Turalyon is a forest in the southwest of the mainland. Due to its remote location and clear air, elves have settled here since hundreds of years ago, gradually increasing in number, becoming the place with the most elven settlements on the continent.

  For the elves, the Whispering Woods, far to the east of their ancestral homeland, was a sacred domain untouched by human smoke and fire, and this place was their own kingdom. Although they had always retained the proud and noble characteristics unique to their culture, it seemed that having been tainted by worldly influences, many places had also become more open-minded. The elves here also interacted with humans and gradually replaced many of their original rituals and prayers with a more practical way of life.

  Today, a human guest arrived using the teleportation scroll. This is a rare occurrence, as the elves are selective in their interactions with humans based on their personality and culture. Only those who have earned the respect of the elves can obtain the scrolls for the Turalyon teleportation circle, and such individuals are extremely few in number.

  But even if there were fewer, Sedros would certainly be one of them. Whether in the human kingdom or here or in the dwarves' underground city, he was always the most welcome guest. His profound magical skills were admired by any magic user, and his vast knowledge and wise innovative insights made all rulers willing to consult him, while his kind personality and extensive social connections also made it easy for him to make friends. He had previously interacted with the elder of the spirits here during his travels across the continent.

  That huge corpse dragon has been slowly heading towards Erfurt City, and it will arrive in about three or four days. He had already thought of a way to deal with this almost invincible behemoth, but he needed some magical items that only the Turalyon elves possessed.

  He had just arrived when he heard that the elders were in conference with an envoy from the Whispering Woods.

  The Whispering Woods had never inquired about any mundane affairs of the outside world and rarely made contact with the spirits outside, yet this time they actually sent an envoy. Something important must have happened. This made him a bit worried. He had never been to the Whispering Woods, but he also knew from the mouths of the spirits that they had always looked down on humans with contempt. If this envoy was going to impose this kind of attitude on the elders as well, then he would probably return empty-handed this time.

  To his surprise, after the news of his arrival was reported inside, the elves actually invited him to the conference hall.

  As he entered the conference hall, Cedros first greeted those few elf elders who were friends.

  "You've arrived just in time. We were just about to think of a way to notify you." An elder elf greeted Sedros and invited him to sit, pointing to a silver-haired female elf in the seat and saying: "This is the envoy sent from the Whispering Woods, Lady Rua." Then he pointed at Sedros and introduced: "And this is Mr. Sedros, whom we were just discussing, a great magician and scholar with very good relations with many human nations and religions."

  "Hello." Sedros smiled and nodded to the envoy. The envoy's appearance was also very beautiful among the originally clear and elegant elves, which did not match the dull and rigid imagination from the Whispering Woods at all, but rather showed a naive and childish face. She didn't respond, but looked at Sedros with a frown and some disgusted expression, it could be seen that she indeed had prejudice or bad impression towards humans.

  "It's like this. We are notifying all the countries and groups that have dealings with us to help us apprehend a person. We hope you can assist us as well." The elder sprite handed Sedros a portrait. "This was personally drawn by our ambassador."

  The picture is of a young human male. The fairy's hands are very skilled, the movements are delicate, and it can be seen that the special envoy must have had a deep impression of this person, so although he has not learned painting skills, the appearance of this person still jumps out of the paper.

  Cedros looked at the portrait and furrowed his brow, asking: "What did this person actually do?"

  Even an old elf didn't have the experience of capturing subtle expressions and analyzing them, that was a specialty of human worldly people who were skilled in complex environments. So there was no elf who had any doubts about his expression.

  "This human stole some very important things from our forest of whispers, and we must get them back. So please, Mr. Sedros, you have to help us. We know your connections and relationships in human society are vast, so hopefully you can at least find out who this person is and where they are now."

  "Don't worry, I'm sure there will be good news soon." Sedros's eyes only flickered for a moment before he smiled slightly and replied with certainty. "However, this time I also came to the Three Treasures Hall without any specific purpose, hoping you can give me a few small things."

  His small requests were naturally agreed upon immediately.

  It was already nighttime when they returned to Eufaula. Cedros immediately sent the things he had taken to the blacksmith's workshop in the city, where the blacksmiths were secretly hired from the Calendo Basin at a high salary, with superb technology, and can completely make weapons according to his requirements.

