Lua's beautiful and vulgar, originally simple face suddenly appeared with such a complex expression, this strong contrast is enough to make anyone who sees it remember for a lifetime. Besides, it was only yesterday, and Asa only had to think about it to bring to mind the face distorted by doubt, anger, and disappointment.

"You personally asked Gru to keep the black elf in public, which is not only an acknowledgment of your relationship with the black elf, but more importantly, a metaphor for the fact that you think that a lascivious and evil black elf is more important than the friendship and recognition of all Tulaone elves. Of course, Elder Lua is angry and disappointed with you, but it's not just her, I'm a little disappointed as well. Probably Mr. Cedros too. ”

"You too?" Asa, stunned as he looked at the elven elder's wrinkled face.

"Of course. The presence of the Black Elf would somewhat hinder the alliance between Turalone and Orfo, especially when our alliance could only remain in a very subtle connection that could not be officially announced. Elder Lloyd sighed. "The other elves don't think about relationships, and intuitive likes and dislikes can influence them. A black elf, with all the magic you use, is enough to make them worried. ”

Asa nodded. "No wonder, I wondered why Gru had to ask Jessica to die. ”

"Actually, Gru didn't have to say it in front of so many people. Elder Lloyd frowned and smiled bitterly. "Wouldn't it be better to solve these problems in private in other roundabout ways, to let so many elves know that you have a leg with the lascivious and evil black elves. ”

Asa thought for a moment and suddenly said, "He did it on purpose." ”

"Why?"

"He asked me to choose below. Choose Jessica's life or the elf's identity. Don't let me have any other way to turn around. Asa said with a wry smile and shook his head. "He's that kind of straightforward person. ”

"But after all, why did you shelter that black elf? Do you like her very much?"

"It's not about liking it or not. Asa shook his head and smiled strangely wryly, a little stubborn in his frustration. "She's just doing her own thing, there's no reason to sacrifice her for something that has nothing to do with her. ”

"Is this your faith?" Elder Lloyd looked at him, his pair completely different from the other elves. The cloudy eyes of a little old human don't blink.

"What a belief, it's not so great. Asa smiled and paused. "I just think that......"

"Good. Elder Lloyd smiled indifferently, making people wonder why. "Elder Lua and the other four elders will be secretly going to Ofu tomorrow with the leaves of the World Tree. With the power of the leaves of the World Tree and the natural magic of Elder Rua, it won't be long before the barren lands of the Savage Highlands are filled with enough food for orcs to eat and graze. ”

Asa nodded secretly, no matter what went wrong in the process, the final result was still achieved. He didn't attend the meeting between Cedros and the elven elders, and he didn't even see Cedros in person since.

According to the arrangement, he led Hilton, Druid, and Jessica to hunt down the thieves who came out of the forest. Under the siege and pursuit of the four-man room, the Shamuhi thieves, who were once famous in Erathia, were finally wiped out. But it was not easy or quick to follow the thieves for dozens of miles, and wait for them to get out of the forest. When they returned to Turalleone, it was already night. Cedros and Gru had already left.

Elder Lloyd continued lightly, "Mr. Cerdrus has asked you to take people to capture the thieves and retrieve the elven girls who were sold in Erathia. After all, they are in danger because of your plan, and it is your responsibility to get them back. ”

Asa was stunned and nodded. He was surprised to believe that Cedros would admit to the elven elders that he was behind the thieves.

But he soon realized that something was wrong. Elder Lloyd's eyes suddenly flashed with light, and he asked in a deep voice, "So it's really Cedros and you who did it?"

Asa was stunned again, and sighed helplessly. Once again, he realized his childish superficiality in front of these treacherous and cunning old men, and his tail was exposed at such a casual call.

Immediately after sighing, he took a big breath of cool air, and his heart immediately rose to his throat. The consequences of this mistake of oneself are so serious, and it has taken a lot of hardships to get to this point, and perhaps because of this point of recklessness, the previous achievements have been lost.

