energy, unaware she had been wrong. ¡°There is a problem with this bead! Right, if there weren¡¯t, how could a mere Goblin enslave so many Elf Souls!¡± Realizing this, Eve became cautious. ¡°It seems my excitement got the better of me; I failed to notice such a simple detail.¡± She mentally reprimanded herself and planned to reevaluate this piece of equipment. Anything capable of absorbing divine power was no ordinary artifact. She needed to ascertain the true nature of this bead. Determined, Eve unhesitantly removed the bead from the wand, breaking its seal. As the seal broke, the previously transparent bead radiated a soft glow, exuding an unexpectedly solemn and majestic aura. Eve¡¯s spirit lifted, then she used her appraisal ability. To her astonishment, two full points of divine power were consumed, and the bead¡¯s true name emerged in her mind: [Death God Hela¡¯s Soul Storage Orb (Damaged)] ¡°` Chapter 37 - 37 Eves Incarnation Project (Vote for recommendation!) Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Eve¡¯s Incarnation Project (Vote for recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Death God Hela? Li Mu¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and the memories related to it from the World Tree¡¯s legacy suddenly emerged. Hela, also known as the Death God and Lord of the Underworld, was an ancient True God overseeing death, decay, and disease, possessing peak intermediate Divine Power and was shrouded in mystery. Legend had it that she resided somewhere in the Netherworld, rarely participating in the struggles between True Gods. Even though her Divine responsibilities were almost opposed to the World Tree, she did not take part in the war of the gods a thousand years ago. Of course, there were also rumors that the reason she did not participate in the conflicts of the gods was that she was severely wounded in a battle in ancient times and had been recuperating ever since... ... Yet, even injured, no one dared to target the Lord of the Underworld. In the Netherworld, Hela was invincible. Besides, it was clear that apart from the souls of living beings, this True God was not interested in the struggles of faith. Her followers rarely walked the Segis Continent. ¡°How did Hela¡¯s Soul Storage Orb end up in the Elf Forest?¡± *Li Mu was deeply puzzled.* However, it wasn¡¯t entirely unexpected. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.§ã0 In the Segis World, True Gods often awarded their items to followers to be used as Divine Artifacts. Amidst various conflicts, the loss of Divine Artifacts was a common occurrence. Unless it was the Divine Artifacts that True Gods held in extremely high regard, they were usually not interested in retrieving those that were lost. After all, a Divine Artifact might only contain a few points of Divine Power, and since the power within the artifact was not the job-powered Divine Blood Crystal, the more powerful True Gods were not too concerned. Going through great trouble for such a small amount of Divine Power simply wasn¡¯t worthwhile. The result was the proliferation of Divine Artifacts among the high non-divine forces in the Segis World... Thinking of this, Li Mu smiled slightly and began to toy with the Soul Storage Orb again. As expected, after further sensing it, she discovered it contained five points of Hela¡¯s Divine Power! This made Li Mu slightly pleased. Although her Divine responsibility was opposed to Hela¡¯s, if she absorbed the Divine Power from this orb, she could convert it into three points of Natural Divine Power! However, after contemplating for a moment, she abandoned the idea. ¡°If I absorb the Divine Power in this orb, it would no longer be a Divine Artifact...¡± Li Mu gazed at the orb, a thought in mind: ¡°Hela¡¯s research on souls is very deep. Legend has it she could even create Divine Artifacts capable of containing Divine Soul Power. I wonder if this orb has such a function?¡± Unfortunately, the orb was currently in a damaged state. After some identification, Li Mu found it only had the capabilities of ¡°storing Divine Power,¡± ¡°storing Soul Power,¡± and ¡°transforming the undead.¡± ¡°Maybe, once I repair it, I can understand its full power. Hehe, if it truly can contain Divine Soul Power, perhaps I can realize some of my ideas in advance...¡± Li Mu was quite tempted. She thought of manifestation! One of the main reasons preventing her descent was that with her current Divine Power, she couldn¡¯t create a body capable of supporting her Divine Soul Power. But if this orb could house Divine Soul Power, she could create a body centered around this orb for her Divine Descent! Moreover, the presence of Hela¡¯s Divine Power within the orb could hide her aura, allowing her to avoid being recognized by other True Gods at critical moments, making it even more useful than her own crafted manifestation! Although the players have limitless potential and the indigenous believers are excellent helpers, it doesn¡¯t mean that Li Mu could rely entirely on them. They were still too weak, and some matters would be more convenient for her to handle herself. For example, if Li Mu had a body crafted with Hela¡¯s Soul Storage Orb as the core, she could take out the Goblin nest herself without worrying about retribution from Uller, the God of Winter and Hunting. She could also intervene in secret when players confront Uller¡¯s minions, solving problems the players couldn¡¯t handle. And Uller wouldn¡¯t be able to trace his roots back to her. At most, he¡¯d think it was the work of a follower of the Death God. But what would Hela¡¯s followers have to do with me, the World Tree? *Ahem, considering Hela is a recluse only staying in the Netherworld and doesn¡¯t communicate with the gods, if Uller really noticed, she could just reluctantly take the blame.* *Would a weak Divine with little Divine Power like Uller dare to cause trouble for one with intermediate Divine Power?* Ultimately, no matter from which angle, a free-moving body was necessary. With that in mind, Li Mu immediately began the repair of the orb, but as she started, she found that to fully restore the orb would require at least twenty points of her Divine Power and take a considerable amount of time. ¡°I only have twenty-five points of Divine Power right now. If I start repairing the orb immediately and my Divine Power drops below ten, I might fall into slumber once again.¡± With this in mind, Li Mu decided to postpone the matter until after the players finished clearing out the Goblins in Feilengcui. ¡°I hope the number of Divine Blood Crystals collected by the Goblins won¡¯t disappoint me...¡± She thought, expectantly. ... In the Elf Forest, After a day of battles, the sun had already set. Players were beginning to feel the fatigue and decided to return to camp to rest. Of course, fatigue was one part; another was that many planned to level up and change classes, while others intended to watch. After this mission, more than half of the three hundred players had reached level ten, with nearly a hundred reaching the standard for promotion to level eleven Black Iron. Unlike the promotion before level ten, moving up to level eleven Black Iron required going through the Natural Temple¡¯s class change procedure. So players returned, queuing up in front of the Natural Temple in Elf Town... ¡°Even class-changing has a queue? This is too real, isn¡¯t it?¡± Dema complained, looking at the dozen or so people in front of the line. Hearing his words, Li Mu shrugged, ¡°You have to line up even for tasks, let alone class changes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious about how things will be handled when the full version is released.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not our problem to worry about.¡± The two chatted as they moved forward with the line. At the front of the line, players who had successfully changed classes were already emerging. Li Mu could faintly hear them discussing ¡°Contribution Points,¡± ¡°equipment,¡± and ¡°skills¡± excitedly, making him quite curious. *Could it be... Contribution Points are used to exchange for equipment and skills?* He had a few guesses. Players who succeeded in changing classes were ecstatic. They moved their bodies while excitedly trying out sword techniques or magic. From afar, Li Mu could already feel the players¡¯ strength had greatly increased, so much so that it was almost like a complete transformation. He clearly saw Little Xian Miao coming out of the temple, and this elfin girl excitedly threw a Fireball Technique at an ancient tree in the front right, only to blow up a nearly completed building on the front left instead. Of course, after that, she was quickly invited for tea by the head of the construction team, Gu Gu Niao. ¡°Not sure whose house that was... A bit unfortunate.¡± Li Mu shook his head. Hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, Dema looked curiously in his direction... His smile gradually faded... ¡°Oh crap! It seems to be mine!¡± He shouted furiously, ¡°Little Xian Miao, stop right there! My two-story villa!¡± After shouting, he gave up on the line altogether and dashed straight over... Li Mu: ... He silently mourned for Dema for a second and continued queuing. A moment later, it was finally his turn. ¡°` Chapter 38 - 38 Liver Pain... (Request for Recommendation Tickets!) Chapter 38: Chapter 38 Liver Pain... (Request for Recommendation Tickets!) Editor: Henyee Translations Li Mu took a deep breath and walked into the temple. At this moment, a spot had already been cleared in front of the statue of the Goddess on the altar. He checked the career change tutorial in the game system and approached the Goddess statue. After calming his excited mood a little, Li Mu knelt on one knee and earnestly recited as instructed by the tutorial, ¡°Praise be to the Mother Nature, praise be to the Goddess of Life, praise be to the great Elven Sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± As soon as he finished speaking, the statue radiated a dazzling light, engulfing him. ... Li Mu¡¯s consciousness blurred, and he found himself back in the character creation scene. [Ding¡ª] [The career change ceremony has begun, your professional field is ¡°Spellcasters,¡± please select your new class] [This career change will cost you 10,000 experience points and 200 contribution points] [As this is your first career change, you¡¯ll receive an opportunity for cross-field change. Upon successful change, your level will directly increase to level 11 (Black Iron Lower)] [After the career change, you¡¯ll receive a blessing from the Goddess and gain a new professional skill] Source: , updated on ?0¦Í?¦Ï.§ã¦Ï [After the first career change, subsequent changes will be fixed to the professional field and cannot cross fields, please choose carefully] Accompanied by the melodious system prompts, Li Mu received the career change notification. ¡°Cross-field change?¡± Li Mu was intrigued. He examined it carefully and quickly realized this was meant for players who didn¡¯t like their current profession. It meant during the first career change, those in strength-based professions could switch to a spellcasting profession, and vice versa. ¡°Haha, this planning is quite considerate.¡± Li Mu commented. Suppressing the anticipation in his heart, he looked over the available professions for career change. There were six professions available for career change. The strength-based professions were Archer, Warrior, and Hunter; with development directions focused on long-range burst and sniping, melee damage and tanking, stealth tracking, and assassinations, respectively. The spellcasting professions were Druid, Mage, and Priest; with development directions focused on support control and damage output, long-range offensive and magic crafting, and support healing and protection, respectively. Li Mu was quite satisfied with being a Spellcaster, so he didn¡¯t intend to switch to a strength-based profession, instead focusing on the three spellcasting professions. He didn¡¯t very much like violent damage-dealing roles, nor was he a fan of rune carving or crafting magical tools, so he first ruled out the Mage profession. And although the Priest was on the career change list, Li Mu found that this profession was temporarily closed for switching upon a closer look, so he was left with one final choice¡ª ¡°Change to Druid.¡± He confirmed. He envisioned himself as a team commander, and control and support skills were most suitable for him. The versatile Druid had an advantage in this area, making it the perfect choice. Not only that, his current skills ¡°Entangling Vines¡± and ¡°Heal Minor Injuries¡± were already Druid skills. [Confirm: Change to Druid] [Career change begins] Upon receiving confirmation from Li Mu, the 10,000 experience points and 200 contribution points in his game system were instantly deducted, and a gentle, sacred power enveloped him... Li Mu once again felt the exhilarating sensation of gaining power. He felt his five senses further enhanced, and his perception of magic, especially his attunement to nature, grew ever sharper... Seconds later, the career change concluded, and Li Mu eagerly checked his character card¡ª [Name: Li Mu] [Race: Elf] [Profession: Druid] [Level: 11 (Black Iron Lower)] [Experience Points: 0/30,000] [Health Points: 1,500/1,500] [Magic Points: 2,000/2,000] [Attributes: Constitution (150), Strength (100), Agility (100), Magic Power (200)] [Skills: Heal Wounds (Tier One), Vine Spell (Tier One), Nature¡¯s Whisper (Tier One)] [Title: Goblin Slayer] ... All attributes had doubled again! And his constitution was also strengthened! Li Mu felt delighted. In addition, his skills ¡°Heal Minor Injuries¡± and ¡°Entangling Vines¡± had both leveled up, becoming Tier One new spells! Besides these two spells, he gained a new skill: Nature¡¯s Whisper. Li Mu reviewed it and discovered that this skill allowed him to communicate with plants and animals, gathering information from them. ¡°I must be unstoppable on this support path!¡± Li Mu chuckled. Apart from the three skills, he noticed he still had two vacant skill slots. A Black Iron Lower level class holder could master a total of five skills. [Career change successful] The system¡¯s voice sounded again, engulfing Li Mu in light as he exited the career change space... As his vision shifted, Li Mu found himself still standing before the Goddess statue. [Ding¡ª] [Player has reached level 11, unlocking subsequent functions¡ª] [Exchange function enabled] [Friend function enabled] [Guild function enabled] These three functions were common in online games, and Eve had already integrated them into the system long ago. Li Mu glanced over the latter two, but was eager to check out the exchange function. [Exchange Function: Contribution points can be used to exchange for equipment, skills, reset career change opportunities, perfect resurrection times, disguise times, etc., at the Natural Temple. Contribution points can be traded between players.] Looking at this function, Li Mu stroked his chin. It seemed this was the game¡¯s store for ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± hinting that in the future, topping up would be through contribution points. He opened the exchange interface... At this moment, there were still very few items on the exchange interface. Li Mu bypassed the others and went straight to the skill exchange interface. Since all his skills were support-based, it would be best to acquire an attack skill for self-defense. ¡°Piercing Wood Spell, Strength of the Bull, Grace of the Cat...¡± At a glance, Li Mu saw several skills that piqued his interest, but once he noted the required contribution points... ¡°The least expensive skill requires 2,000 contribution points?!¡± He swallowed hard. Currently, he had only 100 points left, nowhere near enough... ¡°No way, I have to quickly take on tasks and find a way to boost my contribution points!¡± Li Mu shook his head, feeling a sense of urgency. *All players were afflicted with compulsive tendencies, and seeing empty skill slots made them eager to fill them up.* Then, curious, he clicked on the equipment interface... In an instant, dozens of pieces of equipment with purple borders appeared before his eyes. ¡°Woah! Purple Epic Gear!¡± The Half-Beast equipment refurbished by Eve was visually stunning. Despite Li Mu not being a strength-type player, he couldn¡¯t help but be dazzled. ¡°Beast Head Half Armor, Refined Scimitar... and they¡¯re limited in quantity, are they limited editions? So pricey... the cheapest still requires 5,000 contribution points... How long would it take to grind those?¡± ¡°Oh? There¡¯s even a Devil¡¯s Wand! Wow! Gold Gear! It¡¯s a legendary gold-tier item!¡± Li Mu was awestruck. The wand was the Devil Wood from which Eve had removed the Treasure Bead. After removing the seal, the Devil Wood was damaged. However, Eve had still spent 0.05 Divine Power of reuse, remaking it into a Black Iron-tier legendary gold-level item, named: Devil¡¯s Wand. Li Mu instantly took a liking to it. However, when his eyes traveled to the contribution point requirements... ¡°64,800 contribution points?¡± He felt somewhat stupefied. Taking a deep breath, Li Mu clutched his liver, ¡°Oh no, my liver hurts...¡± CREATORS¡¯ THOUGHTS Henyee From 15 Feb 2020, Coins spent on books that aren¡¯t selected will be refunded within 30 days. However, Fast Passes will not be refunded. The selected book will have a mark on the corner of the book cover in 30 days to indicate continuation. Thank you for your understanding. Chapter 39: The Devil Strikes (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The Devil Strikes (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Putting away the sadness that was struck by the contribution points, Li Mu checked the instructions for obtaining contribution points¡ª [There are two ways to earn contribution points: 1. Complete narrative tasks 2. Exchange items at the Natural Temple] Narrative tasks? Li Mu was taken aback, recalling the instance task they were still working on: Former Holy City. As it stood, although they had eliminated many goblins, in reality, the three objectives of this task¡ª ... ¡°1. Establish a stable Teleportation Array,¡± ¡°2. Eliminate all entrenched goblins,¡± ¡°3. Find the Divine Blood Crystal in the ruins.¡± They hadn¡¯t actually completed any of them. However, after the exchange system was opened, the detailed information on obtaining contribution points in the first instance task was further specified: [Participating in the establishment of the Teleportation Array, you could earn 500 contribution points.] Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.§ã? [Participating in killing a goblin, you could earn 10 contribution points; killing a goblin alone, you could earn 50 contribution points.] [Participating in killing a goblin priest, you could earn 50 contribution points; killing a goblin priest alone, you could earn 500 contribution points.] [Sacrificing a Divine Blood Crystal, you could earn 800 contribution points.] [Contribution points will be settled after each task objective is completed.] After reading these messages, Li Mu¡¯s heart immediately began to pound. ¡°Kill goblins... establish the Teleportation Array, find Divine Blood Crystals!¡± *Although Li Mu had already been looking forward to the first instance task, now that he truly understood the function of contribution points, he wished he could fly to Feilengcui immediately!* ¡°We must act quickly... Now many people have leveled up to 11, and the threat of goblins will weaken a lot. Next, it depends on who kills faster and more. While the task of establishing the array can be completed together, the other two objectives depend on who is faster!¡± ¡°Killing goblins and finding crystals is the real source of contribution points, we must hurry to complete it first!¡± Li Mu quickly made a decision. Once everything was understood, he quickly exited the Natural Temple and prepared to contact a few old teammates. But when he arrived at the camp square, he was stunned. At this moment, the square was already filled with quite a few players who had advanced to level 11. Li Mu had spent too much time looking at the exchange interface, and at this time, almost all the players who could change their professions had done so. Yet, after the change in profession, none of them had logged off; all the combat players had bright eyes, with a faint eagerness in the air. And in the square, there was a clamor of calls rising one after another: ¡°Forming a group, forming a group! Strong assault on the Holy City of Feilengcui! Farming goblins and searching for Divine Blood Crystals!¡± ¡°Five need one, looking for a tank-type warrior! Only Black Iron Lower!¡± ¡°Buying Divine Blood Crystals! 800 RMB each!¡± ¡°Buying contribution points! Buying contribution points! 1-to-1 ratio, supporting Zhifubao and WeChat money transfers!¡± Even Demacia, whose house had been blown up, came over excitedly: ¡°Brother Mu, did you see that? The exchange system! All epic purple equipment! Less than thirty pieces in the entire server! I want to collect a full set of warrior gear, um... it might not be realistic, but at least exchange for a scimitar. So, should we go all night tonight?¡± Li Mu: ... *Crazy.* *Everyone was crazy.* *After figuring out the contribution points system, the players who had changed their profession went insane.* *More powerful skills, better and cooler equipment...* *Everything required contribution points to exchange!* *All combat profession players were eager to stay up late grinding tasks!* *Tonight in the Elf Forest was destined to be a sleepless night.* Eve, observing all of this from high above, sighed. She silently drew a symbol of the Mother Nature in her heart for the goblins of Feilengcui, quietly praying, ¡°May you be happy tonight, little green darlings...¡± *To receive the blessing of the True God, the goblins could consider their life fulfilled.* Eve thought with satisfaction. ... In the Feilengcui Ruins. After a day of activities, the goblins also returned to their lair. Having endured the lures and kills by players, at this moment, the goblins in Feilengcui had been reduced by almost one-third. Even if they were not very intelligent, they felt a touch of unease. And what made the goblins even more uneasy was that their leader¡ªthe High Priest Gululu¡ªhad been out for a day and had not returned. For the High Priest who never strayed far from the temple, this was very unusual. Fortunately, the existence of the other three goblin priests suppressed the unrest within the tribe, not allowing this sense of panic to continue spreading among the goblins. However, it was only temporary. Goblins, being creatures that bully the weak and are infinitely greedy, would fall apart without a strong leader to suppress them. At this time, the other three goblin priests in Feilengcui were in conflict. In the dilapidated temple. The three goblin priests sat around a basin of faint green shining crystals, trapped in an eerie silence. If players were there, they would surely recognize the crystals in the stone basin as Divine Blood Crystals of the World Tree. A total of twenty-six! A moment later, one of the goblin priests spoke, ¡°The High Priest must have met with misfortune, or he wouldn¡¯t leave these things behind. These are offerings to the True God!¡± ¡°Heh, he has always been greedy and selfish, as well as conceited. If something truly happened to him, he deserved it.¡± Another goblin priest said, gloating. He had long been displeased with Gululu; why did Gululu, also a follower of the Father God, receive preferential treatment? It was nothing more than luck that he gained the inheritance of the Undead Mage... The other two goblin priests did not refute; they shared the same thoughts. It was just that before, Gululu was powerful, and they dared not speak. After a moment of silence, the third goblin priest said, ¡°The True God¡¯s reward will only be given to those who contribute the most, so how should we deal with these things?¡± He pointed to the Divine Blood Crystals in front of them. As soon as he finished speaking, there was an inexplicable stagnation in the atmosphere within the temple. It¡¯s no wonder that many intelligent creatures looked down on goblins. Even if some of them advanced to become priests, they still lacked sufficient wisdom and vision. *With the High Priest missing, their first thought wasn¡¯t to examine the surrounding area for potential dangers, nor to decide whether to pray to the True God and report, but how to divide the spoils left by the High Priest...* After a moment, the first goblin priest to speak let out a low laugh, his voice shrill, ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Only the powerful can have the opportunity to converse with the True God.¡± Once these words were spoken, the atmosphere among the three goblins became even more stagnant. Just as they were about to come to blows, suddenly, a slight disturbance came from outside the temple... Sounds of shouting and killing, screams of agony, the clash of weapons, arose one after another. The ears of the three goblin priests twitched, and they looked at each other with confusion and vigilance. At this moment, a goblin stumbled into the temple, covered in wounds, full of panic. ¡°What happened?¡± The goblin priests frowned. The wounded goblin¡¯s face was full of despair. As soon as it entered, it fell to the ground, gesturing frantically and babbling as if provoked. After its gestures, the three goblin priests simultaneously stood up, their faces full of disbelief, ¡°What?¡± ¡°You say the demons have attacked?¡± ¡°` CREATORS¡¯ THOUGHTS Henyee From 15 Feb 2020, Coins spent on books that aren¡¯t selected will be refunded within 30 days. However, Fast Passes will not be refunded. The selected book will have a mark on the corner of the book cover in 30 days to indicate continuation. Thank you for your understanding. Chapter 40: Arent We Attacking the Right Side? (Vote for us!) Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Aren¡¯t We Attacking the Right Side? (Vote for us!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html The three goblin priests exchanged glances and each let out a cold snort. ¡°Hide the offerings first, let¡¯s go out and see what¡¯s happening,¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± ¡°Hmph!¡± They stuffed the Divine Blood Crystal behind the statue and, under the guidance of an injured goblin, made their way outside the temple. ... It was already late at night, with a silver moon hanging in the sky like a jade plate, but the goblins on the ground had no mood for appreciation. At this very moment, Feilengcui had turned into chaos. Firelight and shouts filled every corner, making the already chaotic Feilengcui Ruins even more tumultuous under the deep night. When the three goblin priests arrived outside the temple, they finally laid eyes on the so-called ¡°devils.¡± Goblins didn¡¯t have good eyesight, especially at night. They couldn¡¯t clearly see the appearance of the invaders, but they did see their eyes, glowing eerily in the darkness. Unlike goblins, the elves of Segis Continent had night vision. Their sight was hardly affected at night, much like the nocturnal animals on Blue Planet. And their eyes, reflecting the silver moonlight, shone like lanterns in the dark. Source: , updated on ??¦Í?0.§ã¦Ï Coupled with the ferocious, greedy, and cold expressions in their eyes, and their cheers and grins while slaughtering goblins, they did resemble the devils from stories. ¡°What kind of monsters are these?¡± The three goblin priests felt a chill down their spines. One of them shivered slightly and, mustering courage, began to chant, casting a Lighting Divine Skill. Under the brilliant Holy Light, a large area was illuminated, and the silhouettes of the intruders were etched into the goblins¡¯ eyes entirely. ¡°Elves?!¡± Seeing their grim and excited faces, the curved blades, bows, and even ragged clothes hung upon them, their bodies almost dyed red with blood, the three goblins exclaimed simultaneously. No... were they really elves? Elves were known as peace-loving creatures. Even during the most difficult times for their race, they only drove goblins away and never slaughtered them! But these beings... At just a glance, the priests saw something in them that definitely didn¡¯t belong to elves... Greed, coldness, ruthlessness... They looked at the goblins as if they were prey. They killed for the sake of killing, feeling excited about it. They even ignored their injuries for the hunt, as if they weren¡¯t wounded at all. Not only that, whenever they killed a goblin, they took all its belongings, even if it was just a moldy stick or tattered garment... In the name of the Winter and Hunting God! Were these devils disguised as elves that escaped from Hell?! All three goblin priests were horrified. Meanwhile, when the goblin priests used the Lighting Divine Skill, their figures were also seen by the elves. In an instant, all the elves brightened up, their eyes resembling monstrous beasts, sending chills to the goblin priests¡¯ hearts. ¡°Priests! They¡¯re goblin priests!¡± ¡°Fifty contribution points each! Five hundred for a solo kill!¡± ¡°Get out of the way! Our team spotted them first!¡± ¡°Kill them!¡± ¡°They must have good stuff on them!¡± The elfish voices grew more excited, bickering and shouting like a tidal wave crashing towards the three goblins. The goblin priests shivered and felt the black-iron-level energy fluctuation around them, and instantly grew the urge to retreat... ¡°Retreat... retreat... back to the temple!¡± Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, they turned and ran. ¡°Entangle¡ª!¡± But before they could take two steps, a calm voice sounded. With the ripple of magic power, several vine thick as a wrist suddenly broke through the ground, winding towards them. The three goblin priests were terrified. They tried to dodge, but one of them was still caught by the vines. ¡°Well done, Brother Mu!¡± The surrounding elves cheered. The entangled goblin priest was terrified. Ignoring everything else, it began chanting spells desperately. However, just as it began to chant, a nameless sense of heart palpitations surged through it. *p>*Danger...* *There¡¯s danger!* Suddenly, there was a flash of cold light. It felt like a breeze suddenly blew past behind it, and then it knew nothing. Its head flew into the air, blood splattering everywhere. Meanwhile, an elf wielding a curved blade slowly revealed himself behind its corpse. He was entirely hidden in the darkness, expression indifferent, silent like a mute killer. ¡°Whoa! One strike kill.¡± ¡°Headshot! Boxed Meal Boss, you¡¯re impressive!¡± ¡°Are hunters really this strong...?¡± The surrounding elves let out exclamations. *There were even assassins?!* The two fleeing goblin priests looked back, scared into an even faster escape. They split paths, running to the left and right towards the temple. *Escape...* *We must escape into the temple!* *Only by entering the temple do we have a slim chance of survival!* Seeing the two priests seizing their chance to flee into the distance, all the elves exploded: ¡°We can¡¯t let them escape!¡± ¡°Long-range magic! Long-range magic!¡± ¡°Boom...¡± ¡°Boom...¡± With massive magical fluctuations, Fireballs exploded behind them, Wind Blades lifted stone debris... However, the elves didn¡¯t seem very proficient, as their accuracy in long-range attacks was quite poor. At this moment, the goblin priest running on the left heard the shouts of those devilish elves again: ¡°Little Xian Miao! Don¡¯t cast recklessly, aim to the right!¡± ¡°Aim properly, hit the one on the right!¡± Right? The fleeing goblin priest glanced at its companion on the right, feeling slightly relieved. But the goblin on the right was nearly scared out of its wits. Before the priest on the left could relax, a massive Fireball struck it, engulfing it with a thunderous roar... ¡°Haha, that was accurate!¡± ¡°Well done, Little Xian Miao!¡± A cheer echoed from the elves behind. In the last conscious second of the goblin priest, only one grievance lingered: *Weren¡¯t they supposed to hit the right one?* Witnessing the deaths of its two companions, the last goblin priest ran even faster, casting all the divine arts it could muster onto itself! Thanks to the sacrifice of its two companions, it finally broke free and reached the temple. Without any hesitation, the goblin priest stumbled to flee before the statue, fumbling to pull out the hidden Divine Blood Crystal, trembling as it began to set up the ritual, suppressing its inner fear to start praying: ¡°Praise... praise Winter, and Hunting, great True God, your servant... your servant needs your help!¡± As soon as the words fell, a faint glow began to gather on the statue! Chapter 41 - 41 Divine Descent?! (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 41: Chapter 41 Divine Descent?! (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html The seventh one! Bosan took a deep breath and pulled his scimitar out of the goblin¡¯s throat. The tactile sensation of the blade cutting through flesh was so real, accompanied by the spray of warm, bloody mist that splattered all over his head and face. He had not chosen the [Combat Screen Harmony] option in the game system. Unlike many players who couldn¡¯t adapt to the gore, he loved the feeling of close-quarters killing in the game, as if he were on a battlefield wrestling with criminals. ... *This gave him a sense of freedom and nostalgia he couldn¡¯t obtain in reality.* Especially after he advanced to level 11 Black Iron Lower, transitioned to become a Hunter, and gained the [Stealth] skill. Wiping the blade gently on his hempen clothing, Bosan frowned. It was slightly blunted. The scimitars obtained from goblins were much sharper than wooden swords, but their durability seemed to be less. Of course, Bosan didn¡¯t know that it was because the wooden sword was personally crafted by Eve, which, although not sharp enough, was more robust and durable. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.§ã? He discarded the scimitar in his hand and replaced it with another he had taken from a previously slain goblin. Then he lifted his head and glanced around. The elf¡¯s body granted Bosan excellent night vision capabilities, allowing everything in Feilengcui to be clearly reflected in his eyes, even at night. The goblins had all been awakened and were now being chased and hacked by more than seventy players who had transitioned to Black Iron Lower. The gap brought about by the change in rank was indeed terrifying. In the afternoon, players needed to cooperate in groups of two or three to exhaust a single goblin, but after rising to Black Iron, with enhanced physical qualities and skill fortification, goblins were not a match for the players one-on-one. Even the relatively timid female players, after using the [Thrust] skill, would charge in with their ¡°ahhh!!!¡± screams of both fear and excitement... Then, without even realizing it, they would stab those goblins, who had no time or chance to react, right through, and with a scream as the blood showered them, their cries grew even louder. Not to mention those battle-crazy and hardcore players who were gradually adapting to the combat rhythm. For them, tonight, Feilengcui had become the best playground and hunting ground. Bosan shook his head and once again activated the [Stealth] skill. With a thought, his heartbeat and breathing immediately slowed, and his entire presence gradually faded away, almost merging into the darkness... He was going to hunt down the last goblin priest. If he wasn¡¯t mistaken, it had just escaped toward the temple. He wasn¡¯t the only player with the same idea; those participating in the priest¡¯s slaying were also heading toward the temple. A priest¡¯s contribution value was worth five goblins! Even the experience points provided by slaying a priest were much higher than those from ordinary goblins. Moreover, from the current scenario, they were much weaker than the previous world bosses, practically a free offering. What¡¯s more, according to the task info provided by the Goddess, the temple was the most likely place for Divine Blood Crystals to drop! Each piece of Divine Blood Crystal was worth 800 contribution points! The players, driven by their desire for experience and contribution points, swarmed toward the rundown temple... ... In the temple, the lone goblin priest kneeled and prostrated in prayer under the statue of the God of Winter and Hunting. As it prayed, the light on the statue grew stronger and stronger, even the twenty-six Divine Blood Crystals before it began to emit a faint halo. Under the goblin priest¡¯s feet, a mysterious giant circular array slowly formed, with silver brilliance continuously weaving patterns... When the players burst into the temple, this was exactly what they saw. ¡°Divine Blood Crystals! So many Divine Blood Crystals!¡± They brightened with excitement and shouted. However, Bosan, who stealthily entered, saw more. He glanced at the array on the ground, his expression gradually becoming grave. *This was... a sacrificial array?* His memory was always quite sharp. When Oak Guardian Basa sacrificed the Skull Wand to the Goddess Eve, he had silently watched from the side, barely imprinting an impression of the array¡¯s form. And the array under the goblin priest, though slightly different from the one Barsa drew, was almost identical overall. Almost in an instant, Bosan pieced everything together. ¡°It¡¯s a sacrificial array! No good! Everyone, stop it! It¡¯s trying to sacrifice the Divine Blood Crystals to the Divine!¡± At the same time, Li Mu¡¯s urgent cry rang out from the temple entrance. Clearly, this seasoned streamer had also recognized the sacrificial array beneath the priest. ¡°Sacrificial array?¡± The players were shocked upon hearing this. ¡°No, stop it quickly!¡± ¡°Where are the ranged skills? Use ranged skills quickly!¡± ¡°Destroy that array quickly!¡± Almost simultaneously, all the ranged players began throwing skills onto the ground recklessly. Under the goblin priest¡¯s terrified gaze, fireballs, wind blades, lightning strikes, vines... every single offensive spell it could think of was coming its way. Accompanied by a thunderous ¡°boom,¡± the slate floor shattered under the magical onslaught, and the array, which was almost formed, was instantly destroyed. Even the goblin priest at the array¡¯s center, due to magical backlash, spat a mouthful of fresh blood, its body instantly aged... However, although the array was damaged, the light on the statue did not diminish; on the contrary, it became increasingly intense. The players barely had time to rejoice over destroying the array when they heard a majestic and divine cold snort... ¡°Hmph¡ª¡ª!¡± That sound was deafening, ethereal, as if it crossed the void, bearing endless wrath from being offended. Everyone was briefly dazed, their minds dizzy, and faint streaks of blood emerged from their noses and ears... Even Bosan, who was lurking, couldn¡¯t help but spit out a mouthful of blood, falling out of his stealth state. ¡°What... just happened?¡± ¡°Could it be a triggered boss?¡± ¡°Cough cough... Damn, my health bar dropped by half... cough cough...¡± The players stumbled all over, coughing blood, trying hard to open their eyes wide while vigilantly looking at the statue at the temple¡¯s center. Suddenly, the light on the statue became even more dazzling, while the twenty-six Divine Blood Crystals scattered on the ground began to float slowly, seemingly drawn, moving toward the statue... In the players¡¯ eyes of shock, the Divine Blood Crystals and the statue started gradually merging, blossoming with dazzling light! Amidst the growing oppressive aura, the light continuously expanded, eventually forming into a semi-transparent Energy Giant composed of intertwined golden-green photons... The figure was vague, with a muscular body, wielding a giant axe and a longbow... His appearance bore an eighty to ninety percent resemblance to the Uller statue! Chapter 42: Health Bar Revealed! (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Health Bar Revealed! (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html The goblin, aged and worn out from the backlash of magic, struggled to lift its head. It widened its eyes, looking at the towering energy giant in disbelief. The image in front of it slowly overlapped with its impression of the God of Winter and Hunting... ¡°Your... Your Majesty...¡± Its lips trembled with fear and awe, so much that it couldn¡¯t manage even a single coherent sentence. The energy giant glanced at it, and though its gaze was neither joyful nor sad, betraying no emotion, a cold snort that followed expressed her dissatisfaction, making the goblin shiver instinctively. ... At the same time, along with a brilliant silver light and ethereal hymn, a tremendous divine pressure was instantly released from the giant... It was the natural oppression of a higher being toward a lower one, stemming from the essence of life itself. The divine soul pressure of a true god! The goblin priest felt an irresistible force strike its soul, causing a headache that nearly made it faint on the spot... It collapsed to the ground, unable to move, but its heart kept roaring wildly with a hint of joyful relief: *It was a true god!* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.§ã¦Ï *This was the power of a true god!* After glancing at the goblin, the energy giant quickly turned its attention to the intruders flooding into the temple. ¡°Elves?¡± Her deep, hoarse, and solemn voice carried a hint of confusion. When she saw the players¡¯ forms, even her indistinct face seemed slightly surprised. For some reason, under the giant¡¯s divine soul pressure, the players did not tremble like the goblin. On the contrary, though they coughed up blood, their eyes shone brightly, seemingly unaffected in spirit. They stared at her with unparalleled curiosity and vigilance, lacking fear or respect, possessing only novelty and excitement. Even more, some began to murmur incessant exclamations: ¡°It¡¯s a BOSS! Definitely a BOSS!¡± ¡°No way, is this Uller? It looks like that statue!¡± ¡°So ugly... Far worse than the Goddess.¡± ¡°But these special effects are pretty amazing... It just scared me for a moment.¡± ¡°Feels so strong, can¡¯t gauge its depth...¡± ¡°Are we gonna get wiped out?¡± ¡°Should we just run away... I¡¯ve only got one perfect resurrection left...¡± Energy Giant: ... Though she couldn¡¯t quite understand the discussions of these ants, she sensed the offense in their words. Divine dignity could not be desecrated! The energy giant roared in anger, and her massive energy palm slammed down on the players, instantly turning four or five unlucky ones into mosaics. ¡°What the hell!¡± ¡°What the hell!¡± ¡°...¡± The remaining players were nearly stunned in shock. They didn¡¯t care about coughing up blood, scrambling to their feet and fleeing in all directions, cursing the game designers for the game¡¯s atrocious balance as they ran. The slap nearly brought the temple crashing down; the difference in power was just too great! Looking at the bodies of the elves she had swatted to death, unable to sense a trace of soul within, the energy giant¡¯s features seemed even more surprised. ¡°Not elves...¡± A heavy voice rumbled forth. And at the moment the energy giant appeared, several dozen kilometers away, Eve also sensed it. Startled, she turned her attention toward the direction of Feilengcui, her heart heavy with a hint of solemnity: ¡°Strange divine power?¡± Soon, her heart sank slightly. For she discovered that several of the light particles belonging to the players in the Divine Space extinguished simultaneously in an instant. Not only that, but more were continuously being snuffed out. ¡°An instant kill...¡± After pondering for a moment, she divided a part of her consciousness, carefully hiding her presence, and directed it toward those still flickering light particles. As her vision shifted, Eve quickly acquired the players¡¯ viewpoint within the temple. At this moment, the energy giant seemed to be in a frenzy, attacking the players like swatting flies, occasionally hitting an unlucky one. The temple was in utter chaos. With no hope of victory in sight, many players had already fled, but quite a few stayed, hiding around with an apparent desire to give it a try. ¡°Uller?!¡± Having received the World Tree¡¯s inheritance, Eve also recognized the energy giant¡¯s identity. It left her startled. *Good heavens, we were just grinding goblins, how did we draw this guy over here?* *And it¡¯s even a divine avatar!* *How did he manage so much divine power across two realms? Just for a few goblins?!* Eve felt this god was simply insane, completely disregarding the rules, instantly throwing her plans into disarray. Her next thought was to run... *No kidding, if the other one discovered her presence, she was done for; she was still in a near-death state!* A divine power avatar had the strength of at least legendary! But just as the thought of fleeing arose, Eve quickly suppressed it. *Hmm? That¡¯s not right...* *Her avatar didn¡¯t seem that strong... Moreover, she didn¡¯t seem to notice me!* The players swatted to death were to be revived on the World Tree. Even though Eve had tried to minimize her natural aura during the teleportation, if a true god¡¯s avatar descended with the addition of a divine conscience, it would be impossible for it not to notice the anomaly within. With this thought, Eve boldly observed the energy giant once more. And upon that observation, she immediately spotted the issue. ¡°It¡¯s a temporary avatar constructed using Natural Divine Power?¡± Seeing the faint green photons on the energy giant, Eve came to a sudden realization. Then, she marveled: ¡°How much Natural Divine Power was collected for this?¡± She quickly understood her opponent¡¯s state. Uller did indeed appear, but only as a sliver of consciousness. And the divine power avatar he formed was forcibly created using Natural Divine Power. In this state, the avatar¡¯s energy was chaotic, even if it included a sliver of divine consciousness, she couldn¡¯t detect Eve¡¯s aura within it. After all... Her avatar was already filled with the Natural Divine Power from the World Tree! Not only that, she even struggled to control the avatar, which was internally chaotic with energy! With this realization, Eve observed the energy giant¡¯s state again. At that moment, she discerned more: ¡°It¡¯s a Divine Blood Crystal! This guy has forcefully condensed an avatar by relying on the World Tree¡¯s Divine Blood Crystal, and it¡¯s highly unstable! She has to suppress the backlash of Natural Divine Power and can¡¯t fully exert the avatar¡¯s intended strength!¡± ¡°No wonder she forcibly descended, it must be to reclaim the crystal. The Natural Divine Power has to be over thirty points, even I would be tempted... Tsk tsk, slurp... over thirty points!¡± Eve felt a tinge of envy. ¡°However, her state is unstable, and with constant external agitation disrupting the energy balance, the avatar will soon collapse on its own! The Divine Blood Crystal will also be extracted...¡± Understanding everything, Eve relaxed. She looked at the players hiding around and had an idea in her mind. Indeed, Uller¡¯s energy avatar was incredibly strong. Even an avatar forcibly condensed had powers far beyond what players could match, and each of its strikes was nearly at legendary strength. Yet, if one were only to disrupt the avatar¡¯s energy balance... Throwing enough lives at it could achieve that! After all, the Uller avatar, needing to suppress the backlash of Natural Divine Power, was too slow and cumbersome! He moved even slower than the agile elves! For the players, he was like a target standing still. With this in mind, Eve took a deep breath: ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll bleed a little for this once.¡± Upon saying that, Eve began channeling divine power. However, she paused just a moment after starting, took out Hela¡¯s Soul Storage Orb after a moment of thought, and painfully extracted 0.1 divine power value to invest in the game¡¯s censorship feature... With this done, she nodded satisfactorily in her consciousness, once more urging her divine power to transmit countless pieces of information to the players in Feilengcui... At the same time, the players in the temple received a new system message¡ª ¡°Ding¡ª¡± ¡°WARNING! WARNING!¡± ¡°A plot BOSS has appeared, a plot BOSS has appeared!¡± ¡°Plot Description: To obtain the power of the World Tree, the despicable Uller forcefully condensed an avatar and stole the Divine Blood Crystal originally belonging to the Goddess. However, her state is unstable... For the glory of the elves, you decide to bravely confront her and reclaim the Goddess¡¯s power!¡± ¡°Quest Objective: Uller¡¯s Divine Power Avatar¡± ¡°Quest Level: 11+¡± ¡°Quest Reward: Contribution points and experience points, corresponding to the damage contribution to the BOSS kill; minimum reward contribution points 300, minimum reward experience points 1000.¡± ¡°Quest Tip: Uller¡¯s avatar is unstable, disrupt her energy, and she will break without attack; Uller will attempt to withdraw from combat, do not allow her the chance to return!¡± ¡°Ding¡ª¡± ¡°Plot quest activated, all engaged players enter infinite resurrection mode¡± ¡°Infinite Resurrection: Until Uller¡¯s Divine Power Avatar is defeated or retreats, all participating players will be continuously perfectly resurrected, with rank unchanged upon death.¡± ¡°Victory Condition: Uller¡¯s avatar successfully collapses¡± ¡°Failure Condition: Uller¡¯s avatar successfully returns¡± ¡°Ding¡ª¡± ¡°BOSS status has been updated, current stability: 100%¡± Amidst all players¡¯ astonished gazes, a red bar appeared above the energy giant in their view. That was the stability of Uller¡¯s avatar... Or rather¡ªthe health bar! Chapter 44 - 44 For the Glory of the Goddess and the Elves! Chapter 44: Chapter 44 For the Glory of the Goddess and the Elves! Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Seeing the elves almost instantly driven mad, Uller felt a bit suffocated... What is wrong with these bugs? Do they want to stop my return? Just them? *A surge of offended rage suddenly welled up in her heart.* However, she quickly calmed down... Perceiving the increasingly unstable Natural Divine Power as the players attacked, Uller¡¯s incarnation¡¯s pupils contracted slightly. ... No, they wanted to disrupt the energy of her incarnation! In an instant, she connected more dots. The Divine Blood Crystal... Hela, that fellow must be after the Divine Blood Crystal in her incarnation! Yes, Hela¡¯s Death Divine Position was not complete. She has been at the peak of intermediate Divine Power for tens of thousands of years. Legend has it that to advance to powerful Divine Power, Hela once suffered a severe injury and has never fully recovered. Hela must have sensed the unsealing of the World Tree Divine Blood Crystal and is now focusing on the World Tree to complete her Divine Position! The laws of death and life are opposing, yet they also share common ground. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.§ã? When things reach an extreme, they mutually transform. Understanding life can also lead to understanding death! As the fastest-progressing Divine in two thousand years, Uller had always felt proud of her wisdom. At this moment, she believed she had found the truth! Her enormous divine incarnation suddenly raised her head and roared towards the west, ¡°Hela! I have no intention of being your enemy. With your power, you can continue to seek other Bloods of Nature! Do not interfere with my matters!¡± The voice was vast, filled with deep caution and barely suppressed anger, spreading far, far away... ¡°Hela?¡± Eve, who was spying from the players¡¯ perspective, was slightly taken aback. What did Uller mean? Could it be that Death God Hela was here? *For a moment, she became alert, considering whether to hide the Soul Storage Orb first...* However, as the moments passed, Eve did not sense the presence of Death God. *She felt puzzled, but then connected some dots, and a strange feeling began to brew in her heart,* ¡°Could it be that the Death Divine Power aura from the harmonious Holy Light made Uller mistake the players for minions of Death God Hela?¡± Eve did not know what expression to make. *Honestly, when she obtained the Soul Storage Orb, the thought of giving her future incarnations Hela¡¯s worshiper¡¯s disguise did cross her mind.* However, this time, infusing Hela¡¯s Divine Power into the players¡¯ harmonious Holy Light was just her simple desire to add an extra safety lock to her exposure risk... Yet she didn¡¯t expect to overdo it. Uller actually mistook her Elf Army for Hela¡¯s handiwork! Ahem, a sinful mistake... But, wrong is wrong! At least Uller, with her meager Divine Power, wouldn¡¯t dare to lash out in front of intermediate Divine Power, and she definitely wouldn¡¯t dare to confront Hela in the Netherworld. Moreover, with this connection to Hela, Uller¡¯s actions in the Elf Forest would likely be even more cautious afterward. *This would give her more ample time to develop surreptitiously!* Thinking of this, Eve had already decided to conveniently pin the blame on Hela, who stayed in the Netherworld. Ahem, anyway, Miss Hela is so strong, she shouldn¡¯t care about being targeted by a True God with merely weak Divine Power, right? Speaking of which, her player army, in some sense, does resemble Hela¡¯s Heroic Spirit Army a bit... However, when it comes to naming, Eve preferred to call them the ¡°Catastrophe Army!¡± Thus, going all in, she painfully extracted 1 point of Divine Power from Hela¡¯s Soul Storage Orb, tossed it into the connection channel with the players, and activated it using her methods of manipulating Natural Divine Power... In an instant, a new system bar appeared again in the players¡¯ vision. [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Unyielding and fearless, your bravery has touched the great Goddess, who has decided to bestow upon you her battle blessing!] [You have received a buff: Goddess¡¯s Blessing] [Your weapon has received a buff: Goddess¡¯s Blessing] [Effect: For the next hour, you will lose all negative emotions, and your and your weapon¡¯s attack and defense power will increase by 100%. All skill damage will carry a ¡°lethal¡± effect, and energy interference effects will be doubled!] [The end of life is death, and the end of death is rebirth...] [Brave Chosen Ones, for the glory of the Goddess and the elves, charge!] Accompanied by the profound glow of Divine Power, all players felt a cold aura flow over them, and then all physical indicators were enhanced! ¡°It¡¯s a buff!¡± They all exclaimed in delight. Feeling the continually rising power within their bodies and watching the steadily decreasing health bar of the Boss before them, their fighting spirit was utterly ignited. Generally speaking, when such a buff appeared in a game battle, it meant that victory was near. Victory was at hand! The players all became serious, their expressions even more excited, and their shouts rang out one after another¡ª ¡°The Goddess¡¯s support is here! We have been strengthened!¡± ¡°The Boss can¡¯t hold on much longer!¡± ¡°Defeat Uller!¡± ¡°For the glory of the Goddess and the elves... Charge!¡± ¡°Urah¡ª¡ª!!!¡± All at once, all players enhanced by Death Divine Power started going all out. Feeling the effect of the Death Divine Skill on the elves, the face of Uller¡¯s incarnation was twisted. ¡°Hela!¡± She let out an angry roar, continuously backing away, wanting to escape the siege of the elves. Just like... the Goblin High Priest Gululu of old. However, it was already too late. The bit of Death Divine Power released by Eve was like the last straw on the camel¡¯s back. Empowered by Death Divine Power, the players¡¯ attacks became sharper, and the stability of the Energy Giant began to plummet at a pace visible to the naked eye... Uller swatted down one player after another like flies, but soon they would come rushing back from afar... Eve decided to give it her all. To support the perfect resurrection of the players, she consumed as much as 1.5 points of Natural Divine Power in one go! And the infiltration of Death Divine Power further disrupted the already restless Natural Divine Power within Uller¡¯s incarnation. ¡°Begone!¡± Feeling the increasingly dire state, she let out an angered roar and then changed her strategy. The Energy Incarnation¡¯s Divine Power roiled, breaking free from the players¡¯ siege, and slowly rose from the ground. ¡°Damn it, it flew up!¡± ¡°Taking advantage of our inability to fly!¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the long-range output? Focus fire on it!¡± ¡°The health bar is almost gone! Keep it up, everyone!¡± Seeing the Divine Incarnation trying to float away to evade, the players shouted. However, the Divine Incarnation just waved her hand, and a semi-transparent barrier appeared beneath her, blocking all magic skills... ¡°Oh no...¡± ¡°Not good! We can¡¯t hit it anymore!¡± ¡°It¡¯s starting to channel a skill again!¡± ¡°One slash! Just one more slash will do! The health bar is depleted!¡± Looking at the ever-rising Divine Incarnation, all the players grew anxious. ¡°Hmph, ants are still ants.¡± Seeing the elves on the ground in chaos, Uller¡¯s incarnation let out a cold laugh and continued preparing to return. However, before she could finish ¡°channeling,¡± a nimble figure dashed out from the elves. It was Heven. He held a wooden sword in his hand, his expression unwavering, showing no joy or sorrow, like a cold warrior. He climbed and traversed the ruins of Feilengcui like an elegant lynx, quickly reaching the highest point of the temple. Then, a skill¡¯s glow erupted from his body, and with a powerful leap, even the stone carvings on the temple roof shattered under his force. Skill¡ª[Swift Leap] With the boost from the skill, he leaped nearly seven to eight meters, elegantly executed a double flip in mid-air, directly crossing the energy barrier, rushing toward Uller¡¯s Divine Incarnation! Skill¡ª[Air Step] Under the astonished and angry gaze of the Divine Incarnation, Heven flung his wooden sword in mid-air... The wooden sword swiftly struck Uller¡¯s incarnation in the eye, and that trace of Death Divine Power finally became the last straw. ¡°Hela¡ª¡ª!!!¡± In the anguished and furious roar of the Divine Incarnation, her body began to convulse violently, and dazzling light continuously gathered... This entire sequence of changes occurred within mere seconds, leaving the other players on the ground dumbfounded. After Heven flung the flying sword, he fell from mid-air. As he was about to hit the ground, he once again used the skill [Air Step], executed a beautiful roll, and then landed steadily on the ground. One knee touching the ground, void of emotion. Behind him came a rumbling noise. Amidst the dazzling light, the Energy Giant exploded into a magnificent firework, scattering in all directions... The divine light showered the ground, casting Heven¡¯s figure into flickering shadows, while the World Tree Divine Blood Crystals emitting a faint green glow fell all around him... ¡°` Chapter 45 - 45 Players Assault (Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 45: Chapter 45 Player¡¯s Assault (Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°We won!¡± ¡°Well done!¡± Watching the destruction of the Divine Power incarnation, the players cheered. Then, they focused their attention on the biggest contributor, ¡°It¡¯s Boxed Lunch!¡± ¡°Such sharp moves, the skill combos were awesome!¡± ... ¡°How did you just do that?¡± Listening to the praise from other players, Boxed Lunch didn¡¯t say much. He quietly bent down and picked up the Divine Blood Crystals scattered on the ground one by one. Meanwhile, a new system window appeared in all the players¡¯ view. [Ding¡ª] [Plot BOSS ¡°Uller¡¯s Divine Power Incarnation¡± has been defeated] [Defeated by: Player ¡°Boxed Lunch¡±] Source: , updated on ?0¦Í??.§ã¦Ï [All players involved in the battle will receive rewards based on their damage contribution!] [Reward calculation begins...] A system prompt also appeared in Boxed Lunch¡¯s view. Unlike the other players, his screen included a special effect of a chibi Goddess cheering with fireworks... And immediately, his rewards followed¡ª [Ding¡ª] [In this mission, you contributed 4.53% of the damage, earning 4532 experience points and 1373 contribution points] [As the one who defeated ¡°Uller¡¯s Divine Power Incarnation,¡± you receive additional task rewards: 1000 contribution points, 3 perfect revival chances, exclusive title ¡°The Fearless¡±] [The Fearless: Even when facing Divine beings, your strong heart makes you fearless!] The Fearless, huh? Looking at the system prompt, a ripple flashed through Boxed Lunch¡¯s deep pupils. He reached out his hand to dismiss the system¡¯s prompt about equipping the title, then stood up and walked toward the players. The players also received their task rewards. After briefly celebrating, they focused again on the BOSS¡¯s loot. ¡°What about the Divine Blood Crystals? I just saw a bunch drop!¡± ¡°This BOSS was loaded... No wonder it¡¯s a Divine Power incarnation.¡± ¡°At least twenty pieces!¡± ¡°Boxed Lunch seems to have picked them up.¡± ¡°How are we splitting the crystals?¡± Amidst the players¡¯ chatter, Boxed Lunch approached Li Mu. Although Li Mu hadn¡¯t contributed much damage in the recent battle, he had been actively involved in directing players. He had quietly taken on the role of the leader of the beta players, akin to a raid leader. Boxed Lunch walked straight up to Li Mu and handed over the twenty-six Divine Blood Crystals he had picked up, his voice concise and powerful, ¡°You distribute these.¡± Li Mu raised an eyebrow, then nodded and took the Divine Blood Crystals. Instantly, over seventy pairs of eyes glimmered eagerly at him. After pocketing the Divine Blood Crystals, Li Mu glanced at the eager players, feeling a bit of a headache. He pondered for a moment and said, ¡°I have two ideas, let¡¯s vote by raising hands, and the minority will yield to the majority.¡± ¡°One is to exchange all the Divine Blood Crystals for contribution points and then equally divide the points among us all.¡± ¡°The other is to roll the dice and let luck decide. Based on the scores, the top 26 will get the Divine Blood Crystals.¡± The players looked at each other, nodded, and began voting by raising their hands. Finally, most leaned towards converting to contribution points and dividing them equally. After all, the function of the Divine Blood Crystals was only to exchange for contribution points, which was essentially money. The players felt it was relatively fairer to divide equally. Seeing the players¡¯ decision, Li Mu nodded, ¡°Then, we¡¯ll first convert them into contribution points. A total of 26 Divine Blood Crystals equals 20,800 contribution points. We have 73 players who participated in the battle, so each gets an average of 284 points, with the remaining 68 points going to Boxed Lunch for the final blow. Does everyone agree?¡± Hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, the players all nodded. Boxed Lunch: ¡°Agreed.¡± Little Xian Miao: ¡°No objections.¡± Fried Tomato: ¡°Didn¡¯t expect so little left after the equal distribution...¡± Demacia: ¡°Haha, it¡¯s quite a lot. Selling it for contribution points is worth almost three hundred RMB.¡± ... Seeing the player¡¯s nodding, Li Mu also breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at the sky and said, ¡°Then the Divine Blood Crystals will be kept with me for now. Let¡¯s first continue clearing the goblins in Feilengcui. We aim to finish the main quest ¡®Clean Up Goblins¡¯ of the ancient Holy City before dawn. When dawn breaks and everyone gathers, we¡¯ll re-establish the Teleportation Array and complete the remaining quest objectives together!¡± The appearance of Uller¡¯s incarnation had captured the majority of the players¡¯ attention, causing a pause in their goblin hunts. Now that the BOSS was eliminated, the players naturally returned to their main quest of exterminating the goblins. Though quite a few goblins had escaped Feilengcui amidst the chaos, many still hadn¡¯t fled and were hiding in the ruins, hoping against hope. However, their failure was certain. Under the influence of some mysterious power, many players who had advanced to level 11 drew detection skills. Creatures lower in level than them had nowhere to hide under the detection skill¡¯s effects. Moreover, the game system helpfully marked the number of remaining goblins in Feilengcui in the mission bar. That count was observed by Eve through her acute perception of life. After Li Mu finished speaking, the players sprang into action, searching the Feilengcui ruins for any hidden goblins. Now and then, the screams of goblins and the laughter of players echoed from different directions of the ruins, creating a rather spooky atmosphere in the deep night... Li Mu didn¡¯t continue hunting goblins. Instead, he geared up and secured the Divine Blood Crystals, then turned and headed toward the Teleportation Array. He needed to promptly hand over the Divine Blood Crystals to the Oak Guardian Berserker guarding near the Teleportation Array, for him to offer them to the Goddess. Carrying the Divine Blood Crystals was too unsafe, carrying the risk of dropping them. The sooner he exchanged them for contribution points, the sooner Li Mu could feel at ease. It was his responsibility; since the players trusted him, he wouldn¡¯t let them down. *Even if it meant losing some experience points and contribution points from killing goblins.* ¡°If only this game had a backpack system. Although it¡¯s meant to simulate reality, not everything needs to be simulated. Carrying things around is too inconvenient.¡± Feeling his bulging pockets, Li Mu shook his head. *¡±But that¡¯s what also makes the game so charming... It seems that high-level spellcasters can create storage magic items? Maybe once I level up, I can get one.¡±* He thought joyfully as he walked. The forest at night was even more deep and eerie than during the day, but the elves, possessing night vision, were unaffected. Li Mu walked through the forest as if on flat ground. However, at that moment, a strong sense of crisis suddenly surged in his mind! Li Mu¡¯s expression changed, and his body tensed instinctively. Relying on his accumulated combat experience in the game, he reflexively dodged to the side... As soon as he moved, a wooden sword struck where he was about to pass, its skill glow severing a tree with a bowl-shaped trunk in half! If Li Mu hadn¡¯t reacted quickly, he would have been cut in two! He turned back, horrified. Seeing the attacker, his face immediately contorted in anger, ¡°Fried Tomato? What are you doing?!¡± Game ID: Fried Tomato That was another level 11 player who had just participated in the plot BOSS battle! Chapter 46: Red Name Mechanism (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Red Name Mechanism (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html ¡°Tch¡ª¡± Fried Tomato spat regretfully and withdrew his wooden sword, his expression just as displeased. Li Mu quickly pieced everything together. He suppressed his anger and forced himself to say calmly, ¡°If you leave now, I can pretend nothing happened.¡± Money moves the heart. ... The game differed from reality. Compared to the real world, where morality and law bind people, the game world was much freer and more unrestrained. It was also easier to stir the other side of human nature. Three hundred players couldn¡¯t possibly all be united. With 26 Divine Blood Crystals, amounting to 20,800 contribution points, this was worth at least 20,000 RMB in the early game. It was unsurprising that someone would be willing to risk it. However, it was clear that this player named Fried Tomato was not prepared to confront all the beta testers. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have used his ultimate skill immediately, hoping to kill Li Mu with one strike before he noticed him. Source: , updated on ?0¦Í?0.?¦Ï Elf Kingdom really was different from other virtual MMORPGs. In this nearly 100% realistic game, ¡°one-hit kills¡± were not uncommon. Although the probability was low, as long as the timing was right and the vital point was hit, even a lower-level player could one-hit higher-level monsters. While this differed from typical game mechanics, players thought it felt more realistic. This also made Elf Kingdom¡¯s combat more dramatic and engaging. Outsmarting sometimes mattered more than just comparing stats. At least, this was true when level differences weren¡¯t too significant. Fried Tomato dared to attack Li Mu based on this factor. If Li Mu were killed unknowingly, he couldn¡¯t explain the Divine Blood Crystals, and Fried Tomato would naturally steal all the boss treasures smoothly. Unfortunately, he underestimated Li Mu¡¯s reaction time, and his assassination failed. The two were at a deadlock in an instant. Li Mu wasn¡¯t a combat-oriented profession. As a support-type Druid, he hadn¡¯t drawn any attack skills so far. In Elf Kingdom, skills were powerful, especially those granted by Eve. If natives of Segus learned skills, they¡¯d go through recognition, practice, familiarity, and mastery... But Eve¡¯s granted skills were different. She connected with player consciousness, directly imprinting the method of skill release into their minds and assisted their skill deployment through the game system. For players, this meant a 100% skill proficiency. This meant the skill¡¯s effect far exceeded standard damage. Therefore, Li Mu didn¡¯t have the confidence to win one-on-one against Fried Tomato, a warrior. As a commander, everyone knew his skills, and he wasn¡¯t confident he could escape from Fried Tomato¡¯s grasp if a conflict broke out. If Li Mu remembered correctly, this Fried Tomato was quite the expert among the three hundred players. Apart from Boxed Lunch, few were more skilled than him. *Despite being furious, Li Mu could only try to stall for time and persuade the player in front of him,* ¡°Fried Tomato, I can more or less guess what you¡¯re thinking. I¡¯m not going to comment on anything else, but since you didn¡¯t kill me right away, there¡¯s no point anymore. I think... you don¡¯t want to be at odds with the other 71 beta testers, right?¡± Appropriate threats were necessary. Of course, hope should be given too. ¡°So, again, if you leave now, I can pretend nothing happened.¡± Li Mu said calmly. Fried Tomato¡¯s expression shifted slightly, and he seemed to struggle for a moment before sneering, ¡°So what? It¡¯s just a game. This is only a beta; even if I offend seventy players, getting 20,000 contribution points is worth it. The open beta hasn¡¯t started yet. As an online game, faction wars will happen sooner or later. I never intended to keep playing house with you...¡± ¡°Moreover...¡± He said, as his expression turned slightly playful, ¡°It¡¯s just the two of us here. Even if I kill you, what evidence do you have that it was me?¡± Upon hearing his words, a hint of disdain flashed across Li Mu¡¯s face, but it quickly turned grave. Fried Tomato was right. Only the two of them were here. If he was killed, he had no evidence to point out it was Fried Tomato. He was only a temporary team commander and hadn¡¯t truly established his prestige. Moreover, Fried Tomato seemed so fearless that he probably had a backup plan. *He likely wasn¡¯t alone, or...* he had probably already set up an alibi before coming for the attack. By then, as long as he adamantly denied it, there would really be no way to explain it... *Damn it, doesn¡¯t this game have a red name mechanic?* At this moment, Li Mu couldn¡¯t help but complain inwardly. ¡°Haha, stop stalling for time. Let¡¯s have a quick fight.¡± Fried Tomato let out a mocking laugh, raised his wooden sword again, and charged with the skill [Charge] toward Li Mu. Li Mu¡¯s face changed as he hurriedly sought the cover of a tree while beginning to chant a spell. However, his skill wasn¡¯t instant-cast, and he was still a step too slow. Fried Tomato¡¯s slash disabled the arm holding Li Mu¡¯s magic wand. Blood spurted everywhere. ¡°Heh.¡± Seeing a quarter of Li Mu¡¯s health bar drop instantly, the corner of Fried Tomato¡¯s mouth curled up slightly. However, before he could continue attacking, a system prompt suddenly appeared in all the players¡¯ views... [Warning! Warning!] [Player ¡°Fried Tomato¡± has maliciously attacked player ¡°Li Mu¡± and has been judged as a junior red-name player.] [Junior red-name penalty: Under this status, experience point gain reduced by 50%, contribution point gain reduced by 50%, can be attacked by all players. Items seized under red-name status will be forcibly returned to the original owner upon death.] [Junior red-name penalty lasts until death. Ignoring perfect resurrection count, level forcibly lowered by 1 upon first red-name death, banned for 24 hours.] [Current kill bounty: 50 contribution points] Fried Tomato: ... Li Mu: ... Did Elf Kingdom have a red-name mechanic? Of course it did. As an old MMORPG player, Eve could never forget this point. When Fried Tomato attacked Li Mu, she was watching. With 26 Divine Blood Crystals, the conversion to divine power was conservatively estimated at at least 35 points. Such immense wealth worried her about any mishaps. Had it not been for not interfering with the game¡¯s mechanics, she would have directly reclaimed the Divine Blood Crystals from Li Mu. So, when Li Mu left Feilengcui, Eve was always monitoring his movements, but she didn¡¯t expect to see such a spectacle. Eve felt quite disdainful toward Fried Tomato. Though if he took the Divine Blood Crystals, he¡¯d eventually sacrifice them to her, he broke the game rules. At a certain moment, Eve even thought about just banning the guy permanently. However, as the game GM, she needed to consider more things... The game was different from reality, and players couldn¡¯t all be united. In society, countless laws, rules, and morals bind human life, maintaining a proper functioning society. However, this also stripped humans of some freedom feelings, especially the release of certain biological instincts, desires, greed, violence... Conflict and war accompanied human history, and the genes for killing and destruction lie within humans, even though civilization has dulled humans¡¯ edges, making them more moral. The darker side hasn¡¯t been completely erased. These traits wouldn¡¯t show up when rules were in place, but once rules vanished, they¡¯d quickly be exposed. Games easily brought out this other side of human nature. Games don¡¯t adhere to real-world rules! Moreover, for many players, indulgence in games became a means of entertainment. But Elf Kingdom was more than just a game! So, if Eve wanted players to listen, rules had to bind them too. Eve¡¯s chosen rule... was the red-name mechanic! The criteria were player ¡°malice¡± and the extent of harm. Of course, this limitation had to be appropriate; it shouldn¡¯t discourage players while maintaining some order. This wasn¡¯t just for player order but for preparing for the Elf Clan¡¯s return. Eve didn¡¯t want to see her followers become players who treated elves like grass and acted recklessly! After all, you could never predict players¡¯ standards. ¡°` Chapter 47: Players Invitation (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Player¡¯s Invitation (Please Vote for Recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Looking at the system prompts flashing across his vision, and the red-named player positions marked on the system¡¯s mini-map, Li Mu had a peculiar expression on his face. He sighed and said, ¡°See... this game does have a punishment mechanism. Why bother... It was hard enough to advance to Black Iron, with ten thousand experience and two hundred contribution points...¡± Fried Tomato: ... ¡°Moreover, just as you were striking me, I also took the opportunity to turn on the recording function. I think... you should also know the consequences of continuing, right?¡± ... Li Mu pointed to his system interface, and said leisurely. Fried Tomato: ... His expression became increasingly ugly. At this point, he found himself in a situation where trying to steal a chicken resulted in losing the rice instead... Seeing the constipated expression on Fried Tomato¡¯s face from Li Mu¡¯s perspective, Eve shook her head. *Wouldn¡¯t it be better to be an obedient little leek? Why insist on taking shortcuts...* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.?0 *Each Chosen One consumed her power, and she wouldn¡¯t allow these players to recklessly infight!* But, as a Goddess who advocated truth, goodness, and beauty, she naturally wouldn¡¯t forget to give those errant children a chance to atone for their mistakes. Just as Fried Tomato was dumbfounded by the unexpected system information prompt, a new choice box appeared in his vision... [Ding¡ª] [The great Goddess is merciful, she will forgive those sinners who repent and reflect. As a Chosen One selected by her, considering the minor nature of the offense, she is willing to listen to your plea,] [Option A: The great and merciful Goddess is right, I will repent for my sins. (Deduct 200 contribution points, return all plundered items under the beginner red-name status, cancel red-name status)] [Option B: Although I respect the great Goddess, I do not regret my choice! (Deduct 100 contribution points, maintain beginner red-name status)] Fried Tomato: ... His expression almost twisted. But... was there really a choice? *In the end, players were creatures that pursued benefit and avoided harm...* Fried Tomato took a deep breath, and then, under Li Mu¡¯s surprised gaze, gritted his teeth and said, ¡°The great and merciful Goddess is right, I will repent for my sins.¡± [Ding¡ª] [Player ¡°Fried Tomato¡± chose to repent, deducting 200 contribution points and canceling the player¡¯s beginner red-name status] In an instant, a message swept across all players¡¯ game systems once more. Meanwhile, in Li Mu¡¯s vision appeared an additional message, [You received compensation from player ¡°Fried Tomato,¡± Contribution Points +100]... Li Mu: ... Fried Tomato glared at him resentfully, then snorted coldly, picked up his wooden sword, and disappeared into the forest. Seeing the other party give up on the ambush, Li Mu also breathed a sigh of relief, and began to use healing magic to treat his injuries. Watching from behind the scenes, Eve nodded in satisfaction and then fell into deep thought, ¡°Although this issue has been resolved, suppressing the players like this is not a solution. They will inevitably have internal conflicts, and sometimes internal conflicts need to be solved by a fight...¡± ¡°It seems it¡¯s time to put the PK system on the agenda.¡± PK, or sparring and challenging, was a common gameplay mechanic in MMO-RPG online games, and many players were very passionate about it. In fact, quite a few players played online games just to engage in PK! Or to battle other players! These players were generally known as PVP players. Eve naturally considered adding this feature to the game system, after all, this feature not only increased player enthusiasm but also trained their combat skills. Her current plan was to provide players with two PK modes. One was real combat PK, that is, allowing players to engage in face-to-face combat, life and death notwithstanding. This mode would require players to consume contribution points to initiate, and the contribution points consumed would increase as players leveled up. After all, Eve¡¯s reviving of players also consumed resources. And as players¡¯ levels increased, the damage from their fights to the environment would also become more severe. Imagine a day when players with legendary power surfaced among them¡ªa real combat session between two of these players could destroy half of the Elf Forest... The other PK mode, however, was virtual PK. Eve simulated a scene in her consciousness space and pulled the player¡¯s consciousness in, allowing them to go wild. This mode wouldn¡¯t require contribution points; players just needed to pray to Eve, and she would respond. This mode only required her to pre-construct some scenes and set up corresponding response programs in the game system. With these thoughts, Eve had already decided to officially launch the PK feature to players once this mission was completed. Having more Divine Power, she could also sustain more consumption. After all, players were like leeks, but at the same time, they were also the patrons. If Eve wanted them to work hard, assist her recovery, and help the Elf Clan regain glory, she naturally had to satisfy their entertainment needs as well. Yeah, Eve thought her MMO was quite generous, requiring no payment and not too much grinding. A top-tier weapon like the Golden Legend was only priced at 64,800 contribution points, and solo farming 1,296 goblins would suffice. ... And with no player ambushes and his injuries healed, Li Mu successfully returned to the teleportation array. He used a ¡°Whisper of Nature,¡± and soon found the Oak Guardian snoring while napping nearby. Players had long known that NPCs also needed to sleep. Moreover, according to Demacia, NPCs needed to wash, eat... and so on, just like players. But when Li Mu asked how he knew, the guy stammered and couldn¡¯t explain clearly. However, lately, Saintess Alice seemed to be even more indifferent to Demacia. Ahem. This game¡¯s level of realism was almost insane, to the point where Li Mu sometimes wondered if this game was made by aliens. Standing in front of the Oak Guardian, he hesitated for a moment and decided to wake the other up. Li Mu really didn¡¯t want to keep holding onto these 26 scorching Divine Blood Crystals any longer. He poked Bajaka¡¯s wooden beard and cautiously said, ¡°Sir Bajaka? Sir Bajaka?¡± The giant Tree-man rolled over and continued sleeping. Li Mu: ... ¡°Sir Bajaka!¡± He shouted again. The Tree-man smacked his lips, without any reaction. Li Mu: ... This guy slept like a log... He pondered for a moment, plucked a section of twig with leaves and thorns, and poked it forcefully into the Tree-man¡¯s nostrils. Feeling the tickle in his nose, Bajaka shook himself and then let out a huge sneeze. In a daze, the Oak Guardian woke from his slumber. Upon seeing the smiling visitor, he frowned, ¡°Chosen One, why did you disturb my sleep?¡± As soon as he finished speaking, he looked at Li Mu with surprise, ¡°Huh? Already at Black Iron?¡± This group of Chosen Ones advanced so quickly! The Oak Guardian found it somewhat unbelievable. Li Mu smiled modestly and said, ¡°All thanks to the Goddess¡¯s blessing... Excuse me for disturbing you, I am here to deliver the Divine Blood Crystals to you.¡± Divine Blood Crystals? Bajaka¡¯s spirit lifted, and he stood up quickly. This concerned the recovery of the Mother Goddess, the most important of tasks! In an instant, he no longer cared about being disturbed from his sleep by Li Mu. ¡°How many?¡± Bajaka¡¯s voice carried a hint of anticipation, and his bright eyes looked eagerly at Li Mu. Li Mu opened his palm, where a total of 26 shimmering crystals of natural radiance lay quietly. ¡°A total of 26 pieces.¡± Twenty-six pieces! Bajaka¡¯s eyes widened, and he involuntarily took a deep breath, somewhat incredulous. ¡°By the Mother Goddess! So many!¡± After speaking, he looked at Li Mu with eyes full of admiration and satisfaction, ¡°You have done well!¡± He carefully received the Divine Blood Crystals from Li Mu, as if he were accepting the most precious treasures in the world. And after handing over the Divine Blood Crystals to Bajaka, Li Mu suddenly had a thought and continued speaking, ¡°Sir Bajaka, actually... I have one more thing.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Bajaka gave him a puzzled look. Li Mu curled the corner of his mouth, and earnestly said, ¡°It¡¯s like this: unless something unexpected happens, tonight we can eliminate all the goblins occupying Feilengcui, and the Elf Clan will successfully reclaim their former Holy City.¡± ¡°You can eliminate all the goblins tonight?!¡± Bajaka was even more astonished. He had slept from evening until now, unaware of the players¡¯ advancement and class transitions, hence unaware of their power changes. Li Mu nodded, then recalled the NPCs¡¯ prayer ceremony, drawing a tree-shaped symbol of the Mother Nature on his chest. He straightened up, with a solemn and serious demeanor, said, ¡°We wish to invite you and Lord Alice to participate in the ceremony for establishing a stable teleportation array in the Holy City of Feilengcui!¡± ¡°` Chapter 48 - 48 The Smile Fades Away (Vote for Recommendations!) Chapter 48: Chapter 48 The Smile Fades Away (Vote for Recommendations!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Morning. The golden sun rose slowly from the east, its rays illuminating the entire forest with brilliance. Natural Saintess Alice finished her morning prayers, changed into the Holy Daughter¡¯s dress she wore for divine rituals, and stepped outside the temple. Berserker had been waiting here for quite some time. Today, he seemed to be in a great mood, his large eyes sparkling with liveliness as he stood to the side humming a strange tune... one he had learned from the Chosen Ones. Alice saw the Oak Guardian, and a hint of a smile appeared in her emerald eyes, ¡°Good morning, Sir Berserker.¡± ... She pinched the hem of her priestess dress, offering a slight bow to Berserker, then drew a symbol of Mother Nature on her chest, ¡°May nature be with you.¡± Berserker also bowed to the girl, his deep voice carrying a gentle timbre, ¡°Good morning, Your Holiness, may nature be with you!¡± After they exchanged greetings, Alice looked curiously at the growing crowd of players gathering in the square, ¡°What¡¯s going on with them today?¡± If it were a normal day, the Chosen Ones would have come to her for daily tasks by now. But today, for some reason, few had come to find the girl. They gathered in the square, seemingly waiting for something, each with an excited expression. Berserker glanced at the players in the square, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes. He drew a tree-shaped symbol on his chest again and said to Alice, ¡°Your Holiness, Feilengcui... has been reclaimed, all the goblins have been expelled.¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.?¦Ï ¡°What? The Holy City... has been restored?¡± Hearing Berserker¡¯s words, Alice¡¯s emerald eyes widened instantly. She knew about the tasks of the Chosen Ones, but she thought that expelling the goblins from the Holy City would be a long process. Yet, unexpectedly, the Chosen Ones had accomplished it in such a short time. She faintly remembered the time in her childhood when she followed Mother Goddess to expel the goblins from the Elf Ruins. Those goblins were extremely cunning; one minute you drove them off, and the next, they would sneak back when you were unprepared... ¡°Exactly, and not only that, the Chosen Ones will gather in Feilengcui to establish a new Teleportation Array. They have invited us to join.¡± Berserker¡¯s expression was full of devotion. Reclaiming the Holy City was a tremendous honor for every natural believer! ¡°They would invite us...¡± Upon hearing Berserker¡¯s words, Alice¡¯s expression became somewhat complicated. Honestly, her overall impression of the Chosen Ones wasn¡¯t favorable; some of them even made her particularly disgusted. Though recently, it seemed the Chosen Ones were gradually getting accustomed to this world and starting to act politely. Yet Alice couldn¡¯t agree with some of their bad habits. For instance, viewing those poor animals in the forest as food. The resources of the Elf Forest were incredibly abundant; gathering berries would easily suffice, so why harm living creatures? Alice still couldn¡¯t comprehend. However, since the Mother Goddess didn¡¯t say much about it, Alice let go of her discontent. Because of her dissatisfaction with the Chosen Ones, she had never thought of establishing deep connections with them. Even after the Chosen Ones had been here for so long, Alice still didn¡¯t know any of their names. Yes, Alice couldn¡¯t see the players¡¯ names. Player names only displayed in the game system¡¯s view, so only players could see the green names above each other¡¯s heads. The natives of the Segis World couldn¡¯t see them. Without deep connections, Alice viewed her interactions with the Chosen Ones as merely fulfilling the Mother Goddess¡¯s tasks. Therefore, when Alice learned about the Chosen Ones inviting them to the event of establishing the Teleportation Array, she was quite surprised. The Elf Clan was proud and dignified. Inviting other elves to participate in a celebration in their culture meant expressing goodwill and respect, while accepting the invitation meant acknowledging the other party. Considering this, Alice¡¯s expression turned complex. She looked at the Chosen Ones gathering in the square, thought about their hard work in recent days, and felt inexplicably emotional. Finally, the Elf Girl sighed deeply, ¡°I... accept the invitation.¡± ... Elf Forest, Feilengcui. After a night of raids, all goblins lurking around had been turned into player experience points. And when the last goblin hiding in the abandoned sewers was eliminated, the players received a system notification: [Main Line Objective 3: Eliminate the goblins entrenched in the Holy City of Feilengcui (completed)]. Eve generously rewarded each player involved in the raid with 1000 experience points, one perfect resurrection opportunity, and 500 contribution points. Now, the task objective had only one remaining ¡ª to establish a stable Teleportation Array in Feilengcui! At this moment, the black-iron level players who had stayed up all night were gathered in front of the temple in Feilengcui. Under Li Mu¡¯s direction, they lined up on both sides, waiting for Alice and others, as well as other players taking mainline tasks, just like two lines of armies ready for review. When Alice and Berserker, escorted by other players, arrived at Feilengcui, they were met with this scene. The Elf Girl was first surprised, then reached out to touch the faded writing on the stele in the ruins, her expression a mix of sadness and relief, ¡°Feilengcui... we are back.¡± Seeing Alice and Berserker, Li Mu, who had already greeted other players, quickly signaled everyone with a glance. The players exchanged glances, then spoke in unison, ¡°Welcome, Your Holiness and Sir Berserker, to Feilengcui! We have lived up to expectations and successfully reclaimed the sacred land from the evil goblins! Here we await the Goddess¡¯s review!¡± The voices were uniform and resonant, clearly practiced in advance. Startled, Alice couldn¡¯t help but stretch out her hand, covering her slightly open mouth, looking in amazement at these Chosen Ones, both familiar and yet unfamiliar. At that moment, Alice found herself unexpectedly moved. They... they... So they, too, could have such sincerity? Seeing the genuine smiles of the Chosen Ones, Alice had no doubt that their hearts were equally joyful and excited at that moment. At this moment, the girl¡¯s expression softened. ¡°Thank you, brave Chosen Ones.¡± She pinched the hem of her dress, bowing deeply to the players, her words slightly choked with emotion. After all, they were the warriors chosen by the Goddess... Perhaps they had various bad habits, and often made actions that were incomprehensible... But similarly, they could also become trusted companions! At this moment, Alice¡¯s impression of the Chosen Ones changed. [Ding¡ª] [Alice Wind¡¯s favorability toward you increased by 40 points...] [Berserker¡¯s favorability toward you increased by 40 points...] In an instant, all the players who saluted received a system notification. Seeing the system notification, all the players¡¯ eyes lit up, their expressions gradually becoming thoughtful. However, suddenly, an excited voice rang out from the crowd, breaking the touching atmosphere, ¡°Wow! Brother Mu, you¡¯re incredible! You¡¯re actually increasing the goodwill of the lady and the big guy!¡± Li Mu: ... All the players turned their heads, glaring fiercely at the source of the voice. Alice and Berserker, too, were drawn to the voice, instantly spotting the face that looked nothing like a good person and the cheeky smile. It was Demacia. Both their expressions gradually turned cold. [Ding¡ªyour favorability with Berserker decreased by 40 points, becoming ¡°Disliked¡±] [Ding¡ªyour favorability with Alice Wind decreased by 40 points, becoming ¡°Detested¡±] In an instant, new system notifications appeared in Demacia¡¯s view. Looking at the system panel, his smile gradually faded. Chapter 49: The Soaring Divine Power (Vote for recommendation!) Chapter 49: Chapter 49: The Soaring Divine Power (Vote for recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html *Although the Chosen Ones could become companions, although the Chosen Ones could become excellent warriors, this didn¡¯t mean all the Chosen Ones were worthy of respect.* *At least, a certain red-haired explosive guy wasn¡¯t.* *At this moment, both Alice and Berserker had this thought simultaneously.* Putting aside Demacia, who felt like he was on a roller coaster, once everyone was present, the ceremony to establish the Teleportation Array officially began. The temporary Teleportation Array had already been dismantled by the cuckoo bird. ... *After participating in the main quest, she thought that even though she had learned some Taekwondo in the real world, she was definitely not cut out for close combat.* So, when changing classes, the cuckoo bird chose a crossover field, becoming an 11th-level Elf Mage, planning to pursue a path in magical tool manufacturing and Array construction in the future. This time, she would host the construction of the Array. The location for the Array had been chosen in front of a crumbling temple. This place had once been the Holy Square of Feilengcui, and was also where players defeated the avatar of Uller. To gain Contribution Value, all players present had formed a party, but Eve couldn¡¯t be bothered to mind that. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.?? When Saintess Alice raised the Natural Codex and silently prayed in the direction of the World Tree, the construction ceremony began in earnest. The cuckoo bird took out the materials for setting up the Array, took a deep breath, and began to reconstruct it based on the blueprints. Hundreds of eyes watched her actions with anticipation. The cuckoo bird worked meticulously, neither too fast nor too slow. Her earnestness and diligence even made the nearby Natural Saintess Alice nod secretly in approval. ¡°This female Chosen One shows great talent in Array construction!¡± *She couldn¡¯t help but think this and even faintly considered teaching her the skill of drawing Arrays.* And as the cuckoo bird¡¯s construction progressed, the circular Teleportation Array gradually took shape. Finally, accompanied by a bright glow, a faint ripple of magic power emanated from the Array. The construction of the Array had succeeded. [Ding¡ª] [Main Quest Objective 1: Establish a stable Teleportation Array in Feilengcui (Completed)] [All players involved in the Array construction will receive a reward: 500 Contribution Points] [Ding¡ª] [Main Quest: The Former Holy City Completed!] [All players involved in the main storyline will receive a reward: 5000 Experience Points, 1 Perfect Resurrection Opportunity, and 500 Contribution Points!] In an instant, all the players who had taken on the main quest received a new system notification. ¡°We did it!¡± ¡°The quest is completed!¡± ¡°Hahaha!¡± The players cheered as they saw their rewards credited to them. Natural Saintess Alice and Oak Guardian Berserker were also infected by the excitement and joined in applauding. And with the system notification came a change in the background music. For a moment, the game system BGM of all players turned cheerful, with a melodious and pleasant tune that made one feel as if they were strolling through a bustling classical city. This was the main city music selected by Eve, titled ¡°Morning of Feilengcui,¡± a traditional tune of the Elf Clan, and quite captivating. Since Feilengcui had been restored, it would gradually be rebuilt into a new Elf Main City in the future. Eve¡¯s original plan was to have players build a new Elf City under the World Tree for both players and native believers to live in. But after discovering the Feilengcui Ruins, she changed her original plan. Now, Eve planned to use the Elf Town under the World Tree merely as a base for the players, while Feilengcui would become the residence for the returning elves! *This was a result of her careful consideration, recognizing that the interaction between players and natives couldn¡¯t happen overnight; it was best to have a buffer zone.* *Previously, Eve could only control a radius of ten kilometers and couldn¡¯t include Feilengcui within her domain.* *But now it was different.* After obtaining 26 Divine Blood Crystals sacrificed by Berserker, her Divine Power value soared by 37 points in an instant. And the players clearing out all the goblins in Feilengcui provided her with an additional 10 points of Divine Power. *Even after accounting for various consumptions, Eve now had a total of 67 points of Divine Power.* *Because she hadn¡¯t escaped the brink of death, Eve¡¯s maximum control range was still 10 kilometers, but she could construct new idols and use them to radiate influence over certain areas, bringing them under her control.* *This was a clever workaround.* She calculated that dedicating an idol in Feilengcui could precisely cover Feilengcui¡¯s temple and its affiliated areas. The entire Holy City of Feilengcui spanned nearly thirty square kilometers; to cover it all, Eve needed to continue restoring her power. Of course, since the native believers had not yet returned, Eve wasn¡¯t in a hurry. Next, she planned to have the players begin a thorough exploration of Feilengcui. Feilengcui had been through a millennium. As the former Holy City of the Elf Clan, it once safeguarded many cherished ancient texts of elven civilization, and Eve believed that remnants of those treasures could still be found. *Although Eve inherited the legacy of the World Tree and acquired much elven knowledge, it was far from enough.* Furthermore, Eve hoped to discover some training methods for practitioners in Feilengcui. *The advancement of players couldn¡¯t rely solely on her Divine Power or absorbing life force by slaying other creatures.* *Players had to cultivate their own skills as well.* *Otherwise, the genius talents she had set for them would go to waste.* *While Eve could bestow skills and power to players, she wasn¡¯t well-versed in practitioners¡¯ cultivation.* Key aspects of this training were unfortunately lost when she inherited her divine position.* *Even though as a True God, Eve could extrapolate practitioners¡¯ cultivation methods by expending Divine Power, she didn¡¯t have that much to squander right now.* *Feilengcui, however, offered a glimmer of hope.* In addition, when players trained, they provided Eve with some feedback energy through the practice of war sacrifices. This was a win-win scenario. In conclusion, exploring Feilengcui was of utmost urgency! Aside from encouraging players to delve deeper into Feilengcui, Eve also decided to attempt repairs on Hela¡¯s Soul Storage Orb. However, after Eve forcibly extracted the Death Divine Power yesterday, the Soul Storage Orb was now even more damaged. Eve estimated that it would take roughly 21 points of Divine Power and at least ten days to fully restore it. However, through her studies, Eve discovered that if she only sought to make the orb capable of bearing a fragment of her Divine Soul, the cost wouldn¡¯t be steep, requiring just 5 points of Divine Power. But doing so would severely limit the power of any avatar created using the orb as its core. Fortunately, Eve didn¡¯t aim for any miraculous strength in her avatar. She wasn¡¯t looking for a body or aiming for a transformation, but needed a tool for movement¡ªan avatar no one could recognize, to handle tasks inappropriate for a True God to manage directly. And also, occasionally enjoy a bit of freedom. Besides these tasks, Eve decided to recruit another batch of new players soon, marking the second closed beta! This time, she planned to recruit 900 players in one go! Along with the second closed beta, some game system features like PK mechanics were also set to be launched in one go! Having formulated her recent plans, Eve manipulated her Divine Power once more, preparing to issue exploration quests to the players. But at that moment, her Divine Soul suddenly quivered, sensing a massive surge of faith power crossing the vast void to reach her directly... In an instant, Eve¡¯s Divine Power value surged again, increasing by a staggering 18 points all at once, reaching an unprecedented total of 85 points! *Feeling the abrupt spike in her Divine Power value, Eve was utterly astonished.* *She quickly checked and discovered that her Divine Space had suddenly gained over two hundred green photons!* *At the same time, countless murmured prayers drifted in, ethereal and fleeting, carrying hope, anxiety, and yearning...* *These were... from her believers!* ¡°` Chapter 50 - 50 Elf Believers (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!) Chapter 50: Chapter 50 Elf Believers (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html The Dark Mountain Range was located in the southwest of Segis Continent. To the north lay the Elf Forest, to the west the Endless Sea, to the east the Fertile Plain, and to the south the Death Desert... Because the mountains were rich in obsidian deposits, even the peaks were covered with a deep black hue, hence the name. However, due to the rugged terrain and poor soil, the Dark Mountain Range was not a paradise for flora and fauna, but only home to a few drought-resistant shrubs, alpine meadows, and a handful of wildlife species. But it was rumored that in ancient times, the Dark Mountain Range was not barren. It was as fertile and beautiful as the Elf Forest, and even had another melodic name¡ªJade Mountain. But after a divine war, the heavens and earth shattered, and everything was destroyed. ... Now, the harsh environment of the Dark Mountain Range was almost as infamous as the Death Desert. Apart from caravans needing to cross the mountains and dwarves and humans searching for mineral deposits, few set foot here... In a secluded valley in the northwest of the Dark Mountain Range. In the corner of the valley, simple stone houses were arranged like stars, forming a small village. Even though the structures were simple, the stone houses were neatly aligned and meticulously cleaned. Moreover, each house was surrounded by flowers and shrubs, showing the owner¡¯s love for nature... a rarity in the Dark Mountain Range. In the village¡¯s center, there was an open, small plaza, where a simple raised platform was built with stones and vines. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??0.?¦Ï At this moment, over two hundred residents had gathered under the platform. They were of all ages, each wearing hooded linen garments that covered their faces. Their bodies were thin, their eyes dull and lifeless, showing the hardships of their lives. Yet, the pointed ears and striking appearance that peeked out declared their identity¡ªelves. The elves sat in little groups, curiously gazing at the platform. On the platform, stood two elders. One was an elderly elf wearing gray priestly robes. His hair and beard were white, and his demeanor was spirited. He was the old priest sent by the Mother Goddess to gather the Elf Clan¡ªSamir Wind. The other was an elderly female elf. Her name was Philosier Flame, the chief of this elf village and an old friend of Samir. The female elf glanced at Samir beside her, sighed, and said, ¡°Samir, as you requested, I¡¯ve gathered all the tribe members. What do you have to say now?¡± Samir looked at the more than two hundred people below, his expression complicated, ¡°Are these all the members of the Flame Tribe?¡± Philosier lowered her eyelids, her voice tinged with faint sadness, ¡°This is all that¡¯s left.¡± ¡°Ah... I never thought the Flame Tribe, which once had nearly ten thousand people, would decline to this extent.¡± Samir sighed, feeling a pang of sorrow in his heart. However, compared to the Gale Tribe, which had completely dispersed, the Flame Tribe was faring much better. Hearing Samir¡¯s words, Philosier¡¯s eyes became unfocused, and she forced a smile more pitiful than crying, saying, ¡°What can we do? Without the protection of the True God, we¡¯re nothing but homeless children, subjected to bullying... Finding a hiding place on Jade Mountain is already quite good.¡± In the Segis World, where the Divine existed, it was difficult for ordinary intelligent races without the protection of a True God to survive the conflicts among races... Especially since elves themselves were fatally attractive to other races. Without power and protection, their beautiful appearances, their long lifespans, their innate magical constitutions, were all coveted by other races. Combined with the fact that the Elf Clan was isolated, loved peace, and was inherently kind, they were not good at fighting, and thus weakened through a series of conspiracies and struggles. *The protection of the True God?* Samir¡¯s eyes flashed. He took a deep breath, revealing a brilliant smile, his voice tinged with a touch of fanaticism and excitement, ¡°In fact... I came here this time, exactly for this matter.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Philosier looked at him in surprise. Only then did the old chief of the Flame Tribe notice that the old friend before her seemed slightly different from the image in her memory. Although they hadn¡¯t seen each other in years, Samir appeared more lively. There was a gleam in his eyes, as if filled with hope for the future. That was far from the numbness and despair in the cloudy eyes of the gray old man she had seen years ago. Philosier¡¯s eyes narrowed. The Gale Tribe of elves was the most unique of all the elf tribes; they bore the responsibility of worshipping Mother Nature and were also known as the Priest Tribe. After the World Tree fell, the Gale Tribe suffered the greatest blow and persecution. And as an elder of the tribe, Samir Wind had completely experienced the rise and fall of the Gale Tribe... Every time she saw him, he was in a state of grief and despair. If she remembered correctly, Samir should have been near the Elf Forest, maintaining the natural rituals with the last Natural Saintess, hoping to awaken the Mother Goddess... But now... Looking at Samir¡¯s energetic, vibrant demeanor, and eyes filled with hope and light, Philosier suddenly had a thought that was hard to believe... *Could it be...* *Her heart, untouched for many years, suddenly beat intensely.* ¡°You...¡± She looked at Samir, her voice trembling, as if in doubt, yet expectant of something. Samir turned his head, smiled gently at his old friend, then opened his arms... An explosion of radiant Holy Light radiated from him, carrying a soothing power and a strong essence of nature. The light was blinding. In this moment, Samir seemed transformed into nature¡¯s favorite child. The powerful life force swept across the entire plaza... Feeling the immense natural power within the old priest, Philosier widened her eyes in astonishment, exclaiming, ¡°Silver... Silver Priest!¡± Silver Priest! Since Mother Nature fell, how many years had it been since they¡¯d seen a priest of such high rank? Silver was a watershed. Only a True God could support a priest of silver rank! At this moment, Philosier felt her old heart beat intensely, like a young person¡¯s. The once absurd but endlessly hopeful thought subtly pointed towards a certain reality! ¡°This... this...¡± She mumbled, almost unable to speak. The power of the Holy Light also attracted all the elves. They looked up, shocked and confused, at the elf elder on the platform. Meeting their converging gazes, Samir smiled gently. Facing north, he drew a symbol of Mother Nature on his chest, his voice soft yet powerful, ¡°Brethren, our True God... has returned. She has delivered a prophecy, calling us back to the Elf Forest to reclaim our lost glory!¡± Having said that, he took out a golden leaf from his sleeve¡ªthe sacred artifact imbued with divine power by Eve¡ªthe World Tree¡¯s leaf. Holding the World Tree leaf high, Samir reverently and respectfully unleashed its power... In an instant, the intense natural divine power spread, sprouting buds and blooming flowers wherever it touched. In the blink of an eye, the plaza was surrounded by clusters of flowers and lush vines... Witnessing this seemingly divine miracle, all the elves were engulfed in shock. ¡°It¡¯s the Natural Divine Power! This is the Natural Divine Power!¡± A voice full of excitement came from an elderly elf who recognized it. Accompanying the miracle, an ethereal, holy voice echoed in the air, ¡°Children, come home.¡± ¡°Children, come home...¡± That majestic voice was gentle, pleasant, carried a trace of regret, yet was filled with endless antiquity, possessing a peculiar calming force. This was Eve¡¯s prophecy recorded on the World Tree leaf. In an instant, all the elves felt a warm energy surge into their bodies. The weak frames, weary from long wandering, gradually regained strength! With a thud, Philosier instinctively knelt on the ground. Gazing at the brilliant World Tree leaf, feeling the vibrant life force within her, tears streamed down her weathered face. She raised her head, her expression a mix of joy and sorrow, ¡°Mother Goddess... This is the power of the Mother Goddess!¡± ¡°She... has returned!¡± ¡°` Chapter 51 - 51 Eves Confusion (Vote for recommendation!) Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Eve¡¯s Confusion (Vote for recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°It¡¯s Samir, he has already found the remaining members of the Elf Clan.¡± After concentrating her consciousness onto Samir, Eve quickly understood the cause and effect. After a journey of several decades, this devout old priest traversed forests and mountains, finally finding a branch of the former diverse tribes of the Elf Kingdom¡ª the Flame Clan, in the corner of the Dark Mountain Range. By demonstrating a Divine Miracle and delivering the oracle, he successfully rekindled the faith of this Elf Tribe. Sensing the speckled photons of faith in her Divine Space, Eve was very pleased. Even though most of these believers were still shallow in their belief, having just picked it up, with only the old clan leader Philosier and some elder Old Elves reaching a pious level, it was already a good start. ... The Flame Clan wasn¡¯t like the Gale Tribe, so achieving such results was a pleasant surprise for Eve. As she listened to the prayers of the believers and saw their living conditions through their memories, Eve felt even more sorrowful... They roamed everywhere, hiding from the hunting teams of humans and Half-Beasts; they lacked food and, at the most critical times, could only fill their stomachs with grass roots and bark... *How many elderly elves had fallen during migrations, how many young adults had perished fighting enemies, and how many young elves had died prematurely or been hunted by other races...* Among the many Elf Tribes, the population of nearly ten thousand from the Flame Clan was considered a large tribe, yet now less than three hundred remained, mostly the elderly, weak, and sick, with an average strength not reaching Black Iron Middle Rank. Over these millennia, the Elf Clan had suffered too much hardship. Eve had no doubt that if things continued this way, elves might completely become history within a hundred years. Source: , updated on ??¦Í?0.§ã¦Ï ¡°You have already endured enough. Since I inherited the World Tree¡¯s legacy, I will naturally protect you.¡± Eve sighed deeply, drawing out several points of Divine Power, crossing the void to confer it to the past. With the conferral of Eve¡¯s Divine Power, the Flame Clan members who had rediscovered their faith immediately felt a holy radiance descend upon them, warm and gentle, and all their illnesses vanished in an instant. Each person felt a renewed vitality and vigor from within, even the elderly elves bursting with strong vitality. Not only that, but they also vaguely felt some shackles break within them, as if their entire bodies and souls were freer. It was the restrictive curse placed on the Elf Clan after the War of the Gods, passed down through generations... and it was also the main cause of the Elf Clan¡¯s fall from the silver rank. After regaining their faith, Eve had the power to dispel the curse from them. Of course, since the curse was a one-time thing, Eve¡¯s dispelling wouldn¡¯t attract the enemies¡¯ attention. The elves¡¯ strength immediately saw enhancement, with even a few directly breaking through ranks, reaching Black Iron Middle Rank! Of course, it only improved that much. It wasn¡¯t that Eve couldn¡¯t continue to boost their strength, but doing so would instead deplete their potential. These native elves were different from the players; they were descendants of the Primordial Elves, not directly born from the World Tree. Although they shared the long millennial lifespan of the Primordial Elves, their innate talents were significantly lacking. The players¡¯ bodies, on the other hand, were directly created by Eve, belonging to the Primordial Elves. Not only that, but their bodies had been modified to a certain extent, offering exceptional talent and able to endure more of Eve¡¯s Divine Power, far beyond what the natives could withstand. ¡°It¡¯s Divine Favor! This is the Divine Favor of Nature!¡± Feeling the changes in their bodies, every Flame Tribe elf grew excited. Some elderly elves even prayed devoutly while softly crying: ¡°Mother Goddess has not left... Mother Goddess has not left...¡± ¡°Merciful Mother Nature, our beloved True God, thank you for your favor...¡± ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Goddess of Life, praise the great Elf Master!¡± Watching the excited clanspeople, Philosier was also moved to tears. She trembled as she turned around, kneeling deeply toward the north, then stood up with Samir¡¯s help. ¡°Going home...¡± She looked at the clanspeople below, her lips murmuring, her facial wrinkles trembling. ¡°Going home...!¡± She repeated it once more, her voice more resolute, her gaze growing more devout. ¡°We¡ªare going home!¡± She shouted excitedly, her trembling voice carrying the elves¡¯ prayers far away... Far away... ... ... With Samir¡¯s assistance, the Flame Tribe of the elves set off. This time, they no longer wandered; this time, they no longer were lost. They had found their belonging... They were going home now. Feeling the anxious and excited feelings of over two hundred believers in the Divine Space, Eve sighed deeply. *¡±Predecessor, what exactly did you do to be besieged by the gods, was it really just because others coveted the godhood and faith?¡±* At that moment, she grew increasingly curious about the true story of the divine war a millennium ago. Although Eve inherited the legacy of the World Tree, knowing her enemies, the memories about the reasons for the divine war were vague, merely mentioning disputes over faith. But seeing the former Silver Clan now in such dire straits, Eve couldn¡¯t help but think that perhaps this incomplete legacy really had omitted some crucial clues. *However, these matters were beyond what she could consider at the moment; she could only focus on quickly restoring her strength.* *The enemies would return someday, and the truth would eventually surface.* What Eve had to do was to become strong enough before facing them, then defeat all the enemies, and stand once again at the pinnacle of Segus! This would be a difficult process, but with the help of the Elf Clan and the players, it was not impossible. With this thought, Eve¡¯s heart grew increasingly resolute. ¡°The players¡¯ growth, along with the partial return of the Elf Clan, is indeed a double blessing. Hehe, it seems the second closed beta can¡¯t be delayed anymore, as three hundred players are already a bit inadequate.¡± She pondered for a moment and decided to set the second closed beta in one and a half months, which was ten days later in Blue Star time. This was set in conjunction with the Flame Clan¡¯s return schedule; in her estimation, the Flame Tribe would need about two months of travel to return to the core area of the Elf Forest, just in time to train new players to assist them in settling down. As for the initial three hundred players, Eve had already planned a new opponent for them. That was the Half-Beast Tribe lurking near the Elf Forest. But before that, it was better to let them explore the Feilengcui Sacred Land thoroughly; maybe there would be new discoveries. With this in mind, Eve manipulated the Divine Power, issuing a new task to the players: Main Quest ¡ª Explore the Holy City! Chapter 52: Player Guild (Vote for recommendation!) Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Player Guild (Vote for recommendation!) Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Two days had passed since reclaiming Feilengcui. After players officially established a stable teleportation array and completed the first main storyline quest, subsequent plot quests also followed. These quests involved delving into the former Holy City to uncover the history left behind by the elf civilization. However, not all players chose to accept this exploratory mission this time. Some battle-loving players, after reaching level 11, decided to leave the safe zone and venture into the broader world. ... Simply put, it was about fighting monsters to level up. Unlike other games, ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± a ¡°virtual reality game,¡± had a very free combat mechanism. Once players familiarized themselves with the rules, they quickly grew fond of this combat mode, which was so closely aligned with reality. In such a game, their adventures made them feel more like genuine mercenaries or hunters. Moreover, many players accustomed to fighting found that upon returning to reality, their adaptability and responsiveness also improved. There were even rumors of someone using game strategies to subdue a criminal during a robbery... This only made players even more eager for combat. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã? Additionally, the vast forest beyond the safe zone offered players this possibility. Outside the safe zone, the Elf Forest was filled with numerous demon beasts, mostly at the Black Iron level, making it very suitable for players to train. Especially those Black Iron Lower creatures. Of course, the forest wasn¡¯t lacking in some formidable silver creatures, but such entities usually roamed in the northern parts of the forest. And it was said that in the far north, there were powerful creatures of gold or even legendary ranks. Of course, those creatures of legend were beyond what the current players could imagine. All this information was learned by players who exhausted every strategy to curry favor with Alice until she divulged these secrets. Alice even taught them how to identify the tracks of powerful beasts and how to avoid higher-level demon beasts. All of these things could be attributed to the improving relations between Alice and the players. After the players extended an invitation to Feilengcui, except for Dema, relationships with Alice and most Chosen Ones improved. In particular, those Chosen Ones who participated in reclaiming the Holy City found many had reached a cordial relationship with her. Under these circumstances, Alice finally was willing to engage in deeper conversations with the Chosen Ones. Moreover, Alice recognized the aptitude of Cuckoo Bird in the array, occasionally offering her guidance, to the envy of many players. Cuckoo Bird became the first player to start Alice¡¯s side quests, becoming the earliest Chosen One to learn about the array. *Well, at least that¡¯s what players thought.* ... Feilengcui, among the ruins of an elf structure. Li Mu cautiously explored in the dim light, holding a flickering torch. As a player who loved the plot, he declined other players¡¯ invitations and chose not to venture outside for adventure, opting instead to complete storyline quests. After completing previous tasks and sacrificing the goblin curved knife, bow, and club to the Goddess, he had accumulated enough contribution points to exchange for two new skills. ¡°Grace of the Cat¡± and ¡°Strength of the Bull.¡± The former improved agility, while the latter enhanced strength overall. As for equipment... Well, being able to exchange for two skills was already the result of his hard work, and he didn¡¯t dare hope for more. He wasn¡¯t a wealthy player who could spend indiscriminately. However, shortly after players completed their tasks, a new batch of weapons appeared in the exchange system. These weapons were primarily curved knives and bows, with some appealing magic wands thrown in. They were exquisitely made and affordably priced, requiring only a thousand to two thousand contribution points, all being rare blue equipment. While their attribute bonuses couldn¡¯t compare to those of purple epic equipment, they surpassed the goblin weapons Li Mu and the others had captured. Li Mu believed this must be the official equipment targeted at ordinary players. He planned to accumulate enough contribution points to exchange for a magic wand. But come to think of it, he subconsciously felt that these pieces of equipment seemed somewhat familiar, yet he couldn¡¯t pinpoint where he¡¯d seen them before. *Maybe it was just an illusion.* Li Mu shook his head and continued exploring the dim ruins. This was a relatively large ruin area of Feilengcui, quite distant from the temple of the holy site, and seemed to have once been a magnificent building constructed from massive stones. Li Mu felt that only in such large-scale ruins could there be a greater likelihood of finding treasures left by the elf civilization. Regrettably, he had been exploring here for two hours without any gains. What added to the frustration was a long tail incessantly chatting behind him... ¡°Brother Mu, why did you choose to explore the ruins? We¡¯ve been wandering here for two hours and found nothing.¡± Dema held a grass stalk in his mouth, mumbling behind Li Mu. ¡°I heard Fried Tomato and the others took down a level 13 mountain boar in the wild and are nearly level 12. Hey... Brother Mu, why don¡¯t we organize an outdoor activity?¡± Dema looked at Li Mu¡¯s back with a somewhat resentful tone. As a taunting tank warrior, itched for action after a few days without fighting. His epic-level curved knife hadn¡¯t seen blood yet, and he had temporarily given up learning new skills to exchange for it. Hearing Dema¡¯s words, Li Mu frowned and said, ¡°No rush, we can go after we finish the storyline tasks.¡± ¡°But we¡¯ve been exploring for two days and haven¡¯t found anything. According to the plot, this place has been abandoned for nearly a thousand years; if there was anything here, the goblins would have ruined it all.¡± Dema shook his head as he spoke. Li Mu thought for a moment and explained, ¡°Since the plot gave us a task, it surely isn¡¯t without purpose. The harder it is to find, the more it proves the preciousness of the task reward...¡± *To be honest, saying this after wandering for two days, even his confidence was wavering.* *Sometimes, Li Mu also complained that the game planners were insane with their layout of Feilengcui.* They designed such a large-scale ruin, yet it truly was just a pile of ruins, with nothing inside except for the trash left by goblins... ¡°Oh... and that Fried Tomato, I heard he even formed a guild for outdoor strategies, acting all smug, hmph...¡± Dema sneered. ¡°Hey, Brother Mu, did he really try to steal the Divine Blood Crystal? I remember when the system warned him, it specifically mentioned attacking you...¡± He asked curiously. Li Mu paused and said, ¡°Since you have the opportunity to ask this, you might as well pay attention to the road and see if there¡¯s any hidden path or treasure.¡± He didn¡¯t deny it, which tacitly acknowledged Dema¡¯s speculation. ¡°Heh, I knew that guy had no good intention.¡± Dema sneered and said, ¡°Hehe, once guild battles open up, we¡¯ll teach Fried Tomato a proper lesson!¡± Upon completing the first instance task, players began to form guilds. Such organizations helped enhance player cohesion, fostered teamwork abilities, and encouraged competition among players, increasing the game¡¯s excitement. To allow players to complete tasks more efficiently, Eve didn¡¯t leave out this feature. In fact, even if Eve hadn¡¯t established guilds, humans¡¯ tendency to group together would naturally result in smaller groups as the numbers grew. Rather than relying on that, she¡¯d proactively foster unified player guilds for her to command. The united Fourth Cataclysm was indeed the most terrifying. Currently, the guild unlocked only the public chat channel and mini-map sharing features. In the future, Eve planned to issue various tasks through the guilds, further enhancing players¡¯ combat skills and collaborative mission abilities. Eve¡¯s ultimate goal was to shape players, using the guilds as a prototype, into armies that could strike wherever commanded! Establishing a guild required 10,000 contribution points. This was a hefty sum, but if players pooled their resources together, the cost per person would decrease significantly. And through cooperation during closed beta testing, players formed three major guilds by pooling their funds. ¡°` Chapter 53: You must have no friends, right? Chapter 53: Chapter 53: You must have no friends, right? Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html The beta testers formed three major guilds. One was led by Li Mu and Demacia, called the ¡°Heart of Nature¡± guild, which also had the largest number of members, totaling more than 180 players. The president of the ¡°Heart of Nature¡± was Li Mu; however, Li Mu did not impose mandatory requirements on the guild members, so it was considered a semi-casual guild. Another was led by Gugubird and Little Xian Miao, called the ¡°Mengmeng Committee¡± guild, with Little Xian Miao as the president. Nearly half of its members were female players, with more than 50 members, and it specialized in leisure and life. They were also the main force behind the construction of Elf Town. ... The last one was the ¡°First Legion¡± guild, established by Fried Tomato, with more than 40 members, primarily focused on combat, loving outdoor adventures, and were all hardcore players. Even though the Goddess didn¡¯t really like the player Fried Tomato, after her previous warning, he had toned it down quite a bit. Moreover, this guy worked quite diligently and showed considerable respect toward NPCs. The teammates he led were almost all heavy grinder players, providing the Goddess with substantial feedback. So, Her divine greatness decided not to worry about this guy and just observe the results. Besides, although Li Mu was quite capable, the Goddess felt he was sometimes too laid-back, and establishing a competitor for him might unleash his potential. Additionally, other than them, there were some wanderers who hadn¡¯t joined any guilds. The most famous among them was the top player server-wide¡ªBox Lunch. Source: , updated on ?0¦Í??.§ã¦Ï This cool-headed ace pulled together a few players to form an adventure team, roaming the wild every day, making experience points fly up and being revered by many players as a big shot. Even Li Mu looked at him with newfound respect. However, rather than grind monsters, what Li Mu now wanted to know more was when he might finally make some discoveries in the ruins. He glanced at the time displayed on the system interface, contemplated for a moment, and said to Demacia, ¡°We¡¯ll search for another hour. If we still come up empty, we¡¯ll head back for now.¡± ¡°Head back? Got it!¡± Demacia¡¯s face instantly lit up with a wide smile, ¡°Hehe, I heard there¡¯s a bonfire party at Feilengcui tonight. If we head back early, we can join in the fun!¡± After the first day of the game, players of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± got into the habit of regularly holding bonfire parties. The scenery of Elf Forest was just too beautiful, and throwing a party in this primeval forest offered a rare camping experience distant from worldly cares. Everyone would eat berries and, taking advantage of the Holy Daughter being unaware, secretly grill food, laugh together, play around, and chat happily... It was simply too much fun. A bonfire party? Li Mu¡¯s eyes brightened. If he wasn¡¯t mistaken, this party was to celebrate the rebuilding of the temple at Feilengcui. The previous temple had been severely damaged, and over the past two days, Gugubird had been leading her construction team to repair the temple, reportedly as one of the Goddess¡¯s tasks. Now, it should be almost fully restored and ready to house the idol. Thinking of this, he nodded, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll head back in an hour and, by the way, ask Alice to see if we can get any information about Feilengcui from her.¡± That said, Li Mu pushed aside a pile of debris in front of him and continued the exploration. ¡°Alice!¡± Demacia¡¯s eyes lit up, his expression suddenly turning mysterious. He leaned toward Li Mu¡¯s ear with a sly smile and said, ¡°I say, Brother Mu, have you figured out the punishment mechanics in this game?¡± Hearing his words, Li Mu raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°This game simulates reality highly, so as long as you act according to the rules of reality, you generally won¡¯t be penalized.¡± As he spoke, he glanced at Demacia in surprise, ¡°You haven¡¯t been up to something again, have you?¡± ¡°No, no...¡± Demacia chuckled awkwardly, then said, ¡°It¡¯s just that since that time the red name alarm triggered, I was a bit curious and privately tried a few experiments with some players.¡± ¡°Experiments?¡± ¡°Exactly, it¡¯s the red name mechanism! We tried it, and it seems like this mechanism is based on a player¡¯s ¡®malice¡¯ and the degree of harm to other players to determine the red name. Moreover, it can be eliminated with contribution points. And this punishment appears to be graded. According to our speculations, killing someone might result in severe punishment, possibly even getting banned...¡± Demacia said. ¡°Is that so... So serious?¡± Li Mu was a bit startled, feeling puzzled. He suddenly remembered that a couple of days ago, it seemed the system briefly flashed a message about Demacia turning red-named, followed shortly by another message about his repentance and reform, so that¡¯s what it was all about... This guy was really bored out of his mind. Li Mu felt both amused and exasperated. However, if it had been the old him, he probably would have been looking for bugs everywhere like Demacia too. Now as the game went on, Li Mu grew more and more fond of this game, and gradually, he completely forgot about finding bugs. ¡°Not only that!¡± Demacia¡¯s expression turned serious, ¡°We even tested on the NPCs and found that we couldn¡¯t attack them!¡± Hearing Demacia¡¯s words, Li Mu gave him a look, ¡°Isn¡¯t that only natural? If we could attack NPCs, the game would be chaos.¡± ¡°No, I mean, when we tried to attack an NPC, we would lose control of our bodies for a moment until the thought was gone, and then we¡¯d regain control. For now, our attempts have only been with Miss and the big guy...¡± Demacia shook his head and said. Li Mu: ... ¡°Did you... attempt to attack Alice and Berserker?¡± His mouth twitched slightly. Demacia scratched his head, ¡°I just wanted to test it out, and then found out that it seemed like we couldn¡¯t attack them.¡± Li Mu: ... ¡°You should be thankful you couldn¡¯t attack them; otherwise, I think you¡¯d be pounded back to level 1 by now.¡± He looked at Demacia speechlessly. ¡°Well, well... Anyway, even if my rapport with them can¡¯t be salvaged, I just wanted to try... I still have a few perfect revives left...¡± Demacia said awkwardly. Li Mu: ... Not being able to attack NPCs was actually a setting made by the Goddess. Her initial plan was to use the red name mechanism to restrict players from attacking NPCs, but after some thought, she felt that was still too insecure, so she simply prohibited players from attacking NPCs altogether. More accurately, players couldn¡¯t attack those who belonged to Her believers. When players developed the intent to attack natural believers, they would lose control of their bodies. The reason the Goddess could do this was that there was a channel in Her Divine Space connecting players and believers, allowing some micromanagement system settings. When a player generated hostility towards a believer, it would pre-emptively terminate their conscious control over the body. As for other intelligent beings aside from believers, there was no solution for them. If other indigenous beings close to the Goddess appeared in the future but didn¡¯t belong to the natural believers, the Goddess would have to rely on strict punishment systems to restrain players. As for why player-versus-player attacks weren¡¯t restricted... there was a reason for that too. The relationships between players weren¡¯t as straightforward as those between players and NPCs. Forcibly ensuring peace among players wasn¡¯t always a good thing. Players who had conflicts had plenty of ways to sabotage each other, and enforced peace also meant no punitive system. Rather than that, it would be better to implement a red name system, and if players caused too much trouble, just ban them, removing unstable factors. There was a slight flavor of entrapment *in* this approach. As for those who were able to repent, they were given a chance to amend, and perhaps pay a fine while at it. Yes, the Goddess felt she was quite magnanimous. Not only that, unrestricted player-versus-player attacks allowed players to fully showcase various cunning tactics. For instance, schemes involving feigned injury, sacrificial gameplay, and so on... ... Having heard Demacia¡¯s probing experiences, Li Mu patted his shoulder helplessly, ¡°Demacia.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Demacia looked at Li Mu with bright eyes, ¡°What¡¯s up, Brother Mu?¡± Li Mu gave him a look, his voice tinged with melancholy, ¡°You must have very few friends in reality, right?¡± Demacia looked shocked, ¡°How did you know?!¡± Li Mu: ... He didn¡¯t answer; instead, he shook his head helplessly, sighed, and continued walking forward. Demacia, awkwardly rubbing his nose, followed behind closely. However, just after taking two steps, he stumbled over something and almost fell flat. ¡°Whoa, what was that?¡± He cursed and instinctively used his torch to light up the area, revealing a broken stone slab covered in strange writings. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He curiously picked up the stone slab. ¡°` Chapter 54: The Secret of the Slate Chapter 54: Chapter 54: The Secret of the Slate Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html It was a gray stone tablet, covered in a layer of dust, with some blurry characters faintly visible. Demacia lifted the stone tablet, his eyes lighting up. ¡°Brother Mu, Brother Mu, come look at this! Could this be the Elf Language?¡± He hurriedly called out to Li Mu ahead of him. ¡°Hmm? Elf Language?¡± ... Li Mu stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Demacia, who was raising the stone tablet excitedly. ¡°Let me take a look.¡± He took the stone tablet, wiped off the dust on it, and began examining it. The stone tablet appeared to have withstood considerable time, and the characters on it were no longer clear. Yet, Li Mu, who had always had a good memory, still recognized that these strange characters seemed to have the same origin as the inscriptions outside the Feilengcui Ruins! ¡°Perhaps... it¡¯s the Elf Language!¡± He felt a surge of joy in his heart. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.?¦Ï *Characters are the vessels of civilization.* *No matter what was written on this stone tablet, it would be a significant discovery for them.* *And the most crucial part of the Feilengcui exploration mission was to find the scrolls of the Elf civilization!* ¡°Where did you find it?¡± Li Mu asked impatiently. ¡°Ahem, I tripped over this thing, picked it up, and saw it was there.¡± Demacia pointed to the nearby ruins and replied. Li Mu: ... *What kind of lucky break was this?* He took a few steps toward where Demacia pointed, squatted down, and lit it up with a torch. And as the light from the torch revealed its surroundings, Li Mu was pleasantly surprised to discover that there seemed to be more stone tablets buried here! He had been talking to Demacia and didn¡¯t notice them while they were traveling. If Demacia hadn¡¯t tripped, they might have missed it! ¡°Demacia, we might have discovered something great! Come quickly to help dig these stone tablets out!¡± Li Mu exclaimed excitedly. The stone tablets were mostly covered by the ruins, with only a corner exposed. To see their full appearance, they would need to be completely excavated. ¡°Something great?¡± Demacia was momentarily stunned, then his expression lit up, ¡°Whoa! Could we have stumbled upon some ancient texts? Maybe there¡¯s even a treasure map or a cultivation technique there!¡± ¡°Stop dreaming, and quickly help out!¡± Li Mu set the torch aside and carefully began to excavate the stone tablets from the ruins, giving commands to Demacia. ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Demacia also hurriedly squatted down to assist Li Mu in unearthing the treasures. They spent a good half hour excavating all the stone tablets. Once they counted them, Li Mu was delighted to discover they had dug up 73 stone tablets! Each stone tablet was about a centimeter thick and roughly as large as a washbasin, in a square shape, with densely packed mysterious characters carved upon them. However, unfortunately, most of the stone tablets were broken, and many of the engravings were illegible. Among them, the relatively intact ones were carefully selected by the two, totaling six. Looking at these six stone tablets, Li Mu felt a wave of excitement. He pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Let¡¯s hide the remaining stone tablets first, then bring these six relatively complete ones back to Feilengcui to have Alice appraise what¡¯s written on them.¡± For a thousand years, the Elves¡¯ script had not changed much. Players couldn¡¯t understand the Elf Language, but Alice as the Natural Saintess could. ¡°Alright, alright, haha! Diligence does pay off! We¡¯ve finally found something, although we don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a treasure map or something else! Hehe, maybe this will trigger more storyline developments!¡± Demacia said excitedly. The two placed the remaining stone tablets in a corner, covered them with other debris, and made a marker beside it. Then they left excitedly with the six selected stone tablets. ... The Central Temple of Feilengcui. After two days of renovations, the once-dilapidated temple was completely revitalized. Renovating the temple would have been a lengthy process, but the presence of magic greatly accelerated it. Players almost completed all the work in just two days. At this moment, Cuckoo was leading some players in the final touch-ups, even referencing several famous European cathedrals to embellish the already solemn Natural Temple, making it even more sacred and grand. This was not only their hobby but also a mission passed down from the Holy Land¡¯s storyline, offering substantial rewards. ¡°Place these flowers and plants beneath the temple¡¯s windowsill, then use Natural Magic to root them.¡± After giving instructions to a guild member, Cuckoo continued studying the blueprints. ¡°Hey, Cuckoo!¡± Suddenly, a familiar voice interrupted her train of thought. She frowned, raised her head, and upon seeing who it was, raised an eyebrow, ¡°Brother Mu?¡± It was none other than Li Mu and Demacia, who had returned. At this moment, both of their expressions were extremely excited, and the stone tablets in their hands were quite eye-catching. Cuckoo automatically ignored the presence of Demacia beside Li Mu, focusing instead on the stone tablets in Li Mu¡¯s hands, her eyes lighting up, ¡°Did you finally find something?¡± It was known that Li Mu and Demacia had spent two days scavenging in the ruins. Li Mu nodded, showing a bright smile, ¡°That¡¯s right! We found tablets with written records, and we¡¯re taking them to have Alice identify them!¡± ¡°Written records?¡± Cuckoo raised an eyebrow. ¡°Look here!¡± Li Mu took out one stone tablet to show her, ¡°I¡¯ve looked at these characters, and they are very similar to those in the temple. I suspect it¡¯s the Elf Language.¡± Cuckoo showed an interesting expression, leaned her head closer to scrutinize the writing on the stone tablet, focused and attentive. ¡°Silver Calendar... Elven... Celebration...¡± She frowned, reading each word aloud. ¡°This seems to be about an Elven celebration.¡± Cuckoo thought it over and made a judgment. Li Mu and Demacia were immediately taken aback. ¡°You... you understand it?!¡± Demacia stuttered, his expression utterly astonished. Cuckoo gave him a sidelong glance, then explained to Li Mu, ¡°I¡¯ve been studying Array knowledge with Alice recently, and setting up arrays for the Elf Clan has to use the Elf Language, so I¡¯ve been learning the Elf Language.¡± ¡°So... this really is the Elf Language?¡± Li Mu¡¯s expression was one of happiness. Yet he soon thought of something, looked at Cuckoo with a peculiar expression, and said, ¡°Wait... you¡¯ve only been studying for two days? And already you understand it?¡± Cuckoo frowned, shook her head dejectedly, and said, ¡°No, the Elf Language is too difficult, with a vocabulary of over ten thousand words. I¡¯ve stayed up two whole nights, and I¡¯ve only learned a little over one thousand three hundred words. At most, I can comprehend ten to twenty percent of these characters.¡± Saying this, she sighed helplessly, visibly downhearted. Li Mu: ... Demacia: ... The two looked at each other, speechless for a long time. *Is this the power of a top student?* *Two days, only two days!* *Cuckoo was frightening.* *No wonder she was a top scholarly figure at Jinghua University...* Li Mu clearly remembered how just the 6,000-word vocabulary for the sixth level of university English had stumped him for two semesters, and he still hadn¡¯t fully mastered it. *Yet Cuckoo...* *In two days, she learned over a thousand unfamiliar Elf Language words...* *Terrifying.* Li Mu had looked into the Elf Language, and it was an entirely different system. Just the alphabet itself reportedly had 72 letters. He couldn¡¯t understand what stroke of inspiration the developers had¡ªto create a set of characters as complex as Chinese characters. However, for some lore enthusiasts and role-players, it was another pleasant surprise. Looking at Cuckoo¡¯s regretful expression, Demacia sighed heavily, ¡°Sigh, I guess I¡¯m never meant to learn Arrays in this life.¡± ¡°Why would a warrior like you learn Arrays?¡± Cuckoo gave him an exasperated look. Demacia: ... Li Mu cleared his throat and quickly handed the remaining two stone tablets to Cuckoo, ¡°Cuckoo, would you please take a look at the remaining two?¡± Cuckoo nodded and took them, scrutinizing them for a moment, and said, ¡°It seems related to Elven history. I can¡¯t really make out the specific content.¡± ¡°Not a treasure map? Or a cultivation technique manual?¡± Demacia eagerly asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it.¡± Cuckoo shook her head. Instantly, Demacia looked like a wilting eggplant, ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s really just a pile of junk?¡± Li Mu also felt quite disappointed. He sighed and handed the three stone tablets in Demacia¡¯s hands to the young woman, ¡°Cuckoo, could you take a look at these three as well?¡± Cuckoo took them. ¡°This one also seems to be about history.¡± After a while, she returned the first stone tablet to Li Mu. ¡°This one too.¡± Soon, she returned the second. Suddenly, both Li Mu and Demacia felt a bit deflated. However, even after a long time, Cuckoo hadn¡¯t returned the third stone tablet. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Is there something unusual with this one?¡± Noticing her deeply furrowed brow, Demacia¡¯s heart leaped, and he asked, curious. Cuckoo shook her head, then looked at them with a peculiar expression, ¡°No...¡± She carefully examined the tablet again, uncertain, and said, ¡°This one... seems to be a meditation technique.¡± ¡°` Chapter 55 - 55 Elemental Meditation Method Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Elemental Meditation Method Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html ¡°A meditation method?¡± Li Mu and Dema both froze simultaneously. Dema¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°So, it¡¯s like the martial arts manuals in online games?¡± The Cuckoo Bird carefully examined the stone slab, nodded, then shook her head, ... ¡°Not quite, it¡¯s more about how to train magic power...¡± ¡°Hey! Then it¡¯s a manual!¡± Dema slapped his thigh, looking excited. The Elf Warrior had to consume magic power to unleash certain skills, so training magic power was still useful for him. ¡°Training magic power?¡± Li Mu¡¯s eyes also lit up. Source: , updated on n?¦Ï??0.§ã¦Ï As a Druid, magic power was, of course, the source of his strength. ¡°However, I can only figure out the general idea. For the specifics, I think you¡¯ll need Alice to identify it.¡± the Cuckoo Bird said. After speaking, she hesitated for a moment and then asked somewhat bashfully, ¡°Um... if Alice agrees to help you decipher the stone slab and teach you the training methods, could you teach me too?¡± She was very curious about the content of the stone slab, which seemed to be a meditation method, and she was a mage now as well. If it really was related to a mage¡¯s meditation method, it would be quite useful for her. Li Mu and Dema exchanged a smile and readily replied, ¡°No problem!¡± Then, they hurriedly went to find Alice with the stone slab. ... In the side hall of the Natural Temple. ¡°A meditation method?¡± Upon hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, the Elf Girl who was cleaning the statue paused. Alice turned around, took the stone slab from Li Mu, and began to examine it carefully. A moment later, her expression turned to delight, ¡°It is indeed a meditation method, and it¡¯s the ¡®Element Meditation Method¡¯ that has been lost to the Elf Clan. It can be used up to the Silver Upper level! The ¡®Element Meditation Method¡¯ is a very effective meditation method, said to increase magic power and elemental affinity!¡± It really was a meditation method! And it could even be used up to the Silver level! Li Mu and Dema were overjoyed. Considering the current game¡¯s level cap was 40, and level 40 was merely the Black Iron Upper Peak! Being able to use it up to Silver likely meant it could be utilized in the next version! It was definitely a powerful meditation method! ¡°So... how many rewards can we get for handing in these stone slabs? Also, can we learn this meditation method?¡± they eagerly asked. Alice observed the stone slab for a moment and shook her head, ¡°No way, some critical details on the stone slab are unclear, so there¡¯s no way for me to fully restore the meditation method. As for the rewards, I can¡¯t say for sure. Everything will be known only after offering it to the Mother Goddess.¡± After spending so many days with them, Alice realized that a certain connection or, rather, transaction seemed to exist between the Mother Goddess and these Chosen Ones. When the Chosen Ones completed their tasks, the Mother Goddess would confer power upon them. This understanding also clarified for her why the Chosen Ones, without any apparent faith, labored so diligently. *They appeared to have an intense and unhealthy pursuit of power, even more so than humans did.* ¡°Huh? Can¡¯t be restored?¡± In an instant, Li Mu and Dema felt as if cold water had been poured over them, dampening their spirits significantly. Seeing Li Mu¡¯s disappointed expression, Alice hesitated briefly before uncertainly suggesting, ¡°However... maybe the Mother Goddess has a way to fix it. If you want it restored, just pray to Her while offering it to the Mother Goddess.¡± After saying this, she glanced at Li Mu, contemplating some of her own ideas, *Perhaps... this was an opportunity to let the Chosen Ones accept nature and become believers too?* Pray to the Goddess? Li Mu and Dema exchanged a look, stirred by the thought. They didn¡¯t think of Alice¡¯s evangelizing intentions, but rather imagined more... Dema leaned close to Li Mu¡¯s ear, excitedly saying, ¡°A storyline quest! Brother Mu, based on my main storyline quest experience, this is definitely a hidden storyline! The reward might just be a Meditation Law!¡± Upon hearing Dema¡¯s words, Li Mu became quite expectant too. In fact, his thoughts were quite similar. The two glanced at each other and nodded simultaneously. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, may we ask Lord Alice to set up the sacrificial array to help us complete the task?¡± Li Mu respectfully requested of Alice. Alice nodded, ¡°Please wait a moment, I¡¯ll prepare it.¡± When a True God and believers existed on the same plane, there was the advantage of a very low sacrificial cost. Not only did Eve expend less divine power, but the believers used less as well. So as long as She wasn¡¯t bothered, She could allow the Natural believers to sacrifice every day for fun. Soon, Alice completed the sacrificial array. After a devout prayer in the direction of the World Tree, she began trying to request a response from the Mother Goddess... ... The moment Alice prayed, Eve sensed the tremor of a beam of belief. She paused her work on repairing the Soul Storage Orb, curiously shifting her attention. ¡°It¡¯s Alice? Is she going to offer something?¡± Thinking this, a thought crossed Her mind, ¡°Could it be... the players really found something in the ruins?¡± Considering this, Eve opened the sacrificial channel and accepted the offering from the Natural Saintess. As a burst of light accompanied it, several stone slabs appeared in Her Divine Space. ¡°Hmm? Stone slabs?¡± Eve curiously inspected them. ¡°It¡¯s actually Elven history!¡± She was somewhat surprised. ¡°Hmm? There¡¯s also a meditation method!¡± Upon seeing the content on one of the slabs, Eve was delighted. With a method for cultivation, even if incomplete, Eve could easily repair it using Her power without spending too much divine power. Moreover, if She wished, She could take it a step further to deduce a higher-quality meditation method based on the existing one! However, that¡¯s not what Eve intended to do for now, since the players¡¯ levels weren¡¯t that high. Spending a small amount of divine power to repair the existing meditation method was enough for them. Thinking this, She immediately used divine power to repair the meditation method, restoring it in an instant. These two players did quite well! Looking at the ¡°Element Meditation Method¡± before Her, Eve was very satisfied. She promptly used a bit of divine power... Soon, a system message about completing a task appeared in Li Mu and Dema¡¯s vision, rewarding each of them with 3,000 experience points and 500 contribution points. ¡°It¡¯s... already over?¡± Looking at the system notification in their vision, the two were a bit stupefied. Alice, meanwhile, hastily signaled to Li Mu with her eyes, ¡°The sacrificial channel is still open. The Mother Goddess can hear your prayers, quickly tell Her your wishes.¡± Upon hearing Alice¡¯s reminder, Li Mu¡¯s eyes brightened. He quickly mimicked the girl¡¯s gesture, kneeling on one knee and drawing a symbol of Mother Nature on his chest, exuding a devout expression, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Goddess of Life, praise the great Elf Sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil! Beautiful and noble Goddess, we hope that You can help us repair the Meditation Laws and teach us the method of meditation!¡± Mysteriously, Eve heard Li Mu¡¯s prayer. She was slightly taken aback, pondering for a moment, quickly understanding the context and cause. Looking at Li Mu¡¯s earnest prayer posture, She chuckled, ¡°These compatriots adapt quickly.¡± Even if it was just pretentious, Li Mu¡¯s expression did resemble that of a believer. However, speaking of which, even without Li Mu¡¯s prayer, She had planned to perfect the meditation method and give it to the players. Eve wasn¡¯t worried that passing the Segis World¡¯s cultivation method to players would affect the reality on Blue Star. Because the energy level of Blue Star was too low to support player training, in reality, players would at most exercise and strengthen their bodies. Of course, offering it to players wasn¡¯t without cost. Eve¡¯s initial plan was to place it into the exchange system for players to redeem, but since Li Mu prayed for the method, along with considering his role as the discoverer, Eve decided to directly pass this meditation method to the two of them. ¡°Very well, as the discoverers, you should indeed enjoy the fruits of your discovery.¡± With this in mind, Eve translated the perfected meditation method into Chinese and promptly delivered it into Dema and Li Mu¡¯s systems, formally activating the long-prepared function for cultivation technique redemption and auxiliary training. ¡°` Chapter 56: The Players Cultivation Chapter 56: Chapter 56: The Players¡¯ Cultivation Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html *Ding¡ª¡ª* *The benevolent Goddess has listened to your plea. As a reward for discovering the ancient text, she will impart to you the ¡°Elemental Meditation Method.¡±* *You have obtained the Magic Power Training Method: Elemental Meditation Method.* *You have unlocked the auxiliary cultivation function, and the available Cultivation Technique is: ¡°Elemental Meditation Method.¡±* With the delightful chime of the system, Li Mu and Demacia¡¯s game system interface unlocked the Cultivation Technique function, and there appeared a new Magic Power Training Method: ¡°Elemental Meditation Method¡±! ... They could view it at any time and cultivate under the assistance of the game system! ¡°It¡¯s done!¡± Both of them felt a surge of joy in their hearts. Soon after, several lines of purple system messages floated across all players¡¯ fields of vision. *Announcement¡ª¡ª* *Congratulations to players ¡°Li Mu¡± and ¡°Demacia¡± for discovering the rare epic Cultivation Technique, ¡°Elemental Meditation Method¡±! The ¡°Elemental Meditation Method¡± has been listed in the exchange mall, and the ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± cultivation function is officially open!* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.?¦Ï *As the discoverers of the ancient text, players ¡°Li Mu¡± and ¡°Demacia¡± will receive a commission on exchanges of the ¡°Elemental Meditation Method¡± for one year, with a commission rate of 0.5%. The time for this commission is calculated within the game.* *For one year after the Cultivation Technique goes live, all players will enjoy a 50% discount, calculated within the game.* *Activate the cultivation function? Cultivation Technique release? Commission?* Li Mu and Demacia were stunned at the same time. They hurriedly checked the exchange system and found that a new Cultivation Technique exchange page had indeed appeared. However, for now, it only contained the purple epic ¡°Elemental Meditation Method¡±! ¡°It¡¯s actually an epic-level Cultivation Technique!¡± Li Mu sighed slightly. He opened up the detailed description of the Cultivation Technique... *¡±Elemental Meditation Method¡±: A purple epic Magic Power Training Method, capable of training Magic Power and Elemental Affinity, usable up to Silver Upper Peak (Level 70), contributors ¡°Li Mu¡± and ¡°Demacia¡±.* *Exchange requirement: 5000 contribution points (50% discount).* To enable players to exchange the Cultivation Technique quickly and enter the cultivation state, Eve did not set a high exchange price for the Cultivation Technique. Now that the contribution point function was officially activated, players reaching level 11 could earn a certain amount of contribution points even by doing daily tasks. So as long as you were willing to grind, anything was possible! Not only that, Eve had also set up an auxiliary cultivation system. Anyone who validly exchanged Cultivation Techniques in the system would receive assistance in cultivation from the game, accelerating their enhancement speed! As for those ¡°pirated¡± versions exchanged privately, there was no such benefit. Yes, it¡¯s just like only official readers from Qidian and Book City could enjoy the current chapter discussion of online literature. In addition, to spark players¡¯ enthusiasm for searching for Cultivation Techniques, Eve also set a continuous one-year commission reward for the discoverers of Cultivation Techniques. This meant that as discoverers of the Cultivation Technique, players could earn a commission on contribution points spent by others to exchange Cultivation Techniques, for the year after it went live! Of course, this time was calculated according to Segis World time, which translated to 3 months on Blue Star. The commission Eve set was 1%. If two players discovered it together, they would each receive a 0.5% share, and so on. For example, as the discoverers of the ¡°Elemental Meditation Method,¡± during the following year in-game, every time someone spent contribution points to exchange for the Cultivation Technique, Li Mu and Demacia would each receive a 25-point contribution commission! Accumulating over time, this would be a considerable income. *After understanding the entire mechanism of the Cultivation Technique function, Li Mu and Demacia both breathed heavily.* ¡°We¡¯ve struck it rich, Brother Mu! We¡¯ve struck it rich!¡± Demacia was full of excitement. They knew, in the ruins, there were still 67 stone slabs waiting for them to bring back! *Although only one of the 6 slabs they brought back contained a Cultivation Technique, who knew if the rest might contain Cultivation Techniques?* Li Mu had thought of this, too. He took a deep breath and said to Demacia, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s find a cart and quickly haul those slabs!¡± Saying this, the two excitedly borrowed a simple wooden wheelbarrow from a Coo-Coo Bird and rushed off. After the new system messages were broadcast to the entire server, all the players were in shock. ¡°Whoa! It¡¯s Demacia again? When did this guy get so lucky?¡± ¡°Cultivation Technique? Quick, check it out!¡± ¡°Elemental Meditation Method... It can train Magic Power?!¡± ¡°5000 contribution points... My liver aches... A daily task only gives 50 points!¡± ¡°Wow, Demacia and their commission are going to make a fortune!¡± ¡°How about... we go explore Feilengcui too?¡± ... Originally, because of the high experience gained from hunting Demon Beasts in the wild, many players who had taken exploration tasks but couldn¡¯t find anything for a long time had given up and turned to venture into the wilderness. But Li Mu and Demacia¡¯s discovery, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, reignited the scavenging craze! For a time, many players returned to Feilengcui and started the Holy City¡¯s exploration tasks! Everyone fantasized about hitting the jackpot themselves, finding one or two Cultivation Techniques. Preferably, they were epic or even legendary ones, and they would get rich instantly! Once Li Mu and Demacia transported the remaining stone slabs back to the temple, they pushed this wave of exploration fever to a new peak again! After Alice¡¯s identification, they discovered that besides the Elemental Meditation Method, there were actually seven other complete Cultivation Technique texts among the slabs they brought back! Three were suitable for strength system cultivation, two for spellcasting system cultivation, another solely discussed Arrays, and one detailed the crafting of Magic items! However, these Cultivation Technique texts were of lower rank than the Elemental Meditation Method, with the one on Magic item crafting reaching blue rare, and the others being white common. Even so, it required 800 to 2000 contribution points to exchange these Cultivation Techniques. Through offering these Cultivation Techniques, Li Mu and Demacia gained considerable experience points and contribution points, leveling up to 12 on the spot, making many players envious. Once Eve perfected and released these Cultivation Techniques, all players eagerly began exchanging and trying meditation and training. After submitting all the slabs, Li Mu temporarily ceased exploration. *Luck had its limits. He felt that finding so many treasures this time was already fortunate enough, and the influx of more players had made him decide to hold back for now.* *He wanted to test the effects of meditation!* In Feilengcui, finding a quiet corner, Li Mu sat cross-legged and chose to load the ¡°Elemental Meditation Method¡± in the game¡¯s assisted cultivation system. As the system loaded, in an instant, Li Mu felt he had a profound understanding of the meditation method, as if he had studied it countless times before. He began to adjust his breathing according to the meditation method¡¯s instructions, circulating his Magic Power, while a special force within him assisted the flow, helping him better enter the state. Once in the meditation state, Li Mu felt his entire mind becoming serene. The floating magical elements around him began to gather continuously toward him, rushing into his body, enhancing his Magic Power, while his physical qualities gradually became stronger under the refining of Magic Power... *With genius-level talent and the system¡¯s assistance, even with half of the cultivation effects taken by Eve, players¡¯ cultivation speed was still remarkably fast.* This state persisted until two hours later when it gradually subsided. Li Mu opened his eyes and began to check his condition. Then, he was surprised to find that his experience points had significantly increased, and his physical qualities and Magic Power capacity had been slightly enhanced! ¡°The cultivation effect is strong! The gains are significant!¡± Feeling the effects of his meditation, Li Mu was delighted: ¡°If this pace continues, even if I do nothing else and dedicate all my time to cultivation every day, my level would skyrocket!¡± *However, after carefully sensing his state, he shook his head:* ¡°No... Constant cultivation is impossible, as such rapid cultivation effects can only last for two hours every day. After two hours, the impact is minimal.¡± Players couldn¡¯t possibly cultivate all day long. Not just the players, even the natives of Segis World couldn¡¯t meditate all day. The body¡¯s endurance was limited. Typically, two hours of cultivation per day was the best time. Therefore, Eve¡¯s setting for the cultivation auxiliary system was also a maximum of two hours each day. Beyond that, while players could continue to explore their cultivation, the effect would diminish significantly, and it would be better to do some tasks or hunt monsters. *From now on, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± players had a new daily mission when they logged in¡ª* Two hours of cultivation! The spellcasting system¡¯s cultivation was meditation, while the strength system¡¯s was training. Cross-legged sitting for meditation and physical training became a beautiful scenery in the Elf Forest... As players entered into the cultivation state, Eve finally began to savor the sweet joys of reaping the system¡¯s benefits. ¡°` Chapter 57: Could this be a bug in the sacrificial ritual? Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Could this be a bug in the sacrificial ritual? Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Li Mu and Demacia¡¯s discovery marked a successful start. After that, players continued to discover elven tomes, lost artifacts, and more in the ruins of Feilengcui... Not only that, but some even unearthed elven equipment from a thousand years ago. Unfortunately, after being buried for a millennium, these pieces of equipment were already destroyed and scrapped, especially those magic items which had long lost their magic light, with all the runes damaged, basically turning into a pile of scrap metal... Inside the Natural Temple of the Elf Town. A male player was holding a few pieces of elven equipment excavated from the ruins, talking with Natural Saintess Alice. ... ¡°What? These items can¡¯t be offered to the Goddess?¡± Looking at the broken antiques in his hand, he asked somewhat disappointedly. This was something he had found after exploring the ruins of Feilengcui for a long time. Alice sighed and patiently explained, ¡°How could the noble Mother Goddess accept such things? Offering these items to the True God is a blasphemy against Her Divine Grace!¡± ¡°Well... Miss Alice, may I try offering them? We successfully offered those goblin equipments before... If it doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll give up...¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.?0 The player, still unwilling, tried to persuade again. Hearing his words, Alice¡¯s expression gradually turned colder. She said somewhat irritably, ¡°Chosen One, even if you¡¯re not a believer of nature, you must at least have the basic respect for the Divine Crown of the Mother Goddess!¡± ¡°The only items that can become the Mother Goddess¡¯s offerings are divine objects that Her Divine Grace needs or those sought by Her oracle!¡± ¡°She allowed you to explore Feilengcui to gather the legacies of the elf civilization, to seek the tomes! These destroyed scraps can¡¯t become offerings to the True God, they can only stay in a museum! Do you also want the Mother Goddess to help you repair equipment?!¡± ¡°Last time, you mixed goblin equipment into the offerings without our consent, and since the Mother Goddess didn¡¯t pursue it, I won¡¯t either.¡± ¡°However, I will absolutely not agree with you repeating similar actions now!¡± In the end, her voice had escalated considerably, and her attitude was resolute. What a joke! Although the Mother Goddess was amiable, She was also the exalted True God! How could such scrap metal be allowed into the True God¡¯s vision? This is a blasphemy against the Divine! The Mother Goddess is supreme... She accepted the Chosen Ones¡¯ offerings previously and did not punish their recklessness. That was Her tolerance and kindness! But this does not mean letting these reckless offerers go unchecked! Thinking of this, Alice¡¯s expression grew even more determined. Her earnest demeanor, combined with the unique aura of the Silver Priest, left the player somewhat speechless. The player changed his expression slightly, then sighed, ¡°Alright.¡± After saying this, he dejectedly left the temple. And as soon as he came out, his teammates, who had been waiting outside the temple for a long time, gathered around him immediately, ¡°How did it go, how did it go? Did the offering succeed?¡± And when everyone saw the ancient equipment in his hand, they were instantly disappointed, ¡°No luck?¡± ¡°Miss Saintess didn¡¯t agree.¡± The male player shook his head. ¡°How come... Berserker helped us with the goblin equipment offering last time!¡± ¡°Ahem, don¡¯t forget, that time we collectively activated the sacrificial array he had inscribed while he was asleep and conducted the offering ourselves... He was really angry when he woke up...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°What do we do now?¡± The players fell silent. A moment later, a spellcasting player suddenly had an idea, ¡°Since we managed to offer goblin equipment before, it means we could still offer things. How about... we try inscribing the array ourselves and attempt our own offering?¡± ¡°Hmm? Can you inscribe an array?¡± Others asked. ¡°Ahem... I¡¯ve never inscribed one before, but I recorded the process when Alice inscribed the array last time. Perhaps... we could learn and give it a try?¡± The mage scratched the back of his head and replied. ¡°Hmm? Sounds like it¡¯s worth a try! This game has such high freedom, what if we¡¯re successful!¡± The other players¡¯ eyes lit up. They acted immediately, gathering their things and finding a piece of open ground to try. When Alice and Berserker inscribed the array, they used a kind of paint imbued with magic power. This paint came from a magical plant in the Elf Forest and was often used by players when repairing temples. Therefore, with a little effort, they managed to gather quite a bit of it. After preparing the paint, they began to imitate the steps from the recording to inscribe the array... As it turned out, their imitation skills were pretty good. After several failed attempts, the players actually managed to draw a sacrificial array that emanated a faint magical aura! ¡°We did it!¡± They were delighted. ¡°Do you remember the steps of the offering?¡± ¡°I remember! I remember! First, pray! Then after receiving a response, place the offering into the array!¡± ¡°Alright... you give it a try then!¡± The players took action immediately, and one of them stepped forward, mimicking an NPC, and made a slight bow in the direction of the World Tree. He then drew the symbol of Mother Nature on his chest and respectfully prayed, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Goddess of Life, praise the great elven ruler¡ªEve Yggdrasil! Beautiful and noble Goddess, we have found artifacts of the Elf Clan and wish to offer them to You!¡± Listening to his words, the other players felt a bit embarrassed. Sugar-coating it as artifacts, but in reality, it was just a pile of scrap metal... ¡°Will the Goddess respond?¡± They felt a bit uncertain as well. However, just then, the array suddenly shone with a luminous glow and actually started to function! The players saw this and were overjoyed, ¡°Whoa... it actually works?¡± ¡°The sacrificial channel is open!¡± ¡°Hurry, hurry! See if we can throw these things in!¡± The players, in a flurry of excitement, hurriedly placed the collection of scrap equipment into the array. And as soon as they placed them in, the broken equipment emitted a glow and vanished. Simultaneously, the players who made the offering received a system notification crediting them with Contribution Points, albeit a measly amount, just a few dozen points. ¡°We did it!¡± The players cheered. Although it was only a few dozen Contribution Points, it at least proved that even picking up scraps could be profitable! ¡°Could this be a sacrificial glitch?¡± Looking at the disappeared scraps, one player asked uncertainly. He had a feeling it was odd for the Goddess to accept offerings of scrap metal. Other players glanced at each other and all smiled. They patted his shoulder and said, ¡°Why overthink it? Bug or not, as long as it makes money!¡± ¡°Hehehe, there are still plenty of scrap equipments in the ruins. With enough, we can turn a small profit even if we don¡¯t find the tomes!¡± ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go pick up some more!¡± ¡°Ahem, if it really is a glitch, we need to earn as much as possible before the developers find out... Otherwise, once the glitch is fixed, we won¡¯t be able to offer scraps anymore.¡± With that, they headed back to the ruins of Feilengcui... ... High above. Eve casually restored the received broken equipment, added some effects, and then stored it away in a corner. ¡°There¡¯s more equipment to sell now.¡± She said leisurely. Chapter 58 - 58 The Goddess Who Collects Scrap Materials Chapter 58: Chapter 58 The Goddess Who Collects Scrap Materials Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html Even junk could be sacrificed! This news spread quickly among the players. Although NPCs wouldn¡¯t allow players to sacrifice junk, if players drew the sacrifice array themselves, they could exchange junk for contribution points! Some experts speculated that this might be a bug in the game¡¯s sacrifice mechanism. After all, how could a Divine being possibly collect trash? ... How could the exalted Goddess accept junk? *Something must have gone wrong somewhere...* However, some people believed it might just be part of the game¡¯s sacrifice function! After all, it was just a game. The gods in the game were not real gods. *Perhaps this kind of sacrifice was actually a kind of recycling mechanism of the game system, similar to selling junk to merchants in older online games.* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.?? But regardless of the reason, players didn¡¯t care. They only cared if they could make some profit from it. The damaged equipment was still devoured by the sacrifice array, and the system even fed a small amount of contribution points back to the players. Though it was usually a measly ten points or so, they accumulated over time to become a decent income. Perhaps to Alice and Berserker, these defunct, discarded equipment held only memorabilia value, and offering these decayed items to the Mother Goddess was a great blasphemy against Her... But the daring players weren¡¯t bothered. What they lacked the most were contribution points, and they were delighted to have a way to exchange their useless junk for them. *Ahem, if this feature were a bug, they hoped the developers found it as late as possible!* Or rather, *hopefully never patched it at all!* Players felt fortunate for discovering this little secret. And after the first successful secret sacrifice case, players went into a frenzy learning how to draw the sacrifice array! On Blue Star Network, someone even posted a summary of the process. Yet everyone tacitly didn¡¯t discuss this on the ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± official website... And once players learned how to draw the sacrifice array, they began secretly praying to the Goddess behind the backs of two NPCs, sneakingly sacrificing the discarded items they¡¯d picked up. *Well... mainly sacrificing some broken gear found in Feilengcui, as well as beast bones left behind from hunting demon beasts, to subsidize household use.* As for those tomes, they still needed to go through the NPCs. Because going through the NPCs to sacrifice tomes completed exploration missions, gaining extra experience points and contribution. But sacrificing various scraps did not. However, through further player research, they discovered that the sacrifice array wasn¡¯t indiscriminate in what it devoured. Torn tomes, broken equipment, certain materials from killing demon beasts, even ores, the sacrifice array never refused these. But if it were broken crafts, household garbage, rotten bones dug up, or berries picked, the sacrifice array wouldn¡¯t even bother. Gradually, they jokingly called the former recyclable waste, and the latter non-recyclable waste. And as players continued to explore and sacrifice, Eva was overjoyed from above. During this time, a considerable amount of equipment accumulated in Her Divine Space. Most were purple epic-grade, even some gold legendary-grade equipment! Not only that, the equipment ranged from black iron to silver tier, there were even several sets of gold tier! Eva estimated that if this batch of equipment were all exchanged to players, they¡¯d have to hand over a million contribution points to Her! And these pieces of equipment were all ¡°recycled¡± from players at a bargain price by Eva. That¡¯s right. These pieces of equipment were what Eva accepted from the players¡¯ sacrifices, repaired using Divine Power, and then refurbished with some special effects. It¡¯s not easy to craft a set of equipment from raw materials, but if it¡¯s about repairing and refurbishing, Divine Power was quite handy. If repair materials were insufficient, players kindly sacrificed some beast bones and ores. The thousand-year heritage of the elves was quite rich, many of the equipment were originally high-grade, although mortals had no way to repair them, the True God could. However, hardly anyone thought a True God would look upon mortal equipment and stoop to use Divine Power to repair them. After all, in the eyes of the beings in the Segis World, a True God was exalted, how could She pay attention to such things... Furthermore, the cost of cross-realm sacrifices was also significant, and in the minds of many beings, the Heavenly Realm was truly the abode of the True God. This kind of large-scale recycling sacrifice could probably only be carried out by Eva, who shared a plane with the sacrificers. After Eva¡¯s refurbishment, these were to be the goods She would sell to players next. However, Eva didn¡¯t dump the refurbished equipment all at once into the exchange system, but first selected a batch of low-level mage equipment and gold legendary equipment and put those in. As for the rest, She planned to release them gradually into the market after players finished digesting the currently available items, based on the players¡¯ increasing levels... This was called rationally analyzing consumer potential, maximizing company benefits... Moreover, during this time, Eva also acquired a large number of tomes through player activities, gaining more understanding of the elf history from a thousand years ago. Unfortunately, these historical tomes still didn¡¯t describe the secrets of the divine war a millennium ago... *Why was the World Tree besieged?* *Why did the True God, clearly of the good-aligned faction, have no allies?* *Were the gods... fearing something?* Eva didn¡¯t know. However, She wasn¡¯t in a hurry, believing She would eventually find some clues. Moreover, with the players¡¯ continual contributions, the cultivation technique exchange system in the game was becoming more complete. In less than a week, players scavenged dozens of incomplete cultivation technique tomes from the ruins of Feilengcui! After Eva¡¯s restoration, all these tomes were placed in the exchange system. However, most of the tomes were blue rare and white common versions, almost all being cultivation technique tomes usable only for the black iron grade. There were very few techniques usable up to silver grade, only three in total. The elemental meditation method discovered by Li Mu and Demacia turned out to be the highest-level one among them. That wasn¡¯t outside Eva¡¯s expectations. When the elves migrated, they surely tried to take the precious tomes with them, leaving behind the less important ones. Having one elemental meditation method was already lucky. Anyway, the basic layout was there, so even if necessary later, She could just go personally, using Divine Power to deduce higher-level tomes from the low-level ones. When players leveled up to silver, it was estimated Eva¡¯s strength would recover quite a bit, and consuming some Divine Power to deduce subsequent techniques for the players would be like a walk in the park. In short, everything in the Elf Forest was moving in a good direction. *The little leeks were growing healthily and happily...* The construction of Elf Town was nearing completion. The temple in Feilengcui had also been repaired, with Eva¡¯s statue being placed inside. In addition, the reconstruction work of Feilengcui was proceeding in an orderly manner... And the scope of activities for players was expanding as their levels increased. The primeval Elf Forest was dense and complex, with various demon beasts. Therefore, players explored slowly, covering at most thirty miles a day outside the safe area. Nevertheless, over time, some began to reach the edge. After some investigation, they brought back loads of exploration data. Consequently, players even voluntarily established sections like ¡°Monster Guide,¡± ¡°Plant Guide,¡± ¡°Map Sharing,¡± and ¡°Battle Strategy¡± in the data area of the official forum... And ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was being increasingly discussed on Blue Star Network. When the official announcement of the second internal test appeared, this epic masterpiece finally reached another climax in popularity! Second internal test, 900 slots! Countless internet users flocked to the official forum, scrambling to register in hopes of being the lucky chosen one. Meanwhile, the Hunting God Uller of Winter also finally issued new divine instructions to his believers... ¡°` Chapter 59 - 59 Ullers Oracle Chapter 59: Chapter 59 Uller¡¯s Oracle Editor: Henyee Translations ¡°`html This was a dim cave, with torches mounted on the cave walls casting flickering shadows throughout the cavern. On both sides of the cave were rough murals depicting the tales of the thousand-year divine war¡ªa legendary story of the gods uniting to severely wound the World Tree and the elven civilization, passed down through generations in the Half-Beast tribes. In the center of the cave stood an altar built from skulls. On the altar rested a crude statue of a god, none other than Uller, the god of winter and hunting. In front of Uller¡¯s statue, an elderly one-eyed Half-Beast dressed in a gray priest robe knelt in devout prayer. ... The silent cave echoed with only the solemn and dignified sound of prayer. Suddenly, the statue radiated a misty glow, illuminating the previously dark cave with a brilliant light. The one-eyed Half-Beast trembled as he raised his head, his gaze at the statue filled with fervor and disbelief... ¡°An oracle... it¡¯s an oracle...¡± He excitedly prostrated himself on the ground, allowing the mighty and majestic Divine Power to sweep over him. In an instant, his mind went blank, and a series of dignified and weighty voices echoed in the Half-Beast¡¯s mind, Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.?¦Ï ¡°Investigate¡ªFeilengcui, elves, beware... Death God¡¯s Favored.¡± After returning to the Heavenly Realm, Uller had come to understand a few things. Those elves were definitely not Hela¡¯s Heroic Spirit Army! Because... they had physical bodies, whereas the Heroic Spirits did not. Moreover, if the Heroic Spirit Army appeared on Segis Continent, it would certainly provoke a strong backlash from other divine beings. Even Hela couldn¡¯t go against all the gods. The fate of Yggdrasil back then was proof! Yet even so, those elves had to be connected to Hela¡¯s Favored. Because only Hela could make creatures undying! And all this needed to be further investigated by his followers... Hearing the voice of the Divine, the old Half-Beast Priest shuddered slightly and buried his head deeper, ¡°Half-Beast Rock Cave Tribe High Priest¡ªJushan, humbly obeys the oracle!¡± Then, the statue radiated light again, and a blurry image appeared in his mind¡ª It was a scene of unlucky goblins being frantically chased by a group of red-eyed elves! And these elves were adorned with all kinds of ragged equipment as if it had been snatched from the goblins... The scene shifted, and more elves were flattened into mush by some mysterious force, only to spring back to life in an instant... Seeing this scene, the old priest¡¯s mind was abruptly shaken. *¡±Elves? How could there be so many elves?! What are they doing?! They don¡¯t die?¡±* He couldn¡¯t help but exclaim. The statue did not respond. In an instant, the old priest knew he had lost his composure. He took a deep breath, knelt on the ground, and extended his hand to draw a bow-shaped symbol on his chest, ¡°Praise be to winter, praise be to hunting, praise be to the great Father God!¡± A moment later, the light from the statue gradually faded. The elderly Half-Beast raised his head, realizing his back was drenched in cold sweat. ¡°An oracle... truly an oracle...¡± He muttered, his voice filled with excitement. Receiving an oracle meant he was favored by the Divine, watched over by her! Taking a deep breath, the Half-Beast High Priest Jushan suppressed the trepidation in his heart and pondered the content of the oracle, ¡°What is the meaning of that scene?¡± He paced while frowning in deep thought. ¡°Is it the Elf Forest? But haven¡¯t most of the elves migrated? Where could there be so many elves? Are they attacking the goblins of Feilengcui? Are they undying? Are they backed by the Death God¡¯s Favored?¡± He knew Father God had recruited a group of goblins in the Elf Forest to assist her in finding the fallen Mother Nature¡ªYggdrasil¡¯s Divine Blood Crystal. In fact, as the High Priest of the Half-Beast Tribe closest to the Elf Forest, he had contributed significantly to the process. Even though he had a strong disdain for those weak and ugly goblins. Now, it seemed certain changes had occurred. ¡°Death God¡¯s Favored...¡± Jushan the High Priest muttered. ¡°Could it be... the work of the Netherworld¡¯s one?¡± Thinking of this, his expression gradually grew heavy. ¡°It seems necessary to send someone to investigate.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, a report from the tribe¡¯s outpost in the Elf Forest a few days ago mentioned that two teams of Half-Beast mercenaries had gone missing. This time is an excellent opportunity to investigate!¡± Taking a deep breath, Jushan the High Priest left the ancestral cave where he worshiped the Divine. Outside the cave, the surrounding lights brightened suddenly, revealing a vast valley. The dark mountain walls gleamed under the sunlight. At the base of the mountains, countless stone and straw houses surrounded the cave in an orderly fashion. Looking out, there appeared to be no less than a thousand... This was the Rock Cave Tribe, the Half-Beast tribe closest to the Elf Forest, with a population of five thousand, located at the southeast junction of the Elf Forest and the Dark Mountain Range, over three hundred kilometers from the forest¡¯s core area. The leader of the tribe was Jushan, a Silver Lower Half-Beast Priest. Jushan ventured into the village, observing the clansmen moving about with satisfaction. In his youth, the Rock Cave Tribe had been a small tribe of less than a thousand. The tribe had developed over many years, finally growing stronger with the support of the True God. The large income from hunting elves was crucial in this growth. Thinking of this, Jushan¡¯s expression gradually became serious. If something went wrong in the Elf Forest, it would be a significant blow to the Rock Cave Tribe. He sighed deeply, a shadow passing across his brows. ¡°Call Black Stone over.¡± He instructed his subordinates. Soon, a burly Half-Beast approached Jushan. He had a towering figure, nearly two meters tall, with a bald head and tusks protruding from his mouth, looking fierce. Black Stone, known alongside the missing Panshi, was a warrior of the Rock Cave Tribe, possessing the strength of Black Iron Upper Peak! ¡°Black Stone, at your service, High Priest.¡± He approached Jushan and respectfully knelt down. Jushan glanced at him and secretly nodded, ¡°Rise.¡± Following Jushan¡¯s order, Black Stone stood up from the ground and stood silently to the side. Jushan was very satisfied with Black Stone¡¯s deference. He pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Black Stone, you are one of the strongest warriors in the tribe. This time, I have a task for you...¡± ¡°Take a team of Black Iron Middle Rank warriors, along with a Priest, equip them with the best gear from the tribe, and head to the outpost in the Elf Forest to gather people and investigate the Feilengcui Ruins!¡± He paused halfway, reconsidering, and then took out a bone fragment from his cloak and handed it to Black Stone, ¡°This is a sacred artifact of our tribe, capable of invoking the power of the Father God. In crucial moments, it can unleash a powerful Divine Art. Additionally... it has the power to purify the undead!¡± ¡°This time, you may face the Death God¡¯s Favored, so if danger arises, return immediately. If necessary, you may abandon the outpost...¡± ¡°Moreover...¡± Jushan¡¯s expression flickered as he continued seriously, ¡°If you encounter any peculiar elves, make sure to capture one and bring it back to the tribe...¡± ¡°If you succeed, the tribe will reward you generously!¡± ¡°` CREATORS¡¯ THOUGHTS Henyee From 15 Feb 2020, Coins spent on books that aren¡¯t selected will be refunded within 30 days. However, Fast Passes will not be refunded. The selected book will have a mark on the corner of the book cover in 30 days to indicate continuation. Thank you for your understanding. Chapter 60: The Newbie Village is Completed! Chapter 60: Chapter 60: The Newbie Village is Completed! Editor: Henyee Translations The time spent on the game always flew by. Under the allure of equipment and upgrades, the beta testers unleashed an unprecedented passion. Gradually, quite a number of players accumulated enough contribution points to exchange for the equipment of their dreams. What surprised Eve the most was that the few sets of legendary gold equipment she put on the shelves were also quickly redeemed. Not only that, but the one who redeemed these legendary gold equipment sets was the same person. The nickname was familiar to Eve; it was Little Xian Miao, the chair of the Mengmeng Committee. ... This female player was a mage who loved the Fireball Technique but always missed her target, leaving a deep impression on Eve... With a little attention, Eve found out that after the legendary gold mage equipment was listed, this girl started collecting contribution points like money was no concern, across the entire server. Players calculated that, to gather contributions, she spent at least two to three hundred thousand... ¡°What a tycoon...¡± Eve couldn¡¯t help but sigh, while reminiscing about her poverty-stricken days on Blue Planet. There wasn¡¯t truly a balanced online game in this world... Source: , updated on n?¦Ï???.§ã¦Ï *Can you really become stronger without spending money?* *Hmm... except for a certain pig farm¡¯s game.* And one month after the Holy City of Feilengcui was reclaimed, the construction of Elf Town was finally completed. At this moment, this player base located under the World Tree had quite a scale. Except for lacking city walls, it was already a rather charming small city. Moreover, due to the players¡¯ interests, this town was different from traditional elf architecture. It was filled with various classical buildings from Blue Planet, including European, Chinese, Japanese, and even Arabian styles. A few players from landscape architecture and civil engineering fields applied their expertise to the fullest, concentrating these diverse styles of buildings together, which, rather than appearing abrupt, added a unique charm. Between the buildings were exquisite gardens and all kinds of greenery, staggered and alternating, making the entire town seem like it was set amidst a sea of green leaves and flowers, reflecting the elves¡¯ essence of ¡°nature.¡± It was said that to design the town¡¯s architecture and scenery, players even offered rewards on Blue Planet, consulting many industry giants. The final result was that Eve, who originally just wanted the players to build something habitable, saw the base transformed into something increasingly refined and beautiful under the magic enhancement due to their efforts. Among these efforts, the player construction team led by Cuckoo Bird contributed the most. It was said her dream was to build a town incorporating styles from all over the world, unexpectedly getting the chance in the game. This made Eve seriously suspect that among the players she chose, there were avid fans of ¡°Minecraft¡± and ¡°SimCity¡±... Not only that, but the players also reserved space for future development when designing the town, allowing further expansion. According to Cuckoo Bird, that space was prepared for future players. And when the town was finally completed, Eve was astounded. ¡°If these players were tasked with restoring the Yuanming Garden, they¡¯d surely do a splendid job.¡± At this moment, looking at the elf town like a piece of garden art, Eve couldn¡¯t help but express her admiration. Even Alice and Berserker were shocked by the handiwork of the Chosen Ones. ¡°By the Mother Goddess... these Chosen Ones must be the finest craftsmen in their world!¡± Gazing at the exquisite and petite garden landscapes, Alice couldn¡¯t help but sincerely praise. All the beta testers gathered in the plaza of Elf Town. The central plaza was spacious, more than enough to accommodate three hundred players. In Eve¡¯s view, it could even hold three thousand people comfortably. Today was a special day; Elf Town was fully completed. And Cuckoo Bird had long posted on the official forum, inviting all the beta testers to participate in the town¡¯s inauguration ceremony. Though the player construction team was the main force in building the town, every one of the three hundred had contributed during the process, so this town could also be said to be the collective fruit of all players¡¯ efforts. Moreover, their homes in the game were here, each person having a quaint house and a small adjoining garden. This was their home in the Segis World! Since Elf Kingdom opened, all three hundred players never quitted, which was quite a miracle in the gaming world. Additionally, considering the time on Blue Planet, the beta testers¡¯ average daily online time reached more than twelve hours! It had to be said... this was a startling statistic, underscoring the player retention of Elf Kingdom. Of course, one reason for players¡¯ lengthy online time was that their bodies on Blue Planet would fall asleep once they entered the game. This mechanism led many to choose to log in during Blue Planet¡¯s night, while their bodies slept, their consciousness roamed in the game... Aside from a little discomfort at first and possible psychological fatigue from long-term gaming, they could completely turn sleep time into game time! Many working players found this exhilarating. Over the days, they began to treat this place as a true second life! At this moment, the players gathered in the plaza all appeared excited. In the plaza¡¯s center, beside the Teleportation Array linked to the players¡¯ spawn point on the World Tree, stood a solemn stele. It was a natural giant stone found in Elf Forest, carefully polished by them. On the stele, from top to bottom, were inscribed numerous words. They were in Chinese. The content comprised one name after another! These were the nicknames of the three hundred beta players¡ªthe names of those who took part in building Elf Town! Cuckoo Bird, Li Mu, Demacia, Boxed Lunch, Little Xian Miao, and so on... all included. Below the names were introductions to the planning of Elf Town, the players¡¯ visions, their construction journey, and the completion date of Elf Town. The stele was suggested by Eve through Alice¡¯s mouth and received unanimous approval from the players. Henceforth, this stele would accompany the growth of Elf Town, becoming a bright spot in Elf Kingdom. Every newly arrived player, upon coming to the town, would witness this stele and learn about the struggles of the first beta players. As elf civilization revived, this stele inscribed with the names of the original Chosen Ones would surely feature in the stories sung by minstrels, passed down through generations, eventually becoming an ancient mythical legend... This would be the beginning of the elf epic! The players gathered on the plaza excitedly sat together. Alice and Berserker, who had been invited, joined them on the plaza. Cuckoo Bird handed a small knife to the Elf Girl dressed in solemn Holy Maiden Clothes, respectfully saying, ¡°Miss Alice, please cut the ribbon for the town!¡± With that, she pointed to the stele. The stele was already wrapped with ribbons made by the players. They were crafted from various flowers and plants of the forest, replacing the red ribbons of Blue Planet. Alice, who had been informed of the ribbon-cutting ceremony as a tradition from the Chosen Ones¡¯ homeland, took it seriously this time. Seeing the genuine smiles of the Chosen Ones, her heart was filled with emotion: *¡±Though it¡¯s still bumpy, they are gradually integrating into this world...¡±* Taking a deep breath, Alice flashed a sweet smile and cut the ribbon wrapped around the stele in front of three hundred witnesses. ¡°Congratulations to you... Chosen Ones, you¡¯ve established your own home!¡± She sincerely congratulated. ¡°May nature always be with you!¡± With Alice¡¯s blessing, the players cheered. The prepared mages continuously launched fireballs and other explosive magic into the sky, appearing as bursts of fireworks... Everything was like a festival. As the players cheered, suddenly, a magnificent and holy light descended from the sky... Countless brilliant photons rained down like a dream. The stele radiated dazzling light, with the inscribed words turning into a sacred golden color. An ethereal hymn echoed, cleansing the souls of all present. ¡°A divine miracle! It¡¯s a divine miracle!¡± Seeing the sudden change, Alice¡¯s expression was filled with joy. She turned towards the direction of the World Tree, drawing a symbol of Mother Nature on her chest devoutly, happily declaring, ¡°It¡¯s the Mother Goddess! The Mother Goddess is also sending you blessing!¡± The players looked at each other, then their eyes lit up. It was uncertain who started it first, suddenly shouting, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Goddess of Life, praise the great elf sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± Then, more enthusiastic responses followed... Numerous players raised their weapons and equipment, clamorously and excitedly shouting, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Goddess of Life, praise the great elf sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± However, as they shouted, the content veered off... ¡°Goddess, I will strive for the rise of elves. Please bless me to find an epic secret in the new version!¡± ¡°Me too! Me too! Please bless me to trigger a hidden storyline in the new version!¡± ¡°And me! Please bless me to find gold legendary equipment!¡± ¡°Praise nature! Please give me a beta-era female player!¡± ¡°...¡± Alice: ... Berserker: ... High in the sky. Eve, who had almost finished repairing the Soul Storage Orb, watched the bustling town plaza with gratification. As for the players¡¯ chattering ¡°esoteric¡± prayers, she had already ignored them. On the World Tree, hundreds of humanoid ¡°cocoons¡± had taken shape, each containing a mature elf body in slumber. Eve played with the Soul Storage Orb for a bit, then placed it into one of the ¡°cocoons.¡± Soon, the second beta test would commence. At this moment, she was filled with anticipation for the future! CREATORS¡¯ THOUGHTS Henyee From 15 Feb 2020, Coins spent on books that aren¡¯t selected will be refunded within 30 days. However, Fast Passes will not be refunded. The selected book will have a mark on the corner of the book cover in 30 days to indicate continuation. Thank you for your understanding. Chapter 61: The Second Internal Test! Chapter 61: Chapter 61: The Second Internal Test! ¡°Aunt Liu, I¡¯m full!¡± Chen Guoguo put down the chopsticks in her hand and gave a slight smile to the middle-aged woman on the other side of the dining table. However, when her gaze moved to the two empty places next to the table, her eyes dimmed slightly. ¡°I¡¯m going back to my room.¡± After a moment of silence, she said. After speaking, she stood up and headed for the bedroom upstairs. ... The middle-aged woman across the table hesitated for a moment and reminded: ¡°Guoguo, you¡¯ll be in ninth grade next year, don¡¯t play games for too long. If it affects your grades, Mr. Chen and the others will be angry.¡± Chen Guoguo halted her steps, gave a self-deprecating laugh, and said, ¡°Angry? They¡¯re too busy making money to bother being angry with me.¡± After speaking, perhaps feeling her attitude wasn¡¯t great, she added: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Aunt Liu, I got first place in my class last time! I met a big sister in the game from Jinghua University; she often helps me with my studies in the game and she¡¯s really talented!¡± The middle-aged woman frowned in confusion: ¡°Can you actually study in the game? Do you really have the time and energy for that?¡± After she finished, she hesitated and continued: Source: , updated on ??¦Í?¦Ï.§ã¦Ï ¡°You shouldn¡¯t spend all day playing games in your room. You can go out and find classmates to hang out with. Your school is a private school, and the students have strong backgrounds. Building good relationships with your classmates now will be beneficial for your future...¡± ¡°Did they ask you to tell me that?¡± Chen Guoguo interrupted the middle-aged woman, her voice gradually fading. ¡°Guoguo...¡± The middle-aged woman was somewhat helpless, but that counted as tacit agreement. Chen Guoguo gave a self-mocking smile and didn¡¯t say anything else. She turned and left, returning to her room, closing the door with a ¡°bang.¡± Seeing the tightly closed door, the middle-aged woman sighed and quietly started to clean up the table... ... Chen Guoguo went to her bedroom, leaned against the door, and gently closed her eyes: ¡°Interests, interests... you only care about interests...¡± After speaking, she clenched her fist and punched the door behind her with a ¡°smack¡±: ¡°That¡¯s why... I hate reality the most...¡± After a moment of silence, Chen Guoguo raised her head, and her gaze fell on the stealth pod in the corner of her bedroom. The girl¡¯s gaze gradually softened. ¡°Speaking of which... today is the second closed beta...¡± She murmured to herself. Then the girl stretched out her fair wrist and looked at her watch: ¡°About 10 minutes until 12:00...¡± She took a light breath and cleared all the frustration from her mind, slapping her cheeks gently: ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, this beta seems to have a task to guide new players.¡± ¡°Hmm... the rewards are a bit less, I don¡¯t plan to do it, but it might be fun to check out the excitement...¡± ¡°Hehe, the expressions of those new players entering the game must be interesting.¡± Seemingly having thought of something, the girl gave a sweet smile, her dimples showing at the corners of her mouth. As she spoke, she quickly changed into her bear pajamas. Then, the girl tied up her hair, secured it with a headband, opened the stealth pod, and lay down inside with practiced ease... ¡°Start the game¡ª¡¯Elf Kingdom¡¯!¡± With her consciousness slightly hazy, she arrived at the familiar character interface. [Ding¡ª] [Game connection successful...] [New version detected, ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ 1.02] [Updating version...] [Ding¡ªupdate successful] [Logging in...] [Game ID: Little Xian Miao] [Chosen One, welcome back to ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯!] With the familiar sound from the system, the scene before Chen Guoguo changed abruptly. She appeared in a tastefully decorated wooden bedroom. The bedroom was complete with all kinds of furniture and quite a few exquisite crafts... all of which she had collected as antiques from other players in Feilengcui. This was her home in ¡®Elf Kingdom.¡¯ Dazzling light streamed through the window, bringing with it the pure air unique to the Elf Forest, making the girl feel like all the worries of reality had vanished in an instant. She lazily stretched and sat up from the bed. Unlike on Blue Star, the moment Chen Guoguo came here, she could feel a strong magic power within her, her senses sharpened, her stamina enhanced, and even her perspective seemed elevated. Here, she felt like she had a new life, starting a new chapter. This feeling was something Chen Guoguo found very pleasing. Now, she was no longer Chen Guoguo but Little Xian Miao. She lightly exhaled and glanced at the in-game time on the game system. ¡°Eight fifty in the morning... just right.¡± She exclaimed as she jumped down from the bed, her chest jiggling with the motion. She took down the exquisite Mage Robe hanging on the wall and Little Xian Miao skillfully put it on. This was the only Black Iron Lower Gold Legendary Mage Robe in the entire server, which she redeemed with a full ten thousand contribution points. Then she pulled out a pair of mage leather boots from under the bed. The boots were also Black Iron Lower Gold Legendary Gale Boots, which she snatched up the moment they were listed. With a few swift moves, she slipped them on, feeling quite satisfied. Then, taking the Devil¡¯s Wand from the corner of the room, she struck a pose in front of the long emerald mirror. The feeling was excellent. A full set of gold legendary equipment was unique in the entire server. In particular, she had redeemed the only Devil¡¯s Wand, making Li Mu from the ¡°Heart of Nature¡± guild envious for a long time. Thinking of this, Little Xian Miao felt that her pocket money from Heaven was well spent. Spending money, isn¡¯t it all for happiness? Anyway, it¡¯s just monthly allowance... After all... I have plenty of money! Taking a deep breath, Little Xian Miao shook her head. She cast aside the chaotic thoughts and walked out through the door... When she arrived at the town, she immediately drew the attention of other players. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Boss Miao? Good morning!¡± ¡°Good morning, President!¡± ¡°Good morning, Sister Meow!¡± ¡°Rich Sister Meow! Need a sidekick? I¡¯m the kind that can shout 666!¡± Along the way, countless players greeted her warmly, and Little Xian Miao smiled back at each of them: ¡°Good morning! Good morning!¡± ¡°Haha~ good morning!¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve got plenty of sidekicks, don¡¯t need another one.¡± ¡°...¡± Although it was noon on Blue Star, players automatically adjusted to the in-game time upon entering the game. When Little Xian Miao arrived at the central square, a crowd of players had already gathered there. They had all accepted the system¡¯s new player guide mission and were waiting for the arrival of the second wave of beta players. Unlike their previous arrivals, this time, the new players would be directly transported from the World Tree to the central square! Little Xian Miao checked the system time: ¡°It should be about time.¡± Just as she spoke, the bell from the Natural Temple began to echo softly... ¡°Dong¡ªDong¡ªDong¡ª¡± With the melodious bell, countless golden arrays suddenly appeared on the square! Numerous spatial ripples spread, magic power surged in the square, and one tall figure after another emerged from the arrays, appearing in the players¡¯ sight... They were new ¡°elves.¡± They stood densely together, dressed in the linen robes and wooden armor that Little Xian Miao found so nostalgic. Looking at those curious faces... Observing those expressions gradually turning from excitement to shock and elation... Little Xian Miao¡¯s lips curved slightly upward. She bent her large eyes into a sweet, happy smile, whispering to herself: ¡°Welcome to the world of swords and magic!¡± Chapter 62: The Strange Player Chapter 62: Chapter 62: The Strange Player ¡°Haha, I finally became a beta test player!¡± ¡°Whew... what refreshing air! Such a beautiful forest!¡± ¡°The realism of this game... I already don¡¯t know how to express it...¡± ¡°We¡¯ve crossed over, we must have crossed over, this is definitely a conspiracy by aliens!¡± ¡°Is this the town built by the first test players? So beautiful...¡± In the plaza, hundreds of second test players curiously and excitedly examined this unfamiliar world. ... And greeting them, in addition to the breathtaking forest landscape, the uniquely styled Elf Town, and the fresh, pure air... Were also three hundred enthusiastic faces. ¡°Hahaha! Welcome, newcomers, to the big family of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯!¡± Dema laughed loudly, skillfully squeezed into the crowd, and put his arms around the shoulders of two slightly shy newbie girls, ¡°Are you excited? Are you thrilled? Are you wondering how to quickly blend into this game?¡± As he spoke, Dema skillfully brandished his purple epic black iron-level curved blade and said proudly, ¡°Hehehe... Come, let the number one tank warrior in the server teach you how to get started!¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.§ã? As soon as he finished, he was kicked in the rear, landing face-first on the ground. ¡°Move aside, these two are my friends in real life, don¡¯t randomly chat them up!¡± The one called Gugu Bird walked over with a stern face. Dema got up from the ground and, seeing who it was, shrank his head and gave an embarrassed smile, ¡°Cough cough... So, they¡¯re Gugu Big Sister¡¯s friends, um... sorry... sorry! I¡¯ll go find other newbies interested in the warrior class... haha, I¡¯m taking off!¡± After speaking, he dashed away. ¡°Pfft...¡± Watching Dema¡¯s retreating figure, Little Xian Miao laughed. Dema, this guy, could definitely be considered a unique character throughout the server. *He really had a kind heart, but why was his emotional intelligence so low?* Little Xian Miao shook her head. She glanced at Gugu Bird, who was actively chatting with her new game friends, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to interrupt. Meanwhile, the first test players who had received the guiding task were also finding their targets and starting to guide the newbies through missions. This was a task from the Goddess, and whenever players guided a newbie onto the right track, they would receive a substantial contribution reward. The task was simple, just complete a daily mission with the newbies, and for each person guided, the reward was 100 contribution points. And in order to exchange for those eye-popping epic equipment in the system, as well as learn various cultivation techniques and skills, the 900 second test players had turned into walking contribution points in the eyes of the first test players... Every first test player was scrambling to take people under their wing, with some even grabbing four or five at once. The enthusiasm had almost scared the newcomers entering the game. Little Xian Miao had no intention of guiding newbies. In fact, she just wanted to join the excitement and see the surprised looks on the newcomers¡¯ faces. She loved the gaming atmosphere in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± Although players here would also argue over interests and have their conflicts, overall they were very united and genuinely treated their companions. Even those who approached her trying to latch onto her rich status behaved very genuinely. This was much better than those hypocritical people in real life who hid behind smiling masks. However, even though Little Xian Miao didn¡¯t plan on guiding the newcomers, some things were beyond one¡¯s control. In fact, when she appeared in the eyes of the second test players, she had already become the focal point. The reason was her weapon, refurbished by Eve, which, regardless of its effectiveness in combat, certainly had an impressive display effect. The luxurious appearance of the black iron-level golden legendary equipment was so stunning that even Alice thought it was a Divine Artifact when she saw it. And Little Xian Miao, dressed in a full set of golden legendary equipment, undoubtedly appeared as a top player to the other players. Coupled with the fact that she was a girl... Soon, she was surrounded by a group of second test players. ¡°Little Xian Miao?! Are you the Little Xian Miao from the forum? Newbie seeking guidance!¡± ¡°Miao, can you be my mentor?¡± ¡°Master! New player seeking to add as a friend!¡± For a moment, the surrounded girl felt overwhelmed. ¡°Um... sorry, I don¡¯t plan on guiding anyone for now.¡± In the end, she had to apologize and politely refuse. The rejected newbie players were disappointed. But soon, they were spotted by other seasoned first test players and were pulled away... Gradually, the space around Little Xian Miao emptied out. She didn¡¯t mind at all, and instead found a corner of the plaza to sit down, watching the bustling players in the town with a smile. Excited newcomers. Enthusiastic veteran players. And the busy Natural Saintess Alice. What a lively scene. *Compared to the real world, the people here seemed more energetic and more genuine.* *Little Xian Miao really liked this feeling.* Her eyes scanned the crowd, enjoying the feeling of lounging around. Suddenly, a figure caught her eye. It was a strange female newbie player. Unlike the other excited players, she appeared very calm. She wasn¡¯t in a hurry to do quests, nor was she interacting with veteran players, but quietly standing by the stele in the center of the plaza. She reached out her hand, slowly stroking the stele, pondering something unknown. And with just one glance, Little Xian Miao found herself unable to look away. *It wasn¡¯t that this player¡¯s character design was particularly attractive.* In fact, the players in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± all had top-tier appearances. And this player¡¯s design was nothing if not ordinary. Her hair was the most common shade of blonde, her eyes were the most common emerald green, and even her hairstyle was the most common shoulder-length style. Her figure was average, her height was average... everything about her was the system¡¯s basic settings. In terms of appearance alone, this player was no different from the others. But... her aura was different. *Aura is a peculiar thing.* Although everyone had similar levels of attractiveness, people with aura and those without stood out when standing together. Take Dema, for instance; even though he had a handsome face, whenever he smiled, it gave off a sleazy vibe. But this female player was different. She just stood there, yet seemed out of place with her surroundings, emanating a vibe of keeping strangers at bay. She seemed so ordinary, yet gave off a noble, elegant, and aloof vibe, as if the next second she might leave this world. Her lips had a faint, elusive smile. A smile that came from the heart but seemed to carry some inexplicable quality. Contentment... nostalgy...? *Little Xian Miao¡¯s mind suddenly conjured these words, without knowing why.* Gradually, a bit of curiosity arose in her heart. Little Xian Miao glanced at the ID above the other player¡¯s head. It had only one character. ¡°Wind?¡± She raised her eyebrows. Wind... huh? Wind, rootless and drifting, shapeless and indistinct. Wind, born of the heart, moved by the heart... With a budding interest, Little Xian Miao stood up. She tidied her outfit and walked toward the other player... Chapter 63: Are You a Scenery Enthusiast? Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Are You a Scenery Enthusiast? ¡°These are the names of all the players who built the Elf Town.¡± Behind the new player named ¡°Wind,¡± Little Xian Miao took a deep breath and introduced herself with a voice she thought was the friendliest. Hearing the voice from behind, the female elf with the ID ¡°Wind¡± paused slightly in her actions. She slowly turned around and looked back. A pair of emerald-green eyes gazed at Little Xian Miao. Her gaze was very pure and very calm, not at all like a player who had just entered the game. ... And the faint glimmer in her eyes added a touch of noble grace. *Little Xian Miao had seen that kind of gaze in reality.* *Only those who have been in high positions for years have such confident and bright eyes.* *The elegance and nobility that unconsciously radiated from her demeanor further convinced Little Xian Miao...* *She must have a significant status and position in real life.* For a moment, Little Xian Miao even felt a bit uneasy. Seeing Little Xian Miao¡¯s discomfort, Wind smiled slightly, Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.?? ¡°Thank you.¡± Her voice was melodious and had a unique clear and pleasant tone that made one feel close. This contrasted sharply with the aloof aura she exuded, yet somehow without any discordance. And her smile was warm and natural, with a sense of being bathed in the spring breeze. *Is this... true nobility?* Little Xian Miao couldn¡¯t help but think. She hesitated for a moment, and almost involuntarily blurted out, ¡°Um... Are you unfamiliar with this world? Uh... Do you need me to help you with the game tasks?¡± Unconsciously, she had added an honorific. Hearing her words, a hint of surprise flashed across Wind¡¯s emerald pupils. She smiled slightly, and it seemed as if the whole world welcomed spring, ¡°Alright.¡± For a moment, Little Xian Miao felt her heart melt, and a small sense of joy arose within. But soon, she felt something was off... *Huh?* *Why do I feel as if I¡¯ve been acknowledged by an elder?* ... On the streets of Elf Town, Little Xian Miao and Wind walked side by side. The leader of one of the three major guilds in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± felt as if she were undergoing a leader¡¯s inspection... All along the way, she proudly and somewhat shyly introduced the variously styled buildings on both sides, ¡°This is Elf Town, which we players built together during the first test. Of course, the main force in building the town was our guild¡¯s construction team, and other players simply provided the materials...¡± ¡°Providing materials is a task for new players.¡± ¡°Actually, the initial task for new players was to build the town, but considering that they lacked experience and that our guild¡¯s construction team had already matured, we only let new players provide the materials...¡± ¡°In the future, the new houses will belong to the new players, and if they want, they can spend contribution points to commission our guild¡¯s construction team to customize their houses... As long as they have enough contribution points, they could even design it into a castle!¡± ¡°Customized housing with contribution points?¡± Hearing this, Wind expressed surprise for the first time. It seemed this matter was somewhat unexpected to her. After speaking, her expression turned a bit inexplicable while her words carried a hint of admiration, ¡°Your guild has real talent!¡± Upon hearing the praise, Little Xian Miao¡¯s eyes curved into crescents with joy; she patted her heavy chest proudly, ¡°Of course! Our guild has many talented people! Civil engineers, landscape architects, architects, you name it!¡± ¡°Those gardens and the European-style and Chinese-style classical buildings were all designed and built by our guild¡¯s top designers! They have their construction teams in ¡®Minecraft¡¯ too!¡± ¡°By the way, would you like to join our guild, the ¡®Mengmeng Committee¡¯? Our guild focuses on lifestyle, and it¡¯s very cozy!¡± As Little Xian Miao introduced, she turned back and looked at Wind with bright, sparkling eyes. But Wind just smiled and gave no definitive reply. Seeing the lack of a clear response, Little Xian Miao felt inexplicably disappointed. However, she quickly adjusted her mood and smiled sweetly, ¡°Well, well... it¡¯s too early anyway; players need to be at least level 5 to join a guild.¡± ¡°So... would you like to accept a novice task?¡± Little Xian Miao asked again. ¡°A novice task...¡± Wind raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re interested, we can head to the Natural Temple to find Alice.¡± ¡°Alice is the Natural Saintess in the game, a very gentle NPC. Oh, and NPCs in this game are really lifelike! We can completely interact with them as if they were real people!¡± Little Xian Miao continued to explain. ¡°Alice...¡± Upon hearing this name, Wind¡¯s lips curled into a subtle smile. She gently shook her head and said, ¡°Never mind, I wish to wander around.¡± Upon hearing Wind¡¯s words, Little Xian Miao suddenly came to a realization, ¡°Are you a scenery enthusiast?¡± ¡°Scenery enthusiast?¡± Wind paused slightly, her voice tinged with oddness. Little Xian Miao hurriedly explained, ¡°Ahem... that¡¯s a gaming term for players who don¡¯t focus on fighting and leveling up, but rather enjoy taking screenshots of the scenery.¡± Listening to her words, Wind¡¯s lips curved slightly upward, ¡°I know.¡± After speaking, she turned and approached a shop in the town selling various berries, her voice a bit ethereal, ¡°I don¡¯t have much time online, so... yes, I¡¯m a scenery enthusiast.¡± ¡°What do you mean by ¡®yes¡¯?¡± Little Xian Miao muttered curiously. *Not much time online...* In that moment, Little Xian Miao¡¯s speculation about Wind¡¯s real-life identity deepened. *Only those at the top might not have that much time to spend in games, right?* *She must be very busy in real life...* *The game must merely be a source of relaxation and enjoyment for her.* *She likely holds a senior, prestigious position in reality, admired and respected, managing many subordinates...* *Perhaps she¡¯s part of a large company or the government!* *Could she be someone curious about this magical game?* With that thought, Little Xian Miao felt she could become a detective. And when she saw Wind¡¯s position, especially her bright eyes as she gazed at the berries, her eyes lit up again. She picked up a berry, introducing it enthusiastically, ¡°Don¡¯t these berries look delicious?¡± ¡°Actually, they taste great too! I think they¡¯re even better than the fruits on Blue Star! I wonder how the designers came up with this...¡± ¡°Oh, and in this game, we also need to eat, and berries are a great choice. These shops are player-owned, and the berries are gathered from the forest. You can buy them using contribution points!¡± ¡°Um... contribution points are like the currency in this game, and you can start using them at level 11. Until then, new players have to forage for berries in the forest themselves. But the Elf Forest is rich in resources, so berries are easy to find!¡± ¡°Of course, doing tasks for Alice can also get you food!¡± As she spoke, Little Xian Miao shouted into the shop, ¡°Is anyone there? Is anyone there?¡± No one responded. Little Xian Miao slapped her own forehead, ¡°Oh, I forgot, everyone¡¯s busy guiding newcomers now!¡± After speaking, she directly grabbed two purple berries from the fruit basket, handing one to Wind, ¡°Here, it¡¯s for you, give it a try! I know the player who owns this shop; he¡¯s from our guild. He left tracking magic on the goods, so I¡¯ll just pay him back later.¡± Wind took the berry with surprise and gently bit into it. The fragrant juice overflowed. Her eyes instantly became even brighter. Her expression seemed as if she hadn¡¯t tasted anything so delicious in a long time. ¡°How is it? Tastes good, right?¡± Seeing her expression, Little Xian Miao said happily. ¡°Yes.¡± Wind nodded. She chewed very slowly, savoring the process. ¡°It¡¯s delicious.¡± She said. Chapter 64: I Really Like It Here Chapter 64: Chapter 64: I Really Like It Here ¡°`html Wind was a very peculiar player. That¡¯s what Little Xian Miao thought. At first, she assumed Wind might be one of those players who savor the scenery for leisure and entertainment. But soon, Wind¡¯s actions made her overturn her previous assumption. Wind neither excitedly looked for beautiful vistas to capture memories with nor asked her where the most magnificent sceneries could be found. ... This left Little Xian Miao, as a semi-lifestyle player, full of great ideas but without a way to express them. However, Wind seemed to have a special fondness for the world¡¯s cuisine. Along the way, whenever she saw food she was curious about, she would stop and taste it. *Like a traveler who hadn¡¯t savored delicious food in a long time.* Besides, she seemed to be quite familiar with this world, though Little Xian Miao couldn¡¯t quite explain why, but she had this feeling. *Maybe... it was Wind¡¯s carefree state while playing?* *No restraints, and no excitement of entering a new realm, but like walking in her own backyard...* Source: , updated on ?0¦Í??.§ã¦Ï *Hmm... I must be overthinking it.* Little Xian Miao shook her head. However, in turn, she became even more curious about Wind. This peculiar player was very gentle, always with a faint smile, especially when she saw players excitedly doing tasks. Her smile seemed to soften even more. Moreover, she loved to move around. Little Xian Miao accompanied her for a long time as she wandered endlessly. *It seemed... she truly enjoyed this kind of stroll.* ¡°Do you really enjoy this feeling of strolling?¡± Finally, Little Xian Miao couldn¡¯t contain her curiosity any longer. Hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s question, Wind turned around, her emerald starry eyes flashing with a deep glow. She placed a small red berry into her mouth, her voice ethereal, ¡°I like this feeling of freedom.¡± *Freedom...* Little Xian Miao felt a touch of emotion in her heart, and somehow, she suddenly thought of her real-life self. *Vaguely, she also felt a sense of resonance.* But at this moment, in her heart, Wind seemed even more mysterious. ¡°She is just like... just like a princess who has run away from a castle...¡± Somehow, Little Xian Miao had such a thought. She felt she must have read too many fairy tales! However, once this idea emerged, she felt the other really matched such a role... Even though she was using the most basic system character, that couldn¡¯t hide Wind¡¯s mysteriousness and nobility... Although she was close at hand, Wind gave the impression that she might leave at any moment, returning to her own place... She seemed never to belong here. Nor did she seem to plan to really integrate into this place. Her world, her future, didn¡¯t seem to be here. She was like a lonely wanderer, merely stopping to rest for a while. Soon, she would set off again... *She must be lonely, right?* The thought made Little Xian Miao hesitate for a moment before inviting, ¡°Well... tonight, we will hold a big bonfire party to welcome new players in the square. Would you... like to join us?¡± Hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s words, Wind was slightly taken aback. Soon, a bright light flashed in her eyes, and she gently nodded, ¡°Alright.¡± ... The night fell quickly. Under the guidance of the first test players, the players of the second closed beta gradually familiarized themselves with the gameplay of ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± While highly praising this game for living up to its reputation, they accepted the old players¡¯ invitations to the gathering. Somehow, the bonfire party had become a regular celebration in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± A pile of wood, four meters high, had been set up in the middle of the square, igniting amidst cheers and whistles. The fiercely burning flames, seven or eight meters high, illuminated the entire square brightly. The first test players set up a long feast in the square, with ingredients including various berries from the Elf Forest, along with some unnamed tasty nuts and delicious roasted meat obtained after hunting demon beasts. Of course, the latter was placed somewhat discreetly to avoid being seen by Alice and Berserker, who would inevitably scold them again. Additionally, some players procured honey from the forest and brewed it into a honey tea with a plant similar to Earth¡¯s chrysanthemum, serving as the drink. Players gathered in small groups, with arms around each other¡¯s shoulders. Some players specially set up tabletop games, gathered around by a group, playing joyfully and laughing. Other beta players explored the PK system in the square, consuming Contribution Value for dueling, with spectacular magic and sword skills attracting a crowd of players to watch and cheer. The wantonness and strength had the eyes of new second test players gleaming. There was also a player expert who specifically crafted a homemade guitar from wood and demon beast fur, playing and singing, prompting a chorus of whistles and applause from the players... The entire square was immersed in a festival-like atmosphere. Little Xian Miao and Wind sat on a square mat woven from vines, savoring the wildfield delicacies of the feast while enjoying the grand scene on the square. Wind¡¯s expression was very gentle. Her gaze, under the reflection of the firelight, glimmered like stars, similar to the rippling surface of a lake under the sunlight. Watching her focused expression, Little Xian Miao¡¯s mouth gradually curved upwards. ¡°This game has a high degree of freedom, so... almost anything we want to accomplish can be done. We¡¯ve held such bonfire parties many times since the game¡¯s launch...