  It was already late at night when Sedros left the workshop, dragging his exhausted body back and forth. At least so far everything seemed to be going smoothly, but even so, he only had about 80% confidence in this plan to take down the monster.

  Eighty percent is enough for many things, but this matter requires a full ten percent guarantee. Once failed, there will be no retreat, and the entire Ou Fu, the city that he has built up with his ideals over the past decade, will turn to dust.

  Moreover, there is another headache problem. How can we ensure that the 'core' remains intact during an attack? If it were just a matter of shattering it, the problem would be much simpler.

  Although I had promised Xiao Yi to cure the young man, it was just to make her feel at ease. Even if I could extract that "nucleus" intact, after all, it's a legendary treasure, would I really use it to save someone? Or should I hand it over to the spirits? What about Xiao Yi then?

  "I think you must be very busy now." Sedros lowered his head in thought, and as soon as he walked into the house, he heard such a sentence. He raised his head and immediately saw someone he didn't expect to see here. "I went to ask the officials in the city, they said you were busy, so I had to wait for you here." The person was dressed normally, seemingly sitting casually on the chair made by the Beastman apprentice's rough hands, but somehow the air around him seemed to have infected the chair, making it seem like a noble piece of furniture crafted by a master artisan.

  Cedros smiled and said, "I recall that you used to have a specialty in treating headaches. Since you're here at this time, I suppose you won't disappoint me. There are many places on my head that ache."

  "This person also smiled and said, 'I hope one night's time is enough. Actually, I'm also very troubled, so I came to find you to work together to cure it. I used flying skills to secretly come here without others knowing, and I must return before dawn.'"

  Three days later. A place more than ten miles south of Oufu City.

  Cedros, Gulu and Xiao Yi looked at the giant shadow of the corpse dragon slowly appearing on the horizon. Next to them were more than a dozen lizardmen pushing more than a dozen giant crossbows.

  This crossbow is as long as two men and wider than one, the bolts are longer than a man. The massive force can penetrate any shield within 500 meters. And with the lizardman's adjustable focal length vision, this is a terrifying weapon. The crossbow arrows placed above are specially made, with a slender spiral sharp horn on the arrowhead, which is the unicorn's horn, Sedros brought it from the Turalyon Forest.

  "It's truly a masterpiece of magic, I really don't have the heart to destroy it." Sedros shook his head with some regret.

  Ge Ru said calmly: "But I'm really interested in dealing with it." He glanced at the clothes on Xiao Yi's body beside him. "If possible, I really hope to have a head-on confrontation with it."

  Only those who have practiced the Dark Meditation can fully utilize the defensive power of that robe. Otherwise, the exposed skin outside the robe cannot withstand the scorching magic either. Gru originally strongly insisted on wearing this garment to confront the monster head-on, but he gave up this dangerous idea after Sedros' strong persuasion.

  After the giant monster spewed out flames, its magic would fluctuate due to re-condensation and transformation, causing its physical defense to drop to its lowest. He knew that Xiao Yi's skills were quite good, and only her petite figure could completely cover her body, including her head and face, when wearing a long robe, so he let only her act as the bait.

  There is another important reason. Sedlos wants her to complete this task with her own hands. Let her go and get the World Tree Leaf herself, and cure that person who was once saved by the World Tree Leaf, so that she can return to what she should do without any regrets.

  Cedros held a long spear in his hand, which was hastily forged by the ironworker of Euphor over the past three days. The professional shape could guarantee that the thrower's strength and accuracy could be maximized. The tip of the spear was also a unicorn horn, with a small cross on top of the horn.

  This crucifix necklace is actually made of crystal with extraordinary craftsmanship, and the cross is a rare piece of demon jade. It's a kind of mineral that only appears in the Sandfiss Mountains where giant beasts and thunderbirds roam, which itself contains immense magical power, and after being tempered by magic, it can be imbued with special magical properties, worth a city, if said to magicians, it's almost priceless.

  There are hardly any magicians who own such a thing and wouldn't make it into a wand, and those who would carve it into an amulet instead can be counted on one hand across the entire continent.

  The corpse dragon slowly approached, suddenly quickening its pace. It didn't have eyes, but it sensed the auras of those who had brought harm to it a few days ago were in the distance, so it instinctively accelerated its movements. It wanted to rush up and melt all these things that gave it an uncomfortable feeling into its own flames.

