Deep within the Whispering Woods, in the central meeting hall of the Elven dwelling place, several giant fireflies emitted a milky white glow that illuminated the space inside this enormous ancient tree hollow. This protracted meeting had been going on since afternoon and continued until now.

  Just now in the meeting, there were sounds of explosions and crashes. After dispatching scouts to investigate, it was discovered that outside the boundary, a magical explosion and an evil stone puppet had charged into the boundary, where the boundary's magic power dissipated, turning back into a pile of ordinary stones.

  The result of this reconnaissance also made the conclusion of the meeting more powerful.

  The elder, Cran, stood up and made a decision: "The unexpected event just now has further confirmed that the Great Sun Well's barrier is still irresistible. No matter what kind of magical power it is, it cannot be effective in the Whispering Woods. Although the barrier's intimidation to humans has decreased a lot, after repeatedly clearing out people who enter the forest, they should also have become fearful. So we just need to maintain the status quo."

  "What's the point? We've been discussing this for so long, but nothing has come of it?" The spirit girl Luya stood up, looking a bit agitated. "I'll reiterate my suggestion once again: under current circumstances, we should communicate with humans and work together to solve problems. The evil aura emanating from the stone statues outside the forest is something that humans can't sense, but it's clearly the dark power peeking at the leaves of the World Tree. Many ignorant humans even go there to worship. We must take action, and it would be best if we could enlist human help and make things clear to them..."

  "That's enough, we've already vetoed all of these," another elder spirit interrupted her coldly. "Those foolish and lowly creatures can't even control their own beliefs. Do we need to explain anything to them? Moreover, we don't need the help of those lowly humans either. Direct close combat is something that no creature can match against the withered wooden guardians, let alone with our help and the unicorn's assistance. This method of defense has been used for tens of thousands of years, and it can deal with any kind of enemy."

  Luya looked around anxiously at the elders, her silver hair fluttering. "But now the situation is different. Because of the lack of two World Tree leaves, the Sun Well's deterrent force against humans has almost disappeared, and their invasion of our forest is only a matter of time."

  "In order to prevent this, all the withered tree guards are concentrated beside the Sun Well, and absolutely no one can steal the leaves of the World Tree."

  Luya let out a deep sigh, scanning the elderly spirits present with a tone of helplessness: "Why do we have to wait for problems to occur instead of taking the initiative to solve them?" Compared to the icy expressions and tones of the other spirits, she seemed to be the only living being in this ancient tree hall. This strong emotion made her beautiful face look even more vibrant, despite it being anxiety and helplessness. "Even if we don't need to interact with humans, we can temporarily expand the activity range of the Withered Wood Guardians, let them leave the forest and destroy those evil stone statues."

  Elder Cran sternly vetoed: "This is absolutely not allowed. You wouldn't be unaware of the rules in our clan, neither we nor the Unicorn or the Dryad Guardians can leave the Whispering Woods without permission. Your last departure was already an exception within exceptions, and it cannot be easily repeated."

  "Rules." Luya's tone and face also turned cold, just like the other elves, but this was her own expression, not a common face among the elves. "I still remember clearly that last time when the human who carried the World Tree Leaf escaped with serious injuries, it was our rules that helped him greatly, allowing him to slowly escape under our noses. It was our rules that made us lose that piece of the World Tree Leaf."

  This time, no one answered. All the other spirits maintained their icy and indifferent faces. After a long while, Elder Kuran spoke coldly, word by word: "Rules are rules. They are the precepts set down for us by Mafa, the God of all things."

  "If rules become constraints, then they lose their meaning." Luoya looked around at her fellow kin, whose eyes shone with a desolate beauty. "I left the Whispering Woods this time to explore the outside world and only then did I realize how rigidly conservative we've become. We always look down on others, thinking ourselves superior, but humans just see us as an oddball tribe that they can ignore our voices. Even those inferior beastmen, because they established a powerful nation, humans had to change their attitude towards them and acknowledge their status, even establishing relations with them. We must unite with the companions of the Turalyon Forest, let our tribe have a place in the distribution of power on this continent. Otherwise, all that awaits us is..."

  "Mind your words, Luoya." Elder Kran gazed at her coldly. "You see, this is exactly the meaning of the rules that prohibit us from leaving the Whispering Woods. Under the temptation of the outside world, your thoughts are already on the verge of danger. The great Mahfa once said, pursuing power and progress is the prelude to downfall and destruction."

  "I'm not saying that Mafa's teachings are great or not, it's just that under current circumstances..."

  "I declare this meeting adjourned." Elder Cran cut off Luya's speech with a light but thorough tone.

  The elder elves stood up together and walked out of the conference hall in a line. Luoya and Kelan, the two elders, were walking at the end.

  "Do you know how many nations and races have been destroyed over the tens of thousands of years? In a situation with only two people, Kuran's tone didn't sound that cold. "Those were all caused by pursuing power and progress. Pursuing power inevitably leads to losing control of oneself, while pursuing progress leads to mutual struggle, and as these two things alternate and develop, the final result will always be destruction. Our isolationism and conservatism are the fundamental reasons why our tribe has been able to live peacefully here for tens of thousands of years, and they are an unchangeable part of our civilization."

