Chapter 246
Upon hearing this, Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya corrected, “No, the King has merely encountered annihilation; He has not disappeared. I still remember Him. Even if I were to be split apart several more times, I would retain that memory.”
It seemed that Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya was suggesting that memory could serve as some kind of... anchor?
Ye Bai paused for a moment, then smoothly changed his phrasing, “What I mean is, a return.”
“Of course, the King will return, and He will also put an end to the Great Annihilation,” Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya replied with unwavering certainty.
If loyalty could be measured, Ye Bai would confirm that the Queen’s faith in that divine King was at a perfect 100.
At the same time, Ye Bai felt that many of the previously confusing aspects were becoming clearer. She mentally retraced the timeline of the entire situation—
The earliest memories belonged to the upper-tier Queen, starting from the moment the divine King discovered the Great Annihilation and subsequently went missing, presumably the first to encounter the disaster of annihilation. Following that was the middle-tier Queen, where the knowledge-seeking Xuling clan experienced upheaval, indirectly leading to a civil war among the ambitious factions of the human race’s two principalities, which ultimately opened the gates of the Inferno.
Due to the King’s disappearance, the Infernal demons, no longer suppressed, invaded the Emerald Forest under the instigation of a certain human faction or perhaps due to their own rebellious instincts, resulting in a devastating battle that left both sides severely weakened.
After the war, the once-missing divine King reappeared, first assisting the Elf Queen in sustaining the Emerald Dream, then moving to the deep sea to suppress the future resurgence of the Inferno.
Given that the Elf Queen believed the King had encountered annihilation, the fact that He was able to accomplish all this suggested that He still possessed some power at that time, enough to carry out a series of concluding arrangements... But where did the King go after completing all of this?
Ye Bai felt that many of her questions were finally being answered here, yet some key points remained shrouded in mystery. After all, the information truly related to the divine King was still obscured to her.
“I forgot to entertain our guest…”
At that moment, Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya glanced at Otto Fisi beside Ye Bai, as if struck by a thought. With a wave of her hand, she opened a space leading to the location of the Life Tree’s fruit.
It seemed she was preparing to offer Ye Bai the Life Tree fruit once again.
However, upon seeing the bare branches inside, the Elf Queen suddenly froze:
“What... there are only two left?”
Ye Bai immediately set aside her thoughts, her body tensing, not daring to breathe.
“Ah!” Otto Fisi exclaimed, clearly lacking any sense of decorum, as if it had already caught a whiff of the fragrant Life Tree fruit, excitedly signaling to Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya.
The forgetful Elf Queen ultimately couldn’t recall when the stock had been depleted. She shook her head and smiled, “At least there are two left.”
Ye Bai looked at the green fruit floating before her. Since there were only two left...
“Crunch, crunch…”
Ye Bai and Otto Fisi synchronized in devouring the last remnants of what had been in the Emerald Dream for who knows how many years.
“Thank you so much!”
Seeing Ye Bai and Otto Fisi finish, the Elf Queen smiled, about to say “You’re welcome,” when suddenly her expression changed:
“There’s danger approaching; you need to leave the dream quickly.”
...
Not long ago, at Saint Lori Fortress.
The imposing fortress lowered its drawbridge, and a regiment of stern, sharp-eyed elite troops mounted on mutated steeds entered.
Crossing the drawbridge and the heavily guarded gates, the highest-ranking officer among the knights, the executor of Saint Lori Fortress, Kodos, leaped down from his heavily armored mount.
His armor appeared travel-worn, but the emblem representing the bloodline of light on it still gleamed brightly, having been polished continuously.
“My lord…”
All the soldiers along the way bowed their heads in salute, while the slaves working within the fortress cowered in fear on the ground. It wasn’t until Kodos strode past, disappearing deep into the fortress, that the slaves hurriedly stood up, scrambling to continue their work under the soldiers’ kicks.
Kodos traversed the grand hall of the fortress, moving down a hidden passage. The guards stationed at critical points on either side exuded an increasingly powerful and mysterious aura.
Delving deeper into the labyrinthine underground of the fortress revealed a different world altogether. Compared to the grand and imposing surface of the fortress, the underground was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Finally, Kodos passed through the last deserted corridor and stepped into the deepest part of the fortress.
Before the highest executor of Saint Lori Fortress stood a cold, dark, and massive tomb.
The interior of the tomb was shrouded in shadows, filled with a stench of decay, illuminated only by the dim glow of luminous pearls that outlined the ornate coffin at its center. The entire tomb resembled a terrifying maw leading to the abyss, with the central coffin acting as the tongue that devours the unwary.
Kodos’s stern and imposing face betrayed a flicker of unease as he faced this scene.
At that moment, the luminous pearls within the tomb brightened, illuminating more of the surroundings. Besides the most ornate coffin at the center, there were numerous other coffins and precious, powerful weapons as burial offerings.
Kodos swallowed hard, but ultimately stepped forward into the tomb, kneeling before the central coffin.
“Ancestral spirit.”
The central coffin had no lid, and a withered, bony hand reached out from within, tracing a teleportation spell:
“I sense it... Yes, it is the power of the Death Relic. Go confirm its location and prepare for my arrival.”
“Yes!”
---
Chapter 167
“Someone is approaching; you need to leave the dream quickly.”
Just as she finished the Life Tree fruit, Ye Bai saw Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya’s expression change dramatically as she spoke those words.
Ye Bai’s face fell at the warning, and in the next moment, she too felt an unsettling sense of danger creeping in.
She hurriedly asked Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya, “Do you know who it is?”
“I sense the presence of the undead, along with a faint trace of light power,” Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya pondered, her body and the Life Tree behind her glowing with green light. “Time is of the essence. Don’t worry; I will use the power of the Emerald Dream to move you to safety.”
Undead? Light power?
Ye Bai’s expression hardened as she quickly realized that it was her use of the Death Codex on the second tier that had drawn someone’s attention.
This was the first time she had used the Death Codex since obtaining it in the divine realm.
It wasn’t surprising that the undead would pursue the Death Codex, but the faint trace of light power... Only the two principalities of the human race would awaken light power through their bloodlines. However, the fact that light power was mingling with the undead was rather peculiar.
Having finally encountered a divine NPC who knew about or had personally participated in the history of the divine realm, Ye Bai had intended to ask for more information. But now, faced with this unexpected situation, as the space around her began to distort, she could only hurriedly say:
“Thank you, and about the other half of the key…”
“Of course, that is something I cannot forget.”
Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya smiled at Ye Bai, but Ye Bai did not receive any item from her.
Then, Ye Bai watched as Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya slowly moved toward the Life Tree, closed her eyes, and transformed into the form she had seen when she first arrived in this tier.
The dream was unraveling, the light quickly engulfing her figure until she was completely swallowed.
“I will always wait in the dream, waiting for the eternal King to return…”
The Elf Queen sighed softly, as if confiding in Ye Bai or perhaps speaking to herself.
At last, the dream shattered completely, and amidst the light, a multitude of bizarre images of Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya flashed before Ye Bai.
There was the white-clad Queen casting spells to construct the Emerald Dream; there was the battle-ready Queen in armor shooting branches of the Life Tree at the Infernal demons; and the most ancient of all, as if from the very beginning, a blurred hand had opened a bud on the Life Tree, causing the flower to bloom and reveal a small Ai Nuo Lu Xi Ya sleeping sidewise within...
Ultimately, these memory-laden images flickered and solidified, transforming into a hidden, shadowy space, standing still without light, resembling an ordinary little tree, indistinguishable from any other.
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