  "Alright, let's begin," Sedros said. Xiao Yi nodded and looked at the enormous monster. The massive body was covered in corpses, which seemed to be shaking on their own with each step, emitting a deafening roar as they charged towards them with an overwhelming stench of death, looking like something that no human could withstand.

  "Defeating this monster will surely save him, right?" Xiao Yi asked.

  "Right. Certainly can." Sedros nodded.

  She seemed to be trying to boost her own courage by getting such a definite answer. She shouted loudly: "Good, I'm going." She urged her horse forward and charged towards the dragon corpse.

  Cedric grasped the spearhead and shaft in each hand, beginning to chant an incantation. A dark mist spread from the spear, while the unicorn's horn emitted a dazzling white light.

  This is the dark system magic of 'Darkness Power' and white magic of 'Pure Holy Blade', not a very profound magic, an intermediate magician can use it. However, if you want to attach both magics to one weapon at the same time without conflict, only Sedelos on the entire continent can do it.

  The unicorn's horn has the property of dispelling dark and undead series spells, but this is also a very rare magical item. Only elves who are relatively close to the unicorn have it. The 'Pure Holy Blade' attached above is specially used to deal with undead monsters, which can break through the sturdy body of the living dead. More importantly, it can ensure that the small chain hanging on the spearhead is sent into the corpse's body.

  "The Dark Force" can convert magical energy into explosive impact force immediately after the weapon comes into contact with the opponent's body. Although it is only a one-time burst, it can greatly increase the lethality of the weapon. The attack power of such a weapon is not inferior to that of the legendary divine sword that specializes in dealing with undead monsters during the short time when these magics take effect. Moreover, the spearhead bearing the cross contains extremely powerful white magic energy.

  Cedros is now very confident in this plan. But his greatest confidence is not the weapon that he has gathered with so much effort and magic, nor is it the great assistance of an old friend, but rather the person who will throw out this weapon. He hands the spear to Gru.

  He can already be considered the most knowledgeable and widely experienced person on this continent. However, if there is one thing that he is not clear about, it would be his long-time friend. He still doesn't understand what kind of power lies within his body. But he only knows one thing, that it's a power that will never disappoint anyone.

  Xiao Yi and his horse had already approached, and under the contrast of the giant dragon's body, they looked insignificant like small insects. A green flame was spraying wildly from the dragon's mouth, covering everything within a radius of hundreds of meters in just an instant.

  "Alright, fire at will." Sedros gave the order. The lizard people triggered their mechanisms and over a dozen human-length crossbow bolts shot out, hitting the Corpse Dragon's chest according to plan. The unicorn's horn pierced through the Corpse Dragon's surface and stuck in its chest. These dozen or so crossbow bolts formed a circle around the location of the World Tree's leaf.

  Gulu charged forward with his spear. In just one step, the dust and stones on the ground around him flew sideways.

  As he took his second step, even Cedros beside him felt the illusion that the entire ground was sinking down with this one step.

  In the third step, all the white light on his body concentrated in his hand, and his body tilted into a huge arc. Along with this arc, the long spear suddenly shot out of his hand.

  Those who have heard the thunder of electricity will never be frightened by the explosion of gunfire again, and if they see the person who threw this spear, they will never think that lightning is mighty, even the power of heaven and earth will lose its color at this moment.

  The splendor and majesty of that one-hundredth of a second is enough to make every person who saw it with their own eyes savor the memory for a century.

  The long spear, with its black and white intersecting light, swept through the air with an unstoppable force, as if it could pierce through the entire world. The surrounding air was violently sucked out, producing a deafening roar that shook people's skin. Wherever the spear flew over, the mud and stones on the ground were all blown away, leaving behind a straight trench like a man-made canal.

  There was only a roar, and the originally tough body of the Corpse Dragon became as loose as a bread soaked in water under such momentum. Not even a crashing sound was produced. This mighty and unmatched light beam hit the circle surrounded by the unicorn's horn right on target, piercing through the front chest to the back of the Corpse Dragon, creating a huge circular tunnel that one could walk through. The falling corpses disappeared instantly as they fell into the green flames.