¡± Saying that, Little Xian Miao stretched lazily, drank a sip of sweet honey tea, and smiled, ¡°Speaking of which, it¡¯s quite interesting. Logically, many of us don¡¯t really like socializing in reality... but we¡¯ve fallen in love with bonfire revelry in the game.¡± Wind didn¡¯t speak but sat beside her, eating fruit and quietly listening to her soliloquy. ¡°Many of my members have told me they are actually quite introverted in real life...¡± Little Xian Miao spoke with a gradually dazed expression, ¡°However... it¡¯s different here.¡± Looking at the happy faces one by one, her expression gradually softened too, ¡°When they first told me, I was quite surprised. Because, in my eyes, everyone seemed quite outgoing and enthusiastic. I really couldn¡¯t imagine many people were gloomy and introverted in real life.¡± ¡°Someone once told me before... saying many people don¡¯t like socializing, which isn¡¯t truly due to introversion, but rather because they¡¯ve seen through the shrewdness and hypocrisy in real life, despising those superficial and pointless interactions...¡± ¡°Instead of faking niceness, they prefer staying in their own genuine little world.¡± ¡°However, this doesn¡¯t mean they genuinely dislike interacting with others; they just haven¡¯t met someone they truly connect with.¡± ¡°People on different wavelengths can¡¯t communicate on the same level...¡± ¡°People on the same wavelength will eventually meet, no matter how many mountains and rivers separate them; whereas people with mismatched frequencies, even if spending every day together, will always veer down separate paths.¡± ¡°Before, I didn¡¯t know the meaning of these words nor did I resonate with them.¡± ¡°But after entering this game, I think... I finally understand the meaning of these words.¡± With that, Little Xian Miao finished her cup of honey tea, her mouth curving into a sweet smile, ¡°Here, everyone has found a home... there¡¯s no need to hide their true selves or conceal their thoughts. It¡¯s as if everyone has begun a new, unrestrained life journey.¡± ¡°Perhaps... that¡¯s the charm of this game.¡± A moment later, Little Xian Miao sighed, ¡°This game... indeed possesses a unique magic. Sometimes, I really wish this wasn¡¯t a game, but a real world.¡± ¡°I genuinely want to thank the people who developed this game.¡± ¡°Thank you... for painting us another beautiful life...¡± ¡°Boom¡ª!¡± ¡°Boom¡ª!¡± ¡°...¡± The loud bangs interrupted Little Xian Miao¡¯s soliloquy. The two instinctively looked up towards the sky. There, one after another, the ¡°fireworks¡± forged by magic appeared and blossomed... Colorful and very beautiful. The magic¡¯s brilliance reflected in Little Xian Miao¡¯s pupils, shining brightly. *Just like her current mood.* Wind turned her head, her gaze resting on Little Xian Miao¡¯s profile, her lips curling into a smile, ¡°You really like this game.¡± Little Xian Miao nodded vigorously while watching the magical fireworks, her voice firm and unwavering, ¡°Of course!¡± ¡°Glad to hear that.¡± Wind chuckled, then gently stood up. Seeing Wind suddenly stand up, Little Xian Miao was slightly taken aback, ¡°You¡¯re... where are you going?¡± ¡°It¡¯s getting late, I should be heading back.¡± Wind said. ¡°` Chapter 65 - 65 Thank You, Goodbye Chapter 65: Chapter 65 Thank You, Goodbye ¡°`html After hearing Wind¡¯s words, Little Xian Miao raised an eyebrow and glanced at the system time, exclaiming in surprise, ¡°Ah! Oh dear... it¡¯s indeed late, it¡¯s already been five hours on Blue Star! Hmm... are you... are you logging off?¡± Wind paused briefly, then nodded. Little Xian Miao rubbed her chin and said, ¡°If you¡¯re logging off, you should head to the ¡®morgue¡¯ first. Your body will remain in place when you log off from the game, so it¡¯s best to log off from a safe place.¡± ... ¡°The... morgue?¡± For the first time, Wind¡¯s expression showed clear astonishment and confusion. ¡°Ah... ah-ha, that¡¯s our nickname for the logout point.¡± Little Xian Miao chuckled a bit awkwardly and explained, ¡°It¡¯s like this: we have a centralized logout point in the town, where players without a ¡®home¡¯ can log off. It¡¯s protected by arrays carved by Alice, so it¡¯s very safe after logging off.¡± ¡°Well... this game is fully immersive, so your body doesn¡¯t disappear after logging off but just loses control, lying there like a corpse. When they¡¯re lined up in a room, it can be a bit creepy, so we call it the morgue...¡± Wind: ... Source: , updated on ?¦Ï???.§ã? ¡°Of course, ahem... if you don¡¯t mind, you could log off at my place too. Uh... my bed is pretty big.¡± Little Xian Miao added. She had a good impression of this calm new player and vaguely felt the urge to befriend her. However, Wind didn¡¯t agree immediately. She just smiled and gently shook her head, ¡°No worries, I¡¯ve already troubled you a lot today, no need to trouble you anymore.¡± Although it was a polite refusal, the warm words and gentle smile didn¡¯t make anyone feel the least bit uncomfortable. ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Little Xian Miao regretfully pinched the edge of her clothes. Wind took a long look at her, smiling, ¡°Thank you for keeping me company today, I had a great time. The berries were delicious, and the bonfire party was really fun. Let¡¯s meet again if there¡¯s a chance, I have to go now.¡± After speaking, she nodded slightly at Little Xian Miao and turned to walk into the crowd. ¡°Hey! I haven¡¯t told you where the morgue is!¡± Little Xian Miao shouted from behind, hurrying to catch up. However, Wind¡¯s figure was already gone in the crowd. ¡°Where did she go?¡± Little Xian Miao paused, looking around in search. Yet she could no longer find a trace of Wind. She tapped her forehead in frustration, ¡°Oh dear! After chatting all day, I totally forgot to add her as a friend, I¡¯m such a fool!¡± ... In the Elf Forest. A graceful figure was slowly strolling. It was Wind. With each of her steps, the plants on either side of the forest seemed to pay homage to their queen, moving aside autonomously to reveal a path. The leaves rustled, and fireflies danced around her as if saluting a supreme being. With every step, a faint radiance emanated from her, making her appear mysterious and holy in the darkness. Her hair gradually lengthened, and its original golden hue transformed into a magnificent silver. Her height increased, and her figure became taller and more elegant. Her emerald eyes faded from green, turning into a mysterious and noble violet. Her features became more refined, more unparalleled. Even her original novice outfit transformed into a Holy Divine Dress, condensed from Divine Power. It was as if in an instant, she had transformed from a princess fallen to earth back into a Goddess of the heavens. No. She was the Goddess. If any players were present, they would have certainly noticed that she looked exactly like the statue enshrined in the Natural Temple! The Mother Nature, Life Goddess, Elf Sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil. Yes, Wind was a manifestation created by Eve for herself. And the core used was Hela¡¯s Soul Storage Orb! Her power was also gradually rising, a hint of majesty beginning to emanate outward. Until... it reached a pinnacle. ¡°Barely Gold, huh...¡± Feeling the power within her, she let out a sigh. ¡°The Soul Storage Orb isn¡¯t fully restored yet; I can only exert this much power for now.¡± ¡°Still, being able to enjoy the long-lost freedom of movement is enough.¡± ¡°Hmm... it¡¯s been so long since I last ate anything; I didn¡¯t expect the food in the Elf Forest to be so tasty.¡± After saying this, a sudden thought flickered in her mind. Streams of deathly aura steadily spread from her. The silver hair that reached her waist was tinged with a deep hue, turning from bright silver to dark silver. Her purple eyes turned crimson. Even her appearance changed slightly at her direction, becoming a little less perfect and more subtle. Her pointy ears transformed into a human-like shape. Additionally, her formerly splendid Divine Dress morphed once again into a somewhat somber black dress armor... an altered elf outfit that Eve had obtained from the players. Sensing her new state, she smiled slightly, ¡°Activating the Divine Power of the Soul Storage Orb lets me wear the title of Death God¡¯s Favored.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like having two identities all at once! I truly am a genius!¡± She turned her head back, gazing once more in the direction of Elf Town. There, the lights flickered faintly, with the players¡¯ laughter still faintly audible. A faint smile spread across her face, ¡°Though I opened this ¡®game¡¯ for myself, seeing them so happy also somewhat affects me.¡± ¡°In the future... I should be a little kinder to them. Hmm... maybe add 50... hmm... 10 contribution points to each task. Any more, and it might lead to inflation.¡± But gradually, the smile on her face faded into a hint of gloom. *¡±Is it the influence of merging with the World Tree? I feel like I can never regain that state.¡±* She reached out, rubbing her forehead. *She initially thought that wearing a new identity would naturally integrate her into the players¡¯ circle.* *After all, she inherently belonged to them.* *However, reality proved that now as a True God, she seemed unable to reclaim that feeling.* *Her personality, her aura, seemed to have been influenced by something.* *Even with a change of identity, she couldn¡¯t suppress her unique presence...* *Rather than a human, she increasingly resembled a True God standing high above.* *She sighed, unsure whether this was good or bad.* Of course, Eve speculated that it might also be because she hadn¡¯t fully mastered the power of a True God. But regardless, having gained the legacy of the World Tree and also inheriting the World Tree¡¯s enemy, she knew that this world wasn¡¯t as idyllic as the players imagined. As she gradually summoned players and examined the elven historical records they retrieved, she also became more aware of her distinctiveness... As a True God, the authority that the World Tree possessed seemed more overwhelming than she had anticipated. And the secret of the Divine War of the millennium was far deeper than she had imagined... She still had a long road ahead, a road full of perils, filled with uncertainties, yet also leading to infinite possibilities. This was destined to be a lonely path. This was also predestined to be a path of the strong. However, on her journey toward the highest divine throne, she still hoped in her heart to retain a bit of human likeness... ¡°In the future... if there¡¯s time, perhaps I should play like this again...¡± Eve believed... Perhaps the arrival of the players could allow her to maintain that sliver of humanity on her path as a True God. And not completely transform into a deity who sees all things as ants, aloof and detached. *Yes, it was definitely not because she was inherently poor at interacting with others...* ¡°After a day of playing, it¡¯s time to return.¡± Sighing softly, divine brilliance blossomed from her, and her figure slowly faded away. ¡°` Chapter 66 - 66 The Wise Lord Black Stone Chapter 66: Chapter 66 The Wise Lord Black Stone ¡°`html This was a ruin buried with vines and wild grass. A few goblins were gathered around a bonfire, roasting a plump mountain rabbit. Suddenly, a shadow enveloped them... Before the goblins could react, a thick, large hand lifted the leader who was roasting the rabbit like picking up a chick. The remaining goblins turned their heads and were scared out of their wits, hurriedly turning around to kneel on the ground, trembling... ... In front of them stood a ferocious team of Half-Beasts, led by none other than Black Iron Upper Peak¡¯s Black Stone. Black Stone looked at the trembling goblin he had lifted, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes. He casually threw it to the ground and said, ¡°Where¡¯s your leader?¡± The goblin fell to the ground but didn¡¯t get angry. It quickly scrambled up, grinning fawningly at Black Stone while pointing in a direction, making ¡°ah ah ah¡± gestures. Seeing its ridiculous expression, Black Stone snorted coldly and casually took the rabbit meat from the bonfire, taking a bite. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.?¦Ï However, he soon frowned, spitting out the rabbit meat as if dissatisfied with the goblins¡¯ culinary skills. Seeing his actions, the goblin was filled with dread, kowtowing and choking with anxiety. Black Stone said nothing more and kicked the goblin, ¡°Lead the way.¡± His voice brooked no refusal. ... Under the goblins¡¯ lead, the Half-Beasts arrived at a collapsed building in the ruins. The goblins walked a few steps ahead, swiftly uncovering a patch of straw to reveal a large hole on the side of the building. They then skillfully crawled inside. The Half-Beasts also bent down and followed the goblins into the building. Inside were collapsed ruins and discarded trash, emitting an unpleasant odor, while a winding path was left in the middle. Led by the goblins, the Half-Beasts continued deeper inside. As they walked further, the view gradually broadened, and eventually, they found themselves in a spacious cave after a series of turns. This was a hidden base of the Rock Cave Tribe in the Elf Forest, also a transit point for hunting elves. In the center of the cave, a bonfire was burning, around which three Half-Beasts were lazily lying, sleeping soundly. A few goblins were beside them, using large leaves to fan them continuously. Aside from them, deeper in the cave was a man-made stone prison. Through the iron bars, a few pairs of eyes filled with fear and despair could be vaguely seen inside. Black Stone first glanced at the stone prison, looking surprised, then turned his gaze to the three Half-Beasts. Seeing the Half-Beasts sleeping soundly, his already fierce face looked even uglier. He snorted coldly and walked straight over, giving each one a kick. ¡°Which bastard dares to disturb your Half-Beast grandpa¡¯s sweet dreams!¡± The three Half-Beasts awoke with a start, cursing and drawing their weapons in anger. However, when they saw who it was, their faces changed immediately, shrinking back fearfully. ¡°Uh... Lord Black Stone, why... why have you come to the base?¡± They laughed awkwardly, hurriedly hiding their Wolf Fang Clubs and broadswords behind them, fawning as they spoke. ¡°Hmph, three useless fools with not a hint of vigilance!¡± Black Stone cursed in frustration, then said in a deep voice, ¡°Lord Jushan sent me to investigate some matters. I have questions for you.¡± The three Half-Beasts exchanged glances, their expressions gradually becoming serious, ¡°You are here to investigate the disappearance of the Half-Beast Hunting Team?¡± Black Stone gave them a look, nodding, ¡°That is one of my purposes, but first, I need to ask you, has there been any unusual activity in the Elf Forest recently? Especially... near the Feilengcui Ruins.¡± Upon hearing Black Stone¡¯s words, the three Half-Beasts were slightly stunned. They looked at each other, then shook their heads, ¡°This... it seems... there¡¯s nothing particularly unusual.¡± Black Stone¡¯s expression darkened, ¡°You better think again... Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve been sleeping in the cave this whole time.¡± As he spoke, the pressure of his Black Iron Upper rank began to emanate, suffocating the three Black Iron Lower Half-Beasts. Under the pressure of a higher rank, the three nearly fell to their knees simultaneously, their faces changing dramatically as large beads of sweat dripped down. Suddenly, one of the Half-Beasts raised his head, shivering as he shouted, ¡°Lord Black Stone, I... I remember, I remember! I remember something unusual recently!¡± Hearing his words, Black Stone gradually withdrew his intimidation, ¡°Speak.¡± The Half-Beast kneeling on the ground gasped in relief, then said shakily, ¡°Recently... there have been more low-level demon beasts nearby, and many of them used to only appear on the Feilengcui side. It seems they are migrating collectively...¡± ¡°Hmm? Demon beasts migrating?¡± Black Stone¡¯s eyes glinted sharply. In the Elf Forest, the territorial awareness of demon beasts was quite strong. Under normal circumstances, such migration did not occur. And when migration did happen, there were generally two situations. One was that they found a better living area and actively relocated. And the other was that they sensed some threat, being forced to migrate... The Elf Forest was rich in resources, practically a paradise for demon beasts, so the first situation was rare. Not to mention that the surrounding area of the Rock Cave Tribe¡¯s base was already barren... So the first scenario could be quickly eliminated. Then... the result was self-evident. ¡°They are avoiding something... Something is triggering their sense of threat, forcing them to migrate collectively. And the source... is likely in Feilengcui!¡± Black Stone¡¯s eyes flashed. If he guessed correctly, this was probably the key to what the Giant Mountain Priest wanted him to investigate. Thinking it over, he asked again, ¡°Are there any strong demon beasts among them?¡± The Half-Beast who answered shook his head, ¡°No, no... they¡¯re all very weak demon beasts, the highest barely reaching the initial Black Iron Lower level, so we didn¡¯t pay much attention before.¡± Weak demon beasts? Black Stone¡¯s eyes flashed again. This indicated that the threat wasn¡¯t very strong, at least the high-level demon beasts didn¡¯t sense any danger... For a moment, Black Stone recalled the peculiar elf mentioned in the oracle by the Giant Mountain Priest before his departure. ¡°The elf battling goblins...¡± He mulled over the thought. Could it be... that this was the strange elves, mentioned by Lord Jushan, causing trouble? And the Death God¡¯s Favored mentioned by the priest... ¡°Right! Right! I remembered two more things!¡± During Black Stone¡¯s contemplation, another Half-Beast raised his hand. Black Stone looked at him, ¡°Speak.¡± The Half-Beast took a deep breath and said, ¡°About a month ago... dozens of goblins fled into the base, but most of them seemed to have been frightened by something, their spirits extremely unstable...¡± ¡°Additionally, the last destination of Lord Rock... was the core region of the Elf Forest, where Feilengcui is located...¡± At these words, Black Stone¡¯s face darkened, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say this sooner!¡± The Half-Beast quivered slightly, cautiously saying, ¡°Well... goblins are always timid, and we couldn¡¯t understand their shrieks, so we didn¡¯t pay attention... As for Lord Rock... I was nervous just now... and forgot...¡± ¡°Hmph, useless!¡± Black Stone cursed. He didn¡¯t look at the three Half-Beasts again but instead silently pieced together the information he gathered in his mind. Vaguely, he formed a certain guess, ¡°A group of low-level elves has returned to the Elf Forest. They seem to have been blessed by the Death God, driving out the goblins of Feilengcui and the nearby demon beasts, likely plotting something in Feilengcui...¡± ¡°There¡¯s a high possibility that the Death God¡¯s Favored is involved, and Rock¡¯s Half-Beast Hunting Team¡¯s disappearance is likely due to discovering their secret...¡± ¡°The Death God¡¯s Favored¡¯s power should be quite strong... Otherwise, Rock and his team wouldn¡¯t have encountered mishaps. Even with the holy artifact given by the priest, I might not be able to counter it.¡± ¡°Rashly entering Feilengcui could be very dangerous...¡± ¡°Heh, it seems that group with long ears isn¡¯t as loyal as the legends say, being involved with the Death God...¡± A hint of ridicule flashed across Black Stone¡¯s face. With a glint in his eyes, he asked again, ¡°Are demon beasts still fleeing from the area?¡± ¡°Yes... yes...¡± The responding Half-Beast said tremblingly. Black Stone fell into contemplation once more. Demon beasts were still being driven away, indicating those elves should still be active around Feilengcui. It meant... he should have a chance to capture someone around Feilengcui! This should be a relatively safe approach! Thinking this, Black Stone issued a command, ¡°Summon a group of goblins and come with me to investigate the situation around Feilengcui.¡± ¡°` Chapter 67: If You Cant Win, Run Away Fast Chapter 67: Chapter 67: If You Can¡¯t Win, Run Away Fast ¡°`html Elf Forest, southeastern core area. A group of strangely dressed elves were shuttling through the forest, exploring. Most of them wore simple hemp robes and wooden armor, with only the first three dressed in luxurious battle attire. The leader was fully armed¡ª He sported a rare red afro, wielded a delicate scimitar, and wore heavy armor that didn¡¯t quite match his elven companions, looking rather smug... ... It was Demacia. As he moved forward, he talked to his teammates behind him, whose eyes were shining: ¡°Heh heh, newcomers, we¡¯re out of the safe zone now, and you guys will gradually encounter the legendary Demon Beasts!¡± ¡°The battle mechanics in this world are very realistic and hard to master. So if you don¡¯t want to die, make sure to coordinate with your teammates during battles, don¡¯t go solo!¡± ¡°Heh, although dying means you can resurrect, without perfect resurrection attempts, you¡¯ll drop back to level 1.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t worry! The three of us will back you up!¡± After days of grinding tasks and training, Demacia had reached level 14. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.§ã? As the highest-ranking tank of the ¡°Heart of Nature,¡± he decisively took on the responsibility of training newcomers, deciding to take some of the more battle-interested guild members to explore outside. He had originally planned to wait for the team members to earn a few more perfect resurrections before seeking adventure, but unfortunately, there hadn¡¯t been many tasks rewarding perfect resurrections recently. With Li Mu, who was busy studying the array, unable to resist some new guild members¡¯ curiosity about combat, he ultimately let Demacia take them for a relatively safe outdoor adventure. As soon as Demacia finished speaking, the team members started to voice their questions: ¡°But... Big Brother Demacia, we haven¡¯t seen any animals along the way...¡± ¡°Yeah... Isn¡¯t it supposed to be dangerous out here?¡± ¡°We must have walked over ten kilometers by now, and it¡¯s getting dark...¡± Hearing his teammates, Demacia scratched his head awkwardly and said: ¡°Don¡¯t panic... Don¡¯t panic... There are no monsters in the safe zone, ahem, it¡¯s because we ate them all, but there must be some outside!¡± Teammate: ... Indeed, eaten them all. These days, the safe zone centered around the World Tree was almost devoid of the presence of Demon Beasts. Being Tianchao people, the players fully exhibited their national traits, and almost all the small animals that looked edible ended up in their stomachs... Those lucky enough to escape had fled to other areas. Without the wild game, some beta players were even starting to consider starting a farming industry... With no Demon Beasts to practice on, Demacia had to take the newcomers outside the safe zone. Fortunately, after initial explorations, players had discovered that the southeastern direction of the Elf Forest appeared to have relatively barren land, with weaker Demon Beasts residing there. So coming here, Demacia was somewhat confident in ensuring the new members¡¯ safety. ¡°Hang in there a bit more, folks, we¡¯ll definitely encounter Demon Beasts.¡± He said to his teammates. After saying this, he chuckled, ¡°But be careful, Demon Beasts spawn randomly in the wild, and with good luck, you¡¯ll face low-ranked ones. With bad luck, facing Black Iron Middle Rank or even higher isn¡¯t impossible.¡± ¡°But, ha, since we¡¯re in this barren place, we probably won¡¯t encounter them.¡± ¡°If we do run into something we can¡¯t handle, if you don¡¯t want to start from zero, just run away!¡± After hearing Demacia¡¯s words, several newly joined players exchanged glances and nodded. As they continued walking, suddenly, the lead player, who was a Hunter from the first beta, stopped. ¡°There¡¯s movement!¡± He said with a solemn expression, gesturing for silence. Demacia and the others perked up and quickly quieted down. The Hunter then took a deep breath, carefully observing the surrounding shrubs, listening, and slowly moving forward while crouching. Everyone held their breath. The Hunter quietly detached from the group, sneaking over to a nearby bush and gently pushing it aside... Soon, his expression turned from surprise to excitement! He turned around and mouthed to the group: Goblins! Gob...lins... Matching his lip movements, Demacia and the others mentally vocalized... Wait... Goblins?! His eyes lit up. It had been a long time since they last saw these adorable creatures after the Goblins at the Feilengcui Ruins were wiped out. And if he remembered correctly, these little bundles of experience and contribution usually dwelled in caves and ruins. But there weren¡¯t any caves in the Elf Forest... Could it be... there¡¯s a ruin nearby?! In an instant, Demacia¡¯s breathing became heavy. Ruins! It¡¯s very possible there are ruins nearby! Come to think of it, most players hadn¡¯t ventured deep in this direction because of the barren land, so there might actually be Elf Ruins! Could it be... Demacia was about to trigger another storyline event?! Thinking of this, he perked up and quickly waved his teammates over, whispering: ¡°We¡¯ve got something good!¡± ¡°No noise, move quietly!¡± Hearing this, the group became excited. Demacia then quietly moved next to the Hunter player and looked into the distance. In a clearing not far away, several Goblins were gathered... doing something unknown. Demacia¡¯s eyes sparkled. He whispered to his teammates who caught up, ¡°I¡¯ll count to three. I¡¯ll charge first, and you flank them from both sides. Don¡¯t let them all escape.¡± After saying this, he thought for a moment and changed his mind: ¡°No... move slowly and let a couple escape, so we can follow them to find their lair!¡± Then he began counting: ¡°One... two... three!¡± With that, he took a deep breath, grabbed his scimitar, and leaped out of the bushes! ¡°Sun Thief! I¡¯ve missed you guys!¡± He shouted excitedly, charging toward the Goblins! The Goblins seemed startled by the sudden attack. They yelped and scrambled to grab their weapons. However, Demacia¡¯s strength had grown tremendously, and with a single sweep, he felled two Goblins, causing the others to flee in panic. At this point, the other teammates arrived. Demacia shouted, ¡°Flank them!¡± After saying that, he took the lead and chased the fleeing Goblins. Strangely, the Goblins, instead of scattering, seemed to agree on a direction to escape. Seeing this, Demacia became even more excited. Ruins! They must be escaping back to the ruins! With this thought, he pursued them more eagerly, filled with excitement. As the chase continued, the surrounding forest became denser. Goblins didn¡¯t have the stamina of the elves, and soon Demacia caught up with them one by one, striking them down, leaving the new teammates to finish them off. Gradually, he reached the last Goblin... Just as Demacia was about to slow down and track it to the ruins, a strong sense of danger washed over him. He shivered and reflexively brought his scimitar up to guard himself. A black shadow flashed by, colliding with immense force against his scimitar, which shattered on impact! Moreover, the force didn¡¯t dissipate, striking him fiercely in the chest. Even his Black Iron Lower Rank epic heavy armor was torn apart like paper. Demacia felt a dull ache in his chest, his consciousness blurred momentarily, and he was flung backward by the impact. He slammed into a giant tree behind him and spat out a mouthful of blood as half his health bar vanished. If not for the pain sensation being reduced by 95%, he¡¯d have likely fainted from the pain... He looked up in shock, seeing a burly, menacing figure in front of him. Half-Beast Black Stone slowly retracted her fist! ¡°` Chapter 68: Talking Alone is So Boring Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Talking Alone is So Boring ¡°`html Looking at the over two-meter tall Half-Beast in front of him, Demacia¡¯s face turned green. One hit... with just one hit, he almost lost his ability to move. Seeing the constantly flashing ¡°crippled¡± status in the corner of his game system, Demacia felt increasingly terrified of the opponent¡¯s strength... Aside from Uller¡¯s embodiment, he had never faced such a powerful attack directly. But Uller¡¯s embodiment was special... ... Since the opponent was a Divine, the players felt it was understandable for her to be so fearsome. Not to mention, Uller was the storyline boss, whom they believed must be weakened by the developers to some degree. The embodiment state was unstable; otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have been overwhelmed by their overwhelming numbers strategy... But the ugly, suspected Beastman monster in front of him was different. Unlike the incomplete Uller embodiment, he had no weaknesses... just one hit could incapacitate Demacia. And the opponent looked relaxed. *This kind of monster was truly terrifying!* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.?0 Demacia had no doubt that even if the players charged in waves, such a powerful monster would spell certain death for them... It was akin to a group of chicks charging at a hunting dog. ¡°Damn, did I really run into a game-ending monster?¡± Demacia cursed inwardly. It seemed he was about to die this time. However, Demacia still fulfilled his duty as a leader beforehand. He turned and shouted to those behind him, ¡°We¡¯ve run into an open-world boss, everyone retreat! I¡¯ll hold it off!¡± The voice... was quite solemn! But right after he said that, he was stunned... Because there was not a single shadow left behind him. The breeze blew, and only one leaf wobbled down. Farther away, he could see a few tall figures running desperately... Demacia: ... Looking at the fleeing figures of his teammates, he muttered bitterly, ¡°Wow, you guys sure ran off quickly, didn¡¯t you?¡± Sighing, he looked at the Half-Beast before him and stretched his neck, ¡°Come on then, make it quick.¡± He waited for the opponent to finish him off, a picture of righteous bravery and fearlessness. Looking at the Elf in front of him, Black Stone raised an eyebrow. This Elf had some backbone. From the Giant Mountain Priest, Black Stone had also learned that these Elves might have some form of immortality. However, he also believed that there must be some limitations to their kind of immortality. In his early years, he had dealings with an Undead Mage and learned some secrets of death. It was rumored that some followers of the Death God indeed had immortality, but it was at the cost of weakening their souls with every revival... Every physical death and soul separation caused irreparable damage. And after several repetitions, the soul would collapse. So, in Black Stone¡¯s view, even if the other party had some form of immortality, they would not be willing to die repeatedly. After all, no living being could achieve true immortality! They only delayed death... Furthermore, soul collapse was a more despairing death than regular death... Thinking of this, he grew a bit of respect for the Elf. At this moment, a few more Half-Beasts joined them, intending to pursue the other fleeing Elves. However, Black Stone quickly stopped them, ¡°No need, this Elf should be the leader. As long as we capture him, he surely knows the most.¡± After speaking, Black Stone waved his hand, ¡°You guys, tie him up.¡± A few ugly Half-Beasts gathered, roughly snatching the half-broken scimitar from Demacia¡¯s hands and aggressively tying him up with hemp rope... Watching the Half-Beasts¡¯ actions, Demacia was stunned. Wait... why wasn¡¯t this boss playing by the usual rules? In this situation, wouldn¡¯t regular enemies just stomp the player to death? Why were they tying him up? Hold on... Was he about to trigger some hidden storyline?! A sudden flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and Demacia recalled some Elf intelligence the Holy Daughter sister had once mentioned... Half-Beast Hunting Team... Hunting Elves... Human trafficking... Wait... Had he run into a Half-Beast Hunting Team? Demacia¡¯s eyes began to light up. Half-Beasts were the Elves¡¯ greatest enemies! Holy cow! Hidden storyline! It absolutely was a hidden storyline! In an instant, his previous sadness over potentially losing a chance for a perfect resurrection and having his equipment destroyed disappeared completely. Seeing the captured Elf not at all afraid, nor angry, but instead looking excited, Black Stone furrowed his brows with suspicion. This Elf... did he have mental issues? Shaking his head, he waved to his subordinates, ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the base first.¡± After capturing an Elf, he no longer planned to stay here. He feared attracting the powerful Death God¡¯s Favored! Anyway, this Elf had luxurious equipment and looked to be a leader-level figure, surely knowledgeable! Hmm... although his strength was a bit lacking. Even though he had prepared for this scenario, Black Stone hadn¡¯t expected the Elf Clan to have weakened to such an extent! Black Iron Lower, huh... as fragile as paper! He cast a disdainful glance at Demacia. Once Black Stone finished speaking, a Half-Beast picked Demacia up in reverse. ¡°Whoa... not my chest, I¡¯ve got wounds, I¡¯m gonna suffocate!¡± Demacia shouted. The Half-Beast glanced at him, grabbed his leg, and hung him upside down on his shoulder. Demacia: ... His face turned green, ¡°Food... food... my lunch is coming up... Ugh...¡± But this time, no one paid attention to him. And so, a group of Half-Beasts took their upside-down ¡°spoils of war¡± and marched grandly back. Demacia was bound tightly, and the Half-Beast¡¯s uneven steps were almost about to churn his stomach. Yet at this moment, he wasn¡¯t afraid or worried. Instead, his mind was full of excitement. He realized that this group of Half-Beasts probably wouldn¡¯t kill him. They... seemed to want to capture him for some purpose... For some purpose... Wait... Ahem, surely these Half-Beasts didn¡¯t have such bizarre tastes, right? For a moment, Demacia shuddered. Especially after looking at Black Stone¡¯s muscular build and menacing appearance... He felt a bit timid, his complexion turning a faint shade of blue. No, no, no... The Half-Beasts needed to sell him, and buyers wouldn¡¯t want second-hand goods, right? Demacia shook his head, reassuring himself. Whatever, at worst, he¡¯d find a way to respawn back to town! He wondered if Elves could die from biting their tongues... But then again, that type of death from those wuxia novels on Blue Star, it didn¡¯t seem very scientific... Or maybe... he could crash into a wall? Or a tree? Demacia started to fantasize wildly... But one thing was certain, he was temporarily safe. Thinking of this, Demacia simply gave up on overthinking, and instead, his courage grew. He started chatting incessantly with the Half-Beasts, attempting to extract information from them and see if he could trigger any events, ¡°Hey, hey, hey, big guys, are you Half-Beasts?¡± ¡°Your big tusks are so long! But quite yellow... how long has it been since you brushed your teeth?¡± ¡°Your scimitars look so sharp! So... what level are they? Are they legendary items? Can I touch them?¡± ¡°Tinhead! Tinhead! Hey, you in front, how high level are you!¡± ¡°Are you guys the legendary Elf Hunting Team? Are you capturing me to sell?¡± ¡°Where are you taking me? You... aren¡¯t developing strange ideas about male Elves, are you?¡± ¡°You know... even though I¡¯m handsome and dashing... ahem, but I think some things are more appropriate with ladies, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Ah, actually... I ate a lot of spicy food at lunch, so right now, my whole intestines are burning... and I have hemorrhoids...¡± ¡°So... what¡¯s your plan? Tell me, I¡¯ve already been captured...¡± ¡°Hey, hey, hey, can¡¯t you respond? It¡¯s boring talking to myself!¡± ¡°Hey, hey, hey!¡± ¡°...¡± Demacia went on and on like a never-stopping machine gun... Finally, Black Stone couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡°Shut up!¡± He scolded angrily, grabbing a Goblin nearby, tearing off its smelly broken pants, stuffing them into Demacia¡¯s mouth, and covering his head with a sack. The whole world was quiet. Demacia: ... ¡°` Chapter 69 - 69 Alright, Ill come clean Chapter 69: Chapter 69 Alright, I¡¯ll come clean ¡°Brother Mu! Something¡¯s happened, something¡¯s happened! Demacia has been captured!¡± Li Mu, who was attending a class on arrays at the Natural Temple, had his train of thought interrupted by a flurry of messages from friends. He checked the game system panel and found that the message came from the vice-captain of Demacia¡¯s field squad. Demacia was captured? He was taken aback for a moment and began to reply through the system: ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ... Soon, there was a reply: ¡°We encountered a very strong monster in the wild, and Demacia was taken! Those monsters look very fierce, much like the Half-Beasts that Alice described!¡± Half-Beast? Li Mu frowned. Suddenly, he had a thought... *Could it be... the squad of Half-Beasts that Alice mentioned, the ones who hunt elves?* ¡°How strong are they? Where did they take Demacia?¡± Li Mu replied again. Source: , updated on ?0¦Í?¦Ï.§ã¦Ï ¡°Those monsters are really tough, they took down Demacia with just one punch! We ran away on the spot, and then couldn¡¯t get in touch with him.¡± One... one punch... Li Mu took a sharp breath. *Demacia was the number one tank in the entire server, with a ridiculous amount of health, and they took him out with one punch... Just how strong are these guys...* But soon, another thought struck him. He quickly replied: ¡°This might not be a bad thing! Knowing Demacia, he might be triggering some kind of plot mission. Keep an eye out for any messages from him... I think he might be under control now, but as soon as he¡¯s free, he¡¯ll definitely get back to us!¡± After sending the message to friends, Li Mu thought about it and decided to inform Alice immediately. From any angle, given the current strength of the players, they would be incapable of dealing with Half-Beasts! If necessary, they would need to seek help from NPCs! He had already raised his rapport with Alice quite high, even higher than that of a cooing bird. If he needed help, the kind Holy Daughter sister probably wouldn¡¯t refuse. He took a deep breath, then stood up from the mat: ¡°Lord Alice, I¡¯m sorry to interrupt your lecture, but I have something urgent to tell you!¡± ... When Demacia¡¯s hood was removed, he found himself in a dark cave. He was tied to an iron rack, and in front of him stood several Half-Beasts with faces that could scare children to tears. The Black Stone, who had taken him out with a punch, was front and center, along with a Half-Beast Priest clad in sheepskin. A group of burly figures surrounded him, causing him to shiver involuntarily. Especially the imposing, fierce bald Black Stone leading them! Black Stone stepped forward and pulled the cloth out of his mouth. Demacia breathed deeply in relief but nearly choked on the nauseating smell of the cave. At this moment, the Half-Beasts finally spoke. ¡°Speak, what were you doing in Feilengcui? What¡¯s your conspiracy? Who¡¯s the mastermind behind this?¡± Black Stone¡¯s deep voice resounded with strong pressure. Upon hearing the Half-Beast¡¯s words, Demacia was momentarily stunned. *Huh? It seems they aren¡¯t here to hunt me...* *Are they... investigating the matters from before in Feilengcui?* His mind was quick, and he instantly pieced together the backstory... If he wasn¡¯t mistaken, the main followers of the Winter and the Hunting God Uller seemed to be Half-Beasts, and they had just dismantled Uller¡¯s avatar the other day... *So, the juniors are here to avenge the seniors?* Demacia felt like he had uncovered the truth. Meanwhile, he thought of the main storyline¡¯s name: ¡°Act One: Uller¡¯s Conspiracy!¡± Main plot! He had definitely encountered the main plot again! *Could this be Uller¡¯s revenge for the trouble they caused?* Demacia¡¯s spirits lifted. ¡°Hurry up and talk!¡± Black Stone coldly snorted again, then grabbed a red-hot iron from the campfire... And in the distance, Demacia also saw a whip, a Wolf Fang Club, an iron rod, knives with barbs, and other items... He twitched his eyes. *Is this... torture about to begin?* He glanced at the pain setting in the system... *Hmm... 5%, I should be able to handle it.* *Surrendering and confessing is out of the question.* *Only by standing firm can I maintain my heroic persona!* *Besides, knowing it¡¯s part of the main storyline, there¡¯s no way I, as the Goddess¡¯s most loyal follower, would spill the secrets to the enemies, right?* With this thought, he grinned at the Half-Beast, showing a row of white teeth: ¡°Sweet child, even if you call me daddy, I... I still won¡¯t tell you anything.¡± ¡°Hmph...!¡± An angry flash passed in Black Stone¡¯s eyes, and he pressed the hot iron against Demacia¡¯s chest. With a sizzling sound, the aroma of grilled meat filled the air. Demacia¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out, and then he let out an ecstatic moan. A moment later, he sighed contentedly: ¡°It feels kind of nice... you can do it a bit longer.¡± Black Stone: ... *This guy... is he really this tough?* The Half-Beasts gave him a startled look. ¡°Hmph! A stubborn elf!¡± Black Stone tossed the iron aside and picked up the whip. Demacia¡¯s eyelid twitched as he shouted: ¡°Anything but the face, you can hit me anywhere else.¡± ¡°Pia!¡± Black Stone whipped him across the face. Demacia: ... Black Stone continued with clubbing, slicing, nail pulling... He tried every method of torture he had learned from the Human World, but the elf before him remained unfazed. *He really doesn¡¯t care about the pain!* Except for when hit on the face... Even Black Stone began to develop a sense of respect. ¡°As expected of a follower of the Death God, facing pain and death with such calmness... Elf, you truly are a warrior.¡± He grunted, acknowledging. Upon hearing this, Demacia hesitated slightly. *Wait...* Death God? *Wasn¡¯t I part of the Goddess¡¯s crew?* *How did I become a follower of the Death God?* Seeing Demacia¡¯s puzzled expression, Black Stone sneered: ¡°Surprised?¡± He put down his instruments of torture and continued to ask: ¡°Heh, in fact, we already know your identities. Talk, what are the Death God and the Lord of the Underworld plotting?¡± ¡°De... Death God?¡± Demacia had a peculiar look on his face. *Wait... is there some misunderstanding here?* ¡°Heh, seeing your expression, have you finally admitted it?¡± Black Stone sneered. Demacia: ... ¡°What if I say I don¡¯t know anything about a Death God, would you believe me?¡± He tried probing. ¡°Heh.¡± Black Stone sneered again. Demacia: ... ¡°I really don¡¯t know any Death God...¡± He repeated with some frustration. ¡°Heh.¡± Black Stone still sneered. Demacia: ... After a moment, he sighed. ¡°Sigh... fine...¡± ¡°Alright, alright, I can¡¯t argue with you guys, I¡¯ll go ahead and tell you the truth!¡± ¡°It¡¯s just the Death God, right? Actually, I know... and it¡¯s no big deal telling you...¡± As he spoke, Demacia¡¯s expression turned serious. Seeing this, the Half-Beasts also grew serious. Demacia suddenly raised his head, exuding a bit of dominance, and said in a deep voice: ¡°Actually, my name is Thanos, my true identity is the leader of the Soul Society¡¯s Guardian Court Thirteen Team¡¯s Fifth Division Captain...¡± ¡°My mission in Feilengcui is to find the seven Dragon Balls, to make a wish to the Goddess, thereby obtaining the Mangekyo? Sharingan, and ultimately finding the legendary great treasure left by Pirate King Jack Sparrow!¡± Black Stone and the others were dumbfounded by his words. Soul Society? Guardian Court Thirteen Team? Dragon Balls? Sharingan? Treasure? *What... what kind of nonsense is this?* Chapter 70 - 70 This Must Be Some Kind of Prophecy! Chapter 70: Chapter 70 This Must Be Some Kind of Prophecy! ¡°`html In the Natural Temple. Alice listened to Li Mu¡¯s report with a heavy expression and a furrowed brow, ¡°You mean... there¡¯s a good chance that Demacia has been hunted by the half-beasts? Because of your limited strength, you wish to request my assistance?¡± Li Mu nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right, Lord Alice. You also know that we have a way to track our companions¡¯ locations, so we know where Demacia is now.¡± ... When Demacia was captured, he was still part of a team with his teammates, so his coordinates were displayed on the system¡¯s minimap. Therefore, although unable to contact him temporarily, players could still locate him. After spending so much time together, Alice and Berserker were also aware of these things. ¡°I think... since the half-beasts captured him, it also represents an opportunity... Didn¡¯t you once say that half-beasts likely have a base in the Elf Forest? I believe this is a chance to destroy that half-beast base in one blow!¡± After speaking, Li Mu saw Alice¡¯s somewhat hesitant expression and continued, ¡°Besides, I think the Goddess would also be pleased with this...¡± ¡°Mother Goddess...¡± Source: , updated on ??¦Í??.§ã¦Ï At those words, Alice¡¯s heart was stirred. However, her expression showed some conflict... After a moment, she sighed, ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m unwilling to help, but since the half-beasts have a base, it¡¯s very likely they have a half-beast priest.¡± As she finished speaking, she glanced at Li Mu and explained, ¡°You know the Mother Goddess has many enemies. Although She has awakened, to ensure safety, She cannot come to the forefront to avoid a crazy backlash from Her enemies...¡± ¡°So, as Her believers and followers, Berserker and I certainly can¡¯t appear before the followers of other Divines, because that could easily expose the Mother Goddess¡¯ resurrection prematurely...¡± ¡°However, you all are different. You aren¡¯t believers, and your souls are peculiar, so you won¡¯t arouse suspicion...¡± Listening to Alice¡¯s words, Li Mu couldn¡¯t help but let out a bitter smile, ¡°But... I estimate that our strength isn¡¯t enough to defeat the half-beasts. Their leader knocked out Demacia with just one hit.¡± ¡°One hit...¡± Alice fell into contemplation, her expression becoming solemn, ¡°That would likely be a Black Iron Upper half-orc warrior. You¡¯re indeed no match for half-beasts of that level...¡± After thinking for a moment, she said, ¡°This matter... I¡¯ll pray to the Mother Goddess. The Mother Goddess is merciful and all-knowing; She will certainly give us guidance!¡± Having said that, she approached Eve¡¯s statue and began to pray with closed eyes... When Eve sensed Alice¡¯s prayer, She was engrossed in an e-book called ¡°Game Planning Essentials¡± through the Blue Planet¡¯s network... ¡°Alice? Did something happen with the players again?¡± *Her heart stirred, and She temporarily paused her reading.* Although there was a game system, Eve couldn¡¯t possibly monitor the players¡¯ movements at all times. Therefore, She had previously instructed Alice to pray and report to Her immediately if any issues or incidents occurred with the players. *Now it seemed like something happened with the players again.* She glanced at the blue light clusters in the Divine Space representing the players and found nothing amiss. *Feeling a bit relieved, Eve listened to Alice¡¯s prayer...* After a while, Her mood turned a bit odd, ¡°Demacia got captured by the half-beasts? The players are requesting Alice¡¯s help?¡± *Contemplatively, She immersed Her consciousness into the light cluster representing Demacia.* Suddenly, Her vision shifted dramatically, and Eve quickly ¡°saw¡± Demacia¡¯s predicament... In the dim stone cave, Demacia was covered in wounds, tied tightly to a stone pillar. It seemed he had been subjected to harsh interrogation, as he was surrounded by a group of half-beasts. *This wasn¡¯t just a simple hunt but an interrogation!* Combining it with the half-beasts¡¯ conversation, Eve quickly deduced the truth... ¡°Who knew Uller would send someone to investigate so quickly.¡± *Her heart suddenly felt a sense of urgency.* And seeing the serious expressions of the half-beasts, Eve¡¯s heart skipped a beat, *Wait...* *Did Demacia spill something he shouldn¡¯t have under interrogation?* At this point, the leading half-beast spoke, ¡°You say your name is Thanos? That you¡¯re a captain of a squad under the Death God? What is the Soul Society? What¡¯s a Dragon Ball and Sharingan? Who is Jack Sparrow? What is his treasure?¡± Black Stone stared intently at Demacia, asking each question word by word. Eve: ... *What on earth is all this nonsense?* *For a moment, She was taken aback, thinking She had traveled back to some middle school anime club on the Blue Planet.* And seeing Black Stone asking earnestly, Demacia was also stunned, ¡°Heavens, I was just talking nonsense... and they actually believed it?¡± He muttered softly. *This... definitely needed explanation...* As the renowned noble race of Segis World, elves were always known for unity, kindness, and honesty. In their worldview, the concept of a lie did not exist at all. This means elves wouldn¡¯t lie. If they said anything, it was undoubtedly the truth! *This had become the stereotype of the Elf Clan in the Segis World.* Thus, after hearing Demacia¡¯s words, the half-beasts, though bewildered, did not doubt their authenticity... Upon hearing Demacia¡¯s soft mutter, Eve quickly pieced together most of the backstory, *¡±Did Demacia start babbling nonsense during interrogation?¡±* *Thinking about it, players weren¡¯t afraid of torture; they wouldn¡¯t casually reveal their secrets.* *But... teasing NPCs was something they were very likely to do.* And seeing the half-beasts actually believe him, Demacia felt a twinge of mischief and continued to babble, ¡°Ahem... Soul Society is where the Death God resides.¡± ¡°Dragon Balls are precious artifacts. It¡¯s said that if you gather all seven, you can summon a Divine Dragon and have your wishes granted!¡± ¡°The Sharingan is a powerful bloodline magic... ¡± ¡°As for Jack Sparrow... he¡¯s a great hero from the Human World! Obtaining his treasure grants the greatest wealth, fame, and power!¡± Demacia rattled off. Eve: ... And the half-beasts continued to be utterly baffled, *This...* *Why could each word he said be understood individually, but when combined, made no sense?* At this moment, the sole half-beast priest pondered momentarily and suddenly exclaimed in realization, ¡°I understand now!¡± *Hmm... hmm!?* Demacia looked at him in surprise. *He understood what?* Eve was equally baffled, *He... understood what?* Black Stone¡¯s eyes flashed as he respectfully looked at the sole priest, ¡°Lord Priest, what did you discover?¡± Despite being far stronger than this Black Iron Lower half-beast priest, as a servant of the Divine, a priest deserved his respect! The priest took a deep breath and said, ¡°Divine Dragon, powerful magic, mysterious treasures... Lord Black Stone, these messages are incomprehensible to us and must be some form of encryption, perhaps a prophecy!¡± ¡°Though we cannot decipher it, if we report this to the Father God, He will surely unravel its secrets!¡± The priest¡¯s expression turned fervent, ¡°Lord Black Stone, I hope you can immediately assist me in setting up a sacrifice ritual to inform the True God of the information we¡¯ve obtained! By reporting this to His Eminence first, we will certainly receive the Father God¡¯s blessings!¡± He wasn¡¯t a fanatic; unless his soul ascended to the Divine Country after death, the power of faith wasn¡¯t sufficient for direct communication with the Divine across planes, necessitating a ritual. After hearing the priest¡¯s words, Demacia and Eve fell silent for a moment, *Blessings?* *It might not be more than a lashing...* *A moment later, Eve sighed inwardly,* *¡±Considering how these half-wits have chased the elves to near extinction, the elves must be astonishingly wise...¡±* *But then again, weren¡¯t the elves inherently straightforward...* *Regardless, since the half-beasts seemed so foolish, there was little to worry about.* *A sacrificial array?* *Eve inspected the place, finding no statue of Uller, meaning setting up an inter-planar sacrificial array would be quite a hassle, requiring numerous materials...* *Which, incidentally, presented an opportunity for the players.* *If tackled correctly, even if players weren¡¯t strong, they could still pull a fast one on them...* *And perhaps even enjoy a rewarding wave of life energy for Herself.* *With this in mind, Eve pondered, preparing to issue a task.* Just then, She suddenly noticed the stone prison within the cave... ¡°Hmm?¡± *Her gaze sharpened instantly.* ¡°Ha, so it really is the Elf Hunting Team¡¯s base.¡± Eve¡¯s voice carried a trace of chilling coldness and murder. Pausing for a moment, She edited the original task and connected with Alice. ¡°` Chapter 71: New Task Chapter 71: Chapter 71: New Task ¡°The Mother Goddess has already responded to me, and She will soon reveal the divine message directly to you all!¡± Inside the Natural Temple, Alice looked at Li Mu with delight. However, gradually, her expression became solemn... After a moment, she sighed, ¡°This time... I will go with you.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ... Li Mu was slightly taken aback. *Weren¡¯t we worried about being exposed?* Alice glanced at him and explained, ¡°The Mother Goddess issued a divine decree... There are still our clansmen held captive by the Half-Beasts.¡± ¡°Elves... never abandon their companions! So, no matter what, I must go and see.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t worry... The Mother Goddess has Her plans... and I won¡¯t be reckless either.¡± In fact, with the avatar now, theoretically Eve¡¯s strength in her incarnation was enough to directly take down the Half-Beasts. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.?? Yet, for some reason, whenever Eve had such thoughts, a sense of unease arose within her. *The premonition of a True God is extremely accurate, so... She decided to leave everything to the players and NPCs first, and observe secretly for a while.* And not long after Alice finished speaking, the players also received a system notification. [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Player Demacia has triggered the task: Half-Beast Hunting Team] [Task Objective: Eliminate all enemies at the Half-Beast base! Rescue the Elven companions captured by the Half-Beasts!] [Task Duration: Unlimited] [Task Participants: Unlimited] [Task Level: 10+] [Task Rewards: Experience points, Perfect Resurrection, Contribution Points] Demacia was initially stunned but then overjoyed, ¡°Holy crap! I knew it!¡± His shout drew the attention of a group of Half-Beasts, who looked at him as if he were an idiot. But soon, he was stunned again, ¡°Rescue companions? Are they talking about me?¡± Black Stone glanced at him and commanded, ¡°Throw this guy in the cell.¡± After speaking, a few Half-Beasts came forward, grabbed Demacia, and locked him in the cell. Yet Demacia was unfazed; his attention was fully focused on the system interface in his vision... This task was different from others, as it even came with a storyline introduction, which he found very engaging. [Task Story Introduction¡ª¡ª] [As the greatest enemy of the Elf Clan, the Half-Beast Hunting Team has continuously threatened the safety of the Elves.] [After centuries of hunting and capture, countless Elves have fallen victim to them, and the once glorious race has gradually declined.] [And now, the Half-Beast Hunting Team has finally set their evil sights on you... Observing your unlimited resurrection ability, they suspect you have ties to the Death God and have subjected you to severe torture...] [As a brave and fearless Chosen One, you did not bow to the dark forces but refused to compromise, cleverly using lies to deceive the Half-Beasts!] [The Half-Beasts fell for it! They decided to present your lies as truth to the Winter and Hunting God Uller! Meanwhile, you were thrown into a cell...] Seeing the continuous flow of system messages, Demacia¡¯s expression became excited. So advanced! Such a high-level hidden task! It could even dynamically generate a storyline based on my actions! And then, the story continued... [Now... it¡¯s time to use your wit and intelligence again!] [By observing the Half-Beasts, you discover they must use a sacrificial array to contact the True God, which gave you some ideas...] At this, Demacia was stunned. Huh? Do the Half-Beasts need a sacrifice to contact the True God? Isn¡¯t praying enough? Hmm... the priest did mention it just now. Wait... I don¡¯t really have any ideas! *Demacia mentally complained.* And the story continued... [The Half-Beasts are immensely powerful, and you do not believe the Chosen Ones can defeat them. Thus, you must seek NPC assistance. And because of the presence of the Half-Beast Priest, Alice and the Berserker couldn¡¯t intervene directly...] Demacia: ... *I... I think?* [It is at this moment you suddenly recall some knowledge about the sacrificial array... Which might help you deal with the Half-Beast Priest!] [Once the Half-Beast Priest is out of the way, the Goddess¡¯s favored ones will not have any worries, enabling them to attack the remaining Half-Beasts!] Demacia: ... *Can it work like this?* He read on in astonishment. Wait, since when do I know how to handle arrays? And... I¡¯m tied up, what can I do? *He muttered to himself internally.* [But in your current situation, doing this is impossible.] [It is then you think of your teammates...] [In your heart, a plan begins to form...] Demacia: ... *Is this possible?!* Wait... why does this feel like a predestined event? Everything laid out clearly? Never mind, there¡¯s no time to worry about it, contacting my teammates is the priority! *Complete the task, complete the task!* *This must be a task hint!* Speaking of which, he¡¯s been captured for so long, he forgot to contact his teammates... Thinking of this, Demacia quickly opened his friend list in his mind, and was startled to see there were 99+ messages. All of them were asking about his safety... and the task... Taking a deep breath, Demacia excitedly contacted Li Mu, ¡°Brother Mu, Brother Mu, hahaha! I¡¯ve activated another task!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Half-Beast Hunting Team! And I¡¯ve thought of an excellent idea to wipe them out in one go!¡± While glancing at the system information, he eagerly shared everything with Li Mu on the other end. Meanwhile, in the Natural Temple, Li Mu, who received Demacia¡¯s message, was astonished, ¡°This guy... sure is lucky, isn¡¯t he?¡± After some exchange, the two quickly reached an agreement. ¡°I¡¯ve got it, your plan is indeed good. I¡¯ll contact the nearest Black Iron players to you and have them team up with you. I¡¯ll also reach out to Little Xian Miao, Boxed Lunch, and have Alice and the Berserker support you and assist in completing the task!¡± Li Mu replied in the message. After thinking for a bit, he added, ¡°You must hold on, no matter what happens, don¡¯t die, otherwise the coordinates will be lost. And you need to take good care of the captured Elves.¡± Demacia: ... ¡°You guys save the location first! This place is so damn dirty and stinky, I want to suicide back to town. Wait... you said captured Elves? Isn¡¯t it me?¡± He replied. ¡°You fool! It¡¯s the Elf clan members, they¡¯re the hostages! Look carefully! Just hold your breath if it¡¯s filthy, turn off your sense of smell if it¡¯s stinky!¡± Li Mu replied. Demacia: ... ¡°Alright... Hurry up and come, I don¡¯t want to stay here a second longer!¡± He replied with sorrow. At this moment, a clear voice interrupted his thoughts. ¡°Are... are you okay?¡± Demacia was startled, and when he turned around, he saw three small figures in the cell. As his gaze fell on their delicate features and pointed ears, he couldn¡¯t help but excitedly shout, ¡°Holy crap! Elves?!¡± There were actually Elves here?! There really were hostages! They were three frail Elves... They were grimy, seemingly very young, appearing about twelve or thirteen years old. One male and two females. And the one who bravely approached to speak to Demacia was the only young male Elf. The two female Elves timidly hid behind him. Their appearance was disheveled, their expressions tinged with a hint of anxiety and fear, but their eyes held unprecedented purity. ¡°Um... you¡¯re bleeding a lot...¡± The young Elf said timidly, with a hint of concern in his voice. The black and white eyes, the innocent gaze they cast at Demacia, filled with genuine concern, instantly reminded him of a pure little angel. His expression grew complex for a moment. After a moment, he sighed. ¡°Sigh...¡± ¡°Brother Mu, I¡¯ve changed my mind.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not in a rush to leave. You all hurry up and come over, I promise not to act recklessly and will stay put...¡± ¡°Oh right, when you come... bring some tasty berries and three sets of clean clothes.¡± Chapter 72: The Players Ambush Chapter 72: Chapter 72: The Players¡¯ Ambush ¡°`html Demacia discovered three young elves in the Half-Beast stronghold¡¯s prison! When he posted the screenshot on the forum, the players exploded almost instantly... Humans were creatures rich in emotions, with a natural sympathy for the weak. At the same time, most people lacked the ability to resist cute, adorable creatures. And young elves perfectly fit this description... ... Their big eyes were incomparably innocent, and their fair, tender skin seemed as if it would break with a gentle touch. Their not-yet-fully-grown appearance was undoubtedly pure and cute. Additionally, their dirty clothes, the occasional show of panic and despair in their expressions, and the faint wariness and aloofness they inadvertently exuded made the three young elves look like bullied little kittens. In an instant, all the players¡¯ sympathy flooded in... ¡°So...so cute...ah...no...so pitiful!¡± ¡°Even though it¡¯s a game, those expressions are just unfair, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°The Half-Beasts are too much, having the nerve to target our noble and beautiful Elf Clan! Count me in for this mission!¡± ¡°Demacia, you stay put and don¡¯t mess around!¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.§ã0 Demacia, ... ¡°Let¡¯s go, go, go! Let¡¯s rescue our elf companions!¡± ¡°Here we come! Here we come!¡± The players, who had already been excited by the hidden mission, became even more enthusiastic. In Eve¡¯s perception, She surprisingly discovered that the players accepting the mission grew from mere dozens to hundreds very quickly... They all joined Demacia¡¯s team and began moving in groups of threes and twos towards the stronghold. The reason wasn¡¯t just the mission¡¯s rewards but also Demacia¡¯s screenshot... In the end, Li Mu even had to open a group voice chat specifically to start directing the team and prevent the players from rushing in and messing things up... ¡°You bunch of bishounen and loli fans...¡± Eve was silently speechless. ... As the sun set in the west, in the southeast region of the Elf Forest, four Black Iron Lower Half-Beasts were walking through the forest. They were carrying a dead Unihorn Wind Deer in their hands. It was a Black Iron Lower-level Demon Beast, and its blood contained strong Magic Conducting qualities, making it excellent material for carving arrays. However, this type of beast was hard to find, and the Half-Beasts had gone to great lengths to finally capture it. They chatted as they walked. ¡°Ah, it wasn¡¯t easy. We spent an entire day hunting a Wind Deer, I wonder if Lord Priest would be angry...¡± ¡°No choice, the forest in this area is too barren...¡± ¡°If you ask me, Lord Priest is too impatient, does he really need to set the array to communicate with Father God right now?¡± ¡°Heh, well, you don¡¯t know. Reporting secrets to the tribe can¡¯t compete with the rewards from directly reporting to Father God¡¯s Excellency!¡± ¡°True that...¡± But as they walked, the leading Half-Beast suddenly stopped. ¡°Wait!¡± With a serious expression, he looked around: ¡°Something¡¯s off, it¡¯s too quiet here...¡± After saying this, he sniffed the air. In an instant, his face changed: ¡°Not good, there¡¯s an enemy!¡± As soon as he finished speaking, with a shout of ¡°Attack!¡±, an onslaught of magical waves came from all directions, Fireballs, Wind Blades, Thunder Strikes...rained down on them like a storm. The four Half-Beasts were stunned. Panicking, they tossed away their prey and began to evade. But even so, due to the sheer density of the magic, they were unfortunately hit, quickly sustaining injuries, with the worst off even losing an arm... Before they could react, another identical shout came: ¡°Go!¡± With a clattering sound, over a dozen tall figures suddenly appeared from all around. They were all dressed in luxurious equipment, faces filled with excitement, wielding weapons, and charging towards them with cries of ¡°Ura¡± and ¡°Charge,¡± looking like they had seen their father¡¯s killers. Where did these elves come from?! How did the elves know they were here?! Seeing the four bewildered Half-Beasts, Li Mu smirked, casting a Vine Technique as he commanded: ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t go all out. They¡¯re strong, but we have numbers, we can wear them out bit by bit!¡± He added another line: ¡°Don¡¯t hit their faces!¡± They had been lying in ambush here for a long time. Due to contact with Demacia, the Half-Beasts¡¯ movements were fully under the players¡¯ control. Since the Half-Beasts wanted to create a sacrificial array, they inevitably had to hunt Demon Beasts in the forest. The specific Demon Beasts they needed were far from their stronghold, especially the primary game, the Unihorn Wind Deer, which the players conveniently knew the location of. Through Demacia¡¯s shared mini-map, Li Mu deduced that this was the inevitable path of the Half-Beasts returning, so they had been ambushing here with a group of players for a while. Now, they finally caught them. The Half-Beasts were strong, and although the players had also reached Black Iron Lower levels, their combat experience was far inferior. However, because the players didn¡¯t fear pain or death, when they truly fought the Half-Beasts, they showed an almost suicidal determination, leaving the Half-Beasts handicapped. Even so, several players fell in the initial engagement. But there were so many players that despite the Half-Beasts¡¯ strength, they were still outnumbered, with wounds accumulating on their bodies... When the levels were similar or marginally higher, a strategy of overwhelming numbers was always a killer tactic for the players. The players were destined to become the nightmare of enemies not too different from them in strength. ¡°They¡¯re crazy! They must be crazy!¡± Facing a group of fearless elves, the four Half-Beasts grew terrified. Their retreat was accompanied by loud, desperate cries: ¡°We surrender! We surrender! We are willing to leave the Elf Forest, please stop attacking!¡± Having said this, the leading Half-Beast grinned slightly. This was their killer tactic! Elves loved peace. As long as they were willing to yield, these straightforward long-eared creatures would show mercy and not pursue relentlessly. This was long-standing wisdom from the Half-Beast¡¯s years of elf hunting, a method that never failed. But this time, the elves did not stop... ¡°Surrender? Haha, we don¡¯t take prisoners, you¡¯re better off becoming contribution points and experience!¡± The players chuckled and intensified their assault. ¡°They¡¯re about to fall!¡± ¡°Kill them!¡± ¡°Defeat the evil Half-Beasts and rescue our kin!¡± ¡°Ura¡ª!¡± Hearing the elves¡¯ shouts, and seeing the bloodlust in their eyes, the Half-Beasts stood stunned. Wait a minute? They... they would pursue to the very end?! When had these elves become so bloodthirsty? For a moment, the Half-Beasts found themselves inexplicably fearful, feeling their understanding of elves collapsing in an instant. ¡°Are they...really elves...¡± murmured in disbelief as they looked upon the menacing, distorted attractive faces. The players gave them no chance for further thought, launching various skills in a frenzy against the Half-Beasts. One player delivered a strike, retreating immediately for others to follow up. The coordination was incredibly tight... Finally, the first Half-Beast couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. Struck in the chest, he slowly fell to the ground. After the first Half-Beast fell, the players¡¯ momentum only grew stronger, and the remaining ones gradually couldn¡¯t hold on anymore... In the end, at the cost of eight player casualties, the final Half-Beast fell to a flurry of blows. Immediately, the group of players eagerly stripped them of their clothes and began to roll for loot. Li Mu did not join in. Instead, he looked at the Half-Beasts¡¯ blood-soaked corpses with a solemn expression: ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the Half-Beasts¡¯ combat ability to be so formidable...¡± Their ambush consisted of twenty-seven players above level 11, yet they suffered such significant casualties. And these were only Black Iron Lower Half-Beasts! Li Mu couldn¡¯t help but sigh, realizing that the combat prowess of intelligent creatures and mindless Demon Beasts simply couldn¡¯t be compared at the same level. He sighed and called out to an elf girl in the team: ¡°Little Xian Miao, start disguising them for the others.¡± ¡°` Chapter 73 - 73 Our Allies Have Arrived Chapter 73: Chapter 73 Our Allies Have Arrived ¡°`html El was 80 years old this year. Since he could remember, he often heard his grandfather talk about the once-glorious history of their race. Once, they owned the world¡¯s largest empire. Once, they established the world¡¯s most splendid civilization. However, after that disaster, the people fell in ranks, bore curses, and gradually declined. ... *He could not imagine how prosperous the tribe had been a thousand years ago; to him, such a flourishing era seemed like a mythical legend.* *In his memory, the days were always about hiding and wandering...* However, his grandfather believed everything would get better. ¡°El, remember, we are the great Silver Race. Our current decline is only temporary. Once the Mother Goddess returns, our era will come again.¡± His grandfather often said this. El had once asked his grandfather, who was the Mother Goddess? And his grandfather told him that the Mother Goddess was the greatest existence in this world, the true ruler of the world, and their benevolent mother who sheltered them... Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.§ã0 ¡°So... we also have our own Divine?¡± He asked excitedly. ¡°Silly child.¡± Grandfather patted his head, his expression fervent and devout, ¡°The Mother Goddess was not just any Divine, but a true ancient Goddess!¡± From that day on, El was filled with anticipation for the Mother Goddess. He longed for a happy, stable life and desired a little garden of his own. However... until the day his grandfather passed away, he still had not seen the return of the Mother Goddess. Yet, even so, he continued to firmly believe his grandfather¡¯s words... Until that day... A group of ferocious-looking Half-Beasts finally discovered their settlement. After a brutal battle, the young and strong men of the tribe fell in battle, while the women and children became captives... This included him and his two younger sisters. And it was then that El realized living a life of hiding and wandering was not the hardest thing. The hardest thing was seeing one¡¯s home destroyed, becoming a prisoner. The women of their captured tribe disappeared one after another. They were held in a small stone prison by the Half-Beasts, with no sight of daylight. Each day, they only had unripe fruit to quell their hunger. According to the Half-Beasts, they were waiting for a human trade caravan to pass by and planned to sell El and the others for a good price... Humans... El shivered. *If Half-Beasts were demons, then humans were undoubtedly devils...* *When he was among the tribe, he had heard countless tragic stories of their people who had become human slaves...* *Those cunning, greedy, and lecherous bastards were capable of anything.* *At that moment, he even considered starving to death.* *But when he thought of his two younger sisters, his heart softened.* ¡°El, you are a boy; you must protect your sisters well.¡± That was his grandfather¡¯s last advice to him before he passed. Thinking of this, El clenched his fists... ¡°Grandfather... I¡¯m so useless... I¡¯m so useless...¡± As time passed, El grew increasingly desperate. However, faced with his two young sisters, he had to be strong and pull himself together. He was constantly thinking about ways to escape, but... the Half-Beasts watched them too closely. This life continued for several months. Until today... With a ¡°creak,¡± the long-unopened prison door was finally opened. El shivered, looking warily outside, while his two sisters hid behind him like startled deer. ¡°Has the day finally come? Are they... going to sell us?¡± El clenched his fists... and started to think about how to escape in the chaos. However, the Half-Beasts didn¡¯t enter, but instead threw in a tightly bound figure before turning and leaving. El was slightly startled, looking at the figure. ¡°An... elf?!¡± This... was the first fellow member he had seen in months. It was a very strange elf. He was covered in blood, seriously injured, his face was extremely pale, and his breath was weak. But his eyes were exceptionally bright. With just one look, El found himself unable to look away. This tribesperson was very different, seeming to carry an aura of fearlessness he had never seen in anyone else before. His gaze was not dull and cloudy like the past tribe members. The corners of his mouth carried a faint smile, with an unique rebelliousness, as if he saw everything in the world very lightly. He even stuck out his tongue fiercely at the Half-Beasts¡¯ backs as they turned! This was an interesting guy... Moreover, he was full of vitality and hope! El had never seen such a presence among the elf tribe. For a moment, his heart was filled with curiosity. After hesitating for a moment, he asked softly, ¡°Are... are you okay?¡± The person seemed startled. When he turned and saw El, he couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°What the heck! An elf?¡± El was startled by his voice, stepping back slightly. He saw the strange elf¡¯s face change several times, from joyful to excited to quite complex. El hesitated again and asked, ¡°You... you¡¯ve lost a lot of blood...¡± ¡°Are you really okay?¡± Then El saw the strange elf¡¯s expression suddenly become gentle. The elf nodded, coughing up blood while smiling, ¡°Cough cough, I¡¯m fine.¡± El: ... ¡°You¡¯re... you¡¯re coughing up blood!¡± He paid no attention to anything else and hurried forward to help untie him. ¡°Were... you captured too?¡± He asked curiously while using his cloth to bandage the wounds. After being freed, the strange elf first nodded, then shook his head, ¡°No, I¡¯m just a well-behaved tracker.¡± El: ... ... El noticed again that the strange elf spoke very peculiarly. Upon further interaction, El discovered this elf, although odd, was a warm and optimistic person. They began to chat. This strange elf told many interesting stories, which both El and his sisters loved. He knew a lot, and always had ideas that El had never even thought of. Various bizarre and fun stories fascinated El. Gradually, he found himself liking this interesting fellow. And through the conversation, El learned about the elf¡¯s origin. He came from a far, faraway place, summoned by the Goddess. Goddess? Hearing this word, El became a little curious, ¡°Brother Dema, do elves also worship other True Gods?¡± At this, he saw the strange elf smile, his expression suddenly becoming a bit profound. ¡°No...¡± His expression became devout. He drew a tree-shaped symbol on his chest, saying solemnly, ¡°The Goddess in my heart, there is only one.¡± Seeing the symbol, El was stunned. Because his grandfather had drawn that symbol countless times! *Could the elves¡¯ Mother Goddess really exist?* *Was he summoned by the Mother Goddess?* For a moment, El felt a little dazed. ¡°El.¡± Dazed, El heard the elf calling him. He turned his head, seeing Brother Dema¡¯s gaze. Brother Dema was looking towards the outside of the cell, the corners of his mouth slightly curved with a mischievous smile. Following his gaze, El saw four more Half-Beasts in the cave. They were carrying a demon beast that seemed to have been ravaged by magic... ¡°Our allies have arrived.¡± El heard the elf say this. Chapter 74 - 74 We are Immortal Chapter 74: Chapter 74 We are Immortal ¡°`html Allies? El looked at the four burly and ugly Half-Beasts and felt a bit bewildered for a moment. Soon, he saw a Half-Beast wearing a sheepskin approach, checking the corpse of the Demon Beast and nodding, ¡°Well done! Next, you assist me in draining the blood!¡± The blood of the Demon Beast contained magic power, possessing strong vitality, so even if it had been dead for several hours, as long as it was handled properly, the blood of the Unihorn Wind Deer would not coagulate. ... El soon saw several Half-Beasts cut open the deer¡¯s neck, slowly draining the viscous blood. The Half-Beast in the sheepskin then took out a bizarre bone pen, dipped it in the blood and began drawing on the ground... El followed his movements with his eyes, then his expression gradually turned to one of surprise, ¡°Huh? A sacrificial array? He... does he want to communicate with the Divine?¡± ¡°You recognize it?¡± Dema, who was beside him, looked at him in astonishment. He was surprised that such a young child could recognize a sacrificial array. Source: , updated on ?0¦Í??.§ã¦Ï El nodded, a hint of nostalgia flickering across his face, ¡°Yes, more than twenty years ago, I learned it with my grandfather...¡± More... more than twenty years ago... Dema almost choked. ¡°Cough, cough, cough...¡± He couldn¡¯t help but start coughing, spitting up blood again... El quickly looked at him worriedly, ¡°Brother Dema... are, are you okay?¡± Brother... brother... ¡°Cough, cough, cough...¡± Dema coughed even more severely. He gave a few dry laughs, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looked at El strangely, and shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± After saying this, he hesitated for a moment and cautiously asked, ¡°Well... little guy... cough cough, El, how old are you this year?¡± El scratched his head, a bit shy as he said, ¡°If I remember correctly, I just turned 80 this spring...¡± Dema: ... He started calculating his grandfather¡¯s age. Oh no, his great-grandfather¡¯s age... Seeing the other party silent, El quickly explained, ¡°Brother Dema! Don¡¯t be fooled by my mere 80 years... I... I know a lot of things! I... I¡¯m not a little kid anymore...¡± Dema: ... After a moment, he sighed and said, ¡°Yes... you¡¯re not a little kid.¡± After finishing, he mumbled under his breath, ¡°I am...¡± *Heaven knows, he had just celebrated his 18th birthday last month!* *Fortunately, this was just a game...* El continued to watch the movements of the Half-Beast in the sheepskin. As he carved, a large array soon appeared on the ground. Then, the Half-Beast in the sheepskin knelt before the array and began chanting rhythmic incantations. As he chanted, the red array gradually glowed with a deep light, with waves of magic power continuously gathering... ¡°He¡¯s going to succeed...¡± El couldn¡¯t help but say. *Though he didn¡¯t know what the Half-Beasts intended to do, as evil enemies, whatever they planned... it certainly wasn¡¯t good!* ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they won¡¯t succeed.¡± Beside him, Dema¡¯s chuckle rang out. ¡°The blood was tampered with.¡± His voice carried a tone of schadenfreude. El glanced strangely at Dema, not understanding why he would say that. But soon, he understood why. At the pinnacle of the array¡¯s fluctuations, the originally black-red blood seemed to be affected by some inexplicable force and suddenly started sizzling... Then, the light of the array suddenly began to flicker. The face of the Half-Beast wearing sheepskin changed, ¡°Magic... magic power boiling? No good! There¡¯s something wrong with this blood!¡± Before he could say more, the array suddenly burst forth with a red radiance and exploded with a boom. ¡°Lord Priest!¡± Black Stone¡¯s expression tightened, and he hurriedly stepped forward. The four Half-Beasts assisting with the bloodletting followed suit. However, when the smoke cleared, the Half-Beast Priest closest to the array was barely clinging to life under the dual assault of magic backlash and the explosion. Black Stone¡¯s expression instantly turned grim. At this moment, three of the four Half-Beasts suddenly drew their weapons and charged towards him! Their bodies glowed faintly, and in an instant, they transformed into three elves! ¡°Elves?!¡± This all happened in a flash, leaving El dumbstruck. ¡°That¡¯s right, they¡¯re my companions, here to rescue us.¡± Dema smiled. ¡°Rescue... rescue us...¡± El stared at the elves, his heart filled with shock. Witnessing this sudden turn of events, all the Half-Beasts stood stunned. ¡°Elves?¡± Black Stone was initially dumbfounded, then flew into a rage. A flash of ferocity flickered in his eyes as he kicked the three elves, sending them flying. The three slammed into the wall, spitting blood, and then collapsed weakly... ¡°Hmph!¡± Black Stone let out a disdainful snort. Soon, his expression changed, ¡°No!¡± He quickly turned and saw the last Half-Beast stab a dagger into the chest of the Half-Beast Priest lying on the ground. The Half-Beast Priest slightly opened his mouth, a hint of fear and confusion in his eyes, seemingly unaware of what had just happened. He twitched a few times before tilting his head and breathing no more. The Half-Beast who stabbed him simultaneously transformed into the form of an elf. With gray-black hair and a cold expression, it was Box. ¡°Bastard!¡± Black Stone¡¯s eyes turned completely red. *Half-Beasts didn¡¯t have mages...* *Every priest was a precious spellcaster for them!* *They were responsible for communicating with the Divine as well as handling the tribe¡¯s support and healing.* *With the priest dead, even if Black Stone completed this mission, he would still be punished!* Black Stone was utterly enraged. He roared and drew his scimitar, slashing towards Box. Box¡¯s face was solemn, quickly dodging. He moved like an agile lynx, flipping around, while Black Stone¡¯s scimitar struck the ground, carving out a three-meter-deep trench. ¡°Seize this damned bastard!¡± Black Stone gritted out. The remaining Half-Beasts roared and simultaneously charged at Box. Box took a deep breath, using the abilities ¡°Air Step¡± and ¡°Dashing Leap¡± to dodge left and right. *¡±Escape... hurry and escape...¡±* El grasped the bars of the stone cage, his expression tense and anxious. Yet, just as Box was about to break away, a strong hand gripped his shoulder. ¡°Caught you.¡± Black Stone sneered, increasing his grip. Box¡¯s shoulder was pulverized at once, blood spurting everywhere. However, his expression remained indifferent, as if this bit of pain was nothing significant to him. A flash of brutality passed through Black Stone¡¯s eyes as he roared, ¡°Die!¡± He then spread his hands, suddenly clutching Box¡¯s head. In El¡¯s terrified gaze, Box¡¯s skull was forcibly crushed... His body twitched a few times, before slowly collapsing to the ground. ¡°Ah...¡± *El covered his mouth, his pupils quickly clouding with tears.* At that moment, a large hand rested on his shoulder. While sobbing, he turned and saw Dema¡¯s pale face. Remarkably, this newly acquainted elven brother was neither angry nor saddened but instead smiled slightly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they aren¡¯t dead.¡± Not... not dead? El was taken aback, then turned his head back. He was astonished to find that the fallen elven bodies were gradually fading and then slowly disappearing! ¡°Hehehe, we Chosen Ones are favored by the Goddess, existing as immortals!¡± Beside him, Dema¡¯s voice came once more, loaded with unprecedented pride and confidence. Meanwhile, the faint sounds of battle cries and shouts echoed from outside the cave... ¡°Listen, our main force has arrived.¡± Dema said confidently. ¡°` Chapter 75 - 75 Where Is the Problem? Chapter 75: Chapter 75 Where Is the Problem? ¡°`html When Black Stone saw the slowly disappearing bodies of elves on the ground, he knew something was wrong. And when the shouts from outside faintly reached him, his expression finally changed. ¡°Oh no! We might have been exposed!¡± At the same time, a hint of doubt welled up in his heart. *Where did the problem arise?* ... *Along this way, the Half-Beast Priest had already erased their tracks, so how could the elves know their whereabouts?* *And... since when did these straightforward long-eared ones start using schemes?* Even now, Black Stone was still having a hard time believing that these proud elves would disguise themselves as the Half-Beast they despised most, infiltrating them deceitfully and directly killing the priest! *This didn¡¯t seem like a strategy elves could come up with, but rather those cunning humans!* However, at this moment, he couldn¡¯t be bothered with so much. These strange elves, seemingly possessing undead power, were weak, but Black Stone dared not bet whether there were more powerful figures behind them. Black Stone was always a cautious person. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.?¦Ï He never dealt with enemies without a clear grasp on them, nor did he ever lay all his cards on the table. His caution had even brought him ridicule before. Yet even so, Black Stone didn¡¯t abandon this quality he learned from humans. Facts proved his caution was correct. Those once mocking reckless fellows had ascended to the Divine Country in battle after battle. And he was still doing quite well. Only this time, he felt he had inexplicably tripped up. With the priest¡¯s death, his mission could already be considered a failure. But fortunately, he still captured an elf. Thinking of this, he turned to look at Dema in the cell, his expression shifting a bit, and finally, gritted his teeth, saying, ¡°Take them with us, we¡¯re leaving through the secret passage!¡± He didn¡¯t plan to clash head-on with those strange elves. If he could bring the captured elf back and extract secrets from him, maybe he could earn the High Priest¡¯s forgiveness. Thinking of this, Black Stone already felt like retreating. With his order, the Half-Beasts dragged Dema and three young elves out of the cell and into another secret passage within the cave. This secret passage connected to another hidden underground cave, leading straight to a kilometer away. ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll settle this account later!¡± Black Stone gave a hateful glance in the direction of the cave entrance, ordering his men to retreat into the passage. After the last one entered, he took a deep breath and mustered all his strength to slam the cave wall hard. The cave immediately collapsed, blocking the entryway. And Black Stone, at the last moment of the cave¡¯s collapse, entered the secret passage. Dozens of Half-Beasts slowly advanced through the secret passage. And Black Stone continued pondering where exactly the problem lay. *Where did it go wrong?* *He clearly had been very careful, so how had his tracks been exposed?* *Did the few clansmen who went hunting get caught and leak secrets?* *But... those Half-Beasts were warriors he personally selected, who would rather die than betray the tribe!* *The elves¡¯ movements were too fast, so fast he could hardly believe it...* *It was as if someone was guiding them...* All along the way, Black Stone couldn¡¯t figure it out. And the Half-Beast troop finally emerged from the passage. They crawled out of the hidden passage entry; their vision suddenly brightened as they returned to the forest. Black Stone breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, they were safe. Thinking of this, he sighed with relief, showing a trace of satisfaction on his face. Just then, the surrounding jungle suddenly moved, and more than a hundred tall elves suddenly emerged. Black Stone¡¯s expression turned rigid. Looking at those well-equipped, exhilarated figures, the corner of his mouth twitched, and he appeared momentarily stunned. Elves?! Where... where did they come from? How did they know he was here?! Seeing the Half-Beast troop, the elves¡¯ initially excited expressions became even more elated, ¡°We¡¯ve found them!¡± ¡°Look! There¡¯s Dema!¡± ¡°The three little cuties are there too!¡± ¡°Get rid of these wicked Half-Beasts and rescue our kin!¡± ¡°Hooray!¡± They shouted and then bravely charged forward. Seeing these reckless elves, a hint of anger flashed in Black Stone¡¯s eyes. If they had the strength of silver or Black Iron Upper, that would be one thing. These elves, at most, had the strength of Black Iron Lower¡¯s mid-level, and with such power, they thought they could block them? ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Black Stone shouted, swinging his wolf fang club to turn an approaching figure into a sieve. ¡°Whoa! So fierce!¡± His actions startled the other elves. At this moment, Black Stone heard a detestable voice among the elves, ¡°That¡¯s the boss! Don¡¯t fight him! Everyone just stall the main Half-Beast force!¡± *Boss?* Black Stone was momentarily confused. But soon, he realized it referred to himself. Because afterward, all the elves evaded him, starting to entangle other Half-Beasts. Moreover, more elves began to gang up on the three Half-Beasts guarding the elves. Suddenly, realizing something, Black Stone¡¯s expression changed, ¡°Oh no! They must be stalling for time!¡± He gritted his teeth, backhandedly slapping several elves attempting to rescue Dema and the others to their deaths, while shouting to the remaining Half-Beasts, ¡°Don¡¯t delay with them; we¡¯ll break through!¡± However, as soon as he finished speaking, the entire forest ground suddenly began to tremble. ¡°Boom...¡± ¡°Boom...¡± The sound was thunderous, like the footsteps of a giant. Hearing this, Dema, who was being escorted by the Half-Beasts, curled his lips. He suddenly shouted, ¡°Berserk!¡± Following that, a powerful aura erupted from him. In an instant, Dema¡¯s face twisted, his whole body swelled several times, faintly revealing snake-like veins and blood vessels... [Berserk] This was a life-risking skill he exchanged for, able to unleash his full potential, bursting out with immense power in an instant. Duration: ten minutes. Price: death. Seeing him pick up a scimitar from the ground and slash down a Half-Beast who hadn¡¯t reacted yet! Then, he scooped up the other two young elves, yelling at El, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± *If not now, when...* Seeing Dema breaking free in an instant, Black Stone was furious. He wanted to stop him, but suddenly, several thick vines emerged from the ground, halting his movement... The vines were so tough that Black Stone was astonished to find that even with his Black Iron Upper Peak strength (Level 40), he couldn¡¯t break free! Soon after, a massive shadow covered him from above. ¡°What... what is this?¡± ¡°Tree... Tree-man?¡± Around him, came the panicked voices of other Half-Beasts. Black Stone¡¯s heart tightened, and he hurriedly looked up, then saw a gigantic figure... A body over thirty meters tall, rivaling the Dragon Clan, with sturdy branches almost blotting out the sun. Those indifferent eyes looked at him as if he were already dead. In an instant, Black Stone¡¯s pupils contracted sharply, ¡°Oak... Oak Guardian?!¡± He nearly lost his voice. ¡°` Chapter 76 - 76 Black Stones Trump Card Chapter 76: Chapter 76 Black Stone¡¯s Trump Card ¡°`html ¡°Uncle B is here!¡± ¡°Uncle B! Take them down!¡± With the arrival of the Oak Guardian, Berserker, the players erupted in cheers. Berserker stretched out his arms and struck the ground with force, roaring: ¡°War... Sacrifice!¡± ... In an instant, his arms transformed into countless vines, entwining each half-orc... Under the horrified and terrified gazes of the half-orcs, they were wrapped up one by one, their life force stolen, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into shriveled corpses, finally crumbling to ashes... ¡°What the hell! Uncle B, don¡¯t hit the small ones! Leave the small ones for us!¡± ¡°Uncle B! Take out that big guy with the wolf fang club! That bastard killed so many of us!¡± Seeing Berserker wipe out four or five half-orcs in an instant, the other elves seemed a bit heartbroken. Upon hearing the elves¡¯ words, Berserker turned his gaze toward Black Stone again. A sense of life-and-death crisis suddenly surged in Black Stone¡¯s heart... Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.§ã? He felt his scalp tingle. Oak Guardian! Black Stone had once served as the Holy Land Guardian, and he was all too familiar with these legendary creatures depicted in the murals. In the Silver Era, tales of Oak Guardians were ubiquitous across the Segis Continent. Their power was terrifying, with the strongest even approaching demigod levels, capable of battling Legendary Giant Dragons... Their abilities were incredibly mysterious, and the war sacrifice skill unique to Druids granted them unmatched endurance in group battles. Even the weakest Oak Guardian possessed silver-level strength, while their average strength surpassed gold... If not for the fact that Oak Guardians couldn¡¯t reproduce, they might have been called the golden race on par with dragons! However, what chilled Black Stone more than the legends of the Oak Guardian was the significance of the opponent¡¯s appearance... The Oak Guardian could only be enlightened by the World Tree, which controlled the domains of nature and life! Moreover, the life of an Oak Guardian thrived and waned with the World Tree! In an instant, Black Stone understood everything... ¡°Behind the elves is not the Death God, but the World Tree!¡± Only the World Tree could enlighten the Oak Guardians! And only the World Tree could earn the loyalty of the Elf Clan! The strange resurrection ability of the elves was thus explained... The power to resurrect the dead defied the laws, and actions against the laws incurred a backlash from them. Due to the secrets of the soul, this price was reportedly immense. So immense that even a True God was unwilling to bear it! Only those who mastered the divinity associated with life and death could revive the dead at a relatively bearable cost! Among all the True Gods, only two had ever accomplished such a feat... One was the Death God, Hela. And the other was the World Tree, Yggdrasil! Prior to this, Black Stone also believed these peculiar elves were Hela¡¯s handiwork, but upon seeing the Oak Guardian, everything was overturned... Then, another figure¡¯s appearance further confirmed his guess. Natural Saintess Alice, dressed in a noble sacrificial dress, appeared among the elves. She closed her eyes in prayer, and a brilliant holy light radiated from her as the center, forming a continuously rotating sphere of light, exuding a strong sense of nature and life... Under Alice¡¯s direction, the light sphere swiftly moved among the elves, accelerating the healing of wounds on each one it touched! [Healing Soul] A four-circle healing divine art, it was the most potent group healing spell of a Silver Lower Priest! Seeing their injuries recover, the elves grew more excited: ¡°Miss Alice¡¯s support has arrived!¡± ¡°Charge! Take down the half-orcs!¡± They swung their weapons, attacking more frantically and desperately. ¡°A Silver Lower Priest! A silver priest devoted to nature!¡± Black Stone¡¯s pupils shrank slightly again. Priests and clergy at the silver level could only be sustained by the faith in a True God! At this moment, there was no more suspense to the answer... All that talk about Death God¡¯s Favored was nonsense! Clearly... they were the Divine Favored of Nature! ¡°The World Tree... has truly revived!¡± In an instant, Black Stone felt his entire body tremble, filled with immense fear... Conquering the ancient god Yggdrasil had always been an epic legend passed down through generations of half-orcs, and the greatest accomplishment for the God of Winter and the Hunt. Yet now, this legendary True God... this planar dominion of the previous era, had actually revived! Reflecting on the recent disappearances of half-orcs, Black Stone suddenly broke out in a cold sweat... ¡°She... She is seeking revenge... She has returned, she wants revenge on us! She wants revenge on the Father God!¡± The majesty of a True God could not be desecrated. And as the half-orcs who had persecuted the Elf Clan for millennia, attempting to erase the faith in the World Tree, they probably were now a thorn in the eyes of this ancient god! ¡°This news must be delivered back to the tribe! The half-orcs are in danger!¡± In a flash, Black Stone made his decision. Clenching his teeth, he said with hatred, ¡°Did they think I had no way to fight back by deploying two mid-tier professionals?¡± His caution was never just for show... Suddenly, Black Stone¡¯s aura began to rise... a wave of pressure was released. In an instant, his power skyrocketed from Black Iron Upper Peak (level 40) to Silver Lower! Level 45... This was Black Stone¡¯s true strength. Earlier, he had been hiding his level! ¡°Also silver!¡± In that moment, both Berserker and Alice looked surprised. Then, Black Stone took out a bone fragment with mysterious engravings from his bosom. In an instant, his expression became devout and reverent. Raising the bone fragment high, he murmured something, and a faint ripple of divine power spread out... ¡°Not good!¡± Viewing the battle from a player¡¯s standpoint, Eve¡¯s heart sank. Before She could do anything, the bone fragment in Black Stone¡¯s hands emitted a dazzling brilliance, forming a massive energy arrow in the air! [Hunting Arrow] A true high-tier divine skill, the eight-circle attack divine art mastered by Uller¡¯s priest! A formidable aura was released from the arrow, causing Berserker and Alice¡¯s expressions to change dramatically: ¡°Everyone, hide quickly!¡± Yet, it was already too late. The energy arrow suddenly bloomed with silver radiance, and then rapidly replicated, forming an energy ring composed of arrows pointing outward. Subsequently, each arrow shot outward in all directions. The largest arrow was aimed directly at the Silver Mid-tier (level 51) Oak Guardian Berserker! Berserker¡¯s face grew solemn, and he roared once more: ¡°Oak Barrier!¡± As he spoke, a barrier composed of oak branches appeared in front of him. Alice also gritted her teeth and shouted softly: ¡°Natural Armor!¡± A green energy shield appeared around everyone. The arrows reached them in an instant, colliding with the barriers and shields, causing a series of violent explosions. ¡°Boom...¡± The earth shook. For a moment, everyone¡¯s vision went blank... Chapter 77: I Am Willing to Offer My Life and Soul! Chapter 77: Chapter 77: I Am Willing to Offer My Life and Soul! ¡°`html When Black Stone raised the bone fragment, Eve finally understood what her earlier feeling of unease had been. High Order Divine Arts! Black Stone actually held a High Order Divine Art! [Hunting Arrow] This was an Eight-Circle Divine Skill exclusive to the High Order Priests who worshipped Uller. ... The effect of the divine art was to produce a powerful energy arrow with a ¡°sure hit¡± characteristic, accompanied by numerous secondary energy arrows, striking the target with precision and causing area attacks around it. This was truly an attack at the Gold Middle Rank level! Even Eve¡¯s current avatar could not handle such an attack if caught off guard. If stricken, it was likely to destroy the Soul Storage Orb, not fully repaired yet, causing the avatar to collapse. Not to mention the Oak Guardian, Berserker, who only had Silver Middle Rank strength... The energy arrows exploded, enveloping everything in blinding light and deafening noise. A fierce energy storm raged, snapping the surrounding trees, leaving a scene of devastation. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã¦Ï All the players were blinded and deafened in an instant... When the light slowly faded and everything returned to calm, the battlefield before them had completely changed. The place where Berserker once stood had turned into a massive crater with a radius of a dozen meters, the soil churned and still emitting white smoke... And Berserker himself had half of his body destroyed, lying on the ground barely alive. The life force of the Oak Guardian was indeed tenacious. Even an Eight-Circle Divine Skill didn¡¯t kill him, but he had completely lost his combat ability. Of course, this was also because Black Stone had only the strength of a Silver Lower Rank, and he wasn¡¯t a Spellcaster, unable to master divine arts well. If it had been a Silver Lower Priest wielding it, this strike might have annihilated the entire player side. But even so, the situation on the battlefield was utterly miserable. Alice also lay on the ground, a large hole shot through her chest and abdomen by an energy arrow, with bright red blood flowing continuously. More than half of the players evaporated under the attack of the energy arrows, with not a trace of their bodies visible. The remaining small number, though lucky to survive, lay on the ground severely injured, all losing their combat ability... Only El and two elven sisters were shielded behind the furious Demacia, narrowly escaping disaster. One blow, just one blow! Although not completely wiped out, it was close enough. There were fewer than thirty surviving players, all having lost their combat ability. The only two with Silver combat power were also left gasping for life in an instant... On the entire battlefield, only Black Stone and a dozen half-beasts with fight left remained. It was a full fifty kilometers away from the safe zone here. Even if the players were resurrected, there was no way to rush here in time. Moreover, facing Black Stone, who had demonstrated Silver strength, the players had no trump card left. All the surviving elves struggled, faces turning pale as they looked at the half-beasts on the field. They were bewildered, seemingly not having recovered from the recent explosion. *How did everything turn around in just an instant?* *They were supposed to be victorious...* *How did it suddenly turn into a disaster?* ¡°Damn developers, your mom... blew up!¡± Seeing the tragic scene before him, Demacia cursed while spitting blood. ¡°Demacia big brother!¡± El, worried, helped the pale Demacia up, looking at his terrifying wounds with a helpless expression. *The most painful thing in the world was reaching for the pinnacle of hope, only to fall into despair in an instant.* When he first saw the Oak Guardian, El also recognized this legendary being. The surrounding determined and fervent tribesmen, as well as the extremely noble Silver Priest, made him excited beyond measure. *Could it be that the Mother Goddess my grandfather spoke of has truly returned?* El was immensely exhilarated, feeling something brewing incessantly in his chest. However, before he could continue his excitement, the sudden downward change on the field struck his spirits. *The half-beasts were so evil and powerful.* *Under the divine art¡¯s attack, his kinsmen and nature¡¯s wards were so effortlessly crushed.* For a moment, El was lost. ¡°Grandfather, do we... really have hope?¡± Holding the constantly coughing blood Demacia, El¡¯s eyes were blank, biting his lips hard and clenching his fists... Black Stone was equally stunned by the effect of the divine art in the bone fragment in his hand. ¡°Eight-circle... it was actually eight-circle...¡± He muttered a few words to himself, his expression fascinatingly complex. Originally, he just planned to steal away amidst the distraction of the divine art¡¯s effect, not expecting such a harvest! Looking at the pitiful state of the surrounding elves, the dying Oak Guardian, and the unconscious Natural Priest, Black Stone¡¯s lips curled slightly upward. ¡°Hehe... haha... hahaha!¡± He couldn¡¯t help but burst into laughter. ¡°It seems... nature¡¯s wards aren¡¯t as strong as rumored after all!¡± His heart gradually settled. *After all...* *Even if the World Tree had recovered, it must have been recent.* *And the World Tree that had just recovered was surely incredibly weak, or else... how could the elves have been up to their tricks in secret all this time?* *A weak World Tree, and the strength of her wards was naturally limited.* *Hehe... it seems that this time, I¡¯ve really achieved a major accomplishment!* ¡°The World Tree has recovered... surely the protective divine arts upon her formation at her fall thousands of years ago have also broken, this too is an opportunity for the Father God to advance further!¡± Thinking of this, Black Stone¡¯s eyes flashed, his expression becoming fervent: ¡°Hehe, this time, I am destined to receive the Father God¡¯s divine favor!¡± Taking a deep breath, he ordered his shocked subordinates: ¡°Take those three kids, we¡¯re leaving!¡± Having unraveled the secret of the Elf Forest, there was naturally no need to take prisoners back. Besides, Black Stone also suspected that the elves had some means of locating their comrades... *Otherwise, how could I be exposed time and again?* But as for the three young elves, he certainly wouldn¡¯t let them go. *These are premium goods!* Upon hearing Black Stone¡¯s command, the half-beasts exchanged glances, excitedly nodding in agreement. They approached El, rudely pulling him up, slinging him and the two sisters over their shoulders. ¡°Let go of me! You evil bastards! Let go of me!¡± El shouted and struggled. Yet he couldn¡¯t break free. He lifted his head, staring in the direction of the World Tree, his expression desperate and angry: ¡°Mother Goddess... do you truly exist?¡± ¡°If you truly exist, why do you watch as your wards are slain...¡± ¡°If you truly exist, why can¡¯t you protect your believers...¡± ¡°This... is your domain!¡± He cried out, laughing and weeping. Looking at the misery of the surrounding elves, the unconscious Natural Priest, and the barely alive Oak Guardian... Gradually, his expression turned to anguish: ¡°Mother Goddess...¡± ¡°If you can hear my words, please save your servants!¡± After speaking, El lifted his head, his expression solemn and resolute: ¡°I, El Moonlight, swear with my soul to offer my entire life and soul to you, to become your most faithful servant, only wishing you... to protect us... hoping you... could save us!¡± As he spoke, he struggled to extend his hand, imitating the gesture his grandfather taught him from memory, drawing a tree-shaped symbol on his chest slowly: ¡°Mother Goddess! Please... manifest a divine miracle!¡± The child¡¯s voice was so clear in the silent forest, echoing far away... Seeing the endlessly struggling El, Black Stone let out a cold smirk. But just before he could speak, an ethereal, serene sigh suddenly echoed in everyone¡¯s hearts: ¡°Sigh¡ª¡± Accompanied by the sigh, a brilliant holy light suddenly blossomed over El¡¯s body! Chapter 78 - 78 Divine Favor Chapter 78: Chapter 78 Divine Favor A dazzling light burst forth from El, and the Half-Beast carrying him suddenly let out a miserable scream. The entire body began to age rapidly, turning into ashes in an instant... At the same time, accompanied by ethereal sacred chants, countless brilliant green photons rose from the ground. They ascended slowly, like countless dancing Elemental Little Elves, densely packed and endless... For a moment, the forest seemed to be immersed in a sea of green. Green photons surrounded the players on the field, spinning and swirling continuously, then eagerly entered their bodies. In the players¡¯ astonished gazes, their injuries began to heal rapidly, and even broken limbs gradually regrew. ... And the severely injured Oak Guardian, Berserker, also began to show signs of life under the embrace of photons. Vigorous branches sprouted anew, quickly growing back the half of the body that had been completely destroyed! The plants on the ground began to grow rapidly with the appearance of photons, sprouting and unfurling leaves, then blooming flowers... In the blink of an eye, a path paved with colorful flowers appeared on the ground, covering every place with greenery and a sea of flowers... Countless butterflies made of photons began to circle El, in whose somewhat bewildered gaze, they flowed into his body. El¡¯s aura rapidly increased, instantly leaping past the Black Iron level and breaking through to Silver... Everything felt like a Divine Miracle. Dema opened his eyes wide, looking incredulously at the glowing little Elf boy, rubbing his eyes hard, Source: , updated on ?0¦Í??.§ã¦Ï ¡°Holy crap! So the little boy is an NPC triggering the plot?¡± Then, glancing at his fully healed character screen, he pinched his thigh out of instinct. It didn¡¯t hurt... But he quickly reacted, raising the pain setting and pinching again, drawing in a cold breath of excitement, ¡°It¡¯s not a dream! It¡¯s a plot animation!¡± The sudden change left the Half-Beasts stunned. An unprecedented sense of crisis struck Black Stone¡¯s mind. He instinctively wanted to shout, to command everyone to flee. Yet he was shocked to find he had lost control over his body... At this point, the Half-Beasts realized countless photons had attached to them, controlling their movements. Soon after, a holy and vast presence suddenly descended upon the scene. Under everyone¡¯s shocked gaze, the swirling photons on the ground kept rotating until they formed a human shape... She was a presence shrouded entirely in Holy Light, dressed in a sacred and noble long gown. She wore the supreme Divine Crown on her head, and her silver hair reached her waist, while her magnificent and mysterious purple eyes shone with brilliant light. An aura of unassailable majesty permeated everyone¡¯s hearts. The players merely glanced at her and could not help but bow their heads, their hearts rising with an innate impulse to worship her. Though only a glance, her unparalleled figure seemed to be etched into their minds, never to be erased. Berserker looked at that noble figure within the Holy Light; his expression instantly turned fervent. Supporting himself with the ground, he stood up, then respectfully knelt down, his aged and deep voice filled with solemn reverence, ¡°Praise... my Lord!¡± Alice was equally enraptured, kneeling down as well, her clear voice pious and solemn, ¡°Praise... my Lord!¡± But the dozen or so Half-Beasts wore expressions of terror. In their eyes, they saw only a blinding Holy Light, unable to see anything else. In an instant, they felt their eyes and souls pierced with pain. Amidst cries of agony, tears of blood flowed from their eyes... *One should not gaze directly at a god!* *Or rather, without the True God¡¯s permission, no one could gaze directly at the True God!* In that moment, everyone understood. The Mother Nature, Goddess of Life, and Elf Sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil, had personally descended in embodiment! The Goddess first glanced at her two devotees, a smile appearing at the corners of her mouth, and then she slowly walked towards El. With each step she took, a cluster of flowers bloomed on the ground, as if celebrating the miracle of life. The frantically growing plants gently bent with her movements, as if bowing in homage to the supreme being. El stared blankly at the sacred figure approaching him, his mind completely blank. The Goddess reached him, extended her arm, and gently placed her hand on his forehead, ¡°Remember your vow.¡± Her voice was sacred and authoritative, yet carried a hint of pleasant warmth. As she caressed him, a sacred radiance blossomed on El¡¯s forehead, revealing a tree-shaped symbol representing the Mother Nature, which gradually faded away... El¡¯s aura changed once more; though his power did not continue to grow, there was a subtle difference... It seemed as if a layer of divine essence had been imparted onto him. It might have been an elevation of life itself. With the Goddess¡¯s actions, countless photons began to revolve around the two, faint and holy hymns echoed unseen... ¡°Divine Favor! It¡¯s Divine Favor!¡± Watching the scene unfold, Berserker¡¯s expression became fanatical. Upon hearing Berserker¡¯s words, the players emerged from their shock. When they lifted their heads and saw the knighting-like figure with the brilliant holy light effects, they were all stunned... This was the third time the players had seen the Goddess¡¯s figure since character creation and the issuing of the first plot task. But unlike the previous two times, this incarnation of the Goddess seemed more real, more majestic and holy, and the descending magnificent effects were more shocking than before... *No words could describe the players¡¯ current feelings. If there were any, it¡¯d be just two: ¡°Holy crap!¡±* ¡°El.¡± At this moment, the Goddess spoke again. Her gaze shifted to the remaining Half-Beasts on the field, her voice overwhelmingly authoritative, ¡°They are yours now.¡± Hearing the Goddess¡¯s words, El turned his head blankly, looking at the continuously struggling, howling Half-Beasts clutching their eyes... For a moment, his expression was somewhat conflicted. *Grandfather had once told him to respect life, to treat others with generosity...* *Grandfather had once said that every creature makes mistakes, but as long as they recognize and correct them, they should be forgiven...* But at that moment, El hesitated. *In an instant, the image of the slaughter of his kin reappeared in his mind...* *The Half-Beast¡¯s sinister laughter, the clansman¡¯s wails, the despair of a shattered family.* *Why, despite possessing great power, couldn¡¯t the Elf Clan defeat their enemies?* *Why, despite being the glorious Silver Race, did they become the prey of the Black Iron Race?* El¡¯s expression changed several times before finally growing resolute, ¡°Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself!¡± He took a deep breath, picking up a curved blade from the ground. Chapter 79: Soul of the Elf Clan Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Soul of the Elf Clan ¡°`html The half-orcs struggled to open their eyes, looking at El, who approached step by step, pale-faced and lips tightly clenched, with a curved blade in hand, their expressions filled with terror. At this moment, they realized they regained the ability to speak. The half-orc closest to El hurriedly shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer, don¡¯t come any closer! We know we were wrong! We will leave the Elf Forest right away!¡± A hint of hesitation flashed across El¡¯s face again. ... But as he recalled the various hardships his race had endured, his expression finally turned completely cold, ¡°There have been too many times...¡± After saying that, he stood on tiptoe, swung his curved blade, and pierced it into the half-orc¡¯s chest. ¡°It¡¯s already... too late.¡± At the moment the curved blade pierced the chest, the half-orc let out a painful howl, then the entire body began to twitch and rapidly aged, soon turning into ash... War ritual! At the same time as the Goddess granted El the natural mark, this skill unique to the Druid also became his passive ability. Source: , updated on ?0¦Í??.§ã¦Ï Seeing the fate of their companion, the remaining half-orcs¡¯ expressions changed drastically. Black Stone couldn¡¯t believe his eyes as he looked at this young elf in front of him, overwhelming waves surged in his heart, *¡±They have changed... they have changed...¡±* And after killing the first half-orc, El looked at his blood-stained hands, his expression growing more determined, ¡°If only war and blood can save the tribe... then let it start with me!¡± After saying this, he turned around and walked toward the next half-orc... The crimson blood splashed on his pale face, reflecting his silver hair and deep blue eyes, making the elf youth appear cold and resolute. ¡°Damn, how handsome! He¡¯s like a completely different person!¡± Demacia stared in amazement at El¡¯s back with his mouth wide open. ¡°This cold and handsome boy is sure to attract a wave of female fans! Isn¡¯t there a lot of boy enthusiasts on the forum?¡± He glanced at several surviving female players and found that many of their eyes were shining, almost putting stars in their eyes. Demacia: ... ¡°This era that only values appearances... ¡± He tilted his head up 45 degrees, shaking his head in tragic contemplation. But soon, Demacia snapped back to reality and looked at El¡¯s actions with a touch of regret, ¡°Damn it! These are all experience points and contribution degrees!¡± ¡°El! Leave some for your brother!¡± He hurriedly got up, ready to pick up his curved blade and join the fight, only to find in surprise that his body was unable to move... Demacia: ... ¡°Damn cutscene!¡± He cursed and plopped back down to the ground. The other players noticed this as well. They too were unable to move and could only watch as El killed one half-orc after another, each losing all ability to resist. Eve stood behind El, quietly observing his actions. The Elf Clan was simply too naive. For the sake of the race¡¯s future, the Elf Clan had to make some changes! In the Segis World, the confrontation between races with different beliefs was cruel and allowed no mercy. If the Elf Clan wanted to rise again amidst hardships, Eve¡¯s support alone was far from enough. They also had to endure the trials of blood and tears, forging an all-new racial soul! The arrival of players was an opportunity, and El¡¯s emergence was also a chance. Eve hoped that starting with El, the Elf Clan could solidify a new racial concept. Peace should not mean weakness, and mercy did not mean retreat! In the face of cruel enemies, one must also show their swords and fangs! Seeing El gradually approach him, Black Stone¡¯s pupils contracted. His expression shifted slightly and then he shouted sternly and threatened, ¡°Think carefully, I carry the token of the True God on me, not only that, I also served as the Holy Land Guardian before. If you kill me, it will definitely attract the attention of the Father God!¡± Upon hearing his words, El was silent. Seeing his silence, Black Stone sighed slightly with relief, and then continued, ¡°I can swear by my soul, if you let me go, I will never reveal the secrets here, I will never be an enemy of the elves again, much less... be an enemy of the True God Avatar...¡± The latter half of the sentence, he faced in Eve¡¯s direction, slightly lowering his head, with a respectful and submissive posture. Although not daring to look directly at this supreme being, there was a trace of supplication in his words. Eve said nothing. And El also said nothing. He looked back at the Goddess, who gave him a slight smile. That smile was like spring, instantly warming El¡¯s heart, as if saying, ¡°Do not worry about threats, everything is your decision.¡± Then, Eve looked coldly at Black Stone. A mere half-orc warrior with silver strength couldn¡¯t bring out something that would catch the attention of the True God! If the avatar of the True God descended and couldn¡¯t take out the enemies all at once, that would mean she, as the True God, had no dignity. Eve¡¯s sense was still quite sharp. In her prediction, although killing Black Stone seemed to cause some ripples, it would not bring any danger. As her strength gradually recovered, her predictions also became more accurate, especially when it came to mundane creatures... And assured by the comforting gaze from the Mother Goddess, El¡¯s expression gradually became determined. He drew out his curved blade and, under Black Stone¡¯s terrified gaze, pierced it into his chest, ¡°Sorry... you no longer have this chance.¡± Amidst a harrowing wail, Black Stone¡¯s body began to rapidly age, and he struggled to look toward Eve, straining to open his eyes wide, tears of blood flowing, and he shouted, ¡°Father God... will not spare you! Absolutely... absolutely!¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Eve let out a soft snort. And Black Stone¡¯s body stiffened at that instant. Then, his body shattered like broken glass, crumbling... and turned into a pile of ash. All the half-orcs were completely annihilated. Eve waved her hand slightly, and a piece of bone flew up from the ground, landing in her palm. The forest was silent. All the players focused their gaze on that most dazzling, most sacred figure. They held their breath, their hearts filled with awe... Eve once again glanced around the scene, giving a slight smile to all the players. Each player who met her gaze felt a sense of closeness and reverence from that dreamlike smile, and then couldn¡¯t help but lower their heads again... And Eve turned around, faded into a brilliant light, and slowly disappeared... [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Task: Half-Beast Hunting Team (Completed)] [All players who participated in the task, rewards will be settled according to your task contributions, granting corresponding experience points, contribution degrees, and perfect resurrection counts... ] [Ding¡ª¡ª] [All players who participated in the task receive the Goddess¡¯s blessing¡ª ¡°Chosen One¡±] [Chosen One: In the next seven in-game days, your experience gain will be increased by 50%!] The players fell silent for a moment, then burst into a tremendous cheer. ¡°` Chapter 80: 100 Points of Divine Power! Chapter 80: Chapter 80: 100 Points of Divine Power! ¡°`html Eve controlled her avatar and quickly left the players¡¯ battlefield under the cover of the Holy Light. After she distanced herself from the battlefield, she finally let out a sigh of relief. This appearance was a carefully considered decision of hers. When she issued the command to hunt down the Half-Beast team, she had a premonition that there would be some twists, and at that time, she planned to use her avatar as a backup plan. She didn¡¯t expect that she would really need to use it. Originally, she intended to wait until the players failed the mission. Once she discovered the Half-Beast¡¯s trump card, she would disguise herself as a follower of Hela to raid the Half-Beasts... ... *Hmm, this was absolutely not for the players¡¯ meager experience and contributions, but truly for the consideration of her own mysterious and secure feeling!* However, upon hearing El¡¯s oath, her plan changed. She thought it might be an opportunity to change the indigenous Elf Clan¡¯s mindset in the Segis World. El¡¯s full name was El Moonlight. The Moonlight surname was very ancient among the Elf Clan, being a branch of the once Elf Kingdom Royal Family. After the decline of the Elf Kingdom and the extinction of the Elf Royal Family, the Moonlight Tribe became the most influential tribe among the Elf Clan. If she could recruit El, it would be easier for Eve to establish a banner among the native elves, quickly pulling them out of their foolish submissive kindness... Source: , updated on ??¦Í??.§ã¦Ï Moreover, if done well, it could garner popularity among players. Don¡¯t underestimate this popularity; as a seasoned online gamer, Eve knew players very well. They held a special affection for faction leaders, especially when the leader was cool, handsome or beautiful, with a touching backstory, and could even offer players some benefits... Well, these players would definitely become devoted while playing the game. Although ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had her as the only faction leader, gaining more player fans would certainly make them more dedicated. She lacked nothing in terms of story backgrounds. And most of the quests were issued by her. As for appearance, not to brag, but... she had yet to find an existence surpassing her avatar. At this point... she just needed to brush up her presence appropriately. *Uh... why does this feel like she¡¯s on the path of becoming an idol?* Eve shook her head. So, after thinking it over, she decided to take action herself. As for the dignity of a True God... * She was just a dying weak divinity; what did she need dignity for?* Besides, she wasn¡¯t a native True God, but someone from Blue Star who joined halfway. As long as it benefited her, she was willing to do anything, except for matters involving her bottom line. Besides, there were plenty of shameless Divine on the Segis Continent. It¡¯s rumored that some even disguised as mortals to experience the human life, giving birth to several football teams of half-Divine offspring... Of course, even if descending on-site, the True God¡¯s prestige must not drop. With Eve¡¯s current avatar, possessing strength just scraping Lower Gold, she needed to pay a certain price to maintain her impressive appearance in front of players. Especially since it was far from her main body and was not within her area of control. The array of flowers, green leaves, radiant brilliance, and ethereal sacred hymns were all effects she created by expending her Divine Power points. To achieve the best effect, her avatar almost exhausted its power. Although with the avatar¡¯s level, the special effects were just fragile illusions, they were enough to deceive the crowd. Additionally, the reason Eve entrusted finishing off to El was because maintaining the scene¡¯s special effects and controlling targets was already the limit for her avatar. If she had gone for the finishing blow, she might have inadvertently exposed herself... Fortunately, with her growing harmony with the World Tree, Eve¡¯s control over Divine Power became stronger, and her use of it more efficient than before. Healing everyone present only consumed 1 point of her Divine Power, much more efficient than spending 1 point to heal just two Believers at the beginning. The reason healing consumed so much was partly due to the distance and partly because, unlike birthing a body from the World Tree which relied on its instincts, healing depended entirely on Divine Power. As for other glimmer effects and various control effects, they didn¡¯t even use up 1 point of Divine Power. And judging from the results, the effect was quite impressive. The Half-Beasts were awed, and the players were stunned. If player favorability could manifest physically, Eve believed it would surely skyrocket... Not only that, she also gained a new fanatical follower! A Divine Favored who willingly dedicated his entire body and soul to her! El¡¯s oath also meant he entrusted everything to the Divine, becoming similar to the Oak Guardian! Such opportunities were rare, and it¡¯s difficult for someone to completely devote their body and soul to a True God, let alone someone with the qualifications to become a Divine Favored! As it happened, El, with a trace of Royal blood, was capable of achieving this! Not only that... The time was still short, and El had not fully embraced the natural faith. Eve believed that as he grew, his faith would continue to strengthen, and he would eventually become a Saint akin to Alice. ¡°With El¡¯s addition, Alice and Berserker can also offload some of the NPC tasks.¡± Eve felt very satisfied. Retracting her avatar, Eve¡¯s consciousness returned to her main body. At this point, she began to review her gains. Unsurprisingly, this operation resulted in another surge of Divine Power! Eradicating the Half-Beasts brought a total of 8 points of Divine Power, mostly derived from the grievances of the Elf Souls. Becoming a Divine Favored and fanatical follower, El provided 1.5 points. Only 8 points from the Half-Beasts... it was somewhat unexpected for her. This time the number of Half-Beasts was far more than when Berserker acted the first time, and even included a Silver Lower, yet the Divine Power was only 3 points more than that time. However, soon Eve figured it out. ¡°*The grievances of the Elf Souls are also limited. At the very beginning, the feedback is naturally more obvious, but as I grow stronger, these millennium-accumulated grievances become rarer and their effect on me weakens.*¡± However, Eve was not hoping to grow strong solely on petty grievances. As long as she could break out of the dying state, it was sufficient. She checked her Divine Power value... After deducting her expenditures and adding the sporadic gains during this period, she now had 94 points in total. Only 6 points away from shedding the dying state! At this moment, Eve took out the bone fragment she obtained from Black Stone. Unlike the World Tree leaf she gifted to Samir, which only had a one-time effect, this bone fragment could be used repeatedly. This meant it stored more Divine Power! Eve roughly sensed it... ¡°*It had 10 points?*¡± She was astonished. After the initial joy, Eve decisively chose to devour it! 10 points of Divine Power were instantly extracted by her, crudely converted, and compressed into less than 7 points of Natural Divine Power. And Eve¡¯s Divine Power finally broke through the 100-point mark! ¡°` Chapter 81 - 81 The Revival of the World Tree Chapter 81: Chapter 81 The Revival of the World Tree [Divine Power: 101/500] 100 points of Divine Power was the baseline to escape a near-death state. And when the Divine Power surpassed 100, Eve experienced an instinctive feeling¡ªshe could reignite the vitality of the World Tree at any moment! The World Tree, in a near-death state, could not actively absorb energy from the outside world, but once revived, it would regain this instinct! Eve had been waiting too long for this moment. She did not hesitate, focused her attention, and began the revival! ... Under her thoughts, the 100 points of Divine Power started to deplete rapidly, and the Divine Space emitted a dazzling green light. The light continued to expand, eventually breaking through the space¡¯s limitations and radiating onto the entire World Tree. All the Divine Power poured out, flooding into the branches of the World Tree... The Divine Power split into two currents, one flowing upward, traveling from the trunk into the winding branches, then into the tips of the branches, constantly brewing; the other flowed downward, entering the root system, then delving deeply, gradually extending to the withered root tips... In an instant, an unprecedented feeling of relief spread throughout her body. Eve felt a strange tingle all over, as if something was breaking out... Finally, under the influence of Divine Power, this feeling reached its peak, seemingly breaking through a barrier, and waves of life began to surge continuously on the World Tree! In this instant, all players within the safety zone felt a touch of trepidation. Then, the ground seemed to begin to tremble faintly as if something was constantly rolling underground. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.?? Those were the roots of the World Tree, having regained vitality. The broken and withered root systems were starting to grow downward continuously... This phenomenon manifested on the ground, resulting in an effect akin to an earthquake. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°An... earthquake?¡± Feeling the tremor of the ground, the players became alert. At this time, a player instinctively turned around and looked in the direction of the World Tree. His eyes widened abruptly, filled with disbelief, which soon transformed into excitement and awe, ¡°Look! The World Tree! The World Tree!¡± Hearing his words, the other players also turned around. In an instant, their jaws dropped in amazement... The World Tree had transformed. The Goddess had just revived, and the state of the World Tree was very poor; this was well known. Although players had seen the magnificent and grand scenery of the World Tree in the game¡¯s trailer, by the time they descended, the World Tree was no longer in its legendary form. Having endured thousands of years of divine wars, the originally lush and verdant World Tree was left with barren branches and a few withered leaves. More than that, even its entire body had shriveled and shrunk considerably compared to its full glory... The World Tree seen by the players was entirely on the verge of withering and dying. Even any traces of green were very scarce. But at this moment, the World Tree had changed. She began to reawaken with vitality! Looking far and wide, the towering trunk started to emit a magnificent glow. It was the radiance of nature and life! And at the tips of the branches, countless buds sprouted, then began to bud and unfurl at a speed visible to the naked eye... Soon, the previously sparse canopy was covered with countless tender green leaves! Although the leaves that sprouted were still sparse, the entire World Tree now exuded a hint of life, no longer resembling death and decay but seeming as if it were welcoming spring! As the World Tree budded and unfurled, strands of ancient and aged aura spread incessantly... Every player sensing this aura involuntarily trembled, feeling as though a bucket of cold water poured over them. Simultaneously, a primal reverence sprouted from within their hearts. It was the natural suppression of higher life forms over lower life forms! As the leaves unfurled, the pale green glow turned into countless freely-flying Divine Photons, starting to spread outward with the World Tree at its center... Every player who came into contact with these photons felt a subtle and mysterious change within their bodies. They checked their status bars and were shocked to find that their constitution had improved to varying degrees, and their experience points had grown a little! Especially for players with the Druid profession! Meanwhile, as the photons continued to spread, the plants in the forest began to grow rapidly, especially within the World Tree-centered safety zone... They seemed triggered by something, simultaneously budding and unfurling, constantly extending their branches. The areas once sparsely populated due to players¡¯ axes also saw young saplings sprout from the ground once again. Not only that but the saplings grew rapidly. In less than a minute, they had soared nearly ten meters tall! In an instant, all places were covered in green once more! Even the Elf Town, developed by the players, was no exception... The wooden houses they constructed also burst with vitality, sprouting leaves... Moreover, some even bore flowers and fruits. *However, the plants in the Elf Town seemed to follow some kind of directive.* They regained vitality without destroying the original architectural structures but grew in line with the existing building style. *Thus, rather than ruining the flavor of the original buildings, it added a touch of greenness and vigor.* In no time, the entire town seemed like an ocean of flowers and greenery, bursting with vibrant life. In the sky, countless petals danced, resembling a kaleidoscope of flower rain... All the players were astonished. ¡°Whoa, my house has come to life!¡± ¡°Haha... instant treehouse...¡± ¡°It looks so beautiful!¡± ¡°This is too spectacular! Has the World Tree revived?¡± Someone casually plucked a tempting red fruit from the eaves, brought it to their mouth, and took a bite. So sweet... After the rapid growth, all the plants within a thirty-kilometer radius turned toward the World Tree... They bent their branches and vines as if worshipping their monarch! All the players witnessing this scene were stunned by the sight of ¡°worshipping¡± plants. All things worshiping! *The visual impact of this was indescribable!* At the center of all these changes, Eve also felt a profound transformation within herself. At the moment of budding and unfurling, her control over heaven and earth rapidly expanded, quickly extending from ten kilometers to thirty kilometers! And after a complete revival, the Divine Power spent to activate her body began to be replenished, with Eve¡¯s Divine Power gradually rising... However, when it reached around 90 points, it stopped rising. Eve checked her status again¡ª [Name: Eve Yggdrasil] [Race: World Tree (Ancient God)] [Level: 150 (Mythical)] [Status: Weak Divine Power] [Divine Roles: Nature, Life, Elves] [Titles: Mother Nature, Goddess of Life, Ruler of Elves] [Divine Power: 90/3000] [Number of Believers: 222 (Saint 1, Zealous Believers 3, Devout Believers 31, Faint Believers 187)] [Abilities: Absorption, Communication, Bestowal, Enlightenment, Healing, Summoning, Divine Descent...] ¡°Absorption?¡± Seeing a newly added ability, Eve¡¯s heart stirred. Chapter 82: Draw! Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Draw! ¡°`html Absorb! If Eve¡¯s judgment was correct, this was the traditional method by which the World Tree gained energy. The World Tree belonged to the ancient gods, and these gods possessed the ability to actively expand their own divine powers by absorbing void energy or other energy sources. And now, having escaped a near-death state, the ability Eve acquired was absorption! She focused her attention on her newly acquired ability, and the relevant information immediately surfaced in her mind: ... [Absorption: The inherent ability of the World Tree in its initial form, capable of absorbing void energy, origin power, and life essence from the void, planes, and creatures, transforming them into her own divine power.] Indeed it was an ability to gain divine power! Eve felt a burst of joy in her heart. However, looking at the details of this ability, she quickly grew curious again... *¡±Initial form of the World Tree?¡±* *Having been reincarnated as the World Tree for so long, this was the first time she heard such a term. Even in the heritage she had received, there was no mention of it.* *¡±Could there be other forms? What level was the last World Tree?¡±* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.§ã? *This inevitably led Eve to speculate...* *In its initial form, it was already an ancient god with weak divine power. If there were higher forms, what would they be like?* *Intermediate divine power?* *Great divine power?* *Or perhaps... something else?* *For a moment, Eve suddenly felt that she might have underestimated her new body.* Then she noticed the several targets of absorption¡ª *¡±Void, planes, creatures...¡±* The universe where the Segis World was located was different from Blue Star. Or rather, they did not belong to the same universe at all. The universe of Blue Star consisted of celestial bodies, the most common of which were stars, also known as the celestial universe. But the Segis World was not. The universe where the Segis World was located was a plane universe. The plane universe was composed of planes with different attributes, each plane was a world sealed within its own bubble-like crystal sphere, and these crystal spheres floated in a kind of intangible, invisible special substance... In the Segis Universe, this special substance was called the void. The Segis World where Eve resided was the oldest high-level main material plane in the entire plane universe. The main material plane was the most balanced in attributes, highly developed in rules, and the most conducive to the birth of life among the various planes. It was said that the origin of life in the Segis Universe was in the Segis World, the earliest civilization also originated from there, and the entire universe was thus named Segis. Reflecting on the origin of the Segis World and the description of the [Absorption] ability, Eve suddenly felt a bit strange: *¡±The previous one being besieged by the gods... could it be related to this absorption ability?¡±* *Absorbing energy from the void wasn¡¯t a big deal. This energy absorption was similar to that of the planes and void creatures, with no harm. However, absorbing from planes and creatures...* *Ahem, the origin of a plane was its fundamental power. If too much of its origin were lost, the plane would lower in rank, and in more severe cases, could even collapse.* *As for drawing life essence from creatures...* *To the gods, especially the faith-based gods who thrived on shepherding intelligent creatures, this was a potential threat.* *If the predecessor really intended to tap into the origin power of the Segis Plane, or the lives in the Segis World a thousand years ago, being besieged wouldn¡¯t be impossible.* Only, if that were the case, the World Tree would probably have long been portrayed by the gods as evil, but, as per Eve¡¯s observations and understanding, this wasn¡¯t so. Although the World Tree had fallen, judging from the reaction of the Half-Beasts, the impression left by the World Tree remained a revered ancient existence among living beings. Moreover, the elves, the race born of the World Tree, still symbolized peace and nobility... *¡±It seems the secrets of the divine war a thousand years ago run deep!¡±* Eve sighed. Getting nowhere with her thoughts, she decided to give [Absorption] a try. Habitually predicting, finding no risks, Eve began to exercise the ability. And as she employed the absorption ability, her vision changed in an instant! She found her perception elevating continually, eventually breaking through the crystal sphere of the Segis Plane, *¡±seeing¡±* the endless void! What¡¯s more, she could even *¡±see¡±* the void energy, which theoretically should have been invisible! This energy was like clusters of tiny light balls, executing orderly or disorderly movements in the void. Energy was being continually absorbed by the Segis Plane, while new energy continued to form in the void... *¡±So this is void energy?¡±* Eve¡¯s heart stirred slightly, and she began to absorb it. With the thought, she suddenly felt countless tiny light clusters representing void energy beginning to fly towards the Segis Plane! The number of these void energy clusters was vast. They quickly entered the Segis World, most of them sinking into the origin of the Segis Plane, being absorbed by the plane, yet many crossed spatial boundaries straight into Eve¡¯s body! As the void energy entered, Eve felt a heated sensation all over her body, and her divine power value began to rise rapidly! One point... two points... three points... Her divine power continued to increase until it rose by a full thirty points, then gradually began to slow down! At this time, her energy absorption rate also slowed, seeming to return to a normal speed. Eve, feeling unsatisfied, focused on the void once more, discovering that she had absorbed all the void energy around her, and the remaining void energy had yet to spread from denser regions. Estimating about it, at her current rate of absorption, she could probably amass one unit of divine power every ten days! *¡±What an amazing ability! If I keep this up, even if I do nothing, I could reach the level of weak divine power in about eighty years!¡±* Eve was very pleased. Having shed the near-death state, her maximum divine power capacity had now become 3000. 3000 divine power points was the highest that weak divine power could have. To go beyond, she would need to upgrade her divinity or control higher-level laws. However, the divinities that Eve possessed were already quite advanced, as soon as she restored a certain level of divine power, she could return to the corresponding rank. In other words, once she accumulated 3000 divine power points, she could become a weak divine power. This was also why Uller went to great lengths to seize the divinities of nature and life. The reason being that the amount of divine power limited the level of a True God¡¯s strength, but the divinities limited the capacity of divine power of a True God. *¡±Absorption... truly is an extremely powerful ability!¡±* Eve was very satisfied. However, while she was being delighted with her absorption ability, the energy level of the entire Segis World suddenly changed... In Eve¡¯s perception, the magic level in the Segis Plane increased at a speed visible to the naked eye, within no time it was nearly one percent higher than before! ¡°` Chapter 83 - 83 Pantheon Chapter 83: Chapter 83 Pantheon ¡°`html ¡°The magic level of Segis World has increased!¡± Eve was first surprised, then her heart tightened. For thousands of years, the World Tree¡¯s main body could exist steadily due to two factors: On one hand, the previous World Tree had placed a barrier curse on its main body at the moment of its fall, making it so that no one but the Elf Clan and above the level of a True God could approach it. The other reason was that the magic level of Segis World had become increasingly low, insufficient to support the descent of a Divine presence! ... The former had been broken when Eve was reborn, and as for the latter... it was now changing too! The rise in Segis World¡¯s magic level was definitely not a good sign for Eve at the moment. *She felt a chill in her heart, but soon she understood the reason...* ¡°It¡¯s the absorption!¡± When Eve just absorbed the energy from the void, since her main body was rooted in the Segis Plane, she had to operate through the plane. During this process, most of the void energy was actually absorbed by the origin of the Segis Plane. Eve absorbed only a small portion. And in the Segis Universe, the growth of a plane relied precisely on void energy! Source: , updated on ?0¦Í?¦Ï.§ã¦Ï Eve¡¯s actions undoubtedly provided Segis Plane with a nutritious boost, strengthening the plane¡¯s origin and naturally causing the overall magic level to rise. *Understanding everything, Eve suddenly felt troubled.* *Because this meant that ¡°absorption¡± became a double-edged sword, not only providing her with Divine Power but also allowing Segis World¡¯s magic level to recover.* *With the magic level recovery of Segis World, it might attract the attention of the Pantheon and even reopen the plane channels, allowing True Gods to descend directly!* *If that happened, Eve would be in danger!* Moreover, upon further observation, Eve discovered that her recent absorption seemed to have activated some mechanism within the Segis Plane. Now, even if she stopped absorbing, the Segis Plane¡¯s absorption of void energy had significantly increased. Not only that, but this increase was also accelerating at a slight pace... *This... meant that even if she ceased absorption, the plane channels of Segis World would eventually reopen!* *With a deep sigh, Eve started to calculate how long it would take for Segis World¡¯s magic to recover to the point where it could reopen the plane channels...* ¡°If I stop absorbing, it¡¯s one hundred years, but if I persist in absorbing, it¡¯s... twenty years?¡± *A sense of urgency welled up in her heart.* *Twenty years...* *Which meant that in at most twenty years, she had to grow to the point where she wouldn¡¯t fear an attack from the Pantheon!* *For a moment, Eve felt her scalp tingle.* *Even the previous strong world tree, with its powerful Divine Power, fell under the Pantheon¡¯s attack. How could she, a mere True God with weak Divine Power, rapidly grow in twenty years?* *This task was undeniably daunting...* *¡±Is there any way to prevent the further strengthening of Segis World¡¯s plane origin...¡±* Eve pondered. Suddenly, she chuckled softly, ¡°How foolish, can¡¯t I just do it myself?¡± The power of absorption could apply not just to the void but also to the plane! If worried about the plane recovering too fast, she could just absorb part of the plane¡¯s origin, couldn¡¯t she? After all, now in Segis World, she was the only conscious True God; all remaining True Gods were in the Heavenly Realm. As long as she absorbed carefully, she wouldn¡¯t be discovered! Thinking of this, Eve decisively immersed herself in her consciousness and wielded ¡°absorption¡± again. This time, she targeted the origin of the Segis Plane! With the exercise of her ability, Eve¡¯s consciousness underwent a transformation. This time, her vision didn¡¯t elevate but descended... She ¡°saw¡± her intertwined and tangled root system, ¡°saw¡± the thick soil layer, ¡°saw¡± the overlapping rock layers, and then ¡°saw¡± the slow-flowing magma... Eventually... her vision sank to the deepest part of the plane, and she ¡°saw¡± a resplendent, colorful mass! At this moment, Eve had a realization, this was the origin of the Segis Plane! *Taking a deep breath, Eve began to absorb!* With her ability in play, the origin of the Segis Plane immediately began to tremble, and strands of origin power started to cross the space toward Eve. Sensing the trembling of the origin, Eve was startled and quickly reduced her absorption, minimizing the influence on the plane¡¯s origin to avoid drawing attention from other existences. It had to be said, compared to the chaotic void energy, the power of plane origin seemed more gentle and pure. With just a small sip, Eve was delighted to find that her Divine Power value had instantly increased by 10 points! However, even before Eve could continue absorbing, a mysterious force inexplicably stopped her from further devouring! ¡°Hmm?¡± Suddenly, Eve was struck by an intuition, feeling an inexplicable call... This call was strange, and Eve couldn¡¯t perceive where it originated. It seemed to come from the void, yet appeared to be everywhere. However, this call didn¡¯t make her feel any threat. *With a tinge of curiosity, Eve decided to accept this inexplicable call!* At the moment she accepted the call, Eve¡¯s consciousness suddenly began to ascend rapidly, soon crossing the space... Her vision changed once more, starting with a blankness, then slowly returning to normal. At this moment, Eve was surprised to find herself back in human form! Furthermore, she discovered that this place was akin to a consciousness space, where she could freely alter her appearance and aura! *¡±Is this... some place similar to a consciousness space?¡±* Eve had some speculations. And at this moment, the surrounding scene gradually became clear. Eve raised her head and found herself standing before a majestic temple. This temple was composed of gigantic white stone pillars, intricately carved with complex Divine Patterns, exuding an unparalleled solemnity and sanctity. The surroundings of the temple were an endless starry sky, with countless twinkling stars embracing the temple, adding a touch of mystery and nobility. This place was very similar to the legendary Heavenly Realm. But Eve was certain this was definitely not the Heavenly Realm, but more like a manifestation of an illusionary consciousness world! Eve perceived it carefully and raised an eyebrow, ¡°Has the scent of Segis World, is this... could it be a special space formed based on the plane¡¯s origin?¡± At this point, Eve also understood what had stopped her from continuing to absorb the origin... It was likely this special space! When Eve looked up and saw the ancient Segis language inscription on top of the temple, she slightly raised her eyebrows, ¡°Pantheon?¡± *Eve felt a little curious.* She first sensed that she could return to her main body at any time. After pondering for a moment, she decided to enter the temple and investigate. Before entering, she subtly altered her appearance, changing her hair and eye color to black, making her face unrecognizable, and modified her Divine Power aura... Once everything was ready, Eve pushed open the temple doors. ¡°` Chapter 84: The Throne of the True God Chapter 84: Chapter 84: The Throne of the True God ¡°`html Accompanied by the sound of ¡°creak, creak,¡± the grand doors of the temple slowly opened. Eve took a deep breath, raising her guard to the utmost as she cautiously stepped inside. Upon entering the Pantheon, Eve found herself in an immensely vast hall. After arriving here, Eve was surprised to find that her powers seemed to be somehow limited. She couldn¡¯t extend her Divine Sense and had to rely solely on her eyes to observe everything, seemingly reverting to a mortal in an instant... ... Fortunately, Eve felt that her connection with the World Tree¡¯s body still existed, and she could return if she wished. Once she ensured her safety, Eve began to observe the hall. The place was vast, like a gigantic conference hall, filled with luxurious and imposing thrones. There were numerous thrones, arranged in a fan shape, numbering at least a thousand. Each throne was different, boasting its own unique style and patterns. However, if one looked closely, they would find that the vast majority of the thrones were dim and dull. Many were even somewhat broken and damaged; only a few sparkled under the starlight, brilliantly magnificent. All of these intact thrones were concentrated at the front of the temple, and there were fewer than a hundred of them. Seeing all this, Eve had a sudden realization: Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.?¦Ï ¡°The Pantheon... I see, could this be that place?¡± Looking at the thrones before her and combining the knowledge from her World Tree legacy, she finally understood where this was. In the legacy she acquired from the World Tree, there was a supreme temple in the Heavenly Realm. The supreme temple symbolized the True Gods¡¯ dominion and status. It was also where the divine council took place. The temple was filled with thrones, each belonging to a True God born since life first appeared in the Segis Universe! However, according to the World Tree¡¯s legacy, that supreme temple had already been destroyed in a divine war a millennium ago... Thinking of this, Eve shook her head: ¡°No, this shouldn¡¯t be that supreme temple, otherwise there wouldn¡¯t be the aura of the Segis World here.¡± ¡°But... these thrones are exactly the same as the True Gods¡¯ thrones mentioned in the World Tree legacy, as if they were moved from the supreme temple...¡± ¡°Could the Pantheon be a substitute for the supreme temple? However... the supreme temple was originally located in the Heavenly Realm, so how is this so-called Pantheon connected to the Segis Plane?¡± Eve felt a bit puzzled in her heart. After some exploration, she was now certain that this special space was definitely located within the Segis Plane! As for the specific location, it was likely near the source of the Segis Plane and its crystalline wall... This feeling was very bizarre, like... ¡°Like it¡¯s meant to suppress something...¡± *Eve speculated in her heart.* The True God thrones in the supreme temple were imbued with the blessing of laws. Even if a True God fell, the remaining throne would still be a precious Divine Artifact. Although it was a Divine Artifact with no special abilities, the might of the True God lingered, naturally possessing the characteristic of suppressing all things. At this moment, Eve also understood what was preventing her from absorbing the source of the Segis Plane. It was precisely this Pantheon! ¡°Is it to suppress the source of the Segis World?¡± *Eve¡¯s heart was stirred.* But soon, she shook her head again: ¡°No, it¡¯s not exactly suppression, it¡¯s more like protection... Hmm, no, it is both suppression and protection!¡± Linking to some information from the World Tree legacy, Eve had some guesses. In the legacy, it was recorded that in the divine war a thousand years ago, not only was the World Tree heavily damaged. The Heavenly Realm and the Segis Plane were both battlefields of the gods. The damage to the Heavenly Realm resulted in the collapse of the supreme temple, while the Segis World¡¯s source was damaged, drastically lowering the level of Magic Power! Thinking of this, Eve already had some ideas in her heart: ¡°Here, it should be a new meeting place rebuilt by the gods who moved the gods¡¯ thrones from the Heavenly Realm, allowing only consciousness to descend. Moreover, it also has the effect of both protecting and suppressing the source of the Segis Plane!¡± The Segis Plane was the largest Main Material World and the one with the most intelligent creatures providing faith. For the True Gods to set up a new meeting place here to protect the world wasn¡¯t impossible. Even though they couldn¡¯t descend with their true forms into the Segis World, they could still descend as consciousness here. Thinking of this, Eve felt a bit of lingering fear: ¡°My previous absorption was really reckless; if there had been a True God¡¯s consciousness here at that time, my existence might have been discovered!¡± Her first attempt at absorption had a truly terrifying effect. The source of the Segis Plane had been damaged, absorbing Void Energy very slowly for a millennium. And Void Energy naturally had a tendency to draw near to planes; in a thousand years, the amount of accumulated Void Energy around the Segis Plane wasn¡¯t small. With one draw from Eve, the accumulated thousand-year Void Energy rushed in all at once, instantly raising the magic level of the Segis World by nearly one percent... If there had been a True God¡¯s consciousness present at that time, it would certainly have been discovered long ago! *Though they wouldn¡¯t necessarily guess the revival of the World Tree, they would definitely suspect something within Segis.* No... wait! Suddenly, Eve¡¯s heart stirred. She looked at the numerous thrones, searching one by one. Moments later, her expression turned odd: ¡°No... the gods should not be able to guess the revival of the World Tree. More accurately, they certainly wouldn¡¯t!¡± Her gaze focused on one of the dilapidated thrones among the many broken ones. It was a throne engraved with exquisite and intricate patterns, adorned with flowers and vines, identical to the World Tree¡¯s throne in the legacy Eve received! The throne retained a wisp of the True God¡¯s Divine Soul Mark. A dilapidated throne indicated the fall of a True God. Although Eve inherited the legacy of the World Tree, possessing the same divinity, she was ultimately not the former World Tree. Her soul originated from another universe, distinct in its Divine Soul... Therefore, she did not inherit the former¡¯s throne. In other words... while the World Tree had revived, its registered identity in the Pantheon remained dead... *Compared to the former World Tree, Eve was more like its child.* Thinking of this, Eve felt a bit amused, yet immensely grateful. But soon, she realized this was also a great opportunity! This meant that as long as she didn¡¯t reveal herself, even if the gods noticed the change in the Segis World¡¯s Magic Power, they wouldn¡¯t suspect the World Tree in the short term. Just then, Eve suddenly felt that inexplicable summon again. But this time, a clarity arose within her heart: ¡°I see, is this summoning asking me to leave my Divine Soul Mark here?¡± Leaving a Divine Soul Mark would give rise to a new throne in the Pantheon, and it would also signify Eve¡¯s acceptance among the gods. In other words, a new god being registered. However, Eve decided to forgo this. ¡°The throne is manifested through Divine Power. Even if I conceal my Divine Power aura, leaving a throne would be a dead giveaway. Worse, it might directly resonate with the former World Tree¡¯s throne, causing a direct inheritance of the previous throne!¡± That would be awkward, directly exposing herself. It¡¯s better not to register. ¡°If... I could have a new divine role, I might consider leaving an alias.¡± Eve shook her head, sighed regretfully, and turned to leave the Pantheon. Not long after she departed, several thrones within the Pantheon suddenly erupted in brilliant radiance! ¡°` Chapter 85: Confused Uller Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Confused Uller ¡°`html A brilliant Holy Light descended in the Pantheon, and three majestic figures appeared within the temple. They sat on their divine thrones, faces obscured, enveloped in dazzling Holy Light. One figure was gold, with what seemed like countless angels of faith singing behind her, and many living beings prostrating in worship. Another was bright gray, with what appeared to be innumerable shadowy figures roaring behind her, faint sounds of war swords clashing echoing in the distance. The last one was silver-blue, surrounded by countless brilliant starlight, peaceful yet mysterious. ... The entire Pantheon resonated with ethereal hymns, the glow of Divine Power rendering the great hall incomparably sacred and magnificent. Suddenly, the golden figure spoke, her voice deep and commanding, ¡°A strange aura of Divine Power passed by...¡± However, midway through, her voice took on a tone of surprise, ¡°Huh? I can¡¯t perceive the attributes of her Divine Power.¡± Upon hearing her words, the bright gray figure scanned the surroundings, saying somewhat puzzled, ¡°No new divine thrones.¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã? Her voice was ancient and hoarse. After a brief silence, the golden figure spoke again, ¡°It¡¯s a New God... but she chose not to leave a Divine Power Seal.¡± After speaking, she looked toward the silver-blue figure, ¡°Lord Rigdar, within this century, who was the True God on duty in the Pantheon? Why wasn¡¯t the guidance for the newborn deity prepared?¡± The silver-blue figure paused for a moment, then looked at the bright gray figure and said, ¡°It was the God of Winter and Hunting¡ªUller.¡± After hearing his words, the golden figure immediately turned to look at the bright gray figure, her voice tinged with displeasure, ¡°Lord Lord, Uller is your subordinate deity, this is your negligence.¡± The bright gray figure was silent for a moment, then sighed, ¡°I will punish her, Lord Yiteo.¡± The golden figure nodded, then suddenly let out a snort of laughter, ¡°Uller... still contemplating taking over her divine role?¡± The bright gray figure known as Lord nodded, ¡°Her divine role aligns very well with Uller. Although I have warned her many times, I¡¯m afraid she hasn¡¯t given up.¡± ¡°Nature and life?¡± The golden figure turned and looked at a dim divine throne in the back. Her gaze focused on a throne engraved with flowers and vines, her voice carrying a hint of wariness, ¡°It¡¯s been a thousand years, and I don¡¯t know if the curse and Divine Arts she set still exist...¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± At this moment, the silver-blue figure lightly coughed twice. Her voice held a hint of dissatisfaction, ¡°Lord Yiteo, you should remember our agreement from a thousand years ago, she has already fallen, and what Segis World currently needs is recuperation and rest...¡± ¡°With the current energy level of Segis World, it can¡¯t support our descent, and its Plane¡¯s source cannot withstand major disruptions.¡± ¡°As for her body... I¡¯ve said many times, her ties with the Segis Plane are too deep, and before the Segis Plane¡¯s source recovers, the gods can¡¯t take action against it, unless...¡± Her tone turned slightly mocking, ¡°Do you wish to see the Segis World collapse?¡± ¡°Humph!¡± The golden figure snorted coldly, saying nothing more. But moments later, she let out a soft exclamation, ¡°Huh? The magic power of Segis World has increased?¡± The silver-blue figure nodded, ¡°It has increased. It¡¯s been a thousand years, although faster than my prophecy, the Segis Plane has indeed reached the time of source recovery.¡± The golden figure remained silent for a moment, then looked again at the silver-blue figure, ¡°Lord Rigdar, I don¡¯t know what plans you ultimately have, but our agreement from a thousand years ago will not change.¡± After speaking, she stood up from her divine throne, her voice low and powerful, ¡°All existences that threaten the gods must be completely obliterated!¡± Then, she spoke once more to the bright gray figure, ¡°Lord Lord, please inform Uller to quickly locate the newborn True God and guide her into the Pantheon.¡± After speaking, her figure began to shine brilliantly, and then her entire form slowly disappeared. Meanwhile, the other two figures looked at each other and also returned. The Pantheon returned to tranquility once more. ... Heavenly Realm. In a small Divine Country about ten million square kilometers in size, countless prayers fervently prayed. At the center of the Divine Country stood a majestic snowy mountain, perpetually covered in snow, atop which was a silver temple. Inside the temple, a towering figure shrouded in Holy Light was toying with an exquisite divine bow. Suddenly, she felt a stirring in her heart and reached out her hand with a beckoning gesture. A silver ball of light flew into her hand, and upon touching it, an angry roar echoed throughout the temple, ¡°Uller! A True God has been born! This century, you are on duty in the Pantheon! Quickly locate the newborn True God and guide her into the Pantheon! Furthermore, for your dereliction of duty, your tenure will be extended by another century as punishment!¡± Uller: ... Taking a deep breath, she stood up from her divine throne, bowing slightly in a certain direction, ¡°I will obey the Main God¡¯s oracle.¡± Upon hearing her words, the silver ball of light seemed satisfied, disappearing slowly. Uller let out a sigh of relief, saying somewhat regretfully, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a True God to be born...¡± The Segis Universe hadn¡¯t seen a new True God in a thousand years, so she had relaxed on her duties, only to be caught off guard. Seemingly thinking of something, Uller looked toward the direction the light ball had come from, letting out a dissatisfied snort, ¡°Humph... If I possessed nature and life, would I still be sub-god?¡± As the youngest and most promising (self-proclaimed) newborn True God in thousands of years, she had always hoped to become independent, to have her own divine system, but sadly the Half-Beast clan was too weak, and her divine role too insignificant... ¡°I wonder how those believers are doing with their investigations. Somehow, there has been no news all this time...¡± Uller put down her divine bow, pacing impatiently within the temple. Suddenly, she felt a stirring in her heart, ¡°Hmm?¡± She stopped and lightly beckoned outside the temple. Soon, a frail half-beast soul floated over. It was an elderly half-beast, draped in sheepskin, a Priest. If Dema were present, he would recognize him as the unlucky one killed by a lunchbox stabbing. Uller narrowed her eyes and then placed her hand on the head of the Priest¡¯s soul. Instantly, scenes played out within the temple... They were the life experiences of the Priest. The Priest was different from other believers. Upon becoming a Priest, a sentient being effectively laid bare their soul to the True God. In such a case, once a wise being died, their memories would be protected by the True God¡¯s Divine Power, and their soul, upon ascending to the Divine Country, would still retain their memories from life. Moreover, the True God could also read their memories! This was the real reason Eve had to guard against Uller¡¯s Priests! As she read through the memories, Uller¡¯s expression shifted from anticipation to severity, then from severity to perplexity... Moments later, she withdrew her hand, muttering in bewilderment, ¡°Seven Dragon Balls? Mangekyo? Sharingan? Pirate King¡¯s treasure?¡± Chapter 86: The Enforcer of Silver Power Chapter 86: Chapter 86: The Enforcer of Silver Power ¡°`html The core area of the Elf Forest. A team of elves, wearing splendid armor and magic robes, lay in ambush in the jungle. Through the thick foliage, they watched a giant beast in the distance with vigilance. It was a demon beast of the sub-dragon species, covered entirely in scale armor, approximately four to five meters tall. It was hunched over, gnawing on a wild boar carcass, occasionally letting out low hissing sounds. ... This beast was known as the Forest Giant Lizard, rumored to possess a trace of green dragon blood, capable of spewing a highly corrosive venom mist, a bona fide Silver Lower Early Stage demon beast. Demacia, with a serious expression, looked at this Forest Giant Lizard and whispered to the young elf beside him, ¡°El, do you see that giant lizard?¡± El nodded, his expression focused like a good child paying attention in class, ¡°I see it, Brother Demacia.¡± At this moment, the young elf was quite different from before. He wore equally magnificent armor and held a gleaming short sword. Source: , updated on ??¦Í?0.§ã¦Ï That was the goddess¡¯s gift to him, a symbol of the Divine Favored. According to Demacia, this equipment was truly of legendary golden status, making all the Chosen Ones envious. Though El didn¡¯t quite understand what golden legend meant, he knew this equipment was incredibly precious. This made him even more grateful and reverent to the generous Mother Goddess. Looking at the earnest young elf, Demacia was quite satisfied. He cleared his throat and spoke with earnest words, ¡°El, though you¡¯ve significantly increased in strength, you still need training!¡± ¡°Just as the goddess said, for the Elf Clan to become strong again, it requires not just a sincere heart but also the cultivation of a fighting spirit!¡± ¡°The struggle among races is cruel, and unbounded mercy only puts oneself in danger...¡± ¡°Though you¡¯ve increased in strength, you still lack fighting experience. This demon beast has a Silver Lower rank, not only is it ugly, but it¡¯s also a cruel carnivore, absolutely heinous! Why don¡¯t we... ahem, it¡¯s just right for you to practice!¡± ¡°I know you¡¯ll still feel some reluctance, but there¡¯s no need to rush. We¡¯ll take it slow; just like before, you beat it half-dead, and we¡¯ll handle the rest.¡± Demacia¡¯s expression was gentle, guiding patiently. Hearing his words, El nodded obediently, ¡°Okay, Brother Demacia!¡± Though he had killed Half-Beast with his own hands, the innate kindness of the elves still made him reluctant to strike at these demon beasts. Thinking of this, El looked at Demacia with a bit of admiration, a warmth rising in his heart, *Brother Demacia took the risk to find these powerful demon beasts for my growth, and considering my psychological endurance, even allowed me to first knock the demon beast half-dead while they handled the rest...* *They¡¯re really great!* *I... must not let him down!* His expression gradually became determined. Taking a deep breath, El said, ¡°Brother Demacia, I¡¯m going.¡± Demacia nodded as well, ¡°Go ahead, be safe, the goddess will bless you.¡± He drew a symbol of Mother Nature on his chest, his expression solemn and devout. After saying this, he couldn¡¯t help but add, ¡°Just beat it half-dead!¡± El quickly approached the giant lizard and engaged in battle with it. The intensity of the Silver rank battle waves astonished the lurking players who watched in awe. Yet as the battle commenced, Demacia¡¯s serious expression immediately faltered. He smirked slightly, his eyes glowing as he looked at the distant giant lizard, ¡°Silver Lower... hehehe, taking this kill is probably worth several thousand experience points again.¡± Li Mu walked up beside him and gave him a helpless glance, ¡°You, taking advantage of kids¡¯ opportunities.¡± Hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, Demacia grinned, ¡°Brother Mu, El isn¡¯t a kid anymore; he¡¯s older than my great-grandfather!¡± Saying this, he rolled his eyes and chuckled, ¡°Besides, I did nothing wrong. He trained his combat skills, and we stepped in for some experience points; it¡¯s a win-win!¡± Li Mu rolled his eyes, ¡°You¡¯re just tempted by his Silver Lower Peak strength.¡± ¡°Hehe, a Silver hand, why not take advantage of it?¡± Demacia laughed. ¡°If El knew your true intentions, the little goodwill you have might just turn negative.¡± Li Mu shook his head. ¡°No worries, we¡¯ve been through the clink together! I¡¯ve told him many stories, too!¡± Demacia patted his chest proudly. After speaking, his expression turned somewhat mysterious as he leaned toward Li Mu¡¯s ear, ¡°Did you know? El¡¯s favorite story is ¡®Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,¡¯ although it¡¯s my emotionally revised tragedy version...¡± Li Mu: ... Seeing Li Mu not replying, Demacia chuckled awkwardly and changed the topic, ¡°Speaking of which, it seems like there are more demon beasts in the forest recently... weren¡¯t they all gone before?¡± Due to the players¡¯ hunting, the low-level demon beasts in the core area of the Elf Forest had long begun migrating on a large scale for their lives. But ever since the World Tree¡¯s resurgence, players were surprised to find these demon beasts gradually returning. Not only that... even some higher-level demon beasts began migrating to the core area. Li Mu looked at the surrounding jungles, which were lusher than before, and said uncertainly, ¡°It might be due to the resurgence of magic power; I¡¯m a Druid, and my perception of magic power in the forest is still strong. After the World Tree¡¯s resurgence, there¡¯s been a significant increase in magic power in the forest, especially in the core area.¡± ¡°These demon beasts might be migrating because of this. Not to mention them, even I feel like the effects of meditation have improved a lot recently.¡± The world of Segis was a fantastical place; areas rich in magic power were often abundant in resources as well. Especially here in the forest, representing plentiful natural magic power, it¡¯s no surprise the demon beasts were drawn to it. Hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, Demacia licked his lips, ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have more game to eat soon.¡± Li Mu: ... The battle quickly concluded. Moments later, El returned to the players¡¯ team, wiping the blood off his short sword, giving a slight nod to Demacia, ¡°Brother Demacia, I finished.¡± ¡°So fast?¡± Demacia blinked in surprise, then looked over at the giant lizard. At this moment, the giant lizard had already collapsed on the ground, barely clinging to life. Its body was covered in wounds, scales scattered everywhere, a pitiful sight, with only its legs twitching... Demacia: ... *Such a fierce old young man!* He gave a peculiar glance at the innocent-faced El, then chuckled awkwardly, ¡°Ahem... well, well, nicely done!¡± Afterward, he signaled to the other players with his eyes, and a group excitedly swung their weapons, rushing at the fallen giant lizard... Following closely behind NPCs meant good rewards! Watching the Chosen Ones excitedly rush toward the demon beast, El was no longer surprised. Once the players dealt with the demon beast and sacrificially offered materials like scales and beast bones to the goddess, they marched back to the Elf Town. And as soon as they returned to the town, a cuckoo bird found Li Mu and his group, ¡°Miss Alice has something for El.¡± The bird seemed quite excited, almost breaking her generally stern and aloof persona. ¡°What is it?¡± Li Mu asked curiously. ¡°It seems... members of the Elf Clan are returning!¡± ¡°` Chapter 87 - 87 Welcoming the Flame Tribe Chapter 87: Chapter 87 Welcoming the Flame Tribe ¡°`html After receiving Alice¡¯s summons, El and Demacia exchanged greetings with others and immediately returned to the Natural Temple. During this time, the Natural Temple had been expanded once again. Originally, there was only one main hall in the temple, but now several branch halls had been opened, allegedly to accommodate future priests. Players were always curious about what ¡°future priests¡± meant. After all... in the magic classes of the players, the priest role hadn¡¯t been unlocked. ... But now, everyone finally knew. Members of the Elf Clan were returning! In other words, Elf Forest was about to welcome a new batch of NPCs! And this... probably meant a new main storyline! Many players who received the news put down their work and rushed from all directions, adeptly eavesdropping on the temple¡¯s walls. Inside the Natural Temple. Alice was imparting the teachings of Mother Nature to two little elven girls. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï???.§ã? They were El¡¯s sisters, one named Lea Yue Guang, the other, Reya Moonlight. However, although they were called sisters, they actually had no blood relation to El. The birth rate of the Elf Clan was very low; usually, young elves of the same age were raised together and referred to each other as siblings. And the three of them, El, Lea, and Reya, were the last descendants of the Moonlight Tribe. Unlike El, who had already become a Divine Favored, Lea and Reya were younger, not even 60 years old, and were in the prime of learning knowledge. Alice hoped to train them to become the future Natural Priests. When El entered the temple, the two little girls, like sticky rice balls, were focused intently on Alice¡¯s lecture on the natural canon. When they saw El, their eyes lit up, and Alice also set down the heavy scriptures, smiling slightly at them, ¡°Let¡¯s stop here for today. You two may leave first. I have something to discuss with your brother El.¡± The two little girls cheered, stood up, bowed to Alice, and said sweetly, ¡°Okay, Teacher Alice!¡± Afterward, they pounced on El like butterflies, ¡°Brother El! Welcome back!¡± El smiled at them, gently patting their little heads, ¡°Don¡¯t play too wildly!¡± ¡°Also, don¡¯t always stick with the Chosen Ones, and don¡¯t listen to some of their twisted logic or eat things you shouldn¡¯t.¡± Alice added. Hearing Alice¡¯s words, the two little girls shrank their heads. They withdrew two sticks of wood that were about to peek out from their bosoms, swallowed a gulp, and chuckled at Alice. Then, they ran out of the temple like the wind... After they left, Alice looked at El and drew a tree-shaped symbol on her chest, ¡°May the Mother Goddess bless you, Lord El.¡± El returned the gesture respectfully, ¡°May the Mother Goddess bless you, Lord Alice.¡± Alice noted the bloodstains on El and her expression slightly stiffened, ¡°Did you... go hunting demon beasts with the Chosen Ones again?¡± El nodded, his expression solemn, ¡°Mercy won¡¯t save the Elf Clan. The honing of blade and blood is necessary!¡± Alice: ... She gave El a complicated glance and sighed, ¡°Oh well, maybe... your choice is a path as well.¡± The Mother Goddess had expressed tacit approval of the Chosen Ones¡¯ actions and even allowed El to mingle with them every day. This made Alice, as the Natural Saintess, begin to suspect, *Perhaps... the Mother Goddess truly wanted to change the nature of the Elf Clan.* *Having witnessed too much of the blood and tears of the Elf Clan and seeing Elf Town prosper under the efforts of the Chosen Ones, Alice found her original convictions gradually wavering.* *But no matter what, the Mother Goddess was always right!* *All she had to do was follow Her will, and she would surely witness the glory of the Elf Clan once more!* Thinking of this, Alice¡¯s faith became even more resolute. She took a deep breath, her expression gradually becoming devout and serious, and said to El, ¡°Lord El, the Mother Goddess has conveyed another oracle to me.¡± As she spoke, a glimmer appeared in her eyes, ¡°Our Elf Clan¡¯s Flame Tribe will soon return to Elf Forest!¡± ¡°The Flame Tribe? That¡¯s great!¡± El¡¯s eyes brightened. He had also heard from his grandfather that the Flame Tribe was a relatively populous tribe. Alice nodded, her expression serious, ¡°However, the Flame Tribe, being large in number, must cross the border between the Dark Mountain Range and Elf Forest to return. Based on the location of the Half-Beast outpost we previously destroyed, I suspect there¡¯s a Half-Beast Tribe in that area!¡± ¡°A Half-Beast Tribe...¡± El¡¯s expression gradually turned serious as well. ¡°So... for the safe return of the Flame Tribe, I hope you can go and assist them.¡± Alice said. Although Samir, the old priest, possessed silver-level power, a priest¡¯s combat ability was ultimately lacking, with more emphasis on support tasks. And the World Tree leaf he wielded could only perform one golden-level defensive divine art at most. To be safe, Alice still wished for El, who had become a combat-based Divine Favored, to make the journey. As for why not choose the Oak Guardian Berserker... Berserker¡¯s presence was too prominent and too unique; his appearance was almost an immediate announcement of the World Tree¡¯s revival. While priests and Divine Favored could at least disguise a bit in front of other True God¡¯s believers. Of course, this was also under Eve¡¯s direction. After touring the Pantheon, She believed that as long as the World Tree Divine Throne in the Pantheon was still damaged, even if natural believers appeared, the True Gods would at most suspect that someone inherited the World Tree¡¯s Natural God Position... Who would think of an otherworldly soul traveling into the World Tree to inherit it? According to Eve¡¯s speculation, the reason the World Tree attracted the siege of the gods was probably not because of the divine position but perhaps due to the World Tree itself, likely related to the power of ¡°Absorption.¡± Of course, the natural and life-related divine positions themselves belonged to advanced divine positions, alluring enough to some ordinary demigods and True Gods. If truly exposed, it could actually be a double-edged sword... it might attract some unfortunate targets. Eve, although possessing the power of ¡°Absorption,¡± found this ability had too many limitations. If She wished to rise rapidly, it was necessary to both strengthen the Elf Clan and rely on players¡¯ sacrificial war offerings to contribute vitally, while finding ways to consume some legendary creatures or demigod ¡°corpses¡±... If She could attract some unlucky targets through the divine position, it might be worthwhile! Eve had emerged from a near-death state and now had some confidence. In the region under Her control, She was the sovereign! ¡°Additionally, you can select some outstanding Chosen Ones to accompany you! The Chosen Ones are immortal entities with extensive combat experience and can become your powerful assistants!¡± Alice added. After Eve emerged from a near-death state, the area She controlled expanded threefold, and the range in which players could operate also expanded threefold. Reaching the border area of Elf Forest and the Dark Mountain Range was now achievable. After listening to Alice, El nodded, ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Then... I wish you a safe journey!¡± Alice bowed her head slightly, saluting El once more, and El respectfully returned the gesture, ¡°Rest assured, Lord Alice, I will ensure the Flame Clan returns home safely!¡± With that, he turned and left the temple. Chapter 88: The Moved El Chapter 88: Chapter 88: The Moved El ¡°`html El left the temple and walked into the town. The Elf Town was now larger in scale than before. This was due to the continuous construction by the players. Construction tasks had always been present and were the most common daily tasks in the ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± As the number of players increased, everyone¡¯s roles became more refined. ... *This wasn¡¯t something Eve intentionally did, but rather it was spontaneously organized by the players.* Humans were inherently social creatures with a strong group and division of labor consciousness. After adapting to the rhythm of the ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± this trend became increasingly apparent. In particular, the arrival of Second Test Players further supplemented the labor force, and a nascent order of division had subtly formed among the players. For example, in construction work, architectural design was almost entirely handled by the Elf Construction Team of the ¡°Mengmeng Committee¡± guild, marking them as well-off white-collars. The actual construction was done by some players who had mastered magic and special skills, considered to be gray-collar technicians. As for the less skilled Second Test Players... they could only choose to collect construction materials daily. It was the most arduous, the bottom-tier blue-collar work. Not only that, but the players¡¯ ingenious methods of making money were gradually emerging. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï???.§ã? The ¡°Mengmeng Committee¡± launched a free DIY real estate project. As long as you contributed enough, they could even build a splendid palace for you according to your dreams! Of course, to date, only the guild leader, Little Xian Miao, had achieved this. Her luxurious vacation manor, built in the southwest of Elf Town, was near completion... Meanwhile, the ¡°First Legion¡± guild started a task of taking Second Test Players under their wing. With money, you could team up with Black Iron level top players to farm monsters in the wild. They would beat the monsters within an inch of their lives, and you only needed to finish them off to gain experience... Moreover, some players focused on life skills began opening various shops in town, with food services being the most common. After all, most players still enjoyed wandering around the game. Although food was relatively easy to find in the Elf Forest, it still required time to gather. Seeing this, some players discovered a business opportunity and opened shops to sell berries directly. Moreover, players with good culinary skills ventured into the catering business, further processing collected ingredients and opening small restaurants with quite good business. Especially a few guys from the Northeast covertly running underground BBQ operations, unbeknownst to Alice... Additionally, some first-wave players went so far as to rent out their empty rooms, providing lodging for Second Test Players who couldn¡¯t afford to build houses and were unwilling to log off in the mortuary. This ingenious approach made Second Test Players exclaim, ¡°Why is the gap between people so wide even in the game?¡± It was just that realistic. Yet, despite this, the Second Test Players were still painfully joyful. Everyone diligently ground out tasks, accumulating experience and contribution points, striving to gain stronger power, better skills, and better equipment, like hardworking little bees... At times, Eve pondered whether, if everyone on Blue Star had a system that showed visible numbers, people would become just as hardworking? *In reality, everyone only lacked a visible goal and direction.* *As for players with stronger powers, the most rewarding, rich, and anticipated activity was none other than the storyline quests.* *Unlike other games, the storyline quests in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± were unique occurrences.* *The quests truly propelled the story¡¯s development, creating a strong sense of epicness and participation, easily fostering a sense of belonging and winning unanimous praise from the players.* *And the moment El left the temple, all players received a new system message.* [Main Quest: The Return of the Flame Tribe] [Quest Description: The Flame Tribe is an ancient branch of the Elf Clan. After enduring a millennium of hardships, they have finally chosen to return home... Now, it is time to welcome them!] [Quest Objective: Follow the Divine Favored El, protect each Flame Tribe elf, and guide them safely back home] [Quest Time Limit: Unlimited] [Quest Players: Unlimited] [Quest Level: 11+] [Quest Rewards: Experience Points, Perfect Resurrection, Contribution Points] Seeing the system message, players became excited once again. As soon as El emerged, he was immediately surrounded by players. ¡°El! Is there a new quest?¡± ¡°A mission to guide the tribe members back? Be sure to include me! I have tons of combat experience!¡± ¡°El, my dear! I just learned a new fire-based spell, and the power of the Fireball I¡¯ve conjured is enormous!¡± Every player encircled him, their eyes gleaming. Seeing those expectant eyes filled with enthusiasm and those lively, energetic smiles, El felt very moved. Thinking of his former tribe, his eyes grew a bit moist. *If... his tribe had such fearless, battle-ready warriors, would the tragedy have unfolded?* *These special tribe members called Chosen Ones by the Holy Daughter... were truly selfless, kind, and great!* El looked around, his eyes slightly red. He said excitedly, ¡°Yes, I am going to the edge of the Elf Forest to guide some tribe members home! I need some assistants...¡± After saying that, he paused, his expression serious, ¡°This time, we might encounter Half-Beasts. The risk is quite significant, so everyone must carefully consider.¡± Once confirmed, the players became even more excited, ¡°Risk? Risk is my middle name!¡± ¡°Heh! Risk and opportunity go hand in hand!¡± ¡°Lord El! Be sure to include me!¡± ¡°Finally, a quest! I¡¯ve barely made it to level 11, and I haven¡¯t done a storyline quest yet!¡± ¡°And me too! I¡¯m almost level 14!¡± Their expressions were excited, as if they were talking not about a dangerous action but an amusing game. Watching Chosen Ones eagerly signing up, El felt even more moved... ¡°No rush! No rush! We all go together! Together!¡± The righteous boy¡¯s chest was filled with courage. ... Rock Cave Tribe. The Giant Mountain Priest paced back and forth in the cave, seemingly in a bad mood. He glanced at the stone calendar he used for timekeeping, his face heavy with concern, ¡°It¡¯s been so many days, why is there still no news from Black Stone?¡± The deadline he had set for Black Stone¡¯s return had already passed, yet there was no sign of him. Black Stone had always been reliable, and such an occurrence was unusual for someone as cautious and punctual as him... Not only that, but the Half-Beast team dispatched by the Giant Mountain had also vanished without a trace, as if all contact had been lost. *All of this made the old priest increasingly anxious, and even a bit suspicious,* ¡°Could it be... that something really happened in the Elf Forest?¡± *He had entrusted Black Stone with a precious divine artifact for protection!* *By right, it should have been more than enough for Black Stone to sweep through the core area of the Elf Forest.* ¡°Surely they didn¡¯t really encounter some high-ranking presence?¡± The Giant Mountain was restless. As he hesitated about whether to send more people to investigate, a Half-Beast Scout entered the cave. ¡°Priest! Priest!¡± His voice was filled with excitement. The Giant Mountain frowned, somewhat irritatedly asking, ¡°What is it?¡± The Half-Beast saluted him, his voice filled with excitement, ¡°Our people discovered a large migration of elves nearby! It seems to be a tribe!¡± Chapter 89 - 89 Offerings of the Rock Cave Tribe Chapter 89: Chapter 89 Offerings of the Rock Cave Tribe ¡°The Elf Tribe?¡± Jushan was slightly taken aback, feeling quite surprised. The Rock Cave Tribe thrived on trading elves, and discovering a large number of elves near the tribe was undoubtedly a treasure delivered right to their doorstep. However, being of an older age, Jushan thought of more... He wasn¡¯t as excited as the Half-Beast who reported the news; instead, he was calm and puzzled, ¡°Elves... How could they appear here?¡± ... Currently, aside from those stubborn ones still believing in the return of the World Tree, there were hardly any elves left in the Elf Forest. Due to the presence of hunting teams, the elves were almost all uprooted, wandering and hiding all over the continent. And under these circumstances, how could there be so many elves appearing nearby? Migrating? Would they still migrate to the Elf Forest?! In Jushan¡¯s view, losing the Divine¡¯s protection and bearing the burden of the curse of downgrading, doing so was nothing short of seeking death for the elves. *Surely the elves wouldn¡¯t seek death, unless... there was a reason compelling them to migrate!* Jushan¡¯s eyes flashed, suddenly associating it with the investigative task about the Elf Forest issued by the Father God. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.?? In an instant, he felt his eyelid twitch, ¡°Could it be that the World Tree has revived?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but glance towards the direction of the Elf Forest, his expression turning solemn. But soon, he shook his head again, ¡°Impossible; if the World Tree revived, the Segis World would have been in turmoil by now.¡± Jushan turned around, looking towards the murals in the cave. The torch on the cave wall cast flickering shadows over his expression. As the only Half-Beast Priest from the Rock Cave Tribe to have undergone the sacred land¡¯s baptism in a thousand years, and one with the potential to ascend to Sainthood after death, he knew quite a bit about the secrets of the gods, ¡°If the World Tree had revived... the gods would have known long ago, and the Father God would have issued a divine oracle in advance!¡± Recalling once again the strange elf in the oracle and the disappearance of people like Black Stone, Jushan¡¯s expression gradually grew serious, ¡°However... there seems to truly be an unknown force protecting the Elf Clan! The elves¡¯ migration might also be related to this!¡± Considering the oracle and the disappearance of Black Stone and others, Jushan had a few guesses, *Perhaps... it really was the forces of the Death God causing havoc behind the scenes!* After all, though the Father God possessed only weak divine power, a powerful pantheon backed Him! The Father God¡¯s ambition for the divine duty of the World Tree was unyielding. Looking over the forces opposing the Father God and possibly coveting the divine duties of nature and life, it seemed as if only that one from the Netherworld remained... However, even if the Death God¡¯s forces were the ones causing trouble behind the scenes, as a Believer of the God of Winter and Hunting, and an enemy of the Elf Clan, Jushan couldn¡¯t simply let the Elf Clan pass! Moreover... Jushan¡¯s eyes flashed again, If things were indeed as he guessed, perhaps he could extract the secret of the Elf Forest from these elves! Even Black Stone, carrying a relic, had disappeared, and Jushan was starting to feel fearful. *He didn¡¯t want to send more people into the Elf Forest.* To him, the current Elf Forest was filled with danger! Thinking of this, Jushan turned around once more and gazed at a scout, ¡°How many of them are there?¡± The scout respectfully replied, ¡°Approximately over two hundred people, consisting of both young and old. Their strength is not formidable; most are Black Iron Lower, though some elders are Black Iron Upper.¡± After hearing the scout¡¯s report, Jushan nodded. For the Rock Cave Tribe, such strength was like food being delivered to their door. Of course, this didn¡¯t exclude the possibility of hidden strength within the Elf Tribe, but in Jushan¡¯s view, the probability was too small. If concerned, they could just allocate more manpower. If things went south, they could even request assistance from the tribe¡¯s esteemed individual. Once they captured these elves and uncovered the secret of their migration, they could turn around and sell them off. More than two hundred elves... Heh, if this deal succeeded, even if they abandoned their home in the Dark Mountain Range and migrated afar, the Rock Cave Tribe would still have confidence. *The Elf Forest must have undergone some changes; if too dangerous, Jushan might even consider moving the tribe!* Yet doing so might disappoint the Father God, so unless absolutely necessary, Jushan wouldn¡¯t choose to lead his tribe away... The truth would be revealed once they intercepted the elves. Thinking of this, Jushan¡¯s eyes flashed once more. He turned his head towards another Half-Beast Priest who served nearby, ¡°How much longer until the human caravan arrives?¡± The questioned Half-Beast Priest replied, ¡°According to usual timeframes, it should be another half a month to a month.¡± Jushan pondered for a moment and said, ¡°First, send people to monitor those elves. Also... mobilize the tribe¡¯s young and strong; we¡¯ll circle ahead of them and prepare an ambush!¡± After speaking, he hesitated, then gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Additionally, to be safe, prepare meat for 100 people and deliver it to the mine at the back of the tribe¡¯s mountain.¡± Upon hearing Jushan¡¯s words, the scout had a change of expression, as if he realized something. ¡°Hurry up,¡± Jushan said, frowning. The Half-Beast tucked his neck in, nodded, and quickly retreated. ... Atop the back mountain of the Rock Cave Tribe. Here lay a series of abandoned mines, left from centuries ago by the dwarves. Additionally, there was a ruined ancient castle. It belonged to the old dwarf civilization, but as the veins of ore were exhausted, it gradually became history. Surrounding the ancient castle, no other plants or animals could be seen, not even a single bird, making it extremely desolate. The Half-Beast Priest, Jushan, led a team of Half-Beasts pushing wheelbarrows, arriving outside the castle. All the Half-Beasts looked in the castle¡¯s direction with fear, and some even trembled with their legs. Seeing his tribesmen¡¯s cowardice, Jushan frowned and assured them, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid... Lord Mairrel may look terrifying, but she is very friendly.¡± After saying this, he painfully glanced at the wheelbarrows loaded with meat, took a deep breath, and loudly announced in the direction of the castle, ¡°Jushan of the Rock Cave Tribe, bringing meat for a hundred people, pays respects to Lord Mairrel!¡± His voice, amplified by Divine Arts, spread far and wide... Yet moments later, there was no response. Jushan thought for a moment, then shouted again, ¡°Lord Mairrel, these meats belong to vicious and malevolent carnivorous animals. Eating them upholds justice! Furthermore... I¡¯ve come to seek your assistance with confronting other hypocritical and malevolent barbaric intelligent races! Assisting them onto the path of order and civilization!¡± This time, his voice carried even further. Gradually, the earth began to shake... Accompanied by a resonant dragon¡¯s roar, a massive shadow enveloped all the Half-Beasts. ¡°Confront malevolent races?¡± An interested voice echoed above everyone. ¡°Ruaaaaa¡ª! Lead me to them!¡± Chapter 90: For the Tribe! Chapter 90: Chapter 90: For the Tribe! ¡°`html The southeastern junction of the Elf Forest and the Dark Mountain Range. An elder in a hood looked at the lush forest in the distance and breathed a slight sigh of relief, ¡°We¡¯ve finally arrived.¡± He turned back and looked at the over two hundred clansmen behind him, who carried their families, bundles, and luggage, also concealing their appearances with long-cloaked hoods. He smiled, ¡°We¡¯re going home.¡± ... The elder was none other than Samir Wind, the Silver Lower (Level 41) Natural Priest sent by Eve. Accompanying him were the clansmen of the Flame Tribe from the Elf Clan. They had been traveling through the Dark Mountain Range for over a month, and now they were finally about to emerge from the perilous foothills. Upon hearing Samir¡¯s words, the elves let out a cheer. However, Samir¡¯s expression quickly turned serious, ¡°But we cannot let our guard down. If I remember correctly, a powerful tribe of Half-Beastmen exists nearby. Our target of over two hundred is still too large. Next, we cannot rest. We must proceed at full speed to the Elf Forest!¡± Elves are nature¡¯s favorites. Once they entered the forest, they¡¯d be like fish in water. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í¨À?.§ã¦Ï Though the target of over two hundred was significant, it was still more concealed and secure than being in the bare Dark Mountain Range! Philosier Flame, the Clan Leader of the Flame Tribe beside him, also nodded, ¡°Indeed, the Half-Beastmen¡¯s Rock Cavern Tribe settles nearby. They¡¯ve always prided themselves on hunting elves and are considered old adversaries of our Flame Tribe.¡± Upon saying this, she almost gritted her teeth. But she was powerless. For a thousand years, the Elf Clan had lost the protection of the True God and bore the shackles of a demotion curse, greatly reducing their strength. The elves not only lost all mid- and high-level priests, but the birth of mages also became extremely difficult. They only mastered some instinctive Zero Ring Magic spells, which were not enough to match the Half-Beastmen backed by the Divine... If there were any other path from the Dark Mountain Range to the Elf Forest, Philosier wouldn¡¯t want to take the risk. However... things were different now. The return of the Mother Goddess had been confirmed, and the shackles on the clansmen had been lifted. Although their strength was still weak, they had gained a measure of confidence. ¡°If we really encounter them, I¡¯ll sacrifice my old life to let the youngsters in the tribe return!¡± Philosier¡¯s expression was resolute! As long as the tribe could return to the Elf Forest, she was willing to give everything, even her life! Philosier believed that under the protection of the True God, the clan would surely grow strong again! Upon hearing Philosier¡¯s words, Samir¡¯s expression became solemn, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Philosier. I will also fully assist everyone. Not only that, but Her Excellency the Mother Goddess must also be watching over our actions. She will surely protect us!¡± After speaking, he suddenly thought of something and turned to look at the other elves, ¡°From now on, until we reach the core area, everyone must temporarily cease daily prayers.¡± Seeing the clansmen¡¯s puzzled expressions, Samir explained, ¡°The resurrection of the Mother Goddess remains a secret. We are currently in the phase of regrouping the clansmen and accumulating our foundation. During this period, we cannot expose the return of Her Excellency the Mother Goddess! This concerns the future of the Elf Clan!¡± After Samir¡¯s explanation, the elves all nodded. Many Old Elves, who instinctively wanted to draw tree-shaped symbols on their chests, immediately stopped their actions. Seeing the clansmen¡¯s cooperation, Samir was very satisfied. He exchanged a glance with Philosier, nodded to each other, and gave the order, ¡°Everyone, remain silent. We move at full speed!¡± Over two hundred elves stiffened their expressions. They silently shouldered their packs and quietly quickened their pace... Along the way, Samir remained unprecedentedly vigilant. He clutched the world tree leaf bestowed by Eve in his hand, ready to activate it at any moment. However, this time, luck seemed to favor the Elf Clan once more. When they returned to the Elf Forest, there was no sign of the Half-Beastmen. Samir finally breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat off his forehead from the arduous journey and cast a [Whisper of Nature] on the plants of the Elf Forest. He was not only a priest; he was also a druid. This was a new druid skill he learned after ascending to silver under the Divine Favor. But as soon as he cast [Whisper of Nature], his expression changed slightly, ¡°Not good!¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Philosier saw his expression and her heart tightened. Samir¡¯s expression was grave, ¡°Nature tells me that not long ago... a large number of Half-Beastmen entered the Elf Forest!¡± Philosier¡¯s face changed as well. She frowned for a moment, then sighed, ¡°It¡¯s probably... our whereabouts have been exposed.¡± The movement of over two hundred was extremely conspicuous, so exposure was likely. While the elves disguised their appearance, they couldn¡¯t hide their aura or certain gestures and behaviors. They might fool others, but it would be hard to deceive Half-Beastmen with rich experience in hunting elves. Samir¡¯s voice was filled with gravity, ¡°The Half-Beastmen are immensely cunning and evil. We must be prepared for a battle.¡± Philosier and the other elves gradually showed determination after hearing his words. They removed their hoods and drew out their Elf Short Swords and bows, ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s been years since I used this bow. I wonder if my archery has declined.¡± ¡°In my youth, I was an excellent Elf Knight until... though I¡¯m old now, I can still wield a sword.¡± ¡°Having made it here, there¡¯s no turning back. For the future of the Elf Clan and the hope of the Flame Tribe, let¡¯s fight if we must!¡± Seeing the elves¡¯ resolve, Samir¡¯s expression was complex. He sighed and said, ¡°Next, I will try to lead everyone on a detour. If we can avoid them, we will. But if it comes to combat... the elders should lead, followed by the strong youth, while everyone protects the children in the breakout!¡± The elves listened and nodded in agreement. The elder elves were the strongest but had lost the ability to bear children. The strong youths had already taken on the legacy, but they still lacked some experience. As for the children... they were the future of the Elf Clan and must be protected! In an instant, the morale of the elves reached a peak. Under Samir¡¯s guidance, they entered the Elf Forest. But this time, it seemed the Half-Beastmen had long prepared for an encirclement. Samir had done his best to avoid the Half-Beastmen¡¯s ambush, but shortly after entering the Elf Forest, they still ran into scattered Half-Beast Scouts! The Half-Beastmen¡¯s expressions lit up upon seeing the elves. Instead of attacking, they reached into their coats and pulled out a horn, blowing loudly, ¡°Woo¡ª¡± The piercing horn sound spread out like a signal. ¡°It¡¯s the Half-Beastmen¡¯s rallying horn!¡± Samir¡¯s face turned pale. Half-Beastmen only used this horn when deploying a large force! And a large force of Half-Beastmen involved at least three hundred, all of whom were valiant warriors! Moreover, the Half-Beast Priests would accompany them. This was no longer a force that the weakened Flame Tribe could resist. Samir gritted his teeth and shouted, ¡°Drop those heavy bags, everyone. Only take up your weapons and break through!¡± ¡°` Chapter 91: The Dragons Interception Chapter 91: Chapter 91: The Dragon¡¯s Interception ¡°`html Upon hearing Samir¡¯s words, the Flame Tribe members hesitated for a moment. A trembling old Elf reluctantly touched the bag in his hand, lifting a corner to reveal several thick, ornate, ancient books. His voice was full of bitterness, ¡°These... these are the paper books we risked our lives to bring out from the Elf Forest years ago. They are the millennium heritage of the Elf Clan. If we leave them behind, then the Elves...¡± Samir looked at him with a complicated expression and sighed, ... ¡°The Mother Goddess has returned; civilization can continue. But if the Elves die, then there will be nothing left.¡± Philosier touched the thick genealogical record of the Flame Tribe she carried, a muddled tear gleamed at the corner of her eye. ¡°Alas...¡± She sighed, and under the disbelieving gazes of the old Elves, she resolutely threw that heavy genealogical book, which had recorded the history and glory of the Flame Tribe for thousands of years, to the ground... ¡°Cl...Clan Leader!¡± Several old Elves gasped in shock. Philosier glanced at them and released the aura of the Black Iron Upper from her body... Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã¦Ï In an instant, all the old Elves fell silent, looking at her with pleading eyes. Philosier avoided their gaze, her voice as cold and hard as iron, carrying an undeniable authority, ¡°History is written by civilizations, and the vessel of the Silver Civilization will always be the Elves themselves. If we can¡¯t even protect ourselves, then these books... are better left!¡± ¡°Look at the children in the tribe! We still have a future; we still have hope! We have lived a life of wandering and hardship; we cannot let them live the same life!¡± Having said that, she loudly ordered with her aged voice, ¡°Everyone, drop the heavy loads and food supplies. Take only weapons and protect the children; break through at full speed!¡± Seeing their revered old Clan Leader act like this, the Elves hesitated for a moment, then steeled themselves and threw down their luggage. For a moment, some sobs broke out in the crowd. The old Elves, with red eyes, drew their weapons, glancing mournfully at the items on the ground, and followed with a roar, ¡°Break through! We break through!¡± Countless magical glows radiated from their bodies. These old Elves, having lived until now, although aged, were once the mightiest warriors of the Elf Clan! *Watching the tribespeople transform their grief into strength, for a moment, Philosier felt a bit dazed.* *She felt as if she was back in those days of leading the Elf Army, desperately breaking through from the Elf Forest under the siege of the human, Beastman, and Half-dragon allianc...* Taking a deep breath, she raised her flame staff, which had been passed down for a thousand years, ¡°Friends, let us go! Let us go home!¡± A dazzling magic power glow erupted from her staff, causing the plants ahead to part and create a path automatically. Three-ring spell, ¡°Jungle Command.¡± The more than two hundred Elves reformed their ranks, with all the aged old Elves moving to the outer edge, Elf Warriors and Elf Wanderers leading the charge, and mages, Druids, and Elf Archers forming the rear guard. Meanwhile, the young and strong carried the young elves and were protected in the middle of the formation. ¡°Charge!¡± They shouted in unison, charging down the path opened by the Clan Leader. And after they had passed, the plants closed again, hiding the original path. ¡°Not good! Those Elves are attempting to break out!¡± In the distance, the Half-Beast Scout, who had been persistently watching them, saw them leave, quickly blowing the horn again. Hidden within the Elf Forest, the Half-Beast squad also started to move under the horn¡¯s signal. ¡°The Scouts are sending messages, take them out!¡± Hearing the horn of the Scouts, Samir¡¯s expression changed, shouting to the Elf Hunters in the group. A few Elf Hunters hesitated, instinctively aiming at their opponent¡¯s limbs. At that moment, an old Elf snatched a bow, aimed at the Half-Beast Scout, and fired... In a flash, the arrow pierced the throat of the Half-Beast. Afterward, the old Elf looked at the Hunters, eyes red, and said, ¡°In such times, show no mercy! Remember how they have treated us over the years! Is your accurate archery just for target practice?!¡± ¡°Even if the killing leads us to hell in death, we must carve a path for the Flame Tribe!¡± Hearing his words, a flash of shame crossed the faces of the Elf Hunters. But soon, their expressions turned resolute, each raising their bow and arrow. Meanwhile, the main Half-Beast force, guided by the horn, finally intercepted the Elves of the Flame Tribe. Nearly a hundred fully armed Half-Beasts emerged from the forest, their bodies shimmering with Divine Power under the Priest¡¯s Divine Arts, blocking the Elves¡¯ path. And at the same time, more Half-Beasts were rushing from further within the forest. ¡°Leave no old Elves behind, capture all females and young Elves alive!¡± In the Half-Beast squad, the leading Priest shouted loudly. ¡°Hmph!¡± Samir snorted coldly, an immense Magic Power gathering within him. Having received Eve¡¯s Divine Favor, he had become a Level 41 Silver Lower Natural Priest. Yet, in truth, he possessed another class¡ª Druid. As he advanced in the Natural Priest profession, his Druid profession also received feedback, equally advancing to Silver Lower! This was the true reason Eve chose him to find the elves! To protect the secret of the Mother Goddess, Samir intended not to use Divine Arts lightly, but he could employ the magic unique to Druids. And with the undulating incantations, countless thick vines burst from the soil, entwining the approaching Half-Beasts. ¡°Mid-level Druid!¡± Among the Half-Beasts, a Priest shrieked, causing the entire squad¡¯s momentum to stall. Mid-level... that already represented the rank of Silver. In the entire Rock Cave Tribe, only the High Priest possessed that strength! In an instant, the Half-Beasts were somewhat disorganized. The old Elves at the front of the formation were invigorated, drawing their weapons and seizing the chance to hack down the unfortunate Half-Beasts. However, upon closer inspection, one would find that the Elves did not pursue the Half-Beasts to extermination; once they lost the ability to fight, they were not pursued further... *Mercy...* *It was the glory of the Elf Clan and also its sorrow.* Samir¡¯s magic was like a disruptive weight cast into the scales of war. The potent control magic was unleashed, and almost instantly, the Half-Beasts¡¯ combat capability was diminished. Facing the desperate Elves, the melee-inclined opponents suddenly collapsed. However, even with Silver-level strength, Samir could not control all the Half-Beasts. Many Half-Beasts still managed to break through, clashing with the Elves. And once the battle was joined, the disparity became evident. The old Elves, ultimately being advanced in age, while most of the Half-Beasts were in their prime. They naturally had the upper hand in physique and stamina, and with orders for the complete elimination of the old Elves, within mere moments, several old Elves had fallen. Seeing her fallen people, Philosier¡¯s eyes turned red. *Every old Elf who survived to this point was her comrade.* And every old Elf, having experienced the passage of time, possessed countless knowledge... *In peaceful times, each elder would be the most precious treasure of the tribe.* *But now, they had to fight desperately for the future of the tribe.* Philosier closed her eyes, then reopened them fiercely. She turned her sorrow into strength, continuously casting Magic Shields on the tribespeople at the front, while she roared, ¡°Kill! We break through!¡± The old Elves¡¯ sacrifice was not in vain; they also exhausted the Half-Beasts¡¯ strength. Fighting desperately, they indeed tore open a path through the encirclement! Seeing the forest ahead, Samir¡¯s eyes lit up, shouting, ¡°We¡¯re about to break through! Everyone, push harder, disengage quickly, do not entangle with the Half-Beasts!¡± After speaking, he glanced at the injured old tribespeople in the lineup, gritting his teeth, ¡°Elders and the wounded... stay behind to cover!¡± After speaking, he said to Philosier, ¡°Philosier, lead the tribespeople in breaking through, and I will also stay to assist in covering!¡± Philosier¡¯s eyes narrowed, wanting to say something, but seeing Samir¡¯s determined gaze, she ultimately nodded, ¡°You... must catch up.¡± After speaking, she raised the staff and shouted again, ¡°Break through!¡± Then she led the remaining tribespeople onward. The Priest hidden within the Half-Beast squad¡¯s face changed, ¡°Not good! They¡¯re about to break through! Quick! Quickly summon Lord Mairrel! We can¡¯t let them break through!¡± An accompanying Half-Beast received the instruction, quickly pulling out a horn and blowing it to the sky, ¡°Oooo¡ª¡± The horn¡¯s sound was incredibly loud, reaching far into the distance... And soon, countless birds flew out of the forest, as if startled by something, scattering widely. ¡°Rua¡ª¡± An excited screech echoed from the sky. ¡°What sound is that?¡± The Elves immediately became highly alert. However, before they could look up, an overwhelming pressure descended upon the scene. Everyone, including the Half-Beasts, involuntarily shivered for a moment. A massive shadow enveloped the Elves who had broken through. Philosier slowly raised her head. She saw an intimidating gargantuan creature! With a sinister appearance, jet-black scales, a skull-like head, and those distinctive spines and horns atop it... In that instant, her pupils shrank dramatically, and she couldn¡¯t help but cry out, ¡°A black... Black Dragon!¡± Black Dragon! Among all the dragons in the Segis World¡ª The most violent, vile, evil, ferocious, and also the most infamous existence! ¡°` Chapter 92: Reinforcements! Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Reinforcements! ¡°`html In the Segis World, intelligent beings are classified by their natural power as they reach adulthood into ordinary races, Black Iron Race, Silver Race, and Gold Race. And dragons, with a history as ancient as the Segis World itself, are undoubtedly the elites of the Gold Race, almost invincible among their level! Moreover, as a race with a longer lifespan than even the elves, when dragons live long enough, their power can break past worldly limits, reaching legendary or even demigod status! The oldest dragons have strength that even the True God would fear. Similar to certain fantasy stories on Blue Star, the dragons of the Segis World are divided into two camps: metallic dragons and colored dragons. ... Unlike the kind and peaceful metallic dragons, all colored dragons inherently possess an evil and bloodthirsty nature, with Black Dragons standing out for their cruel disposition. Therefore, when Philosier saw the ferocious Black Dragon in the sky, she felt something was wrong. It was a Black Dragon with a wingspan of nearly twenty meters, still young, but its dragon presence was gradually emerging. Silver Upper! This was a juvenile Black Dragon with Silver Upper-level power! ¡°Black Dragon?¡± Upon hearing Philosier¡¯s exclamation, the young Black Dragon¡¯s expression immediately turned dangerous. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã? It roared ¡°Rua~¡± with bared fangs, angrily shouting, ¡°Black Dragon, Black Dragon! You¡¯re a Black Dragon! Your entire family are Black Dragons! The great Lord Mairrel is not a Black Dragon! She is a noble and exalted Silver Dragon!¡± ¡°Ruaaa¡ª¡ª! Evil intelligent beings! You will face the righteous judgment of Lord Mairrel!¡± Half-Beast: ... Elf: ... Silver... Silver Dragon? Listening to the crisp and angry common tongue, everyone was stunned. Looking again at the ferocious black scales, the horns, and skeletal face mask unique to Black Dragons, the elves were momentarily bewildered. *Is this Black Dragon a bit out of its mind?* *However, now is not the time to question if this dragon has some issues.* Because as it roared, the attacking Dragon Breath came rushing towards them. It was a line-shaped strong acid breath belonging to Black Dragons, extremely corrosive. Samir¡¯s face changed dramatically, and he hurriedly summoned a wooden shield for defense. But the Silver-level wooden shield was like paper under the Black Dragon¡¯s breath, instantly corroded with a large hole. Acid splattered, and several young elves in its path were seriously injured instantly! A distant Half-Beast Priest saw this and quickly shouted, ¡°Lord Mairrel, please don¡¯t be too heavy-handed! Capture them alive! You must capture them alive! Just prevent their escape!¡± Upon hearing the Half-Beast¡¯s shout, the Black Dragon turned its head, looking at them with dissatisfaction, ¡°You are too merciful! To fight evil, you must impose the harshest punishment!¡± Half-Beast: ... Elf: ... Although the Black Dragon said this, it no longer spewed Dragon Breath but instead roared ¡°Rua, Rua¡± while flapping its wings and using diving and biting motions to prevent the elves from leaving. A non-standard evil Black Dragon obeying the Half-Beasts¡¯ command! The elves¡¯ expressions changed. And as the young Black Dragon blocked the elves, the main force of the Half-Beasts finally arrived. More than two hundred Half-Beasts swarmed from all directions, trapping the elves who were about to escape the battlefield once more! Samir¡¯s expression shifted several times. Then, he grit his teeth and roared at the dragon in the sky, ¡°Evil dragon, your opponent... is me!¡± After speaking, he charged out of the elves¡¯ group and took a few steps to the Black Dragon below. Reaching out, he pulled out a golden leaf! Samir lifted the leaf reverently, muttering incantations, and in an instant, the leaf in his hand burst with brilliant Divine Power glow! ¡°World Tree leaf! Could there still be such a thing in the Elf Clan?¡± The Half-Beast Priest immediately recognized the origin of the leaf. His face changed as he shouted skyward, ¡°No, Lord Mairrel, quickly dodge!¡± However, it was already too late. Only to see the World Tree leaf turn to ash in a moment, and dazzling Holy Light formed a prison, enveloping the Black Dragon! [Light Prison] A Gold-level controlling Divine Art! This was a Divine Art that could serve as both defense and a prison. The young Black Dragon Mairrel let out an angry roar and rushed against the prison. However, under its impact, the prison only slightly shook. Unwilling, it breathed again, but the Light Prison merely flickered, still trapping it firmly. Below, Samir struggled to maintain the Divine Art while continuously coughing up blood. Controlling a high-level Divine Art was still too much for him at this point. This was not a one-time attack Divine Art but required prolonged control by the caster. Although the Black Dragon could not break free for the time being, each collision caused Samir, whose mind was connected to the Light Prison, to suffer some damage as well. ¡°Rua! Evil bastard! Let go of the great Lord Mairrel! Otherwise, Lord Mairrel will surely eat you!¡± Within the prison came the irate roars of the Black Dragon. Samir ignored the furious Black Dragon and instead looked towards the elven group, shouting while coughing blood, ¡°Break through! While I can still control it, everyone break through! Whoever can get out, get out!¡± However, the elves at that moment had already entered the quagmire of battle. The encirclement by the Half-Beasts had completely closed, and without Samir¡¯s magic support, the elves could only hold together, struggling to fend off the Half-Beasts¡¯ assault. With the continuous depletion of Magic Power and gradual decrease in physical strength, their defeat was only a matter of time. Not to mention... the Black Dragon¡¯s collisions against the prison were becoming increasingly fierce, and breaking out of the cage was just a matter of time. The elves had lost their best chance to break through the moment the Black Dragon appeared. Looking at the besieged elves, the Half-Beast Priest was extremely excited, ¡°Fight slowly, they can¡¯t last longer than us! Capture all the women and children alive, and the High Priest will reward heavily!¡± Upon hearing the Priest¡¯s words, the Half-Beasts became even more enthusiastic. And the elves¡¯ casualties continued to rise. Elderly elves kept falling, and even the younger elves joined the fight in their place. Seeing her people gradually decrease, Philosier was wracked with pain, ¡°Could this be the end?¡± But the morale of the Half-Beasts grew stronger and stronger. Because they had already noticed that the elves were a spent force. ¡°No... We must find a way to break through, even if... only one of us can escape!¡± Philosier bit her lip, preparing to burn her Magic Power and vitality, sacrificing herself to find a breakthrough opportunity for her people. Yet just as she was about to activate her Magic Power, a commotion erupted behind the Half-Beasts. In the air, faint magic fluctuations arrived from afar, accompanied by violent explosions and distant shouting. Philosier paused her movements. She quickly raised her head, looking towards the depths of the forest. The rear of the Half-Beast force began to become chaotic, and shouts grew ever more distinct, ¡°Kill! The Flame Clan is surrounded!¡± ¡°Hurry up! Time is life! Don¡¯t let a single NPC fall!¡± ¡°For the honor of the El... Elf Clan, charge!¡± ¡°Take down the Half-Beasts!¡± ¡¸Ura¡ª¡ª!!!¡¹ With enthusiasm and frenzy in the shouting, Philosier saw hundreds of young elves appear in her line of sight! ¡°` Chapter 93 - 93 Dont Go to Your Deaths! Chapter 93: Chapter 93 Don¡¯t Go to Your Deaths! ¡°`html Those were hundreds of fully-armed elves! They had various styles, most of them clad in magnificent armor, yet they were all young elves. They wielded all sorts of weapons, their faces twisted in a frenzy, looking at the Half-Beasts as if they were their mortal enemies, ¡°This is too awful! How can we start fighting so quickly? I haven¡¯t even eaten yet!¡± This voice carried dissatisfaction. ... ¡°Another NPC has fallen!¡± This voice carried astonishment. ¡°Damn it! Everyone, charge quickly! Rescue them!¡± This voice carried urgency. ¡°What¡¯s that in the sky? Is it a dragon?¡± This voice carried surprise and curiosity. ¡°So cool! Screenshot, screenshot!¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.§ã¦Ï This voice carried excitement. ¡°Screenshot my ass! That¡¯s the enemy! Get in there and protect the NPCs! They¡¯re all experience and contribution points!¡± This voice... seemed to be so pained they couldn¡¯t breathe. ¡°Yes! Fight your way in! Protect the NPCs!¡± ¡°Ura¡ª!¡± Their voices were filled with madness. The strange elves brought for reinforcements gazed from afar at the falling Flame Clan members, their expressions angry and agitated, like dragons whose reverse scales had been touched. They... were the players who had come rushing! After previously encircling the Half-Beast Hunting Team, and given all those hardcore players from the second beta test, the number of players reaching Black Iron level had already approached four hundred, and this time they went all out! After all, in terms of experience, the rewards for all the main storyline tasks were incredibly rich! Listening to their shouts, feeling the genuine concern in their words, the Flame Tribe elves¡¯ eyes reddened. ¡°Elves! It¡¯s the elves! Our clan has come to help us!¡± An old elf choked out. In an instant, the morale of the Flame Tribe was newly invigorated! And the Half-Beast¡¯s formation was a bit bewildered by this sudden assault. ¡°Where did so many elves come from suddenly?!¡± The Half-Beast Priest¡¯s scalp tingled as he looked at the hundreds of tall figures and magnificent equipment behind them. The Giant Mountain Priest had not revealed Black Stone¡¯s secret operation, and Uller¡¯s oracle had not been announced, so the ordinary priests and Half-Beasts did not yet know the changes in the Elf Forest... These few hundred elves popping up suddenly had genuinely frightened them. While Philosier¡¯s eyes lit up, she raised her magic wand and commanded, ¡°Reinforcements have arrived! Everyone work together, let¡¯s break through!¡± However, when the strange elves engaged them, the Half-Beasts were dumbfounded. Because they discovered these elves¡¯ strength was pathetically weak, at most mid-level Black Iron Lower, and their combat experience was very poor. Just one exchange, and several elves were cut down like vegetables. ¡°So... so weak!¡± The Half-Beasts looked at the elves knocked down with just one blow, dumbfounded. The Priest¡¯s eyes brightened, shouting, ¡°This is a bunch of rookies! Capture these young elves!¡± But the Flame Clan, watching the young elves starting to fall, showed expressions of guilt and sadness. The few dozens of old elves remaining exchanged glances and nodded in succession. Their aura changed, and they began to fight desperately without fear of injury! ¡°Our clan members are creating opportunities for us with their blood and lives. We must break through!¡± They shouted as they charged into the Half-Beasts for slaughter. And watching these dozens of old elves fighting as if abandoning their lives, the players¡¯ eyes reddened. ¡°Damn! Don¡¯t, grandma, grandpa!¡± ¡°Experience points! It¡¯s all experience points and contribution! My heart aches!¡± ¡°Charge! Go help them!¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Lord El! Where is Lord El! Requesting support!¡± They shouted, fought, and also went all out. And as they clashed again, gradually, the Half-Beasts were filled with shock. Because although these charging elves were weak, they were fearless of death. They did everything they could to harm the Half-Beasts, even launching suicide attacks! Moreover, they seemed not to care about their injuries at all; even with their last breath, they wanted to bite off a piece of flesh from the Half-Beasts... Many Half-Beasts were suddenly hugged by these crazed elves, and upon their shout of ¡°Fire on me!