  "But now things have changed..."

  "No matter what's different outside, as long as we do what we should do, that's enough." Elder Cran patted Rouya's shoulder and said softly. "Go back, don't think nonsense anymore."

  Luya walked silently back to her ancient tree. As she entered the treetop house, it seemed like an extension of the stifling feeling, and a disgusting smell also permeated the room.

  She sat on the bed woven from intertwined tree vines, feeling stifled. Just as she was about to get up and go out for some fresh air, a sense of danger suddenly surged in her heart. This wasn't an illusion born of her mood; there really was a smell of burning and another odor mixed with it - the stench of humans.

  She sprang towards the door, but the smell immediately surged up and knocked her to the ground. One hand covered her mouth and nose, while the other hand clasped her slender hands together, and a body pressed down on hers.

  Luya struggled desperately for a few times, but it was completely useless. She was nailed to the ground and couldn't move at all.

  "Don't move, don't make a sound. I've come here to discuss something very important with you." This person's tone seemed even more urgent than Luya's. "You mustn't make a sound, if you call out the others, I'll have no choice but to run away. That won't be good for anyone, what I want to say concerns your own safety, it's about those statues outside. Do you understand? Nod if you do."

  Luoya nodded slightly. The hand covering her mouth loosened a bit, seeing that she really didn't scream loudly, and slowly let go of her.

  "How dare you come here?" Luoya stood up, full of hostility and took a step back. She had already recognized who this person was from the sound of his voice. But for some reason, there was a smell of burnt paste on this person's body.

  "Listen, I have something very important to tell you. The Death Cult, or the Dark Servants as you call them, will attack Whispering Woods tomorrow at noon. Those statues outside the forest are what they've set up there in preparation for you."

  "Speak clearly." Although the culprit that all the elves wanted to catch was right in front of him, the words he spoke carried more weight. Rua waved her hand and a small firefly-like magic light flew out from her palm, illuminating the treehouse with its soft glow. Only then did she see that the person in front of her was covered in dust and dirt, his clothes tattered and burnt, not even his hair had been spared.

  At that time, fortunately, relying on the edge of the forest with the fluctuation of the Sun Well, Asa was able to block the Thunderclap Bomb launched by the Death Spirit Mage with a fireball technique. However, the shock and flames generated by the explosion also caused him serious injury, and he fell from mid-air into the depths of the forest, dazing him. Fortunately, the forest was filled with the fluctuation of the Sun Well, and the enhanced healing technique immediately restored him to health.

  The withered wooden guardians that were once everywhere in the forest did not appear, it seemed that something had indeed happened here, Asa thought for a moment and headed towards the residence of the elves.

  At first, he just wanted to get rid of this heresy in a perfunctory manner, but unexpectedly, there was such a large conspiracy of the Death Spirit Association behind it. Now, apart from being shocked, he only feels helpless.

  Although he is now the Imperial Envoy, and although he has several thousand troops at his command, things have developed to this point, indeed as that dead spirit master said, there is no longer any power to turn back heaven. Tomorrow noon, at least five thousand devout followers will become food for those stone statue demons. Then those stone statue demons will launch an attack here, killing all the spirits and taking away the leaves of the World Tree.

  At first, he even thought about whether to go out and reveal his identity to the two necromancers, telling them that he was the alternate member invited by Vedenina to join. However, he soon felt from the conversation between the two necromancers that Vedenina seemed to be acting alone in the Necromancer's Guild, although she had said "representing the Necromancer's Guild to invite you", but it was possible that others did not recognize her representative power, so going out like this would be purely seeking death.

  What's more, even if he were to successfully join the organization and become comrades with those two necromancers, he would absolutely be unable to persuade them to stop this plan. This is a plan that all members, except for Videnina, have joined forces on, and it will not be stopped because of the compassion of one new person who isn't even worth dog shit.

  If there's only one last hope, it can only be to sneak into the Whispering Woods and try our luck with the spirits, see if we can join forces with them. After all, the Death Spirit Masters were originally supposed to deal with them.

  However, the elves were stubborn and he had already sensed it. For him, a fugitive who broke his promise and stole the leaves of the World Tree, they would not believe anything he said again, and what awaited him was only a hail of arrows. Now that he no longer had the Ghost King's cloak, he did not dare to risk transforming into a hedgehog and walking openly into the elven territory. After careful consideration, he quietly made his way to Luoya. In his impression of all elves, she seemed to be the only one with whom he could still communicate.

  After listening to Asa's account, Ruya thought for a moment and said coldly: "Why should I believe you? Believe a despicable human who has broken his own oath? How do I know you're not a servant of darkness sent to carry out your sinister plots? The forest's intimidation towards humans is precisely because the world tree's leaves withered after you took them away, and now we have to concentrate our withered wooden guards at the Sun Well.