  The spear itself did not penetrate the corpse dragon's body deeply. In the massive impact, all of the unicorn's horns and that magic crystal cross shattered together, releasing a huge amount of white magic that was contained within the spear's fierce impact force, blowing out to tear the corpse dragon's body to shreds in the surrounding area.

  A pale green leaf floated down from the enormous hollow in the corpse dragon's body. The white magic of the massive impact had not damaged this leaf, which was imbued with life force.

  As the leaf fell, the corpse dragon's body began to disintegrate. Like a giant building block suddenly having its keystone removed, hundreds and thousands of corpses collapsed all at once. The monster that was just strong enough to look down on all living things in this world had become a large pile of rotting flesh in the blink of an eye.

  Having lost the support of life, these corpses immediately began to turn into piles of rot and black water after falling down, bursting out the long-suppressed decay in one breath.

  The horse she was riding on had completely disappeared in the green flames. When the green flames rolled over, Xiao Yi immediately withdrew her hands and feet into her long gown and curled up into a ball. After hearing that loud rumble, she felt that the flames around her had dispersed, so she stretched out her head and hands and feet from the wide long gown.

  But she almost fainted immediately. The stench emitted by the mountain of corpses, which was rotting at an incredible speed, not only caused immense harm to her nose, but also made tears roll out under its attack, as if even her ears could hear the sound of the decomposition and putrefaction of the bodies' tissues, rampaging in the air.

  Prevention of disease, detoxification method, healing technique... She immediately used several white magic on herself, then pulled up her cloak to cover her nose and slowly opened her eyes to a small slit. Her magic was learned from Cedros, also almost every system would be pointed but not deep.

  Among the countless rotting corpses, a small pile of bodies still maintained their original appearance. Xiaoyi stepped forward cautiously, her feet sinking into the putrid flesh and skeletal remains. Summoning up courage, she flipped over one of the corpses, revealing a bright green leaf pressed between them. Even amidst the numerous dead bodies, the vitality of this leaf was unaffected, its green color still vibrant and striking. As soon as Xiaoyi picked up the leaf, the surrounding corpses immediately began to rot and decay.

  A white light ball suddenly flew from a distant hill towards here, with an arrow-like speed but without any wind response. Just as it was about to hit Xiaoyi, another faint flash of lightning struck first, making a slight "pa" sound on the small light ball. The light ball itself did not suffer any impact, only its original flight trajectory was slightly changed by this strike, hitting a few steps away from Xiaoyi's side.

  With a loud bang, the blast wave sent her flying out, and she fell heavily to the ground. Xiaoyi got up, if it wasn't for this long robe on her body, the shock would have been enough to seriously injure her. She looked around and immediately saw that several more light balls were flying towards her from a distance. Before she could even think about what was happening, she hastily ran back in the direction she came from.

  There were also several faint flashes of lightning that struck the light balls halfway, just changing the trajectory of the light balls, so that those deadly magical forces only poured onto the ground around them.

  In the midst of intense explosions, mud, rotting flesh, corpse water and skeletons filled the air, as if a rain of death fireworks. Xiaoyi ran towards the direction she came from in the midst of these intense explosions, the deafening sounds and shockwaves around her seemingly able to engulf her at any moment.

  Gulu looked at the place where the light ball flew out and let out a cold hum, stretching out his hand to Cedros.

  Sedros's hand opened, and a thick ice pillar the size of a wine cup formed in his hand. This was an intermediate water magic 'Thunder Frost', which originally only released water magic power onto the target to generate ice thorns inside the target's body to cause damage. However, Sedros condensed this magic power in his hand without releasing it, and condensed the water vapor in the surrounding air into ice.

  Gru took the icicle from Sedelos, stepped forward two paces, bent his waist and threw it out. The ice spear tore through the air in front of him, whistling sharply as it flew straight towards a distant mountain peak.

  On the mountain top, the furious witch's hands moved non-stop. The highest level air attack magic 'Thunderous Exploding Bullet' was fired wildly in her hands like the cheapest fireball technique. The supposedly perfect and invincible masterpiece in her mind was completely crushed like a toy in an instant, which made Vidyana furious to the extreme.

  But no matter how dense her magic was, Ronis next to her always snapped his fingers, and a fine lightning bolt immediately struck each thunderball. The power of this lightning spell was not great, and it might not even be able to knock down an ordinary soldier, but the speed and accuracy were controlled very well.