¡± they were engulfed by other elves¡¯ magic... ¡°They¡¯ve gone crazy! These elves have gone crazy!¡± The Half-Beast Priest was utterly stunned looking at these elves who didn¡¯t care for even their companion¡¯s lives. The Flame Tribe was also stunned. Philosier looked at the young elves charging suicidally, filled with heartache, moved, and confusion. She shouted, ¡°Children! Don¡¯t throw your lives away!¡± However, these elves who came to their aid did not stop, and casualties rapidly mounted. In less than ten minutes, dozens had died. For a time, the Flame Tribe¡¯s eyes also reddened. In all these years, they had never seen the Elf Clan suffer such heavy losses in such a short time! Moreover... they were all young lives! ¡°Children, don¡¯t throw your lives away!¡± ¡°Kill them! Break through!¡± ¡°Evil Half-Beasts! I will fight you with my life!¡± All the Flame Clan became furious and began fighting desperately. Young lives... they were the future of the Elf Clan! And seeing the Flame Clan start fighting for their lives, the players¡¯ eyes reddened even more. ¡°Damn! Grandma, grandpa, big brother, big sister! Don¡¯t throw your lives away!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us! We won¡¯t die!¡± ¡°Another one died, oh my God! My heart aches so much!¡± ¡°Kill them quickly! One for one! Sacrifice to handle these Half-Beasts!¡± They fought with increased aggression. ¡°They¡¯ve gone mad! All these elves have gone mad!¡± The Half-Beast Priest was utterly stunned looking at the elves who no longer feared for their lives. And at this moment, a thin figure suddenly dashed out from the crowd. It was a short elf youth, with silver hair and blue eyes, his young face carrying some resilience and anger. He wielded an Elf Short Sword, weaving through the Half-Beasts. Every Half-Beast he engaged with was quickly disarmed and severely injured. The players¡¯ morale soared instantly, ¡°Lord El has come to support us!¡± ¡°Nice going, El!¡± They immediately followed El¡¯s actions, ganging up on the Half-Beasts he had severely injured. In no time the Half-Beasts¡¯ casualties rapidly increased, and their morale plummeted! ¡°Silver! Another Silver!¡± Looking at El weaving through, the Half-Beast Priest¡¯s expression was terrified. It was chaos. It was complete chaos. If the players¡¯ arrival could still make the Half-Beasts hold on, then El at silver-level strength became the tipping point that overturned the balance! The Half-Beast formation finally began to collapse! The players charging at the forefront finally connected with the Flame Clan members. ¡°Brave children!¡± Looking at the players rushing up, Philosier¡¯s expression was agitated. She waved her magic wand, preparing to continue fighting. But a player suddenly charged forward, blocking her. There was a ¡°squelch¡± sound, and hot blood splattered over her. A Half-Beast¡¯s longsword stabbed into that player¡¯s chest. In an instant, Philosier was stunned. She hurriedly held the young clansman coughing up blood, her eyes tearful, ¡°Why... why...¡± And the player, while spewing blood, smiled at her, a solemn expression, ¡°The Goddess... said... not to let you... get hurt, we... won¡¯t let you... get hurt...¡± ¡°But...¡± Philosier¡¯s expression was sorrowful, ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t block... I could have blocked him...¡± Player:... ¡°Cough, cough...¡± He coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, his neck twisted, and he died... Similar scenes began to play out everywhere, ¡°Child! I¡¯m already old, not worth you blocking a blow for!¡± ¡°Child! Get up, stay strong!¡± ¡°Why! Why would you do this!¡± ¡°Ahhh! Damn Half-Beasts, they¡¯re all so young, all the future of the Elf Clan...¡± The players joined the Flame Clan¡¯s ranks but no longer proactively fought the Half-Beasts... Instead, they recklessly protected the Flame Tribe elves, fearing they¡¯d suffer even a scratch. Even at the cost of their own lives. This moved the Flame Tribe elves yet left them unable to understand. They felt for a moment as though they¡¯d become like the Elf Royal Family breaking through a siege centuries ago, being fiercely protected by fellow clan members. And gradually, the battlefield¡¯s situation reversed, and the Half-Beasts began to flee under El and some players¡¯ pursuit... The young Black Dragon Mairrel in the sky, however, remained unable to break through the barrier. It could only continuously crash into the cage of light while looking at El and the players hunting Half-Beasts, roaring in anger, ¡°Indeed, the evil intelligent races are this cruel! Ruaaa¡ª¡ª! I will never spare you!¡± As for the elves who died at the hands of the Half-Beasts, it completely ignored. Because in Mairrel¡¯s view, an evil race deserved the punishment of death... And listening to the Black Dragon¡¯s roar, the players were utterly bewildered, ¡°Evil intelligent races?¡± ¡°Is it... talking about us?¡± ¡°` Chapter 94 - 94 The Angry Black Dragon Chapter 94: Chapter 94 The Angry Black Dragon ¡°`html ¡°In a way, it seems pretty logical.¡± A Second Test Player mumbled quietly while looking at a dozen Warriors of the First Test Players, their faces covered in blood, who were chasing after the Half-Beast behind El, laughing madly with bloodlust. However, he was soon given a harsh headbutt from Demacia nearby, ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense! We are the embodiment of kindness and justice, the Chosen Ones under the Goddess!¡± Second Test Player: ... ... *Well...* *Experience is necessary, but the character settings can¡¯t crumble either.* *After all, the appeal of this game is the immersive experience!* *Elves of the Flame Tribe are watching from the side!* *Players didn¡¯t forget the mission this time and the potential impact it might have afterward.* *NPCs!* *These elves are future NPCs stationed in Feilengcui!* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.§ã¦Ï *Building good relationships with them might come in handy someday.* *That¡¯s why players were fighting so desperately in this battle, with their inner drama queens going wild...* *On the way to support, some big shot deeply analyzed this mission on the official forum.* *According to the planners¡¯ usual tendencies, this rescue mission would definitely determine the game¡¯s storyline direction again!* *And the analysis and speculation from the big shots suggested that similar to letting players build their newbie villages, these rescued elves might also become important NPCs in the new main city, Feilengcui!* *Yes, that¡¯s exactly what EVE thought.* *However, the Flame Tribe didn¡¯t know the intricacies involved, and they certainly didn¡¯t know that these courageous young elves weren¡¯t afraid of death at all...* *They looked at these brave players, feeling moved.* *And the players looked at the system prompts that occasionally popped up, ¡°So-and-so¡¯s favorability towards you increased by 40 points...¡± and felt utterly delighted, displaying even more solemn acts of protection.* *Although most elves of the Flame Tribe were shallow believers, and devout followers weren¡¯t many, as long as they were believers, EVE could connect them to the player¡¯s game system.* *In this situation, with the believers¡¯ emotions, it was easy for her to materialize these favorability points.* *And for the players, this was a great opportunity to boost favorability!* *The benefits of increasing NPCs¡¯ favorability were evident from looking at Li Mu and Demacia.* *The former had such high favorability with Alice that she would answer almost all his questions, even willing to let him learn about Arrays alongside the Cuckoo Bird.* *And the latter, after being locked up with El for a while, somehow managed to boost the young boy¡¯s favorability to the max.* *Now that guy was fooling the young boy into hunting Demon Beasts everywhere, while he was leading the team to reap rewards madly, envying a crowd of players...* *But now, another opportunity was at hand!* *Over two hundred elf NPCs!* *According to elven settings, their lifespan was extremely long and they loved collecting knowledge. Players couldn¡¯t believe that after building good relationships with them, they wouldn¡¯t be able to... well, learn something from them.* *And the reality was indeed exhilarating.* *Everyone could see NPC favorability skyrocketing like a rocket...* *Then, everyone got even more excited, treating the elves of the Flame Tribe like fellow villagers.* *And the reversal of the battlefield situation finally led to the collective rout of the Half-Beast, even the Priest, who was the commander, fled in terror under El¡¯s chase.* *Many players also started following El to hunt down the fleeing Half-Beast, with a hint of annihilation in the air.* *After all... Half-Beast were living experience points and contribution points too, not to mention that El was leading the way, and they only needed to reap.* *Emotions were contagious, and their madness even infected some young elves of the Flame Clan.* *They also joined the pursuit with red eyes...* Philosier and a group of Old Elves could only shout worriedly, ¡°Stop chasing! Stop chasing!¡± And at this moment, a childish, angry roar suddenly echoed from the sky, ¡°Rua!¡± Then, the Cage of Light suddenly burst into golden light, resulting in numerous cracks that finally shattered with a loud crash! And below, Samir¡¯s face turned pale as he spat out a mouthful of blood, subsequently falling to the ground unconscious. The Black Dragon Mairrel was free from the cage! Its eyes flushed red with extreme anger. ¡°Evil sentient beings, you will pay for your actions!¡± Seeing the freed Black Dragon, the elves and players hunting the Half-Beast stopped, looking gravely at this giant creature in the sky. ¡°It¡¯s... it¡¯s free!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this Black Dragon the boss of this mission?¡± Players looked cautiously yet excitedly at the dragon in the sky. *Since entering the game, it was the first time they saw a real dragon!* *A living one!* *Tianchao people had a special affection for dragons. Even if this dragon was merely a giant lizard from Western fantasy, just bearing the name ¡°dragon¡± was enough to spark their interest.* *Seeing the elves below not fearing it at all further enraged Mairrel, feeling that its dragon dignity was insulted.* It roared once more, unleashing its full dragon might! *For a moment, all players fell silent.* *Unlike divine might acting on the soul, dragon might affected the body directly.* *Though the Black Dragon was still juvenile, its full release at the Silver Upper level was terrifying.* *Players, whose strength was still weak, involuntarily started trembling, feeling that control over their bodies was slightly delayed.* *An instinctive fear settled into their hearts,* ¡°Damn... why... why am I shivering?¡± ¡°Dragon might... this must be the legendary dragon might!¡± ¡°It¡¯s... it¡¯s so strong!¡± The elves of the Flame Tribe also turned pale, ¡°No good! The Black Dragon is free!¡± El looked up, his gaze filled with caution toward Black Dragon Mairrel, ¡°Black Dragon...¡± His mood sank continually. *The Black Dragon at the Silver Upper level... although still juvenile, everyone here combined probably wouldn¡¯t be its match!* *Grandfather had once told him that a Black Dragon of this strength was enough to slaughter a remote human city!* Mairrel¡¯s gaze swept across the battlefield, eyes filled with danger, ultimately locking onto El. *It was he who had caused the Half-Beast¡¯s defeat just now!* *Thoughts of this kind filled Mairrel¡¯s heart with growing anger,* ¡°You evil beings! To make Lord Mairrel look so bad is a grave sin!¡± It roared, ¡°Die!¡± It then aimed at El and spewed corrosive Dragon Breath! ¡°Not good!¡± ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Seeing the Dragon Breath spewing out, the elves of the Flame Tribe cried out in astonishment. *They had just witnessed the devastating power of dragon breath!* El also looked panicked and hurriedly dodged. He watched as the linear Dragon Breath struck where he originally stood, instantly corroding a deep, smoking hole several meters in radius, with no visible bottom! All plants caught in the spread turned to ash in a moment... The power was comparable to Five-Ring Magic! *And yet, it was nothing more than a dragon¡¯s phlegm.* Even though he dodged in time, El¡¯s arm was grazed slightly. He let out a painful grunt as his entire arm began to rot and wither in an instant, quickly spreading to his body! El turned pale, gritting his teeth and mercilessly cut off his arm, stopping the spread of the rot. Seeing that one breath hadn¡¯t killed El, Black Dragon Mairrel grew even more furious. It puffed out its cheeks again, brewing a larger Dragon Breath, instantly spewing it out! This time, the speed was faster, covering a wider area and lasting longer! El had no time to avoid it... ¡°No!¡± ¡°Danger!¡± Everyone shouted in alarm. And just as the Dragon Breath was about to hit El, a dazzling Holy Light suddenly descended! The reason Divine Favored were called as such... Was because they devoted their entire mind and body to the True God, always living under the watch of the True God! ¡°` Chapter 95 - 95 The Power of the True God Chapter 95: Chapter 95 The Power of the True God ¡°`html Under everyone¡¯s astonished gazes, El suddenly radiated a golden light, and the black dragon¡¯s breath evaporated like mist the moment it approached him, causing not even the slightest harm. Not only that, but at the very instant the light enveloped El, his injuries began to heal rapidly, and even his severed arm grew back! The elves of the Flame Tribe looked at this miraculous scene with their mouths agape in shock. Then, an elder elf suddenly trembled with a sharp intake of breath, exclaiming out loud, ¡°The power of life! It¡¯s the power of life! This is the life force wielded by the Mother Goddess! He... he is a Divine Favored of the Mother Goddess!¡± ... ¡°It¡¯s the Mother Goddess... it¡¯s the Mother Goddess! She has noticed us through the Divine Favored!¡± Divine Favored! The remaining elves gazed at El, their expressions transforming from astonishment to excitement, and then from excitement to ecstatic joy! Nothing could prove the revival of the True God more than the appearance of a Divine Favored! In an instant, the elder elves were moved to tears and all kneeled, continuously drawing the symbol of Mother Nature on their chests, trembling with emotion as they choked out, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Goddess of Life, praise the great Elven Sovereign!¡± ¡°Mother Goddess... we have returned!¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.?¦Ï Their kneeling incited a chain reaction, and soon... all of the Flame Tribe elves had fallen to their knees. El looked at his kneeling tribesmen, momentarily at a loss. *Though a Divine Favored, he was merely an eighty-year-old child.* However, he quickly responded, also kneeling down and fervently shouting towards the core of the Elf Forest, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Goddess of Life, praise the great Elven Sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± The tone was fervent. In an instant, all the native elves knelt down, leaving the players bewildered. However, they soon realized something as well. The first beta players who had participated in the siege against Black Stone excitedly said, ¡°The Goddess! It¡¯s the Goddess! Eve Goddess is probably appearing again!¡± ¡°The storyline animation is coming! Quick, start recording!¡± Eve Goddess! Other than creating characters, players who hadn¡¯t seen the embodiment of the Goddess in person had their eyes lit up. If asked which NPC in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± most intrigued and was most adored by players, it would undoubtedly be Eve Goddess! As the main character of the faction in the large-scale virtual game ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± Eve Yggdrasil received countless fanfare with her stunning beauty, kind and benevolent nature, and generous heart! On the official website, players even established a fan club for the Goddess! And the previous storyline animations where the Goddess appeared had caused players to fawn over them once uploaded to the Blue Star Network... *Although it¡¯s a game, who wouldn¡¯t love to fight for a powerful and beautiful lady?* *Even though it¡¯s just a beta, the name of Eve Yggdrasil became just as popular across the Blue Star Network along with the overwhelming popularity of ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡±* For a while, players expertly turned on the recording function and joined the crowd in kneeling, also shouting towards the World Tree¡¯s direction with eagerness, ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Goddess of Life, praise the great Elven Sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± Meanwhile, they occasionally looked around discreetly... As the words fell, even more brilliant radiance began to rain from the heavens! In an instant, countless green particles flew in from all directions, flooding into everyone¡¯s bodies. And their injuries began to heal swiftly as well. Lost limbs regrew, wounds recovered... even those critically injured and on the brink of death among the elves regained health in a moment! As the divine power gentle light poured down, even the plants in the forest were affected. They sprouted and bloomed, paying homage to the Goddess of Nature and Life! In a daze, the players seemed to see a beautiful goddess, crowned with a floral Divine Crown, dressed in an exquisite gown, followed by radiant Holy Light... For a moment, it seemed as if heaven and earth paled in comparison. However, when they rubbed their eyes and looked again, it seemed as if there was nothing there. *Feeling the life force flooding into their bodies, the expressions of the native elves grew more devout, burying their heads even deeper...* At this moment, they heard a gentle, sacred voice by their ears: ¡°Welcome... back.¡± That voice seemed to echo directly in their hearts, carrying a sense of timelessness, as if crossing through eternity. Simultaneously majestic yet cordial. In an instant, all the native elves became teary-eyed, their voices choked. Mother Goddess! This was the voice of the Mother Goddess! Mother Goddess... had not forgotten them! The cries of grief echoed continuously among the elves. Meanwhile, in the sky, the Black Dragon Mairrel¡¯s eyes widened instantly. Watching the divine-like changes around it, it instinctively swallowed, an unprecedented sense of crisis washing over it. ¡°The Divine... a True God... it really is a True God!¡± For a moment, Mairrel was so frightened that it couldn¡¯t even speak in common language, muttering directly in draconic. *What the hell!* *How could there still be a True God on the Segis Continent?!* *Although unaware of which True God it was, such miraculous power could only be wielded by a True God!* *And recalling all the myths regarding True Gods within the Dragon Clan...* Mairrel¡¯s heart was instantly filled with panic. It no longer cared about the kneeling elves below, turning around to flee. *No kidding!* *As the most long-lived and growth-potential worldly race in the Segis World, dragons were considered a delicacy to True Gods!* *Every True God found interest in recruiting dragons.* *Because the power of belief provided by a dragon was considerable, not to mention they were the perfect mounts and watchdogs for True Gods!* *Moreover, some Evil Gods were rumored to enjoy consuming Dragon Crystals and drinking Dragon Blood...* *There were even Divines who would use dragons as toys for their entertainment!* *Once targeted by a True God, a dragon¡¯s freedom was lost, and they became insignificant.* *As Black Dragon Mairrel, aspiring to be a magnificent dragon promoting justice, it refused to lose its precious freedom!* Mairrel took a deep breath, tucking its tail, flapping its wings, and swiftly retreating... *Run!* *Run quickly!* *If I don¡¯t, my future life as a dragon might be ruined!* And at this moment, it suddenly heard an intriguing voice echoing in its heart: ¡°Black Dragon?¡± That voice was incredibly majestic with a hint of curiosity. Instantly, the little black dragon involuntarily shivered. *Only those superior beings could directly penetrate a dragon¡¯s mental defenses and make their voice resonate in its heart!* *A True God!* *It truly was a True God!* *At this moment, it wanted nothing more, desperately flying back with all its might!* *Cursing itself internally for going on a spree with the half-beasts...* *It regretted every bit of it.* *If it had known an Evil God was behind this evil intelligent race, even a bold Mairrel wouldn¡¯t have dared to come!* Then, it heard the dreadful voice again: ¡°Coincidentally, the little town lacks a gatekeeper.¡± *Gate... keeper...* Mairrel¡¯s eyes widened, almost petrified with fear. It gritted its teeth, flapping its little wings even faster... However, a golden light suddenly descended from the sky! The brilliant Holy Light transformed into a dazzling rope, effortlessly binding Mairrel in its terrified gaze... And it wrapped around its mouth too. ¡°With a plop¡±... The unlucky little black dragon fell from the sky, nose-diving into the ground. ¡°` Chapter 96: Annihilation of the Group Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Annihilation of the Group ¡°` The Black Dragon fell to the ground as the glow of Divine Power slowly faded, and everything returned to its original state. It seemed as if the recent Divine Miracle was merely an illusion. Meanwhile, all players once again received a new system message: [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Successfully escorted a total of 181 elves from the Flame Tribe. Deliver them to Feilengcui to complete the mission. Rewards will be distributed based on mission contribution and the number of elves successfully escorted.] ... [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Triggered side storyline: Transport the captured Black Dragon to Elf Town] [Mission Reward: 50 contribution points] ¡°Capture the Black Dragon?¡± Their eyes brightened, and they simultaneously turned to look at Mairrel, who lay fallen on the ground, tightly bound by ropes transformed from Divine Power. Looking at the curious gazes from the elves, Mairrel felt humiliated and furious. She wanted to open her mouth to speak, but under the tight bind of the ropes, she could only make muffled whimpers. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.§ã? ¡°The Goddess is so powerful! She just captured the Black Dragon!¡± ¡°After all, she is a True God!¡± The players, while marveling and excited, moved closer to Mairrel. They ignored Mairrel¡¯s resentful gaze and, while boldly and curiously touching her scales, excitedly took screenshots as souvenirs: ¡°This Black Dragon is so cool!¡± ¡°Its scales are really tough!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a group photo!¡± ¡°Wait... let me strike a pose!¡± Mairrel: ... At the same time, the players occasionally voiced some ideas that terrified Black Dragon Mairrel: ¡°I wonder if its scales can be made into a shield; they feel so sturdy...¡± ¡°I remember in fantasy stories, it is said that drinking Dragon Blood grants powerful strength. I wonder if its blood is useful?¡± ¡°By the way... is there any way to tame it as a mount? A Dragon Knight... just thinking about it is so cool!¡± Mairrel: ... She whimpered softly and looked resentfully at these despicable creatures... *How cruel the intelligent species are!* *So evil!* *These long-eared beings are truly evil!* *They not only want my scales but also want to drink my blood, and even want the great Mairrel to serve as a mount!* *Oh heavens! Is my life as a dragon really going to end here?* *I haven¡¯t become the greatest dragon yet, I am not willing to accept this!* *What will become of my future?* As she thought about it, tears welled up in her eyes. ¡°What the heck! It¡¯s crying?¡± ¡°This Black Dragon is unbelievably timid!¡± Mairrel: ... She turned her head away, closed her eyes, and angrily started to play dead. Meanwhile, the elves of the Flame Tribe, after cheering, fell into sorrow. In this breakout, dozens of the Old Elves had died in battle. The remaining tribe members sorrowfully gathered the bodies of their fallen comrades, intending to use magical flames for cremation. This was the Elf Forest. In elven tradition, cremating the bodies of the deceased and scattering the ashes in the Elf Forest represented returning to their roots, while their souls would ascend to the Mother Goddess¡¯s Heaven... However, while gathering the bodies, the elves were astonished to find that the bodies of the young fallen tribe members had disappeared... Not only that, but they were surprised to see that the surviving young tribe members seemed not to mourn the passing of their companions at all. In fact, they seemed quite excited. Even though many had sorrowful expressions, something about it all seemed... off. It seemed they were suppressing their true emotions... The Flame Tribe members couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was wrong, but they couldn¡¯t put their finger on it. Before they could ask anything, the players joined them in their mourning, wearing expressions of grief and sorrow for the fallen Old Elves, thus swallowing any words left in their throats. El, after his body recovered, intended to pursue the fleeing Half-Beasts once more. Though the Half-Beasts had fled far away when the Mother Goddess¡¯s power descended, El was still unsettled. Just as he was about to depart, the voice of the Mother Goddess echoed in his mind: ¡°No need to pursue them.¡± No need? El paused. However, since the Mother Goddess said there was no need to pursue, he decided to abandon the chase. He then assisted the Flame Tribe in gathering the bodies of their fallen people, while the players enthusiastically assisted the elves in organizing the books they had abandoned. Finally, they excitedly dragged along their spoils of war¡ªthe feigning-dead Black Dragon Mairrel¡ªsurrounding the native elves as they began their journey back... ... The forest¡¯s edge. The Half-Beast Priest fled hastily, accompanied by guards... For this ambush, the Rock Cave Tribe had dispatched over three hundred Half-orc Warriors, all in their prime! However, after encountering those crazy elves and that frail Silver Knight, the Half-orcs died in frustration one after another... Now, only just over a hundred had managed to escape. Moreover, what terrified the Half-Beast Priest even more was that Lord Mairrel had not returned! Even though there were no pursuers behind them, this discovery horrified him. ¡°The World Tree¡¯s Leaf... just its power wouldn¡¯t be able to control Lord Mairrel for so long, could it be... an even more terrifying enemy exists?¡± ¡°Just now, I seemed to sense a power fluctuation similar to Divine Power... Although I couldn¡¯t sense the specific aura, that intense fluctuation must be the power of a True God!¡± As he pondered, he became more terrified, more aghast. At this moment, the fleeing group suddenly halted... ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± The Half-Beast Priest¡¯s heart tightened, and he looked ahead. At some point, a tall figure appeared at the exit of the Elf Forest. She was cloaked head to toe in a black robe, dark gray hair hanging from her hood, and a pair of crimson eyes quietly watching the Half-beast squad. Her expression was calm, as if she were looking at a group of the dead. The Half-Beast Priest¡¯s pupils narrowed slightly. Because... he couldn¡¯t sense this person¡¯s presence at all! Another possibility was that the other party possessed a great ability to conceal presence or held power far beyond his imagination! He was about to say something when a massive pressure suddenly emanated from the mysterious figure. In an instant, the heart of every Half-orc filled with shock, as the pressure was countless times stronger than that of the Black Dragon Mairrel earlier! High-level Professionals! This was a High-level Professional who had achieved Golden Power! The Half-Beast Priest screamed frantically in his heart, but no words came out of his mouth. Then, the mysterious figure suddenly raised her head, and a cold, deathly Divine Power burst forth from her, radiating outward. All the Half-orcs she touched froze, then fell, lifeless... And perceiving the aura of that Divine Power, the Half-Beast Priest¡¯s eyes widened in horror: ¡°Death... Death... Death God¡¯s Favor...¡± He couldn¡¯t finish his sentence before likewise losing his breath. Over a hundred Half-orcs fell inexplicably. Not a single one escaped. At this moment, the tall silhouette waved her hands once more, unleashing a surge of life force that quickly consumed all remaining life energy from the Half-orcs. She then transformed again, taking the form of Eve. ¡°If you kill so many on my territory, don¡¯t think you can escape.¡± Leaving those words behind, she transformed into radiant light and slowly disappeared. ¡°` Chapter 97: Becoming the Divine Country Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Becoming the Divine Country ¡°`html After using a guise as Death God¡¯s Favored to eliminate the fleeing Half-Beast, Eve¡¯s consciousness returned to the Divine Space. With this demonstration of a Divine Miracle before the Flame Clan, her standing among these native elves increased once more. In an instant, nearly half of what were originally over a hundred casual believers directly crossed over to become devout believers! They collectively provided Eve with 7 points of divine power! Moreover, the feedback from the Elf Souls brought about by the direct and indirect killing of more than three hundred Half-Beasts was also considerable. ... Over time, although this feedback from the Elf Souls had greatly diminished compared to the beginning, it still amassed to 40 points of divine power. Yet, Eve estimated that perhaps after some more time, this method of obtaining divine power feedback by fulfilling the wishes of Elf Souls would become completely ineffective... *Makes sense, after all, it¡¯s been a thousand years. Although the resentment generated by the Elf Souls was great, there would always be a time when it would be exhausted or worn out.* Aside from the 47 points of divine power acquired, a young Black Dragon of silver strength (Level 66) was an unexpected gain. However, Eve wasn¡¯t particularly happy. Because in this mission, a total of 38 elves from the Flame Tribe died in battle. And the entire Flame Tribe originally only had 219 elves left. Source: , updated on ??¦Í?¦Ï.§ã¦Ï The 38 elves who died in battle were all old elves, and their belief was devout in level. This made Eve feel a strong sense of guilt. For not achieving a bloodless rescue this time, a large portion of the blame lay on her. She hadn¡¯t anticipated that the Half-Beast tribe was actually situated near the entrance between the Dark Mountain Range and the Elf Forest and had prepared an ambush in advance! ¡°*I overestimated myself. With the return of my strength after escaping a near-death state, I became a bit conceited and failed to communicate with Samir and the others beforehand!*¡± Eve self-reflected. If she had been more cautious, if she had assigned the players the task of guidance a bit earlier, perhaps the tragedy could have been avoided. Sighing, Eve thought for a moment, and 38 transparent souls flew from the outside world into her Divine Space. These were the souls of the deceased elves! Low-level creatures would lose most of their memories when they died, retaining only fragmented and vague memory shards... And if they ascended to the Divine Country, their souls would completely lose their memory when crossing the crystal wall system. Of course, the priests and priests blessed by the True God were exceptions. Their souls were granted memory protection by the True God while they were still alive. Just like the souls ascending to the Divine Country, these 38 elves were not priests, so they lost all their memories instantaneously upon entering the Divine Space. And at the moment when these elves¡¯ souls entered the Divine Space, Eve¡¯s Divine Space immediately changed! The original Divine Space was merely a chaotic void filled with countless swirling green photons, but the moment the believers¡¯ souls came in, the entire space began to transform! As if the heavens and earth were opening, the chaotic parts continuously sank, transforming into lands. While above, a sky formed. The photons symbolizing the believers and players turned into twinkling stars, incredibly bright! The souls of the 38 elves reverted to their youthful appearance, transforming into devout Elf Prayer Mergers. And as they became Mergers, the barren lands changed again; countless plants emerged from the ground, quickly turning into a forest world suitable for elves to live! Simultaneously, a giant tree sprouted from the center of the world, rapidly growing into the form of the World Tree... As she observed the changes in the Divine Space, a realization dawned upon Eve: ¡°Divine Country Transformation! The Divine Space is undergoing a transformation into a Divine Country!¡± In the Segis World, there were two origins for a True God¡¯s Divine Country. One was the development of a Divine Country on a half-plane by the Divine, and the other was to transform one¡¯s own Divine Space, embodying it as a Divine Country! The former was more convenient, a method pursued by faith-based deities, but it had the weakness of being easily discovered and besieged. The latter was relatively covert, but much tougher to establish, as it meant requiring early spread of faith and complete mastery of godly duties... Only some ancient gods interested in faith would employ the second method. Because to fully master godly duties, the prerequisite was having a Divine Country. However, without establishing a Divine Country, ordinary beings would not possess godly duties, so secular creatures aspiring to become True Gods could only take the half-plane route. Only those who were already ancient gods could take the second path! However, the previous World Tree did not choose to embody her Divine Country, but rather took the same path as the True God of Faith. Her Divine Country had long since shattered along with her demise and was also not in the Segis World. Eve inherited the legacy of the World Tree but did not inherit her Divine Country. And now, when the soul of the believers entered Eve¡¯s Divine Space, it actually triggered the transformation of the Divine Space into a Divine Country! Eve did not stop this transformation. Because this meant that as an ancient god, she would completely grasp the authority belonging to a faith deity! In the future, her utilization of faith would be more efficient than before! Their similar effect would also reflect in the game system, which Eve constructed; it bore an uncanny resemblance to faith channels and would also be somewhat influenced. And after the Divine Space underwent this transformation into a Divine Country, Eve completely dispelled the idea of reviving the elves... Because she realized that these Mergers provided her with seemingly more faith. *Perhaps this is where perspective decides ideology.* Initially, she had planned to allow these elves to descend from the World Tree in the form of Primordial Elves. Of course, once they became Mergers, the souls of beings, in a sense, unified with a True God and generally couldn¡¯t be reborn. However, the moment the transformation to a Divine Country began, Eve discovered her ability to create elves changed as well. Previously, while she could create bodies, creating souls required a significant expenditure. Actively birthing a Primordial Elf required an expense even greater than enlightening an Oak Guardian! Yet now, Eve managed to regain the ability to automatically birth Primordial Elves! This means that even without expending divine power, she could naturally nurture genuine Primordial Elves on the World Tree! It¡¯s just that the speed was quite slow... Eve roughly sensed... without using divine power, she could naturally give birth to one Primordial Elf per year at most. However, if she used divine power, this speed would accelerate. Roughly every 1 point of divine power spent sped this up by a month, with a maximum acceleration to 30 days. Upon the birth of an elf, the accelerated effect would reset. Meaning, with 11 points of divine power, Eve could utilize a month to birth a Primordial Elf! The newly born Primordial Elves would be in a near-adult state and initially have Black Iron Upper Peak (Level 40) abilities, naturally loyal to Eve. However, unlike the Divine Favored Oak Guardians, Primordial Elves¡¯ lives and souls weren¡¯t bound to Eve and couldn¡¯t enjoy a systematic inheritance. Thus, they were blank slates upon birth, with everything needing to be learned anew. Considering the fragility of their new souls, Evie would at most impart them with some basic knowledge; forming self-awareness, beliefs, and worldviews had to be completed by themselves. Furthermore, they held great potential to advance to higher levels. Because Primordial Elves, like a player¡¯s body, were also innately gifted. *However... expending 11 points of divine power for a Primordial Elf still seemed too extravagant for Eve right now.* But after some thought, Eve decided to give birth to one to test the effect. She painfully spent 11 points of divine power, initiating the ability to birth a Primordial Elf. Nevertheless, no matter how Eve¡¯s abilities in life godly duties improved, the players¡¯ unique position remained unchanged. Because the revival of natives would weaken their souls each time, but players¡¯ consciousness wouldn¡¯t. Only the players could be truly ¡°repeatedly utilized! At the same time, Uller, the God of Winter and Hunting, also sensed the death of a large number of believers. ¡°` Chapter 98: The Angry Uller Chapter 98: Chapter 98: The Angry Uller ¡°`html Heavenly Realm, within the Divine Country of the Silver Frost Ice Field. The heavy clouds in the sky kept rolling, and large snowflakes like goose feathers floated down, while the roaring cold wind kept howling... Countless prayers prostrated on the ground, fearful yet devoutly praying. The weather of the Divine Country was easily influenced by the mood of the True God. And at this moment, the god of winter and hunting, Uller, was engulfed in anger. ... Uller had been having bad luck recently. At least, she thought so. First, the matter of secretly collecting World Tree Divine Blood Crystals was discovered by the Supreme God, and she was warned, and then an unknown force ambushed her in the Elf Forest. Even her Divine Power avatar was destroyed by a group of lowly mundane creatures, seemingly Death God¡¯s Favored! The reprimand from the Supreme God was tolerable... But having her avatar destroyed by mundane creatures was a slap in her face! The majesty of a True God could not be desecrated. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.§ã0 If this incident got out, she, Uller, would become a laughing stock among the gods! What embarrassed her more was that Hela, the Death God, likely had a hand in it. But even with suspicion towards Death God Hela, due to the disparity in strength, she could do nothing about it... Although both were dignified True Gods, Hela had moderate Divine Power, and her formidable strength was far beyond Uller¡¯s. Hela didn¡¯t even need to take turns guarding the Pantheon, unlike Uller, who had weak Divine Power! Soon after, the Pantheon had an incident. A living being unexpectedly completed a Divine Enthronement in secrecy and silence! It should be known that in the Segis World, the preparations for divine ennoblement were quite complex. The preaching of faith couldn¡¯t be concealed, and the energy fluctuations during divine enthronement were massive; generally speaking, the gods would be informed in advance and would tell the new god to report to the Pantheon after the divine enthronement. But this time, it wasn¡¯t until the other party was summoned by the Pantheon did the main gods managing it become aware. And Uller was reprimanded for failing to lead the new god. In addition, the task of finding the new god also fell upon her shoulders. Yet she recently sent out many Divine Favored and contacted numerous familiar divines, expending great effort to investigate high-level planes where a new god might emerge, but no trace of a new god was found anywhere... She became increasingly frustrated. Now, among the already limited high-level planes, only the Netherworld and the Segis World remained where she hadn¡¯t gathered information, and which were relatively likely to witness a divine enthronement. Then considering this newly emerged mysterious deity could easily perceive and enter the Pantheon, coupled with the recent increase in magic power in the Segis Plane... Uller strongly suspected this True God had been born on the Segis Plane! Yet this puzzled her further. Because, according to the current energy level of the Segis World, it theoretically couldn¡¯t support a new god¡¯s divine enthronement. And as most of the gods¡¯ believers were located in the Segis World, if a new god went through divine enthronement in the Segis Plane, it would be even more challenging to conceal the fluctuations. Not to mention the hiding of the Divine Country! Unless... ¡°Unless there¡¯s intervention from another True God!¡± When Uller began asking around about any recent strange changes in the Segis Plane, she received the same answer everywhere. The Segis Plane was as peaceful as ever that year. Except for the Elf Forest! At the moment of magic power increase, the Elf Forest experienced the most significant boost! Admittedly, due to the presence of the World Tree, the Elf Forest was initially one of the magic power source points of the Segis World. The overall magic power increase made a more significant stimulus at magic power source points normal... Yet recalling her believers¡¯ encounters in the Elf Forest and those strange elves, Uller gradually formed a hypothesis: ¡°Could it be someone has obtained the divinity of nature or life?¡± Her expression turned grim. Because if divine enthronement was achieved by obtaining divinity, it would indeed be more convenient, with smaller fluctuations. However, such fortuitous events rarely occurred after the gods¡¯ twilight in ancient times. Combining it with recent failed attempts to analyze and glean natural and life divinity from the Blood of World Tree, Uller suddenly felt this was highly likely! After all... The World Tree¡¯s curse had vanished, and the Divine Blood Crystal¡¯s seal had been undone. She could secretly study the World Tree¡¯s Blood; couldn¡¯t others do the same? At that instant, Uller thought of Hela again! Because previous signs strongly suggested that the mysterious force hiding in the Elf Forest was probably related to Hela! Moreover, Hela herself would definitely be interested in the divinity of life. And contemplating that the new god might also be related to Hela worsened Uller¡¯s mood. Unfortunately, when your luck¡¯s bad, everything bad seems to happen... Just moments ago, she sensed the death of over three hundred believers in a matter of minutes! Of course, if it were only about the death of over three hundred Half-Beast believers, it wouldn¡¯t have sparked such fury. After all, believers transformed into prayers could provide more faith for the True God. What truly incensed her was the scene seen in the memories of the deceased priest... Figures draped in black robes, cold dark Death Divine Power, and... merciless slaughter! She would never mistake it! She absolutely wouldn¡¯t mistake it! It was... the Favored of the Death God and Lord of the Underworld¡ªHela! And possibly even Hela¡¯s personally watched Divine Favored! Death God! It truly was the Death God! Adding the elves¡¯ resurrection to the mix... At that moment, all doubts vanished from Uller¡¯s mind. The force residing in the Elf Forest was definitely Hela¡¯s force! And the newly born True God might very well be in the Elf Forest! Furthermore, the other party was likely a Sub-god wielding the power of life cultivated by Hela! Because only through inheriting the divinity of life could it possibly attract the return of those stubborn elves akin to dragons! For a moment, the silver temple on the snowy mountain echoed with Uller¡¯s furious roar: ¡°Hela¡ª!¡± ... Feilengcui. Surrounded by the players, the elves of the Flame Tribe finally returned to this once Holy City. They gazed upon the ruins of the city before them, their expressions filled with excitement, each one kneeling once again in devout prayer. And Natural Saintess Alice, Oak Guardian Basa, and other players not participating in the mission, upon receiving the news, hurried over to welcome them. Seeing the holy Natural Saintess and the Oak Guardian representing the power of the Mother Goddess, the elves of the Flame Tribe became even more exhilarated: ¡°We¡¯re back! We truly are back!¡± Alice was also overjoyed, bowing to all the elves, her voice holy and gentle: ¡°Welcome home!¡± After the elves arrived in Feilengcui, all the players who took on the mission finally received their rewards. For a moment, seeing the large amounts of experience and contribution points credited to their accounts, all the players looked delighted. At this moment, Alice noticed Mairrel among the group... ¡°Black Dragon?¡± Her expression revealed astonishment. ¡°This is a captive of the Mother Goddess.¡± El¡¯s expression showed fervor. And the players who hadn¡¯t seen a Black Dragon before were even more excited. Unlike the local natives, they held no fear of the dragon, only curiosity. They surrounded the tightly bound Black Dragon Mairrel, touching, marveling, taking photos, and teasing, nearly driving the pretending-to-be-dead Little Black Dragon to fury... After the Flame Tribe elves settled in, they requested Alice to allow them to pilgrimage to the World Tree. Though the World Tree was magnificent, its true form couldn¡¯t be seen from Feilengcui due to the terrain¡¯s obstruction over such a distance. Pilgrimage to the World Tree was the wish of every natural believer! ¡°` Chapter 99 - 99 The Smile Disappears Again Chapter 99: Chapter 99 The Smile Disappears Again ¡°`html Alice was delighted to grant the request of the elves. As the Natural Saintess, the being among the believers closest to the Mother Goddess, her status was even higher than that of a typical Divine Favored one. Alice herself was also passionate about spreading the faith. She first shared a hug with Samir, then said to the elves, ¡°May the Mother Goddess bless you! My dear clanspeople, please follow me!¡± ... As she spoke, Alice drew the symbol of Mother Nature on her chest. Then, she led the elves of the Flame Tribe, surrounded by the players, toward the central Teleportation Array of Feilengcui. The core area of the temple in Feilengcui had been newly refurbished by the players. When the elves arrived, many players were busy everywhere, completing the daily tasks of architectural repairs. Seeing these busy players, the elves of the Flame Tribe felt both astonished and curious. Philosier thought for a moment and finally couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Lord Alice... along the way, we received a lot of help from these young clanspeople, but... I noticed they have different hair colors. Just which tribe do they belong to?¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.§ã? Samir had also long been aware of these seemingly always energetic and passionate young clanspeople. Moreover, he noticed that they seemed to take a keen interest in him and the elves of the Flame Tribe. They were very friendly, even... excessively so. *It felt... it felt almost like they were being ingratiating.* That reminded him of the crazy things he did in his youth while pursuing a partner. However, Samir did not think these young clanspeople had any interest in peers or elders. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he looked up sharply. He looked at Alice, somewhat excitedly: ¡°Could it be... the Chosen Ones?¡± Hearing the old priest¡¯s words, Alice nodded and smiled, replying, ¡°Yes, Grandpa Samir. They are the brave and diligent Chosen Ones summoned by the Mother Goddess from another world!¡± ¡°To think they are the champions summoned by the Mother Goddess! Does that mean they are Primordial Elves? Or... Divine Envoys?!¡± The elves of the Flame Tribe were all astonished. Philosier was shocked and instinctively looked at Alice. Meeting the gaze of the Flame Tribe¡¯s clan leader, Alice hesitated for a moment and reluctantly nodded, ¡°Well... sort of.¡± *The Mother Goddess had never officially mentioned the true identity of the Chosen Ones...* *But since they appear as elves, they should... should be considered special Primordial Elves, right?* Alice thought, somewhat conflicted. Seeing the elves¡¯ surprised expressions, the players excitedly joined in the fun like lackeys, loudly proclaiming, ¡°That¡¯s right, we are the warriors summoned by the Goddess!¡± ¡°Praise Nature! Praise Life! Praise the great Goddess!¡± ¡°We are the Chosen Ones! We are elves born directly from the World Tree, so from now on, we are family!¡± ¡°Uncles, aunties, big brothers, and big sisters, if you have any quests, just call us!¡± ¡°We promise to complete them promptly and properly!¡± ¡°Uh... cough cough, we¡¯re still young and have a lot to learn, so we¡¯ll need to seek your guidance...¡± Hearing the players¡¯ words, the elves¡¯ gazes toward them changed once again. *These Chosen Ones...* *They truly were a group of kind-hearted, enthusiastic, humble, respectable, and eager-to-learn reliable companions!* Seeing the elves¡¯ moved expressions, Alice hesitated for a moment and carefully reminded, ¡°Um... they are indeed very nice people, but sometimes they might do things that are incomprehensible, and at other times, they might... might have some human-like bad habits. You need to be mentally prepared.¡± *Incomprehensible things? Human-like bad habits?* Philosier was momentarily stunned. Then, she thought of the Chosen Ones charging fearlessly and ruthlessly hunting the Half-Beasts, and their greedy scavenging for equipment after slaying them, not to mention their eyes lighting up at the sight of ancient texts... At that moment, she suddenly understood: ¡°So that¡¯s how it is!¡± However, even with those shortcomings, Philosier still felt deeply grateful to the Chosen Ones. Thinking of the young Chosen Ones who had fallen in battle, she said with a pained expression, ¡°Alas... they really sacrificed many companions to rescue us this time. Nearly a hundred young lives were lost.¡± *Sacri... sacrificed companions?* Hearing Philosier¡¯s words, Alice and the others had strange expressions. Berserker, who had shrunk to four meters, glanced at the players. The players averted their eyes, smiling awkwardly. Berserker: ... ¡°Heh heh.¡± He let out a cold chuckle and said in a deep voice, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry. They are immortal.¡± *Immor... immortal?* Philosier and the others looked stunned. Even Samir wore an expression of disbelief. *Immortal... what does that mean?* Before they could ask for clarity, the Teleportation Array in the center of the square suddenly lit up brilliantly, and dozens of tall figures appeared before everyone... They wore simple wooden armor and linen robes, their expressions excited: ¡°Hurry, hurry! I heard they¡¯ve arrived! And they¡¯ve even captured a dragon!¡± ¡°Cough cough, I wonder what expression the NPCs will have when they see us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, Dema, your act was so convincing just now, all melodramatic... a real drama king.¡± ¡°I wonder how you¡¯ll handle it when we meet them.¡± Listening to the teasing of his companions, Dema placed his hands on his hips and boasted proudly, ¡°Heh heh, it¡¯s all for the sake of improving rapport!¡± ¡°These new NPCs are elves too. I bet they¡¯re as straightforward as Alice and the others, raising rapport will be so quick! Once the rapport is high, we can have anything we want!¡± ¡°Dismay, dislike, neutral, like, intimate... These different levels of rapport make a huge difference!¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you, the reason I can team up with El to hunt monsters is simply because my rapport with him is intimate!¡± Then, he realized his companions were all silent. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you guys saying anything? Did I say something wrong?¡± He muttered curiously, noticing the others were desperately signaling with their eyes. Dema subconsciously followed their gaze. In front of him... were all the NPCs standing. Dema: ... [Ding¡ªYour rapport with Berserker has decreased by 20 points, reaching ¡®Dismay¡¯] [Ding¡ªYour rapport with Alice Wind has decreased by 20 points, maintaining ¡®Dismay¡¯] [Ding¡ªYour rapport with Samir Wind has decreased by 20 points, reaching ¡®Neutral¡¯] [Ding¡ªYour rapport with Philosier Flame has decreased by 20 points, reaching ¡®Neutral¡¯] [Ding¡ªYour rapport with El Moonlight has decreased by 20 points, reaching ¡®Like¡¯] ... Dema: ... ¡°Big Brother Dema...¡± El looked at him, his expression complex, ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that¡¯s how you felt?¡± Dema¡¯s smile vanished once more. ¡°` Chapter 100: Dragons Never Serve as Slaves Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Dragons Never Serve as Slaves ¡°`html *The Chosen One could actually evade death!* *When the young elves who had been witnessed falling in battle reappeared exuberantly before them, the expressions of the elves from the Flame Tribe were quite something to behold.* *However, rather than anger over being deceived, they felt more relieved.* *Just like Alice had said, even if these Chosen Ones had some bad habits, it didn¡¯t stop the Flame Tribe elves from feeling grateful to them.* *Perhaps the initial impression the players left on the elves was just too good.* ... *Yet despite this, those players who had once put on tragic performances still received notifications of varying degrees of favorability decrease.* *Especially Demacia, who courted death in person...* *Seeing his favor drop from intimate to fondness with El, his face turned green and he hurriedly followed behind the little boy, constantly apologizing and trying to make amends...* Afterwards, the elves arrived at the square of Elf Town through the Teleportation Array. *As the scenery before their eyes changed and they took in the lush, exotic vibe of the Elf Town, all the native elves couldn¡¯t help but gasp in amazement.* ¡°What a beautiful little town! I¡¯ve never seen architecture like this before!¡± ¡°It¡¯s somewhat similar to human¡¯s, but it feels more refined and closer to nature!¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.?? ¡°Those wooden lofts and terraces are delightful! And the gardens composed of stones and ponds have an indescribable charm...¡± *Every elf was a natural-born artist.* *And the meticulously crafted Elf Town by the players was undoubtedly an eye-opener for them.* *Especially after Eve moved beyond her near-death state, the wooden structures in the town regained vitality, giving them a fairytale-like look of plant houses while maintaining the original architecture¡¯s style and charm.* *This aligned perfectly with the elves¡¯ aesthetics.* Hearing the elves¡¯ admiration, Alice explained, ¡°This is Elf Town, or rather... the Chosen City! It was built by all the Chosen Ones themselves. It¡¯s also the home of the Chosen Ones.¡± After speaking, she pointed to the stele in the center of the square, ¡°Do you see? Carved on that stele are the names of all the Chosen Ones who participated in building the town, though... it¡¯s inscribed in a mysterious script only the Chosen Ones understand.¡± *The town was built by the Chosen Ones?* *The elves listened, their expressions filled with surprise.* *They glanced at the players moving about in the town and gathering towards them, their gazes changing once again.* Philosier drew a symbol of Mother Nature across his chest and praised, ¡°It seems... they¡¯re not just brave warriors but also noble artists!¡± Samir pondered for a moment, his expression suddenly becoming astonished, ¡°Wait... Alice, you said the town was built by the Chosen Ones. Does that mean... they constructed such a scaled town in just a few months?¡± Alice glanced at the players and nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Upon receiving confirmation, the elves from the Flame Tribe expressed astonishment once again. *With magic¡¯s presence, building a city wasn¡¯t difficult for the elves.* *However, constructing a town that was an artistic masterpiece in various styles was indeed challenging.* *Meanwhile, they were once more awed by the wisdom of the Mother Goddess.* ¡°Only a True God... could receive allegiance from such brave warriors, right?¡± ¡°A sanctuary! This... is the new sanctuary of the Mother Goddess!¡± An elderly elf exclaimed excitedly. *As the elves raised their heads and saw the majestic World Tree, their expressions grew even more enthusiastic.* *Especially the elders.* *Unlike the young elves who had never seen the World Tree, these elders had witnessed its true form once, though back then, it had been withered and dying.* *But now, the World Tree was full of life!* *Its green leaves covered the branches, exuding vitality.* *Even standing in the square, the elves could feel the vibrant life energy emanating from the World Tree along with its subtle divine aura.* *Their faces were filled with reverent fervor as they knelt down,* ¡°Praise nature! Praise life! Praise the great elven sovereign!¡± ¡°Mother Goddess, we... have returned!¡± *As they worshiped, the World Tree also emitted a faint halo.* *Particles of green light floated out, turning the square into a verdant sea once again.* *At the same time, a gentle and ethereal hymn was faintly heard, and all the elves felt a serene calm wash over them, relaxing their minds and bodies like never before.* ¡°Welcome home.¡± *In their consciousness, a solemn yet kind female voice appeared.* *In an instant, all the elves lowered their heads once more, full of reverent excitement.* Then, the voice of the Goddess resonated again in their hearts, ¡°Flame Tribe... settle in Feilengcui, and rebuild the city with the Chosen Ones.¡± *Hearing the sacred and authoritative oracle, all the Flame Tribe elves fervently and respectfully responded,* ¡°We heed the Mother Goddess¡¯s decree!¡± The elves of the Flame Tribe, after worshiping the World Tree, returned to Feilengcui. *From now on, Feilengcui would be their new home.* However, the captured Black Dragon Mairrel was left behind. *This Little Black Dragon was dazed the moment it was teleported to Elf Town,* ¡°Tree... such a tall... big tree!¡± *Due to some special reasons, its dragon heritage in its mind wasn¡¯t complete, so the little one didn¡¯t immediately recognize the gigantic tree in front of it as the legendary World Tree.* *However, it sensed from the entity a daunting and terrifying pressure...* *Dragons were very sensitive to auras.* *In just a moment, Mairrel realized that it was a terribly strong creature reaching the level of a True God.* ¡°Ancient... it¡¯s definitely an Ancient God!¡± *It shivered, recalling the majestic voice it heard.* *Ancient Gods...* *They were rarer and more terrifying than the True Gods of Faith!* *Good heavens! Was there still an awakened Ancient God in the Segis World?!* *As Mairrel was shaken to its core, the divine rope binding it disappeared.* *Then, that terrifying voice appeared in its mind once more,* ¡°I¡¯m giving you a choice¡ªsubmit to me.¡± *Mairrel was speechless...* *One choice, was that even a choice?!* *Mairrel¡¯s black dragon face turned green.* *It was Mairrel, a noble dragon, the longest-lived Golden race. Not even an Ancient God could make it submit!* *This was the pride of a dragon!* *The Black Dragon proudly lifted its head and shouted in a sad, young voice,* ¡°A dragon... will never be a slave! I¡¯d rather die than submit to you!¡± *After speaking, Mairrel noticed the other side fell silent.* *Mairrel suddenly had a bad feeling...* *A moment later, it heard the nerve-wracking voice in its mind again, with a hint of amusement,* ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to submit, then die.¡± ¡°The Black Dragon¡¯s entire body is full of treasures. Its scales can be made into armor, its Dragon Blood can create Arrays and Runes, can also cultivate Dragon Blood Warriors, Dragon Meat is the finest cuisine, which can enhance worldly creatures¡¯ physique, as for the Dragon Heart and Dragon Crystal, they¡¯re even more useful... even the Dragon Soul, can be forged into the soul of a Bone Dragon Undead, it combines perfectly with the Dragon Bone...¡± ¡°Hmm... come to think of it, even a corpse is quite valuable.¡± *Mairrel was speechless...* *Evil God!* *It was undoubtedly an Evil God!* *The Little Black Dragon shivered, tears welling up in its eyes.* ¡°I... I¡¯ll submit...¡± *Its voice was filled with grievance.* Chapter 101: The Dragon Does Not Eat Food Given Out of Pity! Chapter 101: Chapter 101: The Dragon Does Not Eat Food Given Out of Pity! After the Black Dragon Mairrel submitted, Eve used the method inherited from the World Tree to leave a master-servant mark on its soul. The mark of a True God was incredibly firm... Unless someone could kill Eve or a stronger entity intervened, this Little Black Dragon wasn¡¯t going anywhere in its lifetime. Mairrel could only accept it dispiritedly. However, despite this, Eve could clearly feel that the Little Black Dragon was not convinced. But she wasn¡¯t worried. *There was plenty of time, and if this silly Black Dragon could even fool the Half-Beasts, wouldn¡¯t Eve be able to fool it too?* ... Afterwards, Eve allowed Mairrel to move freely. The condition was that it couldn¡¯t leave a radius of three kilometers around the Elf Town and could not harm the elves and Chosen Ones. Mairrel could only put on a gloomy dragon face and find a hill next to the Elf Town to dig a hole and build a nest. ¡°Ah... my castle... Ah... my gold coins and gemstones... Ah... my unfinished righteous cause...¡± The Little Black Dragon muttered gloomily while building its nest. It was truly aggrieved... Black Dragons liked to live in swamps and the ruins of civilization, but there were no such places around the World Tree. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã¦Ï Feilengcui was decent, but it was a bit far from Eve¡¯s main body. Moreover, because a Black Dragon participated in the divine war a thousand years ago, and the roots of the World Tree were gnawed by an Ancient Black Dragon, leading directly to the decline of the previous World Tree, the native elves were full of hostility and vigilance towards Black Dragons... Therefore, before completely subduing this little one, Eve planned to keep it under her watch. Of course, another reason was that she was too lazy to personally train this little one, intending to leave the task of persuading the Black Dragon to the players. The personality of a dragon was as stubborn as a mule on Blue Star, especially since Eve had directly subdued Mairrel with strength. If it were an ordinary Black Dragon, that would be one thing. They revered the strong and would submit obediently when faced with overwhelming power. But once the strength suppressing them weakened, Black Dragons would find ways to rebel. Therefore, gaining a Black Dragon¡¯s loyalty was almost impossible. But the mental workings of this Black Dragon seemed to be different from ordinary ones. It seemed very innocent, even thinking it was a Silver Dragon! In this situation, Eve thought she should have a chance to truly win over the Little Black Dragon¡¯s heart. However, to truly win its heart, it seemed she would need to put in some effort. The initial work of persuasion, Eve planned to leave to others to handle. Thus, she issued a new task¡ª[Tame the Black Dragon]. [Task: Tame the Black Dragon] [Task Content: The Black Dragon Mairrel became a captive of the Goddess in battle and submitted to her. However, in its heart, it did not truly accept the ideology of the Goddess. As a loyal follower of the Goddess, you decide to assist the Goddess in fully taming Black Dragon Mairrel.] [Task Objective: Make Black Dragon Mairrel truly recognize the Goddess, accept her faith, and fight for her!] [Task Duration: No limit] [Task Level: No limit] [Task Reward: 3000 contribution points] Of course, this task was not part of the main storyline, and taking it on was optional. But when the players saw this task, they were all intrigued. It wasn¡¯t just the high contribution point reward of 3000; they also saw it as an opportunity to get close to the Black Dragon! If they helped the Goddess tame the Black Dragon... wouldn¡¯t that mean they might have a chance to get in the good graces of the Black Dragon? If luck was on their side, perhaps they could even become a Dragon Knight! How cool would that be! Remember, Demacia managed to team up with El and go out into the wilds because of his close bond with him. Hmm... though it was rumored he seemed to have messed up. But this Black Dragon was genuinely at the level of Silver Upper! Many players were tempted for a while and accepted the task. However, Mairrel was not impressed by the players and was rather hostile. The players who approached it either got sprayed with saliva, kicked away, or trembled uncontrollably under the pressure of its dragon presence. In short, its expression conveyed, ¡°I¡¯m annoyed and strong; you bastards better not bother me.¡± Gradually, as some players¡¯ initial excitement waned, they gave up. Only a few players continued to persist... Little Xian Miao was one of them. However, no matter how she tried to be friendly, Mairrel remained indifferent towards her. Even when she brought some skewers of grilled meat from two northeastern guys selling barbecue in the town, it didn¡¯t impress Mairrel. Not only that, but the Little Black Dragon also slapped the skewers onto the ground, stomped on them, and spat on them to express its anger. ¡°Dragons... do not eat food that comes from charity!¡± Being friendly didn¡¯t work, feeding it didn¡¯t work, and fewer players were persistent. After all, instead of wasting time with the Black Dragon, they could be completing daily tasks or hunting monsters. For regular players, time meant experience points and contribution points. Gradually, only the semi-casual player Little Xian Miao was left. She didn¡¯t care about the task rewards; she was purely interested in the Black Dragon. But despite this interest, the Black Dragon wasn¡¯t buying it. Nevertheless, Little Xian Miao was quite stubborn, and Mairrel¡¯s resistance only fueled her determination. She decided that no matter what, she would complete this task! After more than half a day had passed, the Black Dragon Mairrel began to grow a bit anxious and restless... To Little Xian Miao¡¯s surprise, it suddenly flapped its wings and flew up. Mairrel flew into the air, circled the town and its surroundings several times, and intermittently surveyed the area as if searching for something. When it returned, its whole face fell. This appearance puzzled Little Xian Miao. At that moment, she suddenly heard a deep rumbling sound emanating from within the Black Dragon... To be more precise, it seemed to be from its abdomen. Her expression turned peculiar instantaneously. *This guy... could it be hungry?* Well, there really wasn¡¯t much edible within that three-kilometer radius; the players had pretty much ravaged everything edible. Except for some fruit. And Black Dragons... are carnivorous. Noticing her strange gaze, Mairrel became furious: ¡°Scram! Evil creature! Stop lingering in front of Lord Mairrel! Or else Lord Mairrel will definitely eat you!¡± The Dragon¡¯s sudden outburst startled Little Xian Miao. A thought struck her, and she pretended to leave but secretly hid to observe. After Little Xian Miao left, Mairrel looked around as if checking whether anyone was nearby. Ensuring no one was around, it looked at the dusty and saliva-covered meat skewers on the ground, its expression turning conflicted. After a moment, she saw it swallow. ¡°Gululu...¡± Another loud rumble sounded. After hesitating for a moment, Mairrel quickly lowered its head and gobbled up the dusty skewers. Afterwards, it smacked its lips as if savoring the taste. Little Xian Miao: ... She covered her mouth to stifle a laugh and started typing in the world channel: ¡°Buying Demon Beast Meat at high prices, as much as you have, I¡¯ll buy!¡± Meanwhile, she contacted the two northeastern guys who could grill meat. Chapter 102: The Dragon-Shaped Husky Chapter 102: Chapter 102: The Dragon-Shaped Husky Mairrel was very conflicted. The despicable evil god had confined her activities to a three-kilometer radius. But after inspecting the area, she realized that there was no food here at all! ¡°Oh heavens! Is the great Lord Mairrel going to starve to death here?¡± She was an adolescent dragon, right in the growth phase, and naturally had a huge appetite. The sensation of hunger was something she had rarely experienced ever since settling in her castle in the Dark Mountain Range. ... At that time, the Half-Beast Tribe would prepare everything she needed. Thinking of those honest and capable half-beasts, and then about these cruel, crazy long-eared creatures, Mairrel felt her future growing increasingly bleak. ¡°Do I really have to surrender to those long ears?¡± Recalling the taste of the meat skewer she had just smelled, Mairrel involuntarily swallowed her saliva but quickly shook her head, ¡°No! No! How can Mairrel bow to evil forces?¡± She seemed to have forgotten... she had already bowed twice before. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.§ã¦Ï Just then, an even more alluring aroma of meat wafted over. Mairrel sniffed the air, suddenly feeling her hunger intensify as dragon saliva uncontrollably pooled beneath her. ¡°Slurp... so fragrant...¡± Her body moved instinctively, heading in the direction of the aroma. Crossing a small hill, Mairrel quickly found the source of the fragrance on the edge of the town... It was Little Xian Miao. She was grilling meat with two male elves over a campfire; the meat sizzled with oil above the flames and was sprinkled with unnamed spices and honey, its enticing aroma spreading from far away. Beside them, demon beast meat was piled like a small mountain! Seeing the sudden appearance of the enormous dragon head, with its pair of shiny dragon eyes staring straight ahead despite seemingly forcing themselves not to look over here, and its conflicted little expression, Little Xian Miao¡¯s eyes formed into crescents of amusement. She took a skewer of perfectly grilled meat from the campfire, brought it to her mouth, and took a bite. The fragrance of the meat burst forth. The salty, savory, and tender meat texture was delicious, the charred and shiny fat melted in her mouth, and the mouthwatering flavors made her eyes light up slightly. The handiwork of her Northeast pals was indeed powerful! Seeing her enjoying the food so much, Mairrel¡¯s eyes lit up slightly as she drooled even more. Little Xian Miao glanced at her, and she immediately retracted her expression. Mairrel lifted her dragon head proudly, puffing up her dragon snout petulantly, and exhaled heavily, but her eyes couldn¡¯t help but glance over furtively, much like a large husky. Seeing her like this, Little Xian Miao gave a friendly smile. She picked up a large skewer made of branches from the campfire, sniffed it at her nose... Hmm, it smelled really good! She made a blissful expression, then lifted the meat skewer, enticing Little Black Dragon, ¡°Want some?¡± Mairrel: ... Little Black Dragon¡¯s expression grew even more conflicted. ¡°Gululu...¡± Another loud rumble came from her stomach. Mairrel: ... She took a deep breath, trying to hypnotize herself inside, *¡±This isn¡¯t submission! It¡¯s temporary hibernation! This isn¡¯t acceptance, but a way to gather strength for freedom later!¡±* Then, she woodenly walked to Little Xian Miao¡¯s side and snatched the meat skewer with her mouth. ¡°Crunch crunch...¡± Juices and oils sprayed everywhere, the chewy meat tendons and crispy, tender flesh perfectly blended together, the salty and savory flavors rapidly spreading in her mouth... It was... truly delicious! Mairrel¡¯s dragon eyes widened to their largest size. After eating, she licked her lips wistfully. She had to admit... this was the best food she had ever tasted! Perhaps it was because she was starved, but Mairrel even thought it was tastier than human food! Human cuisine was famously known in the Segis World, and Mairrel¡¯s adoptive father was also a noble dragon who adored human food, but even when she was with her father, she hadn¡¯t tasted such delicious grilled meat! Seeing the sparkle in Mairrel¡¯s eyes, Little Xian Miao¡¯s eyes were filled with smiles, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s plenty more... but it needs to roast a bit longer.¡± After saying this, a thought occurred to Little Xian Miao, and she continued, ¡°So, while it¡¯s roasting... would you like to hear a story?¡± ¡°A story?¡± Mairrel was a bit startled. She glanced at the evil, long-eared creature with a proud expression but grew curious on her lips, ¡°What kind of story?¡± Little Xian Miao¡¯s mouth turned up slightly, ¡°A story about a kind race that loves peace...¡± A kind race... Mairrel furrowed her brow, her heart sneering silently, Kindness? Ha ha. Did evil races even know what kindness was? ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll give you a chance, Lord Mairrel.¡± She coolly said this. Fine. Since she had eaten someone else¡¯s food, she would listen to what this evil creature had to say! Perhaps she still had a hint of conscience, and if Lord Mairrel could recruit her as a clansmen and guide her onto a path of righteousness, it might not be a bad choice. After all... the grilled meat was quite delicious. Hmm, Lord Mairrel certainly wasn¡¯t doing it just for the grilled meat! ... Watching Mairrel, who was becoming increasingly without limits because of Little Xian Miao¡¯s temptation, Eve was very satisfied. ¡°Seems like this dragon who thinks she¡¯s a Silver Dragon is about to be completely conquered.¡± She chuckled, then focused her attention on her true form. Now that the Flame Tribe elves had returned, and the number of players was growing, someone would eventually notice the significant changes in the Elf Forest. Although she had shifted the blame to Hela again, Uller wouldn¡¯t just let it go, after all, this place wasn¡¯t the Netherworld. However, Uller¡¯s next move would undoubtedly be even more cautious. Perhaps... she might even send a Divine Favored to investigate personally. As her strength increased, the barrier for concealment Eve had set up for herself had expanded to thirty kilometers. That meant, beyond thirty kilometers, what others saw of the World Tree was different from what they saw within thirty kilometers. Nonetheless, if an enemy managed to sneak in carefully, they might indeed discover the World Tree¡¯s revival! However, since embodying the Divine Country, Eve felt her control over her true form became even more precise. So, she decided to further perfect this concealment. ¡°Setting up an illusion within a certain range isn¡¯t as good as applying it directly onto my body. I can directly exert power onto my true form to conceal my own changes, only allowing my believers and the working players to see my true form!¡± ¡°With this setup, even if enemies managed to sneak in, as long as they didn¡¯t come into contact with my true form, they wouldn¡¯t notice any changes. They would still see the withered World Tree!¡± ¡°And players and believers already know they need to conceal my revival from the outside world, so even if someone sneaks in, I can notify them to respond immediately.¡± ¡°Maybe... I could even use this to mislead them!¡± Previously, Eve didn¡¯t have precise control over divine power, and her connections with believers and players were rough. But after embodying the Divine Country, all of this had become possible. With these thoughts in mind, she quickly constructed a new concealment barrier around her true form. At the same time, the NPC task system she had already planned could be prioritized with the increase in native elves and the further strengthening of the faith channel. Chapter 103: NPC Quest System Chapter 103: Chapter 103: NPC Quest System ¡°`html The NPC task system was something Eve had considered for a long time. As it stood, the game tasks in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± were primarily issued and settled by Eve herself, even the daily tasks granted by Alice were supported behind the scenes by Eve. Though she had been reborn as the World Tree, this level of computation was as simple as eating and drinking water in her past life, but that was because there were still very few players. Two closed beta tests were enough. For the next recruitment, Eve planned to officially commence the open beta! ... By then, there would be a massive influx of players, reaching tens of thousands. And as the number of players increased, it would be impossible for Eve to manage everything personally; many things could be delegated to the native elves. Eve¡¯s plan was to connect the game system she designed with her faith channel, delegating part of the game management authority to her believers, truly incorporating them as NPCs in the game! This... was the NPC task system! Specifically, it entailed distributing a portion of game permissions to her believers based on the level of their faith, creating NPC templates that allowed them the autonomy to issue tasks to players and distribute rewards. This was somewhat like turning ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± into a corporation. Eve was the boss, her believers were the employees, and the players were their clients and cash cows. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?¦Ï.?¦Ï The higher the faith level in Eve, the greater the task NPC authority of the believers! In Eve¡¯s plan, Saints were to be granted a purple NPC template, fanatics a blue NPC template, and devout believers a white NPC template. Those who offered minimal faith wouldn¡¯t be integrated into the system. If they wanted the ability to issue tasks to the Chosen Ones, they needed to praise the Goddess and become devout believers as soon as possible! As for the sole golden NPC, that would be Eve herself. The content of the tasks was to be set by the believers themselves. The content could benefit the believers, but it must not harm and should even aid the Mother Goddess¡¯s interests, and serve as a positive feedback mechanism for the development of the elf civilization. Of course, Eve would encourage believers to issue tasks that benefited her. If a believer issued a task that made an outstanding contribution to her and civilization, Eve would reward the believer! Given the nature of the elves in Segis World, Eve wasn¡¯t concerned about anyone causing trouble in this regard. The rewards could be provided by the believers themselves, or they could be the experience points and contribution points allocated by Eve to them, and even the learning of certain skills and career changes! Of course, the skills and job changes issued by NPCs were different from the ¡°direct infusion¡± in the contribution mall. The skills and career changes obtained from NPCs required players to learn from scratch like the native elves. This was considered another path for civilian players! After all, not everyone had the money to throw around for contribution points; out of over a thousand people, only one was like Little Xian Miao who treated money like paper. The transcendent status of the contribution mall wouldn¡¯t change. In addition, the experience points and contribution point quotas held by believers would also be linked to their level of faith. The more devout the faith in Eve, the larger the allocated quota, and the greater the one-time distribution! The quota would refresh every 24 hours and could not be accumulated. Of course, the reward quota allocated to NPCs had to be below that of the main storyline. The richest and most unique rewards had to be held in Eve¡¯s own hands! However, daily tasks weren¡¯t subject to restrictions. Daily tasks could be repeatedly accepted. Generally speaking, the daily tasks in each period were Eve¡¯s development plans for that period. For instance, the current daily tasks were the expansion of Elf Town and the restoration of the Holy City of Feilengcui. And for daily tasks, Eve would specially design a silver daily task NPC template that could be compatible with the ordinary NPC template. For example, Saintess Alice could have both the daily task NPC template and the purple NPC template simultaneously. This meant that while issuing unrestricted daily tasks, she could also distribute NPC tasks according to her own preferences to the players. Once this system was activated, the gameplay of the entire game would become more diverse! At the same time, Eve would be somewhat relieved of issuing tasks, only needing to oversee the backstage system operation and main storyline. And for the believers, it would once again ignite their enthusiasm for faith and deepen their interactions with the players. *Eve could already vaguely foresee that all players would turn into the loyal dog fans of the elves... especially those devout elves.* Moreover, Eve also planned to evaluate the ¡°performance¡± of all believers¡¯ tasks every few months or a year. Those believers who made significant contributions to the development of civilization, the spread of faith, or the enhancement of Eve¡¯s power would be richly rewarded! This was meant to ignite the enthusiasm of the believers and guide the direction of their task distribution. *Ah, she was just too clever!* Eve was very pleased. *These plans... she had thought of them long ago.* However, before transforming into the Divine Country, Eve¡¯s grasp of faith was still rough and couldn¡¯t connect the two systems well. But now she could. Thinking of this, Eve quickly began the necessary preparations to formally establish the NPC task system! ... On the outskirts of Elf Town. Black Dragon Mairrel gnawed on roasted meat, sniffling, ¡°It¡¯s so tragic! The Elf Clan is so tragic!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of the famous Elf Clan but never seen this beautiful race. Never thought peace-loving they would be so tragic...¡± Just now, Little Xian Miao narrated the history of the elves over the past thousand years to Mairrel in story form. To make it more sentimental, Little Xian Miao searched online for tragic stories from Blue Star, purposely chose the sorrowful ones, embellishing them into a modified elf version. Considering that this black dragon had been misled by the Half-Beast before, she didn¡¯t directly mention that the ones persecuting the elves were the Half-Beast and humans nor did she describe what an elf looked like. This black dragon with incomplete inheritance... didn¡¯t even know that the ones who captured him were elves! The final outcome was that Mairrel was completely immersed in the story... ¡°So... the evil forces must be eliminated! Ah, I don¡¯t know where the elves are now. If Mairrel knew where they were, Mairrel would surely help them!¡± Mairrel spoke earnestly while eating the roasted meat. Upon hearing it, Little Xian Miao smiled slightly. She pointed at several Flame Tribe elves visiting Elf Town in the distance, and said, ¡°They are elves.¡± Then she pointed at herself, ¡°I am counted as a special elf too.¡± At that moment, Mairrel¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief, ¡°Impossible!¡± He spat out the roasted meat in his mouth instantly, his dragon aura flared in anger, and he roared furiously, ¡°You evil long ears, you¡¯re lying to me!¡± Little Xian Miao jumped in fright. However, she still mustered the courage to say a few words, ¡°Your notions are merely instilled by the Half-Beast. What I haven¡¯t told you is that the race persecuting the elves in the story was the Half-Beast!¡± ¡°You can find out these matters with slight inquiries in human society! The previous coercion by the Half-Beast was just trying to capture elves to sell them as slaves to humans.¡± ¡°As for us, we are merely resisting.¡± Listening to Little Xian Miao, Mairrel was dumbfounded. He glanced at the peaceful and lively atmosphere in the distant town, his expression gradually turning bewildered. Little Xian Miao wanted to say more, but her thoughts were interrupted by a system notification that suddenly appeared in her view¡ª [Announcement: ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± will undergo a version update at Blue Star¡¯s next day 00:00. Please prepare for logging out in advance.] Version update? Little Xian Miao was quite curious. She checked the time, hesitated for a moment, and said to Mairrel, ¡°Think about it carefully yourself! I¡¯m leaving now.¡± With that, she got up and left. Leaving Black Dragon alone in a daze. ¡°` Chapter 104 - 104 The Mother Goddess is Truly Generous Chapter 104: Chapter 104 The Mother Goddess is Truly Generous Carlos Flame was over nine hundred years old. If one did not become a legend, an elf¡¯s lifespan was about twelve hundred years, and adulthood was at two hundred years. Though the youth of elves lasted long, and they aged very slowly, only gradually showing signs of aging after eight or nine hundred years. Yet, translated to human terms, Carlos was already equivalent to an elderly person in their fifties or sixties. Carlos often listened to the thousand-year-old elders in the tribe talk about the prosperity of the Elf Kingdom. Unfortunately, since he could remember, all he had experienced were leaving home, hiding, and wandering. After the World Tree fell, the Elf Clan had persisted for several hundred years. ... But as other races pressed in step by step, in the end, they had no choice but to leave one after another. It had been seven hundred years since the Flame Tribe left the Elf Forest. To be able to return here, to see the revived World Tree, it all felt like a dream to him. But in reality, they truly had returned and settled in the Holy City of Feilengcui! The Elf Forest was just as bountiful as in his memories. Or should he say, with the revival of the Mother Goddess, it was even more bountiful. Except for the slightly fewer animals around Feilengcui than Carlos had imagined, the place was so rich in resources they didn¡¯t even need to worry about food. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï???.§ã¦Ï Because just walking through the forest, you could find countless berries. And if you knew some Natural Magic, you could even make some plants in the forest ripen. The magic power in the Elf Forest was quite abundant, and many fruits could easily be ripened, consuming only a tiny bit of guiding magic power. If there were a berry-producing plant in the yard, the elves didn¡¯t even need to leave home. If they were hungry, they just needed to ripen the plant. Such a life, Carlos could not have imagined before. Because he was born after the Mother Goddess had fallen, and the Elf Forest had long lost its former glory. *At this moment, he understood why those older elves were so nostalgic about the past, why they referred to the Elf Forest as the elves¡¯ earthly Heaven.* The Elf Forest, after the revival of the Mother Goddess, was indeed like Heaven! At the same time, it allowed Carlos to vaguely imagine how powerful the Elf Kingdom was a thousand years ago... And Carlos knew they were able to return because they had regained the protection of the Mother Goddess. The protection of the True God was the greatest reliance for the intelligent races of the Segis World. *At that moment, Carlos¡¯s faith in nature deepened.* He had finally grown from a shallow believer into a truly devout believer. ¡°If we want to continue living here, if we want the Elf Clan to rise again, we must strengthen our race and the power of the Mother Goddess!¡± Carlos decided that he would dedicate the remaining three hundred years of his life to the Mother Goddess and the future of the Elf Clan! And after thinking it over, he planned to open a small forging shop in Feilengcui. He had already inherited his father¡¯s forging skills and was a skilled Forging Master, experienced in creating magic tools and equipment, with most of the Flame Tribe¡¯s equipment made by him. However, the wandering over the past few centuries had caused him to gradually loosen his skills. But after arriving in the Elf Forest, he intended to pick up these techniques again. The development of intelligent races was inseparable from tools, and weapons and equipment were even more needed in battle. Through Carlos¡¯s observation, he found that although most of the numerous Chosen Ones had equipment, and some of it was quite lavish, their maintenance was poor. Not only that, many people¡¯s weapons and equipment were damaged, and they seemed to have never considered repairing them. Of course, he didn¡¯t know this was because the players¡¯ battles were too frequent, and equipment damage was common. And it wasn¡¯t that the players hadn¡¯t considered repairs, but that they simply couldn¡¯t repair things themselves... The Contribution Store could repair equipment, but the cost seemed too painful, nearly as much as redeeming a new set. So, many people ultimately chose to offer their broken equipment to the Goddess in secret and use contribution points to exchange for new ones. As a result, the players Carlos saw were all using equipment that hadn¡¯t been maintained or repaired. And as Carlos planned to reopen a forging shop, he faced another headache. Because there were really too few people in the Flame Tribe, and everyone was busy just settling into the Elf Forest. He found himself unable to find any apprentices to help him in a short amount of time! That¡¯s when Carlos thought of the Chosen Ones. But a trace of doubt crept into his heart: ¡°Lord Alice once mentioned that I could ask those Chosen Ones for help, but... would they be willing to be apprentices?¡± To Carlos, the Chosen Ones, summoned personally by the Mother Goddess, held a status akin to Divine Envoys. But being an apprentice in a forging shop was dirty and tiring work, and he wasn¡¯t seeking profit. As an apprentice, aside from learning some forging skills, there were no benefits. The Chosen Ones were so capable, they could even build miraculous cities like the Chosen City. *In this situation, would they... be willing to come?* *He hesitated all day, unable to make up his mind, until he fell asleep that night...* At night, Carlos had a dream. In his dream, he saw the gracious and generous Mother Goddess. The Mother Goddess praised his faith and granted him the ability to assign tasks to the Chosen Ones. ¡°Invoke my name in your heart, and you shall access the relevant permissions.¡± The Mother Goddess advised in the dream. When he woke up the next day, Carlos felt dazed. *He thought he had just been thinking too much during the day, causing him to have such a strange dream.* He chuckled, getting ready to rise when he suddenly stopped. ¡°Mother Goddess...¡± He pondered for a moment and, with a mindset of trying it out, sincerely called out in his heart: ¡°Praise nature, praise life, praise the great Elf Sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± With a tremor in his heart, Carlos was shocked to find that his vision had changed! A semi-transparent white box appeared before his eyes, with the words ¡°Task Management Permissions¡± written in Elven script. ¡°By the Mother Goddess! This... is not a dream!¡± *He gasped, drawing a symbol of Mother Nature on his chest.* And after some study, he discovered this ¡°Task Management Permissions¡± was, indeed, the ability to assign tasks! Moreover, this strange ability could be controlled solely with his mind and could disappear at will, reappearing when called upon. The permissions included functions he had never heard of, like ¡°Task Setting¡± and ¡°Reward Setting,¡± along with a user manual. After reading the manual, Carlos more or less understood these abilities. ¡°This truly is an ability to assign tasks to the Chosen Ones! And all the functions are targeted at the Chosen Ones!¡± *Carlos was in awe.* *The power of the True God!* *This is the power of the True God!* *The Mother Goddess was truly generous, bestowing the believers with such powerful abilities!* Upon further understanding the rules, Carlos realized the Mother Goddess¡¯s true intention was to have the Chosen Ones assist them in revitalizing the race and increasing the power of the Mother Goddess. Of course, believers could also use this to have the Chosen Ones help them with certain tasks. And those strange rewards called experience points and contribution points were all directed at the Chosen Ones. The manual¡¯s introduction said those rewards were what the Chosen Ones desperately sought, and believers could use them as an exchange to ask for their help! Carlos was thrilled. He suddenly wanted to give it a try. ¡°These rewards... might be able to help me find two... no... one apprentice!¡± His eyes glowed. Chapter 105 - 105 Rivendell Chapter 105: Chapter 105 Rivendell ¡°`html Carlos had made up his mind¡ªhe planned to immediately head to the Chosen City to recruit the Chosen Ones! However, when he emerged from the makeshift wooden hut, he found that Feilengcui was already bustling with activity. For some reason, Feilengcui had been flooded with a large number of young Chosen Ones, packed densely together. As far as his eyes could see, the core area of the repaired temple was filled with heads of people. Carlos opened his mouth in surprise, wondering what was going on. ... Although Feilengcui usually had its fair share of Chosen Ones, at those times they were only there to help the elves with repairs in the Holy City, but today... *Carlos seriously doubted if every single Chosen One had come to Feilengcui.* Not only that, but the behavior of the Chosen Ones was also very strange. Every time they saw an elf from the Flame Tribe, they would enthusiastically gather around. Especially around the older elves, there were several Chosen Ones gathered around each one. They smiled and continuously tried to ingratiate themselves, scaring the old elves. Old Priest Samir, who was stationed at the Feilengcui Temple, was even more overwhelmed¡ªsurrounded by a crowd of Chosen Ones, his angry scoldings fell on deaf ears, and the people only increased... Source: , updated on ?¦Ï???.?¦Ï Not only that, Carlos even heard the Chosen Ones exclaiming in the distance: ¡°Whoa! A blue NPC!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a rare NPC! Quick, get over here!¡± ¡°Priest Grandpa! Please help us out!¡± Carlos took a deep breath, having no idea what kind of madness had overtaken these young warriors. And just as he stepped out, more than a dozen Chosen Ones brightened upon seeing him. ¡°Another one! It¡¯s white!¡± They lit up with excitement as if they had spotted prey, swarming around Carlos and surrounding him completely. At the same time, Carlos heard their expectant and excited voices: ¡°Dear Elf Grandpa, good morning!¡± ¡°Sir, do you have any tasks we can help with?¡± ¡°Um... Do you have any skills we could learn?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very eager and already at level 15! Strong and sturdy! I can do anything!¡± Carlos: ... Looking at the expectant Chosen Ones, *Carlos was bewildered.* *What was going on?* But soon, a thought struck him as he remembered last night¡¯s dream... *Could it be?* *Was this... the will of the Mother Goddess?* Suddenly, he felt a surge of joy. *This was an opportunity!* It seemed... he might actually recruit some apprentices! But... He glanced at the Chosen Ones and felt a bit apprehensive. He wondered if the Chosen Ones would be able to endure the tedium of being a forge apprentice. He knew that working as an apprentice in the forge was not only tedious but also carried poor conditions, and was very exhausting. They often worked shirtless, drenched in sweat, all day long... And more importantly, Carlos couldn¡¯t offer much in the way of wages. After pondering for a moment, he decided to test the ability granted to him by the Mother Goddess. He cleared his throat and, with a mix of anticipation and apprehension, said: ¡°Um... yes, I do need some help. I¡¯m planning to open a forge shop in Feilengcui to manufacture and repair equipment and magic items.¡± ¡°But right now I¡¯m short-staffed¡ªI need to recruit apprentices. However, the work will be very tiring, and I can offer very, very little in terms of compensation...¡± His voice trailed off, sounding a bit embarrassed. As soon as Carlos finished, the Chosen Ones surrounding him saw a new hint message in their interfaces: [Carlos Flame has issued a quest: Recruiting Forge Apprentices] In an instant, the players fell silent. Seeing the quiet of the Chosen Ones, Carlos felt a jolt in his heart, wondering if his demands had let the Chosen Ones down. But before he could say anything else, the players erupted: ¡°Forge skills? Recruiting apprentices?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a life skills NPC!¡± ¡°What luck!¡± ¡°Can repair equipment?!¡± ¡°Sir, I want to learn! I want to be an apprentice!¡± They exclaimed excitedly, completely surrounding Carlos. Their determined expression made Carlos shiver subconsciously and suddenly question if the Mother Goddess¡¯s warriors had a different motive... *Hmm... no, there were a few women as well.* Wait... Even women wanted to be forge apprentices? *Carlos was dumbfounded.* Before he could react, the Chosen Ones stuffed his hands full of berries and sat him down on a stone bench. Meanwhile, someone began to fan him with leaves and massage his legs and shoulders... And their flattering voices began to ring out: ¡°Elf Grandpa, you look like such a good person! These berries are for you! They¡¯re really sweet!¡± ¡°I admire the forging profession the most, so... could you take me on?¡± ¡°Old Grandpa¡ªno... dear Sir! I¡¯m very strong, please take me on as an apprentice! Let me massage your shoulders!¡± ¡°And me! I¡¯ve already started learning Elf Language, and I¡¯m very interested in magic item manufacturing!¡± Carlos: ... *Looking at the enthusiastic Chosen Ones, Carlos was stunned.* *Did they really like being apprentices this much?* He felt like happiness had come so suddenly, it was a bit unreal. Taking a deep breath, he added: ¡°But, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t offer much in terms of compensation...¡± He didn¡¯t even get to finish before the players¡¯ voices overwhelmed him: ¡°No need! No need! I don¡¯t want any rewards, just teach me the skills of forging!¡± ¡°Me too! Me too! As long as you teach me how to repair equipment, that¡¯s enough!¡± Carlos: ... *He looked at the Chosen Ones with excitement and felt deeply moved:* *Good people!* *These guys are really good people!* Taking a deep breath, he said: ¡°Alright! Since you¡¯re all willing, welcome to become my apprentices!¡± After speaking, he sighed: ¡°It¡¯s just that, because of my limited energy, I can only take up to five people. So, those who are interested, stay and help me build the forge shop¡ªI will choose five from among you to become apprentices during this process.¡± At this moment, Carlos felt incredibly happy. He never expected that his problem wasn¡¯t having no apprentices, but having too many who wanted to be apprentices! After hearing his words, the players looked at each other and decided to stay. Under Carlos¡¯s direction, they began the work of building the forge shop. Not only that, but more players continued to arrive from afar, eagerly joining them. Looking at the enthusiastic Chosen Ones, Carlos was filled with emotion: ¡°It¡¯s so wonderful! I haven¡¯t seen days like these in hundreds of years! Back when I was an apprentice, we elves still had a large forging workshop, but unfortunately... alas...¡± As he spoke, he shook his head and sighed: ¡°I can only take five apprentices, not just because of my limited energy, but mainly due to the lack of equipment. Hey... the equipment for forging is all specialized, and though I¡¯ve brought some back, it¡¯s still not enough¡ªa lot of it we¡¯ll have to make ourselves.¡± ¡°But for now, conditions are too poor, and what we make just doesn¡¯t meet the standards. I really miss the old workshop!¡± After hearing Carlos¡¯s words, one player stopped and curiously asked: ¡°Wasn¡¯t there a workshop in Feilengcui before? Maybe... we could look for any remaining equipment!¡± Hearing this, Carlos regretfully shook his head: ¡°The equipment from the Holy City was moved during the migration long ago.¡± However, after saying this, he seemed to remember something and added uncertainly: ¡°But in Rivendell, there might still be some... It was the largest manufacturing city of the Elf Clan, and since it was among the first to be hit by war, many things may not have been moved.¡± After speaking, he shook his head once more: ¡°But it¡¯s been a thousand years, and even if any are left, I guess they wouldn¡¯t be usable.¡± As soon as he finished, Carlos found the Chosen Ones were all quiet. Perplexed, he turned to find everyone looking at him excitedly. ¡°Wha... what¡¯s going on?¡± He asked curiously. ¡°Rivendell?¡± The players were instantly excited. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C PS: The name Rivendell comes from The Lord of the Rings. Couldn¡¯t think of a reliable city name, so used this one. ¡°` Chapter 106: High Favorability Equals Willfulness! Chapter 106: Chapter 106: High Favorability Equals Willfulness! ¡°Rivendell... pfft... that name really takes me out of the moment, it reminds me of ¡®The Lord of the Rings.''¡± ¡°Could it be another ruin of an Elf City?¡± ¡°Wait... did we trigger some hidden storyline?¡± Hearing Carlos¡¯s words, the players were instantly thrown into a state of excitement. They put down what they were doing and surrounded Carlos immediately: ¡°Grandfather Carlos, could you tell us more about Rivendell in detail?¡± ... ¡°This Rivendell... is it an Elf City?¡± ¡°Where is it located? Is it near us or not?¡± Seeing the Chosen Ones¡¯ eager expressions, Carlos found it very curious. However, remembering that they had only just arrived in this world shortly ago and knew little about the history of the Elves, Carlos suddenly understood. He set down his hammer, a trace of nostalgia appearing on his face, ¡°Rivendell... in Elvish, it means Deep Chasm, a city built at the border of the Jade Mountain and the Elf Forest, located to the south of the Elf Forest and just north of the Jade Mountain Range, probably one or two hundred kilometers from here...¡± Finishing his words, his expression grew slightly gloomy, Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.?¦Ï ¡°Jade Mountain, which is now the Dark Mountain Range. A thousand years ago, it was also the core area of the Elf Kingdom, but everything was destroyed in the war.¡± ¡°Rivendell was a miraculous city, built in a valley with breathtaking landscapes. It had the largest mine of the Elf Kingdom and was also its manufacturing hub. The Elven equipment and various magic devices produced in Rivendell were once all the rage worldwide!¡± As he spoke, Carlos¡¯s expression was full of excitement, mixed with a bit of pride and reverie. But after a moment, he let out a slight sigh, ¡°Sadly, in the war a thousand years ago, Rivendell and Jade Mountain were destroyed together. Now, all that remains is a bottomless chasm left by the battle of the gods, and Rivendell has turned to ruins...¡± ¡°The Grand Canyon opened up a passage between the Underworld and the ground world. It¡¯s said that the current Rivendell has become a haven for underground monsters...¡± ¡°It¡¯s the existence of the Grand Canyon that severed the connection between the Jade Mountain Range and the Elf Forest. Now the only entrance and exit on the south side of the Elf Forest are to the southeast, near the Half-Beast Tribe. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t be ambushed by the Half-Beasts on our way back from other passages.¡± As Carlos spoke, he clenched his fist. The Old Elves who died in battle were almost all his friends and elders! Thinking of this, Carlos¡¯s eyes turned red, vision slightly blurry. He sniffed his crimson nose and forced a smile, saying, ¡°Heh, getting old makes one sentimental.¡± After speaking, he pulled himself together, hope on his face, ¡°Ah... those are things of the past, better left unsaid.¡± ¡°Now that the Mother Goddess has returned, everything about the Elf Clan will get better. I believe... one day, we will also be able to drive away the monsters occupying Rivendell and reestablish the glory of the Elves, just like in Feilengcui!¡± As he spoke, he was spirited and turned to look at the Chosen Ones, ¡°Everything will be better, let¡¯s work hard together!¡± But when he turned around, he was stunned. Because he discovered that the Chosen Ones, who were just helping him with work and listening to his historical account, had suddenly dwindled by more than half! Originally there were thirty or forty people, and now only seven or eight were left... and a small half were females. Carlos: ... ¡°Where did everyone go?!¡± He looked astonished. A blonde, blue-eyed female Chosen One, who had been listening intently to his story, wore a strange expression. She glanced outside, trying to suppress her laughter, and answered, ¡°I guess... they might have gone to look for Rivendell...¡± Carlos: ... ... The history Carlos recounted was like a pebble thrown onto a lake surface. Just a hundred to two hundred kilometers south of the Elf Forest, north of the Dark Mountain Range, there was still an Elf City! Its name was Rivendell! And... it once was the Elf Clan¡¯s greatest manufacturing hub, likely holding many treasures! Not just that, it was also connected to the Underworld, with many rumored monsters! Treasures! Monsters! A new map! This was undoubtedly a new map! Could it be... another main storyline?! For a moment, the Chosen Ones who received the message became excited all at once. Meanwhile, the leaders of the three major Player Guilds also received the news: ¡°Holy cow! Brother Mu, Brother Mu! It looks like we triggered a hidden storyline! High chance of a new map!¡± ¡°Miao! Miao! Extra, extra! I found clues to a new Elf City ruin! This time our guild should definitely take the lead, right? I hear it once was the Elf manufacturing center, surely there are lots of ancient texts related to construction!¡± ¡°Tomato Giant! We¡¯ve got it! We¡¯ve got it! There¡¯s finally a lead on the Elf Ruins we¡¯ve been searching for in the wilderness! I heard there are many monsters there! This time, we can definitely have a great time slaying!¡± In an instant, all the Chosen Ones were in a frenzy. ¡°Rivendell?¡± Just after receiving a task from Alice to look after two little Elf girls, Li Mu checked the guild messages, showing an expression of surprise. He thought for a moment, handed each little Elf girl a berry, and told them to play on their own. Afterward, he entered the Natural Temple, saluted Alice, who was issuing daily tasks, and respectfully asked, ¡°Lord Alice, do you know about Rivendell?¡± ¡°Rivendell?¡± Alice slightly paused in her movement. Her expression carried a hint of nostalgia, ¡°It used to be one of our Elf Clan¡¯s most flourishing cities, but it¡¯s now turned to ruins.¡± Hearing her words, Li Mu¡¯s spirit was lifted, ¡°Then, do you know the precise location of Rivendell?¡± Alice gave him a look and shook her head, ¡°I¡¯ve never been there.¡± Then, she added, ¡°However, Rivendell was built in a valley. After its destruction, it became connected to the Grand Canyon north of the Dark Mountain Range. If you follow the canyon, you¡¯re sure to find it.¡± At this point, she seemed to notice something, and she warned Li Mu, ¡°I have to caution you, I¡¯ve heard it¡¯s connected to the passage of the Underworld, becoming a monster paradise and very dangerous. You¡¯d better not take any risks.¡± ¡°Alright, thank you, Lord Alice!¡± Hearing the Holy Daughter¡¯s words, Li Mu showed a look of delight. He thanked Alice while messaging his guild members in his awareness, ¡°I confirmed with Alice, there is indeed an Elf City named Rivendell! Apparently, it used to be quite prosperous! Alice also gave me some methods to find it...¡± ¡°However, Alice said it¡¯s very dangerous. I suggest our guild¡¯s interested players form several exploration teams and conduct separate explorations! As for the person responsible for the exploration task, let¡¯s let Dema handle it!¡± Seeing Li Mu¡¯s message, the players of the Nature¡¯s Heart Guild responded, ¡°Received.¡± At this time, Dema suddenly asked in the guild chat, ¡°Brother Mu, why aren¡¯t you going?¡± Li Mu¡¯s lips curled slightly as he typed back, ¡°I¡¯m on a task from Alice to take care of the kids, and the reward is 1000 contribution points! Haha, I can¡¯t leave.¡± Dema: ... Nature¡¯s Heart Guild players: ... ¡°My gosh, 1000 contribution points, as expected of the only purple NPC...¡± ¡°So envious!¡± ¡°Tsk, does a high affection level allow you to do whatever you want?¡± Li Mu replied smugly, ¡°Sorry, a high affection level indeed allows me to do whatever I want!¡± Dema: ... Nature¡¯s Heart Guild players: ... ¡°he~tui!¡± ¡°he~tui!¡± ¡°...¡± Li Mu: ... Chapter 107: Ullers Divine Favored Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Uller¡¯s Divine Favored ¡°`html Seek another Elven city, Rivendell! Although the players had not received any relevant main quest, as soon as Carlos pointed it out, their attention to this city grew increasingly intense... And as players further interacted with other NPCs, more information about Rivendell, the once Elven city, became available. A miraculous city, the largest vein, a legendary crafting capital... The halo around Rivendell was no less than that of the Holy City of Feilengcui! ... In fact, Rivendell, Feilengcui, and the capital of the Elf Kingdom were originally the most famous three cities of the Elf Kingdom. In the game, there could not be data without meaning and value! Players strongly believed that this information about Rivendell must be another hidden quest! Perhaps it was even related to the upcoming mainline! In no time, players, whether spontaneously or organized by guilds, formed exploration teams one after another, wanting to find this city. Ruins meant treasure! And the ruins of Rivendell were said to be connected to the Underworld, full of countless monsters! Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.?¦Ï Adventure, wasn¡¯t this exactly what players pursued? Their actions even startled the NPCs. Many young elves from the Flame Tribe were also curious about this city, with some even wanting to join the Chosen Ones ready for exploration, but they were stopped by their elders... Moreover, they received scoldings from the Old Elves: ¡°Rivendell is full of terrifying monsters, are the Chosen Ones immortal beings, are you?!¡± ¡°You¡¯re almost two hundred years old, can¡¯t you mature a little?!¡± ¡°Just gaining lifespan but not intelligence? Still thinking of yourselves as kids under a hundred?!¡± ¡°Look at Divine Favored Ail! He¡¯s only eighty, and he¡¯s so sensible, even favored by the Mother Goddess! What about you?!¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t behave, I¡¯ll send you to Carlos to be apprentices!¡± Finally, those curious young elves had to abandon their pursuits, staying obediently in Feilengcui, assisting their tribe in repairing the Holy City, all dejected... The players¡¯ actions also caught Eve¡¯s attention. She paid a little attention, and immediately understood the situation: ¡°Rivendell?¡± Her heart stirred: ¡°It seemed I had overlooked this city.¡± In the inheritance of the World Tree that Eve received, this city was mentioned quite frequently as well. She even had the image of Rivendell being split in two by a blade from a Divine being. And it was this very sword that formed the great rift separating the Dark Mountain Range and the Elf Forest... ¡°Documents and treasures aside, if it¡¯s truly connected to the Underworld, it might actually turn out to be a promising new map...¡± ¡°According to the inheritance, the Underworld isn¡¯t peaceful and honestly quite suitable for players to cause a stir.¡± Eve thought with interest. She didn¡¯t release any related quests but instead remembered the players¡¯ movements, no longer focusing on them. Currently, her main focus still lay on the Half-Beasts and the restoration of the Holy City of Feilengcui. The Half-Beast stronghold near the Elf Forest had to be eradicated as soon as possible! Under her instructions, Divine Favored El, Berserker Basa, and Natural Saintess Alice had already issued missions to find Half-Beast strongholds. The Flame Tribe had a rough idea of the location of the Half-Beast Tribe, but not the exact spot. Little Black Dragon seemed to know but refused to cooperate. To win its heart as quickly as possible, Eve didn¡¯t intend to use force on it. However, Eve believed that the players should soon find the Half-Beast stronghold. After all, the area they needed to investigate had become quite small. As for Rivendell... The terrain around the rift was treacherous, with many high-level demon beasts. If players wanted to discover Rivendell, it wasn¡¯t a matter of a day or two. Finding it within one or two months would be commendable. After all, there were just a few players who persisted in searching, with most people giving up quickly without external motivation. ¡°The primary issue now is the Half-Beasts and the restoration of the Holy City. Hmm... bringing the Flame Tribe on track is also important, as for Rivendell, it can be set aside for now...¡± ¡°If they truly discover Rivendell by chance, then I can create a hidden storyline.¡± Eve contemplated. ... Dark Mountain Range, Rock Cave Tribe. The days of the Half-Beast Priest had recently been very tough. He had not closed his eyes for three days and nights. And the only reason was that the team he had sent to ambush the elves seemed to have vanished without a trace, like a pebble thrown into the sea... More than three hundred people, the bravest warriors of the tribe, and not a single one returned! This incident had already stirred dissatisfaction and panic among some of the tribesmen. Moreover, even the Black Dragon Mairrel who went along hadn¡¯t returned... Jushan had sent people to the ruined castle on the mountaintop to check. The protective magic Mairrel had set around the nest was still intact. Additionally, through the windows, faint glimpses of its hoarded gold and gemstones could be seen... Dragons are lovers of treasure, if it had moved, it couldn¡¯t possibly leave its hoard behind! This indicated that Mairrel had also encountered some sudden situation, forcing it to be unable to return... Or perhaps, it was already dead. Thinking of this, the elderly High Priest became increasingly horrified. Over three hundred Half-Beasts, and a Silver Upper-level Black Dragon... They had vanished as if they¡¯d been evaporated! Jushan sent people to investigate, and at the edge of the Elf Forest, only traces of battle and some bloodstains remained. Not a single corpse... Not a single piece of remaining equipment! What on earth did they encounter? The more Jushan pondered, the more terrified he became. At this point, the Elf Forest seemed to him like a fearsome, devouring beast. ¡°What kind of existence could accomplish all this? Could it be... there¡¯s a legend within the Elf Forest?¡± ¡°Is it... the Favored of the Death God?¡± The Giant Mountain Priest had already considered giving up this stronghold and leading his people to another place. The treasure hoarded by Black Dragon Mairrel should be enough to support the migration of the tribesmen. If Mairrel were still around, Jushan would never dare think of taking its treasure, but now things were different. In his view, there was an eighty percent chance Mairrel had met a grim fate too. Still, the Rock Cave Tribe initially settled here by the decree of the God of Winter and Hunting. Without the Father¡¯s divine command, the Giant Mountain Priest didn¡¯t dare easily make the decision to migrate... He had prayed to the Father multiple times lately, requesting the tribe¡¯s migration, but received no approval. ¡°Why... is the Father not responding to me?¡± This made Jushan increasingly uneasy inside. Just as he hesitated whether to directly arrange a sacrificial array to communicate with the Father at the risk of angering Him, a Half-Beast Priest stumbled in from outside the cavern: ¡°High Priest! High Priest!¡± He was out of breath. Jushan frowned: ¡°What happened now?¡± The approaching Half-Beast Priest saluted him, speaking between pants and excitement: ¡°There... there¡¯s a high-level professional in the tribe!¡± High-level professional? The eyes of Jushan narrowed slightly. ¡°He... he claims to be the Divine Favored of the Father!¡± The priest spoke excitedly. ¡°` Chapter 108 - 108 The Atmosphere Gradually Becomes Awkward Chapter 108: Chapter 108 The Atmosphere Gradually Becomes Awkward ¡°`html When the High Priest of Jushan arrived at the main tent of the Rock Cave Tribe, he finally saw the visitor. It was a tall figure seated at the principal position, clad in an entirely black robe, with a high white collar, and a blood-red rose pinned to the left chest. His appearance was as handsome as an elf, with shoulder-length black hair tied into a single ponytail, a pale complexion, and a pair of crimson eyes keenly observing the Half-Beast Jushan entering the main tent. The pupils of the Half-Beast High Priest slightly contracted, ¡°Nightwalker?¡± ... Upon hearing his exclamation, a hint of a roguish smile appeared on the mysterious visitor¡¯s lips, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect my name to have traveled here.¡± He snapped his fingers, and a transparent glass appeared in his hand as if by magic, filled with bright red blood. He took a gentle sip and then said, ¡°However, I prefer to be called Count.¡± The High Priest of Jushan revitalized, drew a bow-shaped symbol on his chest, and bowed to the other, ¡°Praise the Father God! Count, the Rock Cave Tribe welcomes your arrival!¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï??¦Ï.§ã0 Nightwalker. That was a famed Divine Favored of the God of Winter and Hunting in the Segis World! The Nightwalker was not a Beastman, but a member of the Blood Clan originally devoted to darkness, yet he was converted in a war by the Father God¡¯s faith, becoming the Divine Favored of a True God. No one knew the Nightwalker¡¯s true name, but he preferred others to call him Count because he was truly a high-level professional, with the power of Lower Gold! In the Blood Clan, this was the count-level tier. Having confirmed the visitor¡¯s identity, Jushan slightly relaxed. The arrival of a Divine Favored also implied the True God¡¯s attention was focused here because a Divine Favored was the eyes of a True God! *The Father God... had not forgotten them!* And as one of the few races following Uller, Nightwalker was favored by Her. He often engaged with faith forces of other True Gods in roles like a visitor, mediator, or scout, resembling Uller¡¯s diplomat in the mortal realm. And upon seeing Nightwalker, the anxiety and apprehension that had troubled the Half-Beast Jushan for days calmed considerably, ¡°You... having come here, you should already know about the Elf Forest, right?¡± He probed tentatively. The Nightwalker nodded, ¡°I came here at the behest of the Father God.¡± Having said that, he rose from his seat, one hand behind his back, gently shaking the glass in his other hand. Watching the blood sway with its motion in the cup, the Nightwalker¡¯s expression gradually turned solemn, ¡°The True God suspects a new god is rising in the Elf Forest, so I¡¯m sent to check it out.¡± Divine Enthronement...! The pupils of the High Priest of Jushan slightly contracted. If a True God was hidden behind the Elf Forest, then everything made sense! However, he soon became perplexed again, ¡°Count, if I may be blunt, there haven¡¯t been any signs of Divine Enthronement in the Elf Forest in recent years. Besides, magical power in Segis has been dwindling for a millennium, and there hasn¡¯t even been the birth of a Demigod, let alone a True God...¡± The prerequisites for Divine Enthronement were quite stringent. Only a high-level plane with abundant magical power could support Divine Enthronement! Moreover, the waves of Divine Enthronement were incredibly strong. If a new god were to ascend, the nearby Rock Cave Tribe would definitely sense it! As a High Priest, Jushan knew these things. Nightwalker chuckled, ¡°Who said a Divine Enthronement ceremony is necessary? That one¡¯s true form still lies within the Elf Forest, and a thousand years have passed; the sealing divine arts should be broken by now, right? You must have heard of how those under Your Excellency ascended to the divine seats during the Twilight of the Gods.¡± Upon hearing his words, Jushan¡¯s pupils contracted again, ¡°Directly merging the divine position and divinity? How... is that possible?¡± Nightwalker smiled again, ¡°Ordinarily, it would be impossible, but what if other True Gods helped? For instance... the one from the Netherworld.¡± In fact, Uller originally had this plan. But due to warnings from the gods and the presence of seals, She did not dare take action. However, Hela was different; She remained in the Netherworld for a long time, and despite having left a True God seat in the Pantheon, She rarely interacted with the gods of the Heavenly Realm. And as the Lord of the Underworld, as long as She stayed at home, She was not afraid of the dominion of the three divine systems of the Pantheon in Her domain. Thus... The gods¡¯ warnings were stressful for Hela, but not as fatal as they were for Uller. If She dared to do something, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising. Of course, believers were unaware of these matters. This was a secret among True Gods. Believers knowing the Death God might have acted was already sufficient. Upon hearing this, a thought flashed briefly in Jushan¡¯s mind, relating to the Death God¡¯s Divine Favored mentioned by the Father God. For a moment, he felt like he grasped the truth of the matter! Seeing the change in Jushan¡¯s expression, Nightwalker appeared quite pleased, ¡°It seems you have thought of it too.¡± After speaking, his expression gradually became serious, ¡°Nature and life have been the Father God¡¯s pursuit for a millennium, and simultaneously... also the objective of the one from the Netherworld. Although that one from the Netherworld cannot come in true form, She can nonetheless support a new god!¡± Hela governed death, aging, and disease. These divine positions were contrary to the life divine position, yet they also had connecting points. And it was no secret within the True Gods of the Segis Universe that Hela¡¯s divine position was incomplete. The life divine position similarly attracted Her. It¡¯s said that mastering contradictory divine positions could cause divine soul turbulence, potentially leading a True God to madness, but Hela did not need to do this. She only needed to support a sub-god related to life and gain information about the rules of life from them to complete Her incomplete death divine position! All this was Uller¡¯s conjecture. And She shared with Her Divine Favored that Hela was very likely to take action! ¡°So... Count, do you have any plans? The forces hiding within the Elf Forest are extremely powerful, and we¡¯ve already lost hundreds of warriors and a Black Dragon,¡± the High Priest of Jushan said worriedly. ¡°Moreover... they were annihilated with overwhelming power, and there wasn¡¯t even a commotion.¡± At this, the glass in Nightwalker¡¯s hand slightly paused, and his expression gradually turned solemn. But soon, he lightly laughed, ¡°No rush... I¡¯ve already sent my Favored Beast to secretly infiltrate the forest and investigate for me.¡± Favored Beast? Jushan¡¯s expression brightened. Nightwalker possessed the ability to summon Favored Beasts. This skill allowed ordinary animals to be under his control, helping him explore the unknown. And Nightwalker was especially adept at controlling seemingly harmless creatures, like wild rabbits and deer... completely unpreventable! Moreover, the images seen by the animals could be transmitted back, a rather advanced reconnaissance ability! With that, Nightwalker gestured, and magic power gradually manifested a scene before him. Jushan, invigorated, hastily looked at the scene. He was also curious about what was happening in the Elf Forest! However... the view was black. ¡°Dead?¡± Nightwalker was slightly taken aback. Seeing Jushan¡¯s surprised expression, Nightwalker cleared his throat and said, ¡°Ahem, this often happens as the Favored Beasts are merely ordinary beasts, and accidents can occur. But... I summoned more than one.¡± After saying this, he switched the scene again. Still black. Nightwalker¡¯s eyebrows raised, somewhat surprised, ¡°Hmm... also dead? A mistake, a mistake, let me switch to another.¡± He waved his arm, changing the scene again. Still black... Jushan: ... Nightwalker: ... The atmosphere grew a bit awkward for a moment. ¡°` Chapter 109: Top-Notch Game Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Top-Notch Game The Night Stalker switched through several visuals, finding them all black. This meant that the majority of the Favored Beasts he had sent out were dead. This gradually made his expression somewhat unpleasant. ¡°Um... cough, cough, Count, could it be that your surveillance has been discovered?¡± Watching the Blood Clan member¡¯s face turn from pale to blue, Jushan cautiously said. ¡°Impossible!¡± ... The Night Stalker instinctively retorted loudly. He took a deep breath, steadied his mood, and continued speaking elegantly, ¡°The Favored Beasts I summon are just ordinary animals. They have not exposed a trace of Magic Power, so it couldn¡¯t have been detected so easily.¡± ¡°This... must be a coincidence!¡± As he spoke, he continued changing the visuals. After switching through seven or eight more, the Night Stalker finally found a normal visual! It showed the perspective of a wild rabbit, running swiftly with a constantly shaking view. Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã¦Ï The Night Stalker¡¯s expression gradually became calm, ¡°See, there is one.¡± ¡°With the enhancement of Magic Power in the Elf Forest, the activity of Demon Beasts has become frequent. It¡¯s normal for Favored Beasts to be attacked, but as long as one survives, I can still get what I want to see!¡± After hearing the Night Stalker¡¯s words, Jushan¡¯s expression gradually became respectful. Indeed worthy of the Divine Favored! This kind of detection ability was truly powerful and unpreventable! The scenario in the visual kept changing, and the two watched intently. ¡°Judging by these plants... we should be close to the core area.¡± Jushan¡¯s expression also gradually became expectant. At this time, the scene in the visual changed, and several tall, armed figures appeared. They were wearing luxurious equipment, chatting and laughing. ¡°Elves!¡± Jushan¡¯s eyes lit up. At this moment, the elves seemed to notice the wild rabbit and simultaneously looked towards the perspective. ¡°Have they been discovered?¡± Jushan¡¯s expression tightened. The Night Stalker took a sip of fresh blood, and casually said, ¡°Relax! It¡¯s just a wild rabbit. They won¡¯t care, and how could elves attack animals...¡± He didn¡¯t finish his sentence. Because the elves in the visual suddenly became excited. They drew various weapons and quickly charged towards the view. A spear flew straight towards the perspective. Soon, the screen turned red and then black. Jushan: ... Night Stalker: ... The Night Stalker¡¯s lip twitched. His expression shifted, then he gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect... my Favored Beast to be discovered by the other side. It seems their control over the Elf Forest is scarier than I imagined!¡± ¡°However... I still have my final trick!¡± He waved his hand again, and the view suddenly shifted to a high altitude! ¡°This is the last Favored Beast I sent out, a Mountain Eagle.¡± The Night Stalker said with a calm face. The view moved downwards, and the two gradually saw the scene in the forest. As the scene kept moving, they eventually saw the Feilengcui Ruins! Feilengcui was incredibly lively, with a swarm of elves, like ants, bustling in the ruins, repairing the ancient city. Looking across, there were hundreds of them! ¡°So many elves!¡± Jushan gasped. But the Night Stalker saw something else, ¡°A temple! There¡¯s actually a temple!¡± He saw a temple in Feilengcui! From the outside, this temple had a bit of a human temple vibe, but it was unclear which Divine it belonged to. However, this indicated one thing¡ª¡ª In the Elf Forest, there indeed were workings of a True God! The Mountain Eagle¡¯s view gradually changed, and the silhouette of the World Tree entered their eyes. Just as they remembered, the World Tree still appeared withered, but beneath it, a stunning city emerged! ¡°Father God above... when did this city appear?¡± Overlooking the elf town built by the players, Jushan was dumbfounded. ¡°What a beautiful city!¡± The Night Stalker¡¯s eyes lit up. This city was full of the natural style of elves, yet it also had many architectural styles never seen before. They combined perfectly, making the entire city look like an exquisite work of art! ¡°Wait... what is that?¡± Suddenly, the Half-Beast saw a few elves gathered around a bonfire. The Night Stalker felt a stirring in his heart and slightly enlarged the view in the visual... They were elves gathered around the bonfire, having a barbecue. On the bonfire was a mountain deer being roasted... The Night Stalker fell silent. Because he recognized it as one of his Favored Beasts. Seeing the elves barbecuing venison, Jushan was utterly shocked, ¡°Elves actually eat meat?!¡± The Night Stalker¡¯s expression grew increasingly solemn. After a moment, he sighed and said, ¡°It seems that behind the Elf Forest, there might indeed be a newly risen Divine! Only a True God can forcibly alter a race¡¯s habits!¡± ¡°These elves... they must have started following a new True God. Moreover, the style of those temples is unprecedented.¡± ¡°Heh heh, it seems that the beliefs of the long-ears can indeed be changed...¡± In the Segis World, True God¡¯s temples each had their characteristics. Often, just the exterior could reveal which Divine they belonged to! But the temples they saw had styles that were never seen before. Coupled with the change in the elves¡¯ nature... Nothing else could more clearly indicate the truth. At this moment, the visual suddenly wobbled, turned red again, and fell into darkness. The two fell into silence. After a moment, the Night Stalker stood up, ¡°My surveillance must have been discovered by the other side. But... it¡¯s alright, I have intentions of paying them a visit.¡± Upon hearing this, Jushan¡¯s expression tightened, ¡°You are going personally?¡± The Night Stalker smiled slightly, with a proud look, ¡°I am a Divine Favored of the Father God and have some minute strength, rest assured.¡± ... Elf Forest. Black Dragon Mairrel took a Mountain Eagle in its mouth, munching and swallowing it, spitting out a mouthful of feathers, ¡°Disgusting... much worse than roasted meat.¡± After saying this, it glanced curiously at the temple, ¡°Why did the Evil God ask me to catch a bird?¡± However, it soon didn¡¯t care and flew beside the players who were barbecuing. As they watched the huge black shadow suddenly descend, the players were unfazed. They all started trying to curry favor, ¡°Oh! It¡¯s Lord Mairrel, hold on a second, huh! The venison still needs some more time on the fire!¡± ¡°Lord Black Dragon, let me tell you... this venison is delicious! Recently, many of these animals have been running into the forest, and they taste much better than regular Demon Beasts!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! This is premium game meat!¡± ¡°Quick, roast it, roast it! In a while, we¡¯ll give the finest drumstick to Lord Mairrel!¡± Mairrel listened, a hint of satisfaction appearing on its dragon face. But quickly, it put on a stern face again, ¡°Hmph! Cruel creatures! I¡¯m just passing by and have no interest in your food at all!¡± After speaking, it licked its lips and added, ¡°For venison, adding some honey improves the taste.¡± Players: ... ... In the high skies. Eve saw the Mountain Eagle being killed and let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to attract the attention of others. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t see Berserker. It seems... the affairs of the Elf Forest can¡¯t be concealed any longer.¡± ¡°I need to think of a way to dress things up properly.¡± Chapter 110: Domination of the Soul! Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Domination of the Soul! ¡°`html In the southeastern area of the Elf Forest, Boxed Lunch was leading his combat squad on an exploration. ¡°Boxed Lunch, now that all the major guilds have begun searching for Rivendell, why aren¡¯t we heading there?¡± One of the players asked curiously. Boxed Lunch fell silent for a moment, then said, ¡°No mission.¡± ... No mission? The remaining team members were momentarily stunned. But soon, they realized that Boxed Lunch was referring to the fact that the Goddess had not issued any related tasks. One of the team members sighed, ¡°Boxed Lunch, I think we don¡¯t have to act according to the tasks issued by the Goddess every time. This game has a high level of freedom; we can completely explore on our own, and we might even stumble upon a hidden storyline.¡± Boxed Lunch was silent for a moment again, then said, ¡°When we take a mission, we should finish it well.¡± Source: , updated on n?¦Ï¦Í??.§ã¦Ï Player: ... Boxed Lunch was not wrong either; they had received a mission from Alice to find the Half-Beast¡¯s stronghold. Indeed, finding the stronghold was the priority. But... knowing is one thing; seeing all the players on the forum rushing to find Rivendell, with this legendary city being so mysterious as told by the NPCs, it was hard not to be tempted. ¡°It won¡¯t be long.¡± Boxed Lunch threw down another line, leaping forward at a brisk pace. The rest of the team exchanged looks and had no choice but to follow. They were already approaching the edge of the Elf Forest, and based on the information obtained from the elves of the Flame Tribe, it was estimated that they would soon find traces of the Half-Beasts. In fact, if it weren¡¯t for the righteous Black Dragon Mairrel refusing to be their guide, they would have already tracked down the Half-Beasts. While on the move, suddenly... Boxed Lunch stopped. His expression instantly became very serious. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Seeing their captain acting as if facing a great enemy, the other players immediately became alert. ¡°Someone is approaching; the opponent is very strong...¡± Boxed Lunch said in a deep voice. Upon hearing this, the expressions of the other players turned solemn in an instant. Boxed Lunch was of the Hunter profession, and he had recently exchanged for a scouting aura ability. Coupled with his originally strong awareness, his warning capability was very powerful. Boxed Lunch¡¯s words were never aimless. ¡°Clap... clap... clap...¡± Just as everyone was on alert, a series of elegant clapping sounds suddenly came from ahead. A tall figure gradually appeared in front of them. A handsome, pale face, crimson eyes, a black single ponytail, and that perpetually crease-free black robe... It was a nightwalker. ¡°Not bad, very vigilant.¡± He gestured lightly, and a goblet filled with blood appeared in his hand, which he sipped lightly. In an instant, the players¡¯ faces turned solemn. Because they hadn¡¯t sensed this person¡¯s approach at all! At this moment, they were once again amazed by Boxed Lunch¡¯s perception. And after their vigilance, they gradually began to get excited... *Is this... a new NPC? Could they be about to trigger a hidden storyline?* The nightwalker was powerful, but not only that; as a member of the self-proclaimed noble Blood Clan, they had quite a flair in their attire and demeanor. To put it plainly, they were very flashy and ostentatious. His entrance indeed stunned several players, giving them a bit of imagination. Boxed Lunch¡¯s eyes also brightened slightly, and he said in a deep voice, ¡°Who are you, sir?¡± The nightwalker was somewhat surprised. The characteristics of the Blood Clan were quite distinctive, but these elves didn¡¯t seem to recognize him... Not only that, but after he appeared, he did not conceal his powerful aura. Yet the elves on the opposite side, aside from being vigilant, weren¡¯t afraid or intimidated. Instead, they seemed somewhat excited... *Truly ignorant and strange elves!* The nightwalker¡¯s lips curved into a slight smile, and his crimson eyes suddenly burst forth with a deep red light. His voice was irrefutable, ¡°I command you... to tell me your origins and who the entity behind you is. What is she planning?¡± A subtle spiritual wave emanated from the nightwalker, rushing straight into the minds of several people! [Soul Domination] This was a spirit-control type magic of the nightwalker, acting directly on the soul. Anyone with soul power lower than his would become his puppet! However, to the nightwalker¡¯s surprise, he was met not with their submission but with expressions that seemed to be looking at an idiot: ¡°Why should we submit?¡± ¡°Why would we tell you these things?¡± Nightwalker: ... *It... it didn¡¯t work?* His eyes widened in sheer surprise. ¡°Is this NPC dumb?¡± Seeing his dazed expression, a player mumbled. The nightwalker¡¯s face darkened. He coldly snorted, and his entire body turned into a shadow. ¡°Watch out!¡± Boxed Lunch¡¯s face changed. Even before the players could react, the nightwalker had already rushed up and grabbed the throat of the unlucky player who had just spoken. The other players immediately tensed, quickly drawing their weapons to attack the nightwalker, but the nightwalker just lightly raised his hand and blocked all their attacks. ¡°So strong...!¡± The players¡¯ expressions were shocked. They knew that the average level of Boxed Lunch¡¯s team was definitely the highest among all players! They exchanged a glance, nodded, and turned to flee. If they couldn¡¯t win, they would run. Standing firm was not a thing for players. Especially now that the perfect respawn count was dropping less frequently, every life was important to them! Even Boxed Lunch hesitated for a moment, glanced at the player caught by the nightwalker, and chose to escape as well. ¡°Hu Lu... sorry, the hidden storyline¡¯s all yours.¡± He shouted to the captured player before fleeing. Hu Lu: ... Seeing his teammates attempting to escape, a hint of ridicule flickered across the nightwalker¡¯s expression. He let out a cold snort, and countless black bats were released from him, enveloping the fleeing players and biting them. The players were horrified to find that their bodies gradually lost control under the bats¡¯ bites. Their bodies stiffened, and they fell to the ground one by one. Boxed Lunch¡¯s face changed, pulling out a dagger to ward off the attacking bats, but after taking down the other players, all the bats converged on him alone. Even he couldn¡¯t hold on for long and eventually collapsed slowly. Boxed Lunch gritted his teeth, raised his dagger, and sliced his own arm, the blood flowing freely. But even so, he couldn¡¯t break free from the paralysis... After subduing all the players, the bats returned to the nightwalker¡¯s body. This was his bat transformation, capable of secreting a special toxin of the Blood Clan that would numb the target¡¯s body and eventually render them out of control. It¡¯s a toxin commonly used by the Blood Clan when hunting blood supply targets. Even with Boxed Lunch¡¯s self-infliction, freedom was impossible. The nightwalker was quite satisfied. He shifted his gaze to the player he had grabbed. The player named Hu Lu looked at his fallen teammates with a helpless expression. Still, he showed no fear but instead examined the nightwalker with curious and innocent eyes. Hmm... Based on Dema¡¯s experience, cooperating appropriately when captured could trigger a hidden storyline... Nightwalker: ... Hu Lu¡¯s compliant expression made the nightwalker even more surprised, even causing him to shudder involuntarily: *Ignorant and fearless... and a bit nauseating, strange elf...* He squinted his eyes and once more cast [Soul Domination]. This time, the target was only Hu Lu. Yet his magical spiritual attack fell like a stone into the sea, without a ripple... ¡°Immune to spirit-type magic, huh...¡± The nightwalker murmured. A thought crossed his mind, and his eyes turned crimson again: ¡°Tell me... your secrets and... what was that hidden mission you mentioned earlier.¡± This time, he abandoned spirit-type magic. Instead, he chose psychological suggestion, directly affecting the consciousness! ¡°` Chapter 111 - 111 Death Gods Divine Favored Chapter 111: Chapter 111 Death God¡¯s Divine Favored ¡°`html *This time, the Nightwalker¡¯s psychological suggestion didn¡¯t fall flat!* Hu Lu widened his eyes, and his gaze began to turn vacant. *It was a sign that the psychological suggestion was about to succeed!* The Nightwalker was very satisfied, ¡°Immune to mental spells, but psychological suggestion works. This means there¡¯s something wrong with their souls! Maybe their souls are under some kind of protection!¡± ... However, just when he thought his psychological suggestion was about to succeed, Hu Lu¡¯s eyes rolled back, and his head limpingly tilted to the side. Nightwalker, ¡°... ¡± ¡°What happened?¡± He was slightly stunned. Listening to the even breathing, the Nightwalker¡¯s expression became quite colorful. ¡°Fell... fell asleep?¡± *How could he fall asleep in this situation?!* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.?¦Ï *He wasn¡¯t using a sleeping spell!* The Nightwalker¡¯s expression darkened. He snorted coldly and delivered a punch to Hu Lu¡¯s chin. However, the other party still had no response... It wasn¡¯t pretending; he had really ¡°fallen asleep.¡± The Nightwalker¡¯s eyebrows gradually knitted together. He looked again at the other players, who met his gaze and sheepishly smiled. Seeing that they were neither afraid nor surprised by the ¡°sleeping¡± elf, the Nightwalker felt a stirring in his heart. ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s wrong with him?¡± He asked the players. ¡°What else, he¡¯s just disconnected.¡± One of them said nonchalantly. Disconnected? What did that mean? The Nightwalker was utterly perplexed. However, he was already certain that the other elves seemed to know something. Therefore, he decisively cast psychological suggestion on them again, ¡°Tell me, who exactly is the power behind you? What conspiracy is there?¡± Yet to his frustration but not surprisingly, as soon as they encountered the psychological suggestion, the remaining few also rolled their eyes and ¡°fell asleep¡±... The Nightwalker¡¯s expression was very unpleasant. ¡°Unable to resist psychological suggestion... but seems to have some self-preservation ability, falling into a strange sleep when suggested?¡± ¡°Being able to employ this ability on every elf, it looks like... the other side¡¯s soul knowledge is quite exquisite! It¡¯s likely they are followers of the Death God!¡± *A hint of realization rose in the Nightwalker¡¯s heart.* He waved his hand, preparing to completely eliminate the sleeping elves, but suddenly stopped. He smelled a very enticing aroma... The Nightwalker raised an eyebrow, followed the scent, and found it was coming from a wound on He Fan¡¯s arm. ¡°Blood? Is there something special about it?¡± The Nightwalker¡¯s gaze instantly turned very deep. The Blood Clan couldn¡¯t do without blood; they needed to consume other life¡¯s blood periodically to sustain themselves. And high-quality blood was the supreme pursuit of every Blood Clan member! He licked his lips, came to He Fan¡¯s side, dipped his slender fingers in a touch of blood, and sent it into his mouth. With the blood in his mouth, the Nightwalker¡¯s eyes instantly brightened. His expression became incredibly intoxicated in that moment, ¡°Such rich and fragrant blood!¡± At this moment, his look toward the elves changed again. ¡°Though it was said among the clan that the blood of the Silver Race was extremely rich and delicious, I didn¡¯t expect these elves¡¯ blood to be so excellent, comparable to the precious wines preserved by the dukes, perhaps?¡± ¡°Such high-quality blood... What are these elves¡¯ identities? Moreover... I seem to smell the scent of life.¡± The Nightwalker¡¯s gaze gradually turned fiery. At this moment, in his eyes, the elves were not just elves but top-grade ingredients! No, they were top-grade Blood Slaves! After hesitating slightly, he took out a small red ring from his bosom and recited an incantation in his heart. As his incantation resonated, He Fan¡¯s body began to glow and slowly disappear! ¡°It¡¯s a pity the Space Ring is too small, only enough for one person.¡± The Nightwalker regretted in his heart. This ring was his storage ring, with a spell supporting biological survival on it, allowing organisms inside to maintain life for 24 hours. The Nightwalker had already decided to capture an elf as his long-term Blood Slave! As for the rest... He looked at the elves collapsed on the ground, shaking his head regretfully. There was no way to take more. But it couldn¡¯t be wasted, either! The Nightwalker came to one of the players, helped him up, and opened his mouth to bite the person¡¯s neck! With the entrance of the crimson blood, the Nightwalker¡¯s expression became incredibly satisfied and intoxicated. He felt he had never tasted such delicious blood in his life! And as the blood entered, he could even feel a faint loosening at the bottleneck of his strength! *Such a magical blood!* The Nightwalker¡¯s eyes grew brighter. ¡°Does it taste good?¡± He nodded. Good! It was truly wondrously good! However, he quickly realized, and his expression turned horrified. *Who?!* The Nightwalker immediately released his bite and leaped up from where he stood. As he looked up, he saw a stranger¡¯s figure appearing before him. It was a female clad in a black robe, dark gray hair, and red pupils just like his. However, unlike the Nightwalker¡¯s vertical pupils, her eyes were human-like. Upon seeing her, the Nightwalker instantly recognized the woman¡¯s identity, ¡°A Divine Favored of the Death God!¡± His expression turned incomparably serious. As a Divine Favored of the God of Winter and Hunting, the Nightwalker¡¯s perception of Divine Power was exceptionally keen. She hadn¡¯t covered the aura of the Death God¡¯s Power on her at all, undoubtedly a true Divine Favored! And... very strong! The Nightwalker¡¯s senses had always been sharp, yet he hadn¡¯t sensed her approach! She was a High-level Professional! Just like himself, she was a High-level Professional! Moreover, if they fought, he likely would lose! *Various thoughts rapidly flashed through the Nightwalker¡¯s mind, and he quickly abandoned any notion of battle.* His wary expression suddenly transformed into a breezy smile. He gracefully bowed to the Death God¡¯s Favored, ¡°Good afternoon, esteemed and beautiful lady.¡± The Death God¡¯s Favored seemed surprised by his greeting, raising her eyebrow slightly. Her gaze swept across the floor, her voice cold, ¡°A Divine Favored actively attacking followers of another True God, are you trying to incite a war between the True Gods?¡± Hearing her words, the Nightwalker¡¯s eyelid twitched. *Indeed!* *There was truly a True God behind these elves!* Moreover... it was the Death God! It seemed the speculation of the True God Crowned was correct, the Death God indeed made a move! No... no! Suddenly, the Nightwalker¡¯s mind stirred, and his eyes began to narrow. *Wrong!* *She is actually leading me on with those words!* *Those elves don¡¯t have the Death God¡¯s aura; on the contrary, there¡¯s a scent of life!* *This True God... likely isn¡¯t the one we thought!* *It was as if he had opened a window, the Nightwalker suddenly felt like he had uncovered the truth...* *His eyes suddenly shone, yet a hint of insight rose in his heart, *A Sub-god! It had to be a Sub-god!* *Migrating elves... The unfamiliar temple... The nascent True God...* *That was it!* *The Death God was cultivating a Sub-god related to the domain of life within the Elf Forest!* *Only in this way could it explain why the elves had a personality change!* *And the Death God¡¯s Favored was actually providing cover!* *This Sub-god probably hadn¡¯t fully mastered the domain of life, or perhaps hadn¡¯t mastered it completely yet.* *The entity... must still be quite vulnerable!* *Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be lurking and hiding.* *And the Death God¡¯s purpose... became quite clear as well.* *According to the True God Crowned, the one in the Netherworld hadn¡¯t a complete divine office, likely seeking to perfect her office this way!* *In an instant, the Nightwalker understood everything.* ¡°` Chapter 112 - 112 Im Going to Make a Great Achievement! Chapter 112: Chapter 112 I¡¯m Going to Make a Great Achievement! ¡°`html *Having already made up his mind, the Night Wanderer had the intention to retreat.* He looked at the other person¡¯s unfriendly expression and spread his hands slightly, ¡°Honorable lady, I didn¡¯t harm them. They fell asleep on their own.¡± After saying this, he smiled slightly again, ¡°Please convey my most sincere greetings to the newly ascended Divine. The Life Divine Position is an advanced divine position with the potential of a True God. May Death God have some gains.¡± ... Upon hearing his words, Eve, who was disguised as the Death God¡¯s Favored, raised an eyebrow slightly, ¡°Are you threatening me?¡± The Night Wanderer smiled again. He didn¡¯t answer but took a small sip from the goblet of blood, saying calmly, ¡°The Divine Favored are the eyes of the True God.¡± Having said this, he gave Eve a meaningful look before slowly disappearing. Eve didn¡¯t pursue. Source: , updated on ?0¦Í??.§ã¦Ï *She understood the other¡¯s meaning, her expression somewhat odd,* ¡°To greet the newly ascended Divine... and the Life Divine Position... Does he think a new True God has appeared in the Elf Forest?¡± *After realizing her perilous situation, Eve indeed had been considering such a disguise.* *Her initial plan was to don the guise of the Death God.* *However, during execution, she found that owning the Death God¡¯s Treasure Bead allowed her to manifest a faint aura of the Death God¡¯s Power at most, barely disguising her true traces.* *After all, the Death God¡¯s Power within the Treasure Bead was limited, decreasing with each use.* *In this situation, it was good enough to toy with weaker opponents, but if she truly engaged with a presence stronger than her incarnation or with a Divine Favored, she was likely to expose her true Divine Power.* *If that happened, her disguise as the Death God¡¯s Favored would be blown, ultimately more harmful than beneficial.* *This was the first reason why Eve chose to spare the Night Wanderer.* *Though she had donned the guise, killing the Lower Gold¡¯s Night Wanderer, a Divine Favored, might expose her true situation to Uller.* *However, after realizing she hadn¡¯t inherited the World Tree¡¯s divine position in the Pantheon, Eve entertained the idea of adopting a second disguise!* *That was to disguise herself as a newly emerged True God!* *The players¡¯ uniqueness, the Blue Star-styled temple, these elements could indeed create some misdirection.* *And Eve¡¯s plan was to combine the first guise and pose as a newly born True God under the Death God¡¯s banner!* *This way, she could completely disguise her incarnation as her favored and maneuver as she pleased.* *The most challenging aspect of this plan was convincing the outside world of her identity.* *But now it seemed...* ¡°He seems to have already completed the identity I intended to disguise. I don¡¯t know whether to call him clever or foolish...¡± *Thinking of the Night Wanderer¡¯s confident expression, Eve¡¯s expression was peculiar.* ¡°Not only that... he even used the Life Divine Position to threaten me!¡± ¡°Please convey my most sincere greetings to the newly ascended Divine. The Life Divine Position is an advanced divine position with the potential of a True God. May Death God have some gains...¡± *The Night Wanderer¡¯s words held two meanings.* *The first was stating he had seen through the truth in the Elf Forest: that a new True God related to the Life Divine Position had been born and was even a sub-god of the Death God.* *The second was highlighting the enormous potential of the Life Divine Position, warning the Death God to be cautious not to misstep.* *After all, the Death God¡¯s divine position and the Life Divine Position are actually equivalent. Trying to support a sub-god with an equivalent divine position might very well lead to backlash, let alone that Hela¡¯s Death Divine Position¡¯s imperfections are a public secret among the gods.* *In summary, it was meant to sow discord between the Death God and the new god.* *Unfortunately, even though his guesses were close to the truth, the core part was the complete opposite...* *However, this also made Eve decide to let him go for now.* *After all, having an enemy spreading misinformation was more advantageous for Eve.* *This was the second reason she spared the Night Wanderer.* *It would be best if Uller¡¯s believers spread the ¡°truth¡± entirely!* *In this way, even though it might draw the attention of some legendary figures, demigods, or even True Gods, it was still a hundred times better than exposing the resurrection of the World Tree.* *Sometimes, the best way to hide a secret is to expose a false secret to your enemies.* ¡°Nonetheless, the tracker is already in place. This guy came from the southeast, probably stationed at the Half-Beast Tribe... Perfect for locating.¡± *Eve smiled slightly.* *Settling scores separately, the Half-Beast Tribe was destined to be destroyed.* *As for the Night Wanderer... if he could be taken out with them, then so be it.* *However, it would be the new god¡¯s favored, not the Death God¡¯s favored, who would destroy it.* *This way, the fight would merely involve weak sub-gods of two divine systems, avoiding more True God attention.* *Conflict among gods of faith is inevitable.* *However, wars between divine systems carry one meaning, battles between sub-gods another, and fights among sub-god believers yet another.* There was also reasoning. *A new god subjugated the elves, and the awakening elves, with new beliefs, wanted revenge on the Half-Beasts, with the True God merely giving a nudge.* *As long as things didn¡¯t get out of hand, the main gods often turned a blind eye.* *Behind Uller was a greater divine system; Eve wasn¡¯t confident in resisting them head-on yet.* *However, based on her understanding of Uller¡¯s conduct recently, she very much doubted whether the other side would conceal the news of the newborn True God.* *After all... her goal was the divine positions of life and nature!* *And if she knew the new god was weak, she would certainly have thoughts...* *If that¡¯s the case, even better.* *Just wait for the other side to deliver themselves slowly.* *Though still proceeding cautiously, Eve wasn¡¯t the newly resurrected Eve anymore.* *Thinking of this, she looked at the players lying on the ground.* *Eve¡¯s expression gradually grew solemn.* *Just now, she had forcibly cut off the players¡¯ ¡°internet connection.¡±* *Even though souls residing within Blue Star could ignore all soul-related spells, they couldn¡¯t avoid those affecting psychological suggestion, which was the Chosen Ones¡¯ greatest weakness.* *And what Eve could do was to warn them in advance and sever the connection.* ¡°This weakness is fatal and must be addressed somehow. Otherwise, if the day comes when an army of players engages the enemy, and the enemy collectively issues psychological suggestions, it would be very serious...¡± *Eve sighed, feeling a headache forming.* *Everything has pros and cons.* *Fortunately, entities capable of issuing collective psychological suggestions are still far beyond the players¡¯ reach...* *As for individual suggestions, if they could endure, Eve would help, and if not, she would sever the connection in advance.* *For now... it would have to do.* *Eve shook her head, snapped her fingers lightly, and slowly disappeared afterward.* Once Eve was gone, the players gradually awoke. ¡°Wow, finally online!¡± ¡°In this day and age, still disconnects? This server is a bit garbage!¡± ¡°Huh? Where¡¯s everyone? Everyone¡¯s gone!¡± ¡°Ahhh! Disconnected at the critical moment! My hidden plot!¡± ¡°Uh... where¡¯s Box Lunch?¡± ... At the edge of the Elf Forest. The Night Wanderer dashed a few kilometers away, only breathing a sigh of relief once he was sure the Death God¡¯s Favored hadn¡¯t followed. Then his tense expression gradually became indifferent again, ¡°Heh, didn¡¯t follow, it seems the Death God and the new god aren¡¯t entirely harmonious. The nail is driven in; as long as there is disharmony, the True God has a chance.¡± After speaking, his expression turned excited, ¡°This time, it seems I¡¯ll achieve a great feat!¡± ¡°` Chapter 113: Totem Guardian Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Totem Guardian ¡°`html The Night Roamer was excited. The Blood Clan found advancement exceedingly difficult, and he had lingered at the level of Lower Gold for far too many years. One significant reason he became a Divine Favored of Uller was to gain formidable strength! And now, he finally saw this possibility! ¡°Miraculous blood... combined with the favor of a True God, hehe... looks like I¡¯m one step closer to the title of Duke!¡± ... The Night Roamer thought blissfully as he headed towards the Half-Beast Tribe. However, on his way back, he suddenly stopped. His initially excited mood gradually cooled, and his expression grew solemn: ¡°Something¡¯s not right...¡± He took out his storage ring, his handsome pale face oscillating between expressions: ¡°She couldn¡¯t possibly have been unaware that I kidnapped an elf, so why didn¡¯t she stop me?¡± ¡°The Elf Forest is vast, so why was she able to arrive so quickly right after I attacked the elf...?¡± Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã? At that moment, a flash of insight struck in the Night Roamer¡¯s mind. He snorted with a laugh and summoned the previously hidden boxed lunch from the ring¡¯s space, throwing it to the ground. ¡°Is it a tracker? I almost fell for it.¡± ¡°These elves... if I can complete the True God¡¯s mission, I have plenty of opportunities to hunt them. No need to be hasty now if it means exposing my movements.¡± He took a deep breath to console his aching heart and returned to the Half-Beast Tribe. Upon arriving back at the tribe, the Night Roamer found it bustling. He furrowed his brow slightly, observing dozens of parked wagons on an open space in the Rock Cave Tribe. The wagons were loaded with goods, surrounded by human mercenaries in armor, while many half-beasts crowded around the wagons, raising furs and beast teeth, arguing with several elaborately dressed humans guarded by mercenaries... Further away, several strong half-orc warriors were holding an elf girl while conversing with a noble who was obviously the human leader. ¡°The Sorren family¡¯s smuggling caravan, I presume...¡± Noticing a specific emblem on one wagon, the Night Roamer¡¯s face registered a moment of understanding. The Sorren family was a consortium family within human society, surviving through smuggling trades. They smuggled magical materials and various rare magic items between several human nations for years, also dabbling in the trade of intelligent species. Their caravan passed through here once every summer, engaging in transactions with the Rock Cave Tribe. Generally, they used everyday goods from human society to exchange for the furs and beast teeth in the hands of the Half-Beast, also trading food and general currency for elves hunted by the Half-Beast. The Night Roamer gazed for a few more moments before returning his attention to the central tent of the Rock Cave Tribe. Upon seeing the Uller Statue placed at the center of the tent, the Night Roamer¡¯s expression grew apprehensive. He coughed lightly and knelt before the statue in devout prayer: ¡°Your Eminence, the Night Roamer has explored the Elf Forest and now reports the significant findings to You!¡± Upon finishing his words, the statue suddenly emitted a brilliant light, enveloping him in a halo of divine sanctity. The already informed Giant Mountain Priest quickly arrived, and upon seeing the Night Roamer enveloped in the Holy Light, his expression turned reverently awed. He knew this meant the Night Roamer was receiving the favor of the True God, directly communicating with the True God! ¡°Divine Favored! This is what a Divine Favored is! No need for any array, just prayer to gain a direct response from the True God!¡± Watching the Night Roamer aglow with the aura of Divine Favor, Jushan¡¯s face bore a touch of envy and yearning. Yet, he quickly adjusted his mindset and knelt in the direction of the statue. Jushan couldn¡¯t hear what the Night Roamer and the Father God communicated; he could only clearly feel the aura of Divine Favor on the Night Roamer growing more intense, yet the Divine Power permeating the tent felt exceedingly gentle. This indicated... the Father God was extremely pleased with the information he reported! What exactly did he discover in the Elf Forest? Jushan grew ever more curious. Finally, the communication between the Night Roamer and the Divine concluded. The brilliance within the tent slowly faded, and at that moment, Jushan heard the imposing, deep voice of the Father God: ¡°The Rock Cave Tribe, fully assist the Night Roamer.¡± Upon these words, the statue returned to normal. A divine oracle! Another divine oracle! Jushan¡¯s expression was excited. Suppressing the doubts in his heart, he reverently responded: ¡°Jushan... pledges loyalty to the divine oracle!¡± With Jushan¡¯s response, the statue finally returned to normal. Jushan slowly stood up, looking at the spirited Night Roamer with excitement: ¡°Your Lordship the Count, you...¡± The Night Roamer nodded slightly, smiling as he said, ¡°Jushan, there¡¯s now an opportunity to gain Divine Favor. Do you want to partake?¡± Divine Favor? Jushan¡¯s eyes lit up, then he respectfully inquired, ¡°What exactly did you discover in the forest? What... do we need to do to assist you?¡± The Night Roamer squinted his eyes, saying, ¡°As observed before, there indeed appeared a newly born True God within the Elf Forest, and... it¡¯s very likely this god is the new deity that Your Eminence is seeking!¡± ¡°Moreover, this True God should belong to the Death God¡¯s subordinate deities, but Her condition seems weak, having yet to fully control Her divine duties...¡± ¡°Her divine duties probably relate to life; maybe not fully inherited, but at least partially...¡± Listening to the Night Roamer, Jushan¡¯s expression drastically changed: ¡°You mean... the one from the Netherworld stole the World Tree¡¯s divine duties, attempting to support a Sub-god?¡± Only the Death God of the Netherworld, with its turtle shell-like safety, would dare go after the World Tree while hiding from the other deities! The Night Roamer smiled lightly with confident determination: ¡°Ninety percent sure.¡± After speaking, he licked his lips: ¡°This presents an opportunity for Your Eminence! And for us too.¡± After finishing his words, he stood, expression ablaze with fanaticism: ¡°I¡¯ve already reported everything to Your Eminence. She has decided to unleash a Demigod-level totemic guardian to deliver a fatal strike on the forces within the Elf Forest!¡± Bringing down a Demigod-level totemic guardian directly! Jushan¡¯s expression dramatically shifted. The Totem Guardian was Uller¡¯s Divine Envoy, with a status comparable to the Oak Guardian of the World Tree and the Faith Angels of human True Gods! This... was indeed significant! For thousands of years, the magic power within Segis World had steadily dwindled, and the gods no longer walked the earth themselves, at most sending incarnations or Divine Envoys to handle mortal affairs. Yet descending cross-dimensionally with Demigod-level power incurred great consumption, not to mention the extensive resources believers had to invest upfront. Each cross-dimensional intervention was a major expenditure for a True God! Apparently, this time the Father God was truly desperate to secure the divine duties of life! Jushan¡¯s expression grew maniacal. In truth... Uller was indeed anxious. The new god resided in the Elf Forest and likely plundered the World Tree¡¯s life divine duties! Such an affront was considerable to Her, who had long considered the life divine duties as practically Hers. Moreover, as time passed, the new god would undoubtedly become more proficient in controlling the divine duties and increase in strength, especially with the Death God meddling behind the scenes! Yet fortunately, the new god¡¯s concealing tactics indicated Her weakness. Her reluctance to reveal Herself surely stemmed from Her inability to protect Her divine duties due to lacking strength! This... was Uller¡¯s chance! She didn¡¯t intend to leak this matter nor called upon other Divine Favored, opting instead to direct Her most trusted totemic guardians. The Totem Guardian was Uller¡¯s right-hand aide. In critical moments, Uller might even sacrifice them for Her Divine Descent! ¡°But...¡± After hearing the Night Roamer, Jushan¡¯s expression was conflicted: ¡°Our tribe... doesn¡¯t possess sufficient resources to sustain a guardian¡¯s descent.¡± ¡°What of it?¡± The Night Roamer smiled faintly, gazing at the castle atop the rear mountain: ¡°Didn¡¯t you mention before there was once a Dragon Nest back there; although juvenile, the accumulated wealth should suffice.¡± ¡°Furthermore, hasn¡¯t the Sorren caravan arrived just now? They already engage in smuggling magic materials across major kingdoms, and their stock must be ample. The dragon¡¯s hoard could be used to acquire a batch of resources from them.¡± That¡¯s possible? Jushan¡¯s eyes lit up. After all, Black Dragon Mairrel was dead. Its wealth was the Half-Beasts¡¯ wealth, right? ¡°` Chapter 114 - 114 The Angry Black Dragon Chapter 114: Chapter 114 The Angry Black Dragon Elf Forest. The Black Dragon Mairrel lay bored in her nest, watching two players barbecuing nearby. She lazily said, ¡°Hurry up! Lord Mairrel is already very hungry.¡± Her nest was no longer the dirt pit she had initially dug herself. Instead, Little Xian Miao had used the power of wealth to gather guild members to build a small fortress for her, warm in winter and cool in summer. Considering the dragon¡¯s habits, the players had designed the Dragon Nest to resemble a castle, at least... from the outside it seemed so. ... Inside, it was covered with shiny decorations. These decorations had all been salvaged from equipment redeemed from the contribution mall by Little Xian Miao using accumulated contribution points, making the players exclaim at the extravagance... And sigh in wonder at how money was indeed power. However, regardless of the quality of the equipment provided by the mall, the special effects were certainly splendid. Although not real treasures, their shiny gloss was enough to catch the Black Dragon¡¯s eye. At least, they barely substituted for gemstones and Gold Coins, which was acceptable. Mairrel expressed great satisfaction, finding these strange long-eared creatures much more pleasant to look at. Source: , updated on ?0¦Í??.§ã¦Ï *Hmm...* *These guys, despite being cruel and evil, would actually be a great choice if they could become part of my clansmen.* *At least they¡¯re much more capable than the silly Half-Beasts!* *Those guys didn¡¯t even put honey on their roast!* *Hmm...* *Lord Mairrel certainly wasn¡¯t just in it for the roast!* The Little Black Dragon nodded her head in thought. She glanced at the two players barbecuing and continued to urge them, ¡°Hurry up! Whoever finishes first, Lord Mairrel will reward them with a drop of her saliva!¡± Upon hearing these words, the eyes of the two players lit up, and they moved even faster with their hands. Watching the players grow ever more industrious, the Black Dragon Mairrel was quite pleased. She lifted her head proudly, her expression scornful. These greedy yet pathetic beings, Lord Mairrel could win them over with just a drop of her saliva! Lord Mairrel was truly clever and great! Little did the Little Black Dragon know that her seemingly worthless Dragon Saliva was actually quite a good magical material. For mages, Dragon Saliva was quite precious. Ever since a player collected the Black Dragon¡¯s saliva and traded it for astounding benefits with the Elf Mage from the Flame Tribe, Mairrel¡¯s saliva had become a coveted item. All one had to do was prepare barbecue for her to exchange for Dragon Saliva! Barbecuing was so simple! *This was practically a windfall!* Thus, more and more players shamelessly came to barbecue for the Little Black Dragon, grilling from dawn to dusk, almost treating Mairrel like a pig being raised. Gradually, the players¡¯ courage grew too, with someone asking Mairrel whether she could provide some Dragon Blood... Of course, the player who asked was kicked away by Mairrel on the spot. Saliva could be spared! Wanting Lord Mairrel¡¯s blood? *In your dreams!* When Little Xian Miao came before the black dragon, Mairrel was feasting heartily. She looked at Mairrel¡¯s form, chuckled, and said, ¡°Remier, have you gotten a bit chubby these past two days?¡± The Black Dragon Mairrel flicked her tail, casting a glance at Little Xian Miao, and lazily said, ¡°You should call me Lord Mairrel!¡± However, though she said this, she wasn¡¯t really angry at Little Xian Miao for calling her by her name directly. After these days, Little Xian Miao¡¯s efforts hadn¡¯t gone to waste, and she¡¯d finally at least become familiar with the Little Black Dragon. At least, casual conversation was no longer an issue. Furthermore, since Little Xian Miao prepared the Dragon Nest and even provided those shiny little items, the Black Dragon Mairrel was quite courteous to her. Upon hearing Mairrel¡¯s words, a hint of amusement appeared in Little Xian Miao¡¯s eyes. She pulled out a homemade large brush from behind and adeptly approached Mairrel to brush her scale armor. Feeling the rhythmically strong brushing by Little Xian Miao, the Black Dragon Mairrel squinted her eyes in comfort. Comfortable. *Such treatment was truly comfortable...* *Sometimes, she almost forgot that she was actually a captive!* *Hmm...* *Though these strange long-eared ones were cruel and evil, they served the dragons at a level the silly Half-Beasts couldn¡¯t match!* Mairrel indulged in the experience. Seeing her joyful expression, Little Xian Miao continued brushing her back and laughed, ¡°So... Lord Mairrel, have you thought it over?¡± Hearing this, Mairrel¡¯s expression gradually became cold. She snorted, lifting her proud dragon head, ¡°Lord Mairrel is a righteous dragon. No matter how you try to entice me, I will not become a servant of the Evil God!¡± *Heh.* *Enjoyable as it was.* *But if they really thought it would be easy to get her on board that bandwagon, they were sorely mistaken!* *She was a righteous dragon!* Upon hearing the Black Dragon¡¯s words, Little Xian Miao was not upset and continued brushing while saying, ¡°But... you¡¯ve been with us for so many days. Based on your observations, are we truly evil?¡± Hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s words, the Black Dragon Mairrel fell silent. *Were the long-eared ones really evil?* *After observing them these days, honestly...* *She was no longer so sure.* *Aside from the initial day of battle, she had never seen these strange creatures fall into bloodlust and madness.* Not only that, they worked tirelessly like little bees in the town, building their homes. Furthermore, they were very harmonious amongst themselves, and Mairrel hadn¡¯t even seen them fighting each other! This was a common occurrence in the Half-Beast Tribe, mind you. Of course... she didn¡¯t know that this was because, after a player-versus-player fight destroyed a house once, Eve had since forbidden players from fighting in the main city. ¡°I think... at least compared to the Half-Beasts, we¡¯re far from evil.¡± Seeing Mairrel silent, Little Xian Miao continued. Hearing this, Mairrel immediately became displeased: ¡°That¡¯s just your personal view. In my eyes, they may not be as smart and capable as you, but they¡¯re simple and honest! I don¡¯t believe they¡¯re as evil as you claim!¡± Hearing the Black Dragon¡¯s words, Little Xian Miao felt a bit helpless. *This dragon... was truly stubborn.* As she pondered how to continue persuading, suddenly, the Black Dragon Mairrel rose from her nest. Little Xian Miao was startled and quickly backed away. The Little Black Dragon suddenly became very agitated, her eyes turning red and breathing heavily, seemingly falling into a rage. ¡°Um... What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Little Xian Miao cautiously asked. The Black Dragon Mairrel didn¡¯t answer. She leaped from the nest where she had been lying for days and roared to the sky, ¡°Who dared to touch Lord Mairrel¡¯s treasure!¡± *Someone had tampered with her belongings!* *Her treasures, left in the castle, had been meddled with!* Just moments ago, she sensed that all the magical protections she had set to guard her treasure had been destroyed! Mairrel took a deep breath and chanted a melodious dragon incantation. A necklace hanging around her neck slowly rose. This necklace was a magical tool given by her foster father, her contingency plan, capable of monitoring her treasure! The necklace emitted a faint glow and projected an image of the castle before Mairrel. And in that image... A group of Half-Beasts was continuously hauling out her long-cherished gold and silver treasures from the castle. Mairrel: ... In an instant, the Little Black Dragon was furious: ¡°Damn it!¡± ¡°These despicable! Lowly! Shameless! Cunning! Evil scoundrels!¡± ¡°Rua¡ª! Lord Mairrel must eat you all!¡± Chapter 115: Human Caravan Chapter 115: Chapter 115: Human Caravan ¡°`html ¡°These bandits! Liars!¡± ¡°They actually dared to steal Lord Mairrel¡¯s treasure while he was away,¡± the Little Black Dragon thought. The Little Black Dragon was furious, and the consequences were severe. It did not hesitate and immediately flapped its wings, flying up to rush back to its castle to defend its treasure to the death. However, just as it dashed out of the town, a familiar and obnoxious voice echoed in its mind: ... ¡°If you wish to become part of someone else¡¯s dragon-slaying legend, then go ahead and return on your own.¡± Mairrel halted. It looked towards the direction of the temple, its eyes bloodshot: ¡°What do you mean?¡± The voice sighed, ¡°The Divine Favored of the God of Winter and Hunting has arrived, possessing the strength of the Lower Gold. My clansmen have already encountered him.¡± The Divine Favored! Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í??.?? Mairrel¡¯s pupils contracted slightly. Having witnessed Eve¡¯s tactics, it had already developed a fear of the power of True Gods. ¡°Since they dared to tamper with your things, they surely wouldn¡¯t fear your return. Perhaps they¡¯re even waiting for your return. The title of Dragon Slayer is a badge of honor for many intelligent beings.¡± Eve continued to coax. While she suspected the truth was likely that the Half-Beast thought Mairrel had died, she figured it was enough to manipulate the Little Black Dragon. ¡°How dare they! Mairrel will surely eat them!¡± the Little Black Dragon declared in anger. ¡°I suspect Uller¡¯s interest in dragons is even greater than mine. If he becomes intrigued, think about it,¡± she said. ¡°His dominion, after all, includes ¡®hunting,''¡± Eve continued. In reality, though the Night Prowler was of Lower Gold, Mairrel was a dragon. Dragons were nearly invincible at the same rank, and the Blood Clan had always been weak in direct combat... If the Little Black Dragon faced him, without the Night Prowler borrowing Divine Power, Eve estimated it would be a stalemate, at least capable of escaping. But that didn¡¯t stop Eve from using Uller to frighten it. Hearing these words, the Little Black Dragon wilted at once. It remembered the humiliation and fear of being captured by this Evil God. It did not wish to undergo such an ordeal again. ¡°I am a mortal enemy of Uller. If you submit to me, I will dispatch my clansmen to help you retrieve your treasure,¡± Eve proposed. ¡°The mask of the Half-Beasts has been torn off. I trust you don¡¯t still see them as friendly creatures, do you? As for their believers, I¡¯ve no doubt Uller¡¯s temperament you can imagine somewhat.¡± Eve continued to coax. After hearing her words, Mairrel was silent. *Truth be told, this Evil God had been pretty good to it. If there were another True God, Mairrel really couldn¡¯t be sure what would happen to him.* *Besides, those Half-Beasts dared to target its treasure!* *Any creature daring to steal a dragon¡¯s treasure was an enemy of the dragon!* *It really had misunderstood those guys!* *Perhaps... this mysterious True God was right, it was deceived by the Half-Beasts.* *When it thought of how life had been since the True God captured it, barring its movements but allowing it to live in the town with food, drink, flattery, and massages...* *Compared to its former life...* Mairrel was somewhat tempted. *Perhaps... it wasn¡¯t too bad?* ¡°If you help me retrieve my treasure, Mairrel might not be unwilling to stand on your... your side,¡± the Little Black Dragon said, turning its head arrogantly. ¡°Of course,¡± Eve replied with a smile. With the True God¡¯s confirmation, Mairrel breathed a sigh of relief. It struggled briefly before coming to a decision. The Little Black Dragon then descended from the sky and slightly bowed its head towards the statue: ¡°Then... Your True Grace, please tell Mairrel your true name.¡± ¡°Eve Yggdrasil!¡± The ethereal holy voice reverberated in Mairrel¡¯s heart. Yggdrasil? Mairrel was slightly taken aback. *¡±Yggdrasil... this name... why does it sound so familiar...¡±* Mairrel murmured. ¡°Yggdrasil...¡± Suddenly, the Little Black Dragon raised its head, its dragon face full of excitement and shock: ¡°World Tree! You... no, you are the World Tree! The World Tree that opposes the wicked Black Dragon Nidhogg!¡± ... When Bento woke up again, he discovered he was tightly bound with ropes, even a cloth gag over his mouth. He furrowed his brow slightly, instinctively trying to break free, only to find that the ropes seemed very special, capable of restraining his power. Roughly glancing around, he realized he was confined within a space that resembled a cargo box. It was dark all around, and the entire space was swaying slightly. The cargo box was wooden, with gaps that allowed him to see outside. Bento leaned closer and, through the gaps, saw a forest outside, with the scenery continuously moving backward. At the same time, he also saw several fully armed human mercenaries escorting the cargo box as they moved forward... Cargo box? Cart? Humans? *Something stirred within him.* Just then, the sound of rustling came from beside him, and Bento cautiously turned his head, seeing another petite figure. It was another bound female elf, leaning against the goods and sleeping soundly, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly. *NPC?* Bento furrowed his brow slightly. He remained silent for a moment, then closed his eyes and opened the chat interface in the game system. When he entered the interface, he found his messages were flooded, all from his party members: ¡°Bento! Where are you? You didn¡¯t get captured by that weird guy we saw, did you?¡± ¡°Bento, message us when you log back in!¡± ¡°The Black Dragon has been subdued by the Goddess. He¡¯s preparing to lead everyone to destroy the Half-Beasts¡¯ base!¡± ¡°Captain, there¡¯s a new main quest!¡± ¡°We¡¯ve gone to get the quest; join us when you log back in.¡± *A new main quest?* Bento paused. He checked the quest system, indeed finding a new one, [Destroy the Half-Beast Base]. He hesitated for a moment, accepted the quest, and then applied to join the party. Unlike other online games, in ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± players automatically left parties upon disconnection, requiring rejoining upon logging back in. As soon as Bento rejoined the party, the channel buzzed with activity: ¡°Captain! You finally logged in!¡± ¡°Where were you? Why were you offline for so long?¡± ¡°Come to Elf Town, we¡¯re gathering to start a big raid! This time the Black Dragon¡¯s leading!¡± ¡°Not sure what the Goddess did, but that lazy dragon who only knows how to eat roast meat suddenly became very diligent and submitted immediately.¡± ¡°Haha, I heard the Half-Beasts raided Mairrel¡¯s lair, the Little Black Dragon is fuming.¡± After reading the others¡¯ messages, Bento thought for a moment and replied: ¡°I couldn¡¯t log in earlier; now it seems I¡¯ve been captured by humans.¡± The teammates were astonished: ¡°Captured?¡± ¡°What the hell! Wait... Humans?! Did you encounter humans, Bento?!¡± ¡°Huh? Bento, your coordinates are so far away! And slowly moving...¡± ¡°Hidden storyline! This must be a hidden storyline!¡± Then, Bento suddenly heard the humans outside start chatting: ¡°Hey, today¡¯s luck is amazing. We not only made a fortune from the Half-Beasts but also picked up an injured elf on the way!¡± ¡°Sold so many magic materials at a high price in one go, plus the two elves, we¡¯re gonna be rich this time!¡± ¡°After this job, I¡¯m applying for retirement from the guild. Hehe, I¡¯m not young anymore, and I¡¯ve saved enough to settle down.¡± ¡°Jealous... This is just my second escort. By the way, weren¡¯t the Half-Beast tribes always very poor? Why¡¯d they suddenly have so much money?¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know. I heard they raided a Black Dragon¡¯s lair...¡± ¡°Daring! Don¡¯t they fear retaliation?¡± ¡°Heh, having done so, I assume the Black Dragon was already taken care of?¡± ¡°And why¡¯d they buy so many magic materials? Those are for mages, not their burly kind... Hmph, they were desperate for us to leave after selling the goods, no idea what they¡¯re up to.¡± ¡°Hehe, you¡¯re asking the right person! I overheard the guild¡¯s mage talking about it; apparently, the Half-Beasts bought materials for cross-dimensional summoning... Hehe, they¡¯re followers of the Hunting God. This time, the True God must have plans against some unlucky power, maybe... the elves!¡± ¡°Summoning the Divine Envoy again? Tsk tsk, daring... These decades, it¡¯s been the Half-Beasts making the most noise, with the God of Winter and Hunting expanding his influence, unafraid of provoking other churches...¡± ¡°Why care so much? It¡¯s not the human realm here; the more chaos, the better, means more money for us!¡± ¡°` Chapter 116: Destroying the Half-Beast Stronghold Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Destroying the Half-Beast Stronghold ¡°`html Black Dragon Nest? Magic materials? Divine Envoy? Hearing these words, He Fan¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. After some thought, he replied in the chat system, ¡°Perhaps... it really is a hidden quest. I heard them talking about the Half-Beast¡¯s secret.¡± Then, He Fan sent the message he had just heard word for word. ... Upon receiving the message, his teammates immediately perked up, ¡°Wow! Summoning a Divine Envoy? Could this be quest intel?¡± ¡°Very likely! Big He Fan! You might have really triggered a hidden quest!¡± ¡°Quick, report to Holy Daughter! Maybe you can trigger something!¡± Soon, a few teammates stopped talking, and it seemed they had gone to find Alice. The remaining teammates continued to ask on the team channel, ¡°Big He Fan, you are trapped right now. Do you need us to come and help you?¡± He Fan glanced at the mini-map, pondered for a moment, and replied, ¡°No need, it¡¯s too far.¡± It was indeed too far. He was now over a hundred kilometers from the core area of the Elf Forest. Even with navigation, without a higher-tier being to lead the way, the players couldn¡¯t catch up. Not to mention, the players were busy preparing for the main storyline mission. ¡°It¡¯s temporarily safe here. I¡¯ll handle it myself. You guys focus on the main storyline mission first.¡± He Fan replied. Seeing He Fan¡¯s response, his teammates did not insist further. Right now, they were indeed more interested in the main storyline mission. After all... the main storyline is known for its rich rewards! Besides, it¡¯s still uncertain what He Fan had triggered. Of course, the most critical reason was that it was too far... ... ¡°Summon a Divine Envoy?¡± Upon hearing news from the Chosen Ones, Alice¡¯s expression became solemn. ¡°Could it be... the Totem Guardian?¡± After the World Tree fell, the elves were hunted by many races, especially the Half-Beasts. During this period, the Half-Beasts had summoned Uller¡¯s Divine Envoy¡ªthe Totem Guardian¡ªto attack elf settlements several times. And after the divine war, some of the remaining high-end combat power in the elves were sacrificed under the attack of the Totem Guardian. After some consideration, Alice said, ¡°This information is crucial. I think... this is likely a plot by the Half-Beasts against the Mother Goddess. I will report this to the Mother Goddess immediately.¡± ¡°Also, I ask you to contact ¡®He Fan¡¯ and have him be patient for a while. He is likely encountering a human smuggling caravan!¡± ¡°It is said they have a base near the Dark Mountain Range. This is also an opportunity to attack a human smuggling outpost. We might even rescue some fellow elves!¡± The players¡¯ names were each more comically absurd than the last. However, because Eve had long used the game system to interfere, when players spoke their names, they would automatically be converted into phonetically acceptable terms for the natives. So while sometimes they sounded a bit strange, it ultimately wasn¡¯t a problem. Smuggling caravan? Rescue fellow elves? The eyes of a few players lit up. Perhaps... this is the hidden quest that He Fan encountered! After informing the Chosen Ones, Alice quickly went to the Natural Temple to pray. ¡°Totem Guardian?¡± Eve was slightly moved in her heart. Considering the vampire Divine Favored¡¯s behavior, she quickly guessed Uller¡¯s intentions, ¡°Is it thought that my condition is weak and they want to catch me in one fell swoop?¡± The reason, Eve could roughly guess. A True God is a True God after all. Unless genuinely weak, why would they hide? Of course, the real reason Eve hid wasn¡¯t that she was weak, but that her true identity could not be exposed. And after leaving the near-death state, her Divine Power was still weak, but far stronger than before. Thinking of this, she issued a divine decree to Alice, ¡°I have already learned of the matter. I will grant Divine Favored El the ability to summon my avatar. Let him journey with you all.¡± With the repairs over the past few days, Hela¡¯s Treasure Bead had been completely repaired by Eve, and she could now use it to exercise Demigod-Level power through her avatar. However, because this was not a demigod avatar that directly consumed 100 points of Divine Power to condense, but one cleverly made using the Death God¡¯s Treasure Bead, the demigod avatar could only descend for a short time. Maybe... it could last ten minutes. After issuing the divine decree to Alice, Eve shifted her attention to He Fan. In fact, when the Nightstalker abandoned He Fan, Eve had already taken notice. But to her surprise, whether He Fan was considered lucky or unlucky, he was picked up by a human caravan. As for the native elf also imprisoned in the caravan, it was a pleasant surprise. The rescue would certainly happen, but not now. The priority was to destroy the Half-Beast¡¯s outpost, which was critical to the southeast exit of the Elf Forest. Moreover... Eve was quite interested in Uller¡¯s Totem Guardian. As for the human caravan, Eve planned to play a long game. After observing the direction in which the human caravan was moving, Eve was slightly moved, ¡°Towards the Dark Mountain Range?¡± After pondering for a moment, Eve used her Divine Power. At the same time, He Fan received a new system message, [Ding¡ª] [You have triggered a hidden task: Human Caravan] [Plot Description: Human smuggling caravans have been active across the continent, secretly conducting elf trafficking. You decide to use this opportunity of being captured to secretly investigate the human caravan¡¯s base near the Elf Forest.] [Task Content: Stay with the human caravan, investigate the human base, and protect the elf fellows] Protect elf fellows... He Fan was silent for a moment, looking at the nearby sleeping female elf... This unfamiliar Elf Girl was tightly bound, yet she slept soundly, as if she had returned to her own home. He Fan: ... He took a deep breath and began to meditate. The whole person was as obedient as a soldier following orders. ... Main Task: Destroy the Half-Beast¡¯s outpost! After thoroughly subduing Black Dragon Mairrel and having him as a guide, Eve issued a new task. This time, almost every player who had advanced to Black Iron Level chose to participate. Unlike previous small outposts, this time they were genuinely attacking the Half-Beast¡¯s lair! These days, whether it was building towns, working for the Flame Tribe¡¯s elves, or hunting Demon Beasts, although there was still plenty of fun, players preferred the grand spectacle of fighting the Half-Beasts in large battles. Exciting! Spectacular! Lively! And more importantly, it really felt like war... For players from Tianchao who lived in peaceful times, there was a unique allure. And on this occasion, both Alice and El would accompany the mission. Even the elves from the Flame Tribe were eager for action. Especially the young ones who were less than two hundred years old and full of enthusiasm. Of course, they were still stopped by the elders, and the reason was simple, ¡°The Chosen Ones can resurrect, can you?!¡± However, even so, it didn¡¯t dampen the young elves¡¯ enthusiasm. The Chosen Ones are the apostles of the Mother Goddess, and the beliefs of the Chosen Ones are the beliefs of the Mother Goddess! Even Divine Favored El, with royal lineage, had changed his views, hadn¡¯t he?! We hold onto kindness and justice... are they always right? With this mindset, as they further interacted with the players, the native elves of Segis World gradually changed... Years of experience combined with the guidance of the Mother Goddess led some to finally realize¡ª Boundless mercy is not a virtue! Facing enemies, only the sword and blood are the truth! Although there were still few who thought this way, for the stubborn elves, it was a significant change. ¡°` Chapter 117 - 117 Only Money Can Make a Dragon Knight Chapter 117: Chapter 117 Only Money Can Make a Dragon Knight ¡°`html ¡°Grandmother Philosier, I¡¯m sorry... I still think we should join the Chosen Ones!¡± A young elf looked firmly at the old clan leader of the Flame Tribe, his still slightly immature voice carrying a hint of fervor, ¡°These days... I¡¯ve seen a side of them I¡¯ve never seen before.¡± ¡°They are always full of energy, brimming with passion, tirelessly dedicated... they¡¯re always fighting for a better future! Not only that, they¡¯re always selflessly helping us...¡± His voice carried a hint of emotion, his words full of resolve, ... ¡°They... are our partners! I believe that if they choose to fight, we cannot stand by!¡± ¡°I agree!¡± Another young elf nodded as he excitedly said, ¡°I¡¯ve always been thinking... is our belief really right? Is kindness... always right?¡± ¡°I once engaged in discussions and debates with the Chosen Ones about this issue, and even had some disputes. But later, their words completely enlightened me¡ª¡± ¡°The struggle between races and beliefs is not a dinner party, not about kindness and tolerance, and definitely not passive acceptance... this is war! War is cruel, a violent action where one race overcomes another!¡± ¡°Being kind to others is being cruel to yourself!¡± *For the beta testers, many of whom were also internet trolls used to arguing endlessly online, it was too easy to use harsh theories to persuade young elves as pure as blank paper...* *There¡¯s plenty of similar material on Earth.* *A little magic modification, and it¡¯d be enough.* Seeing these young elves who had almost changed completely after just a few days with the Chosen Ones, Philosier was stunned, ¡°You... you all...¡± *She could understand the enthusiasm of the young elves, but... with the Flame Tribe having so few people left, she really didn¡¯t want to see clan members taking risks again.* *But seeing those determined eyes and recalling Mother Goddess¡¯s various hints, the old clan leader could only sigh deeply,* ¡°Ah... do as you will. But... make sure to stay safe.¡± *The Elf Clan was about to change.* Even though many of the old elves did not allow it, still, over ten young elves sneaked out, deciding to join the players¡¯ actions. However, this made the players quite troubled. To the players, these native NPCs were not only tools to exploit but also a bunch of revered figures. Because the Goddess herself required in her task: No NPC deaths were allowed. If any NPCs died, the players¡¯ task rewards would be severely penalized! So, what the players most wished for was for the elves to stay obediently in Feilengcui. But... there was another requirement from the Goddess¡¯s task: Players could not stop the NPCs if they chose to participate in the battle. Player: ... Fine, fine. The NPCs were revered entities, and the Goddess was the supreme leader whose words had to be heeded. *This... practically meant that they had to escort a group of celebrated figures into battle, increasing the difficulty several times over.* *Were the NPCs really the tools, or were they the tools?* *However, after some consideration, Li Mu, who was in charge of team command, finally came up with a good idea.* *Simply... let these dozen young elves serve as the back row.* *The elves generally had decent archery skills.* *Having them as back-row archers would not only be safe but also provide good support.* *They were far better than those archery-class players.* *Even with skill support, those who chose the archer class, frankly speaking... their accuracy was nothing commendable.* *Especially those who had learned only attack enhancement skills without choosing to learn targeted aiming skills, their arrows were a disaster.* *But the most excited and enthusiastic about this operation wasn¡¯t the players, nor the native elves, nor was it Alice and the others...* *It was Black Dragon Mairrel.* *The Goddess had communicated something to it, causing the once-resistant Little Black Dragon to change its nature and become compliant.* *This surprised both the players and elves, who were once again amazed at the persuasive power of the Goddess.* *Actually, even Eve didn¡¯t expect that the Little Black Dragon would become so enthusiastic after learning her true identity.* *However, the name Mairrel mentioned was known...* Nidhogg. *That was an Ancient Black Dragon that participated in the divine war a thousand years ago, possessing formidable strength that even made True Gods wary!* *It was also the one that gnawed at the roots of the World Tree, causing the former World Tree¡¯s power to plummet.* ¡°This little oddball is so hostile toward Nigrod, praising justice, and claims to be a Silver Dragon... Could it be, a Silver Dragon raised it?¡± *Eve speculated about the little one¡¯s foster parent.* *The evil Black Dragon Nigrod had always been the arch-enemy of the Silver Dragons!* *And the Silver Dragons... according to the World Tree legacy Eve received, had a decent relationship with the World Tree.* *However, after lying under the World Tree for so long, Mairrel didn¡¯t recognize it but only exclaimed, ¡°What a big tree,¡± truly showcasing some of the Dragon Clan¡¯s catchy personalities.* ... Elf Forest. The players¡¯ team had gradually gathered and was uniformly teleported to Feilengcui. After some development, over nine hundred of the twelve hundred beta testers had been promoted to the Black Iron Rank, and more than eight hundred had taken this main quest. Under Li Mu¡¯s unified command, the players formed a simple formation, truly evoking a taste of military discipline. Besides the players, a dozen young elves from the Flame Tribe joined the team too. More than a hundred elves from the Flame Tribe also came under the leadership of Clan Leader Philosier to see the team off. These days, with the players¡¯ help, the elves had completely settled in Feilengcui, and they were very grateful to the players. Although, as the Holy Daughter mentioned, the Chosen Ones indeed had some bad habits, like eating meat, liking to take small advantages, being full of crooked logic, being a little too obsequious, or knocking on your door in the middle of the night... etc., etc. Overall, however, they were enthusiastic, hardworking, and truly striving for the future of the Elf Clan. Even the most rigid and stubborn elves couldn¡¯t deny the help and contribution of the Chosen Ones. Watching each Chosen One, who although appeared lax, was filled with excitement and showed no fear, Philosier secretly nodded. *Though their discipline was lacking... they were indeed a team willing to risk everything.* *Not fearing death was the most terrifying aspect.* With their immortality trait, as well as the assistance of the Black Dragon, the Holy Daughter, and the Divine Favored, maybe... they could really defeat the Half-Beast forces entrenched for years near the Elf Forest and force them to migrate. She turned back, beckoning, and took some magic materials from the hands of her clan members, ¡°These are the materials needed to create a Teleportation Array. I heard from the Holy Daughter that what you lack most right now are these things... I stayed up all night with a few elf mages from the tribe to make them.¡± Teleportation Array! Li Mu¡¯s eyes lit up. This was the most critical item for this operation. According to the Little Black Dragon, the Half-Beast settlement was very far from here. Even with the forest affinity, it would still take over twenty days for the elves to travel there themselves. Moreover, there were thousands of Half-Beasts. To be honest, without the intervention of the Black Dragon or El, sending the players would be a death sentence. They were generally weak; their only notable advantage was their ability to resurrect and their capability to cooperate as a team in a sacrificial flow. But if they were to die in the Half-Beast Tribe, it would be too late to respawn at the revival point. However, it would be different with the Teleportation Array... Li Mu nodded at Little Xian Miao and Cuckoo Bird, who had been waiting for a while, and they quickly took the array materials, thanking repeatedly, ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Philosier waved her hand while sighing, ¡°This is all we can do.¡± Active raids on the Half-Beasts had the young elves enthusiastic, but most native elves were still not very interested. After receiving the array materials, Little Xian Miao waved to Black Dragon Mairrel, ¡°We¡¯ve got the materials! We¡¯re setting off now!¡± Mairrel glanced at the two female players, then reluctantly lay down, muttering, ¡°This one time carrying you, you¡¯ll have to grill me meat for a day... no... three days when we get back!¡± Hearing this, Little Xian Miao smiled with her eyes crescent-shaped, ¡°Three days? A week will do!¡± After saying this, she and the Cuckoo Bird took the materials for the magic array and jumped onto the back of Black Dragon Mairrel, under the envious eyes of the players. Once they were seated, Black Dragon Mairrel let out a long roar, flapped its wings, and slowly took off... Watching the Black Dragon getting smaller in view, Demacia kept sighing, ¡°If you want to be a Dragon Knight... you need money.¡± Hearing this, Li Mu rolled his eyes, ¡°I think even if you have the money, you won¡¯t make it.¡± Demacia: ... Big brother, can you stop being a buzzkill? ¡°` Chapter 118: Second Measurement of Ordinary Players Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Second Measurement of Ordinary Players Meng Zhihan was a common player during the second test. As an ordinary person who neither grinded, spent money, nor had great luck, it was only three days ago that she accumulated enough experience and contribution points to switch jobs and become an 11th level Druid. Actually, it should have been faster. According to the first test players, when there were many small monsters in the core area originally, everyone formed teams to grind them, and the experience points increased rapidly. That was quite exhilarating. But unfortunately, the low-level monsters in the core area of Elf Town, which were perfect for practice, have long been wiped out. ... They either became experience points or turned into fertilizer. What sets ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± apart from other games is that it perfectly mimicked reality, with creatures forming their own ecosystem. If you killed it, it was gone. And what¡¯s left are the big creatures that rookies cannot provoke. Unless you have money to pay a high price to hire the ¡°First Legion¡± guild¡¯s boss team to help you grind the big monsters, you can only work slowly. So, most unlucky second-test players who neither grinded nor paid money had no choice but to slowly do tasks to level up... However, many people learned some skills through tasks that they hadn¡¯t learned in real life. Like cutting trees, building walls, and barbecuing... Overall, as the number of players increased over time, the trend of polarization became gradually evident. The strong became stronger, while the weak became weaker. Even though there were still ways to become stronger, the best resources were always first obtained by the strong. If you didn¡¯t have money or luck, latecomers could only rely on grinding. This mechanism even received criticism from players, with a group of people complaining on the forums that it was too unreasonable. Everyone believed that it¡¯s good to mimic reality so realistically, but if it goes overboard, what¡¯s the difference from reality? Reality was already so cruel, couldn¡¯t there be a break from reality in the game? Many people even shouted about quitting the game. Although...nobody actually quit in the end. Meng Zhihan, however, was very open-minded about it. In her view, choosing something meant losing something else. Since the slogan of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was to be the most realistic and with the most epic feel, perhaps these mechanisms were the official choice... The official must have considered more to create such a masterpiece. Moreover, even if the game system was so quirky, with the industry¡¯s unique realistic five senses, intelligent NPCs, and cheat-like thinking acceleration, everyone could only endure the pain and find joy. Now, there were still plenty of players online pitifully waiting for the public test. The reason she chose the Druid profession was because Meng Zhihan had always especially liked the healer profession in the games she played before. The healer class had always been a popular profession with good job prospects in online games. If you had deft movement, sharp operation, and ample healing, you would undoubtedly be welcomed by major guilds. So she had decided early on to be a Druid, the only class with healing skills. In fact, if possible, she preferred to choose the Priest profession. Up until now, there were still videos secretly recorded by players on the official website showing the Holy Daughter casting group heals. That special effect... it was simply dazzlingly beautiful and cool! Of course, the special effects of the Goddess were even more impressive, but the Goddess was a goddess, incomparable, right? Unfortunately, possibly due to game version issues, the Priest profession was not available to players, so she had to settle for Druid. This was her first time participating in a main storyline task. Previously, due to the slow level-up, she had always eagerly wanted to participate in the legendary main storyline. However, she couldn¡¯t take on tasks because her level was too low. But this time, she finally had the chance! To this end, she decided to spend her hard-earned 2000 contribution points to exchange for a new skill! *Hmm... the healer is easily targeted, so she decided to exchange for an escape-type, right!* *Based on her previous online gaming experience,* Meng Zhihan made the decision. However, before exchanging skills, she got a reminder from Guild Leader Li Mu: ¡°You already have two healing skills. This time, if you want to gain more experience and contribution points,¡± he said, ¡°I suggest you exchange for a single-target control skill.¡± ¡°Control skill?¡± Meng Zhihan was slightly confused, then said somewhat uncertainly, ¡°But... I heard from some experts that those Half-Beasts have high levels, and the control-type magic cast on them is quickly broken free...¡± Li Mu was silent for a moment, then said, ¡°If you only control the Half-Beasts, indeed, it won¡¯t work. However, if players restrain them, you can use strong single-target control to control them altogether.¡± Upon hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, Meng Zhihan suddenly understood, ¡°Oh! Right, other players can interfere with the Half-Beasts!¡± But then she quickly was stunned, ¡°Wait... control them altogether? Altogether...?¡± Li Mu nodded and said, ¡°A one-for-one sacrifice strategy. The Black Iron Lower attack-type skills, in theory, can already cause fatal damage to the Half-Beasts, but the Half-Beasts won¡¯t stand still for us to attack, causing the attacks to be ineffective.¡± ¡°But if we follow the sacrifice strategy, they become sitting ducks. This is the most efficient way to kill enemies. Anyway, we can be resurrected, and the guild will uniformly provide the required contribution points for perfect resurrection to those who sacrifice themselves.¡± Meng Zhihan: ... The contribution shop also allowed the exchange of contribution points for perfect resurrection. Now, the perfect resurrection times obtained from tasks were becoming less and less, gradually leading players to choose exchange through contribution points, with 1000 points for one resurrection. It was quite expensive. But each Half-Beast¡¯s head was worth at least 1200 contribution points, and higher-level Half-Beasts would be worth even more! So, in a life-for-a-life situation, though the difference was only 200 points, it was still a small profit. Not to mention, there was still experience to be gained! However, not everyone received the contribution point reward. Since the second internal test of the game, all reward acquisitions had been distributed based on contributions. So, the 1200 points of contribution would be allocated to heads based on contribution. Generally speaking, with such calculation, players who sacrificed themselves would suffer losses, even if their contribution scores were higher. But the guild had this benefit. The perfect resurrection for sacrificed players wasn¡¯t borne by them; instead, the guild collectively accumulated contribution points to purchase it. This was also a path that players groped out through constant exploration. ¡°So, when the time comes, just boldly throw control on them. The sacrificed players will position themselves conveniently for your control. Also, the charge command is ¡®Ura,¡¯ and the sacrifice command is ¡®Fire at me.¡¯ Don¡¯t throw it on the wrong person.¡± Li Mu instructed. Meng Zhihan: ... ... Rock Cave Tribe. Having gathered up the treasures left by Black Dragon Mairrel in the castle, even the well-informed Night Wanderers couldn¡¯t help but marvel that the Dragon Nest was indeed wealthy. Though it was said that the other party was just a young dragon, the amassed wealth equaled the annual income of a typical human town. Half-Beast Priest Jushan was also incredibly delighted. Even after excluding the cost of purchasing magic materials through human smuggling caravans, the remaining wealth was enough for them to make a small fortune. However, as he was overjoyed, a Half-Beast guard suddenly stumbled in from the outside. His expression was frantic, and his voice trembled with fear, ¡°High Priest! No... it¡¯s not good!¡± ¡°That Black Dragon... has returned!¡± Chapter 119: Enemy Attack Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Enemy Attack ¡°`html The Black Dragon is back?! Jushan and Nightprowler were both taken aback. Nightprowler glanced at the Half-Beast Priest, his brow furrowing, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say the Black Dragon was dead?¡± Feeling the intimidating presence emanating from Nightprowler, Jushan¡¯s scalp tingled, ... ¡°Count, this... it hasn¡¯t returned at all, and the warriors who went with our tribe also...¡± He was somewhat at a loss for words. Nightprowler sighed and said, ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s go out and see what¡¯s really going on.¡± ¡°Dragons have always regarded treasure as their exclusive possession. Even though it¡¯s just a young Black Dragon, we can¡¯t be careless.¡± With that, he was the first to walk out of the main tent of the tribe. Noticing that Nightprowler didn¡¯t seem overly tense, Jushan also breathed a sigh of relief. With a high-level Divine Favored present and about to summon a Divine Envoy, a mere Silver Upper young Black Dragon shouldn¡¯t pose too much of a threat to the tribe... When they arrived outside, they could hear the Black Dragon¡¯s angry roar from afar, ¡°Rua~!¡± ¡°You despicable, shameless, evil, and treacherous Half-Beasts! Return Lord Mairrel¡¯s treasure immediately! Otherwise, Lord Mairrel will surely devour you all!¡± It stood atop the castle on the mountain, overlooking the Rock Cave Tribe at the mountainside, its voice carrying far and wide. The intimidating dragon¡¯s might spread from afar, along with the unmistakable threat in its words, causing a stir among the Half-Beasts of the Rock Cave Tribe. Looking at the imposing Black Dragon, Nightprowler smiled slightly and said, ¡°Honorable Black Dragon, your treasure has been temporarily requisitioned by the True God. I can swear on my soul that I will return it to you threefold in a week.¡± Three... threefold! In an instant, Mairrel¡¯s eyes widened, a hint of intrigue flashing across its expression. ¡°Ahem...¡± At this moment, the hidden Little Xian Miao behind it quickly cleared her throat, reminding it, ¡°Mairrel, I heard they¡¯re preparing to summon Demigod Level power. If they succeed, do you think you can still escape? Think about the righteous cause, the soothing massages, the honey-glazed roast...¡± ¡°The Half-Beasts¡¯ Divine Spirit is not necessarily as easy to talk to as the Goddess...¡± Righteousness? Massage? Roast? Mairrel¡¯s eyes lit up, and it unconsciously swallowed. But soon, it snapped back to reality, Demigod Level! In an instant, Mairrel¡¯s face turned green. Those damned fools! They¡¯re deceiving it again! ¡°Mairrel, delay them for a while and attract their attention! Gugug Bird and I will get the array ready as soon as possible.¡± Seeing the silly Little Black Dragon realized its situation, Little Xian Miao continued to instruct it. As she spoke, she rubbed her temples in frustration. The players initially planned a sneak attack. But who would have thought that this reckless Little Black Dragon would directly fly them to the mountaintop of the Half-Beast Tribe! Upon hearing her words, Mairrel nodded, then loudly declared downhill, ¡°Rua! No way! Mairrel wants her treasure now! Otherwise, Lord Mairrel will destroy your tribe this instant!¡± This statement immediately incited panic among the Half-Beasts. Nightprowler furrowed his brows tightly. This was a critical moment, and he couldn¡¯t afford to be delayed by the Black Dragon¡¯s interference. He had to find a way to appease this Black Dragon temporarily. Although his strength was a rank higher than the Black Dragon¡¯s, he wasn¡¯t confident he could kill it. He didn¡¯t want another troublesome enemy. Therefore, Nightprowler continued, ¡°Apologies, esteemed Black Dragon, I won¡¯t hide the truth from you. Your treasure has already been used by us, but you needn¡¯t worry. I can swear by the True God that I will give you a satisfactory answer in a week! Not only that, but if you join our cause, I will reward you tenfold!¡± His stance was very humble. Generally, dragons still had some fear of the True God, especially those below the legendary rank. They would maintain a certain level of respect when facing the Divine Favored of the True God. Nightprowler also believed that this explanation could appease and even persuade the Black Dragon... Tenfold treasure was tempting for any dragon! Mairrel¡¯s eyes indeed flickered. But then, the soft cough came again from behind. The voice was gentle but filled with disdain, speaking with grand confidence, ¡°Ahem, isn¡¯t it just treasure? I can find a way to get you as much as you want in the future! And I¡¯ll definitely keep my word more than he does!¡± Mairrel was swayed. It subtly gave Little Xian Miao a look that said, ¡°I trust you; don¡¯t deceive me,¡± and then turned its gaze back downhill. As it roared and snarled at Nightprowler, it threatened, ¡°No way! No deal! Mairrel wants it now! Threefold! No, tenfold now! Otherwise, Mairrel will spit Dragon Breath now!¡± Nightprowler: ... This Black Dragon was utterly unreasonable¡ªwas its brain damaged? He had a headache. He neither had the ability to kill the Black Dragon nor satisfy its demands immediately, so they were at a standstill from a distance... However, as the conversation went on, Nightprowler gradually realized that the Black Dragon seemed apprehensive of his strength and was only making noise. It didn¡¯t even dare to fly down from the mountaintop. But... what was the point? What good did it do besides wasting time? Nightprowler felt he had met a greedy Black Dragon with a problem in its brain. Wait a minute... Stalling for time? Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Nightprowler, and his expression turned serious. At the same time, a strong spatial fluctuation emanated from the castle at the mountaintop... Spatial magic fluctuation? Oh no! It¡¯s teleportation! Nightprowler¡¯s expression slightly changed. Instantly, his sight was filled with countless small figures. They were elves wielding weapons! Elves? Nightprowler was initially confused, but then his expression turned grim! Those were... the elves from the Elf Forest! Those elves had actually tamed an evil and greedy Black Dragon? How did they manage that?! If it were a good-aligned metallic dragon, maybe... but an evil chromatic dragon? Especially the notoriously treacherous and rebellious Black Dragon! For a moment, Nightprowler couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. At the same time, Black Dragon Mairrel became excited. It opened its wings, roared ¡°rua,¡± and swooped down the mountain, opening its mouth to unleash Dragon Breath! Nightprowler¡¯s expression was grim, and he didn¡¯t bother with the Black Dragon. He shouted the enemy¡¯s attack while retreating to the main tent. Jushan, the Half-Beast, was stunned by the sudden turn of events. ¡°The elves... actually launched an attack?¡± His expression was filled with wonder. Elves initiating an attack was indeed the biggest joke in the Segis World. Even knowing the elves from the Elf Forest were a bit unusual, he didn¡¯t think such a day would come. Initiating an attack was simply not something that could happen with these peace-loving, submissive, long-eared creatures! But soon, he snapped back to reality, roaring, ¡°Enemies! Quickly blow the alarm horn!¡± Accompanied by the prolonged sound of a horn, the entire Rock Cave Tribe began to mobilize. Meanwhile, at the mountaintop, seeing the Black Dragon charging down recklessly, Little Xian Miao was even more annoyed, ¡°You idiot! Why are you charging? Can you beat high-level professionals?!¡± ¡°Not everyone is here yet! Come back and protect the teleportation array first!¡± ¡°` Chapter 120: For the Elf Clan! Kill! Chapter 120: Chapter 120: For the Elf Clan! Kill! ¡°`html Black Dragon Mairrel was like a husky charging into a flock of chickens, throwing the Rock Cave Tribe into chaos. Even though she had been raised improperly, Mairrel still inherited some traditional traits of a black dragon. For example, when confronting enemies, she loved to attack the weak first and enjoyed watching the enemies¡¯ fear... The half-orc warriors who had just been gathered by the sound of the horn were immediately met with Dragon Breath in their faces. Their formation scattered at once, and they began to flee in all directions... As the dragon with the strongest hand-to-hand combat ability, the Little Black Dragon had thick skin and a solid body, so the half-orcs¡¯ attacks were nothing more than scratches to her. ... ¡°Is that even possible?¡± Watching the Little Black Dragon throw the Half-Beast Tribe into utter disorder in an instant, Little Xian Miao was stunned. It was chaos, the Rock Cave Tribe was already in chaos. Black Dragon Mairrel was like a wolf entering a flock of sheep, causing a bloody storm. The great strength of the Silver Upper Peak was something that no half-orc in the Rock Cave Tribe could resist. Watching the rampaging black dragon and the continuous casualties of his tribesmen, High Priest Jushan¡¯s eyes were red, ¡°Lord Earl! Lord Earl! Please stop the black dragon quickly!¡± The Night Wanderer assumed a stern expression and silently recited an incantation, summoning a massive three-headed demon dog. It was a silver upper peak-level demon beast, the strongest Favored Beast under the Night Wanderer! It had a pair of bat wings, jet-black fur, a ferocious appearance, and its size was actually half that of the black dragon. The Blood Clan¡¯s frontal combat strength was relatively weak, so they often raised some demon beasts to supplement their combat power. And the Night Wanderer¡¯s strongest Favored Beast was a Dibis Demon Dog with Hell Three-headed Dog bloodline! ¡°Entangle that black dragon!¡± The Night Wanderer ordered the demon dog. Upon receiving its master¡¯s command, the demon dog let out a long howl and lunged at the black dragon. ¡°Demon dog?¡± Mairrel¡¯s eyes lit up and she immediately met the attack, engaging it in combat. However, it was clear that the demon dog was not a match for the black dragon, as several wounds appeared on it in the blink of an eye. Having sent out his Favored Beast, the Night Wanderer coldly glanced at Jushan and said, ¡°The black dragon and the elves have come. I¡¯m afraid that the Death God and the Divine Favored of that mysterious new god will arrive soon. My demon dog is certainly no match for the black dragon and can¡¯t hold out for long, and I cannot intervene. I must hurry to complete the summoning of the Divine Envoy!¡± ¡°Do you see the elves on the mountaintop? They must have already built a Teleportation Array. If you don¡¯t want the Rock Cave Tribe to be annihilated, then lead people to rush up and destroy it quickly!¡± ¡°Even if you can¡¯t destroy it, you must stall them until I successfully summon the Divine Envoy!¡± ¡°These elves are very weak, even if they are a bit peculiar, they won¡¯t be able to be a match for you!¡± After saying that, the Night Wanderer left. God... Divine Favored! Hearing this term, Jushan¡¯s eyes narrowed sharply. His expression changed, and finally, he gritted his teeth and shouted to the Night Wanderer¡¯s back, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll do it immediately, you... hurry up!¡± By this time, the main group of players had also gradually completed their teleportation. Demacia reached the mountaintop, looking at the densely packed half-orc houses below, he couldn¡¯t help but exclaim, ¡°My God... Just how many half-orcs are there?¡± Li Mu, who was at the very front, also showed surprise, but quickly frowned, ¡°Weren¡¯t we supposed to be teleported into the nearby forest?¡± ¡°The black dragon definitely insisted on returning to its castle to see how much of its treasure is left.¡± Little Xian Miao shrugged. Li Mu: ... ¡°Tsk tsk... Looks like it¡¯s all gone, otherwise Silly Black wouldn¡¯t be so furious. Let¡¯s hurry up and join! The black dragon already stirred up the half-orcs! Damn! The BOSS is about to be taken down too, there¡¯s all that loot and experience! I¡¯m just one pair of shoes short of a full epic set!¡± Demacia looked at the three-headed dog being chased and bitten by Mairrel, with a pained expression. ¡°Follow commands, don¡¯t act impulsively.¡± Gugu Bird said coldly. ¡°Tch, it¡¯s just a sacrificial strategy, I don¡¯t believe we can¡¯t wear them down!¡± Demacia sneered while adeptly removing his gear to hand over to his teammates, leaving only the oversized shorts that the native elves had given him, camouflaged with Holy Light. As the mightiest taunting tank, his task was still... to lead the team in a charge to their deaths this time. However, Li Mu stopped the players planning to rush in, ¡°No rush, there are too many half-orcs, and we have too few people. Even if we charge down, we may not gain an advantage, even with Lord El¡¯s presence, it probably can¡¯t support long-term combat. Furthermore, it could lead to the rear being empty and the Teleportation Array being destroyed.¡± ¡°We need to turn things around and force them to fight us!¡± ¡°Here the terrain is elevated and easy to defend, plus there¡¯s the Teleportation Array. If they come to attack, we have the advantage!¡± After hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, El, who was planning to rush in with Demacia, immediately stopped. He looked at the Chosen One, stunned, and said, ¡°But how do we get the half-orcs to attack us?¡± Li Mu was just about to answer when he saw the gathering half-orcs below, and his eyes suddenly brightened, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re already coming.¡± With that, he turned his head and shouted, ¡°Mages... prepare spells!¡± ... Destroy those elves¡¯ strongholds on the mountaintop! Jushan¡¯s orders were quickly relayed down. And after Black Dragon Mairrel became entangled with the Night Wanderer¡¯s Favored Beast, the panicking half-orcs gradually calmed down. Under the command of horns, they quickly formed ranks and began charging up the slope! The priests among the half-orcs also began to bestow various combat blessings on the warriors from the rear. In no time, the half-orcs roared like a tide, rushing toward the players. The players also adjusted their formation. At the forefront were fully armed tank warriors, and behind them was a group of daredevils stripped of their gear, among whom were players of the Hunter class. Further back... were archers, mages, and druids, and the native elves with bows and arrows were protected in the core area. As he watched the approaching half-orcs, Li Mu¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. Meanwhile, the other players panted heavily, their eyes shining with excitement. *War! This was war!* ¡°Mages, ready!¡± As the half-orcs drew closer, Li Mu gradually raised his hand. Upon hearing his command, all the mage players began chanting spells. All kinds of magic, like Fireballs and Elemental Blades, began to form around them. However, although the spells formed, they were not released yet. The half-orcs were approaching steadily. The players could now clearly see the ferocious faces and dagger-like tusks of the half-orcs. Once they were in range, Li Mu immediately shouted, anger tinging his voice, ¡°Fire!¡± At his command, streams of brilliant magic shot out indiscriminately, smashing into the charging half-orcs. At the same time, a stirring and majestic system BGM suddenly played in the ears of every player... It was an epic war BGM chosen by Eve, very thrilling. All at once, with the music setting the mood, every player became impossibly energetic, their spirits lifted. In ancient times, drums and battle songs were played to boost soldiers¡¯ morale during wars. Similarly, in online games, during large-scale mass battles, players would often play passionate BGM to boost morale. But this time, Eve had taken care of everything. The music was so fitting, perfectly timed, igniting the players¡¯ passion for battle in an instant. With the rousing music, every player felt as if they were transformed into a hero wearing their underwear on the outside, ready to tank a nuke the next second, take down the BOSS, and save the world... Their breathing became heavier. They felt as if their blood was boiling, burning within them! They feared no death and felt invincible. The well-timed background music completely roused the players¡¯ fighting spirit! If their morale could be displayed, the players¡¯ morale would have been off the charts by now! The half-orcs raised their shields, and, blessed by the priests, didn¡¯t slow their pace. The magic swiftly arrived, causing fierce explosions. Even with their shields and the priests¡¯ protective Divine Arts, quite a few unlucky ones were seriously injured, but the remaining half-orcs quickly adjusted their formation and continued advancing... Roaring, they charged in, as the system background music reached its climax! Listening to the inspiring BGM, Li Mu¡¯s heart surged. *In that moment, scenes from the game over the past few months flashed through his mind.* *The gradually developing town, strengthening players, bonfire parties filled with laughter, and the kindhearted elves NPCs, full of gratitude and admiration for them...* *And the words Alice murmured while stroking the town¡¯s stele echoed again in his heart,* *¡±Chosen Ones... you will eventually become a great legend of the Segis World...¡±* At that moment, Li Mu suddenly felt like he had grasped the essence of the game. *This was a game!* *But, it was also their adventure story, an epic chapter they were writing!* In a flash, Li Mu felt his blood boil. He raised his Druid¡¯s Magic Wand high and shouted excitedly, ¡°For the Elf Clan! Charge¡ª¡ª!¡± ¡°Ural!!!¡± The players also let out a roar, brandishing their weapons. The two sides finally clashed! ¡°` Chapter 121: They Are Madmen! Chapter 121: Chapter 121: They Are Madmen! ¡°`html Grey Stone was a valiant half-orc warrior. As one of the few Black Iron Upper Warriors in the Rock Cave Tribe, he was not only known as a powerful Half-Beast Warrior but also had his own independent squad. He was already fifty years old this year, with immeasurably rich combat experience and countless enemies slain. Even the elves, of which he had successfully hunted quite a few. In his evaluation of the elves, in his words, they were just a bunch of naive, simple, pathetic, and pitiful goods! ... In his memories, he had participated in pursuits and hunts for the elves more than once. However, being attacked by the elves was a first. Even more unbelievable was that this time, it was the elves initiating the attack on their tribe! *This... was simply ridiculous!* *With their numbers and combat power?* A thousand years ago, it might have been different, but now the elves were just a group of toothless tigers, no... rabbits! *Rabbits trying to attack a falcon?* *Grey Stone thought the elves must have gone mad.* Even if they had a Black Dragon joining them in the attack! *Perhaps... the Black Dragon was coercing the elves? Enslaving them? Forcing them to do this?