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Chapter 489 - Training Silver

"There you are, baby sister!" Princess Thessalia strolled over excitedly and gave Princess Faelyn a warm hug before asking, "Have you seen what happened to Father?"

Shortly after speaking, Princess Thessalia realized the blunder in her words. Of course, her little sister would have already known about their father's death.

Seeing Faelyn behaving so indifferent to her usual teasing, Princess Thessalia figured her baby sister was in grief and said, "Err, don't be too sad about father's death, little sister. We still have Mother, Eldest Brother, Second Eldest Sister, and Fourth Sister."

"Fourth Eldest Sister has been missing for years. Whether she is alive or dead, no one even knows anymore. As for Mother, Eldest Brother, and Second Eldest Sister, they are all dead. It's just us left, Third Eldest Sister." Princess Faelyn said impassively, but sorrow could be seen in her eyes.

Princess Thessalia immediately trembled with shock before quickly denying, "Baby Sister, that's not something you should joke about!"

"I'm not joking!" Princess Faelyn spat with an angered expression before adding, "You will know once you see what happened inside the Heart of Spring Chamber!"

Princess Thessalia was greatly startled by her little sister raising her voice at her for the first time before she quickly said, "Wait here for me. I will go take a look!"

Without waiting for Faelyn's response, she immediately stormed towards the vine staircase leading down to the Heart of Spring Chamber.

"Move aside!" She barked.

"Y-yes, Your Highness!"

The royal guards barring the Third Princess's path to the Heart of Spring Chamber quickly scurried out of the way after she made her demand.

Shortly after Princess Thessalia went down to the vine staircase and disappeared from sight, General Paeris began to approach Princess Faelyn.

"Is it true that Queen Radelia, the crown prince, and the second princess have all passed away?" He asked.

Princess Faelyn gazed at him before she coldly said, "Do you think I will also joke about my family's lives?"

"My apologies, Your Highness! That was not my intention!" General Paeris immediately dropped down to one knee in apology.

At the same time, he was pressured by the Fifth Princess's gaze!

This pressure did not just come from the difference between their statuses, but also their cultivation!

The Elf General found much to his shock that during the short period he had not seen the Fifth Princess, she had already surpassed him in cultivation!

They were both 9-Stars Ranked Awakeners, but even 9-Stars Ranked Awakeners had their differences—no matter how slight the differences are.

"Never mind." Princess Faelyn furrowed her thin brows and said, "Tell me what has happened in the tribe during the time I was inside the Heart of Spring Chamber."

"Ahem, I am not exactly sure, to be honest." General Paeris coughed, feeling embarrassed for being unable to answer the Fifth Princess's question before he added, "We have been waiting here, hoping to meet… meet Queen Radelia…"

Princess Faelyn's expression became more deeply furrowed before she sternly said, "Instead of wasting your time here, don't you think you could have been doing something else while the tribe is still under threat?"

"My apologies, Your Highness. I have no excuses," General Paeris lowered his head in shame.

At the same time, the Elf General was surprised deep within his heart. The Fifth Princess was no longer the same amiable and easy-going person he remembered.

Nevertheless, the change was understandable.

"Go report yourself to the Supreme Elder. See what he has for you to do." Princess Faelyn stated coolly.

The Elf General quickly complied, "Understood, Your Highness. I will leave at once!"

Shortly after General Paeris left, Princess Faelyn turned towards the royal guards and said with a slight frown, "You all go report yourselves to the Supreme Elder too. There is no longer a need to guard this place. The tribe will be relocating to the Human Domain."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Shortly after the royal guards left, Princess Faelyn also left the courtyard to meet the Supreme Elder—but not before giving the idle Elders a silent look.

"We should also go see what plans the Supreme Elder has for the tribe." One of the Elders said wryly before receiving the nods of agreement from the other Elders, "Right… Let us go."

The Elders soon departed from the courtyard.

…

Meanwhile, Leon continued to teach the three-tailed silver wolf how to use the Hundred Beast Transformation Art.

At the same time, the three-tailed silver wolf began to embark on a new road of cultivation to become a spirit beast—or possibly even a divine beast in the future.