  Vidna's face, which had only half an expression left, was completely distorted. She glared fiercely at Ronis and her body rose up. She absolutely could not let the World Tree's leaf be taken away, she wanted to use flight magic to go over there and kill everyone, and take back the World Tree's leaf.

  But a loud noise completely interrupted her movements and emotions.

  The sound of shattering was not something that could be produced by a magical explosion. A pillar of ice had been driven into the ground just a few steps away from her, sending shards of stone flying everywhere. Yet the fragile ice had somehow managed to carve out a massive hole in the solid granite with incredible force, with cracks radiating outward in all directions. The ice pillar stood there like a monument to destruction and power, its cold, dark surface glinting in the sunlight.

  Shandru stared blankly at the icicle, then turned to Ronis and said, "If your magic academy students saw this too, I guarantee that at least half of them would immediately abandon their studies to learn martial arts."

  The witch's body was just a shell, but at least Vidina had the feeling of sweating in her heart. This time, if she hit her body straight on, she could scatter like a pile of rubbish.

  She didn't even have time to see clearly, the ice spear had already been inserted beside her with the momentum of opening mountains and splitting rocks. Moreover, she herself knew that even if she saw it clearly, there was no way to avoid it, nor was there any magic that could defend against such a direct attack.

  She now feels that something inside her body has shattered. She discovers that this body, the highest crystallization of human wisdom, with the strongest magical power on the entire continent, is so fragile, and can become a pile of rubbish in an instant.

  She was very proud of the things she had obtained in exchange for her beauty that once overturned the world, proud that she had surpassed all living beings, and proud that she could defy the power of time without aging. This made her feel that she was indeed above everything in this world. Especially after creating that giant invincible corpse dragon, she felt that she had become a god, and could be mentioned in the same breath as the creator. However, in this short period of time, she had not yet woken up from the shock of failure in her own work, and immediately discovered that she could also die instantly like others, completely disappearing from this world.

  This spear didn't hit her, but it had already shattered all of her confidence and faith. She knew clearly that if she really dared to fly over, such an attack could absolutely turn her into a pile of bone fragments before she could react.

  Gleeb frowned. From here, the three Vedenin were just small black dots, too far away for this spear to hit. He held out his hand to Sedlos. "Give me another one."

  Cedros smiled, glanced at the three people in the distance, shook his head and said: "Forget it, our business is done. Let's go." Xiao Yi took advantage of this moment to run back. The three men mounted their horses and led the lizard people towards Oufu.

  It took Wiedenina a long time to struggle out of this mood. The pain of failure and loss had all turned into hostility and anger, and she roared at Ronis: "Was it you who did the trick? They had no reason to know the strong and weak fluctuations of the magic conversion interval and grasp the timing of their attack so well, except for you, no one else would be able to infuse such a large amount of white magic into their weapon." Her extreme anger made her forget all her original politeness, and the green flames behind her fake eyes seemed to want to burst out and burn Ronis directly.

  "Shandru also looked at him and smiled: 'I said three days ago that night you went to the toilet for a whole night, I thought you...'"

  "Even if I didn't intervene, your work would still be defeated. I'm just helping to preserve the next leaf of the World Tree." Ronis said with a mocking tone. "Didn't you say that what we do is just a gear in the history? Didn't you say that the development of things is in your control? Why are you angry, surprised and enraged?"

  Vedena suddenly fell silent after hearing these words.

  From being excited and restless, she suddenly became silent and still, plus her originally almost non-existent breathing, making her look like a sudden decoration, an inanimate object.

  After a while, she returned to normal. Chao Ronis bowed very respectfully: "I'm sorry, I was rude and offended the teacher in my haste as a student. I hope the teacher won't mind."

  "Too many courtesies breed suspicion." Sanford muttered. "If it weren't for me being here, you'd probably have killed him by now."

  The witch did not react to Shandru's words, but instead said in her unpleasant voice: "I've thought it through. All of this is the turning of the gears of fate, all of this was meant to happen..."

  Rohnis interrupted her lightly: "I won't argue with you about these vague and elusive conceptual issues. No matter how we argue, in the end, everyone will just stick to their own views. It was like that before, and it will always be like that." He glanced at the student one last time. "It seems that we probably won't have a chance to meet again in the future. And I don't hope to have another chance to meet either."