* *Grey Stone even had such thoughts.* And the High Priest¡¯s expression, as if facing a big enemy, also puzzled him. The High Priest even forbade them to leave any survivors! These were elves; capturing one, even if it was male, could trade for a wagon of grain! In fact, to prevent panic among the tribe¡¯s half-orcs, Jushan had never disclosed the affairs of the Elf Forest, so even now, the ordinary half-orcs didn¡¯t know what was truly happening. Not only that, Jushan didn¡¯t dare to tell the warriors that these elves might resurrect... Because facing an enemy that could revive, even the strongest warrior would have a touch of fear. However, as qualified, muscle-brained warriors with limited cognitive capacity, they didn¡¯t need to know why, only to follow orders. So, under the order of the High Priest, Grey Stone led his team into the main force, charging towards the elves on the hillside! Closer, even closer. What surprised Grey Stone was that these elves, upon seeing the half-orcs surging up like a torrent, did not show fear. On the contrary, from afar, he saw the excitement and thrill on the elves¡¯ faces. *Such expressions, Grey Stone could not be more familiar with!* *Every time he finished a hunt, wrestling and competing excitedly with other warriors in the tribe, gambling and drinking, it was the same expression!* *That was excitement and anticipation immersed in entertainment.* *This... how could it be?* *Could it be that he had seen it wrong?* Before he could think more, a plethora of brilliant magic spells bombarded them! So many spells! Had the Elf Clan really produced so many offensive mages? Grey Stone¡¯s pupils contracted suddenly. Elves were natural magical creatures. Even Elf Warriors had some magic power, capable of learning a trick or two as if they were spells for play. However, as a peace-loving race, elves rarely studied strongly offensive magic. But the magic brilliance that had just risen was all offensive magic! Not only that, but they were also the most explosive among first-circle spells! *When did the elves become so aggressive?* Grey Stone¡¯s expression changed, and he immediately raised his shield. The shield had already been enchanted with defensive Divine Arts by the Lord Priest, capable of reducing magical damage to some extent. The spells came instantly, and violent explosions and screams immediately surrounded them. In an instant, several half-orc warriors were severely injured and fell to the ground. However, their positions were quickly filled by the half-orcs from behind. Grey Stone was lucky, only getting a few scratches from a Wind Blade. He licked the blood on his arm, eyes turning red, and ordered, ¡°Spread the formation!¡± The formation was too concentrated, making it too easy for the spells to focus them. And with the order, the front half-orcs immediately transformed into a dispersed lineup, charging at the elves! At the same time, the foremost Elf Warriors let out a battle cry of ¡°Ura,¡± taking a charge posture. Charging from below, they were at a disadvantage. But from top to bottom, it was different. With their robust physique, charging should have been a signature move for the half-orcs. But the terrain greatly reduced their strength. Yet even so, they did not consider the frail elves as a threat. As the two sides clashed, immediate chaos ensued. And just as the battle commenced, Grey Stone noticed something unusual about these elves. As a long-lived race with low population and low reproduction capacity, elves were always cautious and conservative in battle. But these elves attacked with wide and open swings, wild in style! *For a moment, Grey Stone even suspected they were a group of half-orcs disguised as elves!* Although they also paid attention to defense, they preferred offense. Not only that, they fought with wild abandon, as if on steroids, hollering and hacking indiscriminately, tossing various skills recklessly, seemingly not caring about their rapidly depleting magic power and stamina. Even when injured, they did not care. Even with Druids from the rear treating them, their injuries worsened rapidly. If there was a word to describe it, it would be¡ª ¡°Madmen!¡± Grey Stone observed these elves, instinctively exclaiming. These elves were weak and had no experience in prolonged combat whatsoever. They knew nothing about balanced advancing and retreating, only mad aggression, like a group of berserkers. *Were these still the elegant elves?* *This style of fighting might be rapid initially, but quickly they would completely deplete their stamina, becoming targets for slaughter.* *At this moment, drawing on his rich combat experience, Grey Stone had already sentenced these elves to death in his mind.* *This kind of foolish, stamina-draining fighting style, no matter how many of them there were, it was a death sentence!* Actually, it wasn¡¯t that the players didn¡¯t want to adopt a cautious strategy. But as the defending side, there was the Teleportation Array behind them, leaving no room for retreat. Facing the formidable half-orcs, they had to fight desperately to gain leverage. And due to terrain limitations, the players also had no way to completely open up their formations. However, if the players couldn¡¯t spread their formation, then the numerous half-orcs definitely couldn¡¯t either. Actually, only a portion of the people were engaged in fighting, with more waiting behind to replace those in front as they fell. Of course, it was precisely because of the players¡¯ madness that they surprisingly managed to hold back the half-orc¡¯s advance for a while. Grey Stone snorted coldly, backhandedly cutting down an enemy Elf Warrior in the front row, shouting: ¡°Charge! They have few people, they won¡¯t last long!¡± But just as he finished giving the order, a surprising scene unfolded. The Elf Warriors in the front row suddenly made way, and from behind them rushed out dozens of nearly naked elves wearing only shorts. They had fierce and excited expressions, chanting loudly as they charged the half-orcs. *What were these guys... planning to do?* *To court death?* Looking at these crazy elves, Grey Stone was utterly bewildered. He drove his blade through an elf rushing at him, cutting them down coldly. However, not all half-orcs had Grey Stone¡¯s ability to easily slay their opponents. Many of the elves, clad only in shorts and sprinting bare, rushed directly to the somewhat weaker half-orcs, grabbing and holding onto them tightly. But since they had no weapons, they were immediately hacked into serious injuries by the furious half-orcs, bleeding profusely. Yet despite this, they still did not loosen their grip, clinging onto the half-orcs with a vice-like hold. Moreover, there was not a hint of pain or fear of death in their expressions, but rather a look of triumphant glee. ¡°*These guys... have they gone mad?!* Grey Stone couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, widening them in shock as he looked at the laughing, half-naked elves holding onto the half-orcs, involuntarily shivering. Before he could think further, an even more unbelievable scene unfolded. Those elves, while coughing up blood, shouted excitedly: ¡°Fire on me!¡± Fire... fire? Grey Stone was momentarily stunned. He then saw a brilliant glow of magic rise from behind the elves, transforming into controlling spells that tightly grasped both the unclad elves and the half-orcs. Immediately following was a barrage of fierce offensive magic, accompanied by arrow skills, directly targeting those elves and half-orcs, engulfing them in an instant! In an instant, over ten elves and half-orc warriors were either torn apart by magic or shot into porcupines... With his mouth agape, Grey Stone watched in shock at everything unfolding: ¡°*Mad... they¡¯ve gone mad!*¡± *What kind of tactic was this? Suicidal? Trading lives?* *Had these elves truly lost their minds?!* Honestly, even though he secretly looked down on the elves¡¯ combat strength, Grey Stone somewhat respected the elves as a former Silver Race, especially as they were rare long-lived beings. A life of an elf, compared to a life of a half-orc... Never mind how the elves see it; even from his perspective, he would think an elf¡¯s life was more precious than a half-orc¡¯s! In the black market of slave trading, ten half-orcs couldn¡¯t be traded for one elf! But... what had happened to these elves? *Had they truly disregarded their lives?* Weren¡¯t they the ones who valued life and loved peace the most? Just to kill a half-orc? Risking their own lives? *What kind of deep-seated grudge or hatred was this?* *How many of them were left?* *How many more could they afford to send to their deaths?* *Were they really out of their minds?!* ¡°` Chapter 122 - 122 Monsters! They are monsters! Chapter 122: Chapter 122 Monsters! They are monsters! ¡°`html The madness of the elves equally incited the ferocity of the half-beasts. After their initial shock, they did not hesitate any longer, instead fighting the players with bloodshot eyes. However, like Grey Stone, the other half-beasts also thought that these elves had gone insane. Otherwise, how could the elves entertain the foolish idea of exchanging one life for another? They weren¡¯t prolific like humans! ... Every half-beast was a warrior, and their Rock Cave Tribe¡¯s population had already exceeded five thousand! If it were really life for life, even if they went back to the previous era, the Elf Clan would have to sacrifice a not insignificant tribe! As for these elves in front of them... at most, there were only a few hundred. But what shocked Grey Stone more and more was that these elves seemed endless... He did not know how many elves he had actually slain. Anyway... by the time he counted to ten, he stopped counting. This number had already surpassed all the elves he¡¯d caught in the past decades combined. However, what was incomprehensible was that no matter how many of these elves were killed, their numbers seemed unchanged. Everywhere he looked, it seemed like there were still as many. Not only that, but every so often, a batch of unequipped elves charged out, howling and taking the half-beasts down with them... One could say that after all this time, ninety percent of the half-beasts died frustratingly this way. ¡°Aren¡¯t these elves ever going to stop coming?!¡± Looking at the blood-soaked ground, Grey Stone, who initially felt certain of victory, suddenly experienced a strange hesitation. What confused him even further was that whenever these elves died, regardless of how their bodies were mutilated, they would turn to nothingness shortly after... For a moment, Grey Stone even thought he was hallucinating. Were these elves all magical illusions?! But the sensation of his curved blade cutting through elf flesh and shattering bone was unmistakably clear, and the blood that sprayed on his face was so hot... Everything told Grey Stone that his enemies were certainly no illusion. But what on earth was going on with these elves? *Grey Stone grew increasingly agitated as he fought.* All the half-orc warriors who followed him had already been replaced once. Those who rushed in first had all fallen under the elves¡¯ suicidal attacks. And this only made Grey Stone angrier. But along with his anger, his heart grew even more suspicious. Because it wasn¡¯t just the elves whose bodies disappeared; even the half-orcs aged rapidly the moment they were slain, turning to ash... Although they disappeared differently from the elves, in the end, apart from some dust and blood stains, not a single corpse remained on the battlefield, leaving only the half-orcs¡¯ equipment behind. Grey Stone suddenly understood why the High Priest was so cautious... *These elves, they were strange!* *Not normal!* *Absolutely not normal!* At this point, the voice of the Giant Mountain Priest echoed from afar, ¡°Rush in! Destroy their teleportation array! Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to kill them all!¡± Teleportation array... Grey Stone was enlightened, finally understanding why these elves couldn¡¯t be vanquished. It turned out that they were constantly teleporting in reinforcements! But then, he felt even more puzzled... Where exactly was this teleportation array connected to that there could be so many elves?! Had they gathered all the elves of the entire continent? Why did their bodies disappear, and why did their kinsmen¡¯s bodies disappear too? At this moment, he suddenly saw another dozen or so elves emerge without equipment... When he saw the leader, Grey Stone¡¯s pupils narrowed slightly. ¡°This... this is impossible!¡± He cried out. He recognized it clearly; it was an elf he had once killed! Not only that, this guy was a slippery one, and Grey Stone had spent considerable effort killing him back then. He vividly remembered slicing the elf in half with a single blow, the warm entrails spilling everywhere. Grey Stone could identify him again not only because he was slippery... but also because this red-haired fellow made a grimace and mocked him just before dying! Moreover, as he was dying, this guy disdainfully dragged his upper body to flip him the middle finger! Grey Stone didn¡¯t know what the middle finger meant, but the elfish mockery was carved into his heart. They were dying, yet they still taunted him, how hateful! But what horrified Grey Stone was that now... he saw this supposedly dead elf again! Alive, bouncing, without even a scar! Father God above! What... what on earth was happening?! Wasn¡¯t he already dead just now? Could they be immortal monsters?! Wait a minute... If this group of elves wouldn¡¯t die... then what did the half-beasts¡¯ battle mean?! Seeing Grey Stone¡¯s vacant gaze gradually turned to terror, Demacia chuckled, ¡°Haha, surprised? It¡¯s still me!¡± However, he did not charge at Grey Stone but instead looked up and shouted, ¡°El! There¡¯s a tough Black Iron Upper opponent here, requesting support!¡± *Fighting while distracted during battle?* Seeing the enemy act this way, Grey Stone got furious! ¡°Whether you¡¯re an elf or a monster, a devil or a demon... you must die!¡± He roared and struck at Demacia once more. If once wasn¡¯t enough to kill you... Then I¡¯ll just kill you again! However, just as his curved blade was about to fall, a small figure suddenly dashed over. Grey Stone only felt a sharp pain in his wrist, then a tightening in his chest. When he came to his senses, he was horrified to find that his hands had been severed. Moreover, a knife had been thrust into his chest, blood splattering. Grey Stone could clearly feel his life force slipping away... It was only then that he saw clearly who attacked him. It was a thin elf youth with silver hair and blue eyes, a determined and cold expression on his youthful face. He merely gave Grey Stone a cold glance before slipping back into the other battlefields. Silver... Silver! In an instant, Grey Stone understood. There was a swordsman of silver strength hidden among these elves! The elves were even concealing their strength! *When... when did they become so cunning?* Grey Stone opened his mouth, wanting to shout out his discovery... But it was too late. Seeing the incapacitated Grey Stone, Demacia¡¯s eyes gleamed. He promptly picked up the curved blade Grey Stone had dropped and chopped his head off... In an instant, all Grey Stone felt was the world spinning. Faintly, he heard an excited shout, ¡°Haha! A head! A Black Iron Upper! I¡¯ve scored big!¡± Afterwards, he knew nothing... Grey Stone was not the first. Gradually, more and more half-orcs discovered the players¡¯ undead nature. This fact finally stirred panic among the half-orcs. ¡°They aren¡¯t elves! They¡¯re monsters! They must be monsters!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t kill them! We can¡¯t kill them!¡± ¡°Devils! They must be devils!¡± Emotions were contagious. With the panic in the frontline half-beasts, the formation began to fall into disarray. And El, who intermittently sought out tough targets and took them down, became the last weight tipping the scales. The half-beasts... finally began their rout! ¡°Don¡¯t panic! Don¡¯t retreat! Don¡¯t panic! Don¡¯t retreat!¡± Seeing the half-beasts in retreat, the Giant Mountain Priest hurriedly shouted. However... it was of no use. Nothing was like a defeated army rolling downhill. Driven by fear of the unknown, the half-beasts abandoned their gear and fled, not heeding commands. Seeing the half-beasts in full retreat, the players were exhilarated. They shouted, ¡°Hooray!¡± ¡°Charge!¡± ¡°Snatch the heads!¡± and began chasing down the half-beasts! In the pursuit, the half-beasts left behind another dozen or so bodies as they retreated from the hill... Seeing the half-beasts fall back to their tribe, the players ceased their chase. The opponents were numerous, and if the players pursued further, it would not be a hunt but a death wish. The black hill had already been stained a dark red by blood. This charge cost over two hundred half-beasts their lives! The players also suffered heavy casualties. Overall, they had still lost in terms of contribution points. Because, even with their overwhelming advantage and El¡¯s assistance, it took an average of three players to take down one half-beast! However, this did not dampen their spirits. Because, besides the slain half-beasts, there was still a pile of gear left behind... It was the half-beasts¡¯. If they added the value of the gear to their contribution points, the players would profit again. They stopped, joyfully scavenging the loot, like a swarm of locusts... Below the hill, the half-orc Giant Mountain witnessed everything in silence. ¡°` Chapter 123: The Players Secret Weapon Chapter 123: Chapter 123: The Player¡¯s Secret Weapon ¡°High Priest! They... they are monsters! They won¡¯t die!¡± ¡°High Priest, I saw it with my own eyes, the elf I killed appeared once again!¡± ¡°Devils! They must be devils!¡± ¡°Lord Jushan, what exactly are they, you must know?!¡± The half-beasts who retreated surrounded Jushan in panic. Jushan was silent for a moment, then sighed, ... ¡°They... I fear they have obtained the power given by the Death God, allowing them to resurrect.¡± ¡°De... Death God...¡± The half-beasts murmured, each looking terrified, ¡°Isn¡¯t that living undead?!¡± Seeing the half-orc warriors who had completely lost their will to fight, Jushan comforted them, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, even the Death God cannot resurrect the living without limits... Their resurrection surely comes at a cost, as long as we continue to charge, they won¡¯t hold out for long.¡± But this time, the half-orcs fell silent. After a moment, one person said bitterly, ¡°Are you asking our kin to fill it with lives?!¡± Jushan glanced at the magic hounds increasingly at a disadvantage against the Black Dragon, a complex expression flashed across his face. But soon, he adjusted his mindset and angrily rebuked, ¡°If you want to be caught between them and the Black Dragon, then abandon the attack!¡± ¡°The Divine Favored one¡¯s demon beast won¡¯t hold out much longer. If the Black Dragon gets free, what awaits us will be slaughter!¡± ¡°We must destroy the elves¡¯ teleportation array before the Black Dragon gets free to eliminate one more enemy!¡± ¡°Even if it¡¯s just the Black Dragon, we could still pour all our tribe¡¯s strength into the fight, but adding the elves, and the Divine Favored that may be lurking behind...¡± ¡°Facing attacks from both sides... the Rock Cave Tribe might fall.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think about running away! The Father God has already decreed that we help the Divine Favored with our entire tribe! As long as the Divine Favored does not leave, neither can we retreat!¡± Upon hearing Jushan¡¯s words, the half-orcs began to stir. After a while, someone asked, ¡°High Priest... what exactly does the Divine Favored intend to do? Isn¡¯t he a high-level professional? Why doesn¡¯t he deal with the Black Dragon?¡± Jushan took a deep breath, his expression becoming extremely devout, ¡°Now, the Divine Favored is summoning the Divine Envoy and cannot leave. If he succeeds, we will completely overturn the tide of battle!¡± So it was the Divine Envoy! In an instant, all the half-orcs felt their morale revived. Every half-orc knew how strong a Divine Envoy¡¯s power was. Historically, the half-orcs had indeed encountered formidable enemies. But whenever they did, once they summoned a Divine Envoy, the tide of battle would inevitably be turned! Seeing the reinvigorated half-orc warriors, Jushan sighed in relief. He continued, ¡°Therefore, we cannot let them destroy our plans! We must do our utmost to destroy the elves¡¯ teleportation array! Even if we can¡¯t destroy it, we must keep them at bay, at least make it look like we¡¯re fighting to the death, and delay... until the Divine Envoy is successfully summoned!¡± ¡°Now, we change our strategy, divide the archery-skilled warriors into two teams, one stays in the tribe to assist the Divine Favored one¡¯s demon beast against the Black Dragon, the other focuses on shooting those naked elves, while the rest of the warriors continue the attack!¡± ¡°But this time, focus on stalling for time!¡± Jushan too decided to change tactics. He realized that his people no longer had the courage to continue a death struggle with the elves. He could also understand that facing an unkillable enemy, even knowing their resurrection likely had limits, the fear in their hearts couldn¡¯t be erased. *This was fundamentally unfair combat!* *Since that was the case, then stall for time!* *Both hold up the elves and hold up the dragon until the Earl finishes the summoning!* And hearing Jushan¡¯s words, the half-orcs had to organize another attack. But this time, they were much more cautious. Their goal was no longer to defeat the elves but to harass them, keeping them trapped on the mountain unable to come down and unable to focus on anything else. This time... it was the players¡¯ turn to suffer. The half-orcs were inherently much stronger than the players, and if they changed tactics and did not engage the players head-on, the sacrificial strategy the players had used before would not work. The scattered half-orcs surrounded the players without attacking, retreating and shooting arrows when they saw unarmored players emerge; after exhausting the suicide squads, they¡¯d charge back in and continue to harass the players. As a result, casualties on both sides began to drop rapidly, but the battle became deadlocked... *This was not what the players wanted to see.* *They still wanted to earn experience and contribution points!* *With this style of play, they couldn¡¯t kill a single half-orc for ages, actually losing a lot of contribution points instead.* ¡°Why are they not charging anymore?¡± Watching the suddenly conservative half-orcs, Gugu Bird furrowed her brow. Li Mu¡¯s eyes glinted slightly, ¡°They probably have realized we can resurrect.¡± ¡°What do we do then? We can¡¯t just keep dragging this out, can we?¡± Once again resurrected, Demacia said impatiently. *Every head meant experience and contribution points!* ¡°Dragging it out like this doesn¡¯t benefit them either, does it? I think Mairrel already has the upper hand.¡± Little Xian Miao looked at the distant battle with the magic hound... no, more accurately, the Black Dragon teasing the magic hound, and said with a twitch of her lips. The magic hound was obviously already showing signs of fatigue. But it seemed... the Little Black Dragon was addicted to it and wouldn¡¯t kill it before it had enough fun. Teasing prey was a Black Dragon¡¯s instinct, Little Xian Miao had yelled several times in the distance at Mairrel, yet it hadn¡¯t ended the fight quickly. ¡°They¡¯re stalling for time, likely trying to summon the Divine Envoy mentioned in the intelligence! We can¡¯t let them succeed!¡± Li Mu pondered for a moment, then said gravely. After hearing his words, Natural Saintess Alice hesitated to speak. *Regarding this... she actually received a divine message from Eve when she set out, essentially saying not to worry about the other side summoning a Divine Envoy.* *However, Eve also advised her not to interfere too much with the players¡¯ decisions.* *The Mother Goddess seemed very interested in the Divine Envoy; she appeared confident...* *Moreover, the Mother Goddess said she wanted to see how much the Chosen Ones had grown, so I¡¯d better keep quiet.* Alice thought to herself and shut her mouth. Eve indeed had a keen interest in the Divine Envoy. More precisely, she was interested in the power on the Divine Envoy. *How strong was a Demigod Level totem guardian?* *Already at Demigod Level, they must have some control of divine power, right? They must have a hefty amount of divine power points, no?* *Eve truly wanted to witness it firsthand...* *With a non-existent new divine armor equipped, she could relax without exposing her true form a bit.* However, the players were unaware of these matters. *All they wanted now was to reignite the half-orcs¡¯ fighting spirit and have a proper showdown with them!* *These were experience points and contribution points!* *And... loot!* After pondering for a moment, Li Mu turned to Gugu Bird and asked, ¡°Gugu Bird, how is the preparation on the camp¡¯s side? Are the things ready?¡± Gugu Bird opened the chat system, communicated for a moment, and said, ¡°We¡¯ve made four of them.¡± Li Mu¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Four? Perfect, have them teleported over.¡± ¡°Since the half-orcs are not motivated to attack us, let¡¯s give them some motivation! It¡¯s time to show our secret weapon!¡± Chapter 124 - 124 East Wind Express, Mission Accomplished Chapter 124: Chapter 124 East Wind Express, Mission Accomplished ¡°`html Secret weapon? Listening to the conversation between Li Mu and Gugu Bird, Natural Saintess Alice felt a bit puzzled. What had they come up with? She was aware that hundreds of lower-level Chosen Ones hadn¡¯t taken any missions but were busy with something in Elf Town. However, she soon found out what the Chosen Ones were talking about. ... The Teleportation Array burst into light once again, and four or five players surrounded a giant as it was transported here. It was a large wooden machine, folded in form. After the first giant was transported, the players one by one brought over three more identical machines. ¡°What is this thing?¡± Alice was slightly stunned. ¡°This is our secret siege weapon,¡± Gugu Bird answered while directing the players to start assembling. In no time, four huge machines appeared on the hilltop. They were upright, sharp-angled machines, with the characters ¡°East Wind¡± written humorously on the side in Chinese. The main body of the machine consisted of two pillars with a fixed horizontal axis. On top were a wooden capstan and pulleys. On the axis, there was a lever perpendicular to the axis, free to rotate around it. One end of the lever was inserted into a tightly twisted horizontal rope; the other end was a large wooden basket. ¡°This... this looks like a catapult from the Human World!¡± Alice¡¯s voice sounded peculiar. She was not unfamiliar with catapults. The human society in the Segis World was somewhat akin to the late medieval Earth. Although there were Magical Crystal Cannons and other magical weapons, catapults, which could be made with locally sourced materials and were easy to produce, were also common siege devices. And as a magical world, the catapults in the Segis World would typically be used in conjunction with magic. However, speaking of which, Alice didn¡¯t have a good impression of humans, nor did she have a favorable view of these war devices they created. But even so, she had to admit that some human creations were quite practical. Especially when the elves started waging war! What surprised Alice was that the Chosen Ones could even make catapults! Of course, the players could make them. Catapults were not incredibly technical; they were based on the principle of levers, with plenty of how-to guides available online. The difficult part was making them large and with a long range, but a few players in the Mengmeng Committee who studied engineering mechanics were not just loafing around. Once they learned they were going to attack the Half-Beast stronghold, the players began preparing in various ways. They originally thought it would be a straightforward siege, so some players suggested getting some big machines ready. Initially, they intended to make cannons. But the ideal was full, while the reality was bare. Even with magical assistance, the players found that with their current equipment and resources, they couldn¡¯t produce hot weapons, so they opted for the relatively simpler catapults. Although it turned out that the Half-Beasts didn¡¯t yet have the capability to build fortresses, the players¡¯ preparations weren¡¯t entirely useless. And now, they came in handy. Seeing the finished catapults, Demacia¡¯s eyes widened: ¡°Holy crap! Gugu sis, your guild is really awesome! You actually made them!¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a simple application of mechanics. Unfortunately, materials are scarce, so these can only throw about five hundred meters at most. Fortunately, we have the high ground and magic to assist,¡± Gugu Bird said a little regretfully. Demacia:... Five hundred meters was already far enough, okay?! It was worth noting that the average range of heavy catapults in Blue Star¡¯s Middle Ages was only around three hundred meters. *Straight-A students are monsters!* And looking at the catapults, Li Mu¡¯s lips curved slightly: ¡°Did the Half-Beasts not want to fight to the death? Then let¡¯s use East Wind Express to destroy their lair!¡± ¡°Hehehe...¡± The players exchanged understanding smiles. Alice¡¯s mouth twitched slightly. *These Chosen Ones... They looked more and more like humans!* After setting up the catapults, the players placed heavy objects into the wooden basket, brought bags of crushed stones, and put them into the lubricated hang bags on the other end of the levers. ¡°Anyone here knows any fire-attachment magic? Preferably with a delayed explosion attribute! It doesn¡¯t have to delay too long¡ªjust a few seconds will do!¡± Li Mu asked again. ¡°Me! Me! I learned a fire magic spell before! It¡¯s the kind that can attach to objects for a short time! Delayed detonation isn¡¯t a problem! Its power is absolutely immense! Teehee... I¡¯ll put Demacia¡¯s house on the line!¡± Little Xian Miao eagerly stepped forward while rubbing a fireball in her hands. Demacia:... ... Rock Cave Tribe. After changing their tactics, the Half-Beasts¡¯ losses significantly decreased, and the elves were trapped on the hilltop. Although the Silver Knight still posed a significant threat among the elves, the Half-Beasts, having been vigilant and taking countermeasures, prevented him from doing as he pleased like before. El was not like the players; he was still essentially an eighty-year-old child, unable to resurrect, and his stamina was limited. This allowed Jushan to breathe a sigh of relief. He glanced at the Demon Hounds struggling with the Half-Beast archers¡¯ support, feeling much more at ease. *The Count should be almost ready, right?* Just when he was feeling somewhat reassured, Jushan suddenly heard an exclamation from the Half-Beasts. Instinctively, he turned around and was shocked to discover four flaming ¡°meteors¡± flying toward the hill! The ¡°meteors¡± traced an arc directly toward the Rock Cave Tribe. Chapter 125 - 124 East Wind Express, Mission Accomplished_2 Chapter 125: Chapter 124 East Wind Express, Mission Accomplished_2 ¡°`html ¡°Quick, get out of the way!¡± Jushan hurriedly shouted to the Half-Beasts in the tribe. However, before the ¡°meteors¡± hit the ground, they suddenly exploded in mid-air! Accompanied by a deafening roar, the ¡°meteors¡± shattered into pieces. Large and small fragments, mixed with flames, scattered in all directions like a splendid firestorm... The houses of the Rock Cave Tribe were made of stone and straw, the tents from animal hides, all highly flammable materials. ... It hadn¡¯t rained near the Dark Mountain Range for several days, and the weather was dry and arid. The fragments, wrapped in grease and flames, instantly ignited the affected houses! Seeing this scene, the Half-Beast Jushan¡¯s face turned green, ¡°Quick! Quickly, put out the fire! Put out the fire!¡± Yet, before the Half-Beasts could extinguish the fire, four more ¡°meteors¡± came flying in... ¡°Boom!¡± Another cluster of houses was swallowed by the sea of fire. Not only this, but a ¡°meteor¡± exploded right near the main tent, nearly destroying it! Witnessing this, Jushan was almost scared out of his mind. The Night Wanderer was in the main tent perfecting the altar to summon the Divine Envoy! ¡°It¡¯s the Elves! It¡¯s those Elves! They¡¯ve... they¡¯ve brought catapults!¡± At this moment, a sharp-eyed Half-Beast shouted. Ca... catapults?! Jushan¡¯s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Weren¡¯t those human equipment? How did the Elves manage to make them? This needed to be mentioned. The Elf Clan was very proud, and they were even prouder of their rich kingdom. Even though they had declined, the pride of the Elf Clan never waned. In their view, humans and Half-Beasts were short-lived savages. They believed the only things these beings could create were simple, inferior products or some flashy but useless things. In fact, there was some truth to this belief. During the peak of Elf civilization, other intelligent races were indeed still in an undeveloped and barbaric state, and the magical equipment of the Elf clan had always been known for its exquisite beauty and magical effectiveness. Elf products were all the rage worldwide! Of course, Elf items were almost never used for warfare... And in fact, many civilizations¡¯ growth benefited from studying the Elf Clan, or they had received help from the Elf Clan. So, it¡¯s natural for the Elf Clan to feel proud. Their view of other races... was very similar to Tianchao¡¯s attitude towards the West a few hundred years ago on Blue Star. And this was a widely known fact on Segis Continent. The Elf Clan using human catapults was unprecedented! Watching the tribe slowly engulfed in flames, Jushan¡¯s eyes reddened. No... They couldn¡¯t let this continue! These Elves were as cunning and cruel as humans... If this went on, even if they won in the end, the Rock Cave Tribe would be reduced to ruins. These were their accumulations from centuries! Not to mention, the catapults posed a huge threat to the altar in the main tent and the tribespeople! ¡°Charge! Charge! Destroy their catapults!¡± Jushan, with reddened eyes, commanded. This time, the Half-Beasts no longer hesitated. The explosions had already caused casualties in the Half-Beast Tribe. The priest¡¯s protective spells couldn¡¯t be cast on everyone, and these aerial explosions were enough to threaten those ordinary Half-Beasts in the tribe... And the catapults were still continuously operating... If this continued, the entire Rock Cave Tribe really would turn into a sea of flames! ¡°Damnable Elves! Despicable! Truly too despicable!¡± The Half-Beasts ground their teeth, eyes red, once again initiating a charge against the players. And seeing the Half-Beasts thoroughly enraged, the players on the hillside cheered in unison. ¡°That¡¯s more like it!¡± They too drew their weapons, and clashed with the charging Half-Beasts once more... The melee, reopened. Swords clashed and dazzling magic exploded everywhere, screams and shouts echoed, and occasionally someone fell, but was quickly replaced by someone from behind. Even amidst the chaos, the players didn¡¯t rest, continuing to hurl fireballs into the Half-Beast Tribe with the catapults. Even more egregiously, someone transported their bio-weapons from the teleportation array¡ªbarrels and barrels of the players¡¯ excrement... ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was too real; eating, drinking, and expelling were included, and when player numbers increased, public toilets naturally sprung up in the town, so collecting some bio-weapons wasn¡¯t difficult. They packed them in bags, attaching explosive delay spells, and catapulted them into the Half-Beasts¡¯ tribe, disgusting the enemy. Actually... in Blue Star¡¯s history, many medieval armies did the same in war, to lower morale. And surprisingly, it worked quite well! The bio-weapons exploded, and many affected Half-Beasts were drenched head to toe. But unlike humans, facing such humiliation, the Half-Beasts, not known for their intellect and with generally more irritable tempers, only grew more enraged. ¡°Bastards! You damned, shameless long ears!¡± ¡°Aaaaaah! Kill you all! I will kill you all!¡± The Half-Beasts became more frenzied. ¡°Wow! This is interesting! Let me try! Let me try!¡± Seeing the new use of the catapults, Demacia was thrilled. He gave up on suicide and eagerly went before the catapult, starting to play with excrement... Li Mu:... Coocoobird:... Little Xian Miao:... ... Amidst the brawl, the casualties of the Half-Beasts kept mounting. Yet, they still couldn¡¯t break through the players¡¯ defenses. Moreover, those Half-Beasts who held out the longest began to gradually and fearfully notice that the Elves¡¯ strength seemed to be slowly increasing... ¡°It¡¯s as if they¡¯re getting stronger and stronger!¡± They exclaimed in terror. This shocking revelation was like a bucket of cold water, cooling the heads of the heated Half-Beasts. The message spread among the Half-Beasts, and gradually... they plunged into chaos once more. And as they watched the steadily accumulating experience points and contributions, along with the pile of equipment accumulating in the back, the players grew more invigorated! Those at the front lines, quite a few had already leveled up! The scavenged gear had already piled into a small mountain... ¡°Charge!¡± ¡°Ura!¡± The players, excited and shouting, launched an attack against the Half-Beasts, who once again showed signs of retreat! ¡°It¡¯s chaotic... Utter chaos... Is the Night Wanderer¡¯s summoning still not complete?!¡± Watching the collapsing formations and the chaotic tribe, Jushan grew extremely anxious. And at that moment, a heart-palpitating wave of energy suddenly emanated from the central tent of the Rock Cave Tribe... Accompanied by a silver glow, a massive array abruptly formed in midair! The array was inscribed with profound and sacred patterns, the runes belonging to the True God... A holy song, akin to a battle cry, slowly rose, and a large golden hand suddenly extended from the array! Seeing this, Jushan was initially stunned. But when he recognized the patterns on the array, his anxious expression instantly transformed to awe and joy, ¡°This... This... It¡¯s the summoning array! It¡¯s... it¡¯s the Divine Envoy!¡± ¡°Divine Envoy?!¡± Upon hearing the High Priest¡¯s exclamation, the Half-Beasts first erupted in commotion, then quickly fell into a frenzy of joy, ¡°The Divine Envoy! The Divine Envoy has descended!¡± ¡°The Divine Favored has succeeded!¡± Amid the crowd¡¯s cheers, the silver light grew more dazzling. A vast, rugged, yet slightly dignified and holy aura, accompanied by the golden giant hand¡¯s appearance, spread, instilling awe in all the Half-Beasts... But... just as the golden hand stretched halfway, an unidentified package suddenly flew into the sky. It traced a beautiful arc, landing squarely in the array¡¯s range. ¡°Hmph!¡± A majestic snort echoed through the air. The golden hand caught the falling package and squeezed it hard. ¡°Splat...¡± The unidentified object from the hillside shattered into pieces, its black and yellow fluids drenching the mystic figure halfway emerging from the teleportation array... The pungent smell gradually spread... The air descended into an eerie silence. On the hillside, Demacia¡¯s mouth hung open in astonishment, subconsciously loosening his grip on the catapult... ¡°` Chapter 126 - 125 Demigod Walker Chapter 126: Chapter 125 Demigod Walker ¡°`html The golden hand momentarily paused, as if the mysterious force was bewildered. Then, everyone saw the arm slowly retract, followed by a sound that seemed to be sniffing... Hearing this sound, the hearts of all the players couldn¡¯t help but skip a beat. *It felt... familiar.* Soon, a world-destroying energy burst out from the array, accompanied by an extremely angry roar: ... ¡°Bastard! Who¡ª is it!!¡± The golden hands reached out from the array again. This time... the speed was rapid, and in an instant, the entire body was completely transmitted over. And everyone could clearly see the appearance of the mysterious entity summoned. It was a giant nearly ten meters tall, with a strong physique. He wore a helmet that resembled a ram¡¯s skull, donned in a shimmering robe of gold and silver beast skin, gripping a silver battle axe encircled by frost in one hand, with a cloak made of gray bird feathers on his back... His face was painted with totem-like patterns, looking both mysterious and majestic. The Totem Guardian¡ªDemigod Walker. He was one of the three Demigod Level divine envoys under the God of Winter and Hunting, Uller, his status second only to that of the True God! But at this moment, Totem Guardian Walker was utterly enraged. *Defiled...* *As a dignified Demigod Level entity, he had been defiled by the impurity of the mundane world the moment he was summoned!* *Damn it!* *Which audacious fool dared do this to him!* *This was simply a desecration of a Demigod!* *They must pay the price!* *The other side must pay the price!* At this moment, Walker even felt that the task given by the True God could be postponed a bit. *He had to first drag out this mocking fool, tear their body to pieces, then extract the soul and purify it into the purest energy to feed his hunting dogs!* Walker¡¯s furious expression looked quite terrifying, and Demigod Level energy continuously gathered behind him, changing the color of the entire world! The energy level of the Segis Continent hadn¡¯t yet recovered, and as it appeared currently, the strongest force it could support was Demigod Level. What¡¯s more, it could barely support even that. In his fury, the space around Walker seemed to become disordered as it couldn¡¯t bear the violent energy, even stirring up a massive vortex in the clouds above, creating a spectacular sight. All the mages and priests could feel the elemental energy in the air starting to become restless, their control over magic power subtly interrupted... Meanwhile, a chilling pressure radiated from Walker¡¯s center. Unlike Uller¡¯s avatar earlier, this time, Walker had descended in person. He could fully unleash his true pressure! And this terrifying power nearly rendered all nearby half-beasts unable to move, trembling incessantly. Had it not been for the players being farther away, they might have already lost control over their bodies. Still, even so, they felt a dread from within, their bodily functions seeming to slow significantly. Both sides instinctively stopped fighting and began to slowly retreat... When higher-tier forces descended, the course of the war was no longer something the weak could change. And in the sky, Black Dragon Mairrel, who was tangled with the demonic hounds, widened its dragon eyes in an instant. Seeing the dazzling brilliance on Totem Guardian Walker, it couldn¡¯t help but exclaim: ¡°Demi... Demigod!¡± Mairrel swatted the demonic dog away with a claw, then turned and ran with its tail tucked between its legs. Its small wings flapped rapidly, just like when it had bumped into Eve before... ¡°Lord Divine Favored! That¡¯s the enemy¡¯s black dragon!¡± Seeing the black dragon trying to escape, Jushan hurriedly shouted. Dragons hold grudges. The Rock Cave Tribe had already offended Mairrel, so they must not let it go! Upon hearing the half-beast¡¯s voice, Mairrel¡¯s dragon face turned green: ¡°Bastards! Mairrel will eat you all sooner or later!¡± Mairrel cursed, flapping away faster with a snort. ¡°Hmph!¡± Walker coldly glanced at it, then waved his hand lightly. A silver beam shot from his hand, transforming into a rope, aiming at Mairrel... The Divine Lock. This was an essential skill for all who wielded Divine Power. The Divine Lock swiftly wrapped the little black dragon tightly. Just like... when Eve had done it before. Mairrel: ... It instantly lost its ability to fly, crashing into the ground and once again burying its head in the dirt. ¡°Howl~ Why do all of you use this trick!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve truly angered Mairrel! Truly angered Mairrel!¡± It whimpered pitifully while struggling in the dirt pit. Players: ... ¡°Whoa...! Killed the black dragon instantly? What kind of monster is this? It seems even more powerful than that blockhead avatar we took down together before. Could he... could he be the divine envoy the Holy Daughter mentioned?¡± Looking at the enraged Walker, Dema widened his eyes. ¡°We probably can¡¯t beat this BOSS, right? Maybe we should retreat first? We¡¯ve already gained a lot, time for a temporary withdrawal... no, a strategic withdrawal...¡± His voice sounded somewhat timid. However, to Dema¡¯s surprise, no one responded to him. He looked around, noticing that everyone had distanced themselves from him by at least twenty meters. Dema: ... ¡°Who was it just now?¡± Having captured the black dragon, Walker¡¯s deep voice rang out again. Everyone could hear the suppressed rage underneath his words. He was like a volcano about to erupt, incredibly terrifying! ¡°Guardian Sir! It was the elves! Those elves on the hill did it! They used a catapult!¡± Seeing the enraged Totem Guardian, Jushan felt reassured and excitedly shouted again, pointing at the hill in the distance. ¡°Elves? A catapult?¡± Walker¡¯s voice carried a hint of disbelief. Then his gaze swept towards where the players were gathered. Seeing the big BOSS¡¯s gaze, all the players swiftly moved even further away from Dema. Many players had already picked up the gear on the ground and begun discreetly moving towards the teleportation array, ready to make a tactful retreat... In an instant, Walker clearly saw Dema standing near the catapult, holding a stick dripping with an unknown liquid, next to a barrel exuding a strange odor... Dema: ... He quickly tossed away the stirring stick, coughed twice: ¡°Ahem... um... well... I have something to do, I¡¯ll log off first!¡± After speaking, he turned and bolted towards the teleportation array... ¡°Hmph!¡± Walker snorted coldly again, gently waved his hand, and another silver Divine Lock shot out. The target... aimed directly at Dema! The Divine Lock was incredibly fast, and in the astonished gaze of all the players, it effortlessly bound Dema. Accompanied by a miserable scream, Dema was pulled back by the Divine Lock... But just as Walker was about to capture him, another crisp and cold snort echoed through the air. Another golden Divine Lock shot towards Walker! ¡°` Chapter 127 - 126: The New God Who Stole the Divine Position Chapter 127: Chapter 126: The New God Who Stole the Divine Position ¡°`html The speed of the golden Divine Lock was incredibly fast, interrupting Demigod Walker¡¯s actions in an instant. His expression became slightly serious as he hurriedly released the Divine Lock binding Dema, turning instead to confront the sudden assault. The two chains of Divine Power collided with each other, causing a violent energy explosion. With a thunderous ¡°boom,¡± all the players felt as if they had gone deaf momentarily, and the entire earth trembled slightly. And when they looked at Demigod Walker again, they found that there was now a massive crater with almost a hundred-meter radius on the ground before him... ... The houses and Half-Beasts that had been there were already reduced to flying ashes. ¡°Whoa... That¡¯s a bit too strong, isn¡¯t it?¡± Watching the aftermath of the explosion, the players stared blankly, subconsciously swallowing. It was only at this moment that they truly realized how vast the power gap between a demigod and mortals was... The massive crater just now was merely the aftermath of a Demigod-Level power clash. Demigod Walker didn¡¯t seem surprised by the sudden attack and the appearance of the strange Divine Lock. He let out a cold chuckle, and a deep, ancient voice echoed in the air, ¡°Haha, True God¡¯s speculation was indeed correct, there really is a new deity undergoing Divine Enthronement. This Divine Power... has the breath of nature and life... As expected, you have stolen the power that rightfully belonged to His Majesty!¡± A new deity undergoing Divine Enthronement? Listening to Demigod Walker, the Half-Beasts were momentarily stunned before quickly becoming shaken. ¡°A new True God has emerged in the Elf Forest!¡± ¡°Could it be... the newborn True God has subdued the elves?¡± ¡°It must be, otherwise... how do we explain their transformation!¡± ¡°Those long-ears would actually change their faith?¡± ¡°Wait... Could it be the World Tree?¡± ¡°Impossible, if it were the World Tree, Father God would have descended with the Majesties long ago...¡± The Half-Beasts discussed wildly, quickly ruling out the correct answer. One can¡¯t blame them; news of the World Tree¡¯s fall was well-known, and unlike Faith True Gods who rely entirely on faith for their existence, Ancient Gods, even if they have believers, depend on their physical forms for life essence. The fall of an Ancient God meant the death of their physical form, making it almost impossible for them to resurrect the way Faith True Gods could through the belief of their followers! Additionally, there was no reaction from the True Gods opposed to the World Tree... So... one misstep led to further missteps. However, it could be foreseen that even if the probability was minuscule, with Eve¡¯s actions, suspicion of the World Tree¡¯s revival was only a matter of time. But even so, Eve still decided to appear in disguise. After all... time was not on Her side. Twenty years might seem long, but for a True God with slow power growth, it was merely a blink. *She had to seize every opportunity to strengthen Herself!* *By the time the truth was revealed, She needed to at least have the power to fight back against Her enemies!* Upon hearing the Half-Beasts¡¯ discussion, the players were also left bewildered. A new... newborn True God? When did a newborn True God appear in the Elf Forest? Wasn¡¯t there only the Goddess? And just now, that clear cold snort, everyone could tell, it was identical to the voice of the Goddess they heard when creating their characters! With the foreshadowing of Natural Saintess Alice, the players already knew Eve¡¯s identity had to be kept secret. Once the news of the World Tree¡¯s revival was exposed, it could lead to an attack from the Gods! And considering the nature of this game, if it happened, the storyline would certainly collapse... And once the storyline collapsed, it would be over. ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had narrative and historical lines involving player participation. The officials had long announced a message: to enhance players¡¯ sense of involvement and authenticity, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± would not reset the game. If players failed miserably, causing the entire storyline to collapse, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± would announce a closure of files and server shutdown. This message also caused a huge stir in the Blue Star Network gaming community. Many netizens felt the officials of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± must have lost their minds to say such a thing. If someone deliberately sabotaged it, wouldn¡¯t ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± be doomed? But the beta players didn¡¯t think so. Not to mention how much control the officials had over the game; after learning about this, although they were reluctant to admit it, they did indeed play more cautiously, which gave it a more authentic and thrilling feel. *Collapsing the storyline... wasn¡¯t what the players wanted to see.* They had spent so much time managing Elf Town so well, grinding tasks every day, and finally reaching Black Iron level; everyone had already fallen in love with this game. *A sense of recognition and achievement was inherently a pleasant thing.* *And these two joys intertwined, bringing the players even more happiness.* No one wanted to lose this game. If anyone dared to mess around, they would probably be berated by the players before Eve even had to act. *But... what did the stranger¡¯s words mean?* Confused, the players wanted to speak, but then they were shocked to find they had lost the ability to talk. None of the players could speak! Thankfully, the chat feature on the game¡¯s system still worked, and the group started a lively discussion on the world channel: ¡°Wait... why can¡¯t I talk? Can any of you?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t either; it seems to be a system restriction.¡± ¡°Plot animation... we must have entered a plot animation! I heard that when Dema and others visited the Goddess, they also lost control of their bodies!¡± ¡°I see!¡± The players were suddenly enlightened and then excited. ¡°But... what¡¯s this new Divine Enthronement about? Isn¡¯t the Goddess the World Tree?¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you forget? The Holy Daughter mentioned before that the Goddess seemed to be misleading enemies to hide Her identity; this must be Her misdirection! Remember how we were mistaken for the undead before?¡± ¡°So that¡¯s it!¡± ¡°Umm... how come the Goddess¡¯s image suddenly changed? I always thought the Goddess in this game was lofty and aboveboard, but I didn¡¯t expect She¡¯d have a sneaky development strategy...¡± ¡°Hahaha... the Goddess is also an NPC, not just an abstract symbol; in this game, any NPC definitely has their own emotions!¡± ¡°Now that you mention it... suddenly, the Goddess feels much closer! Next time I make offerings and pray, I¡¯ll see if I can flatter Her! What if I get chosen as a Divine Favored too?¡± ¡°Pfft... you¡¯re a real talent.¡± ¡°Record it! Record it! The Goddess is definitely going to make a battle appearance next!¡± With joy, the players turned on their recording functions. At the same time, Divine Favored Ail radiated a dazzling Holy Light. He devoutly knelt down in prayer, and as his prayer continued, a grand divine presence suddenly descended to the scene. Under Demigod Walker¡¯s solemn gaze, gentle Divine Power constantly gathered and quickly formed a ethereal, sacred figure. It seemed to be a Goddess, enveloped in the radiance of Divine Power. Holy Light veiled Her true face, but... it revealed the surging sense of Her Divine Power. The appearance of a True God could change at will, but the aura of Divine Power was not easy to disguise. Especially for a deity of faith! In an instant, Demigod Walker recognized it... That aura... bore life and nature! However, he also noted that the opponent¡¯s aura seemed unstable, mixed with a hint of Death Divine Power. Demigod Walker¡¯s eyes sparkled slightly. It was exactly as the True God speculated, this was a True God who relied on the assistance of the Death God to pilfer life and nature! What¡¯s more, Her condition was not good, She couldn¡¯t even control Her Divine Power well! No wonder She was hiding so much, with such a True God, Her power probably couldn¡¯t even compare to a veteran Demigod! *This... was an opportunity!* His back straightened immediately. ¡°` Chapter 128 - 127: Fight Somewhere Else Chapter 128: Chapter 127: Fight Somewhere Else ¡°`html The power of a Demigod was indeed formidable. In the moment Eve saw Demigod Walker, she judged that her avatar was not his match. After all, the avatar she currently condensed relied on the Death God¡¯s Soul Storage Orb as its core, cleverly gathered, and could only maintain Demigod level combat power for a limited time. And although she was a True God, it was indeed as Walker had speculated, her control over Divine Power was not smooth. Of course, a True God was still a True God. ... Even if she was not a match, it did not mean Eve¡¯s avatar would be instantly defeated by the opponent. Not to mention, this was just her avatar! Walker also sensed the general strength of Eve¡¯s avatar. The difference was, he had already regarded Eve¡¯s avatar as Eve¡¯s true form. This wasn¡¯t his fault. Because Eve¡¯s avatar was not a conventional True God Avatar. The process of a True God of Faith entering a Divine Throne was a process of shedding a mortal body and condensing a Divine Body. Unlike the old gods who had a substantial True God body, the True God of Faith¡¯s true form was an energy-like body, with the core being a godhead. Generally speaking, the avatar condensed by a True God of Faith would also be in energy form. But the avatar Eve cleverly condensed was different. This was because she used Hela¡¯s Soul Storage Orb as the core and a suitable elven body as the physical form to condense it. In other words, the feeling she gave Demigod Walker was... Like a fortunate elf who had acquired the godhead of nature and life, although she had ascended to godhood, she had not completely shed her mortal form due to the energy level of Segis Continent, displaying an illusion of an incomplete state between energy and physical form. This was the real reason Eve, despite already having Divine Power exceeding a hundred, did not choose to expend Divine Power to condense a Divine Power Avatar but continued to use the Soul Storage Orb! The intention was to make other strong beings think her avatar was her true form! To feign weakness to the enemy. And after Eve appeared, the players widened their eyes and began to ¡°appreciate¡± the long-missed ¡°cutscene.¡± Only to their disappointment, this time the goddess didn¡¯t release effects like ¡°heavenly damsel scattering flowers¡± or ¡°all things bowing.¡± Though under the embrace of Holy Light, the goddess still appeared radiant and magnificent, making one feel inferior... But compared to the last two flashy appearances, something felt a bit lacking. To Demigod Walker, who observed this, it was a different scenario... ¡°Ha, she seemed to be cherishing the use of Divine Power, even when making an appearance before her followers and believers, she didn¡¯t expend Divine Power to maintain the dignity of a True God, it seems... her condition is indeed poor!¡± With this thought, Walker felt even more confident. He raised his Frost Battle Axe, silver Divine Power continuously turning into electric snakes across it. It was a Divine Artifact granted by Uller, truly a Demigod level artifact! The powerful Demigod¡¯s oppressive aura swept across the field, causing the clouds in the sky to roll and surge continuously under Walker¡¯s power, while the Magic Power in the air became turbulent, transforming into howling winds... After Demigod Walker unleashed his full aura, the temperature within three kilometers suddenly began to drop rapidly, and gradually... snowflakes began to fall! Domain! This was an ability only the strong after legendary levels could activate! The Half-Beasts stared dumbfounded at this scene, their hearts exceedingly shocked. Demigods! This was the power of Demigods! To actually... affect the weather! The players were not too surprised. Having witnessed the miraculous revival of all things and living beings bowing to Goddess Eve, Walker¡¯s level of power did not surprise them. And then, Walker¡¯s powerful voice resounded throughout the field, filled with supreme confidence, ¡°Hmph! Fake God! You have stolen Lord Uller¡¯s divine authority and killed His servants and followers, today is the day of your demise!¡± Fake God! The power behind the Elf Forest was actually a Fake God! The Half-Beasts were utterly astonished. And following that, infinite joy! To proclaim oneself a True God without the power of a True God was to be a Fake God. Given it was a Fake God, it surely could not be Lord Walker¡¯s opponent! As one of the three Demigods under Uller, Walker¡¯s legends were widely circulated among the Beastman tribes. He was a reputed totem Guardian, who had defeated Fake Gods and Demigods multiple times! A legendary figure! Fa¡ªFake God? The players, upon hearing this, had peculiar expressions. He... he, a Demigod, called the goddess a Fake God? Was this... also the goddess¡¯s misdirection? What was the goddess planning? The players subconsciously looked at the figure surrounded by Holy Light, but they seemed unable to clearly see her face, let alone her emotions. At this moment, the goddess appeared even more mysterious and unfathomable. But one thing could be confirmed, the goddess seemed to be planning something indeed... Fake God? Uller¡¯s divine authority? Upon hearing Demigod Walker¡¯s accusation, a hint of anger appeared on the faces of Alice and El. Shameless! Despicable! A scoundrel who turns black and white upside down! However, recalling the Mother Goddess¡¯s teachings, they forcefully held back. Yet when they looked at Demigod Walker again, their gazes were as if they were looking at a corpse. A True God cannot be desecrated! Even if... he was a noble Demigod! Upon hearing Walker¡¯s words, Eve was not angry. She just let out a soft sigh, and her ethereal and majestic voice echoed through the place: ¡°This place isn¡¯t very suitable, let¡¯s fight somewhere else.¡± ¡°Haha, is it because you¡¯re worried about the aftermath endangering your followers... Truly a foolish Fake God!¡± Hearing Eve¡¯s words, Demigod Walker let out a cold laugh. He raised his silver axe, roaring as he charged toward Eve! Simultaneously, Eve also extended her hand, sending out two waves of Divine Power... ¡°It¡¯s about to start!¡± The players¡¯ eyes lit up. They subconsciously hid, eyes widened, ready to witness the clash of Demigod levels. However, what followed was beyond everyone¡¯s expectations. Seeing the first wave of the goddess transform into a Divine Lock, it shot directly at Walker. However, Walker merely let out a cold snort, effortlessly dodging the first attack. But just as he dodged, the other wave suddenly turned into a gigantic Teleportation Array, perfectly encompassing Walker as he moved to evade. To everyone¡¯s astonishment, a brilliant light suddenly emanated from Demigod Walker¡¯s body. And after the light faded, he was gone... Along with him, the goddess Eve also vanished. Tra¡ªTransported away? For a moment, everyone was stunned. ¡°Continue to eliminate the Half-Beasts.¡± In an instant, a clear, ethereal voice echoed in the hearts of all the players. It was the goddess! The players¡¯ eyes lit up. This... was the first time the goddess directly spoke into their minds, personally giving orders! Just then, the players discovered that their ability to speak was restored once again. ¡°Look! Look at the Elf Forest!¡± Suddenly, a sharp-eyed player pointed far behind them. The other players followed his direction, surprised to see clouds rolling faintly over the Elf Forest... The goddess transported the Beastman¡¯s Divine Envoy to the Elf Forest? In an instant, the players immediately understood. And then, their eyes lit up. The Elf Forest... that was the goddess¡¯s home ground! ¡°No wonder... no wonder... it seems this Demigod is done for this time.¡± ¡°Wait, the Demigod is gone, can we farm monsters again?¡± Thinking of this, the players¡¯ hearts stirred. The BOSS had been transported away... So, wouldn¡¯t it be their stage again next? However, there were also those who regretted: ¡°Ah ah ah! I wanted to see the goddess fight! I wanted to see the goddess fight!¡± Seeing the Divine Envoy had been teleported away, the Half-Beasts were also stunned. Quickly, however, they saw the eager expressions of the players. Seeing the twinkling eyes of the players, for some reason, the Beastman Jushan suddenly felt something ominous. Nonetheless, he still shouted angrily: ¡°Elves! The Demigod has already acted, your Fake God is doomed! Stop making unnecessary resistance!¡± Upon hearing his shout, the players first seemed dumbfounded, then burst out laughing: ¡°Hahahaha!¡± ¡°Who¡¯s gonna be doomed is uncertain!¡± ¡°You blockheaded fools! Look behind you!¡± Behind? The Half-Beasts were slightly startled. They subconsciously turned around. Then they saw a huge shadow. A hideous countenance, black scales, and eyes filled with rage... It was the Black Dragon. But at this moment, the Black Dragon had gained its freedom! ¡°Wha¡ªwhen did this happen?¡± The Half-Beasts¡¯ eyes were vacant. Jushan¡¯s face changed: ¡°The Divine Lock... it was the Divine Lock just now! The Divine Lock freed it!¡± Indeed, it was the Divine Lock. Just now, Demigod Walker indeed evaded the first Divine Lock sent by Eve. But Eve never intended to control him with the Divine Lock from the start! Her real target was to free the Black Dragon! Seeing the red-eyed, furious Black Dragon staring at them, all the Half-Beasts felt their hearts skip a beat. Jushan¡¯s face showed panic as he hurriedly shouted: ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡± And just as he shouted, the Little Black Dragon roared loudly, charging into the Half-Beasts, commencing a massacre. ¡°Damn! Leave some heads for us!¡± ¡°We¡¯re in too!¡± ¡°Attack!¡± ¡°Ura¡ª!¡± The players also roared, rejoining the battle! The scene once again descended into chaos. ... Elf Forest. In the sky, Demigod Walker gazed at the dense forest below, his eyes filled with amazement: ¡°Who would have thought... you transported me here.¡± ¡°Haha, is this forest your home ground? But teleporting a Demigod... how much strength do you have left?¡± Walker let out a cold laugh. The cost of instant teleportation was proportional to the energy of the transmitted target. Walker could distinctly sense that after the teleportation, the mysterious Fake God¡¯s strength in front of him was further exhausted by more than half. ¡°The consumption was indeed significant.¡± Hearing Walker¡¯s words, Eve gently sighed, seemingly heartbroken. ¡°However...¡± She shifted her tone: ¡°I believe you won¡¯t let me lose.¡± What did she mean? Walker slightly frowned, suddenly feeling a twinge of unease. Then, he saw the ¡°Fake God¡± before him suddenly burst into green radiance. Under his astonished gaze, the body of the Fake God abruptly ¡°shattered,¡± merging into the world... Meanwhile, a strong sense of dread suddenly gripped Walker¡¯s heart! In that moment... He felt this world... come alive. ¡°` Chapter 129 - 128: True God Divine Domain! Chapter 129: Chapter 128: True God Divine Domain! ¡°`html At the moment the ¡°Fake God¡± disappeared, the entire forest seemed to burst with vibrant life. The plants began to rapidly sprout, branch out, and blossom... countless colorful flowers adorned the surroundings in a dreamlike fashion. Brilliant photons flew from every direction, transforming into countless butterfly-like little elves, dancing gracefully in the air. Everything felt like an enchanted realm straight out of a fairy tale... Yet to Demigod Walker, it was a different experience altogether. ... *It was a very peculiar sensation...* *Walker felt as if, in an instant, he had become an enemy of the entire world.* *The magic power in the air, the flying elemental little elves, the plants in the forest... all seemed to harbor intense hostility towards him.* *The more vibrant the life around him, the stronger he sensed the killing intent!* *He felt suddenly out of place with this world...* *This feeling was not new to Walker, having experienced it in his long years.* And the last time he had such an experience was during the divine war a millennium ago... ¡°The True God¡¯s Divine Domain! This is the True God¡¯s Divine Domain!¡± His eyes widened in disbelief. The True God¡¯s Divine Domain, as the name suggested, was the domain of a True God. Only when a True God truly mastered their divine duties would they have their own Divine Domain! Unlike Legendary Domains and Demigod Domains, the domain of a True God was more advanced. In the Divine Domain of a True God, the True God was the heavens and the earth, the True God was the ruler! In the Divine Domain, as long as the divine power was abundant, the True God was nearly invincible! In fact, every True God of Faith had a fixed Divine Domain. That was their Divine Country! And when a True God descended with their true form, they would create their Divine Domain within a certain range... In a True God¡¯s Divine Domain, almost no one could contend with them. Unless another True God came in person! *Once Walker realized he had entered a Divine Domain, he knew he had gone too far.* *At this moment, his heart was already in turmoil.* *Divine Domain!* *How could it be a Divine Domain?!* *She...* *No, wasn¡¯t she supposed to be a Fake God who hadn¡¯t mastered divine duties?* *Had she already established her own Divine Country?* *But here... here was the Segis World, where did she find a half-plane to establish a Divine Country?!* *If she had mastered divine duties...* *Would there be any need to hide?* *What kind of existence was she truly?* *To have stolen and mastered her divine duties so swiftly after the World Tree curse was lifted?!* *Could it be... Was the Death God fully assisting her?* *But... if she had already become a True God, why would she hide?* *Walker¡¯s expression was frightfully troubled, filled with confusion.* Eve, of course, possessed a Divine Domain. In fact, she had gained it when she inherited the World Tree. The World Tree was an ancient god. When Eve had just been reborn, that feeling of dominion over heaven and earth came from the instinct of the Divine Domain! However, unfolding the Divine Domain required a lot of energy, and it wasn¡¯t until Eve emerged from her near-death state and incorporated her body into a Divine Country that the energy expenditure decreased. This... was what gave Eve the foundation to deploy her Divine Domain and counter other powerful beings! When Demigod Walker recalled his recent arrogant words, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. *He...* *He had just insulted a True God who had mastered divine duties by calling her a Fake God?* *A True God tolerated no disrespect...* *Even as a divine envoy of the God of Winter and Hunting, if the other party killed him for it, no other True God would take Uller¡¯s side.* *Understanding this, Demigod Walker¡¯s mouth went dry, and his heart surged with endless regret and fear.* *He had entirely lost his will to fight.* *Because he knew, here, he couldn¡¯t win.* *After living for thousands of years, he was still wise enough to know that.* Suddenly, Walker descended from the sky and respectfully bowed in the direction where Eve had just disappeared, his voice filled with extreme bitterness: ¡°Totem Guardian under the seat of the God of Winter and Hunting¡ªDemigod Walker, here to greet the Eminence of the God of Nature and Life...¡± God of Nature and Life. Since the other party deploye a Divine Domain of dual attributes of nature and life, it was only natural she was also the new God of Nature and Life! ¡°Hmm? Surrendered so quickly?¡± A surprised female voice echoed from the sky. Demigod Walker could not help but let out a wry smile. He lowered his head, put away his weapon, and explained through gritted teeth: ¡°Misunderstanding... this... this is all a misunderstanding!¡± *Every strong being was a mysterious creature that had lived for who knew how many years.* *When it was time to surrender, one should surrender.* *Those with stubborn and hard tempers either possessed incomparable power or had grass growing several meters high on their graves.* ¡°No, this is not a misunderstanding.¡± The mighty and dignified voice rang out once more: ¡°From the moment Uller tried to covet nature and life, it ceased to be a misunderstanding.¡± ¡°As it happens, I¡¯m quite curious about the effects of the Divine Domain and interested in demigods. Since you¡¯re here, do help me test it thoroughly.¡± Upon hearing these words, Walker was shocked to the core. He didn¡¯t think of anything else but turned and fled! Run! He had to escape! He didn¡¯t know where the exit of the Divine Domain was, but he imagined the scope might not be large, so he picked a direction and dashed madly! ¡°Trying to run?¡± The ethereal voice echoed again, tinged with amusement. And then, the plants in the forest began to frantically grow, transforming into giant green hands, swiftly reaching for Walker. Simultaneously, Walker felt that all the magic power in the surrounding space was severed from him, leaving him only with his divine power, unable to tap into any energy... *The strength of a demigod... apart from their divine power, was also largely based on their understanding of laws affecting reality.* *And the laws in the Divine Domain listened to its master.* *Without control over the laws, much of a demigod¡¯s strength was lost.* Wherever Walker passed, all the plants rapidly grew, turning into vines and chains, reaching out to grab him! Walker gritted his teeth, drew his divine axe, and mustered all his strength to hack at the intertwining plants. Silver divine power burst forth, crashing fiercely against the plants... In an instant, the light was dazzling. The sound of divine power exploding was like thunderbolt! However, after the brilliance faded, Walker was horrified to discover that he couldn¡¯t sever the plants with his chopping blow! Everyone knew, a full-power axe swing from Walker could cleave a mountain in two! But now, it only left a shallow white mark on the plants... And just a few minutes ago, these were some of the most common plants on the Segis Continent... even goblins could easily tear them apart! *Divine Domain...* *This was the mighty power of the Divine Domain!* *When the Divine Domain was unfurled, all fields relevant to a True God¡¯s divine duties within it would receive the amplification of the True God¡¯s power!* Looking at the vines wrapping around his divine axe, Walker was frightfully shocked. He released the divine axe and continued to flee... ¡°Hinder.¡± This time, for one more fearsome voice he heard. *All of a sudden, Walker discovered that his speed had dropped by multiple folds, with everything seeming to move in slow motion.* *Words that became reality!* *In the Divine Domain of a True God, the words of a True God could manifest into reality to a certain extent!* Under Walker¡¯s terrified gaze, he was tightly ensnared by the vines. ¡°Imprison.¡± The ethereal, dignified voice rang out once more. As the voice fell, Walker was horrified to find he suddenly lost control over his divine power! All at once, he became as ordinary as a mortal... *He... lost his power!* ¡°Your Eminence, True God! Your Eminence, True God! Walker admits his guilt! Walker admits his guilt! Walker offended you! Please forgive Walker¡¯s offense!¡± He shouted in terror. But there was no response from the other side. ¡°Your Eminence, True God! Please pardon Walker¡¯s transgression! Your Eminence, True God!¡± Walker continued to cry out in fright, his voice heart-wrenching. ¡°Hmph, truly ugly!¡± The majestic, sacred voice let out a sneer. Golden light pooled before Walker, swiftly forming into a magnificent, beautiful goddess who appeared once more in front of him. This time, Eve did not hide her appearance. The noble Natural Divine Crown, the magnificent and sacred Divine Dress, silver hair, and exquisite, deep purple eyes. And when Walker saw Eve¡¯s appearance, his pupils contracted instantly. This familiar appearance... This familiar aura... And, the tree-shaped emblem on the divine skirt he would never forget... ¡°It¡¯s... you! It¡¯s you! It¡¯s really you!¡± ¡°Yggdrasil! You are... Yggdrasil!¡± ¡°You... you have returned! You didn¡¯t die!¡± His expression turned infinitely terrified, and he couldn¡¯t help but exclaim. *No wonder she hid...* *No wonder she so easily mastered divine duties!* *It turned out... it was she!* *It turned out she was the World Tree!* *It turned out she was that ancient god who made all gods tremble!* *She had returned...* *She intended to avenge everything; she wanted to reclaim everything that belonged to her!* *The gods... were in danger.* *In an instant, Walker understood everything.* ¡°Hmm?¡± Seeing Walker¡¯s petrified gaze, Eve subtly raised an eyebrow, but she didn¡¯t mind. *In the Divine Domain of a True God, everything became isolated from the outside.* *Even if one died here, their soul would be at the mercy of the master of the Divine Domain!* *Therefore, even being recognized as the World Tree wasn¡¯t an issue.* *It was only a pity that the maximum range of the Divine Domain she controlled was only thirty kilometers.* Eve extended her fair arm, gently tapping her fingers on Walker¡¯s body... ¡°` Chapter 130 - 129: The Despairing Demigod Chapter 130: Chapter 129: The Despairing Demigod ¡°`html A strange scene appeared as Walker let out a painful groan, and Eve¡¯s fingers passed through his body... ¡°An energy state body? Is this a Demigod?¡± Eve raised her brow slightly. She could clearly feel that Walker¡¯s true form was actually a mass of Divine Power! And his body was actually transformed by Divine Power. ... But unlike a True God, he didn¡¯t have a divine persona, only a soul gradually transforming into a Divine Soul. ¡°So... this is what a Demigod under a True God of Faith looks like...¡± Eve pondered. There was more than one way to become a Demigod. One method was for mundane creatures to use the power of faith, analyze the laws, and gradually elevate their existence from a material state to an energy state, ultimately achieving Divine Enthronement, with the transitional phase being the Demigod stage. Another method was for a True God of Faith to directly use their Divine Power to sculpt a suitable soul into a Demigod, creating a subordinate. The last was mythical creatures with immense potential that could grow to Demigod-level power, or were Demigod-level beings at birth... like the Ancient Giant Dragon or the Demigod-level Oak Guardian. If Eve¡¯s judgment wasn¡¯t wrong, Demigod Walker should belong to the second type. With a thought, the Divine Power within Walker was immediately extracted by her, flowing through her fingers into her own incarnation. ¡°Ugh... Ahhhhh...!¡± As his Divine Power drained, Demigod Walker let out a painful howl, the sound was incredibly miserable. Feeling the absorbed Divine Power, Eve thought: ¡°It¡¯s similar to Uller¡¯s Divine Power, but also somewhat different. They¡¯re from the same source, but it seems to be a level weaker than hers, which means... it¡¯s not very pure.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s fine. If I absorb and transform it, I could probably extract about forty percent. Hmm... a seasoned Demigod should have a lot of Divine Power, you¡¯ll become my nourishment.¡± Listening to Eve¡¯s words, Walker¡¯s expression was filled with terror. *So terrifying!* *Absolutely terrifying!* *Could it be that this ancient god has changed even in temperament upon returning?* *She... she intends to extract his Divine Power!* *How did she become so fierce?* *I¡¯m going to die...* *At this rate, I¡¯ll die!* Walker gritted his teeth, a trace of madness appearing in his expression. Suddenly, his body began to tremble, and the Divine Power within him started to boil! ¡°Hmm?¡± Eve was distinctly surprised by the changes in Walker¡¯s Divine Power: ¡°He can even burn his Divine Soul and Divine Power? Is he going all out?¡± Existences above the Demigod Level could indeed fight desperately. That was by burning Divine Power and Divine Soul. What surprised Eve was that Walker could still employ this desperate measure even when restrained. And as he burned his Divine Power, Walker¡¯s aura suddenly surged. He regained control over his body once more! His expression twisted into a snarl, as he struggled out of the entangling vines, and then pulled out a piece of bone from his pocket, crushing it. It contained an instant teleportation array meant for Demigod passage. As the bone was crushed, a silver halo instantly appeared before him. Walker¡¯s eyes lit up, and with a roar, he exerted all his strength with desperate effort to escape into the halo! ¡°He broke free? Looks like my control over the Divine Domain isn¡¯t sufficient yet, I haven¡¯t completely sealed his powers...¡± Eve pondered. But she wasn¡¯t in a hurry. Instead, she raised her hand in the direction Walker was fleeing. With her motion, the surrounding plants gathered together, transforming into several golden ropes. The ropes leaped into the air, quickly pursuing Walker! ... Rock Cave Tribe. With the Black Dragon joining the battle, the Half-Beast men had fallen into complete chaos. For Half-Beast men who generally possessed only Black Iron Power, the silver upper-level dragon was nothing short of a disaster. Even the sole Silver Priest, Jushan, was not of the battle type. Mairrel, in a fit of rage over being imprisoned by Walker, vented all her fury on the Half-Beast men, trampling one underfoot every minute. The hellhound capable of fighting her had already been torn to pieces. The enraged Black Dragon was utterly terrifying! With Mairrel¡¯s involvement, the players were elated. *What¡¯s a player without a powerful ally to lean on?* *They¡¯re all experience and contribution points!* The Black Dragon had thoroughly frightened the Half-Beast men, and now was the perfect time for the players to swoop in and stab them in the back! So, at Li Mu¡¯s call, everyone abandoned defense and charged toward the Rock Cave Tribe! Suddenly, the players surged forward, excitement and ferocity etched on their faces, like a band of marauding bandits descending the mountain! Seeing the chaotic tribe, the face of the Half-Beast Jushan turned ashen: ¡°It¡¯s over... it¡¯s over!¡± *Everything¡¯s out of control.* *Utterly out of control!* If it was just the players, the Rock Cave Tribe might barely handle it. If it was just the Black Dragon, paying a certain price, the Rock Cave Tribe might fend it off. But when both were here together... *Now, even if the Divine Envoy wins, the Rock Cave Tribe will suffer great losses!* ¡°Lord Count! Lord Count! Please step forward and fight the Black Dragon!¡± Jushan shouted with red eyes. Listening to Jushan¡¯s call, a Nightshade hiding in the main tent was deeply troubled... Summoning the Divine Envoy, he had already expended considerable power; his magic reserves were almost empty now. And his strongest Favored Beast had also been defeated by the Black Dragon. Until his powers were restored... to be honest, he wasn¡¯t keen on diving into this mess again. ¡°After all... Lord Walker has already gone to hunt the Fake God, he¡¯ll win eventually.¡± He thought. ¡°Lord Count! Lord Count! Please intervene and save the Rock Cave Tribe! When it¡¯s all over, Jushan is willing to help you find premium Blood Slaves!¡± Jushan continued to shout, his eyes still red. Blood Slaves? The Nightshade¡¯s eyes glimmered slightly. The Rock Cave Tribe excelled at hunting elves. This time... the elves of the Elf Forest might not escape annihilation. If he intervened at a critical moment and allowed the Half-Beast men to help him hunt elves afterward, it didn¡¯t seem too bad! Moreover... Lord Walker was known for swift battles, he should return soon. Although he had lost most of his magical power due to the summoning, it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult to restrain a silver upper-level Black Dragon... This risk could be taken! With these thoughts in mind, the Nightshade made a decision. He tidied up his attire and gracefully walked out of the big tent. ¡°Black Dragon! Your opponent is me!¡± He said with a calm expression. And as the Nightshade stepped out of the tent, a silver array suddenly appeared in the sky. Dazzling Holy Light burst forth from the array, accompanied by a heavy aura of Divine Power, as Demigod Walker roared out! Seeing this familiar figure, all the Half-Beast men¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°It¡¯s... the Divine Envoy!¡± ¡°The Divine Envoy is back! He succeeded!¡± ¡°Hahaha, we¡¯re saved! We won!¡± Cheers erupted across the Rock Cave Tribe. The Nightshade also felt a surge of joy: ¡°We won!¡± He hesitated no longer and flew towards the Black Dragon, preparing for a ¡°great battle¡± with it... But the players were taken aback. ¡°The Demigod is back?¡± ¡°Wait... where¡¯s the Goddess?¡± Before anyone could utter another word, they suddenly sensed something wrong... Demigod Walker¡¯s expression was twisted, and faintly... seemed terrified? Not only that, but the divine axe in his hand was gone, his clothes were disheveled, and his aura was incredibly chaotic... Wait... Something was off? Before they could grasp what happened, a crisp cold snort was heard, as several golden vine-like chains suddenly emerged from the array, shooting towards Walker! The chains writhed like tentacles, with an overwhelmingly terrifying aura. Even the Half-Beast men momentarily felt an impulse to kneel in worship... Divine chains! These were Divine chains! The chains swiftly approached Walker, binding him tight! Demigod Walker¡¯s expression was one of horror, and although he tried desperately to break free, he was helpless. ¡°No... no...! It¡¯s... it¡¯s...¡± He tried to say something, but the vine chains instantly bound his mouth, then penetrated his body, piercing into his true soul... ¡°Mmmm¡ª¡ª¡± Walker¡¯s eyes widened suddenly, his face filled with despair and fear. He struggled with all his might, trying desperately to grip the ground with his hands to prevent being pulled. Yet it was futile, as the golden chains tugged, Walker¡¯s entire body was forcibly yanked back... Leaving only two deep claw marks on the ground. Amidst the despairing muffled sounds, Walker¡¯s figure vanished into the array. Afterward, the array shattered, as if nothing had ever happened. On the battlefield... A silence descended. ¡°` Chapter 131 - 130: You, Deserve Respect Chapter 131: Chapter 130: You, Deserve Respect ¡°`html Looking at the claw marks half a meter deep on the ground, the players exchanged glances. ¡°Did... did the Goddess win?¡± ¡°That tentacle-like vine just now was the Goddess¡¯s, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Probably, that cold snort was the Goddess¡¯s...¡± ¡°Hiss¡ªI feel a bit scared...¡± ... ¡°I feel the same way... the howling was so miserable!¡± ¡°What a tragic demigod... *I suddenly want to see how the Goddess deals with him.*¡± ¡°The book can be updated now.¡± ¡°Ugh! Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking...¡± ¡°Hehehe, the developers have such a twisted sense of humor, using vines of all things.¡± ¡°Hehehe... you¡¯re so dirty.¡± ¡°Likewise, likewise...¡± The atmosphere among the players was filled with cheerful banter. Although they knew the reality was definitely not as they imagined, it didn¡¯t stop them from joking joyfully. On the other hand, the half-beasts were struck with terror. ¡°Walker... Lord Walker... lost?¡± Jushan murmured in disbelief. No half-beast dared to respond to him... From the scene just now, it was no longer a matter of winning or losing, *but rather whether this legendary totem guardian could even survive.* A demigod! That was a demigod! A demigod who had transcended mortals, just a step away from the eternal divine throne! Yet even a demigod was caught so effortlessly within minutes... Was the one in the Elf Forest really just a fake god? The answer was already clear. If she were truly a fake god, how could she have defeated a demigod so easily? Moreover, that was none other than the renowned Lord Walker! Adding to that, the immense holy aura emanating from the vine chains just now... All the half-beast priests felt parched: That... that was probably a true divine being! A True God! There was actually a True God hidden in the Elf Forest! In an instant, the half-beasts completely lost the courage to fight head-on. ¡°It¡¯s over! It¡¯s over! The Divine Envoy has also been captured! We¡¯re doomed!¡± ¡°The elves must be here for revenge! Let¡¯s run! Let¡¯s run quickly!¡± Soon, the Rock Cave Tribe descended into chaos. Even if the half-beasts had a strong will and morale much higher than other ordinary races, when faced with inevitable defeat... even death, they would lose their fighting spirit. Seeing the tide turning, Jushan no longer hesitated. Even the Demigod didn¡¯t make it¡ªthis war was no longer something the mere Rock Cave Tribe could influence. The night prowler was also nowhere to be seen. After Walker was dragged away by a mysterious presence, that cunning Blood Clan member fled. This made Jushan extremely angry! If not for him! If not for him! How would the Rock Cave Tribe come to this?! Continued resistance was meaningless. Jushan bit his teeth and shouted loudly, ¡°Stop fighting! Elves! Stop fighting! We surrender! We will migrate, we will leave here!¡± However, to Jushan¡¯s confusion, even though he conveyed the intention to surrender, the elves¡¯ side did not cease their attack... ¡°Stop fighting! We surrender! We surrender!¡± Jushan used the amplification divine technique to shout again. Hearing his words, the players exchanged glances with peculiar expressions. They laughed cheerfully, while continuing to charge and mockingly said, ¡°Why surrender? Keep fighting! I haven¡¯t had enough yet!¡± ¡°Try to run? No way!¡± ¡°Hahaha, the Elf Army doesn¡¯t take prisoners!¡± ¡°Hand over your heads obediently!¡± Jushan: ... He widened his eyes, feeling unable to comprehend... These elves... could they really want to drive them to extinction? Just... just like that?! Okay... with the support of the Black Dragon, and since they could resurrect, it¡¯s indeed possible they could exhaust the half-beasts to death... But... they were elves! When did they become so ruthless? *Crazy!* *This is madness!* He looked at the chaotic tribe, feeling as if he aged ten years in an instant. Taking a deep breath, he shouted, ¡°All tribesmen, heed my order! Abandon the tribe! Retreat! We¡¯re retreating!¡± They couldn¡¯t linger here any longer. If they continued, the Rock Cave Tribe might truly be doomed! Upon hearing High Priest¡¯s command, the demoralized half-beasts also started to retreat, enduring the Black Dragon¡¯s attack as they fled the tribe. ¡°They¡¯re running away!¡± ¡°Lord EL! Stop them quickly!¡± ¡°Charge! Don¡¯t let them get away!¡± ¡°Black Dragon, use Dragon Breath! Quick, use Dragon Breath!¡± Seeing the half-beasts trying to escape, the players¡¯ morale soared, and they attacked even more fiercely. Chase them down! These are all experience points and contribution points! The suicide squad charged again, and this time... the fleeing half-beasts, having lost their fighting spirit, were almost effortlessly taken down by the players, turning into fireworks in cheerful ¡°open fire on me.¡± And those who fought the longest and gained the most experience points could already put up a fight against the weakest half-beasts as their levels increased! ¡°Hmph! You bastards, still trying to escape?¡± Watching the fleeing half-beasts, Black Dragon Mairrel wore a fierce expression. It stopped rampaging through the tribe and specifically targeted those trying to escape. With its claws, it grabbed three to five half-beasts at a time, rising high with a flap of its wings, then fiercely dropping them. Accompanied by miserable wails, the half-beasts it threw down were smashed into a pulp. This scene frightened the half-beasts even more. Soon, even their retreating ranks collapsed, and they scattered in all directions... Looking at the chaotic scene, the half-beast Jushan had a pained expression. He took a deep breath and, gazing at the Black Dragon slaughtering his tribesmen, roared, ¡°Black Dragon... I¡¯ll fight you to the death!¡± With that, he took something from his chest and tore it apart, chanting a spell. His whole body suddenly radiated brilliant Holy Light. His body started burning with sacred flames, aging rapidly. At the same moment, a silver cage ensnared Black Dragon Mairrel... [Cage of Light] Gold-level control divine technique! This was a move Samir had previously used to trap the Black Dragon. Although Jushan didn¡¯t have World Tree leaves, relying on supplementary means, he could also perform an incomplete Cage of Light at the cost of sacrificing life! ¡°I¡¯ve... trapped it... you... go quickly!¡± Jushan shouted to the half-beasts. ¡°Priest... High Priest!¡± Seeing the old High Priest fighting desperately, all half-beasts looked sorrowful. The Rock Cave Tribe¡¯s development to its current scale was largely due to Jushan¡¯s dedication. In the same way, he was beloved by the half-beasts. ¡°Take this chance... leave quickly! Report all that happened here to the Royal Court!¡± Jushan shouted again. Upon hearing his words, the half-beasts gritted their teeth and tearfully chose to obey. ¡°Damn elves! Remember this!¡± They cast hateful glances at the elves, as if trying to etch their figures into their minds, then began to retreat. ¡°Damn it! Why is it always Mairrel!¡± Trapped again, the Little Black Dragon was nearly furious to death. Without the Black Dragon¡¯s support, the players were unable to pursue the half-beasts further. The number of half-beasts was still too many¡ª the entire Rock Cave Tribe boasted over five thousand people. Even with heavy losses, their numbers still exceeded the players¡¯. If they didn¡¯t fight the players and chose only to retreat, the players had no means to stop them... Ultimately, after leaving behind hundreds more bodies, the half-beasts finally broke through and gradually disappeared from the players¡¯ sight. However... upon leaving, the once five-thousand-strong Rock Cave Tribe had less than a thousand left. And the players, amidst cheers, took over the Rock Cave Tribe, now almost reduced to ruins. The half-beasts retreated hastily, leaving behind the vast majority of their belongings. Seeing the half-beasts flee, the players stopped chasing and instead began to enthusiastically scavenge the Rock Cave Tribe or pick up equipment. Just kidding! Having won, it¡¯s certainly time to loot the spoils of war. The poor bandits don¡¯t chase after fleeing enemies¡ªwhoever does is a fool! After all, the task was only to destroy the stronghold. Alice and El also arrived at the Rock Cave Tribe. Watching the Chosen Ones loot the half-beast tribe like human bandits, they were momentarily stunned. These brave warriors... seemed even crazier than they had been in battle! They saw... almost every Chosen One was draped in a chain of half-beast trophies, and someone was gleefully dividing goods the half-beasts had purchased from humans... Even more outrageously... a Chosen One had found a large stash of gold and silver treasures in the half-beasts¡¯ main tent... A few Chosen Ones¡¯ eyes lit up, almost fighting over the treasure. ¡°By the Mother Goddess... they... they...¡± Even though Alice knew these Chosen Ones had certain flaws and could be very greedy at times, she hadn¡¯t expected this scene... At this moment, she suddenly recalled Berserker¡¯s previous remark to her: ¡°The Chosen Ones... indeed, they are brave warriors, but they can also transform into the most despicable bandits.¡± That was Berserker¡¯s sentiment after witnessing the battle to reclaim the Holy City. At that time, Alice hadn¡¯t understood, but now... she finally did. At this point, the Little Black Dragon finally broke free of the cage. It shouted ¡°Rua¡± and dived into the treasure hoard, slapping several players away, bared its red eyes and teeth, and said, ¡°This is Mairrel¡¯s! It¡¯s Mairrel¡¯s! Get lost! Get lost!¡± Alice: ... Players: ... ... Amidst the chaos, Li Mu did not follow the other players in looting. He brushed past player after player, finally arriving at a clearing. The half-beast Jushan lay there. He had already aged beyond recognition, his oil lamp flickering out, as if he might die at any moment. Li Mu gazed at the dying half-beast High Priest, while Jushan struggled to shift his cloudy eyes towards him. Jushan recognized him, this elf was the elves¡¯ commander. His eyes widened suddenly, and he opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something... But ultimately, he exhausted all his strength, merely moving his lips, and then he breathed no more. Jushan¡¯s gaze went beyond Li Mu, focusing on the direction the half-beasts had fled... In those eyes was boundless longing and worry. Li Mu¡¯s expression was somewhat complicated. He sighed, reaching out to close Jushan¡¯s eyes: ¡°Although you are an NPC, although you are the enemy... as a leader of a tribe, you are indeed worthy of respect... Rest in peace.¡± This time, the half-beast High Priest closed his eyes. Li Mu sighed deeply again, his voice filled with emotion... He reached out and began to remove Jushan¡¯s equipment. ... After the players occupied the Rock Cave Tribe, the system message followed. [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Mainline Quest: Destroy the Half-Beast Stronghold Completed.] [All participating players will receive experience points, contributions, and Perfect Resurrection times based on accumulated contributions.] ... ¡°` Chapter 132 03-25 - 131: Daily Blame Shifting Chapter 132: Chapter 131: Daily Blame Shifting The Elf Forest. After sending a system message to the players, Eve swiftly and decisively killed the Demigod Walker, whom she had captured in her Divine Domain. Similar to the Divine Favored, the soul of Demigod Walker also had a certain connection with Uller, the God of Winter and Hunting. When opening the Divine Domain, Eve could sever this connection. However, if she closed the Divine Domain, Walker¡¯s soul would similarly return to Uller¡¯s Divine Country upon his death. But... he no longer had that chance. When killing Walker, Eve also annihilated his soul. ... Then, all of the divine power within Walker was extracted by Eve... A whopping two hundred seventy points! Depending on their strength, demigods generally had divine power ranging from 100 to 300 points. As a seasoned demigod, Walker had already reached the pinnacle of demigod strength, possessing 300 points of divine power in his prime! However, during his struggle, he had exhausted quite a bit, yet there still remained over two hundred seventy points. All of this was graciously accepted by Eve, becoming nourishment to strengthen herself. Source: , updated on n?¦Ï??0.§ã¦Ï Although there was some loss during absorption, it ultimately provided Eve with over a hundred points of divine power. This made Eve very satisfied and immediately compensated for the consumption she had while opening the Divine Domain. The consumption of the Divine Domain was indeed terrifying, almost consuming 1 point of Eve¡¯s divine power for every minute it stayed open! If the Power of Laws were used, the consumption would surge even higher. Thus, after killing Walker, Eve closed the Divine Domain. However, she did not stop but instead summoned her avatar once more... The blame, still, needed to be borne by someone. ... Dark Mountain Range. The Night Runner was in a state of terror, desperately fleeing. At this moment, he could no longer care for elegance, wishing he could use all of his magic power to escape from this place. ¡°I never thought... even Lord Walker would fail... and so completely at that...¡± ¡°How... is this possible? Isn¡¯t she supposed to be a new god? She has never even left the Segis World, surely she hasn¡¯t established her own Divine Country, how could she possess a power capable of defeating Lord Walker?¡± ¡°Or perhaps... someone was aiding her from behind?¡± At this time, a figure suddenly emerged in the Night Runner¡¯s mind, one he had seen when entering the Elf Forest... Just now, during the battle between elves and half-beasts, he had not seen that figure. That is to say, the Death God¡¯s Favored had not made any move! Could it be... the Death God had dispatched her own spirit warriors? The Night Runner¡¯s expression showed some fright. However, he wasn¡¯t overly worried about Walker¡¯s safety. Because Walker was a Divine Envoy of a True God, even in death, his soul would return to Heaven. As a True God at the peak of weak divine power, Uller could easily help reconstruct Walker¡¯s demigod body and obtain the secrets of the Elf Forest from him. ¡°No matter what... I¡¯ve done all I can, it¡¯s better to leave here for now; the rest is beyond my involvement.¡± The Night Runner thought. And just then, a sudden chill crept up his spine. He instinctively looked up, seeing a nightmare-like figure... It was the last person he wanted to see now¡ª Dark gray long hair, a black cloak, and... scarlet eyes. Plus, an aura of Death Divine Power as tangible as substance! The Death God¡¯s Favored! The Night Runner¡¯s pupils contracted sharply. He had exhausted his magic power, he was no match! ¡°Your Excellency! You¡¯ve already won this war, do you still intend to strike at me?¡± The Night Runner said, holding back his fear. ¡°If so... it would truly be declaring enmity against the True God.¡± He threatened in a low voice. ¡°Hmph, declaring enmity against the God of Winter and Hunting?¡± The Death God¡¯s Favored sneered, saying, ¡°This war, it was she who struck first. Moreover... the demigod was slain by us, do you still think you can escape?¡± Sl... Slain?! The Night Runner¡¯s eyes widened, momentarily thinking he had misheard. Slain and defeated... were entirely different concepts. For a Divine Envoy, slain meant the soul was annihilated! By the True God above! What in the world had they done to be able to slay a demigod envoy of a True God in such a short time? Were they not afraid of the True God¡¯s retaliation? The Night Runner had not considered the Divine Domain, for without a completely established Divine Country, a True God of Faith could not form a Divine Domain. So, the Night Runner speculated further... Wait... she said ¡°we¡±? Seemingly realizing something, the Night Runner gasped. Could it be... could it be the death gods¡¯ power was secretly at work? It must be... only a Death God deeply versed in the study of souls could sever the connection between a True God and a Divine Envoy! Run! Flee immediately! Without a word, the Night Runner fled swiftly. However, his magic power was fully depleted from summoning the Divine Envoy, he was no match for the Death God¡¯s Favored. The Death God¡¯s Favored¡¯s figure flickered and appeared in front of him. Before the Night Runner¡¯s terrified eyes, the Death God¡¯s Favored reached out and pierced his chest, crushing his heart! In an instant, the Night Runner froze in place. ¡°Inform Uller, this is the divine oracle of the True God: she overstepped her bounds, the struggle between True Gods should be conducted in the way of True Gods. Even a newly ascended should be respected.¡± ¡°The fate of Demigod Walker... is merely a warning.¡± Listening to the words of the Death God¡¯s Favored, the Night Runner¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, yet nothing came out but a spurt of black blood, the light in his eyes gradually dimming... All the power of the Blood Clan originated from the heart. The destruction of the heart also signified death. Red flames suddenly engulfed the Night Runner, reducing his entire body to ashes... At the same time, his soul was summoned by the True God, gradually vanishing. The Death God¡¯s Favored did not stop it; she cast a deep glance in the direction where the Night Runner¡¯s soul was headed, and once again melded into the shadows... ... Heaven, within the Divine Country of the Silver Frost Ice Field. Feeling the deaths of numerous believers and having lost contact with Demigod Walker, Uller was greatly agitated. ¡°Why can¡¯t I sense Walker¡¯s soul anymore?¡± At this moment, a transparent soul ascended into her Divine Country. Uller¡¯s heart stirred, reaching out to read the soul¡¯s memory. Moments later, the entire Divine Country began to tremble, and a blizzard started to sweep across the sky. ¡°Bastard! Damn it!¡± ¡°A mere mortal Death God¡¯s Favored dares such a thing!¡± Uller was filled with boundless rage. She slammed her hand on her gold divine throne, shattering the entire armrest. ¡°Hela... must you oppose me? Must you oppose me?!¡± ¡°Damn it! Can¡¯t you just stay well retreating in your Netherworld? Isn¡¯t that good enough?!¡± ¡°Hmph! Just a luck bearer who inherited the Primordial Death God¡¯s godhead... Sitting on the Death God¡¯s godhead yet unable to break through to formidable divine power or subdue even the Primordial Death God¡¯s original subordinates!¡± Uller¡¯s expression flooded with endless fury. ¡°Hmph! Since you insist on blocking my path... you¡¯ll never let your new subordinate god enter the Pantheon! If I can¡¯t handle you, can¡¯t I deal with your subordinate god?!¡± ¡°Without entering the Pantheon, she won¡¯t gain the recognition of the other gods; without their recognition, she¡¯ll never be protected by the divine agreement!¡± ¡°Playing by the rules it is! The divine authority of Nature and Life, I am determined to have it!¡± ¡°The new god... must fall!¡± Uller¡¯s furious roar echoed far, far away... Chapter 133 03-25 - 132: Where Did the Bento Box Go? Chapter 133: Chapter 132: Where Did the Bento Box Go? ¡°`html ¡°The struggle among True Gods was supposed to be conducted in the manner of True Gods...¡± This statement was not accurate. More precisely, the True Gods referred to here almost specifically indicated faith-based Divines. ¡°In truth, this was a rule set by the gods after the divine warfare of millennia ago.¡± ¡°The conflicts among faith-based Divines in the Segis World are, in most cases, battles of belief in the mundane world.¡± ... ¡°This is because their existence and power are almost entirely linked to the power of faith.¡± ¡°The main force of the war is each side¡¯s Believers, with Demigod Level and above rarely entering the fray personally.¡± ¡°Especially in the Segis Plane!¡± ¡°As the main source of faith for the gods, the Segis Plane has seldom become the battlefield for Demigods and above.¡± ¡°This is the covenant of the gods.¡± ¡°If an existence of the Demigod Level or above were to engage in battle, unless one side completely overwhelmed the other, it would surely cause significant damage to the plane, which is not what the gods wish to see.¡± Source: , updated on ??¦Í?¦Ï.§ã¦Ï ¡°Especially after the divine warfare of a millennium ago, the stability of the Segis World is far inferior to what it was before, which further solidifies the gods¡¯ resolve to refrain from conducting myth-level battles on the Segis Plane as much as possible.¡± ¡°Generally speaking, the warfare involving Demigod and higher beings is conducted in divine warfare, which usually occurs within Divine Countries or in the void...¡± ¡°These insights were what Eve gleaned from Walker¡¯s memory when she obliterated his soul.¡± ¡°Eve had originally hoped to learn some secrets of the gods from Walker, but unfortunately, some of Walker¡¯s memories seemed to have been sealed by Uller, and they self-destructed when she forcibly attempted to read them.¡± ¡°However, the game rules set by the gods that she did manage to read did not disappoint Eve.¡± ¡°At least...she now knew that if it ever became absolutely necessary, she could threaten the gods by dragging the Segis World down with her as a burial.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just...the efficacy of such a threat is uncertain.¡± ¡°In ancient times, the Segis World was almost the only source of faith for the gods.¡± ¡°But after reading Walker¡¯s limited memories, Eve also understood that throughout the past millennium, most capable gods had begun to sow new faith across various planes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s common knowledge that eggs shouldn¡¯t be kept in one basket.¡± ¡°Yet, even so, as the largest source of faith, the status of the Segis World in the hearts of the gods remains far above others.¡± ¡°Eve¡¯s reasons for disseminating this line were both to continue casting smokescreens about her identity and to lay the groundwork for future actions of the players...¡± ¡°And once everything settled, Eve began to review her current state¡ª¡± ¡°[Name: Eve Yggdrasil]¡± ¡°[Race: World Tree (Ancient God)]¡± ¡°[Level: 150 (Mythical)]¡± ¡°[State: Feeble Divine Power]¡± ¡°[Divine Office: Nature, Life, Elves]¡± ¡°[Titles: Mother Nature, Goddess of Life, Elf Ruler]¡± ¡°[Divine Power Value: 363/3000]¡± ¡°[Number of Believers: 222 (Saint 1, Fanatic Believers 3, Devout Believers 81, Shallow Believers 107)]¡± ¡°[Abilities: Absorb, Communicate, Bestow, Enlighten, Heal, Summon, Divine Descent, Divine Domain...]¡± Unlike before, with the activation of the NPC system, the number of Eve¡¯s Devout Believers had once again soared, significantly strengthening the beliefs of many Elf members of the Flame Tribe. This satisfied Eve greatly. ¡°The NPC quest system added more fun to the game for the players, while for the native elves, it meant the rewards and acknowledgment of the Mother Goddess!¡± However, more than the pleasing changes in the number of Believers, the surge in Divine Power Value also pleased Eve. *Indeed, this was her greatest victory since her rebirth¡ªnot only did she kill a Demigod, severing an arm of Uller, but she also annihilated over four thousand Half-Beasts!* ¡°After deducting the expenditures, Eve¡¯s Divine Power Value had broken through the 300 mark, reaching an unprecedented 363 points!¡± ¡°However, this victory also exposed some issues.¡± ¡°The first is the issue of soul feedback.¡± ¡°Shortly after the players attacked the Rock Cave Tribe, Eve clearly sensed that the vengeful souls of the elves had been completely exhausted.¡± ¡°Otherwise, based on the Divine Power she gained when she previously killed Half-Beasts, her Divine Power gain from this battle would have been far more than three hundred points.¡± ¡°This also means that Eve now needs to seek new points of growth for her Divine Power.¡± ¡°The second issue is with the players.¡± ¡°For this mission, Eve deliberately refrained from too much micromanagement, allowing the players to exercise their freedom.¡± ¡°And the facts proved that the players were growing swiftly.¡± ¡°Even without system prompts, they were able to find strategies most suitable for themselves and complete missions effectively.¡± ¡°But...the problem lies in the tactics chosen by the players.¡± ¡°The sacrifice strategy...¡± ¡°Although when Eve devised the perfect resurrection for players, she anticipated that issues would arise sooner or later, she hadn¡¯t expected signs to appear so quickly.¡± *Honestly, the players¡¯ tactics were not wrong¡ªthe sacrifice strategy was indeed a good method for the weak to prevail over the strong.* ¡°However, for Eve, who was supporting player resurrection, it was a different story.¡± ¡°In the early stages, when players¡¯ levels were low, Eve¡¯s costs for resurrecting them were also low, and the gains from defeating targets were substantial, so it didn¡¯t matter much.¡± ¡°But as the players¡¯ levels rose, Eve found that her cost for resurrecting them began to increase rapidly...¡± ¡°Notably, instant resurrection and creating players¡¯ bodies were not the same.¡± ¡°Creating the players¡¯ bodies could be extended over time, with 1 point of Divine Power able to create 300 bodies, but the cost of instant resurrection was more, several times that.¡± ¡°In this battle with the Half-Beasts, the cost of resurrecting players was still far less than the gains from killing Half-Beasts, but with the depletion of the vengeful souls of the elves, this kind of profit was becoming less and less.¡± *Though still quite impressive, it sounded a warning bell for Eve.* She could foresee that as players¡¯ strength continued to grow, the cost of resurrecting them would inevitably increase, and without restrictions... there would undoubtedly be losses one day. ¡°It seems that the perfect resurrection system is not flawless either. For low-level players, it¡¯s fine, as the cost isn¡¯t significant, but I need to devise a better method to limit the resurrection of future high-level players. Especially at mid and high levels, they must cherish their lives more...¡± Eve thought. ¡°At that moment, she suddenly sensed a surge of sacrificial prayers...¡± Eve¡¯s mind stirred as she chose to accept them all. In an instant, a slew of tattered Half-Beast equipment surged into her Divine Country. Eve: ... Seeing the situation, she knew that the players must have started offloading their junk again. ¡°This time, the fight had been so intense that even though the players had acquired countless pieces of equipment, many were severely damaged.¡± ¡°And with thousands of sets of equipment entering the market, an excess exceeded the demand; it was certain that player-side equipment values must have plummeted to a bargain level.¡± ¡°In such a scenario, many players would definitely opt to offer up equipment that didn¡¯t present well to Eve in exchange for Contribution Points.¡± ¡°Of course, this was mostly limited to those focused on strength types.¡± ¡°Except for Priests, Half-Beast weren¡¯t Spellcasters; all were warriors, and the surplus equipment was almost entirely for warriors.¡± ¡°As for magic-users, the quantity of gear was still very scarce.¡± ¡°Those lucky enough to acquire Priest¡¯s clothes made a tidy profit.¡± Thinking this, Eve naturally accepted the equipment and with a broad hand, bestowed some rewards, then began repairs and added special effects... ¡°Rarity adds value.¡± ¡°Once enhanced with special effects, it would fetch a good price.¡± ¡°Of course, the release of goods had to be gradual.¡± ¡°Most of the gear was kept on hold...¡± ¡°On the off chance that this batch of consumers¡¯ spending power wasn¡¯t enough, they could wait until the public test.¡± ¡°At the same time, Eve put the Nightwalker Ring and Walker¡¯s Frost God Axe she acquired into the exchange system.¡± ¡°The former was named Space Ring, the latter Frost Battle Axe, both labeled as golden legends!¡± ¡°However, the ring was already empty, and the Divine Power in the Frost Battle Axe had been thoroughly siphoned by her, leaving it an ordinary axe at best exhibiting near-silver power...¡± In the Elf Forest. ¡°Seeing the two newly listed golden legendary pieces of equipment, all the players¡¯ eyes lit up.¡± ¡°Damn! A Space Ring! It¡¯s actually a Space Ring!¡± ¡°What? A Space Ring? Is there finally space equipment now?¡± ¡°This...the Demigod¡¯s Frost Battle Axe? So...so cool! Damn! A Level 40 Golden Legend! How strong must it be! The only max-level weapon in the game! (Note: Early version max level was Level 40, Black Iron Upper Peak)¡± ¡°All are Golden Legends! And there¡¯s only one of each, unique across the server!¡± ¡°Limited edition! I want it...¡± ¡°Just when they saw the Contribution Points required, marked with a string of ¡®zeros:¡¯ ¡± ¡°Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands...¡± *The players gasped and clutched at their stomachs, feeling a pang of realization.* ¡°Hiss¡ªoh no...my soul hurts.¡± ¡°No doubt about it, these are toys for the rich again.¡± ¡°Alas... it seems the final successful exchanger would either be Little Xian Miao or Bento, with one being a super-rich player, the other a super-hardcore grinder.¡± ¡°Envy...¡± ¡°Huh? Now that you mention it... where¡¯s Bento?¡± ¡°` Chapter 134 03-25 - 133: The Strange Elf NPC Chapter 134: Chapter 133: The Strange Elf NPC ¡°`html Takeout sat quietly in the cargo box. He kept his eyes closed and rested, like a statue, but his back was straight. If you observed closely, you¡¯d notice his pair of pointed ears shifting slightly with the noise outside. *This was his instinctive vigilance in an unfamiliar environment.* As time passed, the shaking of the cargo box became more intense. ... Even with his eyes closed and his strength bound by strange ropes, Takeout could still imagine the situation outside from the vehicle¡¯s jolts... *It had become much quieter, yet much rougher.* *They must have hit a mountain road...* *The sky had grown darker, almost nightfall, but instead of slowing down, the vehicle was speeding up.* *This indicated that the surroundings weren¡¯t safe, especially at night.* *Of course, there was another possibility¡ªthey were nearing their destination, so they accelerated.* Source: , updated on ?¦Ï¦Í?0.§ã? Furthermore, the humans outside hadn¡¯t been talking much from the beginning. *He even heard the sounds of weapons being drawn and the faint sound of rhythmic breathing.* *They were very alert.* *This meant... they were wary of possible enemies.* *His judgment about the potential danger nearby was correct.* *They might be on guard against bandits, but it could also be a Demon Beast.* *No... a Demon Beast seemed more likely; they couldn¡¯t have left the Elf Forest too far in such a short time.* *Except for the Half-Beasts, there weren¡¯t any other intelligent beings in this direction.* The Half-Beasts were impoverished but strong, so they probably wouldn¡¯t have bandits or such around nearby. The surroundings gradually grew cooler... not just due to the sky, but likely aided by the terrain. Bird calls echoed, resembling a canyon... This suggested they might have entered the Grand Canyon within the Dark Mountain Range... Takeout speculated in his mind. As a long-time wilderness gamer, he had gathered comprehensive data on the areas around the Elf Forest. From the Flame Tribe, he specifically learned about the Dark Mountain Range, knowing it was teeming with Demon Beast activity at night. Just as Takeout continued listening, suddenly, his ears twitched slightly. He heard a rustling sound coming from somewhere inside the carriage. The direction was towards where a female elf NPC, like him, was captured. Takeout didn¡¯t make any rash movements. Instinct told him, that an NPC able to sleep soundly after being captured by humans, even if an elf, was probably not ordinary. *Either they were a fool with more courage than sense.* *Or... something interesting was bound to happen.* Soon, Takeout heard a yawn, accompanied by a lazy groan, as if someone was stretching luxuriously. Takeout: ... He instantly became alert. Because if he remembered correctly, the other captured elf girl should have been tied up and gagged like him. Takeout instinctively opened his eyes, looking warily in the direction of the sound, only to lock eyes with a pair of twinkling eyes. It was an elf girl who appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years old. Of course... if translated into elf years, it would probably be ten times that. She had gray-black hair similar to Takeout¡¯s, and her eyes were dark gray yet strikingly bright. Like many elves, she also had remarkable features; even her shabby clothing couldn¡¯t hide her youth and beauty. But unlike the elves Takeout had seen in the Elf Forest, this elf girl¡¯s eyes held a glimmer of cunning, making her appear a bit more sly. *Takeout wasn¡¯t entirely unfamiliar with such an expression; similar-looking individuals were detained every day at the police stations on Blue Star.* This was precisely the other elf he saw when he woke up. But at the moment, the girl showed no signs of being trapped; the ropes around her and the cloth on her mouth were gone. *Was she really an elf?* Looking at those swirling big eyes, Takeout instinctively frowned. He hesitated for a moment, carefully examining her appearance. Remarkable features, a tall figure. Ears were pointy, long... *If there weren¡¯t any other creatures or life forms disguising themselves, then she was undoubtedly an elf.* Then he witnessed the peculiar elf girl giving him a cheeky smile: ¡°Hey! You¡¯re awake! It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen someone from the Shadow Tribe, hello there!¡± Shadow Tribe? Takeout felt a jolt in his heart. After she finished speaking, the elf girl expertly pulled out two decently appearing fruits from the human¡¯s cargo box, took a bite of one herself, and casually handed the other to Takeout: ¡°Here, want some? These are rare fruits from the south of the humans, super sweet!¡± Takeout: ... Seeing Takeout¡¯s peculiar expression, the elf girl suddenly realized: ¡°Oh right, you¡¯re still tied up.¡± She nimbly slipped over to Takeout¡¯s side, bringing a refreshing scent, and her delicate hands quickly untied Takeout. Takeout hadn¡¯t even had time to register it when the ropes on him were unraveled. *So fast!* His expression was a bit surprised. *However... not very powerful.* Takeout could sense that her aura was even a bit weaker than his own. *Stronger beings could typically sense the approximate power of those weaker than themselves, although not accurately.* Moreover, Takeout couldn¡¯t rule out that this might be her disguise. Then, he watched as the girl uncovered the cloth tied around his mouth and shoved the fruit into it: ¡°What are you staring so wide-eyed for? Eat the fruit. And keep your voice down, don¡¯t let those humans outside hear you.¡± Takeout: ... He instinctively took a bite. *It was indeed sweet.* Then he heard the elf girl¡¯s disdainful voice: ¡°You¡¯re so poor, don¡¯t you have anything on you? Did the humans search you? Though... you¡¯ve got quite a sturdy build.¡± Takeout: ... His gaze towards the girl grew even more peculiar. The following actions of the girl completely opened Takeout¡¯s eyes, turning his understanding of native elves in the Segis World upside down... He watched the elf girl quickly finish the fruit and then rummage through the cargo box, pilfering the human goods. Takeout noticed the girl picked mainly valuable-looking magic items and some gold and silver treasures. Every time she found something, a faint glow emitted from her hand, and then the items suddenly vanished. Takeout raised an eyebrow, quite curious. Soon, the elf girl had gone through the entire cargo box. She exhaled deeply, munching on the fruit while sitting down, appearing quite satisfied. ¡°Are you... a thief?¡± After watching the entire process, Takeout couldn¡¯t help but speak up. Upon hearing his words, the elf girl¡¯s shoulders shook slightly, seemingly sensitive to that word. She remained silent for a few seconds, then looked at Takeout, puffing her cheeks in annoyance: ¡°So what if I am? Is that a problem?¡± Takeout: ... Noticing Takeout¡¯s strange gaze, the elf girl sighed: ¡°Stop looking at me like that, or do you want to lecture me like those stubborn old folks?¡± She then laughed mockingly: ¡°Foolish kindness, stubborn inflexibility, that¡¯s the fundamental reason for the elves¡¯ decline! If they can¡¯t even protect themselves, why bother adhering to so many rules?¡± ¡°Hmph! Rules are meant to be broken! So what if I¡¯m a thief? These humans are our enemies; they¡¯re the real bandits! It¡¯s only right for me to take their stuff! Besides, I¡¯m not taking these things for myself...¡± The girl spoke angrily. Takeout didn¡¯t respond, just quietly listened to her chatter. As the girl spoke, her expression turned a bit somber. She mumbled for a while, eventually seeming tired and fell silent. After a moment, she sighed and pried at the ground. With Takeout¡¯s surprised gaze, she skillfully opened a large hole in the bottom of the cargo box. Then, the girl handed Takeout some more fruit, pointing to the hole in the truck¡¯s floor: ¡°Ah... you look so rule-abiding, like someone who hasn¡¯t experienced combat¡ªa hapless newbie... Here, take these rations and escape through this hole.¡± ¡°This is the last truck, and the sky is dark. I¡¯ll cast a small camouflaging spell on you, so the humans won¡¯t notice you.¡± Takeout: ... ¡°What about you?¡± He asked her back. ¡°Me?¡± The girl was stunned. She remained silent for a while before resolutely saying: ¡°I¡¯m not leaving, I have to go to their base in the Underworld! I need to rescue my younger siblings!¡± ¡°` Chapter 135 - 134: Clues of the Underworld Chapter 135: Chapter 134: Clues of the Underworld ¡°`html The largest stronghold of the Half-Beasts near the Elf Forest had been demolished. This also meant that the southern region of the Elf Forest had been completely reclaimed by Eve, the main southeastern external passage had been opened, and the elves in the forest were no longer threatened by the Half-Beasts. As for where the fleeing Half-Beasts would go, that was not something Eve was concerned about. Eighty percent of them would probably head south, where the Half-Beasts¡¯ old lair was. Eve knew that destroying the Half-Beast Tribe was just the beginning. Her words before killing the Night Walker were more like some kind of declaration of war. Uller certainly would not let it end there, and the war with the Half-Beasts would probably continue. However, with the warning of the ¡°Death God¡¯s Favored,¡± it would likely take another form. It was highly likely to be a true mundane racial war! War meant a lot of deaths. Many deaths meant that Eve could seize the opportunity to absorb some life force. Little by little, it was still quite terrifying. Of course, if it could attract some legends to join the fight and lead them into the Elf Forest to serve as appetizers, that would be even better. Before that, Eve needed to further enhance the strength of the players and fortify the Elf Forest like an impregnable fortress. At the same time, she needed to send out more native NPCs to recall the scattered clansmen from all over. The Flame Tribe had settled down, their lives gradually getting back on track, and they were slowly getting used to the presence of the Chosen Ones and the mission system. This was a good omen, at least proving that the direction Eve was striving for was not wrong. Therefore, after the players completed the task of destroying the Half-Beast stronghold, Eve ordered Old Priest Samir to pick some people to continue the journey of finding the clansmen. The players¡¯ battle had broadened the horizons of the young elves. Upon hearing about it, many young Fiery Flame Elves eagerly signed up, almost all wanting to follow Samir, which earned him a stern scolding from Philosier. Additionally, Black Dragon Mairrel was left by Eve in the dilapidated castle of the Dark Mountain Range. The southeastern exit of the Elf Forest was still very important. The strategic significance here was immense, and it indeed needed someone to guard it. And Black Dragon Mairrel was a good choice. This was originally its lair, the little one was not weak in strength, and now it had already signed a sell-soul contract, so Eve was at ease handing it over. But this time, Mairrel was not pleased: ¡°No! Mairrel didn¡¯t want to stay here!¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing here! No roasted meat! No honey! No clansmen! No long-ears to work and massage for Mairrel!¡± ¡°Rua¡ª¡ª!!! Mairrel wanted to stay in the Elf Forest!¡± The Little Black Dragon was rolling all over the ground like a spoiled husky, with no dignity of a Gold species. Eve: ... *This guy... had completely forgotten that it was initially a captive and had completely turned into a pet, right?* ¡°There is a Teleportation Array, you can return at any time. Moreover, if you accept my faith, I can grant you the ability to issue missions to the Chosen Ones. This way, even if you¡¯re guarding here, there will be many Chosen Ones coming to serve you.¡± Eve tempted. ¡°Really? I can also issue missions to them?¡± The Little Black Dragon¡¯s eyes lit up. It thought for a moment, muttering softly: ¡°Then Mairrel would reluctantly believe in a bit.¡± After saying this, it stood up, slightly bowing its head toward the core area of the Elf Forest, and said in the undulating voice of Dragon Language: ¡°Praise Nature, praise Life, praise the great World Tree¡ªYggdrasil!¡± The little one was not an elf, so it did not speak the name of the elf dominator. But it seemed to long for the World Tree, especially adding this title. And as soon as the words fell, Eve felt a surprising surge of faith power crossing the void into her divine persona. This faith power had a capacity equivalent to that provided by a devout believer! And in the sky of Eve¡¯s Divine Country, a little star representing Mairrel¡¯s faith appeared again. However, Mairrel¡¯s faith was not that of a devout believer, nor a pious follower, but merely a shallow believer! This quite surprised Eve, and it also helped her understand why True Gods were interested in dragons. If merely a shallow believer could provide so much faith power, what about a devout believer or even a saint? The faith potential of dragons was indeed terrifying! Of course... Dragons were very proud creatures and rarely became pious followers. Even if they believed in some True Gods, many of them did so for certain material or spiritual needs, and most were merely shallow believers. But after consideration, Eve still decided to give Mairrel blue-level task NPC authority at the level of a devout believer. And after gaining the ability to issue tasks, Mairrel immediately became happy. These days, it had not missed observing how native elves issued tasks to players. Although it couldn¡¯t see the system, the enthusiasm and excitement of players when accepting tasks and their unparalleled positivity when completing tasks made it envious. After all... For the players, Dragon Saliva was good, but it was merely a good magical material, less attractive compared to experience points and contribution points. And Dragon Blood and Dragon Scales... Well, whoever dared to mention Black Dragon would get beaten up. Therefore, as the elves of the Flame Tribe became familiar with the mission system, fewer and fewer players came to serve the little one. This made Mairrel rather dissatisfied at one point. But now it was different, it could also issue tasks! Immediately, the Little Black Dragon flew up, muttering to itself as it flew: ¡°Rua¡ª¡ª!!! Now I can make them work well for Mairrel! Hmm... First, repair Mairrel¡¯s castle! Then find treasures for Mairrel! Roasted meat and massages are needed daily! Rua¡ª¡ª!¡± ... Having arranged Mairrel¡¯s guard duty, Eve began contemplating the next direction of player development. Continuing infrastructure development was necessary, and lifestyle players also needed further expansion, especially the renewable farming industry. The players¡¯ appetites were simply too good, and now, the safe zone had practically no larger animals left... The remaining ones were those that either didn¡¯t seem appetizing or were inedible. But these were all small matters, left to Alice to arrange. Eve only needed to think about the main storyline and large side storylines. And very soon, Eve recalled Rivendell¡ªthe Elf Ruins that players had been frantically searching for earlier! ¡°Due to cross-border restrictions, the True God¡¯s reactions have always been slow, Uller¡¯s next move shouldn¡¯t be so fast, so during this time, I can use Elf Ruins as a side storyline.¡± ¡°According to Alice, Rivendell is connected to the Underworld and has many monsters, which might further enhance the players¡¯ strength and bring me some life force feedback...¡± ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s said that the Underworld is very chaotic, and True Gods rarely get involved, maybe I can feast to my heart¡¯s content.¡± ¡°Right, there¡¯s also Boxed Lunch, if I remember correctly, he should¡¯ve been captured by humans, he could also become a key in a side storyline.¡± ¡°I wonder how players¡¯ exploration has been going these days, whether they¡¯ve found clues of Rivendell...¡± Thinking of this, Eve immersed herself in her consciousness, connecting with the game system, and inputting the term ¡°Rivendell¡± in the information query. This was an ability of the game system she created. Upon query, all related content that players mentioned ¡°Rivendell would be surfaced in Eve¡¯s consciousness, allowing her to quickly understand the players¡¯ movements. After inputting ¡°Rivendell,¡± Eve thought again and also entered ¡°Underworld.¡± Rivendell was connected to the Underworld, they should be related. Soon, Eve received a lot of information feedback! It turned out that the mission of destroying the Half-Beast stronghold had significantly influenced players¡¯ exploration, with many initially choosing to find Rivendell temporarily giving up. However, some players persisted. As Eve expected, based on the feedback, even those players who continued exploring had not yet found the location of Rivendell. But when receiving content feedback on the ¡°Underworld,¡± Eve discovered something different... ¡°Hmm? Some players seem to have been continuously discussing it... Hmm?! They found clues to the Underworld?¡± ¡°Eh? This is... the Boxed Lunch team!¡± ¡°Is it Boxed Lunch?¡± ¡°` Chapter 136 - 135: The True Domineering CEOs Packed Lunch Chapter 136: Chapter 135: The True Domineering CEO¡¯s Packed Lunch ¡°`html ¡°I might have triggered a hidden quest again.¡± After learning of her purpose from the elf girl who seemed to be a thief, Box Lunch didn¡¯t hesitate and decisively relayed the information to his team channel. Upon reading Box Lunch¡¯s description, the other members of the team immediately got excited: ¡°Rescue the brothers and sisters? Box Lunch, for sure! This must be a new hidden quest!¡± ¡°This is a life-saving opportunity! Definitely have to help!¡± ¡°Wait... we have to go to the Underworld too? Are we unlocking a new map?¡± ¡°Could it be Rivendell? Many NPCs say that¡¯s the entrance to the Underworld!¡± ¡°Damn! If it really is, aren¡¯t we triggering the main storyline again?!¡± ¡°Maybe not the main storyline, but definitely a new map!¡± ¡°I heard there are a lot of monsters there! Kind of excited!¡± Watching his teammates excited discussions, Box Lunch also had similar speculations. He paused for a moment and replied, ¡°Support as soon as you can.¡± Judging by the footsteps, the Human Caravan had quite a few people. If it really was a hidden quest, he was too weak to handle it alone. The team members looked at Box Lunch¡¯s location on the mini-map and replied somewhat reluctantly, ¡°Captain, it might take a while... You¡¯re too far from us, over two hundred kilometers.¡± ¡°Feels like it¡¯ll take several in-game days of running... exhausting...¡± ¡°Teleport to Black Dragon Castle first, then it should be quicker, but I think there¡¯s still a fifty or sixty-kilometer journey.¡± Box Lunch: ... He pondered for a moment, typing, ¡°Get Little Xian Miao, ride the Black Dragon.¡± Black Dragon? The teammates¡¯ eyes lit up. That was indeed a good idea... However, only Little Xian Miao could convince the Black Dragon to help. If she joined, the rewards for this hidden quest would likely be split. ¡°Hurry up, the rewards will be split with the Mengmeng Committee.¡± Box Lunch typed again. Seeing this, the team members didn¡¯t hesitate anymore. Triggered quest¡¯s captain had spoken; splitting rewards it was. Besides... the Black Dragon was also a powerful force! The few of them had a quick discussion and went to find Little Xian Miao immediately. After Box Lunch issued commands to his teammates, the system notification finally appeared in his view... [Ding¡ª] [You have triggered a hidden quest: Save the Elves] [Quest Description: The Human Caravan has captured the elf girl¡¯s companions. You decide to stay and assist her in rescuing them!] [Quest Objective: Rescue the captured elves] [Quest Time Limit: Unlimited] [Quest Participants: Unlimited] [Quest Level: 15+] [Quest Rewards: Experience Points, Contribution Points] [Accept?] Seeing the system message, Box Lunch resolutely chose to accept. In fact, even without this quest, Box Lunch would have chosen to accept. *This was the second mission he activated since being captured. It seemed likely to be part of a series with his previous hidden quest [Human Caravan].* *A series of quests often meant abundant rewards!* Unlike the previous hidden quest [Human Caravan], this quest could be shared as a team quest, so Box Lunch readily shared it with his teammates. His team members were all Level 15+ powerhouses, even among all first-test players they were top-tier, handling this quest with ease. Upon receiving the quest notification, the team members were exhilarated: ¡°Damn! We just mentioned the quest and it came!¡± ¡°Box Lunch, you¡¯re so lucky!¡± ¡°Captain, hang on, we¡¯re calling Little Xian Miao to fly over right away!¡± ... Box Lunch¡¯s team members moved swiftly. They quickly found Little Xian Miao in Black Dragon Castle, who was trying to persuade Mairrel to give her a few shed dragon scales... ¡°What? You triggered a hidden quest? And it¡¯s likely a new map?¡± Upon hearing there was a hidden task, Little Xian Miao quickly became spirited. She had just earned a batch of contribution points and exchanged for a new, attractive gold legendary magic wand, itching for a chance to try it out. ¡°What? An evil smuggling caravan kidnapping the kind and hardworking elves? Where?! I must rescue them!¡± Enjoying a back rub from several players, Mairrel¡¯s eyes lit up and she immediately stood up. She straightened her back, her gaze resolute, her whole being brimming with righteousness. Box Lunch¡¯s teammates: ... They looked at each other... *It seemed...* *no need for Little Xian Miao to convince the Black Dragon¡ªit got excited by itself.* ... *Once a secret is known by a second person, it¡¯s no longer a secret.* The news of Box Lunch triggering a new hidden quest soon spread among the players after visiting the Black Dragon... What¡¯s more, this quest was part of a series and probably involved a new map, Rivendell! For a while, all the players were abuzz. Unfortunately, the quest was a long journey with high-level restrictions, and seats on Black Dragon Mairrel were limited, so not everyone could participate. Moreover, since the hidden quest was triggered by Box Lunch¡¯s team, the rewards were limited... Finally, the participants were only a few from Box Lunch¡¯s team, Little Xian Miao, who could convince Black Dragon Mairrel to take players, and Mengmeng Committee¡¯s vice president, Coo Bird. Adding Box Lunch, it totaled seven people, with the lowest level member being Level 15! Box Lunch himself was the first Hunter in ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± a veritable grind master, and held the top rank on the player level leaderboard! This time, Coo Bird also brought materials to set up a teleportation array. *After ransacking the Rock Cave Tribe, all magic materials purchased from the Human Caravan were cheerfully accepted by the players, more than enough to make an array.* *If it really was a new map, she would choose a suitable location to set up an array for players to come and go!* *As long as there¡¯s a teleportation array, players are invincible.* Meanwhile, under the strong request of a group of players, Little Xian Miao opened a live stream on the live channel. *For most players, although they couldn¡¯t participate in the hidden quest, watching the live stream in the game was also a good choice...* Many curious players stopped what they were doing and logged onto the live streaming website through the system, entering the live room. Once everything was ready, Black Dragon Mairrel took off with six people... ... ¡°Hey! I say, you blockhead, why aren¡¯t you moving yet?¡± Inside the cargo hold, the elf girl looked at Box Lunch, sitting dazedly to the side, and gave him a hard kick, urging him with a frown. Box Lunch closed the chat interface, looked at the girl, and spoke shortly and forcefully, ¡°I¡¯m not leaving either.¡± ¡°Not leaving? What are you thinking?¡± The elf girl was a bit impatient. ¡°Staying to help you.¡± Box Lunch replied. ¡°Help... help me?¡± The elf girl was taken aback. She looked Box Lunch up and down carefully, sneered, and shook her head, ¡°Come on! You better leave! Being captured by the caravan, your strength is too weak!¡± ¡°I¡¯m different from you, I was intentionally captured. I can run fast, they can¡¯t catch me, unlike you!¡± She sighed, ¡°You, I can¡¯t even sense any power from you, haven¡¯t even reached Black Iron level, right? Just go, don¡¯t add to my troubles, you¡¯re too weak...¡± She hadn¡¯t finished her sentence... Because Box Lunch, in a move she couldn¡¯t react to, instantly transformed his fingers into a knife and pressed her down, one hand on her neck. He deliberately leaked a bit of his aura, revealing his Black Iron Lower Peak (Level 20) strength! ¡°How about now?¡± Box Lunch¡¯s gaze was sharp, his voice low and powerful. Pinned down by him, feeling the terrifying strength between his fingers and the powerful aura on him, the elf girl widened her eyes in shock. She gulped instinctively, her eyes shifting while she forced a small laugh, ¡°Cough... Very... very strong...¡± Her tone became a bit timid. ¡°` Chapter 137 - 136: The Lost City of Rivendell Chapter 137: Chapter 136: The Lost City of Rivendell ¡°`html After displaying his power, Lunchbox released his control over the Elf Girl. As he stood up, the Elf Girl instinctively scrambled away to the other side of the cargo box, watching him cautiously like a startled squirrel. Lunchbox, He took a deep breath, and asked, ¡°Your plan.¡± The Elf Girl was slightly taken aback by Lunchbox¡¯s words. Seeing his serious expression, the Elf Girl awkwardly smiled, then said, ¡°The plan... is to sneak in and find a chance to help people escape!¡± Lunchbox, ¡°Hey, hey, hey! What¡¯s with that dumbfounded look in your eyes?¡± Seeing Lunchbox¡¯s speechless expression, the Elf Girl puffed up her cheeks and said angrily. ¡°I don¡¯t know where humans have taken my younger siblings, so of course, I have to sneak in! Don¡¯t underestimate my escaping skills, there¡¯s no lock in this world I can¡¯t pick!¡± She explained as she proudly puffed out her chest. Unfortunately, it was a bit too flat. Lunchbox, He sighed and refrained from further comment. Instead, he picked up the ropes that had just bound him and handed them to the Elf Girl, ¡°Tie them back up.¡± ¡°Uh... huh?¡± The girl looked at him in surprise. ¡°Do you want the humans to know you can escape?¡± Lunchbox retorted. Hearing him, the girl scratched her head, let out a couple of dry laughs, and said, ¡°Alright, alright... you have a point. Actually, I was planning to ¡®bind¡¯ myself again after you escaped... hehe, my disguise skills are top-notch. So, do you think my plan is the best?¡± Lunchbox, He was silent for a moment, then said, ¡°I called for reinforcements.¡± After speaking, he pointed outside, ¡°There¡¯s silver.¡± Sil... Silver! The girl¡¯s pupils slightly constricted. She covered her mouth in shock, her voice slightly trembling, ¡°Sil... Silver? Do you mean there are silver-ranked warriors in the caravan?¡± Lunchbox glanced at her, as if to say¡ª¡±What else?¡± Lunchbox knew because he had overheard the humans¡¯ conversation earlier. From their discussion, he learned that the Sorren Caravan included a Mage of Silver Lower rank and a mid-level silver warrior. They were the strongest force in the entire caravan. Seeing Lunchbox¡¯s assured expression, the girl¡¯s face changed a bit, suddenly showing a hint of despair, ¡°There are actually silver-ranked warriors... this is terrible! It¡¯s one thing for me alone, but trying to help people escape under the nose of silver-ranked warriors... that¡¯s too difficult!¡± ¡°It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over! If we run into them while escaping, we¡¯re done for too!¡± ¡°Silver... why would a caravan even need silver?! The Sorren Caravan is so famous and has such deep roots, why would they worry about being attacked? Who would dare to attack them?¡± She rambled anxiously while pacing back and forth inside the cargo box. Lunchbox, He sighed again and said, ¡°This is the Dark Mountain Range¡¯s canyon.¡± ¡°Dark Mountain Range¡¯s canyon...¡± The girl mumbled, then smacked her forehead in regret, ¡°I¡¯m such an idiot... without silver-ranked warriors, how could a Human Caravan walk safely through a Dark Canyon teeming with demon beasts?¡± After speaking, she looked at Lunchbox again, and seeing his calm demeanor, she became a bit nervous, ¡°Hey, hey! Aren¡¯t you worried at all? Silver!¡± Lunchbox glanced at her and repeated, ¡°I called for reinforcements.¡± ¡°So what if you called for reinforcements, we¡¯re dealing with silver-ranked warriors!¡± The girl shook his shoulders. Lunchbox, He grabbed her arm, twisted her wrist, and pinned her down. ¡°Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...¡± The girl instinctively cried out. ¡°Calm down, and do as I say.¡± Lunchbox said. *He felt exhausted talking to this NPC.* After speaking, he added, ¡°The reinforcements I called also have silver-rank.¡± Also... silver! The Elf Girl¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, momentarily forgetting the pain from being held. Wait... How did he contact reinforcements? How did he know silver-ranked warriors? Are there silver-ranked warriors among the Elf Clan? Who... exactly is he? In that moment, Lunchbox¡¯s image in her mind became even more enigmatic... *From a clueless block of wood, he turned into a mysterious figure shrouded in fog!* ... At Lunchbox¡¯s request, they were quickly tied up again. To Lunchbox¡¯s surprise, the girl indeed had a special skill. She nearly perfectly recreated the bindings, but Lunchbox realized that this time his power wasn¡¯t restrained by the ropes. If he wanted, he could break free at any moment. Her skill in self-binding, however, made him raise his eyebrows several times... *This guy... must have tied herself up quite a bit before, right?* Of course, the large hole at the bottom of the cargo box was also covered up again by the Elf Girl, but the items and treasures taken away... well, they were just taken away. And after they had regained their ¡°bindings,¡± the cargo box suddenly shook and slowly stopped. There was a commotion outside, faint human conversations could be heard, and the atmosphere seemed to lighten up considerably. Did they reach their destination? Both of them perked up. They exchanged looks and fell silent, though their minds remained on high alert. With the creaking noise, the tightly locked door of the cargo box was opened from the outside, allowing a dim light to spill in. Two burly mercenaries entered the cargo box, each taking one of them, escorting Lunchbox and the Elf Girl off the wagon. And when Lunchbox stepped off, he finally saw where they were. His pupils slightly shrank, and a glint of astonishment flashed in his eyes... *He saw a magnificent valley!* It was a deep canyon, with towering cliffs and a valley floor filled with ruins of various buildings. There were ordinary structures, crisscrossing minecart tracks, densely packed and incredibly impressive, and the highest dilapidated spire was nearly a hundred meters tall! All the buildings had an Elven architecture style, seemingly ancient, covered in black moss, and severely damaged, the entire ruins tinted with a deep blue-black tone. Along with the Dark Mountain¡¯s black geological features, it appeared extra eerie and terrifying... Yet, despite being dilapidated, the ruins hinted at their former glory. *This... was a lost Elf City!* At the far end of the valley, a deep and enormous cave could be seen, with faint sinister winds and monstrous roars, seemingly connecting to another unknown world... Rivendell! *This must be Rivendell!* At this moment, Lunchbox had no more doubts. He took a deep breath, captured a few images, and uploaded them to the game¡¯s forum. ¡°` Chapter 138 - 137: Smugglers Base Chapter 138: Chapter 137: Smugglers¡¯ Base ¡°`html The screenshots uploaded by Lunchbox quickly caused a stir on the official forums of ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± It had to be said, Rivendell truly lived up to its name as the City of Miracles. The elven-style tower-like buildings remained grand and majestic even after a millennium. Serving as the former manufacturing and mining center of the Elf Kingdom, the various remaining minecart tracks and vaguely discernible forge furnaces added a steampunk flavor to the place. Coupled with the desolation brought by a thousand years of decay and the eerie silence unique to dark canyons, it added layers of profound mystery. Crisscrossing mine paths, massive building complexes, deep and mysterious hues... All in all... it was practically the quintessential lost ruins from the fantasy games in players¡¯ dreams! The number of replies to the post rose dramatically. ¡°Whoa! This ruin is intense! It fulfills all my fantasies about the Lost World...¡± ¡°Is that deep hole at the end the entrance to the Underworld?¡± ¡°This new map feels amazing! I¡¯ve been adventuring in the forest for a while, and while the scenery is great, I always felt it lacked some thrill of mysterious exploration!¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious about what monsters are in the new map! The creatures in the Elf Forest we could handle are becoming fewer, while the remaining ones overpower us, and distant places aren¡¯t safe... I wonder if Rivendell has Earth Cave Spiders, Kobolds, and the like...¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about monsters. Even Feilengcui, which the elves once looted, had so many treasures. As the city of manufacture and, as I¡¯ve heard, Rivendell was destroyed before they could evacuate, it must have even more treasures buried here, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re tempting me...¡± The players were thrilled. In no time, the screenshot post about Rivendell uploaded by Lunchbox shot to the top of the forums. Meanwhile, in the game, world chat channels were flooded with player messages... ¡°Lunchbox master! Start a livestream!¡± ¡°Yes, yes! We also want to check out Rivendell ahead of time!¡± ¡°Lunchbox master! I heard you were captured by a Human Caravan, snap a picture for us, we wanna see what the Human Caravan looks like.¡± ¡°Lunchbox master! Hu Lu said there¡¯s a beautiful elf girl next to you, is it true?!¡± ¡°Oh wow, there¡¯s even an NPC girl, what a lucky guy...¡± ¡°I¡¯m so jealous, how about you guys?¡± ¡°Fantastic! This sounds like a hero saving the beauty scenario, I really want to trigger a hidden plot with an NPC girl too!¡± ¡°Do you really want to trigger a hidden plot? You¡¯re more likely just after the NPC¡¯s affection, you sneaky fellow!¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s more after the NPC¡¯s body.¡± ¡°Pfft... all of you are just so witty!¡± Lunchbox: ... He took a deep breath and muted the increasingly distracting conversation on the world channel. Beside him, the elf girl nervously watched the surrounding human mercenaries, occasionally glancing at Lunchbox, who was lost in thought (looking at the game¡¯s system interface), and pouted slightly. *Blockhead is blockhead!* *At such a time, he¡¯s still daydreaming!* Ever since hearing Lunchbox mention the presence of Silver Experts in the Human Caravan, she hadn¡¯t felt right at all. Yet, the blockhead behind it seemed utterly unafraid. *Was he truly unafraid, or just too care-free...* As for Lunchbox¡¯s claim about silver-level reinforcements, she was skeptical. In any case... *She was now somewhat regretting her reckless choice.* *What if...* *What if this blockhead was unreliable, and they encountered Silver Experts, wouldn¡¯t they all be doomed?* *Imagining the consequences, the girl couldn¡¯t help but shiver.* ... After muting the world chat channel, Lunchbox turned his attention back to the caravan. This Human Caravan wasn¡¯t large; it consisted of only fifty to sixty people, with about half being mercenaries. To avoid alerting anyone, Lunchbox didn¡¯t try to sense their strength. But by observing the actions and footsteps of these mercenaries, he roughly estimated that their strength wasn¡¯t very high. He suspected that most hadn¡¯t even reached the Black Iron Middle Rank! This puzzled Lunchbox. He found human mercenaries¡¯ skills seemed somewhat lacking. Actually, Lunchbox was unfamiliar with the general strength of intelligent creatures in Segis World... In the Human World, few could reach the Black Iron level; perhaps only two or three out of a hundred people would break through to become professionals of Level 10, with many more just at the apprentice level. Hiring professional fighters wasn¡¯t cheap. A Black Iron Lower Rank individual wouldn¡¯t have any trouble finding employment; any mercenary group or caravan would welcome him. Segis World¡¯s Human Caravans usually aimed for maximum profit. When escorting with mercenaries, they typically hired low-cost professionals. Ordinarily, they¡¯d employ numerous low-level professional mercenaries, supplemented by one or two noteworthy experts to hold the line. The reason Lunchbox found the mercenaries weak was that he constantly dealt with Demon Beasts and Half-Beasts. Actually... the Demon Beasts and Half-Beasts they were hunting were formidable, and brutal even by human standards. Certainly, while the average human strength was low, humans had strength in numbers, so overall professionals were the most numerous. Moreover, among those who became professionals, there were people who went much further, with the Sorren family gaining its continental prestige thanks to such strong individuals. Overall, in terms of raw strength, humankind might actually be the strongest on the Segis Continent. The rulers of the Eternal Era were humans! If not for the internal struggles among humans, dividing them into several countries, their combined middle and upper-level forces would probably make any intelligent race tremble! As one of the renowned Sorren Caravan traveling across the continent, as long as they could muster sufficient defense against monsters along the route and brandish the Sorren family¡¯s banner, generally speaking, no one dared to target them. Thus, though the goods this caravan transported weren¡¯t low in value, their collective strength included only two noteworthy Silver Professionals. Still, Silver Professionals were already quite formidable... Lunchbox¡¯s gaze flickered slightly as he looked toward the front of the caravan. There stood a human mage, luxuriously dressed, appearing around fifty or sixty years old. Beside him stood a tall, golden-haired swordsman. Even from a distance, Lunchbox could sense the powerful aura surrounding them... Silver! They were the two Silver-level experts of the Human Caravan! After a while, the caravan stopped in front of a hundred-meter tower amidst the ruins. The mercenaries drove the freight wagons into a hidden area beside the tower, then escorted Lunchbox and the elf girl inside. After entering the tower, they realized this was one of the hideouts for the smuggling caravan! Unlike the outside ruins, the tower¡¯s interior was meticulously maintained, with various amenities well-prepared, although the air inside was quite stale, causing the two to frown unconsciously. Upon the caravan¡¯s arrival, a few individuals, seemingly guards, greeted the caravan. Lunchbox watched as one of them approached the leading mage, paying respects and flatteringly said, ¡°Lord Belus, you¡¯re finally here! They¡¯ve been urging for the goods several times over there. This time the sum is enormous... without your presence, I wouldn¡¯t dare transact lightly.¡± The mage named Belus chuckled warmly, ¡°The kingdom¡¯s been conducting tight checks lately, so we took a detour. We also made a small profit off the Half-Beasts and gained an unexpected catch.¡± After speaking, he pointed at Lunchbox and the elf girl, ¡°Look, another two elves! Lock them up as well, and we¡¯ll deal with them along with the previous batch.¡± ¡°Two more?¡± The man¡¯s eyes lit up. He eyed the pair, nodded, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll have them locked away right now!¡± He waved, and two individuals stepped forward to take Lunchbox and the others away. Lunchbox and his companion didn¡¯t resist, *appearing as if genuinely drained of energy* as they were led by humans into the depths of the tower, where... there lay a dark passage leading underground. Escorted by humans, they walked down the underground passage for ten minutes, finally arriving at a deep, damp cell in front of them. And the moment they arrived, Lunchbox saw seven or eight young elves imprisoned there! ¡°` Chapter 139 - 138 Nightingale Shadow Chapter 139: Chapter 138 Nightingale Shadow ¡°`html Those elves appeared quite young, at least... if judged by human aesthetics. The oldest looked like a human at the age of twelve or thirteen, while the youngest resembled a child of five or six. Of course, with El Moonlight as a precedent, Bento knew that even the smallest-looking elf likely had an age old enough to be his elder brother. However, he noticed that these elves had different hair and eye colors compared to the Elf Girl. There were blonde ones, red-haired ones, as well as brown and green-haired ones, but none had the gray-black hair like him and the girl. According to the players¡¯ knowledge, the elves in the ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± were also divided into many tribes, and the best way to distinguish them was by their hair and eye color. Different hair colors indicated that these young elves and the girl were not from the same tribe. The elves huddled in the corner, with some of the youngest already sleeping soundly in their companions¡¯ arms, though faint traces of tears were still visible on their cheeks. And those who were older and awake watched the outside of the cell vigilantly, their faces pale. Even if they forced themselves to remain calm, they couldn¡¯t hide the fear and confusion about the future in their eyes. When Bento and the others were pushed in, they immediately caught the elves¡¯ attention. Seeing the bound Elf Girl, an older male elf immediately widened his eyes, rushed to the cell door, grabbed the bars and shouted, ¡°Night... Sister Nightingale! How... how did you also get caught?!¡± His voice was clear and innocent, tinged with surprise and worry. ¡°Sister? Sister also got caught?¡± His voice caught the attention of the other young elves. Soon, they all flocked to the door, looking at the girl with eyes full of affection, worry, or sadness, ¡°Sister Nightingale! It really is Sister Nightingale!¡± ¡°Sister, did they do anything to you?¡± ¡°Lady Sister, are you hurt?¡± ¡°Sister Nightingale... how... how could you also...¡± Seeing those innocent faces, the elf girl referred to as Nightingale heaved a sigh of relief, a gentle expression appearing on her face. She nodded at the elves, giving them a reassuring look to calm them. ¡°Get back inside! Stop yelling!¡± Seeing the elves who rushed to the cell door, two humans yelled in annoyance and cracked their whip on the cell bars, causing a chorus of screams. Only when the elves timidly retreated to the deepest part of the cell did they stop satisfied. ¡°Hmph...!¡± Seeing the humans¡¯ rough actions, Nightingale widened her eyes. She glared angrily at the man with the whip, instinctively trying to break free from her ropes, but was quickly kicked by Bento. The girl turned back in anger, but after seeing Bento¡¯s calm eyes, her rage gradually subsided. She understood the meaning in Bento¡¯s gaze¡ª Stay calm. The humans did not lock Bento and Nightingale in the same cell with the young elves but took them to a more secure cell specifically designed for professionals, in a deeper part. This cell seemed more robust and even more secluded. And after throwing the two of them into the cell, the humans left. Once the humans were far away, the elf girl known as Nightingale suddenly stood up. She swiftly broke free of her ropes, pulled away the cloth from her mouth, and immediately started picking the lock at the cell door. The girl manipulated the lock with skill, and within a minute, the heavy lock was effortlessly opened by her. Just as Nightingale was about to rush out, she heard Bento¡¯s voice behind her, ¡°Are you rushing to your death?¡± As if doused with cold water from head to toe, Nightingale immediately calmed down. Her movements paused slightly, and her clear voice quivered a bit, ¡°They... those are my younger siblings, I must save them!¡± Bento remained silent for a moment, then said, ¡°Wait for reinforcements.¡± After speaking, he pointed upward and then raised two fingers, shaking his head, ¡°Two silvers.¡± Hearing his words, Nightingale returned, grabbing Bento¡¯s shoulder with trembling hands, ¡°I know there¡¯s a human with silver-level strength above, one of them even a Mage! But... but...¡± Her voice carried a hint of sobbing. ¡°Trust me.¡± Bento¡¯s voice was deep and powerful. Hearing Bento¡¯s words, Nightingale gradually released her grip, kneeling to the ground, ¡°Can... can I really trust you? Seeing them so scared, I¡¯m really... I¡¯m really worried... They¡¯re all still children, they¡¯re all still children!¡± As she spoke, Nightingale began to sob softly... Bento remained silent. He hesitated for a moment, then placed a hand on the girl¡¯s shoulder to comfort her. Nightingale cried for a while before she gradually stopped. She wiped her reddened eyes and began to tell her story... ¡°I hate humans... they¡¯re the ones who destroyed my home.¡± ¡°After the god wars a thousand years ago, the Shadow Tribe split into several branches, and ours chose to infiltrate human society and live in seclusion about a hundred years ago...¡± ¡°The most dangerous place is the safest place.¡± ¡°In fact, our tribe was skilled in concealment, changing our living location along with our identities every once in a while. Although our lives were unstable, we survived...¡± ¡°The name Nightingale was given to me by my mother; in elvish, Nightingale symbolizes beauty and freedom, and she hoped I could live freely...¡± ¡°Nightingale Shadow... it¡¯s a beautiful meaning, but... how could that be?¡± ¡°A nomadic life is inherently fraught with dangers.¡± ¡°Later, a family elder, driven by compassion and kindness, saved an injured human knight but accidentally revealed our identity to him...¡± ¡°That knight swore he was grateful for our rescue and wouldn¡¯t disclose our secret...¡± ¡°He indeed behaved well and spoke sincerely. Hardworking, humble, kind, loyal... he almost met every elven understanding of a knight...¡± ¡°So... the elders trusted him.¡± ¡°But... I was very much against it, I didn¡¯t trust humans; I believed we should silence anyone who discovered our secret, regardless of who it was...¡± ¡°However, I was reprimanded by the elders who firmly and naively believed that the knight would uphold knightly principles and not betray our secret...¡± At this point, Nightingale laughed mockingly, ¡°How could that be possible? They were humans, after all!¡± ¡°After that human left, he soon returned with a group of mercenaries...¡± ¡°What loyalty? What kindness? In the face of profit... it¡¯s all a lie!¡± ¡°The price of a young female elf is enough to make an ordinary person a wealthy man; how could greedy humans resist?¡± ¡°That branch of our tribe was wiped out as a result.¡± ¡°I watched my father get killed by humans while resisting, and my mother... my mother was violated by them... Even I was caught by slave traders eventually.¡± ¡°I was in despair then; it was a predecessor, who was also living in human society, who saved me...¡± ¡°She wasn¡¯t an elf, but she had great sympathy for elves. She ran an orphanage, but in reality, she sheltered elves she rescued from humans...¡± ¡°Including myself... and my younger siblings.¡± ¡°My younger siblings are not from the Shadow Tribe, but they are all poor children persecuted by humans...¡± ¡°We hid our identities, staying in the orphanage. It was the predecessor¡¯s protection that gave us a second home...¡± ¡°Although we had to hide and conceal our identities, at least... we survived once again.¡± ¡°I was the oldest, and the predecessor taught me many things. I once followed her into human caravans and saved many companions. The younger siblings called me sister, they were very close to me, and I loved them too...¡± ¡°Later... the predecessor died in an accident.¡± ¡°As the oldest sister, I planned to carry on the predecessor¡¯s wish and continue to maintain the orphanage, rescuing elves from humans, but unexpectedly, the predecessor¡¯s death raised human suspicion, and they discovered our secret...¡± ¡°During one of my excursions, my younger siblings were all captured.¡± ¡°I tracked them all the way here, hoping to rescue them... but I didn¡¯t realize how powerless I was...¡± ¡°I... I¡¯m such a failed sister...¡± ¡°Hey...¡± With tears streaming down her face, Nightingale looked sorrowfully at Bento, ¡°Is there really no refuge for us elves in this world?¡± ¡°Are we really destined to be mere commodities?¡± ¡°Why! Why is this happening? What did we do wrong?¡± ¡°Is kindness truly a sin? Does compassion only bring misfortune?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯d rather fall into darkness!¡± ¡°But... where is our future?¡± After listening to Nightingale, Bento fell into silence. A moment later, he took a deep breath and said, ¡°There is.¡± ¡°Is there?¡± With tears glistening in her eyes, Nightingale asked, ¡°Even if we are saved this time, it will only be another cycle of hiding and pursuit...¡± ¡°We¡¯ve lost our powerful strength, left only with this cursedly attractive appearance, alluring lifespan, and special physique...¡± ¡°Do we really have a future like this?¡± Nightingale gripped Bento¡¯s clothes tightly, questioning with a bitter smile. Bento looked down at her. His expression remained calm, but his gaze softened considerably. ¡°There is.¡± This time, his voice was gentler, ¡°Both refuge and a future exist.¡± As he finished speaking, the entire cell quaked slightly, sending up a cloud of dust. Faintly, the high roar of a dragon seemed to resonate from above. Bento took a deep breath, helping the somewhat surprised Nightingale to her feet, ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± His aura surged, and his eyes gradually sharpened, ¡°Reinforcements have arrived.¡± He pulled out a dagger that he had hidden all along from his shoe! ¡°` Chapter 140 - 139: Who Exactly Is He? Chapter 140: Chapter 139: Who Exactly Is He? ¡°`html ¡°Rein... reinforcements?¡± Nightingale was slightly taken aback. Boxed Lunch didn¡¯t say much more, kicking open the prison door that Nightingale had unlocked and was the first to step out. ¡°Go rescue the others.¡± He tossed this line and then headed to the dungeon¡¯s entrance, hiding in the shadow of the stairwell¡¯s corner. The entire cell trembled again, and there seemed to be a faint hint of exclamations from the humans. Nightingale¡¯s sharp ears twitched slightly, and her eyes gradually brightened. She sniffed her red nose, wiped the traces of tears from the corners of her eyes, and then also dashed out of the cell, heading for the cell where several young elves were held. ¡°Sister Nightingale!¡± Seeing Nightingale running over, several elves rushed up to meet her simultaneously. ¡°Step back, I¡¯ll unlock it.¡± Nightingale said. The young elves nodded and obediently stepped back. An older elf hesitated for a moment, curiously asked, ¡°Sister Nightingale... who is he?¡± He looked in the direction where Boxed Lunch was hiding. Nightingale hesitated for a moment and answered, ¡°A friend I met along the way, here with me to rescue you.¡± *It seemed... she hadn¡¯t even asked his name yet...* Nightingale felt a little embarrassed. Soon, she unlocked the cell door, and the younger elves were reinvigorated, scrambling out of the cell. However, at this moment, urgent footsteps suddenly came from the staircase at the dungeon¡¯s entrance. ¡°Quick... get those elves, let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Damn it! Where did that crazy Black Dragon come from?¡± ¡°I wonder how long Lord Belus can hold out...¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t it know we¡¯re from the Sorren family?! Just a mere young Black Dragon!¡± ¡°Stop talking, let¡¯s hurry.¡± Two fully-armed human mercenaries jogged down, cursing as they went. As soon as they reached the underground, they saw Nightingale and the others escaping. In an instant, Nightingale locked eyes with them. Mer... mercenaries! Her pupils narrowed slightly. *Damn! We¡¯ve been discovered!* Nightingale¡¯s expression tightened, and she hastily shielded her younger siblings behind her. The two human mercenaries were stunned seeing the escaping elves. Soon, their faces turned vicious, ready to call for reinforcements. But just as they were about to shout, an agile figure suddenly burst out from behind them! It was Boxed Lunch. He held a dagger, his expression indifferent, darting past the two shocked mercenaries like swift lightning... His movements were graceful and fast, the dagger effortlessly slicing through their bodies as he passed by. In that second, a glaring silver light flashed before Nightingale¡¯s eyes. Skill¡ª[Double Flash Stab] When she looked closely again, she found Boxed Lunch already at her side. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± He put down the dagger in his hand, calmly said. Go? Watching the unharmed mercenaries behind Boxed Lunch, Nightingale was astonished. At this moment, a long bloodline suddenly appeared on the necks of the two mercenaries... With a ¡°squish,¡± a terrifying wound appeared on their necks, spraying a stream of blood. Their expressions still held a trace of confusion, as if they hadn¡¯t figured out what had happened. Nightingale only saw them clutching their necks in disbelief, spitting out clots of blood, their bodies going limp, eventually falling slowly to the ground... At that moment, Nightingale finally reacted, looking at Boxed Lunch in shock. She covered her mouth in amazement, her eyes filled with awe and wonder: He... he just instantly killed two level-15 human mercenaries with a single strike? *To be so powerful even under a racial curse, unlike the usual rigid clan members...* *Who is he?* What a formidable and mysterious log! The young elves were equally amazed as they looked at Boxed Lunch. There was a mix of fear and admiration in their expressions... The younger ones were shielded by the older elves to prevent them from seeing the gruesome scene. Vaguely, Boxed Lunch could hear the elves marvel: ¡°Such... such an amazing brother...¡± ¡°Could he be... the legendary Elf Wanderer?¡± ¡°Feels... a bit terrifying...¡± Boxed Lunch glanced at everyone without care and turned to walk up the stairs: ¡°Keep up.¡± He said. Nightingale was momentarily stunned, then her spirits lifted, calling her siblings to follow. When stepping over the mercenaries¡¯ bodies, she hesitated momentarily, then bravely picked up their weapons and led the other elves to follow Boxed Lunch¡¯s pace. ... When they exited the dungeon, they found the interior of the tower already in chaos. The members of the human caravan were hurriedly packing up, while most of the mercenaries acting as guards were nowhere to be seen. Outside the tower, human screams could faintly be heard mixed with the playful and teasing dragon¡¯s roar... No formidable enemies were in the tower. Boxed Lunch¡¯s eyes flickered as he gripped the dagger in his hand. Seeing the sudden rush of elves from the dungeon, the caravan members gasped in shock: ¡°Elves!¡± ¡°How did they escape?¡± ¡°Quick! Quickly subdue them!¡± Several mercenaries, hearing the caravan members¡¯ cries, hurried over from outside. Boxed Lunch¡¯s eyes flickered, once again diving into the crowd. His movements were agile, as if in an uninhabited place. The human mercenaries rushing up were swiftly struck at their weak points! ¡°Black Iron Middle Rank! He must be a Black Iron Middle Rank elf!¡± ¡°Quick... go call the leader!¡± Seeing the mercenaries easily defeated under Boxed Lunch¡¯s attacks, the remaining caravan members exclaimed in shock. One of the members hesitated a moment, picked up a bag of Gold Coins, and turned to run out of the tower. ¡°Hmph.¡± Boxed Lunch¡¯s eyes flickered, picking up a steel sword from the ground and throwing it out. The steel sword shot out rapidly, piercing through the escaping caravan member, leaving him utterly cold. ... Outside the tower. About twenty human mercenaries, under the leadership of the Silver Mage and Silver Warrior, struggled to confront the Black Dragon Mairrel... The ground was marked everywhere with the signs of the ravaging Dragon Breath, and several unlucky mercenaries had already fallen. The Black Dragon, however, was unscathed, flying in the sky, looking down at the mercenaries on the ground with a playful gaze. The Silver Mage Belus looked at the young Black Dragon, unclear where it had come from, his expression grim. How many years had it been! How many years had it been! Since the clan leader of the Sorren family broke through to legend and connected with that one from the Netherworld, it had been many years since anyone dared to challenge the Sorren family¡¯s authority! Unexpectedly, just a Silver Upper-young Black Dragon dared to challenge them! Damn beast! Arrogant! Belus gripped the Magic Wand tightly, his face darkened. He looked at the mercenaries falling around him, gnashing his teeth: ¡°Black Dragon, do you know who we are?¡± ¡°Tch! Just an evil smuggling caravan!¡± Mairrel glanced at him disdainfully, roared a ¡°Rua~,¡± and haughtily said, ¡°Greedy, wicked humans! Leave all your treasures! Lord Mairrel might consider sparing you...¡± ¡°Ahem... ahem...¡± Halfway through, a light cough suddenly came to Little Black Dragon¡¯s ear. Mairrel¡¯s expression slightly stiffened, coughing dryly a few times, and then sternly puffed up, ¡°No, that¡¯s not right! Greedy, wicked humans! Leave all your treasures and the kidnapped elves! Lord Mairrel might consider letting you leave!¡± At this time, Belus finally noticed a petite figure hiding behind the Black Dragon... His eyes squinted slightly, then he cast a Lighting Technique. The dark world was illuminated, and Belus saw clearly the Little Xian Miao on Black Dragon¡¯s back. In an instant, his expression was filled with astonishment: ¡°An elf?!¡± ¡°` Chapter 141 - 140 The Elf Riding the Black Dragon Chapter 141: Chapter 140 The Elf Riding the Black Dragon ¡°`html In Little Xian Miao¡¯s livestream room, as viewers watched the human caravan confront the Black Dragon, comments began to fly: ¡°Tsk, the modeling of these humans is so ugly! I¡¯m a bit disappointed...¡± ¡°What do you know? This is called realistic modeling! How many high-value faces can you find if you randomly pull someone off the street?¡± ¡°And Westerners just don¡¯t seem to have the same vibe...¡± ¡°...Are you expecting to see long-bearded, robe-wearing Easterners here like in a Xianxia game? Now, that¡¯s really having no vibe!¡± ¡°But still, they really are ugly... at best, slightly better than Half-Beasts.¡± ¡°Pfft, we¡¯re modeled as elves, how could they ever compare?¡± ¡°Speaking of which... they seem a bit weak! They couldn¡¯t even withstand Silly Black¡¯s first Dragon Breath.¡± ¡°After all, Mairrel has already reached Silver Upper! What I¡¯m heartbroken over are those pieces of equipment! The Dragon Breath just destroyed them all!¡± ¡°Sigh, it¡¯s fine for the Black Dragon to attack and all, but it sure doesn¡¯t know how to be gentle.¡± ¡°Agreed, agreed!¡± The players were chatting animatedly. Belus had no idea how happily the enemy was chatting on the other side. At this very moment, he was completely bewildered... An elf riding on the back of a Black Dragon! He swore by the Lord of Eternity, Yteo, that if he ever told anyone what he saw, they¡¯d think he¡¯d gone mad from drinking too much fake wine! The Black Dragon... known as the most despicable and shameless among the wicked and brutal chromatic dragons! And elves... recognized as the most beautiful, charitable, and honest of the intelligent races in the Seggs World. How did these two extremes end up entangled together? Belus¡¯s first thought was, could this elf be a plaything kept by the Black Dragon? Dragons in the Seggs World were known for their eccentric personalities. Besides their pursuit of treasures, many dragons had all sorts of bizarre hobbies... If he encountered a dragon that liked to keep elves, it wouldn¡¯t be impossible... However, even if an elf were kept, how could a proud dragon allow an elf to ride on its back? After all... this elf seemed to be quite weak, and as a member of the proud Gold race, unless there was a significant advantage, dragons usually scorned letting a weakling climb to their head. Could it be... that this was a personal hobby of the Black Dragon? Did it... like having cute female elves ride on its back? But... that female elf didn¡¯t seem very afraid! On the contrary... she seemed somewhat, somewhat excited? What kind of combination was this? Belus was utterly puzzled. However, this didn¡¯t stop him from trying to negotiate with the other party: ¡°Dear Black Dragon, I do not know where we have offended you. You are powerful, and we do not wish to be your enemy...¡± After speaking, he changed his tone, ¡°But I must let you know, our caravan belongs to the great Sorren family. We also hope you won¡¯t try to oppose the Sorren family or challenge the limits of the Sorren family...¡± Belus emphasized his tone on the words, ¡°Sorren family.¡± The name of the Sorren family was quite useful. Generally, if a caravan encountered trouble during their journey, just mentioning this name, even dragons would be cautious! The background of individuals with legendary power, along with possible connections to demigods or even older beings, was enough to form a Dragon Slayer Team. Except for those dragons that hid for millennia, no one would dare to risk their own life. This time, Belus firmly believed that once he revealed the family¡¯s name, the Black Dragon would certainly back down. After all, this was just a young Black Dragon. If the family wished, they could easily dispatch a few high-level professionals and harvest a Dragon Crystal. When the humans stopped to negotiate, the players in the livestream room were also taken aback: ¡°Eh? They¡¯re backing down already?¡± ¡°Well, it is a caravan, right? Of course, they¡¯d be afraid when encountering a Black Dragon!¡± ¡°I thought there would be a fight...¡± ¡°No, no... didn¡¯t you hear the threat?¡± ¡°Sorren family? What kind of family is that? Judging by his expression, they seem to have a powerful background...¡± ¡°Pfft! No matter how strong their background is, could it be stronger than ours?!¡± ¡°True! Our boss is the Goddess! A millennium ago, she stood against the gods alone!¡± ¡°By the way... do you think Miao will really let them go?¡± ¡°Whether Sister Meow will let them, I don¡¯t know. But given the display of wealth, I don¡¯t believe Mairrel will let them go...¡± ¡°True, that guy loves money...¡± ¡°Unless they really back down.¡± The comments continued to flow, and the Black Dragon heard the name reported by Belus clearly. ¡°Sorren family?¡± It brightened up a bit, with no signs of unease, but instead a hint of excitement: ¡°You mean the Sorren family that¡¯s stirring up trouble across the continent, smuggling illicit goods everywhere, trafficking intelligent races... and amassing vast wealth?¡± Belus: ... Listening to the Black Dragon¡¯s unflattering string of descriptors, his face turned somewhat sour. The old mage suppressed his internal anger, mentally noted the name Mairrel, and nodded: ¡°Indeed, the great Sorren family.¡± If the Black Dragon knew them, it didn¡¯t matter how it viewed his family; it would surely back down. It called itself Mairrel... Merely a young Black Dragon, there would be plenty of opportunities to deal with it later! Yet, the Little Black Dragon grew even more excited: ¡°You¡¯re actually from the Sorren family! Fantastic! Fantastic!¡± ¡°Then... your caravan must have a lot of treasures!¡± ¡°Leave it all! Everything must be left behind!¡± The players in the livestream room: ... ¡°See, I told you so, right?¡± ¡°Indeed, Black Dragons are all greedy for treasure...¡± ¡°Wait... did it just forget about the captured elf again?¡± They teased. Meanwhile, Mairrel¡¯s breathing grew heavier, and even its large, bell-like dragon eyes turned red with excitement. The Sorren family! That was the wealthiest human financial family on the continent! This time... really came out at the right time! Not only could it punish evil and promote good, but it could also gain a huge amount of treasure! The Little Black Dragon became even more excited. Belus: ... After hearing the Black Dragon¡¯s words, his face turned even uglier. Where did this inexperienced Black Dragon come from? Did it still dare to entertain ideas even after knowing they were from the Sorren Caravan?! He held back his anger and said, ¡°Black Dragon! Do you know... who is behind our family?¡± Mairrel scratched its ear and let out a yawn: ¡°Rua~! Isn¡¯t it just a legend? Um... heard from my father that there¡¯s some connection with an ancient Divine, but so what?¡± At this, Mairrel lifted its head, with an air of arrogance: ¡°Hmph! Just a True God? Lord Mairrel has seen more powerful ones! Hmph! Alive!¡± ¡°Lord Mairrel has even chatted and laughed with the great True God! Even received her blessings, she even arranged for her followers to serve Mairrel. Hmph, who do you think you are?¡± The Little Black Dragon raised its head high, full of pride. Afterward, its expression turned somewhat fierce: ¡°Additionally... Mairrel wants to warn you! Lord Mairrel is a righteous, great Silver Dragon! Definitely not a Black Dragon! Even though Mairrel looks like a Black Dragon, it has the heart of a Silver Dragon!¡± ¡°Mairrel will eventually become a great Silver Dragon! Evil humans, your slander has angered Lord Mairrel!¡± ¡°Now... you must not only leave behind all the treasures and elves but also sever your own two arms!¡± ¡°` Chapter 142 - 141: Spare You If You Remove Your Equipment Chapter 142: Chapter 141: Spare You If You Remove Your Equipment Silver... Silver Dragon? Looking at Mairrel¡¯s pitch-black dragon scales and Skull Armor, Belus was a bit dumbfounded. This Black Dragon... could she really be out of her mind? She was even preaching justice? A Black Dragon preaching justice? Moreover... she even claimed to know the True God? By the Eternal Lord, this was the biggest joke he had ever heard! In this day and age, from the size of this young dragon, she couldn¡¯t be more than three hundred years old, and the True God hadn¡¯t walked the continent for a thousand years... Besides, why would the True God be interested in a young dragon? It would have to be a Legendary Dragon, right? Bestowing gifts, providing followers to serve... Ha ha. The True God¡¯s messengers were each more arrogant than the last, how could they possibly stoop to serve her? Who did she think she was? The Despair Dragon Nidhogg?! No wonder she was the most despicable and shameless Black Dragon, lying without even blushing. Belus let out a cold laugh. However, he also knew that with the caravan¡¯s strength, they truly stood no chance against this Black Dragon. This time, they hadn¡¯t brought any secret weapons, and if a fight broke out, the caravan would surely be defeated! He gave Mairrel a deep look, suppressing his anger as he said, ¡°We can leave all of our goods behind and leave here, but... My Lord Black Dragon, don¡¯t push it too far. Otherwise, I will have my men destroy all the goods... including those elves!¡± ¡°You dare threaten me?¡± Mairrel¡¯s expression darkened immediately. Hearing the hostility in the Black Dragon¡¯s voice, the players in the livestream chuckled: ¡°Pfft... he dared to threaten Silly Black.¡± ¡°Does he not know that Silly Black hates being threatened? She¡¯s totally one of those who caves to coaxing but not coercion.¡± ¡°He¡¯s done for, done for, might as well offer incense for the old mage in advance.¡± ¡°Are they really going to let the Black Dragon rampage? Wouldn¡¯t her Dragon Breath destroy all the equipment?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t they agree to his terms first? You know, promise and then backstab after getting the goods or something...¡± ¡°Agreed, stab them in the back when they¡¯re leaving! If we can bluff some equipment, even better! Plus, it weakens them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good plan, and I heard this quest doesn¡¯t reward resurrection counts. If someone dies, it¡¯s a loss.¡± ¡°Tch... Does Sister Meow care about a few contribution points?¡± ¡°Sister Meow doesn¡¯t care, but what about everyone else?¡± ¡°You guys have a point, but what if the Human Caravan doesn¡¯t trust us?¡± ¡°Stupid! Let Sister Meow do the talking! The Black Dragon¡¯s credit isn¡¯t up to snuff, but can¡¯t the elves do it?¡± ¡°Wow... you guys have such dark hearts!¡± ¡°Dark? It¡¯s called strategy! Called tactics! We¡¯re players!¡± Seeing the barrage of comments in the livestream, Little Xian Miao¡¯s eyes twinkled as an idea struck her. ¡°Hey, hey! Mairrel!¡± She suddenly leaned close to the Black Dragon¡¯s ear and whispered a few words. Belus saw that after the elf whispered a few words, the Black Dragon¡¯s eyes flashed slightly, and her expression wasn¡¯t as angry anymore. This made him even more curious. What exactly was the relationship between that elf and the Black Dragon? But gradually, he realized that the Black Dragon wasn¡¯t really the one in charge. The true leader was probably that elf! Perhaps not a leader, but she indeed had the ability to influence the Black Dragon¡¯s decisions! This... Black Dragon, what was her deal? She would actually listen to an elf? Could the elf have subdued the Black Dragon? This... couldn¡¯t be possible, right? Belus grew even more perplexed. However, realizing that the Black Dragon would actually be swayed by the elf, Belus¡¯s worries quickly diminished... Because elves never annihilate their enemies completely! He believed that as long as the caravan met the other party¡¯s conditions, the elf would definitely persuade the Black Dragon to let them leave! If taking a loss meant a later opportunity to recover, so be it! At this moment, Belus heard the Black Dragon¡¯s voice once more: ¡°Well... alright! Mairrel changed her mind, previous terms don¡¯t count! Don¡¯t count!¡± ¡°You leave the treasures and elves, but you must hand over all weapons and equipment! Hmm... you only have one chance!¡± ¡°Rua~! It¡¯s thanks to Mairrel¡¯s friend that you have this chance!¡± Belus: ... She actually wanted their equipment too! This greedy, evil bastard! He glared angrily at Mairrel. And the Black Dragon glared right back, uncompromising: ¡°Mairrel¡¯s not in a good mood! You only have one chance! Hmm, and that¡¯s only on behalf of my friend!¡± A moment later, Belus reluctantly gave in, ¡°Alright... you keep your word!¡± As he said this, he no longer looked at the Black Dragon but at Little Xian Miao. A Silver Upper level Black Dragon... was truly not something they could resist at the moment. However, a cunning Black Dragon couldn¡¯t be trusted... But if it were the elves, then it was different. Elves were true to their words and kind-hearted, whatever they pledged, they would fulfill! Thinking of this, Belus also let out a small sigh of relief. Fortunately... Fortunately, this Black Dragon had an elf companion! If she were truly a frenzied young Black Dragon, their caravan would be doomed to annihilation today... They didn¡¯t know how they got tangled together, but it seemed that this elf could indeed influence the Black Dragon... Actually, it made sense; only influenced by an elf would a Black Dragon talk about pursuing justice, right? As long as they had the elf¡¯s promise, they would be safe. It seemed... once he returned, he needed to report and ensure caravans were equipped to counter more formidable beings. This setback would serve as a lesson. Branus was determined to regain his honor someday! And when Little Xian Miao noticed Belus¡¯s gaze, she was slightly taken aback. However, she quickly understood, her eyes twinkling mischievously as she said with a grin, ¡°Yes, yes, we will keep our promise!¡± Hearing the elf¡¯s promise, Belus finally felt relieved. He gave the Black Dragon a deep look and called for other caravan members and mercenaries to start removing their equipment... This time, he took note. But eventually, he would make both the Black Dragon and the elf pay! And seeing the humans begin to remove their equipment, the players in the livestream were stunned: ¡°Whoa... they¡¯re actually taking it off...¡± ¡°Whose idea was that? It¡¯s actually working!¡± ¡°Hahaha... these human NPCs are so straightforward! They actually took it off!¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the intelligence? Did they pay taxes on it?¡± ¡°Are they stupid? Removing their equipment, how much strength do they have left?¡± ¡°Villain NPCs have low IQ! Bad review!¡± ¡°Trusting a verbal promise? If it were me, I¡¯d demand an oath to the True God!¡± ¡°Pfft... you forgot, in their eyes, the elves already have no True God, how would they swear?¡± ¡°And whether or not they remove it doesn¡¯t matter? The Black Dragon would wipe them all out anyway...¡± ¡°So they trust Sister Meow?¡± ¡°Because we¡¯re elves!¡± ¡°Wow, do elves have such high credit?! They¡¯ll believe whatever they say...¡± ¡°You just realized? It¡¯s always been like this! It¡¯s part of their character setting!¡± ¡°Tsk... what you said gives me some bold ideas suddenly...¡± ¡°You mean if we reveal the elves¡¯ identity in human towns to stir things up...¡± ¡°Oh hey, oh hey hey hey hey...¡± ¡°Heh heh heh heh...¡± ¡°Come on! Don¡¯t bring disgrace to the Elf Clan!¡± The livestream was filled with a lively atmosphere. Chapter 143 - 142 You lack integrity! Chapter 143: Chapter 142 You lack integrity! After receiving the elves¡¯ promise, the human mercenaries quickly took off their equipment under Belus¡¯s command and placed them together as per the black dragon¡¯s instructions. And they could only wear simple coarse underwear, shivering in the canyon¡¯s cold night wind... After the mercenaries took off their equipment, Belus was surprised to see a few tall figures suddenly emerge from the distant ruins. Those... were actually more elves! They were wearing luxurious equipment, and they joyfully trotted over, then gleefully carried away all the equipment taken off by the mercenaries. Their expressions of delight at the sight of the equipment, especially their greedy looks at Belus¡¯s magic robe and wand, as well as the mercenary corps leader¡¯s silver longsword, were utterly unrestrained... The skillful action of picking up the equipment... Who knows how many times they¡¯ve done similar things, they were like bandits robbing travelers. And their excited expressions, there was not a hint of elvish elegance or composure, but rather like petty citizens hitting the jackpot. Belus: ... He rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen wrong. *Were those expressions really what elves would have?* *For some reason, he suddenly felt a little uneasy in his heart.* *Could it be a disguise by another race?* Belus squinted, quietly casting an identification spell, yet the feedback he received was indeed that they were of the Elf Clan... *An illusion?* He rubbed his temples. But no matter what, elves were known for their honesty. As long as he followed their instructions, that elf would surely persuade the black dragon! *Belus convinced himself in his heart.* He had had quite a bit of interaction with elves. Although mostly on opposing sides, he was quite familiar with the elves¡¯ integrity. Elves... never lied! What they promised, they would always fulfill! And being the kindest and most life-loving intelligent race on the continent, as long as they surrendered, the elves surely wouldn¡¯t let the black dragon harm them! Even... if they were enemies! Similar situations had been verified by countless predecessors. The elves¡¯ obsession, close to a pathological level, had even become the most effective weapon for humans against them. ¡°Lord Belus... they¡¯ve taken our things away.¡± At this moment, a deep voice came over. Belus turned to see that it was the accompanying mercenary corps leader, a powerful golden-haired swordsman of Black Iron Middle Rank. The swordsman looked at his taken longsword with a rather ugly expression. Belus nodded at him, and with a bit of apology, said, ¡°Corps leader, my apologies... the situation erupted suddenly this time. After everything is settled, the family will compensate for your loss.¡± Upon hearing his explanation, the leader closed his eyes, reluctantly accepting it. Belus breathed a sigh of relief and then spoke to the black dragon, ¡°We have taken off our equipment. The goods are in the ruins beside the tower, and the elves are locked in the tower¡¯s dungeon...¡± ¡°Now... can we leave?¡± ¡°Leave?¡± Upon hearing Belus¡¯s words, Black Dragon Mairrel chuckled sinisterly, revealing ferocious teeth, ¡°When did Mairrel say you could leave?¡± Hearing this, Belus¡¯s expression became slightly grim, ¡°Dragon! Do not push too far!¡± Having said that, he then looked toward the Little Xian Miao on the black dragon¡¯s back, ¡°Elf lady, you just promised us.¡± Upon hearing Belus¡¯s words, Little Xian Miao nodded, her face full of innocence, ¡°Yes, yes! We will keep our word!¡± Then she giggled, ¡°We didn¡¯t break our promise, did we? Did you forget what Mairrel just said?¡± ¡°Previous promises don¡¯t count! They don¡¯t count! You must leave the treasures and elves behind but must surrender all weapons and equipment!¡± She mimicked Mairrel¡¯s tone. ¡°We never said we would let you go! The previous agreement doesn¡¯t count anymore, does it?¡± Belus: ... After hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s vivid imitation, his expression was quite dramatic. Black dragon... It seemed it never really said it would let the caravan go... But... but this was too shameless, wasn¡¯t it?! *Wasn¡¯t this deception?!* *In an instant, Belus¡¯s expression became extremely grim,* ¡°You... you are extorting! Breaching a contract! Elf! Do you have any honor as a member of the Silver Clan?!¡± ¡°Breach a contract?¡± Little Xian Miao pouted, ¡°When did we breach a contract? It¡¯s just that you didn¡¯t listen carefully to our requirements.¡± Belus: ... ¡°You... your dishonesty! How could you be so shameless! Are you still an elf?!¡± He looked at Little Xian Miao, furious. *Where did this oddball elf come from?* *Weren¡¯t they supposed to be the most trustworthy?!* *Was she really an elf?* *Belus felt somewhat panicked in his heart.* *They were already at a disadvantage, and now without equipment... doesn¡¯t that make them prey beneath the black dragon¡¯s claws?* *Damn it! How could he make such a low-level mistake! Believing the enemy¡¯s words!* *Had I known, I would have ordered everyone to break through!* *But...* *Who would have thought these elves would really break their word?!* *It doesn¡¯t make sense!* *They... they are elves!* And as he watched the furious Belus, Little Xian Miao¡¯s live stream room was filled with cheerful comments from players: ¡°Ah... Intelligence is too low, has wasted a lifetime.¡± ¡°Exactly, exactly! How can you believe the enemy¡¯s words?¡± ¡°A player¡¯s mouth is a liar¡¯s ghost.¡± ¡°Hahahahahaha! He¡¯s flabbergasted now, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Sir! Times have changed!¡± ... ¡°Hmph! Evil must be punished, no matter the means!¡± Mairrel raised her head, posing righteously. At this time, the players who had just left returned as well, fully armed, and looked at the caravan, laughing proudly. Their expressions, not concealing their glee even a bit, were so triumphant that even Little Xian Miao felt a bit ashamed... However... who hides their emotions when playing a game? Moreover, this time, they were not facing the NPCs of Feilengcui, so there was no need to consider any image. At this moment, the players were absolutely delighted! They had to know that the reward for this operation did not include perfect resurrection times. Previously, they were worried that if someone died in battle, wouldn¡¯t it be a loss? And if they relied entirely on the black dragon to fight, the enemy would be dead, and the equipment would be gone in the dragon¡¯s breath. But who knew, with just a bit of trickery from Little Xian Miao, these humans took off their equipment! Without equipment, they were like tigers without teeth. Except for those two Silver professionals, the other mercenaries probably weren¡¯t even opponents! As for the two Silver... let the black dragon handle them! The Little Black Dragon of Silver Upper Rank, dealing with a Silver Lower and a Black Iron Middle Rank, even if they put on their equipment, it was more than enough. This mission was really too easy! And looking at the increasingly hostile black dragon and a few strange elves approaching, Belus¡¯s expression subtly changed. But soon, he calmed down. He looked at the Little Xian Miao on the black dragon¡¯s back and forced himself to stay calm, ¡°Hmph... Elf, in reality, your true goal is to rescue your companions, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Haha, now our people are still in the tower. If you don¡¯t want your companions¡¯ lives in danger, you¡¯d better let us leave!¡± ¡°Life in danger?¡± The players glanced at each other and burst into laughter again, ¡°Hahaha! He actually says that Lunchbox Boss would be in danger?¡± ¡°Hehehe... Those in danger, I¡¯m afraid are your people.¡± ¡°The captain could solo a level 20 demon beast in the wild!¡± *What?* Belus¡¯s eyelid twitched. And at that moment, the tower¡¯s door was suddenly kicked open, and a few caravan members, faces covered in blood, ran out, looking terrified and shouting as they ran, ¡°Help... help!¡± Belus instinctively turned his head, furrowing his brows, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± One caravan member ran up to him, panicked, ¡°Dead... dead... all dead... all killed by him...¡± *Him?* Belus was slightly stunned. And quickly, he saw a tall figure rushing out from the tower... It was a male elf with gray-black hair. He held a constantly bleeding dagger, and his clothes were also covered in blood. His aura was fluctuating as if he had just broken through, and his expression was extremely cold and indifferent. It was indeed Lunchbox. *What an intense murderous aura!* *Is that... an Elf Hunter of Black Iron Middle Rank? Wasn¡¯t he a lower rank before capture? Has he advanced?* Belus¡¯s expression tightened. And after Lunchbox came out, Belus saw no more caravan members coming out from the tower... Which made his heart skip a beat. *Wait...* *There should have been more than ten people left in the tower, right?* *This... could it be...* He looked at Lunchbox, exuding a heavy murderous aura, his pupils contracting. *Did he... did he do it alone?* *How is that possible?!* And seeing Lunchbox, the participating players became excited, ¡°The captain is out!¡± ¡°Hahaha! The elf NPC is surely rescued!¡± ¡°No more wasting words with them, let¡¯s go! Hurry up and complete the mission!¡± ¡°Haha! Folks across the way! Don¡¯t believe the enemy¡¯s lies in your next life!¡± ¡°Hey hey, I wonder if mercenaries give more experience points...¡± After speaking, they drew their weapons, excitedly charging toward the mercenaries who had already finished taking off their equipment. And Black Dragon Mairrel also let out an exhilarated roar, spewing Dragon Breath at the two doomed Silver professionals... Chapter 144 - 143 The Shock of the Nightingale (Please Subscribe First!) Chapter 144: Chapter 143 The Shock of the Nightingale (Please Subscribe First!) Nightingale swore that this was the coldest and most powerful elf she had ever seen in her life! Although she knew this mysterious ¡°Wood¡± was strong, she hadn¡¯t anticipated he would be this powerful, and entirely devoid of the typical elf¡¯s pedantry... Originally, she picked up her weapon, resolute in her decision to help ¡°lunchbox¡± fight the enemy together. But as soon as they rushed out of the dungeon, she found herself completely sidelined as a spectator. Lunchbox moved like a Shura from Hell, weaving through the convoy members and unleashing a massacre... Yes, a massacre. More than ten humans, and not a single one could withstand more than three moves from him! This... included even a few fully armed mercenaries! Lunchbox¡¯s every move was lethal, showing no mercy as he turned every human he battled into experience points. ¡°Wow... so amazing!¡± Nightingale watched his back, her eyes filled with admiration. For some reason, as a kind elf, she should have felt repulsed and opposed to this bloodthirsty style, but at this moment, Nightingale only felt admiration and excitement... Exactly! This is how enemies should be dealt with! Nightingale clenched her small fists with excitement. In the blink of an eye, the entire tower held no standing humans, only the acrid stench of blood. What surprised Nightingale was that those killed by Lunchbox rapidly withered and aged, eventually turning to ashes. It was as if all their life force had been drawn out! At the same time, in her perception, the aura around Lunchbox grew stronger with every kill... Nightingale¡¯s eyes widened. He... could he absorb the enemy¡¯s life force? This... just what kind of ability was this? Vaguely, she felt she had heard of a similar power somewhere before, but she couldn¡¯t remember... Finally... it seemed he broke through a certain critical point, Nightingale saw a flash of light from Lunchbox, and then his entire aura suddenly soared! He... did he level up? He actually advanced to Black Iron Middle Rank (Level 21) during the battle?! Just how strong must his talent be! Nightingale¡¯s eyes shone even brighter. Lunchbox then chased the last two fleeing humans and burst out of the tower... Seeing Lunchbox rush out, Nightingale hesitated for a moment and said to her younger siblings following behind her, ¡°Stick close to me! There¡¯s definitely going to be a fierce battle soon, don¡¯t wander off!¡± Even though Wood was strong and seemed to have powerful reinforcements, there were still two humans with Silver-level strength outside! Those were true middle-level professionals! What follows... would definitely be a tough battle! Thinking of this, she bit her lip, gripped her weapon, and followed in Lunchbox¡¯s footsteps... Just as she reached the entrance, Nightingale heard a resounding dragon roar! A powerful dragon¡¯s aura released indiscriminately, causing her to shiver involuntarily. When Nightingale clearly saw the massive figure in the sky, her pupils slightly constricted: ¡°A Black... Black Dragon?!¡± Damn! Where did a Black Dragon come from all of a sudden?! Could it be... could it be summoned by the convoy members?! For a moment, Nightingale¡¯s face turned pale. As a representative of evil creatures, Nightingale had heard plenty of stories about Black Dragons... Every Black Dragon was a ferocious and vile existence! Nightingale¡¯s heart tightened, and she immediately became extra vigilant, protecting her younger siblings behind her, her voice stern and rapid: ¡°There¡¯s a Black Dragon outside! Quickly find somewhere to hide!¡± However, just as she finished speaking, she heard the Black Dragon¡¯s excited and joyful voice: ¡°Rua¡ª¡ª!¡± ¡°Evil, greedy humans! You plunder treasures and harm elves! Today, the great dragon Mairrel will seek justice for the kind elves! Uphold justice in the world!¡± ¡°Prepare to die! Rua¡ª¡ª!¡± Nightingale: ... Wait a minute... What did she just hear? Did this Black Dragon just say it would seek justice for elves? Did she... did she hear wrong? ¡°Rua~! Evil humans! Don¡¯t run! Come and face the just punishment of Lord Mairrel!¡± Nightingale: ... Was it... was it truly a Black Dragon, not a Silver or Golden Dragon? The girl¡¯s eyes widened, looking carefully outside again... And what she saw made her eyes widen even more. She... she actually saw the Black Dragon fighting the humans! Not only that, she saw several fully armed elves accompanying the Black Dragon! What... what was this situation? Since when did Black Dragons side with their kind? Could it be... could this be the reinforcements Wood mentioned? Had they... had they tamed a Black Dragon?! Nightingale was stunned. Instinctively, she looked back at the humans. What she saw made her expression turn strange. Those fully equipped mercenaries in Nightingale¡¯s memory... at this moment, none of them wore any equipment. Even the two powerful Silver professionals leading them were only in simple coarse garments... Everyone was fleeing in panic under the pursuit of the dragon and elves. Where was their weaponry and equipment? Nightingale froze. The grueling battle she imagined did not happen. What unfolded... was a thoroughly ridiculous chase... The Black Dragon chased after the two Silver professionals who had stripped off their gear, breathing Dragon Breath and taunting them with ¡°Ruaa~ ruaa~¡± as they played with them: ¡°Cowardly humans, why are you running? Don¡¯t run! Have a grand fight with Lord Mairrel!¡± The Female Elf riding on its back brandished an incredibly flashy magic wand, constantly chanting spells. She continuously threw fireballs at the two professionals, her cheeks flushed with excitement... With her actions, gigantic fireballs exploded around the two Silver professionals, with booming sounds, creating massive smoking craters... However... unfortunately, none of them hit their target. ¡°Evil dragon! Despicable elves! Bastards! You have no honor! You¡¯ve betrayed your glory! If you dare attack us, the Sorren family will never let you off!¡± The old mage, with singed and disheveled beard, yelled furiously while dodging the Black Dragon¡¯s breath with his spells. ¡°Belus! You idiot! If we survive this, I¡¯ll surely report you!¡± The other Silver Swordsman cursed angrily while avoiding the Dragon Breath. As for the other humans... they were running away frantically under the elves¡¯ pursuit. The elves, while chasing down the defenseless human mercenaries, burst into hearty laughter: ¡°Hahaha! How are we dishonorable? You¡¯re just too foolish!¡± ¡°And you want to go back alive? Face your death!¡± They gleefully wielded their weapons, hunting down the mercenaries as if they were hunters pursuing prey! Without any pressure, this chase was simply too gratifying... Soon, the first casualty appeared. A mercenary, running too slowly, was instantly caught and mortally wounded by a player who pursued him. His body trembled, he let out a tragic scream, and then turned to ashes under the horrified gazes of other mercenaries... Seeing the hefty experience points credited, the player who killed him felt invigorated: ¡°Wow! They¡¯re not strong, but they provide a lot of experience! Not any less than Half-Beasts!¡± All at once, everyone¡¯s eyes lit up... ¡°Not less than Half-Beasts?¡± ¡°And you can even kill them solo!¡± Suddenly... the elves became even more excited. With loud cries, they intensified their chase, as if afraid someone else would snatch their target if they were too slow... What was supposed to be a fierce battlefield completely transformed. Chapter 145 - 144: Bandit Elf and Robber Dragon (First Subscription Request!) Chapter 145: Chapter 144: Bandit Elf and Robber Dragon (First Subscription Request!) The mercenaries¡¯ strength was not much higher than Boxed Lunch Team¡¯s. And without weapons, how could they be a match for the players? They could only be caught up and ruthlessly slaughtered by the agile elves one by one. Nothing felt unusual about it. Your stance determines your actions. Although these mercenaries were human too, the players showed no hesitation. In their eyes, there were only two kinds of NPCs. Friendly and hostile. Green name and red name. Those you can¡¯t chop and those you can! For the former, lick the boots; for the latter, just chop them! If one can¡¯t chop, call more people to chop together! Doesn¡¯t matter what race you are, or what status you have. Not to mention, the ones participating in this mission were from Boxed Lunch¡¯s team, each of whom was a battle maniac obsessed with gaining experience! In no time, a dozen mercenaries were killed by the players, their bodies turning into ashes as well... Seeing the experience points in the game system rapidly increase, the players started breathing more heavily. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! I... I surrender! I surrender!¡± Seeing this crazy group of elves, the last mercenary was so terrified that he wet his pants and quickly knelt to beg for mercy. However, the players just chased after him, first asking, ¡°Do you have a hidden task?¡± ¡°Hi... hidden task? I... I don¡¯t know...¡± The man was stunned, his mind went blank, and he instinctively stuttered. ¡°Then do you have any hidden information?¡± ¡°In... information?¡± The mercenary was dumbfounded, looking bewildered. ¡°Not much use, just an ordinary low-level monster.¡± ¡°Take him out for a few thousand experience points.¡± The players shrugged and casually killed him. Surrendering... and he still got killed? Seeing this, Nightingale¡¯s gaze grew blank... Meanwhile, seeing the mercenaries being killed by the players, Mairrel excitedly shouted, no longer toying with the two Silver Professionals, but lunged forward and swallowed them whole... ¡°What the hell! Ate... ate them?!¡± ¡°Man... Lord Mairrel, those were two silver ones! Save some for us to get the kill credit!¡± ¡°Oh my god, how much experience must that be! My heart aches! Such a waste!¡± Seeing this scene, the players chasing the mercenaries were filled with regret... Nightingale was completely shocked. She stared at the elves, covered in blood yet utterly excited, her mind in disarray. *Are such ruthless and crazy beings really elves?* *She had expected a fierce battle...* *But never imagined that the seemingly powerful Human Caravan would be wiped out in such a bizarre way...* For a moment, Nightingale couldn¡¯t snap out of this sudden change. And after annihilating the Human Caravan, the players didn¡¯t stop their actions. Nightingale saw them start looking around for something, and the excited chatter followed, ¡°Right, where¡¯s the caravan¡¯s cargo?¡± ¡°In the ruins! They just said it was in the ruins!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s see if there¡¯s anything good!¡± ¡°Time to open the treasure chests! Open the treasure chests!¡± The players hopped and skipped towards the ruins that Belus had just pointed out. But Black Dragon Mairrel was faster than the players. In a gust, the creature flew to one side of a tall tower, set sights on the ruins, and with a flap of its wings, it tore the roof off... A terrified Nightingale and the few nearby quickly hid in the darkness. Amidst a cloud of dust, eight perfectly lined-up carts were revealed to Black Dragon Mairrel. Mairrel¡¯s dragon eyes brightened suddenly upon seeing it. It sniffed first, quickly identifying one of the crates as having its scent. In that instant, Mairrel became overjoyed, ¡°These... are my lost treasures!¡± ¡°Ha ha ha! Mairrel has found you all! Mairrel has found you all!¡± The Little Black Dragon cheerfully said as it tore open the carts. Soon, a heap of shining gold coins and jewels spilled out. Mairrel¡¯s eyes gleamed with delight; it greedily pulled the gold and silver jewels into its embrace, joyously rubbing its face against them, or happily licking the gold coins... *So... so much money!* Nightingale¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. *How long could this last her and her younger siblings?* If it weren¡¯t for the Black Dragon being there, she would have been unable to resist grabbing a piece herself. ¡°What the hell! So much treasure!¡± The players¡¯ eyes also lit up. They perked up and merrily followed along... However, they were soon met with Mairrel¡¯s angry roar, ¡°Get out! Get out! Go away, go away!¡± ¡°These are all Mairrel¡¯s! Mairrel¡¯s! You greedy bastards!¡± The Black Dragon glared with blood-red eyes at the approaching players, baring its teeth. Its dragon might flared up continuously, and its throat emitted a growl like a husky protecting its food... Players: ... Perched atop it, Little Xian Miao sighed and tapped the scales on its head with the Magic Wand, saying, ¡°Mairrel, the treasure is all yours, no one is going to take it from you.¡± ¡°However... let everyone share the other goods on the carts!¡± ¡°Especially the equipment and magic materials, you don¡¯t need those anyway, just give them to us!¡± ¡°Hehe, we¡¯ll take you back and treat you to some barbecue! With honey!¡± Bar... barbecue... With honey! Mairrel subconsciously swallowed a drop of saliva. It looked warily at the eagerly watching players, pondered for a moment, then bared its teeth and said, ¡°Rua~! Fine!¡± ¡°You can come and pick things! But don¡¯t touch a single gold coin or jewel! Understand, not a single one!¡± ¡°They¡¯re all Mairrel¡¯s! Mairrel¡¯s!¡± ¡°Anyone dare to mess around, Mairrel will eat them!¡± The Black Dragon threatened. And it wasn¡¯t just talk. Knowing the players¡¯ identities, Mairrel also knew they could revive. If anyone really dared, it wouldn¡¯t hold back. Upon hearing Mairrel¡¯s words, the players¡¯ faces lit up and they eagerly promised, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Mairrel, we won¡¯t go after the treasure!¡± ¡°Exactly, like we care about money?¡± ¡°Yeah, we just need materials and equipment!¡± Hmm... Currently, gold and jewels weren¡¯t in circulation among players. Magic materials, equipment, and contribution points were the real currency, and aside from that momentary glimmer in their eyes, the players didn¡¯t actually have much need for anything else. Hearing the players¡¯ response, the Black Dragon snorted and reluctantly nodded. And with permission granted, the players happily rushed to the carts, acting like a group of inexperienced bandits as they began rummaging through everything... ¡°What the hell! It¡¯s all top-grade magic materials inside! Whether sacrificing to the Goddess or selling them to NPCs, they¡¯re awesome!¡± ¡°And there¡¯s equipment! Human equipment! Armor we can wear without any modification! All brand new!¡± ¡°Though they look a bit ugly, lacking those contribution effects.¡± ¡°Be content, this is ordinary for mission drop items.¡± ¡°Huh? There¡¯s a Rune on this armor! It¡¯s magic equipment!¡± ¡°There¡¯s even food? Stuff we¡¯ve never seen before.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s some seeds, they seem like grains.¡± ¡°Hmm...? Is this spice? What the hell! Seasoning! It¡¯s seasoning!¡± ¡°Seasoning? That¡¯s good stuff! I¡¯ve been gagging on the Mengmeng Committee¡¯s coarse salt.¡± ¡°Oh, come on, you should be grateful you even have food.¡± The players enthusiastically discussed, chattering away. Nightingale and the other young elves were stunned as they watched the greedy players. *They...* *Are they elves or bandits?!* Chapter 146 - 145: Are You Really Not Bandits? (Requesting First Subscription!) Chapter 146: Chapter 145: Are You Really Not Bandits? (Requesting First Subscription!) ¡°Are these people really my kin?¡± ¡°Are they really elves?¡± Watching the players looting the spoils of war greedily, Nightingale felt her understanding slowly crumbling. *Thinking about their bloodthirsty demeanor just now... her heart began to pound.* ¡°They...¡± ¡°Are they really the reinforcements that Wood mentioned?¡± *This... doesn¡¯t it just look like a group of elves who are more like bandits?!* Nightingale admitted that her own character was quite rebellious, considered rude even among elves. Elegance and refinement never really matched her. But compared to these bizarre elves... *Nightingale felt she was downright sophisticated, wasn¡¯t she?!* ¡°Right, where¡¯s Wood?¡± ¡°Where did Wood go?¡± Nightingale hurriedly looked around... Finally, she spotted Box Lunch¡¯s figure in the tower. Box Lunch, having defeated the mercenaries with his teammates, already returned to the tower. A line of human gear hung on him, and he was still searching for the loot dropped by his recent target... Nightingale: ¡°...¡± *He... he¡¯s picking things up too?!* The Elf Girl¡¯s eyes widened. Fortunately, Box Lunch¡¯s expression remained calm, even when collecting gear. Unlike the other players, he showed no manic expressions. It seemed as if nothing could fundamentally disturb him... Or rather, he was someone who could remain calm under any circumstances. Seeing Box Lunch not acting as crazily as the others made Nightingale feel considerably relieved... Box Lunch seemed to notice the girl¡¯s gaze and paused his actions. He stood up, looked in Nightingale¡¯s direction, and then slowly walked over. Seeing Box Lunch approaching, Nightingale¡¯s younger siblings instinctively retreated into the shadows... Box Lunch: ¡°...¡± He noticed Nightingale and the others staring at the human gear on him with a bizarre look, stayed silent for a moment, and explained, ¡°These are spoils of war.¡± After speaking, he added, ¡°We¡¯ve won, you¡¯re safe now.¡± Upon hearing his words, Nightingale¡¯s expression turned quite complicated. She glanced at the players still picking items from the crates, chuckled awkwardly, and curiously asked, ¡°Are they... your companions? Are they... really elves?¡± This was a serious question... Because these guys... were just too weird! Looking at the team members crazily picking items and the Black Dragon greedily guarding its treasures, Box Lunch remained silent for a moment, then nodded. Nightingale: ¡°...¡± She took a deep breath and asked curiously, ¡°Then, then, you all... haven¡¯t you been provoked into falling into banditry?¡± Box Lunch: ¡°...¡± After a moment of silence, he said, ¡°Thieves and bandits are pretty much the same.¡± Nightingale: ¡°...¡± *Damn that Wood!* ... The players fully exhibited the locust-like traits of the Fourth Calamity. Aside from the treasure taken by the Black Dragon, the remaining items were divided between the Mengmeng Committee and Box Lunch¡¯s combat team. Little Xian Miao took a fancy to those peculiar seeds resembling grains, along with spices and magic materials, while Box Lunch¡¯s team mostly chose gear and food. In no time, the goods were divided among them. Viewing the players¡¯ actions from Mairrel¡¯s perspective, Eve felt embarrassed, ¡°So brutal... If you didn¡¯t know, you¡¯d think they were a group of maniacal bandits impersonating elves.¡± It seemed... there needed to be measures to restrain the players¡¯ actions when necessary. *It was too cringeworthy, really too cringeworthy.* Without the constraint of morality or other rules, these players only saw profit, completely disregarding their image... Eve had no doubt that if one day the players officially appeared in Segis World, with their potential chaotic operations, they would soon be labeled as evil by all intelligent beings. Wait... come to think if they were called evil, it wouldn¡¯t actually be incorrect? After all, the Fourth Calamity¡¯s slogan wasn¡¯t just for show. However, while Eve didn¡¯t mind raising a batch of goons and fodder who enjoyed killing and looting, considering the perception of native elves and the image of the World Tree... Hmm... If necessary, sometimes it would be better to have them restrained. At least... the players¡¯ frantic looting seemed to have scared the native elves. As an important source of Divine Power, Eve still wanted to preach! She didn¡¯t want to truly become an Evil God... Through Mairrel¡¯s eyes, Eve saw Nightingale hiding in the shadows with a few young elves... The Elf Girl¡¯s face was filled with complexity. The young elves looked at the players with undisguised fear in their eyes. The little ones huddled together, shivering. With their long lifespans, elves matured mentally much later than humans. So although these young elves were not actually young, in reality, they weren¡¯t significantly different from children of similar age except for having longer memories... They were truly frightened. Sighing in her heart, Eve used her Divine Power to send a system message. In an instant, accompanied by a beautiful system sound, all players involved in the mission received a new notification, ¡°Ding¡ª¡± ¡°Hidden mission: Rescue the elves completed.¡± ¡°All players involved in the mission receive 5000 experience points and 500 contribution points.¡± Seeing the system notification, the players rejoiced, ¡°Mission accomplished!¡± ¡°500 contribution points? Not bad, not bad!¡± ¡°Ding¡ª¡± ¡°New Scene: Rivendell Unlocked¡± The system notification continued to flow. With the system¡¯s gentle chime, new scene music also began to play. This track was also one Eve had selected from the legacy. Unlike the previous tune, this piece of elven music carried a sense of profound heaviness and antiquity, as if depicting a lost world, perfectly matching the imagery of Rivendell. This piece was titled ¡®Distant Memories.¡¯ It was said to be composed by an elven composer from the Silver Era for the fallen Titan Civilization during the Giant Era... Upon hearing the new background music, the players¡¯ eyes lit up, ¡°The new scene music is nice!¡± ¡°¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯s¡¯ music has always been great, I really like it.¡± ¡°Me too, me too!¡± As they discussed, another new system message appeared in front of them... ¡°Ding¡ª¡± ¡°You have triggered a hidden mission: Guiding New Companions¡± ¡°Mission Description: You have successfully rescued the elves, but they have yet to accept you. As servants of the Goddess, you decide to guide them back into the embrace of the Mother Goddess.¡± ¡°Mission Objective: Gain the rescued elf NPCs¡¯ recognition and bring them back to Feilengcui¡± ¡°Extra Mission Objective: Rekindle the elf NPCs¡¯ faith in the Goddess¡± ¡°Mission Deadline: Unlimited¡± ¡°Mission Participants: Unlimited¡± ¡°Mission Rewards: Experience points, Contribution points¡± ¡°Extra Mission Rewards: Exclusive Title ¡®Natural Preacher''¡± ¡°A new mission?¡± ¡°Whoa! There¡¯s an exclusive title? Is it a hidden reward?¡± The players all raised their heads, excitement on their faces, ¡°Elf NPCs? Where are they?¡± ¡°I think in the dungeon...¡± ¡°No, the captain has already rescued them, look over there!¡± In an instant, all the players looked towards Nightingale, who was speaking with Box Lunch. Nightingale shuddered and instinctively stepped back as she felt all those gazes sweeping over her. And then... she saw these odd elves becoming excited again, ¡°It¡¯s a new NPC lady!¡± ¡°Wow! There are even some little lolis and shota!¡± A bunch of people stopped what they were doing and swarmed over... Chapter 147 - 146: Well... Why Not Go Home (Five Updates Completed, Asking for First Subscription!) Chapter 147: Chapter 146: Well... Why Not Go Home (Five Updates Completed, Asking for First Subscription!) Looking at the strange elves surging forward, Nightingale was startled. *What were these guys trying to do?* She instinctively shielded her younger siblings, protectively pulling them closer to her, and looked warily at the players. However, what followed was completely unexpected to her. The players¡¯ faces were full of smiles, beaming as they looked at her, their eyes shining brightly, ¡°Hello, big sister!¡± ¡°Big sister, we¡¯re here to rescue you, you¡¯ve suffered enough!¡± ¡°Oh... seriously, these evil humans, look at how they¡¯ve scared the kids!¡± ¡°Oh... it¡¯s terrible... really too terrible...¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been locked up for so long, you must be starving, right?¡± ¡°Come, come! Uncle has some fruits here, all from the Elf Forest, they taste great!¡± ¡°Do you want some candy? Big brother brought some delicious honey candies!¡± After saying this, the players shamelessly took out the berries they carried and handmade honey candies. They wore what they thought were kind smiles as they approached, stuffing it into the arms of the young elves... Nightingale: ... The young elves: ... But... the bloodstains from the battle with the mercenaries were still on the players, especially on their faces. The mottled bloodstains on their faces... Along with the sudden, even slightly creepy smiles... This... Not to mention being approachable. *To be honest... it¡¯s a little terrifying.* *And a bit disgusting...* A few of the young elves were almost scared to death, and the youngest girl even burst into tears. They retreated fearfully, hiding behind Nightingale one by one. Players: ... ¡°Hey, hey, hey! Look at you, you scared them!¡± ¡°It¡¯s you, isn¡¯t it? Who hands out fruit to people as soon as they meet? Did you wash your hands? You still have blood on them!¡± ¡°Hahahaha! He just called himself an uncle! Hahaha! Killing me with laughter!¡± ¡°Come on, you¡¯ve got so much blood on your face, stop smiling, it¡¯s really scary! No wonder you scared them!¡± ¡°Pfft... hahaha! You¡¯re the same! Pfft... hahaha!¡± ¡°Still laughing? Still laughing? Wipe your faces quickly, or you won¡¯t be able to regain their favor.¡± ¡°Oh no, oh no...¡± ¡°I can¡¯t... can¡¯t help it... hahaha... even though I know I shouldn¡¯t laugh... hahaha... but I still want to laugh, what should I do? Hahaha...¡± The players started bickering amongst themselves. Lunchbox: ... Nightingale: ... Lunchbox¡¯s eyes flickered slightly, and after a moment of silence, he kicked each of the team¡¯s members in the butt, speaking in a low voice, ¡°Go down! Wipe your faces clean!¡± Players: ... When they heard their leader speaking, they hunched their shoulders, laughed sheepishly, and then took a few steps back to start wiping their faces. Lunchbox also wiped the blood from his face and then approached Nightingale. The young elves instinctively shrank back again. Lunchbox: ... He was silent for a moment, then said, ¡°We mean no harm.¡± Nightingale looked strangely at the cheerful elves in the distance. She reluctantly nodded, pulling a forced smile, ¡°Probably...¡± ¡°Probably, I can tell.¡± It¡¯s just that these tribesmen seem to have something wrong with their minds... She added in her mind. Finishing her thoughts, she couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Are you really not bandits?¡± Lunchbox: ... ¡°We are the Chosen Ones summoned by the Goddess.¡± He said. ¡°The... Goddess?¡± Nightingale was slightly stunned. *What Goddess?* Lunchbox did not immediately explain but instead asked, ¡°What plans do you have for the future?¡± ¡°Plans?¡± Nightingale was taken aback, and then realized that Lunchbox was asking about their future plans... She was silent for a moment, then said, ¡°Probably... probably go look for a new hiding place.¡± As she spoke, her expression turned a bit sad, ¡°The one we were hiding in before has already been discovered by humans, we probably can¡¯t go back. But... as long as we¡¯re alive, there¡¯s hope.¡± Lunchbox listened, nodding his head. After pondering for a moment, he said, ¡°Then... why not go home?¡± ¡°Go home?¡± Nightingale was stunned, her expression strange, ¡°Go where?¡± ¡°The Elf Forest.¡± Lunchbox replied succinctly. ¡°The Elf Forest?¡± Nightingale¡¯s expression subtly changed. She looked at Lunchbox curiously, as if looking at a fool. After a moment, she let out a mocking laugh and countered, ¡°Go there for what? To throw ourselves into the net?¡± ¡°Who doesn¡¯t know the Half-Beasts are watching the Elf Forest every day, just waiting for stray elves to be caught by them...¡± ¡°That place... is no longer the elves¡¯ home.¡± Her expression looked a bit lost. *Wood, no matter how strong, is still wood...* *Didn¡¯t he know about the Elf Forest?* *Clearly...* *Clearly it was also near the Elf Forest that he was captured.* *Nightingale sighed a deep breath, her feelings complicated.* *Home...* *How long has it been since she¡¯d heard that word?* *Ever since she could remember, her family had been roaming around.* *If the Elf Forest was home...* *Then that home had ceased to exist with the fall of the True God who protected the elves.* *If home is where family is...* *Then her home vanished into smoke under those human attacks long ago.* *She...* *hadn¡¯t had a home for a long time.* ¡°No, the Elf Forest is the home of the elves.¡± As Nightingale was nostalgically reminiscing in sorrow, a crisp voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and saw a familiar figure. With a rare pink hair and luxurious mage equipment, it was none other than Little Xian Miao. Nightingale recognized it instantly; this was the Elf Mage who rode on the Black Dragon, with strong magic skills, but just couldn¡¯t seem to hit the target! ¡°Hello! My name is Little Xian Miao.¡± Looking at Nightingale, Little Xian Miao smiled slightly. ¡°What a strange name...¡± Nightingale muttered under her breath. She nodded, introducing herself in kind, ¡°My name is Nightingale.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Sister Nightingale!¡± Little Xian Miao giggled sweetly, then continued to explain, ¡°Sister Nightingale, things are different now, the Half-Beast forces in the Elf Forest have been eradicated by us.