To be fair, even though Ilos had been turned into a wooden statue by the Sacred Tree, Lin Jun genuinely felt the big shot was pretty reasonable.
Ilos had asked so many questions. The Sacred Tree could have ignored him, yet it answered every one.
Moreover, its attitude toward Lin Jun seemed subtly different. Lin Jun simply asked the question in his heart.
“I know what you’re curious about, but I won’t tell you.” The Sacred Tree’s voice remained calm.
“Riddleman? Why not?!”
“Because saying it would mean getting involved. Everything is meaningless anyway. I just want to go back to sleep. Don’t disturb me again.” The tumbleweed began to disperse. The glowing “eye” at its center dimmed.
A root curled up the Heartwood of Genesis from the ground, along with the Puchi still clinging desperately to the staff’s end.
The root shook. The Puchi held on.
The half-dispersed tumbleweed paused. “What are you doing?”
“This is the equipment I got from the boss fight! You’re going to sleep anyway. Letting me use it won’t cost you a piece of wood!” Lin Jun made one last effort.
He had worked so hard, suffered heavy losses, even a knight and an S-grade magic crystal!
Getting nothing would be a huge loss. He’d basically be working for the elves for free!
“No. Time is almost up. I don’t want anyone using it to wake me again.”
The Sacred Tree shook the root mercilessly. The Puchi finally lost its grip and fell “plop” to the ground, watching the Heartwood vanish among the roots.
“However…” The Sacred Tree’s tone suddenly changed.
That “however” was music to Lin Jun’s ears. The Puchi instantly straightened its cap into the standard quest-accepting posture.
“My Heartwood is missing a corner. If you can find it for me, I wouldn’t mind giving you some benefits.” A fruit radiating soft light appeared before the Puchi.
On the panel, a level-less skill: [Life Essence]
“Mission accepted!”
He hadn’t gotten immediate loot, but an SSS-tier quest was at least some comfort for Lin Jun’s wounded heart.
The tumbleweed completely dispersed. The next moment, the two Puchis were back beside the Sacred Tree sapling at the dungeon’s bottom.
Kicked out. The Sacred Tree’s final message still echoed in his consciousness: “Don’t come back until you find it. Your voice really is awful…”
Lin Jun: …
I’ll endure!
One day when he reached LV99, he would send a dozen voice Puchis here for a round-the-clock concert!
Though they were out, the two Puchis had gotten nothing. They were quickly decomposed by the surrounding fungal mat.
…
Meanwhile, the elven royal city remained shrouded in chaos.
The first to receive the terrible news was Princess Galadriel, who had stayed behind to maintain the rear.
She had been mentally prepared for her father King Auriel’s sacrifice.
But what truly unsettled her was the follow-up report: Ilos and Eko had suddenly fought to the death, both gravely wounded, and the divine artifact had gone missing with them.
As the two most senior and powerful elders of the elven race, they should have stabilized the situation and overseen the selection of a new king after Auriel’s death. Now they might have killed each other, and the artifact was lost?
Upon hearing this, Galadriel felt the world spin. Disaster had descended.
As for why they fought, eyewitnesses could only report the fragments they had heard.
In short: either Eko had suddenly gone mad, or Ilos had betrayed them. Neither possibility made sense to Galadriel.
Eko, leader of the rangers, was steadfast and experienced. How could he be infected by madness and attack only Ilos?
And Ilos betraying the elves?
Even more absurd. What would he gain?
He couldn’t possibly defect to the demons for that nonsense about immortality, could he?
Unlike short-lived humans, elves with thousand-year lifespans had little desire for eternal life.
The blood-clan kind of immortality, abandoning all joys of the living, was worse than death to them!
Not to mention the abysmal conversion rate for non-humans was practically suicide.
Regardless, Galadriel immediately dispatched search parties for the two and the artifact.
Days later, the ranger forces that had barely escaped the dungeon brought worse news: Ilos’s betrayal was real!
Salian recounted exactly why the Chief had done it.
But that wasn’t the worst.
The worst was that only Ilos had appeared. Didn’t that mean Eko was dead?
With the Elven King, Chief Mage, and Guard Captain all gone in one day, the elven race had lost more than half its top strength!
The only silver lining was that the giant trees’ activation had completely stopped.
The elves wouldn’t be reduced to chopping down their own trees.
But that was all.
Though activation had been limited by distance and not thorough, even someone as combat-inept as Riel had held out for a while.
Civilians who banded together could resist for long periods. With many rangers and mages in the city, final casualties, while heartbreaking, remained within a painful but acceptable range.
Yet safety was only temporary.
The trees’ activation was visibly worsening. Left unchecked, the elves might soon find themselves defending the royal city against the forest itself.
The result would likely be the destruction of every nearby giant tree, leaving the elves staring at a barren wasteland.
Not to mention the main ranger force still trapped in the dungeon, with Guard Captain Eko’s fate unknown in abnormal space.
All these reasons led the Elven King, after Ilos proposed using the artifact, to retrieve it without hesitation. He had no time to waver.
The guards escorted the king and Chief Mage through Ysil Doline toward the dungeon.
Passing a clearing, Ilos paused briefly and glanced downward.
He sensed a young elf deep below, surrounded by multiple magical beasts.
Had she been dragged into a burrow during the chaos?
It might still be possible to save her.
But she was too deep. Rescue would take considerable time.
Reaching the dungeon even a moment sooner and letting Auriel complete his plan would preserve far more valuable ranger lives.
After only a brief pause, Ilos made his choice. He said nothing and continued forward.
The child below was merely one of the costs.
…
Underground, Riel stared wide-eyed at everything around her!
In the small emergency burrow dug just a day earlier, colorful glowing mushrooms filled the space.
She sat shoulder-to-shoulder with several Puchis.
The hole was tiny, but thanks to her small size, with Puchi help she had squeezed in.
Going underground had been unavoidable. The giant trees were growing more active; soon they would start moving. The safest place was deep underground where they couldn’t reach.
Riel was no longer scared. She looked like a child invited to a friend’s house, touching the Puchis beside her one moment, admiring the pretty glowing mushrooms the next, exclaiming “wow!” nonstop.
Good thing Lin Jun didn’t need to babysit her. His full attention was on Elven King Auriel!
Or rather, on the nearly complete divine artifact in Auriel’s hands!
【Divine Artifact: Heartwood of Genesis (Incomplete)】
Lin Jun had seen the other half of this artifact!
He knew roughly where it was!
In other words… in other words!
If he could get it, there was a high chance he could assemble a complete divine artifact?!
Don’t be greedy… don’t be greedy… just… a little greedy?
(End of Chapter)
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