"I've always wondered. If it was really the Necromantic Guild knew that the leaves of the World Tree were here, how could they only send these little thieves?Even that paladin and cardinal could only face our enchantment by force, if it wasn't for someone who knew enough about our magical enchantment, how could they make a scroll that could break the enchantment silently, and the cardinal's words, with that kind of person's mind and judgment, how could they be targetless......" The light in Elder Lloyd's eyes flickered. "It seems that the cardinal and the paladins can't have been brought in by you, your original plan was to have the thieves capture some of the elves, and at the same time tell us through their mouths that Deya Valley already knows that the leaves of the World Tree are with us, and you can use them as a threat. Shall we help you?"

Asa didn't speak, and he realized that this elven elder was completely different from the elves he had known before. The other elves who looked extremely delicate were all honest and stubborn like elm pimples, and the sensitiveness and thoughtfulness of this old elder were not weaker than those old scheming masters and politicians before. Although the plan went wrong because of its own fault. But being able to deduce the whole plan from these leaked clues really surprised him.

But the elven elder then sighed again, nodded helplessly, and said, "But I also know that Oufu is the life's work of Cedros, and he is forced to do this. The key matter has reached this point and it is irreversible, and now we can't help him. ”

"You...... Knowing this, do you still plan to help Cedros?" Asa asked cautiously.

"Help, why don't you help. The elven elder smiled bitterly. "You have to help. He gave me a condition that I couldn't refuse, and if the Necromantic Guild or the Church did come to take the leaves of the World Tree, he and General Gru would be there as soon as possible. Although this situation is more or less caused by him, we simply can't refuse. If the news of the Leaves of the World Tree really leaked out to the Valley of Diya. We don't dare risk taking the methods of those necromancers alone. While we have the confidence to face any opponent with the help of this Ancient Tree of War, those necromancers are too dangerous, and the Whispering Forest is a good example of this. ”

"I'm sorry. Asa sighed gloomily.

Elder Lloyd sighed, smiled again, and said, "You don't have to feel guilty, in fact, we can also use Ofu's reasons. If Oufu is really exterminated and razed by the Church, then the next target may be Turalea. ”

"Why?" said Asa. The coexistence of the forests of Turala and Celeste has not been a short few decades, and there seems to be no reason for the Church to suddenly attack the elves.

"In the twenty years since the accession of the Pope, the power of the Church of Light on the mainland has grown faster than ever. The largest country in the Eastern Continent was under the Enfast Empire. And in many countries on the Western Continent, the power of the church has begun to take root. The battle against Negan has been going well in recent years, and His Majesty the Pope is naturally focusing on the spiritual beliefs of how to unify the continent. The conquest and conquest of the pagans gradually intensified. Lloyd glanced at Asa. "In particular, the news that Cardinal Ronis, who is in Love with Einfast, was suddenly assassinated by you, has strengthened Magnus's determination to dominate the continent. ”

"Bishop Ronis, though nominally a cardinal under Celeste, has a revered position in the Church. Especially in the Eastern Continent, the popularity and influence are not under the Pope, and even because they are blocked by the wild heights, many people in the Eastern Continent only know that there is Bishop Ronis, but they don't know that there is also a Pope. However, Ronis and Magnus are not at odds with each other, and they are quite troublesome. So it invisibly restrained Celeste. And Ronis also openly professed his support for the establishment of Oufu. Now that Bishop Ronis is dead, sooner or later the Academy of Magic will fall back into the hands of the Pope, and almost the entire continent is already in his hands. Elder Lloyd sighed and said, "It's almost there, but it's not." The gap during this period is the most tempting motivation. ”

"In fact, the establishment of OFU is beneficial to almost all countries, and Cedelos's planning is impeccable. In the end, he ended up in an embattled situation. Although there are those from the Necromantic Guild who are secretly causing trouble, in fact, they only catalyze this effect, and Pope Magnus's intentions are the real reason. If he is allowed to take Oufu easily, the next thing that will suffer will be other places that do not accept the divine brilliance of the Radiant Castle. The Tulaone Forest is the largest and most visible. So we have to help Oufu. ”

Asa took a long breath, and he had the illusion that he was not talking to an elven elder, but listening to the arguments of a brilliant politician and strategist. It took him a long time to react. "Since you also know that you must unite with Oufu, why don't you simply make it clear that you are allied with Oufu?" ”

"I told you. I help Oufu to be our shield, not for us to be Oufu's shield. The elven elder smiled slyly. "We can only help Oufu secretly, at least on the surface. We want to maintain a non-hostile attitude towards Celeste. Cedros is using us, why can't we use him. He should also have a clear heart. ”

"Are you really an elf?" Asa looked closely at the old man in front of him who was smiling like a fox, and wondered if it was a human with fake ears, or if he was the kind of cunning man who was on the counter and in the exchange.