¡± ¡°There... is now completely safe.¡± The Elf Forest was safe? Nightingale was slightly taken aback. ¡°Impossible! There¡¯s a massive Half-Beast Tribe camped nearby, how could it be eradicated?¡± She instinctively countered. ¡°You¡¯re talking about the Rock Cave Tribe, right? They¡¯ve... become history now.¡± Little Xian Miao continued. Became history? Nightingale was dumbfounded. ¡°Impossible! I was captured by them just a couple of days ago! I know some of their secrets... They were backed by a True God, without intervention from another True God¡¯s forces, it¡¯s impossible for them to be eradicated!¡± ¡°Nothing is impossible.¡± Little Xian Miao smiled slightly. After speaking, her expression became incredibly devout, ¡°Because...¡± She drew a tree-shaped symbol across her chest, her voice solemn and earnest, ¡°Our True God... has also returned.¡± A True God? Seeing that somewhat familiar tree symbol, Nightingale¡¯s pupils slightly contracted. Chapter 148 - 147 Hello Miss! Chapter 148: Chapter 147 Hello Miss! ¡°I must be out of my mind to follow them,¡± Nightingale moved forward with her younger siblings, escorted by the players. Thinking about the symbol that the Elf Mage had just depicted, Nightingale felt filled with confusion and curiosity. *It couldn¡¯t be wrong... absolutely couldn¡¯t be!* She had seen her elders in the clan draw that symbol many times! It was the symbol of the Elf Clan¡¯s former Mother Goddess¡ªthe great World Tree, which governed nature, life, and the authority of elves! However, if Nightingale remembered correctly, the World Tree had fallen a millennium ago... And it was precisely the fall of the World Tree that led to the elves¡¯ decline. In Nightingale¡¯s memory, the family¡¯s elders were always nostalgic about past glory, filled with longing for the Mother Goddess and devout reverence. But, as a new generation elf, Nightingale didn¡¯t feel much about the already fallen World Tree. From her birth, she had been wandering. To her, the World Tree was just a legendary existence, a historical symbol. But now... someone had actually told her the World Tree had returned? If it were said by other races, Nightingale wouldn¡¯t have believed it, but it was told to her by elves! Although these elves seemed peculiar to her, they didn¡¯t seem to have any reason to deceive her. *Could it be true?* If it were true, then the current situation of the Elf Clan might really change... Although Nightingale had no faith, she knew how important the belief in a True God was for an intelligent race in the Segis World. Faith brought protection! *But... even if the World Tree returned, so what?* A millennium ago, the Silver Civilization at its peak was defeated by the gods. The elves had long since declined, could the World Tree really change everything? In Nightingale¡¯s view, if the Elf Clan didn¡¯t make changes themselves, even the return of a True God would probably just lead to another cycle. After all, the elves were too stubborn and too stiff, stubborn to a laughable degree! With a skeptical attitude, Nightingale decided to follow the players to see... Accompanied by Little Xian Miao and others, Nightingale and her group arrived in front of a concealed Teleportation Array. The materials of this array looked very new, as if it had just been built. It seemed not yet perfect, and a strange female elf was adjusting it constantly. ¡°Sister Gugu, how long will it take?¡± Little Xian Miao asked. ¡°Soon. The magic here is a bit unstable, I need to add a few more runes to stabilize the array,¡± the female elf said while adjusting the array. A Teleportation Array, huh... Nightingale pondered. Seeing the pondering Elf Girl, Little Xian Miao smiled and said, ¡°This array connects to the Black Dragon Mairrel¡¯s castle. Once we get there, you¡¯ll be able to confirm whether what I said is true or false.¡± The distance between two Teleportation Arrays was also limited. With the players¡¯ current technology and materials, they could only establish mid-range Teleportation Arrays. The maximum distance for a mid-range Teleportation Array didn¡¯t exceed 100 kilometers, so Rivendell¡¯s array could only connect to the Black Dragon Castle near the Rock Cave Tribe. Currently, the connection sequence of the players¡¯ Teleportation Arrays was: Elf Town ¨C Feilengcui ¨C Black Dragon Castle ¨C Rivendell, somewhat like four maps in an online game. Besides, the operation of a Teleportation Array consumed resources, its operation relied on the magic power in the air and a small amount of magic power from the Magic Stones on the array. When the teleportation was initiated, the consumption of the array increased. This amount would be proportional to the mass of the teleported material and also affected by its energy. Of course, given the high level of mastery the elves had in array-making, their designed teleportation arrays consumed very little. As long as the magic power of the Magic Stones hadn¡¯t been exhausted, the arrays could continue to function. The Flame Tribe had quite a few Magic Stones, and after plundering the Rock Cave Tribe, the players found even more in the Half-Beast¡¯s main tent, so the slight consumption of the teleportation arrays was not a problem for them. Black Dragon¡¯s Castle? Nightingale¡¯s heart skipped a beat. If she remembered correctly, it was near the Half-Beast Tribe! Wait... could what they said really be true? A moment later, Sister Gugu finally stabilized the magic power of the array and activated it, ¡°Alright, it¡¯s ready to go.¡± She stood up from the front of the array. ¡°Shall we go?¡± Little Xian Miao gave Nightingale a sweet smile and stepped into the array first. Nightingale hesitated for a moment but then called her younger siblings to follow. With a flash of light before her eyes, Nightingale felt as if she had passed through an invisible barrier, and the surrounding air swiftly changed from the cold, dampness of the ruins to a refreshing dryness. Before she could see her surroundings clearly, a bustling noise reached her ears, ¡°Haha! The array has started successfully!¡± ¡°The new map is open! The new map is open! Let¡¯s go, go, go!¡± ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t go over there first, someone has teleported over!¡± *What was happening?* Nightingale was slightly stunned. Soon, as the light faded, Nightingale¡¯s vision returned to normal. ¡°El... elves?! So many?!¡± Nightingale couldn¡¯t help but cry out in surprise. She found herself standing in an ancient castle, and the hall was filled with diverse elves, seemingly numbering at least a hundred. Further away, at the hall¡¯s entrance, there was a long queue that seemed endless... Elves! So many elves! *This... this had to be a small tribe at least, right?* And their hair colors were varied! Nightingale opened her mouth wide in shock, feeling like she was dreaming... Seeing Nightingale, the players waiting in line to enter the Rivendell ¡°map¡± in the hall suddenly lit up, ¡°It¡¯s the NPC sister from the livestream! I think her name is Nightingale!¡± ¡°A new NPC!¡± ¡°Wow! And a few young elves!¡± ¡°Cute... so cute...¡± ¡°I heard the sister is a thief, her skills are amazing...¡± ¡°Oh wow, talent! There¡¯s a new skill to learn!¡± ¡°Hello, Sister Nightingale!¡± They began to greet Nightingale and her group enthusiastically, startling them. *Wait...* *How did they know my name?* *Wait...* *I¡¯ve never met them, yet they know I¡¯m a thief?* Nightingale was bewildered. Meanwhile, she couldn¡¯t help but feel her face heat up... Honestly, even Nightingale didn¡¯t think being a thief was a commendable profession... Being cheered on by a group of people was akin to public humiliation... ¡°Thief sister, look over here! I¡¯m a Hunter, should I change professions to a thief?¡± ¡°Thief sister! Hello there!¡± The players continued to greet her joyfully. Nightingale: ... *Shame!* *This was utterly shameful!* She shrank her neck, shielding her younger siblings, instinctively taking a step back. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, they¡¯re our companions,¡± a deep, powerful voice sounded from behind her at that moment. Nightingale felt a warm, reassuring hand on her shoulder. She turned back to find He Fan calmly looking at her, his gaze comforting. *Companions...* Nightingale took a deep breath... *They... they had already gathered so many members of the clan?* Seeing He Fan protecting Nightingale and her group, other players began to tease, ¡°Whoa! He Fan big shot, you¡¯ve already got her?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t expect you to be this kind of person...¡± ¡°Shocking! The server¡¯s top player is doing this to an NPC...¡± He Fan: ... Listening to the players¡¯ teasing, his face darkened slightly as he instinctively released his hand. ¡°Scram,¡± he said. Seeing He Fan unleash his anger, the players teasing him shrank their necks and laughed sheepishly. Nightingale: ... ¡°Make way, make way! We¡¯re doing a quest!¡± Little Xian Miao said as she squeezed through the crowd. ¡°The hidden quest isn¡¯t over yet?¡± ¡°Jealous...¡± ¡°Sigh... enough said, time to head to the new map.¡± The other elves sighed as they cleared a path. Most people no longer focused on Nightingale and her group, entering the array with excitement instead. However, some stayed behind, excitedly trying to get close to Nightingale and her group, ¡°Hello, Sister Nightingale! I¡¯m Demacia, need a guide?¡± ¡°Um... let me guide you. Teach me thief skills, will you?¡± ¡°Sister Nightingale! Hello there! Let¡¯s be friends!¡± Nightingale: ... The Elf Clan had always been proud and elegant, even amongst themselves they were often very polite. And these guys... Alright, now Nightingale believed they were indeed He Fan¡¯s companions without a doubt. She sighed, turning her gaze out of the castle window. At that moment, Nightingale¡¯s eyes widened. She saw... The former Rock Cave Tribe at the foot of the hill, had been turned into ruins... Chapter 149 - 148: The Strange Spirit (Please Subscribe) Chapter 149: Chapter 148: The Strange Spirit (Please Subscribe) This... this... Nightingale was so surprised she couldn¡¯t close her mouth. She remembered clearly, the day before yesterday when she left, the Rock Cave Tribe was still bustling. How could it have turned into this? This... did Wood¡¯s companions really do this? The answer was already obvious. Because from a distance, Nightingale could still see some tall figures shuttling through the ruins. They were elves, and their equipment was inferior to what Nightingale had seen before. Some of them wore simple linen robes and wooden armor. These elves wandered in the ruins, seemingly picking through and searching for something... Occasionally, she could see someone excitedly start to rummage through and pull out some junk from the ruins, then take it to an array not far away. Nightingale: ... She vaguely recognized that it seemed to be a sacrificial array. Were these elves offering items to some mysterious being? Wait... weren¡¯t those things they were sacrificing just trash?! Hey, hey, hey... what you just put in there was a rusty half-chopped kitchen knife, hey! She widened her eyes. This... oh my god! Weren¡¯t they afraid of incurring the wrath of the mysterious being?! However, as the array glowed, the items disappeared... Nightingale: ... Uh... huh? Did it... accept? Her gaze was a bit dazed. Due to not being familiar with some sacrificial runes to the World Tree, Nightingale did not recognize that it was Eve¡¯s sacrificial array. Those elves scavenging for scraps were low-level players who missed the battle with the Half-Beast Tribe. Although they missed out on the spoils, they still sneaked over afterward to see if there were any leftovers from other players to sacrifice to the Goddess and earn some measly contribution points... Nightingale couldn¡¯t help but take a few more glances, and then she heard Little Xian Miao¡¯s voice: ¡°Nightingale Sister, get ready to go, we¡¯re heading to Feilengcui.¡± Feilengcui... Nightingale¡¯s eyes narrowed. Feilengcui, once the sacred land of the Elf Clan. However, since Nightingale could remember, she had left the Elf Forest, only hearing that the holy city of the elves had long been reduced to ruins. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded and led her younger siblings to follow Little Xian Miao. She was now increasingly curious about these strange elves... In her heart, she had already begun to believe their claims. To be able to destroy the Rock Cave Tribe, which had the support of a True God... perhaps there really was a True God behind them! But at the same time, she had more questions in her heart: Where did these people come from? And... their personalities... How to say, when thinking about it carefully, they weren¡¯t exactly evil, but they were very peculiar. They were somewhat like humans, seemingly possessing human cunning, but they lacked the hypocrisy of humans, showing a genuine nature. They unconsciously showed all their emotions... and did not disguise their feelings. Their way of walking was strange too. They liked to hop and climb, choosing difficult paths rather than taking easy and straightforward roads... Oh right! Greedy, they were also very greedy! Not for money, but for all sorts of materials and equipment! Their aesthetics were also peculiar, seemingly fond of shiny weapons and clothes. Nightingale observed that most of them wore extravagant attire. Moreover, they were ruthless against enemies! But towards their own, especially Nightingale and her group, they showed a completely different demeanor, their fawning attitude made Nightingale a bit uncomfortable. Even more inexplicably, they looked very happy! Very, very happy! Nightingale swore she had never encountered such positive and optimistic elves before! What on earth were they so happy about? Always joyful... They were happy when deceiving humans, happier when pillaging, and happiest when dividing the spoils... Even when they saw the ruins of Rivendell, they were overjoyed as if discovering treasure. These strange guys seemed filled with curiosity about everything around them, and anything could pique their interest. Even those elves picking through scraps in the Rock Cave Tribe ruins far away were doing so with great enthusiasm, completely beyond Nightingale¡¯s understanding... Anyway... they definitely weren¡¯t behaving like how elves should! Where did they get all this energy? Weren¡¯t they tired? Were they triggered by something? Or... were they simply like that? Right, she seemed to remember Wood said... they were summoned by the True God? What exactly were they? Nightingale became increasingly puzzled in her heart. With these questions, Nightingale once again traversed the Teleportation Array, arriving at the legendary Feilengcui. As the surrounding light dissipated, Nightingale found herself in a wide square this time. Seeing the newly renovated buildings around her, she was a little stunned: ¡°Is this... the Holy City of Feilengcui?¡± What appeared before her was not the imagined ruins, but rather a newly renovated elf city! Of course, it couldn¡¯t be said to be completely revamped, because in the distance ruins were still visible. But the wide area centered around the square was already beginning to resemble a city. And what caught Nightingale¡¯s attention was that she saw other elves! Yes, elves! Nightingale was sure these elves embodied what she perceived elves should be! They were red-haired elves whose faces adorned smiles full of hope, busily bustling through the city, still working on renovating this ancient holy city. Their clothing was not as extravagant as those strange elves, but simple and elegant, adorned with the elves¡¯ unique and intricate floral patterns. In addition, their aura was very distinct, allowing Nightingale to easily distinguish between them and He Fan¡¯s group. ¡°These are... the Flame Tribe?¡± Looking at their hair color, Nightingale speculated. Additionally, she noticed that almost every elder red-haired elf was surrounded by some oddly dressed younger elves. They were very respectful to the elder red-haired elves, showing a familiar kind of fawning that Nightingale had seen before. Every time the old elves assigned them a task, they¡¯d be elated and filled with enthusiasm. ¡°Strange... strange fellows...¡± Nightingale murmured. At this moment, an elderly red-haired elf, accompanied by a group of people, approached Nightingale. Nightingale noticed certain patterns on the person¡¯s clothes, recognizing symbols associated with the tribe¡¯s clan leader. This was... the Clan Leader of the Flame Tribe? Nightingale¡¯s heart was stirred. The approaching person was Philosier Flame, who, seeing the wariness and curiosity in Nightingale¡¯s eyes, smiled slightly: ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen a child from the Shadow Tribe. Child, I am Philosier, the Clan Leader of the Flame Tribe, welcome home!¡± It really was the Flame Tribe... Nightingale was somewhat surprised in her heart. She first greeted politely and then introduced herself: ¡°Hel... Hello. My name is Nightingale Shadow, and these are my younger siblings...¡± Philosier nodded, her gaze sweeping over the young elves¡¯ frail bodies and somewhat dirty clothes, then sighed and said: ¡°You... have suffered.¡± After speaking, her expression suddenly became devout: ¡°But... everything is over now, the Mother Goddess has returned, welcome home! Everything will start anew for us!¡± She turned around, bowed slightly towards the World Tree, and solemnly drew a tree-shaped symbol on her chest. Again with this symbol! Nightingale was somewhat surprised. But at this moment, she had completely accepted the fact of the elves¡¯ True God¡¯s return! If those strange elves made her doubtful, the appearance of the Flame Tribe was definitely no illusion! ¡°Miss Nightingale.¡± At this time, Nightingale heard another unfamiliar voice. She turned around and saw a black-haired elf smiling at her. He wore a set of well-made Druid equipment, with well-mannered gestures. It was Li Mu. Li Mu bowed to Nightingale and said, ¡°Lord Alice wishes to meet you.¡± ¡°Alice?¡± Nightingale asked, a bit puzzled. ¡°Alice Wind, the Earthly Representative of the great World Tree ¡ª the Goddess Eve Yggdrasil, and the Natural Saintess... She awaits you in the Natural Temple of the Chosen City.¡± Li Mu replied. Chapter 150 - 149 Nightingales Favorability (Two in One, Extra for Alliance Hierarch Miyuki Sanada) Chapter 150: Chapter 149 Nightingale¡¯s Favorability (Two in One, Extra for Alliance Hierarch Miyuki Sanada) The night grew deeper, but under the illumination of magical lights and torches, Elf Town remained brightly lit. Nevertheless, because elves inherently had strong night vision, even without lights, Nightingale could see everything clearly... Guided by Li Mu, she and her younger siblings traversed the Teleportation Array and arrived at the square of Elf Town. As soon as they arrived, they were stunned by the magical city in front of them. At this moment, Elf Town had undergone significant changes compared to before. With the addition of Second Test Players, the scale of Elf Town had further expanded. Now, it could no longer be called a town; it was subtly becoming a city! Furthermore, the players had fully utilized their imagination, making the architectural styles within the town even more diverse and colorful. As if competing with each other, they included all the building styles from Blue Star they could think of. Although the styles varied, the buildings were connected by greenery and gardens, softening the visual impact of the different styles and giving the city a unique charm. Especially each player¡¯s little home in the city! Building a beautiful home was a hobby for many online gamers. And this was vividly manifested in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡±! Perhaps the benchmark set by the first group of test players for city building was too high, leading the second group of test players to compete in home construction... The involvement of the construction team from the Mengmeng Committee pushed this trend to a new climax! No one knew who started it, but every player was filled with enthusiasm for their home¡¯s construction. They fully utilized their intelligence and, according to their preferences, designed their homes, and then, with the help of the Mengmeng Committee¡¯s construction team, carried out the building process. To build their homes, lifestyle players even developed new gameplay modes for various magical skills. Things like magical tree growth, petrification hardening for paving... some even used primitive methods to create cement... Of course, the overall style of the city was still dominated by nature, as decreed by Eve. Moreover, when a building was completed, it had to receive the Goddess¡¯s blessing. In layman¡¯s terms, it meant Eve exercised a bit of her power to animate the wood and other materials within the buildings. *There was no helping it, Eve was a perfectionist.* *Since she had animated the other buildings during her revival, if the newly added architectural styles weren¡¯t uniform, it would bother her...* *The city lay at her feet, visible just by looking down. She certainly hoped the new buildings wouldn¡¯t resemble a slum...* *It was embarrassing, not... disgraceful to the deity.* As players continued building, Elf Town became increasingly prosperous, and the sense of fantasy grew stronger. If your house was too shabby, you would even feel embarrassed to claim you were a player of Elf Kingdom. Apart from that, several tall buildings had appeared in the town, serving as headquarters for major Player Guilds. Among them, the most spectacular was the headquarters of the Mengmeng Committee. It was a garden-style palace modeled after Babylon¡¯s Air Garden from Blue Star! These projects were all massive undertakings, which would be quite difficult if they were on Blue Star, at least... time-consuming. But in the magic-infused Segis World, everything became possible! Here, with the existence of magic, any building you could imagine could eventually be achieved through effort! Moreover, many players even recorded videos of their homes and uploaded them to Blue Star¡¯s network. This blend of reality with magical DIY city home construction naturally caused a sensation on Blue Star Network... Especially videos of players hosting parties together in gardens and living rooms, or playfully engaging in games after finishing their homes, made netizens immensely envious... The sense of reality, the feeling of free happiness, could be felt through the screens! Unlike other games, although virtual games were evolving on Blue Star, with simulation games like ¡°Minecraft¡± and ¡°SimCity¡± emerging one after the other, the construction in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was more unrestricted and realistic. More importantly, this wasn¡¯t even a simulation business game, yet it allowed you to enjoy the fun of living a simulated life! Moreover... the time ratio between the game and real life was four to one! It was said that you could still put your consciousness into the game while sleeping! The real five senses, realistic food, and the surrounding beautiful forest scenery made the atmosphere of life and fantasy in the game increasingly intense... *It was simply a dreamlike paradise!* Not to mention, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was essentially an MMORPG! The main element of this game was adventure; the simulation component was only a small part of it... Netizens were utterly envious... Unfortunately, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had been in closed beta on Blue Star for nearly two months, and the officials still hadn¡¯t announced a date for the open beta. A group of netizens could only refresh the official website every day, waiting eagerly for open beta news. Meanwhile, they watched videos posted by players on major video platforms, satisfying their cravings... Then they vented their envy in bullet comments and comments. Moreover, the story of a group of Tianchao players building a dreamlike city in a virtual MMORPG began to spread on the internet... Chapter 153 - 150: The Real Identity of the Lunch Box Chapter 153: Chapter 150: The Real Identity of the Lunch Box With the completion of Boxed Lunch Squad¡¯s hidden quest, the new map Rivendell officially came into players¡¯ view. A large number of players flooded into this thousand-year-old Elf Kingdom¡¯s manufacturing city to embark on adventures, hoping they could be as lucky as Li Mu and Demacia and find some great treasures in the new ruins. One must know, ever since the game launched, the best meditation technique in the exchange mall was still that set of ¡°Elemental Meditation¡± discovered by Li Mu and Demacia, the only one to achieve a purple epic rating! ¡°Elemental Meditation¡± could train magic power and elemental affinity, usable up to Silver Upper Peak (level 70). Elves were inherently magic creatures, and magic power was not divided between spellcasters and power users. Even a warrior would have a small amount of magic power, capable of learning one or two common minor cantrips like the Identification Technique and Lighting Technique. Thus, to enhance their magic power level, almost all players saved up to exchange for this meditation technique. Yet, even with a discount, the meditation technique still required 5,000 contribution points for exchange, but Li Mu and Demacia not only didn¡¯t need to exchange but also received a 0.5% cut each when other players exchanged for it; this effect lasted for one in-game year... That is to say, within a year in-game, every time someone exchanged for this meditation technique, Li Mu and Demacia would each earn a 25-point contribution bonus! Although insignificant, accumulatively, it was quite terrifying. ¡°Elemental Meditation¡± had been on the market for already two months, and by relying on this meditation technique alone, Li Mu and Demacia each reaped over 10,000 contribution points! Plus, the bonus from the other skill books and meditation and training ancient texts they had found at the same time, the contribution points obtained solely from contribution bonuses were enough for them to exchange for a piece of golden legendary equipment in the mall! Golden legendary equipment, wow! Those pieces were almost all unique to the entire server! Moreover, they had unique visual appearances and effects on the whole server! Some even had background stories, like the Devil¡¯s Wand, the Night Walker¡¯s Space Ring, and so on... Even when players¡¯ levels rose and the golden legendary equipment became outdated, they could still be used for collection purposes. While chatting idly, players could bring them out to show off now and then, like some rare attachments in online games. Even after the game had been open for over a month (Blue Star Time), there were still very few players in the entire server of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± who exchanged for golden legendary equipment. The only one fully equipped in gold was Little Xian Miao, and that was using cash skills to cheat. This was a wealthy player, someone you couldn¡¯t compare with normally. She even spent enough money to build a ¡°Babylon¡¯s Air Garden¡± and a private villa! *Although, in the end, the private villa almost turned into a place for Mengmeng Committee gatherings and for other players to visit and take photos, becoming a famous ¡°sightseeing spot¡± in Chosen City...* The dream of most ordinary players was still to save enough for a set of purple epic-grade equipment. Even Li Mu and Demacia didn¡¯t have a single piece of golden legendary equipment, wearing purple epic pieces instead. Of course, the reason they didn¡¯t exchange for golden legendary wasn¡¯t the lack of money, but they planned to wait until max level and exchange for max level golden legendary equipment, doing it all in one go. Li Mu and Demacia deemed themselves to have truly struck it rich through contribution bonuses from exchanging ancient texts, gaining contribution points daily even while lying idle, which invoked envy among other players. So, right at the opening of the new map, a large number of players rushed to the ruins, hoping to replicate the success of the two. Of course, quite a few high-level players also intended to explore the Underworld via Rivendell¡¯s entrance. Especially some players yearning for a quick upgrade. Though NPCs could offer tasks, with considerable experience and contribution point rewards, many players still preferred going on adventures and fighting monsters rather than completing tasks obediently. No other reason than the thrill! At the same time, the changes on the game system leaderboard caught the attention of all players. Leaderboards were a new feature added by Eve following the opening of the NPC task system, divided into five major lists: player level rankings, contribution point rankings, combat power ratings, task rankings, and reputation rankings. The player level ranking, as the name implies, ranked players from highest to lowest level, with players of the same level ranked by the amount of experience from high to low. The long-standing dominator of this list was Boxed Lunch. The contribution point ranking was determined by the amount of contribution points players had; the more they had, the higher they ranked. Since contribution points could be traded, players jokingly called this the wealthy list, with Little Xian Miao almost always first. When she wasn¡¯t first, players would know that there would be one less piece of golden legendary equipment in the exchange mall. The combat power rating ranked players based on their level, equipment, the number of battles they participated in, and the amount of experience they gained through battles. The top of this list was still Boxed Lunch, while Fried Tomato with Egg and Little Xian Miao took the second and third spots. The task ranking compiled players¡¯ completed tasks and ranked them according to comprehensive evaluation, from high to low. The top of this list was Mengmeng Committee Construction Team¡¯s captain, Gu Gu Niao, who consistently took on construction tasks, achieving very high evaluations. The final reputation ranking was based on players¡¯ favorability among NPCs, evaluated comprehensively from high to low. As the most ingratiating and fawning player among the others, Li Mu was unsurprisingly first on this list. This time, the change was in the player level ranking and combat power rating lists. It wasn¡¯t the ranking itself that changed much, but the values. Players noticed that Boxed Lunch¡¯s level was no longer 20 but had become 21! Boxed Lunch became the first player in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± to advance to Black Iron Middle Rank! Level 20 was the peak of Black Iron Lower Rank, while level 21 was Black Iron Middle Rank. Though only one level apart, Black Iron Lower Rank and Black Iron Middle Rank differed by a tier, significantly enhancing various physical abilities. When Boxed Lunch leveled up to 21, his score on the combat power rating list tripled instantly, reaching 10,000 points, leaving the second place¡¯s 1,500 points far behind... This discovery made players feel envious and amazed. ¡°As expected of Boxed Lunch, so quickly reaching middle rank.¡± ¡°Oh my gosh... a combat power rating of 10,000... I¡¯ve only got 233 points at level 15. Is the gap really this big?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a life-oriented player, right? Not much battling, huh? Killing monsters would increase your score.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also a combat-oriented player... but my score is only over 800...¡± ¡°Boxed Lunch¡¯s combat power could probably sweep through players, right?¡± ¡°More than players, I heard he single-handedly took down more than ten Black Iron Lower Rank human mercenaries while doing a hidden quest...¡± ¡°Wow... terrifying...¡± When Boxed Lunch leveled up, Eve also took notice. In fact, during Boxed Lunch¡¯s battle, She paid special attention to the entire process. One had to admit, Boxed Lunch was indeed a combat genius; among the 1,200 beta players, Eve couldn¡¯t find another as fierce as him. He had incredibly rich experience in reconnaissance, combat, and rescue! However, considering Boxed Lunch¡¯s real-life profession, Eve felt reassured. The 1,200 beta players weren¡¯t randomly selected; Eve chose them based on their gaming hours on Blue Star. Additionally, She especially selected streamers, professional players, and even some high-education talents. Of course, Eve was clear about all the selected players¡¯ personal information, as the internet in Blue Star World was very developed, allowing Eve to find all the information She wanted through the internet. Boxed Lunch, in reality, was a first-line retired narcotics police officer with a personal history so rich it could fill a novel... Much like Li Mu, Eve also listed Boxed Lunch as a key observation target, planning to cultivate him specially if needed in the future. After Boxed Lunch was the first to reach Black Iron Middle Rank, Eve also planned to update the contribution mall. ¡°Many high-level players have already saved enough for a complete set of purple epic equipment, and Boxed Lunch has already leveled up, and now there¡¯s a new map, so it seems players will gradually have a new wave of advancement soon.¡± ¡°To give them more motivation, it¡¯s time to update the exchange content.¡± After pondering for a moment, Eve took out a batch of Black Iron Middle Rank equipment already prepared in Divine Country... These were once the ¡®worthless scrap¡¯ offered by players in sacrificial ceremonies. Chapter 154 - 151: The Dog Has Devised New Equipment! Chapter 154: Chapter 151: The Dog Has Devised New Equipment! Chosen City, Natural Temple. In the side temple of the temple, it was bustling as usual. Many players gathered here, earnestly praying in front of the Goddess¡¯s statue, their praises for the Goddess rising and falling... As they prayed, a bright Holy Light would occasionally flash in front of them... After the Holy Light, a piece of magnificent equipment would appear out of thin air before them. Then, the players who prayed would quickly put on or pick up the equipment and leave happily. Of course, there were also players who didn¡¯t receive equipment after praying, but were instead surrounded by the Holy Light, their eyes dazed. *After a moment, when they came back to their senses, they would check their status excitedly and leave...* This was the place where players entered the game¡¯s exchange system. Whether exchanging for equipment or skills, or meditation skills and training methods, they all needed to come here. While players could view various items and skill books in the exchange shop interface of the game system, that was just for viewing. *When they actually wanted to exchange items, they had to pray to the Goddess¡¯s statue to receive a response.* Additionally, players also needed to come here when changing careers. *Only by praying to the Goddess¡¯s statue could players return to the job change interface.* Although with the return of the Flame Tribe, players could change careers through skills taught by NPCs, players didn¡¯t really like that job change mode. Because the skills taught by NPCs and the job changes had to be learned bit by bit, which took too long. In contrast, learning skills through the exchange shop and changing careers in the temple were immediate, a direct infusion. *Therefore, aside from the most frugal players among civilians, few people chose to seek job changes or learn ordinary skills from NPCs.* After all, most players were impatient, and when there were faster, better, and more convenient ways to increase their power, they wouldn¡¯t choose to suffer. *As a result, except for those who could issue quests or offer unique skill learning around NPCs, the various natural temples in the Elf Forest were the busiest.* When the job change function and exchange function first appeared, the Natural Temple in Chosen City was almost overwhelmed by players with needs; back then, players even had to line up very long just for job changes and exchanges... Because of this, not only did the players have a lot of complaints, but Natural Saintess Alice also found it particularly troublesome. The temple was supposed to be a sacred place, needing to maintain a solemn and quiet atmosphere. *A bunch of unruly Chosen Ones making a fuss made the Holy Daughter quite upset.* In the end, it was Eve who issued tasks through the system, prompting players to build several specific side temples around the temple, and Alice made some new statues of Eve to be worshipped inside, solving the problem. ... As usual, today the side temple of the Natural Temple had many players visiting. After completing the main quest of the Half-Beast Tribe, most high-level players who participated in the battle became wealthy. After that, many people immediately chose to exchange all their equipment for a complete set of purple epic gear. Especially the spellcasting players! In the current version of ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± spellcasters were recognized as the money-burning profession. Because the equipment for spellcasters was scarce, almost solely dependent on exchange. For the vast majority of strength-based players, they could capture a lot of usable equipment while fighting the Half-Beast, but not spellcasters. The number of priests among Half-Beasts was very few, and only some lucky ones could pick up the equipment they dropped. Although the elves of the Flame Tribe could also forge some decent magical equipment, it was far from enough. *For most mage and druid players, they could only rely on grinding tasks to accumulate contribution points to acquire equipment in the exchange store.* Through this task, mage and druid players also acquired a lot of Half-Beast equipment. By offering sacrifices to the Goddess, they finally accumulated enough contribution points to exchange for the equipment they desired. Of course, it wasn¡¯t just spellcasters who chose to exchange equipment, the majority of strength-based players would also choose to swap their gear for those from the exchange system. Even though... they already had captured a full set of Half-Beast equipment. This wasn¡¯t just because the captured Half-Beast equipment didn¡¯t fit well, it was also because the exchanged equipment indeed was better. Eve¡¯s special effects weren¡¯t just pretty, after all, it was the work of the True God, and while looking good, the quality of the equipment had improved considerably. The first taunt tank warrior in the entire server, the first civilian player to complete the purple epic set, Dema, once discussed equipment on the forum. He compared the quality and effects after equipping four types of Black Iron Lower Rank sets: golden legendary, purple epic, blue rare, and white common, evaluated the needed contribution points, and finally considered the players¡¯ upgrade speed, concluding a civilian build: In the early versions, when equipment update speed was slow, assembling a complete set of Black Iron Lower Purple Epic gear could be used for a long time, and the practical effects were great. This had its reasons. Even though it was only Black Iron Lower purple epic, purple epic was still purple epic, and the difference from other equipment was quite substantial. Dema compared the captured Black Iron Upper strength Half-Beast equipment and found that the quality of their equipment was actually about the same as the Black Iron Lower Purple Epic gear in the exchange shop! Of course, the captured Half-Beast equipment was almost all white common after system appraisal, with inferior quality. Half-Beasts themselves didn¡¯t have high forging skills, their equipment was almost all bought from humans, and humans would generally sell them some substandard products, so the poor quality was quite normal... The equipment Box Lunch Squad captured from the human caravans wasn¡¯t even on the same level as the Half-Beast¡¯s. After identification, they found that the equipment was at least blue rare, and a few brand-new magical pieces were even rated purple epic! And Dema¡¯s post eventually became a benchmark. As of now, a full set of purple epic Black Iron Lower gear had become the recognized high-end civilian graduate equipment! At this moment in the side temple of the Natural Temple, a few players who had accumulated enough contribution points completed their last set of purple epic equipment. *Seeing their combat power rating suddenly increase substantially, they felt very excited:* ¡°Great, finally graduated from this gear.¡± ¡°Hahaha! Now I don¡¯t have to think about equipment for a long time, just focus on leveling!¡± ¡°Hey, now that Rivendell exploration groups demand at least level 15 graduation, they¡¯ll probably require higher levels later, we¡¯ve got to work hard.¡± ¡°The grind kings are terrifying, I heard that Box Lunch and their team have an average level of 17 already...¡± ¡°Ugh... maybe in another month, the minimum level will be 20.¡± ¡°Scary, they¡¯re really all grind machines!¡± ¡°Luckily, the equipment updates slower, we can breathe a little and focus on leveling up.¡± ¡°I heard from Dema that the purple epic Black Iron Lower equipment is comparable to white common Black Iron Upper gear! This purple epic set should last us until level 30.¡± ¡°Products from the shop guarantee quality! Except... they¡¯re a bit pricey.¡± ¡°You get what you pay for! This equipment will serve us for a long time.¡± Just when they were rejoicing, a new system message suddenly floated across everyone¡¯s vision: [Ding¡ª] [Player ¡°Box Lunch¡± has leveled up to 21, becoming the first Black Iron Middle Rank player in the game, and has received a reward of 3000 contribution points] [The Black Iron Middle Rank exchange items are now available, related equipment has been listed in the exchange shop] [Ding¡ª] [White Common Black Iron Middle Rank equipment has been listed] [Blue Rare Black Iron Middle Rank equipment has been listed] [Purple Epic Black Iron Middle Rank equipment has been listed] ... Players: ... ¡°Damn, the devs just dropped new gear!¡± Chapter 155 - 152: Eves Plan (Two in one, additional chapter for Alliance Hierarch yyze) Chapter 155: Chapter 152: Eve¡¯s Plan (Two in one, additional chapter for Alliance Hierarch yyze) ¡°How did new equipment come out so quickly?¡± The players looked at each other in confusion. ¡°Is it because of Box Meal Boss¡¯s promotion?¡± ¡°Damn... Is the equipment exchange system in this game tied to the player¡¯s advancement level? New equipment unlocked with each upgrade?¡± ¡°Shit, I just exchanged for epic gear, and my contribution points are all gone!¡± ¡°Damn... my liver hurts again.¡± ¡°Why is the damn developer in such a hurry to update the equipment? Can¡¯t even give us a breather...¡± ¡°Quick, check out the newly launched equipment!¡± While cursing the damn developers, they opened the exchange mall in the system. Sure enough, a batch of new equipment had been added to the equipment exchange section. There were strength-based and magic-casting types, from shoes to armor to robes to weapons¡ªeverything you could imagine, all marked as Black Iron Middle Rank equipment. However, there were only three quality levels, white common, blue rare, and purple epic; there was no golden legendary tier available. Visually, these items didn¡¯t look much different from those of the same quality in the Black Iron Lower Rank, but in the equipment ratings, they scored much higher than the same quality Black Iron Lower items. In ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± the weapons and gear did not specify particular attribute details, like the usual MMORPG stats such as ¡°Damage +5,¡± ¡°Armor Penetration +10,¡± ¡°Defense +20,¡± etc. *This was absent.* This was because ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was full of uncertainties, where pure data sometimes didn¡¯t explain the situation, and categorizing gear by specific attributes wasn¡¯t suitable. *At least that¡¯s what the players thought.* While there were no specific numbers displayed, blue rare and above equipment had some special effects; these effects appeared not only in looks but also in characteristics. For example, ¡°Toughness,¡± gear with toughness appeared shinier and was more durable in use. Like the blue rare human gear the Box Meal squad looted, after system appraisal, it was rated as having the ¡°Toughness¡± feature. Generally speaking, the rarer the equipment, the more special effects it possessed, and simultaneously, the stronger they were. Little Xian Miao¡¯s exchange of a gold legendary Black Iron Lower Devil¡¯s Wand even had three enviable features: ¡°Faster Spell Casting,¡± ¡°Enhanced Spell Effects,¡± and ¡°Faster Meditation.¡± It¡¯s not just weapon stats that were fuzzy¡ª Although the player¡¯s personal status bar still displayed health points and magic points, and even had four major attributes¡ªconstitution, strength, agility, and magic power¡ª players found that in actual combat, these stats were just references and couldn¡¯t be relied upon as an actual measure of combat power. With bad luck, if someone stabbed you in a vital spot, your health bar could instantly plummet to zero. *And this... made players feel that this virtual reality game was more realistic and intriguing.* After all, reality was often full of uncertainties too. There were no specific attributes, and instead, there was an equipment rating. Generally speaking, the higher the rating, the better the equipment quality! The equipment rating would also be included in personal combat power scores. Players, after checking out the newly launched batch of equipment, found that their ranking compared to previous gear ratings went something like this: Lower White Black Iron And the contribution points required for exchange were similarly ranked, roughly like this: Lower White Black Iron Seeing the purple epic Black Iron Lower gear was still fairly ahead in ranking, the players who exchanged for it breathed a little easier. *At least... it ensured their exchanges weren¡¯t entirely meaningless.* But, when they saw that the same contribution points could exchange for a higher-rated Lower Blue Black Iron Middle gear, they felt a sudden sense of regret... ¡°Damn, if only I¡¯d waited a bit longer, I could¡¯ve exchanged for the Lower Blue Black Iron Middle set, and had better ratings...¡± Some players sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad, at least... our purple epic has two special effects, while the blue rare gear only has one.¡± Another player consoled themselves. Special features were still crucial, and gear with good effects often received more player favor. However, when Eve initially added effects to the gear, nearly all of them were done randomly... *Yes, it was absolutely not because she was lazy, but to increase the players¡¯ fun.* Before redeeming the exchanged gear from the system, the mall would only display how many features the item had. Only after you retrieved the gear could you find out exactly what special effects it carried. Which meant, whether the special effects on the exchanged gear were good or bad depended on luck... *Yes, a European luck-based game.* Of course, golden legendary gear was an exception. All golden legendary gear came with the best effects, which were also specified in advance. At this moment, someone noticed that among all the launched equipment, the highest rating still belonged to the Black Iron Lower Gold Legend. This compelled them to lament: ¡°Gold legend is indeed a gold legend... Even the purple gear in Black Iron Middle can¡¯t compare to the gold in Black Iron Lower!¡± ¡°After all, it¡¯s a toy for the rich...¡± Chapter 156 - 152: Eves Plan (Two in One, Additional Update for Alliance Hierarch yyze)_2 Chapter 156: Chapter 152: Eve¡¯s Plan (Two in One, Additional Update for Alliance Hierarch yyze)_2 ¡°Aaaaaah! When will I have a piece of gold legendary equipment too!¡± ¡°It¡¯s too expensive... one piece costs tens of thousands of contribution points, enough to get two or three full sets of purple gear.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, isn¡¯t Little Xian Miao the only one fully decked out in gold gear now?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a big spender, we can¡¯t compete. I heard during a PK match, she activated the magic shield on her robe, and no one could harm her while she stood there.¡± ¡°Awesome!¡± ¡°Boss Boxed Meal also has a golden dagger, which I heard was exchanged for a limited edition in the mall, and it¡¯s particularly powerful among gold gear.¡± ¡°They¡¯re all power players. We better play it safe and aim for the purple and black gear instead. The ratings aren¡¯t too far apart...¡± Looking at the newly listed equipment, the joy they felt upon graduation had completely vanished. And seeing the contribution points needed for the purple epic Black Iron Middle Equipment, they felt their legs go weak: ¡°Wow... a purple legendary Black Iron Middle Equipment costs twenty to thirty thousand contribution points... why don¡¯t they just rob us?!¡± ¡°Oh no, my liver hurts again!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it... let¡¯s just keep grinding.¡± The players shook their heads, sighed, and left the side hall of the Natural Temple. Although the gold legendary Black Iron equipment still had the highest rating, a few civilian players didn¡¯t consider it. Because... you get what you pay for. Even if higher-level equipment appears, the gold legendary Black Iron equipment¡¯s contribution points requirement was still nearly double that of the purple Black Iron... There¡¯s no gold legendary equipment under fifty thousand contribution points. ... ¡°Well, let¡¯s leave it at that for now! The gold legendary equipment can be released later. After all, gold is the most precious, let¡¯s have the players get used to everything else first.¡± After listing the equipment in the mall and observing players¡¯ reactions, Eve felt quite satisfied. Though they cursed the developers slightly, the players still enthusiastically continued grinding missions. After listing the equipment, Eve began to consider future development. ¡°This time I destroyed Uller¡¯s Demigod Envoy, he¡¯s definitely not going to let it go. But... with my warning, he¡¯ll probably retaliate through a faith war...¡± Faith wars were considered a common form of conflict among True Gods. In short, the True Gods didn¡¯t intervene themselves, but let battles among followers decide the outcome. This rule was to protect the Main Material Plane where the followers resided. After all, True Gods were so powerful that a full-scale intervention would cause terrifying damage to the material world, potentially even destroying the plane in the worst cases. The Divine Power of a True God of Faith originated from faith, and faith, in turn, from believers... It could be said that believers were the cornerstone of a True God of Faith. When a True God of Faith lost all believers in a faith war, her foundation was gone. Prayers ascending into the Divine Country would gradually unite with the True God over time, meaning that even prayers weren¡¯t eternal, there¡¯d always be an end, though this time frame was longer for ordinary beings. And when believers vanished, prayers perished too, the True God of Faith entirely lost her source of Divine Power. At that time, all that awaited her was either demise or slumber... And for new gods, believers were even more crucial. Established True Gods had countless prayers, abundant Divine Power, even if they lost their believers, they could linger for a time, seeking opportunities to restore faith. But new gods were different, they had shallow roots, many didn¡¯t even have a Divine Country. Even if they did, their prayers were limited, let alone Divine Power. Generally speaking, just wipe out their believers, and a new god¡¯s demise was not far off. So... Eve surmised that Uller would definitely choose to start a faith war! Eve was masquerading as a new god. To the average person, as long as her forces in the Elf Forest were destroyed, she was doomed. And this... was exactly what Eve wanted. War would bring death. And large-scale war would give her the opportunity to absorb life force! Uller¡¯s base of believers was still significant, with Eve using players as shields and spears to fight against Uller¡¯s followers, she could logically use the war sacrifices to steal their life force! Over time... it would add up to something quite terrifying. In fact, this was also how many Evil Gods grew stronger... Most Evil Gods incited wars, conducting blood sacrifices to gain power. However, unlike them, Eve absorbed only life force, not souls, hence she wasn¡¯t despised by the other gods. Of course, Eve absolutely wouldn¡¯t admit to being an Evil God. *¡±Her actions were merely reclaiming the lost life force during faith wars, without touching others¡¯ souls. How could that be considered evil?¡±* *¡±Besides, is there any Evil God this good-looking?¡±* *¡±Anyway... even if she didn¡¯t reclaim life force, it¡¯d dissipate, might as well let her absorb it.¡±* However, preparations were needed for faith wars. Uller couldn¡¯t send a large army quickly, so Eve now had obtained a precious development period. She could use this time to develop her forces properly. After all... given the players¡¯ current strength, without Eve herself stepping in, they surely couldn¡¯t win the faith war. Although they could resurrect, they couldn¡¯t withstand strong enemies! When the power gap was large enough, infinite resurrection became meaningless... *¡±Occasionally stepping in was fine, more than a few times, and someone might start suspecting.¡±* So... it was essential to enhance the players¡¯ strength and develop the forces of the Elf Forest. ¡°I can consider taking this time to plant some fields well!¡± Chapter 157 - 152: Eves Plan (Two in One, Additional Update for Alliance Hierarch yyze)_3 Chapter 157: Chapter 152: Eve¡¯s Plan (Two in One, Additional Update for Alliance Hierarch yyze)_3 ¡°Rivendell has already been found, exploration is definitely necessary, and it would be great if we could find some ancient texts.¡± ¡°Additionally, although the Elf Forest is rich in resources, mineral resources are quite scarce. We might consider having the players rebuild Rivendell like they rebuilt Feilengcui and search for ore veins...¡± ¡°However, at this stage, we lack manpower, so we can take it slow for now.¡± ¡°The Underworld can also be explored. I could refrain from intervening as players are naturally curious; they will likely venture in on their own, and then we can decide based on their feedback.¡± ¡°Perhaps... the monsters in the Underworld could also provide me with some life force!¡± ¡°Once the Underworld has been thoroughly explored, we can consider launching the public test.¡± ¡°However... starting the public test now feels too early because the foundation of the Elf Forest hasn¡¯t been solidified. If too many players flood in at once, everything will undoubtedly descend into chaos, plus I don¡¯t have that much Divine Power to waste...¡± ¡°Mm... if it really doesn¡¯t work, we could limit the number of players. Or rather, keep it a closed test but increase the number of participants.¡± ¡°As for the specific number, between five and ten thousand should do. At most, it would cost a bit over thirty points of Divine Power. This number, combined with the players¡¯ ability to resurrect, would provide potential for faith wars in defensive battles.¡± Currently, Eve¡¯s Divine Power stood at nearly 400 points, making her wealthy enough to accept spending merely 30 points of Divine Power. ¡°But, that¡¯s still for later, not urgent. There is another matter to handle at this stage...¡± Eve sighed, recalling the players¡¯ behavior during the attacks on the Half-Beast Tribe and the Human Caravan... ¡°Some of the players¡¯ conduct is still too inappropriate. I need to find a way to make them pay attention to their decorum, or rather their image... at least, it should be somewhat presentable.¡± ¡°Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be conducive to cooperation between the players and the native elves. When more players arrive, things will definitely get out of hand.¡± While Li Mu¡¯s game review at the start of the beta test had changed players¡¯ perceptions of NPCs, the impact was obviously limited. This was actually Eve¡¯s fault as well. After all, a game is a game. No matter how immersive it is, you can¡¯t expect players to treat a game as they would reality... This actually had its pros and cons. Gamifying the world would not only fill players with excitement and motivation but also create many potential risks. Players jumping around was inevitable, as was their impatience. After all... reality was already so harsh; couldn¡¯t they just let loose a little while playing games? However, Eve¡¯s expectations for the players weren¡¯t high either. As long as players behaved like human beings during ¡°plot progression,¡± without truly scaring the natives. Otherwise... it would really amount to a ¡°calamity.¡± In summary, the key was for players to truly understand how to quickly improve the native elves¡¯ favorability toward them, and how to genuinely integrate into this game world. As for how to achieve this, Eve already had some ideas. Among the players, there were already some excellent examples of doing quite well in this regard. One of them was Li Mu. Chapter 158 - 153 I Already Have One Chapter 158: Chapter 153 I Already Have One In a small garden of Chosen City, Li Mu was undertaking the daily task of looking after the little elf girls and boys. This task was assigned to him by Alice. Initially, the task was just to help El with her little sisters. But with the return of Nightingale, her younger siblings also joined in. These young elves would follow Alice and Philosier every morning to learn for a few hours, and then have two hours of exercise time. During exercise time, it was the Chosen Ones who were responsible for watching the children. For players, this was a leisurely duty. Because they could easily train themselves while taking care of the kids, and also boost their NPC, especially the little ones¡¯, favorability on the side. Unfortunately, not everyone could accept this task. Only players who earned the trust of the Holy Daughter would be assigned this task by her. As one of the few players who had boosted Alice¡¯s favorability to 80, only Li Mu and Cuckoo Bird could take on this task. Alice was a unique purple-framed NPC in the entire server, and her task rewards were second only to the Goddess herself. So... this was almost like getting free experience points and contribution degrees. Actually, not only with Alice, but among all NPCs whose favorability display was now open, every one Li Mu had interacted with had their favorability towards him pushed quite high. Even with Nightingale, who he had only met a few times, had a favorability of 40 for him. As for Alice, Berserker, and the little elves he often took care of, many favorability levels exceeded 60. For all believers of Eve, the favorability display towards players would be open. And although El and Nightingale¡¯s younger siblings were quite young, after their older siblings accepted the faith, they became believers of Eve as well, so their favorability would also show. Of course, they were only shallow believers and couldn¡¯t issue tasks. However, even if they couldn¡¯t issue tasks, the little elf kids¡¯ favorability intrigued the players. For most creatures, the cuteness of the young ones far surpassed that of adults by miles. And as elves with outstanding features, their childlike appearance was unbearably adorable. Those pure big eyes, tender skin, coupled with delicate and lovely features, were like gifts from heaven, much like little angels from a fairy tale, naturally triggering a protective desire in people... Therefore, the little ones¡¯ popularity among players skyrocketed, quickly surpassing Alice and becoming second only to the Goddess Eve. Many players came to join in the fun, trying all sorts of ways to please the little ones, just to see them smile and sweetly call them brother or sister. They would also take screenshots, record videos, and then post them on forums and video websites to show off. Of course, there were also mischievous players who wanted to coax the little ones to say some odd things... But those players were quickly chased away by Li Mu and Cuckoo Bird, who were taking care of the children. Preventing the young elves from being taught strange knowledge by players was also part of their task requirements. However, unlike those carefree and easily duped human kids, the little ones were very alert. If one couldn¡¯t patiently and sincerely communicate with them, it was hard to gain their friendship. What players lacked the most was patience... Unless there were enormous benefits involved. But unfortunately, aside from a few lifestyle players, the little ones¡¯ appeal to them was merely at the level of mascots. After all, not everyone was as pretty and attractive as the Goddess, nor could they offer tasks with huge rewards. So... many players gave up after their initial enthusiasm faded. Of course, Li Mu wasn¡¯t one of them. He was the first player to earn the trust of the children. For this, other players even gave him the nickname ¡°Friend of NPCs.¡± Actually, many players envied Li Mu¡¯s relationship with NPCs. But most of them didn¡¯t have the temperament to truly interact with NPCs on an equal footing. In other words... although boosting favorability could benefit players, it was limited. They preferred to spend the time on fighting more monsters and doing more tasks rather than boosting favorability. Aside from some private tasks, as long as the favorability with NPCs was above zero, it was enough to accept their tasks. For most players, the time cost of gaining higher favorability with NPCs didn¡¯t equal the benefits received. Of course, there were also some introverted players who were genuinely not good at social interactions and didn¡¯t know how to deal with NPCs. Not to mention NPCs, these players struggled with interpersonal issues in real life... Additionally, the elves were too straightforward. Even with the Mother Goddess¡¯ ¡°quest system¡± gift, they were serious and earnest when issuing tasks, considering the system sacred, and insisted on being relatively fair and just, not entirely based on personal preference... In fact, these situations were quite common on Blue Star. Sometimes, the leader¡¯s mere words were enough for people below to over-imagine and do a lot of work that the leader didn¡¯t actually care about, even going as far as unnecessary extra work, sometimes with results that were poles apart... ... Just when Li Mu¡¯s agreed time with Alice to babysit was about to end, suddenly, a familiar, heart-wrenching howl reached him from afar: ¡°Brother Mu, Brother Mu! Did you see? New equipment has been released! Several new sets all at once, my gosh!¡± Li Mu turned his head and saw Demacia approaching with a mournful face. He pondered for a moment, then notified Cuckoo Bird through the friend list to take over the shift, and then he looked at Demacia and asked, ¡°I saw it. What¡¯s the matter?¡± Demacia shook his head, sighing, ¡°It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. Just a while ago, I confidently assured on the official website that there wouldn¡¯t be new equipment in the short term, and now I¡¯ve been completely slapped in the face...¡± Li Mu: ... ¡°Who told you to play the fat one in order to test equipment?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Who knew there would be updates so fast! Sigh... Looks like I have to grind again. I was planning on saving up contribution points to exchange for a durable defensive gold gear.¡± Demacia lamented in pain. Then he looked at Li Mu in confusion and asked, ¡°By the way, Brother Mu, aren¡¯t you in a rush to grind tasks for new equipment? I feel like ever since you completed the main quest of the Half-Beast, you¡¯ve been slacking.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we explore Rivendell together? A lot of people are heading there now.¡± ¡°The internet is full of exploration videos of Rivendell. Uh... By the way, I remember you mentioned recently that you¡¯re short on cash. Why not explore together and make a video to earn some extra money?¡± He said with some anticipation. Li Mu shook his head, responding, ¡°My equipment was enough for now.¡± ¡°What do you mean enough! Brother Mu, haven¡¯t you seen the system? They just added purple epic Black Iron Middle Rank gear! The equipment ratings are several times higher than the purple bottom!¡± Demacia muttered. Then he felt puzzled, ¡°Besides, you don¡¯t seem busy, you babysit for Alice every day... I heard you even went to see the new Miss Nighthawk yesterday. You¡¯re increasing your reputation, aren¡¯t you? But is there a need to boost it so high?¡± Li Mu: ... He pondered and scratched his head, saying, ¡°It¡¯s not exactly as you think, it¡¯s still useful... I think maybe the officials haven¡¯t fully tapped into the potential of favorability yet.¡± ¡°The theme of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ is the rise of the Elf Clan, and NPCs also represent the Elf Clan! The game emphasizes immersive experience, so I believe our relationship with NPCs is significant.¡± ¡°Trust me, the officials will capitalize on favorability eventually. Boosting it early is definitely worth it later. When more players come, it might not be as easy to raise.¡± Demacia listened and shook his head, ¡°Honestly, Brother Mu, I don¡¯t think favorability matters much. My reputation value is still 0, but I¡¯m still taking on tasks smoothly.¡± ¡°Besides, you should level up. Recently, you¡¯ve been too laid-back, I¡¯m already level 18 and surpassed you by 2 levels!¡± ¡°And... new equipment! We have new gear, shouldn¡¯t we update?¡± Demacia excitedly pointed at the system exchange interface. ¡°I already have the equipment.¡± Li Mu shook his head. He pulled out a rugged magic wand and showed off his evidently modified priest robe, ¡°I picked up the Half-Beast Priest¡¯s equipment before, brought back his wand and priest robe, see... modified a bit, and I¡¯m wearing them now.¡± Demacia: ... ¡°Damn, it turns out you were the one who picked up the Half-Beast BOSS¡¯s equipment, Brother Mu!¡± He widened his eyes in surprise. Li Mu nodded and continued, ¡°The system identified them as white normal level Silver Lower equipment. Though they didn¡¯t have special effects, their ratings were about the same as gold gear of the bottom rank. So until better gear appears, I don¡¯t plan to exchange them.¡± Demacia: ... ¡°Damn, why didn¡¯t I think of grabbing the BOSS equipment back then!¡± He lamented with deep-envy on his face. As they were talking, a system message suddenly flashed before all players¡¯ eyes¡ª [Ding¡ª] [Announcement: ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± will undergo a patch update the next day, expected to take 10 minutes. Please prepare to log off in advance.] Chapter 159 - 154: Brother Mu, life is so hard for me! Chapter 159: Chapter 154: Brother Mu, life is so hard for me! ¡°Patch update?¡± The two of them were slightly taken aback. Since the beta test of Elf Kingdom, there had only been one major and one minor version update. Although players often noticed that the game system seemed to update small things inadvertently, they were all harmless refinements. It¡¯s the beta test! Everyone understood. But it was still the first time for a patch update to be announced in such a formal way. Li Mu and Demacia checked the time and didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. It was just ten minutes, so they figured they would just log out early when the time came. ... When Li Mu decided to re-enter the game, it was already the next day on Blue Star. Taking advantage of this update, he completely disconnected the game cabin and had a good sleep in reality. Previously, when he slept in reality, his consciousness always entered the game. Although physical fatigue could be recovered through sleep, long-term gaming would still bring mental exhaustion. Of course, some players found a solution to this problem too. That is, during in-game sleep, make their consciousness sleep in the game as well. However, Li Mu still chose to disconnect from the game cabin occasionally for a proper rest. Otherwise... *he felt he would eventually not be able to distinguish between the game and reality.* Elf Kingdom was just too realistic, a game that made Li Mu think of the old series of movies he had watched, The Matrix. As time went on, he increasingly suspected that the developers crafted this masterpiece-level virtual MMO based on The Matrix standards. *Honestly, it was crazy; even the act of... defecating was there. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was about realism or just sheer madness...* If it weren¡¯t for the system and background music, he feared he really would mix it up with reality. In conclusion, it was confirmed that the technology used in Elf Kingdom differed from other online games. Perhaps... this was the true immersive online game players dreamt of. *Li Mu pondered in his heart.* And combined with the speed-of-thought acceleration, if players spent too much time in the game, it might indeed have some influence... ¡°Actually... if this game were reality, it would be quite good. But unfortunately, a game is still just a game.¡± Li Mu sighed, started the game cabin, and flipped through the backend of his streaming platform on his phone. It was now July, and the university was on summer break, so Li Mu had more spare time. However, as a streamer, he hadn¡¯t gone live in almost a month... These days, he had been cooped up in his room playing games almost every day, doing little else besides eating, bathing, and uploading videos regularly. The uploaded videos were, of course, recorded gameplay of Elf Kingdom, mainly including playback clips of Li Mu¡¯s gaming sessions and tips he discovered in-game, such as how to quickly increase NPC favorability. As a game review streamer, since playing Elf Kingdom, Li Mu had been completely absorbed and hadn¡¯t touched any other virtual reality games. Due to the sped-up thought processes, Elf Kingdom couldn¡¯t be streamed normally on Blue Star, causing his streaming channel to become neglected. Fortunately, recording was still possible. Despite Elf Kingdom not being publicly released, it had already attracted countless fans online. As a result, Li Mu also took on the role of a content creator, barely making a living off the traffic from his recordings. However, as a review streamer, Li Mu¡¯s gaming skills weren¡¯t particularly strong, and his recorded gameplay videos weren¡¯t particularly refined. And he wasn¡¯t the only content creator chosen as a beta player for Elf Kingdom, some of whom were very skilled in post-production. So... although his videos had a decent amount of views, they weren¡¯t particularly popular among the Elf Kingdom-related videos. Still, when he habitually opened his platform backend, he discovered that the view numbers for his recorded videos had suddenly exploded. Especially for the series he made earlier on ¡°How to Increase NPC Favor in Elf Kingdom.¡± In this series, Li Mu summarized some characteristics of the elf NPCs in Elf Kingdom. He meticulously analyzed the elves¡¯ beliefs, personalities, and preferences based on the official elf history to help players communicate better with NPCs. However, when the series was first uploaded, the response was less than great. The process of grinding NPC favor was too slow, and the benefits were limited. Even without grinding favor, as long as you were polite when receiving tasks, NPCs would still give you missions. Although maxing out favor might gain NPC trust, leading to some secret missions, most players felt the time would be better spent grinding mobs. Except for the purple NPC, Alice, they didn¡¯t think any other NPCs were worth the effort. For the true grind experts, besides the main storyline missions with huge rewards, forming groups to grind mobs was still the fastest way to level up. So, Li Mu had always expected the lukewarm response to his videos. *But now... what was happening?* Li Mu noticed that the traffic data for his series of videos had increased tenfold! And when he went to bed yesterday, the series was still lukewarm. This left him a bit confused: ¡°How did the clicks and comments suddenly skyrocket?¡± He skimmed through and found that many comments were left by beta players: ¡°Congratulations on discovering the treasure of Elf Kingdom!¡± That was the highest-liked comment. ¡°Front-row luck-sucking, awesome 666!¡± That was the second. ¡°Damn! Brother Mu, truly impressive! Front-row seat for the prophet¡¯s spectacle.¡± That was the third. ¡°¡®NPC favor is not pointless, the developers will eventually work on the favor system.¡¯ After seeing that in the video, Mu, are you sure you¡¯re not an insider?¡± ... Li Mu: ... This... what was going on? He was even more confused. Li Mu opened up a certain chat app on his phone and was surprised to find that his chat list had blown up. He had received many private messages, most of them from friends in the Nature¡¯s Heart Guild¡¯s offline chat group. After taking a quick glance, he opened the chat with Demacia, greeted by large exclamation marks: ¡°!!!¡± ¡°Brother Mu¡ª!!! Help! Waaa... I¡¯m done for! I¡¯m really finished this time!¡± ¡°Please share some tips on how to quickly bond with NPCs! Otherwise, I¡¯m doomed!¡± ¡°Oh right, also, when you get in the game, you must help me draw some gear! I¡¯m having such a hard time!¡± Li Mu: ... What kind of nonsense is this? Hmm...? Wait, does the update have something to do with favorability? Li Mu¡¯s eyes lit up. He took a deep breath, set down his phone, and eagerly entered the game cabin... ¡°Game Start¡ªElf Kingdom!¡± ... When Li Mu entered the game, he finally saw the game update announcement. Li Mu didn¡¯t hesitate and clicked it open¡ª [Elf Kingdom Favor and Reputation Patch Update Description¡ª] [Enhancing Favor System] [Player NPC mission rewards will be tied to the task-giving NPC¡¯s favor. Positive favor yields additional reward bonuses, with a maximum bonus rate of 100% (double rewards); negative favor results in penalties on task rewards, with a maximum penalty rate of 50% (halved rewards).] [Improved and Strengthened Reputation System] [Evaluate faction reputation based on NPC favor and conduct a personal comprehensive reputation evaluation based on faction reputation, with a total score of 100 points.] [Based on the comprehensive reputation score, players can receive additional reward bonuses from main, side, and hidden plotline quests, with a maximum bonus rate of 100% (double rewards).] [Based on comprehensive reputation score, players can receive exchange discounts in the mall for class transitions, skills, books, and perfect resurrection counts; the higher your score, the bigger the discount, with a maximum 50% reduction in exchange costs (half consumption).] [Based on comprehensive reputation score, players can receive a luck buff for equipment exchanges in the mall. Higher scores increase the chances of drawing rare-effect equipment, up to 100% (guaranteed rare draw). This buff is effective once per day.] Li Mu: ... Chapter 160 - 155 The Admirable Chosen One Chapter 160: Chapter 155 The Admirable Chosen One Looking at the system update notes, Li Mu felt a surge of excitement, ¡°The favorability system really has been enhanced!¡± ¡°Bonus rewards? Discounts in the store and even luck value?¡± ¡°Hmm? Doubling the bonus rate? That means it¡¯s equivalent to double quest experience in regular online games!¡± ¡°The maximum discount on skills, tomes, and resurrection counts can reach half off? *Wow, that¡¯ll save a ton of contribution points!*¡± ¡°And... luck value? That¡¯s awesome! The difference between good effects and poor effects on the same level of gear is huge! With this, players with high favorability practically have a Luck King aura!¡± ¡°No wonder Dema said he was finished... With this system released, the gap between high favorability players and low favorability players will widen completely, especially with the main quests whose rewards are exceedingly rich.¡± *Li Mu was exhilarated deep down.* *It was him who would enjoy this system release the most.* *He was the most prestigious man in the entire server!* ¡°Hmm... right, what¡¯s my overall reputation score now?¡± At this thought, Li Mu quickly entered his personal profile. After the game updated, players¡¯ profiles included a new category for overall reputation scores. As expected, Li Mu¡¯s score was 100! The score had a golden frame effect, sparkling and giving off a vibe akin to VIP membership, exuding an air of grandeur. Moreover, there was also a system evaluation below: ¡°As a famed Chosen One, you have earned the admiration of the elves.¡± ¡°Your overall reputation evaluation is: Revered!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Li Mu couldn¡¯t help but pump his fist and exclaim in English. Then, he eagerly opened the store interface. The store interface had subtle changes, and the moment Li Mu entered, the system produced a sweet sound effect, ¡°Welcome, revered Chosen One!¡± Along with the voice, a cute chibi Goddess appeared cheering with confetti on the side. ¡°Interesting!¡± Li Mu¡¯s eyes lit up, instinctively taking a screenshot, and then he checked the redemption store. Sure enough, the exchange prices for all non-equipment items on the shelves were halved! In the bottom right corner of the equipment exchange section, a golden icon of a lucky buff (1/1) appeared, accompanied by a message: ¡°Congratulations, revered Chosen One! Your luck value has reached 100! You¡¯re guaranteed to get rare effects on gear exchange!¡± Revered... guaranteed effect... Li Mu¡¯s lips began to curl into a smile... Actually, the reason he hadn¡¯t exchanged for epic gear wasn¡¯t solely because he obtained the Half-Beast Priest Jushan¡¯s gear, but also due to his historically poor luck in games. Before, he had exchanged for purple gear once or twice, but unfortunately, all he got were trashy effects. Others redeemed magic wands with ¡°Spell Acceleration¡± or ¡°Spell Enhancement,¡± but he got the useless ¡°Spell Affix: Lighting Technique¡± instead... Lighting Technique... Just a zeroth-circle trick, something every player knew, which only cost 200 contribution points to exchange in the store. Though commonly used, it was quite redundant. Of course, this wasn¡¯t the worst effect. The worst effect was one called ¡°Shiny.¡± The ¡°Shiny¡± effect had no combat enhancement, merely making the equipment look better... Perhaps lifestyle players focused on aesthetics might like it, but most combat players despised such impractical effects. Yet some, like Li Mu, always had the misfortune to draw these trashy effects... But now things were different. ¡°Now I¡¯ve become a guaranteed Luck King.¡± *Li Mu felt a surge of joy in his heart.* Even though he acquired Jushan¡¯s gear, he merely got the magic wand and robe, still wearing the purple piece with the ¡°Shiny¡± effect he once darkly exchanged for. Thinking of this, he decided to try it immediately. Li Mu jogged to a side hall of the Natural Temple, prayed to the Goddess statue, and entered the exchange system. Afterwards, he gritted his teeth and used his hard-earned 30,000 contribution points to exchange for a purple epic Black Iron Middle Rank mage shoes. Seeing his contribution points vanish in an instant, his heart ached, ¡°It¡¯s a pity the gear isn¡¯t half-priced; otherwise, I could¡¯ve saved half the contribution points...¡± But, although not half-priced, getting rare effects would be even more incredible! A flash of Holy Light appeared, and a pair of exquisitely designed boots appeared before Li Mu. He impatiently checked them out... The Black Iron Middle Rank purple gear was indeed a Black Iron Middle Rank; its score doubled the one he was wearing. And in the effects section... ¡°It¡¯s actually acceleration!¡± Li Mu took a breath, ecstatic with joy. The ¡°Acceleration¡± effect was rare for mage shoes, allowing one¡¯s movement speed to increase by half. Don¡¯t underestimate that half-speed boost. With speed boots and the skill [Cat¡¯s Grace], a spellcaster¡¯s speed could reach a terrifying level... Players jokingly called them ¡°Hong Kong¡± spellcasters. With the boost, a spellcaster¡¯s speed could even rival that of hunters of the same level! And the hunter class... was always the most agile class. With this speed, a spellcaster¡¯s self-preservation capabilities would dramatically increase like never before. Therefore, for spellcasting classes with weak close combat abilities, ¡°Acceleration¡± was essential for escape, making it a supreme effect! Yet this effect, while powerful, was quite difficult to obtain. Out of twelve hundred beta testers, only a few drew acceleration boots, mostly from rare blue gear, making it an exceptionally rare effect. Li Mu¡¯s purple epic Black Iron Middle Rank shoes with the ¡°Acceleration¡± effect were the first of their kind in the entire server. ¡°Hahaha! This is awesome!¡± *Li Mu felt elated.* At this moment, he also noticed his lucky buff had disappeared, turning to ¡°0/1,¡± along with a note: Restores in 24 hours Blue Star Day. ¡°24 hours in reality? So... it can be used once every four in-game days?¡± *Li Mu pondered thoughtfully.* After the joy subsided, naturally, one would want to share their joy with others, enjoying more happiness through others¡¯ envious eyes. Li Mu grinned, looking around. At this moment, he was surprised to find far fewer players in the temple¡¯s side hall, which usually had quite a few players. Moreover... today¡¯s players in the side hall were clearly here, like him, to check their luck value or discount buff. However, Li Mu occasionally heard their laments, ¡°Ugh, so tragic, my score¡¯s only 20! Task rewards only add 20%.¡± ¡°You should be content; I only have 10 points!¡± ¡°Actually, we aren¡¯t the worst. Did you know? Dema¡¯s score is 0, unique in the server! The system evaluation is uniquely ¡®Cold,¡¯ not even reaching ¡®Neutral.''¡± ¡°Pfft... hahahaha! Zero points? How did he manage that? I spend all my time in the wild, rarely interacting with NPCs, and even I scored 5 points... hmm... I¡¯m ¡®Neutral.''¡± ¡°Because his NPC favorability, aside from El Moonlight, is almost entirely negative. If negative scores were possible, he¡¯d certainly have them.¡± ¡°Hahaha, that poor guy!¡± A few players, who thought their scores were tragic, burst out laughing. Li Mu: ... *No wonder...* *No wonder Dema kept saying he was done for.* *With the favorability system enhanced, even his strong luck couldn¡¯t save him.* *Li Mu sighed; this was the inevitable conclusion of recklessness.* Only someone like Dema dared to act recklessly despite knowing about favorability, messing around with NPCs. Now, others noticed Li Mu. They became excited, ¡°Whoa! Isn¡¯t this Brother Mu?!¡± ¡°Brother Mu! Brother Mu! Your reputation score is so high; what¡¯s your score?¡± ¡°Is it a full hundred?¡± Hearing this, Li Mu¡¯s lips curled slightly, ¡°It¡¯s alright, just barely... got a hundred by chance.¡± The others took a deep breath... ¡°Whoa! It really is a hundred!¡± ¡°I heard the second in reputation, Gugu Bird, only scored 65!¡± ¡°Amazing! Brother Mu, what¡¯s your evaluation?¡± ¡°Evaluation? Well... it¡¯s Revered.¡± Li Mu replied. ¡°*Wow... Revered!*¡± ¡°*That¡¯s really impressive! The highest level, right?*¡± ¡°*So envious! And 100 points... isn¡¯t that like having a Luck King effect? Gear exchange is guaranteed to hit the spot?*¡± Li Mu nodded, ¡°Indeed, I just got ¡®Acceleration¡¯ purple Black Iron shoes.¡± Other players: ... ¡°Whoa!¡± ¡°Whoa!¡± ¡°Acceleration shoes are supreme!¡± ¡°*This is just too enviable, isn¡¯t it?*¡± ¡°*Argh! Why didn¡¯t I grind favorability well back then?!*¡± ¡°*Right, Brother Mu, I watched your video, you¡¯re incredible! No wonder you¡¯ve always been grinding favorability... did you anticipate this day?*¡± One player asked curiously. Li Mu pondered for a moment, nodded, ¡°Of course, because ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ primarily focuses on immersion, and our main storyline is to fight alongside the elves, help them restore civilization, and assist the Goddess in reaching her pinnacle again...¡± ¡°So, naturally, this game requires us to enhance cooperation with NPCs; otherwise... why make the NPCs so realistic? Other games¡¯ mere tool characters would suffice!¡± ¡°So... still, the thing is, although we know it¡¯s a game, we must not merely play it as a game but approach it as role-playing!¡± ¡°Immerse in the story! Immerse in the game! Immerse with our emotions!¡± ¡°That¡¯s true role-playing! That¡¯s the essence of an MMORPG!¡± Li Mu stated. Listening to Li Mu, the others fell into deep thought. Seeing the players start to contemplate his words, Li Mu was quite satisfied. He looked around, then asked curiously, ¡°By the way, why does it seem a lot quieter today?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, with the favorability system out, everyone rushed to Feilengcui to grind favorability with NPCs. It¡¯s practically overflowing now.¡± One player responded. Li Mu: ... Chapter 161 - 156: Players Who Hit a Wall Chapter 161: Chapter 156: Players Who Hit a Wall Elf Blacksmith Carlos Flame had been doing quite well recently. Ever since the ¡°task system¡± came about, he realized he no longer worried about having apprentices to assist with forging. Of course, the premise was to keep one¡¯s mouth shut and not easily reveal certain secrets. Especially when it came to rumors about treasures or ruins. If these Chosen Ones heard such things, they would absolutely run faster than rabbits... *They seemed to have an unparalleled interest in tales of treasures and ruins, fantasizing about digging for treasures and getting rich every day.* *The moment they talked with you, they¡¯d inquire about these...* However, although some would leave, more people continued to show interest in forging. Almost every day, new Chosen Ones would come to Carlos¡¯s forge, asking him to teach them the art of forging. These Chosen Ones were very hard-working, enthusiastic, and many even didn¡¯t ask for any reward! As long as Carlos agreed to teach them the art of forging, they were willing to help him with anything. Whether it was in work or in life... There was even a female Chosen One who, in order to stay and learn, took it upon herself to handle Carlos¡¯s meals, preparing a variety of fruit feasts every day, spoiling Carlos¡¯s palate. This made Carlos exceedingly satisfied, and he increasingly felt that the Mother Goddess was truly great! ¡°Mother Nature above!¡± *Where did She summon these warriors from?* *They¡¯re truly a group of passionate and selfless learners...* *Though, they¡¯re sometimes a bit strange.* Of course, the Chosen Ones didn¡¯t always please Carlos. *They also had some flaws that Carlos disliked.* Sometimes they even made Carlos feel very angry. The thing Carlos was most dissatisfied with was their impulsiveness and tendency to give up easily. Besides... they could be too heartless at times. Almost every Chosen One who came to learn would ask to first learn how to make equipment. But... forging was a technical skill, and trying to learn equipment making without a solid foundation was like building castles in the air. *How could one possibly master equipment forging without several years of practice?* Because of this, Carlos had to scold them. Upon learning that mastering equipment making could take several years, almost every Chosen One who heard this chose to give up and instead requested to be taught how to repair equipment conveniently... Equipment repair was somewhat easier to learn. But as an experienced forging master, Carlos still hoped everyone would start from basics, take it step by step, and eventually grow into outstanding Elf Blacksmiths! But... even with Carlos¡¯s earnest advice, these Chosen Ones were still not giving up. After knowing that repairing equipment was relatively easier, the majority didn¡¯t want to learn anything else but how to simply repair equipment... This even made Carlos somewhat annoyed. *Seriously... there¡¯s so much more forging skills can accomplish. With patience and ten years of dedicated learning, they could forge powerful magic items themselves, so why are these guys so fixated on repairing equipment?* *Is it just because it¡¯s quicker to learn?* *But... what future is there in only knowing how to repair equipment?* Of course, in the end, he couldn¡¯t resist their persistent pleas, and with a softened heart, he agreed. Fortunately, two or three did listen to him and were willing to calm down and start learning from the ground up. And when Carlos began teaching, he was amazed to find that these Chosen Ones were highly talented, mastering many concepts quickly! Especially in the art of forging, many techniques that typically required long practice to form muscle memory were easily grasped by the Chosen Ones after a few tries. This was actually the players¡¯ bodily talents at work. Although Eve couldn¡¯t change their intelligence, their physical potential was enhanced, allowing them to learn skills much faster than the natives. After all... the talent that rivaled the Primordial Elves was no joke. However, what followed deeply disappointed and disheartened Carlos. Every time a Chosen One learned the ability to repair equipment, by the next day, they wouldn¡¯t return. Basically, they¡¯d learn one skill and leave right away. The polite ones would at least say thank you before departing. The less courteous ones would leave without a word, happily. Once they left, they almost never came back... *This made Carlos feel as though he were merely a tool for teaching forging skills, used and tossed aside.* *This left the Old Elf feeling a bit wronged...* *Why did they never return?* *After all... it should count for something, being a teacher-student relationship.* *Am I that unlikeable?* *At least... could they bid a proper goodbye before leaving?* Consequently, he didn¡¯t favor these Chosen Ones as much. Of course, not all Chosen Ones were like this. Those willing to stay long-term mostly respected him. Even though Carlos was aging, his senses were still sharp, and many truly respected him from the heart. Especially a female Chosen One named Meng Zhihan, who earnestly followed him, really treating him as a teacher. So... for those Chosen Ones, he opened his heart, sharing his knowledge freely, genuinely treating them as disciples. *Oh well, each has their own ambitions.* *Those who leave without a word can leave...* *Since they don¡¯t like me, I don¡¯t like them either!* *You treat me as a tool, then I¡¯ll treat you as a tool!* Carlos shook his head. With this mindset, he opened his door. As soon as he stepped outside, Carlos was stunned. He found a large group of Chosen Ones gathered in front of his house! From his memory, most of them had learned skills from him. But many of them were the ones who left without a word after learning how to repair equipment, those who left a negative impression on him. *What¡¯s going on?* *Why have they all come back?* Carlos was completely puzzled. When the Chosen Ones saw Carlos come out, their eyes lit up. In an instant, their faces were filled with flattering smiles, greeting Carlos while offering fruits and gifts: ¡°Ahahaha, good morning, Carlos Teacher!¡± ¡°Grandpa Carlos, I¡¯ve come to see you! Here¡¯s a gift for you!¡± ¡°Grandpa Carlos, thank you for teaching me skills. I left too hastily last time, didn¡¯t say goodbye, so I came to visit you today!¡± ¡°Grandpa Carlos, you look great recently!¡± Carlos: ... *Staring at those enthusiastic smiling faces, he was a bit dazed.* ¡°Hmph, after they¡¯ve left, what are they coming back for?¡± He huffed, puffing his beard in annoyance. However, his expression softened considerably. Seeing Carlos¡¯s softened expression, all the players were overjoyed. They gathered around the Old Elf, paving the way for him while flattering: ¡°You can¡¯t say that, the skills you taught us, we¡¯re truly grateful for them!¡± ¡°Yes! Yes! I really appreciate you!¡± ¡°A day as a teacher means a lifetime as a father, of course, we must come back often to see you!¡± ¡°Yes! Yes! Grandpa Carlos, please don¡¯t be mad at us!¡± Listening to their words, something in Carlos¡¯s heart softened. He looked at the players complicatedly, sighed, waved his hand, and said: ¡°Alright, alright. I understand... you¡¯re all busy and have your affairs; I¡¯m not angry.¡± ¡°Go on, tend to your business, your intentions are noted, but I need to get back to work.¡± After he said this, he called over the two Chosen Ones who had been earnestly learning from him and continued to his forge. But the cluster of players did not leave. They seemed to be in a daze for a while and then continued flattering: ¡°Grandpa Carlos, do you need help?¡± ¡°Grandpa Carlos, let me carry things for you!¡± ¡°Grandpa Carlos, you really aren¡¯t mad at us?¡± Carlos: ... *What was wrong with these Chosen Ones again?* *Didn¡¯t he say he forgave them?* *Why... couldn¡¯t they stop?* Suddenly, something clicked in Carlos¡¯s mind, and he had a realization. He rolled his eyes and said: ¡°You guys... didn¡¯t pick up some new task, did you?¡± Players: ... They were first stunned, then their faces filled with forced smiles: ¡°Ahem... no, no, we genuinely came back to see you.¡± ¡°Yes indeed! We genuinely want your approval!¡± ¡°Yes indeed! We want to have a friendship that transcends age!¡± Carlos: ... ¡°Ha ha.¡± He chuckled coldly, squeezed through the crowd, and walked away. Leaving behind a group of players looking around at each other. ¡°Did it... fail?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t it said that Carlos really liked this fruit? I even picked a lot specially...¡± ¡°Apologizing did raise the favor somewhat, but then it dropped again...¡± ¡°How tragic! Had I known, I wouldn¡¯t have left so hastily that time!¡± ¡°Who knew completing a task and leaving without notice would drop NPC favor!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this favorability system too strict?¡± The players groaned collectively. Hearing the players¡¯ complaints, Meng Zhihan, who had been following Carlos and learning, stopped. She glanced at the Old Elf who was gradually walking away, hesitated for a moment, then approached the players and sighed: ¡°The way you guys are doing this... it¡¯s impossible to recover the favor like that.¡± The players paused, stunned: ¡°Why won¡¯t it work?¡± ¡°I watched Brother Mu¡¯s video, and it said that catering to NPCs¡¯ preferences should boost their favor!¡± ¡°Yes! I remember Carlos really liked this kind of fruit.¡± Listening to the players, Meng Zhihan shook her head: ¡°You saw the video, but you forgot the most important part.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± The players were puzzled. ¡°Immersion and... sincerity.¡± Meng Zhihan pointed to her heart. ¡°You should watch Brother Mu¡¯s video carefully again and study the real reason why he could increase NPC favor!¡± After saying this, she turned and left, catching up with the Old Elf. Leaving behind a group of players staring at each other. ... Similar events were happening all over Feilengcui. There were players who found the trick and successfully increased NPC favorability. But even when it increased, it was just a slight uptick... In matters of emotion, barring exceptional situations, was it ever easy to improve? More players found that their last-minute efforts were actually useless. They realized that NPC favorability wasn¡¯t nearly as easy to raise as they imagined... And at this point, they truly recognized how amazing Li Mu was, achieving a comprehensive reputation score of 100! High above. Watching the players face setbacks, Eve nodded in satisfaction: ¡°It¡¯s about time they faced this challenge.¡± ¡°Only by truly making players understand the importance of equal and sincere communication with Elves can some of their bad habits be curbed, leading to more effective collaboration with local Elves...¡± ¡°If this issue can be resolved, the upcoming farming and power expansion will become much easier!¡± *Don¡¯t expect too much from the players¡¯ overall integrity.* *To curb their bad habits, to make them interact with NPCs as Eve imagined, in the beginning, rewards and punishments are the only way...* However... *In time, things would be different.* Eve believed that once players accepted the new favorability settings, their relationships with NPCs and their attitudes towards the game¡ª *Would undergo unprecedented changes!* Chapter 162 - 157: Earth Cave Spider Chapter 162: Chapter 157: Earth Cave Spider The improved favorability system was like a bowl of water thrown into a pot of boiling oil, instantly causing a stir among the players. Some were happy, while others were displeased. Unaccustomed to it, some players even shouted on the official website about quitting the game. Of course, in the end, they were just talking. Though the improved favorability and reputation evaluations were more stringent, overall, this system provided more benefits than penalties to players. In fact, only a few players could receive significant bonuses under the new favorability system. The numerical range for NPC favorability was -100 to +100, and only Li Mu had interacted with NPCs whose favorability was above 40. The reputation score ranged from 0 to 100, and Li Mu was the only one among the 1200 players to achieve a perfect score. Li Mu was an exception; in reality, very few players achieved even a score of 30 in reputation evaluations. So... for most players, everyone¡¯s starting point was about the same; at least, the gap between most wouldn¡¯t widen significantly because of this. However, those with higher reputation scores indeed enjoyed greater bonuses and advanced faster. As a result, finding ways to increase NPC favorability and their own reputation became the players¡¯ focus. Yet, with further exploration, players discovered that the starting point of each person¡¯s comprehensive reputation evaluation was not actually zero. The game system would periodically evaluate the players¡¯ overall reputation and come up with an average score. This average score served as the players¡¯ initial reputation evaluation, akin to an NPC¡¯s overall impression of a Chosen One. Even if you did nothing, you could still get an average reputation evaluation. Currently, the players¡¯ overall evaluation was 5 points, neutral. On this basis, adjustments would be made based on the players¡¯ personal and overall NPC favorability. The minimum was 0, cold. This discovery relieved those players unaccustomed to grinding favorability. At least... as long as they didn¡¯t stir up trouble, they could still enjoy the players¡¯ average reputation evaluation. This meant that even if some players received higher bonuses, they, as the average, wouldn¡¯t fall too far behind. Of course, those who messed around were really pitiful. Not only were they unlucky, but they also had to endure the disdain of other players. After all... no one liked a drag. Humans were highly adaptable creatures. And players had an even greater capacity for acceptance. After initial discomfort, gradually, players also accepted the system of comprehensive reputation scoring. Those with high scores became the targets for recruitment by major guilds. The benefit of a high probability of drawing equipment with rare effects alone was enough to excite most players. As players got used to the comprehensive reputation scoring, Eve also issued new main quests. Unlike previous single missions, this time there were three main quests: ¡°Develop Powers,¡± ¡°Explore Rivendell,¡± and ¡°Explore the Underworld.¡± And under each main quest were many sub-quests, some of which were turned into daily tasks that could be received every day. Players could repeat different tasks according to their needs and preferences. The main quest ¡°Develop Powers¡± included sub-quests such as ¡°Crop Planting,¡± ¡°Poultry and Livestock Breeding,¡± ¡°Resource Collection,¡± and ¡°Main City Construction,¡± many of which were daily tasks... The daily tasks that had been part of building the Chosen City were included in the ¡°Main City Construction¡± sub-quest. Regarding the many new daily main quests, Eve also selectively chose some native elves as new daily-task NPCs, making them responsible for task distribution. The NPC for ¡°Poultry and Livestock Breeding¡± was Black Dragon Mairrel. Although the Elf Forest was abundant in resources, it couldn¡¯t withstand the players¡¯ enormous appetites. Whether for the sake of ecological balance or for the perception of believers, developing the farming industry was necessary. Upon learning the goal of this quest, Little Black Dragon¡¯s eyes lit up, and it instantly became excited. It pledged to Eve, with a hand on its heart, that it would ensure the players worked hard. *As long as it could occasionally snack afterward.* The appearance of the ¡°Develop Powers¡± series of tasks immediately attracted the interest of life players who didn¡¯t enjoy fighting all the time. Additionally, because this series of tasks was quite safe, it became the first choice for players with lower levels. Many tasks in this main quest¡¯s sub-quests involved cultivation gameplay, which was precisely what life players loved. In no time at all, many players chose to stay in the Elf Forest, dedicating themselves to the development and construction enterprise. Especially the Mengmeng Committee, which was predominantly composed of life players, took the lead. After completing the human caravan quest, Little Xian Miao obtained some crop-seed-like items, and some interested Druid players took them to begin cultivation and planting. A few players also started scouring different places in the Elf Forest with Black Dragon Mairrel¡¯s help, searching for young Demon Beasts, especially those that grew quickly, had a lot of meat, and were easy to take care of... They planned to explore animal husbandry. Etcetera, etcetera... The ¡°Develop Powers¡± main quest attracted life players, while ¡°Explore Rivendell¡± and ¡°Explore the Underworld¡± attracted players who loved adventure and combat. This portion of players was the largest among the 1200. They eagerly took up quests, embarking on their adventures. Among them, the main quest ¡°Explore Rivendell¡± could be further divided into sub-quests like ¡°Ancient Text Search¡± and ¡°Vein Exploration.¡± Meanwhile, ¡°Explore the Underworld¡± included sub-quests like ¡°Map Drawing¡± and ¡°Monster Detection.¡± Since these two main quest¡¯s sub-quests didn¡¯t have daily tasks, Eve didn¡¯t assign NPCs for them but relied on the game system for task reception. Of course, the more important reason was that these tasks involved faction expansion, and initial expansion involved risks, so Eve had to personally oversee them. As players explored, Rivendell and the Underworld gradually revealed a corner of their mystery. First, Rivendell. As the manufacturing capital of the elf civilization a thousand years ago, it theoretically retained many elves¡¯ relics. Regrettably, it seemed that Rivendell had already been plundered by humans. During exploration, players discovered that there wasn¡¯t much they could find that was useful. *At least... the places they could explore on the surface were almost completely emptied.* However, as players delved further, they began to discover new worlds. Rivendell was built in a valley, and when it was split in half by some unknown great power a thousand years ago, part of the city was buried under rocks. After a thousand years, this section of the city was long buried underground. And during exploration, players were delighted to find that these areas hadn¡¯t been plundered by humans. They discovered a large number of abandoned pieces of equipment buried deep in the ruins, and players speculated that it was likely because they were almost all damaged that human adventurers hadn¡¯t taken them. Additionally, players gradually found more elf artifacts, even some ancient forging equipment and tools... Though mostly damaged after a thousand years, some seemed relatively intact and were all transported back by players. Those that could be used were used; those that couldn¡¯t were sacrificed to the Goddess for contribution value recovery. During exploration, players finally encountered monsters living there. Contrary to their expectations, they initially thought that Rivendell, connecting to the Underworld, would also harbor many strange underground creatures. But in reality, players only encountered one type of monster¡ª Spiders. These were spiders entirely covered in a pitch-black armored shell, incredibly tough like metal, with legs densely covered in steel-pin-like bristles. They varied in size, with small ones about the size of a basin, their strength comparable to Goblins. And larger ones nearly as big as adults, bearing scythe-like fangs, their strength even reaching the black iron grade. These spiders resided deep within Rivendell, and the further players went in, the more they encountered. After identification, players learned that these spiders were called Earth Cave Spiders, dark-attributed underground creatures with extremely sticky webs and sharp fangs, with the larger spiders even being poisonous. They fed on other weaker underground creatures or minerals, their entire skeletons mineralized and exceedingly sturdy. Unlike Goblins, which barely counted as semi-intelligent creatures, these spiders were complete Demon Beasts. Aside from their tough shells, their actions were entirely instinctual. However, because of their tough shells, players faced many difficulties when dealing with them. Ordinary physical attacks were almost ineffective against them. The fortunate part was that, through exploration, players discovered these spiders were afraid of light and fire. Then, players found a good way to eliminate them. They would lure them into a pre-dug hole, throw in a light source to temporarily paralyze them, and once players jumped out of the hole, they would frantically throw fireballs down. Burn them to death. However, this method only worked on small spiders. For the larger spiders, there was nothing they could do. The larger spiders were fast and had venomous stingers; although afraid of light and fire, they had a certain resistance and resilient vitality. Additionally, they could drive small spiders to charge... One large spider would generally attract over ten small spiders. Encountering them, unless players had strength in numbers, they had no choice but to run... As players continued to delve into Rivendell, the number of spiders they encountered increased. This led players to suspect that humans hadn¡¯t explored deeply, possibly because of the presence of the Earth Cave Spiders. Nonetheless, this did not dampen their enthusiasm. Because killing spiders also yielded considerable experience points! There were experience points and treasures! Rivendell had fully become a paradise for adventure players. However, unlike Rivendell where exploration quests were in full swing, exploration of the Underworld faced setbacks. Rivendell had a massive cavern connecting to the Underworld. It was also where players launched their expeditions into the Underworld. Upon entering the cavern, players immediately faced a big problem... They encountered a giant spider measuring five or six meters wide! All attacks were ineffective against it, even the Fireball Technique left merely a few scratches on its shell... Yet it possessed wind-like speed and formidable offensive power, effortlessly catching up to and killing fully-armed players. Even the Lunchbox squad was wiped out by it during an assault... Players suspected that this gatekeeping spider likely had the strength of silver! Moreover, this giant Earth Cave Spider had three large spider minions and over a hundred small spiders... Players were simply no match for them. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have to ask Black Dragon Mairrel to step in again.¡± In the end, players decided to turn to Little Black Dragon. However, when they found the Black Dragon, busily leading a group of players around the Elf Forest searching for Demon Beast nests to rob young ones, Little Black Dragon refused... ¡°Earth Cave Spider? Several meters large?¡± Mairrel¡¯s dragon face changed. ¡°Not going! Not going! I¡¯m not going! If you want to court death, go yourselves!¡± Mairrel shook its head and flew away. The once-proud Black Dragon... had turned afraid. Leaving a group of players with wide-eyed surprise. The big thing underground... was feared even by the Black Dragon? Could that be possible? It didn¡¯t seem as formidable as the foolish dragon... But with Little Black Dragon unwilling, players had no other choice. Eventually... they had no choice but to temporarily abandon exploration of the Underworld and instead continued to delve deeper into Rivendell. As for Lunchbox, he led his squad, no longer heading to the cavern, but delving into the elf ruins. This time, he took on the ¡°Vein Exploration¡± sub-quest. Yet unlike before, this time... he had a little tail following him. Chapter 163 - 158: The Nest Chapter 163: Chapter 158: The Nest In the winding, deep mine tunnels, Lunchbox led his combat team forward cautiously. This was an abandoned mine road they had discovered leading deep into the Dark Mountain Range, with the entrance being in an abandoned forge in Rivendell. The mine road was laid with tracks, somewhat resembling a railway on Blue Star, but if you looked closely, you could faintly see some magic patterns that had lost their effect. The walls on both sides of the mine road were smooth rock, and every so often, there was an old magical lamp, long destroyed over a millennium. Occasionally, they saw some skeletons on the road, still wearing tattered clothes, those who did not escape when Rivendell was destroyed overnight a thousand years ago. Such pitiful elf remains were not uncommon in Rivendell. And every time players discovered elf remains, they would excitedly go forward to scavenge their belongings. But today... the Lunchbox team held back a lot. Even if they saw elf remains, they would first gather collectively in front of the bones and mourn for three minutes. Afterward, they would pray in a seemingly sincere manner, saying something like¡ª ¡°Rest in peace, my friend. I will take your belongings back to the Elf Forest.¡± ... or something like that. Then... the players put on a sad face as they collected the belongings of the elf remains, putting them into the backpacks woven for them by the elves of the Flame Tribe. In any case, the team members were much better behaved, as if they really were elves themselves. The entire mine road was dark and deep, terrifyingly silent, and the players could only hear their own footsteps. The system¡¯s background music had been completely turned off by Lunchbox¡¯s order because they were near the deepest part of Rivendell and it was not safe, often seeing small, solitary Earth Cave Spiders. ¡°Lunchbox, are you sure following this path will definitely lead us to the veins?¡± While marching, the elf mage in the team, a player named Hu Lu, asked curiously. ¡°Definitely, it¡¯s a mine road. The end must connect to a vein.¡± Before Lunchbox could answer, another player replied. ¡°But, others thought the same before, following the mine road only to find it blocked or to reach an exhausted vein, with nothing there.¡± Hu Lu continued to grumble. Lunchbox listened, fell silent for a moment, and then said, ¡°There¡¯s a lot of spiders in this vein.¡± ¡°Lots of monsters means there are veins?¡± Hu Lu asked again. This time, even before Lunchbox could answer, a crisp voice with a bit of disdain said, ¡°Dumb! Ore is also a kind of food for Earth Cave Spiders. Since there are many spiders here, it clearly means there are still veins!¡± Hu Lu: ... His mouth twitched a little. The one speaking was none other than the elf NPC they had rescued, Nightingale Shadow. After knowing that the Lunchbox team was going to explore Rivendell, this elf girl chattered insistently about tagging along... And it was precisely because of this NPC¡¯s presence that the players had held back a lot when scavenging elf remains for fear of losing favor. ¡°Alright, I get it.¡± Hu Lu sighed. He glanced at Lunchbox, then at Nightingale, his expression a bit odd: ¡°I understand the logic, but... why bring her with us?¡± Hu Lu pointed to someone. ¡°Hmph, where I go is my freedom! Besides, when you explore Rivendell, you might need my help!¡± Nightingale pouted, proudly puffing out her chest. After accepting Eve¡¯s faith, the racial curse on her was also lifted, and her strength increased instantly, directly leaping to the Black Iron Middle Rank. So, even when facing these formidable Chosen Ones, she had some confidence. After hearing her words, Hu Lu shook his head helplessly, ¡°*Sigh... You don¡¯t understand. If we really encounter something terrible, we¡¯d be fine, but you¡¯d be done for.*¡± Nightingale listened, raising her eyebrow in confusion. She was about to ask something when Lunchbox¡¯s deep voice suddenly came over, ¡°Something¡¯s up, quiet.¡± Instantly, all the players turned serious. And Nightingale also perked up. She cautiously gripped her curved blade¡ªthe one she had taken from a human mercenary that day. Everyone fell into silence. At this moment, they faintly heard a scuffling sound. Lunchbox hesitated for a moment, looked back at Nightingale, and whispered, ¡°Go to the back of the team. If there¡¯s danger, run quickly.¡± Looking at his serious expression, Nightingale pouted, ¡°I¡¯m not leaving! If you¡¯re not going, why should I?¡± Lunchbox: ... He fell silent for a moment and then said, ¡°*We can resurrect if we die, you can¡¯t.*¡± After saying that, he turned his head back, continuing to lead the team forward. ¡°Resurrect?¡± Nightingale was stunned, subconsciously stopping in her tracks... The players did not stop advancing. They did not explain anything but moved more cautiously and quietly. Nightingale was in a daze for a moment, and then she snapped back to reality and quickly caught up with the team. This time, she obediently walked at the end, muttering to herself as she went, ¡°Resurrect... what does it mean?¡± Lunchbox led the team, moving continuously forward. And as the group advanced, that rustling sound grew louder. They rounded a corner and finally reached the end of the mine road... And once they saw the scene in front of them clearly, everyone¡¯s pupils involuntarily constricted slightly. The end of the mine road was a massive cavern. And within the cavern were countless Earth Cave Spiders, packed tightly, thousands of them, their scarlet eyes like lanterns in the dark... giving one an uncontrollable shiver. Most were small Earth Cave Spiders, but there were quite a few large ones as well. Even deeper within, the players faintly saw a figure seemingly as big as the giant spider guarding the entrance to the Underworld... This place was actually the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s nest! For a moment, everyone inhaled sharply. ¡°Holy...¡± Hu Lu instinctively wanted to curse, but he quickly held back. Lunchbox¡¯s face was grim. He waved his hand, making a retreat gesture. Everyone held their breath and began to slowly back away. At this point, a player accidentally stumbled on a stone while retreating, causing a spider leg from his backpack to fall out. The metallic spider leg clattered on the ground, making a crisp sound. The ¡°dingdang¡± sound was incredibly clear in the mine road... Uh-oh! The players instantly turned pale. Meanwhile, the rustling sound behind them diminished significantly... In the cave, pairs of scarlet eyes turned their way. Chapter 164 - 159: Bold Idea (1/2 extra chapter for Alliance Hierarch Miyahara Chisa) Chapter 164: Chapter 159: Bold Idea (1/2 extra chapter for Alliance Hierarch Miyahara Chisa) ¡°Run!¡± Boxed Lunch¡¯s expression turned serious as he spun around and dashed off. As he passed by Miss Nighthawk, he grabbed the stunned Elf Girl, activated his skill ¡°Sprint,¡± and ran even faster. The other players were momentarily stunned but then quickly turned around and sprinted to keep up. Once they had covered some distance, dozens of Earth Cave Spiders, attracted by the noise, started to chase after them! ¡°Damn! Why the hell is this a spider nest?¡± ¡°Run, run, we¡¯ve got plenty of loot this time. Dying would mean a huge loss.¡± The players felt their scalps tingle with fear as they desperately fled, cursing along the way. Miss Nighthawk, pulled along by Boxed Lunch, felt a shock in her heart: ¡°So... so many spiders!¡± They desperately fled down the mine path, with the Earth Cave Spiders hot on their heels. Fortunately, some team members had prepared ahead, equipping shoes with the ¡°Speed¡± effect, which barely kept them from being caught. But... they couldn¡¯t shake them off either. ¡°Hu Lu! How many are chasing us?¡± Boxed Lunch, pulling Miss Nighthawk along at the front, asked. Hu Lu cast a ¡°Detection Technique¡± behind them and then shouted: ¡°A lot, about... sixty or seventy, no... seventy or eighty! All small ones!¡± Seventy or eighty... Boxed Lunch¡¯s eyes flickered: ¡°We can fight! Plan C, initiate at the skywell around the corner!¡± After saying this, he let go and gave Miss Nighthawk a push, slowing down: ¡°You go first, climb out.¡± Seeing Boxed Lunch¡¯s confident demeanor, Miss Nighthawk hesitated for a moment but nodded. She understood that these Chosen Ones seemed to have a plan. She ran ahead, occasionally glancing back to see what the Chosen Ones intended to do. Then, she saw a team member suddenly slow down, move to the back of the group, and pull out a bulging leather pouch from his backpack. She saw him twist open the pouch and start scattering some black powder along the path... What was that? Miss Nighthawk paused slightly. The players continued scattering as they moved, until they reached a corner of the mine road. This was an open, transitional area connected to several other mine paths, with a skylight dozens of meters above. Carved stone steps were on the cave walls, allowing people to climb. This... was one of the exits from the mine, with ruins above it. ¡°Climb up!¡± Boxed Lunch shouted to Miss Nighthawk from afar. Miss Nighthawk nodded and hurriedly climbed up to the skylight. She quickly ascended and then turned to help the other players. The other players also followed her, climbing up one after another. Just as everyone climbed out of the mine, the spiders at the forefront arrived. They began crawling up along the walls. Boxed Lunch¡¯s eyes flashed as he pulled out an identical bulging cloth bag from his body and threw it down. The other players also followed suit, tossing down identical bags from their bodies. ¡°Hu Lu, light it up!¡± Boxed Lunch shouted. ¡°Got it!¡± Hu Lu eagerly nodded. In his hand appeared a fireball of several dozen centimeters in size, just conjured up by his Fireball Technique. By now, the leading spider was almost out of the mine. ¡°Here goes!¡± Hu Lu turned around and threw the fireball over his shoulder, then immediately hit the ground. ¡°Get down, cover your ears!¡± Boxed Lunch called out to Miss Nighthawk again. Miss Nighthawk paused for a moment. Seeing the other players all instinctively dive to the ground and cover their ears, she did the same. Just as she lay down, she heard a deafening explosion... ¡°Boom¡ª¡ª!¡± The black powder ignited upon contact with the fireball, instantly combusting and causing the air to heat up and expand rapidly, creating a violent explosion in the narrow mine tunnel. Accompanied by tremors shaking the ground, a several-meter-high tongue of flame burst out of the mine, carrying up thick black smoke. The entire ground was shaking! *Such a... such a powerful explosion!* Feeling the tremors, Miss Nighthawk subconsciously clicked her tongue. *This intensity... it¡¯s comparable to a three-ring spell in power, right?* *What¡¯s going on here?* If she was not mistaken, the fireball the Chosen One just threw down was only a one-ring fireball. Wait... *Was it the black powder?* Miss Nighthawk¡¯s eyes widened, her gaze at the Chosen Ones now tinged with disbelief: *What on earth did they harness? To make a one-ring fireball produce a three-ring spell effect!* *Is it... some kind of alchemical product?* A moment later, the aftershocks subsided, and there was not a sound from the mine anymore. Dust rose around them. The air was filled with a stinging smell that made Miss Nighthawk quite uncomfortable. ¡°Cough, cough... cough cough...¡± She started coughing and finally pulled out her canteen, drinking a few sips to ease her discomfort. At that moment, she saw the players excitedly gather at the edge of the skylight, peeking down: ¡°Are they dead?¡± ¡°They must be, it¡¯s completely silent now.¡± ¡°Damn! Looks like technology¡¯s still the way to go!¡± ¡°Ah... too bad we don¡¯t get any experience points from this method, such a waste, dozens of them...¡± ¡°You win some, you lose some. The spider legs should still be there, let¡¯s go pick them up and take them back.¡± Hearing the Chosen Ones¡¯ strange comments, Miss Nighthawk curiously moved closer. Below the skylight, the mine path was still smoking, but no more sounds could be heard. *The spiders... are all dead?* Miss Nighthawk was stunned. After a moment, as the smoke cleared, Boxed Lunch called everyone to climb back down the mine. Miss Nighthawk also climbed down. The scent below was still strong, causing her to frown slightly. When the young girl arrived at the bottom of the skylight, she found that everything had changed. The nearby mine paths had been completely destroyed, and Earth Cave Spider corpses were scattered everywhere, some still smoking... Almost no intact corpses could be found; all the Earth Cave Spiders had been blasted to pieces. *Such... such power!* Miss Nighthawk covered her mouth in shock. At that moment, the players began excitedly harvesting the spider legs. These Earth Cave Spiders, often feeding on minerals, had exoskeletons on their legs made of mineral deposits, which the Elf Blacksmith Carlos claimed to be excellent forging materials. So... even though they couldn¡¯t gain experience points by indirectly killing the Earth Cave Spiders, gathering these materials offered some consolation. ¡°How... how did you do it? Was it those powders just now?¡± Looking at the spider remnants all around, Miss Nighthawk couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Heh heh, never seen it before, huh? That¡¯s gunpowder!¡± The players answered proudly. ¡°Gunpowder?¡± Miss Nighthawk paused for a moment. ¡°Heh heh, all thanks to Boxed Lunch! He¡¯s the one who made it.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah! I¡¯ve never seen someone gather materials and make gunpowder like that. I wonder what Boxed Lunch does in real life...¡± The players chattered. ¡°Real life?¡± Miss Nighthawk tilted her head slightly. She didn¡¯t quite understand the Chosen Ones¡¯ comments, but she understood one thing. The mysterious powder that caused the tremendous explosion was made from wood! *He even knows alchemy? He¡¯s that impressive?* Miss Nighthawk¡¯s eyes were filled with admiration. Under Miss Nighthawk¡¯s intense gaze, Boxed Lunch felt uncomfortable all over. He stiffened his face, glared at the chatty players, and commanded: ¡°Quick, gather up.¡± The players glanced at Boxed Lunch, then at Miss Nighthawk, and chuckled. Boxed Lunch:... ... This time, over eighty spiders had chased after them. After stripping all the spider legs, the players awkwardly discovered that the bags their Fiery Flame Elf gifted them could not hold everything. ¡°Awkward, can¡¯t... can¡¯t carry it all.¡± ¡°Ugh... the backpack¡¯s still too small. Why can¡¯t we have a system backpack...¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we make two trips to bring it back?¡± ¡°Would it be unsafe to leave it here? What if someone else comes and takes it?¡± ¡°Maybe we should just draw an array and sacrifice it, these spider legs are metallic, the array should consume them.¡± Seeing the players¡¯ dilemma, a smile played on Miss Nighthawk¡¯s lips: ¡°Let me hold it.¡± She stepped forward and touched the spider legs the players had gathered. Then the players watched in surprise as the spider legs shimmered briefly and then disappeared! ¡°Damn! How did you do that?¡± ¡°G...Gone?¡± At that moment, Hu Lu¡¯s eyes lit up: ¡°Space equipment?!¡± Miss Nighthawk lifted her chin triumphantly, her lips curling: ¡°Heh~! See? I can still be of help, right?¡± Hearing her words, all the players became thrilled: ¡°Amazing! You have space equipment!¡± ¡°Boxed Lunch! You¡¯ve recruited a walking storage room!¡± Boxed Lunch:... Then the players excitedly emptied their gear, eagerly handing it over to Miss Nighthawk: ¡°Miss Nighthawk, Miss Nighthawk! Can you store these for us too?¡± ¡± Yeah, yeah! It¡¯s too heavy to carry!¡± Miss Nighthawk:... Boxed Lunch didn¡¯t join the players¡¯ chatter, instead frowning in thought. His contemplative look caught the attention of others: ¡°Boxed Lunch, what¡¯s up?¡± A player stopped what he was doing and curiously asked. ¡°Spider legs can be sacrificed too?¡± Boxed Lunch replied with a question. ¡°Of course! After all, they¡¯re metal! The array will surely consume them! Just with a bit less contribution...¡± The player answered. ¡°Not to mention spider legs, didn¡¯t we even sacrifice beast bones before?¡± Another player chimed in. Upon hearing this, Boxed Lunch¡¯s eyes flickered: ¡°I... suddenly have an idea.¡± ¡°If it works...¡± ¡°There might be a way to open the gates to the Underworld.¡± Chapter 165 - 160: Sacrifice BOSS Chapter 165: Chapter 160: Sacrifice BOSS Rivendell, the cave entrance to the Underworld. Inside, it was dark and deep, unable to see the bottom. Occasionally, rustling sounds could be heard, and pairs of lantern-like eyes glowing red could be seen in the deep darkness... The Boxed Lunch team arrived near the cave and carefully peered into the Underworld through the entrance. They couldn¡¯t clearly see the deeper scenes, but they could see Earth Cave Spiders wandering around. These spiders were tiny, only slightly larger than a washbasin. But the players knew, behind these Earth Cave Spiders, there was a big one... It was a terrifying giant Earth Cave Spider, which the players regarded as the gatekeeping boss! That spider was unbelievably powerful, impervious to any attack. And at the same time, it was extremely vigilant; whenever players attempted to sneak into the Underworld avoiding it, they were detected in advance and captured, becoming a feast for the elves. After that, the players dared not venture further. Some experts speculated that this might be a quest boss in the later stages of the game, not something players could handle now. Players guessed that perhaps... there were other passages to the Underworld in Rivendell! This was also why players quickly gave up the idea of entering the Underworld through the entrance and instead chose to explore Rivendell, seeking other possible entrances! Even the Boxed Lunch team, besides exploring the mine veins, had another goal, which was to try and see if they could find another path to the Underworld. However, now Boxed Lunch brought his team back here. As soon as they arrived, they took out the paint they carried for drawing the sacrifice array and began drawing the sacrifice array on the ground. However, unlike previous arrays, this time they drew an array that was large, with a radius of forty meters, consuming a lot of paint in the process... They decided to make a big splash. Since the sacrifice array could swallow metal items... Then, could it also swallow a spider boss whose entire exoskeleton was metal? ¡°Boxed Lunch is amazing! Sacrificing the boss with the sacrifice array, why didn¡¯t I think of this?¡± A player said excitedly. ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re not the captain, Boxed Lunch is!¡± Another player laughed. ¡°But... will it really work? What if it fails, we¡¯ll be chased by the spider boss again.¡± Of course, there were still players who remained skeptical. Boxed Lunch pondered for a moment, then replied, ¡°We can give it a try. Let¡¯s hand all our valuable equipment and items to Nightingale and have her leave first.¡± This was the longest sentence he had ever said, showing that he took this experiment very seriously. Seeing Boxed Lunch¡¯s determination, the other team members stopped doubting and began to take action. Soon, all the players removed their equipment, leaving only simple underwear. Unlike the earlier times, with the return of the elf warriors from the Flame Tribe, players now had other clothes besides their equipment. Though it was simple underwear, at least players would no longer run around naked... *It was a fact that showed when players streaked naked, the favor of NPC elves dropped the fastest.* Nightingale was stunned as she watched players hand over their equipment to her. ¡°Wait... What are you going to do? Sacrifice? You¡¯re going to sacrifice the big spider? Sacrifice it to whom?¡± They were planning to sacrifice the big spider?! To sacrifice a living creature... Had they gotten acquainted with some Evil God?! Weren¡¯t they the messengers of the Mother Goddess? ¡°Of course, the Goddess!¡± A player replied. ¡°The... Mother Goddess?¡± Nightingale was astounded. ¡°Wait... you¡¯re not serious, are you? Doing this will incur the wrath of the True God!¡± She quickly said with concern. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t, it won¡¯t! I¡¯m a Druid; I understand plant growth and development very well. The Goddess¡¯s body is the World Tree, currently recovering. These spiders contain rich mineral elements, as well as nutrient-rich organics, making them excellent fertilizer. Sacrificing them to the Goddess will have a positive effect on Her recovery!¡± A player mischievously explained. Nightingale: ... *Is... is that so?* She was somewhat bewildered. *It sounded reasonable.* *But... something felt off.* At this moment, players were also ready. ¡°You stand back a bit.¡± Boxed Lunch told Nightingale. Nightingale nodded reflexively and moved away from where the players were. It wasn¡¯t until she had walked far away that she suddenly realized, ¡°Wait! The Mother Goddess is not an Evil God!¡± However, the players could no longer hear her. ¡°Main tank, lure the monsters, bring the big one out. Hu Lu, be ready to pray. Druid, prepare to control.¡± Seeing Nightingale had moved away, Boxed Lunch commanded. Upon hearing his orders, the Elf tank warrior in the team nodded solemnly and stepped forward. The other players were visibly tense. Hu Lu looked excited, kneeling before the array, holding his breath, ready to recite the sacrificial words at any moment. Soon, the Elf warrior player reached the cave entrance. He took a deep breath and roared loudly, ¡°Spider Sun Thief! Grandpa¡¯s here!¡± After yelling, he picked up a rock, aimed at a giant figure in the cave, and hurled it fiercely. With a ¡°smack,¡± the rock hit the spider. In an instant, countless scarlet eyes turned to look over, including four pairs of huge ¡°red lanterns¡±... Accompanied by rustling sounds, all the spiders swarmed out, charging at him. The giant spider that had been hit also let out a low hiss, following suit. Witnessing all this, the Elf warrior¡¯s scalp tingled, and he turned to run. The spiders chased after him, showing no sign of stopping until they caught him... *That was the Demon Beast¡¯s predatory instinct!* Seeing the monsters being lured out, all the players were excited, hearts pounding. The Elf warrior looked solemn. He ran to the center of the sacrifice array and stopped. The Earth Cave Spiders moved swiftly, quickly catching up and surrounding the Elf warrior. Even that giant spider followed along. In the players¡¯ shocked gazes, the Elf warrior player was bitten and torn by the spiders, the scene was gruesome... Simultaneously, the spiders noticed Hu Lu on the other side of the array and began rushing towards him! Seeing the Earth Cave Spiders charging at Hu Lu, the Druid player, hidden on the side, instantly cast a prepared control spell, slowing their movement. Hu Lu took a deep breath, knelt before the sacrifice array, and prayed swiftly: ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Life Goddess, praise the great Elf Ruler¡ªEve Yggdrasil! Beautiful and noble Goddess, we have found exquisite offerings and wish to sacrifice them to You!¡± After the words were spoken, the entire array suddenly emitted a bright glow! Chapter 166 - 161 Baffled Eve Chapter 166: Chapter 161 Baffled Eve Chosen City, Dream Manor. Here was a private garden estate built by Little Xian Miao, the president of the ¡°Mengmeng Committee,¡± adjacent to the Babylonian Hanging Gardens-style guild residence of the ¡°Mengmeng Committee.¡± Dream Manor and the Babylonian Hanging Gardens were already recognized as the pinnacle of infrastructure within ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± by players, with the construction of both buildings taking players nearly three months to complete. This time frame was quite quick, considering the players always seemed to have endless enthusiasm during construction, enjoying even the most monotonous repetitive work. Throughout the entire construction process, the ¡°architects¡± were tirelessly working. Of course, this rapid construction speed was only possible due to the assistance of various magics and a significant reduction in the original design specifications and standards from the blueprints. If it followed the original design by Gugubird, not to mention the estate, the ¡°Mengmeng Committee¡¯s¡± Hanging Gardens would need to expand several times over. However, that would likely require even more time. These two completed structures had become landmark attractions in Chosen City and were classic spots for players to take group photos and commemorate their adventures. Top floor of Dream Manor¡¯s main building. Eve, donned in the player¡¯s cloak as ¡°Wind,¡± sat in a recliner. She held a wooden cup infused with floral tea in one hand, relishing barbecued snacks with pleasure, while appreciating the distant scenery. The estate stood high, and from the highest level of the three-story main building, she could encompass the beautiful views of the entire city at a glance. In the distance, layered forests and the mountains beyond stretched magnificently and beautifully. This wasn¡¯t the first time she snuck out. As players gradually settled into the routine, she found herself more at ease. Occasionally, Eve would cloak herself as a player and sneak into the city to enjoy herself thoroughly. Upon meeting Little Xian Miao, this wealthy player¡¯s manor became her ideal place for rest. She had occasionally guided Little Xian Miao on skill usage, leading the other to instantly regard her as someone divine, thinking that Eve might be a hidden expert player or someone with high status and prestige in reality... Eventually, Little Xian Miao began to show intentions of forming a connection and building friendship. Of course, since she wore a disguise, Eve did not reject it either. Being treated like an ordinary player and interacting was quite enjoyable, at least it gave her avatar a landing spot. Indeed, players enjoyed themselves. Once they adapted to ¡°Elf Kingdom¡¯s¡± rhythm and freedom, many lifestyle players began developing various products. Barbecues and snacks were merely the basics; some even planned to brew wine with fruits from the Elf Forest. As Eve nibbled on her snacks, she gazed at the bustling players in the city. Overlooking the city wrapped in greenery, filled with buildings resembling whimsical ideas, she admired the forest beyond, secretly marveling at the players¡¯ imagination and creativity... *Though from the World Tree¡¯s perspective, everything around could be captured in her view, the immersive feeling brought by this omniscient perspective couldn¡¯t quite compare to the first-person view.* *Not to mention...* The honey-glazed barbecue was indeed delicious. No wonder Black Dragon Mairrel liked it. She took a bite of the juicy skewered meat, brimming with glistening oil and hearty tendons, feeling immensely satisfied. At this moment, she somewhat understood why players adored ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± so much. *Apart from anything else, just the beautiful scenery and unparalleled immersion were enough to make people linger.* *Imagine.* *A lovely city in a beautiful forest, a city you built yourself.* *And within this whimsical city, you have your own beautiful little home.* *Your character is a graceful and beautiful elf. You and your friends sit in your own garden, gazing into the distance, sipping floral tea, enjoying barbecue, with delightful background music playing...* *If you wish, you could even play comedy or watch videos and movies through the system network.* *Because of the 1:4 time flow, there¡¯s no need to think about the chaotic troubles of reality in a short period. You can simply empty your mind and enjoy leisure...* *Phew...* *This retreat from everything, this leisure and comfort indeed held a strong attraction!* *Moreover, this was just the fun for lifestyle players.* ¡°Ah... It¡¯s truly enjoyable!¡± Eve shook her head, draining the floral tea from her cup. She yawned lazily, feeling utterly cozy. ¡°Speaking of which, it¡¯s been quite a while since the tasks were assigned. I wonder how the players are doing.¡± She thought while munching on the snacks. This time, she had issued many side quests through the system at once and didn¡¯t peek into them one by one as usual. Because this time, the quests were primarily about development and exploration, without any inherent threats. Indeed, if there was any potential threat, it was likely the two exploration tasks. However, with the lesson from the last time with the Night Walker, she had already set it up in advance. If players encountered similar mental suggestions again, they would automatically log off instantly. She still wasn¡¯t able to completely resolve this issue; it was arguably the players¡¯ most fatal flaw for the time being. Luckily, her enemies weren¡¯t aware of it yet. ¡°Actually, it isn¡¯t a big problem. Next time I bring in players, I¡¯ll change the way they connect and add a bit of protection... Rivendell¡¯s monsters seem quite singular, and there¡¯s no mental control type, so it¡¯s relatively safe.¡± Eve contemplated. In these days, she occasionally received waves of life feedback. Sometimes, Eve even received metallic spider legs from players¡¯ sacrifices. She knew it was a sign that players exploring Rivendell had skirmished with the subterranean monsters. Eve paid special attention, discovering these monsters were called Earth Cave Spiders. There was no detailed record of underground creatures in the World Tree¡¯s legacy, and Eve didn¡¯t know much about them. She roughly observed and found these Earth Cave Spiders weren¡¯t strong; players could easily handle them. However, there was indeed a big one guarding the entrance to the Underworld. Eve had seen it. It was a silver mid-tier spider. At this strength, the players couldn¡¯t deal with it yet, so Eve planned to design an instance for them. ¡°Silver mid-tier... With this power, Mairrel could handle it easily, but she seemed reluctant...¡± ¡°A Black Dragon surely wouldn¡¯t fear spiders; perhaps she¡¯s hesitating over something, maybe... there¡¯s an issue with those Earth Cave Spiders!¡± Eve speculated. Forget it... In necessary situations, she wouldn¡¯t mind having her avatar show up again. After all, the Divine Favored could summon the incarnation of the True God. The player invited El, and El summoned her avatar, allowing her to act legitimately without losing credibility. Demon Beasts were merely beasts; unless they reached the Golden Rank, they couldn¡¯t open their wisdom. Without sentience, they could only survive on instinct. In such cases, there was no need for Eve to worry about exposing herself when taking action. Even if exposure did occur, it would first reveal the presence of a new god. As for me, Eve, I am the newborn True God governing nature and life, possibly a subordinate god under the Death God. What could I possibly have to do with the long-fallen World Tree? If those Earth Cave Spiders indeed had issues, they wouldn¡¯t be able to hide in the face of the True God¡¯s power either. She still enjoyed these instance quests, not only because they allowed her to harvest a wave of popular reputation, strengthen her believers¡¯ faith, and stimulate players¡¯ gaming enthusiasm but also because she could reclaim a batch of player contribution through the quests, extracting the BOSS¡¯s life force in the process... A win-win! Just as Eve was pondering, she suddenly received another sacrificial prompt. The sacrifice chant from Hu Lu faintly reached across the void... As usual, after realizing a player was involved in discovering the sacrificial item, Eve casually agreed. She had made arrangements within the game system for relevant sacrifices, automatically identifying the items players offered. Only items useful to her could pass through the sacrificial array. As for what the sacrifices were, Eve had some guesses. Either it was old equipment, antiques found in ruins, or broken scrap iron that players had worn out that couldn¡¯t be used anymore; Or it was basic materials like metal, ores, etc., which could be used to merge gear. And Eve accepted all of these, repairing them and listing them for sale again. Not only that, but Eve also made game system settings that would automatically appraise players¡¯ sacrificial items, rewarding them with corresponding contribution points. Of course, the amount of contribution wasn¡¯t much. However, what happened next took Eve by surprise. In her perception, she suddenly felt an influx of foreign life forms entering her Divine Country! ¡°What the hell?! An invasion?¡± Eve was startled, quickly dispelling her avatar and returning to her original consciousness. When she focused her attention on the Divine Country, she was shocked to find a large group of Earth Cave Spiders had appeared... The spiders varied in size, numbering at least two hundred, including that gigantic ¡°gatekeeper¡± from the underground world that Eve had in her memory! They flailed around, panicked, and ran wild in the Divine Country like a swarm of ants picked up and set down by humans, seeming to lose all sense of direction and judgment in an instant... ¡°What... What the hell?¡± Eve was utterly baffled. But more surprising events unfolded before Eve. After running for a while, the Earth Cave Spiders¡¯ bodies suddenly twitched, then one by one, they lost their vitality and fell dead... ¡°Hmm?¡± Eve¡¯s interest was piqued. She focused her attention on the Earth Cave Spider corpses, beginning to curiously investigate. And as she examined, her curiosity grew: ¡°Hmm? These Earth Cave Spiders... don¡¯t have complete souls?¡± ¡°Could this be... hive mind life forms?¡± Chapter 167 - 162: Were Going to Get Rich! Chapter 167: Chapter 162: We¡¯re Going to Get Rich! Hive mind, also referred to as swarm thinking or insect consciousness. This kind of mind is a collective consciousness, frequently seen in various science fiction novels on Blue Star. Creatures with hive minds are all group organisms. In this group, each individual entity had its own thought consciousness, but their thought consciousness was not independent, sometimes even incomplete. Above them, there was an even more powerful mind controlling them, like a monarch. And the supreme mind that controlled the thought consciousness of all independent entities was the hive mind. In many science fiction works about the Insect Race on Blue Star, the devouring Insect Race was considered a kind of swarm-thinking lifeform, and their supreme mind was their Insect Queen. And when Eve examined the Earth Cave Spiders¡¯ corpses, she also found some similar characteristics. Unlike other independent creatures, these Earth Cave Spiders did not have complete souls; their souls were unformed. In the strictest sense, they were fundamentally unable to sustain the normal operation of a living body independently. This indicated that above them, there was also another more powerful consciousness or soul controlling them. And when these Earth Cave Spiders entered the Eve Divine Country, all their connections to the outside world were completely severed. Relying only on their own incomplete souls, they could not survive normally. So... after struggling for a moment, they naturally experienced soul collapse and death. Moreover, when these Earth Cave Spiders struggled, Eve could even vaguely sense that some unknown being from afar seemed to be trying to emit some sort of thought signal to reconnect with them... And the source of that signal was located in Rivendell! However, it was quite clear the attempt could not break through the barrier of the Divine Country and ultimately failed. ¡°So, it seems... there truly was a more powerful existence behind these Earth Cave Spiders, or an individual. The consciousness I sensed at the last moment was probably it, somewhat similar to the Insect Queen!¡± Eve¡¯s heart stirred. At this moment, she also understood why Black Dragon Mairrel was unwilling to help the players deal with the Earth Cave Spiders. The scheming ¡°Silver Dragon,¡± who had been freshly painted, must have known the secret of the Earth Cave Spiders. She probably already knew that the giant spider of the silver rank was just a minion, and that behind them lay an entity that even the Little Black Dragon dared not provoke! It seemed Mairrel was not foolish either. ¡°Spider Empress?¡± Eve developed a slight interest. If it was indeed as she analyzed, the Insect Queen commanding so many Earth Cave Spiders would undoubtedly be incredibly powerful... At least... at the gold rank! Eve sank into deep thought. However, back to the topic, how did these Earth Cave Spiders end up in her Divine Country? Hmm... right, she just received a player¡¯s sacrificial request. Sacri... sacrificial request. Eve: ... She vaguely guessed what might have happened. Thinking of this, Eve absorbed all the remaining life force from these Earth Cave Spiders and then delved into her consciousness to locate the player who had recently prayed, investing in their vision... Soon, she saw the scene through Hu Lu¡¯s eyes. The entrance to the Underworld at Rivendell. The deep caves of the Underworld had already become empty by now, with the subterranean scenery faintly visible further below and no Earth Cave Spider in sight... Four players were gathered around a giant sacrificial array not far from the cave, their expressions filled with excitement. ¡°Damn! Lunchbox, it actually worked!¡± ¡°Oh my! We sacrificed a big one, and plus over a hundred minions, the system actually gave each of us 1000 contribution points!¡± ¡°Hahaha... Really sacrificed the boss, hahaha... So, this is also another way to play!¡± ¡°Amazing, from now on, when we encounter bosses we can¡¯t defeat, let¡¯s sacrifice them!¡± ¡°Hahaha, the Goddess¡¯s sacrificial array is truly versatile!¡± ¡°Keep it low-key... low-key... this is our trump card from now on!¡± ¡°Hahaha! If we find any wild monsters we dislike, we¡¯ll just sacrifice them to the Goddess!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t celebrate too soon! Not all living things might be sacrificable.¡± ¡°Hahaha, anyway... monsters we can¡¯t defeat usually have good stuff on them, and if they have good stuff, the sacrificial array will definitely take them, what¡¯s there to worry about?¡± ¡°Hmm... What you said seems to make sense!¡± The players discussed excitedly as if discovering a new continent. While hiding on the side, Nightingale was dumbfounded: ¡°They actually... actually succeeded in the sacrifice...¡± ¡°But wait... someone was killed by a spider! Aren¡¯t you guys sad?¡± She seemed disorganized. ¡°Miss Nighthawk, don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll be resurrected. The one who died is likely in Chosen City now. Don¡¯t believe me, look, is his body still there?¡± ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯ll see him once you return to the town!¡± Other players laughed and said. Nightingale: ... She stood stunned, looked in the direction of the array, and found that the Elf Warrior¡¯s body had indeed disappeared, leaving only a bloodstain... ¡°Gone... indeed.¡± She spoke in shock. ¡°Wait... was he also sacrificed?¡± The Elf Girl¡¯s face suddenly turned pale. ¡°Hahaha! Impossible, the sacrificial array doesn¡¯t consume players, someone tried it before.¡± Other players responded. Nightingale: ... However, soon, her face revealed confusion again, murmuring to herself: ¡°Those sacrificed spiders... are they really prime fertilizers? Does the Mother Goddess need fertilizer?¡± Eve: ... Fertilizer? Seriously? What bizarre knowledge have the players transmitted again? She was utterly baffled. Nevertheless, as she saw the giant sacrificial array on the ground, Eve also confirmed her suspicions. Indeed, it was the players¡¯ sacrifice! She felt somewhat amused yet helpless. Who would¡¯ve thought, while Eve originally intended for believers to offer her the Divine Blood Crystal through the array, the players played it this way. They actually sacrificed the monsters they were supposed to fight! Should it be said that players were indeed beings accustomed to finding game glitches? From initially giving scraps to now directly sacrificing monster bosses... Wait... won¡¯t they end up sacrificing living creatures every day now? She imagined the scene of players tossing a bunch of living creatures into her Divine Country daily, running rampant across the Divine Country... Eve: ... No, no, this loophole must be plugged. Though creatures sacrificed to the Divine Country had their life and death controlled entirely by Eve, who could even extract all life force from the offerings, the risk was too great. Because once this door was opened, the players would likely never cease. In the future, upon encountering difficult enemies, they might scheme to sacrifice them... If their sacrifice succeeded, it would be fine, and Eve would accept it gladly. But if the sacrificial failed, exposing the sacrificial array to the enemy, and if the enemy happened to be Eve¡¯s adversaries, her existence would be entirely exposed... The sacrificial array worked on the True God itself; as the World Tree, Eve¡¯s sacrificial array carried Her unique markings, recognizable by those in the know. Moreover... such a cheat-like operation was not beneficial to the players¡¯ growth, nor to Eve¡¯s image among believers. Accepting living sacrifices... that was something only an Evil God would do! Generally speaking, newly ascended gods would not accept living sacrifices. This was a demonstration of respect for life, a guideline among the True Gods on the Segis Continent since ancient times. Otherwise, if everyone began practicing live sacrifices, the Segis World would have long plunged into chaos. As Eve pondered, she already had an idea for a ¡°patch.¡± At this time, players continued their discussion. ¡°Wait... since that¡¯s the case, how about we head back to that mine path? There are so many Earth Cave Spiders in the spider nest there... If we sacrificed them all... just imagine the contribution points we¡¯d get!¡± A player had an idea, turning attention to the underground nest. Hearing him, the other players showed signs of readiness in their eyes. Even Lunchbox¡¯s eyes lit up. Sacrificing a metal spider leg would only earn a measly 5 contribution points from the game system. Typically, players would choose to deliver the spider legs to the elf NPCs. Because as long as one helped in the forge, the Elf Blacksmith Carlos would agree to forge this kind of spider leg into a powerful arrow, which could then be sold to other archer players for 15-20 contribution points! Even selling to Carlos himself, he would offer players 10 contribution points! But... in that nest, there must be thousands of Earth Cave Spiders. Ten thousand Earth Cave Spiders, with each spider having eight legs, sacrificing one leg would give 5 contribution points... If they were all sacrificed, that was 400,000 contribution points! Not to mention the higher contribution points from larger spiders¡¯ legs, and the giant spiders¡¯! If all of them were drawn out and fully sacrificed... Hmm... That... That would be an unimaginable amount of contribution points! Oh my... A full set of gold gear wouldn¡¯t just be a dream! ¡°Damn! I feel we¡¯re gonna strike it rich!¡± All players came to their senses, filled with excitement and elation. ¡°Do we have enough paint for drawing the array?¡± ¡°There¡¯s still plenty...¡± Lunchbox clenched his fist, slapped his thigh, and made a decision: ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡± After saying this, he turned to Nightingale: ¡°You head back first. It¡¯s going to get dangerous, and we can¡¯t bring you along.¡± His tone was not open to discussion. After speaking, he turned with the group, surging towards the underground mine path... Watching Lunchbox and other Chosen Ones excitedly dashing towards the mine path, Nightingale was stunned. She stomped angrily, cursing: ¡°This self-absorbed blockhead!¡± Witnessing the players enthusiastically heading to the mine path, Eve felt a peculiar emotion. ¡°Did they discover the Earth Cave Spider nest?¡± ¡°They... still don¡¯t know there¡¯s a big guy behind these spiders, do they?¡± To be something providing an awareness signal subtle enough for Eve to sense, it must be at least at the Gold Rank! The Gold Rank was truly high rank! And if it was a hive mind lifeform, it might also have thousands of little underlings. In Eve¡¯s view, these guys were just money-crazed. Indeed, A bunch of players willing to risk anything for money... Wait, they hardly feared death anyway. Eve silently shook her head. However, since Lunchbox discovered the Earth Cave Spiders¡¯ nest and planned on continuing their reckless endeavors, she did not intend to stop them. ¡°This... might be an opportunity to bring forth the matriarch behind it.¡± Eve readied herself to incarnate at any moment. ¡°If they truly manage to draw out the Earth Cave Spiders¡¯ matriarch, offering me a chance for control, what¡¯s wrong with rewarding them with some contribution points?¡± Capturing the Spider Insect Queen behind their actions would allow Eve to command the entire Earth Cave Spider tribe. And being a force entrenched in Rivendell for who knows how many years, those Earth Cave Spiders must be well-aware of the surroundings. Not to mention, they were a substantial force! Chapter 168 - 163: Blow Up Their Den! Chapter 168: Chapter 163: Blow Up Their Den! The Boxed Lunch Squad moved quickly. The allure of contribution points was immense, especially with a new batch of Black Iron Middle Rank equipment freshly stocked in the exchange shop. If they chose to grind the quests normally to accumulate contribution, they might only manage to earn a set of purple epic gear after a week at most... But now, they saw hope for making money fast. To prevent delays and out of fear that the official developers might discover the bug at any moment, the group swiftly sprang into action. They quickly navigated the winding and complex ruins of Rivendell and returned to the mine tunnel they had detonated before. It had to be said, the mine tunnels constructed by the elves in the Ancient Era were very sturdy. Although players had blasted them quite a bit, apart from the destroyed minecart tracks, the entire tunnel remained intact, with the path leading to the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s lair still open. And, the Boxed Lunch Squad planned to use the same method as before to lure the Earth Cave Spiders. This time, they drew the sacrificial array in the Skywell... And after they finished drawing the array, they excitedly made their way through the mine tunnel to the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s lair where they had encountered them earlier. It was exactly as they had seen before. Countless Earth Cave Spiders still lurked in the depths of the cave. The spiders were so dense, it was impossible to count how many there were; one could only hear the rustling sound of their metal-like legs moving over the rocks... It sounded... quite creepy. Looking around, they could only see rows upon rows of blood-red eyes, some large, some small... It was an image that could drive someone with trypophobia insane. Even Boxed Lunch, who had quite a strong psyche, felt a chill down his spine while looking at the scene within the cave. ¡°We¡¯ll take turns drawing them out.¡± Taking a deep breath, Boxed Lunch ordered in a low voice. The mine tunnel was relatively narrow. For small and large Earth Cave Spiders, it was alright, but a giant spider about seven or eight meters tall could probably only pass through one at a time. The players didn¡¯t think they could draw all the spiders out at once, so they planned to do it in small amounts repeatedly, just like they used to lure the Goblins, building it up bit by bit... However, given the speed of the Earth Cave Spiders, this might be a life-for-life change. Hearing Boxed Lunch¡¯s words, the other players nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Hu Lu stepped forward, volunteering. Once Hu Lu stepped out, the other players quickly withdrew, hiding behind the sacrificial array below the Skywell. ¡°Hu Lu, we¡¯re ready.¡± After hiding, they typed in the team chat channel. Upon receiving the message, Hu Lu took a deep breath and shouted ¡°Ah¡± into the cave. With his shout, suddenly... rows of red eyes turned to look. Stared at by countless blood-red eyes, even though he knew it was just a game, Hu Lu¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help but tremble. He shouted again and then turned around to run. Behind him... nearly a hundred Earth Cave Spiders rushed after him... Thanks to the accelerated effects of his boots and the Light Body Skill, Hu Lu was incredibly fast. He led a large group of Earth Cave Spiders to where the players were ambushed under the Skywell. ¡°They¡¯re coming! Activate the array!¡± Hu Lu shouted while running. And the other players began to kneel before the sacrificial array, skillfully praying to the Goddess: ¡°Praise be to Mother Nature, praise be to the Goddess of Life, praise be to the great Elf Ruler...¡± After the incantation, the array once again radiated a brilliant glow, and Hu Lu charged into it with the spiders. Soon, radiant light burst from the Earth Cave Spiders, and they were sacrificed... At the same time, a stream of system messages flashed across the players¡¯ screens: ¡°You have gained contribution points +5+5+5...¡± The immediate arrival of so many contribution points was such a thrill! In the blink of an eye, they successfully sacrificed over a hundred spiders to the Goddess, and the players ecstatically discovered that their personal contribution points had increased by seven to eight hundred! This... was even after they had split the contribution points among the five of them! ¡°Holy shit! This is practically stealing money!¡± The members of the Boxed Lunch Squad were thrilled. ¡°Let¡¯s do it! Let¡¯s keep going!¡± Seeing all those contribution points credited, Boxed Lunch¡¯s eyes lit up. The other players excitedly nodded. Filled with joy, they set out to lure the spiders again... Not long after, they attracted over a hundred more spiders, sacrificing them to the Goddess and earning another seven to eight hundred contribution points! ¡°Hahaha! Another seven to eight hundred points in the bank!¡± ¡°Awesome! Do this a few more times, and it¡¯ll be equivalent to the contribution from a main storyline quest!¡± ¡°Tch, you think too small! I bet if we keep farming here today, we might rack up tens of thousands!¡± ¡°Dang... BUG! This is definitely a points-farming game bug!¡± ¡°Shush¡ªwe need to lay low. If the developers catch on, we might be in trouble.¡± ¡°Stop talking and keep pulling! I feel the golden legendary gear calling me already!¡± Excitedly and eagerly, the players continued their cycle of luring the Earth Cave Spiders. But... starting from the fourth time, their success rate at luring spiders greatly decreased. This time, Boxed Lunch personally stepped up, but he only managed to lure a few dozen. ¡°The number is a bit low this time...¡± ¡°Did we lure all the ones on the outskirts?¡± ¡°Is it because you ran too fast, Boxed Lunch? The Earth Cave Spiders couldn¡¯t keep up?¡± Boxed Lunch: ... ¡°How about we try going in a little deeper...?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go, I¡¯m slower.¡± The players discussed for a while and tried again to lure the spiders. But this time... they managed to lure even fewer, just a handful. Players: ... ¡°Why can¡¯t we lure them out anymore?¡± ¡°Could it be that we¡¯ve drawn out all the Earth Cave Spiders from the outskirts?¡± ¡°No way... judging by the number of eyes we saw earlier, there must be thousands just at the cave entrance, and the spiders inside aren¡¯t just a handful...¡± The players were puzzled. They had already accumulated nearly three thousand contribution points after several successful lures. That... was almost as much as the reward from a main storyline quest at the current stage! However, the players¡¯ appetites had grown, and now a mere few thousand contribution points no longer satisfied them. There must be tens of thousands of spiders in that cave, and if all of them were sacrificed, they could be flooded with gold gear! Still skeptical, the players attempted to lure them again. But this time, the team member stationed at the cave entrance yelled several times, only to be met with the gaze of countless blood-red eyes, and not a single Earth Cave Spider chased him out... Players: ... ¡°Weren¡¯t these Demon Beasts supposed to be low in intelligence? Why aren¡¯t they coming out? Have they gotten smarter?¡± ¡°Do they know that their companions who came out all met their end? Can they realize this?¡± ¡°But... their behavior is too coordinated! They all saw us, all those eyes staring, yet not a single one comes out?¡± ¡°Could it be a game system mechanic?¡± ¡°Impossible, the mechanisms in ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ all follow a certain logic. It doesn¡¯t make sense that just because we lured some, the others won¡¯t come out.¡± ¡°When we used to lure the Goblins, it was one lure after another, and they¡¯re officially stated to be smarter than these spiders.¡± The players were deeply puzzled. Eve, who observed everything from their perspective, was not surprised. These Earth Cave Spiders were being controlled by a higher consciousness, which surely realized something was wrong, stopping the spiders from chasing the players further. *Did they think they could gobble up tens of thousands of contribution points at once?* *There is no such easy thing in the world!* ¡°Maybe... we can try something bigger?¡± One player suggested. ¡°Damn it, let¡¯s go big! I can¡¯t believe we can¡¯t draw them out today! I¡¯m waiting to exchange for that golden legendary armor!¡± At this point, the first Elf Warrior player who had sacrificed himself gritted his teeth and said. Having made his way back from the Elf Forest after being revived, he had brought along some extra items. He pulled out bulging bags from his backpack. Seeing those familiar bags, the other players were startled: ¡°Holy shit! You brought all of Boxed Lunch¡¯s explosive packs?!¡± The Elf Warrior nodded: ¡°Yeah, I thought we might need them for luring, so I brought them all.¡± Other players: ... ¡°You¡¯re... not planning to blow up the cave, are you?¡± They twitched at the corners of their mouths. ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? Just a few explosive packs, they¡¯ll definitely lure them out!¡± The Elf Warrior player laughed. Other players: ... ¡°You... you¡¯re poking a hornet¡¯s nest!¡± ¡°But... I like it!¡± ¡°We can try it!¡± ¡°But, since you proposed the idea, you can be the one to throw the explosives!¡± Elf Warrior: ??? ... As the hard currency of *Elf Kingdom,* the allure of contribution points was infinite. After some discussion, the players finally decided to do something big¡ª To directly blow up the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s nest! Although... just a few packs of explosives might not kill all the spiders in the cave, it should surely lure them all out... If their nest was blown up, those Earth Cave Spiders shouldn¡¯t stay put any longer, right? A wave of anticipation swept over the players once more. Soon, they sprang into action! This time, after a democratic decision by the whole squad, with a four-to-one vote, they decided to let the great Elf tank warrior player take on the glorious task of luring once again... Under the admiring gaze of other players, the Elf Warrior dutifully carried the explosive packs to the mouth of the cave. He took a deep breath and hurled a few explosive packs into the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s lair. Then, he threw a lit torch aimed at the location of the explosives... The torch entered the cave and instantly illuminated the entire cavern. Endless Earth Cave Spiders were everywhere, and the terrifying amount of them made the Elf Warrior¡¯s skin crawl. In the deeper part, he spotted several familiar giant spiders... They were crouched in the depths of the cave, surrounding a massive spider leg that spanned dozens of meters. Wait a minute... Giant spider leg? Upon seeing the illuminated section, the Elf Warrior froze for a moment. ¡°Holy shit!¡± He widened his eyes, unable to suppress an expletive. Before he could say more, the torch ignited the explosives, and the explosion followed... ¡°Boom¡ª¡ª!!!¡± A thunderous explosion rocked the entire cave. Dazzling light and fiery tongues erupted into a massive fireball in the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s nest, ripping countless spiders to shreds... ¡°It¡¯s blown! It¡¯s blown!¡± The players at a distance were elated. However, after the explosion, instead of attracting the spiders, they were met with an enraged scream¡ª ¡°Screeech...!¡± The ground began to shake as if some immense being had awakened... ¡°We¡¯re in deep trouble! Run!¡± The Elf Warrior player¡¯s face turned pale green as he dashed past the others... Hearing the screech, Boxed Lunch¡¯s expression turned serious: ¡°Escape!¡± He tossed the words over his shoulder and took off running. What¡¯s going on? The other players were stunned. Then... the entire world began to tremble, and an immense force shattered the stone ceiling of the mine tunnel above. They looked up to see a colossal, terrifying being... The players¡¯ smiles froze on their faces. Chapter 169 - 164 Spider Empress Mission Chapter 169: Chapter 164 Spider Empress Mission In the darkness, eight colossal Blood Moons illuminated, casting a sinister crimson glow, hanging high in the sky... No, those weren¡¯t moons. They were four pairs of blood-red eyes! The gaze was indifferent, fierce, mad, furious... staring directly at the players. In an instant, several players felt a piercing chill sweep from head to toe, their minds going blank. ¡°Shit!¡± ¡°Shit!¡± ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± They were stunned. Suddenly, the giant eyes moved, accompanied by a thunderous roar, a massive shadow enveloping their tiny bodies. An overwhelming pressure descended upon them, causing several players to instinctively shiver, their movements sluggish. They looked up, shocked at the terrifying creature before them¡ª A gigantic body that blocked out the sky, with sinister, metal-like spider legs gleaming coldly, and barbed, insect-like armor shining like a steel plate... This was an Earth Cave Spider of enormous size, tens of meters tall! In its presence, the players felt so insignificant, like ants beneath a foot in a previous life. Even when facing Black Dragon Mairrel, they had never felt like this! Beneath it, countless small, numerous large, and several gigantic Earth Cave Spiders began to gather. They clustered around the colossal spider, as if guarding their master... All the spiders stared coldly at the players. Their movements were synchronized, their gaze icy, sending shivers down one¡¯s spine. ¡°*We¡¯ve really messed up this time...*¡± ¡°Run!¡± Several players, shocked in their hearts, turned and fled. As they escaped, the colossal Earth Cave Spider let out an enraged howl once more, ¡°Screaaah¡ª¡ª!!!¡± Its voice was filled with uncontrollable anger. Upon closer inspection, one could see scorched marks on its carapace... Left by the recent explosion. Following its command, an army of countless spiders instantly chased after the players! The colossal spider also moved its massive, slender legs, following them. As it moved and collided, the entire mine shaft began to collapse, the ground shaking as if an earthquake had struck... The Array drawn by the players also shattered as the shaft collapsed. ¡°Shit! The Array¡¯s destroyed! Move!¡± ¡°How could there be such a giant creature? This size is so broken!¡± ¡°Stop talking, just run!¡± Several players reached the Skywell and began desperately climbing up. However, under the oppressive pressure, their speed was still too slow. The spider army quickly caught up, overwhelming them... ¡°Screaaah¡ª¡ª!!!¡± The colossal spider let out another screech. At the same time, all of Rivendell began to tremble. ¡°What¡¯s happening? An earthquake?¡± ¡°I think I just heard something...¡± All players exploring within Rivendell became alert. Then, they were shocked to find countless Earth Cave Spiders surging out from various places. The Earth Cave Spiders, eyes bloodshot, started attacking the players frantically, as if they had lost their minds, startling them. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°What¡¯s driving these spiders mad?¡± ¡°No way, there are too many! Pull back outside the ruins...¡± Players exploring in various relic buildings fell into chaos and began retreating under the threat of the spider swarm. ¡°Screaaah¡ª¡ª!!!¡± And just then, everyone heard an enraged roar once again. Players retreated from the depths of the ruins, reaching the surface of Rivendell. By then, the tremors in the ground had become even more intense... Suddenly, someone saw Hu Lu and a team member awkwardly scrambling out of a mine shaft, fleeing frantically... The players were momentarily stunned. As the server¡¯s most powerful battle team, it was the first time they had seen Hu Lu in such a sorry state. ¡°Hu Lu, what happened?¡± The players asked curiously. ¡°Run! The big spider is coming!¡± The Elf Warrior player fleeing with Hu Lu shouted. Big spider? The other players were momentarily stunned. Was it another giant spider guarding an underground cave? ¡°Rivendell also has a guardian spider?¡± They asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s even bigger!¡± The Elf Warrior shouted back as he ran faster. Bigger? Just how big? The players were dumbfounded. They still wanted to ask more, but saw the ground suddenly split open, and amidst scattering rocks, a metallic spider leg several dozen meters long protruded... ¡°Shit!¡± ¡°Shit!!¡± Upon seeing the spider leg several dozen meters long, they all instinctively exclaimed with the classic Tianchao people¡¯s phrase... With the spider leg, countless small Earth Cave Spiders crawled out from the ground fissures. They gathered on the ground, densely packed, their numbers quickly breaching a hundred, then a thousand in an instant... Like... a swarm of locusts covering the sky. They just couldn¡¯t fly. At the same moment, the ground shook once more, and an awe-inspiring figure broke through the earth! It was a gigantic Earth Cave Spider standing dozens of meters tall... Similar in appearance to ordinary Earth Cave Spiders, but with a much larger belly, a more menacing look, and a shell that gleamed with a metallic sheen, its eight red eyes hung like blood moons... Gazing at the enormous figure, the players were all stunned. *Where was this a big spider, it was super-sized!* they thought. *Compared to this, the spiders guarding the underground cave were nothing!* They shivered and then sprinted off in terror. As they ran, they continued to exclaim, ¡°*Is this the real BOSS? Was the underground world¡¯s guardian just an elite monster?*¡± ¡°*Could the plans have been wrong? This difficulty doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s for the Black Iron level!*¡± ¡°*Did a player provoke it early?*¡± But the spiders were even faster... ¡°Screaaah¡ª¡ª!!!¡± With a sharp scream, all the Earth Cave Spiders began to chase down the players! ¡°Not good! They¡¯re so fast!¡± ¡°There are too many of them!¡± ¡°Ah! I¡¯ve been caught!¡± For a moment, screams (fake ones) echoed throughout Rivendell¡¯s various locations. The gigantic Earth Cave Spider followed too, raising its slender legs, striking the fleeing players with precision. ¡°*This BOSS is too powerful!*¡± ¡°*Damn... another monster that¡¯s broken as hell! Can¡¯t the developers make something a bit more normal?*¡± ¡°Hahaha! Look! Look! It¡¯s skewering them like candy! Hahaha...¡± ¡°Stop laughing, quit staring! Run! Or you¡¯ll be skewered too!¡± The players were in chaos. ... ¡°*Finally drawn out, just as I thought, it really is the mother of Earth Cave Spiders!*¡± Seeing the massive Earth Cave Spider before her, Eve felt a surge of joy as she switched perspectives through the players¡¯ view. ¡°Roughly... a Gold Upper Peak, with about twenty thousand subordinates! But, the majority are small Earth Cave Spiders with only Apprentice-level strength.¡± Through the players risking their lives, she had roughly figured out its strength. The Golden Rank was a watershed. Reaching the Golden Rank meant truly being a higher existence. For demon beasts, reaching the Golden Rank also signified the beginning of wisdom! ¡°*This spider... I must take it! With it, I¡¯ll have the entire community of Earth Cave Spiders! And there¡¯s a chance of getting a Golden Rank believer!*¡± Eve was tempted. ¡°*Additionally, if I can subdue the Earth Cave Spider Empress, I can also offer some benefits to the players... If I remember correctly, an early player has been clamoring on the forums about wanting a mount system. Hehe, I wonder if they¡¯d like spiders?*¡± Eve thought with a smile. She glanced at the chaotic yet excited players taking screenshots, waved her hand, and issued a new task: [Ding¡ª¡ª] [WARNING! WARNING!] [Players ¡°Hu Lu,¡± ¡°I¡¯m Invincible,¡± ¡°Optimist,¡± and ¡°Chopin¡± triggered a hidden BOSS!] [Hidden BOSS mission initiated¡ª¡ª] [Mission Description:] [As one of the most enigmatic swarm-intelligence species in Segis World, Earth Cave Spiders have always lived underground.] [They have occupied Rivendell for millennia, presenting a formidable challenge for the Elf Clan to completely reclaim this great city...] [However, as a unique species with collective intelligence, controlling the Spider Empress presents the Elf Clan with the hope of dominating the entire Earth Cave Spider enclave, thereby swiftly gaining control over Rivendell!] [Now, the Spider Empress, dormant in the depths of the ruins, has been awakened...] [It¡¯s time to make a move!] [Target: Spider Empress (Level 100/Golden Upper)] [Mission Target: Defeat and subdue the Spider Empress] [Mission Rewards: Mount system, 3 perfect resurrection chances, massive experience points, and contribution] [Mission Tip: The Spider Empress is formidable, only by summoning the embodiment of the Goddess can it be successfully defeated and subdued!] [Brave Chosen Ones, for the honor of the Goddess and Elf Clan, fight!] [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Emergency System Notice:] [Players ¡°Hu Lu,¡± ¡°I¡¯m Invincible,¡± ¡°Optimist,¡± and ¡°Chopin¡± triggered a sacrificial system glitch] [Sacrificial patch has been fixed, the sacrificial system will no longer support live sacrifices] ¡°Spider Empress? Mount system? Sacrifice glitch?¡± Seeing the barrage of new messages, the players were left dumbfounded. Chapter 170 - 165: Submission... or Death! Chapter 170: Chapter 165: Submission... or Death! ¡°Hidden BOSS mission! This is a hidden BOSS mission!¡± ¡°The mount system! Is the mount system finally going to be activated?!¡± ¡°Calm down... that¡¯s the reward for winning.¡± ¡°This Spider Empress... was it provoked by Hu Lu and the others? A living sacrifice? Could it be that Hu Lu and the others sacrificed the Earth Cave Spider?¡± ¡°Holy crap! That¡¯s really possible! This spider¡¯s shell is metallic, the sacrifice system would surely devour it! Why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡± ¡°Hahaha! That¡¯s why they¡¯re being chased? Look! There are thousands of spiders chasing them! I¡¯m dying of laughter, it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen Big Boss Hu Lu run away so pathetically.¡± ¡°So... did the officials patch up the loophole in the living sacrifice system?¡± ¡°They definitely have to patch it up! Otherwise, if we just sacrifice every time we encounter a BOSS, what¡¯s the point of this game?¡± ¡°No living sacrifices... so what if we encounter an undead BOSS or something else in the future, can we still sacrifice?¡± ¡°Pfft... you¡¯re really something! But the array doesn¡¯t swallow everything, does it?¡± ¡°Whoa! I wonder if we can still sell scrap...¡± ¡°Scrap should still be sellable, right? That seems to be the official recycling mechanism, otherwise they would have patched it a long time ago. I guess it¡¯s mostly left as a benefit for players?¡± Seeing the new mission prompt, players instantly didn¡¯t panic anymore, discussing excitedly while avoiding the spider¡¯s attacks... Hidden BOSS mission! And with a successful completion, players are rewarded with the mount system! A mount! Is the mount going online?! All players exploring Rivendell were ecstatic. As for what the mount would be... They pretty much figured it out. It¡¯s likely going to be the Earth Cave Spider! A small Earth Cave Spider is fine, but honestly, a human-sized Earth Cave Spider still looks quite imposing. Of course, that¡¯s from a player¡¯s perspective. If the ordinary native creatures of Segis World saw it, it wouldn¡¯t be imposing but horrifying. However, when the system gave its evaluation of the spider BOSS¡¯s strength, it still startled the players. Level 100! Upper Gold! Previously, when Uller¡¯s Divine Power incarnation descended, and Demigod Walker took action, the system didn¡¯t give a level evaluation for the BOSS. The former¡¯s strength was limited, its health bar was visible, and in battle, its health dropped, so players weren¡¯t afraid. As for the latter, it didn¡¯t have a health bar indicated either but didn¡¯t engage the players directly, instead being directly taken away by the Goddess¡¯s binding play. In such circumstances, although players knew they were definitely strong, possibly even stronger than the Spider Empress, they didn¡¯t have an intuitive sense of level difference... But this time... they truly experienced the terror of a higher-echelon existence directly. This enormous Earth Cave Spider was like a Godzilla Giant Monster with a group of minions, rampaging forward, crushing unfortunate souls underfoot or stringing them together... After receiving the system task, some brave players turned to attack it, but it was to no effect, like scratching an itch for the opponent. Instead, these attacks further enraged the Spider Empress, and the players who attempted to fight it immediately attracted its attention, being chased and skewered like candied haws... After the players died, the Spider Empress¡¯s slender, spider legs were left with a string of humanoid equipment. But Hu Lu and the elf warrior took the chance to escape further away... Realizing it lost its target, the Spider Empress let out an angry, sharp screech again. All the Earth Cave Spiders instantly became intensely frenzied, launching fierce attacks on players scattered throughout Rivendell. ¡°Berserk! This hidden BOSS has gone berserk!¡± ¡°This is too fierce! Soon the entire Rivendell will be turned upside down.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t defeat it, quickly summon the goddess¡¯s incarnation according to the task prompt!¡± ¡°Crap! But do you know how to summon her? Who knows how to summon her?¡± ¡°Find El! The little lad is the Divine Favored of the Goddess! He can summon her!¡± Soon, players thought of the Divine Favored elf NPC¡ªEl Moonlight. El Moonlight could summon the incarnation of the Goddess! ¡°Quick! Quick! Does anyone know where El is?¡± ¡°He should be in Feilengcui, we can have Dema go call him, Dema has the highest favorability with him, reportedly over sixty points!¡± ¡°Pfft, I remember Dema bragging it was a hundred points before?¡± ¡°Did it drop? That guy always seeks trouble... By the way, where¡¯s Dema?¡± ¡°Also in Feilengcui. I saw him when I went to find Forging Master Carlos, heard he¡¯s been working there regularly to gain favor lately.¡± ¡°Pfft... constantly grinding favor, that guy is so pitiful...¡± ¡°Quick, contact Dema!¡± The players acted quickly. After receiving the system task, they burst with unprecedented enthusiasm, and soon someone reached Dema through the friend chat list. The hidden mission trigger only displayed detailed information directly to players within a certain range; players elsewhere could only see a brief ¡°So-and-so triggered a hidden BOSS mission¡± quick prompt. Of course, if one opened the detailed content of the message, one could still see specific information. However, Dema, who was at Feilengcui scrubbing toilets for the elf NPCs, didn¡¯t have the time for that. He had already found a way to quickly increase his favorability. As long as he kept his mouth shut and helped the elves with some dirty and tiring work, he could save some face. But upon hearing the task¡¯s content, Dema immediately perked up: ¡°Holy crap! The mount system?!¡± He put down his tools, washed his hands, then excitedly rushed out: ¡°El! El! Something big happened in Rivendell! For the smooth recapture of the Elf Clan¡¯s city, we need your help!¡± ... By the time Dema and the little lad El arrived in Rivendell via the Teleportation Array, it was already half an hour later. During this half hour, players were entangled with the Spider Empress and its army. Whatever Hu Lu did, that giant spider was utterly furious, clearly intent on not stopping until it killed all the players. In fact, almost all players were killed once, but they feared everyone perishing would cause the monster to disengage, resulting in a task failure, so they all rushed back through the Teleportation Array immediately after death... Of course, their entanglement wasn¡¯t attacking the opponent but running around the map, drawing its fire. When El and Dema arrived, what they saw was this chaotic and comical scene. One slender spider leg of the Spider Empress was already strung with equipment, and it switched to another leg to skewer elf haw... Seeing that Divine Favored El had arrived, all the players became excited: ¡°It¡¯s the little lad! He¡¯s here!¡± ¡°Great! We can summon the incarnation of the Goddess now!¡± ¡°Finally, someone¡¯s here! I¡¯ve already been skewered twice.¡± ¡°Lord El! This Spider Empress is too powerful! At this rate, the entire ruins of Rivendell will be completely destroyed by it, please quickly summon the incarnation of the Goddess!¡± ¡°Yes! This is a level 100 big BOSS! Please summon the incarnation of the Goddess!¡± The players shouted. Spider Empress? Level 100? That was just one step away from the legendary tier, Upper Gold! The young elf drew a cold breath, his face serious. El looked at the Chosen Ones scurrying to escape under the spider¡¯s attack, then at Rivendell, further ravaged by the spider horde, and he nodded seriously: ¡°I understand... but waiting for the response from Her Majesty the Mother Goddess might take some time. Please hold on.¡± Finished speaking, he kneeled down, drew a tree symbol on his chest, closed his eyes, and started to pray devoutly: ¡°Praise Mother Nature, praise the Life Goddess, praise the great elven dominator¡ªEve Yggdrasil! Your supreme majesty, Mother Goddess, your devout child¡ªEl Moonlight, requests your descent!¡± With El¡¯s prayer, his body suddenly began to radiate brilliant Holy Light, a gentle and sacred power continuously gathering around him... Perceiving something, the Spider Empress chasing players in Rivendell stopped suddenly, growling softly, seemingly a bit anxious. The endless army of Earth Cave Spiders also paused, gradually converging towards the Spider Empress, shielding their mother... And at that moment, a dazzling light suddenly expanded from El, illuminating the deep gorge of Rivendell, ethereal sacred chants faintly echoing, sparking all players with a sudden urge to bow down... At that moment, they became excited. Because this meant the Goddess had received El¡¯s prayer and was now focusing on this place! ¡°The Goddess is coming!¡± ¡°Hahaha! You¡¯re done for, spider brats!¡± With the illumination of the Holy Light, all the Earth Cave Spiders began to tremble, seemingly losing their sense of direction under the light, fleeing in terror... The Spider Empress also let out a screech tinged with fear. It turned its body, moving its eight slender spider legs awkwardly as it retreated towards the cave from which it had emerged... ¡°Whoa, is it really that cowardly? It¡¯s trying to escape!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t let it run!¡± Seeing the Spider Insect Queen try to escape, the players exploded with rage. But with their strength, they had no way to stop it. However... They didn¡¯t need to stop it either... ¡°Hmph!¡± All players heard a cold scoff echo in their minds. The voice was crisp, majestic, divine, carrying an unapproachable and inviolable aura. They recognized it. It was the voice of Eve, the Goddess! Two golden Divine Locks suddenly appeared out of nowhere and wrapped tightly around the Spider Empress just as it was about to escape into the cave. Then, the radiant light converged in front of it, finally forming a figure clad in the Holy Divine Dress, adorned with a crown of flowers and plants, wielding a magnificent scepter, her entire being enveloped in glistening Holy Light... It was the Goddess! Her visage was as peerlessly beautiful as always, further exuding a divine and inviolable majesty under the blur of the Holy Light. All players widened their eyes, excitedly admiring the Goddess¡¯s heroic posture: ¡°The incarnation of the Goddess has descended!¡± ¡°These effects are as glorious as ever!¡± ¡°Haha! We¡¯re going to win!¡± ¡°As expected of the Goddess, even just an incarnation instantly controlled the BOSS!¡± ¡°Eve Goddess is the best!¡± They cheered enthusiastically. Under the illumination of the light, the Spider Empress huddled into a ball, trembling while letting out low growls of fear... At this moment, the Goddess lightly raised her slender arm, placed her fair palm on the Spider Empress¡¯s massive head: ¡°Submit... or die!¡± Her majestic and divine voice was calm. As if she were stating something natural, with no concern for the outcome. Chapter 171 - 166: The Bug Mothers Submission and Promotion! Chapter 171: Chapter 166: The Bug Mother¡¯s Submission and Promotion! Eve floated in midair. The Holy Light accompanied her, enhancing her unparalleled appearance with nobility and mystery. An ethereal and melodious voice echoed through the canyon, majestic and grand... ¡°Holy crap, badass!¡± ¡°The Goddess is truly like no other, her moves are unparalleled!¡± ¡°I really love the Goddess¡¯s incarnation! When will we be able to summon her too?¡± Seeing Eve instantly subdue the giant Spider Insect Queen and hearing the calm superiority and indifference in her words, the players became more and more excited... On Blue Star, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had been open for over a month. If you asked which NPC was the most popular in the game, it was undoubtedly the Eve Goddess! The flawless character modeling, effects more spectacular than a movie, combined with the camp leader¡¯s buff, and a voice from who-knows-which celebrity so perfect it enchanted the players, almost turned all of them into fanboys and fangirls of the Goddess. Even when they planned to log into the ¡°Elf Game,¡± they wouldn¡¯t say they were going to play the game or play ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± instead they would jokingly say, ¡°Bye, I¡¯m going to guard the Eve Goddess,¡± or, ¡°Bye, I¡¯m off to guard the World Tree.¡± Of course, it was just a joke. The players knew that although Goddess Eve wasn¡¯t in her best state, she was still the pinnacle of combat power in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡±! The enemies she faced were almost always killed in seconds. Moreover, if the plot got tough, the Goddess would almost always appear, serving as a strong backing for the players. *Well...now that I think about it, if we¡¯re really talking about who protects who in the game, it might not be so certain...* *Who knows.* *After all, assisting the elves in expanding their forces is assisting the Goddess in expanding her forces.* *Assisting the Goddess in expanding her forces is protecting the Goddess, right?* *Hmm... no problem.* Of course, if it were really the Goddess herself protecting them, it wouldn¡¯t feel bad either! The Goddess was not only beautiful and powerful, she could also issue tasks, help players defeat bosses in key plots, and besides, she could be admired... Moreover... Big Bro Li Mu said that every NPC in this game has its own independent emotion and memory system, so there¡¯s no reason the camp leader Eve Goddess wouldn¡¯t have it. The Goddess... was not merely a background or a symbol, nor an emotionless tool. She was the camp leader NPC with a personified character! How awesome is that! Ever since players found out that Divine Favored could summon the Goddess¡¯s incarnation, many had privately asked El Moonlight several times how they could become Divine Favored. Unfortunately, the reply was always the same: ¡°Only by completely dedicating your body and soul to the Goddess can you become Her Divine Favored.¡± *Speaking of which, how do you completely dedicate your body and soul to the Goddess?* *Does playing the game all the time count?* The players couldn¡¯t figure it out. To trigger possible scenarios, some even prayed in front of the Goddess¡¯s statue in the temple every day, but it didn¡¯t work either... In the end, they could only conclude that players probably couldn¡¯t become Divine Favored. At least... not currently. After all... They couldn¡¯t really start believing in Goddess Eve, could they? But then again, most Tianchao people didn¡¯t even know what constituted faith... *As long as it doesn¡¯t cost anything, why not believe a little?* *What even is faith?* However, even if they couldn¡¯t become Divine Favored, that didn¡¯t stop the players from idolizing the Goddess. The Goddess didn¡¯t act often. Witnessing the Goddess¡¯s graceful presence firsthand was a rare opportunity! All the players present widened their eyes, eagerly watching the Goddess¡¯s every move. Screenshots and videos were already the most basic actions... On the ground, the Earth Cave Spider, restrained by the Divine Lock, let out a low growl, a sound filled with fear, terror, and anger... It wanted to struggle but couldn¡¯t even move. The Divine Lock that could even restrain a demigod was far beyond what a magical beast, still limited by mundane constraints, could resist. Surrender or die! When Eve posed this choice, it had no option left. Because as long as a True God wished, Her mark could be forcibly imprinted on its soul, enslaving it. However, if it resisted desperately during the process, even if the mark was forcibly imprinted, it could damage the Spider Insect Queen¡¯s soul, potentially depriving it of further potential. And that was something Eve didn¡¯t want to see. Although as a life goddess, Eve could forcibly subdue the opponent and expend Divine Power to repair its soul afterward. But why waste Divine Power when she could successfully subdue the opponent smoothly? Why not just ask?... If intimidation didn¡¯t work, it could save some Divine Power points! And those points could revive players many times at this stage. This was also why Eve didn¡¯t forcibly imprint Her mark on Black Dragon Mairrel¡¯s soul in the beginning, but left it after subduing it. Like with the Black Dragon, Eve valued not only the Spider Empress¡¯s strength but also its potential. It had already reached the peak of Upper Gold; one step further, it would be legendary! And legendary strength meant entry into the continent¡¯s top-tier forces, second only to demigods and True Gods. Eve was currently lacking talent in this area. Although the players were a formidable fourth natural disaster, they were still too weak. Of course, there was another reason: Eve hoped to recruit it as a believer. As a hive-mind life form, the Spider Empress must have an incredibly strong soul to control its massive population. Recruited as a believer, the faith power it could provide might rival that of an adult dragon. So, when looked at holistically, Eve hoped it would voluntarily submit and open its soul to accept Her True God Seal. However... she seemed to have underestimated the Spider Empress¡¯s resolve. Even upon hearing Eve¡¯s threat and recognizing her power, it chose not to yield. Through her palm on its head, Eve could sense some emotions within the Spider Empress... There was fear, terror, humiliation, anger, and... intense unwillingness! Unwillingness? Eve blinked in surprise. She checked the Spider Empress¡¯s state more carefully and immediately noticed something was off. This Spider Empress... was injured! However, it wasn¡¯t external damage but an injury to its internal magic power system. In the Segis World, all magic power-possessing creatures had magic power circulation systems within their bodies. *This... was somewhat like the meridians of monks in Blue Star fantasy novels.* Upon probing, Eve discovered that the Earth Cave Spider Empress¡¯s magic power circulation system was quite disordered. Not only that, but after further observation, she noticed a slight damage to its soul... As Eve investigated further, it became clear what was happening! This Gold Upper Peak Spider Empress was at a critical juncture in its advancement! Earlier, when it had hidden underground in Rivendell, it wasn¡¯t merely hiding but advancing to legendary status. Advancing to legendary status required devouring a lot of resources, and the resource-rich Rivendell was an obvious choice for it. But... it had already failed now. And Eve knew why it failed. It was probably due to that explosive pack thrown in by Boxed Meal and the others... Though the explosive¡¯s power was only equivalent to a three-ring or four-ring blast magic, it happened at the perfect moment! At the critical moment of advancing to legendary status, it couldn¡¯t move, nor could it be disturbed! *No wonder it was so enraged afterward and started frantically hunting players...* *It¡¯s always hard for a magical beast to advance, and its injuries were enough to entirely cut off its path to progress further!* *Knowing this, Eve found it laughable and lamentable.* She silently lit a candle for the Earth Cave Spider Insect Queen... *This was... truly too tragic.* Eve could imagine how unwilling it felt inside. *After all... once advanced to legendary status, it would be a different world.* ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll really need to expend some Divine Power points, but perhaps this is for the better!¡± Eve thought, having made up her mind. She pondered for a moment, using Divine Power to engage the Spider Empress in a psychic conversation: ¡°If you submit to me, I can help you heal your injuries and assist you in advancing to legendary status!¡± The majestic voice resonated in the Spider Insect Queen¡¯s mind, and its body trembled slightly. In an instant, Eve felt the emotions in her palm change to surprise and doubt. *Still quite cautious.* Eve smiled inwardly and continued the psychic conversation: ¡°I am the World Tree, the ancient god ¡ª Eve Yggdrasil, who controls nature, life, and elves!¡± ¡°Submit to me, become my clansman, and I¡¯ll give you the opportunity to advance further.¡± This time, the Spider Empress¡¯s body no longer struggled. Eve sensed that its emotions seemed to calm down, and its anger gradually dissipated. Simultaneously, all the surrounding Earth Cave Spiders suddenly crawled toward Eve¡¯s direction and prostrated themselves... Tens of thousands of Earth Cave Spiders bowing in worship created an awe-inspiring scene. ¡°Whoa! The spiders are all kneeling!¡± ¡°Is this them submitting to the Goddess?¡± ¡°Amazing! The Goddess just said one sentence, and they surrendered...¡± The players exclaimed in wonder. Because the dialogue between Eve and the Spider Insect Queen was telepathic, they did not know Eve¡¯s promise. Upon sensing the Spider Empress¡¯s submission, Eve smiled slightly and left Her True God Seal on its soul naturally. ¡°Very well, since you chose to submit, I will grant you the power you deserve!¡± This time, Eve spoke aloud. With the words spoken, Eve removed the Divine Lock and extracted 5 points of Divine Power, converting it into life energy that ordinary creatures could absorb and injected it into the Earth Cave Spider Empress¡¯s body! As the life energy was injected, the Spider Empress¡¯s body suddenly began to emit a green radiance! The life energy quickly healed its injuries, nourished its wounded soul, and then... gathered toward its Demon Crystal! The Demon Crystal, the magical beast¡¯s energy core, was its source of power. The advancement of a magical beast was essentially the sublimation of the Demon Crystal, which then propelled the advancement of the body and soul. As the life energy accumulated, the influx of energy into the Earth Cave Spider Empress¡¯s Demon Crystal was like the final push that opened a large door; its presence suddenly soared! All players felt a terrifying power surge from the Spider Insect Queen... ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°The Goddess seemed to have injected something into it...¡± In everyone¡¯s astonished gaze, the body of the Earth Cave Spider Empress began to shrink rapidly, quickly reducing from dozens of meters to several meters... However, its aura was far more formidable than before, as the ferocious insect armor was tinged with golden patterns, adding a sense of nobility. In an instant, the players realized. This Spider Insect Queen... had advanced! ¡°Oh wow... the Goddess just touched it and it upgraded?¡± ¡°Oh my God, I wish the Goddess could touch me too!¡± ¡°Wait... what¡¯s the rank above Gold Upper again?¡± They chatted animatedly. Then the players watched in astonishment as the Spider Insect Queen began to shrink further, beginning to change... Eventually, it transformed into human form. Every legendary magical beast. Had the ability to transform into humanoid form! Chapter 172 - 167 Spider Queen Rose Chapter 172: Chapter 167 Spider Queen Rose Under everyone¡¯s watchful gaze, the Spider Empress¡¯s body shrank further and transformed into a humanoid shape. However, her transformation was incomplete; her body¡¯s main form still retained the appearance of a spider, with only the upper half resembling a humanoid female, quite fitting for a Monster Girl. Her upper body appeared to be that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl. Perhaps influenced by Eve¡¯s Divine Power, she had a few elven features, with a delicate and even somewhat cute appearance. Additionally... she had pointed ears like an elf. She possessed a pair of scarlet eyes, which inherited certain spider-like qualities. They appeared crimson and luminous, resembling gemstones, while beneath her eyes, on both sides of her face, three curved lines were visible. Those were three additional pairs of eyes that remained closed, indistinguishable when shut. Her hair was black, matching the color of her chitinous armor, reaching her shoulders and draping down her back. Her skin was very pale, almost translucent, creating a stark contrast with her black chitin armor and hair. Her upper body was not clothed, revealing her pure white skin and small navel. However, two rows of chitinous armor, gleaming with a deep sheen, wrapped around her sides, extending to her chest, covering the essential areas and forming a spider-shaped pattern on her chest... *This... was now the appearance of the Spider Insect Queen.* She had transformed into a humanoid shape, with a slightly dazed expression on her face. *However... she quickly realized the changes in her body and excitedly extended a pair of white arms.* And the eight spider legs beneath her shifted with her movements, causing her upper body to twist and turn, constantly craning her neck to observe her new form. *That kind of joyful appearance seemed somewhat cute.* ¡°Whoa!¡± ¡°Whoa!!¡± The players observing from a distance opened their mouths in astonishment upon witnessing the Spider Empress¡¯s transformation. Then, a peculiar excitement followed: ¡°Monster Girl, huh? It¡¯s actually a Monster Girl!¡± ¡°Hiss¡ªkinda cute.¡± ¡°Wake up! Her true form is a big spider!¡± ¡°Still a spider loli!¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be considered a young girl?¡± ¡°No, she didn¡¯t meet the standards.¡± ¡°Affects development, huh! Ah... the chitinous armor on the upper body is so distracting!¡± ¡°What a pity, why didn¡¯t the lower body transform along?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be even better? A Monster Girl!¡± ¡°You have an unusual taste...¡± ¡°Speaking of spider Monster Girls... I think I came across a similar story... ¡± ¡°Ahem... Let¡¯s have a word privately...¡± ¡°Hey, can you guys get any more vulgar?¡± Alice: ... Listening to the players¡¯ discussions, which grew increasingly excited and gentlemanly, she twitched the corner of her mouth slightly. At this moment, the Spider Empress confirmed her new form and looked back at the goddess floating in mid-air. With her body now smaller, she could only look up at Eve. Of course, the equipment strung together by her legs had long since scattered to the ground with her transformation. The Spider Empress knelt deeply before Eve in the air. Along with her, thousands of Earth Cave Spiders also bowed once more. Their heads were lowered even further... At this moment, Eve suddenly sensed that a star in the sky of her Divine Country lit up once again, incredibly bright! That was... the faith of the Spider Empress! In just an instant, Eve received feedback of 3 Divine Power points from the Spider Empress¡¯s belief, and the intensity of that belief leaped from minor believer directly to devout believer status! *Legendary rank was an existence that transcended mortal ranks.* *Becoming legendary meant an ascension of the level of life, making a substantial increase in lifespan, and gradually accessing the world¡¯s essence¡ªthe Power of Laws!* *For every high-level magic beast that awakened intelligence, legendary rank was the realm they yearned for in their dreams!* Eve¡¯s gift solidly won over the Spider Empress¡¯s heart in an instant. Eve was delighted to find that, although the Spider Empress was only at the level of a devout believer, the faith she provided was comparable to that of Alice, a Saint. *As expected of a hive-mind lifeform, the Soul Power was indeed strong!* Eve was very satisfied. ¡°Hiss... ah...¡± At this time, Eve heard a crisp shout from the Spider Insect Queen. Unlike her insect form, her voice sounded much nicer now, akin to that of a teenage girl. *Can¡¯t talk...* Eve pondered. Not all Demon Beasts could speak like Black Dragon Mairrel. Dragons, although classified as Demon Beasts, were intelligent creatures by nature and were born with the ability to use language. Moreover, the Dragon Clan¡¯s heritage included a system for universal language inheritance. Ordinary Demon Beasts couldn¡¯t do that. Generally speaking, ordinary Demon Beasts gained the ability of telepathy after advancing to high-levels, allowing different beings to communicate through mental dialogues. In mental communication, even if language barriers existed, they could understand each other¡¯s meaning. The earlier interaction between Eve and the Spider Empress was based on this. Upon reaching legendary level, ordinary Demon Beasts could master linguistic skills similar to those of other intelligent beings. *Of course... they had to start learning languages from scratch.* *However, this was no problem at all for Eve, a True God.* Floating down from the air, she once again approached the Spider Empress and gently placed her hand on her head. The Spider Empress shivered, lowering her head even further to show her submission. ¡°Universal Language Inheritance...¡± Eve silently chanted in her heart. With her will, Divine Power activated, and a gentle stream of mental energy flowed into the Spider Empress¡¯s mind... A few seconds later, Eve released her hand. The Insect Queen raised her head, her eyes briefly showing confusion before displaying a hint of joy. She bowed once again to Eve and awkwardly praised, ¡°Praise... to you, Great... World Tree! Thank... you for... your gift...¡± Her voice was tender and crisp, akin to a singing nightingale. *Eve felt a sudden impulse, her mischievousness surfacing once more.* Her lips turned up slightly as she spoke with majestic and holy authority, ¡°Since you have become my clansman and have ascended to legendary, then let me give you a name.¡± ¡°From now on, you will be called Rose.¡± ¡°Spider Queen¡ªRose!¡± *Hmm, not bad at all.* *Looking young, hence not calling her Ross but Rose.* *Of course, it sounded the same when spoken, written the same in the Seggs universal language, just different in Chinese...* ¡°Puh... Just missing the Zor Elf.¡± Upon hearing the goddess¡¯s naming, a seasoned Western fantasy fan among the players couldn¡¯t help but laugh. However, he was quickly silenced by the terrifying hissing of the surrounding Earth Cave Spiders... Upon hearing Eve¡¯s words, Spider Queen Rose bowed once more: ¡°Rose... thanks... True God¡¯s... grace... for naming...¡± Eve was very pleased. She nodded and continued speaking, ¡°From now on, continue to be stationed at Rivendell, assisting my other clansmen in exploring the Underworld!¡± She then transferred the prepared mount system into Rose¡¯s mind and activated her related game privileges, designating her as the second purple NPC, next to Saintess Alice! Rose shuddered, respectfully saluting Eve, replying, ¡°Rose... obeys... the oracle!¡± Seeing Rose¡¯s display, Eve nodded slightly. She then turned to glance at the onlooking players, offering them a playful smile, saying, ¡°Please continue to work hard! Brave Chosen Ones!¡± After finishing, her figure slowly shattered, transforming into a radiant Holy Light, disappearing from the world. The sacred and solemn atmosphere also gradually faded as Eve¡¯s avatar vanished... The players then became excited: ¡°Oh my gosh, the goddess actually smiled at me just now!¡± ¡°No, she clearly smiled at me!¡± ¡°The goddess¡¯s smile is beautiful!¡± As they chatted excitedly, a system notification sounded: [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Hidden BOSS quest completed!] [All players involved in the mission, receive 3 perfect resurrection chances, 10,000 experience points, and 1,000 contribution points] With the players¡¯ increasing strength, Eve increased the quest¡¯s experience points and contribution points accordingly to meet their needs. However, the system notification did not end there... [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Earth Cave Spiders¡¯ status changed to friendly, Spider Queen Rose¡¯s favorability display enabled] [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Mount system activated...] Seeing the series of system notifications, players became thrilled. ¡°Haha, the quest is completed!¡± ¡°Ten thousand experience points and a thousand contribution points, not bad!¡± ¡°The key is the mount system is activated!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s check it out!¡± They eagerly examined their system. As expected, a new mount feature appeared in the system menu! Meanwhile, players noticed that the Earth Cave Spiders became like the Elf Natives, and they could no longer attack them. Whenever they had the urge to attack, they lost the ability to act. Currently, the first mount available in the system was the Earth Cave Spider! However... to truly acquire a mount, they still had to seek out Spider Queen Rose and complete the corresponding tasks. One critical requirement was favorability... At least, they needed to raise Spider Queen Rose¡¯s favorability to 20 points. *Wait... boosting favorability?* The players paused, actively checking their favorability with Spider Queen Rose. Upon seeing the favorability rating, they were taken aback yet unsurprised, feeling it was inevitable: ¡°Whoa! Minus 50 points!¡± ¡°Whoa! Me too!¡± ¡°Darn... why is mine minus 100?¡± ¡°Puh... isn¡¯t this Hu Lu? Yours was the team that provoked her first; what in the world did you do?¡± ¡°Ahem... just tossed a few homemade explosives into the spider nest...¡± Other players: ... ¡°You guys might as well forget ever having a spider mount...¡± Hu Lu: ... Boxed Lunch: ... Upon seeing their favorability ratings... Players finally understood what the goddess meant by telling them to do their best while leaving. Chapter 173 - 168 The True Death God Believer Chapter 173: Chapter 168 The True Death God Believer *It turned out that what goes around, comes around.* While exploring Rivendell, the players had been enthusiastically hacking at the Earth Cave Spiders, finding joy in fighting them and offering spider legs as sacrifices while searching for Elf relics. In just a few days, they lost count of how many Earth Cave Spiders had died at their hands. Although most were small, barely conscious spiders, it was enough to incur the wrath of Rose. Previously, she was at a critical juncture in her advancement, so she did not retaliate against the players¡¯ actions. Now, as a clansman of the Eve Goddess, she couldn¡¯t oppose the players... But that didn¡¯t mean the players would go unpunished. At this moment, all present players found their favorability with the Spider Queen Rose was below -50, a purely dislike level. Even more so, the combat squad of Lunchbox had reached -100, a level of revulsion only Demacia had experienced... Even those players who hadn¡¯t chosen exploration tasks saw their favorability drop to -30 due to the Spider Empress¡¯s subjective view of the Chosen Ones, having not even met them. How to restore the favorability with the Spider Lady became a new goal for the players. Especially for those eager to earn a spider mount! Soon enough, the strategy and intelligence sections of the official forum were flooded with posts about the new NPC¡ªSpider Queen Rose. Their popularity even leaped above the posts of the Eve Goddess. The frenzy reached a climax with the upload of a particular screenshot. It was a close-up taken by a player participating in the quest, capturing the moment when the Eve Goddess laid her hand on the head of the newly humanoid Spider Queen Rose, teaching her to speak... Admittedly, the angle of this screenshot was simply excellent. The holy Eve Goddess was like a beacon of light in the darkness, smiling as she touched the head of the freshly awakened Spider Queen Rose, who knelt in reverence, half-hidden in shadows as if receiving a divine blessing... The imposing and holy Goddess, the hideous and mysterious yet beautiful Spider Queen Rose... Half in light, half in darkness. The perfectly executed light and shadow effects made this game screenshot instantly a memorable scene in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± Even as Eve browsed the forum, she stumbled upon the screenshot shared by the players. She felt a stirring in her heart and saved it instinctively, ¡°These players have captured a nice angle. This screenshot is quite good. Later, I¡¯ll issue an oracle to have a relief made based on it for the temple.¡± The True God of Sagas had a habit of creating reliefs of the True God¡¯s history in temples or holy sites, which could not only extol the True God¡¯s epic and spread the True God¡¯s power but also attract believers and consolidate faith. Local customs naturally influenced Eve, so she planned to give it a try as well. After all, *such a classic scene of converting a Legendary Magical Beast was simply a powerful tool for evangelism!* With further exploration, gradually, the players also discovered how to mend their favorability with the Spider Queen Rose. Upon becoming a Monster Girl, the intelligence of the Spider Queen Rose increased further. Although she still chose to hide in Rivendell under the influence of the Goddess¡¯s oracle and the habits of Earth Cave Spiders, she showed more curiosity toward civilization. If players could find her and present items from the civilized world or tell interesting stories that piqued her interest, they would find their favorability with her slightly improved. Additionally, like Black Dragon Mairrel, Rose also showed an interest in cuisine. The Earth Cave Spiders had two types of food: ores and other creatures. When hunting other creatures, the Earth Cave Spiders would wrap them in silk, forming a large cocoon which they would dissolve with acid into a liquid form before consuming it. But after some experimentation, players found that cooking Demon Beast Meat into a rich, delicious broth was very much to Rose¡¯s liking. Moreover, she retained a taste for eating ores; if players managed to find some rare ores to feed her, it would also help in repairing favorability. Of course, the latter method was too expensive, and almost all players chose the former. As favorability was restored, gradually, some players managed to lower Rose¡¯s guard enough to be allowed into her lair. Upon entering the Earth Cave Spiders¡¯ lair, players found a new treasure. That was the silk left behind by the Earth Cave Spiders! This silk, once dried, was extremely elastic and had a great texture. Upon appraisal by the Elf Blacksmith Carlos, it turned out to be a superb material for magic equipment, combining toughness with excellent magic conductivity! They could be used to weave beautiful garments and craft magic equipment! In no time, more players flocked to the underworld, trying to improve their favorability with Spider Queen Rose to gain permission to ¡°treasure hunt¡± in the Earth Cave Spiders¡¯ lair... Especially a bold group of female players! However, even the fastest progressing players were still far from meeting the conditions for earning a mount... As for the unfortunate members of the Lunchbox squad, they found their favorability was beyond repair. Whenever they tried to enter Rose¡¯s lair in Rivendell, mimicking other players, they were harshly thrown out by a gang of large Earth Cave Spiders... If Rose hadn¡¯t also become a clansman of the Eve Goddess, their treatment might not have been so gentle. When they attempted to improve favorability, they were similarly kicked out by the Earth Cave Spiders... Seeing this, Eve shook her head in the shadows. *The players from the Lunchbox squad really shouldn¡¯t count on getting a spider mount; they should honestly wait for the next race that she conquered!* *The grudge of disrupting a High-level Magic Beast¡¯s advancement to Legendary, Spider Queen Rose would remember it for a lifetime...* *The ones feeling just as downcast as the Lunchbox squad were the Black Dragon Mairrel¡¯s players.* The Black Dragon, considering himself a noble Silver Dragon, suddenly noticed a sharp decline in the number of players coming to him... Even when issuing quests, few players turned up to roast meat for him. All those players... Had gone to increase their favorability with the new purple NPC¡ªSpider Queen Rose. Upon discovering the truth, Little Black Dragon was nearly furious: ¡°These cunning long-eared ones! Hmph! You all can stop hoping to get Mairrel¡¯s quest rewards! Hmph!¡± But soon after, he hesitated, ¡°Or... should I increase the rewards a bit more?¡± *The days without roasted meat were truly tough...* *It¡¯s easy going from frugal to extravagant, but from extravagant to frugal was hard!* Mairrel, already accustomed to honeyed roasted meat, could no longer stomach other Demon Beast Meat. With the Earth Cave Spiders becoming clansmen of Eve, the players¡¯ exploration of Rivendell became smoother. Without obstruction from the Earth Cave Spiders, they discovered a wealth of Elf artifacts deep within Rivendell, including various equipment, crafts, and even crafting and magical tool-making equipment from the Elf civilization millennia ago. Many of them were still well-preserved! All these items were brought back to the Chosen City by the players. Destroyed items were sacrificed for recycling, exchanged for contribution points. Equipment and crafts were auctioned among players and bought by the wealthy ones. As for the crafting and magical tool-making equipment, they were bought by a few guilds at high prices... To increase the attractiveness of their guilds, they had begun training their own Forge Masters, and this equipment came just in time! As the interactions with Spider Queen Rose deepened, Eve also became more aware of the Underworld. The entrance to Rivendell¡¯s Underworld connected to a relatively remote part of the Underworld. In the past, it had been home to a large number of monsters, but decades ago, when Spider Queen Rose and her species arrived to advance to Legendary, most were scared away. To find them, one would have to venture deeper into the Underworld. Additionally, there were settlements of intelligent beings near the entrance to Rivendell¡¯s Underworld. These were settlements of Subterranean Dwarf tribes living underground. Subterranean Dwarves are a branch of Dwarves, typically standing less than 1.5 meters tall, weighing about as much as an average human adult, with gray-black skin. Unlike their surface-dwelling kin, although Subterranean Dwarves are skilled in mining and forging, their faith wasn¡¯t in Dwarves and the God of Forging, but in the Master of Darkness and Shadow¡ªHolder, an ancient true god of the Netherworld. Of course, some Subterranean Dwarves didn¡¯t believe in Holder but in the Death God and Lord of the Underworld¡ªHela. Generally speaking, more Subterranean Dwarves worshiped the former, mainly the elders. In contrast, the latter were fewer, largely younger individuals. The Subterranean Dwarf tribe residing near Rivendell was of medium size, reportedly believing in both True Gods. They settled in the area after Rivendell¡¯s fall, when passages between the surface and the Underworld opened, and they signed a non-aggression pact with the migrating Spider Queen Rose. Moreover, they often engaged in dealings with surface human smuggling caravans. It was thanks to the non-aggression pact between the Subterranean Dwarves and Rose that human smuggling caravans were able to safely establish a small outpost in Rivendell. Upon learning of these matters, Eve became instantly wary: ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to encounter followers of Hela so soon... Looks like I need to be more cautious, and use the shroud of Death God¡¯s Favored less... at least, not underground!¡± It was foreseeable that with the Underworld¡¯s entrance thoroughly opened, players would undoubtedly come into contact with the Subterranean Dwarves next. This was not the time to let her shroud as the Death God¡¯s Favored slip. As Eve pondered, she was suddenly drawn to a surge of vibrant life energy from her core... The source of the life force was a humanoid light cocoon on the World Tree. This was Eve¡¯s attempt to actively create the Primordial Elf! Feeling a surge of emotion, she returned her consciousness to her core. Eve knew... The first true Primordial Elf was about to be born. Chapter 174 - 169 Birth of the Primordial Elf Chapter 174: Chapter 169 Birth of the Primordial Elf The Elf Forest, atop the World Tree. On the massive branches, Natural Saintess Alice Wind, Oak Guardian Berserker, Divine Favored El Moonlight, and the Clan Leader of the Flame Tribe, Philosier Flame, who had long received the divine prophecy, gathered here, looking excitedly at a cocoon of light that flickered continuously on the branch. They were to personally welcome the birth of the first Primordial Elf! Besides them, Li Mu and Cockatoo were also brought by Alice. They were the only two players completely recognized by the Holy Daughter, to witness the birth of the Primordial Elf as representatives of the Chosen Ones! Though other players didn¡¯t have this opportunity, Li Mu and Cockatoo had long started a livestream in the game system for other players to watch the ¡°plot animation¡±... In Chosen City, below the World Tree, nearly two hundred elves of the Flame Tribe also gathered, excitedly awaiting the arrival of their new family member. Even most of the online players gathered, curious and expectant, looking at the direction of the World Tree while waiting for the livestream in the game system. The World Tree was the Elf Mother. Elves were the long-lived, wise species born from the World Tree. The significance of elven birth was widely debated... But the most well-known and easily accepted reason was only one ¡ª during the Dusk Era, the World Tree, to create and maintain the overseers of the world, developed the ability of self-birth. Since the birth of the Segis Universe, this ancient Plane Universe had experienced six major eras ¡ª namely, the Creation Era, the Age of Giant Dragons, the Titan Era (Giant Era), the Dusk Era, the Silver Era, and the Eternal Era. In the remote past, during the Age of Giant Dragons and Titan Era... At that time, the inhabitants of the Segis World were still uncultivated, and the ancient gods active in the Creation Era had all retired, while the two golden races ¡ª the Ancient Giant Dragons and Titan Giants ¡ª ruled the world. They waged wars for years, turning the Segis Continent into a wasteland, causing severe devastation to their own races... After the war, the entire Segis World entered the long, dark Dusk Era. To spread greenery across the land again and to foster the awakening of all beings and the formation of civilization, the World Tree used its avatar template to create the elf race, who loved life and peace... From then on... the Segis Universe ushered in the Silver Era dominated by elves! During the entire Silver Era, the Elf Clan indeed made great contributions to the development of the Segis World... It was also in this era that the belief in the Divine gradually appeared and rose, while the ancient gods, present since the Creation Era, gradually diminished through several eras, either perishing or falling into slumber... Of course, all this had become history. With the arrival of the Eternal Era, the wise species standing center stage in the world had become the Human Clan, who excelled the former, and the True God of Faith ascended to the summit of the entire Plane Universe, while the defeated elves could only hide across the continent. But now, the World Tree had returned. After recuperating, she could finally give birth to a true Primordial Elf once more! Unlike the summoned Chosen Ones, this was a true Primordial Elf in the truest sense. And this... also marked the further revival of the World Tree! Under the expectant eyes of all, the cocoon of light on the World Tree flickered more and more intensely... Finally, reaching what seemed to be a critical point, cracks began to appear on the cocoon, and the breath of life started flowing around ceaselessly. ¡°It¡¯s about to be born!¡± ¡°The Primordial Elf... is it a baby?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, looking at the size, it should be nearly adult.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more curious whether it¡¯s male or female...¡± ¡°Hehehe, I hope it¡¯s a girl!¡± ¡°Hmph, why can¡¯t it be a cute boy?¡± The players in the livestream began discussing as well. Especially... the male players and female players even started betting on the gender of the soon-to-be-born Primordial Elf... The cracks on the cocoon grew more numerous. With the glow surging around it, finally... it separated from the branch of the World Tree, gently descending onto the main trunk of the World Tree, and then shattered with a thud! ¡°It¡¯s coming!¡± The elves standing on the World Tree were visibly excited. And the players in the livestream also widened their eyes. As the cocoon shattered... a tall figure appeared before everyone¡¯s eyes. It was an elf who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, male. He had his eyes closed tightly, his arms crossed over his chest, with long silver hair hanging down his back, and skin as fair as a maiden¡¯s, enough to make all the women on Blue Star jealous. He possessed the handsome and beautiful appearance typical of male elves, and as the Primordial Elf closest to the Mother Goddess, he inherited certain traits of the True God, with a visage even more outstanding than that of ordinary elves. Even the few elves standing on the World Tree showed traces of amazement when they saw him. He wore a white traditional elven robe that Eve had prepared long ago, embroidered with exquisite patterns. That was what Eve had put on him the moment he broke free from the cocoon, just like when players were born. The source of the robe was the ¡°scraps¡± once sacrificed by the players... After breaking free, he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were icy blue, resembling those of Divine Favored Ail, but if looked closely, you¡¯d find a faint hint of purple, a hue only the Elf Royal Family possessed. Meanwhile, in the player¡¯s livestream room, the barrage had already exploded: ¡°Hahaha! Little brother! It¡¯s really a little brother!¡± ¡°A boy? Not a girl, a little disappointing.¡± ¡°Whoa! So handsome!¡± ¡°Ahhhhh! My girlish heart¡¯s going to explode!¡± ¡°Such a handsome little brother! I¡¯m following him first!¡± ¡°No way! Later, I must go and max out his liking! So handsome! Ahhhhh!¡± The barrage in the livestream room already covered the entire screen. Of course... most of the explosion came from the female players, the few barrages from the male players were drowned in the cheers of the girls... Never underestimate the power of a handsome guy! Even Eve, who was similarly peeking at the player¡¯s livestream, was shocked by the female players¡¯ enthusiasm. She had already foreseen a new fan club emerging on the forums soon, likely to be the craziest ever... After all, when the ladies go wild, it¡¯s far scarier than the guys. ¡°Royal Family! A Royal Family member is born!¡± Seeing the newly born elf, Philosier Flame, the Clan Leader of the Flame Tribe, exclaimed excitedly. The birth of a Primordial Elf could be of many kinds. The most powerful, fastest growing, and with the highest potential were the Royal Family! Being the first Primordial Elf to be born, Eve naturally set all standards to the highest, and personally spent Divine Power, naturally bringing forth an Elf Royal Family from birth! For this, she even consumed an extra 1 point of Divine Power. The Royal Family¡¯s Primordial Elf was closest to Eve, possessing the same long silver hair as her avatar, with his icy blue eyes carrying a hint of Eve¡¯s purple. According to legend, the Royal Family¡¯s Primordial Elves were also the first batch of elves born from the initial World Tree. However, although the Royal Family¡¯s Primordial Elves had greater potential, they were also more difficult to reproduce than other Primordial Elves. In the Segis World, the longevity of creatures was inversely proportional to their ability to reproduce. As one of the most famous long-lived species, elves already found it challenging to produce offspring, and for the Royal Family with even greater potential, it was even harder... Historically, the Elf Civilization¡¯s Royal Family was sparse and thin. Because the Elf Royal Family found it difficult to propagate, the previous World Tree birthed later Primordial Elves with relatively lower potential but much greater reproductive ease. Actually, Eve had similar intentions, whether for reproduction or to conserve Divine Power, she did not plan to birth many Royal Family members; the next elves to be born would be generated randomly. Of course, the lower potential of other Primordial Elves was merely relative. Each Primordial Elf, to the current elves, was still a genius-level existence! The players¡¯ bodies were of the same type as them. Also observing this, Eve clearly perceived the state of the newly born Primordial Elf: ¡°As expected, level 40, the peak of Black Iron Upper! Just one step away from silver...