  Vedrina nodded silently for a moment, then said, "Yes." She looked up at Ronis again, and the green light behind her eyes flashed once. "But I want to give you one last hint, teacher. This is something I just discovered... The person who took away the World Tree's leaf wearing the Ghost King's cloak seemed to be a young woman from their silhouette. My classmate who would use the World Tree's leaf to save a woman, why did he let a woman wear his clothes and take such a risk? And why did you use your protective charm to protect that World Tree's leaf? You should understand what I mean, teacher. What I said will definitely be the result that has already been decided."

  Ronnie said calmly: "I also said it, and just now. You believe yours, I believe mine, let's do our own things."

  "Yes, the stage has been set, and no matter whether it's those prosperous and false developments, wars, politics, or whatever else, they will all be performed. However, the outcome is already certain. From now on, we will each play our own roles and push this history to where it should go. Farewell, teachers." Vidyana opened a transmission scroll, and her body began to emit a blue-white glow.

  "Let me ask one last question," Ronis suddenly asked, "I heard you have a son?" His usually calm and deep voice actually had some fluctuations.

  "I don't know. I forgot." The hoarse, strange voice devoid of any emotion was still echoing when Vidyana's figure completely disappeared into the blue-white magical glow.

  Shan Drew looked at the disappearing light, shook his head emotionally and said: "This person was actually good in every way, really good." Then he shook his head and sighed like commenting on a shortcoming. "It's just that his brain is too clever, too good at thinking things through, and thinks about too many things."

  "When humans think, the gods laugh. No matter how hard they try, humans are just humans after all." Ronis also took out a teleportation scroll from his bosom. "Let's go back too."

  "Good grief, I just remembered that after receiving your notice, I left in such a hurry that the meal is still cooking on the stove! That pot I really liked must be burnt to a crisp. Do you think it should be counted as compensation from the Magic Academy?"

  Rohnis smiled slightly and pulled out a book from his bosom, saying: "I thought about it, I'd better return this book to you."

  "Oh, thank you. But that pot still needs to be compensated for." Shandru put the book into his bosom and also took out the transmission scroll with Ronis, and the two disappeared together in the magical light.

  Cedric and his two companions soon returned to Euphor. Xiao Yi took out the World Tree Leaf and fed it to Asa.

  Cedros watched as the World Tree's leaves disappeared into Asa's mouth, shaking his head in dismay: "If we could fully utilize the energy within, this thing could turn five low-level magic apprentices into legendary mages overnight. If it could be chopped up and processed, it could be used to create ten magical items worth a city each. If it could be researched and experimented on for decades, completely analyzing the composition of its power, it would undoubtedly spark a magical revolution that would change the entire world. But now, it's only being used to save one person."

  Asa's body began to emit a golden glow, and then his body twitched slightly.

  It started with just a twitch, gradually becoming more violent spasms, every muscle in the body was jumping, and the skeletal joints also made a fine crackling sound. The hands wrapped in gauze were also twitching and then suddenly tore open the gauze with a loud "pa" sound, revealing a pair of intact hands.

  His body's radiance grew more dazzling, the light emanating from every inch of skin, as if he wasn't a person but a piece of coal burning with light. Finally, the radiance gradually weakened and disappeared, and his convulsions slowly subsided. Asa lay on the bed, seemingly just asleep.

  Cedros looked at him and said: "Nothing's wrong, but he should still sleep for a day or two before his physical functions fully recover and wake up."

  Xiao Yi's hand stroked his raven-black hair, then slowly slid over his forehead, eyebrow bone, straight nose bridge to the edge of his lips. She seemed to want to brand him into her own eyes as she looked at him for a long time, then stood up and said to Cedros: "Thank you, sir, for saving him."

  Cedros shook his head and said: "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have used the World Tree's leaf to save him either. So it wasn't me who saved him, but you."

  Xiao Yi said softly: "Anyway, thank you very much, and I'll trouble Mr. to take care of him for the next two days."

  "Are you going back now?" Sedros asked.

  "Yes. Since I've already promised you that I'd do it, there's no point in delaying any further. Time is running out."

  "You're a sensible child." Sedros sighed, feeling a pang of guilt. He pulled out a scroll from his pocket and handed it to her. "This is the transmission scroll left by Bishop Ronis for you."