  He sighed and said heavily but calmly, "I can only say that. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

  Luya didn't speak, and they stared at each other. Under the faint light of the fireflies, a pair of eyes as if carved by the most skilled artist with the most precious gems, and another pair of eyes that were all bloodshot and surrounded by dust and scorch marks, silently confronted each other.

  After a while, Luoya finally spoke up in a low voice: "Even the legendary dragon cannot contend with the sacred power of the Sun Well. In the Whispering Woods, any external magical force will be ineffective, no matter what evil spells they use, those evil puppets absolutely cannot enter here. We don't need to worry at all."

  "I don't know if they can really enter the forest. I only know that those necromancers are absolutely smarter than me, and also smarter than you guys. They won't just put up those stone statues to scare you off." Asa explained a solution to Ruya with a calm tone. "Actually, solving this matter is very simple for you guys. Just appear in front of those followers, tell them what's really going on with the forest, show them the Withered Guardians, and let them understand that all that nonsense about natural gods is just a bunch of lies."

  "Do you think we would deliberately stand out to explain and interpret for those foolish humans, and then display the withered wood guardian like an exhibit?"

  "Disdain to explain, then you might as well command the withered wood guards to get rid of those stone statue ghosts. They've been lingering outside your forest for several months now. Why do all of you only know how to wait for problems to happen instead of taking the initiative to solve them?" Asa was anxious beyond measure.

  "No matter if it's us, the unicorn or the withered tree guardian, we absolutely cannot leave the Whispering Woods without permission. This is a rule set by the great Mafa." Luoya felt a strange feeling, she had just said these words to the elders in the meeting, and now she was repeating them back to refuse. This unprecedented strange feeling unknowingly turned into an unprecedented expression on her face.

  The answer was infuriating, but the expression on the face of the spirit girl in front of him made Asa stare blankly, and he couldn't vent his anger. In the faint light, although the smile had a hint of bitterness, it was enough to make anyone stop thinking.

  Asa said nothing more, and after a moment of silence, he spoke slowly: "I will lead the army to destroy those stone statues before noon tomorrow. You are either here to help or be killed in these mouse-hole-like tree holes with your stinking rules and become zombie skulls, you decide for yourselves."

  After uttering this sentence, he turned around and slipped out of the tree house, silently sliding down to the ground, and with a few leaps, he completely blended into the forest.

  Luya watched as the figure disappeared from the high tree house, sighing. She wasn't disbelieving, but she knew the elders would never believe it.

  The sky had just revealed a hint of white, and the local official's mansion was already being beaten with a loud noise.

  The local official struggled to get up from between the two prostitutes, furious. The pressure of dealing with the imperial envoy these past few days had been immense, so last night he had found these two prostitutes to alleviate some of that work-related stress; now, just when he was sleeping most soundly and sweetly after his fatigue, he was woken up by this extremely rude noise.

  A loud, crashing sound seemed to have broken the door, followed by the clamor of people outside. "Who is it?" "How dare you! Don't you know this is the residence of the local magistrate?" The commotion grew louder with some servants wailing as they approached the entrance of the magistrate's bedroom. Then came a loud crash, and a man burst in like a raging bull, sending the tightly closed doors flying off their hinges and slamming into the wall. This person was dressed in tattered clothes, looking like he had just escaped from a furnace, with his hair partially burned off, his head covered in black soot, mud, and moss. The two courtesans on the bed let out blood-curdling screams.

  The local official thought he was a heretic and started to attack him, wanting to take him to sacrifice the flag first. He buried his head and was about to drill under the bed, but was caught by this person and pulled up.

  "This man shouted loudly at his face: 'Go and gather all the troops that can be gathered in the city, and bring all the manpower that can be mobilized to me.'"

  The local official, Kuang, finally calmed down and recognized the man who looked like a madman as the Imperial Envoy sent to investigate the heretics. He hastily nodded in response: "Yes, I will get dressed immediately. As soon as it's daylight, I'll go and dispatch people."

  "Put on your pants and get out immediately." The local official's thin body was almost shaken to pieces. The imperial envoy kicked one of the servants who had gathered courage from outside to rush in and save the local official, sending him flying. "Take all of you with me too."

  "Yes, yes." The local official's voice seemed unrelated to his own will, purely shaken out. "May I ask, sir, what shall we do?"

  "Block all the roads leading to the forest of the Nature God for me, seal them off. I'll allocate 3,000 more soldiers to you, no matter what method you use, just make sure those heretics can't attend the noon pilgrimage ceremony on the edge of that forest."

  "Sir, there are tens of thousands of those heretics. How can I stop them?" The local official's bitter melon face was so bitter that it almost dripped with green juice. "As soon as we intervene in their activities, they will resort to violence."

  "I've told you, I don't care what you do." The gourd almost heard its own bones rattling, and its eardrums were about to burst. "In short, I'll take the troops to their holy land right away. If by noon I still see thousands of people rushing there, I'll use your head as a chamber pot, got it?"

  "Got it, got it." The bitter melon's voice seemed to be crying.