¡± She was very satisfied. ¡°However, I can only impart a certain amount of knowledge, now he¡¯s just a blank slate, possessing only innate loyalty to me... As for his personal worldview and personality, it would have to be nurtured over time.¡± Eve did not choose to instill heritage and beliefs. The Primordial Elves were inherently loyal to her, making it unnecessary to infuse additional beliefs. And being a newly born life, he was not a Divine Favored, his soul was not bound to Eve, thus unable to enjoy the system¡¯s heritage. Forcing heritage and belief infusion could potentially distort his fragile soul... In fact, Eve speculated whether the native elves of the Segis World were so obstinate about life and kindness because they were influenced by the forced heritage belief instilled by the previous World Tree when the first Primordial Elves were born... After all, it seemed the former World Tree was a being who loved life and peace. ¡°All things in the world develop in a manner. Ideas are, beliefs are too, this is inherently a process of continuous change! They should learn themselves, to adapt to the changes of this world...¡± ¡°Perhaps, in the Dusk Era, the love of peace and esteem for life was necessary for wise beings, but... the era has long changed, the demise of the Silver Civilization was not without reason.¡± ¡°Anyway... as long as they are loyal to me, that¡¯s enough.¡± Thinking of this, Eve¡¯s mischievousness acted up once more... She stirred the Divine Power again, and in an instant, everyone heard the Goddess¡¯ vast and majestic voice once more: ¡°Newborn child, I, in the name of Eve Yggdrasil, grant you the name ¡ª Serenadil Moonlight!¡± The players in the livestream room: ... ¡°Pfft...¡± ¡°Pfft...¡± ¡°Serenadil? Is this a plan to cultivate a King of Elves?¡± ¡°Hahaha! I¡¯m fine with it!¡± Hearing the True God¡¯s voice, the newly born Primordial Elf raised his head, looking towards the World Tree with admiration and worship in his eyes. He knelt down, his deep and slightly magnetic voice filled with uncontrollable fervor: ¡°Praise be to you! Thank you for naming, great Mother, Eve Yggdrasil under the Divine Crown...¡± Upon hearing that gentle and pleasant voice, the girls in the livestream room exploded again: ¡°Ahhhh! So charming!! My ears are about to get pregnant!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this voice just too beautiful?¡± Eve: ... She glanced at the livestream, then continued to deliver the divine prophecy to the Natural Saintess Alice: ¡°Alice, you will be responsible for teaching Serenadil Moonlight.¡± Alice heard and was emotionally stirred. To teach a Primordial Elf, and a Royal Family member at that, would be a great honor and represented the trust of the Mother Goddess under the Divine Crown! She took a deep breath, also kneeling down, devoutly tracing a tree symbol on her chest: ¡°Alice... will heed the divine prophecy. Your words are the direction of Alice¡¯s life! I will not fail your expectations!¡± Eve nodded internally, then spoke again: ¡°Moreover, you are to select trustworthy Chosen Ones also to be teachers of Serenadil Moonlight!¡± Chosen... Chosen Ones? Alice was taken aback. Chapter 175 - 170: Teaching the Players Chapter 175: Chapter 170: Teaching the Players Let the Chosen Ones also be responsible for educating the newborn Primordial Elf, Serenadil Moonlight? On the World Tree, the elves who heard this divine decree were stunned. *Is the Mother Goddess serious?* Suddenly, Alice seemed to think of something, and her heart was stirred. A trace of realization flashed across her face, and then she knelt down devoutly, her voice solemn and reverent, ¡°I understand. I will arrange for suitable candidates.¡± *The Mother Goddess... wants the elves to learn some of the Chosen Ones¡¯ strengths, perhaps?* *Although these Chosen Ones are crude, often greedy and rude, and even brutal in battle, they possess decisiveness and straightforwardness that the elves lack, along with some novel knowledge...* *Furthermore, although they are Divine Envoys, they are not arrogant, unlike the aloof elves.* *It seems... the Mother Goddess truly wants the Elf Clan to change.* The person chosen to instruct Lord Serenadil still needed careful selection. Alice thought. Seeing that her believer understood her meaning, Eve was very satisfied. *Allowing the native elves, whose mindset was not yet fully transformed, to educate a blank slate like Serenadil, could result in yet another stubborn individual.* *And the players aren¡¯t without merit; their beliefs and ideas are actually quite suitable for the current development of the Elf Clan, not to mention they hold knowledge from Blue Star!* *Ideally, both parties should cooperate in teaching, combining the strengths of the elves and the players.* *What sparks could arise from the collision of two worlds with different cultures and ideologies?* Eve looked forward to it. She trusted Alice with this matter, believing it would go smoothly. Of course, Eve didn¡¯t completely let go; she also added a new side quest under the main task of [Developing Forces] ¡ª [Instructing the Primordial Elf]! The teaching content was clearly outlined as imparting knowledge from Blue Star, anything and everything, but it must be positive. However, unlike other tasks, players needed Alice¡¯s approval before taking this task, earning the qualification to accept it, and the outcome was subject to Alice¡¯s evaluation. Furthermore, Eve also stipulated in the task that no bizarre knowledge was to be taught to Serenadil, nor any bad habits imparted; otherwise, it would be deemed a task failure, and failing would result in no rewards and severe penalties. Of course, if the instruction was successfully completed, the rewards would be generous. Additionally, Eve secretly instructed Serenadil that whether it was the elves¡¯ or the Chosen Ones¡¯ lessons, he must not believe them blindly. He needed to think for himself, differentiate between right and wrong, develop his own beliefs, and report them to her. Having arranged everything, Alice then escorted Serenadil Moonlight away from the World Tree, surrounded by the crowd. Upon learning of the birth of the Primordial Elf and discovering the new [Instructing the Primordial Elf] task, players became excited. ¡°This game has something special! We can even participate in NPC instruction!¡± ¡°Is this... allowing us to help refine NPC cognition and personality? Are AI systems so advanced now?¡± ¡°Hahaha! The main city was built by us, and now we¡¯re teaching the NPCs, the officials are so lazy!¡± ¡°What do you know? This is called engagement! The names of the 300 first-test players are still engraved on the Stele at Chosen Square, envied by countless second-test players...¡± ¡°Hehe, I must take on this task! I want to be a teacher for the cute boy! Serenadil... maybe we can even teach him into an Elf King!¡± ¡°Is that really your intention? You¡¯re just lusting after the Primordial Elf¡¯s looks and body, you pervert!¡± ¡°Hahaha! I remember she quite likes BL, pairing up NPCs every day... Hahaha! Don¡¯t bend the Primordial Elf! Hahaha!¡± ¡°Get lost, both of you!¡± ¡°But back to the point, the Primordial Elf¡¯s looks are really top-notch, and I heard from the elves that he¡¯s of the Royal Family? Even as a man, I find him somewhat attractive...¡± ¡°Hahaha, are you getting bent too?¡± ¡°How could I? We still have the beautiful Goddess! Even though he¡¯s handsome, he¡¯s still not quite on par with the Goddess. I¡¯ll always love Eve Goddess!¡± ¡°Agreed, Eve is the best!¡± ¡°As long as you love the Eve Goddess, you¡¯re our ally!¡± Players were passionately discussing. When the teaching task went live, many players crowded around Alice, eagerly vying for her approval to take on Serenadil¡¯s teaching task. Of course... Ninety percent of those crowding were girls... Seeing this gaggle of female Chosen Ones crowding around noisily, Alice was both surprised and a bit flustered. But she also felt a sense of relief. At least... in her impression, female Chosen Ones were generally more reliable than their male counterparts. The ones who got into mischief were mostly male Chosen Ones, whereas the females were much more well-behaved. But after sorting and selecting, not many passed in the end. Ultimately, it was Li Mu and Gu Gu Niao who were tasked with the instruction... There was no helping it; Alice still felt these two were more familiar and reliable. One was recognized by the elves as the most polite and amiable Chosen One. The other was the most knowledgeable Chosen One Alice had ever seen. And before starting the instruction, Alice, Li Mu, and Gu Gu Niao had a discussion. Alice¡¯s requirement was to train Serenadil into an upright, noble, brave, fearless, learned, and versatile king! After this, in addition to watching over Serenadil, Li Mu and Gu Gu Niao also had the task of instructing him... This result made other players extremely envious. However, despite being unable to teach, many players still gathered around to try to befriend or impress him, aiming to gain Serenadil¡¯s favor. Especially... the female players. And this gave Li Mu a headache. Without the constraints of the teaching task, these players let loose completely. The variety of tactics they used opened Li Mu¡¯s eyes, yet their rapport and teasing were such that he couldn¡¯t find fault with them... He felt a bit envious of Serenadil, even though... the latter was just an NPC. Looks really made it easy to become a winner in life... Being surrounded by girls, they could hardly instruct well, and in the end, they had to relocate the teaching to Li Mu¡¯s home, hang a ¡°No Admittance¡± sign, and ask Divine Favored Ail to stand guard outside. This finally brought some quiet. Their division of labor was also very clear. Gu Gu Niao was in charge of imparting knowledge from Blue Star, while Li Mu was responsible for personality development. For this, Li Mu even went online to look up what ancient emperors studied... Serenadil deserved to be the Royal Family¡¯s Primordial Elf, possessing extraordinary talent. During the instruction, they found that no matter how difficult the content, Serenadil learned it almost after one pass, even able to infer other things from it. Serenadil displayed an exceptionally strong ability to accept and curiosity about everything. Sometimes, he even asked questions that left the two speechless. For this, Gu Gu Niao felt a bit disheartened because she finally met someone with a greater learning ability than herself... Seeing her like this, Li Mu teased afterward, ¡°Why are you getting competitive with an NPC? No matter how realistic, it¡¯s still a game! It¡¯s normal for AI to learn quickly, isn¡¯t it?¡± Hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, Gu Gu Niao realized, then sighed, ¡°You¡¯re right... It¡¯s just that, after so long, I¡¯ve almost forgotten this is a game.¡± *Almost forgotten it¡¯s a game?* Li Mu deeply agreed... Actually, he often felt this way too, which is why he eventually chose to completely log out to take a nap, fearing otherwise, he¡¯d lose the distinction between reality and the game. In this respect, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± truly achieved the ultimate in realism and immersion. ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had been in beta for over a month on Blue Star, yet in all this time, none of the 1,200 players had quit, which was unprecedented. However... players did gain some advantages. For the techniques learned in ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± some found practical use in reality. Players focused on physical skills noticed improved reflexes in the real world, and although spell-cast players didn¡¯t gain this benefit, they generally found their memory had improved... Even if only their consciousness descended, consciousness could still be strong or weak. After training, players¡¯ consciousnesses became far stronger than ordinary people on Blue Star, even benefiting their souls. Moreover, the four-times accelerated thinking was fully utilized by the players, with Little Xian Miao regularly receiving tutoring from Gu Gu Niao in-game, which became the norm, and some college students even doing their homework in-game... the variations were endless. Of course, the reason they did this was because the game time encroached on their real-world time. To save more time for gaming, they had little choice but to complete tasks in the game... Serenadil¡¯s education took off on the right track. However, there were some small incidents... Outside of his studies, Serenadil enjoyed wandering around Chosen City and socializing with players. During his leisure moments, he was often surrounded by female players; when wandering, sometimes players would even coax him into trying barbecue, or engage him in lighthearted chats... Upon learning of these things, Alice was worried about Serenadil being led astray. She wanted to sever Serenadil¡¯s interactions with other Chosen Ones besides Gu Gu Niao and Li Mu, at least... until his worldview was properly developed. However, the Mother Goddess didn¡¯t stop Serenadil from interacting with the players. So in the end, Alice gave up on her idea. But at the same time, she became more vigilant, remembering how Ail¡¯s two sisters had developed a penchant for sneaking meat due to getting too close to the Chosen Ones... Alice did not want Serenadil to fall into the same trap! After some thought, she decided to regularly check Serenadil¡¯s studies to prevent future Elf Royal Family members from being poorly nurtured... Yet, as it turned out, Alice¡¯s fears seemed unfounded. Interactions with the Chosen Ones didn¡¯t seem to have much negative impact on Serenadil. Her periodic checks revealed that Serenadil not only hadn¡¯t picked up bad habits, but had grown more gentle and humble, with his knowledge continuously expanding. Perhaps due to his constant dealings with female Chosen Ones, he exuded a radiant smile, gentle demeanor, and an elegant manner, seeming to have learned how to properly interact with the opposite sex. His charming demeanor even moved Alice somewhat. His knowledge was advancing rapidly, especially the information from the Chosen Ones, some of which Alice found difficult to comprehend herself... This made Alice marvel at the Royal Family¡¯s rapid growth while also feeling relieved. *This... is good!* *Though... for some reason, she still felt unsettled, with a sense that something was not quite right...* And as Serenadil¡¯s growth was set on the right path, Eve¡¯s [Developing Forces] task also had new breakthroughs... Chapter 176 - 171: Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Chapter 176: Chapter 171: Agriculture and Animal Husbandry The core area of the Elf Forest was about four kilometers from the Chosen City. There used to be a grove of high-quality timber here, perfect for construction material. The trees grew straight, had good texture, and emitted a faint fragrance that calmed the mind. When completing the daily task of collecting timber, players who submitted this kind of wood would receive additional experience points and contribution from Alice. Therefore, after the location was shared by those who discovered it on the official strategy forum, many players came here to gather timber. And over time, the players stripped the place bare... Even on the day Eve revived, when everything was growing and many saplings sprouted, the second test players dug them all up to be used as roadside trees in Chosen City... However, although the trees were gone, there was now a large open space. Since it had been a forest, the soil was extremely fertile, and the players chose it as an experimental field for crop cultivation. Elves were magical creatures by nature and were among the wise species of Druids. *Perhaps for ordinary humans, crop cultivation was a long and unpredictable process, but for players with nature magic, everything could be accelerated.* After obtaining some crop seeds from a captured human caravan, Little Xian Miao handed them over to the living guild players, allowing them to take on related side quests and attempt cultivation. The players received a total of three types of seeds, which, after identification, turned out to be Mania Plain Wheat, Mania Rapid Rice, and Aries Potato. Plain Wheat and Rapid Rice were primary agricultural products in human society within the Segis World, each with a long cultivation history. The smuggled seeds, identified by Elf Nightingale who once lived in human society, were thought to possibly be the latest high-quality crop varieties recently bred and widely discussed in human society by the official Magic Association of the Holy Mania Empire! The third type, Aries Potato. was a bit like potatoes on Blue Star, but gray in color and a bit sweeter. It was said to be an introduced crop from another plane, brought into human society a thousand years ago when the plane channel was still open by legendary mage Aries of the Aries Kingdom. Since this crop had a high yield, it quickly became widely cultivated in human society and was well-received by the common folk. However, unlike potatoes, Aries Potato had to rely on seeds for reproduction. The potato seeds acquired by the players were also recognized by Nightingale and thought to be improved varieties from the Ariel Kingdom! *Thinking about it, if they were not high-quality seeds, how could they have attracted the attention of the Sorren Caravan for smuggling?* *After all, the profit from magic items was much higher, wasn¡¯t smuggling magic items more worthwhile?* *Only such precious high-quality varieties would catch the eye of smugglers.* Of course, these things were now available to the players at a bargain. *In the game, Tianchao players were quite interested in growing vegetables.* Besides, although the Elf Forest was rich in resources, it was mostly fruits and vegetables, lacking staple foods. *For Tianchao people, the most uncomfortable thing was not having staple food to eat.* So, players had high expectations for these seeds. Moreover, unlike reality, magic existed here. The land in the Elf Forest was extremely fertile, and the air was rich in magic power, allowing for plant growth to be significantly accelerated without prolonged waiting. In just a few days, the players saw results... *In fact, the outcome was even better than what the players had imagined!* Now... the land had turned into farmland, growing Plain Wheat, Rapid Rice, and Potatoes. Thanks to the effects of magic, the players also brought in Black Dragon Mairrel¡¯s manure, and with the support of the silver-level Druid, Oak Guardian Berserker, the crops seemed to have undergone some kind of mutation... They grew sturdier, the fruit was plumper, and even the potatoes seemed to sprout more tuberous roots... *In the players¡¯ experiments, they found that with various enhancements, the growth speed of these crops could be elevated to a terrifying level!* The quickest Rapid Rice matured in three days, while the slowest Plain Wheat took just a week... You had to know, in human society, even the fastest growing Rapid Rice took at least four months to mature! Of course, this was because ordinary humans couldn¡¯t enjoy the magical enhancements, nor did they have the fertile land of the Elf Forest and the abundant magic power, not to mention the dragon manure... Not to mention anything else, due to the resurgence of the World Tree, the magic level in the core area of the Elf Forest had long surpassed that of the outside world! *Under these conditions, anything planted grew well and grew fast.* Now, the farmland was already on the second or third batch of crops, with players selecting better seeds after harvesting the first batch. After harvesting the crops, identified by Great Druid Oak Guardian Berserker, perhaps due to the abundant magic of the Elf Forest and the use of dragon manure by the players, these crops were subtly surpassing the realm of ordinary crops, having a hint of magical plant characteristics...* After consuming these crops, they could even aid in the absorption of magic power! Although the effect was weak, it was still quite remarkable. Chapter 177 - 171 Agriculture and Animal Husbandry_2 Chapter 177: Chapter 171 Agriculture and Animal Husbandry_2 This made the players sigh once again, *the black dragon really was a treasure trove!* Of course, only the players had the opportunity to use the black dragon¡¯s droppings as fertilizer... And this further ignited the players¡¯ enthusiasm for experimentation. After successfully growing the crops, the new seeds quickly spread among the players. Quite a few players bought some seeds from the ¡°Mengmeng Committee¡± using their contribution points and began conducting experiments in their own yards... They came up with all sorts of strange methods, starting to collect various types of magical materials in the Elf Forest for use as experimental fertilizers, trying to see if they could make the crops mutate even more significantly... Some even... set their sights on the World Tree, digging around its roots, only to be angrily scolded by the Oak Guardian, Berserker. Meanwhile, on the official forum, the players involved in planting also began to summarize different planting effects according to their fertilizer experiment progress. *Surprisingly, there really were results!* The black dragon¡¯s droppings could increase yield and quality, and magically transform crops, while the droppings of the elves could greatly speed up the growth. Additionally, some of the soil beneath special magical plants in the Elf Forest could cause crops to mutate, imbuing them with magical properties similar to those plants, offering different tastes! So, it wasn¡¯t without reason that some players focused on the soil beneath the World Tree... After all, it was the soil where the True God had taken root! It could be called divine soil! In fact, some managed to secretly obtain a bit of it while the NPCs were unwatched, and after using it, they were surprised to find the crops grew wildly! Its effect was even better than the elves¡¯ droppings! After that... more players began to stealthily dig the soil under the World Tree while the NPCs were not paying attention... This situation made Eve feel both amused and helpless. In the end, she set up a magical barrier beneath herself to make the soil immune to the players¡¯ digging, which finally put an end to these peculiar players. The players¡¯ performance in crop cultivation also pleased Berserker, the Oak Guardian. Except for those few who wanted to dig around the World Tree¡¯s roots... Berserker was selected by Eve as the NPC for the [Crop Cultivation] task, overseeing the entire process of players¡¯ planting. Due to his sensitive identity, he couldn¡¯t join in the expansion of forces, so he stayed honestly in the Elf Forest, assisting the elves and players with development, essentially doing his druid duties. However, Berserker¡¯s appearance had changed somewhat from the beginning. To avoid his exposure leading to the detection of the revival of the Mother Goddess, he specifically prayed to Eve, requesting the inheritance of the transformation spell. Now, he transformed into the form of a two-meter-tall bald elven strongman... He looked somewhat intimidating. However, because the transformation spell limited magic power, he couldn¡¯t use his full strength while transformed, so he honestly took up logistics work. Berserker was very pleased with the players¡¯ enthusiasm for planting. Though he was puzzled as to why these Chosen Ones liked planting like humans did, considering that native elves mainly consumed fruits, and the Elf Forest was so abundant that the fruits could never be finished. Even if they were, by casting a spell, they could grow back. But at least... with crops available, the Chosen Ones hunted much less frequently. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just much less, but there was almost nothing left around to hunt. Now, the players ventured further out to hunt demon beasts¡ªhe couldn¡¯t see this happening while he stayed in the core area... The [Crop Cultivation] side quest was completed excellently by the players. The related processed products quickly found their way to the players¡¯ tables with the help of convenient magic... The spices collected from the human caravans also inspired the players, who began searching for similar substitutes in the Elf Forest to use as seasoning. In no time, players uncovered their cooking talents, and various common dishes from Blue Star started appearing in Segis World. Some vegetarian dishes even piqued the curiosity and welcome of the native elves... However, unlike the remarkably smooth planting industry, the livestock industry under the leadership of Black Dragon Mairrel suffered setbacks. Recently, the little black dragon, with some players, caused a ruckus among the mid-level demon beasts of the Elf Forest, searching everywhere for demon beast nests to capture young ones. *Surprisingly, they caught quite a few, but none were suitable for domestication.* Moreover, demon beasts were different from plants. Plants were more sensitive to Magic Power and could grow faster in high Magic Power environments, but demon beasts didn¡¯t show such an obvious effect... They only became stronger. At this point, given the precedent of crop cultivation, some players suggested to the little black dragon to capture some already domesticated animals from human society. But they were quickly scolded by Mairrel: ¡°Rua¡ª¡ª! Capture domesticated animals from human society? Do you think I, Mairrel, am a dragon like a common robber?!¡± *Weren¡¯t you?* The players recalled the scenes of the black dragon greedily plundering treasures from the Half-Beast and human caravans... Of course, they could only think about it in their hearts. ¡°However...¡± Mairrel shifted her tone, lifting her proud dragon head, ¡°Robbing is out of the question, but Mairrel thinks we could buy some from human society. I just need the True God¡¯s permission first, and... you need to pay! Also, you must give Lord Mairrel half... no, double the running fee! Rua¡ª¡ª!¡± She emphasized the issue of money. Buy? The players¡¯ eyes brightened. This was a great idea! After looting the Half-Beast Tribe and the human mercenaries, the players obtained quite a bit of the universal currency of human society, which just happened to be useless to them. It could be used to buy domesticated animals. ¡°Buy domesticated animals?¡± Eve was slightly surprised upon receiving the black dragon¡¯s request. She thought for a moment, then agreed. Having signed the master-servant contract and becoming a believer, Mairrel couldn¡¯t escape. Knowing her true identity, Mairrel also became tight-lipped, so there probably wouldn¡¯t be any issues. But... could she really manage to buy them? *Wasn¡¯t she likely to be attacked as a wicked dragon as soon as she appeared in human society?* Of course, Eve didn¡¯t discourage her, but let her go as she pleased. Upon learning that the black dragon was going to human society to buy domesticated animals, the players got excited, clamoring to go together. However, after learning about the distance, they were disappointed. The nearest human country was also over seven hundred kilometers away from the core area of the Elf Forest, while the players¡¯ activity range was only three hundred kilometers. ¡°Ah... we¡¯ll have to wait until the human society map is available for exploration later on.¡± The players were a bit regretful. Although the players expressed regret over not being able to explore human society, the Underworld had already opened its doors. The most adventurous players acted quickly, venturing into the mysterious Dark Territory through the underground caves... Chapter 178 - 172: Exploring the Underworld Chapter 178: Chapter 172: Exploring the Underworld The Underworld was also known as the Dark Territory. In the legacy of the World Tree that Eve had obtained, there wasn¡¯t much description about the Underworld. She only knew that the history of the Underworld was not shorter than that of the surface world, and perhaps even longer. It was said that at the very beginning, several ancient gods who were defeated during the Creation Era had delved deep underground, creating this dark world. However, over time, these ancient gods fell one after another or degenerated into evil gods. The Underworld was gradually occupied by newly-born intelligent beings and others coming from the surface world, bringing with them the faith of True Gods. Unlike the surface world, where kingdoms had formed, social order had been established, and wars had significantly decreased overall, the Underworld was filled with bloodshed and chaos. Wars, conquests, declines, and collapses formed a similar cycle among the various realms of the Dark Territory. Here, there were no formed nations, only settlements built on races or underground cities formed around particular strong individuals. The intelligent beings here were generally more ferocious than those on the surface, and due to the presence of evil gods, the preaching of True Gods was difficult. In the past ten thousand years, only the Netherworld, which had Plane Channels connected to the Dark Territory, saw any True God manage to take root here. But even so, it was barely enough. After the world¡¯s Plane Channels closed after the thousand-year divine war, it became even more challenging for the True Gods to spread their faith. Due to a lack of exploration and communication, for the intelligent residents of the surface world, the Underworld often only existed in legends. Even the Old Elves of the Flame Tribe, who lived for nearly a thousand years, knew little about the Underworld. They only knew it seemed to be a dark world composed of huge caves, underground rivers, and lakes, illuminated only by glowing stones. A rich underground water system connected areas that were nearly isolated from each other. Overall, in the cognition of intelligent races on the surface, the Underworld represented mystery, wilderness, and chaos... Merely entering the Dark Territory and returning to tell the tales was an achievement worthy of documentation for adventurers. And Eve only had a complete impression of the nearby Underworld after further deep interactions with the Spider Queen Rose. The Underworld beneath Rivendell was considered a remote area of the Dark Territory. This place was made up of a giant cave called the Deep Cave, where the primary intelligent beings were the Dark Dwarfs who migrated here nearly a thousand years ago. Besides them, numerous monsters and demon beasts inhabited the area... After gaining deeper understanding, Eve remained deeply interested in the Underworld. Currently, there were no threats in the Elf Forest, and the demon beasts to the north of the Elf Forest were too powerful for the current players to deal with. Moreover, *what¡¯s the point in continuously dealing with the demon beasts of the Elf Forest?* It was still better to go out and fight! Before welcoming the next counterattack of winter and Uller, the Hunting God, Eve still needed to train the players further. The Underworld was a great choice. The place was inherently chaotic, and its natives were ferocious, offering players a chance to revel in their freedom. However, to prevent players from encountering accidents during exploration and to avoid conflicts with the followers of Death God Hela, Eve promptly organized some information she obtained from the Spider Queen Rose and uploaded it to the data section of the official forum. After all... dealing with the already formidable lesser divine power Uller was enough. As for the medium divine power Hela, Eve was still somewhat intimidated. Moreover... after using someone else¡¯s hidden identity for so long, she felt a bit guilty. To further stimulate the players¡¯ enthusiasm, Eve added achievements related to exploring the Underworld. The achievement system had actually been activated when players successfully constructed the Chosen City. The earliest achievement system was the construction of the Novice Village. Not only did the stele in the central square record the nicknames of the three hundred players from the first test, but also they could still find their names under the ¡°Main City Construction¡± achievement in the system¡¯s achievement section. In subsequent missions, contributors who completed major tasks would still be granted related achievements, and their deeds would be recorded in the system¡¯s achievement section. For example, several life-type players from the ¡°Mengmeng Committee,¡± who completed the [Crop Planting] task, received related achievements, with their nicknames and deeds input into the game system. They even received the exclusive title of ¡°Planting Expert.¡± Exploring the Underworld also naturally had achievements associated with it. As the ¡°First Legion¡± guild, a frontline exploration group like the lunchbox team, they mobilized all their guild strength to enter the new map... They wanted to achieve the first successful exploration of the Underworld! Driven by curiosity, while players were exploring the Underworld, Eve sneakily transferred her vision to them, enjoying the local customs and landscape of the Underworld. The entrance to Rivendell¡¯s underground cave was merely a passageway. To officially enter the Underworld, one had to continue descending along the cave. The players continued downward and walked about three kilometers before finally reaching the true Underworld. Having long been accustomed to the beautiful grandeur of the Elf Forest and the miraculous magnificence of Rivendell, they were once again stunned by the sight before them... This was a vast cave, with no end in sight. On the cave ceiling, countless luminous stones were embedded in the rocks, emitting a faint blue glow, providing the only light to the dark Underworld, like the stars in the sky, splendid and magnificent. In the cave, there were hills, valleys, underground rivers... and the more rugged and variable rock landscapes formed by complex geological structures. Closest to the players was an underground forest consisting of giant dark purple fern-like plants, whose names they couldn¡¯t figure out. These giant ferns were also luminous, emanating tiny spots of faint purple light from their bodies. Their trunks swayed gently in the underground breeze, causing their light to flicker slightly, making them look like a dreamlike world. Of course... if they could ignore the occasional growling of monsters from afar. ¡°Wow, I thought the Underworld was just a barren hole, but it truly is a world! There¡¯s a forest here with its complete ecosystem! These underground plants look so cool!¡± Seeing the view of the Underworld, a player exclaimed excitedly. ¡°Indeed! These ferns look beautiful. Let¡¯s see if we can dig some up and plant them on the surface later.¡± Another player wholeheartedly agreed. ¡°Be careful. The official data mentioned not to underestimate any creature from the Underworld. This map is full of chaos and unknowns. All species that survive here are not to be trifled with.¡± The Guild Leader of the ¡°First Legion,¡± Fried Tomato, said. ¡°Also, take note of the intelligent species like the suspicious Dark Dwarfs. From the official data, it seems they are worshipers of the Death God and are the local bosses in this area. They have the potential to become neutral or even friendly NPCs. Try not to provoke them; otherwise, the entire group could be wiped out.¡± Having gone red-name once, this guy became more cautious. Subsequent similar incidents proved that even though the red-name mechanism in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had levels, it was also strict. He got off lightly then, with only a few contribution points deducted. The world was big, and there were all kinds of birds. Besides him, other players had challenged the rules later, but they all received varying degrees of punishment. Moreover, as player levels increased, these punishments escalated exponentially. A high-level player once had a conflict with another player after a wild battle. Instead of consuming contribution points to activate PK mode, he just attacked. The red-name mechanism was immediately activated, and after the system warning went unheeded, he killed the other player. He was subsequently banned for three days by the game officials, almost bankrupting his accumulated wealth. Three days... which equaled twelve days in the game, during which a lot could be done. The game¡¯s quick ban policy was often complained about on the official website by the players. Many felt, *is it necessary just for killing someone? It¡¯s just a game...* Of course, the official website did not respond. Anyway, the attitude was to play if you wished, or leave if you didn¡¯t. With so many players waiting for the public test on the internet, Eve really wasn¡¯t short of one or two players; if someone left or was driven away, they could just add more players. She needed obedient fighters, not troublemakers. ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± existed not to make money or ensure players¡¯ enjoyment but to motivate players to work. In the end, the players had no choice but to comply once more... *After all, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was truly unique.* The officials were capricious, but they had the conditions for it... Over time, the players just came to terms with it. ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± wasn¡¯t a place for recklessness, unless one was prepared for severe punishment or account deletion! Just like the chicken at the entrance of Streamwood Town in the classic game scroll, few old players dared to mess with it... except those seeking the thrill of becoming enemies with the world. Of course, if any player really dared to stir up trouble, Eve would ensure they understood why the flower was so red this way. Listening to Fried Tomato¡¯s reminder, the other players nodded. Soon, they witnessed a shocking scene. A small demon beast, resembling a mouse, suddenly dashed out from a rocky path nearby and accidentally fell into the forest. The beautiful fern-like plants immediately extended their dimly glowing purple ¡°tentacles,¡± wrapping around it. The small demon beast struggled only for a moment before becoming motionless, quickly turning into a puddle of sticky liquid absorbed by the ferns. Players: ... ¡°Oh crap!¡± ¡°Oh crap!!¡± ¡°Indeed... beautiful things often have thorns...¡± Fried Tomato also looked serious. He thought for a moment and said, ¡°Let¡¯s bypass this forest and explore deeper. We should be able to find traces of the Underground Demonic Beasts.¡± With that, he led the team onto another rocky path. That was where the mouse-like demon beast emerged from. If there was a living creature, it meant the path was open. After taking a few steps, he couldn¡¯t help but look around. For some reason, after entering this underground cave, he always had a feeling of being watched. But after looking around, he saw nothing. ¡°Could it be an illusion?¡± He shook his head and continued leading the team forward... Chapter 179 - 173: The Spied Upon Players Chapter 179: Chapter 173: The Spied Upon Players Fried Tomato led the team from the ¡°First Legion¡± guild along the rocky path, delving deeper into exploration. Meanwhile, as they walked, the players cast Identification on newly encountered species, competing to gather detailed information about the Underworld. This was a side quest of the main quest [Exploring the Underworld]¡ª[Monster Detection], requiring players to identify various species, including monsters, plants, and animals, a total of ten times to complete the quest. The players had also identified that the giant fern, which preyed on small demon beasts, was a magical plant known as the ¡°Dark Purple Glow Fern,¡± capable of preying on animals that strayed into it. It posed a significant threat to creatures below Black Iron Upper strength. Of course, as a magical plant, they were also excellent magic materials, but players were not capable of obtaining them due to their current strength. However, they kept this in mind, planning to see if they could seek help from NPCs after completing the exploration. Aside from [Monster Detection], there was also the side quest [Map Drawing]. This was simpler, as the system automatically recorded the paths of areas the players passed through by opening a mini-map. They only needed to periodically use [Scouting Technique] to scan the surrounding topography and then upload it to be recorded in the system. As long as they managed to record a map area equivalent to a one-kilometer radius, they would complete the quest. These two quests seemed easy, but they also tested hand speed. Because once a new species or map was recorded and uploaded by one player to the game¡¯s system, another player could not repeat the recording and had to find a new species and a new area. This was Eve using the players¡¯ hands to further explore the Underworld. Although Eve had obtained some intelligence about the Underworld from Spider Queen Rose, it was limited¡ªnowhere near as detailed and extensive as what players discovered through personal exploration. Since this area was some distance from Her main body, not in Eve¡¯s control range, and possibly housing other True Gods, She couldn¡¯t recklessly scan directly with Divine Power and had to rely on the players. Because the players¡¯ consciousness was connected to Eve¡¯s game system, the information they gathered was immediately reflected to Eve and recorded by Her, making this model quite useful. *After all... the players were also having a blast, enjoying the exploration.* Double win, double win. Players had to complete a total of 50 side quests to finish the main quest [Exploring the Underworld]! Eve had calculated that with Her current maximum exploration distance offered to the players, 50 [Map Drawings] would be just enough to cover the Underworld regions that players could reach... *However, completing 50 side quests wasn¡¯t easy, and such a number couldn¡¯t be finished by just one or two players.* At this point, the advantage of a large guild became evident¡ªmore people, bigger team! To complete this task, Fried Tomato organized all the high-level players in the ¡°First Legion¡± guild, over a hundred in total, and chose a certain night on Blue Star to come online and explore together. He led the guild members about three kilometers before finally bypassing the peculiar dark purple forest. However, as they explored, the inexplicable feeling in Fried Tomato¡¯s heart grew stronger. He always felt that something was secretly watching him... As the highest-level player in the guild, he believed in his intuition. After some hesitation, he asked the Hunter player responsible for the forefront of the exploration: ¡°Little Eight, have you detected any creatures nearby? Why do I feel like something is watching us?¡± A Hunter player with the green Chinese characters ¡°Bab¡± atop their head cast several [Scouting Techniques] and said, ¡°President, there are quite a few creatures nearby, maybe... some demon beasts have noticed us. But there doesn¡¯t seem to be any strong auras, so I think we don¡¯t need to worry.¡± ¡°Is that so...¡± Fried Tomato muttered. After speaking, he glanced again at the name above Bab¡¯s head, his mouth twitching, ¡°By the way, I suggest you change your nickname; otherwise, calling your name always feels like a loss...¡± Bab: ... ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha!¡± Other players laughed. The whole team advanced in a cheerful atmosphere... After bypassing the dark purple giant fern forest, they saw a vast mushroom forest blocking their path. The smallest of these mushrooms stood three meters tall, in bizarre shades of pale blue. Their caps sparkled with deep luster, beautifully illuminating the surroundings, and below the mushrooms lay a bed of soft brown-black soil. Upon reaching this spot, the players also saw traces of demon beasts. They were small, quick-footed, and darted between the mushrooms, warily watching the passing elves. Unlike the surface demon beasts, those in the Underworld tended to be drab-colored, as if blending with the environment, and generally looked quite ugly. One player, spurred by a sudden impulse, also ventured into the mushroom forest to hunt. He was a Hunter, very fast, immediately catching up to a demon beast and killing it, only to discover that these demon beasts were not very strong. This surprised him a little. ¡°Weren¡¯t there supposed to be numerous monsters in the Underworld? It feels... quite peaceful,¡± he said in puzzlement. Just as he spoke, the ground suddenly shook, the soil at his standing position churned, and an enormous claw emerged. In the horrified eyes of all players, a monstrous, scorpion-like demon beast surfaced, severed him at the waist with its claw, spilling blood and entrails everywhere, and dragged his corpse into the soil... This all took less than a few seconds. In the distance, more of these giant scorpions emerged, seemingly numbering nearly a hundred! But finding the target had already been preyed upon by a companion, they quickly burrowed back into the ground, restoring everything to its original state... The vigilant small demon beasts rushed forward, enthusiastically devouring the blood and entrails scattered by the player, swiftly erasing all traces before leisurely resuming their passage through the mushroom forest... As if... nothing had happened just now. ¡°Holy crap!¡± ¡°Holy crap!!¡± The players were stunned. Fried Tomato¡¯s expression was grave, then his eyes brightened, ¡°It¡¯s not that there weren¡¯t powerful demon beasts, but that they were hiding... Those surface demon beasts were deliberately left behind as bait to attract prey!¡± When the giant scorpion appeared just now, he had identified it, estimating its strength to be at the Black Iron Upper level. If the demon beast had no intelligence, as long as the players found a weakness and fought with more against fewer, it wasn¡¯t impossible to defeat! Taking a deep breath, he excitedly said, ¡°Brothers! Time to work! Let¡¯s lure one or two out to test the waters first!¡± *One objective of exploring the Underworld was to find more demon beasts to level up!* *Not to mention, these giant scorpions blocked their path!* Upon hearing Fried Tomato¡¯s order, the players of ¡°First Legion¡± immediately became excited, starting to form teams according to their usual combat mode in the Elf Forest when hunting demon beasts. Mages first chanted spells, releasing explosive magic on a corner of the land to attempt to provoke the demon beasts. Of course, the players were also prepared to run at any time because they might provoke not just one demon beast, but a group, and then it was a matter of who could run faster. However, this time, the players were lucky. After a Fireball Technique, the soil exploded into a large pit, instantly provoking three giant scorpions. Demon beasts had no intelligence and relied entirely on instinct. They immediately emerged from the soil, no longer hiding, and attacked the players... Fried Tomato¡¯s eyes brightened, ¡°Three of them! Everyone split into three teams, each taking on one!¡± ¡°Main Tanks hold the monsters! Druids, prepare to heal! Melee combats maneuver to attack and distract, while the ranged supports!¡± ¡°Rotate after a round, switch to long-range burst attacks, melee supports maneuver!¡± ¡°Go round after round, see who deals more damage! Also... prioritize fire and light magic!¡± Doing combat with demon beasts every day, the First Legion had ample experience. Though they had never seen such scorpion-like demon beasts before and didn¡¯t know their habits and combat mechanisms, by following the Elf Kingdom¡¯s exploration routine a few times, even if some people died, they would eventually figure out a method. The hidden giant scorpions here were numerous enough for them to collectively develop! Over a hundred players quickly split into three large teams according to their usual combat mode, each dealing with a giant scorpion and waging battle... During players¡¯ battle, in the darkness, on the cave wall to one side of the rocky path, a small hole revealed a pair of sharply focused eyes. There... seemed to be a narrow tunnel hidden, with someone hiding there, continuously spying on the players. That was a short figure dressed in dark grey clothing, who watched the players excitedly battling the giant scorpions, eyes filled with surprise and bewilderment. But soon, his figure flickered and vanished. The players, engrossed in combat, hadn¡¯t noticed anyone had been observing them. However, Eve, with Her constant switching between players¡¯ perspectives, did notice, ¡°Was that just now... a Dark Dwarf?¡± A hint of interest arose in Her heart. Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com Chapter 180 - 174 The Doubts of the Dark Dwarves Chapter 180: Chapter 174 The Doubts of the Dark Dwarves ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the players to attract the attention of the Dark Dwarves so quickly.¡± Eve was somewhat surprised. However, this also indicated that the settlement of the Dark Dwarves was probably not far from here... ¡°It seems that the map of the Dark Dwarves might be opening soon.¡± She thought for a moment and temporarily enabled the language blocking function for the team named Fried Tomato, screening out related terms that might reveal her true identity, like the World Tree and Yggdrasil. *Although players have currently accepted the setup of keeping the true identity of the Goddess a secret, who knows if any player might suddenly act erratically, so it¡¯s better to be cautious.* Of course, only the language conversion was blocked. When players were summoned to the Segis World, they actually still spoke Chinese; however... as the initiator controlling the connection between the players¡¯ consciousness and bodies, Eve could manipulate the players¡¯ bodies. *Players believed they were speaking Chinese, but in fact, their words automatically converted into the local language of the Segis World after they spoke, and vice versa.* This local language defaulted to Elvish, but players could also adjust the language system to use the common language employed among various races in the Segis World. For instance, when communicating with Half-Beasts, they used the common language. *Although players thought they were speaking only Chinese and found the game¡¯s official language system somewhat inexplicable, they felt it was quite appealing once they accepted it.* As for the blocking, it essentially meant that the related terms weren¡¯t ¡°translated,¡± and players would directly say them in Chinese¡ªnaturally, the natives wouldn¡¯t understand. Of course, players could also learn the local language¡¯s spelling, so even without using system language conversion or even when it¡¯s blocked, they could still write the text... *But... what player would be crazy enough to spend considerable effort learning a language that might just be some random creation by the game developers?* Except for the academic owl... Hmm, those mage players who wished to study the Array might also learn, but they mostly learned the runes in the Elvish language, imitating the originals. Besides certain language functions, Eve also blocked the sacrificial array for one player before he prepared to draw it and informed players via a system notification. The approximate meaning was that players officially entered the Underworld, and the sacrificial array was temporarily prohibited and would be lifted once they returned to the surface... There were also believers of the Death God here, and if players casually used the sacrificial array, it would likewise expose them. ¡°The First Legion¡± did not yet realize that their beloved Goddess had blocked part of their language function just now. *Although the sudden system message prohibiting sacrifices underground was somewhat surprising, it was merely a bit surprising.* They had already engaged in combat with these fearsome giant scorpions. The players were seasoned in field battles, having only drawn three giant scorpions into the fray. Even though they were Black Iron Upper demon beasts, they did not panic. *After many days of fighting, they were no longer the rookies they were at the start of the game, and dealing with grouped demon beasts was old hat to them. It was simply a matter of testing the attack mechanisms and weak points of a new type.* Mages prepared their Fireball Techniques; with the Spider Queen Rose leading, they already knew that fire and light attribute magic had the highest destructive power against most underground demon beasts... Melee players surrounded the attracted giant scorpions, conducting hit-and-run attacks with remarkable synergy. Even Eve, watching, had to admire the rapid progress of the players... *Indeed, upon reflection, it made sense.* *For players, this was just a game; the greatest psychological barrier for recruits¡ªfear¡ªwas no longer an issue.* Moreover, they could reduce pain sensitivity and even revive, which subtly enhanced their courage and tolerance for mistakes. Thus, after dying several times, players rapidly improved their combat skills. This increasingly satisfied Eve, making her feel that constructing a ¡°Catastrophe Army¡± that could make other true gods tremble seemed not far off. Meanwhile, a small presence that had been secretly spying on players from a concealed cave walked through a narrow, man-made tunnel, eventually emerging in front of a small town made of stones! The entire small city was built with black stones, featuring a rugged style. Under the glow of luminescent stones on the cavern ceiling, it appeared solemn and murderous. A group of dwarves wearing coarse, dark-brown hemp clothing with dark skin carried pickaxes or balanced goods on their heads as they moved back and forth within the town... This... was a city of the Dark Dwarves! The Dark Dwarves that resembled scouts weaved through the town, greeting familiar faces while swiftly making their way to the most majestic three-story stone building in the town¡¯s center... ¡°What? You say you saw a group that might be elf mercenaries from the surface? Over a hundred of them?¡± In the stone building¡¯s hall, an elderly dwarf listened in astonishment to the scout¡¯s report. Just like common Dark Dwarves, he was short and stout, with a ring of long, messy facial beard, dark skin, and a bald head. The old dwarf gazed at the dwarf scout reporting before him, a hint of speechlessness crossing his face, ¡°Iron Hammer, have you had too much beer? This is the Dark Territory; where would elves come from? And a hundred of them... mercenaries?¡± *Elven identities are so sensitive. How could they boldly become mercenaries? Especially in such numbers!* *While there were cases of elves discreetly hiding their identities as mercenaries across the continent, those were exceptions!* *Not to mention... what would elves be doing in the Dark Territory?* The old dwarf did not believe it at all. ¡°Really! Grandpa Balin, I definitely didn¡¯t get it wrong! Pointy ears, very tall, and very beautiful, surely elves! They¡¯re over by the Dark Forest!¡± Called Iron Hammer, the dwarf scout declared, blushing with certainty. ¡°Impossible!¡± The old dwarf shook his head, ¡°The Dark Forest is full of monsters, though it connects to the surface entrance guarded by that terrifying giant spider, so surface creatures can¡¯t come down without our guidance.¡± ¡°Really! Grandpa Balin! I swear to the Death God, I absolutely didn¡¯t mistake them! They are truly elves! Their armor is stunning, more exquisite than the Human World¡¯s, not inferior to our craftsmanship, definitely elves.¡± Iron Hammer drew a symbol on his chest representing the Death God and Lord of the Netherworld. *Swearing to the Death God...* Upon hearing this, the old dwarf was momentarily stunned; his expression turned slightly solemn. *In the Segis World, where true gods prevailed, swearing by their deity was the most rigorous form of oath; no intelligent being dared to lie on this matter.* ¡°Were their hair colors the same?¡± The old dwarf asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s all different colors...¡± Iron Hammer shook his head. ¡°Not consistent...¡± The old dwarf frowned and breathed a slight sigh of relief. ¡°So, it wasn¡¯t a forced relocation of an underground Elf Tribe. Fully armored... could they really be mercenaries? But how did they come down? What were they doing here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t believe me... You can go and see for yourself; they are over there fighting the giant scorpions!¡± Iron Hammer insisted. Hearing this, the old dwarf was taken aback, ¡°Fighting giant scorpions? Why are they fighting those creatures?¡± ¡°It seemed that an elf accidentally wandered into the mushroom forest of the Dark Forest and got eaten by those giant scorpions, so the other elves got enraged and started fighting fiercely!¡± The old dwarf: ... ¡°Are they strong? Didn¡¯t the war gods and pantheon curse them thousands of years ago, making their strength drop to Black Iron?¡± He asked again. Iron Hammer scratched his head, ¡°I didn¡¯t investigate closely, but they didn¡¯t seem particularly strong, appearing to be around Black Iron Lower.¡± The old dwarf: ... *A group of Black Iron Lower elves picking a fight with Black Iron Upper giant scorpions¡ªare they crazy?* Balin admitted that the elves¡¯ silver culture and crafting skills were top-notch across the continent. Even after a millennium, other races on the Segis Continent couldn¡¯t surpass them. Even the craft-savvy dwarves merely compared to elves in regular smithing; for higher-level magic equipment, they fell slightly short... *But civilization was one thing, and crafting skill was another; neither determined a race¡¯s combat strength.* *Elves¡¯ weak combat power was notorious at the same tier.* *Before their rank fell, elves could rely on higher starting points, better equipment, and hard strength to prevail, but that was no longer the case...* *And... sacrificing more people for one dead comrade?* *Is it worth it?* *No wonder those long ears are doing worse and worse...* He shook his head, contemplating, and said, ¡°Take me to see them.¡± He was quite curious about the elves. Dark Dwarves might not have been the friendliest, but elves were different... *Those were a famously nai?ve, stubborn, and easily duped race across the continent, utterly harmless. If they really were elves, the old dwarf wouldn¡¯t mind communicating further; he always admired some of their manufacturing techniques.* Under the guidance of Iron Hammer, the old dwarf Balin quickly reached the place where he had previously spied on the players through a dug-out tunnel. When Balin arrived here, he peered through a small hole in the tunnel and saw players battling the giant scorpions. Needless to say... the First Legion was indeed seasoned. The three demon beasts posed no challenge to them. Even though they were Black Iron Upper, after losing five players, the First Legion wiped them out. Considering the sacrificial array couldn¡¯t be used, and the giant scorpions didn¡¯t seem to have anything of value besides pincers and stingers... So, when killing the giant scorpions, the players set ¡°experience points acquisition¡± to 100%, not leaving any spoils. The entire scorpion was drained of life by ¡°war sacrifice,¡± turning into ashes... Seeing the substantial experience points received in the status bar, the players were thrilled. *The experience points from these giant scorpions were so high!* This was for a reason, as the conditions in the Underworld were far harsher than aboveground, meaning the demon beasts surviving here generally had more tenacious vitality. The ¡°war sacrifice¡± instinct that Eve granted the players¡¯ bodies relied on absorbing life force! Additionally, since the players opted not to retain any spoils and directly absorbed 100% of the experience points, *the data received was unexpectedly high, which was entirely normal.* Although they lost five players, the players had already grasped the combat pattern of the giant scorpions. They were excited, panting heavily, eagerly continuing to lure and fight the monsters... The old dwarf saw the players kill the giant scorpions, then toss several fireballs into the mushroom forest, drawing in five giant scorpions and engaging in battle once more. The sight of excitement, anticipation, and unabated joy from a distance made the old dwarf pause in amazement. *These elves...* *What on earth is going on?* *This doesn¡¯t seem like a fight for revenge at all?* Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com Chapter 181 - 175: Could These Elves Be Believers of the Evil God? Chapter 181: Chapter 175: Could These Elves Be Believers of the Evil God? Would the elves take revenge? The old dwarf Balin was very doubtful if the peaceful and life-loving elves even had the concept of revenge in their minds... Anyway, he didn¡¯t believe it. And as it turned out, these elves didn¡¯t look like they were out for revenge either. But then, why? In the old dwarf¡¯s understanding, elves would never initiate a conflict. But the scene he had just witnessed completely overturned his perception of the elves... If he hadn¡¯t seen it wrong, the five giant scorpions attacking the elves... were the ones they had just eagerly blown out with Fireballs! The expressions on their faces when throwing Fireballs were just like those playful kids in the dwarf tribe toying with mining insects. And after observing their subsequent battle, the old dwarf grew even more astonished. After luring out the five giant scorpions, these elves were initially a bit chaotic but quickly divided into five teams under orders, each going up against a giant scorpion. That skill, that organization, you could tell it wasn¡¯t their first time doing it. Then, an Elf Warrior in each team stepped out, surrounded by protective auras, and crazily charged at the giant scorpions, enduring all their attacks. However, how could a Black Iron Lower elf possibly be a match for a Black Iron Upper Demon Beast? Under the Demon Beast¡¯s attacks, even with various spell protections and their companions¡¯ cover, several elves leading the charge were injured. The old dwarf Balin took it all in and secretly shook his head. If they couldn¡¯t withstand the giant scorpions¡¯ attack, why provoke them at all? Now it was bad, they couldn¡¯t seek revenge, and they might lose some clansmen too. No wonder they¡¯d decline. The elves... were as stubborn as ever. With the racial curse hanging over them, cultivating a skilled Black Iron Lower warrior wasn¡¯t an easy task for the Elf Clan now! Such a pity, such a pity... In his view, those elves were as good as dead. The reality was indeed as he imagined; those elf warriors who confronted the giant scorpions head-on became seriously injured quickly. But whether they were spitting blood from the giant pincers¡¯ blows or hit by the almost fatal scorpion venom, even if they had breath left in them, they didn¡¯t retreat, nor did they care about the worsening injuries on their bodies... Some even had abnormally pale faces, but they were laughing while spitting black blood: ¡°This fight is exhilarating! These scorpions are even more thrilling than the Demon Beasts above!¡± ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was remarkably different from other virtual online games due to its high realism, offering excellent combat feedback during battles. Many combat players not only enjoyed the thrill of tackling bosses and getting rewards but also relished the all-out battles... This had become a hallmark of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± wild battles. But unfortunately, the core area of the Elf Forest had seen all the qualifying Demon Beasts fought to their end by the players, leaving only small fry or ones too tough, or those too far from the core area... It wasn¡¯t until they reached the underground that the players found new targets. And as he watched the battle scene, the old dwarf¡¯s eyelid twitched wildly, growing more and more astonished. Master of Darkness and Shadow above! Since when did the elves become so unafraid of death, so passionate about combat? Had they started worshiping both the Death God and the War God? Why did they seem... more like those battle-crazy Beastmen? How did they look more like they adapted to the Underworld¡¯s intelligent beings than he did? Could they really be Lizardmen or Beastmen disguised as elves? The old dwarf rubbed his eyes and carefully looked at their appearance through the gap... He discovered they indeed were the elves he remembered. The Elf Warriors facing the giant scorpions didn¡¯t care about their injuries, nor did those surrounding the giant scorpions care about the injuries of their comrades that were almost dying! Except for the Druid who kept healing the Elf Warriors, everyone else focused entirely on the giant scorpions, crazily besieging them with an attitude of not stopping until the enemy was exhausted... Even when an Elf Warrior died smiling while resisting a giant scorpion, the other elves wouldn¡¯t frown but would quickly have another Elf Warrior take their place. No one cared about the dead elf¡¯s body, as if they didn¡¯t mind at all. Witnessing the death of their companions, they showed no sadness, and instead, as the giant scorpions¡¯ wounds increased, they gradually became more delighted: ¡°It¡¯s almost down! Everybody put more effort into it!¡± ¡°Kill it!¡± The old dwarf: ... Watching the elves¡¯ fight, he grew increasingly speechless. More effort?! Your people have died! The bodies... Huh? Wait a minute... Where were the bodies? The old dwarf widened his eyes, noticing that the bodies of the elf warriors initially lying on the ground had somehow disappeared... Only a pile of equipment remained. What the hell? He looked astonished. And the elves¡¯ subsequent actions made the old dwarf¡¯s expression even more complex. When the giant scorpions weakened under the elves¡¯ siege and were trying to escape, these elves who had been fighting excitedly turned red-eyed instead. Their grim faces seemed to hint at a transition from excitement to anger and urgency... At the same time, the old dwarf Balin could hear them shouting: ¡°No, it¡¯s trying to escape!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let it get away! Don¡¯t let it disengage!¡± ¡°Main T, do your job! Keep them contained!¡± This time, the elves¡¯ voices carried a degree of irritation and tension not present in the heat of the battle. And then, a scene that shocked Balin even more unfolded... The already severely injured elves suddenly charged after listening to the Commander¡¯s instructions! They either hugged the giant scorpions¡¯ tail stingers or grabbed hold of the sturdy legs, then were all engulfed with the already exhausted giant scorpions in a sea of indiscriminate skill and magic attacks... They... must have gone to the Netherworld together. Were they all killed indiscriminately? The old dwarf shuddered involuntarily, his gaze toward these handsome and tall elves having completely changed... Master of Darkness and Shadow above! Were they insane? And afterward, the giant scorpions¡¯ bodies suddenly began to wither and age, then turned to ashes... While the elves¡¯ bodies gradually became transparent and eventually disappeared... Witnessing this, the old dwarf widened his eyes again, gasping: ¡°Gone... vanished... have these guys been lured into depravity by the Evil Gods?¡± Long dwelling in the Underworld, the old dwarf had encountered Evil God believers, even dealt with them, traded with them, and hired some as mercenaries... And the scene of the bodies vanishing bore a real resemblance to the sacrificial offerings of the Evil God believers! At that moment, his heart was filled with fear and vigilance, and he abandoned his idea of deceiving the elves to obtain some forging techniques from them. But following that, he saw the elves cheering one after another, then sitting down panting. Laughing and chatting, they collected the equipment left by their dead companions without showing any sadness, or they took out some dry rations and began to eat. And upon seeing what the dry rations were, the old dwarf¡¯s eyes went wide... ¡°Jerky?!¡± Master of Darkness and Shadow above! Elves were eating jerky?! Weren¡¯t they supposed to consume fruits and nectar? Why were they eating meat? These elves... could they genuinely have fallen to become the Evil God¡¯s clansmen? The old dwarf was deeply shocked, increasingly feeling that his suspicion might be true. Though shocked, as a competent underground resident, he couldn¡¯t help but compare the combat strength of these strange elves to his own clansmen... And upon comparing, he found in dismay that although his clansmen were generally stronger, if numbers were equal, they probably couldn¡¯t beat them! At the very least... in a different stance, his Langadur dwarves couldn¡¯t kill five giant scorpions so swiftly and decisively! Moreover... even as an underground creature, the old dwarf was astounded by the cold-bloodedness these elves displayed in battle... Facing the death of comrades, they didn¡¯t even blink! However, despite being struck by the cruelty of these elves, the old dwarf wasn¡¯t afraid of them. Elves had long lifespans and low fertility... In his view, sacrificing one elf to kill a Black Iron Upper Demon Beast was foolish! However, he had an even bigger question in his mind... Looking at the players¡¯ happy faces after killing the giant scorpions, the old dwarf grew even more puzzled... What were these elves after? To kill Demon Beasts? To sacrifice the Demon Beasts to the Evil Gods? And at this moment, he also heard the players¡¯ conversation: ¡°The Demon Beasts here are indeed impressive! Although they¡¯re just Black Iron Upper, the experience is almost close to silver! Last time I joined Dema¡¯s kid¡¯s grinding session, and killing a Forest Giant Lizard was about the same.¡± ¡°Haha! This place is great. Let¡¯s rest up, and when everyone¡¯s here, we¡¯ll keep grinding! Today we¡¯ll clear out all the scorpions in this mushroom forest!¡± ¡°Phew... I wonder how much experience we¡¯ll gain this time.¡± ¡°Too bad we can¡¯t offer sacrifices here. Otherwise, we¡¯d gain some contribution points from offering to ¡®beep¡ª¡¯ the Divine!¡± Upon hearing this, the old dwarf was genuinely stunned. Sacrificing Demon Beasts... A god whose name he couldn¡¯t understand... These elves... Were truly believers of the Evil Gods! Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com Chapter 182 - 176 Hidden Quest: Dark Dwarf Chapter 182: Chapter 176 Hidden Quest: Dark Dwarf Evil God believers! Watching those eerily behaving Elves, the old Dwarf Balin¡¯s gaze flickered. There were two origins for the Evil God... One was the True God whose Divine Soul had been corrupted by the will of the Abyss, and the other was a formidable being that willingly sought out the will of the Abyss to become a True God. But regardless of which, because their spirits intertwined with the chaotic Abyss, they generally possessed fanatical and evil personalities... Furthermore, to strengthen themselves, they relied not on faith but on their believers conducting blood sacrifices of other creatures¡¯ flesh and souls. Unlike other True God¡¯s believers, influenced by the Evil God¡¯s will, Evil God believers were often insane. Even in the chaotic Underworld, the Evil God was a highly sensitive topic, as many Underworld intelligent races¡¯ settlements were destroyed by Evil God believers... As a seasoned veteran who had dealt with Evil God believers, Balin naturally knew these guys were a group of alchemy potions ready to explode at any moment. If they were allowed into settlements and cities of Underworld intelligent species, chaos would likely ensue quickly... However, just like a sharp iron sword had two edges, if these Elves, suspected Evil God believers, were used wisely, they might also bring unexpected surprises! Thinking of this, his gaze deepened. ¡°Grandpa Balin, how is it?¡± Seeing the old Dwarf¡¯s expression flicker between light and dark, the young Dwarf Iron Hammer asked curiously yet respectfully. After following the old Dwarf Balin here, he hadn¡¯t approached further and thus hadn¡¯t seen the players¡¯ subsequent battles nor heard their conversations. Balin withdrew his gaze and sighed slightly, whispering, ¡°They are merely a group of Elves who accidentally entered the Underground World. It¡¯s not a big problem. Let¡¯s go back; I¡¯ll have others keep an eye here.¡± ¡°Really Elves? I wasn¡¯t mistaken then!¡± Listening to the old Dwarf, Iron Hammer¡¯s face flashed with joy, ¡°I¡¯ve heard they¡¯re the noblest race in the world. Perhaps our tribe can communicate and do business with them!¡± Listening to Iron Hammer, the old Dwarf Balin nodded, smiling, ¡°Haha, Iron Hammer, don¡¯t worry. Judging by their looks, they should eventually delve into the underground cave and will surely visit our tribe. For now, let¡¯s head back.¡± With that, he pulled the still-curious Iron Hammer away and turned back. ¡°Interesting...¡± ¡°Watching¡± the departing old Dwarf, Eve withdrew her gaze with great interest. The players couldn¡¯t see the spying Dwarves, but Eve could. After all, True God meant True God. When projecting her consciousness onto players, she could ¡°see¡± clearly what¡¯s around. And the series of changes the old Dwarf experienced were clearly observed by her. An Elf who had accidentally entered the Underground World? His astonishment just now didn¡¯t seem to suggest he thought the players were ordinary Elves? *The old Dwarf was surely startled by the players¡¯ actions, yet his final response was quite unusual... It seems when interacting with the gloomy Dwarves, I should have the players be cautious so as not to be used.* Eve pondered. *The old Dwarf seemed wary of the young Dwarf, which might involve internal strife among Dwarves, possibly also entangling faith...* *Though players aren¡¯t believers, I should still be cautious. The main purpose of letting them enter the Underground World is to enhance their strength, not to expand influence. If conflicts with Dwarves can be avoided, they should be.* Eve never intended to extend her influence deep into the Underground World. To her, the chaotic Underground World was merely a training ground for players. Here, abundant monsters serve mainly for players to slay and train, and coincidentally absorb some vitality. Of course, if they could do some business with the underground intelligent races, that wouldn¡¯t be a bad choice! But as for expansion in the Underground World, that¡¯s out of the question. At best, nurture some proxy-like races, collect minerals, and special products. The ground world was so bountiful and more suitable for Elves to thrive. Why not expand on the ground? Besides, Eve had another significant reason for not planning to expand here: she feared the entity backing the gloomy Dwarves... Netherworld True God! The Underground World had connections with the Netherworld¡¯s Plane Channel, though it closed after the millennial divine war, the Netherworld¡¯s few True Gods still valued the Underground World. For the major players in the Netherworld, this served as their bridgehead in the Segis World. Eve, having already been on opposing terms with the Hunting God Uller in winter, didn¡¯t wish to provoke another enemy from two fronts. The Heavenly Realm¡¯s gods were destined to become enemies, but the Netherworld True Gods were different. They hadn¡¯t participated in the divine war a thousand years ago, and their roots weren¡¯t in the Segis World, so they weren¡¯t technically Eve¡¯s enemies. Of course, she had some ulterior motives... It was said Hela wasn¡¯t fond of the Heavenly Realm¡¯s gods, and even leaving marks in the Pantheon might just be for show. If there was an opportunity to connect with this True God, it might be a good choice! Of course, this posed a risk as Eve didn¡¯t know how Hela felt about the World Tree and the abundant gods. Moreover, pretending to be someone else in front of Uller made her a bit anxious. In any case... ¡°When it involves the Death God¡¯s believers, it¡¯s better to be cautious!¡± That¡¯s the Death God. If it wasn¡¯t the gloomy Dwarves who worshipped the Netherworld True God living nearby, but instead the Lizardman who believed in primitive totems, or some other wise beings worshipping the Evil God... Eve would definitely unleash the players, letting them go wild! ... ¡°First Legion¡± guild found a perfect farming spot in the Underground World with extremely high experience rewards! Although Fried Tomato strongly urged guild members not to leak this information, who didn¡¯t have friends in other guilds? Besides... those venturing underground to explore weren¡¯t only members of their guild; other small guilds and some solo players were also present. So, it wasn¡¯t long before the information about farming giant scorpions in the Underground World spread. Soon, large numbers of hardcore players formed small teams pouring into the Underground World, joining the farming frenzy. The number of players farming giant scorpions in the mushroom forest quickly exceeded three hundred. This not only frustrated Fried Tomato but left him helpless, swearing that the players were like cats, rushing over at the scent of fish. Of course, he only complained in frustration. High-level players were beneficiaries of many of the Elf Kingdom¡¯s rules and systems, though they also faced similar restrictions. He wasn¡¯t the same as before, naturally behaving more. Moreover, there were indeed many monsters in the Underground World, so no need to fight over a few small mobs. After the players cleared out the giant scorpions in the mushroom forest, they quickly crossed the forest and ventured into a deeper area... In the deeper areas, they discovered a beautiful underground river. The underground river divided the cave into two parts. One was an Underground Forest comprising various exotic plants, continuously filled with Demon Beast roars, while the other area was an expansive plain! Upon seeing the plain, the players¡¯ eyes lit up. Because they surprisingly saw fields and paths! This place... had the indigenous of the Underground World! The crops in those fields differed from those on the ground, and players couldn¡¯t name them; they seemed to be moss-like plants, hideous in appearance. In the distance of the plain, players saw an Underground City built of Black Stone! ¡°It¡¯s a city!¡± ¡°Look! There are some people moving!¡± ¡°They¡¯re very short, with dark skin. They must be the gloomy Dwarves mentioned in the records!¡± The players were exuberant. Meanwhile, a new system message appeared before all the players who had arrived here ¡ª [Ding¡ª] [Discovered gloomy Dwarf city] [Triggered hidden storyline: Gloomy Dwarves] [Storyline description: Gloomy Dwarves are intelligent beings living in the Underground World who worship the Death God and Lord of the Netherworld, or Master of Darkness and Shadow. They excel at mining and forging and love fine wines...] [Storyline quest objective: Gain the friendship of the gloomy Dwarves] [Quest rewards: Experience points, contribution value, neutral NPC reputation rating (neutral NPC reputation rating will affect individual comprehensive reputation evaluation)] [Quest hint: The forces in the Underground World are complex. It is recommended that the Chosen Ones enter as Elf Mercenaries. Transactions can be made with neutral NPCs, but be sure to maintain the Elves¡¯ dignity and remember not to involve in religious disputes...] For some reason, players felt this storyline quest triggered exceptionally fast... Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com Chapter 183 - 177: Unequipping Gear Chapter 183: Chapter 177: Unequipping Gear This was a dark stone house, where several small figures hidden in the shadows were discussing in hushed tones, ¡°A group of elves who worship the Evil God? Are you sure?¡± ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be wrong, in any case... you¡¯ll know when you see them. Those elves are very unusual, and only believers of the Evil God can explain it.¡± ¡°This could indeed be a good scapegoat... I originally wanted to wait a bit longer, but I didn¡¯t expect such an opportunity! If we can use them to cause chaos, our plan will be much smoother... When do you estimate they will reach us?¡± ¡°They¡¯re currently in the Dark Forest hunting demon beasts. At their speed... I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll wipe out the giant scorpions there in at most two days.¡± Tsk... two days, so you think these suspected Evil God-worshiping elves are quite powerful?¡± ¡°At least... stronger than our people.¡± ¡°Heh heh, stronger is better. As long as we use them to cause chaos, then take advantage of the chaos to kill that one, we¡¯ll win. I just fear... they won¡¯t act according to our wishes.¡± ¡°*Lord Priest, you worry too much.* I¡¯ve observed them, these believers of the Evil God are very fierce and cruel, and they¡¯re also crazy and driven. Just a little provocation will surely ignite their anger...¡± ¡°Do as you see fit; act according to the situation! In any case... there¡¯s only one objective, this operation must succeed...¡± While these shadowy figures were whispering, suddenly, another figure stumbled in: ¡°Lord Priest! Lord Priest! Over three hundred fully armed elves suddenly appeared outside the city! They¡¯re... they¡¯re heading our way!¡± ¡°How could it be so fast? Three hundred? Didn¡¯t you say there were a little over a hundred?¡± ¡°Ahem... maybe... maybe I didn¡¯t see clearly...¡± ¡°Ah, forget it, forget it. A hundred or three hundred makes no difference. As long as we can reclaim Black Rock City this time, a bigger sacrifice doesn¡¯t matter, after all, those who die are the traitors of our lord! Let¡¯s leave it at that, I suppose you¡¯ll soon be summoned; might as well go on your own... Dismissed.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Priest!¡± With that, these figures slowly vanished. ... In Black Rock City, within a solemn black temple, a female dwarf in black Priest Robe was kneeling before a statue. It was a majestic female statue, with a tall figure unlike that of dwarfs. The statue wore a black hooded robe, one hand holding a magnificent Treasure Bead, and the other a giant scythe, looking awe-inspiring and lifelike... While the female dwarf was praying, suddenly, a flurry of footsteps sounded: ¡°Temple Leader! Temple Leader! Something¡¯s wrong!¡± The female temple leader paused slightly in her actions. She gently stood up and looked at the newcomer, ¡°Lord Balin, what happened?¡± ¡°A group of fully armed elf mercenaries arrived, they¡¯re very strong, I couldn¡¯t stop them, they¡¯ve already flooded into the city, now I need you to decide!¡± ¡°Elves?¡± The temple leader was slightly stunned. ... Within the city of the dark dwarfs, after receiving the mission, over three hundred players rushed enthusiastically towards the Dwarf City. Their movements were swift and imposing, shocking the dwarfs stationed at the city gate. The dwarfs seemed to be stunned with fear, as they did not stop the players from entering the city. It wasn¡¯t until the players flooded the city that they reacted and hurriedly called upon the soldiers to surround the players... Seeing the large group of nervous dwarf warriors surrounding them, the players were bewildered. ¡°Weren¡¯t they supposed to be neutral NPCs? Why do they look ready for a fight?¡± *Could it be... they were intimidated by our numbers?* ¡°Then why did they wait until we entered the city to surround us?¡± ¡°Betrayal from the black side? The information said many intelligent creatures underground are ruthless...¡± After speaking, they looked at each other... instinctively tightening their grip on their weapons. Seeing the players¡¯ actions, the dwarfs became even more nervous. It was understandable; the players had just gone through slaughtering demon beasts, so they each carried a murderous aura. Some were still covered in blood, looking like they couldn¡¯t be messed with... In short, there was nothing about them that looked amiable. Seeing many players becoming cautious, and the atmosphere growing tense, Fried Tomato quickly switched his language to Elven and shouted to the players, ¡°No, this must be part of the mission. Everyone, stay calm! These are neutral NPCs, and it affects our neutral NPC reputation score! Don¡¯t screw it up!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve read in many Western fantasy stories that dwarfs have a short temper, plus... our group of over three hundred is such a large target and fully armed, of course they¡¯d be wary.¡± ¡°Everyone hold your patience! As long as we negotiate well with them, everything will be fine. The reputation score this time is collective. It¡¯s a great chance to boost your personal overall reputation rating!¡± ¡°Whatever they ask us to do, we do it. Everyone thick-skinned a bit; as long as we get the reputation up, everything will be smooth!¡± ¡°If anyone screws it up, affecting everyone¡¯s reputation score, the First Legion is very vengeful!¡± Hearing his words, the players paused, then gradually let go of their weapons. Since the favorability system had been improved, NPC favorability had become increasingly important, with a player¡¯s personal reputation rating being closely tied to their advancement speed. As a rare mission that could likely boost their composite reputation rating, the players wouldn¡¯t want to miss it. Though many players were irked by Fried Tomato¡¯s last statement, they understood that he made a good point. Because... the improved favorability system was really challenging to boost. The reason was simple. This damn game even had a ¡°first impression¡± similar to reality! In ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± the NPCs¡¯ first impression was just too crucial. If a player made a good first impression with a specific NPC, boosting favorability would be twice the result with half the effort. However, if the first impression was bad, it would be... twice the effort for half the result. Demacia was an example; the guy was still scrubbing toilets in Feilengcui, and it was said that after all this time, constantly hugging NPCs¡¯ legs and crying for forgiveness, he barely got his personal reputation rating to 1 point. On top of that... many NPCs still had negative favorability toward him. Most of those who arrived at the Dwarf City first were combat players. Unlike lifestyle players who often mingled with NPCs, their reputation values were generally low, and their rare interactions with NPCs were all for missions, so the NPCs generally didn¡¯t hold them in high regard. So... this first encounter with the dwarfs, combined with a task triggered to potentially impact the players¡¯ comprehensive reputation evaluation, was certainly a rare opportunity. While the players were in a standoff with the dwarf warriors, a group of armored dwarf soldiers escorted two dwarfs, who were clearly the leaders, over. One was a male and the other a female dwarf. The male dwarf appeared very old and was bald, humbly trailing half a step behind the female dwarf. The female dwarf was draped in a black Priest Robe... Unlike the burly male dwarfs, the female dwarf was petite, and seeing her surprised many players. Seeing the surrounding dwarf warriors, they thought the female dwarf would also be a stout figure. However, unfortunately, the skin of dark dwarfs was dark, which didn¡¯t match the Tianchao people¡¯s aesthetic. *Meanwhile, they were curious,* *Could this female dwarf, who appeared to be a priest, be the Death God or a believer of the God of Darkness and Shadow mentioned in the data?* Seeing the gathered players, the female dwarf appeared surprised. Before she could speak, the old dwarf stepped forward first, speaking harshly, ¡°Elves? Where... are you from? Why have you invaded our city?¡± The players looked around, and finally, Fried Tomato stepped forward. He instinctively wanted to draw a tree-shaped symbol on his chest but quickly realized it, changing his extended hand to scratch his head. He smiled, showing goodwill, and said, ¡°We¡¯re an Elf Mercenary Group from the ground world, here for an adventure. Seeing the magnificence of your city, we¡¯re curious and wanted to visit. If we could make some transactions or befriend you, it would be even better!¡± Hearing his words, the female dwarf¡¯s expression relaxed a bit. Looking at the group of players, she sighed, ¡°Never thought elves would have a mercenary group, and you could gather so many of your kin!¡± But the old male dwarf shook his head, speaking firmly, ¡°I understand your intentions, but... sorry, the Dwarf City does not welcome outsiders. If you wish to visit and exchange, you may send a representative, but others cannot enter the city. Unless... you are willing to relieve yourselves of all equipment and weapons, only then may we allow you to stay within the city.¡± As these words were spoken, the atmosphere turned suddenly tense. The female dwarf also slightly furrowed her brows. In the Underworld, for mercenaries and adventurers, equipment and strength were their lifelines, asking them to disarm was akin to a challenge. Equipment was their life; how could they casually discard it? The old dwarf¡¯s words, while seemingly safeguarding the city¡¯s safety, were too reckless. Were it a more hot-headed underground race, there might¡¯ve been a conflict with the dwarfs... Fortunately... these newcomers were elves! The female dwarf helplessly glanced at the old dwarf, sighed, and addressed the players, ¡°Please forgive us, Grandpa Balin is an elder of our tribe, and he speaks out of concern for our tribe¡¯s safety. I know the nobility of the Elf Clan, but the Underworld isn¡¯t as peaceful as the ground world, being cautious here is necessary. Dismissing your equipment was just a jest; if you wish to...¡± Her words trailed off as she was stunned. The old dwarf who first spoke was also stunned. Even the dwarf warriors around were stunned. Because they discovered, in front of them, these elves... Had actually begun to strip off their equipment without hesitation... Chapter 184 - 178: Elf Observation Journal Chapter 184: Chapter 178: Elf Observation Journal Not to mention the dark dwarves, even Eve, who was secretly observing, was stunned. However, she quickly came to her senses. *Players were meant to complete quests, to become stronger by any means necessary.* Since they took on the quest she gave them, they would definitely seize any opportunity to complete it! When they triggered the quest to gain friendship with the dark dwarves, they probably were prepared to ingratiate themselves with the dwarves, maybe even as sycophants... Surely, whatever the NPCs said, they did... After all, in their eyes, the dwarves they encountered this time could very well become task NPCs like the elves! Soon, the players took off their main gear and handed over all the equipment to a few members of the First Legion left behind and nomadic players for safekeeping, leaving only the simple clothes under their armor. Seeing their swift actions, the female dwarf opened her mouth but didn¡¯t know what to say... In the end, she couldn¡¯t help but exclaim, ¡°Truly worthy of the open and honest Elf Clan!¡± ¡°Hmph, Lord Temple Leader, they acted so decisively, be wary of any conspiracy from behind!¡± At that moment, the old dwarf spoke again, looking at the players with a vigilant gaze and speaking with a tone full of hostility. The female dwarf frowned, looked at the players, and was surprised to find that even after hearing the old dwarf¡¯s words, the players showed no sign of being upset. And the leading elf even smiled and said, ¡°If you¡¯re worried about us, you can arrange for Dwarf warriors to monitor us. We truly just wish to befriend the dwarves.¡± Hearing the words of Fried Tomato, the female dwarf¡¯s expression slightly softened. ¡°Lord Temple Leader!¡± Seeing her expression, the old dwarf wanted to say more, but she stopped him by holding out her hand, ¡°That¡¯s enough, Elder Balin.¡± Having said that, she signaled for the dwarf soldiers to release the players from their encirclement and sighed, ¡°They are truly of the Elf Clan. I believe in the character of the Elf Clan and admire the former Silver Race. As a fellow wandering race without a place to call home, since they come with friendship, we dark dwarves should also warmly receive them...¡± Dark dwarves were a branch of surface dwarves, originally driven out as losers and forced to flee underground. So... even though they¡¯ve settled in the Underworld, it¡¯s quite natural to jokingly call themselves a wandering race. ¡°Lord Temple Leader...¡± The old dwarf still wanted to say something, but looking at the determined expression of the female dwarf, he could only shake his head and turn away. Afterward, the female priest bowed to the players and said, ¡°Welcome, noble Elf Clan!¡± At the same time, the surrounding dwarf warriors also sheathed their weapons. Seeing this scene, the players¡¯ eyes flashed with joy; some even couldn¡¯t help but cheer, but were quickly shushed by other players with a couple of light coughs, gently reminding them, ¡°Maintain your image, maintain your image...¡± Then... Accompanied by the dwarves, they finally fulfilled their wish to enter the city! ... ¡°So... You really let them in? Without any conflict?¡± In a dark chamber, several small figures whispered among themselves, and the first voice to speak was low and belonged to the presence that others previously referred to as Lord Priest. ¡°That¡¯s right... After the elves removed their main equipment, she agreed to let them in, leaving only a few soldiers to monitor their activities. And... no conflict arose between the two parties.¡± Said a hoarse voice. ¡°...¡± There was a brief silence among them. Suddenly, the low voice let out a sneer, ¡°Haha, being provoked like this and not getting angry, willingly laying down their arms to enter the city? Are these believers of the Evil God?¡± After speaking, an elderly voice spoke, somewhat stammering, ¡°Um... Lord Priest... I... I am absolutely certain. There is something wrong with these elves. They really did brutally slaughter Demon Beasts before and completely disregarded their companions¡¯ lives, and they indeed mentioned offering sacrifices to the Evil God...¡± ¡°Enough! Tell me, what have these elves been doing in the city?¡± The low voice interrupted him, questioning the other hoarse one. ¡°To report to Lord Priest, they have been wandering around the city as if sightseeing, not causing any trouble, yet they seem very interested in everything in the city. Additionally... quite a few of them have been pulling aside residents and enthusiastically asking if they needed any help.¡± The hoarse voice carried a hint of respect. After speaking, he sighed a bit, ¡°In over a hundred years of life, it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen such enthusiasm, such genuine openness without any guardedness in a race. I can only say... They are indeed the noble and upright Elf Clan. Even as mercenaries, they remain so forthright.¡± ¡°They¡¯re forthright, my foot! You haven¡¯t seen how they act in battle! They...¡± The elderly voice exclaimed indignantly. ¡°Enough!¡± The low voice cut them off. ¡°What we¡¯re seeing might just be a facade. Continue to monitor them... Let¡¯s discuss this again tomorrow!¡± ... The next day. In the deep chamber. ¡°Did they do anything new today? Like... secretly proselytizing, drawing sacrificial arrays, and the like...¡± The low voice asked. The hoarse voice replied with a hint of oddity, ¡°No... They¡¯re still wandering within the city, and you can spot them almost anywhere. However, their favorite places seem to be the city¡¯s blacksmiths and taverns, as well as the mines outside of the city.¡± ¡°Though some elves seem to have had enough of the city and chose to leave, most remain, and it seems that quite a few have become friends with the residents there...¡± ¡°Befriended?¡± The deep voice sounded rather surprised. ¡°Yes... They are very enthusiastic. Whenever they see residents in need, they step in to help, and they don¡¯t expect much in return. They even voluntarily help residents defeat Demon Beasts that harass crops outside the city...¡± ¡°Also, the blacksmith area is gathering lots of elves, appearing to engage in some sort of ¡®academic exchange,¡¯ which has drawn a large number of blacksmiths...¡± ¡°Meanwhile, the market is crowded with elves too. They seem particularly interested in some goods, especially alcoholic beverages and certain forged items. Oh, and they¡¯re quite keen on steam guns, trading a lot of their equipment for them.¡± ¡°Steam guns? That bulky batch of eliminated alchemy weapons?¡± The low voice expressed some surprise. ¡°Yes, they love them, treating them like treasures... Moreover, they are generous in transactions, except for one elf who haggled, the others accepted the set prices.¡± ¡°However, they don¡¯t seem to have any universal currency and can only barter with the residents...¡± ¡°One elf even took out a bag of flour imported from the Human World, of excellent quality, and traded it for a Magic Stone.¡± ¡°In addition, I specifically sent someone to engage in dialogue with these elves and discovered they are quite lacking in common sense, similar to a group of novices venturing out from a secluded family for the first time.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± The three shadows fell into silence. ¡°Could it be... they didn¡¯t have any conflicts with the residents?¡± The low voice asked again. ¡°No...¡± The hoarse voice answered, hesitating for a moment before adding, ¡°However... one of the elves did steal something from a resident yesterday, a precious magical equipment.¡± ¡°Stealing? Do elves steal things too?¡± The low voice was particularly astonished. ¡°Yes, but the City Guard discovered it. Then that thief was dragged by other elves to apologize. Although they didn¡¯t succeed in retrieving the loot, the elf who stole was made to atone with his life.¡± ¡°Wait... You¡¯re saying they executed their thieving companion? But... that¡¯s an elf!¡± The low voice couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Yes... executed, without hesitation, and then burned to ashes.¡± ¡°Gasp¡ªthese elves truly are strange... but it seems they are indeed different. Let¡¯s wait another day! Keep monitoring! Also... try to incite some friction between them and the traitors.¡± ... The third day. ¡°How did things go today? Was the provocation successful?¡± The low voice asked. ¡°No...¡± The hoarse voice was tinged with oddity, ¡°These elves... they are incredibly good-tempered, with high tolerance, every time I sent someone to provoke them, it ended in failure. But...¡± ¡°But what?¡± ¡°However... today, more elves began stealing, but they were caught and taken to the city¡¯s square, where their own kind executed them...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Following that, it seemed some turmoil erupted among the elves, it looked like they argued, and after that, no more thefts occurred.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Additionally...¡± ¡°Additionally what?¡± ¡°Another several hundred elves arrived in the city today...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°How... Why are there so many elves?!¡± The low voice gasped. ¡°However, this batch of elves seems different from the previous ones...¡± ¡°How are they different?¡± ¡°This batch, although also claiming to be mercenaries, many aren¡¯t wearing gear, instead carrying bundles, some even pushing carts... filled with flour and root vegetables... setting up shop... They feel similar to a trade caravan.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Additionally... for some reason... they learnt the art of bargaining during trades today... shrewd like merchants from the Human World.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Moreover, a new mercenary team called ¡®Heart of Nature¡¯ came along, with a vice-president named ¡®Demacia,¡¯ rallying residents to form a trade association...¡± ¡°A trade association?¡± ¡°Yes... called ¡®Amway¡¯ Trade Association, wanting to develop what they call ¡®up-lines... and down-lines,¡¯ I didn¡¯t clearly understand, yet it attracted many dwarf civilians, all investing in shares...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Are trades still ongoing? What are they buying in the city?¡± ¡°Magic Stones, certain underground magical materials, and some of our dwarves¡¯ alchemical forging products... Additionally, their leadership is already in talks with the temple about plans to establish long-term trade relations.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°In summary... although these elves are strange, with very odd personalities and some quirks, they genuinely harbor no malice. They don¡¯t seem like the Evil God¡¯s followers, more like some human trade organization...¡± ¡°...¡± After hearing the report, the low voice remained silent for a long time. Chapter 185 - 179: The Trade between Players and Dwarfs Chapter 185: Chapter 179: The Trade between Players and Dwarfs It wasn¡¯t just those mysterious beings secretly discussing ¡°big plans¡± who were at a loss for words. In the Divine Country, Eve¡¯s True God Avatar sat high on her throne, browsing the official forum conjured before her, equally speechless for a long time... ¡°[Pinned Post] How to maximize efficiency in trafficking goods without affecting the ¡®Dark Dwarves¡¯ reputation tasks.¡± ¡°Common bargaining techniques¡ªspecific for dwarves.¡± ¡°[818] A member of the First Legion Guild, ¡®XXX,¡¯ nearly ruined an entire reputation task just for equipment!¡± ¡°[Featured Post] Important considerations when communicating with Dark Dwarves, and how to quickly get along with them.¡± ¡°[Featured Post] A list of Black Rock City specialties and their selling locations.¡± ¡°Coordinates of Dwarven traffickers, and how to sell yourself for a good price.¡± ¡°[Daily Log] I started a pyramid scheme in the underground.¡± ... Eve: ... Ever since players flooded into the underground city of the Dark Dwarves, all sorts of strange posts began appearing on the forum. Eve realized that she had underestimated the players. Unlike the elves, the Dark Dwarves were not Eve¡¯s believers. Because of the lack of faith connection to the game system, Eve couldn¡¯t materialize their favorability as she could with the elves. She didn¡¯t have a quest system template, nor could she prohibit players from attacking dwarves as she did with natural believers. Thus, her ability to restrain the players was significantly reduced. Fortunately, due to the preconceived notion of friendliness and the constraints of reputation tasks, the players did not treat the dwarves as enemies. Although they often engaged in mischief, at least there wasn¡¯t the situation Eve feared most, where everyone was slashing at anyone they saw. Of course, the fact they had to unequip items when entering the city was one reason. Players weren¡¯t yet at the level where they could take on dwarves bare-handed. But even though Eve restrained the players in the form of reputation tasks, once they interacted with the Dark Dwarves, their antics never seemed to end... There were those who stole things, those who deceived others, and worse, players who exploited death to scam items. Luckily for Eve, the Dark Dwarves did not understand usury; otherwise, she¡¯d be witnessing a scene of a large group of elves borrowing money at high interest and then committing suicide on the spot... As for mixing counterfeit goods in flour when trading with dwarves, that had become standard procedure. Dema, having spotted the business opportunity, even left the toilet to start a pyramid scheme in the Underworld! It¡¯s said he relied on the vast pyramid scheme knowledge he found on the Blue Star Network. Using a batch of fruits found everywhere in the Elf Forest as products, he developed nearly a hundred downlines among the Dark Dwarves in just one day, and he kept expanding, earning a considerable amount of universal currency... Afterward, he used this currency to purchase a large number of magical materials unique to Black Rock City and resold them to the elves of the Flame Tribe, earning a significant amount of contribution points and accidentally increasing the favorability of several elf NPCs by selling magic materials cheaply... Once he tasted success, a few other players saw the business opportunity and followed suit. Although they weren¡¯t as persuasive as he was, they each made a small profit... However, the dwarves weren¡¯t fools; some people were already faintly beginning to sense that something was off. Although they hadn¡¯t exposed it yet, Eve could almost envision the scene of dwarves waking up and chasing after those players. It was foreseeable that it was only a matter of time before Dema became the least welcome elf in Black Rock City... This left Eve at her wit¡¯s end. *Does this guy not consider the consequences when he¡¯s courting death?* Actually, he wasn¡¯t the only one courting death, but everyone else was relatively more restrained. After all... courting death was a human instinct, and without the pressure of death, humans could come up with countless tricks. And as for the races in the Underworld, it wasn¡¯t like there were no dwarves who planned to play dirty against the players, and some even considered taking the chance to capture a few elves and sell them on the Underworld¡¯s black market. However... What happened next was quite dramatic... A few dwarves indeed planned to kidnap an elf, but at the last moment, the target escaped. This made them very nervous for a while, worrying about elf retaliation, and they were ready to hide. But instead of revenge, they were met with business from the elves... Suddenly, an elf found them, wanting to do a big deal, to sell a batch of elf slaves! This left those dwarves, akin to city underworld gangs, utterly dumbfounded. Elves... selling elves? Then, after spending a lot of money to buy those elves, the newly purchased elves all committed suicide, leaving the dwarven traffickers instantly bankrupt... Soon after, other dwarf slavers in Black Rock City encountered similar business, as elves came to them in droves... The results were all the same. Not long after, none dared to target these elves anymore. And those eyeing the players¡¯ gains, attempting to ambush them outside the city, were counter-killed by the elves. They were shocked to find that once these elves started fighting, they became incredibly fierce. And when they engaged one, a group quickly ran over... they couldn¡¯t figure out how they communicated. There was no chance of winning, and begging for mercy was useless. However, the players weren¡¯t very interested in attacking the Dark Dwarves. Because after killing the dwarves, they gained no experience, at most a little ¡°loot.¡± The issue was... these robbing dwarves were often dirt poor. Overall... the elves hadn¡¯t completely shattered their characters among the Dark Dwarves, but... compared to their legendary image, it was nearly a total reversal. Fortunately, overall, the Dark Dwarves still had a positive opinion of the players. The higher-ups of Black Rock City weren¡¯t blind to the minor frictions, but overall, they chose to turn a blind eye and move on. In the Underworld, where strength ruled, if a backstabbed party ended up eliminated, they could only blame themselves for being unlucky. But what surprised the Dark Dwarves was that these elves weren¡¯t stubborn; they actually managed to adapt to the survival rules of the Underworld! The dwarves noticed that even when elves were killed in confrontations outside the city, these elves wouldn¡¯t come to their doors for accountability. This led quite a few to regard the players in a better light. Because... the players¡¯ behavior aligned perfectly with the Underworld¡¯s belief that strength ruled everything. Of course, while there were minor frictions, overall, the interactions between both sides were still filled with goodwill. The players still respected the reputation evaluations of neutral NPCs set by Eve. So... even though they were wild, the players still maintained their limits. Not to mention, the few who initially exploited death to scam equipment were quickly stopped by other players. And as more players flooded in, gradually... the dwarves got used to these peculiar elves roaming around. After all, they were only there for business, and their overall demeanor was good. Coupled with the traditional image boost of the Elf Clan, though the dwarves found these elves bizarre, over time... they accepted them. The influx of players brought a wealth of products from the Elf Forest, objectively improving the lives of the Dark Dwarves, so overall, despite the frictions, they were quite welcomed by the dwarves. Conversely, some of the dwarves¡¯ products were well-received by the players. Especially the steam guns, a weapon similar to Blue Star¡¯s firearms, which piqued the players¡¯ curiosity, and many traded for them, intending to test their effects back home. It¡¯s rumored that a few weapon enthusiasts from the ¡°Mengmeng Committee¡± even planned to modify the dwarves¡¯ steam guns to see if they could come up with Blue Star¡¯s firearms... Additionally... players also got hold of alcohol from the dwarves! As in many Western fantasy works, the dwarves of the Segis World also loved good wine, and the players were quite interested in the alcohol in the game. However, after trying it, the players found that the dwarves¡¯ wine lacked flavor. At least... it was far inferior to some Tianchao wines. It made sense since, unlike surface dwarves, the underground Dark Dwarves lacked the grains necessary for brewing. Often, their alcohol was bought from human caravans, and those treacherous human caravans always sold them inferior wine. While there were some of good quality, those were reserved for the influential dwarves. What players could buy in the taverns was mostly the lowest-grade barley beer. Having had their taste refined by the various alcoholic beverages of Blue Star, players naturally turned their noses up at this barley beer that tasted even worse than regular beer. In fact, some lifestyle-oriented players had long planned to brew alcohol, but while the Elf Forest was rich in resources, it lacked the right grains for brewing. There were plenty of fruits, and some players had tried brewing fruit wine, but it always felt like something was missing. However, after obtaining some crops, players had begun searching for brewing techniques online, and success seemed only a matter of time... When that time came... presumably, there¡¯d be yet another product to sell to the dwarves. The dwarves¡¯ minerals and magical materials remained quite attractive, whether for forging equipment, repairing gear, or infrastructure¡ªall very useful. Some players had already calculated that if trade with the dwarves could be established, they could develop their own forging masters, saving some costs on repairs or equipment exchange in their daily expenses. Eve didn¡¯t stop these enterprises but rather welcomed them. And as exchanges continued, Black Rock City among the dwarves gradually became a place for players to stay in the Underworld. In the vast underground cave, one side of the underground river was the base of the Dark Dwarves, while the other side was the forest inhabited by Demon Beasts. Those Demon Beasts and monsters occasionally harassed the dwarves, causing them quite a headache. However, if they wanted to wipe out those monsters completely, the dwarves didn¡¯t have the guts for it. The entire Black Rock City had only a few thousand people, with even fewer capable of fighting. After all, the dwarves weren¡¯t like the Half-Beastmen, where everyone was a soldier. If they really fought with Demon Beasts, the casualties would be immense... Of course, another reason was that these Underground Demonic Beasts were not only fierce and resilient but also lacked materials worth harvesting. Fighting them was simply not worth it. However, the players surged into the Underground Forest, launching a hunt against the Demon Beasts! The Dark Dwarves were puzzled by this, not understanding why these strange elves were so interested in battling the Demon Beasts. But puzzled or not, they were happy to see it happen. Having someone willing to take action against the Demon Beasts lurking nearby was nothing but good news for the dwarves. Yet, as time passed, a group of people grew increasingly restless. Chapter 186 - 180 Hidden Mission? Chapter 186: Chapter 180 Hidden Mission? In the dark secret chamber. The atmosphere among several shadows was somewhat oppressive. After a moment, the deep voice of the apparent leader sighed, ¡°So... these Elves haven¡¯t had any conflict with the Death God Church, and in fact, there are signs of cooperation between them?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± A raspy voice replied, ¡°Not to mention whether these Elves have any connection to the Evil God, although their combat power seems quite impressive, it really seems like they¡¯re just here for business...¡± ¡°In other words, have all our covert provocations failed?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, even using the Elves¡¯ most despised practice of Elf slave trading to provoke them didn¡¯t incite their fury; instead, it caused the bankruptcy of several members who secretly supported us...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Balin, I¡¯ve heard they even sell their own Elves?¡± The deep voice asked another person. ¡°That¡¯s true, but the Elves who were sold showed great spirit, as they all committed suicide.¡± An elderly voice answered. ¡°I see...¡± The deep voice showed some surprise. But soon he let out a sneer, ¡°To even sell their own kin, it appears they have fallen... caravans, mercenaries... hehe, but perhaps it is also a good thing!¡± ¡°What thoughts does Lord Priest have?¡± The deep voice didn¡¯t answer directly, but instead asked, ¡°I¡¯ve heard... the leadership of these Elves have entered Black Stone City as well?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯ve investigated, and these Elves are actually composed of three Elf Mercenary Groups and guilds, and their leaders have all come to Black Rock City.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, invite them all over.¡± The deep voice said. ¡°Invite them?¡± The two other voices were astonished. ¡°Hehe, after listening to your reports for the past few days, I can see it clearly. These Elves seem friendly, but in reality, they only care about profit, and for some money, they can even buy and sell their own kind, so... why can¡¯t we win them over to work for us?¡± ... In Black Rock City, which is the Dwarf City in the underground cave. Little Xian Miao walked on the bustling streets, curiously observing everything. She had just represented the ¡°Mengmeng Committee¡± and signed a business deal with the Dwarves under the witness of the Death God Temple, feeling very pleased in her heart. With the acceleration of Magic, the ¡°Mengmeng Committee¡± had accumulated a lot of wheat, rice, and potatoes in recent days, far more than they could consume, and the discovery of the Dwarven forces showed her a business opportunity. The Dwarf Tribe lacked food, but they were rich in ores and Magic Stones, which were exactly what the Elf Forest was lacking. The ores could be smelted into metal for equipment forging, and Magic Stones could be used as an energy source for the Teleportation Array and assist players in their meditation training. Although there were still mineral deposits deep in Rivendell, they were not suitable for mining. Of course, the primary reason was that players didn¡¯t have the mining technology and manpower. Mining is a technical job and also quite labor-intensive; not to mention, processing is a troublesome affair too... so even if players could find some knowledge on Blue Star, it wouldn¡¯t be of much use to them at the moment. Unless... in the future, they have more manpower, combined with the help of the Earth Cave Spider. *Regrettably, Spider Queen Rose didn¡¯t think highly of the players now, and no one could enlist her help, while players had plenty of things to do in the game; the profits from mining did not match the effort put in, so no one did it.* Thus, upon discovering that Dwarves were good at mining and smelting, the players turned their attention to the Dwarves. Using the crops they grew to trade for the metals, ores, and Magic Stones smelted by the Dwarves seemed like a win-win business! This time, three major guilds collaborated, and with Demacia, the best talker at the helm, they finally reached a business agreement with the Dark Dwarves of the Underworld. After concluding the transaction, Little Xian Miao felt joyful and started wandering around Black Rock City. This was her second visit to Black Rock City; ever since the players opened the new map here a week ago, they quickly became friendly with the Dwarves. The Dark Forest of the Underworld had already become the new hunting ground for players hunting Demon Beasts, while Black Rock City had become a transit station for players¡¯ resupply and rest. Although there were occasional frictions outside the city, within the city, the two forces got along quite well. *Of course, another reason was the display of force and sincerity shown by the players, and until now... the Dwarves still hadn¡¯t figured out the true origins of the Elves.* They only knew that the players came from the surface, descending from the direction of Rivendell, seemingly believing in a mysterious True God named Ivor, and they were amazed at how the players bypassed that giant spider. Some Dwarves suspected that the True God mentioned by the players was actually a Fake God, considering... the name Ivor was unheard of on the Segis Continent. However, as part of the chaotic Dark World, the Dwarves didn¡¯t care about the beliefs of the Elves. In fact, most Dwarves didn¡¯t pay much attention to faith themselves, with most of the residents of Black Rock City being merely shallow believers of the Death God. *There were players boasting about having subdued Spider Queen Rose, but the Dwarves didn¡¯t believe it.* *To subdue the Spider Insect Queen?* *That was close to a legendary existence!* Explaining further would involve the Goddess... Little Xian Miao shook her head and continued to stroll in Black Rock City. Black Rock City was large, with a population of less than ten thousand but a sizeable scale; based on the appearance of the city¡¯s buildings, its history seemed long, probably several hundred years. And as she was roaming alone, suddenly, a short figure blocked her path. It was a Dwarf dressed in a dark gray robe, with expressions unclear. When he noticed Little Xian Miao¡¯s curious gaze, he bowed slightly to her, ¡°Good evening, esteemed Elf Lady.¡± ¡°Good evening?¡± Little Xian Miao instinctively raised her head to look at the sky. Above her, only the phosphorescent stones embedded in the cave walls shimmered, and the entire Underworld was perpetually deep and dim; she wondered how these Dwarves discerned day from night... ¡°Hello...¡± She replied curiously, while internally a sense of vigilance and curiosity arose. *Could she have encountered one of the Dwarven slave traders?* But wasn¡¯t it true that since those guys on the forum started their suicide scams for money, these traders stopped appearing? *She was puzzled.* Looking around, Little Xian Miao realized she had arrived at a secluded alley, with hardly anyone around. In an instant, her guard rose further. And just as Little Xian Miao was hesitating about whether to call out to other guild members, the mysterious Dwarf spoke again, ¡°Elf Lady, you are the leader of the Elf Mercenary Group, right? My master greatly admires the courage of the Elf Mercenary Group and wishes to do a transaction with you...¡± ¡°Transaction?¡± Little Xian Miao was slightly taken aback. Then, a thought suddenly flashed in her mind. Wait a minute... *Could it be, she was about to encounter a hidden mission?* ¡ª¡ª¡ª- This chapter is rather short; I need to sort out the plot. The past couple of days, I didn¡¯t handle the storyline pace well, and in my haste, it became somewhat chaotic. I¡¯ve seen everyone¡¯s comments; my apologies. Chapter 187 - 181: Believers of the God of Darkness and Shadow Chapter 187: Chapter 181: Believers of the God of Darkness and Shadow ¡°A trade? What kind of trade?¡± Little Xian Miao asked without any emotion. The other party gave a slight smile, his voice very hoarse, ¡°A big trade, the price will definitely satisfy you. Please follow me.¡± After finishing his words, he turned and left. Little Xian Miao hesitated for a moment, then followed along. Following the dark Dwarf in a gray robe, Little Xian Miao was gradually led into the depths of Black Rock City. The buildings here were more dilapidated compared to the bustling area on the other side, and there were fewer people around. It was quite close to an abandoned mining area at the back of Black Rock City, but Little Xian Miao paid full attention. *Because she recognized this is the coordinate mentioned by players on the forum as the most chaotic area of Black Rock City, a mix of fish and dragons.* The Dwarf leading the way made several twists and turns and eventually brought her to a deep mine entrance. ¡°Please come in.¡± The Dwarf smiled at Little Xian Miao, then stepped into the mine first. Little Xian Miao hesitated. She first prepared a spell for self-destructing her magic power if necessary and sent her coordinates to other guild members, then cautiously followed in. The mine was very dark, with only torches on the cave walls on both sides casting a dim and eerie light. After about a minute of walking, they arrived at a slightly spacious stone hall in the mine. ¡°Please wait a moment, our elder will be here soon.¡± The Dwarf said to Little Xian Miao. Little Xian Miao hesitated for a bit, nodded, and entered the stone hall. As soon as she entered, a hint of surprise and amazement flashed across Little Xian Miao¡¯s face because she saw two other familiar people in the stone chamber of the mine! ¡°Demacia? Fried Tomato with Tomato? What are you doing here?¡± Her voice was filled with astonishment. Indeed, the two who never used to see eye to eye were somehow gathered together! *Little Xian Miao was not sure what underhanded dealings had happened between Fried Tomato with Tomato and Li Mu, but the guild leaders of the two major guilds in the ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ had always found each other disagreeable.* *As a loyal follower of Li Mu, Demacia even disliked Fried Tomato with Tomato more than Li Mu did, and the two would exchange sarcastic remarks whenever they met.* *These two were here as well?* *Could they have been summoned by the Dwarf just like her?* *Little Xian Miao started to have some guesses.* She did know that both of them were also in Black Rock City today. After all, players were preparing to cooperate more deeply with the Dwarves. Fried Tomato with Tomato represented the ¡°First Legion,¡± while lately, Li Mu, who had been staying in the Chosen City, had Vice President Demacia representing the ¡°Heart of Nature,¡± and Little Xian Miao represented the ¡°Mengmeng Committee.¡± Although the ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had some smaller guilds, the three major guilds covered 85% of the players in the closed beta. Seeing Little Xian Miao, a hint of surprise also crossed the faces of the two others, but quickly turned to realization, ¡°Little Xian Miao! So you¡¯ve been summoned by the Dwarf too.¡± As expected... *Little Xian Miao breathed a sigh of relief, but was quickly filled with joy.* *This setup...* *Could it really be a hidden mission?* The other two had clearly thought of the same thing, a look of anticipation spreading across their faces. Just as they were about to exchange information they¡¯d gathered, a low chuckle caught their attention, ¡°Hehe, welcome to the three Elf Mercenary Corps Commanders...¡± They were all startled because none of them had sensed anyone approaching. Upon hearing the voice, they turned simultaneously to see a very peculiar figure... It was a chair that looked somewhat like a wheelchair from Blue Star, with a Dwarf, entirely cloaked in a black robe, sitting on it. The players couldn¡¯t see his appearance but noticed a peculiar emblem on his black robe. It was an eye-shaped emblem, its outer frame forming a triangle, and shrouded in an angled shadow. The players, who were familiar with some basics of the Segis World, immediately realized that this emblem was likely akin to the World Tree¡¯s tree symbol, Uller¡¯s bow symbol, and the scythe symbol in the Death God Temple of the dark Dwarves, belonging to some powerful entity... *Was he a believer of an Underground True God or an Evil God?* They all became alert because they remembered very clearly that one tip in the hidden plot of the [Dark Dwarves] was: Do not get involved in the faith disputes of the dark Dwarves! Before... they were puzzled. From some forum data, they knew the True Gods worshipped by the dark Dwarves were twofold, one was the Death God and the Lord of the Netherworld¡ªHela, and the other the Lord of Darkness and Shadow¡ªHolder. But upon entering Black Rock City, they had only seen the Death God Temple of the Death God and Lord of the Netherworld, not the temple of the other True God. Though curious, faced with the task hint in advance, the players did not delve further on this matter. After all, most of them did not care about the Dwarves¡¯ faith; for them, Black Rock City was just a newly opened small map. Besides bartering a few things with the Dwarves, more players aimed for the plethora of demon beasts in the Dark Forest of the Underworld! But now... was this about getting involved in the Dwarves¡¯ faith dispute? For a moment, this thought popped into all three of their minds. Seeing Little Xian Miao and the others¡¯ eyes lingering on the emblem on his attire, the mysterious Dwarf chuckled quietly and said, ¡°Judging from your expressions, I guess you have some idea about my identity. That¡¯s right... I am a believer of the Lord of Darkness and Shadow¡ªLord Holder, the executor of the shadows, the Divine Favored Hearthstone!¡± ¡°Pfft... What a name.¡± Demacia couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud. However, he quickly met the angry stares of the other two, hurriedly covering his mouth. After glaring at Demacia, Little Xian Miao¡¯s gaze at the Dwarf changed... *So he¡¯s a Divine Favored?!* *And it¡¯s the True God worshipped by the other dark Dwarves!* *At this moment, if she didn¡¯t realize that she might be getting involved in the Dwarves¡¯ faith dispute, she¡¯d be utterly foolish.* *Her first thought was:* *Getting involved in the dispute... would the previous hidden mission get scrapped?* The other thought was, *Wait... is this the follow-up to [Dark Dwarves]?* Fried Tomato with Tomato felt much the same way. Having accepted the [Dark Dwarves] task for several days, but with the hidden plot still unfinished, the players now triggering this new change couldn¡¯t help but harbor more new ideas. With their changing expressions, the Dwarf who called himself the Favored of the Shadow God chuckled quietly, and said, ¡°I want to make a trade with you... and with the being behind you!¡± As soon as he spoke, a new system message swept across the view of Little Xian Miao and the others, as if it had been waiting for a long time¡ª [Ding¡ª¡ª] [You have triggered a hidden main storyline: Faith of the Dark Dwarves] [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Entering plot mode, please choose a dialogue representative from ¡°Little Xian Miao,¡± ¡°Demacia,¡± and ¡°Fried Tomato with Tomato¡±] Seeing the triggered system prompt, the players were momentarily taken aback. Far away in the core region of the Elf Forest, within the Divine Country of the World Tree, Yve watched the view from the three emerged individuals, a hint of realization in her expression, ¡°I wondered who has been stirring up trouble these days, and it turns out... it¡¯s a believer of the God of Darkness and Shadow!¡± Chapter 188 - 182: Is This Plot Fully Automatic? Chapter 188: Chapter 182: Is This Plot Fully Automatic? After the players entered the city of the Dark Dwarves, Eve became extremely vigilant, constantly monitoring the movements of the players and the dwarves. After all, this was the players¡¯ first formal interaction with other forces in the ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± Previously, there were the Half-Beasts, but they were identified as enemies from the start. To the players, aside from being able to talk, they weren¡¯t much different from the Demon Beasts they hunted. But the Dark Dwarves were different. Eve did not have any major conflicts of interest with them or any grudges. More importantly, they were backed by other True Gods. The True Gods of the Netherworld! Compared to the gods of the Heavenly Realm, the gods of the Netherworld were much more mysterious and ancient. It was said that the earliest True Gods of the Netherworld were actually ancient gods. They always kept a low profile and did not partake in the power struggle over the Segis World, not even participating in the assault against the World Tree millennia ago. Although there was the legacy of the World Tree, Eve didn¡¯t know much about the few True Gods of the Netherworld. She only knew that Death God Hela was, nominally, the main god of the Netherworld¡¯s True Gods, while Shadow Lord Holder was another entity even older than Death God Hela. And these two were the primary True Gods of faith for the Dark Dwarves. However, later on, according to what Spider Queen Rose said, there was some conflict between these two True Gods within the faith of the Dark Dwarves. Because of this, Eve advised the players not to get involved in the faith disputes when issuing tasks. In her view, the two True Gods of the Dark Dwarves might very well have fought until they were dog-tired over faith. The players muddling into it would do her more harm than good. However, when the players truly entered Black Rock City, Eve discovered that Death God Hela might have won in the faith contest among the Dark Dwarves, because the temples of Shadow Lord Holder had been entirely destroyed. Yet, as the players continued their activities in Black Rock City, Eve was surprised to find that there seemed to be a force in secret constantly targeting and provoking the players. This included Black Rock City¡¯s Dwarf mercenaries, thugs, slave traders, and so on¡ªall forces hidden in the shadows. Initially, Eve suspected this force might be under Death God Hela, testing the players, but she quickly dismissed the idea because there was no need for them to do so. From the players¡¯ perspective, they didn¡¯t feel there was anything wrong with conflicting with these people; rather, they found it novel. But Eve, controlling the overall perspective of the players, noticed some clues from how these forces were targeting them. *They seemed to be trying to find ways to provoke a relationship between the players and the Dark Dwarves!* Moreover, when players were captured by slave traders, Eve observed in secret and was surprised to find that these slave traders even had connections with the human Sorren Caravan! Or perhaps... as the Dwarf Tribe in the Underworld closest to the Elf Forest, these slave traders were originally tasked with trading elves. They traded with the Sorren Caravan and sold elves to other underground forces in need. Some slave traders were even underground members of the Sorren Commerce... This discovery also led Eve to some speculations. Just like the Half-Beasts, the Sorren Commerce in the Human World was also a major force in selling elf slaves. If she remembered correctly, Black Dragon Mairrel once said that the reason the Sorren Caravan roamed the continent was because they leaned on the support of some entity from the Netherworld! However, Eve did not dwell on it too much and instead maintained a cautious attitude, increasing the surveillance of the players in Black Rock City. And today, these people finally emerged... They turned out to be followers of the God of Darkness and Shadow! Honestly, Eve was not surprised; the result was much like she had anticipated. And as a True God, even if this force said nothing further, Eve could reasonably guess what they intended to do. *A group of a certain True God¡¯s followers, hiding in the domain of another True God with a conflicting faith, what else could they do?* *They¡¯re there to cause trouble and compete for faith.* However, after realizing that this True God was probably also the backer of Sorren Commerce, Eve found herself in a bit of a quandary. Sorren Commerce had already been tagged as a hostile by Eve. Perhaps Sorren Commerce targeted the elves purely for profit... But they were also accomplices of the Half-Beasts. And according to Nightingale, their pursuit and killing of elves were no less ruthless than the Half-Beasts. Even the human mercenaries who wiped out one branch of the Shadow Tribe, led by Nightingale, were affiliated with Sorren Commerce. What else is there to say? Even for the allegiance of the Elf Clan, the Sorren Caravan was undoubtedly an enemy. But now, the Dark and Shadow God¡¯s supporters, who might be behind Sorren Commerce, had emerged... Honestly, Eve truly felt a bit of a headache. Facing Uller, Eve had presented herself as a subordinate god of Death God. Judging by the cooperation between Sorren Commerce and the Half-Beasts, it was likely that this True God might have had dealings with Uller. If Uller wanted to gather allies and approached this one, Eve would find herself in a difficult position. *In the end, you always have to pay the piper; you can¡¯t really go rely on Death God Hela, can you?* *Uller was fine; he was a clear enemy from the start. Although the forces of the God of Darkness and Shadow also persecuted elves, indirectly causing the rapid decline of the Elf Clan, Eve did not plan to tear apart relations with them for now.* *On one hand, she was still very weak. On the other hand, she already had enough enemies.* However... the identity of the subordinate god of Death actually trapped Eve. If Uller revealed the ¡°truth¡± to the God of Darkness and Shadow, unless Eve abandoned the guise of the subordinate god of Death, she couldn¡¯t avoid becoming an opponent. But, abandoning the guise increased the risk of exposing her true identity substantially... *Headache.* Fortunately, for now, Uller probably wouldn¡¯t seek allies, wanting to monopolize the Life and Natural God Position, relying on his strength. And now, with the followers of the God of Darkness and Shadow cluelessly showing up, Eve had some ideas... *Since that¡¯s the case...* *Why not attempt an alliance with Hela?* *Although being the subordinate god of Death is a facade, why not make it a ¡°real¡± one?* With this in mind, Eve made a decision. She had already decided to have the players engage with the followers of the God of Darkness and Shadow superficially, then secretly report them to the Death God Temple, letting Hela¡¯s subordinates handle it! Additionally, it could also earn her a favor with Hela and see if further cooperation was possible. The mind of a True God can be decided in a moment. At the moment she made these decisions, Little Xian Miao and the others also chose a member to interact with. The chosen one was Little Xian Miao. No way around it, Fried Tomato and Dema didn¡¯t see eye to eye, and neither wanted the other to take the role, so it finally fell to Little Xian Miao. Fried Tomato reluctantly accepted, but still couldn¡¯t help reminding: ¡°Little Xian Miao, be serious, don¡¯t choose the wrong option.¡± ¡°Heh, redneck, don¡¯t you know that whoever talks, the result is the same?¡± Dema mocked Fried Tomato. Results are the same? Little Xian Miao gave Dema an odd look. She said nothing more, excitedly clicking the system¡¯s selection confirmation with the other two. [Confirmed selection ¡°Little Xian Miao¡±] The system message flashed again, and for a moment, the three found themselves losing control over their bodies. [Selection confirmed, triggering cutscene] Another message flashed. And then, Eve used the game system to control Little Xian Miao¡¯s body. After establishing the Divine Country and strengthening the connection between faith and the game system, Eve was now able to control the players¡¯ bodies through the system linkage. Subsequently, Little Xian Miao was astonished to find her body moving forward step by step without her control, and speaking automatically: ¡°What deal?¡± Little Xian Miao: ??? Wait? Was the scene fully automated? ¡°Assist us, overthrow the death god¡¯s reign here.¡± Looking at Little Xian Miao, Divine Favored Hearthstone said in a low voice. ¡°Do you know whose backing we have?¡± Eve used Little Xian Miao¡¯s body to ask again. ¡°Recently, the magic power of the Segis World suddenly spiked. Our church¡¯s Great Shepherd predicted that a batch of slumbering existences would awaken.¡± Divine Favored Hearthstone whispered. A batch of slumbering existences? Eve raised an eyebrow, realizing that the other party mistook the entity behind the elves for an Evil God or a certain ancient Demigod pursuing Divine Enthronement. *Of course, this was ideal.* ¡°What can we gain?¡± She asked again using Little Xian Miao¡¯s body. ¡°Friendship with the Church of Darkness and Shadow, the alliance of the Dark Dwarves, 100,000 pounds of universal currency for employment, and... a permanent commercial agreement!¡± ¡°Deal, but a contract must be signed.¡± ¡°Little Xian Miao¡± answered straightforwardly. ¡°Ah, so straightforward! Here is the contract, with all our plans written out!¡± Divine Favored Hearthstone nodded enthusiastically, taking out a meticulously prepared employment contract. This was a commonly used Blood Covenant in the Underworld, sealed with blood, placing a Blood Curse on the contractor¡¯s body. If the contractor breached the contract, their entire body would boil with blood and they would die! It was said that this contract originated from Purgatory Demons and was extremely effective... Eve, pleased with the terms, after reviewing the specifics of the contract, cut ¡°Little Xian Miao¡¯s¡± finger and pressed it onto the contract. Little Xian Miao: ... *Wait...* *Why was the contract signed already?* Meanwhile, both Fried Tomato and Dema cast admiring looks at Little Xian Miao. ¡°By the way, the other two also need to sign.¡± Divine Favored Hearthstone smiled gently, producing two more contracts for Fried Tomato and Dema. *Us too?* Both were taken aback. Then, they found their bodies moving, cutting their fingers, and pressing the blood onto the contract. Fried Tomato: ... Dema: ... Chapter 189 - 183: Seeking the Goddess for a Matter Chapter 189: Chapter 183: Seeking the Goddess for a Matter The leaders of several invited elf mercenary groups signed the contract without the need for the shadow¡¯s enforcer, the dark dwarf Hearthstone, to use any of the arguments he had prepared. And it wasn¡¯t until several elves had left that he looked at the signed blood covenant in silence. ¡°Lord Priest, what are you thinking?¡± Another dark dwarf approached him. It was the gray-robed dwarf who had guided Little Xian Miao earlier. Hearthstone was silent for a moment, then said, ¡°I was thinking... they agreed too readily.¡± The gray-robed dwarf nodded, ¡°You¡¯re right, Lord Priest. I¡¯m just afraid these elves have another agenda... Also, I think telling them all of our plans is a bit...¡± ¡°A bit too bold and reckless?¡± Hearthstone chuckled. The gray-robed dwarf nodded again, ¡°We¡¯ve prepared so long... If something goes wrong and we can¡¯t take control of Black Rock City at once, we might lose our chance to resist altogether...¡± Hearthstone listened, shook his head, and said, ¡°Rest assured, I never planned on relying on these elves to make an effort. The plan mentioned in the contract is false.¡± ¡°What?¡± The gray-robed dwarf was stunned. ¡°Heh, how could I place all my hopes on these elves? I¡¯m merely using them to stir up trouble. Balin was right, although these elves don¡¯t have high strength, they are fearless of death. If they cause a ruckus, it is indeed a good opportunity...¡± Hearthstone said. After speaking, he chuckled again, ¡°However... Balin also said something else that is true. Behind these elves, there is indeed a powerful existence! Tasks, sacrifices, True God... Judging by what we observed, they often mentioned these terms. Although the specific true name was hidden, it¡¯s undoubtedly a mythical existence.¡± Mythical existence! Demigod Level and above are considered myths! ¡°So... we should not worry too much about this blood covenant. If a Demigod Level existence intervenes, unraveling the blood covenant we set up would be a breeze.¡± ¡°If they believe the words in the contract, great. If they don¡¯t believe and tell everything to the Death God Temple, it does us no harm.¡± ¡°Anyway... the Death God Temple has long known we¡¯re lurking in the shadows, and it doesn¡¯t matter if this information gets out. Besides, the plan in the blood covenant is nonsense that the elves don¡¯t know, but that individual in the Death God Temple can see through it. It¡¯s likely that the Death God Temple would suspect the elves instead...¡± ¡°However, if the elves do believe what¡¯s written in the blood covenant and start trouble in the city against the Death God Temple, allowing us to achieve our goals, what¡¯s wrong with giving them some benefits then?¡± ¡°Heh heh, the blood covenant only gives them two days. We¡¯ll just wait and see.¡± Hearthstone remarked with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go. If we stay here any longer, we might attract her minions.¡± ... On the other side. After signing the blood covenant, Little Xian Miao and the others left the premises. Under Eve¡¯s guidance, the three walked side by side until they reached a quiet and deserted alley in Black Rock City, where they stopped. ¡°We can¡¯t trust their words. Since we have reached a friendly agreement with the dark dwarf leaders, we cannot commit an act of betrayal.¡± ¡°Little Xian Miao¡± solemnly said, her expression excited, revealing two adorable little fangs. ¡°That¡¯s right! We elves are a noble race and cannot act in betrayal of friends. Signing the blood covenant was a forced action behind enemy lines, and now that we¡¯ve escaped, we must take everything seriously!¡± ¡°Demacia¡± righteously agreed, his expression serious, though his comical explosion-headed hair somewhat ruined the atmosphere. ¡°Agreed! Even if it means dying once, we can¡¯t let elves become a race that breaks trust! Besides, it is said that the God of Darkness and Shadow is also related to the Sorren Commerce, our enemies as well!¡± ¡°Fried Tomato¡± nodded repeatedly, looking the most sensible. Then, in unison, the three said, ¡°Since this involves the dispute of True God faith, we should report to the Goddess and let her decide!¡± ... Silence fell over the air for a moment. Suddenly, the three of them shuddered and instantly broke free from that uncontrollable state, regaining control over their bodies. Little Xian Miao widened her eyes, moving her limbs as she said, ¡°Finally able to control my body. Is this just a cutscene? Such awkward dialogue...¡± ¡°Hahaha! The expression you had while speaking, Fat Cat... Haha... Honestly, it was too funny. Your baby-faced avatar doesn¡¯t suit serious expressions at all... It has no intimidation factor, just pure cuteness, especially those two little fangs... Hahaha... I recorded it...¡± Demacia couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Scram! Delete it for me!¡± Little Xian Miao¡¯s face turned dark, and she gave him a hard kick, knocking him over. Meanwhile, Fried Tomato was looking at a copy of the contract in his hand, commenting with a curl of his lips, ¡°Although ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ is pretty good in all aspects, the plot design here is too rigid... I learned about the God of Darkness and Shadow being involved with human caravans from ¡®my¡¯ own mouth...¡± ¡°Could it be a story bug? Perhaps according to some of the officials¡¯ ideas, we were supposed to know this information first? Maybe triggering this hidden main storyline was an accident.¡± Little Xian Miao said while stepping on Demacia¡¯s rear with her high-heeled boots. ¡°So... is the next plot to find the Goddess?¡± Fried Tomato¡¯s eyes twinkled with anticipation. ¡°Hey? In my personal system, there¡¯s a blood covenant curse debuff. Do you have it?¡± At this time, Demacia, who had been struggling to get up, noticed the change in his personal status bar. ¡°Hey? I have it too, let me see the description... Hmm... A blood covenant curse signed with the dark dwarves. If the covenant is broken, death will occur, unless a great being intervenes to remove it... The time limit is two days.¡± Little Xian Miao read out. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Crap! I¡¯ve been cleaning toilets all this time and haven¡¯t done any other tasks. The perfect resurrection count is already 0! I can¡¯t die again in the next two days!¡± Demacia¡¯s face changed. ¡°Exchange contribution points for resurrection counts, it¡¯s not expensive. I¡¯ve saved over thirty times. You were running your pyramid scheme like wildfire, shouldn¡¯t be short on cash.¡± Little Xian Miao said puzzled. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Fat Cat, it might not be expensive for you, but I just exchanged my pyramid scheme earnings for a black and purple armor, spent it all... can¡¯t afford to die again! How about... you lend me some?¡± Demacia sighed. ¡°Scram! Go ask Brother Mu for a loan!¡± Demacia: ... ¡°The curse... should have a way to remove it, right? A great being... could it be the Goddess?¡± Fried Tomato furrowed his brow. Just as he finished speaking, a new system notification appeared in the trio¡¯s vision¡ª [Ding¡ª¡ª] [You¡¯ve decided to report the received information to the Eve Goddess. After the Goddess makes a decision, proceed to the next plan...] Seeing this message, Little Xian Miao and the others¡¯ spirits lifted. ¡°Reporting to the Goddess, could it be that summoning by the Goddess back then and talking to the Goddess?¡± Little Xian Miao¡¯s eyes lit up a little. ¡°It must be! Last time I triggered the plot, I was summoned to her temple by the Goddess, and was given a rich reward!¡± Demacia said excitedly. ¡°The Goddess should be able to lift the curse! And it¡¯s also the key to the next part of the plot!¡± Fried Tomato deduced. After speaking, the three nodded at each other and made a decision, ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s head to the Goddess¡¯s temple now!¡± Having said that, the three quickened their steps and left Black Rock City soon after. ... A new main quest! And it¡¯s a hidden main quest! The news of Little Xian Miao and the others triggering a mission quickly spread among the players. More precisely, it first spread among the three major guilds... Although the specifics of the mission triggered this time were not known, it seemed to involve a problem within the dark dwarves. Little Xian Miao and the others even triggered the special plot of ¡°audience with the Goddess¡± again! This was a rather rare plot in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡±! Based on past experience, it¡¯s likely that the three of them would receive a hefty reward once again. Of course... this message was released by the gleeful Demacia. This fellow had triggered the ¡°audience with the Goddess¡± plot twice in a row, making other players envious to the point of itching. This event also stirred other players¡¯ anticipation for this hidden main quest... After all, the last quest directly kicked off the battle against the Goblins, and a large number of players advanced to Black Iron Rank at that time! One can imagine, this time¡¯s plot quest would likely be another major event, and could be related to the Dwarves... The last time was an advance to Black Iron Lower Rank, this time... a batch of players might advance to Black Iron Middle Rank! For a time, many players nearing a level up quickened their pace in farming and leveling, aiming to enhance their strength and grab more experience and contribution in the upcoming quest. Meanwhile, Little Xian Miao and her companions arrived at Eve¡¯s temple. Having already received Eve¡¯s divine message, Alice was prepared in the temple. She nodded slightly to the three players entering the temple and said, ¡°The Mother Goddess has already learned of your intention, and she has accepted your audience.¡± Upon finishing, she first came before the statue, kneeling reverently. Little Xian Miao and her companions also suppressed their joy, following suit and kneeling beside Saintess Alice. Under the guidance of the Elf Saintess, the three began to pray facing the statue, ¡°Praise be to the Mother of Nature, praise be to the Goddess of Life, praise be to the Great Elf Sovereign¡ªEve Yggdrasil!¡± In an instant, brilliant Holy Light enveloped the temple, swallowing the three kneeling players... They felt a brief daze as they realized their surroundings had completely changed. Chapter 190 - 184: The New Divine Favored Chapter 190: Chapter 184: The New Divine Favored When Little Xian Miao and the others opened their eyes, they found themselves in a grand and majestic temple... Demacia had been summoned by the Goddess once before, and the others had observed the exchange between Demacia and the Goddess from the perspective of a cinematic cutscene, so they were somewhat mentally prepared. However, when they looked around, they were surprised to find that this was not the temple they had seen in the original cinematic cutscene, which seemed to be located in the starry sky. Of course, the style and scale of the temple were the same, with its vast space, gigantic stone pillars, and sacred, spectacular reliefs. Yet, the scenery on both sides was entirely different. There were no deep and magnificent galaxies, but an ancient, dense forest! This temple seemed to be situated high up, and despite its elevation, the grandeur and splendor of the forest below could still be seen. This perspective was somewhat akin to looking down at the Elf Forest from the World Tree, but this forest was clearly more lush. The forest landscape was reminiscent of the Elf Forest, but upon closer inspection, one could find that the vegetation here seemed older and denser than that of the Elf Forest, and the land was filled with rare and even legendary tree species... Some players even saw sun spruces towering several hundred meters high! Several hundred meters! These precious tree species, extremely scarce even in the Elf Forest, where they usually reached no more than thirty meters in height and encountering one could mark a player as a Luck King, were everywhere here. The group instinctively began to calculate in their minds how many contribution points they could exchange with the Holy Daughter by using these sun spruces as building material... The result was somewhat terrifying. At least Little Xian Miao felt that her entire possessions might not even compare to a single tree here... Not to mention, this was just the most common and inconspicuous tree species in this forest! There were many other precious plants that players couldn¡¯t name, but knew at a glance that they were extraordinary! If the Elf Forest felt like a dreamlike forest far from the mundane world, then the rich, mysterious, ancient, and magnificent world before them reminded the players of the mythical Eden Garden! Even though they were far away, the players could still sense the vibrant life energy exuding from the forest. This almost overwhelming life force even flowed into the towering temple, combining with the temple¡¯s unique sacred aura, filling their hearts with a sense of awe and insignificance... They were even shocked to discover that each breath increased their experience points to some extent, and their personal attributes had slight enhancements! This discovery left the players even more astounded and excited. They almost instinctively took deep breaths, hoping to gain more experience points. They even felt an implicit urge to meditate and train here! *Where was this place?* *Was the life and magic energy in the air really this abundant?* As the players were in shock, a kind yet dignified voice resonated through the grand hall, pulling back their thoughts, ¡°Chosen Ones, we meet again.¡± Little Xian Miao and the others suddenly looked up and saw the Goddess sitting high on a magnificent throne made of gold, vines, flowers, and branches in the center of the temple. Eve Yggdrasil. Unlike in the previous encounters as an avatar and the once ¡°cutscene¡± image, now the Goddess did not enshroud herself with radiant Holy Light. She sat high on the throne, her chin resting on one hand, looking at the group with a gentle smile in her eyes. No airs, no distance, yet the players dared not harbor any disrespectful thoughts... On the contrary, upon seeing the Goddess, alongside their amazement, they felt an indescribable sense of awe and reverence... This feeling was strange. Logically, no matter how spectacular the scene, under the premise of knowing it was a game, the players shouldn¡¯t have felt this; at most, they should have been impressed and appreciative. But... they couldn¡¯t help feeling an impulse to worship! This was akin to the feeling the Goddess gave players during storyline appearances, but this time it was much stronger! In that moment, the players unconsciously calmed their moods, becoming more respectful in demeanor. Actually, it was very normal for the players to naturally develop this sense of awe. For they were not in the conceptual space that Eve had previously manifested, but in her Divine Country! The Divine Country and the True God are one, existing between reality and fantasy. It could also be said that the Divine Country was Eve¡¯s consciousness space and Divine Power manifested. As long as she had enough Divine Power, she could create anything she had seen and understood within the Divine Country! Of course, these things were only effective within the Divine Country. If something left the Divine Country, Eve would have to expend additional Divine Power to genuinely manifest it... The actual manifestation of objects from the Divine Country outside of it was precisely the true source of many Divine Artifacts. Moreover, the emotions of a True God also influenced everything within the Divine Country, which naturally included other beings who entered it! Thus, even though they believed themselves to be in a game, after entering the Divine Country, the players¡¯ minds were unconsciously influenced, generating a genuine sense of reverence for Eve. Of course, this emotional influence couldn¡¯t force someone to become a Believer, but it sufficed to let Eve flaunt her superiority. Little Xian Miao and the others saw Eve gently beckon to them, and then they felt a gentle power entering their bodies, sweeping away all fatigue. Afterward, they delightedly discovered that their debuffs had completely vanished. Not only that, but their statuses had fully recovered, and even their fatigue values were reset to zero. The group exchanged glances and uniformly bowed toward Eve, ¡°Praise the Goddess!¡± Eve nodded and gave them a slight smile, ¡°At ease.¡± [Ding¡ª] As the Goddess finished speaking, system messages suddenly appeared once more in their vision... [Entering Plot] [Option Dialogue Mode Activated, Please Choose a Representative to Communicate with the Goddess] Little Xian Miao took a deep breath, made eye contact with the other two, and stepped forward once again as the representative, while at the same time, Xi Hong¡¯s Fried Tomato and Demacia found themselves unable to control their bodies again. After choosing the representative, the Goddess¡¯s solemn and sacred voice echoed once more, ¡°I am aware of your purpose; your choice is correct. The God of Darkness and Shadow is a foe, not a friend. This is the enemy¡¯s conspiracy.¡± Then... a dialogue box appeared in front of Little Xian Miao, [Option A: Supreme Goddess, what should we do next?] [Option B: Supreme Goddess, how should we address this matter?] [Option C: Supreme Goddess, please guide us on our path forward!] Little Xian Miao: ... She felt she finally understood why Demacia had once said that even a pig could choose the right plot dialogue. She twitched her mouth, then responded, ¡°Supreme Goddess, please guide us on our path forward!¡± Eve nodded in satisfaction and said, ¡°Intervening in the faith disputes between True Gods is somewhat strenuous given your current strength. I will send another of my Divine Favored to negotiate with Death God Hela¡¯s believers. From now on, you are to follow her arrangements...¡± Upon finishing, the Goddess pointed to the side of the group, and countless dazzling photons began to gather there... In their surprised eyes, a tall figure slowly emerged. It was a female elf dressed in a black skirt armor, looking like a young girl of sixteen or seventeen. She had long deep silver hair and a pair of mysterious crimson-violet eyes, her features delicate, exuding a terrifyingly murderous aura... If there were other True Gods present, they would recognize it as the aura of the Death God¡¯s Power! However, soon this Death God¡¯s Power aura was completely concealed, and the female elf transformed into an ordinary elf, exuding a vibrant life aura. This was another powerful Divine Favored! A new NPC! The players¡¯ eyes all lit up. After her appearance, the mysterious elf immediately knelt respectfully to the Goddess, her expression fervent, ¡°Praise to you! Great Mother Goddess! Divine Favored¡ªLing, follows your orders with devotion.¡± Hearing her words, the Goddess on the throne seemed very satisfied. She curved her lips slightly, then smiled at the group once more, ¡°This is Ling, who will act as my agent. I¡¯ve communicated all arrangements to her. Follow her instructions moving forward.¡± ¡°You may withdraw...¡± After speaking, she waved her hand. Then, the dazzling light engulfed the players once more... Chapter 191 - 185: The Mysterious Ling Chapter 191: Chapter 185: The Mysterious Ling [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Quest dialogue completed] [You have gained 3000 experience points and 300 contribution points] New system notifications flashed in the view of Little Xian Miao and the others once again. Accompanied by the enchanting sound of the system, they returned to the temple... The most noticeable change was that the state where they could gain experience points with every breath seemed to disappear. This left the players with a feeling of loss. Little Xian Miao couldn¡¯t help but check her personal status bar and was shocked to discover that just from meeting the Goddess for a few minutes, her experience points had soared by over thirty thousand, almost enough to advance to level 20! And with the additional 3000 points from completing the dialogue, it was just enough! ¡°Whoa... What was that place we just went to, how did we gain so many experience points all of a sudden?! It was comparable to a major quest line!¡± Before Little Xian Miao could marvel, Demacia¡¯s excited voice came through, completely echoing her thoughts and making her nod repeatedly. ¡°The place you just entered is the Divine Country of the Mother Goddess. Since her true revival, the Divine Country has also regained its vitality.¡± As the players were still secretly lamenting not getting more experience in that scene, a calm voice spoke up. They turned to see that it was Ling, a Divine Favored summoned by the Goddess, who spoke. ¡°The Divine Country of the Mother Goddess is filled with the aura of divine power. Mortal beings that enter the Divine Country are naturally influenced by this aura, absorbing the energy dispersed within. That¡¯s why your powers have slightly increased.¡± Ling explained. The players listened, a flash of realization appearing in their expressions. Thinking inwardly, Fried Tomato speculated, ¡°Doesn¡¯t this mean... that if we stayed in the Divine Country of the Goddess, we could continuously enhance our strength?¡± Ling glanced at him and said coolly, ¡°There¡¯s no such good thing in this world. The power of a True God is immense. Even though the divine aura in the Divine Country is deliberately diluted by the Mother Goddess, you still can¡¯t handle too much of it. A little is fine, but if it¡¯s too much...¡± Her expression turned into a half-smile, ¡°You would have to be reborn again on the World Tree, and you would lose the power you absorbed in the Divine Country.¡± In other words, they¡¯d die from it. The players understood. ¡°However, short-term stays won¡¯t harm you. In fact, they can even slightly enhance your abilities.¡± ¡°Divine power is filled with the Power of Laws. While you can¡¯t comprehend it, you can still be influenced by it to some extent. Especially if you absorb a certain amount of divine aura before advancing to the next level, there¡¯s a chance of boosting your personal attributes and even acquiring a new skill across tiers...¡± Ling shifted the conversation, continuing, ¡°Whoa...¡± The players widened their eyes, feeling an indescribable joy in their hearts! Such good fortune exists?! Indeed! Any mission related to the great Goddess is a rewarding task! Eve Goddess is the best! With a thought, Little Xian Miao immediately chose to level up. A light flashed across her body, and her aura changed as she instantly advanced to level 20 (Black Iron Lower Peak)! During the advancement, Little Xian Miao felt a slight tremor in her mind, as if some information had flowed in... She was filled with joy and immediately checked her status, finding that her constitution, agility, and magic power truly had increased slightly! Moreover, a new skill appeared in her skill bar¡ªthe Two-Circle Magic, ¡°Flame Shield¡±! ¡°Wow! I actually comprehended a new skill! And it¡¯s Two-Circle Magic! I didn¡¯t even have any Two-Circle Magic before!¡± Little Xian Miao couldn¡¯t help but cheer out loud. Two-Circle Magic? Hearing this, Fried Tomato and Demacia couldn¡¯t resist giving her a look. In the Segis World, secular skills are divided into ranks from one to ninety-nine. The power-based skills have nine tiers, while the casting-based skills have nine circles of magic. The next level is legendary. Players from level 0 to 10 can only learn apprentice-level skills, while those from level 11 to 20, Black Iron Lower, can learn first-tier skills or One-Circle Magic. Advancing to level 21 Black Iron Middle allows learning of second-tier or Two-Circle skills. But now Little Xian Miao was merely at level 20 Black Iron Lower and had already mastered a Two-Circle Magic ahead of time! Not to mention anything else, just by having this Two-Circle Magic, defeating her before reaching Black Iron Middle would be quite a challenge for players of the same level. Wait a minute... This girl is loaded with gear. Even without cross-tier skills, with all her golden gear, it seems no one can touch her... Fried Tomato and Demacia suddenly felt a sense of disinterest. However, the appearance of cross-tier skills still stirred something within the players. It was said that in the current game version, the max level was 40 (Black Iron Upper Peak). After a visit to the Goddess¡¯s Divine Country and advancing a level, they¡¯d have a chance to acquire a new skill from a higher tier... In other words, if they entered the Goddess¡¯s Divine Country while at the Black Iron Upper stage, after coming out and advancing, they could possibly master a skill or magic usually attainable only at the silver level¡ªa fourth-tier skill or Four-Circle Magic! Wow! That skill would be a massive tier jump, far surpassing the third tier! Definitely a secret weapon! Thinking of this, the group grew excited. The players had witnessed the might of the Oak Guardian Berserker and the Divine Favored Ail, as well as the Black Iron Upper Half-Beast. They had experienced firsthand that the silver tier was far superior to the Black Iron level. Seeing their excited faces, the corner of Ling¡¯s mouth curved ever so slightly. ¡°So... if you want another chance to be summoned by the Mother Goddess, work hard. Opportunities always favor those who are prepared and strive hard! What the Mother Goddess needs most now are diligent and striving individuals!¡± She encouraged them. ¡°There¡¯ll be more chances in the future!¡± Hearing the implication in Ling¡¯s words, the players became invigorated. ¡°After reaching level 31, I must find a way to complete another task to meet the Goddess!¡± Fried Tomato clenched his fist. ¡°I better find chances to cozy up to the Divine Favored!¡± Demacia thought to himself. After their initial excitement, Little Xian Miao and the others brought up the hidden plot of ¡°The Faith of the Dark Dwarves¡± with Ling... ¡°Just consider the news from the Blood Covenant as nonexistent. The Dark Dwarves wouldn¡¯t really tell you their true plan.¡± After hearing the players, Ling remarked calmly. ¡°So it was a fake plan?¡± Little Xian Miao and her group frowned. ¡°To reveal the plan so straightforwardly, there¡¯s a high chance it¡¯s fake. Besides, disputes in faith and intrigues accomplish nothing before absolute power.¡± Ling chuckled. ¡°So... what should we do next?¡± Little Xian Miao asked again. Ling looked at her and said, ¡°Have the other Chosen Ones prepare for battle, but don¡¯t alarm the Dark Dwarves. You can use hunting demon beasts as a cover. I will personally visit the Death God Temple, and you just wait for my news. If I need your support, I¡¯ll contact you...¡± After saying this, she nodded at the players and left the temple. When she stepped outside, she saw the Natural Saintess Alice guarding the temple. Alice was not surprised by Ling¡¯s appearance. She had already received a revelation from the Mother Goddess, knowing that a new Divine Favored would descend, and the newcomer might mainly be responsible for tasks related to spreading faith among the Chosen Ones, and even communicate with other True God temples! It seemed... the Mother Goddess was also considering finding allies among the True Gods. Which deity would it be? Alice had some guesses in her heart. Of course, Alice was also quite curious about this new Divine Favored. From the looks of the newcomer, they appeared to be a mixed-blood elf but had the traits of the Royal Family, and moreover... the aura felt inexplicably familiar to her. Still, she didn¡¯t ask much. To be able to enter the Divine Country of the Mother Goddess, this Divine Favored must also be someone the Mother Goddess trusts immensely! Similarly, this meant they were also her partner as the Natural Saintess! Hmm... As per the Mother Goddess¡¯s words, such a person would be called a comrade! A comrade fighting for her faith and the future of the Elf Clan! Thinking this, Alice smiled gently at Ling and drew a tree-shaped symbol in front of her chest: ¡°May nature be with you, Lord Ling.¡± Ling¡¯s mouth curved slightly upward, and she likewise drew a tree-shaped symbol on her chest: ¡°May nature be with you, Lady Alice.¡± After speaking, Ling¡¯s figure flickered slightly and vanished from everyone¡¯s sight... ... On the other side. The other players who learned the ¡°meet the Goddess¡± quest reward content were also in a frenzy. Entering the Divine Country? A huge wave of free experience points? And the chance to gain an extra cross-tier skill? Wow! Long live the Goddess! Indeed, if you want to become strong, you must cling to the Goddess¡¯s thigh! If before, everyone wanted to get the mainline quest and the chance to meet the Goddess just to satisfy their vanity, now... Triggering a mainline quest had become the most favorable task for all players. It¡¯s just, the next Luck King to get such a chance remained unknown. But one thing was certain: sticking close to the Goddess would never disappoint! After all... she was the only golden NPC in the entire server! Chapter 192 - 186 Death God Temple Chapter 192: Chapter 186 Death God Temple The Underworld was always so deep and dark, with only the fluorescent stones at the top of the caves bringing a bit of light to the world. Deep Cave, Black Rock City. Ever since a group of strange elves arrived here, the place had become increasingly prosperous. In the city, the tall figures of the elves had become a striking sight. In truth, it was impossible not to notice them. The Elf Clan had always been tall, whether male or female, none were less than 1.7 meters, and each had outstanding looks, while the tallest of the dwarves was no more than 1.5 meters, with an average height of just 1.3 meters. Black Rock City, suitable for dwarves to live in, appeared petite overall, and as the elves walked through the city, one group seemed even taller, and the other even shorter, making the contrast more apparent... The dwarves had gradually accepted the daily visits of the elves in Black Rock City. To the ordinary dark dwarves, these elves were much better than the other mercenaries of the Underworld, laying down their weapons upon entering the city, not causing trouble in groups, and, on the contrary, were very polite to the dwarves... something that many mercenaries could not manage, yet the elves did it naturally, without any fuss. And if you happened to be a Dwarf Forger, you would find them becoming even more courteous, even worshipping you, voluntarily doing all sorts of things for you... just to ask for some guidance on forging techniques. The dwarves¡¯ forges had long been surrounded by elves. The elves¡¯ appreciation and eagerness to learn dwarven forging techniques left the dwarves flattered and proud. Of course, what made the dwarves even happier were the goods brought by the elves. Strong spider silk, plain wheat, quick-growing rice, underground potatoes... and various kinds of fruits that the dwarves had never seen but tasted wonderful. These were either products that dwarves could not obtain from the underground or specialties from the ground world, brought by the elves in bags into Black Rock City to trade with the dwarves for ores, magic materials, rare metals, and even some knowledge of forging, driving the dark dwarves into a frenzy. Ling arrived in Black Rock City to see this lively scene... Divine Favored Zero, or rather... the avatar of Eve. Indeed, Zero was the True God Avatar constructed by Eve using the Soul Storage Orb as its core! However, when changing her appearance, she retained the features of the Elf Clan. This time, Eve decided to directly dispatch her avatar, even branding the avatar with the label of Divine Favored, which served a strategic purpose... Engaging with followers of other True Gods, Eve could not trust the players to undertake this task, nor were her followers suitable for it. The most suitable way, thinking it over, was for her to go undercover. Branding her disguise with the label of Divine Favored was also Eve¡¯s strategy to better lead the players. While the system tasks and NPC guidance were good, sometimes Eve indeed needed to take action herself to more accurately control the players¡¯ movements or to initiate the most crucial initial contact with other True Gods¡¯ forces. However, appearing directly as a True God seemed undignified, so disguising herself was a good choice. A True God remained the exalted, impressive True God. But now, she had an ardent Divine Favored under her who issued tasks. Of course, Eve set herself up as the third purple NPC, aside from Saintess Alice and Spider Queen Rose! When Eve entered Black Rock City in Zero¡¯s disguise, she did not attract the attention of other players or dwarves. She wore black skirt armor, bore a beautifully sharp longsword on her back, and walked boldly through the streets, admiring the customs of Black Rock City. And everyone seemed not to see her, continuing with their own affairs. Even the pedestrians naturally made way for her but didn¡¯t realize why they were making way or for whom... And so, Eve straightforwardly and boldly walked all the way to the Dark Temple at the center of Black Rock City. This Dark Temple was considered the landmark building of all Black Rock City. The architecture of the entire temple was dramatically different from that of the dwarves¡¯ Black Rock City, dignified and grand. The main structure was made of stone bricks, carved with exquisite patterns and reliefs; the primary color was black, tinged with solemnity and grimness... In front of the temple, there was also a small fountain, with a statue of a goddess in a black robe, holding a treasure bead and a scythe in the center. This should be the statue of Hela. Eve mused. She looked at the base of the statue and indeed saw two lines written in both Dwarven and Common: Death is the end, and also the beginning. This was the most famous and widely spread saying of the Death God Church... If placed in Eve¡¯s Nature God Sect, it would be somewhat similar to ¡°May Nature Be With You,¡± or ¡°The Goddess of Life Bless You.¡± Eve glanced at the statue for a while before shifting her gaze, looking up at this temple dedicated to Death God Hela. In her vision, this solemn temple appeared somewhat different. She could ¡°see¡± the temple as a large light source in the darkness, almost as if it radiated an immense network, enveloping all of Black Rock City, and around it, particles of flashing photons converged towards the temple at all times... This was faith energy. As a True God who had already established a Divine Country, Eve could see the faith energy and faith network invisible to others. This temple was the faith hub of Black Rock City. The faith hub wove an extensive faith network, absorbing the faith power of the dark dwarves, storing it in the temple, and also feeding it back through the temple to the distant Hela in the Netherworld, converting it into Her Divine Power. If Eve was correct, inside the temple, there should be a statue dedicated to storing faith energy; that was the core of the central hub. Actually... this was also the way Eve collected faith energy. The statues that Alice built for her served the purpose of collecting faith, acting as the core and nodes of the faith network. Besides collecting faith, these statues, serving as nodes of the faith network, could also create a Divine Protection Area radiating the area, representing the influence of a True God. Within the influence area of a True God, communication between believers and Divines, meditation and prayers by Pastors, Priests, or Priests, would be more efficient. Besides, True Gods could use these statues to directly transform the area into their realm of control through their Divine Power! Though it was not a Divine Domain, it still allowed True Gods comprehensive oversight of the area or to perform Divine Descent Techniques and call down their Favored... Of course... due to the cross-realm needs, such an operation was highly consuming for the True Gods, so generally, no True God would do this. Except for Eve, who shared the same plane with the temple... The totem Guardian Eve had struck down¡ªthe Demigod Walker¡ªwas actually summoned by the Night Wanderer only after vigilantly praying for hundreds of years at the Rock Cave Tribe¡¯s Uller Statue and constructing a True God summoning array with other magic materials. For this, the Night Wanderer directly consumed the long-accumulated faith power within the statue of the Rock Cave Tribe. However, besides these functionalities, believers could also use a similar method to activate the faith power within the statue, granting the temple immense power to construct large-scale defensive Divine Arts or unleash a fatal attack Divine Arts! Because of this, any city with a temple would force enemy forces to first find a way to destroy the statue within the temple before attacking. Otherwise, they must consider how to defend against the temple¡¯s counterattack or break its defenses. If the Half-Beast had activated the defensive Divine Arts through the statue in the last moments, they wouldn¡¯t have been chased so badly by Black Dragon Mairrel but could have evacuated more tribesmen more calmly... But it was all impossible because choosing to summon the Demigod Walker meant the statue¡¯s energy would be completely depleted. When observing the Death God¡¯s temple, Eve felt somewhat surprised. She noticed that the light of the faith core within the Black Rock City¡¯s Death God Temple seemed quite dim, and the faith network was tottering... This situation indicated that the statue storing the faith power within the Death God Temple probably held little accumulated energy or was already exhausted. Could it be that the presence of Shadow Lord believers prevented the Death God Church from fully mastering Black Rock City? Or had the Death God Church once utilized the faith power within the statue? Eve slightly furrowed her brows. Suddenly, she had a hunch and had a bit of a guess. She retracted her gaze, then gently stepped inside the temple... Chapter 193 - 187: Youve Come, Yggdrasil Chapter 193: Chapter 187: You¡¯ve Come, Yggdrasil To Eve¡¯s surprise, the Death God Temple was extraordinarily quiet today. Though the temple was always solemn and austere, it should have been bustling with worshipping believers and busy priests. Yet today, the Death God Temple was almost devoid of people... Even the rows of pews for believers to sit had been removed at some unknown time, making the entire hall look vast and empty. All that met her eyes was a Death God Statue and a small figure standing before it. She was clad in a black Death God High Priest robe, standing with her back to Eve, who had just entered from outside, her gaze fixed on the Treasure Bead in the right hand of the Death God Statue. She was the female Temple Leader of the dark dwarves. Eve¡¯s heart fluttered, and she proactively dispelled the high-level concealment spell on her body. In the hall, only the sound of Eve¡¯s footsteps could be heard as she walked across the black stone slabs... ¡°You¡¯ve come, Yggdrasil.¡± Upon hearing the footsteps, the Death God Temple Leader slowly turned around, looking at Eve. Her voice was calm and gentle, seemingly not the least bit surprised, as if she had already known, and her tone was like that of meeting an old friend after a long time. However, upon hearing that final address, Eve felt as if her avatar was about to bristle with astonishment. The Divine Power within her subtly surged, and she almost couldn¡¯t resist unleashing her power to cast a spell to shred the person who spoke into pieces... But, after realizing where she was, she barely restrained the impulse, looking toward the Death God Temple Leader who had spoken. Just as she clearly saw the Dwarf Temple Leader, she was slightly stunned. The dark dwarves had dark skin, gray-black hair, and eyes, which was how Eve remembered the Dwarf Temple Leader from the players¡¯ perspective... But now, the Temple Leader¡¯s appearance was vastly different from what Eve had previously spied on. Her gray-black hair had completely turned black, and her once-dark skin had become as fair as that of a human. The gray-black eyes had transformed into a pair of scarlet pupils, like an endless deep sea. Her facial features were still those of the Dwarf Temple Leader, but the feeling she gave was as if she were a completely different person. Standing there, she exuded an unspeakable sense of majesty and mystery, inspiring an involuntary emotion of reverence... Divine Possession! Eve¡¯s pupils slightly contracted. However, she quickly gathered herself, instantly having a pretty clear guess about the other person¡¯s identity. She first performed a gentle Elf Clan courtesy, then said, ¡°Seeing the temple¡¯s stored faith power entirely depleted, I originally thought it was a Netherworld Guardian summoned here by the believers. But I hadn¡¯t expected a True God in person...¡± Upon hearing Eve¡¯s words, the ¡°Dwarf Temple Leader¡± seemed unsurprised. She glanced at her own hands, shaking her head and sighing, ¡°I¡¯ve only managed to descend a sliver of thought by borrowing the body and power of a believer, unlike you who sculpted an avatar directly.¡± After speaking, she waved her hand gently, and suddenly a series of bones appeared out of thin air on the temple floor, forming a solemn White Bone Divine Throne, on which she seated herself lightly. But the grand and dignified throne seemed ill-suited to the stature of a dark dwarf. When she sat on it, her legs dangled above the ground, which looked somewhat amusing... Seeing this scene, Eve felt a flicker of emotion. From the ground behind her, several vines broke through the earth, transforming into a vibrant Thriving Vine Throne, upon which she also sat down. Seeing the unabashed Natural Divine Power around Eve, the ¡°Dwarf Temple Leader¡± raised her eyebrows slightly. She looked at Eve, the corners of her lips curling into a faint smile as her cold voice carried a hint of playfulness: ¡°The Natural Divine Power... Should I address you as Yggdrasil, or simply Eve?¡± Even though she had been prepared, Eve¡¯s nerves couldn¡¯t help but twitch slightly. Nevertheless, she quickly returned to her composure and replied with a faint smile, ¡°Eve is fine. My name now is Eve Yggdrasil... Hela Crown.¡± After saying this, the aura around her flickered slightly, and her appearance changed once again. Abandoning her disguise and embracing her true form, she transformed from the Divine Favored Zero to her original avatar form! Seeing Eve¡¯s characteristic silver hair and purple eyes, dressed in a Holy Divine Dress adorned with symbols of nature, life, and elves, and the floral Divine Crown overhead, along with her calm demeanor, the ¡°Dwarf Temple Leader¡± gazed with slightly complex eyes, ¡°Yggdrasil, you¡¯ve ultimately changed... Yes, you are her, yet you aren¡¯t her anymore. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call you the successor of the World Tree...¡± With a sigh, she released a wisp of Divine Power herself, transforming once more... Her stature surged, morphing from the original dark dwarf into a black-haired, red-eyed human girl, now donned in a black Priest Robe adorned with Death God patterns... Her current appearance was identical to the Goddess Statue in the hall! The Death God and Lord of the Underworld¡ªHela! At that moment, all doubts vanished from Eve¡¯s heart. *Even though she appeared calm on the surface, inside, Eve¡¯s heart had already roiled with waves of emotions, riddled with numerous doubts and concerns...* *The ever-reclusive Death God Hela of the Netherworld had actually utilized a believer¡¯s body to perform a Divine Descent!* *It was evident that she was waiting for her and knew she was coming to visit.* *But... how did Hela know?* *When did she learn of her true identity, and how did she know she would come to visit her?* *No... more precisely, Eve originally intended only to utilize the guise of a Divine Favored to get in touch with Hela¡¯s believers and express goodwill in advance, yet instead, she directly ran into Hela!* *Moreover... the other party had clearly been lingering here, aware of her arrival, aiming for her!* *The opening words ¡°You¡¯ve come,¡± had practically spelled everything out...* Nonetheless, fortunately, Hela did not seem hostile. Perhaps seeing Eve suddenly fall silent, Death God Hela sighed softly and said, ¡°No need to worry, Ygdrasil... Eve Crown. I am the only True God aware of your return, and... I have no intention of revealing everything. You know that I, and the deities of the Heavenly Realm, are not allied.¡± Hearing this, Eve¡¯s heart relaxed slightly, yet the doubts still lingered. ¡°Hela Crown, when did you learn of my resurrection?¡± She asked. Hela slightly raised an eyebrow and replied, ¡°Approximately... when the magic power level of the Segis World began to return. At that time, I had only a few suspicions, but with the help of a believer, I saw what seemed to be your elf clansmen, which gave me more certainty.¡± *She had suspected since the magic power began to return?* *Eve¡¯s heart skipped a beat, suddenly connecting more dots...* *If Hela suspected... could the other True Gods suspect as well?* ¡°However, the other True Gods probably don¡¯t know yet. After all... the one who secretly assisted the World Tree before its fall with the curse spell was me. I certainly have a clearer understanding of the changes in the curse spell than the other True Gods! So... after observing a little, I understood your return.¡± Hela continued. *The Divine Arts curse protecting the World Tree¡¯s body was secretly assisted by Hela?* Upon learning this, Eve¡¯s heart surged with emotions. *Wait... doesn¡¯t this mean that Hela was essentially a half-ally of the previous holder?!* Seeing Eve¡¯s somewhat astonished expression, Hela continued, ¡°In reality, even if you hadn¡¯t come looking for me after dealing with Holder¡¯s group of errant followers, I would have gone to the Elf Forest to find you. However... since you¡¯re here, that¡¯s even better.¡± After speaking, she propped her chin, looking at Eve with a teasing expression, ¡°So, how is it? My Soul Storage Orb, is it useful?¡± Eve: ... Chapter 194 - 188 True God Oath Chapter 194: Chapter 188 True God Oath Eve knew that Hela had discerned the true core of her avatar. If it were Hela¡¯s valkyrie guardians, perhaps under Eve¡¯s deliberate concealment, they might not have seen through it. However, as the creator of the Soul Storage Orb, it was only natural for Hela to recognize that Eve¡¯s avatar used the orb as its Divine Soul Core. But, the fact that she mentioned it indicated she didn¡¯t care. After all, in the Segis World, divine artifacts were quite common. A mere artifact worth a few points of Divine Power wasn¡¯t something a True God would consider significant... Thinking of this, Eve forced a laugh and said, ¡°The ability to create divine artifacts capable of housing a True God¡¯s Divine Soul really shows Hela Crown¡¯s deep understanding of soul laws.¡± ¡°Heh, aren¡¯t you the same?¡± Hela chuckled and looked towards the outside of the temple, ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how you managed to summon these elf-like, soulless clansmen. Have you hidden their souls somewhere? I¡¯ve observed that they seem to possess resurrection abilities akin to my valkyrie guardians but without any side effects. Moreover... they seem to have their own inherited knowledge...¡± As Hela spoke, she appeared thoughtful. *Eve¡¯s heart skipped a beat, knowing that Hela had noticed the players.* While the players¡¯ existence might be concealed from others, it could never be hidden from someone who deeply understood souls like Hela. She easily saw through the players¡¯ identities, missing only the knowledge of their true origins. However, because of this point, Hela would likely never guess they were mercenaries summoned from another world¡¯s virtual network by Eve. ¡°Enough about this. You must have a reason for visiting my temple, right?¡± Hela dropped the subject of players and turned back to Eve, her scarlet eyes unfathomably deep. Eve nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right. The God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder, is trying to win over my clansmen and plot to overthrow your faith governance here, so I came to give a little warning...¡± ¡°But since Hela Crown has descended personally, no mere mortal believers could stir up anything significant.¡± Eve said. ¡°Naturally.¡± Hearing Eve¡¯s words, Hela nodded and then asked, ¡°You coming here personally... do you have other plans?¡± ¡°Of course. If possible, I intended to extend goodwill to Hela Crown¡¯s church. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and I have some grudges with the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder, too...¡± Eve replied. Since Hela was already approaching with goodwill, Eve decided to be frank. Moreover, she had also noticed that, although theoretically, Holder, as a deity of the Netherworld, should be subordinate to Hela, it was evident that Hela hadn¡¯t subdued him. It was even highly likely that he coveted Hela¡¯s godhead! Hela didn¡¯t seem surprised by this and sighed, ¡°Holder... yes, she has gotten too close with the gods of the Heavenly Realm. If it weren¡¯t for her, I couldn¡¯t have been trapped in the Netherworld all this time...¡± *So the Death God Hela didn¡¯t truly want to remain in the Netherworld but was confined by some kind of restriction?* Eve mused. Hela didn¡¯t elaborate, instead, she looked at Eve again, sighing, ¡°It seems... her prophecy was indeed accurate...¡± Her? Prophecy? Eve raised an eyebrow. Before Eve could ask further, Hela continued, ¡°In fact, when the magic power began returning to the Segis World, I was waiting here. Now, seeing your arrival, I somewhat understand your intentions¡ªto seek an ally, perhaps?¡± ¡°But... what kind of price can you offer? You must know that I am at the peak of intermediate Divine Power, while you are merely a weak one...¡± ¡°Not to mention, although Holder is an annoyance to me, she is ultimately just a True God with intermediate Divine Power, whereas you¡¯re...¡± Hela¡¯s expression held a trace of amusement, ¡°You¡¯re up against the entire pantheon of the Heavenly Realm!¡± ¡°I know you have great potential, but potential is just that¡ªpotential. If I¡¯m not mistaken, the Plane Channel of the Segis World will reopen at the latest within twenty years. The True Gods will once again walk the earth... If you grow too fast, this timeframe might be accelerated...¡± ¡°A millennium ago, the powerful Yggdrasil couldn¡¯t compete with the Heavenly Realm¡¯s gods, and now, a thousand years have passed... They are far stronger than before!¡± ¡°Given these circumstances, do you really think you can drag me into this?¡± *This was the critical moment!* *Eve felt a shiver run through her.* *Goodwill was goodwill, but without concrete benefits, it was indeed difficult to persuade another True God.* Moreover, from Hela¡¯s conversation, Eve also realized that the other recognized her not as Yggdrasil of old but as her successor! Besides... from any angle, it seemed she had no chance of winning. Taking a deep breath, Eve expressed the reason she had long prepared, ¡°Since Hela Crown knows I¡¯m different from Yggdrasil a thousand years ago, she should also understand that my personality differs from hers... What she couldn¡¯t do doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t. Once I truly awaken...¡± Eve paused, thoughtfully saying, ¡°I¡¯ve already accessed the Plane¡¯s source of the Segis World.¡± Upon hearing this, Hela¡¯s pupils slightly contracted. A flash of realization crossed her expression, and she looked at Eve with a slightly odd expression, ¡°I see. I forgot, you aren¡¯t her. She wouldn¡¯t flip the table, but you might... Although a millennium has passed, the Segis World remains the primary faith source for the True Gods... This truly poses a great threat to those parasites...¡± Para... parasites... *Eve¡¯s lips twitched.* Death God Hela¡¯s disdain for the True God of Faith was truly unabashed... Eve paused and continued, ¡°Furthermore, I know Hela Crown¡¯s godhead isn¡¯t complete, which prevents her from crossing the final step to become a truly powerful Divine Power and from fully controlling the Netherworld. Instead, it has allowed the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder, originally a subordinate of the Primordial Death God, to develop ambitions...¡± Upon hearing these words, Hela fell into silence. The smile on her face gradually faded, and her voice carried a hint of coldness, ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± ¡°I believe... I can help Hela Crown perfect her godhead!¡± ¡°Life and death are opposite but simultaneously interconnected. If Hela Crown were to form an alliance with me, helping me conceal the truth about Yggdrasil¡¯s resurrection and providing certain support in the Segis Plane, I could use the knowledge of the life godhead to assist Hela Crown in perfecting her godhead, becoming a true death god and the Lord of the Netherworld!¡± Eve finally laid out her long-prepared plan! After hearing her words, Hela fell into silence again. After a moment, she sighed, ¡°You¡¯ve thought this through well. But... how can I trust you?¡± ¡°Life is not death. How can you be certain you could really help me complete my godhead? It¡¯s only a possibility. More crucially, even if it is possible... how long would this process take?¡± ¡°If your identity is exposed during this process, wouldn¡¯t I be forced to oppose the pantheon of the Heavenly Realm in order to complete my godhead?¡± ¡°Moreover, why can¡¯t I simply reveal your existence to the Heavenly Realm gods and have them assist me in perfecting my godhead?¡± Upon hearing Hela¡¯s questions, Eve didn¡¯t hesitate but explained, ¡°But at least... this presents a sliver of possibility, doesn¡¯t it? It¡¯s much better than Hela Crown maintaining the current status quo.¡± ¡°Moreover, if Hela Crown were to deal with the God of Darkness and Shadow, I would assist. At least... I could target his power of faith in the Segis World!¡± ¡°As for revealing my existence to the Heavenly Realm... does Hela Crown truly trust the gods of the Heavenly Realm? If I¡¯m not mistaken, they might also be wary of Hela Crown, right? They surely wouldn¡¯t want another uncontrollable powerful Death God to emerge!¡± After speaking, Eve looked at Hela, her gaze sincere. Hela¡¯s expression was somewhat complex. After a moment, she sighed deeply, ¡°I really wonder where Yggdrasil Crown found such a successor. I must admit... you¡¯ve convinced me.¡± *Agreed?* *Eve felt a burst of joy.* ¡°However...¡± Hela¡¯s tone shifted, smiling wryly, ¡°I can help you conceal your identity, but don¡¯t think I¡¯ll assist you in combating enemies, especially the gods of the Heavenly Realm! At least, outwardly, I can¡¯t help you fight them. Even if you engage in a war of faith with other True Gods in Segis, I won¡¯t be involved.¡± ¡°Moreover, if your identity is exposed and you face a counterattack from the gods, don¡¯t blame me for withdrawing...¡± ¡°What I can do is help you disguise your identity to make your status legitimate.¡± Eve: ... ¡°Additionally...¡± Hela shifted her posture, crossing one leg over the other, ¡°Your promises need to be fulfilled. Firstly... assist me in combating the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder¡¯s, influence in the Segis World, and help me perfect my godhead!¡± ¡°I heard... that fellow Uller is still secretly looking for the Divine Blood Crystal of the world tree?¡± ¡°You could start from here, find some for me, parsing a Divine Blood Crystal is useful to me as well! After all, there¡¯s not much Divine Power in it, and I can¡¯t analyze the life godhead, so it poses no threat to you.¡± ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t take your Divine Blood Crystal for free. If you¡¯re short on Divine Power, I can trade with some equivalent Divine Power, even giving you a bit more as compensation.¡± Eve: ... ¡°Furthermore...¡± Hela crossed her arms and continued, ¡°This time, Holder¡¯s counterattack in Black Rock City, you help me suppress it.¡± ¡°Their trump card is the shadow creature army. Dark believers I can deal with, but the shadow army is your problem. I don¡¯t want too many of my hard-won believers to die... After all, your clansmen seem unafraid of death...¡± ¡°How about it?¡± With that, Hela looked at Eve, raising an amused eyebrow. Eve: ... She thought for a moment and couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly, ¡°Hela Crown is indeed meticulous.¡± Eve understood Hela¡¯s prioritization of her believers. After all... using the power of belief to perfect godhead was another path! However, the death godhead was exceedingly powerful, making this path challenging. Even though Hela¡¯s conditions appeared somewhat stringent, Eve was still satisfied. Having Hela¡¯s acquiescence to conceal her identity was enough! The title of Death God was quite useful, sufficient to deter most True Gods and allow Eve to use it to her advantage, while she seized the opportunity to expand and strengthen herself! With this thought, she nodded, ¡°Deal!¡± Hela seemed quite satisfied, smiling, and manifested a golden Divine Power scroll with her hand, ¡°Then... let¡¯s sign the True God Oath!¡± The True God Oath was a contract between True Gods. Bound by laws, it was the most severe contract in existence, and violating it would result in severe backlash on one¡¯s Divine Soul, even a True God would suffer... Eve nodded solemnly... Soon, the two True Gods, each harboring their thoughts, signed the contract, which included three key points: 1. Both parties entered an alliance. From the day of the alliance, Hela must assist Eve in concealing her identity, and Eve would disguise as a subordinate god of Death God. Their believers would sign a friendly pact, not infringing upon each other¡¯s forces of faith. 2. Eve must assist Hela in perfecting the Death God¡¯s godhead, periodically providing Hela with the world tree¡¯s Divine Blood Crystals, while Hela would compensate with 1.5 times the Death God¡¯s Power. 3. Eve must assist Hela¡¯s believers in combating Holder¡¯s power in the Segis World. In return, Hela¡¯s believers would share intelligence about the Segis World with Eve. ... Chapter 195 - 189: Mission: Resisting the Shadow Army Chapter 195: Chapter 189: Mission: Resisting the Shadow Army After making the True God Oath with Death God Hela, Eve once again transformed into the appearance of Divine Favored Zero and left the temple. Of course, she didn¡¯t forget to cast an advanced concealment spell on herself. Only when she could no longer sense Hela¡¯s presence did Eve finally breathe a sigh of relief. *Since her rebirth as the World Tree, this was the first time she truly dealt face to face with another True God.* *Even though... Hela merely temporarily manifested through a fanatic¡¯s body with divine possession.* Hela seemed to have already known of Eve¡¯s arrival. Regardless of what this Netherworld True God was contemplating, at least Eve could feel that she harbored a certain degree of goodwill. The oath they made could be considered mutually satisfying for both parties... After this, Eve could justifiably flaunt Death God Hela¡¯s subordinate deity title without any concerns. Though just showing off the stripes of a tiger, it actually provided her enormous assistance. The Underworld¡¯s dark dwarves could also be considered allies. Although Eve definitely couldn¡¯t rely on them to participate in her future faith wars against Uller, she could trade with them in the Underworld or jointly resist the forces of the God of Darkness and Shadow. According to Hela, the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder, was an even older existence. She had plotted in the Underworld for a longer time, making her forces there stronger. Not to mention, Holder was also involved with several evil god forces hidden in the Underworld. Holder was also Eve¡¯s potential enemy. *For Eve, this was likewise an opportunity to stir up trouble in the Underworld using Death God Hela¡¯s power.* Killing evil gods, devouring their divine power, or absorbing the enemy¡¯s vitality in war was indeed part of Eve¡¯s plan. *Even the upcoming faith war with Uller was essentially for this purpose.* Expanding influence was superficial; fundamentally, she still needed to enhance her own power, and absorbing vitality and divine power was the fastest way. From this perspective, both Eve and Hela would benefit; the former by absorbing life, the latter by expanding faith. As for assisting Hela in perfecting her divine duties, for now, it meant focusing on Divine Blood Crystals. After destroying the Rock Cave Tribe, the southern Elf Forest had practically become Eve¡¯s backyard. With the players¡¯ exploration, occasionally, lucky ones found Divine Blood Crystals in the forest. Besides those that Eve absorbed, quite a few remained... Eve planned to selectively strip the Power of Laws related to nature and elves from the Divine Blood Crystals, then hand them over to the Death God Temple after quelling the dark dwarves¡¯ rebellion. Hela¡¯s descent was merely a consciousness; to truly fight an enemy, another force was required. And if she wanted to avoid heavy losses among the believers, Hela would have to let Eve step in. The reason why Hela did not send down a Demigod Level heroic guardian was actually a matter of cost-benefit. After all... it was merely a city¡¯s rebellion, not yet reaching the level that required Demigod might. Transmitting a demigod across realms might cost far more divine power compared to the gains. Uller had initially aimed to seize the Life and Nature Divine Position, which was why he spent the resources to send Demigod Walker, but Hela had no such necessity. Hence... the eventual outcome was that the players would need to act again. ¡°An army of shadow creatures... It is said they are monsters born from the dark land between the Abyss and the Netherworld. Unexpectedly, they were gathered by the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder.¡± Eve thought as she walked. ¡°However, the overall strength of the dark dwarves is weak, mostly at the Black Iron Rank. The shadow creatures they can summon should also largely be at this rank! This level is within the players¡¯ capability to confront!¡± The Abyss was a collective term for the lowest chaotic planes in the Segis Universe, where the laws were in disarray, and demons and evil gods made their home. It was said that the Netherworld had originally been an Abyssal Plane, but was purified by the Primordial Death God, turning it into a normal plane. Yet, even so, the Netherworld remained connected to the Abyss, and the junction was the Land of Darkness, giving birth to creatures hovering between chaos and order, known as shadow monsters. However, to summon such creatures across realms, one must conduct meticulous preliminary work and create a complete summoning array. The Death God Temple maintained a strong hold over Black Rock City, and while Hela¡¯s descending consciousness lacked combat strength, it was more than adequate for identifying traitors, making it easy for Death God believers to cleanse the city of Dark Believers. *The problem lay outside the city.* The faith power accumulated at the Death God Temple had been consumed entirely with Hela¡¯s descent, so theoretically, Black Rock City¡¯s ability to resist external attacks had significantly diminished. Dark Believers surely wouldn¡¯t put all their eggs in one basket, and they would undoubtedly summon shadow creatures outside the city to launch siege attacks. The shadow creature army surrounding the city would be the opponents the players needed to fight. The divine power fluctuation from when the two met just now couldn¡¯t be hidden, and Hela would undoubtedly take action soon, likely throwing Black Rock City into chaos, so she needed to expedite her actions. Thinking of this, Eve dispelled her advanced concealment spell and quickened her pace toward the place she had previously agreed to meet Little Xian Miao and the others. ... Deep Rift Cave, Black Rock City, Dwarf Bar. Little Xian Miao and others sat idly at the bar, sipping beer as watery as water while chatting and waiting. This was the place where Divine Favored Zero had agreed to meet them before leaving... While a few people chatted about various gossip from Blue Planet, which left the Dark Believers secretly monitoring them utterly baffled, the bar¡¯s door was pushed open. Divine Favored Zero walked in. Seeing the elf girl in a black skirt armor, the players¡¯ eyes lit up, and they hurried over: ¡°Lord Zero, how did the negotiations go?¡± ¡°Miss Zero, how did it go?¡± Their gazes carried a hint of anticipation. *After all, this was an ongoing storyline!* Zero first glanced around the bar, then walked over to a table and sat down. The players quickly followed, sitting beside her... Divine Favored Zero pondered for a moment, then snapped her fingers. In the surprised eyes of Little Xian Miao and the others, a soundproofing buff appeared in their personal status bars. They knew it was the NPC casting a soundproofing magic. ¡°The negotiations are complete. The Death God Temple accepted our friendship, and they will soon commence a search for the Dark Believers hidden in the city.¡± Zero stated flatly. ¡°So... do we need to do anything?¡± Tomato Fried asked expectantly. Zero glanced at him, nodded, and said: ¡°Of course, the Death God Church has also requested our assistance. Inform the other Chosen Ones to prepare for battle; a war is about to break out.¡± A... a war! The players¡¯ eyes lit up. *No wonder it was a hidden main quest, starting right off with a big battle!* *They still remembered the previous war with the half-beastmen, a major battle that made all the first testers level up quickly!* ¡°Miss Zero, what exactly is the battle about?¡± Demacia eagerly asked. ¡°The Death God Temple has received intelligence that the Dark Believers will summon an army of shadow creatures outside the city to lay siege. Your mission is to resist and defeat them!¡± Divine Favored Zero stated solemnly. As soon as she spoke, a new system message appeared in the players¡¯ view¡ª [Ding¡ª] [Hidden Main Quest: The Belief of Dark Dwarves Completed] [You have gained 3000 experience points, 300 contribution points] Before they could rejoice, suddenly, the tavern door was slammed open, and a team of fully armed dwarf guards charged in. This sudden change startled the players. They instinctively reached for their weapons, only to realize their gear was still at the Black Rock City gate... However, the dwarf guards paid them no mind and instead sternly announced under the surprised, fearful, or confused gazes around: ¡°By order of the Temple Leader, we are capturing Dark Believers!¡± After speaking, Eve clearly saw a subtle change in the expressions of a few dark dwarves. Almost as if it had been confirmed beforehand, the dwarf guards, without hesitation, charged directly at those dwarves who were preparing to flee and swiftly bound them... The tavern plunged into chaos. Watching these scenes, the players¡¯ eyes were filled with surprise and curiosity. Similar incidents were beginning to occur throughout Black Rock City. After all, a True God was a True God, and while Hela¡¯s divine possession might not be strong in combat, she certainly had the ability to discern from foes. There was no need for players to act, as one by one, the Dark Believers hidden within Black Rock City were captured by the dark dwarf guards... At that point, the entire land quivered slightly, and a discreet spatial fluctuation was transmitted over from afar. ¡°It has begun...¡± Divine Favored Zero said faintly, raising a glass of beer and downing it in one go. After speaking, another new system message surfaced in the players¡¯ view... This time, it was a server-wide notification¡ª [Ding¡ª] [Players ¡°Little Xian Miao¡±, ¡°Demacia¡±, ¡°Tomato Fried¡± have triggered the hidden main quest: Shadow Army] [Plot description: The brave and clever Chosen Ones ¡°Little Xian Miao¡±, ¡°Demacia¡±, ¡°Tomato Fried¡± have unmasked the God of Darkness and Shadow¡¯s conspiracy to bring chaos to Black Rock City...] [With the permission of the Goddess, they informed the Death God Temple in Black Rock City under the guidance of Divine Favored ¡°Zero¡±, securing the friendship of the Death God Church for the Elf Clan...] [The Death God Church has begun to hunt the Dark Believers, Black Rock City is about to descend into chaos, and the Dark Believers are about to summon the shadow army to attack Black Rock City...] [Now... it is time to demonstrate the Elf Clan¡¯s friendship.] [Ding¡ª] [Hidden main quest ¡°Shadow Army¡± is now open¡ª] [Quest Objective: Assist the Death God Church, resist and defeat the Dark Believers¡¯ shadow army] [Quest Time Limit: None] [Quest Participants: Unlimited] [Quest Level: 15+] [Quest Reward: Experience points, Perfect Resurrection, Contribution Points] [Quest Tip 1: Shadow creatures are afraid of light and fire but have high resistance to darkness] [Quest Tip 2: Strength in numbers. The shadow creatures are numerous, please team up with other players] [Quest Tip 3: High risk of death during this quest, please ensure you have acquired Perfect Resurrection before combat] Chapter 196 - 190: The Defense of Black Rock City Chapter 196: Chapter 190: The Defense of Black Rock City Black Rock City¡¯s City Hall. The old dwarf Balin sat at his desk, busily handling the daily affairs of Black Rock City. Suddenly, a commotion came from outside, causing him to look up and frown. Amidst the faint sounds of chaos and screams, the Dwarf Iron Hammer stumbled in, ¡°Lord Balin, Lord Balin, a squad of dwarf guards suddenly came to City Hall. They took Elder Xilin and Elder Luo Tu away, saying they¡¯re dark believers, you must go see this!¡± Dwarf guards? Balin¡¯s pupils slightly contracted, and the feather pen in his hand was instinctively snapped in half. ¡°How many people came? Where are they now?¡± He barely contained the fear in his heart and asked. ¡°They should be on their way here soon, you must try to reason with them! City Hall is loyal to the Death God Church, how could there be dark believers? You...¡± Iron Hammer paused halfway through his sentence. He saw Elder Balin, usually steady, hurriedly turn and open the window, planning to escape... ¡°Elder?¡± Iron Hammer was still a bit confused. At this moment, several fully armed dark dwarf guards rushed in, ¡°By order of the Temple Leader, arrest the dark believers! Balin, you have nowhere to run, surrender quickly!¡± *What¡¯s going on? How could we have been exposed?* Upon hearing the guard¡¯s voice behind him, Balin was terrified. *Elder is actually a dark believer?* Iron Hammer was astonished. Balin panicked in his heart and quickly accelerated his movements. But just as he climbed out of the building, he was surrounded by another group of guards and was quickly tied up... Similar events began unfolding in various parts of Black Rock City. The dark dwarf guards seemed to have ¡°eyes,¡± catching dark believers with pinpoint accuracy... ... Inside the mines on the rear mountain of Black Rock City. Several believers pushed the Divine Favored, Stone of Fire, who was in a wheelchair, frantically escaping. Stone of Fire wore an expression of disbelief, ¡°How did we get exposed? What¡¯s going on?¡± He had planned well. If the elves could create chaos, he would instruct the dark believers to sneak into the Death God Church and destroy the idol. Then, by launching a pincer attack from within and outside, he could summon the shadow army to completely resolve the Death God believers in Black Rock City. And if the elves didn¡¯t act as planned, he would quietly stay hidden for a while longer, waiting for the Death God Church and elf mercenaries to become complacent before finding a way to escalate the conflict between both sides... *But why did it all fall apart so quickly?* Stone of Fire appeared flustered, being escorted by his loyal followers through the mines¡¯ secret passage, wanting to escape the city... ¡°It¡¯s over. If we lose our foothold in Black Rock City this time, there¡¯s no way to destroy the idol...¡± Stone of Fire¡¯s face turned ashen. As long as the idol in the Death God Temple remained powerful, Black Rock City was nearly impregnable, making it impossible for the dark believers to completely overthrow the Death God¡¯s dominion here! Even if he had a shadow creature army as a trump card, it would probably be difficult to succeed. For the shadow creatures, the power of True God¡¯s faith itself posed a great threat with significant lethality! He could already imagine the wrath that the True God would unleash upon his failure. *Death wasn¡¯t frightening because the True God has ways to make you suffer even after death!* Although Black Rock City wasn¡¯t large, it was once a source of faith for the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder. The complete expulsion of Her faith by the Death God believers only angered and humiliated the ancient True God... The oracle to reclaim Black Rock City was personally given by this True God! Failure would mean a miserable end for Stone of Fire, the leader. *But what on earth happened?* Stone of Fire could not comprehend it and could only flee in panic under the escort of his loyal followers... And when he finally emerged from the secret passageway outside Black Rock City, he was stunned. Someone was already waiting for him there. ¡°Stone of Fire, you have nowhere to go.¡± A crisp voice rang out. It was the female Temple Leader of the Death God Temple! She blocked the exit of the secret passageway with a team of dark dwarf guards. At this time, the Dwarf Temple Master had already returned to her original form, freed from the Divine Possession of Death God Hela. Hela¡¯s consciousness had already returned to the Netherworld. ¡°How did you... discover us?¡± Stone of Fire gritted his teeth. The Death God Temple Leader looked at the red-eyed Stone of Fire and gently sighed, a hint of fanaticism appearing in her expression, ¡°Under the gaze of the True God, nothing of yours can escape!¡± *True... True God?* Stone of Fire was dazed for a moment, and only then did he notice the faint aura of Death Divine Power lingering around the Death God Temple Leader... In an instant, he realized, ¡°So that¡¯s it! You really used the idol to call upon the True God¡¯s power!¡± The Death God Temple Leader neither confirmed nor denied this but instead said, ¡°Surrender, Stone of Fire. All the dark believers within the city have already been captured by us.¡± ¡°Surrender?¡± Upon hearing the Death God Temple Leader¡¯s words, Stone of Fire let out a sneer. After confirming that the Death God Temple indeed used the power of the idol, he instead calmed down. Stone of Fire squinted his eyes and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re clever or foolish for using the Temple¡¯s power just to capture us. However, how much energy does the Temple have left after such a large-scale purge of other beliefs?¡± ¡°No matter how much is left, you have already failed.¡± The Dwarf Temple Master retorted. ¡°Heh...¡± Stone of Fire chuckled, a hint of madness appearing on his face, ¡°Whether we have indeed lost remains to be seen!¡± After speaking, a deep energy began to converge on his body! ¡°This isn¡¯t good, take cover!¡± The Dwarf Temple Leader¡¯s expression changed. Upon hearing her command, all the dwarf guards retreated. In the solemn gaze of all the dark dwarves, this dark Divine Favored began to ignite his own faith power, turning himself into a mass of black flame, with deep rays shooting into the sky! ¡°It¡¯s... a signal!¡± The Dwarf Temple Master¡¯s expression was heavy, but she showed no sign of panic, seeming to have anticipated this. ¡°It¡¯s an emergency signal!¡± In an underground forest outside Black Rock City, a dozen dark dwarves wearing gray-black robes looked gravely towards the city. ¡°It¡¯s Lord Stone of Fire. Something must have happened inside the city. He¡¯s ordering us to summon the Shadow Legion immediately.¡± A low, hoarse voice said. After those words, the dark dwarves looked at each other, nodded, and stepped forward to sweep away the fallen leaves on the ground... As the leaves were cleared, a massive pre-etched magic array gradually emerged on the ground! They approached the array, knelt around it, and began to pray softly, chanting an undulating incantation. As they chanted, the array gradually emitted a deep glow, and a chaotic, chilling aura began to gather. Simultaneously, the center of the array suddenly brightened, and the earth began to shake, and a dark gray energy beam shot into the sky! ... In Black Rock City, players who were curiously watching the internal conflict of the dark dwarves suddenly felt the ground tremble. ¡°Look, what¡¯s that?¡± Someone pointed to the sky. The players looked up, noticing dark gray energy pillars rising in all directions, sending an icy, chaotic aura thundering down... Soon, the tops of the four energy pillars exploded, resembling erupting volcanoes, as finer dark gray arcs fell like raindrops to the ground, with some even landing inside Black Rock City! As soon as they landed, these dark gray energies morphed like writhing jelly, transforming into black-gray translucent humanoid monsters shrouded in thick black smoke! On Black Rock City¡¯s wall, the dwarf guards turned pale as densely packed eerie monsters suddenly appeared below. ¡°Shadow creatures! It¡¯s the Shadow Creature Legion!¡± ¡°This is bad! Sound the alarm, close the gates, and notify the temple to activate defensive Divine Arts!¡± With the blare of a horn, the guards on the wall instantly sprang into action... ¡°Captain, this is bad! The temple¡¯s stored energy is depleted already!¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°But the Temple Leader said the elves would help us defend the city!¡± ¡°Elves? Them? What can they do?¡± The dark dwarf Defense Captain was suddenly speechless, seething with anger. ... Inside Black Rock City. The descent of a few shadow monsters threw the city into utter chaos... These sudden shadow monsters were extremely formidable, and normal attacks barely harmed them. However, they began a frenzy of slaughter, devouring everything in sight. They roared ferociously, clawing madly, climbing over buildings, dashing across the ground, and shredding everything in sight with their black fog-wreathed claws! The dwarf guards, in turn, gathered in small groups to fight the shadow monsters. Cries, screams, roars, the clash of weapons, and incantations rang out everywhere... Players were stunned by this chaotic scene. ¡°Holy crap! Are the special effects meant to be this terrifying?¡± Though they¡¯d experienced warfare with Half-Beasts before, these intimidating monsters still gave them a shock. ¡°Stop gawking! Get your gear! It¡¯s fight time! It¡¯s fight time!¡± Dema cursed and sprinted towards the city gate. Other players snapped back to reality, suppressing their fear of these seemingly ghostly shadow creatures, and followed suit... On the city wall, the dark dwarf Defense Captain hacked off a shadow creature trying to climb up, but upon seeing the numerous shadow army in the distance, his expression darkened. ¡°There are probably several thousand, maybe even over ten thousand!¡± His voice quivered slightly. Without the temple¡¯s defensive Divine Arts, how could Black Rock City withstand this?! At that moment, a guard¡¯s startling cry rang out, ¡°Captain, watch out!¡± The dwarf Defense Captain felt a surge of danger. He spun around with his sword, seeing a shadow creature that had infiltrated the city lunging at him... Unprepared, he was knocked down, his weapon sent flying, and the shadow creature¡¯s black fog-shrouded claws aimed for his body... Just as the dwarf Defense Captain thought he was doomed, a massive fireball suddenly came flying over, striking the shadow creature. The fireball exploded, and the shadow creature let out a painful shriek. Half of the black smoke around its body dissipated, revealing its dark gray translucent form. The dwarf Defense Captain took the opportunity to break free from the creature¡¯s claws, retrieved his weapon, and escaped. Breathing heavily, he turned towards where the fireball had come from, seeing three or four meters away a pink-haired Elf girl dressed in a robe, holding a magic wand. The Elf girl looked excited, glancing at her magic wand and murmuring joyfully, ¡°I hit it! I hit it!¡± Captain: ... Behind her, more fully armed elves climbed onto the city walls... Their expressions were odd, a mix of nervousness and excitement. Warriors, mages, hunters, all sorts of professions... but all emanated high morale. They swung their weapons, shouting as they ascended the walls to assist the dark dwarves in defense! Simultaneously, the dwarf Defense Captain heard bursts of Common language, ¡°Support the dwarves!¡± ¡°Quick, quick! Spread out and defend! Not a single monster gets in!¡± ¡°Smash them!¡± ¡°Hoorah¡ª!¡± Seeing the elves even more spirited than the dwarf soldiers, the Defense Captain was dumbfounded. Chapter 197 - 191 Helas Plan Chapter 197: Chapter 191 Hela¡¯s Plan The shadow army arrived quickly; the players had just received the mission when the shadow creatures were summoned. Many hadn¡¯t even had the chance to retrieve their equipment... ¡°How could it be so fast?¡± Eve, who had transformed into the Divine Favored Zero, was somewhat surprised. She casually crushed a shadow creature that had bumped into her and glanced at the four gray pillars of energy in the distance, frowning slightly. After pondering for a moment, she avoided the crowd and headed to the Death God Temple in Black Rock City. Black Rock City was already mobilizing, and the priests in the Death God Temple were bustling about, some treating the wounded, others relaying messages, and some trying to activate defensive divine arts... Upon arriving, Eve also saw the Dwarf Temple Master who had captured the leader of the Dark Believers and returned. The fervent believer who had once been possessed by Death God Hela now looked troubled: ¡°It¡¯s my fault, I was careless. I didn¡¯t expect the Divine Favored of the God of Darkness and Shadow would use the burning of their faith as a signal to order the believers outside the city, inadvertently exposing the reality of the temple in advance...¡± Eve: ... She glanced at him, noting the lingering aura of Death God¡¯s Power on him, and hesitated to speak. *It¡¯s likely not the Dwarf Temple Master who inadvertently exposed it, but rather a deliberate hint by Death God Hela before her return...* Of course, this poor temple master probably hadn¡¯t noticed that he had been manipulated by the suggestion of a True God. *He didn¡¯t even know that the mysterious Divine Favored of the True God he was facing was actually the True God herself!* As for why Hela would cast such a suggestion, Eve could somewhat understand. Now that Eve had a True God Avatar here, no matter how the Dark Believers acted, Eve couldn¡¯t stand idly by while the summoned shadow army ran rampant. This was due to the promises made by the two True Gods. And could an avatar of a True God not handle a group of mere shadow creatures of Black Iron Level summoned by believers? ¡°What do you mean your followers aren¡¯t afraid of death, let your followers handle it,¡± were all just excuses. Hela must have sensed Eve¡¯s avatar and realized it truly possessed Demigod Level power, which is why she made such a decisive move. That is to say, for Hela, with Eve¡¯s avatar present, there was no need to consider anything else. Simply hinting at her believers to lure out the opponent¡¯s trump card and forcing Eve to act before anything else developed further was enough... Of course, it could also be that Hela was aware of Eve¡¯s recent activities under the guise of her name and was subtly expressing some dissatisfaction... ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to sign a True God Oath and still get caught up in trouble before leaving,¡± Eve sighed, sensing the dense shadow creatures outside Black Rock City. The number of shadow creatures had already reached thousands, and even if all the players were present, it would be difficult to deal with them, not to mention that more creatures continued to be transported over. Therefore... it was necessary for a stronger entity to intervene! Eve understood. Hela wanted her to personally deal with the shadow army... And if she truly did intervene, it would mean a complete break with the God of Darkness and Shadow, but on the other hand, it would also mean truly being allied with Death God Hela in the same battle... There were both pros and cons. Overall, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks, at least with Hela¡¯s forces blocking the door in the Underworld, the dark believers couldn¡¯t trouble the ground elves. However, after killing another shadow creature, Eve gave up the idea of stepping in directly. More precisely... she gave up the thought of using Demigod Level powers for a quick battle. After slaying the shadow creature, she held a gray, semi-transparent shard left behind by the creature¡¯s death. This type of shard was called a Shadow Gem Fragment, which contained chaotic and cold energy, acting as the shadow creature¡¯s source of power, somewhat similar to a demon beast¡¯s demon core. With a thought, Eve absorbed the shard. After being filtered through the power of faith, it turned into pure energy and surged into her body. Feeling the energy entering her body, Eve¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°I can use my [Drain] ability to absorb the energy within these shadow fragments, and I can also consume the life force of the shadow creatures!¡± ¡°If I can devour this entire shadow army, maybe my Divine Power will increase significantly!¡± ¡°But... using Demigod Level powers directly would consume too much Divine Power, not worth the cost.¡± ¡°To maximize the results, it¡¯s better not to wipe out the shadow army in one go, but to engage in a war of attrition. It¡¯s best to let the players take charge; I can empower them...¡± ¡°Let the empowered players sustain the fight, continuously summoning shadow creatures to exhaust themselves, providing me with power!¡± With this thought, Eve made her decision. She turned to the Death God¡¯s Temple Master with a smile and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, leave everything to us! However, I need to set up a teleportation array here.¡± ¡°A teleportation array?¡± The Dwarf Temple Master was taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s right, to teleport our warriors.¡± Eve smiled. The temple master hesitated but then nodded. Though she didn¡¯t know what had happened when she was possessed by the True God, she knew that Hela Crown had signed an oath with the mysterious entity behind the elves and had become allies against the God of Darkness and Shadow. Moreover, before returning, the True God had instructed her to follow all arrangements made by a Divine Favored named Zero for this Black Rock City defense battle. Until the enemy was completely defeated! The temple master was initially hesitant, but after discovering that the Divine Favored named Zero was a High-Level Professional, she became respectful. In the entire Deep Rift Cave Dwarf Tribe, the strongest was no more than a Silver Upper rank. With the permission of the shadow dwarves, Eve then set up a teleportation array connecting Rivendell and Black Rock City in front of the Death God Temple! After setting up the array, Eve immediately sent a new system message to the players¡ª [Ding¡ª¡ª] [The teleportation array connecting Black Rock City and Rivendell is established; players can teleport to Black Rock City via the teleportation array] [The Black Rock City battlefield is officially open!] Then, Eve once again used her Divine Power. In an instant, all players on the city walls suddenly felt overwhelmingly powerful, their personal stats significantly increased. Especially in terms of defense, each person had a faintly visible spell shield appear on them! Simultaneously, another message appeared in the view of all players gathered at Black Rock City... [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Stand unyielding and fearless! The Goddess has decided to bestow a battle blessing upon all players participating in the Black Rock City defense!] [You receive a buff: Goddess¡¯s Blessing] [Your weapon receives a buff: Goddess¡¯s Blessing] [Effect: All players in Black Rock City gain a spell shield, double all body stats, and all skill damage will have a ¡°purification¡± effect] [Brave Chosen Ones, charge for the glory of the Goddess and the elves!] Under the astonished gaze of the Dwarf Temple Master, the elves on the city walls suddenly burst into cheers, shouting ¡°Hooray¡± as they fought the shadow creatures scaling the walls. At the same time, the teleportation array began to flicker with light. Soon, fully armed elves started emerging from it one after another... They ignored everything and brandished their weapons, bouncing excitedly towards the direction of the city walls. Dark Dwarves: ... Watching the excited elves haphazardly rushing towards the city walls, they were left dumbfounded. These were the players who happened to be in Rivendell and received the system message. Some players who had been lurking in the Dark Forest intending to attack the shadow army from the outside, upon seeing the sea of shadow monsters, abandoned their suicidal plans and turned back to Rivendell, planning to teleport directly to Black Rock City for the defense battle. After completing the teleportation array setup, Eve, accompanied by the Death God¡¯s Temple Master, entered the temple again. ¡°Where is the temple¡¯s defense hub?