"You think elves are stupid?" the elven elder squinted at Asa.

"At least most of them are. Asa nodded honestly and immediately added. "I think so. ”

"If the elves were all like you, then Turalone wouldn't need to look for Ofu as a shield. Asa sighed, feeling pity. With the elves' much longer lifespan than humans, even if only a tenth of the people had the mind of the old elves to devote themselves to the development and study of magic, then perhaps the continent would not be the turn of the Valley of Diya and the Church to run rampant.

Elder Lloyd smiled lightly, pointed at himself and asked Asa an inexplicable question, "How old do you think I am?"

Asa frowned and carefully looked at the wrinkles on the face of this elf, who really didn't look like an elf. Slightly cloudy eyeballs. Most of the elves live for hundreds of years, and they almost always maintain their handsome appearance. Elder Lloyd was able to live to such an old age, and with his incomparably shrewd mind and unreasonable thinking of ordinary elves, he should belong to that kind of monster-level old man anyway. Asa weighed and said, "Probably...... More than 1,000 or 2,000 years old. ”

"Hahaha......" Lloyd smiled, first out loud, then wryly. looked at Asa and shook his head. "I'm only one hundred and twenty-five years old, and by the standards of our elves, I'm really just a young man. Or rather, teenagers. ”

"Young man, young man?" Asa could hardly associate this energetic word with the wrinkled old man in front of him, who did not have the slightest hint of the spirit and handsomeness that an elf should have.

"You must wonder why I, unlike the other elven people, look so old at this age. I'm telling you. That's because I think too much and think too much. Whether it is weighing the pros and cons or thinking about it, this is contrary to the teachings of the great Marfa. My heart has lost touch with nature, and my life force has long since begun to dry up. ”

Asa frowned and didn't speak, he didn't quite believe it. In fact, it's hard for anyone to believe that this sounds inexplicable.

"Come here, I'll show you something. Elder Lloyd walked over to one side of the treehouse, chanting a spell and gently caressing the wooden wall. The wooden wall that was originally the trunk of the ancient tree actually melted to both sides as if it were alive with the incantation, and a passage appeared.

Walk down the passage, at the end of which is a secret room, and Asa estimates the distance. It's about the middle of the huge tree. There was a strong smell of natural magic rippling all around, and this breath was not as nervous as other magic fluctuations, but rather made people feel warm and safe like soaking in amniotic fluid full of life.

The chamber wasn't too big, and it didn't have much, and the top of the chamber emitted a soft glow. Asa looked closely, and it was actually a small piece of wood that was integrated with the roof of the room. However, he was not attracted much attention by the glowing wood. Instead, he was engrossed in looking at a map on the ground.

It was undoubtedly a huge magical map, but Asa couldn't imagine what kind of person could have made such a detailed and lifelike map. The illusions made of magic are as detailed as real objects, and it seems that the ripples of the river within them can be seen. He couldn't help but lean over and bring his eyes to the map. But no matter how he looked, he couldn't see the traces of the model's making, it was like looking down on the earth at a height of 10,000 meters.

Elder Lloyd nodded with his finger at the place where Asa was looking closely, and then the entire magic map immediately fluctuated into a zoomed-in view of Asa's gaze, and Asa could even see some dust-sized animals walking slowly around the map.

Asa was completely stunned. His time at the Academy of Magic was not short, and Cedros was one of the best in his understanding and use of magic. But their magic is like a redneck in comparison to this magic map.

"This is a magical map left over from the ancient Elven Empire. You can look at the whole continent, and you can clearly show how many trees are on a mountain peak. Elder Lloyd sighed. "It's a pity that this is probably the last thing they left behind on the mainland. ”

"Elven Empire?" Asa felt as if he had a vague impression of the term, but this impression was extremely vague, as if he had only unintentionally touched it somewhere.