¡± She asked. The Dwarf Temple Master hesitated and replied, ¡°In the back hall, but the power stored in the statue is exhausted, so it might not be activated...¡± She didn¡¯t finish her sentence because she saw Eve heading straight to the back hall of the temple. The Dwarf Temple Master quickly followed her. Eve arrived at the defense hub connected to all of Black Rock City in the temple¡¯s back hall. It was a cube-shaped core adorned with intricate designs. In the Underworld, similar defense core hubs were common, and nearly every underground city had one. These cores also had another name¡ªthe Dungeon Core. Under the astonished gaze of the Dwarf Temple Master, Eve suddenly reached out and inserted her hand into the core of the defense hub... Chapter 198 - 192: Players are Not What They Used to Be Chapter 198: Chapter 192: Players are Not What They Used to Be As Eve intervened, a surge of overwhelming power burst from her, pouring straight into the defense core. Under the disbelieving gaze of the Dwarf Temple Master, the defense core blossomed into dazzling light, and a golden beam shot skyward... Then, the golden beam transformed into a hemispherical lid, covering the top of Black Rock City. Simultaneously, another beam shot underground, connecting with the ground and swiftly spreading out until it extended to the walls of Black Rock City, tinting the entire wall with a faint gold... Just like that, the entire Black Rock City was enveloped in a layer of golden Magic Shield! The number of the shadow army was just too great, while the number of players and Dwarves was limited. Without the shield from spells, they couldn¡¯t effectively resist the enemy¡¯s attack and would likely soon be breached... Therefore, Eve chose to channel her Divine Power into the defense core, activating the power of the shield! However, upon closer inspection, it was apparent that this ¡°lid,¡± like an overturned bowl, wasn¡¯t entirely sealed. Several gaps remained on the city walls, indicating that the shield¡¯s effect had reached its limit and couldn¡¯t fully close the entire defense system... And these few gaps on the city walls were enough for the shadow creatures to slip through! Even so, the Dwarf soldiers guarding the city walls couldn¡¯t help but feel a surge of morale: ¡°A spell defense shield! It¡¯s a spell defense shield!¡± The shadow army¡¯s offensive clearly felt the impact. Those gray-black figures descending from the sky could no longer enter Black Rock City. They could only crash into the spell shield, creating gentle ripples before slowly sliding off to the sides... The shadow creatures charging on the ground could no longer damage the city walls, let alone climb the walls enhanced with the spell shield¡¯s effect. Afterward, they could only stack up like ¡°Arhats¡± below the walls, attempting to climb through the few gaps and enter Black Rock City! Of course, such gaps were intentionally created by Eve. She deliberately didn¡¯t seal the entire Magic Shield but left areas for players and shadow creatures to engage... This way, it was convenient for players to harvest shadow creatures, continuously providing her with life energy. It also prevented the shadow army from abandoning assault due to the presence of the Magic Shield. Indeed, as Eve had anticipated, upon seeing the activated Magic Shield, the Dark Believers controlling the shadow army from the rear felt a pang of terror: ¡°A spell shield! Black Rock City has raised a spell shield!¡± However, they quickly noticed the imperfections in the Magic Shield: ¡°Don¡¯t panic, look closely, the Magic Shield isn¡¯t completely sealed!¡± ¡°It must be a trick of Master Hearthstone! Quickly, order the shadow army to target those unsealed areas!¡± In an instant, countless shadow creatures surged toward the sections of the city wall where the shield wasn¡¯t closed... Yet, the well-prepared Dwarves and players had already concentrated in these zones, engaging in battle with the shadow creatures climbing up the makeshift ¡°Arhat stack¡±... Meanwhile, the shadow creatures wreaking havoc within Black Rock City were completely trapped once the spell shield formed. Cut off from reinforcements, they were besieged by Dwarves and players and ultimately slain in the encirclement... The situation, on the brink of collapse, gradually stabilized. The Dwarf Temple Master came outside the temple. She observed the increasingly stable situation within the city, then glanced at the Magic Shield in the sky and the few gaps on the distant city walls where players were fighting shadow creatures, then instinctively turned her gaze back toward the direction of the temple... In that moment, this Death God High Priest of Silver Upper strength showed signs of astonishment and curiosity... Who exactly was this Divine Favored named Ling? She had managed to activate the defensive core of the Underground City single-handedly? *How powerful must her strength be... was she really just a High-level Professional?* *Or did she borrow the power of the True God?* Eve didn¡¯t care about the Death God Temple Master¡¯s thoughts. After activating the spell shield, she didn¡¯t choose to leave but stayed under the pretense of maintaining the shield¡¯s operation. As for the reason... on one hand, controlling the core personally allowed her to minimize the Divine Power consumed to maintain the shield. On the other hand, she developed an interest in the core of the Underground City. ¡°*What a wonderfully intricate design. Just a certain amount of energy is needed to activate and form a spell shield, and it even seems capable of counterattacks... Who designed this Underground City core?* Looking at the hexagonal prism, glowing like a delicate piece of art, Eve¡¯s heart was filled with curiosity. ¡°This central core could be studied, reverse-engineered to understand its structure and material composition. Once clear, we could list the design in the exchange mall, allowing players to gather materials and create one in the Chosen City, Feilengcui, and Rivendell! This would greatly enhance city defenses!¡± ¡°Moreover... the principles behind this shield are enlightening for me too. If clearly reverse-engineered, my avatar¡¯s application of power could become even more refined! I might even gain insights into my use of Divine Power!¡± Thinking this through, Eve promptly allocated half her attention to researching the core of the Underground City. Unlike other magical instruments, the Underground City core could be driven by Divine Power, which made its principle worth Eve¡¯s pondering. Although she was a True God who inherited the legacy of the World Tree, mastering rules, she was still young, leading to somewhat rough use of Divine Power. Maybe her natural instinct use was fine, but her avatar was lacking, falling short of such precise magical instruments, so studying it was beneficial. Of course, Eve kept the other half of her focus on the defense battle of Black Rock City, remaining vigilant for any sudden incidents. On the city walls of Black Rock City, the shadow Dwarf Guards had been utterly impressed by the supporting Elf Mercenaries... The City Guard Captain had been completely won over. When the Elves first entered Black Rock City, seeming compliant while disarming, he instinctively underestimated them. Later, as the Elves amicably engaged in trade, the captain began seeing them more as merchants than warriors, deeply skeptical of their strength... Yet the Elves¡¯ current performance completely overturned his perception. For he noticed that the coordination and combat strength of the Elves far surpassed that of his own guards! In reality, the disparity in strength wasn¡¯t substantial, with the shadow Dwarves even possessing a slight edge, many being of the Black Iron Middle Rank... ¡°With the Death God above... how many battles have these Elves experienced? Why are they so passionate about combat?¡± He widened his eyes, observing the players around him. Players were surrounded by a faint glow, excitedly clustering around the gaps in the city wall¡¯s shield, fiercely battling the invading shadow creatures. Most players formed small teams of five for cooperation. Whenever a shadow creature intruded, it would be lured by an Elf Warrior, then slowed down by a Druid¡¯s control, followed by a collective assault by the other Elves, each showcasing their prowess against the shadow creature. But with keen observation, it became apparent that they were quite orderly and highly skilled. Beyond the initial chaos of engagement, they slowly mastered the rhythm... The players were no longer the novices of the past. Through several months of game time, they had accumulated quite an extensive repertoire of combat and team collaboration experience. Moreover, many players formed their own fixed five-person combat teams. This was something players undertook independently, as they realized the rewards of such fixed team battles outweighed the sum of individual efforts as the game progressed. ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± emphasized cooperation heavily. If individuals could consistently work together, refining their collaboration, the resulting combat power exceeded the effect of one plus one being more than two. Many Black Iron Middle Rank Demon Beasts in the Elf Forest were slowly worn down by such team strategies. Unlike other races, players weren¡¯t afraid of death and therefore fought more openly, resulting in their startling growth rate... Additionally, the reduced pain sensation and steady mindset during gameplay rendered the players¡¯ combat effectiveness and teamwork surprisingly effective! Compared to their state during earlier battles with Goblins, players had undergone a complete metamorphosis. Eve believed that revisiting Goblins in combat would now be as easy as slicing through vegetables. Even against Half-Beasts, a fair one-on-one was challenging, but team versus team within the same tier saw players with the upper hand. With the enhancement in both individual combat strength and teamwork abilities, players had grown increasingly powerful! This point-based defense battle further brought out the players¡¯ strengths. Of course, it wasn¡¯t the most shocking to the shadow Dwarves. The most astounding was the Elves¡¯ zeal for battle and their unfailing resolve to vanquish their foes. It seemed that to them, shadow creatures were not just enemies but prey! These self-proclaimed player Elves scrambled for the shadow creatures that painstakingly climbed up, sometimes even disputing. Whenever the shadow Dwarves gained the upper hand, they would eagerly assist, helping the Dwarves eliminate the threat! Eventually, more and more players gathered at the city walls, finding the Dwarves inadequate and cramped, resulting in the exclusion of shadow Dwarves from the defensive position... On the city wall remained only players surrounding the spell shield¡¯s gaps, fighting shadow creatures... leaving the Dwarf Warriors pushed to the outskirts as mere bystanders. Moreover, what deeply convinced the shadow Dwarves was the Elves¡¯ calmness and fearlessness in the face of death. There wasn¡¯t a lack of casualties, but shadow Dwarves had never witnessed an Elf showing fear toward death! Not only that, even in death, they would fight till the very last second, collapsing with an expression of sheer regret... ¡°With the Death God above, truly a group of fearless warriors!¡± Witnessing yet another Elf die with an expression of excitement, the Dwarf Guard Captain marveled. Chapter 199 - 193: Mana Restoration Potion Chapter 199: Chapter 193: Mana Restoration Potion ¡°Hey, hey! Our team spotted this monster first. You guys wait for the next one to climb up!¡± ¡°Hold on, hold on! Don¡¯t let it run into the city! Defeat it on the wall!¡± ¡°Damn! I¡¯m out of mana!¡± ¡°Anyone out of mana, retreat and rest. Don¡¯t waste your time here!¡± ¡°Did anyone bring Black Dragon Potatoes? Lend me some to recover my mana!¡± ¡°This monster is so tough, my sword cracked. Does anyone have a spare sword? A plain one will do, just let me use it for now!¡± On the city wall, the elves¡¯ chatter rose and fell. Though they were noisy, there was no ambiguity in their fighting. In this battle, there weren¡¯t any players using the sacrificial flow. For one thing, the players¡¯ strength had genuinely improved; they could even handle shadow monsters without resorting to sacrifices. These monsters were different from the Half-Beast, with almost no intelligence, akin to Demon Beasts, making them manageable for the players¡¯ teams. On the other hand, the players were mindful of the contribution points consumed for perfect resurrection... New equipment had been released, leaving everyone¡¯s contribution points tight, and no one wanted to overspend. Even the mages who had run out of magic power didn¡¯t choose to suicide for mana recovery. Instead, they stepped down from the city wall to find a quiet place, eating Black Dragon Brand Potatoes that could slightly enhance meditation effects while meditating to recover mana... And given the number of players, someone would withdraw as someone else replaced them, supporting the entire battle. Although the colossal army outside the wall could still be seen through the magical barrier, a few hundred brave players blocked them at the defense barrier¡¯s crevices, and all the shadow creatures pouring into Black Rock City were eliminated by the elves. As for the underground dwarves, they became spectators entirely... However, they quickly reacted, starting to volunteer as the players¡¯ support: ¡°I have a sword! I have a sword! Here¡¯s my Dwarf Scimitar, for the warrior to use!¡± ¡°I¡¯m a pharmacist. I have alchemy potions here that can restore magic power...¡± ¡°But our magic potions are quite inferior, with strong side effects, and they taste awful. Excessive use could damage the magic circuit, affecting meditation and progression...¡± Hearing the underground dwarves, the players¡¯ eyes lit up: ¡°Dwarf Scimitar? Nice, nice, hand it over quickly!¡± ¡°Damn! There¡¯s actually mana potions in this game? Give me a bottle! The side effects are fine! Hmm... wait, does it cost anything?¡± ¡°Uh... no, it doesn¡¯t... the side effects are too strong, so just take them for free.¡± ¡°Great, hand it over quickly!¡± With the support of the underground dwarves¡¯ equipment and potions, the players¡¯ morale soared, and their attacks became more reckless. Usually, players were cautious about their equipment¡¯s durability, but with the dwarf weapons, they had no such concerns. Since it was free, they hacked at anything in sight, sheer joy... With the dwarves¡¯ magic potions, the mages and Druids weren¡¯t stingy with magic power and started to lavishly unleash magic... The side effects of the magic potions didn¡¯t concern the players. Would excessive use harm the magic circuit, affecting meditation and progression? No problem! Enjoy first, complete the task! It didn¡¯t cost a thing! If the impact was too significant, they¡¯d simply commit suicide to clear the negative effects after accumulating plenty of contribution points and experience. It was still better than suiciding for mana! The Dwarf Alchemist watched as Elf Mages and Elf Druids, who had exhausted their magic power, guzzled the potions he provided, gulping them down like water. His expression was rather complex. He sighed and praised: ¡°No wonder they¡¯re such a passionate and friendly race, willing to sacrifice their potential and future for their allies. You¡¯re true friends of the underground dwarves...¡± Of course, what he really thought was unknown. After all, in the Underworld, no one drank potions like this fool. And it was the lowest quality, with the most side effects, and the worst tasting mana restoration potion... Under the spell defense barrier provided by Eve and the players¡¯ battle, the shadow army¡¯s attack bogged down. Even the dark believers remotely commanding the shadow monsters outside the city began to notice something was off. For a moment, the dark believers maintaining the summoning array whispered among themselves: ¡°We can¡¯t keep fighting like this; it¡¯s too passive. Though Black Rock City¡¯s defensive divine arts have flaws, there¡¯s no way to break in!¡± ¡°The Magic Stone is depleting too fast. Even with the blessing of True God, cross-boundary summoning consumes too much energy...¡± ¡°I can sense that all the shadow creatures that made it inside are being wiped out... since when did Black Rock City¡¯s dwarf guards become so strong?¡± ¡°Seems like the elves are helping them; can¡¯t see clearly, but it looks like there are elven figures on the city head!¡± ¡°Elves? The ones Lord Hearthstone mentioned might be the clansmen of the Evil God? Have they sided with the Death God Temple?!¡± Listening to the discussion, a leader-like underground dwarf looked towards Black Rock City in the distance, his expression gloomy. ¡°How many Magic Stones do we have left?¡± He asked. His voice was very hoarse; he was the third person who had discussed players with Divine Favored Hearthstone and Elder Balin before. And although he was not a Divine Favored, he was a fanatic loyal to the Master of Darkness and Shadow! ¡°Not much left, two-fifths remain.¡± The other dark believers replied. The leader of the underground dwarf hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said: ¡°Use all the Magic Stones, summon all the shadow creatures we can!¡± ¡°The flaw in the defensive divine arts suggests that the statue in the Death God Temple might be lacking faith energy. In such a case, if we increase our army¡¯s numbers and put more pressure, the magical barrier won¡¯t hold...¡± Hearing his words, the other dark believers looked at each other... One believer thought for a moment and solemnly said: ¡°Sir, cross-boundary summoning of shadow creatures is inherently risky. Even with the blessing of True God allowing us to barely control them, if we suddenly activate the summoning array to its maximum and summon too many shadow creatures, we might not be able to control them...¡± ¡°Indeed, maintaining our current numbers is manageable. More would be challenging, potentially attracting powerful shadow creatures we can¡¯t control!¡± ¡°Right, and if things get out of control, even if we capture Black Rock City, the city might fall to uncontrolled shadow creatures¡¯ massacre... True God requires a city of faith, not an empty city...¡± The other believers also agreed. Hearing the words of the other believers, the leader of the dark believers struggled for a moment, then sneered: ¡°No matter, do as I say, use all the Magic Stones!¡± After saying this, his expression turned fanatic: ¡°If we can¡¯t conquer Black Rock City, then we might as well destroy it!¡± ¡°Anyway... although belief warfare hasn¡¯t been officially declared, Lord Holder and she have long been at odds.¡± ¡°Ultimately, True God is going to war with her to reclaim control of the Netherworld and the Death Divine Position, so... what she can¡¯t get, we can¡¯t let her have!¡± ¡°As for the summoning array potentially attracting powerful shadow monsters... heh, isn¡¯t that even better? They can just destroy Black Rock City for us!¡± ¡°Anyway... the Death God believers in Black Rock City aren¡¯t strong; those elves aren¡¯t much of a threat, and the only Divine Favored of the Death God Church here is just a Silver Upper... without officially starting a belief war, the one from the Netherworld won¡¯t intervene on the battlefield unless she decides to tear things apart with him.¡± ¡°And if the True God doesn¡¯t participate, we¡¯ll win the war for sure, just a mere near-collapse defensive shield, let¡¯s see how long it can last!¡± The leader of the dark believers sneered as he spoke: ¡°Again, if we can¡¯t conquer Black Rock City, then we might as well destroy it!¡± After hearing his words, the other believers looked at each other but ultimately fell silent. ... At the walls of Black Rock City. Little Xian Miao stepped down from the wall, wiping her sweat, and took the mana potion handed over by an underground dwarf. She opened the bottle and took a gulp. But soon, she frowned, almost spitting out the potion... It was so bitter and astringent; it was hard to swallow. Little Xian Miao quickly disabled the taste setting in the system, managing to swallow the potion. As the potion went down, she could see her magic power recovering at a visible speed, but she also noticed a debuff in her status bar¡ª[Inferior Potion Poisoning: Meditation Effect -100%]. However, she didn¡¯t really care; she had plenty of resurrections. Once the task was completed, a suicide would do the trick. While she recovered her mana, she noticed Sister Gugu beside her looking thoughtfully at the potion. For this campaign task, Little Xian Miao had brought Sister Gugu along. Yet, this completely lifestyle-oriented player didn¡¯t seem much interested in combat, but rather in studying the potion. Little Xian Miao had a thought: ¡°Sister Gugu, did you figure something out?¡± Sister Gugu shook her head: ¡°No, I was just thinking... since the dwarves can make magic recovery potions, maybe we can make them too...¡± The players had inquired about potions for restoring magic or healing ever since they met the Flame Tribe. Unfortunately, the Flame Tribe, known for forging elf equipment and inscribing runes and arrays, didn¡¯t have much research into potions. In reality, being able to cast healing spells and infrequently fighting, there seemed to be no need for such potions for elves, a long-lived race. Thus, for a significant period, players believed the ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± didn¡¯t have mana or health potions like other fantasy games. Until today... In fact, even the underground dwarves rarely used magic recovery potions. These potions, regardless of quality, inherently had side effects. In truth, this dwarf alchemy potion master providing the potions usually used these mana recovery potions to nurture magical plants... No one drank them. The underground dwarves had no high-grade magic recovery potions. This was because mage numbers were quite scarce among the underground dwarves, and only alchemy potion masters had small demands; others simply didn¡¯t need them. Nonetheless, Sister Gugu resolved to consult the dwarf alchemist about making mana potions after the campaign, to see if any improvements could be made... While Little Xian Miao was recovering her mana, suddenly, the entire ground trembled slightly again. Players and dwarves on the wall exclaimed. The already dim Underworld suddenly darkened even more. Little Xian Miao instinctively looked over, and then, in awe, saw four gray-black energy pillars in the sky suddenly grow larger! In an instant, even more shadow creatures descended upon the battlefield... ¡°This is trouble...¡± Seeing the densely packed shadow creatures outside the wall, the Dwarf Temple Master¡¯s expression became more serious than ever. Chapter 200 - 194 Out of Control Chapter 200: Chapter 194 Out of Control The ground trembled slightly, and all the players on the walls could feel the fierce spatial fluctuations stirred by the four grey-black energy pillars outside the city... After the Dark Believers used up all the magic stones in one breath, the summoning array was instantly pushed to its maximum. It seemed to have touched a critical point, as the Shadow Creatures surged out on a scale far beyond their imagination, even causing the leader of the Dark Believers to change color. Tens of thousands of grey-black Shadow Creatures spewed out like rain, instantly flooding the area outside Black Rock City... ¡°Holy shit!¡± ¡°Holy shit!!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this way too many?¡± ¡°Can the shield hold up?¡± The players widened their eyes in shock, looking through the spell defense shield at everything happening outside the city. All they could see were grey-black monsters. Although players were not unfamiliar with scenes of armies besieging in films or other games, facing a siege of tens of thousands of troops, especially from terrifying monsters, was an indescribable psychological shock... The scene of 5,000 Rohan Knights charging the enemy in ¡°The Lord of the Rings¡± already made people¡¯s blood boil, but a charge by tens of thousands of nearly two-meter-tall Shadow Monsters was even more terrifying. This spectacular yet horrifying scene almost exceeded the players¡¯ imagination, causing everyone to change color. It was the psychological suppression brought by the difference in scale! The Shadow Creature army was like a torrent, completely surrounding Black Rock City. They charged towards Black Rock City like ants encountering delicious food! Eve had not pushed the spell defense shield to its limit, so as the army charged, the pale golden spell defense shield began to flicker and tremble, making creaking sounds as if it were about to collapse... Seeing this, even the dark dwarves in Black Rock City began to panic. The Dwarf Temple Master watched the surrounding Shadow Army with a pale face, her voice filled with disbelief, ¡°Are they crazy? Are they really going to destroy Black Rock City?! Such a large-scale summoning¡ªaren¡¯t they afraid of the Deep Rift Cave being eroded by shadows?!¡± The densely packed Shadow Creatures swarmed up, eager to climb the city walls protected by the spell shield, bringing unprecedented psychological pressure to everyone in Black Rock City. A small portion seemed to have completely lost control, starting to rampage throughout the Deep Rift Cave, slaughtering everything in sight. At this point, the number of Shadow Monsters slain by players through the shield gaps was just a drop in the bucket compared to the entire Shadow Army. ¡°Temple Master, Temple Master! Quickly, borrow the power of the True God, or... I fear Black Rock City truly will fall!¡± Looking at the increasing number of Shadow Monsters outside the city, the priest of the Death God Temple said with an ugly expression. The Dwarf Temple Master looked uncertain, but she could only shake her head, ¡°I¡¯m afraid... there¡¯s no way. I had previously channeled the power of the True God, and in the short term, I cannot borrow it again... It will take at least a month to recover.¡± ¡°What?!¡± The Death God priest¡¯s face turned pale. Meanwhile, hearing the dark dwarves¡¯ conversation, Little Xian Miao, who was restoring her magic power nearby, was moved. She thought for a moment, looked around, then found a figure wielding a large sword. She stood up, jogged over to someone¡¯s back, and shouted, ¡°Demacia, quickly ask El to summon the Goddess¡¯s incarnation!¡± ¡°The Goddess¡¯s incarnation?¡± Demacia was taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s right, the number of Shadow Armies is too large now, and we definitely can¡¯t win. The defense shield looks like it¡¯s about to give in; we can only seek help!¡± Little Xian Miao said. Demacia listened, smiling bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid not... When I came, I asked El, and during the time we subdued the Spider Queen Rose in Rivendell, he had already summoned the Goddess¡¯s incarnation once. It can¡¯t be summoned again for a while.¡± ¡°Spider Queen Rose?¡± Little Xian Miao¡¯s eyes sparkled again, ¡°That will work too! Quickly call Spider Queen Rose! She is so powerful, and together with so many Earth Cave Spiders, they definitely can fight!¡± ¡°It¡¯s no use... Even Brother Mu¡¯s favor with her is just barely positive, and mine is negative; at this level, I can¡¯t call her out...¡± Demacia shook his head. Little Xian Miao: ¡°...¡± ¡°However...¡± Demacia¡¯s tone shifted, glancing at the Death God Temple, ¡°There¡¯s someone else who should be able to borrow the Goddess¡¯s power.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Little Xian Miao perked up. ¡°Previously, I saw Ling enter the Death God Temple; isn¡¯t she also a Divine Favored? And she seems even closer to the Goddess... If El can summon the True God¡¯s incarnation, she definitely can too!¡± Demacia said. However, after saying so, he shook his head again, ¡°But if the Goddess¡¯s incarnation takes action, it would certainly be an instant kill, and we can¡¯t farm monsters for experience.¡± ¡°Experience can wait! At this rate, Black Rock City is about to collapse; finishing the task is more important!¡± Little Xian Miao said. ¡°True enough... According to the nature of ¡®Elf Kingdom,¡¯ if the Shadow Monsters really break in, Black Rock City might actually be erased by the authorities...¡± Demacia¡¯s expression also grew solemn. ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s challenging enough to encounter a friendly force, and I haven¡¯t finished playing in Black Rock City yet!¡± ¡°However, this mission didn¡¯t provide a prompt for summoning the Goddess¡¯s incarnation, and I wonder if the NPC will act.¡± ¡°We must give it a try! I¡¯ll go to the Death God Temple and ask! I heard the dwarves¡¯ conversation just now; it could be a task prompt!¡± Little Xian Miao said this and ran towards the Death God Temple. ... Eve had no idea that after the discussion, the players planned to rely on her for the solution. At that moment, she was still engrossed in researching the dungeon core. However, a True God was still a True God. Although the structure of the dungeon core was extraordinarily complex, under Eve¡¯s probing and deduction, she gradually sketched a complete central design in her mind. Furthermore, some clever ideas designed within the core inspired her to come up with new ideas for using her divine power. If she used Demigod Level power at this moment, Eve felt she could maintain it for a longer period. Moreover, even maintaining the Demigod Level incarnation, Eve felt she could reduce consumption substantially. This greatly satisfied Eve. At this point, she also noticed that the energy consumption of the central core in her hand began to soar... ¡°Hmm?¡± Eve furrowed her brows, refocusing half of her attention outside the city, where she was stunned by the sight of the army, ¡°Are they insane? How did they summon so many Shadow Creatures?¡± She could feel the rate at which she was consuming power in the dungeon core had surpassed the gains players provided by killing Shadow Monsters. ¡°A loss,¡± Eve¡¯s face darkened slightly. Although she could continue to maintain the spell shield and could say that even more Shadow Monsters couldn¡¯t possibly break through Black Rock City¡¯s defenses with her full activation, nevertheless... A loss. ¡°No, the number of Shadow Monsters is increasing, but the players are too few. Continuing to rely on them for depletion is a losing strategy; perhaps I should take action.¡± *She pondered over the dungeon core and had some ideas she wanted to test, concluded that now she could likely save much of her divine power by using a Demigod Level of power.* *Given the vast number of Shadow Armies, she should at least break even or make a slight profit.* Still, Eve felt somewhat regretful, *¡±If there were enough players, I wouldn¡¯t need to take action this time. Letting them kill all the Shadow Monsters would be a huge gain¡ªnot only training troops but allowing me to absorb power. Alas...¡±* Eve shook her head. *She decided in her heart that once this task was over, the third summoning of players had to be prioritized.* The number of players now was really stretched thin! *¡±But I don¡¯t need to act in such a rush this time. Let¡¯s wait a bit longer; the potential of the opponent¡¯s summoning array doesn¡¯t seem exhausted yet. I¡¯ll act when no more Shadow Creatures emerge!¡±* *¡±Moreover... I need a pretext for intervening; it shouldn¡¯t be too abrupt to take action.¡±* Eve pondered. Just then, a familiar figure stumbled in; it was Little Xian Miao, who decided to seek NPC support! ¡°Lord Ling, Lord Ling, the number of Shadow Creatures outside suddenly surged; the situation is very unfavorable; can you summon the Goddess¡¯s incarnation?¡± Guided by the dark dwarves, she ran all the way to Eve in the temple¡¯s rear hall, gasping for breath as she asked. Looking at Little Xian Miao, who was standing before her, Eve was slightly stunned. *So... did she even bring about an excuse for me to appear?* ... Outside Black Rock City. Looking at the crowded Shadow Monsters they summoned, the Dark Believers were filled with fear and awe. At the same time, they couldn¡¯t help but feel immense excitement, ¡°Black Rock City is finished.¡± ¡°Unexpectedly... By completely activating all the magic stones, the summoning effect was actually magnified several times...¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why did Master Hearthstone ask us to summon steadily over time?¡± ¡°No idea...¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that it might attract even more powerful entities...¡± ¡°However, it appears we are still lucky; the summoned monsters this time are all Iron Grade.¡± ¡°I think we can withdraw now; the number of Shadow Creatures is vaguely beyond our control...¡± The Believers whispered among themselves. And hearing his subordinates, the leader of the Dark Believers nodded, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much; the summoning has reached its end. At this point, no more powerful Shadow Creatures will be attracted.¡± ¡°Once these energy pillars begin to weaken, we¡¯ll issue the final charge to the shadow army and then shut down the array.¡± Just as he finished speaking, the entire ground suddenly shook again! Everyone felt a chilling and heart-stopping energy descending into the Deep Rift Cave... The leader of the Dark Believers¡¯ expression became wooden. He slowly raised his head and saw the largest energy pillar in front suddenly start to tremble violently. With a roar that shook the skies, a massive claw wrapped in grey-black smoke suddenly extended from within. A terrifying power instantly shredded the smoke to pieces¡ªwarping and tearing even the surrounding space with its might! Afterward, an existence far larger and more terrifying than ordinary Shadow Creatures began to emerge from the torn space... Its gargantuan bat wings, the robust body enveloped in grey-black smoke, and the chilling aura of pressure. ¡°A... a Shadow Dragon?!¡± Seeing the massive shadow overhead, the leader of the Dark Believers momentarily lost his voice. Chapter 201 - 195 Its Time to Let Go of the Goddess Chapter 201: Chapter 195 It¡¯s Time to Let Go of the Goddess As the meeting point of the Netherworld and the Endless Abyss, the Land of Darkness also bred a multitude of powerful monsters due to its chaotic laws. Some were wretches from the Netherworld, fallen to this state. Others were creatures that accidentally wandered in and were eroded by shadows, losing their sanity in the process. Some were outright shadow monsters born naturally from the Land of Darkness... However, compared to the numerous shadow creatures in the Land of Darkness, the first two were not many. This was because the Land of Darkness was inherently remote and chaotic. Those who could mistakenly enter the place already had indescribable power, at least legendary, and were naturally rare. Therefore, most of the shadow creatures in the Land of Darkness were native shadow monsters, the humanoid shadow creatures summoned by the Dark Believers to attack Black Rock City. But... although few living or deceased beings mistakenly entered the Land of Darkness and fell to become shadow creatures, when there was one, it meant it was undoubtedly a powerhouse in the Land of Darkness! For example... this shadow dragon that suddenly emerged! In the Segis Universe, any monster associated with ¡°dragon¡± should not be underestimated. And this shadow dragon was actually a dragon whose soul had been eroded after mistakenly entering the Land of Darkness, eventually turned into a shadow creature dedicated to devouring and slaughtering! The Dark Believers¡¯ worst fear still came to pass. Just as the summoning array was about to lose its effect, it truly drew this terrifying entity from the Land of Darkness! This gigantic shadow dragon was over a hundred meters long, far surpassing adult dragons. Surprisingly, it was a fallen Ancient Giant Dragon! Each Ancient Giant Dragon was at least at the pinnacle of legend, with the most powerful ones even reaching demigod level! Feeling the oppressive aura emanating from this shadow dragon, all the Dark Believers realized... They were in deep trouble. ¡°Run!¡± The leader of the Dark Believers didn¡¯t hesitate, hastily issuing the order to his subordinates. All the dark-dwelling dwarves who worshipped darkness instantly abandoned control of the summoning array and followed him, fleeing deeper into the Underworld... As the Dark Believers fled, the summoning array, barely maintained, lost its stabilization and immediately fell apart. But the shadow dragon merely cast a cold glance at them, its violent, chaotic eyes flickering with savagery and excitement. ¡°Roar¡ª!¡± It let out an ear-splitting roar, then took a deep inhaling breath in the direction the dwarves were escaping... A formidable suction emerged, and the Dark Believers, in the midst of their escape, were instantly drawn back. The stones and soil on the ground, plants in the Underground Forest, even the scattered shadow monsters were lifted by the terrifying suction, accompanied by the Dark Believers¡¯ terrified screams, and transformed into a vortex, devoured by the shadow dragon... In the blink of an eye, a semicircular void appeared in front of the shadow dragon! The army of shadow creatures, without the control of the Dark Believers, plunged into chaos. Those farther away quickly fled, while those closer could only prostrate themselves on the ground under the shadow dragon¡¯s pressure, trembling with fear... And the shadow dragon, seemingly satisfied with what it had devoured, roared again proudly and began to consume the surrounding army of shadow creatures... The magnificent army of shadow creatures crumbled in the shadow dragon¡¯s presence like a doomed group of ants. The chaotic yet grand sight left everyone in Black Rock City dumbfounded. ¡°What the hell!¡± ¡°What the hell!!¡± Players were stunned watching the dragon-shaped creature rampaging in the distance. ¡°A dragon? This is huge! Compared to it, Mairrel is a Chihuahua!¡± ¡°Could it be a BOSS? How do we fight it?¡± ¡°Is it a black dragon covered in black smoke? Mairrel¡¯s cousin?¡± ¡°Look! It¡¯s devouring those shadow monsters!¡± ¡°Haha, could it be an ally?¡± Hearing the players¡¯ words, the Dwarf Temple Master had a serious expression, ¡°No... this is not an ally, nor is it a dragon...¡± ¡°The Book of Death has related records. This is a shadow creature formed after a dragon fell to the Land of Darkness, known as a shadow dragon!¡± ¡°Although called a shadow dragon, it is no different from those shadow creatures besieging us, entities that only know how to devour and kill!¡± At this point, her voice carried a hint of bitterness and tremor, ¡°It... is even more troublesome than the shadow creatures besieging us. It only forcibly traversed space, consuming too much energy, which is why it¡¯s devouring shadow creatures...¡± ¡°Once it recharges its strength, it¡¯s likely to command the remaining shadow army and set its sights on us again...¡± Shadow creatures inherited some traits from abyss creatures. They also possess an intense appetite for devouring beings from the material realm... Lighting up the Divine Arts defensive shield in Black Rock City was akin to a lighthouse in darkness and would undoubtedly soon draw the shadow dragon¡¯s attention. The Dwarf Temple Master¡¯s words were quickly validated. The shadow dragon, having only taken a few bites, promptly raised its head and gazed toward Black Rock City. Seeing the cold killing intent and the frenzied desire to devour contained within its murky pupils, everyone on the city wall felt a shiver down their spine... Meanwhile, all the shadow monsters stopped their retreat, regaining their order as if they had received new commands... ¡°It has subdued these shadow monsters...¡± For a moment, the Dwarf Temple Master looked pale. Biting her teeth, she looked at the players, ¡°Where does your Teleportation Array lead?¡± The players exchanged glances and replied, ¡°Rivendell.¡± ¡°Rivendell? The former Elf City... If I remember correctly, it belongs to the domain of the Queen of Caverns, it¡¯s somewhat close, but we barely might make it,¡± The Dwarf Temple Master muttered. Finishing her words, she issued a command, ¡°Black Rock City cannot be defended anymore... Everyone, escape through the Teleportation Array quickly. If you¡¯re lucky, you might escape unscathed...¡± Yet, upon hearing her words, the players looked at each other, ¡°Escape? Are we surrendering?¡± The Dwarf Temple Master showed an expression of despair, ¡°This... this is likely a shadow dragon with power nearing a demigod... not something we can resist...¡± ¡°Do you know... Eight hundred years ago, the human Magic Kingdom summoned a shadow dragon nearing demigod level at the peak of legend, which led to their annihilation. Over a million were massacred, allowing the Holy Maniya Empire to later emerge and become the strongest human nation...¡± ¡°And that shadow dragon was only brought down alongside the Pope of the Eternal Church using the Divine Descent Technique...¡± ¡°This time, Deep Rift Cave is likely to be destroyed, and nearby Elf Forests are likely to be ruined, so... escape while you can!¡± The Dwarf Temple Master urged. ¡°Nearing a demigod? Pinnacle of legend?¡± Hearing her, the players showed peculiar expressions. ¡°Do not underestimate the pinnacle of legend!¡± The Dwarf Temple Master stressed solemnly, ¡°In an era where True Gods have returned, this is the pinnacle power in Segis World, capable of destruction on par with demigods!¡± ¡°Demigod level...¡± The players¡¯ reactions grew ever more bizarre. But, to the Dwarf Temple Master¡¯s confusion and bewilderment, after she mentioned the shadow dragon¡¯s possible strength, these elves instead seemed... relieved? What... was going on? Were these elves stunned by her words? Before she could ponder further, she overheard the elves talking, their words sending chills down her spine, ¡°Oh! So it¡¯s just nearing a demigod! That means it¡¯s not something we can fight...¡± ¡°Phew, I was worried about the mission before. Looks like we¡¯ll have to go through the motions again.¡± ¡°Ahead of time, feel sorry for the BOSS...¡± ¡°Time to release the Goddess. Who¡¯s going to find El to summon the Goddess¡¯s incarnation?¡± ¡°El can¡¯t do it; he can only summon once a month, and a new Divine Favored recently joined the faction. Little Xian Miao has already gone to find them.¡± ¡°Ah... feeling a bit sorry. The Goddess is going to one-hit again, you guys say if we could deliver the killing blow, how much experience would this demigod-level BOSS provide!¡± ¡°You¡¯re dreaming; hurry up, before the plot moves on, kill as many shadow monsters as we can!¡± After speaking, the players who intended to flee instead approached the re-advancing army of shadow monsters attacking Black Rock City and resumed fighting. This time... their combat seemed much more urgent. True God? Incarnation? Plot? Listening to the players, the Dwarf Temple Master felt bewildered. Soon, she realized that these elves possibly had a way to summon the power of a True God! Could it be that mysterious True God, allied with Hela Crown, backing them? Her mind filled with speculation... Yet, before she could think further, the situation on the battlefield changed again. The shadow dragon, massive in stature, suddenly took another deep breath and spat out a gray Dragon Breath towards Black Rock City! The radius of this Dragon Breath was nearly ten meters, the aura overwhelmingly terrifying... The cold, chaotic power instantly struck Black Rock City¡¯s spell defense shield, shattering it! Black Rock City was instantly exposed within the army of shadow creatures. ¡°Not good!¡± The Dwarf Temple Master¡¯s heart sank. Just then, a crisp cold snort suddenly echoed in the cave, ¡°Hmph!¡± A female elf in a black armor skirt slowly rose from above the Death God Temple... As she ascended, her aura kept rising, with golden Divine Power surging around her. Faintly, a sacred silhouette enveloped in Holy Light appeared behind her. The shadow dragon roared, aiming another giant breath at Black Rock City. The floating female elf gently lifted her hand, and the blurred sacred figure behind her also raised its hand... A gigantic phantom hand emerged smoothly, instantly blocking the Dragon Breath! ¡°Divine Possession!¡± The Dwarf Temple Master¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. Chapter 202 - 196: Still Just Ants Chapter 202: Chapter 196: Still Just Ants ¡°Block it with one palm?¡± ¡°No way! Where¡¯d this hacked NPC come from?¡± ¡°Huh? It seems like the new Divine Favored Little Xian Miao and her team mentioned. I saw them in the video they uploaded yesterday!¡± ¡°Is she really that powerful?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the shadow behind her the Goddess?¡± Seeing the sudden appearance of a stranger, the players were startled and began discussing curiously. ¡°Divine Possession! It¡¯s Divine Possession! But... her appearance hasn¡¯t transformed into a True God, so she should still be controlling her body herself, merely borrowing the True God¡¯s power.¡± Listening to the words of the surrounding elves, the Dwarf Temple Master explained. After saying that, her eyes gradually brightened, ¡°Perhaps... there¡¯s hope to hold the line.¡± *Borrowing the True God¡¯s power?* The players froze for a moment, then realized. So, it wasn¡¯t summoning the Goddess¡¯s avatar! However, borrowing the power of the Goddess still counted as the Goddess taking action, right? But this time, not seeing the Goddess¡¯s avatar, many players were slightly disappointed. They thought they¡¯d be able to see the Goddess again! They even had their recorders on, only to capture this? Eve, of course, intentionally did not directly elevate the avatar to a Demigod Level or transform it into a true Demigod Avatar form. Perhaps in the eyes of the Dwarf Temple Master, her current appearance was that of a True God possession. But actually, after studying the core of the Underground City and combining it with Hela¡¯s previous descent method, she came up with a way to save divine power to the maximum extent and exhibit Demigod-level power! Previously, when battling Demigod Walker, she directly borrowed her body¡¯s divine power to enhance the avatar¡¯s strength to a Demigod Level. However, maintaining a Demigod Level avatar expended too much divine power. But now it was different. Eve chose a clever way; her avatar still had Lower Gold-level power. However, it imitated Hela¡¯s possession by summoning divine power directly from the deity when using abilities. This, instead, reduced the scattering of divine power and lowered consumption... This was a clever approach. And under the watchful eyes of everyone, the Divine Favored Zero in mid-air raised her hand again. The shadow behind her became increasingly holy, and the dazzling light almost illuminated the entire Deep Rift Cave. Meanwhile, the ethereal and holy Holy Light faintly emanated from the void. The brilliance was overwhelming, and the golden Holy Light poured down, shining on the Shadow Creatures with an awe-inspiring scene... At this moment, the Divine Favored Zero in mid-air seemed to have turned into a sun in the darkness! For shadow monsters, the power of the True God¡¯s faith was poison. And the Holy Light, triggered by Eve primarily through the power of faith, was the best weapon to deal with them! For a moment, all Shadow Creatures illuminated by the light screamed in fear. Their bodies kept trembling, the black fog surged, and their aura began to become chaotic... And the weakest ones directly exploded, dying on the spot! The entire shadow army immediately fell into panic and chaos. It was the light of faith! This was the power of the True God! All of the Death God believers suddenly realized and then cheered. Seeing the suddenly reversed situation, the Dwarf Temple Master was invigorated, her mind swirling with infinite conjectures, *This light of faith... seems to carry a kind of vibrant vitality!* *Behind the elf... is a True God of Faith!* *And it should be related to life or nature!* *Death God above, have you allied with a True God related to life?* Her expression was somewhat complex. And seeing the immobilized Shadow Creatures, the players¡¯ eyes lit up. ¡°The monsters are weakened!¡± ¡°A good opportunity! Quickly finish them off!¡± ¡°Haha! Free experience!¡± All at once, all the players excitedly charged out to battle with the shadow monsters. No... or rather, it couldn¡¯t be called a battle anymore. Under the suppression of the light of faith, these shadow monsters had lost all resistance. Even their defensive abilities were greatly weakened and could only be chopped down like vegetables by the players! Some excited players even jumped off the city walls and started slashing indiscriminately through the shadow army. Witnessing this scene, the dark dwarves were dumbfounded. The Death God Temple Master was also slightly stunned. These elves... were they so fervent? Divine descent apparently could inspire such great fighting spirit in them? But... with the True God¡¯s power present, what¡¯s the use of fighting those shadow monsters! *Are they so eager to slay monsters?* *And... the shadow dragon is still out there!* *The mere light of faith can¡¯t deal with that creature!* She felt a tightness in her chest and quickly glanced into the distance... As if to confirm the Death God Temple Master¡¯s thoughts, soon, the Deep Rift Cave echoed with a ground-shaking roar of rage... The shadow dragon was furious. As an existence approaching a Demigod, even if it lost its sanity, the shadow dragon still had its pride. The golden light of faith might suppress ordinary Shadow Creatures, but it couldn¡¯t harm it. Instead, it roused its ferocity. And the previous setback with the Dragon Breath made the shadow dragon increasingly manic. The shadow dragon roared and raised its head, suddenly exuding a chilling, chaotic aura. Centered around it, the plants in the area abruptly turned black, gradually enveloped in a mist, and even the ground slowly gained a grayish-black hue. The Shadow Creatures close to it instantly broke free from the intimidation of the light of faith. They continued to swell, gradually sprouting dragon scales and tails, mutating on the spot! ¡°Shadow Domain! It¡¯s opening the Shadow Domain!¡± The Dwarf Temple Master exclaimed in shock. The True God had a Divine Domain. The Demigod also possessed a Demigod Domain. And a legendary strong person held a Legendary Domain! The shadow dragon¡¯s Shadow Domain could corrupt the surrounding area, enhancing its defense and attack. The mist on its body began to churn, and then it opened its fierce jaws again. Accompanied by a perturbing fluctuation, a black energy ball kept converging in its mouth, gradually absorbing the drifting black mist to grow larger, emitting a cold, evil, yet chaotic and agitated aura... Even from afar, the dark dwarves and the players felt the shiver-inducing aura... However, with an airborne NPC as their support, they weren¡¯t as scared anymore: ¡°What¡¯s that dragon doing? A tail beast jade?!¡± ¡°No kidding, it really does look a bit like it...¡± But unlike the carefree players, the Death God Temple Master suddenly widened her eyes, recalling some legends from ancient books... At that moment, her face turned pale again: ¡°Not good! It¡¯s about to use a forbidden spell! This is the shadow dragon¡¯s unique forbidden spell¡ªthe Shadow Magic Orb! The humans¡¯ Magic Kingdom perished to this forbidden spell hundreds of years ago! Even the Eternal Pope who performed Divine Possession fell to it!¡± Saying that, she glanced at the elf in mid-air, her expression turning anxious. Divine Possession was still Divine Possession. Besides being able to use some Demigod-level abilities, it wasn¡¯t a true Demigod. And this forbidden spell was beyond the resistance of a Divine Favored under Divine Possession! However, she couldn¡¯t speak soon. Because the elf Divine Favored in mid-air moved. The sacred shadow flickered slightly, and the Divine Favored Zero suddenly disappeared. In the next second, she directly traversed the Shadow Domain and appeared in front of the shadow dragon! With an extended hand, she manipulated the giant sacred shadow, forming a massive palm, instantly blocking the shadow dragon¡¯s mouth! Simultaneously, the shadow dragon sent out the orb... However, the sacred shadow¡¯s hand, like an impenetrable barrier, forced the orb back in and crushed it! With a resounding boom, the orb exploded in the shadow dragon¡¯s mouth! Gray light erupted, blinding everyone for an instant, followed by a storm of chaotic energy... The intense storm scattered outward, centered on the shadow dragon, blowing everything it touched. The impacted shadow creature army was turned upside down, with the unluckiest ones even being blown away, creating an open space around the shadow dragon. Even the distant Black Rock City had countless rooftops overturned by the energy storm, leaving the scene in chaos... Those players skirting out of Black Rock City were even more unfortunate. In the storm, they were directly swept into the air, flying for a moment before crashing to the ground with chilling cries, GG-ing and returning to the World Tree... ¡°Holy shit!¡± ¡°Holy shit!!¡± The players who barely dodged looked at this disaster-movie-like scene, instantly dumbfounded. It was only at this moment they realized just how terrifying the shadow dragon¡¯s power was... In the face of such an entity, they were merely a bunch of ants! However, what shocked them even more was that this newly joined NPC actually blocked it! Not only that, but she also seemed to use the shadow dragon¡¯s skill against it, harming the opponent in return! So... so strong! ¡°Wow... could borrowing the Goddess¡¯s power be this strong?¡± ¡°I wonder if we could reach this level one day...¡± ¡°So awesome... I suddenly feel the Goddess is far more powerful than I thought...¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s a True God, after all...¡± The players were deeply astounded... This was their first time witnessing the power of a forbidden spell, even if it wasn¡¯t a complete version! Though they previously encountered Uller¡¯s divine avatar and Demigod Walker, the players never saw their true prowess as they exited the scene miserably. But this time¡¯s Shadow Magic Orb truly frightened them. Even knowing it¡¯s a game, the immersive feeling was quite undeniable. It was like watching a horror movie, where you know it¡¯s fake, yet can¡¯t help but feel alarmed. *Ignorance is bliss...* Now they finally realized how terrifying the skill they just joked about as a tail beast jade was... The mere aftermath made the entire Black Rock City feel as if it went through a storm disaster! Yet even so, the skill was effortlessly blocked by the NPC who borrowed the Goddess¡¯s power! And this allowed the players, who, due to frequent interactions with the Goddess, didn¡¯t initially take Legendary, Demigod, or even True God-level entities seriously, to truly have a clear understanding of this level of power, admiring it deeply. Meanwhile, it also made those self-satisfied over their level-up completely calm down... Compared to the true powerhouses in the game... They were still just a bunch of ants! *When could they fight against a boss of this caliber? When could they be this formidable?* *They still needed to keep leveling up...* Chapter 203 - 197 Elf Clan Seems to be Rising Chapter 203: Chapter 197 Elf Clan Seems to be Rising The cataclysmic aftermath caused by the forbidden curse left players in awe and inspired a yearning and excitement for such unattainable power in real life. However, compared to the players¡¯ excitement, Eve, who took the initiative to attack, was not satisfied with her own power. ¡°This shortcut method may allow me to wield Demigod-Level power, but due to the lack of a Demigod-Level body as a foundation, although it reduces the consumption, it also decreases the power, at best only considered pseudo-Demigod Level.¡± ¡°This model is fine for dealing with beings below a Demigod, but if I¡¯m really facing a Demigod, I suppose I still need to use my Demigod Avatar...¡± *Eve sighed inwardly.* At least, if that strike had been made by her Demigod-Level avatar, it would have completely repelled the Shadow Dragon¡¯s attack, and not a trace of the forbidden curse¡¯s aftermath would have leaked out. Not only that, but the forbidden curse might have directly counter-killed the Shadow Dragon... Of course, if that were the case, due to its restrained power, players might not truly feel the power of a forbidden-level magic. However, even though Eve couldn¡¯t go all out in this mode, and couldn¡¯t make the avatar face a real Demigod, she found it more than sufficient to handle anything below Demigod-Level. The opposing Shadow Dragon, while very powerful and nearly Demigod-Level, was ultimately not a Demigod, but only at the pinnacle of Legendary. And not being a Demigod, even though its life form had transcended the mortal realm, it still hadn¡¯t reached the highest level... In this situation, facing Eve, who was immune to the Legendary Domain and possessed Demigod-Level strength, the Shadow Dragon stood no chance. In fact, even the infuriated Shadow Dragon realized this. The forbidden curse exploding in its mouth made it utter a mournful whimper, as large amounts of black blood flowed from its ears, eyes, nostrils, and mouth corners, pathetically. And as the black blood dripped onto the ground, it corroded black patches, emitting sizzling white smoke... While it couldn¡¯t be said to be severely injured by a single strike, it was still a rather grievous wound. The previously furious and impulsive Shadow Dragon calmed down in an instant. Having fallen and become a shadow creature, it lost the intelligence of a wise creature, but that didn¡¯t mean it had turned into a fool. It quickly realized that the glowing little mosquito in front of it was very strong, far beyond its capability... Then, under the astonished gazes of everyone, this Shadow Dragon, which had taken a forbidden curse in its stride, twisted its massive body and began to flee towards the spatial rift behind it... That was the unstable spatial passage it had created by tearing space using a summoning array! On the other side lay the Netherworld and the Endless Abyss, the Land of Darkness that birthed shadow creatures. Seeing the cowardly Shadow Dragon turn and run without hesitation, all the players had peculiar expressions: ¡°Is it running away just like that?¡± ¡°Why does this scene feel so familiar...¡± ¡°You¡¯re not mistaken, it looks just like an oversized Mairrel...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°As expected of a dragon...¡± ¡°Why do the bosses in this game keep embarrassing themselves one after another...¡± Meanwhile, the Dwarf Temple Master stood with her mouth agape, utterly stunned. The Elf Divine Favored being able to block the Shadow Dragon¡¯s attack had already surprised her. And the Shadow Dragon¡¯s subsequent performance further shattered her understanding... A Shadow Dragon nearing Demigod strength, one of the strongest in the Land of Darkness, a giant monster capable of annihilating a kingdom... chose to flee at this moment? In legends, weren¡¯t Shadow Dragons always evil, violent, and bloodthirsty, insane beings? This... The Dwarf Temple Master once again looked at the Elf Divine Favored floating in mid-air, her gaze gradually becoming reverential. This could only mean one thing. It wasn¡¯t that the Shadow Dragon was too cowardly, but that the being it faced was too powerful! To force a Shadow Dragon of nearly Demigod strength to flee instantly, simply by using Divine Possession, just what kind of existence was this True God related to life behind the elf? Wait a minute, could it be... In an instant, a thought suddenly popped into the Dwarf Temple Master¡¯s mind... ¡°Could it be... that the one in the Elf Forest has awakened?¡± However, just as this thought emerged, the Dwarf Temple Master quickly dismissed it. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be, if it were her, the gods of the Heavenly Realm would have taken action long ago. I had previously heard from the elves that they wiped out a tribe of Half-Beasts. If it truly were her, the God of Winter and Hunting would not have stood idly by...¡± ¡°And how could she possibly let the elves become like this? Hmm... not that these elves are bad, just that, how to put it... anyway, these elves are too different from what I remember elves to be... it always feels like something¡¯s missing.¡± ¡°Forget it, after this affair is over, I¡¯ll take the opportunity to pray and ask the True God¡¯s Grace. If I have to interact with these elves long-term, I still need to clarify exactly who their True God is backing them...¡± The Dwarf Temple Master had made up her mind. Eve didn¡¯t know that the Dwarf Temple Master had some speculations about her identity. In fact, even if she knew, she wouldn¡¯t care. Because, according to the True God Oath, Hela was sure to help conceal her identity. As long as she didn¡¯t let herself slip and reveal it, she could always keep her disguise. Now, her concern was how much divine power this Shadow Dragon would provide her. A Shadow Dragon nearing Demigod strength, the life force and energy contained within it was no small amount. Naturally, Eve would not let the opponent escape. She stretched out her hand once more, controlling the holy apparition behind her to grasp at the Shadow Dragon. The holy apparition once again enlarged, transforming into a massive energy hand hundreds of meters in size, lifting the Shadow Dragon as if it were a tiny chick... For a moment, the Shadow Dragon let out an angry yet terrified roar, but its mouth, having just detonated a forbidden curse, wounded and leaking air, only emitted a deep whimper. Its massive body struggled, but it couldn¡¯t break free from the grasp of the giant hand... Drow: ... Players: ... Watching this scene, they instead became numb... At this moment, it was clear to all that this Shadow Dragon was no match for the elf NPC who had performed Divine Possession. It seemed it was done for. In a strange and frustrating way... ¡°Absorb...¡± Eve controlled her avatar and silently activated this ability in her mind. At the same time, she cast a Holy Light, enveloping the Shadow Dragon to obscure the phenomena manifested by her absorption ability. Everyone else in Black Rock City only saw the golden light enshroud the Shadow Dragon, after which it let out an agonized scream, and then its entire body shrank continuously, eventually vanishing into thin air as the Holy Light faded... Was it now... vanquished? On the city walls, there was a moment of silence. And having ¡°consumed¡± the Shadow Dragon using the power of the World Tree, Eve turned her gaze to the shadow army, still prostrating, shivering under the dual influence of Holy Light and pressure... ¡°A total of ten thousand...¡± With just a glance, Eve clarified the exact count of shadow creatures. Previously, she didn¡¯t personally strike against these creatures, considering the depletion of divine power and to let players continuously provide her with power while also training them. But now, Eve had an improved divine power control mode, and with the entire shadow army summoned, it was easy to clean them up in one sweep without other worries. After all, they were merely a group of monsters without faith; even if she cleared the field using True God¡¯s means, it wouldn¡¯t provoke antagonism from other powerful beings. No need to drag time, might as well eliminate them herself and gain a small profit. With this in mind, Eve focused her thoughts. The holy apparition behind her suddenly burst with blinding light, transforming into thousands of rays of Holy Light. These Holy Lights scattered out, enveloping all the shadow creatures. The entire Underworld was as bright as day! Accompanied by sharp wails, the bodies of these shadow creatures began to smoke in the blazing light... Then, their bodies developed countless cracks, black mists roiling but instantly purified by the light... After struggling for a brief while, their bodies started to shatter, emanating fragments of light, eventually completely dissipating, turning into spectacular ¡°fireworks¡±... In an instant, the entire Deep Rift Cave was illuminated by blossoming ¡°fireworks,¡± constantly flickering and disappearing, leaving everyone on the city wall speechless in awe... Of course, in places unseen, a subtle array had appeared beneath the Holy Light, devouring the shadow creatures¡¯ lingering life force and energy, even the shadow gemstone fragments left after their death... A moment later, the entire Deep Rift Cave fell into absolute silence... Surrounding Black Rock City lay in ruins, but not a single shadow creature was in sight. The Drows and players were dazed, as if not yet recovered from the recent astonishment... A moment later, outside the city walls, Demacia slapped his thigh, his voice full of regret: ¡°Damn it! It ended just like that! All those were experience points! I haven¡¯t had my fill of kills yet!¡± The Drows remained silent for a moment before bursting into cheers... Black Rock City, at last, was saved. The Dwarf Temple Master could barely contain her excitement as she looked up again, only to find that at some point, the Divine Favored named Ling had already disappeared. ¡°I thought I was close enough to the True God¡¯s Grace and took pride in my ability to perform Divine Possession. Today, I learned... what true Divine Possession is, and what borrowing the True God¡¯s power truly means!¡± The Temple Master¡¯s expression was exhilarated. ¡°For her to achieve such a level, this Divine Favored herself must be a true Saint! Perhaps one day, she might become a true Demigod...¡± ¡°With such a formidable presence backing them, and the mysterious True God¡¯s protection, it seems the Elf Clan... is set to rise again.¡± Gazing at the elves outside the city, seemingly searching for something on the battlefield, the Dwarf Temple Master sighed. ... Eve did not immediately withdraw her avatar. She merely released the divine power borrowing state and descended to the ground. This was where the Dark Believers had inscribed the array to summon the shadow army, but now it had been eroded by shadows, leaving everything shrouded in deep, pervasive darkness, exuding a chilling, chaotic aura. If a weaker being were here, they might be infected both in body and soul, falling to become shadow creatures who knew only slaughter and devouring... The summoning array was damaged, but at its position, there still lingered a black spatial tear. That was the rift the Shadow Dragon had left after tearing through space. Faintly, cries of shadow creatures could still be heard from the other side... ¡°To think a spatial rift connecting to the Land of Darkness was left behind...¡± Eve was a bit surprised. However, she did not once again borrow divine power to destroy this spatial rift, but left it intact. ¡°Since a rift remains, presumably more shadow creatures will emerge continuously in the future... Just right, I¡¯ll use this rift to design a permanent shadow creature instance for players in the Underworld!¡± Chapter 204 - 198: The Bentos Early Morning Chapter 204: Chapter 198: The Bento¡¯s Early Morning Early morning. The golden sun slowly rose from the east, its brilliant light gradually dispersing the thick fog within the Elf Forest. The lights of the Chosen City had dimmed as day broke, revealing a scene full of vitality under the sun¡¯s rays. From time to time, gamers who had stayed up all night emerged from the forest in small groups, yawning as they searched for NPCs in the city just waking up to turn in their quests. Then, looking at the fatigue value in their status bar that had already maxed out, they reluctantly returned to their shared house in the town to catch some sleep... In ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± players were required to let their in-game characters sleep every so often; otherwise, their physical functions would greatly decline. *Having the will but lacking the strength, this was probably the predicament of many hardcore gamers.* However, more players had gradually adapted to the in-game schedule, needing only to log off for two hours to ¡°sleep¡± and recover some stamina, treating it as just a short break. In the Chosen City, in a two-story villa in the southwest. Freshly online, Boxed Lunch crawled off his bed, habitually checked his personal status, then got up, put on his gear, and opened the door. This villa was Boxed Lunch¡¯s ¡°home¡± in the game. However... this villa wasn¡¯t his alone but was shared among the five members of his combat squad. This pooling-of-home style wasn¡¯t uncommon in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± Many independent combat squads, cash-strapped Second Test Players, and even real-life friends crammed into such arrangements. When Boxed Lunch finished freshening up and arrived in the villa¡¯s main hall, the other players had already been waiting there for a while. They sat around the dining table, each doing their own thing. Some players were browsing videos on the game¡¯s built-in internet with vacant gazes, occasionally bursting into giggles aimed at thin air; some were focused on researching strategies on the official site, intensely staring into space; and others were chatting: ¡°Did you hear? Brother Mu from Heart of Nature picked up an Earth Cave Spider mount...¡± ¡°What? So fast?! How did he do that?!¡± ¡°He farmed affection! Through storytelling and sharing common knowledge with Spider Queen Rose, he painstakingly raised her affection from a negative 20 to a positive 40. Then, Spider Queen Rose gifted him a large Earth Cave Spider as a mount with Black Iron Upper strength!¡± ¡°Holy crap! I¡¯m so jealous! He¡¯s truly the server¡¯s top NPC charmer! But... won¡¯t the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s strength be nerfed on the surface?¡± ¡°Even nerfed, it¡¯s still a mount! It¡¯s weakened above ground but has buffs underground! And... large Earth Cave Spiders can spit silk! That silk is really valuable!¡± ¡°True... unfortunately for us, we still have an affection score of negative 100...¡± ¡°Nothing we can do, let¡¯s hope for new mounts in the future.¡± The two sounded pretty resigned. Their squad was eternally hated after bombing Spider Queen Rose. Even Rivendell was hesitant to explore deeply, fearing sneak attacks from Earth Cave Spiders... ¡°Sigh...¡± Listening to his teammates talk, Boxed Lunch sighed as well. It was his idea to use explosives back then, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to backfire... Even now, he still felt apologetic towards his squad members. However, while the other players were disappointed, they didn¡¯t blame the team leader. After all, it was a collective decision back then. Besides, Boxed Lunch¡¯s credibility was beyond reproach, being a reliable and responsible squad leader. Under his leadership, the squad¡¯s average combat power was the highest across the server! Seeing Boxed Lunch arrive, the other players quickly put down what they were doing and greeted him warmly: ¡°Good morning, Captain!¡± ¡°Morning~ Boxed Lunch!¡± They were very enthusiastic. Boxed Lunch set aside his regrets and nodded at his teammates: ¡°Morning.¡± Then he took his seat. The players continued chatting, shifting the topic: ¡°I wonder what¡¯s for breakfast today... I¡¯m starving.¡± ¡°Seems like it¡¯s almost time, any moment now, right?¡± ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m starting to feel bad about always getting free meals...¡± ¡°Big thanks to Boxed Lunch for that!¡± The group sat neatly at the dining table, waiting for breakfast. Soon after Boxed Lunch sat down, someone adeptly picked the villa door lock, and a cheerful voice suddenly rang out: ¡°Hey! You¡¯re all up! You guys are up early today!¡± Boxed Lunch¡¯s actions paused slightly, while the others continued with their activities, but their peripheral vision shifted, and their pointed ears perked up as if aflame with gossip... A tall figure bustled in from outside, dressed in a Hunter¡¯s outfit, full of vigor¡ªit was Nightingale Shadow. She glanced at the five people around the dining table, smirking lightly: ¡°Are you all ready?¡± The players grinned awkwardly, familiar with her, greeting her: ¡°Ahem... Good morning, Miss Nighthawk!¡± ¡°Morning, Miss Nighthawk!¡± ¡°Well... We couldn¡¯t refuse such a lovely offer from Miss Nighthawk!¡± ¡°Exactly, we¡¯re starving and waiting to be fed...¡± Nightingale slightly raised her head with a grin: ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m in a good mood today. I tried making a snack, something called ¡®baozi¡¯ or whatever¡ªit seems to be a specialty from your world. My siblings quite liked it, so you should too.¡± With that, a flash of light appeared in her hands, revealing a wooden basket filled with steaming hot baozi. The players¡¯ eyes gleamed instantly: ¡°Whoa! Miss Nighthawk, your cooking skills are getting impressive!¡± ¡°Ah... I¡¯m really embarrassed to have you bring us breakfast every day.¡± Nightingale¡¯s mouth twitched as she glanced at a somewhat surprised individual, cleared her throat, and handed out the baozi: ¡°Alright, enough flattery, just taste it.¡± The players hastily tucked in... Soon, their eyes sparkled: ¡°Mmm... Delicious! Is this mushroom filling?¡± ¡°Fantastic! Very authentic!¡± ¡°Miss Nighthawk, why not just move in with us, bring your siblings along too.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah! Whoever ends up marrying Miss Nighthawk is a lucky guy...¡± The players laughed and talked. Hearing this, Nightingale¡¯s ears turned slightly red before she turned away with a huff: ¡°Dream on, I don¡¯t want my siblings learning bad habits from you! Ahem... Go on eating, I¡¯ll get you some water.¡± She threw down this remark, then dashed off in a near escape. ¡°Hehehe...¡± ¡°Hahaha...¡± Laughter and banter filled the hall among the players. Then, all at once, they turned to the silent individual: ¡°Hey, Boxed Lunch... Nightingale¡¯s interest is too obvious, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Yeah! She¡¯s totally here for you!¡± ¡°Man... The rescue in distress really had a big impact...¡± ¡°I know, right? How many days has it been?¡± Boxed Lunch: ... ¡°Just eat.¡± He said with a dark expression. The others simply smirked. Before long, Nightingale returned with a jug of water, her expression back to normal. ¡°Are you heading to the Underworld again today?¡± She inquired curiously while pouring honey water for the players. ¡°Yep... Going to farm the shadow creature instance! Uh, thanks.¡± Hu Lu replied as he took the water. Ever since players completed the hidden main storyline [Shadow Army] and hidden plot [Dark Dwarves] a week ago, Deep Rift Cave had turned into a grindable instance. According to the storyline, although players successfully repelled the Shadow Army invasion, the dark forces had equally corrupted the Underworld, forming a space rift leading straight to the Land of Darkness in the Deep Rift Cave. The material realm was already inherently attractive to shadow creatures and abyss creatures. What¡¯s more, this was a dark-aspected underground world booming with magic! Therefore, even though Divine Favored Zero sealed off this space rift with the Goddess¡¯s power, preventing high-level creatures from entering the main material realm, it didn¡¯t stop weaker shadow creatures from slipping through, posing a significant threat to Black Rock City¡¯s safety... Fortunately, following the Goddess¡¯s guidance, Divine Favored Zero set up an array, with the help of the dark dwarves, to seal off the several kilometers spanning space centered around the rift. All shadow creatures were trapped there, unable to escape, and were sectioned into areas based on their level... Of course, the materials consumed by setting up the array were provided by the Dwarves. Luckily for them, having ample mines meant they weren¡¯t short on magic stones. The Dwarves were more than happy about it and expressed their sincere gratitude... After all, without the Elves¡¯ intervention, the space rift would have brought endless trouble to Black Rock City! And the area filled with shadow creatures became the players¡¯ instance¡ª[Clear the Shadow Creatures]! As for the content of the instance, it was simple. Players needed to enter the seal and eliminate shadow creatures pouring out from the rift! Because these creatures ranged from Black Iron Lower to Black Iron Upper tier, they were perfect for players to farm experience. Additionally, fragments of Shadow Gems dropped by them made excellent dark-attribute magic materials, which players could offer to the Goddess in exchange for considerable contribution points, making it the top grinding choice for combat players. Since the advent of the shadow creature instance, it had become the hottest topic across the official ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± discussions, with internal test players eager to level up and reach Black Iron Middle Rank. Those combat players who reached Black Iron Middle Rank through the hidden main storyline of [Shadow Army] also aimed to grind more contribution points, to trade for purple-black gear and graduate early. In recent days, Boxed Lunch¡¯s combat squad had also been continuously grinding the [Clear the Shadow Creatures] instance. Keen to know when he¡¯d reach Boxed Lunch¡¯s level? Listening to Hu Lu, Nightingale¡¯s brows furrowed slightly as she sipped her honey water: ¡°I really can¡¯t understand why you love fighting and slaughter so much...¡± ¡°Because we want to level up faster and grow strong!¡± The carefree one, the Elf Warrior acting as the team¡¯s taunt tank, replied matter-of-factly. ¡°Ah, I wonder when we can be as strong as Lord Ling, Divine Favored are truly amazing... I wonder if they¡¯ll ever open up Divine Favored as a class.¡± Chopin, the squad¡¯s Druid, remarked enviously. ¡°Divine Favored isn¡¯t a class, it¡¯s a blessing from Her Highness, the Mother Goddess.¡± Listening to the players, Nightingale quirked her lips and added. ¡°Alright then... I¡¯d love to gain the Goddess¡¯s blessing...¡± ¡°I wonder when they¡¯ll open the Priest class, I¡¯d like to respec to a healer.¡± Nightingale: ... ¡°Anyway... better level up quick, the First Legion is catching up.¡± ¡°Hey! Boxed Lunch squad must stay strong!¡± ¡°Really want to hit level 40 already! I¡¯m uneasy without reaching max level...¡± ¡°Though level 40 is just Black Iron Upper Peak, you know.¡± ¡°Well, they¡¯ll probably open more tiers, eventually.¡± The players chattered on. ¡°Strong, huh...¡± Nightingale¡¯s expression turned complex. She surveyed the Chosen Ones around the table, witnessing the overflowing energy and passion in their eyes, and sighed inwardly: *It¡¯s precisely this fighting spirit that¡¯ll help the Elf Clan rise again.* Chapter 205 - 199 New Internal Testing Program Chapter 205: Chapter 199 New Internal Testing Program Eve¡¯s instance mission, created using the space rift, was operating even better than she had imagined. Due to concerns about the shadow army descending again, the dark dwarves not only helped her maintain the arrays for the instance mission but were also deeply grateful to the players who cleared out shadow creatures daily. Of course, if the dark dwarves found out that this space rift was deliberately created by Eve, and that she had even tampered with the array to ensure an ample supply of monsters in the sealed space... *The expressions on the dark dwarves¡¯ faces would be quite different.* However, Eve estimated that even if they knew the truth, as long as the space seal remained intact, the dark dwarves would not choose to eradicate the space rift completely. Because they were also gaining benefits from the players¡¯ monster hunting tasks. The shadow gem fragments dropped after killing shadow monsters were excellent magic materials for the dark dwarves, who generally had dark attributes. Discovering that the dark dwarves were also interested in the shadow gem fragments and were willing to pay high prices, selling the drops to them became a third avenue for the players to dispose of their loot. Thus, once the players had gotten used to farming monsters, the space rift actually became an alternative source of shadow gem fragments in Black Rock City. If not for the fact that the tainted lands in the sealed space affected their souls, the dark dwarves might have sent their own teams to hunt low-level shadow monsters. The instance mission ran smoothly, and with the help of the dark dwarves, the map of the Deep Rift Cave was completed by the players. Actually, the structure of this underground area was quite simple. The Deep Rift Cave was divided by an underground river, with a vast underground forest on the west populated by countless demon beasts and monsters. The east was the narrow region centered around Black Rock City where the dark dwarves gathered. It was said that in the southeast corner of the cave, there was a hidden underground lake leading to other areas of the Underground World... And the dark dwarves originally migrated from there to escape the wars of the Underground Kingdom... Of course, Eve did not plan to let the players delve deeper into the Underground World anymore. Having connected with the dark dwarves, created a new instance mission, and discovered an underground forest teeming with demon beasts and monsters that could continuously provide her with life force was enough for her. Additionally, another reason was that the players couldn¡¯t venture that far, and Eve lacked interest in expanding into the Underground World. After devouring the shadow dragon with near-demigod power and destroying the shadow army, Eve¡¯s state had undergone yet another change: [Name: Eve Yggdrasil] [Race: World Tree (Ancient God)] [Level: 150 (Mythic)] [Status: Weak Divine Power] [Divine Duties: Nature, Life, Elves] [Title: Mother Nature, Goddess of Life, Ruler of Elves] [Divine Power: 673/3000] [Number of Followers: 552 (1 Saint, 4 Fanatics, 144 Devout Believers, 403 Shallow Believers)] [Abilities: Absorb, Communicate, Bestow, Enchant, Heal, Summon, Divine Descent, Divine Domain...] ... Apart from consumption, devouring the shadow dragon increased Eve¡¯s divine power by nearly 60 points at once, and the shadow army added more than 50 points. Combined with the life force provided by the players¡¯ monster hunting, the faith provided by her believers, and the void energy she slowly ¡°absorbed,¡± Eve¡¯s divine power surged directly to 673 points! Of course, the most delightful change for Eve was the increase in the number of her followers. After Old Priest Samir left Feilengcui with a group of devout Flame Tribe elves to search for other scattered elves, Eve had been wondering whether they would bring her a pleasant surprise. And after so long, she finally received a response... Following their memories and the unique markers of the Elf Clan, Samir and others scattered around had found several reclusive elves near the Elf Forest and the Dark Mountain Range! Although they didn¡¯t find an organized tribe like the Flame Tribe, the scattered groups added up to over a hundred elves. And after Samir and the others demonstrated ¡°divine miracles,¡± most elves were persuaded to return... It¡¯s just that most of these elves were still on their way back, and it would take time for them to return to Feilengcui. After clearing out the Rock Cave Tribe at the southeastern exit of the Elf Forest, Eve was no longer worried about these elves facing the same crisis as the Flame Tribe. Of course, the dark dwarves also played a significant role in helping the elves. This time, the Elf Clan essentially saved the entire Black Rock City. Although the Underground World was a place where the strong preyed on the weak and backstabbing allies was common, the dark dwarves, who believed in the Death God, were far better than those who worshiped darkness. With Death God Hela¡¯s tacit approval, they accepted the Elf Clan¡¯s commission and started helping the elves redeem those who had been sold as slaves in the Underground World... As for Eve¡¯s identity, after praying to the True God, the Dwarf Temple Master also received a clear reply¡ª¡ª ¡°She is a newly emerged True God, the heir of Yggdrasil, protector of the Elf Clan... the God of Nature and Life¡ªEve!¡± Everything was correct. The only error was that she inherited not the divine duties but the World Tree itself. So, with Hela¡¯s divine oracle, Eve¡¯s identity was now solidified¡ª¡ª A new deity inheriting the divine duties of nature and life! Truth mixed with falsehood, falsehood mixed with truth. But how long this identity could last was uncertain. As time went on, the areas explored by the players also reached their limits¡ª300 kilometers in radius. Centered on the World Tree, a 300-kilometer radius had been thoroughly explored by the 1,200 first-test players. For this reason, the official forum of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± updated the latest game map, even including the distribution of various plants and demon beasts¡¯ activity points. Of course, it was just a cursory exploration. A 300-kilometer radius was no small area; apart from the 30 kilometers of safe zone, the northern region of the Elf Forest actually had many demon beasts that were difficult for players to confront, and supposedly, there were even higher-ranked beings further out... Currently, the players¡¯ worldview on their map was like this: At the center of the map was the World Tree, with the main city, Chosen City, beneath it. Thirty kilometers to the northeast of the World Tree was the former Holy City, now the elven gathering place¡ªFeilengcui. Feilengcui marked the boundary, with a safe zone within 30 kilometers where Eve maintained absolute control, and there were almost no demon beasts here, making it a paradise for life-skills players. Beyond 30 kilometers, demon beasts still roamed, and their strength gradually increased the further one went... Notably, to the north, the vast forests of the northern region belonged to the Elf Forest, and around 100 kilometers northward, silver-ranked demon beasts began to appear. Without hitching a ride with Divine Favored El, players would avoid confronting those big creatures. Conversely, south of the World Tree, the strength of demon beasts was generally lower, mostly at Black Iron Rank or even Apprentice Rank, and the land in this area was relatively barren. Going southeast of the World Tree for 270 kilometers led to the southeastern exit of the Elf Forest, where the former Rock Cave Tribe, now Black Dragon Castle, protected the southeastern passage between the Elf Forest and the outside world. Approximately 250 kilometers directly south of the World Tree was the Dark Mountain Range. The demon beasts near the Dark Mountain Range were generally formidable, with some reaching silver levels, especially near the Dark Canyon where it bordered the Elf Forest, and Rivendell was located within the canyon, where Spider Queen Rose was stationed. About three kilometers further south from Rivendell was the Deep Rift Cave of the underground world. This... was all the currently unlocked maps in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡±! For the 1,200 players, a 300-kilometer area was already quite vast. With the instance in the Underground World and more players starting to try lifestyle gameplay, Eve began to feel short-handed. 1,200 people were ultimately too few, and it was time to recruit new helpers... However, considering maintaining order, Eve did not plan to launch a public test directly but continued to recruit third-phase beta players through a sign-up and selection process! Only this time, with her abundant divine power and preparation for future faith wars, she prepared to increase the recruitment by several times¡ª Nine thousand beta players for the third beta! Although she claimed to draw lucky ones from the registered users, Eve was actually selecting based on information, but she would lower the selection standards, not as stringent as the first and second tests. Moreover, this time Eve would further optimize the game by addressing some loopholes and risky game mechanics, like the perfect resurrection limit. With player levels rising, the perfect resurrection limit began to show some drawbacks, and Eve planned to make revisions during this opportunity. With a detailed beta plan in hand, Eve logged onto the Blue Star Network once more and posted the third beta¡¯s news on the official website. The Tianchao gaming community was abuzz once again with excitement at the news. Chapter 206 - 200 Black Dragon Returns Chapter 206: Chapter 200 Black Dragon Returns ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was scheduled for its third beta test on July 25, recruiting a total of 9,000 players! Eve didn¡¯t leave much time for beta test sign-ups. In fact... when she announced the third test, it was already July 20 on Blue Star. Five days until the third test was quite a surprising announcement for the netizens on Blue Star. However, as a large-scale virtual MMORPG with cutting-edge technology like accelerated cognition, as well as freedom and realism recognized by many netizens, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had long attracted a massive fan base. Once this news quietly appeared on the official website, it immediately caught the attention of netizens who had been keeping an eye on it daily for beta test notifications. In an instant, major game forums and news sites picked up this news. Numerous well-known game streamers, video producers, and influencers quickly shared it, expressing their anticipation for the third beta test of ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± All of a sudden, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± once again made headlines on major websites, drawing the attention of netizens. Its level of discussion was even starting to surpass that of the initial days of the first beta test. This virtual reality game, whose online popularity had slightly dipped after a month of calm, swiftly returned to the peak of its popularity! 9,000 people! That was no small number. Compared to the 300 people selected from tens of thousands for the first test, and the 900 people chosen from thousands for the second test, the chances of being selected this time were significantly higher with 9,000 slots available. For a while, many netizens flooded the official website of ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± registering for the third beta test in hopes of being among the 9,000 lucky ones. In just a day, the number of sign-ups for the third beta test of Elf Kingdom exceeded 300,000. And by the second day, the number of sign-ups surged further, directly surpassing two million! Yet, the number of sign-ups showed no sign of stopping, still rapidly increasing... The number of comments below the official announcement also skyrocketed as if on a rocket... ¡°Hahaha! Look at what I came across! The damned game finally released the third beta test! Waking up early every day to check the forums wasn¡¯t in vain!¡± ¡°Wow! The third test finally began! I was dying from waiting!¡± ¡°I could only watch beta players¡¯ videos every day; I was so jealous!¡± ¡°Though I haven¡¯t entered the game, I¡¯ve already fallen into the pit by watching videos. I¡¯ve signed up immediately, hoping the Luck King could possess me!¡± ¡°Caught off guard... I missed the sign-up time when the second test info came out. I can¡¯t miss it this time!¡± ¡°9,000 people... That¡¯s quite a lot! Feels like there¡¯s a chance!¡± ¡°Praying to the Goddess in the front row, hoping to get a beta slot!¡± It wasn¡¯t just the netizens who were thrilled. Upon learning about the third beta test, the beta players also got excited: ¡°Haha, finally some new people are falling into the pit.¡± ¡°9,000 people in one go! That¡¯s great!¡± ¡°Awesome, it felt like manpower was a bit lacking after the map expanded. This beta news is so timely.¡± ¡°Hehe, there¡¯ll be labor to help us do the dirty work!¡± ¡°When the third test opens, the player count will be over ten thousand, right? Legion battles won¡¯t be just a dream! Just thinking about it excites me...¡± ¡°July 25, huh? Five more days, can¡¯t wait!¡± Eve was astonished by the popularity of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± in the Blue Star Dynasty. She knew the ¡°game¡± she tinkered with had already achieved both popularity and reputation in Tianchao. After all, its solid core strength was there, unmatched by other games. Furthermore, on various video platforms, there were daily uploads from beta players, garnering high click rates! Yet, even though she understood ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was already popular, she didn¡¯t expect it to be this popular... However, the game¡¯s massive success was a good thing for Eve! This time, she continued to screen applicants according to the information filled out during sign-ups, primarily choosing those with long-term online gaming records. As Eve was joyfully relying on the system to sift through and select quality ¡°chives¡± on a large scale, she suddenly heard a murmuring prayer... Feeling a stirring in her heart, she immediately diverted her attention from the internet and focused on the Divine Country Space. Above the sky of the Divine Country, a bright star of faith twinkled non-stop, and Eve heard a clear, rough prayer: ¡°True God, Mairrel has returned! Mairrel traded for so many treasures! Cows! Sheep! Chickens! Mairrel bought them all back!¡± It was the Little Black Dragon. The prayer was filled with barely contained excitement. ¡°Mairrel? Did that guy really buy them back?¡± Eve felt a stirring in her heart, genuinely surprised. More than ten days ago, Black Dragon Mairrel volunteered to go to the Human World to buy some livestock breed stock, and Eve casually agreed. However, Eve didn¡¯t hold much hope. After all, it was a Black Dragon! With its terrifying appearance and the notorious reputation of Black Dragons, it would likely be targeted as an evil big boss and get surrounded and attacked once it reached the Human World. As for making deals... Eve didn¡¯t really think it was feasible. But now it seemed like this guy had indeed made some gains? Thinking of this, Eve immediately projected her consciousness and ¡°saw¡± through Black Dragon Mairrel¡¯s vision... At this moment, the Little Black Dragon was circling and dancing in the air, occasionally letting out jubilant screeches of ¡°rua~.¡± It had already arrived near the boundary between the Elf Forest and the Dark Mountain Range but hadn¡¯t progressed further into the Black Dragon Castle¡¯s region and was merely circling in the sky. Below it was a long convoy. The convoy was composed of livestock, including cows and sheep, numbering no less than 300 in total! Eve even noticed several ox carts loaded with wooden cages among the convoy, filled with poultry such as chickens, ducks, and geese! Did it really buy them back? And such a large quantity?! Eve was incredibly shocked. She knew how much general currency Mairrel had acquired from the players. It was basically just the loot from the Sorren Caravan mercenaries, totaling less than a thousand silver coins. But... was the purchasing power of the general currency really that high?! The chickens, ducks, and geese didn¡¯t matter. But hundreds of cows and sheep?! However, soon... Eve noticed something amiss. The entire convoy, apart from the livestock and poultry, was accompanied by over a dozen humans assisting in driving the carts and herding the cows and sheep. They wore shabby clothes, many patched, except for one leading person whose attire looked slightly tidier. The others appeared rather wretched. These humans had dark circles around their eyes, pale faces, and their expressions were filled with confusion and fear. Eve: ... *It felt like... Mairrel might have plundered them?* Chapter 207 - 201: Justice Black Dragon and Evil Elf Chapter 207: Chapter 201: Justice Black Dragon and Evil Elf Mairrel proudly circled in the air before landing on the ground, causing a cloud of dust to rise and sending the livestock and poultry into a frenzy. The cows and sheep quivered under the subtle dragon might, not daring to move an inch, with their legs clamped together and a foul puddle forming beneath them... The chickens, ducks, and geese crammed into the cages clucked, quacked, and honked incessantly, their wings trembling and feathers scattered all over the ground, creating quite a mess. Even the humans herding the cattle and sheep began to panic, some squatting down with their heads in their hands while others hid behind the animals, seemingly terrified of Mairrel. Seeing the humans in such a state, Mairrel attempted a smile he thought was friendly, but it came off as rather frightening, as he said, ¡°What are you afraid of? The great Mairrel won¡¯t eat you.¡± The only well-dressed human shakily asked, ¡°Bla¡ªBlack Dragon Lord, where... where do you need us to deliver your goods?¡± Game over. Upon hearing the human¡¯s title, Eve silently lit a candle in her heart for him. As expected, the Little Black Dragon¡¯s face immediately dropped, and he turned to the human leader, snarling, ¡°Idiot! How many times do I have to tell you? Mairrel is the great Silver Dragon! Call me Black Dragon again, and Mairrel will eat you!¡± The Little Black Dragon bared his teeth, his dragon might soaring, his smelly breath and sticky dragon saliva spraying all over the poor human leader, who was so scared that he wet himself and then burst into tears, crying and pleading, ¡°Yes! Yes! Great Silver Dragon Lord! Silver Dragon Mairrel Lord! I¡¯m an idiot! I shouldn¡¯t have called you by the wrong name... I¡¯m old and tough, my meat isn¡¯t good at all, please spare my life, Lord Mairrel...¡± ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s more like it!¡± Mairrel lifted his proud dragon head, looking very pleased with himself. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mairrel is a just Silver Dragon and a fair merchant. As long as you help me deliver the goods safely to my clansmen, I will let you leave.¡± ¡°Besides, hasn¡¯t Mairrel already paid each of you a silver coin as a running fee? This is an employment! A transaction! Mairrel is quite merciful and fair!¡± Little Black Dragon declared proudly. Eve: ... One silver coin as a running fee? *If she remembered correctly, even in the Dwarves¡¯ Black Rock City, a large mug of mead would cost a silver coin.* *From the nearest human village to the Black Dragon Castle, even though the way was smooth, it would at least be a few hundred kilometers, right?* *Even eating dry rations along the way would consume more than a silver coin, wouldn¡¯t it?* *What a touching and righteous Black Dragon indeed...* Thinking of this, Eve let her voice echo in Mairrel¡¯s mind, ¡°Mairrel, where did you purchase the livestock, and how much did it cost in total?¡± Upon hearing the voice in his mind, Remier¡¯s eyes lit up. He nodded in a certain direction and then shook his head, responding in draconic, ¡°Rua! Under the True God¡¯s grace, this is a transaction Mairrel made with a Border Earl of the Human World!¡± ¡°Those humans are very generous and warm-hearted. Mairrel, with his exceptional bargaining skills, closed the deal for less than a thousand silver coins!¡± ¡°Moreover, Mairrel hired the Border Earl¡¯s retainer for a commission of 20 silver coins, these cowards, to assist him in transporting the goods!¡± Eve: ... *There was no need to ask about the details; she could probably guess how the bargaining went.* *However, she didn¡¯t really care either.* *Whether it was a transaction or forced selling, since Mairrel had brought the goods back, it was now hers.* ¡°Rua! Under the True God¡¯s grace, please send some clansmen to receive the goods. Although Mairrel is a righteous dragon, I do not wish for these humans to see my magnificent castle lest they attract despicable and shameless human thieves!¡± Mairrel added. This left Eve momentarily taken aback, then she realized, *No wonder Mairrel contacted her through prayer before even reaching home, wanting to keep it under wraps.* *After all, it was common knowledge in the Segis World that dragons collect treasures and hide them in their nests.* *Once news of a dragon¡¯s nest spread, countless human adventurers would rush in, dreaming of becoming dragon slayers and getting rich off the dragon¡¯s treasure.* *Even though Mairrel was not particularly afraid of dragon-slaying heroes with a great protector, it would still be annoying to have a bunch of overconfident adventurers disturbing his leisurely dragon life if his lair was discovered by humans.* *The Little Black Dragon may not have been the brightest, but he wasn¡¯t stupid either.* Thinking of this, Eve contacted the Natural Saintess Alice, instructing her to send players for assistance. Black Dragon Castle was equipped with a direct teleportation array to the Chosen City, and Mairrel was about a dozen kilometers from his castle. Thus, after waiting a few hours, Mairrel saw dozens of fully armed elves arriving. These players had accepted the mission! These players always bounded along, some swinging large swords and performing air skills, like a band of ruffians. However, upon noticing the humans near Mairrel, they immediately composed themselves, forming ranks and taking on a more serious demeanor. But when they saw the long line of livestock, their eyes lit up, ¡°Wow! So many livestock?!¡± ¡°Amazing! Mairrel actually bought them?¡± ¡°So many?! Didn¡¯t he just raid a village?¡± ¡°Hahaha, now the animal husbandry mission can be easily completed!¡± ¡°Nice one, Lord Mairrel!¡± Hearing the players¡¯ praises, Mairrel lifted his dragon head proudly, ¡°Hmph! Whenever Lord Mairrel makes a move, everything is naturally effortless!¡± Among the dozens of players who came over, many had hung around with Mairrel previously. They frequently took on tasks released by the Little Black Dragon to serve him, forging connections over barbecued skewers and scale armor brushing, almost treating them as their own. Therefore, conversing with them felt incredibly familiar to Black Dragon Mairrel. As for the two dozen humans, they instinctively widened their eyes at the sight of the incoming players. El...elves?! So many?! In that instant, they thought they were mistaken. Yet... those tall figures, pointed ears, and their appearance... so beautiful that they seemed just like the most exquisite and elegant nobles of the empire, all pointed to one unmistakable fact¡ª They were indeed elves! They had stumbled upon mythical elves in the wild! Live ones! Instantly, everyone¡¯s eyes filled with curiosity and excitement. Elves! They were elves! The most beautiful and noble race in the Segis World! For a moment, their curiosity even outweighed their fear of the Black Dragon. This was especially true for the impeccably dressed human leader, who had been so terrified by Mairrel that he lost control... He was a steward of the Border Earl of the Holy Mania Empire, a second-level manager in the border castle. At this moment, seeing this group of players, his breath quickened... Elves! Could there actually be so many elves near the Elf Forest? And they¡¯re so young too! As a steward, he was also responsible for managing the servants and slaves in the castle, so he was naturally quite familiar with the slave market. In the black markets of the Holy Mania Empire, even a male elf could sell for more than 5,000 gold coins. As for females, well, that would be several times more! Each one was contested fiercely by nobles! So, upon seeing the elves, his professional instinct nearly kicked in, and he subconsciously started calculating how much these elves would be worth on the black market... Of course, he was merely thinking it through. Even a fool could see that this Black Dragon and these elves had a significant relationship. The shock brought on by this discovery even eclipsed the amazement of seeing dozens of elves gathered together. By the Eternal Lord! When did the noble and kind elves become entangled with the vile and cruel Black Dragon?! And there were so many of them?! Hold on... with such well-equipped elves, were they the clansmen mentioned by the Black Dragon? A Black Dragon had actually enlisted a group of elves as subordinates?! How did it manage to do that?! Thinking of this, the steward¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief at the absurdity of it all. And the discussions among the players shattered his perception... ¡°Hahaha! Cows and sheep, now we have steak and lamb skewers! We¡¯ve grown tired of eating demon beast meat every day.¡± ¡°Eat, eat! All you think about is eating! These are breeding stock, we¡¯re supposed to nurture them!¡± ¡°Heh, just joking.¡± ¡°But... raising sheep and cattle takes a long time, right?¡± ¡°Take our time figuring it out. Anyway, we don¡¯t lack magical plants...¡± ¡°Chickens and ducks grow faster, they should quickly become a flock, but... when the third test people come, I feel like it won¡¯t be enough to eat again.¡± ¡°Better than nothing! Having meat is already good!¡± The steward: ... *Eating... meat?!* The steward¡¯s eyes widened. *What did these elves say?* *They wanted to eat meat?!* *The livestock wasn¡¯t food planned for the Black Dragon, but for the elves?!* By the Eternal Lord! *The elves, who were always vegetarians, actually said they wanted to eat meat!* *Was he going mad?!* But the players soon turned their attention to the humans again. ¡°By the way, Mairrel, why did you even capture humans?¡± ¡°Ugh... after getting used to elf models, these humans look so ugly...¡± Hearing the players¡¯ words, Mairrel glanced at them as if they were fools, saying, ¡°These are the humans I hired for herding the livestock. Did you think a noble dragon like me should drive livestock?!¡± The players chuckled sheepishly at his response. But when they looked at the steward and others again, the strange scrutiny made them feel the shivers running down their spines, ¡°They seem surprised, as if they¡¯ve recognized us as elves, should we silence them?¡± ¡°Hmm... right, humans seem to be enemies of the elves...¡± *Silence them...?!* *Elves considering silencing them?!* The unfortunate old steward felt his heart condition acting up. However, Mairrel¡¯s words instantly brought him from hell to heaven, ¡°Rua! What nonsense are you spouting?! These are the humans I¡¯ve hired. If you want to earn experience, go to the Underworld. Mairrel stands for justice and will never slaughter innocent lives!¡± After speaking, the Black Dragon glanced once more at the dozen or so trembling humans, showing his teeth and growling, ¡°Alright, your task is done. Lord Mairrel is satisfied, you can leave! Be gone! Be gone!¡± Upon hearing the Black Dragon, the dozen humans breathed a collective sigh of relief, then quickly turned to flee, fearing that the next moment the savage Black Dragon and those bizarre elves would turn on them... And when they had fled far enough and confirmed that they could no longer see the Black Dragon or the elves, the old steward clutched his chest and murmured, ¡°Damn... I must have seen a ghost today...¡± ¡°Today¡¯s discoveries... must be reported to the Earl...¡± Chapter 208 - 202: Half-Beast Royal Court Chapter 208: Chapter 202: Half-Beast Royal Court Black Dragon Returns in Triumph! When Mairrel and dozens of players returned to Black Dragon Castle with over two hundred cows and sheep, along with a few carts of chickens, ducks, and geese, many informed players came to watch. ¡°Rua! How was it? How did Mairrel do with this trade?¡± Looking at the attracted Chosen Ones, Little Black Dragon felt very proud. ¡°The trade was really successful? And they bought so much at once?! Is the purchasing power of silver coins really that strong?¡± ¡°Impressive, impressive! Things are different when a dragon steps in!¡± The players were quite excited. However, soon enough, everyone focused their attention on the settlement of the livestock. ¡°Lord Mairrel! My backyard is quite large, how about you let me raise a cow?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve herded sheep before! I can take care of these sheep...¡± ¡°Lord Mairrel, I see some chickens in this cage looking drowsy, as if they¡¯re having a heatstroke, maybe...¡± ¡°Scram!¡± Mairrel guarded the livestock she bought, baring her teeth at the players who spoke up, ¡°These are what Mairrel bought, so everything must listen to Mairrel! Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you cunning guys are up to!¡± Players: ... In the end, the players didn¡¯t manage to coax even a single sheep or chicken from Little Black Dragon. Under Eve¡¯s oracle, Black Dragon Mairrel arranged the livestock near Black Dragon Castle. This was a small border area between the Dark Mountain Range and the Elf Forest, relatively hidden. Under Black Dragon¡¯s orders, the players cleared the trees and set up a breeding area. However, breeding was different from planting. In the Segis World, the elves could accelerate plant growth through magic, but the breeding of livestock and poultry was a different story. To be self-sufficient, it would definitely take time. For quite some time, if the players wanted to eat meat, they probably had to rely on Demon Beasts. Fortunately, some of the Demon Beasts in the Underworld, although not particularly tasty, were abundant and easy to catch, barely satisfying the needs of some meat lovers. Moreover, although the Demon Beasts in the safe zone were nearly wiped out, the number of Demon Beasts in the northern part of the Elf Forest remained large. As the magic power in the core area of the Elf Forest increased, more and more Demon Beasts began to migrate here, making the forest area explored by players increasingly lively. In short, the completion of the [Livestock Breeding] task also marked the completion of the last side quest in the [Force Development] mission. What was left were the repetitive daily tasks in the [Force Development] mission, such as [Resource Collection], [Main City Construction], and [Breeding of Livestock and Poultry]. Lifestyle players became more and more immersed in farming, upgrading by grinding task experience and contributions. The construction team of the insane Mengmeng Committee became addicted to building, and after completing the basic construction of Chosen City, they began to delicately carve the entire city, making this dream city full of Blue Star flavor increasingly beautiful and magnificent. Even Feilengcui gradually recovered its former grandeur with the assistance of the players. Meanwhile, combat players concentrated on the Underworld, clearing shadow monster instances or hunting Demon Beasts and monsters in the Underground Forest. Of course, there were still players continuing to venture north, searching for new Demon Beasts in the Elf Forest¡ª As the Demon Beasts migrated, quite a few new species of Demon Beasts indeed entered the activity range of the players. Some even claimed to have seen creatures resembling unicorns! This matter caused a sensation among the players, but when they all rushed to find them, they were disappointed to find nothing... In summary, with the opening of the Underworld map, the general gameplay direction of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± became clearer. Of course, players were still exploring the details. For example, lifestyle players were exploring cooking, brewing, and even the making of magic potions, while combat players continued to explore deep into Rivendell or the Underground Forest, challenging powerful Demon Beasts, etc. The forces under Eve entered a relatively stable development period. Trade with the Dwarves of the Underworld also made the entire Elf Forest increasingly prosperous, and even the elves of the Flame Tribe noticeably felt the sudden improvement in living standards. Although there wasn¡¯t a main storyline for the time being, the whole Elf Forest had become increasingly busy, with many tasks needing people to do. Eve understood that this actually meant the expansion of Elf Forest was really reaching a bottleneck. The constraint wasn¡¯t anything else, but manpower! However, the third closed beta¡¯s time was drawing nearer, and the new crops that Eve and the beta players expected were about to arrive... ... To the south of the Elf Forest. Beyond the narrow Dark Canyon, through the stretch of the Dark Mountain Range, what unfolded before one¡¯s eyes was an endless desert. This was the Death Desert, the largest desert in the entire Segis World. It was said that in antiquity this desert used to be a dense rainforest, and during the Titan Era, it was where the Titan Giants¡¯ court was located. Unfortunately, the war between dragons and Titans destroyed everything. The once long-standing Titan Civilization vanished, the Titan Court turned to ruins, and the rainforest became a desert. Only scattered oases barely maintained the desert¡¯s vitality... And now, the death desert was dominated by the Half-Beast, a sentient species migrating from the north thousands of years ago during the peak of the Silver Civilization, with the aid of the elves. The Half-Beast were once a branch of the northern Beastmen, descendants of the Beastman¡¯s raiding after having captured humans and turning them into slaves. Unfortunately, the half-orcs seemed to inherit all the shortcomings of both Beastmen and humans. They had the ugliness and stupidity of Beastmen, but also the greed and weakness of humans. Yes... weak. Compared to true Beastmen, the Half-Beast¡¯s physique was considered weak. And as a result, the Half-Beast were doubly discriminated against by both humans and Beastmen. Until more than two thousand years ago, a great hero was born among the Half-Beast tribes¡ªUller. Uller was not a Half-Beast. In actuality, she was an awakened tribal totem among the Half-Beast tribes. Or rather... a fake god! Through her efforts, the Half-Beast who had migrated to the Death Desert spent a hundred years unifying their kingdom and established the Half-Beast Royal Court in the core oasis of Death Desert¡ªWakachina. The Half-Beast, strengthened, finally established a foothold in the Segis World, becoming a considerable force. And Uller, by condensing the faith of the Half-Beast into the Hunting Divine Power, successfully became a god, and was known as the Hunting God Uller. Subsequently, she also led the Half-Beast to rejoin the Beastman¡¯s forces, becoming a subordinate force of the Beastman Alliance, and was granted the new Godly Power ¡°Winter¡± by the chief god of the Beastmen¡ªthe God of Destruction and War, Lord, thus becoming the Winter and Hunting God! Similarly, Uller also became a deity under the War God system of one of the three major divine systems of the Heavenly Realm. During the millennium-old war of the gods, Uller joined the Heavenly Alliance Army, fiercely defeating the Elf Clan, and allowed the Half-Beast to gain nominal rule over the southern areas of the Dark Mountain Range and the Elf Forest after the war. For centuries, the Half-Beast had been striving to clear these areas of any remaining elf forces. Until today. This is the history of the Half-Beast... Wakachina, the Half-Beast Royal Court. The 73rd monarch of the Half-Beast, Lionheart King Imsh, sat on his throne, looking silently at the few trembling Half-orc Warriors tied up below him. After a moment, he took the Lion Heart Sword offered by his subordinate and pointed it at the kneeling Half-orc Warriors in front of him. His rough voice was emotionless, ¡°So... you¡¯re saying that you were defeated by a group of elves? The entire Rock Cave Tribe was wiped out?¡± ¡°Ye... Yes... King, those elves won¡¯t die!¡± The Half-orc Warrior stammered, apparently still harboring endless fear over the scene he had witnessed. After hearing him, the Lionheart King let out a sneer, ¡°Won¡¯t die? Are you still trying to find an excuse for your weakness? Immortal... could they be the undead? No, the undead will also be purified, even the followers of the Death God are not immortal, you foolish creatures!¡± ¡°No... it¡¯s not like that, I really saw them come back to life after dying!¡± The Half-orc Warrior insisted. ¡°And... and it seemed like there was a powerful fake god behind them. Even... even the summoned Totem Guardian, Lord Walker, seemed to have fallen...¡± The Half-orc Warrior¡¯s voice grew quieter. Totem Guardian Walker? Upon hearing this name, Lionheart King Imsh¡¯s pupils subtly contracted. Demigod Walker was a divine envoy highly regarded by Father God, and had long been responsible for hunting down the remaining strong individuals of the Elf Clan for centuries. As the Half-Beast¡¯s outpost in the Elf Forest, the Rock Cave Tribe had naturally summoned this great demigod more than once over the centuries. And although a demigod was not a True God, they too had embarked on the path to godhood, reaching the pinnacle of life levels in the Segis World. Slandering the fall of a demigod, especially when this demigod was a divine envoy of the True God, would bring severe punishment to any believer! *But seeing the nearly collapsed expression of the Half-orc Warrior, Lionheart King Imsh felt his heart pounding uncontrollably. He suddenly had this absurd feeling.* *He suddenly thought... what the other party said might really be true!* Just then, a female Half-Beast wearing an extravagant priest robe entered the large tent of the Royal Court. Her head was adorned with a bone crown, her face painted with oils, her expression very solemn. Upon seeing her, Lionheart King Imsh immediately set down the Longsword in his hand and directly rose from his throne to pay her a respectful bow, ¡°Chief Priest, what brings you here?¡± The female Half-Beast Priest looked at the tied-up Half-orc Warriors and then glanced at the submissive Lionheart King Imsh... She sighed, then said solemnly, ¡°Father God has issued an oracle.¡± ¡°In the Elf Forest, a newborn True God has appeared, gathering elves from the continent. Two months ago, they obliterated the Rock Cave Tribe, even Lord Walker fell at their hand...¡± A newborn True God? The fall of a demigod?! Lionheart King Imsh¡¯s expression was stunned. He took a deep breath, his expression gradually becoming serious, ¡°And then?¡± The Chief Priest looked at him, her expression gradually becoming fervent, ¡°Father God is extremely enraged and intends to launch a religious war to destroy the newborn True God in the Elf Forest!¡± Inside the large tent, there was a deathly silence. Only the howling wind outside could be heard, the clouds rolling in from the horizon obscured the sunlight, making the tent alternately dim and bright. The rainy season had arrived. The Death Desert was about to experience a change... ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª End of Volume Two Chapter 209 - 203: Chosen One, Are You Ready? Chapter 209: Chapter 203: Chosen One, Are You Ready? ¡°Haha! I got selected!¡± Blue Star, Tianchao, Second Ring of the Imperial Capital, in an ordinary residential building. A boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen excitedly stared at the message on his phone, his face beaming with delight. The boy was named Ji Dong, a recent high school graduate waiting for university admission. For now, he was staying at home. As a reward for getting into Imperial University, his parents gifted him with the most popular immersion pod of the time after the college entrance exams. Currently, he was hopelessly addicted to virtual games... He hugged his smartphone, overwhelmed with joy, and rolled around on the bed. The message on the phone was simple: ¡°Congratulations! You have been selected as a third-phase beta tester for ¡®Elf Kingdom!¡¯ Your invitation code is: 130-114-504.¡± The third-phase beta tester for ¡®Elf Kingdom!¡¯ He couldn¡¯t help but be thrilled. ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ was a groundbreaking virtual online game that had exploded in popularity over the past few months, captivating the entire Tianchao network. This virtual MMORPG, featuring cutting-edge technology, had long left similar games far behind with its unique thought-acceleration technology, highly realistic game modeling and physics engine, anthropomorphic NPC system, painstaking settings and game details, as well as its high freedom and participation, becoming the hottest topic in the gaming world... Some in the industry even joked that it was a game for traveling to another world, an alien conspiracy. Ji Dong had discovered videos about this game on the video site well before the college entrance exams ended, sparking his interest in ¡®Elf Kingdom.¡¯ Unfortunately, he was too busy studying to register for the first testing phase. But even if he had been free during the first test, it would have been tough to become a first-phase beta tester. The reason was simple: this game, praised as a masterpiece by many streamers and professional players, had very limited testing slots. For instance, the first test only recruited 300 players, yet nearly 800,000 people applied! It was truly a one-in-a-million chance, and those selected were almost certainly Luck Kings. The second test expanded the player base, recruiting a total of 900 people. Having just finished his college entrance exams, Ji Dong immediately signed up. However, the number of applicants for the second test was even more astonishing than before, with 3 million people signing up even though the recruitment increased to 900! As a result, the chance of getting selected was even slimmer... Unsurprisingly, Ji Dong was not chosen. After some time passed, the officials finally announced the third beta test. This time, ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ opened up 9,000 slots! This thrilled many people, with netizens eagerly refreshing the ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ official forum as soon as they woke up, looking forward to the new test with bated breath. Equally excited, Ji Dong signed up again! However, when he saw the message ¡°You are the 14,346,755th player to sign up for ¡®Elf Kingdom.¡¯ Thank you for your participation¡± after applying, he felt his heart sink... The number of slots had increased, but so had the number of applicants! Fourteen million applicants? What on earth?! *Wasn¡¯t that just terrifying?* Although the invention of immersion pods and the advent of the virtual network era opened up a new realm for gaming, with the maximum online player count for virtual games surpassing ten million a year ago... Never before had a virtual reality game reached a signup count in the tens of millions during its initial test phase! And it must be noted, Ji Dong didn¡¯t even sign up on the last day... By the end of the signup period, total signups for the third phase of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ had already surpassed 20 million! It was said that a significant number of foreign netizens had even... After watching Tianchao gamers flaunt game videos online, they figured out ways to bypass internet restrictions just to register domestically. A great game was universally popular. Let alone Tianchao, the first to develop immersion pods and lead the charge into the virtual era, the quality showcased in ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ videos crushed those of foreign virtual games! The fantasy theme was naturally more appealing to foreign gamers, sparking their intense curiosity and fervent pursuit... Many foreign gaming gurus even strongly requested that ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ open an international test server. Unfortunately, the usually low-profile ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ officials never responded to such demands. Ultimately, the signup numbers for the third phase of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ reached a staggering 22 million! Although the chance, proportionally, was better than the second phase, it was still daunting! *Not exactly one in a million, but at least one in thousands...* However, this time Ji Dong¡¯s luck had finally turned around. Just when he thought he had no hope, he unexpectedly received a congratulatory text, naming him one of the 9,000 lucky ones selected! ... July 25, twelve noon. Having thoroughly studied all sorts of strategy posts on the official forum, Ji Dong eagerly awaited the third beta test of ¡®Elf Kingdom.¡¯ He checked the time and couldn¡¯t wait any longer, hopping into the game pod and booting up ¡®Elf Kingdom,¡¯ which he had long downloaded. ¡°Start... Elf Kingdom!¡± [Ding¡ª] [Game connection successful...] [New version detected, ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ 1.3] [Version updating...] [Ding¡ªUpdate successful] [Update Log V1: Optimized game resurrection function. Removed ¡®perfect resurrection count,¡¯ replaced with resurrection coin system. Perfect resurrection consumes resurrection coins, which can be redeemed in the contribution mall. The higher the player¡¯s level, the more resurrection coins consumed for perfect resurrection.] [Update Log V2: Optimized exchange and reclass system. Set the ¡®World Tree¡¯ as the new exchange point. Players could directly pray to the World Tree in Chosen City to enter the exchange mall and reclass interface, no longer needing to visit Natural Temple to find the Goddess statue.] [Update Log V3: Optimized red-name punishment mechanism. The extent of red-name punishment correlated with the player¡¯s level. The higher the level, the more severe the red-name punishment.] [Update Log V4: Optimized face-sculpting mechanism. In character creation, the appearance of the created character would be scored. The system¡¯s base character score was 60; below 50 would not allow character creation.] ... Resurrection coins? Exchange system? Red-name mechanism? Face-sculpting? Ji Dong was momentarily paused. Because he had done some homework in advance, these terms sounded somewhat familiar to him. But as a newcomer, they also seemed strange... *However, he wasn¡¯t too concerned.* Accompanied by soothing music, Ji Dong¡¯s vision went dark, then brightened. He felt a sudden sense of haziness in his consciousness and a change in gravity, bringing him to the character creation interface. ¡°I¡¯m in!¡± Ji Dong¡¯s heart leaped with joy. ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ only allowed players to choose the Elf race, but the appearance could be customized. Yet, Ji Dong didn¡¯t understand why face sculpting required scoring, and why low scores would prevent character creation... *¡±Could it be to stop people from making their characters too ugly? Is the official team that obsessive? Ugly is ugly; what¡¯s the big deal...¡±* Ji Dong muttered. Of course, he would take his time to sculpt a good face for himself. After all, who wouldn¡¯t want their character to look handsome in a game? It¡¯s like raising a daughter or son. Except for some eccentric players. After spending half an hour creating a handsome face that he was very satisfied with, and getting a score of 65 from the system, Ji Dong confirmed his selection. His in-game nickname was¡ª¡±Transforming Ji Gang!¡± The screen went dark, and Ji Dong officially entered the game! His consciousness shook, and a sense of indescribable weightlessness surged through him. His vision began to play the cutscene of ¡®Elf Kingdom.¡¯ Ji Dong had watched this cutscene countless times on video sites, so he intended to skip it. But at the last second, he decided to suppress his eagerness and watch it again... With familiar and melodious music, breathtaking scenes appeared before Ji Dong. The majestic World Tree, the beautiful Elf City, the glorious Silver Civilization, and... the tragic War of the Gods. Having watched this storyline countless times, Ji Dong knew it by heart. However, Ji Dong observed that this storyline seemed to have been edited and shortened compared to the online version. ¡°Did they cut the cutscene?¡± Ji Dong was curious. Yet, just as the War of the Gods ended, the World Tree wilted, and he thought the opening story was about to finish... The style of the entire cutscene suddenly shifted! The story hadn¡¯t ended. The background music grew more intense and heroic, introducing unprecedented scenes in the cutscene¡ª The Holy Daughter¡¯s prayer, flashing lights on the formidable World Tree! In an instant, three hundred Chosen Ones descended! They journeyed through the forest, battled Demon Beasts; they explored ruins and fought Goblins; they defeated the incarnations of Divine and restored the Holy City of Feilengcui; they built their Chosen City brick by brick! Then... nine hundred Chosen Ones descended again! They defeated the Half-Beast hunting teams and saved the returning Elf Clan; they fought alongside and tamed the Black Dragon, engaging in a final battle against the Half-Beasts... The Elf Forest was restored, the avatar of the Goddess descended, the World Tree revived, and all things worshipped... The Chosen Ones began to venture beyond the forest! They explored Rivendell, conquered the Earth Cave Spider Empress... They delved into the Underworld, befriending the shadowy Dwarves... As he watched the series of vibrant scenes and storyline, listening to the exhilarating background music, Ji Dong widened his mouth in awe. As an avid fan often browsing ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ videos, Ji Dong knew that these clips... these animations... were the in-game stories experienced by the first and second phase beta players! The ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ officials had converted the players¡¯ game clips into the cutscene for the third phase beta test! Furthermore, the edited clips seamlessly fit in with the earlier cutscene, perfectly connecting as if it were an epic legendary story! One could even call it a fantasy film crafted and starred by the players! *All at once, Ji Dong felt a profound sense of epic and involvement wash over him...* At the cutscene¡¯s conclusion, his vision suddenly blackened. Golden letters appeared before his eyes: ¡°Chosen One, are you ready?¡± In that instant, Ji Dong felt his blood boiling. Chapter 210 - 204 Transforming Ji Gang Chapter 210: Chapter 204 Transforming Ji Gang After the storyline animation, it was finally time for the profession selection as mentioned in the guide. And Ji Dong saw for the first time the leader of the faction in the game, the Goddess¡ªEve Yggdrasil, during his profession selection in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± It was different from the game videos he saw on the barrage video network. In the game, perhaps because of the stereoscopic and realistic feel, the Goddess appeared even more divine and majestic, beautiful and dignified. Moreover, her voice was gentle and pleasant, quite cordial... And combined with her legendary, extraordinary power. No wonder the Goddess became the most popular character in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± Who wouldn¡¯t like such a faction leader? Ji Dong admired the model of the Goddess curiously for a while, took a series of screenshots with ¡°click, click¡± and posted them to his social circle for some bragging, then selected the strength-type profession for himself. He had his reasons for choosing the strength-type profession. Currently, the strength-type profession was widely recognized as the most user-friendly in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± This was because the equipment for the strength-type profession was the most abundant in the game, especially the confiscated and modified Half-Beast equipment, which had already overflowed. In this situation, new players could buy suitable initial equipment at a low price. This was clearly stated in the game¡¯s strategy guide. After choosing his profession, and receiving the skills ¡°Cross Slash¡± and ¡°Identify¡± randomly granted by the Goddess, Ji Dong officially entered the world of ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± Now, he was no longer Ji Dong, but ¡°Transforming Ji Gang.¡± ... A slight dizziness came over him, and Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s consciousness felt a little hazy. Then, as his senses gradually became clearer, he heard a noisy clamor coming from all around, and a rush of fresh air so invigorating that it made him want to take a few more deep breaths... hit him. Transforming Ji Gang opened his eyes, then couldn¡¯t help but gape in astonishment. He found himself in an open square, densely packed with players, with flashes of light as new members appeared from time to time. Most of them, like him, wore simple hemp robes or wooden armor and wielded wooden magic wands or wooden swords, typical of the new players in the third beta test. Of course, there were also some fully equipped, gorgeously and high-end outfitted veteran beta testers, whom he greatly envied. The square was bustling with noise. Having read the guide, Transforming Ji Gang knew this must be the central square of the Chosen City. He looked down at his hand, clenched it tightly, and his expression was full of excitement, ¡°It¡¯s so realistic! No wonder everyone jokes that it¡¯s like crossing into another world!¡± Then, he curiously began to explore the new player main city where he had descended, supposedly built brick by brick by veteran players in the beta test... Delicate oriental gardens, orderly Western-style manors, reconstructed miracle buildings, and player residences of various styles... The different styles of architecture came together, perfectly combined under the hands of skilled designers, not creating any sense of dissonance. The liveliness of the wooden buildings made everything look indeed like a city from a dream! ¡°Spectacular! So many veteran beta players! How amazing it is that in such a short time, they built such a city...¡± Transforming Ji Gang couldn¡¯t help but marvel. He looked back and saw the World Tree, said to be a thousand meters tall. The thick branches blocked out the sun, surrounded by clouds, appearing quite magnificent. And a Black Dragon that occasionally flew across the sky with a prolonged cry of ¡°rua~¡± ¡°rua~¡± intensified Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s feeling of truly being in a fantastical world! ¡°Awesome! Now this is a fantasy world!¡± His heart was brimming with excitement. Transforming Ji Gang wasn¡¯t in a hurry to complete tasks; instead, he began curiously wandering around the Chosen City. If he remembered correctly, the guide mentioned that when new players joined, the veteran players would receive tasks to lead the newcomers. So all he needed to do was wait for someone to approach him. Transforming Ji Gang walked through the city while admiring the main cityscape within the game. On both sides of the street, there were quite a few small shops opened by veteran players, selling fruits, equipment, materials, and even small restaurants and newly opened hotels where players could stay! And on the hotel, it was written in Chinese, ¡°Warmly welcome new players to stay! Fifty percent off for third-beta players!¡± which opened Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s eyes: ¡°Is this hotel opened by veteran players? Providing accommodation for new players?¡± Then, Transforming Ji Gang also saw groups of veteran players hurriedly passing by him from time to time. Their eyes were sharp and piercing, clad in exquisite standard equipment, many covered in blood, carrying bulging bags, exuding an aura of hostility, making Transforming Ji Gang take more than a few glances as well as feel an inexplicable sense of intimidation. ¡°Are those the players returning to hand in their tasks? They look like they¡¯ve been in battles and seem very formidable, just like mercenaries in novels...¡± He excitedly muttered to himself. Then, he saw a remarkably handsome silver-haired male elf riding a spider pass by in front of him. The spider beneath him was about the size of a person, appearing both ferocious and majestic, quickly maneuvering through the crowd, which startled him a bit. ¡°Is that the Earth Cave Spider mount mentioned online? They said not many people in the entire server have obtained one yet.¡± Transforming Ji Gang looked on with envy. However, when he tried to look at the person¡¯s nickname, he found the person didn¡¯t have a green name. ¡°No name?¡± Transforming Ji Gang was slightly taken aback. Could it be... this wasn¡¯t a player? An NPC? At this moment, he heard a shout from behind: ¡°Saradiel! Put my mount down! You rascal, running off again! The class isn¡¯t over yet!¡± Then, Transforming Ji Gang saw the elf riding the Earth Cave Spider stop, turning back with a warm smile, ¡°Mr. Li Mu, I¡¯ve already completed today¡¯s lesson. I heard someone saw a Unicorn in the northern forest again. Unicorns are the best partners of the Elf Royal Family, and I¡¯d like to take a look, so I¡¯m borrowing your mount.¡± After speaking, in a swift turn, he patted the spider beneath him, and dashed off... ¡°This guy! He¡¯s getting better at slipping away.¡± The player called Li Mu, who had chased up, showed a helpless expression. Li Mu? Brother Mu?! Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s heart skipped a beat, then he felt delighted. Wasn¡¯t this the famous veteran player in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡±?! Just as he was about to go up and add a friend, another team of fully armed veteran players passed by him... ¡°Make way! Make way! Urgent matters, thank you!¡± After this team of veteran players passed, Li Mu was no longer in sight. This left him slightly regretful. He had wanted to get to know the legendary veteran player! *Hmm... The name Sarandir seems a bit familiar, an NPC, perhaps?* *That expression just now was so vivid...* *It really didn¡¯t look like an NPC!* Still full of curiosity, Transforming Ji Gang continued to wander around the Chosen City. Gradually, he passed through the streets and came to an array that gleamed with light. The array was surrounded by veteran players with various equipment, their cries rising and falling: ¡°Shadow instance! Need a level 15 mage skilled in Fireball Technique! Four looking for one! Quick come!¡± ¡°Level 20 graduation team taking clients through the instance! 2000 contribution points for an hour! Fair price and fast speed!¡± ¡°Buying Shadow Fragment gemstones, offer your price!¡± Transforming Ji Gang curiously watched these players, realizing this was likely a teleportation point on the map; checking his mini map confirmed it. This array was the Teleportation Array to Black Dragon Castle. ¡°I remember the game video said that Black Dragon Castle serves as a transit station to the Underworld, right?¡± Seeing the lingering Transforming Ji Gang, several veteran players brightened up and hurried over, warmly saying, ¡°Newcomer? Doing an instance? Offering a carry in a boss team, four carrying one, an hour for 2000 contribution points, guaranteeing level 11 in one day! If you¡¯re new, RMB is acceptable too!¡± Carrying a newcomer through an instance? Contribution points required? Transforming Ji Gang was slightly puzzled. But he quickly waved it off, saying, ¡°Uh... no, no, I¡¯m planning to do tasks to level up.¡± Transforming Ji Gang had watched a lot of videos beforehand. He knew that contribution points were like the currency in ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± and that the current exchange rate between contribution points and Tianchao¡¯s RMB was 5 to 1, so 2000 contribution points equaled 400 bucks. Transforming Ji Gang still didn¡¯t want to spend that money¡ªit was too expensive. Moreover... he always thought that in online games, leveling up by doing tasks was more interesting as it allowed players to understand some plots and stories! ¡°Doing tasks? You¡¯ll be doing a lot of them. Without grinding for five or six days, you won¡¯t be able to level up to 11. And without reaching level 11, no one will take you to fight monsters in the Underground Forest. Grinding monsters is still the fastest for leveling up as a newbie.¡± After hearing him, a few players shook their heads. Transforming Ji Gang smiled and turned to flee. Seeing him behave like this, the veteran players didn¡¯t say anything further. Leaving the Teleportation Array¡¯s area, Transforming Ji Gang began wandering the city again. Watching the players coming and going around him, he scratched his head, somewhat confused, ¡°Didn¡¯t the guide say that veteran players would take tasks to lead newcomers? Why have I not seen any veterans guiding newcomers, but instead, seen offers to carry them through instances?¡± Thinking of this, Transforming Ji Gang looked around again, then finally discovered the issue... It¡¯s not that there weren¡¯t enthusiastic veteran players guiding newcomers to get familiar with ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± The key was... most of the newcomers being surrounded by veteran players were female players from the third test. Like Transforming Ji Gang, a rugged guy, seemed like nobody cared. *Transforming Ji Gang: ...* *¡±This is way too real?¡±* In fact, because the third test recruited 9000 players at once, the 1200 veteran players weren¡¯t enough to cover. Moreover, with the expanded map, the increased tasks, and Eve establishing the shadow monster instance, many players went to do various tasks or ran instances. Even with the tasks available for leading newcomers, considering the rewards, not many players took them up. However, even so, the game¡¯s system kindly provided a novice guide manual. Now, with the task system becoming increasingly complete, even without veteran guidance, novices could actually make their way around. After a while, Transforming Ji Gang gave up the idea of finding a veteran player to back him up, and started following the game¡¯s novice guide to look for beginner tasks. ¡°The novice guide says... new players can go to Feilengcui to find Elf NPCs for daily tasks, or directly take up some resource-gathering tasks in the Chosen City...¡± ¡°I remember the guide said that the task system in ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ automatically generates according to the player¡¯s construction progress; the more advanced the task, the greater the reward...¡± ¡°Uh... livestock farming? This one looks good, the rewards seem pretty high!¡± Suddenly, Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s eyes brightened, having found his target. Chapter 211 - 205: The Illusion of Hard Labor Chapter 211: Chapter 205: The Illusion of Hard Labor Following the system¡¯s prompt, Transforming Ji Gang followed the mini-map and arrived at the teleportation array marked ¡°Black Dragon Castle.¡± ¡°This quest seems to be about finding the task issued by Black Dragon Mairrel, hmm... there¡¯s also a friendly tip? When receiving the quest, I must refer to it as ¡®Lord Silver Dragon,¡¯ or there¡¯s a chance the quest might fail?¡± Transforming Ji Gang was a bit puzzled. However, although he felt strange, he quickly stepped into the array. A flash of light passed through the array, and Transforming Ji Gang felt a dizzying sensation. When he saw his surroundings clearly again, he found the scene had changed. It was no longer Chosen City but an ancient, time-worn castle! This castle was very tall, seemingly built to accommodate some large creatures, and the interior was quite spacious, with the gate alone being over ten meters high. As Transforming Ji Gang was teleported over, he saw several veteran players in luxurious gear grilling meat over a campfire outside the castle, and in a cart beside them, a pile of grilled meat was already as high as a person. So much grilled meat? Transforming Ji Gang was taken aback. Noticing the light from the array, the veteran players also looked over, and when they saw Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s initial equipment, their eyes lit up. ¡°A newbie? Third-phase player?¡± A female player in a dazzling magic robe asked curiously, her avatar name above her head read Little Xian Miao. Little Xian Miao? This name sounds familiar, I think I¡¯ve seen it online... probably another big shot. A thought crossed Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s mind, and he quickly smiled: ¡°Yes, hello, big shots! Um... I came to find the Black... Silver Dragon NPC to get the feeding task.¡± Upon hearing his words, the veteran players grilling meat instantly understood. Little Xian Miao, while instructing several players to turn the meat, said with a smile, ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to wait a bit, Mairrel went for a stroll and should be back around mealtime.¡± Mealtime? Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s expression was strange as he looked at the meat in the players¡¯ hands, making a guess in his mind. Noticing his gaze, Little Xian Miao smiled: ¡°We¡¯re on a quest too, a personal task from Mairrel, preparing its lunch. The reward¡¯s pretty nice. If you¡¯re good at grilling, you can collect it when it returns.¡± Ah, I see. Transforming Ji Gang nodded. Having done his homework beforehand, Transforming Ji Gang knew there were four types of tasks in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡±: The most important were the main storyline quests. These quests often involved the Goddess Eve, triggered randomly as players explored, driving the game¡¯s storyline forward. Each player who triggered or uncovered a hidden main storyline usually made a fortune, and might even receive an audience with the Goddess, gaining enviable abilities. Therefore, the main storyline quests were considered the best tasks in ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± Next were side quests and daily tasks. These were generally tied to main quests, often directly issued by the game system. The former was one-time, with considerable rewards, while the latter offered smaller rewards but could be repeated. The feeding task Transforming Ji Gang collected was a daily task. Then, there were personal tasks. These were quests issued by NPCs based on their needs, with rewards depending on the rarity of the NPC and the player¡¯s rapport with them. Generally, veteran players preferred getting these tasks from familiar NPCs. It¡¯s said that personal tasks issued by purple template NPCs offered rewards nearly rivaling main quests! The players grilling meat were engaged in a personal task issued by the Black Dragon. While Transforming Ji Gang and the veteran players started chatting, a distant dragon¡¯s roar echoed: ¡°RUA¡ª¡ª!¡± With a whoosh of wind, a massive shadow covered Transforming Ji Gang and the others. He looked up to see a huge creature with a wingspan of over twenty meters descending toward them... The black scales, the menacing Skull Armor, and the terrifying dragon¡¯s might made Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s legs tremble, his face turning pale... Black Dragon! This was the Black Dragon! Although he had seen it flying in the sky from afar in Chosen City, it felt different from up close... Now, with it right in front, the pressure from such a massive creature, the intimidation from this higher-level being, filled Transforming Ji Gang with awe. *Even knowing it¡¯s a game, the immersion was too real, creating a genuine sense of fear...* ¡°Hey! Mairrel! There¡¯s a newbie, you¡¯ve scared him!¡± Little Xian Miao called out to the Black Dragon from the side. After speaking, she disdainfully waved away the dust kicked up by the dragon¡¯s wings: ¡°How many times have I told you, keep your distance when landing, it¡¯s all dust... Your grilled meat¡¯s covered in dust too! You¡¯re a big dragon now, be more considerate!¡± Watching the female player talk to the fearsome Black Dragon so casually, Transforming Ji Gang was a bit stunned. Then, to his surprise, the sinister and evil-looking Black Dragon didn¡¯t get angry, but instead awkwardly grinned with a creepy smile: ¡°Ahem, no problem, no problem! I¡¯ll be careful next time! The great Lord Mairrel doesn¡¯t mind a bit of dust, but... did you put honey on the grilled meat?¡± ¡°Sure did, come eat!¡± Several players pushed the cart full of grilled meat over. Then, Transforming Ji Gang saw the Black Dragon¡¯s eyes light up, and it instantly pounced like a husky seeing food from its master, munching eagerly... Meanwhile, the veteran players, taking advantage of the Black Dragon¡¯s focus on the meat, sneaked to its side, using big steel brushes to scratch its back while happily collecting shiny triangular scales from the ground... Those were scales that had fallen off Mairrel. Some players even started picking directly from its body, pulling out shiny dragon scales one by one... Transforming Ji Gang: ... He was left wide-eyed. *These players... were they really this daring?* Of course, he didn¡¯t know that Black Dragon Mairrel was entering a new growth phase. During this time, the Little Black Dragon¡¯s body would grow quickly, becoming larger, while old scales would gradually fall off, replaced by newer, larger, and tougher scales! However, only Little Xian Miao and two skilled BBQ buddies from the Northeast dared to touch Mairrel¡¯s scales, and Mairrel only turned a blind eye to their little actions. After all... they had to eat. Little Xian Miao could endlessly supply it with the finest Demon Beast meat, and the two male players were the best at grilling. They were its favorite attendants! Anyway... the shed scales were useless, so consider them a gift. ¡°Oh, right, Mairrel, this new Chosen One is here to get the feeding task from you, give him the task when you have a moment.¡± Little Xian Miao said while happily picking up scales. ¡°A new Chosen One? Finally, someone¡¯s arrived to work?¡± The Black Dragon turned its head, with eyes like copper bells, looked towards Transforming Ji Gang. ¡°Uh... ahem... right, Lord Silver Dragon, I¡¯m here to take on the task of feeding the livestock.¡± Transforming Ji Gang let out a couple of dry coughs, then showed a sheepish smile... ... Transforming Ji Gang smoothly received the task. Following the quest prompt, he made his way to a considerable farm near Black Dragon Castle, where he found a sizable livestock farm. The farm housed over two hundred cows and sheep, along with a substantial amount of chickens, ducks, and geese. ¡°Why would the Elf Force have a farm in this game? Are they for eating?¡± Transforming Ji Gang curiously inspected the farm as he followed the task instructions, gathering fodder, preparing feed, and feeding the livestock and poultry. While feeding, Transforming Ji Gang reflected on the Black Dragon NPC he had just met. ¡°Although I already knew from game videos that the NPC system in ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ was impressive, I never imagined it could be this formidable!¡± ¡°*Dialogues without any awkwardness, lifelike expressions and emotions... It feels like they¡¯re more than just NPCs; they¡¯re like real-life beings capable of communication and forming friendships with players!*¡± ¡°*It¡¯s no wonder people say ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ is like a second life. It¡¯s truly well-deserved. With such an incredible game and that extraordinary time-acceleration technology, it¡¯s hard not to see it getting popular.*¡± Transforming Ji Gang mused. ¡°*I wonder... what the main quests are like? The video made them look quite exciting, especially the massive battles against the Half-Beasts, truly exhilarating... and the Goddess¡¯s animations were incredible.*¡± ¡°*I¡¯m so looking forward to it! I really want to level up quickly!*¡± With that thought, Transforming Ji Gang felt a surge of motivation. ... Transforming Ji Gang wasn¡¯t the only new player who chose this task. After about an hour, he completed his part of the task and successfully earned his first experience points and contribution since entering the game. Of course, the contribution couldn¡¯t be used immediately, as the exchange system would only be available once players reached level 11. This meant that until reaching level 11, new players had to either join a veteran player¡¯s employer team and pay to get stronger or diligently grind through tasks. It¡¯s said that when the server first opened, there were quite a few Demon Beasts suitable for newbies near the safe zone. Unfortunately, except for the Shadow instance, monsters in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± didn¡¯t respawn. Veteran players had hunted down all the core area¡¯s Demon Beasts. Though the game¡¯s guides mentioned many Demon Beasts further north, it was dangerous ¡ª disastrous for new players, and even veterans could face setbacks... Therefore, for ordinary new players, leveling up to 11 and reaching the minimum level requirement for the Underworld and Shadow instance would primarily rely on tasks. Fortunately, the game tasks provided substantial experience, as just one feeding task leveled Transforming Ji Gang up to level 2. However, the daily tasks in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± were different from what he imagined... Many daily tasks didn¡¯t involve much of a story, requiring only work that demanded effort and energy, like feeding livestock, collecting wood, transporting goods, and brick hauling... ¡°*Why do I feel like I¡¯m doing manual labor in the game?*¡± After completing the feeding task and returning to the farmland near Chosen City to take on a sowing task, Transforming Ji Gang looked at the crop seeds in his hand, pondering deeply... Chapter 212 - 206: New Problems Chapter 212: Chapter 206: New Problems ¡°Finally, we have enough manpower.¡± Eve was very pleased. The influx of players from the third test greatly alleviated the problem of labor shortage, especially for some of the most tedious physical work. And the Chosen City, whose construction level had reached saturation, now had a palpable trend of further expansion due to the large influx of players from the third test. Eve donned the player¡¯s vest, ¡°Wind,¡± and walked through the Chosen City. The hustle and bustle of the Chosen City had multiplied several times now; the city, which had become slightly desolate due to map expansion and player dilution, was once again shrouded in noise and excitement. Of course, most of the people were third-test players, busily completing their daily tasks with a look of novelty and joy on their faces, mm... even if it was just moving bricks at a construction site. And whenever an old player returned from outside, they would draw envious glances from the new players, who would then work even more efficiently. *Only by grinding tasks diligently could one level up to 11, and only at level 11 could there be a qualitative leap in strength and unlock more game features!* All the third-test players were striving hard to level up. And while wandering through the city, Eve also noticed that the hotels opened by old players were all fully booked. This started right after she announced the third-test news, as some quick-thinking older players urgently renovated some city buildings and organized the opening of hotels. There was no choice; third-test players needed accommodation to log out. Although the Chosen City still had the official ¡°morgue¡± provided, it was too small and crowded. So, players who grinded a bit would team up and choose to rent rooms in hotels run by old players. After all... not only did the hotel rooms offer more space, but they also had complete facilities. *This trend had already started during the second test, so during the third test, more old players noticed this opportunity to rake in extra cash and partnered up to start hotels.* Finding a safe place to log out was still important. There were indeed third-test players who didn¡¯t care and chose to log out in a corner of the city. But as it turned out... if you didn¡¯t want your gear stripped off after logging out, you¡¯d better go to the ¡°morgue¡± or a hotel. Even the basic equipment provided by Eve, a full set, could contribute 400 points in the offering. And since the Elf Kingdom didn¡¯t have equipment binding, if you were too careless and slept outside for a night, you could very well find yourself stripped bare when you woke up in the morning. After all, with a big forest comes all types of birds, and offline players¡¯ bodies slept like a dead pig, completely unguarded. Although there was a red-name mechanism, if players only stole equipment without harming the player¡¯s body, the system didn¡¯t trigger a red-name penalty. And if you didn¡¯t know who made the sneaky move, players couldn¡¯t even report it and had to accept the loss themselves... *This was a loophole in the game system, Eve was aware of it too.* But, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was, after all, not a real game; she couldn¡¯t find a way to bind equipment, items, and players, nor could she give players a real storage space... That would be too consuming. So, if there was a loophole, so be it. It wasn¡¯t a severe one, anyway, and it had pros and cons, precisely making those players who wanted to sleep outdoors and affect the city¡¯s appearance conscientiously find a place to stay. One had to know, on the night of the first day of the third test, the central square was littered with a vast expanse of ¡°bodies,¡± a scene that was indescribably horrid. Of course, after the second day, there were very few of them. However, considering how pitiful the stripped players were, Eve simply launched a new feature where players could find Saintess Alice and spend 500 contribution points to claim a set of basic equipment at the temple. 500 contribution points were easy to farm, even a new player could earn enough in a day. Eve walked down the street, spending 10 contribution points to buy a freshly squeezed juice from a player, sipping it while appreciating the vibrant city, feeling quite satisfied. What satisfied her was not only the enthusiasm of the third-test players, but the older players¡¯ appreciation for life also greatly soothed Eve¡¯s mood. After the third test opened, the death rate of old players significantly decreased. Not that players became stronger, but they dared not fool around as much. *This was thanks to the revised resurrection system.* Eve eliminated the revival limits and replaced them with revival coins. One revival coin required 100 contribution points to redeem, with each player able to redeem up to 10 times per day and non-transferable. And perfect resurrection consumed revival coins equal to the player¡¯s level. If the player¡¯s revival coins were insufficient to support a perfect resurrection after death, then for each missing revival coin, the player would be resurrected with that many levels decreased. *This rule instantly increased the contribution points consumed by perfect resurrection for high-level players...* Not only that, but the limit of 10 exchanges per day also restricted unlimited resurrection for high-level players and whales. Under these conditions, even if players reached the Gold tier in the future, it would take at least a week to accumulate one perfect resurrection opportunity. When this update was launched, the forums were filled with complaints from players, who thought the game limited the resurrection mechanism too much, making the gaming experience extremely poor. However, the official explanation was simple: To balance the game mechanics. Anyway, it was just that capricious: Love it, play it; hate it, leave it. There were over 20 million players waiting behind, after all, and Eve felt very confident now. And then... the players who cursed on the forums, of course, ended up with the typical ¡°I love it¡± reaction. *Who could blame it when ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was so unique?* Even just the mind-accelerating technology alone attracted countless people... In a sense, it was equivalent to quadrupling one¡¯s life! Not to mention the game quality was unparalleled. Of course, the original perfect resurrection counts owned by older players would be converted into the corresponding revival coins as compensation. Take Little Xian Miao, for example. She had accumulated a total of 70 perfect resurrection counts, and now at level 21, the system converted them into 1470 revival coins according to her level... In addition, Eve didn¡¯t completely end the infinite resurrection bug for the Fourth Calamity either, as it was one of the Fourth Calamity¡¯s trump cards. If encountered with formidable enemies where players had to expend lives, she would still consider granting players a short-term unlimited resurrection buff. The resurrection issue was solved, but next up was the equipment issue. The influx of 9,000 third-test players also significantly consumed equipment. ¡°I can put another batch of Black Iron Lower-grade equipment on the exchange mall. Previously, players sacrificed quite a lot, and after repairs, there are thousands of sets available. Many are even purple epic ones.¡± ¡°However, it¡¯s still not enough, and we can encourage players to seek the dark dwarves for customized equipment, or even learn to craft their own...¡± Eve mused, watching the players moving to and fro. Solely relying on her to provide equipment certainly wasn¡¯t a long-term solution; players needed to gradually achieve self-sufficiency, and Eve primarily provided some rare items to catch the whales and high-level players. Eve¡¯s ultimate hope was to enable players to form a self-sufficient, highly combative, and cohesive force. ¡°Additionally, there¡¯s the Half-Beast issue, fighting a few battles with some Half-Beast Tribes would also bring more equipment.¡± ¡°*Hmm... maybe I won¡¯t even need to find them; they might come on their own.*¡± ¡°If Uller got impatient, she might even dispatch an army before winter to attack me. If she had any consciousness of being a True God, she might even send believers in advance to deliver a declaration of faith war...¡± ¡°But this should be a long-term plan. Let¡¯s first wait for the third-test players to level up... the current daily task rewards are quite substantial, so they should level up quickly.¡± ¡°Once they reach level 11, they can start training troops in the Shadow instance. Once their training goes well, I can expand their operational range further.¡± Eve had currently accumulated quite a bit of divine power. With her current ability, she could completely further expand the players¡¯ operational range. However, considering that the current territory was sufficient to absorb 10,000 players, she planned to wait for a while. *Food was best eaten bite by bite, the road should be walked step by step, player strength needed to be increased gradually, and maps should be opened to players little by little...* ¡°By the way, there are the design blueprints for the city¡¯s defense core parsed from Black Rock City. I should release a task to encourage players to set one up in the Chosen City, Feilengcui, Rivendell, and even Black Dragon Castle!¡± Eve thought. Although she had placed the city¡¯s defense core blueprints on the exchange mall, perhaps due to the high price, or maybe because players didn¡¯t need it, anyway... there was no response. While Eve was contemplating and leisurely strolling through the Chosen City, a commotion ahead drew her attention. She paused her thoughts, looked towards the noise, and saw several old players and native elves excitedly talking about something at the city¡¯s entrance. Demacia, Li Mu, and even the Primordial Elf Sarandir were among them, surrounded by quite a few others. *What¡¯s going on?* Eve raised an eyebrow. Curious, Eve, under the guise of ¡°Wind,¡± nonchalantly walked over... Chapter 213 - 207 Unicorn Chapter 213: Chapter 207 Unicorn After walking a few steps, Eve clearly heard the players¡¯ conversations. ¡°Amazing! Sarandir, how did you catch it?¡± This loud voice belonged to Dema, and his words carried an uncontrollable excitement. ¡°How many times do I have to say it, I didn¡¯t catch it, I saw it wounded and only then did I bring it back.¡± The tone of the Primordial Elf Sarandir was somewhat helpless, his voice rich and gentle, quite pleasant to hear. ¡°Did you have to tie it up with a rope to bring it back?¡± Li Mu¡¯s voice was a bit speechless. ¡°I had no choice... It was too uncooperative, and I haven¡¯t learned healing magic yet, so I had to forcibly bring it back for someone to treat it. Besides... I already untied it, haven¡¯t I?¡± Sarandir shrugged. ¡°But speaking of which, it¡¯s really cool and beautiful! It¡¯s truly a holy beast of Western fantasy legends!¡± ¡°If it could be taken as a mount, wouldn¡¯t that leave Earth Cave Spiders in the dust?¡± Dema¡¯s voice carried excitement. Mount? An idea struck Eve. She moved a few steps forward, reaching behind the players, and finally saw what they were watching. It was an animal completely white, resembling a sleek white horse, with a spiral horn on its head. It knelt in the corner, cautiously watching the players surrounding it, and there was a conspicuous demon beast claw mark on its hind leg, the injury severe, with deep red blood still dripping... Is this... a unicorn? Eve was slightly taken aback. Unicorns were a unique magical creature of the Elf Forest with strength ranging from Black Iron Upper to silver upon maturity, capable of further development when a bond is formed with another intelligence. They were completely white, resembling white horses with long spiral horns but had much longer manes and tails than ordinary horses, appearing noble and beautiful. Unicorns were proud, stubborn, liked to live in forests with high magic power concentration, ran swiftly, and were wind and nature dual-attributed magical creatures, with the ability to release healing and antidote magic from their horns. However... unicorns¡¯ magic couldn¡¯t be used on themselves, and they often used their magic to assist companions in need. In the World Tree inheritance Eve received, such beautiful creatures were mentioned. During the Silver Civilization period, many elves would cultivate their unicorns, calling each other partners. However, following the millennium of divine warfare and the fall of the World Tree, the Elf Clan declined, and unicorns faced a similar fate... With their beautiful appearance and unique healing magic, they were similarly seen as superior magic pets by other races, and even if they couldn¡¯t be taken as such, their horns were prized magic materials, sought after by many races. Especially humans. With human backing, the Half-Beasts also started capturing unicorns on a large scale and selling them to the Human World. Yet, unicorns were proud and stubborn, only recognizing those they willingly accepted as followers. They were cautious and sensitive to other creatures¡¯ emotions; if initial meetings caused resistance, forming companionship with them became difficult. Due to unicorns¡¯ stubborn and cautious nature, the human society gradually spread the rumor that unicorns liked the pure and innocent, only the beautiful and kind-hearted young women could capture their hearts... Of course, these were just rumors. It was true, however, that unicorns were difficult to tame. Aside from highly skilled Great Druids, who typically had good relations with magical creatures, others could become their friends only by luck. If captured by force, unicorns refused taming and enslavement, ultimately choosing starvation and death. Recalling the World Tree¡¯s inheritance, Eve looked at the unicorn surrounded by players. This unicorn had a smaller build, appearing not yet mature, with strength at the Black Iron Middle Rank. With its injury, even a Black Iron Lower player could probably easily subdue it now. However, looking at this unicorn, Eve thought of more. Unicorns were social creatures. If the players encountered one, it indicated that there was an entire herd behind it. With the decline of the Elf Clan, the magic level of the Elf Forest¡¯s core area had also gradually decreased, and unicorns¡¯ presence in the forest faded away. There was a rumor that they had migrated to the northern areas of the Elf Forest... It seemed, with the rise in magic levels in the Elf Forest¡¯s core area, they might be migrating back from the north. Eve understood why the players were so excited. From any angle, such beautiful creatures were indeed the best choice for mounts, and their compatibility with elves far surpassd that of Earth Cave Spiders. However, gaining their approval wasn¡¯t easy. Unicorns responded well to gentleness, not force, and were all about first impressions. Considering the players¡¯ violent methods, taming them seemed unlikely. Nonetheless, unicorns were also creatures that valued gratitude; if you helped them, you could easily gain their friendship. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about other matters later, let me heal it first.¡± Looking at the wound on the unicorn¡¯s hind leg, Li Mu pondered. However, as soon as he took a step forward, the unicorn began to struggle, lowing and gasping while twisting its body to display its horn defensively, not allowing Li Mu to approach and let alone heal it. ¡°It¡¯s not working... its temper is too fiery... it won¡¯t let anyone near it...¡± ¡°Come on, let¡¯s pin it down together! We¡¯ll heal its wound first by force.¡± Dema proposed. For a moment, several players stepped forward to restrain it, intending to forcefully heal it. The injured unicorn was no match for the players, and they quickly controlled it while it struggled and lowed, twisting its body. ¡°Hurry! Brother Mu, heal it!¡± Li Mu nodded, chanting a spell to cast the Level 1 Spell ¡°Healing Wounds.¡± Pale green energy gathered in his hands, flowing into the unicorn¡¯s wound under his command, yet... to everyone¡¯s surprise, the unicorn¡¯s injury didn¡¯t lessen. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Li Mu was slightly taken aback. ¡°Let me try.¡± Another Druid player said. After speaking, he also chanted a spell. Yet... his healing spell had no effect whatsoever. ¡°Why... can¡¯t it be healed?¡± The players were stunned. ¡°Doing it this way, of course you can¡¯t heal it.¡± While the players were in a daze, a gentle sigh came from behind them. Turning around, they found it was the Natural Saintess Alice speaking. She wore a noble Natural Priest¡¯s long gown, having arrived unnoticed behind the players. Seeing who it was, the players quickly donned enthusiastic smiles and subconsciously saluted with respect: ¡°Good afternoon, Lord Alice!¡± As a rare purple NPC in the entire server, Alice had long established her prestige among the players. Everybody wanted to build a good relationship with the Holy Daughter, raise the favorability, and then seek some rare personal tasks, so the attitude was quite respectful. Even Eve, spectating among the players incognito, saluted the Elf Girl along with the crowd. ¡°Chosen Ones, hello.¡± Alice nodded to the players in greeting. Then, she looked at the unicorn, her eyes holding a hint of nostalgia: ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect, after all these years, to have a chance to see a unicorn again. Could it be... that they, as nature¡¯s darlings, also sensed the return of Her Excellency the Mother Goddess?¡± Having said that, she ordered the players: ¡°Let it go first, unicorns have a unique constitution, and if they don¡¯t want to, your healing magic won¡¯t affect their bodies.¡± ¡°What the hell! Magic immunity?! Dema instinctively cursed. Alice didn¡¯t bother with him, instead addressing the other players: ¡°Hence, you mustn¡¯t use force, but communicate with it first.¡± With the NPC¡¯s command, the players quickly released their control over the unicorn. Seeing the players¡¯ actions, Alice turned to Li Mu: ¡°If I remember correctly, you should have mastered ¡®Nature¡¯s Whisper,¡¯ you can use this spell to communicate with it.¡± Comprehending, Li Mu then slapped his forehead: ¡°Right, how could I forget this?¡± After spending contribution points on acquiring some of the Druid¡¯s powerful skills lately, he nearly forgot about that ¡°weak¡± skill given by the Goddess! Thinking of this, Li Mu quickly cast ¡°Nature¡¯s Whisper¡± and said to the unicorn: ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, we won¡¯t harm you, we want to heal your wound.¡± Hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, the unicorn slightly lifted its head. It seemed to calm a bit, but its eyes still held caution and alertness towards the players. ¡°It¡¯s effective!¡± Li Mu was delighted in his heart. But when he intended to step forward to heal, the unicorn retreated again, showing resistance once more. Li Mu: ... ¡°This... still not working, it¡¯s too sensitive.¡± Seeing the unicorn¡¯s response, Alice wasn¡¯t surprised: ¡°That¡¯s quite normal, unicorns are cautious and wary, your previous strong actions have made them defensive.¡± ¡°Then... what should we do now?¡± Alice sighed and said: ¡°Now, it won¡¯t trust you, nor will it absolutely get close to you, you¡¯re too close to it. Step back, I¡¯ll heal it.¡± Hearing her words, the players could only retreat a few steps, allowing Alice a path. Alice approached the unicorn while adding: ¡°Considering the Earth Cave Spider earlier, I can guess the mindset you have towards unicorns.¡± ¡°I can only remind you that unicorns are traditional partners of the Elf Clan, symbolizing nobility, beauty, and purity...¡± ¡°Elves naturally garner a more favorable impression from unicorns than other races, but... if you initially see them with the intent to enslave, you¡¯ll never gain their approval.¡± ¡°Those who can gain a unicorn¡¯s favor and recognition upon meeting are truly Great Druids, and friendly, sincere, pure-hearted, nature-loving people. Such people are rare among traditional elves, not to mention among you Chosen Ones.¡± After speaking, Alice came to the unicorn, squatting down to cast the healing divine arts. Just as the Elf Girl squatted, the unicorn struggled to stand up, refusing her healing and awkwardly limped away from her. Seeing the unicorn act this way, Alice¡¯s brows slightly furrowed: ¡°Now here¡¯s a problem... Perhaps your earlier actions scared it too much, and now it trusts no one. Maybe we¡¯ll have to find Basa...¡± Alice didn¡¯t finish her words. For the unicorn moved again. Under everyone¡¯s surprised gaze, it limped over to where Eve, dressed in disguise, stood, and laid down docilely at her feet... It even raised its head, nuzzling her calf in an ingratiating manner... Li Mu: ... Dema: ... Sarandir: ... Alice: ... Eve: ... Chapter 214 - 208 Magic Pet System Chapter 214: Chapter 208 Magic Pet System Looking at the unicorn that had come under her, kneeling obediently, and rubbing against her in a fawning manner, Eve was slightly taken aback. However, she soon understood the reason. If the elves created by the World Tree were the Children of Nature, then unicorns were nature¡¯s darlings. They were incredibly close to nature and possessed extraordinary perception. Although Eve donned a facade, her soul was unique, a genuine Divine Soul. Even if it was just a sliver of Divine Soul borrowed through the Soul Storage Orb, under the influence of the Divine Soul, her body naturally had a higher affinity with nature than other players¡¯ bodies. Great Druids could easily gain the favor of Demon Beasts like unicorns. On one hand, they had strong communication abilities, and on the other hand, they had an incredible nature affinity. Eve possessed both of these traits, even stronger than a Great Druid. After all... the Druid class was created by the World Tree. Perhaps the unicorn couldn¡¯t see through Eve¡¯s true identity, but it didn¡¯t stop showing affinity toward her. Seeing the unicorn, which had shifted from a wary and guarded state to one of extreme obedience, the onlooking players were stunned. Even Alice and Sarandir had their mouths agape in disbelief. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it said that unicorns were very proud? What¡¯s with this fawning behavior?¡± Looking at the white magical creature trying to curry favor, Demacia couldn¡¯t help but speak. Alice opened her mouth, unsure of how to answer. In truth, she was baffled by the unicorn¡¯s behavior too. Although Alice had heard that those exceedingly powerful Great Druids or a rare few naturally lucky individuals could easily gain a unicorn¡¯s favor, it usually just meant gaining its affection and approval. Witnessing a unicorn display such fawning closeness was something she heard for the first time and saw for the first time! She glanced at the unicorn, then at the unfamiliar Chosen One in front of her. Finally, she hesitantly said, ¡°Possibly... this Chosen One is the kind of lucky individual I mentioned, and... one among the few.¡± Lucky individual? The players exchanged glances. First, the Great Druid was ruled out. So, in other words... this player was friendly, sincere, pure-hearted, and loved nature? *What a joke... They were players after all!* They checked the player¡¯s information in front of them¡ª [ID: Wind] [Class: Druid] [Level: 18] This level was just medium among veteran players. Many players were unfamiliar with this ID, finding the face quite strange... Li Mu, however, had a slight epiphany: ¡°It¡¯s you, Wind, I¡¯ve met you a few times in the Mengmeng Committee.¡± So, it was a life-oriented player from the Mengmeng Committee! The other few showed expressions of realization since they didn¡¯t recognize him. Many members of the Mengmeng Committee, those life-oriented players, rarely went out to fight. So, with some, like the ones led by Demacia who loved to venture out, they were not really familiar. And then, the players got excited again: ¡°How did you do it? Why is it so close to you?¡± Faced with the players¡¯ expectant eyes, Eve coughed twice and said, ¡°Perhaps... like Alice said, I¡¯m just lucky.¡± ¡°...¡± Alice gave Eve a strange look, words on the tip of her tongue but unspoken. She hadn¡¯t noticed due to not observing carefully just now. It was only after closely examining did she suddenly find something different about the player favored by the unicorn. After focusing her attention on the individual, she was surprised to find herself beginning to develop inexplicable affection toward them from deep within her heart. Thinking about it, she hesitantly said, ¡°I think... maybe it¡¯s because this Chosen One possesses a relatively high natural affinity.¡± ¡°Natural affinity?¡± The other players were slightly puzzled. ¡°Exactly, elves are born with high natural affinity. After becoming a Druid, the natural affinity enhances further. One major reason the Great Druids can easily get along with Demon Beasts is because of their extraordinary natural affinity.¡± ¡°So... this Chosen One is likely exceptionally gifted in natural affinity. High natural affinity grants strong talent in the path of the Druid.¡± Alice explained. ¡°Then... is there a way to see this natural affinity?¡± Li Mu asked excitedly. ¡°It can only be sensed.¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°So... it¡¯s a hidden attribute then.¡± The players came to a realization. They then looked at Eve, faces filled with envy: ¡°How great! To have a hidden attribute!¡± Hearing Alice¡¯s explanation, Eve opted to remain silent. *In a sense, Alice wasn¡¯t wrong.* *However, Eve was not just high in natural affinity. She represented nature itself!* Eve lowered her head, looking at the unicorn with its pure blue eyes gazing at her. Thinking it over, she reached out her hand and cast a basic healing spell... The unicorn did not resist, and as a soft green glow passed over it, its injuries gradually dissipated. Then, the unicorn got up gently, standing again. Though it wasn¡¯t yet mature, standing up, it was almost as tall as Eve. As it snorted softly, it rubbed affectionately against Eve¡¯s face... Such a scene left the players gaping, a little envious yet deeply admiring within... ¡°Wow... does it suck up like this?¡± ¡°So envious!¡± ¡°If I¡¯d known, I¡¯d have chosen Druid too.¡± ¡°Forget it, Druids have weak attack power.¡± ¡°But they can acquire Demon Beasts!¡± ¡°Brother Mu is also a Druid, but it didn¡¯t work out for him this time. Ultimately... it¡¯s still luck!¡± ¡°I can only say... envious.¡± Watching such a fawning unicorn, Alice also hesitated, then gave Eve a slight nod: ¡°Congratulations, Chosen One, you have gained the unicorn¡¯s recognition.¡± She glanced at the fawning creature, smiling: ¡°If you sign a contract with it, you will become true partners.¡± Contract, huh... Eve had a fleeting thought, recalling the related information. In Segis World, some special Demon Beasts would choose to sign contracts with other sentient beings to become partners. These contracts typically affected the soul, having either equal or unequal forms. Generally, those initiated by Demon Beasts were equal contracts¡ªthis type sped up the growth for both parties with no life threats involved. Unequal contracts were often coerced by some sentient beings onto Demon Beasts. These also sped up growth but had a stronger effect on the contractor¡¯s growth and bound the Demon Beast¡¯s life to the contractor. A side note, Black Dragon Mairrel was currently under an unequal master-servant contract with Eve. But Mairrel also benefitted, growing rapidly and showing signs of advancing, thanks to the contract. However, elves and unicorns always signed equal contracts. Regardless of whether it was equal or unequal, contracts acted upon the soul. Players, whose consciousness merely descended, could not sign contracts. But, when the unicorn showed its closeness, Eve had a sudden epiphany¡ª Since players¡¯ souls didn¡¯t descend into this world, making them unable to sign contracts with Demon Beasts, however... *What if they took another approach...* Ultimately, soul contracts were a form of connection between two life forms. Since they were links, could she perhaps modify the contract¡¯s target slightly? Players couldn¡¯t sign soul contracts, but their consciousness could connect with the game system Eve had created. And the game system was a network based on Eve herself, essentially having something in common with Soul Power... If that was the case... So, why not alter the soul in the contract to be with Eve¡¯s game system instead? In other words... Let Demon Beasts sign contracts with Eve¡¯s game system! Players had their unique conscious coordinates within the game system, so... by integrating a consciousness coordinate unique to a player, it would be equivalent to enabling the player to sign a contract with the Demon Beast indirectly! Realizing this, Eve¡¯s eyes lit up slightly. *This was an excellent idea, why hadn¡¯t she thought of it before?* If feasible, as long as she taught the players how to form the designed contracts, they could search for Demon Beasts to sign contracts themselves! While players¡¯ physical bodies could perish, their consciousness coordinates wouldn¡¯t disappear, ensuring the contract wouldn¡¯t vanish either. And with the contracted Demon Beasts linked to the game system, it would directly reflect in the mount system, materializing the Demon Beast¡¯s specific information and making it a part of the mount system! *This resembled enabling believers of nature to join the game system Eve designed through the faith channel, but it connected Demon Beasts through contracts instead of faith channels!* Moreover, the same approach applied when Demon Beasts actively sought to sign contracts with players. Upon sensing the energy fluctuations of a Demon Beast actively signing, the game system could substitute the player to sign, with the player simply providing consciousness coordinates through system assistance, thereby securing the contract! *Even... for Demon Beasts that signed such contracts, Eve could leverage the game system to extract half of the growth feedback between them and the player, reallocating some power back to the game system, indirectly benefiting Eve herself!* *This... was another fantastic way to reap gains indirectly!* Of course... the essence of such a contract didn¡¯t act upon the soul, so it could only establish equal contracts. But... it sufficed! Moreover, this directly perfected the mount system, eliminating the need for Eve to align specific races into the mount system correspondingly. Players could entirely rely on their preferences to seek cooperative Demon Beasts, forming their unique mount contracts! *No!* This transcended mounts, this was Magic Pets! A Magic Pet System! It would fully replace the incomplete mount system with a more flexible Magic Pet System! Eve¡¯s heart gradually surged with excitement. Having thought this through, she turned to the unicorn, preparing to use it as her first attempt. ¡°Would you like to form a contract with me?¡± She spoke to the little creature looking at her with an innocent gaze, speaking enticingly. Chapter 215: 209 Magic Pet Fever Chapter 215: Chapter 209 Magic Pet Fever Eve extended an olive branch to the Unicorn while simultaneously directing half of her consciousness back to her main body to adjust the game system. She did not directly use her Divine Soul to establish a contract with the Unicorn. Instead, as she had planned, she utilized the game system to replace her Divine Soul, creating a coordinate of her consciousness within the system. Of course, if the consciousness coordinate could materialize, it would pinpoint exactly to the World Tree in the core area of Elf Forest! And after Eve expressed her desire to establish a contract, the Unicorn eagerly released its Magic Power, not waiting for her preparation. It lowered its head, revealing its sharp horn, actively activating the equal contract, waiting for Eve to leave her mark. Eve, following Alice¡¯s reminder, bit her finger and smeared her blood on its spiral horn. This was a necessary process for mundane creatures to establish a contract. *Without breaking into the legendary rank, mundane creatures cannot let their Soul Power leave their body and can only rely on some medium to align the contract with their soul.* Her own blood was a great choice. And Eve¡¯s modification of the contract process was to transfer the alignment target from the soul to the game system. The entire process went smoother than Eve anticipated, and under her guidance, the Unicorn quickly established a contract with her. No, to be more precise, the contract was successfully established with the consciousness coordinate she left in the game system. This also meant that Eve¡¯s concept for the Magic Pet System was entirely feasible! *Thrilled at heart,* Eve immediately divided her attention to control her main body, channeling Divine Power to connect the original mount system with the contract system and further optimize it... The computing power of a True God¡¯s Divine Soul was quite formidable, and in just a few seconds, Eve restructured the game system based on her memory of the Magic Pet System in online games. In the view of her avatar, the information about the Unicorn seamlessly integrated into the game system! Everything went smoothly. In the view of other players, the Unicorn now had an attribute card similar to an elf NPC, named ¡°Wind¡¯s Unicorn Companion¡±! Moreover, the system even gave the Unicorn a purple frame, categorizing it as a purple epic Magic Pet. Strictly speaking, the strength of the Unicorns among Demon Beasts wasn¡¯t particularly formidable. But once contracted, they were extremely loyal and had high growth potential with the possibility of breaking into the Golden Rank, not to mention being a rare healing type Demon Beast. Besides, they looked stunning! *Appearance equated to justice!* So... giving it a purple epic rating wasn¡¯t an exaggeration. ¡°The contract really worked!¡± ¡°Awesome, awesome!¡± ¡°It even has a rarity assessment? Purple epic level!¡± The players watching were quite envious as they looked at the Unicorn, which now possessed its own status bar. Feeling a flutter in her heart, Eve had a new system message suddenly float across all players¡¯ screens. [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Player ¡°Wind¡± has signed a contract with a Unicorn, becoming the first player to have a Unicorn companion] [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Activation condition fulfilled, the mount system has been upgraded to the Magic Pet System, and the Magic Pet Contract System is officially open!] [Demon Beast: The information of Unicorn has been added to the Magic Pet Data] Seeing the new system message, players were momentarily stunned and then instinctively checked their game systems. Sure enough, everyone¡¯s system interface had changed the original mount system into the Magic Pet System. In addition, the system now had two more buttons, one for applying a contract to propose a contract to a Demon Beast, and the other for accepting a contract to accept the contract offered by a Demon Beast. Of course, the precondition for these buttons to work was that the Demon Beast had already acknowledged the player, and the player needed to smear their blood on the Demon Beast. However, each player initially only had one Magic Pet slot. Eve was concerned that without a quota, players might randomly contract a bunch of weak Demon Beasts, preventing her from efficiently managing resources and consuming energy to connect with Demon Beasts... Consequently, Eve also planned to release ¡°Magic Pet Slot¡± exchange cards in the store, requiring players to use their contribution to gain more slots. Additionally, the Magic Pet System included a section for Magic Pet data. When players clicked in, they could see details of Demon Beasts already tamed by players. For now, there was only one kind¡ªUnicorns. The data for Unicorns had been filled out based on Alice¡¯s description during the contract signing. At the bottom of the data, a small line annotated ¡°Data Provider¡ªWind¡±. In reality, the World Tree legacy Eve possessed contained far more information about Unicorns than what Alice narrated. *However, as her current identity was that of a player, she did not provide comprehensive details willingly.* *She had already decided to establish the Magic Pet data section akin to an encyclopedia, intending to spur players¡¯ enthusiasm.* The players were quite curious and excited upon seeing the new Magic Pet system. Li Mu, who owned an Earth Cave Spider mount, discovered that his Earth Cave Spider had also been incorporated into the Magic Pet system. However, his Earth Cave Spider did not have an attribute card like Wind¡¯s Unicorn. Furthermore, in the system, his Earth Cave Spider was marked with an ¡°Uncontracted¡± status. Feeling a spark of insight, Li Mu looked at his Earth Cave Spider. He used [Nature¡¯s Whisper] and asked: ¡°Do you want to establish a contract with me?¡± The Earth Cave Spider bowed slightly. Overjoyed, Li Mu quickly followed the prompts in the Magic Pet System, biting his finger and smearing the blood onto the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s carapace. Simultaneously, he activated the contract application button. The contract process went smoothly. Before long, Li Mu felt a certain link form between himself and the Earth Cave Spider, and the uncontracted status of the Earth Cave Spider vanished as well. [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Player ¡°Li Mu¡± has signed a contract with Earth Cave Spider (Offspring), becoming the first player to have an Earth Cave Spider (Offspring) companion] [Demon Beast: The information of Earth Cave Spider has been added to the Magic Pet Data] Two more messages flashed across the screens of all players. Meanwhile, Li Mu realized he gained the authority to edit the [Earth Cave Spider] entry. Moreover, after establishing a contract, his Earth Cave Spider also had an attribute card similar to the one possessed by Wind¡¯s Unicorn! Li Mu was delighted to discover that he could view the detailed state of his Earth Cave Spider via the attribute card and the Magic Pet System! Besides, he could effectively command the Demon Beast through the system! For example, summoning the Earth Cave Spider from a distance to his side, instructing it to transport some goods for him, or assisting him in battle. Moreover, as the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s strength increased, Li Mu would receive certain feedback, and his personal upgrades would similarly help bolster the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s power! *This was immensely superior to having just a mount in the beginning!* However, one small disappointment was that the Earth Cave Spider¡¯s status card was merely blue-framed, rated as a blue rare. But considering the Earth Cave Spider was merely an offspring of the Spider Queen Rose, Li Mu let go of his concerns. As noted by Black Dragon Mairrel, these small spiders didn¡¯t even have complete souls; their lives were entirely bound to the mother queen. *In this light, achieving a rare blue rating also underscored the impressiveness of the larger Earth Cave Spiders.* The system rated the potential of the Earth Cave Spider (Offspring) to be Silver Upper. In other words, the highest growth it could achieve would be at the Silver Upper level. For the current players, this already represented terrifying strength... ... The sudden emergence of the Magic Pet function quickly captivated the interest of the players. Especially the veteran players without significant progress in their advancements! Many began researching this upgraded ¡°mount system.¡± Eve, having contracted with the Unicorn, logged off hastily under the excuse of having real-world matters to avoid the players¡¯ enthusiastic ¡°siege.¡± As for Little Unicorn, it was entrusted to Little Xian Miao, left to roam in the Mengmeng Committee¡¯s guild garden... In the following days, Eve witnessed firsthand the players¡¯ enthusiasm for Magic Pets. The contentious debates surrounding the resurrection mechanism on the official forum abruptly died down, replaced by heated discussions concerning the Magic Pet System. Some discussed Demon Beast types, others analyzed their abilities, debated methods to gain a Demon Beast¡¯s recognition, and pondered which Demon Beast might be best suited as a Magic Pet, and so on, and so forth... In merely three game days, Eve noticed that the game system registered over a thousand new Magic Pet contracts! The variety of contracted Demon Beasts was quite diverse, although most originated from the Elf Forest. These Demon Beasts, whether tempted or subdued by players, ranged from simply adorable to powerfully strong, and some possessed special abilities... Mountain Rats, Wind Deer, Black Headed Eagles, Giant Bears... nearly all the common species in Elf Forest were tamed. Their strength ranged from the weakest apprentice level to the strongest Black Iron Upper, with everything in between. Of course, Black Iron Upper was rare, either large Earth Cave Spiders or Black Iron Demon Beasts subdued in joint attacks by players in the wild. However, the majority of Demon Beasts had white common status bars, and even blue rare ones were considerably scarce, with the purple epic rating belonging solely to the Unicorn... Under such circumstances, a large number of veteran players withdrew from the Underworld, heading north of Elf Forest in search of Unicorn traces. There was no help for it; the allure of Unicorns as the only Magic Pet currently rated as a purple epic was too great. Whether for the sake of showing off or enhancing their strength, owning a Unicorn was every player¡¯s dream. Unfortunately, the players¡¯ attempts did not proceed smoothly. The Unicorns ran too swiftly for players and naturally far surpassed them in strength. Although spotted occasionally in the forest, they were impossible to catch up with. Additionally, heedful of Alice¡¯s reminder, players understood that Unicorns yielded to gentleness, not force, making their subjugation without employing force even tougher. In comparison, the progress of the Mengmeng Committee was slightly more productive. Through Little Unicorn, which Eve left behind, they managed to locate the migrating group in the northern forest after two days... However, those Unicorns remained highly wary of players; even with Little Unicorn leading, they were indifferent to most players¡¯ friendly gestures. This led players to once again remark on the extraordinary luck of the female player, who first gained the Unicorn¡¯s recognition. *She must have been blessed by the Luck King himself! Envy, jealousy, and resentment...* Nevertheless, discovering the migrating group gave players a target. The rest depended on time and patience. Someone succeeded in taming a Unicorn, demonstrating that these creatures could indeed accept players. With such a mindset, many veteran players chose to stay in the forest alongside the Unicorns, humbling themselves to become admirers, doing their utmost to curry favor, hoping for acknowledgment... The spectacle even made Eve, observing through the player¡¯s perspective, avert her eyes in embarrassment. As scores of players racked their brains to devise methods to tame Unicorns, the Fiery Flame Elves, who had been out searching for their kin, also gradually returned. Chapter 216: 210: Black Dragon and the Chosen One Chapter 216: Chapter 210: Black Dragon and the Chosen One This was a dense forest. The golden sunlight slanted through the lush canopy, fragmented by the branches, casting scattered patches of light on the forest floor. The summer breeze gently blew, causing the leaves to sway, with the dappled sunlight slightly flickering along. The rustling sound of leaves filled one¡¯s heart with tranquility. A group of tall figures, dressed as adventurers with hoods and carrying bulging backpacks, walked through the forest... There were about seven or eight of them, walking in silence with a faint trace of exhaustion on their faces and somewhat sluggish movements, as if they had been traveling for a long time. However, despite their fatigue, there was a hint of vigilance in their expressions, like a group of fugitives evading capture; any slight rustle in the surroundings would catch their attention... As the group progressed, they gradually heard the sound of rushing water ahead. Upon hearing the water, their expressions visibly relaxed, and some even showed a hint of hope and excitement. For a moment, everyone¡¯s pace quickened. Soon, they passed through the forest and arrived at a rushing river. This was a wide river, several hundred meters across. The current was swift and turbulent, crashing against the rocks on the banks, creating a spray that refracted a rainbow under the summer sun. Looking at the mighty river, the leader of the group let out a long sigh.p> He removed his hood, revealing a pair of pointed ears, and his fiery red hair declared his identity¡ªthis was a young elf from the Flame Tribe! ¡°Comrades, once we cross this river, we will return to the Elf Forest. I¡¯ve sent out a messenger; perhaps soon, we will be met by our clansmen.¡± Hearing his words, the atmosphere in the group lightened considerably. Many also removed their hoods, revealing pointed ears, and some even knelt down towards the river, praying to the denser forest on the other side... This was a group of elves returning to the Elf Forest. ¡°I never expected that after three hundred years, I would have the chance to see the Vimur River and the Elf Forest again!¡± Gazing at the rushing river, an elderly elf in the group exclaimed excitedly. The Vimur River, the river roaring before them. This was the longest river on the Seges Road and recognized as the world¡¯s largest river, with a width at its broadest downstream stretch said to be nearly two kilometers. The Vimur River originated from the snow-capped glaciers in the northern part of the Segis Continent, flowing north to south. As it approached the Dark Mountain Range, it abruptly turned southeast, eventually emptying into the ocean at the continent¡¯s southeastern outlet. Its midstream section was incredibly turbulent and difficult to cross, dividing the Elf Forest from the Fertile Plain, only becoming traversable near the Dark Mountain Range where it turned and calmed down. However, the group was well-prepared. The elderly elf chanted a spell, his form slowly transforming into a giant eagle with a nearly five-meter wingspan. This was a Druid transformation skill, allowing him to morph into a familiar animal, possessing 70% of its strength. The elder¡¯s transformation was into a Wind Eagle Vulture, a flying magical beast from the northern part of the Fertile Plain. However, just as the elderly elf prepared to transport the elves one by one to the other side of the river, suddenly, a loud dragon roar echoed through the air... A shadow approached from afar, growing larger. The elves could see a ferociously-looking dragon flying over from the other side of the river. When they discerned the pitch-black scales and the skull-like head armor insignia, their expressions changed: ¡°A Black Dragon?!¡± It was a Black Dragon with a wingspan close to forty meters, nearly the size of an adult dragon. Even from a distance, the elves could feel its intimidating draconic presence! The Black Dragon... was the most evil and brutal chromatic dragon in the Segis World! Yet, this wasn¡¯t Dragon Valley or the Poison Swamps. Why was a Black Dragon here?! *In an instant, the elves became vigilant...* *They wasted no time, turning to flee back into the forest, as if confronting a great enemy.* Black Dragons loved to enslave other intelligent beings. If they were discovered, even with their highest strength being only that of Black Iron Upper, they would likely be overwhelmed in seconds... *However, unlike the alerted companions, the red-haired young elf leading them appeared excited.* ¡°It¡¯s Lord Mairrel! It must have received the oracle from the Mother Goddess and has come to escort us!¡± Then, under the astonished gazes of the other elves, the red-haired elf walked to a boulder by the river, climbed atop it, and waved excitedly towards the approaching dragon, shouting: ¡°Lord Mairrel! Lord Mairrel! We are here! We are here!¡± ¡°Eno! Are you out of your mind?! Come back! That¡¯s a Black Dragon, a Black Dragon!¡± The elderly elf, who had reverted back to his original form out of fear of the Black Dragon, shouted in terror and concern. But it was too late. Eno¡¯s shout instantly caught the Black Dragon¡¯s attention, and it let out an excited ¡°Rua¡ª¡ª,¡± flying directly towards the elves... The elves were terrified, but the red-haired elf quickly reassured them: ¡°Everyone, do not be afraid. This Black Dragon is our ally. It has been tamed by the Mother Goddess and is not one of those usual wicked Black Dragons, but a benevolent dragon that upholds justice.¡± *A Black Dragon? An ally? Tamed by the Mother Goddess? Upholds justice?* The elves were momentarily stunned. Just as the elves wore bewildered and suspicious expressions, the Black Dragon circled once in the sky and finally landed. It landed on a riverbank not far from the elves, lazily yawning, then looked at the vigilant elves hiding in the forest and said with a sideways glance: ¡°Why are you all so scared? Lord Mairrel isn¡¯t going to eat you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you look terrifying.¡± Just as Mairrel finished speaking, a sweet female voice picked up where it left off, teasing softly. Then, under the surprised gazes of the elves, a petite, pink-haired female elf jumped down from the Black Dragon¡¯s back. She wore a lavish mage robe and held a skull-shaped magic wand, her movements agile as she dismounted the dragon. The Black Dragon snorted, dissatisfied, muttering: ¡°Terrifying? Huh, clearly majestic and mighty is more like it!¡± *An elf riding a Black Dragon?!* Seeing the female Elf Mage dismount from the Black Dragon, the hidden elves were left gaping in astonishment. Only then did they truly believe Eno Wind¡¯s words¡ªthis Black Dragon... was indeed their ally! Mother Nature above! Could a Black Dragon really become an ally?! ¡°Lady Little Xian Miao, so it was you who came!¡± Seeing the pink-haired Elf Mage, Eno Flame¡¯s face lit up with joy. The elf who had arrived on the Black Dragon was, of course, Little Xian Miao. As one of the leaders of the Chosen Ones, Little Xian Miao¡¯s name was somewhat well-known among the Elf NPCs. Of course, thanks to the workings of Eve, her name had been phonetically translated, so it didn¡¯t seem odd. Recently, more elves had been progressively returning, and whenever new believers were sensed early, Eve would issue tasks for players to fetch them. This time, Little Xian Miao took on the task of fetching them, luring Mairrel with honey roast skewers, and riding it to meet these elves migrating from the direction of the Fertile Plain. ¡°Hello, it must have been exhausting escorting them all the way,¡± Little Xian Miao said with a sweet smile in response to Eno Flame¡¯s address. Eno Flame straightened up, drawing a tree-shaped symbol on his chest while earnestly declaring: ¡°For the glory of the Elf Clan! Praise the Mother Goddess!¡± Little Xian Miao paused momentarily, then quickly drew a symbol and said: ¡°Uh... Praise the Goddess!¡± *It truly was their people coming to retrieve them...* Seeing the exchange between the two, the elves hidden in the forest relaxed entirely and stepped out. Eno Flame turned to the emerging elves and introduced: ¡°Everyone, this is Little Xian Miao, one of the Chosen One leaders summoned from another world by the Mother Goddess.¡± After hearing Eno Wind¡¯s introduction, the elves¡¯ gazes towards Little Xian Miao instantly transformed: ¡°So you are the legendary Chosen One!¡± ¡°The Chosen Ones? Are they the Divine Envoys Eno mentioned, those who vanquished the Rock Cave Tribe?¡± They all approached Little Xian Miao with respect, greeting her, which made her feel slightly uneasy. She chuckled, saying: ¡°Well... haha, welcome home, everyone. It must have been quite a journey for you all.¡± ¡°Rua! And Mairrel! Mairrel played a significant role in the attack against the Half-Beasts!¡± Listening to the elves, Mairrel turned its head, glaring with its large eyes, speaking discontentedly, startling them. ¡°Mairrel! You¡¯re scaring them again!¡± Little Xian Miao tapped the Black Dragon¡¯s scale armor with her magic wand, then said to the elves: ¡°Well... haha, don¡¯t be afraid, this big guy only looks scary. Its personality is quite pleasant.¡± After speaking, she cleared her throat: ¡°So then... we shall depart. From here to the core area of the Elf Forest is several hundred kilometers. If we travel normally, it will take a while, but Mairrel will fly everyone back.¡± ¡°Ride... ride the Black Dragon back?¡± Upon hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s words, the elves felt dizzy, as if they were dreaming. ¡°What? Do you have any complaints? Without the honey roast, Mairrel wouldn¡¯t even consider bringing you! If you want to walk back, Mairrel won¡¯t mind. With fewer people, Lord Mairrel would be more at ease.¡± The Black Dragon bared its teeth and said. ¡°Mairrel!¡± Little Xian Miao raised her magic wand again, tapping on its face armor. Chapter 217: 211: Earth-Shattering Changes Chapter 217: Chapter 211: Earth-Shattering Changes ¡°I never imagined... that I¡¯d have a day riding a giant dragon in the sky.¡± On the back of the Black Dragon Mairrel, the Old Elf looked at the small forest below and sighed softly. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right? Two months ago, we were still hiding in the Holy Mania Empire, and who would have thought that we could return to the Elf Forest one day...¡± Another elf also expressed the same sentiment. At Little Xian Miao¡¯s invitation, a group of elves, feeling both anxious and expectant, finally rode on Mairrel¡¯s back. And the Little Black Dragon let out a loud cry, flapping its enormous wings and flying toward the core area of the Elf Forest... The wind howled in the air, and the elves gradually relaxed, occasionally glancing down to the ground and into the distance. The speed of the Black Dragon was swift. After crossing a stretch of hills, the elves¡¯ vision suddenly broadened. The core area of the Elf Forest lay within a basin that spanned over a hundred kilometers. Thus, as soon as they crossed the hills, the scenery of the core area became fully visible. Similarly, the colossal figure standing in the center of the core area also came into the elves¡¯ view... ¡°Look! Look! It¡¯s the World Tree! That¡¯s the World Tree!¡± An elf exclaimed excitedly to a companion. The other elves looked as well, and indeed saw the distant towering and sacred giant tree! When they saw the lush green crown of the World Tree, all the elves couldn¡¯t help but feel their eyes grow slightly red, their expressions hard to control. Having rekindled their faith in nature and become followers of the Mother Goddess, they could now see Eve¡¯s true form. No one understood better than the elves what the revival of the World Tree signified. Some displayed fanaticism, some were so excited they couldn¡¯t contain themselves, some began to draw symbols of nature fervently on their chests, and some even wept in emotion... ¡°It¡¯s the Mother Goddess! She has awakened, she truly has awakened!¡± The oldest elf in the group spoke with reddened eyes, his voice choked with emotion. Seeing the elves¡¯ excitement, Little Xian Miao also sighed softly. She thought for a moment, then quietly leaned toward the back of Mairrel¡¯s head, whispering: ¡°Mairrel, fly a bit faster.¡± Upon hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s words, Mairrel let out another loud cry, flying faster toward the direction of the World Tree... The forest below changed continuously, becoming denser, and the World Tree drew closer. After the initial excitement, the elves were left only with anticipation, like children rushing home. At this time, another vast ruin of the elven civilization passed beneath them... ¡°Feilengcui! We¡¯ve passed by the former Holy City of Feilengcui!¡± Seeing some iconic buildings amidst the ruins, the Old Elf said. ¡°No... wait... this is...!¡± He stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening, his expression one of shock and excitement... Initially, it was indeed a ruin. But as the Black Dragon approached, the Old Elf was surprised to see that nearly a third of the ruins had been restored to resemble a city! Moreover, one could see dense figures like ants in the ruins, roughly estimated to be over a thousand, bustling about, doing something in Feilengcui... Upon closer inspection, the Old Elf discovered that they were elves! They were coming and going in Feilengcui, actually repairing and rebuilding the remaining ruins. ¡°By Mother Nature above! Am I seeing things? Is this truly Feilengcui?¡± ¡°So many of our kin! By Mother Nature above! It turns out so many of our kin have already returned?!¡± The other elves also looked down at Feilengcui with expressions of shock and excitement. Eno Flame, identifying the attire of the elves below, said somewhat doubtfully: ¡°No... most of them should be the Chosen Ones summoned by the Mother Goddess. It¡¯s just... the number of Chosen Ones seems to have increased again. Perhaps the Mother Goddess has summoned new Chosen Ones.¡± ¡°So they¡¯re the Chosen Ones!¡± The elves suddenly understood. After explaining to the elves, Eno Flame smiled wryly: ¡°The Mother Goddess¡¯s Chosen Ones are truly amazing. I remember when I left, the part of Feilengcui that was repaired was less than a seventh of the entire city, and now, in such a short time, it¡¯s close to a third.¡± Saying this, he looked in the direction of the World Tree: ¡°I wonder how the Chosen City has changed now...¡± ¡°Chosen City?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the city built by the Chosen Ones under the World Tree half a year ago, which should now be considered the Holy City.¡± Eno Flame remarked. After speaking, he looked at Little Xian Miao and introduced her to the other elves: ¡°The restoration of Feilengcui and the construction of Chosen City are said to have been organized by the guild ¡®Mengmeng Committee¡¯ to which Little Xian Miao belongs.¡± ¡°¡®Mengmeng... Committee¡¯? Guild?¡± ¡°An organization of the Chosen Ones?¡± The elves pondered, looking at Little Xian Miao with admiration, while Little Xian Miao felt incredibly awkward... No other reason... Hearing the guild name ¡°Mengmeng Committee,¡± which she had randomly chosen, being said with such seriousness by the elf NPCs, was just... too embarrassing. In an instant, Little Xian Miao even regretted not giving her guild a proper western fantasy name at first, like Li Mu¡¯s ¡°Heart of Nature.¡± Just imagine, if one day she created history in the game, given how ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± demonstrated its characteristics up to now, future minstrels might sing the ballad as¡ª ¡°How the leader of the ¡®Mengmeng Committee,¡¯ Little Xian Miao, did such and such...¡± Ugh... No way, it was too shameful. But suddenly feeling a bit like she wanted to laugh and even a little anticipation, what to do... Of course, Little Xian Miao didn¡¯t know that in the ears of the elves, the guild name was merely a transliteration, and at most they felt it was a little strange. The Black Dragon continued to fly, and finally, they left Feilengcui and saw the city under the World Tree that Eno Gale called ¡°Chosen City¡±... With the influx of the third-testing players, the size of Chosen City expanded once more. Brand new housing and gardens were established around the city¡¯s perimeter, with more buildings under construction, and countless ¡°elves¡± the size of ants bustling within... The completed areas were bustling with noise and activity, with people coming and going, particularly prosperous. Like Nightingale once did, looking at the diverse building styles, the dreamlike gardens, and the lively activity, the elves on the dragon¡¯s back were all struck silent. Even Eno Flame, who had previously toured Chosen City, was also stunned by the sight of the city, which had at least thousands of ¡°elves¡±: ¡°By the Mother Goddess, how many Chosen Ones have arrived this time?¡± The other elves, beside themselves with amazement, muttered involuntarily: ¡°Half a year... did they really build such a city in just half a year?¡± ¡°A divine miracle! This must be a divine miracle!¡± ¡°By Mother Nature above... only a true Divine Envoy could have created such a city!¡± Listening to the elves¡¯ genuine praise, Little Xian Miao couldn¡¯t help but straighten her back, the smile at the corner of her mouth becoming more pronounced... Hmph! Half of Chosen City¡¯s industries belonged to their Mengmeng Committee! ... ¡°Another group of elves has returned.¡± From the vantage point of the World Tree, Eve saw the returning Black Dragon Mairrel and was pleased. It had already been more than half a game month since the third test began. In the past half month, native elves who had re-embraced their faith returned to the Elf Forest sporadically. All told, there were nearly a hundred of them now! And these returning elves were eventually settled by Eve in Feilengcui. However, although many elves returned, most were still shallow believers. If they were to be further advanced in faith, it would have to wait until their lives stabilized... Of course, Eve wasn¡¯t worried about this. With the experience from the Flame Tribe elven, as long as the returning elves were willing, complemented by the task system, Eve believed they would eventually become her devout followers... The returning elf population had already exceeded three hundred. Yet the photon¡¯s count, symbolizing faith on the Eve Divine Country canopy, was far more, nearly a thousand already. This indicated that during this period, more elves had learned about the revival of the World Tree and picked up their faith again, though they hadn¡¯t managed to return yet. However, Eve also sensed that the trend of increased believers was beginning to slow down, which suggested that the elves who were relatively close had more or less been informed by the Flame Tribe. To find more elves, it would now be necessary to go further, and perhaps even delve into other territories. During the past half-month, the players¡¯ strength had evolved once more... The old players first. Thanks to constantly farming the Shadow Monster instance, many old players¡¯ abilities had advanced to the Black Iron Middle Rank. Now, the players who were Level 21 and above numbered over three hundred, with the highest reaching Level 25! These more than three hundred Black Iron Middle Rank players represented the most elite force among the players. They were either top-tier combat players, spendthrifts, or task fanatics... Beneath these three hundred high-level players were the mid-level players from Level 15 to 20. Other than a very small number of casual players, almost all the old players were in this range, and even some wealthy third-test players joined the older players¡¯ shadow instance group, reaching Level 15. The number of players in this range was about a thousand in total. Apart from these mid-to-high-level forces, the rest were almost entirely third-test players. However, the strength of the 9,000 third-test players had undergone a considerable transformation... Because Eve increased the mainline daily quest rewards, the third-test players leveled up faster compared to the first-test players. Among them, the hardcore players had already broken through to Level 11, advancing to the Black Iron Lower Rank, with roughly a thousand players. Besides this thousand, the vast majority of ordinary players, helped by the city¡¯s construction quests, advanced to Level 10, just a level away from the Black Iron Rank. Players below Level 10 amounted to fewer than a thousand now. In sum, the players¡¯ strength had drastically changed. And that was not even including the magic pets. After Eve opened the Magic Pet System, within less than half a month, almost every player managed to acquire a magic pet. The Earth Cave Spider was the most popular. Through efforts and supplication, many players secured Earth Cave Spiders from Spider Queen Rose, signing contracts with them. Especially among combat players, many high-level players farming shadow instances each had a large Earth Cave Spider. And among Druids represented by Li Mu, many managed to use suave persuasion in the forest, eventually earning the approval of unicorns. In total, there were over thirty such players. This number left Alice astonished... Of course, she didn¡¯t know that Eve, inspired by her contract with the Little Unicorn, had secretly boosted players¡¯ natural affinity. Natural affinity was quite important, as higher natural affinity made it easier for players to earn the approval of Demon Beasts, especially unicorns. Players¡¯ ability to sign contracts with Demon Beasts was beneficial to Eve as well. Although magic pets couldn¡¯t resurrect like players, making them unsuitable for combat, they could still further enhance players¡¯ strength and assist players in performing certain tasks. Similarly, due to players¡¯ efforts, Chosen City expanded further, and the restoration of Feilengcui also benefitted greatly. Overall, after the third test, the entire Elf Forest entered a period of rapid development. However, beneath the calm surface lay an impending storm. Southeast of the Elf Forest, at the Black Dragon Castle. After eradicating the Half-Beast Tribe, the place welcomed another group of unexpected visitors... Chapter 218: 212: Crocodile Mercenary Corps Chapter 218: Chapter 212: Crocodile Mercenary Corps The sunset painted the sky with a mesmerizing shade of red, and it was nearing dusk. Players who had been gaming the whole day began to return from instances and the underground forest, using the Teleportation Array to get back to Chosen City, either to participate in the nightly bonfire parties in the city or to log off and rest to recover their stamina... Of course, some hardcore players chose to continue completing quests and farming wild monsters, striving to reach higher levels and gain more contribution points. And Black Dragon Castle, as the connecting point of the Teleportation Array between Rivendell and Chosen City, naturally bustled with activity. Most players hurriedly teleported from Rivendell to Black Dragon Castle and then directly from the castle hall to Chosen City, merely staying in the hall, leaving the outside of the castle somewhat desolate. In the evening, like usual, Black Dragon Mairrel let out a long cry, spread its wings, and soared away, the destination unknown. In the words of Little Xian Miao, this was Little Black Dragon¡¯s usual walk before mealtime. Influenced by the players, Black Dragon Mairrel had gotten used to having three meals a day, and every day, players with barbecue quests would grill meat for it. Among them, Little Xian Miao and two Northeastern grill brothers took on the task most frequently. Little Xian Miao prepared the Demon Beast Meat in advance and took charge of lighting the fire, while the two Northeastern brothers were mainly responsible for the grilling... In no more than half an hour, they could have Mairrel¡¯s barbecue ready. Then, the three would exchange the barbecue for a decent amount of experience points and contribution points, and while Little Black Dragon was eating, they would pry off a few dragon scales, much to their delight. Today, the three took on the task again, grilling outside the castle by the bonfire. Initially, they barbecued inside the castle, but Little Black Dragon despised the smoke and grease filling the place, eventually driving the players outside. The two Northeastern brothers chatted while grilling, and Little Xian Miao occasionally used her fire magic to control the heat while multitasking by watching variety show videos online, occasionally letting out a string of bell-like laughter. The night mountain breeze blew gently, causing the bonfire to flicker slightly, scattering the white smoke from the barbecue, carrying a tantalizing aroma... It was quite pleasant. However, suddenly, Little Xian Miao¡¯s expression changed. She stopped smiling, turned off the video, and stood up warily. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Miao?¡± Seeing Little Xian Miao¡¯s face, the two Northeastern brothers asked in confusion. Little Xian Miao, like a wary rabbit, looked around and said, ¡°The warning magic I set up nearby was triggered. There might be a Demon Beast.¡± Black Dragon Castle was located on a mountain at the edge of the Dark Mountain Range. Usually, when Little Black Dragon was around, other Demon Beasts dared not approach. However, when Little Black Dragon left, occasionally, some Demon Beasts, enticed by the smell of barbecue, would boldly come nearby. Although the levels weren¡¯t very high, they were enough to pose a threat to the players... Therefore, every time Little Xian Miao came to grill for Black Dragon, she habitually set up a first-ring warning magic spell nearby in advance. Listening to Little Xian Miao¡¯s words, the two Northeastern brothers also became vigilant. They put down their skewers and drew their swords and blades... A faint breeze gently stirred their hair, but apart from the sound of the wind, the chirping of insects, and the occasional shouts of players coming from the castle, the three saw nothing. A moment later, Little Xian Miao lowered her Magic Wand and sighed regretfully, ¡°It must have left.¡± The two Northeastern brothers looked at each other and then sat down again to continue grilling. Everything returned to calm. However, in the darkness unnoticed by Little Xian Miao and her friends, an agile figure sighed in relief and then rolled and crawled down the mountain quietly... At the foot of the mountain of Black Dragon Castle, a few kilometers away in a dense forest near the Rock Cave Tribe ruins. A group of human mercenaries in leather armor sat idly on the ground, eating rations and chatting while resting. Beside them stood several carts loaded with goods. This was a human mercenary corps. Mercenary corps were very common in human society on Segis Continent. They sold their martial prowess, getting hired by nobles and merchants, sometimes engaging in wars, hunting powerful Demon Beasts, or simply escorting merchant caravans to earn commissions. Besides, when there weren¡¯t big orders, they also acted as merchant caravans, organizing their own trading while traveling long distances... The Crocodile Mercenary Corps was just like that. Registered in the Holy Mania Empire, this medium-sized mercenary corps, consisting of over eleven hundred people, had recently completed a commission task in the southern Aries Kingdom, earning a large sum in commissions and was returning north. The carts in their team carried goods they had purchased in Aries Kingdom, which they intended to sell back home for some smuggling profits. In the center of the mercenary camp. A human warrior with a bushy beard, clad in light Mithril armor, sat on a rock. He held a map in his hand, scrutinizing it carefully. He was the leader of the Crocodile Mercenary Corps, a magic swordsman at the silver medium rank, known as ¡°Crocodile.¡± As a mid-tier professional of the silver rank, he was somewhat renowned in the southwestern border of the empire. Single-handedly, he had raised a mercenary team of over a thousand, receiving the hospitality of the border nobles. Even the famous border Earl in the southwest of the Holy Mania Empire had once invited him for a meeting, exchanging banters. Crocodile pondered over the map, uncertain of his thoughts. Beside him stood a short, chubby middle-aged man dressed in a somewhat shabby steward outfit. If Black Dragon Mairrel were there, it would recognize him as the former leader of the human border Earl¡¯s clansmen that it had ¡°hired,¡± a timid and weak steward. However, at this moment, the steward¡¯s expression was unpleasant: ¡°Lord Crocodile, I¡¯ve told you everything I know. Why won¡¯t you let us go?¡± Hearing this, Crocodile lightly shook his head: ¡°Mr. Anders, why are you in such a hurry? The journey is treacherous and filled with Demon Beasts. Our mercenary corps accompanying you is precisely your luck. You should thank us for our escort.¡± After that, he laughed again: ¡°If it weren¡¯t for us, you and your followers might have been snatched away by Demon Beasts. Besides, we haven¡¯t charged you any escort fees.¡± Hearing Crocodile¡¯s words, the steward¡¯s face turned even uglier: ¡°Escort? Just ahead lies the border of the empire. I¡¯m the Earl¡¯s steward. What escort do I need? Aren¡¯t you afraid of incurring the Earl¡¯s wrath by detaining me like this?¡± Crocodile merely shook his head: ¡°One shouldn¡¯t say it like that. The Black Dragon is evil and cunning. What if it ambushes you during your return?¡± Hearing Crocodile¡¯s words, Anders¡¯s face darkened, but soon he said in frustration: ¡°Lord Crocodile, I know what you have in mind. A Black Dragon dwelling near the border, even if not mature, must have accumulated great wealth. Not only would you be tempted, but even the Earl might be too.¡± ¡°I know you¡¯re worried that if I return, the Earl will send a team to exterminate the Black Dragon, so you¡¯ll miss your chance...¡± ¡°But... This is a dragon! Even if it¡¯s not fully mature, it possesses the strength of a Silver Upper. Your mercenary corps might number a thousand, but you¡¯re no match for it!¡± ¡°Moreover, that Black Dragon is cunning and never led us to its lair. Searching aimlessly, you might find it difficult to locate...¡± After the steward finished speaking, Crocodile shook his head: ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Our mercenary corps might lack many things, but scouts aren¡¯t one of them. And this Black Dragon often circles in the sky recently. If we truly wish to find its lair, it won¡¯t be too difficult with some effort. As for dealing with the Black Dragon, you needn¡¯t concern yourself.¡± During their conversation, an excited voice suddenly came over: ¡°Captain! Captain!¡± Crocodile frowned and looked towards the source of the voice. An agile figure emerged, a human scout with a bow and a curved blade. He avoided resting mercenaries on both sides and came straight to Crocodile, wiping the sweat from his forehead while speaking excitedly: ¡°Captain! I¡¯ve found the Black Dragon¡¯s lair!¡± ¡°Hmm? Finally found it?¡± Crocodile¡¯s eyes flashed with a hint of joy. He gestured to his subordinates, and immediately, two mercenaries came forward and took the frustrated border Earl¡¯s steward away. Then, he looked at the scout: ¡°Where exactly is it?¡± ¡°In a castle on the mountain ahead!¡± After hearing this, Crocodile nodded internally: ¡°Very good!¡± After saying this, he asked expectantly: ¡°Did you see any elves?¡± ¡°I did!¡± The scout said. After speaking, his expression turned a little strange: ¡°Those elves... they set up a bonfire outside the castle and were grilling meat.¡± ¡°Grilling... meat?!¡± Crocodile was taken aback. Then, he speculated: ¡°They might have been forced by the dragon. It seems like a Black Dragon that knows how to enjoy itself... Any other information?¡± The scout thought for a moment and continued: ¡°Those elves are very cautious and set up warning spells around. I almost got caught.¡± Crocodile wasn¡¯t surprised: ¡°After all, they¡¯re elves, innately magical creatures. Anything else? Does the Black Dragon have any clansmen?¡± ¡°Apparently not, only some elves. However... there seemed to be quite a few elves inside the castle. I could vaguely hear their voices, and when the light shone through, it seemed there might be dozens of them.¡± ¡°That many elves?! Crocodile¡¯s eyes grew increasingly bright. ¡°Anders, that fellow! He kept something back! Hmph! Dozens of elves. No wonder he was so anxious! That¡¯s wealth equivalent to what a young Black Dragon should have!¡± After pondering for a moment, Crocodile said: ¡°Continue observing, see if we can discern the Black Dragon¡¯s activity patterns, then we¡¯ll act!¡± ¡°But...¡± The scout hesitated and said: ¡°The Black Dragon¡¯s aura is terrifying... surely a Silver Upper. Can we really take it on?¡± Crocodile¡¯s face darkened: ¡°Idiot! When did I ever say we were going to slay the dragon? What I mean is, once we understand the Black Dragon¡¯s movement patterns, we stealthily infiltrate the castle while it¡¯s away. Let¡¯s see if we can snatch some treasure and kidnap a few elves!¡± ¡°Not to mention, if we can capture a few female elves, we¡¯ll make a huge profit on this trip! As for the Black Dragon... let¡¯s leave that headache for the Earl!¡± ¡°After successfully sneaking in and making a grab, we¡¯ll release Anders and his people!¡± Chapter 219: 213: Successful Stealth Attack Chapter 219: Chapter 213: Successful Stealth Attack The Crocodile was a person who could really hold his nerve. After all... if he remembered correctly, there should have been a Half-Beast Tribe nearby. However, the tribe had now disappeared, and no matter how you looked at it, it was definitely related to the Black Dragon! And a Black Dragon that could force a Half-Beast Tribe to migrate... though it was not yet an adult, its strength was probably quite terrifying. Thus, after discovering the Black Dragon¡¯s lair, the Crocodile did not act rashly. Instead, he continued to order his men to observe in secret, record the Black Dragon¡¯s patterns of activity, and led the main group to lay low. Even to the point that, worrying about exposing their tracks, he forbade his men from hunting and only allowed them to eat the dry food they had brought. The Crocodile planned to choose the right moment to stealthily attack the castle when the Black Dragon was not home! Then, he would make a clean getaway! The mercenaries still had a week¡¯s worth of dry rations with them. And the Crocodile waited nearly three days in the dense forest. During these three days, through observation, they finally roughly figured out the Black Dragon¡¯s routine. This Black Dragon roared once every morning, noon, and evening, flying out of its castle, and would return an hour later. The Crocodile speculated that the Black Dragon was likely patrolling its territory. And when the Black Dragon was away, Elves would come out of the castle to grill meat in front of the door for the Black Dragon. Sometimes, it was a Female Elf Mage and two Elf Warriors, and sometimes it was others. The Elves grilling meat had glamorous equipment. Judging by the exquisite appearance, it was estimated to be real Elf-made, which made the mercenaries extremely envious... Meanwhile, when the Black Dragon stayed in the castle, Elves with simple equipment would often come out of the castle, pushing carts full of forage to the forest at the bottom of the mountain on the other side of the castle, doing who-knows-what. The mercenaries were very curious and wanted to follow to see where these Elves were going, and take the opportunity to capture any Elves who were alone. Unfortunately, the Black Dragon was always in the castle at that time. Fearing to alert the Black Dragon, they had to give up... But the Crocodile, based on the scouts¡¯ oral accounts of observing Elven activities, deduced that there was likely a large treasure hidden in the Black Dragon Castle! Otherwise, as lackeys of the Black Dragon, there¡¯s no way the Elves would be so busy! Furthermore... even the lackeys had such great equipment, so a greedy Black Dragon? It had to be even richer! After three days of silence, the Crocodile finally decided to launch a raid on the castle at dusk when the Black Dragon left its lair! He selected a hundred people from the mercenary group, all elite confidants, with the weakest mercenary being at the Black Iron Middle Rank. Then, under the cover of night, they quietly moved to the mountain where the Black Dragon Castle was located... Outside the Black Dragon Castle. This evening, it was still Little Xian Miao and two Northeastern brothers who had taken on the barbecue task. They chatted while grilling, as usual. The Crocodile and his men also quietly surrounded them under the cover of night. The Black Dragon had already left. But its small silhouette could still be seen at the edge of the sky. After circling a few times, it gradually flew toward the direction of the Elf Forest... Seeing the Black Dragon getting farther away, a thought flashed in the Crocodile¡¯s mind: ¡°Could it be... these Elves were taken by the Black Dragon from the Elf Forest?¡± He did not hesitate, and after the Black Dragon¡¯s silhouette completely vanished from view, he gave a command: ¡°Come with me, three quick hunters, control those Elves grilling meat outside first!¡± With that said, three Black Iron Upper Rank mercenaries followed him, and the four of them crept up behind Little Xian Miao and the others... ... Outside the Black Dragon Castle. Little Xian Miao sat by the campfire, hugging her knees, watching the two Northeastern brothers flipping the grilled meat in utter boredom, and sighed: ¡°Lately, it¡¯s been so boring...¡± ¡°Bored?¡± Hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s words, the two Northeastern brothers exchanged glances. ¡°I actually think there¡¯s so much to do, fighting beasts during the day, roasting meat at night, doing some daily quests, barely having enough time to be busy.¡± One of them said. ¡°Yeah... I still need tens of thousands of contribution points to finish equipping myself, and I¡¯m considering whether to sell some of the dragon scales I¡¯ve hoarded.¡± The other one said. ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I mean.¡± Little Xian Miao shook her head: ¡°Actually, it is quite interesting. I just feel like no new main storyline has been triggered lately. I¡¯ve only been grinding instances every day, which feels a bit out of habit...¡± ¡°When will there be major storylines like the battles with the Half-Beasts and the defenses of Black Rock City again? I still prefer the big storylines in ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯!¡± Little Xian Miao looked nostalgic. Northeastern brother: ... They figured they understood. Little Xian Miao felt bored because there hadn¡¯t been any server-wide major storylines lately. In other words, although this wealthy girl was somewhat a life player, she was the kind who feared peace in the world... They looked at the legendary gold-ranked mage equipment glittering on Little Xian Miao, hesitating to say more. Only someone with a full gold set would feel there¡¯s nothing to do apart from leveling, right? One of the Northeastern brothers had an idea and said: ¡°Speaking of which... yesterday, when I was in Black Rock City, I heard from the Dwarves in the tavern that the Half-Beasts in the Death Desert were making big moves. Not sure if that¡¯s related to the next major storyline.¡± Black Rock City was not the only channel for trade with the outside world. They also had exchanges with more profound forces in the Underworld. Those forces likewise had connections with the ground world and their own intelligence channels, and the Dwarves often exchanged information with them. So, even though the Dwarves were from an underground force, it was not surprising they could get the scoop on the Death Desert before the players did. It wasn¡¯t just intelligence on the Half-Beasts. In fact, the emergence of a nascent True God in the Elf Forest, forming a deep friendship with Death God Hela, was already spreading in parts of the Underworld... There was even a rumor that the new True God was a hidden subordinate of the Death God! However, most remained skeptical about this. Even the existence of the nascent True God was doubted by many... ¡°Death Desert?¡± Hearing the Northeastern brother¡¯s words, Little Xian Miao perked up. She had heard Mairrel mention that it was the Half-Beasts¡¯ main base, and likely a newly opening map in the future! Could it be...? Was the official planning a big storyline?! Little Xian Miao suddenly felt a bit expectant. And at that moment, she suddenly sensed a trace of magical fluctuation. Little Xian Miao¡¯s expression changed: ¡°The warning magic has been triggered! Something is coming!¡± ¡°Demon Beast?¡± The two Northeastern guys grew serious and quickly stood up. However, before they could draw their weapons, three agile figures rushed out from the darkness! They were human mercenaries. Wearing leather armor, acting swiftly, they instantly reached the group! Though Little Xian Miao¡¯s group had been playing for two months, with intermittent gaming for more than half a year, their movements were still slower compared to the experienced mercenaries... Perhaps in a fair fight of the same level, players could rely on their fearlessness and muted pain to win, but when it came to surprise attacks... The players were still at a disadvantage. In no time, Little Xian Miao and her group had not drawn their weapons and were controlled by the human mercenaries... The mercenaries surrounded the three and held short knives to their necks, harshly whispering: ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± Seeing the sudden emergence of several people left Little Xian Miao and the two Northeastern brothers momentarily bewildered. Where did these humans come from?! The Crocodile was equally surprised. Watching the three players instantly controlled by his men, he was quite baffled: The alertness and adaptability of these Elves were so poor! However, despite his surprise, this fantastically smooth operation was greatly satisfying to him. The Crocodile greedily surveyed the equipment on the group, his gaze resting on Little Xian Miao for a moment. He restrained his joy and quietly ordered the other mercenaries who gradually arrived: ¡°Take their weapons, bind them with the Magic Prohibition Rope, and gag them.¡± Then, he coldly glanced at Little Xian Miao¡¯s group and habitually spoke in the common tongue: ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die, don¡¯t resist!¡± To the Crocodile¡¯s surprise, the three Elves under his men¡¯s control were quite cooperative. They nodded, instantly raised their hands, allowed the other mercenaries to seize their equipment, tie them up with rope, and gag them... The three offered no resistance at all. Further surprising to the Crocodile, these three Elves, while initially panicked at the sight of him and his men, were not afraid. On the contrary... they seemed somewhat excited? Especially the Female Elf, whose eyes sparkled brightly and whose expression showed a bit of excitement as the Crocodile¡¯s hundred followers burst out of the darkness and made their way toward the castle... This defied the Crocodile¡¯s understanding entirely. In his memory, captured Female Elves always fell into panic, either choosing suicide or putting up a desperate fight. Of course... they ultimately ended in despair and numbing. Just... what was up with this one? The sparkly eyes were almost screaming excitement! Did these Elves have something wrong in their heads? Did they actually think his group was there to rescue them? You couldn¡¯t be sure, given that the Elf Clan was universally considered naive and easy to deceive! At this thought, the Crocodile chuckled, showing a smile he believed to be suave and friendly, but in reality appeared somewhat sinister and ruthless... He smiled as he spoke to the three bound players, especially Little Xian Miao: ¡°Behave, and I¡¯ll take you away from the Black Dragon¡¯s clutches.¡± Hearing the Crocodile¡¯s words, the three of them exchanged some odd glances but remained silent. The Crocodile, after leaving three trusted subordinates to watch over Little Xian Miao¡¯s group, led the remaining mercenaries rushing into the castle... The tied-up Little Xian Miao and her group stayed silent. However, outside the view of the human mercenaries, they were fully engulfed in excitement. Game system, friend chat interface. ¡°Ah, ah, ah! Wish upon a star, and your wish comes true! A hidden mission! This must be another triggered hidden mission! And... surprisingly, it¡¯s about humans!¡± ¡°Haha! It must¡¯ve been triggered after Mairrel¡¯s trip to the Human World last time! I knew it! That guy took so many things for less than a thousand silver coins! How could that not lead to more storylines?!¡± Little Xian Miao excitedly typed in the small barbecue group chat of the three. Chapter 220: 214: Stirring Up a Hornets Nest Chapter 220: Chapter 214: Stirring Up a Hornet¡¯s Nest ¡°Hmm? Something¡¯s happening again?¡± As Little Xian Miao excitedly posted in the chat channel, Eve noticed the same situation. The number of players was increasing, and to ensure control over them, Eve had recently reinforced the game system once again. The most crucial aspect was that Eve, utilizing Blue Star¡¯s big data filtering techniques and Divine responses to believers¡¯ prayers, had enhanced the monitoring of players¡¯ speech. For instance, whenever players mentioned terms like ¡°hidden storyline¡± or ¡°task trigger,¡± the related content would be projected into Eve¡¯s Divine Soul, categorized and then transmitted for her to be aware of the players¡¯ dynamics promptly. The game system would even provide Eve with the players¡¯ perspectives when they mentioned these keywords. Thus, when Little Xian Miao eagerly yearned for a hidden storyline, Eve had already detected the changes near the Black Dragon Castle. With this in mind, Eve immediately accessed Little Xian Miao¡¯s perspective. Upon seeing the three bound individuals and the mercenaries beside them, Eve was slightly surprised, ¡°Humans?¡± However, she quickly noticed more changes at the Black Dragon Castle. Eve did not intervene immediately; instead, her interest piqued, she decided to watch how the players would handle the situation first... The timing chosen by the mercenaries was impeccable. With Eve and the players around, Mairrel had never considered that anyone would dare venture into her lair, so she neglected setting up defensive magic. The players naturally regarded the Black Dragon Castle as a safe zone in the game, so they were entirely unguarded. Hence, when the mercenaries stormed the castle, the process went so smoothly that even the leader felt as if he was dreaming... In the castle hall, there were more than thirty players waiting for Mairrel¡¯s return to receive tasks from her or resting while being AFK, but most were battle players passing through the Black Dragon Castle via the Teleportation Array. When human mercenaries suddenly burst in, almost everyone was bewildered. ¡°Where did these human NPCs come from?!¡± The players hadn¡¯t figured out what was happening when over ninety human mercenaries surrounded them... Seeing the more than thirty elves completely encircled by his men, the leader was overjoyed inside. Elves! More than thirty elves! And... they were all young elves, probably not exceeding two hundred years in age! Not to mention... among them, over a dozen were females! Young female elves! By the Eternal Lord above, where did that Black Dragon capture so many elves from?! The leader¡¯s joy was overwhelming, and his heart raced. This... was an incredible fortune! However, what puzzled the leader was that when these elves saw them, their expressions seemed a bit strange. They did not look terrified or despairing as he had imagined. Or rather... there was almost no fear in the eyes of these elves. Instead, there were expressions of confusion, suspicion, or alertness... Some even seemed somewhat excited? But fear was nowhere to be seen! Overall, it made the leader feel very peculiar... Although he found the elves¡¯ reactions odd, at this moment, the value of these elves preoccupied the leader¡¯s mind. More than thirty young elves! This... they were like walking silver mines and gold mines! The human mercenaries also widened their eyes, their breaths deepening. They were veteran mercenaries, and they had caught elves before, so they knew well the prices of elf slaves in the black market. So... when they saw more than thirty young elves in the hall, with nearly half being females, they realized they had struck gold. Forget about finding the Black Dragon¡¯s treasure; even capturing these elves alone made this trip worthwhile! The leader took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, and viciously threatened the players, ¡°No one move! If you don¡¯t want to die, drop your weapons!¡± However, to the leader¡¯s surprise, unlike the three elves outside the castle, not a single one of these elves surrendered... On the contrary, after hearing his words, the initial confusion and doubt in the elves¡¯ eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by a hint of excitement and exhilaration. Three players might have surrendered when controlled by over ninety enemies. But if more than thirty players were surrounded... If they didn¡¯t fight back, they wouldn¡¯t be the fourth calamity. ¡°They¡¯re hostile NPCs!¡± ¡°Human mercenaries?¡± ¡°Damn! Mercenaries have even breached the Black Dragon¡¯s castle!¡± ¡°What the hell! Is this the legendary hidden storyline?¡± ¡°They want us to surrender? What a joke!¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely a hidden storyline; let¡¯s fight first and leave a few alive to find out what¡¯s going on!¡± The players collectively got excited. Then, under the leader¡¯s astonished gaze, these elves drew out their weapons... Hmm? They dared to resist? And they intended to capture their own prisoners?! The leader narrowed his eyes slightly. He roughly gauged that among these more than thirty elves, the highest level was only at the initial Black Iron Middle Rank, while the over ninety mercenaries he brought were all seasoned Black Iron Middle Rank professionals! Ninety to thirty, with an overwhelming advantage in strength. Not to mention the leader himself was at the Silver Middle Rank; he alone could easily defeat them all! Where did these elves get their courage? From the Black Dragon? With this thought, the Magic Swordsman raised his longsword and instructed the other mercenaries, ¡°Move quickly, everyone, go together! Try to capture them alive! Don¡¯t harm the female elves!¡± Then, the equally excited mercenaries lifted their weapons and, led by the leader, charged at the players. The players also drew their weapons, backed against the Teleportation Array, and confronted the mercenaries. In an instant, human mercenaries and players clashed within the castle. As soon as the battle commenced, the disparity became apparent. With their numerical and strength advantage, the players quickly found themselves at a disadvantage. The leader charged ahead, skillfully swinging his sword, effortlessly disarming an elf¡¯s longsword, and then transforming his other hand into a knife edge, striking the elf¡¯s neck as he passed, knocking him out instantly... The entire movement was smooth, lasting less than two seconds. ¡°Damn! One-hit kill!¡± ¡°Silver! It must be Silver!¡± The players were dumbfounded. But soon, their expressions turned serious: ¡°These guys are too strong, we have to go all out!¡± ¡°Yeah, whoever can call for backup, do it now!¡± ¡°Call for backup?¡± The leader frowned slightly, not quite understanding what they meant. However, it didn¡¯t stop him from continuing his actions, turning to the next target... For a moment, the hall descended into chaos. To the leader¡¯s surprise, though the elves¡¯ combat ability was poor, when they fought for real, they resembled a pack of mad dogs. Especially when they fought desperately. They truly fought with their lives. Even if it meant sustaining fatal injuries, they would stab a hole in a mercenary... Under their protection, a few Elf Mages in the rear chanted spells, launching ranged attacks at the approaching mercenaries. For a moment, the hall flickered with brilliant magical light. And considering their goal was to capture, the mercenaries found themselves restricted... In fact, one mercenary was directly counter-killed under the desperation of two elves! The originally overwhelming situation slowed down slightly! ¡°Hmph! A bunch of useless trash!¡± Witnessing this, the leader angrily glared. ¡°I¡¯ll handle them alone; focus on capturing! Don¡¯t let any escape!¡± With that, he changed his strategy and began mercilessly targeting the more powerful elves! No one could resist the power of Silver. The leader maneuvered through the elves, disarming each one with ease and knocking them down... No elf could withstand even a single round against him! Then, the mercenaries swarmed in, firmly binding the elves struck down by the leader... Once the leader showed no mercy, the elves became panic-stricken. Almost every few seconds, an elf was knocked down by the leader and tied up by the mercenaries. Soon, more than thirty elves were entirely captured as the mercenaries¡¯ prisoners and guarded in a corner. The mercenaries erupted in excited cheers. However, at that moment, the Array within the castle suddenly shone with a gentle radiance... In the leader¡¯s astonished gaze, over a dozen more fully armed elves stormed out from the Array! ¡°It¡¯s a Teleportation Array? Reinforcements?!¡± The leader was dumbfounded. But soon, he was delighted, ¡°Perfect timing! Brothers, seize them!¡± These were no reinforcements; they were a treasure delivered right to the door! He lifted his longsword again, charging into the elves¡¯ ranks... The mercenaries, equally thrilled, followed their leader¡¯s actions. This batch of elves was noticeably stronger. However, they still weren¡¯t a match for the leader. Working with his subordinates, it took less than three minutes to defeat this group of elves! As the mercenaries excitedly began tying up their captured elves. The Array flashed again... Dozens more elves rushed out! ¡°There¡¯s more?!¡± The leader panted slightly, his expression tinged with disbelief, ¡°By the Eternal Lord above! Has the Black Dragon gathered all the elves from the Elf Forest?!¡± Though finding it unbelievable, the leader¡¯s joy knew no bounds. Another batch! All young! And... quite a few females! Altogether, more than a hundred elves now! This... was a colossal fortune! ¡°Go! Keep going!¡± The leader took a deep breath, eyes red with fervor, swinging his weapon once more into the fray... The mercenaries swarmed in again, aiding their leader. However, before the leader could finish dispatching all the elves, the Teleportation Array lit up again... This time, almost thirty fully armed elves charged out! Seeing dozens of elves appearing again, the leader was so shocked that his mouth gaped wide. ¡°Still... so many more?!¡± By the Eternal Lord above! Had he stirred up a hornet¡¯s nest of elves?! For a moment, the leader¡¯s excited heart suddenly calmed slightly. *Why did he suddenly feel a bit uneasy?* However, the numbers were still within the mercenaries¡¯ capacity to handle. With a hardened expression, he ordered his men, ¡°Show no mercy, kill the males, leave only the female elves!¡± Receiving their leader¡¯s command, the mercenaries started dealing deadly blows. This time, the newly emerged elves suffered heavy casualties. However, as the panting leader and his equally exhausted mercenaries were about to capture these elves entirely... The Teleportation Array... lit up again. This time, over a hundred fully armed elves poured out one after another! Moreover, the array¡¯s light continued to flicker... The leader panted heavily, staring dumbfoundedly at the hall packed with elves, his gaze dull, as a sudden sense of dread grew within him... Chapter 221: 215: The Mercenary Who Knows When to Stop Chapter 221: Chapter 215: The Mercenary Who Knows When to Stop Elf Forest, Feilengcui. Having just finished moving bricks for the NPCs, Demacia checked his pitiful personal reputation rating, sighed, and entered the Teleportation Array leading to the Chosen City. With a flash of light, he returned to the central square of the Chosen City. However, as soon as he arrived, he felt something was amiss. ¡°Why are there so few people today?¡± Observing the sparsely populated square, Demacia was somewhat surprised. *As the main city for players, the Chosen City was bustling from dawn to dusk, and the central square connected by the Teleportation Array to Feilengcui was the most prosperous place in the entire city.* *Especially at night, after new players joined during the third test, there were bonfire parties here every night. They even started setting up barbecue stands recently. Alice had become numb to it all and no longer cared.* But tonight... The bonfire was there, but the crowd in the square was unusually sparse. Moreover, Demacia noticed quite a few people hurriedly packing their gear and running toward the southeast part of the city. ¡°Where is everyone?¡± Demacia was stunned. He quickly grabbed a player who was running towards the southeast and asked, puzzled, ¡°Hey brother, where are you going? Where¡¯s everyone from the square?¡± The player looked at Demacia, surprised, ¡°Demacia, big boss? You haven¡¯t gone yet?¡± ¡°Big boss my foot, I¡¯m clearly the player with the lowest reputation rating server-wide...¡± Looking at his reputation score, Demacia was on the brink of tears. Player: ... The player cleared his throat and said, ¡°Ahem... no one told you? There¡¯s a hidden quest triggered over at Black Dragon Castle. A group of human mercenaries came, and they¡¯re fighting! I heard there¡¯s a Silver BOSS with a full set of magic gear! Everyone¡¯s heading that way!¡± ¡°Human mercenaries, hidden quest?¡± Demacia was slightly stunned and quickly opened his chat system, immediately seeing an overwhelming amount of chat messages... The Nature¡¯s Heart Guild¡¯s chat channel was already exploding: ¡°Oh no! The human army is attacking Black Dragon Castle!¡± ¡°What? A human army?¡± ¡°It seems to be mercenaries! They¡¯ve fought their way into the castle! It¡¯s chaos over there!¡± ¡°Are they strong?¡± ¡°Yes! And there¡¯s a Silver BOSS! Full set of magic gear! Seems to be a Magic Swordsman!¡± ¡°Crap! A plot event triggered! Another plot event for sure!¡± ¡°Hurry up! Team up and join the fight! If we win, it¡¯s Silver gear for us!¡± Even his friend list was a sea of red messages: ¡°Demacia! Hurry up and join the team! Fight¡¯s on at Black Dragon Castle!¡± ¡°Brother, where are you?¡± ¡°Reply quickly!¡± Even Li Mu called out to him several times, ¡°Where are you? Gather up!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Done scrubbing the toilet?¡± Demacia: ... *Ever since he got halfway through scrubbing the toilet, and got allured by the guild¡¯s invitation to the Underworld to partake in a pyramid scheme, nullifying days of toilet scrubbing efforts... Demacia, when he grinds for NPC favor, now endures by muting chat messages.* *So... he only found out about this now!* ¡°When did this happen?!¡± He eagerly asked. ¡°Well... not too long ago, just over ten minutes ago. I think Sister Meow triggered it first! I heard she¡¯s still captured!¡± This player replied. He was a member of the Mengmeng Committee. Demacia realized, ¡°That flat-chested middle-school brat again? She¡¯s so lucky!¡± Player: ... ¡°Demacia, big boss, I won¡¯t stick around. My teammates are calling me, I¡¯m off!¡± The player twitched his mouth, waved to Demacia, and scurried away. And Demacia stood there dazed for a few seconds, then hurriedly pulled out his weapon, contacting Li Mu while dashing toward the southeast location where the Teleportation Array for Black Dragon Castle was set... ... Black Dragon Castle, in the hall. Gazing at the increasing number of elves, Crocodile¡¯s face began to turn pale... The castle hall, expanded considerably for the activities of the Black Dragon, was now fully packed with heavily armed elves. Looking around, there were at least several hundred of them! They crowded, cursed, and approached the mercenaries; the ones at the front had already clashed with them. However, due to the sheer number of elves, those at the back couldn¡¯t even form a proper formation and ended up pushing against each other chaotically. But, despite the comical sight of the elves¡¯ scrum, Crocodile couldn¡¯t muster any joy. As more and more elves appeared, his emotions swiftly shifted from joy to shock, then from shock to fear! Thirty elves were easy for them to handle. A hundred elves? If he unleashed his full power, plus the mercenaries¡¯ aid, quick victory wasn¡¯t out of the question. But now... The hall was packed with no fewer than three hundred elves! Not to mention, they were all well-armed, and most were of Black Iron Middle Rank strength! What was even more shocking was the Array at the back still flickering with light. If not for the fact that the Array was filled with transported elves, possibly even more would have been teleported from who knows where... *How on earth are there so many elves?!* *Have all the remaining young elves in the world gathered here?!* *When did the Elf Clan become so common?!* Crocodile was in a daze. *To his knowledge, the largest slave black market of the Holy Mania Empire held at most just under two hundred elf slaves.* *Never mind that less than half of those were young elves!* *Here... hundreds of elves, all robust young adults!* ¡°C-chief... Are we still fighting?¡± A mercenary cautiously asked, noticing the increasingly grim expression on their leader¡¯s face. ¡°Fight my ass! Grab those tied-up elves, prioritize the females, and retreat!¡± Crocodile cursed, decisively choosing to retreat. *They had already summoned hundreds of Black Iron Middle Rank elves!* *Even though with his Silver Middle Rank strength, plus a hundred subordinates, truly fighting would only be a matter of time before victory, but¡ª* *The Teleportation Array over there was still flickering!* *Crocodile... genuinely didn¡¯t dare to speculate how many more elves hadn¡¯t arrived yet.* *By the Eternal Lord!* *Where did all these elves come from?* However, Crocodile no longer had time to ponder this question. *He and his crew had already been fighting here for over ten minutes.* *And such a large battle could attract the Black Dragon back at any moment.* *If the Black Dragon returned, they might all be stuck here.* *So... knowing when to quit and bringing the captured elves in retreat was the right move!* He quickly pulled a Magic Scroll from his pocket and tore it open! After a subtle wave of magic, a large blob of gray-black smoke formed in his hand. Crocodile flicked his hand, and the smoke rapidly spread, obscuring the elves¡¯ vision... In the hall, players coughed one after another. ¡°Grab the people! We¡¯re retreating!¡± Having done all this, Crocodile ordered, carrying a thoroughly bound female elf over his shoulder and running outside... The remaining human mercenaries followed suit, taking the elves they had previously tied to the walls and hurriedly running out of the castle. ¡°Ugh, ugh... What¡¯s this smoke? So choking!¡± ¡°Oh no! They¡¯re escaping!¡± ¡°Quick, chase after them!¡± After the mercenaries escaped the castle with their captive players, the remaining players quickly pursued. But, once they exited the castle, Crocodile chuckled coldly. He pulled out another scroll from his pocket. It was a magic scroll with golden edges, inscribed with complex magic patterns and runes. As a seasoned Silver Expert, it was impossible not to have one or two trump cards. This scroll was a rare spatial Magic Scroll obtained by Crocodile years ago while exploring an ancient ruin! It was also the key reason Crocodile dared to risk entering the castle under the odds of Black Dragon¡¯s discovery! He began chanting incantations, and the Magic Scroll started to emit a soft glow... Soon after, the scroll spontaneously combusted, sending out a pulse of unsettling magic, forming a shimmering portal in front of Crocodile! Seventh-circle magic¡ª¡±Teleportation Gate¡±! This magic could last up to five minutes and transport targets up to five kilometers away! Crocodile had already set up his camp to receive the teleportation, marking the exit point to his camp five kilometers away upon activating the scroll! This was all meticulously planned in advance to avoid any possible counterattacks from the Black Dragon. However, it unexpectedly needed to be used to evade the elves... ¡°Go!¡± With the portal open, Crocodile commanded his men. The mercenaries rushed in with their ¡°spoils,¡± stunned and speechless... As the last mercenary entered, the elves from the castle caught up. ¡°Oh no! They¡¯re getting away!¡± ¡°Is this teleportation magic?!¡± ¡°Quick! Chase them!¡± Pushing forth with their weapons, they thronged toward Crocodile like a swarm of locusts. Watching the approaching elves, Crocodile momentarily felt tempted to lead some of them into the Teleportation Gate too... On the other side of the gate, he had a thousand allies ready with ambushes. If elves entered, they¡¯d be outmatched! Crocodile doubted there¡¯d be more elves than the members of his mercenary group! Perhaps, a few hundred would be their limit? However...this notion flickered briefly before he dismissed it. For, he saw a growing shadow in the distant sky... It was the Black Dragon! Black Dragon... had returned! *Knowing when to quit was the true secret to a mercenary group¡¯s long-term survival.* Crocodile gave a longing glance at the sky, then chuckled maliciously at the approaching elves: ¡°Consider yourselves lucky! See you!¡± With that, he too stepped through the light gate... The light gate shimmered slightly, then vanished into the darkness. Leaving a group of empty-handed players staring at each other... ¡°Such a cautious fellow!¡± Watching Crocodile¡¯s series of actions from the players¡¯ perspective, Eve couldn¡¯t help but feel impressed... ¡°But... why take people back?¡± Glancing at the players outside the castle chatting with the unlucky few who were captured, Eve sighed softly. Chapter 222: 216: Rescuing the Elf Player Chapter 222: Chapter 216: Rescuing the Elf Player In the dense forest, Crocodile Mercenary Corps¡¯ camp. A group of mercenaries surrounded dozens of bound elves, excitedly counting their number, ¡°One, two, three... fifty-seven, fifty-eight...¡± ¡°Fifty-eight! We actually captured fifty-eight in one go!¡± ¡°They¡¯re all young elves! More than half of them are female!¡± ¡°Hahaha! We¡¯re rich! We¡¯re rich! Even if we split this up evenly, each of us will earn hundreds of pounds in gold coins!¡± ¡°Captain! You¡¯re really incredible! I¡¯ve never seen so many elves in my life!¡± The mercenaries said excitedly. Crocodile accepted a water flask handed over by a mercenary, gulping it down before saying proudly, ¡°Hehe, when am I not impressive, as your captain?¡± What a joke! Crocodile had risen to become a silver-tier magic swordsman purely from a commoner¡¯s status, and had gathered a thousand-strong mercenary corps under his command, even nobles had to treat him with respect! After speaking, a hint of regret flashed in Crocodile¡¯s expression, ¡°What a pity the Black Dragon returned, otherwise we could have captured more...¡± ¡°More?¡± ¡°Yes, at least several hundred more!¡± Crocodile sighed. Upon hearing the captain¡¯s words, the mercenaries who hadn¡¯t participated in the raid gasped, ¡°Hundreds of elves? Eternal Lord above! Where did that Black Dragon gather so many elves? And... they¡¯re all so young!¡± ¡°Who knows, maybe it cleared out all the remaining elves in the Elf Forest?¡± Crocodile shook his head and said. Facing the mercenaries, he could only explain it like this. However, although this operation had gone smoothly, Crocodile felt a bit uneasy inside. Recalling those teleportation arrays just now, and looking at the elves he captured who were curiously or excitedly observing the mercenaries, Crocodile felt something was off... If he had to say, it was that the reactions of these captured elves were somewhat different from what he had imagined... Crocodile had expected them to be fearful and terrified, to be angry and desperate, and even based on many years of mercenary experience, he worried some elves might stubbornly choose suicide... However, the fact was, these dozens of captured elves were extremely cooperative with the mercenaries, as if they were strolling in their own gardens, and their eyes were brightly observing the mercenaries coming and going, filled with curiosity and excitement, but conspicuously lacking tension or fear! *What a strange bunch! Don¡¯t they know what they¡¯re about to face?* Crocodile was very puzzled. Yet... thinking about it now, the fact that the Black Dragon could gather hundreds of young elves was already quite strange. Crocodile thought for a while, found it incomprehensible, and decided not to think about it anymore. *Perhaps my unease is just because everything went too smoothly?* However, these captured elves were certainly real! He had identified them using [Appraisal], and these captured entities were truly elves! Now that their power had been sealed by the Magic Prohibition Rope, could they possibly perform any tricks? However... the haul was too great; to prevent any long night thoughts, he figured it best to take them back as soon as possible. Thinking of this, Crocodile took a drink of water and then waved his hand to disperse the onlooking mercenaries, ¡°Move along, move along! Watch these elves carefully! No one is allowed to touch them! Even a single finger of theirs is worth a year¡¯s wage for you guys!¡± ¡°Pack up your things, we¡¯re setting off overnight, head back to the empire¡¯s border!¡± Upon Crocodile¡¯s order, Xiao Xian Miao and fifty-eight other captured players were herded together. They obediently listened to the mercenaries¡¯ orders, and at the same time curiously surveyed the mercenary camp. On the surface, it seemed like they were awed by the scale of over a thousand mercenaries. But in reality, the players were thoroughly excited at this moment... In the game¡¯s chat system. The fifty-eight players captured by human mercenaries were all dragged into a temporary team created by Xiao Xian Miao. At this very moment, the team chat channel was flooded with the players¡¯ messages, ¡°A mercenary corps! This is a human mercenary corps!¡± ¡°So many people! Could this really be a hidden plot?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very possible! From their conversation, it seems they were originally after Mairrel but ended up capturing us instead.¡± ¡°They were really after Mairrel? Could this be the follow-up plot triggered after it went out last time?¡± ¡°Who knows, anyway... it seems we¡¯re being treated as treasures by them.¡± ¡°Of course, we¡¯re treated as treasures! You¡¯re a third-test player, so you might not know, but an elf¡¯s price on the black market is at least a thousand pounds in gold coins! If it¡¯s female, the price doubles!¡± ¡°How are you so familiar with this?¡± ¡°Hehe, back when the Underworld map first opened up, I sold myself twice and made over three thousand pounds in gold coins!¡± ¡°What the hell?! You can sell yourself? Awesome! But... is the gold even useful?¡± ¡°Nonsense, one gold coin is worth a hundred silver coins, that¡¯s a huge sum of thirty thousand silver coins! Just crafting equipment at the Shadowy Dwarves would be enough for thirty sets of rare blue equipment at least! In contribution terms, that¡¯s sixty thousand! Back then, resurrection depended on the Perfect Times, dying twice cost only two thousand contribution points.¡± ¡°Wow! Two thousand contribution points exchanged for sixty thousand! Impressive! Is this a system loophole?¡± ¡°Maybe not. Because after I sold myself twice, the dwarven trafficker went bankrupt. Moreover, now resurrection times have become resurrection coins, and death penalties have gotten heavier and heavier...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate you and I¡¯s worth in the game! In summary... it¡¯s perfectly normal for these mercenaries to take us as treasures! According to Shadowy Dwarves, bounty hunters in the Underworld consider yearly earnings of over thirty pounds in gold coins to be rich.¡± ¡°...¡± The players chattered endlessly in the chat channel. Simultaneously, older players like Xiao Xian Miao also contacted their guilds. ¡°Miao, where are you guys?¡± ¡°In a grove, surrounded by many mercenaries. From the location on the mini-map, we should be not far from Black Dragon Castle but also near the map¡¯s border. I¡¯ll invite you to the team.¡± ¡°Woah! So many people in the team?!¡± ¡°We were caught over fifty of us at once... and there are mercenaries everywhere, so thick it¡¯s impossible to tell how many. I just overheard from the NPCs¡¯ chats that they number in the thousands...¡± ¡°That many?! Our guild alone might not be enough to rescue them...¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s call on Heart of Nature and the First Legion! And that newly established guild by the third-test player, ¡®Autobots.¡¯ But... I still want to wait a bit more; according to Elf Kingdom¡¯s game routine, the hidden plot should be coming soon.¡± The players communicated through the chat system, and Eve also gathered the gist of the situation by eavesdropping on players¡¯ chats and the mercenaries¡¯ actions... ¡°So, it¡¯s just a mercenary corps coming after the Black Dragon¡¯s wealth! They knew the Black Dragon had elves, but they mistook the players for the Black Dragon¡¯s clansmen!¡± Eve realized. ¡°Crocodile Mercenary Corps, huh? Over a thousand of them, neither much nor too few.¡± ¡°However... since they¡¯re here, they may as well not leave. After all, the players¡¯ strength has recently increased significantly; it¡¯s time to test large corps combat and see the players¡¯ strength.¡± Thinking of this, Eve calculated the marching speed of the mercenaries... ¡°They¡¯ll completely leave the players¡¯ maximum operational range in about two days...¡± The straight-line distance from the Crocodile Mercenary Corps to Eve¡¯s body was about 260 kilometers. Their march direction was slightly northward, and after about another 70 kilometers, they would surpass the straight-line range of 300 kilometers of the players¡¯ activities. And with the large batch of goods they carried, even with full force, their speed was not fast, but even so, two days¡¯ time would be enough for them to leave. This meant that within two days, even without rescuing Xiao Xian Miao and the others, they would be forcibly teleported back to the World Tree due to leaving the maximum operational range. At that time, unless Eve expanded the players¡¯ operational range, the mercenary corps would be completely beyond the players¡¯ reach for pursuit. Of course, how could Eve possibly let the mercenary corps return so easily? She pondered for a moment, then decisively issued a new task to the players... [Ding¡ª] [Players ¡°Xiao Xian Miao,¡± ¡°Gourd Island Boss,¡± ¡°Gourd Island Second¡± and fifty-eight others have triggered a timed random task] [Random Task: Crocodile Mercenary Corps Unleashed] [Task Description: The activities of Black Dragon Mairrel have finally attracted human attention. A human mercenary corps named ¡°Crocodile Mercenary Corps¡± attacked Black Dragon Castle, capturing a large number of elves!] [To save kin, to avenge, you decide to chase and attack the mercenary corps!] [Task Objectives: 1. Eliminate the Crocodile Mercenary Corps 2. Rescue the captured players] [Task Time Limit: 24 hours] [Task Participants: Unlimited] [Task Level: Level 11] [Task Rewards: XP, Contribution Points, Resurrection Coins] [Task Hint 1: The mercenary corps is heading north. Exiting the task range will result in a task failure, so players are advised to act swiftly] [Task Hint 2: The mercenary corps has a large number of people. Players are advised to team up en masse and act under unified command] ... Chapter 223: 217: Where is she? Hurry and lead the way! Chapter 223: Chapter 217: Where is she? Hurry and lead the way! The night in Segis World had already arrived. According to their usual routines, most players who had been completing tasks all day would choose to rest for a few hours to recover some energy in the game. But the sudden random task made all the players who were ready to go offline and sleep stop in their tracks, ¡°A time-limited random task?¡± ¡°Crocodile Mercenary Corps?¡± The system prompt message was sent as a task reminder to the entire server, instantly capturing the players¡¯ attention. The third test players, who had never experienced storyline tasks before, curiously checked the system messages. The experienced first and second test players who had accepted such tasks multiple times were already excited, ¡°It¡¯s a task with a storyline description! Time for a big fight again!¡± ¡°It¡¯s time-limited? Twenty-four hours?¡± ¡°Based on my experience, the more time-limited the task, the more generous the rewards!¡± ¡°Hahaha... Fifty-eight players were captured by NPCs, such a bunch of talents...¡± ¡°The task is here! Time to team up and fight!¡± ¡°Wait... Look carefully at the task reminder! It has detailed explanations below. The human mercenary group has over a thousand people, and there¡¯s also a mid-silver level strong player!¡± ¡°Damn!¡± ¡°Damn!!¡± ¡°So strong? This... isn¡¯t a task for just one or two small teams!¡± ¡°So... the task reminder is telling us to team up...¡± ¡°Seems like it¡¯s a large-scale team battle again. Let¡¯s get on the major battle voice channel and wait for the notifications from the three major guilds.¡± ¡°The major battle voice channel?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a voice channel that the first and second test players opened, specifically used by Brother Mu for commanding major battles.¡± ¡°Impressive...¡± ... Outside Black Dragon Castle. Li Mu, who brought the players of the Nature¡¯s Heart Guild to assist, also saw the task reminder. ¡°Chasing the mercenary group... It¡¯s another group task similar to attacking the Half-Beast Tribe.¡± Li Mu looked somewhat serious. ¡°But this time there¡¯s a task time limit, 24 hours... It¡¯s quite tight. On Blue Star, that would only be six hours!¡± Beside Li Mu, Gu Gu Niao, the vice president of the Mengmeng Committee, was checking the mini-map while sighing. Li Mu nodded and turned to ask, ¡°Where are Little Xian Miao and the others now?¡± ¡°Northeast direction, about five kilometers away. However, the human mercenaries are already packing up their things and seem to be planning to leave overnight.¡± ¡°Which direction?¡± ¡°They should keep moving along that northern road.¡± Gu Gu Niao replied. ¡°That means they¡¯re heading to a human nation. I interacted with some recently returned elf NPCs and asked them about the northeast. There¡¯s a large human empire over there called the Holy Mania Empire. The livestock that Mairrel brought back before was purchased from the empire¡¯s border.¡± A deep, hoarse voice suddenly interjected. Li Mu and Gu Gu Niao turned around and saw that it was the Guild Leader of the First Legion, Fried Tomato with Eggs. For a moment, the atmosphere was somewhat tense. It was well known throughout the server that there was a conflict between Li Mu and Fried Tomato with Eggs. Additionally, the two guilds often had frictions. However, after a short silence, Li Mu still nodded at Fried Tomato with Eggs. Fried Tomato with Eggs also nodded slightly. Perhaps there had been grudges between the two guild leaders, but in the face of a major battle, they still knew how to cooperate... ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± is quite different from previous online games. At least... the official doesn¡¯t encourage internal strife among players, but rather encourages their cooperation. Seeing the two people getting along reasonably well, Gu Gu Niao, the vice president of the Mengmeng Committee, breathed a slight sigh of relief and added, ¡°Holy Mania Empire... It should be a new map that¡¯s not open yet. According to the task description, we can¡¯t let the mercenaries leave the existing map range, which is a diameter of three hundred kilometers.¡± ¡°That means... we must pursue them.¡± Fried Tomato with Eggs smiled. ¡°Little Xian Miao said the mercenaries are carrying a lot of goods, and their speed isn¡¯t fast. If we chase with all our might, we can still catch up. Not to mention... many people now have magic pets, especially Earth Cave Spiders. They¡¯re fast at night and can launch surprise attacks!¡± Gu Gu Niao said. Li Mu nodded and turned to ask, ¡°Gu Gu Niao, how many people can your guild deploy? Those who can join the task.¡± ¡°Today just happens to be the weekend, and our guild currently has quite a lot of people online. Pulling in three hundred people shouldn¡¯t be a problem, but maybe less than half are level 15 and above.¡± Gu Gu Niao answered. With the addition of third test players, the player count of the three major guilds that controlled the main resources had surged again, all breaking through over a thousand players! Among them, the guild members of Nature¡¯s Heart, which doesn¡¯t have as high requirements for players, had surpassed two thousand, becoming the undisputed largest guild! Of course, highly skilled players were still a minority. After hearing Gu Gu Niao¡¯s response, Li Mu turned to look at Fried Tomato with Eggs. ¡°The First Legion can bring at least five hundred, with at least three hundred level 15 and above!¡± Fried Tomato with Eggs puffed out his chest a bit. The First Legion almost exclusively recruited hard-core and combat players, and their combat strength had always been quite strong. Li Mu nodded, ¡°Sounds about right. We, from Nature¡¯s Heart, can also bring four hundred people, with nearly two hundred level 15 or above. That¡¯s about twelve hundred people, with around six hundred over level 15. Then we can also shout out on the world channel, rallying players from smaller guilds and solo players... We should be able to gather around fifteen hundred or sixteen hundred easily.¡± ¡°Oh, and among the third test players, someone has formed a large guild with a thousand members. The guild leader is Transforming Ji Gang, and I already contacted him. He said their guild can also bring over two hundred people, though their levels are a bit low...¡± ¡°Looking at it this way, the numbers could be close to two thousand!¡± After some rough calculations, the three guild leaders all felt a surge of excitement. Two thousand people! To be honest, after so many years of playing online games, they had participated in similar large-scale battles, but... not many involving more than a thousand people! Moreover, the realism of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was far beyond other online games! After a few major battles, they knew that wars in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± truly felt like authentic warfare! Li Mu took a deep breath and said, ¡°Let¡¯s form a team, just like usual. All players who accept the task will form a large team! Hmm... Let¡¯s just directly join Little Xian Miao¡¯s team! Later, please transfer the team leader to me, and I¡¯ll continue to command, okay?¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The other two nodded. Li Mu continued, ¡°Then, inform the players to join the major battle voice channel, and notify your guild members to flood the world channel with ¡®Time-limited random task players, join the team quickly!''¡± ¡°Moreover... try to privately notify those leaderboard players who are offline. Whoever can come, let them come, and Boxed Lunch, the combat strength of their squad is equivalent to five teams!¡± ¡°Then, leave an hour for everyone to gather. Let everyone quickly gather at Black Dragon Castle through the teleportation array! One hour, whoever can come, let them come. Then, we set off to chase!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask Demacia to find Divine Favored Ail to see if he can help deal with that single Silver Boss. Gu Gu Niao, see if your guild can find Divine Favored Zero and Black Dragon Mairrel. In short... bring whatever NPC support we can, to prevent failure!¡± Hearing Li Mu¡¯s words, Gu Gu Niao nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll try, but... Zero is always elusive, and we might not be able to find her. As for Mairrel, knowing that Little Xian Miao was captured, she should help.¡± Fried Tomato with Eggs thought for a moment and suddenly had an idea, ¡°Actually... I have another idea. We could have Mairrel take people ahead and set up a teleportation array in front of the mercenaries...¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be done.¡± Gu Gu Niao shook his head, ¡°Time is too tight, there¡¯s no time to prepare the materials for a teleportation array. Also, a temporary teleportation array has its flaws. We didn¡¯t notice before due to low levels, but after leveling up, using a temporary teleportation array consumes a lot, and the array can¡¯t withstand too many teleports...¡± ¡°What about dismantling the existing ones? I remember the current teleportation arrays in each area seem to have been reinforced by the Goddess¡¯s blessing.¡± Fried Tomato with Eggs suggested. Gu Gu Niao shook his head, ¡°No, after the Goddess¡¯s reinforcement, those teleportation arrays can¡¯t be moved anymore. Even if they could, players not participating in the task surely wouldn¡¯t be willing.¡± ¡°Then forget it, the distance isn¡¯t far anyway. As long as we have Little Xian Miao¡¯s positioning, we¡¯ll just chase them down directly. But... we can¡¯t afford a resurrection battle this time; we must strive to wipe out the enemy in one go.¡± Li Mu regretfully sighed. ... After the senior players from the three major guilds had finished their discussions, they quickly took action. No, it was no longer just three major guilds. The fourth major guild, ¡°Autobots,¡± established by Transforming Ji Gang, also began operations under Li Mu¡¯s notification. Players at level 11 and above, distributed in instances like Shadow Instance, Underground Forest, Black Rock City, Elf Forest northern areas, Feilengcui, Chosen City, and more, started rushing to Black Dragon Castle as soon as they received the notification... Meanwhile, some houses in Chosen City, which had fallen into total darkness, lit up again. Some players who had gone offline logged back in, donned their gear, and left their homes. Groups of high-level players riding Earth Cave Spiders headed to the teleportation point at Black Dragon Castle through the forest and streets, under the envious gazes of others... For a time, the core area of Elf Forest suddenly became noisy. And inside Black Dragon Castle... ¡°What? A group of dastardly human mercenaries just attacked Mairrel¡¯s castle?!¡± Looking at the bloodstains still on the ground in the castle hall, Little Black Dragon was very angry and flustered. Without saying a word, it quickly scampered into the interior of its castle... When it saw that its hidden treasures were intact, Little Black Dragon breathed a sigh of relief... ¡°Thank goodness! Fortunately... the treasures are still here!¡± It calmed down a lot and wasn¡¯t as furious. ¡°Right, what else is there?¡± After a moment¡¯s peace of mind, Mairrel continued to eat roasted meat while looking at Gu Gu Niao, who had rushed over, and asked. Gu Gu Niao straightened his expression and said, ¡°Although those human mercenaries have left, they captured many of our people. We¡¯re about to rescue them, Mairrel. The enemy is strong, and we need your help!¡± ¡°The Chosen Ones got captured?¡± Mairrel was slightly stunned, then said indifferently, ¡°Why panic? You all can revive. Just suicide and come back.¡± ¡°Little Xian Miao was also captured. She said if you don¡¯t save her this time, she¡¯ll never prepare roasted meat for you again.¡± Mairrel: ... Her dragon face changed, ¡°Where is she? Lead the way quickly!¡± Chapter 224: 218: Elves?! Chapter 224: Chapter 218: Elves?! The Black Dragon was eventually persuaded. Everything else could be lacking, but the grilled meat could not be. After all, a certain Chosen One was providing over 70% of its grilled meat supply through sheer financial power alone! Considering the enormous amount of food a young Black Dragon in its growth phase required, at least... Mairrel didn¡¯t think any other Chosen One could manage such a feat. And the Little Black Dragon, having grown accustomed to a life of eating and sleeping, and having honey-glazed grilled meat delivered whenever it was hungry, didn¡¯t want to return to the days of hunting for its food. However, just as Mairrel was preparing to take flight with righteous determination, it suddenly stopped... It glanced suspiciously in the direction of the World Tree, remained silent for a moment, and then said to the Kukuku Bird, ¡°I can help you, but only against enemies you cannot defeat.¡± This was the divine message Eve had just given to Mairrel. The Black Dragon was just too powerful, with strength nearly reaching the Gold rank. If it fought with all its might, the mercenaries might be routed even before the players had a chance to join the battle. That would make it difficult for Eve to gauge the progress the players had made. Hearing the Black Dragon¡¯s words, the Kukuku Bird was slightly startled but nodded nonetheless, ¡°Alright...¡± Thus, after some negotiations, the Black Dragon joined the players¡¯ mission. Similarly, Dema had also persuaded Divine Favored Ail to join the players¡¯ quest again. In the following hour, all the Black Iron rank players online in the Elf Kingdom mobilized. New players continuously teleported to Black Dragon Castle, having accepted the mission. At the foot of the mountain slope where Black Dragon Castle was located, where the Rock Cave Tribe used to reside, a thousand-strong Chosen One Army was also gathering! They assembled here and were initially somewhat chaotic, but under Li Mu¡¯s command and arrangements in the large-scale battle voice channel, they gradually formed some order. All the players who accepted the mission joined the team that Little Xian Miao formed. Once the team grew, Little Xian Miao handed over leadership duties to Li Mu. However, as the number of players increased, Li Mu thought for a moment and eventually divided the team again, based on levels and magic pets, splitting the large group into several smaller squads. Players with Earth Cave Spiders, in particular, were separated into a distinct group, forming a ¡°cavalry¡± squad of over a hundred people... Time passed quickly, and more and more people arrived upon receiving the message. An hour later, more than two thousand players had gathered on the clearing below the slope, surprising even the leaders of the four major guilds with a total of two thousand five hundred players! It turned out that not only had Black Iron rank players who accepted the mission joined, but even some level 10 players from the third test who didn¡¯t meet the level 11 requirement decided to take part, totaling more than five hundred people. After all... this was the first major plot event since the third test of ¡°The Elf Kingdom,¡± and according to the circulating online videos, the most interesting part of ¡°The Elf Kingdom¡± was the major plot events! So, even if they couldn¡¯t accept the mission, some third-test players wished to participate. In this regard, Li Mu and others welcomed them. *No matter how weak, they were still combat power, weren¡¯t they?* Of course, level 10 was the baseline; anyone below that was just asking for death... Night had deepened. However, the elves had strong night vision and could still see everything around them clearly. Over twenty-five hundred players gathered together, forming several formations that could barely be called orderly. It looked... quite inspiring. The time to depart had arrived. Li Mu, astride his unicorn, stood on a hill, looking at the several player formations in front, his expression filled with excitement. ¡°Play the battle song!¡± He commanded in the large-scale battle voice channel. As soon as he finished speaking, the administrator player in the channel queued up a few epic BGM tracks and started playing them in the channel. These were a few of the system tracks from ¡°The Elf Kingdom,¡± used by Eve in previous battles to boost players¡¯ morale. However, players had recorded these tracks and now they were replaying them as battle songs in the voice channel. This saved Eve from having to play background music. With the grand and heroic music, all the players preparing for battle found themselves feeling exhilarated. The howling night wind, the hard armor, the weapons reflecting cold light under the moon... at this moment, accompanied by the epic BGM, players unconsciously fell silent. Their breathing grew slightly heavier, their hearts surged with excitement, feeling as if they had suddenly transformed into heroes about to save the world... As the overall commander, Li Mu was equally stirred. He felt a surge of emotion, took a deep breath, drew a longsword temporarily borrowed with ¡°shining¡± effects, pointed it to the sky, and shouted passionately with the voice channel open, ¡°The time has come! Begin the mission!¡± ¡°Objective¡ªeliminate the human mercenaries and rescue our brothers and sisters! Ura!¡± His high-pitched roar, resonating across the large-scale battle voice channel, reverberated in the open valley, echoing endlessly... The players also felt an overwhelming surge of emotion, responding in kind. They drew their weapons, pointing them to the sky, and couldn¡¯t help but roar ferociously, ¡°Ura!¡± The unified and robust voices startled the sleeping birds in the forest, sending echoes reverberating and even making Black Dragon Mairrel, who observed the players from the hill, click her tongue slightly. Li Mu let out a breath slowly, then raised his sword again and shouted, ¡°Move out! Target the north!¡± With his command, the gathered player army moved at once. The assembled formations turned, led by thirty unicorn knights, with over two hundred cave spider knights as the vanguard, like a torrent rushing towards the map coordinates where Little Xian Miao and others were... ¡°A bunch of crazy guys...¡± Watching the Chosen One Army slowly marching north, Mairrel shook her head, flapped her wings, and followed... Amid the voice channel, watching the players, Eve observed secretly with eager anticipation, ¡°*After being dormant for so many days... let me see how much you have grown.*¡± ... In the northeast of the Dark Mountain Range, on the trade route leading to the Fengye Territory on the Saint Mania Empire¡¯s border. Crocodile led his mercenary corps forward slowly... Successfully ambushing the Black Dragon¡¯s lair and capturing a large number of elves, the mercenaries were now eager to return to the Count Domain and sell their goods. Having advanced several hours in the darkness and finding the Black Dragon hadn¡¯t pursued them, Crocodile exhaled slightly in relief. ¡°*It looks like we¡¯ve successfully escaped.*¡± To avoid being detected by the Black Dragon in the sky, he had ordered a strict ban on lighting fires, proceeding stealthily along the trade route in the darkness. Fortunately, years of trading with the Aries Kingdom had made this trade route between the two human kingdoms quite navigable, with decent road conditions preventing the Crocodile Mercenary Corps from encountering significant difficulties. And after several hours of forced march, they had already covered another ten-plus kilometers overnight... The sky was now lightening, and the night was drawing to an end. Even though most of the mercenaries led by Crocodile were Black Iron Rank professionals, they couldn¡¯t help but feel fatigued after a night of marching. ¡°Stop and rest a bit.¡± Crocodile ordered. The sky had brightened. Constant forced marching was not advisable either. With a bit of rest, they could pick up their marching speed again! If they could push through for another day, they would make it back to the empire¡¯s border. Thinking of this, Crocodile felt a bit uneasy and looked at his subordinate again, asking, ¡°Are those captured elves still okay?¡± The mercenary called by Crocodile was slightly surprised and quickly answered, ¡°They¡¯re fine! They¡¯re tied up tightly and can¡¯t resist at all.¡± ¡°No one¡¯s touched them, right?¡± ¡°No, no! We understand, elves... untouched, fetch a higher price!¡± ¡°Hmm... well done! We¡¯ll all strike it rich when we get back this time!¡± Crocodile laughed. The mercenary¡¯s eyes lit up with glee, ¡°Long live the Captain! The Captain is the best!¡± Hearing the mercenary¡¯s praise, Crocodile nodded slightly, starting to calculate the profits from this venture, ¡°58 elves! Hehe... If this is handled well, I can sell them for at least two hundred thousand gold coins!¡± ¡°Even after sharing the bonus with the mercenaries, I¡¯d still have at least fifty thousand left!¡± ¡°Fifty thousand gold coins... enough to buy a viscount title in the Empire! With a title, I can shed my civilian identity, develop my territory, and become a true territorial aristocrat!¡± ¡°Hehe, this doesn¡¯t even include the rewards from our mission in the Aries Kingdom and the goods from this operation. If I sell the goods from the Aries Kingdom, I could earn a few thousand more coins!¡± *He thought with satisfaction.* However, just as the mercenaries halted, set up camp, relaxed their vigilance, and began to rest... Suddenly, dozens of arrows shot out from both sides of the forest! These arrows glowed with magic and flew at incredible speed, instantly turning over a dozen mercenaries at the camp¡¯s edge into pincushions. Soon, the bodies of those shot mercenaries... turned to ashes right before the eyes of the other incredulous mercenaries! At the same time, a series of thunderous booms echoed from afar... The dozens of mercenaries on the perimeter barely understood what happened before feeling a powerful force; bloody openings appeared on their bodies, then they slowly fell to the ground... ¡°Not good! There¡¯s an enemy!¡± Crocodile¡¯s face changed. Before he could finish, he saw over a hundred monstrous figures charging out of the forest. They were humanoid-sized spiders clad in black chitin armor... But what made Crocodile¡¯s pupils contract was the tall figures on the spiders¡¯ backs. They wore ornate armor or magic robes, some holding exquisite longbows, others wielding magic wands, while some carried heavy, smoke-emitting, unknown tubular devices along with their swords and blades... ¡°Elves?!¡± Crocodile gasped in disbelief. Chapter 225: 219: Engaging in Battle Chapter 225: Chapter 219: Engaging in Battle Where did such violent elves come from?! *Could it be... they¡¯re here to rescue their companions?* *How did they know the whereabouts of the mercenary corps?* *How many of them are there? Is the Black Dragon with them?* In a matter of seconds, several thoughts flashed through Crocodile¡¯s mind, and cold sweat broke out on his back... The appearing elves, naturally, were the players. More accurately, it was the fastest Cave Spider Cavalry. The Cave Spider Cavalry numbered around two hundred. They were organized into a separate unit by Li Mu and placed under the solo command of Fried Tomato, who was adept at small-team battles. The unit included about forty Elf Archers, sixty Elf Mages, twenty Elf Druids, and over ninety Elf Hunters and warriors. Archers, Mages, and Druids all had long-range attack methods. Meanwhile, Hunters and warriors were each given a modified Dwarf steam gun from the Mengmeng Committee... The steam gun was notoriously hard to attach skills to, and archer players¡¯ skills focused on bows and arrows. Therefore, their weapon remained the bow and arrow, while those using the steam guns were warriors and Hunter players who were not good at ranged combat. It could be said that once the warriors and Hunters were equipped with steam guns, all two hundred plus players had some degree of long-range killing capability. Under Li Mu¡¯s orders, Fried Tomato led the Cave Spider Cavalry to catch up to the mercenary corps first and launch an attack and harassment... Riding on ferocious large spiders, they charged toward the Crocodile Mercenary Corps camp, hollering like a group of bandit mad dogs descending the mountain to raid. During the charge, those wielding longbows raised their bows again, players with magic wands chanted spells, and players carrying swords also raised their heavy, bulky Dwarf steam guns again... With a series of loud booms, several more mercenaries fell, followed by dozens of arrows flying in, succeeded by a series of offensive magic spells¡ªFireballs, Wind Blades, Ice Spikes¡ªarrived in an instant. Screams rose and fell, with more than a dozen mercenaries engulfed in the rain of arrows and magic. From the moment the players launched their surprise attack, in less than a minute, nearly fifty mercenaries had died around the camp! This sudden attack immediately perplexed the mercenaries, and the camp¡¯s perimeter quickly descended into chaos. Seeing the panicked mercenaries and their excellent results, the players¡¯ morale instantly soared: ¡°Haha! Such weaklings!¡± ¡°Ten thousand experience points! I shot a mercenary and instantly gained ten thousand experience points!¡± ¡°Damn! So rich!¡± The long-range players became excited, with their gazes toward the mercenaries changing. The intense gaze even made the mercenary on the outskirts shiver uncontrollably. However, the melee players using steam guns were somewhat frustrated: ¡°What a pity... I¡¯m a warrior. This steam gun doesn¡¯t apply skill attachments, so I don¡¯t earn experience from kills...¡± The effect of the war blessing lay in skill and close combat. Sword and magic attacks or archer skill-boosted arrows could all bring experience points. But if solely relying on tools, this effect couldn¡¯t be triggered. For example, the Meal Squad that used explosives to kill Earth Cave Spiders earlier, and the warriors and Hunter players using steam guns now; although they killed their targets, they didn¡¯t earn experience. ¡°Don¡¯t panic! You¡¯ll have your chance for close combat soon, just listen to orders and keep charging!¡± Fried Tomato comforted the melee players while leading the Cave Spider Cavalry to charge at the mercenaries again... The players¡¯ first wave of surprises inflicted considerable harm on the Crocodile Mercenary Corps. Fifty mercenaries died, which accounted for one-twentieth of their number... However, the rumbling blasts also snapped Crocodile out of his daze. Seeing only two hundred and some Elf Spider Knights come out, with no subsequent elf reinforcements, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. Just a mere two hundred elves riding strange spiders didn¡¯t warrant Crocodile¡¯s attention! He snorted, shouting assuredly: ¡°Stay steady! Don¡¯t panic! There¡¯s not many of them!¡± ¡°Those are Elf Archers and Elf Mages! They¡¯ve even brought Dwarf steam guns!¡± ¡°Raise shields and spears! Form a shield wall defensive formation! Mages, quickly apply magic effects to the shield wall! Protect the camp! Don¡¯t let those spiders get in!¡± Under the commander¡¯s orders, the mercenaries quickly regained their calm. Following Crocodile¡¯s direction, they swiftly raised their shields to form a wall, thrusting long spears out from gaps to prevent the Cave Spiders from closing in. A few human mages quickly chanted spells to add a Magic Shield to the shield wall. The charging players launched their attack once more. Warrior and Hunter players pulled the steam gun triggers, and the rumbling booms sounded again... But this time, the mercenaries were prepared. The launched steel bullets hit the raised shield wall, which quivered slightly, and the Magic Shield on it shimmered... This time, the players¡¯ attacks didn¡¯t even penetrate the Magic Shield, dropping metal balls to the ground instead... In the Segis World, Magic Shields were the most effective defense against kinetic weapons without skill attachment. Thus, with the Magic Shield, the steam guns in the players¡¯ hands lost their deterrence. Seeing their attacks rendered ineffective, the players grumbled in annoyance: ¡°Damn it! Even modified, this gun¡¯s too weak!¡± ¡°No wonder Dwarf steam guns are obsolete, they¡¯re useless against magic...¡± ¡°Charge forward?¡± ¡°Melee don¡¯t charge! Switch to archers! We still have Mages and Druids!¡± Fried Tomato roared, issuing new orders. Upon hearing the command, the archer players on Cave Spiders raised their bows, firing Magic Arrows aided by skills. Mages and Druids quickly chanted spells again. Arrows imbued with skills flew again, penetrating Magic Shields due to skill effects, lodging into shields, yet couldn¡¯t pierce further... Instead, the subsequent spells continued to inflict some damage on the mercenaries. However, with the Magic Shielf and shields¡¯ protection, only a few mercenaries were slightly wounded. Black Iron Middle Rank players¡¯ long-range skill attacks were still limited... Therefore, losing the element of surprise, the players¡¯ attacks were instantly hindered as the mercenaries began targeted countermeasures. Seeing the players¡¯ thwarted attack, Crocodile¡¯s eyes glinted: ¡°Hold the shield wall defense! Maintain the magic! Their attack power is limited, and their numbers aren¡¯t many! Surround them! Capture them!¡± At the sound of the command, the renewed mercenaries swiftly advanced, holding their shield walls and attempted to encircle the players. Seeing the mercenaries trying to surround the players, Fried Tomato shouted in Elvish: ¡°Cancel the charge! Disperse! Flank and skirmish! Focus on harassing to buy time!¡± Upon his command, the players instantly changed their course. No longer charging at the mercenaries, they moved to the camp¡¯s flanks, occasionally firing arrows or pot-shots or tossing Fireballs into the camp. Aiming not for kills, but chaos. With the players¡¯ tactical change, although little damage was done to the mercenaries, their movements were once again hindered. Over two hundred Cave Spider Cavalry executed as a group of mobile plains archers, circling around the mercenary camp while maneuvering and shooting. Occasional Fireballs thrown into camp that set goods ablaze caused more commotion among the mercenaries. Watching the burning carts ignited by Fireballs, Crocodile¡¯s eyes turned red: ¡°Damn it!¡± Those goods were treasures he painstakingly bought from the Kingdom of Aries! They needed to be resold to the empire! ¡°Put out the fire quickly! Hold the formation, and my trusted aides, follow me! Capture those elves!¡± He ordered furiously. With Crocodile¡¯s command, the camp¡¯s mercenaries scrambled to extinguish the fires, while the outer mercenaries maintained formation, and dozens of mercenaries with strength reaching Black Iron Upper Rank charged out with him, directly launching a counter-charge on the elves... However... Crocodile underestimated the mobility of the Cave Spiders. After signing contracts with players, the speed of these large Cave Spiders became even faster, while Mage and Druid players applied the continuous magic of [Light Body Skill] to everyone, making it impossible for the mercenaries to catch up. Only Crocodile, with strength at Silver Middle Rank, could keep pace with the players. Yet every time he charged, the players would focus their fire on him and steer widely clear, unable to harm him but limiting his pursuit. *Why are these elves so cunning?!* Crocodile wore an ugly expression. Though mercenaries couldn¡¯t catch the elves, neither could the elves breach the mercenaries¡¯ camp, and even their attempts to kill mercenaries were largely nullified by their defenses. The situation... ended up in a stalemate. Yet even so, the elves didn¡¯t give up their attack, continuing to circle and harass around the camp, not seeming in a hurry to save their companions... Noticing this fact, Crocodile¡¯s face finally changed. He suddenly realized something: *These elves... they¡¯re not here to rescue anyone, but to stall for time!* ¡°They... must have reinforcements! They might be waiting for the Black Dragon!¡± In an instant, Crocodile¡¯s face turned deathly pale. He gritted his teeth, shouting: ¡°Don¡¯t get entangled with them! Maintain formation, let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Yet just as he finished issuing orders, vague shouting sounds drifted in from the southern trade route... Crocodile was taken aback and instinctively looked over. Amidst flying dust, densely packed, fully armed elves formed tight formations that appeared in the mercenaries¡¯ sights. From a distance, their numbers were astonishing, not less than a thousand! *So many elves?!* Seeing the exaggerated numbers, Crocodile was dumbfounded. However, that wasn¡¯t the end... As the mercenary corps members were shocked and slightly agitated by the sudden appearance of the Elf Army in their view... A resounding dragon roar rang out from the sky. The thing Crocodile feared the most happened. A menacing Black Dragon, with massive wings flapping, appeared in the mercenaries¡¯ view... ¡°RUA! Evil humans! You¡¯ve taken Mairrel¡¯s clansmen! You must pay dearly for this!¡± Her vibrant, excited voice resounded in the air. At that moment, Crocodile¡¯s mood plummeted even lower... Chapter 226: 220: A Crushing Defeat! Chapter 226: Chapter 220: A Crushing Defeat! When the well-equipped ¡°Elf¡± Army broke into view, the mercenaries fell into chaos... No one expected that the attack from over two hundred elves was just the beginning, and there were even more elves coming. And... the number of opponents was shockingly large! At least a thousand elves were charging, well-equipped and high-spirited... The spectacular scene left the mercenaries incredibly shocked and yet in disbelief, feeling as if they were in a dream. As a medium-sized mercenary group operating along the borders, the Crocodile Mercenary Corps was not unfamiliar with large-scale battles. They had once fought against a thousand-strong bandit group and had been hired by the imperial nobles to quell the imperial rebels... However... neither the bandit groups nor the human armies had ever brought them the shock that the current scene did. Elves! These were elves! Not humans! Certainly not Half-Beasts! Typically, they might not see an elf for many years. In fact, for many mercenaries, yesterday was the first time they had ever seen such legendary, noble, and beautiful beings... But the experiences of the last two days had surely opened their eyes. The raid capturing more than fifty elves yesterday was already a shocking surprise for the mercenaries... Yet today, they saw even more! On the not-too-wide trading road, elves were densely packed as far as the eye could see. Even in the dense forests on both sides, their tall figures were visible... The mercenaries, judging by experience, assessed that the number of these elves was... probably more than their own mercenary corps! *By the Eternal Lord, was every elf in the world gathered here?* *When did the Elf Clan become so common?* Of course, the appearance of the Elf Army only caused slight disturbance among the mercenaries, not yet fear. After all... although the elves appeared numerous, the mercenaries were also in significant numbers. Moreover, these elves barely had a formation, and it was clearly much more chaotic compared to the mercenaries. They resembled the chaotic bandits that the mercenaries remembered descending to pillage rather than a proper army... In contrast, although the Crocodile Mercenary Corps was at most a makeshift mercenary army, they could still cooperate as well as a professional army and maintained at least some basic level of organization. The elves were different though. Although they had some semblance of a formation, it was clearly just a makeshift structure, quite chaotic. And this chaos reached a peak when they saw the mercenaries. In essence, these elves¡¯ image... was completely unlike the noble elegance described in legend. However, the mercenaries no longer had the mind to think about this... Because just after the Elf Army appeared, a loud dragon¡¯s roar was heard. ¡°Black... Black Dragon! It¡¯s a Black Dragon!¡± Seeing the menacing dark shadow on the horizon, the mercenary group instantly fell into terror, morale plummeting. Dragon! As the most legendary golden species in the Segis World, dragon tales were told the world over. Among dragons, the Black Dragon was the most wicked and powerful type, typically representing the evil dragon in stories. It was safe to say that humans instinctively feared Black Dragons... Moreover, the mercenaries were well aware that their leader had just led a group to raid a Black Dragon¡¯s lair yesterday, and today¡¯s journey was to escape potential retaliation. And evidently... they were being pursued by the Black Dragon, coming for revenge! Were it just elves coming, the mercenaries, although shocked, would still have confidence to fight back. If only the Black Dragon was coming, the mercenaries, despite fearing and dreading, could at least organize a resistance. However, with both appearing simultaneously, it overwhelmingly surpassed the mercenaries¡¯ psychological endurance. Faced with a battle that they were certain to lose or even die in, unless they had unwavering beliefs, no one would willingly die. In Crocodile¡¯s stunned gaze, he saw that even before the elves charged, their mercenary group¡¯s formation, trained for years, began to waver subtly, showing signs of collapse! Mercenaries were still mercenaries. And the Crocodile Mercenary Corps was not one of those renowned legendary mercenary teams. Even with a certain level of organization, they did not possess the discipline of a true army. Winning a favorable battle was their strength, but facing a clearly overpowering enemy, wavering and defeat were common. In this state of turmoil... the battle began. But unlike the demoralized mercenaries... With the dragon¡¯s roar overhead and arousing BGM playing, and seeing the Cave Spider Knights boasting about their enviable XP income in the troop chat channel... The charging players were completely insane. These mercenaries... held high XP! Bodies! *They had to claim more bodies!* The players, eyes red with fervor, morale reached an unprecedented height! They swung their swords, shouting ¡°Ura Ura!¡± like a pack of crazed wolves, pursuing their prey, rushing toward the mercenaries! The formation was in complete disarray. But morale soared! The relentless players surged forth like a deluge, instantly breaking through the already wavering mercenary formation! Under the combined pressure of the Black Dragon and elves, the mercenaries lost their fighting spirit... The previously impregnable shield wall under the assault of over two hundred Spider Cavalry crumbled like paper, instantly destroyed by the players! The mercenaries only saw these elves recklessly charging in, wildly unleashing skills, hacking away at anyone they caught, not stopping until they felled their target! Blood splattered, splashing on the elves¡¯ faces, which bore bloodthirsty grins, as if relishing in a bloodbath carnival... The madness, the fearlessness, it all terrified the mercenaries accustomed to slaughter. ¡°Crazy... they¡¯re crazy!¡± Finally, a mercenary broke down. He dropped his shield and turned to flee... With the first runner, the second came quickly. Gradually, under the assault of the elves, the entire Crocodile Mercenary Corps began to rout! And this rout further exacerbated the chaos in the mercenary formation. Soon, nearly half of the mercenaries turned, discarded their gear, and fled backward... This was the very definition of defeat! Crocodile stood paralyzed, watching his army collapse in an instant. However, this was just the beginning. Seeing the mercenaries begin to flee, exposing their backs to them, the players¡¯ morale soared once again. ¡°They¡¯ve started to run! Chase them! Take them down!¡± Li Mu excitedly commanded. The players at the front also squealed and pursued... Exposing one¡¯s back to the enemy was the most foolish act. Discarding armor and weapons was sheer folly! The elves were naturally agile, with many intentionally wearing [Speed Boost] boots. Thus, even having discarded their weapons, the mercenaries hadn¡¯t gotten far. They were swiftly caught by the following players and cut down like slicing vegetables! Those abandoned pieces of equipment were quickly picked up by the players behind, hefted onto their shoulders. The entire battle scene flipped drastically, from one side¡¯s defeat to a one-sided slaughter! Under the onslaught of the players, the mercenary corps utterly collapsed. Nearly everyone lost their will to fight and scattered in flight! At this moment, the Cave Spider Cavalry on the outskirts moved into action. They circled the perimeter, intercepting and chasing down the fleeing mercenaries... Crocodile watched, stunned and cold-hearted, at the scene before him. Even with his mid-silver strength, he couldn¡¯t alter the disastrous reality. No... This was beyond a disaster. *The Crocodile Mercenary Corps might very well be annihilated today!* *How could these elves be so ruthless?!* Crocodile could clearly see that some mercenaries did try to surrender, yet even in surrender, they met only with the elves¡¯ laughter and slaughter! ¡°Commander! We must escape! The Black Dragon hasn¡¯t even acted, there is still hope!¡± At this moment, a few confidants rushed over, pale-faced. Listening to his confidants, Crocodile tasted bitterness. Indeed, the Black Dragon... had yet to act! It simply circled above, intimidating for the elves. But merely the elves had shattered the team Crocodile painstakingly built over the years! His heart turned even colder. At this moment, Crocodile regretted deeply why he let greed take over, why he targeted the Black Dragon Castle, why he captured those damn elves! But... it was all too late! Crocodile¡¯s hands trembled slightly; he gritted his teeth and said, eyes red: ¡°Using those captured elves as hostages, let¡¯s break out!¡± The Black Dragon was formidable, far beyond what Crocodile could contend with. His only trump card, a seventh-ring Teleportation Technique magic scroll, had already been expended the previous day. Escaping alone meant he likely couldn¡¯t evade the Black Dragon¡¯s chase... whereas those captured elves were his last bargaining chip! For a Black Dragon to send so many elves for the rescue, it clearly valued these captured elves highly! And this... was probably the entire mercenary group¡¯s sole path to survival! Finishing his speech, Crocodile and his confidants hurriedly returned to the place where the elves were detained. Under Crocodile¡¯s orders, the mercenaries dragged out and gathered the more than fifty elves bound by the Magic Prohibition Rope. Crocodile personally selected what appeared to be the most splendidly dressed, seemingly highest-ranking female elf and placed his Longsword against her neck... Then, his eyes red, Crocodile summoned all his strength and shouted toward the Black Dragon on the horizon: ¡°Black Dragon! If you want to save your clansmen, have your elves cease their attack!¡± ¡°Otherwise, even if we die, we will take your clansmen... and have them buried with us!¡± Chapter 227: 221: The Death of Little Xian Miao Chapter 227: Chapter 221: The Death of Little Xian Miao Upon hearing the crocodile¡¯s words, the Black Dragon circling in the sky paused slightly. Then the mercenaries clearly saw the Black Dragon¡¯s breathing become noticeably heavier. Its head, already fearsome and terrifying, seemed even more sinister... It turned its head, baring its teeth at the crocodile, eyes filled with an uncontrollable fury. The dragon¡¯s aura, which had been relatively mild, suddenly turned violent, causing everyone¡ªincluding the players¡ªto involuntarily shiver. *There was a glimmer of hope!* The crocodile¡¯s eyes brightened. The more furious the Black Dragon was, the more it valued these elves! The crocodile felt a slight confidence build inside him. He simply tore away the cloth from the Female Elf¡¯s mouth and shouted again at the Black Dragon, ¡°Black Dragon, quickly make the elves stop, or you¡¯ll soon hear the screams of your clansmen!¡± After the crocodile spoke, the flames of anger in the Black Dragon¡¯s eyes burned even brighter. With a ¡°RUA!¡± it roared furiously, ¡°Shut up, you shameless human!¡± ¡°Black Dragon, Black Dragon! You¡¯re the Black Dragon! Your whole family are Black Dragons! You vile creature! How dare you insult the great Silver Dragon Mairrel! You must face Lord Mairrel¡¯s righteous punishment!¡± Crocodile: ...? Silver Dragon? This... How does that connect? He stared blankly at the Black Dragon¡¯s pitch-black scales and skull-like faceplate... It¡¯s a Black Dragon, isn¡¯t it? Could it be that this dragon... has a problem with its mind? Seeing the human mercenary leader utterly confused, Little Xian Miao, who had a knife to her throat, chuckled softly, ¡°Hehe, Mairrel despises being called a Black Dragon the most.¡± Crocodile: ... He... was at a loss for words. However, even though the Black Dragon¡¯s anger wasn¡¯t triggered by his threat, the crocodile was pleasantly surprised to notice that, after his threat, many of the attacking elves did indeed show a slight hesitation. Meanwhile, on the other side, players were either sending messages in the team channel or outright discussing in the game using the Elvish language... ¡°These mercenaries are using Boss Miao and the others as human shields!¡± ¡°No way! How despicable!¡± ¡°What should we do? Rescue the hostages first... or keep fighting? These mercenaries are already collapsing, completely demoralized, they¡¯re almost free XP!¡± ¡°But... one of the mission objectives is to rescue our companions, right? If Little Xian Miao and the others die, will our reward be deducted?¡± Hearing the players¡¯ words, Li Mu, who was in command, also felt a trace of hesitation... They were right. Rescuing players was also one of the mission objectives! However, it was Little Xian Miao who reacted the fastest... The discussions in the team channel were also seen by her. She quickly commandeered Li Mu¡¯s microphone in the large-scale battle voice channel using her administrator status, took a deep breath, and shouted lavishly, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him! Keep fighting!¡± ¡°These mercenaries give a lot of experience! Even if we don¡¯t complete mission objective 2, taking out the mercenary group is worth it!¡± ¡°If we die, so be it; it¡¯s not like we can¡¯t afford to die! What¡¯s a resurrection coin, anyway?! For the players captured and killed on this mission, just report the number of lost resurrection coins to the Mengmeng Committee later, and I¡¯ll cover the contribution points lost due to resurrection coins!¡± ¡°When this mission is over, I¡¯ll treat everyone to barbecue in the central square!¡± *Hmph!* *They still dared to use her life as leverage!* *Little Xian Miao hated being used as a tool like that!* Even NPCs couldn¡¯t do that! Just over twenty resurrection coins! Little Xian Miao didn¡¯t lack them! Forget twenty, even if all fifty-eight players died, she could afford over a thousand resurrection coins! Merely two hundred thousand contribution points! She was paying for happiness! In the Tianchao, there were many wealthy individuals who played online games, and Little Xian Miao was definitely not the one spending the most money. However, considering the early players of Evra were either those with long online times or special talents, the most lavishly extravagant became Little Xian Miao, who ¡°had a mine at home.¡± Hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s words, the players¡¯ eyes lit up, ¡°Wow! Boss is so generous!¡± ¡°No wonder she¡¯s the number one tycoon in the entire server!¡± With the wealthy player giving the go-ahead, why hesitate? Each mercenary¡¯s kill means at least ten thousand experience points! The players cheered and ignored the crocodile¡¯s threat, continuing their pursuit of the mercenaries! ¡°Bastards!¡± Seeing the elves suddenly turn even more frenzied, the crocodile¡¯s expression twisted. When Little Xian Miao shouted, the system was set to Elvish. Therefore, the crocodile didn¡¯t understand what Little Xian Miao was saying... But from the elves¡¯ reactions, he could see they weren¡¯t going to compromise... This realization made the crocodile¡¯s heart grow heavier, and confusion deepened. What¡¯s going on? Weren¡¯t they elves? Would they rather their kin die than stop pursuing the enemy to save their companions? When did they become so ruthless? Vicious to enemies and to their own? Are these... really elves?! ¡°Since that¡¯s the case... then you shall die!¡± With these thoughts, the crocodile made a ruthless decision, slashing his Longsword down hard... Little Xian Miao felt a chill at her throat, a hot liquid seemed to pour out... *Whoa? Did he slit my throat?* She was momentarily stunned. Little Xian Miao had turned off the pain settings, so she didn¡¯t feel pain, but the gushing blood left her speechless... She opened her mouth only to taste a constant flood of sweet, metallic liquid... Then, Little Xian Miao felt her body grow cold, all strength draining away, leaving her body limp. *Is this what dying feels like?* *Even though I¡¯ve never experienced it...* *This feels so real...* Since the game launched, she had exchanged for countless perfect resurrection attempts. But Little Xian Miao hadn¡¯t died that many times. If she counted, it was only after she¡¯d overdosed on a mana potion and jumped off the World Tree to clear her buffs... That time, aside from the bungee-jump experience, she just ended up ¡°splat,¡± dead and resurrected, without much sensation. But this time, she genuinely experienced the sensation of dying. Her face grew paler, eyelids heavier; Little Xian Miao saw Mairrel in the sky suddenly freeze... Vaguely, she seemed to see the Little Black Dragon first in shock, then in unprecedented danger and anger. In her ears... Mairrel¡¯s fierce roar echoed. In her daze, Little Xian Miao saw the Black Dragon diving in her direction... Its face was filled with anxiety. *Huh?* Little Xian Miao¡¯s consciousness had begun to blur, her thoughts drifting... *Mairrel... is it angry because I was killed?* *Silly dragon, doesn¡¯t it know I can resurrect?* *Hmph! It¡¯s the one that told me to... suicide to teleport back...* *In the end... it even took barbecue to coax... support...* *Such a strange... creature...* At this thought, Little Xian Miao finally ran out of energy. Her consciousness... completely faded. Player, Little Xian Miao, died. Died of arterial bleeding, level 22. Seeing the crocodile kill Little Xian Miao with a single slash, the players were in an uproar, ¡°Whoa! Boss Little Xian Miao died!¡± ¡°So tragic! There¡¯s so much blood!¡± ¡°Died heroically! Worthy of praise and tears!¡± ¡°Avenge Sister Meow! Take down those mercenaries!¡± Soon after, the crocodile saw the elves rushing at them with renewed fervor... Their expressions were lively, high in morale. Sadly, there was no grief... There seemed to be no anger, either... Seeing this scene, the crocodile was stunned inside, *These elves, they really don¡¯t care about their companions¡¯ lives!* Once the crocodile truly realized this unacceptable reality, his pupils constricted, feeling a chill run through his chest. By then... his final reliance became a complete joke! Before the crocodile could take any further action, a furious roar erupted from the skies¡ª ¡°Damn humans! Mairrel will kill you!¡± An overwhelming dragon aura surged out, and Black Dragon Mairrel let out a great roar, diving toward the crocodile. The gigantic bat wings whipped up a gale, blowing players and mercenaries alike into disarray, while the overwhelming dragon power and intense killing intent made everyone stop, their hair standing on end! The Black Dragon became enraged. More furious than ever before! Mairrel shot through the mercenary camp like a giant cannonball, immediately trampling several unlucky mercenaries and players. ¡°Whoa! Watch where you¡¯re going! You¡¯re stomping your own!¡± A player urgently exclaimed. Yet Mairrel didn¡¯t care in the slightest. It extended a black dragon claw, seizing the crocodile who hadn¡¯t had time to flee. In the crocodile¡¯s terrified eyes, it dangled him by the legs, swinging him to the ground... ¡°Smack!¡± ¡°Smack!¡± ¡°Smack!¡± Suspended in the air by the Black Dragon, the crocodile crashed into the ground again and again, creating human-shaped craters. Even as a Silver Mid-ranked Magic Swordsman, the crocodile couldn¡¯t withstand the Black Dragon¡¯s immense power, and he was quickly battered into a bloody mess, his consciousness fading... However, Mairrel did not stop. It slammed the crocodile into the ground repeatedly, venting its fury. Gradually, the crocodile was bludgeoned into unconsciousness, his body mangled... Mairrel didn¡¯t stop until the human it was holding was battered into a pulp, unrecognizable amid twisted equipment, and then it halted, panting heavily... Poor crocodile, a Silver Mid-ranked Magic Swordsman with a bit of fame along the Empire¡¯s borders, exited the world in such a pitiable and frustrating state... Around, both mercenaries and players were left completely stunned. ¡°Whoa... What happened to Mairrel?¡± ¡°So... so terrifying...¡± ¡°That boss sure had it rough... You can¡¯t even discern its human form anymore...¡± ¡°Was it for Little Xian Miao?¡± ¡°It should know Little Xian Miao can resurrect, right? Why so angry?¡± ¡°Wait... is it about the barbecue? I remember Little Xian Miao saying Mairrel would be ignored if it didn¡¯t rescue her later...¡± ¡°No way? Just for barbecue?¡± ¡°Ah! Damn it! The Silver Boss¡¯s experience points are gone!¡± ¡°Whoa! The equipment¡¯s wrecked too!¡± Realizing that the crocodile was dead and the equipment destroyed, the players were grieved and indignant... Elsewhere, witnessing the leader¡¯s disastrous end, the hearts of the mercenaries completely broke... ¡°Dead... Dead...¡± ¡°Run... Run away...¡± Their expressions were terrified and panic-stricken. The entire mercenary group finally collapsed! Even the trusted mercenaries, gathered by the Black Iron Upper-level crocodile, turned pale and were utterly at a loss, starting to flee in all directions... ¡°Don¡¯t let them escape!¡± Seeing the mercenaries¡¯ complete rout and frantic flight, the players, with red eyes, chased after them... However, unlike the players excitedly hunting down the mercenaries, Black Dragon Mairrel remained silent. It glared coldly around, driving back a few players who tried to nab Little Xian Miao¡¯s fallen legendary gear, under their awkward grins, collected Little Xian Miao¡¯s equipment, then flapped its massive bat wings and left the battlefield alone... Chapter 228: 222 Who Are You Exactly? Chapter 228: Chapter 222 Who Are You Exactly? The Crocodile Mercenary Corps had been annihilated... Throughout the entire battle, it went so smoothly that even Eve was astounded. Over a thousand mercenaries, except for the rare lucky few who ran fast enough, all perished under the players¡¯ slaughter... In contrast, the players only suffered less than three hundred casualties. Among these, more than a dozen were player captives killed by enraged mercenaries, and a few unfortunate ones who were accidentally crushed by Black Dragon Mairrel when she descended to the ground... The Cave Spider Knights all survived, with only a few sustaining injuries. It could be said that this casualty ratio was quite glorious. At this moment, Eve suddenly realized why the morale of the army was so important in Blue Star¡¯s medieval times. To be fair, although the players outnumbered the Crocodile Mercenary Corps two-to-one, in terms of strength, the mercenaries were actually not inferior to the players. On the contrary, in terms of high-level combat forces, except for the Black Dragon, the players were much weaker than the mercenaries. Logically speaking, under the premise that the Black Dragon did not intervene and the players lost their ability to run to the resurrection point, the mercenaries should have had the upper hand. However, the fact was that the Black Dragon merely played a role of intimidation, Divine Favored Ail barely made a move, and the players themselves shattered the mercenary formation like a withering attack, pursuing the mercenaries as if they were slicing through melon and cabbage... Eve even personally witnessed some players of the Black Iron Lower Rank chasing and chopping down Black Iron Middle or even Upper mercenaries, howling as they did so. The latter, despite clearly having greater strength, abandoned their weapons and fled in panic, only to embarrassingly fall to their inferior enemies... ¡°In large-scale battles, the role of morale and organization far exceeds individual strength, unless an individual¡¯s strength is truly immense, capable of qualitatively transforming the battlefield situation, like... the Black Dragon! Otherwise, when the strength difference is not significant, it is always the side with higher morale and better organization that wins!¡± ¡°Although I limited the players¡¯ infinite resurrection, they were still unafraid of death, and remained undaunted by injury or pain. One could say... they naturally had stronger willpower and morale!¡± ¡°And with the existence of team mode, group communication, and minimaps, they naturally had relatively higher organization.¡± ¡°Perhaps their discipline was lacking, but when they were truly organized into an army, quantitative change led to qualitative change...¡± In fact, in medieval warfare, once a cold weapon army incurred more than 10% casualties, it faced the risk of collapse. When casualties exceeded 30%, even the most elite armies would be completely incapacitated due to their structure being destroyed and their psychological endurance being surpassed... Examples of annihilation battles often saw most casualties occur after an army collapsed, with many deaths caused by internal chaos, trampling during escapes... It was also due to morale collapsing that defeat in war saw entire units defect and surrender en masse. Of course, this scenario applied only to large-scale battles among intelligent beings; it did not hold when facing low-intelligence demon beasts, monsters, or even a herd of pigs. If it were over a thousand wild boars, players might not even be able to capture them all in a day. ¡°This is fine, at least their combat power is enough to contend with the Half-Beasts in my absence. Once all players in the third trial advance to Black Iron, they can even consider taking the initiative!¡± Eve was quite satisfied with this test of the players¡¯ combat capability. Upon this thought, She generously used Divine Power to announce the task completion message... [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Crocodile Mercenary Corps annihilated, Task Objective 1 completed] [Players participating in the task earn 5000 experience points] [Ding¡ª¡ª] [27 players rescued, rescue rate 46.6%, Task Objective 2 completed] [Players participating in the task earn 466 contribution points] [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Random Task: Crocodile Mercenary Corps completed] [Players participating in the task earn 10 resurrection coins] ... The players cleaning up the battlefield were delighted at the system prompt flashing across their view, ¡°Haha! Task completed!¡± ¡°But the rewards seem a bit lacking...¡± ¡°Be content! The real big rewards are in the mercenaries! Each head is ten thousand experience, and they dropped so much equipment! Hurry up and grab it!¡± The players chatted away gleefully, picking up the armor and swords the mercenaries had dropped across the battlefield. Over a thousand mercenaries meant over a thousand sets of equipment! Although not as high in quality as those provided by the exchange mall, they were indeed better than the Half-Beast¡¯s equipment. Even if the players involved didn¡¯t need them this time, they could sell them to the lower-level third trial players! The equipment damaged in battle could be handed over to Forging Masters for repair; those severely damaged beyond repair could be directly sacrificed to the Goddess for contribution points. For example... Crocodile¡¯s equipment. Though thoroughly destroyed by Mairrel¡¯s violent pounding, it was still Silver Boss¡¯s gear. Sacrificing it to the Goddess could make a modest profit! For a while, the battlefield bustled as players happily sorted through the spoils. However, the largest gathering of players remained centered around the dozen or so carts in the middle of the mercenary camp... ¡°What is this? The goods brought by the mercenaries?¡± ¡°Hurry, open them up and see!¡± The players pried open the boxes on the carts with clumsy teamwork, only to see some everyday items from the Human World, some luxury items, and some valueless magic devices. Perhaps they were meant for lifestyle use or decoration, but definitely not for enhancing strength. ¡°Tch, thought it was something valuable...¡± The players were somewhat disappointed. Still, they unloaded the goods, divvying them up like a flock of rogue birds taking everything they could. Something was better than nothing¡ªat least they could take a decorative piece home to hang on the wall, right? While the players were busy looting, another commotion stirred from the nearby dense forest... Along with screams and pleas for mercy, a dozen or so terrified humans were dragged out of the bushes by the players... Unlike the mercenaries, they wore tattered clothes, appeared gaunt and anxious. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°Who are these people?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know. They were just playing dead in the bushes, found by Boxed Lunch.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like mercenaries... Should we kill them?¡± ¡°Hu Lu accidentally killed one just now, only 200 experience, even less than a Goblin.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°These are too weak, right? Just ordinary people?!¡± ¡°Wait... why do they look kind of familiar?¡± ... Anders was almost terrified out of his wits. These days, he felt ridiculously unfortunate. First, as he represented the Earl to collect taxes in the border town, he encountered a Black Dragon attack. Not only was he kidnapped, but after narrowly escaping with his life, he was then caught by a group of crude mercenaries... And those audacious mercenaries had the nerve to target the Black Dragon, attacking its stronghold! As one would expect, the dragon¡¯s retaliation was swift. The terrifyingly evil Black Dragon brought a thousand elves and completely wiped out the entire mercenary group! In the name of the Eternal Lord! That was a thousand elves! Anders felt the world had gone mad. How could the Black Dragon gather so many elves? Even worse, those elves were like a band of bloodthirsty demons, entirely lacking typical elfin grace, massacring the mercenaries without mercy! Moreover, they didn¡¯t even leave the mercenaries¡¯ bodies behind! It was horrifying... Truly horrifying! They were demons in elf skins! Anders was nearly scared to death, and it was only his cleverness that saved him¡ªhiding amidst the chaos in the bushes, he barely survived. But... those idiots with him!... ended up revealing all of them at the end! Now, they were captives of those terrifying, enigmatic elves who had slaughtered the mercenaries! In the name of the Eternal Lord! How did he have such terrible luck? Was he really going to die this time? At that moment, he heard the elves conversing again: ¡°Oh? I recognize them; weren¡¯t these the humans Mairrel hired when she returned before?¡± ¡°Oh gosh! Is it them? They¡¯re the ones who brought the mercenaries here?¡± Upon hearing this, Anders was shocked, hurriedly explaining: ¡°Noble Elf Warriors, it¡¯s not like that! It¡¯s not like that!¡± ¡°We¡¯re merely innocent villagers! We are victims too! The mercenaries kidnapped us. It was from us they learned about the Black Dragon, and only then did they covet... It has nothing to do with us! Nothing to do with us!¡± Anders cried bitterly, begging continuously for mercy. However, the elves¡¯ conversation made his heart race with fear: ¡°Ultimately, you¡¯re still the ones who brought the mercenaries here...¡± ¡°Why should we let you go, and what¡¯s in it for us?¡± ¡°Is there any intelligence you can give us?¡± ¡°Do you know where there are ruins or treasure maps?¡± Information? Ruins? Treasure maps? What are those? Anders looked bewildered yet extremely anxious. However, as the conversation went on, the elves¡¯ voices gradually faded. Anders fearfully raised his head to find a male elf in Druid attire, accompanied by a noble Unicorn and a fearsome Cave Spider, slowly approaching. The other elves respectfully made way for him: ¡°Brother Mu! You¡¯ve arrived!¡± ¡°Brother Mu, we captured a dozen ordinary people. You have the most experience handling NPC interactions; what should we do?¡± Brother Mu? Is he the elves¡¯ leader? Anders was stunned for a moment, then suddenly threw himself forward, grabbing Li Mu¡¯s leg, bursting into tears: ¡°Lord Mu! Lord Mu! Please have mercy on us!¡± Li Mu: ... Players: ... ¡°Who...exactly are you?¡± Li Mu looked at Anders¡¯ attire, noticeably more refined than the humans around him, and asked in a deep voice. Chapter 229: 223: Unconsciously Rushed Out Chapter 229: Chapter 223: Unconsciously Rushed Out ¡°I am...¡± Anders was about to answer, but after noticing the interested gazes of the elves around him, he swallowed the words he initially intended to say and instead said honestly, ¡°We are retainers of the Border Earl of the Holy Mania Empire, and this time... we were fortunate enough to be summoned by Lord Giant Dragon to help transport livestock. We never expected to encounter mercenaries on the way back...¡± ¡°They found out about the existence of Lord Giant Dragon and set their sights on the dragon... Really... it wasn¡¯t us who encouraged them!¡± ¡°Border Earl?¡± ¡°Holy Mania Empire?¡± The players looked at each other in confusion. Demacia, who had squeezed in, suddenly brightened up and quickly said, ¡°I know about this! I¡¯ve heard from the returning...¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem...¡± Li Mu lightly coughed twice. Demacia: ... He swallowed back the word ¡°elves¡± and chuckled awkwardly, ¡°Heard from returning... NPCs that it¡¯s the human empire to the north, and the Border County is the closest human territory to the Elf Forest.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s how it is!¡± ¡°A new map, huh! This is a future new map!¡± ¡°Are we finally going to interact with human society?!¡± Hearing Demacia¡¯s words, the surrounding players were all excited. Seeing these excited elves, Anders was slightly taken aback. *Huh?* *Do they not know about the Empire?* The Holy Mania Empire was the most powerful human kingdom on Segis Continent, and it was also the central hub of the Eternal Church, renowned from the Southern Continent to the Extreme Northern Icefield... Everyone knew about it... *How could these elves not have heard of it?* Not to mention, the Holy Mania Empire was the primary buyer of elf slaves! While Anders was puzzled, Li Mu asked another question, ¡°How far is the Border County from here?¡± Anders, with a rigid expression, said, ¡°Following this road northeast for another fifty kilometers will reach the Empire¡¯s border. If you want to reach the nearest city, it might take several more kilometers...¡± Upon hearing Anders¡¯ words, Li Mu casually pulled up the system¡¯s small map. According to what the other party said, the straight-line distance from the center of the map to the Border County was likely around four hundred kilometers; even the farthest edge at Black Dragon Castle was likely over a hundred kilometers away! This already exceeded the map¡¯s maximum activity range by nearly a hundred kilometers... Seeing Li Mu fall into silence, Anders felt uneasy but still cautiously asked, ¡°Um... Lord Mu? Do you... do you have any other questions? If not... can we be allowed to leave? We... we¡¯re just some pitiful villagers.¡± Li Mu remained silent. Anders¡¯ heart grew even more afraid. He thought for a moment and spoke again, ¡°Are you worried that if we go back, we¡¯ll leak what happened here? Rest assured! We¡¯ll seal our lips tightly, but if... if you don¡¯t believe us, we can swear by the True God we believe in!¡± ¡°The strength of the Border Earl...?¡± Just as Anders was feeling uneasy, Li Mu asked another question. The strength of the Border Earl? Anders was slightly stunned. Then, when he saw the expectant gazes of the elves around him, his heart sank... Wait... These elves... Could they be planning to target the Earl¡¯s domain?! Anders¡¯ face turned pale instantly. Considering what the elves had done to the mercenaries just now, it was quite possible! However, preserving his life was the priority. After struggling internally for a moment, Anders decided to speak honestly, ¡°Lord Earl... Lord Earl is a Holy Knight of the Golden Rank and one of the Empire¡¯s seven electors, with considerable strength... Additionally, Lord Earl has an independent Knight Order; just the knights of silver rank alone number a hundred...¡± This information was no secret along the border. At least... if you¡¯re interested and inquire, you can find out. So, Anders answered with candor. However, after he answered, the elves¡¯ reactions were somewhat beyond his expectations, ¡°Whoa!¡± ¡°Whoa!!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t provoke... can¡¯t provoke...¡± ¡°Golden Rank? A hundred silver ranked? That¡¯s so bugged!¡± *Huh?* *Could it be... these elves aren¡¯t as powerful as I thought?* Anders felt a surge of hope. But before he could formulate any ideas, the elves¡¯ next words left him terrified, ¡°How about we just kill these people? It¡¯ll be bad if they bring back revenge...¡± Anders: ... ¡°No! We promise not to say a word! We guarantee it!¡± His heart was pounding. However, Li Mu waved his hand, ¡°Untie them and let them go.¡± The players hesitated. Seeing their hesitation, Li Mu quickly explained in the team channel, ¡°The Border County is outside the map; since these human NPCs are from there, they might really activate the follow-up storyline or even unlock a new map!¡± ¡°Killing them would be only worth a few hundred experience points, holding them captive is useless and wastes food, it¡¯s better to let them go.¡± ¡°As for possible human revenge... isn¡¯t that even better? Just a source of new experience and equipment! If there¡¯s an unbeatable enemy, with the Divine Favored here, we can just summon the True God Avatar!¡± Upon reading Li Mu¡¯s explanation, the players were momentarily stunned. Yeah... That made sense. If they could fight, they would, if not, they¡¯d call the Goddess! Anyway... with the Goddess as a strong backer, she certainly wouldn¡¯t let anyone completely destroy their base, right? Thinking this, the players no longer opposed it. In the months of the game, Li Mu¡¯s deductions about NPC behavior and storylines were almost always correct and had become the recognized authority in ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± in this regard... no one¡¯s judgment was more convincing than his. After the discussion, the players untied the dozen or so humans, ¡°Scram! Scram!¡± Anders was overjoyed, feeling heavily relieved, and quickly led his subordinates in a hurry to escape, fearing the elves would change their minds. After letting those humans go, the players continued to clean up the battlefield and even began to draw sacrificial arrays, preparing to offer some of the collected junk... ¡°Border Earl, huh?¡± Watching Anders and the others flee from the player¡¯s perspective, Eve was lost in thought. This time, she didn¡¯t take the opportunity of the players capturing the humans to guide the storyline, expand the map, or release new tasks or anything... Next, the players needed to deal with the Faith War with the Half-Beasts. The map expansion on the human side could wait for now... After all, once involved with humans, it meant entangling with more True God forces, and with the players¡¯ current strength, Eve didn¡¯t believe they could contend with the much stronger human forces compared to the Half-Beasts. Moreover... the gods worshiped by humans were the most powerful enemies of the previous World Tree! Currently, Eve wasn¡¯t ready to directly confront them and couldn¡¯t deploy a True God Avatar to enter the human gods¡¯ domain to go against them... Of course, as Li Mu said, if humans did send troops again to crusade the Black Dragon and elves, she wouldn¡¯t be afraid, and might even welcome it. After all, Eve hadn¡¯t exposed herself yet, and if someone really came to crusade the Black Dragon and elves, it would probably be due to the allure of the Black Dragon¡¯s treasure and the elves, which didn¡¯t necessarily indicate a conflict between the elves and human forces. Unlike offensive battles, in a defensive war, on her own territory, Eve feared no one. If the players couldn¡¯t win, she¡¯d lure them into her Divine Domain and wipe them out all at once... Therefore, Eve had no objections to letting those people go. While the players were cleaning the battlefield, Black Dragon Mairrel also flew back to Black Dragon Castle. As soon as she returned, she saw Little Xian Miao, who had been revived and rushed over from the Teleportation Array. Of course, at this moment, the gold equipment on Little Xian was no longer there, replaced by a Black Iron Middle Mage Armor of epic purple. Seeing the returning Black Dragon, Little Xian Miao smiled, ¡°Yo! Back so soon?¡± Mairrel said nothing but widened her eyes, staring intently at her, motionless, making Little Xian Miao uneasy, ¡°Wha... what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing...¡± The Little Black Dragon mumbled, turning her head away, seemingly disinterested. She hesitated for a moment, glanced at Little Xian Miao again, and asked, seemingly nonchalantly, ¡°Your resurrection... does it have no side effects?¡± ¡°Of course not! We¡¯re the Chosen Ones selected by the Goddess! Look at me! I¡¯m in great shape!¡± Little Xian Miao flexed her muscles in front of Mairrel, smiling slightly. Vaguely, she saw Mairrel seem to sigh in relief. Then, the Little Black Dragon pulled out a pile of gold legendary equipment from under her and tossed it to the elf girl, ¡°Here, your equipment, I brought it back for you.¡± Little Xian Miao¡¯s eyes lit up, and she hurriedly accepted it in delight, ¡°Wow! Thanks a lot! It paid off having kept you for so many days!¡± Mairrel: ... ¡°Too bad, it¡¯s stained with blood and needs to be washed first.¡± Holding the golden legendary robe that Mairrel brought back, Little Xian Miao sighed with some regret. Then, she looked at the Black Dragon, squinting as she smiled, ¡°Speaking of... I remember seeing you angrily charging over before I died, was it for me?¡± Mairrel: ... She turned her dragon head away, speaking awkwardly, ¡°Hmph! How could the noble Mairrel be angry over such a small matter? Mairrel knew you¡¯d be resurrected! You¡¯re just Mairrel¡¯s servant! Mairrel... was just for the barbecue.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry! The barbecue will definitely be there! Thanks for your hard work this time!¡± Little Xian Miao laughed as she comforted her. However, hearing Little Xian Miao¡¯s words, Mairrel¡¯s expression seemed a bit depressed again. After a moment of silence, Mairrel spoke in a muffled voice, ¡°It wasn¡¯t just for the barbecue... Mairrel doesn¡¯t even know why, but when seeing you getting killed, even knowing you¡¯ll be resurrected, my body just rushed out instinctively...¡± Upon hearing this, Little Xian Miao was slightly stunned. Chapter 230: 224: NPC and Players Chapter 230: Chapter 224: NPC and Players *Could an NPC become friends with a player?* For most players, NPCs were just tools in the game, serving the sole purpose of pushing the story forward, selling items, or acting as enemies for players to kill for fun. Perhaps players could also develop feelings for specific NPCs, such as certain exceptionally crafted characters by game developers, or like pets players painstakingly raised in the game... However, these feelings were more of a condescending recognition and affection for things that matched their preferences or for things they had worked hard to shape. In essence, this type of emotion was not equal. Even in many games, where players endlessly fawned over NPCs, it was mostly not because they liked NPCs but because they sought benefits or used it as a form of mental support... Even if they truly liked a character, it was only because of the persona the game creators had crafted for that character, and perhaps the backstory behind it. In players¡¯ eyes, no matter how likable an NPC was, they were still just NPCs, equivalent to characters in a story, except... this was a story players could participate in. But it was just participation, after all. Even if they engaged in the NPCs¡¯ stories, even if they entered the game¡¯s plot... players remained players. Perhaps they would be moved by the plot, or maybe they would cheer for the story. But they knew it was just a game, something meant to relax and entertain them, designed around them. Of course, another reason for this situation was that emotional exchanges during gaming were one-sided... NPCs... were ultimately NPCs. Players had genuine emotions, players had truly independent thoughts, but NPCs did not. They were just a mass of data, and all their reactions were pre-programmed. Players were the true masters of the game. In this context, asking players to communicate equally with NPCs was actually unfair to players. But... What if NPCs also had their own emotions? ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was essentially nothing more than a game, transporting humans from Blue Star into another world in the guise of players. For players, it was a game; however, it wasn¡¯t just a game. When players realized that the NPCs in this game were so lifelike, their AI smart enough to be indistinguishable from reality, even possessing human-like emotions... In this scenario, what would the relationship between players and NPCs be like? A one-sided emotional expression was doomed to fail in forming bonds. But if emotions were mutual... that would be different. With deeper communication with the Segis World natives, when players realized NPCs also had emotions, this game... was no longer just a game. For players, it became another world! Of course, this was not about players realizing that the ¡°game¡± they were in was actually reality, but rather... a recognition that ¡°game¡± was seen as a form of ¡°reality.¡± In other words, although they knew it was a game, they truly developed a bond with it and a sense of belonging. In fact, Eve never intended to reveal the true nature of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± to the players... The technology of Blue Star was already advanced enough that even if someone suspected, Eve could barely hold them off. Believing oneself to be in a game was the essence of the Fourth Calamity¡¯s strength. *Fearless!* *Being fearless made them powerful!* If they truly discovered the game wasn¡¯t a game, the Fourth Calamity would instead lose their greatest inner strength and become restrained. However... The players believed ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was a game, and forming bonds with the ¡°NPCs¡± and communicating sincerely and equally with them was not contradictory. The two could actually coexist. Perhaps other games couldn¡¯t achieve this, but... ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± could! ... ¡°If you view ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ with typical game experience in mind, you might enjoy excellent gameplay, but you¡¯ll miss the essence of this masterpiece!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a game... but not just a game.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a world of our own, an adventure of our own, and we can completely treat this game as a new chapter in our lives...¡± ¡°Or perhaps, this... is the pinnacle of what virtual reality games can achieve!¡± Hearing Mairrel¡¯s answer, Little Xian Miao suddenly recalled a few things Li Mu had once said. And it was at this moment she suddenly realized a problem... *That¡¯s right...* The NPCs in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± had their own emotion systems... In a way, they could even be considered a different form of life. Players could become friends with each other. So what about between players and NPCs? If this time she and Mairrel switched roles, and Mairrel was in danger, what would she do? Thinking about it, Little Xian Miao was surprised to find that she might get angry and furious, just like Mairrel. And if Mairrel really died in battle, Little Xian Miao might actually cry her heart out. Humans had feelings. And when facing other emotional beings, long-term communication... could form bonds. Suddenly, the girl realized that she had unconsciously regarded Little Black Dragon as a friend, a partner. And the other party probably felt the same... Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been so angry when it saw her get killed. Thinking of this, Little Xian Miao¡¯s gaze towards Mairrel became even softer... ¡°Mairrel!¡± She chuckled. ¡°What?!¡± The Little Black Dragon gave her a side-eye. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a special meal tonight!¡± Little Xian Miao stood up and patted its scales. ¡°Whatever...¡± Mairrel muttered, lazily yawning. However, its massive tail swayed gently behind it, revealing its good mood... ... The players took less than an hour to clean up the entire battlefield. Then, they packed their spoils of war and joyously returned to Black Dragon Castle. ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was great in every way, except that for the sake of realism, the map scale was just too large. Without a Teleportation Array, traveling took a long time... Those with mounts were alright. Demon Beasts, although not very intelligent, were smarter than ordinary beasts. Players could set commands in the system to let their mounts carry them on the journey. During this time, players could surf the net in the system or even log off to sleep, just lying there on their mounts; they could rest... and come back online once they reached their base. But those without mounts were unfortunate, they had to walk themselves. However, fortunately, there was an option to turn off the fatigue sensation, at most it was just a bit boring... When nearly two thousand frontline players returned to Black Dragon Castle, it was already afternoon. Many low-level players who got the news came out of curiosity to watch. Although they had stayed up for a whole day and night, the triumphant team was in high spirits and had a strong presence. Nearly two thousand fully armed players, with a hint of ferocity and blood, formed a long line, pulling their haul and entering Black Dragon Castle slowly... Then, they would use the Teleportation Array in the castle hall to return to the Chosen City. Yes... returning to sleep. But as players queued for teleportation, suddenly... another Teleportation Array on the other side of the hall started to shimmer with gentle light. That was the Teleportation Array leading to Rivendell, the passage to the Underworld. A moment later, the light faded, and in the players¡¯ inquisitive eyes, a group of dark Dwarves appeared in the castle. The leader was a Death God Priest, dressed in a black robe, holding a luxurious wooden box. Behind him were a few Dwarf soldiers dressed as guards. Transported into Black Dragon Castle, they curiously observed everything around them, occasionally exclaiming in awe. And when they saw the Player Army constantly passing through the Array, their curious and amazed looks instantly turned into shock, and they couldn¡¯t help but exclaim: ¡°Elves! So many elves!¡± ¡°By the Death God! Have they just finished a battle? Has it already begun?¡± The appearance of the dark Dwarves also caught the players¡¯ attention. ¡°Huh? Dark Dwarves? Why are they here?¡± ¡°Dark Dwarves?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t seen them? They¡¯re the underground residents. We¡¯ve signed a friendly treaty with them. When you hit level 11 and go underground, you¡¯ll see them. They have a city down there called Black Rock City. We often sell things there.¡± ¡°I see! This is my first time seeing them...¡± ¡°It¡¯s normal you haven¡¯t seen them; they only operate underground. I wonder what kind of wind blew them to the surface today... Could another storyline be starting?¡± As players curiously discussed and hesitated whether to approach and speak, Black Dragon Mairrel, having heard the news, came over with its enormous body, instantly pushing half of the castle¡¯s players out... In its mouth was a half-eaten roast, chomping as it curiously observed the newly arrived strangers: ¡°Dark Dwarves?¡± The Dwarves were startled by the sudden appearance of the Black Dragon, but the leading Priest seemed to have expected it and barely kept calm. He took a deep breath and respectfully bowed to the Black Dragon: ¡°You... must be the True God¡¯s clansmen, Lord Mairrel?¡± ¡°I am Priest Carter of the Death God Temple. This time, I¡¯ve come under the True God¡¯s oracle for a transaction with the True God Eve...¡± With a devout expression, he raised the elaborate wooden box above his head. ¡°Furthermore... there¡¯s intelligence concerning the Half-Beasts!¡± Chapter 231: 225 Rumors and News Chapter 231: Chapter 225 Rumors and News Elf Forest, Feilengcui, in an elf-styled council hall. This place was once the library ruin of the Holy City of Feilengcui. After the players and the Flame Tribe elves began restoring Feilengcui, they transformed it into a place for the elves to conduct their discussions. However, at this moment, some short figures were seated at the carved wooden table in the council hall. They were the visiting dark dwarves. Priest Carter sat on the left side of the table, curiously peering through the window to observe the scene outside. His gaze lingered on the sunset at the horizon. *Lost in thought for a moment, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh softly,* ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve come to the surface to see the legendary sun, and I didn¡¯t expect it to be so beautiful...¡± ¡°The elven city, too, is really as beautiful as the legends say...¡± The main district of Feilengcui had almost been completely restored. As the sun set in the west, it painted the city with a golden hue, illuminating the marble buildings to a sparkling brilliance; flowers and green grass were planted all over the city, bursting with vitality. A number of tall elves were bustling around the city. Their hair color was primarily red, but many other colors could be seen too. Each wore traditional long robes of the Elf Clan, and their handsome, beautiful faces were adorned with hopeful smiles. Peaceful, natural, pure... This was the impression the dark dwarves had of how elves should originally be. In addition to these elves, there were also more elves clad in armor and robes throughout the city. Their numbers were slightly higher than those of the former, always hurrying past, seemingly having endless tasks to complete... Furthermore, compared to the former, their appearance was often a bit more weathered and unkempt, and their aura was notably dimmer, yet... this was the most familiar image for the dark dwarves. These were the elves often engaged in trade and hunting underground, and the ones the dwarves had been dealing with recently. Unlike the elves of legend, these elves seemed strange. Sometimes they were clever, while other times they were quite naive, seemingly knowledgeable in many areas but severely lacking in common sense at other times. They could be chillingly cold, yet unbearably zealous... Additionally, they held combat and adventure in high esteem, but viewed life and death lightly... They called themselves players or Chosen Ones, but the dark dwarves preferred to call them elf adventurers. It was also this group of elf adventurers who intervened during the recent shadow monster attack, helping them defend Black Rock City. Watching the throngs moving through the city, an elder dark dwarf couldn¡¯t help but sigh, ¡°The Elf Clan... really has changed a lot.¡± Another dark dwarf nodded: ¡°Indeed, I remember when they first came to Black Rock City, I suspected they might be imposters from another race, but it was only after the Lord Priest performed an identification spell that it was confirmed they were truly elves...¡± ¡°Yes... However, what surprises me the most is, when did they return to the Elf Forest? I recall that last year, a human caravan engaging in underground trade mentioned that the elves in the Elf Forest were dwindling, almost extinct, yet today we see so many elves!¡± Upon hearing this, almost all the dark dwarves recalled the scene they had just witnessed in the castle. ¡°By the Death God, I was shocked too! Just now, that number... was at least a thousand, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°And those were only the soldiers...¡± ¡°And this city, it¡¯s called Feilengcui, right? If I remember correctly, the records say this city had long since become ruins. I didn¡¯t expect such a prosperous scene!¡± ¡°I heard elf adventurers mention before that they only arrived here half a year ago, and this city... took them half a year to restore.¡± ¡°Half a year? They restored a city to such beauty in just half a year?¡± A dark dwarf asked in amazement. ¡°After all... they truly are a magical race, born as magic¡¯s favorites.¡± The dark dwarf who first started the topic said. ¡°And what¡¯s more, I heard that the elf adventurers, in less than half a year, built a grand city from scratch beneath the World Tree! Unfortunately... we won¡¯t have the chance to see it this time.¡± ¡°Building a city in half a year? Is that true?¡± ¡°Um... I only heard about it, but many elf adventurers have mentioned it, so it should be true. However... since they¡¯re different from the elves of the past, perhaps they¡¯re exaggerating.¡± As the dark dwarves murmured, one of the dwarves hesitated a moment before cautiously asking, ¡°By the way... have you heard the rumor?¡± ¡°What rumor?¡± The other dark dwarves became slightly interested. The dwarf who spoke glanced at the priest staring out the window, hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice, saying, ¡°There¡¯s a rumor that... this one called Eve is actually a subordinate god of the True God!¡± ¡°Hiss... Is that true?!¡± The other dark dwarves widened their eyes. ¡°Shhh... keep it down! It¡¯s just a rumor! The rumor is that the True God, in order to further advance, supported a newly born True God in the Elf Forest!¡± ¡°Further advance? Isn¡¯t the True God already the Lord of the Underworld? Moreover... this figure of the elves, her divine role is related to nature and life, isn¡¯t it different from our Lord?¡± ¡°That I don¡¯t know... I only heard such tales... However, there¡¯s another rumor that the one in the Elf Forest might have obtained her divine role from the World Tree!¡± ¡°Hiss... The World Tree? The Elf Mother?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! The World Tree! So... that¡¯s why she could gather the Elf Clan so quickly! But, the rumor suggests that she intervened to alter the nature of the elves, in an effort to sever their emotional ties to the World Tree...¡± ¡°No wonder! But... how true is all this? Where did you hear it?¡± The other dwarves looked astonished. And the dwarf spreading the rumors carefully glanced again at the Death God Priest, lowered his voice, and asked somewhat expectantly, ¡°Have you heard of Amway?¡± The other dark dwarves: ... ¡°Cough cough cough!¡± The dwarf priest looking out the window gently cleared his throat, turned back, and gave the murmuring dark dwarves a stern look, ¡°Don¡¯t believe rumors, and don¡¯t spread them! Matters among the True Gods aren¡¯t for you to discuss!¡± The dwarves shrunk back their necks and quickly bowed their heads in apology. ¡°Hmph, when we return, you¡¯ll be punished with a week of temple cleaning!¡± Priest Carter snorted coldly. The other dark dwarves: ... Amid the dark dwarves¡¯ sighs, the hall¡¯s door was gently pushed open. Three elves entered the room. Leading the way was a female elf clad in a black skirt armor, with short, deep-silver hair and deeply captivating eyes like red gemstones. Her features were delicate yet she wore a cold expression like an icy mountain, carrying an inherent sense of authority that naturally inspired awe. Beside her stood an elf girl with blonde hair and emerald eyes, dressed in a stunning Holy Maiden¡¯s attire, and a male elf in druid garb with black hair and black eyes, who appeared somewhat androgynous. The dwarves perked up and rose in unison. Upon seeing the lead elf, the dwarven priest¡¯s eyes lit up. He drew a scythe symbol on his chest, then bowed to the deep-silver-haired elf with respect, saying, ¡°Lord Ling, it¡¯s been a long time. You remain as beautiful as ever!¡± Divine Favored Zero! This was the elf clan¡¯s most powerful known Divine Favored currently in existence, and the one who personally borrowed the power of the True God to slay the terrifying shadow dragon! The Underworld revered strength, and the dark dwarves held great respect for this elf God Favored who saved Black Rock City. Not to mention, to wield the True God¡¯s power to such a degree indicated Zero¡¯s significance to the True God! In other words... seeing such a being as the True God¡¯s eyes on the surface, as their most valued agent, was not an exaggeration! In fact, not just the dark dwarves, even Saintess Alice felt a sense of reverence upon realizing that Divine Favored Zero had successfully summoned the Mother Goddess¡¯s power to slay a legendary pinnacle shadow dragon... At the same time, this pure-hearted Saintess increasingly felt that her journey was vast, and she should work harder to gain the Mother Goddess¡¯s recognition... ¡°Mr. Carter, hello.¡± Having taken on the ¡°Divine Favored Zero¡± guise, Eve responded calmly, nodding slightly, then introduced the two beside her: ¡°This is Alice Wind, the current Saintess under Eve¡¯s reverence.¡± ¡°This is Li Mu, one of the leaders of Eve¡¯s Chosen Ones.¡± For a brief moment, Alice and Li Mu instinctively straightened their postures. They nodded slightly to the dark dwarves and then followed Eve in sitting on the other side of the round table. After the elves had taken their seats, the Death God Priest handed over the exquisite wooden box with both hands to Eve, ¡°Lord Ling, this is an item entrusted to me by the Temple Leader for you.¡± Eve¡¯s heart stirred as she received the wooden box. Even without opening it, she could sense the powerful, sacred, cold, and severe force sealed within. It was the Death God¡¯s Power. This wooden box contained the power of Death God Hela! Death God Hela had sent someone to initiate a transaction; this was part of the True God Oath made earlier. Eve nodded slightly and gestured subtly to Li Mu beside her. In response, Li Mu solemnly took out another intricately patterned box. Through the translucent lid, one could see pale green crystals lying inside. They were Divine Blood Crystals of the World Tree, ten in total! After meeting with Hela, one of their agreements was for Eve to provide Hela with 10 units of Divine Blood Crystals within a month, in return for 15 units of the Death God¡¯s Power from Hela. Of course, these Divine Blood Crystals retained only the laws of life... Upon storing the Divine Blood Crystals, the Death God Priest breathed a sigh of relief: ¡°May the True God always protect you, Lord Ling!¡± However, his expression soon turned serious again, ¡°Lord Ling, this time, besides conducting this transaction with your church, I also came to offer some news to the Elf Clan.¡± ¡°We gathered information from merchants entering the Underworld from the southern region that the Half-Beast Royal Court in the Death Desert launched a war mobilization a month ago, and they¡¯ve mobilized thirty thousand troops heading towards the Elf Forest.¡± ¡ª¡ª A friend recommends a book, ¡°Players for the Greater Good.¡± It¡¯s a novel written on Qi Dian by Boss Miao of Shu Ke, also of the player genre, with excellent settings and quality assurance! Chapter 232: 226 The Strength of the Half-Beast Chapter 232: Chapter 226 The Strength of the Half-Beast It¡¯s interesting to note that the elves are on the surface, while the dark dwarves are underground. Yet, it¡¯s the Elf Forest that remains more isolated in terms of information... The actions of the half-beasts were actually communicated to the elves by the dark dwarves! Thirty thousand troops! Upon hearing this number, the expressions of the three elves sitting opposite the dark dwarves varied greatly. The Death God Priest noticed that the female elf referred to as the Holy Daughter¡¯s pupils shrank slightly. Her once delicate and fair face turned ashen. She seemed quite frightened. On the right, the black-haired male elf also widened his eyes, showing some amazement. However, he didn¡¯t seem afraid. Rather, there seemed to be a hint of curiosity and eagerness? But... the most mysterious was still Divine Favored Zero, sitting in the main seat in the middle. *Her expression remained unchanged, showing neither fear nor concern, nor excitement like the strange elf named Li Mu. She was utterly expressionless, as if hearing just a number...* ¡°Thirty thousand! They actually... mobilized thirty thousand at once!¡± Alice¡¯s voice trembled a bit. As a race where everyone is a warrior and fiercely brave, the thirty thousand troops of the half-beasts were quite different from the ¡°thirty thousand troops¡± of other intelligent races! For example, in human warfare, they tended to exaggerate the army¡¯s number, inflating ten thousand to thirty thousand, or thirty thousand to a hundred thousand, which was commonplace. Moreover, many intelligent races didn¡¯t have all combat soldiers in their armies during wars. The number of auxiliary and logistics personnel often exceeded those of soldiers who fought directly... In an army of thirty thousand, only about ten thousand might actually be frontline combatants! But... the half-beasts were different! As a derivative race of beastmen, the half-beasts inherited the beastmen¡¯s trait of everyone being a soldier. They resembled nomadic tribes from the Blue Star; during wars, their forces were entirely made up of soldiers capable of frontline combat! Additionally, as a Black Iron race, these thirty thousand... meant at least thirty thousand Black Iron rank professionals! A force of thirty thousand professionals at the Black Iron level might not have been significant a thousand years ago when the Segis World¡¯s magic power was abundant, and experts were frequent... But now, the magic level across the Segis World was low. Although the Black Iron rank wasn¡¯t much affected, breaking through to silver and gold was much harder than a thousand years ago. Legendary beings were much fewer, and demigods... hadn¡¯t been heard of for nearly a millennium. In this context, thirty thousand Black Iron professionals were incredibly frightening instead. *That was a terrifying number... Even though Alice knew that the Mother Goddess had summoned nine thousand extraordinarily talented Chosen Ones, only a limited number could truly grow!* As of now, there were only a little over two thousand Chosen Ones at the Black Iron rank. And quantity changes bring about qualitative changes... *A force of thirty thousand well-trained Black Iron-level warriors posed a far greater threat than the tens of thousands of scattered, chaotic, and intellectually inferior shadow troops that once attacked Black Rock City.* *Facing such a massive force, even if all the half-orc warriors were at the Black Iron Lower, anyone below the golden rank would meet their end in battle.* Including Black Dragon Mairrel! Perhaps, given time, it could defeat a half-orc tribe of five thousand, but when confronted with an army of thirty thousand vigorous half-orcs fighting for their faith with high morale... Even as a dragon, if not fully grown... it would still be beaten to death. Gold-ranked professionals facing such a vast number could only manage to retreat safely. To single-handedly rout such an enemy would require a legendary expert transcending the secular world! And it had to be a seasoned legend! *Did the Elf Forest have legendary combat power?* Indeed, it did. The Earth Cave Spider Empress Rose, whom the Mother Goddess subdued, was one. However, she had just entered the legendary rank. Additionally, she was a demon beast of the Underworld with a dark attribute, fearing light and fire. While night was fine, her power would be greatly diminished in daytime battles on the surface, possibly even comparable to a golden upper-rank professional... Not to mention that, besides the dark-attributed True Gods, most True Gods of Faith had the light attribute, which was inherently deadly to dark creatures! In faith wars, without fighting on their home turf rich in dark elements like the underground world, dark creatures like Earth Cave Spiders were easily targeted and eliminated... Therefore, aside from serving as mounts to the Chosen Ones, Alice didn¡¯t believe the Earth Cave Spiders could be a significant combat force. Besides the Spider Empress Rose, Divine Favored Zero was also considered half a legend. She was a lower gold expert, but with the favor of the Mother Goddess, she could summon Her power to unleash legendary-level attacks... This ability made even Alice very envious... However, being able to unleash legendary-level attacks was different from being able to fight thirty thousand troops. *Perhaps Divine Favored Zero could use the Mother Goddess¡¯s power to destroy a legendary peak Shadow Dragon in a single blow, but that was because there was only one target.* *Could she sweep away an army of thirty thousand in one move?* *Could Divine Favored Zero summon the Mother Goddess¡¯s power limitlessly? After all, she was merely a lower gold professional.* *Besides, didn¡¯t the half-orcs have legendary combat power?* *Didn¡¯t the half-orcs have corresponding defenses?* The half-orcs were indeed a Black Iron race, with overall weaker strength on the Segis Continent and a population of only hundreds of thousands... Due to insufficient strength, they were forced to huddle in the barren Death Desert. Even after winning nominal control over the Elf Forest after the Divine War a thousand years ago, the half-orcs merely roamed the forest¡¯s edges due to fear of nearby human forces and the many mid-to-high-level magic beasts in the Elf Forest. Furthermore, most of their clansmen were of the Black Iron rank, with very few able to break through to silver, let alone gold; a legendary half-orc had never been heard of... Such a race might, with the True God¡¯s blessing, find safety in a corner, but they couldn¡¯t possibly rise to become a hegemonic power. Because... they were truly weak. But that didn¡¯t mean the half-orcs were devoid of silver and gold experts! When compared to beastmen and humans, they were weaker. But beastmen and humans were among the top forces in the Segis World, with humans making up nearly half of the entire world¡¯s intelligent races! The half-orcs were weaker than them, but still much stronger than the currently struggling Elf Clan. Even among the half-orcs, there were lucky ones who could, through either fortunate encounters or divine favor, break through to silver strength. Among them, standouts reached the golden rank! For example... the Great King of the half-orcs, the strongest half-orc¡ªLionheart King Imsh, was a lower gold berserker. The half-orcs¡¯ Chief Priest was also a lower gold spellcaster. Beyond their apparent strength, one must also consider the forces the half-orcs could summon! The gods agreed that in faith wars, demigods and above couldn¡¯t intervene... But what about the legendary level? The half-orcs didn¡¯t have legendary strength. But the True God they worshiped, the God of Winter and Hunting, Uller, had legendary-strength totem guardians! The half-orcs wouldn¡¯t summon a Demigod Walker-class divine envoy, but what about legendary ones? Gold ones? Even if their summoned time was limited, they were still totem guardians! Not to mention those half-orcs, like Divine Favored Zero, who enjoyed true God¡¯s favor? The overall strength of the elves and the Chosen Ones was still too weak... Alice didn¡¯t believe that, without intervention from the Mother Goddess, the Chosen Ones could defeat the half-orc army! The half-orcs¡¯ strength was weak. But today¡¯s Elf Clan... was even weaker! Even the Mother Goddess, having only recently awakened, didn¡¯t have noteworthy clansmen to show! *However... if the Mother Goddess intervened, everything would indeed come to a head.* *Worse still, revealing the Mother Goddess¡¯s true identity could immediately draw the attention of all the gods, leading to a world-wide crusade...* *Thinking of this, Alice felt even heavier.* She instinctively glanced sideways, only to be somewhat surprised to find Divine Favored Zero¡¯s expression was calm. *Hmm?* *Alice¡¯s heart was stirred.* This meeting with the dark dwarves came with a divine oracle for her from the Mother Goddess, with Divine Favored Zero leading the organization... *In fact, since Divine Favored Zero was dispatched to the Chosen City by the Mother Goddess, she had subtly become another leader of the Nature Church, on par with Alice.* *Yet, unlike Alice, who mainly handled church operations and internal affairs around the Elf Forest, Divine Favored Zero focused more on external matters.* *Seeing Divine Favored Zero¡¯s calm demeanor, Alice couldn¡¯t help but speculate... perhaps the Mother Goddess had already strategized.* ... After completing their transaction, the dark dwarves provided the elves with some intelligence on the half-beasts before leaving the Elf Forest and returning to the Underworld. Once the dark dwarves had departed, Li Mu respectfully bowed to the two elf NPCs and then excitedly left. In the meeting room, only Alice and Zero remained. Alice hesitated for a moment before asking, ¡°Lord Zero, I noticed you seemed neither surprised nor frightened by the news of the half-beasts. Do you already have a plan?¡± Zero looked at her and replied, ¡°In this battle of faith, I will handle enemies with power from gold to legend.¡± ¡°You?!¡± Alice couldn¡¯t help but widen her eyes. She hesitated for a moment, then said worriedly, ¡°Lord Zero, I know you can summon the power of the Mother Goddess, but... ultimately, you¡¯re only a lower gold professional. If the half-beasts summon more than one legendary-level totem guardian this time, then you...¡± ¡°Trust me, I can handle it.¡± Divine Favored Zero¡¯s voice was very calm. Alice: ... *She opened her mouth, unsure of how to respond.* Zero could handle it? *Could she really handle it?* *While it might not be necessary to kill the totem guardians, merely stalling until their summoning time ran out, they were still legendary!* *She could kill a Shadow Dragon with True God¡¯s power, but standing against legendary-level totem guardians was a different story!* *And there might be more than one!* *Where did Zero¡¯s confidence come from?* *Suddenly appearing, valued so highly by the Mother Goddess, and so self-assured herself...* *Who is she really?* ¡°But... even if you can handle the legendary-level totem guardians, those thirty thousand troops...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Zero interrupted Alice¡¯s words. ¡°The thirty thousand troops can be handled by the Chosen Ones.¡± ¡°The Chosen Ones? Their strength is still too weak, even with the ability to revive... With barely over two thousand Black Iron-ranked Chosen Ones, it¡¯s unlikely they can stand against thirty thousand half-orcs!¡± Alice shook her head. Zero glanced at her, smiling for the first time: ¡°Two thousand Black Iron rankers can¡¯t handle it...¡± ¡°Then how about ten thousand?¡± Chapter 233: 227 Version Update Chapter 233: Chapter 227 Version Update Even though a month had passed since the news, Eve did not think the Half-Beast army could arrive quickly. The Half-Beast had only begun mobilizing a month ago, so they were probably just starting their journey a few days ago at most. The larger the army, the slower their movement. Not to mention, coming from the southern Death Desert to the Elf Forest, unless they took the path of the Aries Kingdom, the Half-Beast would have to cross the rugged Dark Mountain Range... And how could the Human Kingdom allow thirty thousand Half-Beast soldiers to enter their territory? Furthermore, the Winter and Hunting God, Uller, preferred that fewer forces knew about the faith war she was orchestrating. Even the Dark Dwarves only learned that the Half-Beast were making a big move, mobilizing thirty thousand troops heading north... Only the Death God Church, through divine revelation, knew some inside information and deduced that the Half-Beast¡¯s target was the new god of the Elf Forest! Therefore, it was inevitable for the Half-Beast to cross the Dark Mountain Range. And crossing the Dark Mountain Range would take even longer. Thus, before the Half-Beast army arrived, players still had some time for development. This time could be as short as twenty days or possibly more than a month. ¡°Speaking of which, it¡¯s been nearly two months since the Blue Planet¡¯s closed beta, and it¡¯s just the summer vacation, should I organize a summer event?¡± Leaving the conference hall, Eve, whose consciousness returned to the World Tree¡¯s body, checked the Blue Planet¡¯s calendar, pondering thoughtfully. ¡°But before that... let¡¯s see theoretically how many players can go to battle.¡± She thought for a moment and then looked at the ten thousand two hundred blue ¡°stars¡± representing players on the sky of the Divine Country, while also checking the players¡¯ data... What she saw shocked her when she checked the players¡¯ online time: ¡°What on earth? The average daily online time on Blue Planet is twelve hours?!¡± Twelve hours! That meant that of the twenty-four hours each day, players in the closed beta spent half their time in ¡°Elf Kingdom!¡± Although they could play the game even while sleeping, making many players¡¯ online time not less than seven hours, an average of twelve hours online was too terrifying... ¡°Looks like... I really chose the right people these few batches, they¡¯re all game fanatics! Moreover... the appeal of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ is far stronger than I imagined.¡± Eve clicked her tongue in wonder. However, the most exaggerated was Box Lunch. After further checking the player data, she was shocked to find that this grind king averaged twenty-point-three hours online per day... The thirty thousand Half-Beast army did not cause much emotional fluctuation for Eve, but Box Lunch¡¯s average daily online time startled her: ¡°No wonder he leveled up so fast... he¡¯s practically living in the gaming pod, isn¡¯t he? Doesn¡¯t he have to work?¡± Then, Eve specifically looked at the players with relatively short online time and found that out of ten thousand two hundred players, there were about a hundred or so. ¡°The player with the least online time has a total online duration of less than twenty hours... and more than a hundred players average less than two hours online per day, most of whom are from the third test.¡± Seeing this data, Eve sighed in her heart, but she couldn¡¯t do anything about it. No matter how good a game is, it can¡¯t satisfy everyone. Even though these ten thousand two hundred players were selected by her personally, it¡¯s unavoidable to encounter players who choose to quit for various reasons or stay offline for a long time... It was something that couldn¡¯t be helped. However, as ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was essentially not a game, if players stayed offline for a long time or actually quit, their remaining bodies could end up in an awkward situation. Leaving aside other concerns, although the player¡¯s body would go into a dormant state after logging off, they would eventually die if they didn¡¯t eat for an extended period. ¡°Might as well... implement a retrieval mechanism. If a player is offline for more than three days, their body will be returned to the World Tree for storage, and it will be activated when they log back in.¡± ¡°As for those who might quit, send a text notification, with body storage for a month, after which, if they don¡¯t log back in, their body would be permanently retrieved.¡± Having figured out how to deal with long-term inactive players, Eve then turned her attention back to war preparations: ¡°There are at least twenty days... During these twenty days, it¡¯s necessary to quickly increase players¡¯ strength and also strengthen the defense of the Elf Forest.¡± ¡°Although I could directly increase the players¡¯ strength, for the long term... it¡¯s better to have them work for it. If they indeed have limited strength, worst-case scenario... use Hela¡¯s Divine Power to empower buffs on the players.¡± ¡°In the upcoming twenty days, I could temporarily reduce the share from war sacrifices, allowing players to gain more experience... Hmm. Might as well give them everything, make it ¡®double experience¡¯! Double the fun!¡± ¡°In addition, I¡¯ll release some new construction quests, build defense fortifications, and enhance the Elf Forest¡¯s defense level. In this war... after all, I¡¯m on the defensive side, and with fewer people, it¡¯s naturally crucial to focus on defensive battles.¡± ¡°Moreover... I can directly release tasks, letting the lifestyle players mimic the underground Black Rock City to construct the city¡¯s defensive core!¡± ¡°Hmm... Once this meeting ends, the players should know the Half-Beast are coming, might as well release the new main storyline directly, all these tasks and events are part of the new main storyline!¡± ¡°Hmm, since there are quite a few changes this time, let¡¯s release them in the form of a version update.¡± Thinking of this, Eve began to use Divine Power... ... Chosen City, Heart of Nature Guild Residence. This was the only elven-style building in Chosen City, specially designed by Li Mu with the help of some friends from the Mengmeng Committee to mimic the style of Feilengcui city. The main structure was made of marble sourced from the ruins of Feilengcui, beautifully engraved with vines and floral patterns, quite grand. Along with the surrounding living plants, white boulders, and fresh green grass and flowers... it gave the Heart of Nature Guild Residence a distinctive charm. At this moment, some players in the guild hall were afk and chatting idly... ¡°What? Brother Mu? You said the Half-Beast army is coming? Thirty thousand of them?!¡± Demacia was dumbfounded after hearing the news Li Mu brought. Speaking of which, he couldn¡¯t help but shiver: ¡°Gosh... what does thirty thousand Half-Beast even mean? Waves of people, right? Can the official server even handle it?¡± ¡°It should be similar to the Black Rock City¡¯s defense battle.¡± Li Mu thought for a moment and said. ¡°It¡¯s different, isn¡¯t it? The shadow monsters were individually much weaker than the Half-Beast, I slayed them myself! The Half-Beast may be clumsy, but they¡¯re much stronger!¡± Demacia shook his head. After saying this, his face showed a trace of envy: ¡°I envy you, Brother Mu, now you¡¯re considered the players¡¯ leader by the NPCs, and you can even attend these decision-making meetings.¡± Li Mu: ... Without waiting for Li Mu to respond, Demacia sighed again: ¡°Alas... I¡¯m so pitiful, I¡¯ve worked so hard all this time, but my personal reputation rating is only at 2 points, while the server¡¯s average score is almost up to 10!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a pure combat player, and as the levels keep increasing, the experience points required also go up, and with such low personal reputation, it greatly affects the speed of gaining experience and contribution from completing tasks.¡± Hearing Demacia¡¯s words, Li Mu looked somewhat surprised: ¡°Hmm? Only 2 points? Haven¡¯t you been working on improving your reputation in Feilengcui recently? Moreover... I even shared some tips with you, why is it progressing so slowly?¡± Demacia chuckled dryly a couple of times: ¡°Ahem... maybe... maybe it¡¯s because the multi-level marketing in Black Rock City went too smoothly lately, so I got a bit carried away...¡± ¡°Not long ago, when many elves returned, my personal reputation rating was about to catch up to the average, but then I discovered they brought quite a few good things, and I couldn¡¯t resist... wanted to try ¡®Amway¡¯ on the new elves to see if I could get some magic equipment, but it got directly seen through by that Divine Favored Zero, and then... you know what happened...¡± Li Mu: ... ¡°Speaking of which, that NPC named Zero is really powerful! She saw through the essence of multi-level marketing at a glance, truly deserving of being a purple NPC! Unlike those Dwarves, even if they felt something was off, they just brushed it off without much care.¡± Demacia sighed with admiration. Li Mu: ... ¡°You¡¯re beyond saving.¡± He shook his head and patted the other¡¯s shoulder: ¡°I mean... that Black Rock City business you¡¯re doing there is growing too big, and today during the NPC meeting, there seemed to be a Dwarf who was your subordinate in the scam, let¡¯s see how you settle it in the end... umm, better prepare in advance for suicide atonement or get ready for a Death God Church¡¯s pursuit.¡± Demacia: ... ¡°Eh, today¡¯s wine, today¡¯s drunken pleasure! Anyway, haven¡¯t been exposed yet!¡± After speaking, Demacia coughed a few times and quickly changed the subject: ¡°By the way... Brother Mu, the Half-Beast are coming to fight, are you not going to notify the other guilds?¡± Li Mu looked at him, pondered, and said: ¡°No need for you to remind me, I¡¯ve already recorded it and posted it on the official website, also, the system message should be coming soon. Based on previous patterns, this is definitely the prelude to a major storyline!¡± Just as Li Mu finished speaking, indeed, a new system notice appeared in both of their fields of vision: [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Announcement: ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± will undergo a version update tomorrow, please prepare to log out in advance.] ... Chapter 234: 228: Summer Activities are Coming! Chapter 234: Chapter 228: Summer Activities are Coming! Blue Star, Tianchao Imperial City. At the dining table, Ji Dong was shoveling rice into his mouth while looking at the official forum of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± on his phone. ¡°Whoa, thirty thousand Half-Beast Army?¡± Suddenly, he came across a certain post and couldn¡¯t help but exclaim. ¡°Don¡¯t talk while eating! And no looking at your phone either!¡± Across from him, Ji¡¯s mother glared at her son. Ji Dong: ... He gave an awkward smile and quickly put his phone away. However, just as he locked the screen, his phone buzzed slightly with a system notification. Ji Dong couldn¡¯t resist taking another look and saw the update notice for ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± ¡°The version¡¯s getting updated?!¡± He couldn¡¯t help but mutter to himself. But when Ji Dong noticed his mom¡¯s stern glance after putting down her chopsticks, he quickly slipped his phone into his pocket, sat up straight, and obediently resumed eating his rice... Of course, his thoughts were already thousands of miles away... ... August 10th. For the students of the Blue Star Dynasty, half of their summer vacation had gone by. And for the beta players of ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± it was the fifth update since the game¡¯s launch. The beta version of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was updated frequently. However, most updates were minor in-game tweaks that didn¡¯t require shutting down the servers. The developers added many small features without players even noticing, while major updates requiring downtime were rare. But every time there was such a large update that required players to log off in advance, it meant there would be significant changes in the game. The first major update was the second test, the second was the NPC task system, the third was the favor and reputation rating system, and the fourth was the third test... This fifth update felt a bit sudden. However, at the same time the update news was released, another announcement appeared on the official website of ¡°Elf Kingdom¡±: ¡°Summer Event, Double Experience! Half-Beast Invasion, Full Server Mobilization!¡± The announcement was simple, just a big image showing the elegant, beautiful Elves on one side and the rough, ugly Half-Beasts on the other, both readying their weapons as though they were about to clash in battle at any moment... ¡°Could it be the thirty thousand Half-Beast Army that Brother Mu mentioned in his post? Is it a new major storyline? The official team of ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ designed it so cleverly! Could this have been a setup for the update? It must have been planned long ago.¡± *The control over the storyline and the ability to engage players really couldn¡¯t be matched by other games.* Ji Dong sighed lightly. After checking the time and confirming the update was over, Ji Dong eagerly lay back in his gaming capsule: ¡°Launch... Elf Kingdom!¡± [Ding¡ª¡ª] [Game connection successful...] [New version detected, ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± 1.4] [Updating version...] [Ding¡ª¡ªUpdate successful] [Logging in...] [Game ID: Transforming Ji Gang] [Chosen One, welcome back to ¡°Elf Kingdom!¡±] With the familiar sound of the system, Ji Dong¡¯s vision dimmed slightly. Now, he was ¡°Transforming Ji Gang.¡± As his vision gradually brightened, background music began to play, and the game¡¯s storyline animation started once again... Ji Dong instinctively tried to skip it, only to find that the background music was different from his memory, and the new storyline animation was unlike the previous login animation... So, he gave up the idea of skipping and watched attentively: The first thing that appeared was a conference room. On one side sat the Dark Dwarves, and on the other were Elves. The background music was solemn and grand... When Transforming Ji Gang recognized a familiar figure among them, he was a bit surprised: ¡°Brother Mu? How did he end up in the storyline animation?¡± While Transforming Ji Gang was bewildered, a low voice from a Dark Dwarf echoed through the hall: ¡°The Half-Beast Royal Court in the Death Desert has been mobilizing for a month, and they have moved thirty thousand troops toward the Elf Forest.¡± As the Dark Dwarf spoke, the entire scene gradually faded, revealing views of the Half-Beast Army marching... A massive army as far as the eye could see... Along with the Dark Dwarf¡¯s low voice and the roars of the Half-Beasts, an oppressive sense of impending doom descended. ¡°A war of faith?¡± Then, a cool voice sounded. The scene shifted back to the conference room... On the Elves¡¯ side, Divine Favored Zero, with bright eyes, spoke confidently and resolutely: ¡°The Elf Clan... has suffered too much hardship. No matter the difficulties we face, we will never back down again...¡± ¡°We shall accept this war! We will join forces with the Chosen Ones to thwart the Half-Beasts¡¯ plot!¡± With Divine Favored Zero¡¯s words, the animation¡¯s scene also subtly faded, showing images of Elves being persecuted, and players fighting against Goblins, Half-Beasts, and human mercenaries... For a moment, the solemn background music turned inspiring, stirring emotions high and full of fervor... ¡°This war of faith, victory will surely belong to us!¡± Finally, in the rousing music, three Elven representatives spoke in unison. The scene gradually darkened... Then, a grand line of text appeared before Transforming Ji Gang¡ª ¡°Summer Event Arrives, Faith War Begins!¡± The storyline animation ended there. As his consciousness transitioned, Transforming Ji Gang found himself back in his guild dormitory in Chosen City... However, thinking about the storyline animation, he couldn¡¯t help but mutter to himself: ¡°To actually appear in the storyline animation... Brother Mu has so much prestige, I¡¯m envious... I wonder when I¡¯ll get to be in it too...¡± Of course, the animation was something Eve had concocted. Naturally, it was put together using some game footage, with some of her embellishments and exaggerations. For instance, Eve¡¯s line transformation and the final words of the three were added by Eve in post-production... On the other side, when Li Mu logged in and watched the storyline animation, he was utterly baffled. Because he had no recollection of Divine Favored Zero saying those lines, nor did he remember spouting any words so full of embarrassment... Overall, though, the effect was quite good. At the very least, Transforming Ji Gang was much more excited about the new storyline... Upon entering the game, Transforming Ji Gang immediately noticed the system announcement that dominated half of his screen¡ª [Summer Event Arrives, Faith War Begins!] [Event One: Double the Experience, Double the Joy!] [As a thank you to all the players supporting ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± from August 10th to August 20th (Blue Star Time), all players in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± will receive a Summer Event buff, doubling the experience and contribution points earned from tasks and monster kills!] Double experience and contribution points! Seeing this news, Transforming Ji Gang looked thrilled. He was among the most dedicated players from the third test, but even now, he was only level 15. Whenever he saw those Black Iron Middle Rank players from the first and second tests, he couldn¡¯t help but feel envious... ¡°This is such a rare chance! It¡¯s a great opportunity to surpass them! Many of those first and second test players have jobs; for these ten days, I¡¯m not doing anything else. I¡¯ve got to grind to level 21!¡± Transforming Ji Gang clenched his fist. Then, he looked further down... [Event Two: Limited-Time Discount at Exchange Store!] [As a thank you to all the players supporting ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± during the summer event, all items in the ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± contribution store are half-price!] ¡°Holy crap! Half-price!¡± Transforming Ji Gang was practically panting. Not to mention the skills from the exchange store being at full proficiency, the exchanged equipment was much better than scavenged gear, especially blue rare and above! They all had at least one special effect! But, that equipment was also very expensive, especially the Black Iron Middle Rank¡¯s purple epic gear, which cost tens of thousands of contribution points per set! As for the golden legendary, let¡¯s not even talk about it; those were strictly for rich and elite players. If it weren¡¯t for creating a guild, Transforming Ji Gang might have considered it, but setting up the ¡°Autobots¡± guild consumed a lot of his resources, so he could only aim for a Black Iron Middle Rank graduation set of purple epic gear. Even so, it was challenging. Until now, Transforming Ji Gang only managed to scrape together two pieces of purple epic Black Iron gear, a sword and a piece of armor, still lacking shoes, pants, kneepads, and bracers¡ªa total of four pieces... And that wasn¡¯t counting the secondary weapons, like the senior member Bento and Little Xian Miao, who also had secondary weapons like daggers. However, with the exchange store¡¯s discount, Transforming Ji Gang finally saw an opportunity... ¡°Tasks! I need to crazily grind tasks! Take this chance to gather enough contribution points to finish my equipment!¡± Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s eyes burned with determination. Then, he looked at the third event notification... [Event Three: Defensive Construction Tasks] [Major storyline incoming! The Half-Beast Army is poised to attack the Elf Forest! During the summer event, ¡°Wall Construction¡± and ¡°Defensive Core Building¡± defense construction tasks will be available, and completing these tasks will grant extra experience and contribution points!] ¡°Hmm? Defense construction tasks?¡± Transforming Ji Gang was slightly intrigued. He quickly checked the task system and noticed new tasks indeed had been added, with an exclusive [Summer Event Tasks] section for them. What¡¯s more... the rewards for these tasks were high, at least fifty percent more than ordinary daily tasks! ¡°Nice! I¡¯ll be doing those in a bit!¡± Transforming Ji Gang nodded in approval. Then, he looked at the final event notification¡ª [Event Four: Lucky Draw!] [During the event, the exchange store will have a lucky draw feature, allowing players to draw with lucky tickets.] [The lucky pool includes all items from the exchange store, with chances to draw golden legendary gear, purple epic tomes, 100 resurrection coins, 30,000 contribution points!] [Ways to obtain tickets are as follows:] [Method 1: The top 100 players completing the most event tasks daily will receive 1 ticket.] [Method 2: The top 100 fastest leveling players daily will receive 1 ticket.] [Method 3: The top 100 players earning the most experience and contribution points daily will receive 1 ticket.] [Method 4: Players killing Half-Beasts in the Faith War can exchange 100% kill contribution for 1 ticket. (100% contribution for a solo kill, reduced proportionally when in a team)] [Note: Methods 1-3 reset every 24 hours, and rewards are distributed at midnight; Method 4 does not reset, but tickets can be exchanged repeatedly; tickets are bound to players and cannot be traded.] ¡°Oh, whew!¡± Upon seeing this event message, Transforming Ji Gang¡¯s eyes turned red with excitement. ¡°Lucky Draw... Golden Legendary!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to grind! For these ten days... I¡¯m going to grind like crazy!¡± ¡°Golden Legendary... here I come!¡± Chapter 235: 229: The Tireless Chosen One Chapter 235: Chapter 229: The Tireless Chosen One Summer event, ten days! In ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± that translated to a whopping 40 days of event time! Double experience, double contribution, half-price in the shop, new tasks, and... the most exciting, the lucky draw system! There¡¯s even a chance to draw golden legendary equipment! Keep in mind, even with a discount, exchanging for a piece of golden legendary equipment generally required fifty thousand contribution points. But now, as long as you were willing to grind, you had the chance to earn a lottery ticket. And with a lottery ticket, if your luck peaked, even a poor kid could turn into a big boss! The equipment in ¡°Elf Kingdom,¡± although varying in level, didn¡¯t have strict level restrictions for the user. In other words, even if you were a player under level 10 and drew a piece of Black Iron level equipment, you could still use it. At most, it just meant you couldn¡¯t fully unlock the equipment¡¯s potential. And as the currently recognized top-tier equipment, the enhancement to personal combat power by golden legendary items was obvious to all. A fully gold-geared Little Xian Miao, after leveling up to Black Iron Middle Rank, even the lunchbox boss couldn¡¯t break her defense without a golden dagger or explosive skills. Just the rare effects that came with the golden legendary equipment, a full set of six gold-geared Little Xian Miao had a total of eighteen, and the skills attached to the equipment were innumerable... enough to drown someone. Not to mention, the incredibly flashy appearance of golden legendary equipment. Produced by the shop, guaranteed to be high-quality. Although golden legendary items didn¡¯t have the [Shiny] effect, they practically had a built-in ¡°shiny¡± effect. They not only featured the finest engravings, the most imposing designs, but also had unique appearances and exclusive backstories (compiled by Eve)... In short, golden legendary equipment in ¡°Elf Kingdom¡± was a symbol of status! A must-have Divine Artifact for showing off and picking up girls! To most players, golden gear was simply irresistibly attractive! So, upon seeing the launch of the official summer event, players became frenzied. Whether it was to level up quickly, boost personal strength, or obtain golden legendary equipment... everyone¡¯s enthusiasm was fully mobilized! Alice and the native elves of Segis were astonished to find that after learning the Half-Beast Army was on their way to attack the Elf Forest, these Chosen Ones unexpectedly fell into an inexplicable state of excitement. In no time, nearly all the Chosen Ones transformed into workaholics. They worked tirelessly, completing task after task issued by the Mother Goddess... Or they recklessly charged into instances filled with shadow monsters, grinding non-stop inside for an entire day without coming out... Even the shops opened by Chosen Ones in Chosen City were closed. Those life-oriented Chosen Ones who used to run shops also packed up building materials to start constructing defense structures around Feilengcui or Black Dragon Castle. Even the construction team of the Mengmeng Committee halted their leisurely real estate development. Under the leadership of the Bird, they took on the task of structuring defense cores, received the legendary defense core blueprint from the Goddess, and started building defense cores in Feilengcui and Black Dragon Castle similar to those in Black Rock City... Of course, the blueprint was a simplified version. At the current level of player efficiency and skill, Eve didn¡¯t believe they could handle a defense core like Black Rock City, so she simplified the design. But even so, this level of magical tool wasn¡¯t something players could create on their own. So, in the end, the Bird also asked Li Mu for help, inviting several Old Elves with high expertise in magical tool manufacturing, such as Carlos Flame and Samir Wind, to assist in the defense construction. The central square, which usually had Chosen Ones strolling and chatting, became much quieter. Come evening... you¡¯d be hard-pressed to find many Chosen Ones attending the bonfire party, leaving the Primordial Elf Sarandir, who was enamored with the central square parties, quite disappointed... All the Chosen Ones were immersed in busyness, as if they had transformed into tireless machines. And when their bodies couldn¡¯t take it anymore, they¡¯d just sleep for a few hours to rest. Upon waking, they¡¯d quickly throw themselves back into work! ... Chosen City, Natural Temple. ¡°Mother Nature above! What has the Mother Goddess done to them? Why have they become so driven?¡± After assigning yet another construction task to a Chosen One with messy hair, bloodshot eyes, but incredibly enthusiastic, Alice couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in shock as she watched him leave impatiently. *It¡¯s too crazy!* *Absolutely crazy!* Ever since the Dark Dwarves visited the Elf Forest a few days ago, these Chosen Ones seemed to be under some kind of exhilarating magic spell, madly obsessed with new daily tasks and demon beast hunting. Each Chosen One she encountered seemed to have only tasks and monster hunting left in their eyes. No fatigue, no rest. And four days after the new tasks appeared, the Chosen Ones¡¯ madness escalated to a new level. Alice could still clearly remember the incident that occurred in the early hours of that day... Hundreds of Chosen Ones, for some reason, gathered at the same time in the Natural Temple or in front of the World Tree, fervently praying to the Mother Goddess. *Truly fervent prayers!* Over the past half year of interactions, Alice understood the Chosen Ones quite well, knowing that although they fought madly for the Mother Goddess, they weren¡¯t actually her followers. When they prayed, it was usually just for show. But since the Mother Goddess didn¡¯t mind, she didn¡¯t say much about it. However, that day was different... She... saw the Chosen Ones sincerely praying from their hearts for the first time! Hundreds of Chosen Ones knelt in ecstatic anticipation in front of the World Tree or the Goddess statue, more devout than ever. *Only... the prayers were quite odd.* They mostly went along the lines of ¡°Goddess Sister bless me with a soul draw,¡± ¡°Goddess, please let Luck King possess me,¡± and so on... A few minutes later, a flash of light appeared in the hands of the Chosen Ones. The experienced Alice knew that the Chosen Ones had once again received blessings from the Mother Goddess. After the blessing, some Chosen Ones were disappointed, while others were thrilled, showing all sorts of expressions. The most exaggerated was a Chosen One named ¡°Transforming Ji Gang.¡± The Elf Warrior had a pair of exceptionally delicate boots appear as a golden light flashed in his hand. After that... he jumped up and laughed loudly, sprinting excitedly around the square, his loud and proud voice echoing from afar: ¡°Hahaha! I hit it! I drew golden legendary shoes!¡± ¡°Hahaha! ¡®Acceleration,¡¯ ¡®Stealth,¡¯ ¡®Lightweight¡¯! Three top-notch effects! Who else? Who else?!¡± ¡°Oh? These shoes even have a backstory... they¡¯re the exquisite combat boots of a legendary Elf hero! Crafted by his lover for him...¡± And after that... The Chosen Ones became even more diligent in their work... Yet... Alice wasn¡¯t much better off than the Chosen Ones. These days, as they crazily undertook tasks, Alice, as a daily task NPC, also became exceedingly busy, having gone several days without much rest. Though she was a Silver Priest and the Natural Saintess favored by the Mother Goddess, her stamina far exceeded that of the Chosen Ones, who were, at most, Black Iron Middle Rank... but the workload was still overwhelming. Now she too had large dark circles under her eyes, and a tired look on her face. However, despite the fatigue, her spirits, which had been gloomy and worried due to the news of the Half-Beast Army, gradually eased under the positive and sunny attitude of the Chosen Ones... *Yes... even the Chosen Ones are working so hard.* *Some of them were tirelessly boosting their own strength in anticipation of the coming enemy; others were working day and night to enhance the defenses of the Elf Forest.* *Then, as the Natural Saintess, what reason do I have to be despondent?* *The Half-Beasts may have a thirty-thousand-strong army, but we of the Elf Clan have over ten thousand!* *Moreover... Alice noticed that as the Chosen Ones began to work tirelessly, it seemed to once again stimulate their potential, significantly speeding up their strength increases.* *Over the past few days, she had lost count of how many times she witnessed Chosen Ones advancing.* *If this trend continued, perhaps... when the Half-Beasts arrived at the Elf Forest, the elves might actually be able to organize a force capable of defending against them!* *However, Alice also noticed that during the Chosen Ones¡¯ frenzy, Divine Favored Zero was nowhere to be seen.* ¡°Lord Ling... he must have gone to train intensely to prepare for the coming war, right?¡± Alice guessed. She patted her cheeks, pushing down the fatigue, and then walked out of the Natural Temple. Outside the temple, the Chosen Ones were bustling back and forth, all working diligently... ¡°Alice, you look exhausted. Don¡¯t push yourself too hard. Make sure to rest when you need it, and take a good break.¡± At that moment, a deep and hefty voice reached her ears. Alice looked up to see a bald, robust Elf standing over two meters tall. On his shoulder, he carried a massive lump of semi-transparent special stone material, passing right in front of the temple. The Elf Girl felt a bit dazed: ¡°Lord Berserker? Where are you going?¡± This robust man was, of course, the Oak Guardian Berserker, who used transformation magic to take on the appearance of an elf. ¡°The weather is cooling down, and the Chosen Ones taught me a great way to protect the farmlands. I¡¯m heading to the farm to build greenhouses, structures that allow plants to grow normally even in winter.¡± The bald, robust Berserker replied. ¡°I see!¡± Alice realized. Although the Elf Forest¡¯s green period lasted long, it still had autumn and winter. Perhaps the area around the World Tree could remain lush all year, but most parts of the Elf Forest still faced a period of falling leaves. A chilly breeze blew through, carrying the unique scent of the Elf Forest, causing Alice to shiver, her mental fatigue dissipating somewhat in the cold wind. ¡°Achoo¡ª!¡± She uncontrollably sneezed. Berserker looked at Alice¡¯s rather flimsy Holy Maiden Dress and shook his head: ¡°Alice, with the weather getting colder, you should wear something warmer.¡± Hearing Berserker¡¯s words, Alice paused. She subconsciously glanced into the distance... The sky was high and the clouds were thin, the azure blue sky stunningly clear. And the endless forest in the distance was tinted with a golden hue... The Segis Continent was already nearing November. Before she knew it, it had been more than eight months since the Mother Goddess¡¯s return. ¡°Yes... it¡¯s already autumn.¡± Alice smiled slightly. ¡°Late autumn,¡± Berserker nodded and walked away slowly, carrying his construction materials. Alice withdrew her gaze. She took a deep breath, patted her cheeks, and then turned to return to the temple, diving back into her work... Chapter 236: 230: The Footsteps of War Chapter 236: Chapter 230: The Footsteps of War The golden leaves flew with the chilly autumn wind, and even the ever-green Chosen City was tinged with a layer of orange. Players busily traversed the city, carrying various goods and building materials, or were fully armed, frequently engaging in activities outdoors and in instances. Four days had passed since the opening of the new version of ¡°Elf Kingdom.¡± And in the Segis World, more than half a month had passed. The arrival of the summer event and the news of the Half-Beast Army had imbued the entire Elf Forest with a sense of urgency... The increasingly cold autumn wind also added a desolate touch to the forest. The only thing unchanged was that thousand-meter tall World Tree, still full of vitality, vibrant green, emanating a sacred natural aura that infused life into the surrounding area, making it as warm as spring. Nightingale carried a lunchbox, walking down the streets of Chosen City. ¡°Achoo¡ª!¡± A gust of cold wind blew past, causing her to sneeze involuntarily. She sniffed her slightly reddened nose and tightened her slightly thin clothing. Suddenly, a thick fur coat flew over and landed directly on her head. Nightingale instinctively wrapped it around herself, then turned to see Bento and his battle squad. ¡°The cold is here, so wear more. This is a thank-you for the recent breakfast.¡± Bento said, looking at the fur coat. Nightingale paused slightly, feeling the soft, dense fur on the coat, a faint smile playing at the corner of her mouth... However, she quickly came to her senses, lightly coughed twice, and asked, ¡°Where did you get this?¡± ¡°From the mercenaries¡¯ goods.¡± Before Bento could answer, a nearby player, Hu Lu, interjected with a laugh. Nightingale raised an eyebrow, glared at him, and took a closer look at Bento from head to toe... This Chosen One, who was passionate about combat, was now fully armed, carrying large packs with his teammates. Nightingale noticed that Bento¡¯s equipment seemed to have changed again, with the armor on his torso and the shoes on his feet appearing more refined. Moreover...his aura seemed faintly stronger. ¡°Are you going to fight the shadow monsters in the Underworld again?¡± Nightingale asked curiously. Bento nodded slightly. Then, he waved to his team members and continued walking out of the city. ¡°What a battle maniac...¡± Watching Bento¡¯s departing figure, Nightingale shook her head. She tightened the coat around her body a bit more, feeling significantly warmer... ... Feilengcui, Natural Temple. The Mengmeng Committee¡¯s players carefully moved a gigantic, somewhat rudimentary hexagonal device... ¡°Be gentle! Move slowly! This is the closest-to-success defensive device we painstakingly made, be careful not to break it!¡± Nearby, the Old Elf Blacksmith, Carlos Flame, holding a design blueprint, glared and commanded, blowing his mustache. ¡°Grandpa Carlos, the tools for the rune inscriptions are here!¡± As the Old Elf directed the players in placing the device, a clear voice rang out. Hearing this familiar voice, the Old Elf¡¯s stern gaze softened a bit. He turned around to see a female player with a large package entering the temple, his most prized Chosen One disciple ¨C Meng Zhihan. Carlos smiled gently, ¡°Hmm... good, soon you¡¯ll help others with the final rune inscription work, connecting the defense device with the statue of the Mother Goddess, just like I taught you. Rune inscription...it¡¯s the most crucial step in crafting magic equipment.¡± The player known as Meng Zhihan beamed with joy at his words but quickly hesitated, ¡°But...I¡¯m not very skilled at it yet.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll guide you on the side.¡± Carlos gave her an encouraging look, and amidst the envious glances of other players, gently patted her shoulder and kindly said, ¡°Your foundational knowledge is already solid, and once you¡¯re proficient in rune inscription, you can forge the most basic magic equipment.¡± ¡°Perhaps not the big ones yet, but making small pendants, or some apprentice-level or simple Black Iron Lower magic equipment, you¡¯re already capable. In your terms, it¡¯s at least blue rare-level equipment.¡± Meng Zhihan¡¯s eyes lit up at Carlos¡¯ words. She gave a sweet smile, put down her tools, and bowed to the Old Elf, ¡°Thank you for your guidance, Teacher Carlos!¡± Carlos¡¯ expression softened even more, shaking his head, ¡°Good child, it¡¯s all because of your own hard work...Among so many Chosen Ones, you are the most diligent and earnest...I believe you can inherit my legacy and grow into a genuine Elf Forger Master!¡± ... Black Dragon Castle, at the foot of the hill. ¡°Mairrel! You there! Be gentle! These walls can¡¯t take your rough handling before they¡¯re reinforced!¡± Little Xian Miao puffed up her cheeks, watching the Little Black Dragon with a huge bundle of building materials disdainfully. Mairrel¡¯s dragon face drooped as it put down the building materials from its mouth, grumbling in a muffled voice, ¡°Honestly...speaking for Mairrel, what¡¯s the point of this wall? This flimsy mud-like thing can be taken care of with one breath of dragon fire!¡± ¡°That¡¯s because the defensive core hasn¡¯t been installed yet! Know what a defensive core is? Like the ones in Black Rock City! Able to repel tens of thousands of shadow monsters!¡± Little Xian Miao shook her head, crossing her arms in front of her chest, speaking earnestly, ¡°Once the defensive core is in place, coupled with the Goddess¡¯s power, not even you could break through immediately, and it¡¯s not designed to defend against big guys like you, but against the Half-Beasts.¡± ¡°Hah! Those stupid and weak Half-Beasts, Mairrel can easily take them down!¡± The Little Black Dragon lifted its head proudly. ¡°Is that so?¡± Little Xian Miao glanced at it, ¡°I heard from Sister Alice that this time the enemy might include legendary ones.¡± Mairrel paused at her words. After that, Little Xian Miao lightly leaped onto Mairrel¡¯s dragon head using the [Light Body Skill], then tapped Mairrel¡¯s skull helmet with her magic wand, ¡°If you don¡¯t want your castle to become ruins under a Half-Beast siege, work properly! Once we defeat the Half-Beasts, I¡¯ll treat you to ten wagonloads of honey-roasted meat!¡± Mairrel¡¯s eyes brightened at that. However, it swallowed hard and quickly shook its head, ¡°No! Twenty wagonloads!¡± ¡°Alright, twenty wagonloads it is!¡± Little Xian Miao puffed out her chest, generous as ever. Mairrel hesitated, drooling, ¡°Or maybe...thirty wagonloads? Hehe, twenty might not be enough...¡± ¡°Scram!¡± ... Elf Forest, outside the farms. ¡°Is it done now?¡± Berserker patted his shiny bald head, looking at the series of translucent arch structures before him. ¡°Yes, thank you for your hard work, Lord Berserker.¡± Gugu Bird nodded lightly at the sight of the otherworldly-style greenhouses. ¡°This thing...can really make plants grow like it¡¯s spring in winter without magic?¡± Gazing at the strange structures, Berserker clicked his tongue in wonder. ¡°Definitely.¡± Gugu Bird nodded slightly, explaining, ¡°To let plants grow in winter, the only issues are light and heat, and with materials that are good for light transmission and insulation, you can build such greenhouses. This is commonly used technology in our world.¡± Saying this, Gugu Bird brushed the remaining translucent building materials nearby, ¡°This crystal stone from the Underworld is a decent material once polished.¡± Hearing this, Berserker gave Gugu Bird a surprised glance, then couldn¡¯t resist exclaiming, ¡°Miss Gugu Bird, your knowledge is vast. Among the Chosen Ones I¡¯ve met, you are the most erudite, and the knowledge from your world is indeed fascinating.¡± ¡°I just read a few more books, that¡¯s all, and it¡¯s all basic science knowledge.¡± Gugu Bird shook her head. ... Dark Mountain Range. The howling autumn wind obliterated the last trace of greenery, making the jet-black mountains even more shadowy and lifeless amidst the withering plants. In the sky, layers of clouds gathered, rolling from south to north... Beneath the clouds, within the mountains. The vast expanse of Half-Beasts, like a slow-moving swarm of locusts in the sound of resounding horns, pressed forward relentlessly. Towering and robust, dressed in somewhat crude gear, they clustered around ten immense beasts, each standing ten meters tall, resembling hippopotamuses with tusks, human ears, and lion tails. These were the Half-Beast¡¯s war beasts ¨C Bimongs, said to carry a trace of Titan Giant bloodline, each having at least Silver Lower strength! On each Bimong¡¯s back were flags fluttering in the wind, each with different emblems; some representing the Half-Beast Royal Court, others various Half-Beast Tribes... The leading flag bore an archer¡¯s emblem, belonging to the God of Winter and Hunting ¨C Uller. Lionheart King Imsh and the Half-Beast Chief Priest sat atop the largest Bimong, looking at the distant mountains with icy expressions. ¡°Once we cross the next few peaks, we¡¯ll be out of the Dark Mountain Range.¡± said the Chief Priest. Lionheart King Imsh chuckled grimly, ¡°I love autumn, and love winter even more. Now... I can hardly wait to hear the cries and pleas of elves.¡± ¡°Do not underestimate them.¡± The Chief Priest¡¯s expression was grave, ¡°The Elves have a True God backing them, supported by the Death God. Though their powers have weakened, we must remain cautious. This time, it¡¯s crucial to annihilate every Elf in the Elf Forest!¡± ¡°Exterminate them? No captives? Elf slaves fetch a good price.¡± Lionheart King Imsh was taken aback. ¡°None shall be spared.¡± The Chief Priest shook her head, ¡°The one who has stolen the divine domains of nature and life has also stolen the faith of Elves. If we fail to completely annihilate those Elves, she might utilize faith to fully control the laws of nature and life! By eradicating the Elves, the newly-risen True God would lose her source of faith, inevitably nearing slumber!¡± ¡°Can Elves really change their faith?!¡± Lionheart King¡¯s surprise was palpable. ¡°Any race...when on the brink of extinction, will change.¡± The Chief Priest sighed. After speaking, her expression turned fervent and devout, ¡°The Father God has decreed a divine oracle; this time...we must erase the Elf Clan in the Elf Forest, severing their revival at the root!¡± ¡°Once the faith war is thoroughly won, and the Evil God is weakened, tumbling from her divine seat, the Father God can personally intervene...descending an avatar to slay the Evil God! Reclaim the power rightfully hers!¡± Chapter 237: 231: Taking You on a Ride Through The Infernal Affairs Chapter 237: Chapter 231: Taking You on a Ride Through The Infernal Affairs ¡°Heh heh, victory will surely belong to us Half-Beasts! I just don¡¯t believe that an army of thirty thousand, the most elite and powerful warriors from our various Half-Beast tribes, can¡¯t deal with the mere declining Elf Clan!¡± Lionheart King Imush said proudly. The Chief Priest glanced at him and shook her head slightly, ¡°Jushan thought the same, and yet now... there is no longer a Rock Cave Tribe in this world.¡± ¡°Hmph! The mere Elf Clan surely cannot withstand our legion! Even if the Death God has granted them some revival ability!¡± Lionheart King Imush sneered coldly. After speaking, he looked into the distance, with some disdain in his expression, ¡°Hunted by us and humans for so many years, even if they gather again, it¡¯s not bad for the elves to gather a thousand warriors, and... with the poor remnants of their strength, they¡¯re simply no match for us!¡± ¡°With thirty thousand troops, even if each one took a leak, they could drown them! Even if they¡¯re blessed by the Death God, reviving a few times would shatter their souls completely. I don¡¯t believe those elves can keep reviving!¡± ¡°Not to mention... we still have a backup plan!¡± After hearing Imush¡¯s words, the Chief Priest shook her head again, her expression gradually becoming serious, ¡°Great King, do not underestimate the power of the Divine!¡± ¡°The power of the elves is indeed weak, but the entity behind them is a new god who has not yet left the Segis Plane and ascended to the Heavenly Realm!¡± ¡°And a new god who has not ascended to the Heavenly Realm but holds the highest level divine duties, even if she has few clansmen, her power far surpasses ours...¡± ¡°As long as her Divine Power is not exhausted, she is almost invincible in the material world... Otherwise, Lord Walker would not have fallen in the Elf Forest.¡± After listening to the Chief Priest¡¯s words, Lionheart King Imush was momentarily stunned. Looking at the female Half-Beast Priest in front of him, his expression was somewhat uncertain and suspicious, ¡°Are you saying... in this belief war, this Evil God might take personal action against us? To stop our slaughter of the elves?¡± ¡°If we push the one behind them too hard, it¡¯s indeed possible she might intervene directly as a Divine, breaking the rules...¡± The Chief Priest¡¯s expression was very calm. But after she finished speaking, her expression turned extremely fervent again, ¡°Of course, if the other side does strike us as a Divine, it is also what Father God wants to see...¡± After hearing these words, it seemed Imush thought of something, and his expression slightly changed. His face did not look good, even turning a bit pale, and his hands clenched slightly, his sharp nails almost embedding into his flesh... ¡°You mean... you mean...¡± When he spoke, he was almost grinding his teeth. ¡°All under the True God are ants!¡± And at this moment, a light shout from the Chief Priest echoed in Imush¡¯s ears, startling him suddenly. Lionheart King Imush shivered, realizing he had unknowingly broken into a cold sweat. He wanted to say something more, but when he saw the Chief Priest¡¯s half-smiling expression, he hesitated... ¡°Great King...¡± Just as Lionheart King Imush was filled with doubt, the Chief Priest¡¯s light words reached him again, ¡°How do you see us Half-Beasts?¡± Not waiting for a response, the Chief Priest continued on her own, ¡°We Half-Beasts... ultimately are just the lowest of the Black Iron Race, our racial potential doesn¡¯t even compare to humans, who aren¡¯t even of the Black Iron Race!¡± ¡°For a thousand years, the Magic Power in the Segis World was low, and Father God grew gradually powerful, allowing us to establish a foothold in the Segis World...¡± ¡°But now... the Magic Power of the Segis World is rising again, while Father God¡¯s strength has hit a bottleneck.¡± ¡°With the return of Magic Power, those entities that were originally dormant will begin to awaken, the Segis Continent, which has been calm for a millennium, is about to fall into chaos...¡± ¡°Our Half-Beasts still have too shallow a foundation, if we want our race to truly grow to be as powerful as the Beastmen or Humans... there is only one way!¡± At this point, the Chief Priest¡¯s expression became even more fervent, ¡°And that is... to let Father God acquire more powerful divine duties, becoming a nobler being!¡± ¡°For this... we must spare no cost! Even if it means sacrificing our lives!¡± Lionheart King Imush¡¯s pupils narrowed slightly, ¡°This is gambling!¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s gambling!¡± The Chief Priest¡¯s tone was calm, but her gaze was hotter than ever, ¡°Two thousand years ago... we gambled and won, obtaining the Death Desert.¡± ¡°A thousand years ago, we gambled and won again, obtaining the Dark Mountain Range and the Elf Forest.¡± ¡°This time... if we win, we have the hope of becoming a truly powerful race! Standing on equal footing with the Beastmen, Humans, and even Dragons!¡± ... About fifteen kilometers south of Black Dragon Castle, on a rather steep slope. This location was about three hundred kilometers in a straight line from the World Tree and was currently the furthest distance players were able to reach. The once-barren slope now had a brand-new yet rudimentary Observation Tower. In the Observation Tower, three elves were idly gathered around a campfire. ¡°Achoo¡ª!¡± Demacia sneezed, wrapped himself tighter in a small blanket he had taken from a Human Caravan, and grumbled, ¡°Seriously, the weather system in this game is over the top. It¡¯s so cold!¡± ¡°It¡¯s autumn after all! And we¡¯re in the mountains... Besides, what¡¯s most attractive about ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ is the realism! Besides, you can turn off the temperature sensation!¡± One of the low-level players said with a smile. Demacia shook his head, ¡°Pain can be turned off, but turning off the temperature sensation takes away too much fun.¡± Hearing his words, the two players pondered thoughtfully. One hesitated for a moment and then asked out of curiosity, ¡°Speaking of which... Demacia, why did you take on such a boring activity task like setting up a lookout post on the map¡¯s edge?¡± ¡°Yeah, indeed!¡± Another player by the campfire nodded repeatedly, ¡°It¡¯s one of the most boring tasks among activity tasks, for us who haven¡¯t reached level 11, the experience is quite substantial, but Demacia, you¡¯re already level 21, aren¡¯t you? This bit of experience isn¡¯t even a third of your experience bar, right?¡± Upon hearing the words of the two low-level players, Demacia¡¯s face immediately fell. He sighed deeply and shook his head helplessly, ¡°I can¡¯t help it... At the end of last semester, I played games so much I flunked six courses. As a result, this damn year my school has a summer term!¡± ¡°In a few days, it starts, and the make-up exams are scheduled for the summer term. If I flunk again this time, I¡¯ll have to retake them. Retaking six courses at once... it¡¯ll kill me, the attendance alone will mess me up...¡± ¡°A university student?¡± The two players asked curiously. ¡°Yeah, freshman year.¡± Demacia sighed. ¡°So... I¡¯m doing tasks and studying at the same time.¡± He snapped a picture of his screen and sent it to his task teammates. Upon seeing the screenshot of the lecture presentation, both teammates instantly gave him sympathetic looks. ¡°But speaking of which... the mental acceleration technology in ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯ is truly impressive! Especially for revising lessons and writing papers, the efficiency is incredible!¡± One of them sighed. Meanwhile, the other shook his head, ¡°Come on... How many people who enter the game can patiently use mental acceleration for studying? Watching videos is one thing, but really studying, it¡¯s just cramming last-minute... Uh... cough cough, Demacia, I wasn¡¯t talking about you...¡± Demacia¡¯s face darkened. He was about to say something, but suddenly his expression changed, and his pointed ears perked up immediately, ¡°Did you hear that? It sounds like footsteps...¡± ¡°Sound?¡± The two low-level players were momentarily confused. ¡°No... is it background music? Hmm... the BGM of the Dark Mountain Range is pretty good.¡± Demacia: ... ¡°We¡¯re on a surveillance task, what kind of BGM is appropriate here? Turn it off! Turn it off!¡± He said speechlessly. Without waiting for the two third-test newbies to respond, he stood up wrapped in the small blanket and walked toward the edge of the Observation Tower. The sky had grown a bit dark, as the mountain wind howled, making his face itch slightly, causing him to squint his eyes... But when Demacia saw the scene beyond the Observation Tower, his eyes went wide, and he couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°Damn!¡± In his field of vision... The mountains and plains were covered with Half-Beasts. Countless, seemingly endless! At first startled, Demacia¡¯s expression gradually shifted to excitement, ¡°The Half-Beast Army is here! The Half-Beast Army is here! Ha ha, the plot is starting!¡± He began frantically taking screenshots of the Half-Beasts while signaling to the two other low-level players. When the other two low-level players saw the massive army, their faces changed drastically as well... Even though they knew this was a game, the oppressive and awe-inspiring scene left them shaken. One player swallowed, asking, ¡°Demacia, now that the Half-Beasts are here, should we notify the others and retreat?¡± ¡°Retreat? For what?¡± Demacia rolled up his sleeves, his expression full of excitement, ¡°Let¡¯s stay here, light the torches, and wait for them to capture us!¡± ¡°Capture... us?¡± The two players looked utterly baffled. ¡°Heh heh! You don¡¯t get it, do you? To the Half-Beasts, elves are prime slaves! If they capture us, they¡¯ll surely hold us as prisoners, and then... we can help other players locate them!¡± ¡°Heh heh heh... this time, I¡¯ll show you guys how to play the undercover game!¡± Demacia eagerly rubbed his hands together. The two players: ... ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were going to study...¡± Demacia: ... ¡°Ahem, I¡¯ll study after we play; it¡¯s only a few hours anyway.¡± He chuckled awkwardly. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Sorry for the late update today. Mainly it¡¯s the twenty-eighth of the lunar month, and I¡¯m very busy at home, I spent the whole day busy with no time to write, only got a chance in the evening. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year in advance! Chapter 238: 232: Kill Them Chapter 238: Chapter 232: Kill Them The Half-Beast Army is attacking! When Dema posted screenshots of the Half-Beast Army¡¯s sighting from the watchtower on the forum, players immediately exploded. ¡°Whoa! It¡¯s finally happening?! I¡¯ve been moving bricks in the game for over half a month, and I¡¯m getting bored to death.¡± ¡°Thirty thousand Half-Beasts! That¡¯s thirty thousand raffle tickets! A full six-god outfit isn¡¯t a dream anymore!¡± ¡°Caught me off guard... I thought the game officials would announce it, like ¡®Half-Beasts are invading¡¯ or something... But they just appeared on the map without a word.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s usual for ¡®Elf Kingdom¡¯, setting up a prelude for players to trigger before any system alert; it has a nice element of surprise.¡± ¡°Surprise, my foot, everything depends on luck in this game, it¡¯s just for Luck Kings and grinding masters...¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it better than a game for rich players?¡± ¡°Pah... What game isn¡¯t for the rich? Just look at Salted Cat, money equals justice.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s not just lucky; she¡¯s half a grinding master too. Being both lucky and wealthy and a grinder is the real deal!¡± ¡°Exactly, if you don¡¯t like it, just quit the game! There are twenty million more players waiting behind you. #sarcasm¡± ¡°...¡± The forum was filled with cheer and excitement, with no tension or fear about the upcoming war. However, there were some who were concerned: ¡°I mean... Isn¡¯t the number of Half-Beasts kind of exaggerated? Can we even win?¡± Of course, voices like these were quickly drowned out by others: ¡°Cut it out... Would the officials really set an unbeatable scenario? That would ruin the game, right? Those developers would get cursed to death.¡± ¡°Exactly! Given the enemy¡¯s numbers, I¡¯m sure the game balanced it with our strength. At most, it¡¯s a bit challenging, but you just follow the storyline tips, and you¡¯re good!¡± ¡°Agree, think about it... We have over ten thousand players now, with almost five thousand online at any given time. With the summer events kicking off, most people are level 11 in the past few days. Thirty thousand Half-Beasts, it¡¯s just about one per player! ¡± ¡°Yeah! And if things get tough, we can even ask an NPC to summon the Eve Goddess! She¡¯s the pinnacle of combat power in the game.¡± Though there was some dissent: ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited, Half-Beasts aren¡¯t like shadow creatures. As a Second Test Player, I¡¯ve personally experienced their combat abilities. They¡¯re strong.¡± ¡°Indeed, even though these Half-Beasts seem dim-witted, their fighting capacity is strong. However... Our combat power has also improved significantly, and in an actual fight, it might be a close match.¡± ¡°Also, we shouldn¡¯t rely on the Goddess. Didn¡¯t Alice say in faith wars, the True God cannot directly intervene? The Goddess is only allowed to be summoned in specific scenarios, so we probably can¡¯t call her in this war, at least not during the battle with the Half-Beasts. It¡¯s solely up to us.¡± ¡°Right, if the Goddess was summoned, what would fighting do anyway?¡± ... ¡°Is it finally happening?¡± When Dema and the players on the surveillance mission saw the incoming Half-Beast Army, Eve, who had previously marked these individuals, also got the message. She was moved and focused her Divine Sense on Dema¡¯s vision, immediately seeing the countless Half-Beast Armies. Her Divine Sense was incredibly powerful and sharp. Even splitting just a fraction of attention to the player¡¯s vision, Eve could discern the Half-Beasts almost seventy to eighty percent clearly... ¡°It was indeed an army of thirty thousand... And they¡¯re strong! Nearly half of them are above the Black Iron Middle Rank. Fortunately, their equipment isn¡¯t great.¡± Equipment obviously boosted combat power. Most players¡¯ gear was blue rarity or better, exchanged from the shop, reconstructed by Eve using her Divine Power after recycling, of superb quality. If players were slightly weaker compared to the Half-Beasts personally, equipped, the gap would lessen greatly. ¡°The aura of Silver... roughly twenty or so, but the ten beasts are the most notable!¡± ¡°While these beasts aren¡¯t stronger than the Silver Middle Rank, if I¡¯m not mistaken, they should be the Bimong Giant Beasts recorded in legends! They are the descendants of the Titan Giants from the Ancient God Era!¡± ¡°And the descendants of Titan Giants... are entirely beyond common reasoning. Even if they¡¯re only at Silver strength, they can unleash devastating damage comparable to the Golden Rank on Black Iron Rank players due to their destructive capabilities.¡± Titan Giants, like Dragons, were a Golden Race. Creatures with Golden lineage were inherently stronger, even if they couldn¡¯t jump ranks, they could unleash terror beyond their level against weaker opponents. ¡°Only two have the aura of Gold... could they be, as per the shadow Dwarf¡¯s messages, the Half-Beast¡¯s Chief Priest and their leader, the Lionheart King?¡± Eve¡¯s heart stirred slightly. ¡°This was likely the overt strength of the Half-Beasts, sufficient for conventional war.¡± ¡°But since it¡¯s a faith war... The power of a True God would definitely be present. Though the Divine herself wouldn¡¯t step in, Uller will definitely send a legendary-level clansman!¡± Eve pondered for a moment, slightly strengthening her Divine Sense to further observe the Half-Beast¡¯s army, aiming to issue more precise instructions to the players. However, at that moment, she suddenly noticed the ¡°vision¡± owner climbing down from the watchtower. ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s Dema doing? Retreating?¡± Eve was slightly stunned. Yet to her surprise, Dema didn¡¯t head back but instead took off his equipment, dug a hole to bury it, and while shivering in the cold wind, told the other two players, ¡°The Half-Beasts are too slow! And judging by their direction... They might not even be coming our way. Quickly bury your gear, and let¡¯s head over ourselves.¡± ¡°Ugh... Let¡¯s keep the weapons, though. Charging with weapons would look better. I noticed you guys had an extra plain sword, sell it to me, my sword¡¯s epic, can¡¯t risk dropping it.¡± ¡°Brr... It¡¯s too cold. I¡¯m going to turn off the temperature sensation, shouldn¡¯t freeze to death.¡± Saying this, Dema paused slightly, then stopped shivering. ¡°You two, hurry up. If we run quickly, we could reach the Half-Beasts in a quarter hour and maybe catch a dinner if we¡¯re lucky.¡± ¡°Today I¡¯ll show you how I used to fool the Half-Beasts! Watch me trick them to the core today!¡± Dema said smugly. The two low-level players: ... This... is he going undercover again? Eve couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. Dema looked absolutely thrilled. He buried his equipment, turned off temperature sensing, and then cheerfully led the two players, whose faces were blue from the cold but filled with excitement, running toward the Half-Beasts¡¯ direction. And as they ran, Dema simply started streaming, naming the channel ¡°Dema Takes You on a Tour of the Half-Beast Camp,¡± then tossed the link onto the forum. Soon, players, already intrigued by the Half-Beasts, flocked into the stream with curiosity: ¡°Phew... Dema, are you going undercover again?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say, he¡¯s good with trackers.¡± ¡°Hahahahaha...¡± Dema moved fast. Along the way, with no attempts to hide himself, he brazenly waved a crude large knife, almost as if begging the Half-Beasts to spot him, shouting loudly as he ran. As expected, the Half-Beasts noticed the approaching few Elves. ¡°Elves?¡± Watching the three players dressed in thin clothes, their faces purple from the cold, barefoot, and waving a knife as they rushed wildly toward them, Lionheart King Imsh and the Chief Priest exchanged puzzled glances. ¡°Capture them.¡± Lionheart King Imsh said in a deep voice. Soon, a group of Half-Beasts swarmed over, tying up these seemingly panic-stricken, erratic-minded players. Unexpectedly, the three Elves only resisted symbolically before the Half-Beasts disarmed them and escorted them before Lionheart King Imsh and the Chief Priest. This... is absolutely a storyline boss! Looking at Lionheart King Imsh and the Chief Priest, whose gears were obviously several levels above the surrounding Half-Beasts, feeling their strong presence, Dema widened his eyes with excitement. But as the Chief Priest observed Dema¡¯s wide, rolling eyes, he slightly furrowed his brow. Lionheart King Imsh looked at the three Elves with interest, then turned to the Chief Priest: ¡°Your Excellency, the Chief Priest, these three Elves... what do you think?¡± ¡°Kill them as sacrifices.¡± The Chief Priest¡¯s expression was cold. Dema¡¯s smile froze on his face. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª It¡¯s New Year, been quite busy these days, so the update schedule might be a bit unstable. Please bear with me. Chapter 239: 233: A Terrifying Presence Chapter 239: Chapter 233: A Terrifying Presence Kill... kill as a sacrifice? What... how are these NPCs not playing by the rules? A few players looked completely bewildered. Meanwhile, in Dema¡¯s livestream room, joy-filled comments floated by: ¡°Pfft... kill as a sacrifice...¡± ¡°Hahaha, Dema, you¡¯re going to crash and burn!¡± ¡°Livestreamed head giveaway, this is truly amazing...¡± Dema: ... Upon hearing the Chief Priest¡¯s words, the few Half-Beasts restraining Dema and the others sneered and drew the large machetes from their waists. Seeing the gleaming blade, Dema¡¯s face turned green. He widened his eyes and quickly shouted flatteringly, ¡°No, no, no...! We¡¯re on the same side! We¡¯re on the same side! I have important intelligence to report! I have important intelligence to report, Sir!¡± Seeing Dema behaving like a lackey, the other two players were dumbfounded and couldn¡¯t bear to look directly at him... *This was too embarrassing for the Elves!* They twitched at the corners of their mouths, then slightly turned their faces, pretending not to know him. ¡°Pfft... Dema, are you an Elf traitor?¡± ¡°Hahaha... Sir, my ass, I¡¯m dying of laughter... hahaha...¡± ¡°Dema, you¡¯re truly a talent...¡± ¡°Listen to me, Dema, you should go into comedy.¡± The bullet screen in the livestream was as joyous as ever. ¡°This guy...¡± Eve was both crying and laughing. However, the same thought crossed her mind, *Dema, despite his tendency to stir up trouble, might actually be able to fool the Half-Beasts...* ¡°Perhaps... inserting a pawn at this moment wouldn¡¯t be bad. If the Half-Beasts believe him, I might try to arrange some tasks for him.¡± As expected, after Dema¡¯s loud shouting, the Chief Priest and Lionheart King Imsh both raised an eyebrow slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t kill them yet, let¡¯s hear what he has to say.¡± The Chief Priest said coolly. The few Half-Beasts listened and quickly stopped their actions. Dema, feeling as if he had received a pardon, instantly breathed a sigh of relief... However, just as he was getting excited again, organizing words in his mind and preparing to activate his Dema-style deception mode... A new system notification suddenly flashed before him: [Ding¡ª¡ª] [You have been captured by the Half-Beasts, triggering the personal hidden quest: Deceive the Half-Beasts] Personal hidden quest? Deceive the Half-Beasts? Dema was slightly stunned, then overjoyed. Hidden quest! He, Dema, triggered a hidden quest again! *Hahahaha! What kind of Luck King is this?! Was he really the Luck King of the entire server?* And then, the specific requirements of the quest appeared before Dema... [Personal Hidden Quest: Deceive the Half-Beasts] [Quest Goal: Gain the trust of the Half-Beasts, investigate Half-Beast military intelligence] [Quest Reward: Personal comprehensive reputation evaluation +1] *Damn!* *Reward is the personal comprehensive reputation evaluation!* Seeing this quest reward, Dema was wide-eyed! *What kind of divine reward is this!* *What Dema needed most was the personal comprehensive reputation evaluation, and he never expected what he lacked would come to him!* Dema was so moved he was almost in tears... However, before he could cheer ¡°Long live the Goddess¡± in his heart, the Chief Priest¡¯s expression suddenly changed. ¡°Quickly kill them!¡± Her expression suddenly became very grave, almost shouting it out. The command came so suddenly, and before Dema and the others could react, a few Half-Beasts instinctively drew the scimitars at their waists, and with a swift motion, beheaded the three players... Poor Dema, he died before completing his mission, having just accepted the quest, and inexplicably died in the Half-Beast front line. Level 24 at the time of death. The smell of blood gradually permeated the air, and the players¡¯ bodies slowly fell to the ground, deprived of the strength to support them. Lionheart King Imsh squinted his eyes slightly, glanced at the Chief Priest, and asked, ¡°Honorable Priest, won¡¯t you listen to what they have to say? Why give such an abrupt command?¡± However, the Chief Priest did not directly answer his question. Instead, she first looked around with uncertainty, then solemnly took out a Skull Necklace from her bosom. The necklace seemed quite ancient, appearing black-red and emanating a faintly chaotic and evil aura. Seeing the necklace, Lionheart King¡¯s pupils contracted, and his face darkened slightly, ¡°As I suspected, you¡¯ve brought this Divine Artifact... Is this the trump card you mentioned?¡± His tone carried deep apprehension and... fear! ¡°Of course, this time... our enemy is a Divine! Though she is an Evil God not recognized by the pantheon, she is still a True God! And facing a True God, we must pull out all the stops!¡± The Half-Beast Priest said seriously. ¡°Moreover, this is the Oracle of the Father God!¡± Upon hearing her words, Lionheart King¡¯s face turned slightly pale. But soon, he was drawn to the state of the necklace in the Half-Beast Priest¡¯s hand because the necklace was glowing faintly, appearing very eerie at the moment... Meanwhile, the expression on the Half-Beast Priest¡¯s face grew increasingly grim, ¡°It¡¯s true, then, just now... there should have been a terrifying presence watching us.¡± ¡°A terrifying presence?!¡± Lionheart King was astonished. Then, with some uncertainty, he asked, ¡°By that, you mean... a True God?!¡± ¡°Yes... and, I¡¯m afraid, the other party was just relying on those Elves just now! Great King, you should also be aware of this Divine Artifact¡¯s ability.¡± The Half-Beast Priest¡¯s eyes flickered. And Lionheart King Imsh was silent for a moment, then sighed, ¡°I¡¯ve heard of its legend, after all, a thousand years ago the Father God was able to defeat the other one mainly by relying on it. However... it¡¯s terrifying. If possible, I hope... we never need to use it in this operation...¡± The Priest was slightly stunned, then chuckled softly, ¡°Well, that will depend on the strength of your army. If we can smoothly crush the Elves and make this new god fall from her divine throne, naturally we won¡¯t need to use it...¡± Upon hearing the Half-Beast Priest¡¯s words, Lionheart King did not respond, but his gloomy expression revealed that his mood was not quite as lighthearted. Seeing Imsh¡¯s silence, the Priest sighed, ¡°Great King, you needn¡¯t worry, we have an army of thirty thousand, and can summon several Totem Guardians. As long as this True God doesn¡¯t intervene, victory will surely be ours. Of course, if she does intervene, then we will have no choice but to make a decision.¡± After speaking, she drew a bow-shaped symbol on her chest, piously and fanatically saying, ¡°The Evil God shall fall! All... for the Father God, for the future of our Half-Beasts!¡± Afterward, she glanced at the bodies on the ground, ¡°These Elven corpses shouldn¡¯t go to waste; they¡¯re prime sacrifices for it!¡± With that, the Half-Beast Priest raised the necklace and closed her eyes in prayer. Shortly afterward, the necklace emitted a deep light. A heart-palpitating power slowly emanated from the necklace, shining on the players, whose bodies then gradually disappeared... However, during the disappearance of the bodies, the Half-Beast Priest couldn¡¯t help but let out a light exclamation. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lionheart King Imsh asked. ¡°Half of the flesh is missing...¡± The Half-Beast Priest looked puzzled. ... Elf Forest, World Tree. On the branches, three orbs of light slowly coalesced, and shortly after, three tall figures stumbled out... ¡°Ahh! We failed! Mission failed! My reputation evaluation!¡± A heart-wrenching scream echoed all around. It was Dema. ¡°Ugh... we¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have gone; that¡¯s 10 resurrection coins...¡± The other two low-level players were also resurrected, looking dejected. ¡°I lost 24 resurrection coins... and the mission is gone too, that was a reputation evaluation!¡± Hearing their words, Dema was filled with remorse and grief. In contrast to Dema¡¯s sadness, his livestream room was still filled with joy, ¡°Wow... that death was so sudden!¡± ¡°Tragic, too tragic!¡± ¡°Hahahaha! You took on a quest just to die, what bad luck.¡± ¡°Dema, how¡¯d you get exposed?¡± ¡°How would I know!¡± Looking at the comments, Dema grumbled in frustration. He closed the livestream with a few clicks and let out a long sigh... The three looked at each other in silence. ¡°Going back?¡± A moment later, one player asked. ¡°To hell with it, the quest¡¯s already done. I¡¯m going to study! Call me when the army besieges the city!¡± Dema sighed and hurriedly went offline to go home. Watching Dema and the others leave, Eve¡¯s mood wasn¡¯t any lighter either. *My scrying seems to have been discovered... How did the Half-Beasts know about my scrying? I should¡¯ve been well-hidden...* *While Dema and the others were teleporting... half of the flesh was gone.* *What kind of thing could interfere with my teleportation? After all, I am considered a True God... No one below a True God should be able to stop my teleportation of players...* *Moreover, during the teleportation of the bodies... I seemed to sense a strange aura...* *What exactly was it?* Eve felt a hint of doubt arise in her heart, *She suddenly felt that this faith war might not go as smoothly...*