"There should be no mention of human beings in the texts that have only been around for thousands of years. According to the legends left behind by our elves, tens of thousands of years ago our ancestors created miraculous civilizations, built huge floating cities, and fought dragons and giants. But the end result of an excessive use of wisdom and power is to throw the world out of balance. The power of the powerful intelligence was too great, and this power was beyond the limits of the control of the living beings, so when the power collapsed uncontrollably, the endless darkness engulfed the civilization of the entire continent. In the end, only a small group of elves under Marfa's protection survived. And that location is the Whispering Forest, now the birthplace of all the elves of the entire continent. ”

From then on, Marfa taught the remnants of the elves not to be obsessed with wisdom and strength, and that only natural peace is the true way to survive, which is where the vitality of all elves lies. I have violated this principle and have lost the protection of Marfa. Elder Lloyd sighed, the old elven boy's cloudy eyes full of resolute sadness. "But I had to do it. In this chaotic environment, people like me are a must. ”

Elder Lloyd looked at Asa. Suddenly, the topic changed: "Just like this environment, people like you are also necessary." I'm glad that the people who got the leaves of the World Tree are people like you. That's why I'm here to tell you these things. ”

Asa was stunned. For the elves, it seems that the matter of swallowing their holy relics by themselves is not a 'pleasure' in any way. What's even stranger is that he doesn't believe that Cedros will tell the elves about this. This time, he didn't dare to make a reckless statement like before, but frowned and showed a look of doubt.

"I asked Elder Lua to use a spell to probe this matter. Don't worry, we, no, at least my understanding of Marfa's parables is not the same as my fellow Whisperers in the Whispering Forest. But Elder Lloyd still hit the doubts in Asa's heart just right, and his next words made Asa even more confused. "You are the one who is qualified to use the relics of Marfa on our behalf. ”

At the same time, in the distant Valley of Diya. The meditation chamber in the deep belly of the mountain did not appear to be dark in the slightest, on the contrary, the white magic light that the five magic jades constantly emitted illuminated the entire meditation room as if it were exposed to the sun, and even every crack and crack in the stone wall could be seen clearly.

The five magic jades are arranged in the position of the pentagram, and the ground is also covered with complex magic symbols, which resonate under the attraction of the magic power of the five magic jades. A strange magic array was formed. In the center of the magic array was a figure, although it was difficult to see the specific appearance of this figure under the dazzling light of white magic, but this figure did not move at all, it looked like a stone statue.

But as long as someone who knows a little about magic sees this scene, they can also conclude that this figure is definitely not a stone statue, because there is no stone statue worth spending five priceless magic jades to arrange a white magic sealing magic array.

But this figure did maintain the stone-like substance all along, not even the fluctuation of breathing or the sound, just standing quietly in the white light.

No sound, no ringing. There was no change, and time seemed to stand still in this room. It doesn't matter if it's a day, a month, or a year, it's just a second. It's all the same here. Everything here stands still as if it were just a portrait of a two-dimensional plane.

Suddenly, a voice broke the absolute stillness of the image. Distant, faint footsteps came from the other side of the long passage. But the figure in the white light still didn't move in the slightest.

The passage was long, but the footsteps were as precise as a machine, and the size and frequency were exactly the same, and it was extremely boring. In the still-still picture, the monotonous sound of footsteps felt like it had been a century before it came to the chamber.

This monotonous picture comes alive as soon as the owner of this dull footstep appears, a handsome young man whose vigor and energy can show brilliance everywhere on his face and body.

As soon as the young man walked into the room, he immediately bowed to the figure in the white light, and said in a very nice and respectful tone: "Hello teacher!"

The figure in the white light moved, and though there was still no breathing or any sign of life, the figure turned. On a red mage robe is a face somewhere between a zombie and a skeleton. Even the holy glow of white magic could not hide the death and darkness that emanated from this face.

"Teacher, there's news of that person and the leaves of the World Tree. I saw him with my own eyes yesterday, and that leaf. The young man said respectfully to the figure in the light.

The figure didn't move or speak, but two green flames suddenly burned in the skull-like dry eye sockets.