Thus, even if Silver cannot redevelop its intelligence naturally, the Divine Cultivation method for beasts will develop it either way.

"Sit! Rollover! Bark twice!"

"Arf, arf!"

Silver responded according to Leon's commands while wagging its tails, thinking they were playing a game.

Alas, somewhere in the middle of teaching the Hundred Beast Transformation Art, it had changed to training Silver how to listen to commands.

"Ahem," Leon coughed after realizing he had erred.

Nevertheless, the three-tailed silver wolf was no longer clueless like it was before.

It had achieved some success in practicing the Hundred Beast Transformation Art after swallowing one of Leon's smaller supreme-grade spirit stones.

Leon gazed at the big silver wolf and barked, "Silver, shrink!"

"Arf, arf!" The three-tailed silver wolf responded and began to used the Spirit Energy in its body to shrink its body.

However, it suddenly fell on its side with a bang after shrinking only its legs and whimpered, "Awroo…"

"Stop playing around, Silver." Leon admonished it.

"Awroo!" The three-tailed silver wolf responded with complaint, feeling wronged as it struggled to get back up with its dangling little legs.

Leon glanced at Silver's small legs speechlessly before he said, "Don't just shrink your legs! Shrink the rest of your body too!"

"Arf, arf!"

After struggling for some time, Silver finally managed to reduce its huge build down to the size of a standard elephant.

However, this was not just a mere reduction in size, but the compaction of its cells, fortifying its entire body.

As Leon patted Sliver's toughened skin, he could tell its defensive strength has been raised by threefold, equating to roughly 200-thousand jin.

Chapter 490 - The Frightened Elves

Leon hopped on the back of the three-tailed silver wolf and patted, "Let's go, Silver. To the forest!"

"Arf, arf."

Knowing where Leon wanted to go, the three-tailed silver wolf barked twice before charging straight into the burning forest.

Regular fires might be feared by low-level Wingrats, but it was like summer temperature for a Transcendent-level beast like the three-tailed silver wolf.

Nevertheless, Silver did not get to showcase its resilience to fire as Leon waved his hands and parted the smothering flames of the Great Forest ahead of them, along with the blackened vine walls that crumbled apart like broken charcoal.

Swoosh~!

They immediately brushed past the divided flames and scattered black ashes in an instance with lightning-fast speed, carrying a trailing rush of wind along that blew apart the divided flames and scattered black ashes further!

Leon was surprised by the three-tailed silver wolf's alarming speed, but he managed to grab hold of its fur before he was swept off its back by the wind pressure.

"Quite the fast one, aren't you?" Leon rubbed its back with his spare hand before asking, "But how fast can you really go?"

"Arf, Arf!'

The three-tailed silver wolf suddenly paused in tracks before lowering its hind legs like it was recoiling springs. At the same time, its three tails pressed against the ground like they were another set of three legs.

"Awooo!" Silver issued a mighty howl before bolting forward immediately with more incredible speed than previously shown!

"Hahaha! Nice, Silver! Keep it up!" Leon laughed with praise, enjoying the thrill of the ride as they raced back to the elven tribe.

His jubilant mood also infected Silver, causing it to become excited and want to test the limits of its speed by pushing itself.

As Silver's speed steadily increased, Leon silently calculated with surprise, 'At this rate, I will be able to return to Elvengarde in no time.'

He honestly did not expect the Transcendent-level silver wolf to possess such incredible speed. It was far from what it had shown during its battles with the rat.

If it had raced at this sort of velocity from the start, it would easily bulldoze its way through the rat tide with ease and crush all rats to death upon impact with its body.

Leon forgot to account for the fact that the three-tailed silver wolf had become stronger after shrinking its size and consuming the supreme-grade spirit stone he fed it.

Sometime later, Silver arrived at the southern outskirts of Elvengarde with Leon on its back.

Leon's hair had all been blown back by the strong wind, giving him a fresh look despite being covered in dried up saliva and blood.

"Ahhh! There's a beast in the tribe! What is it doing here?!"

"Ahh, noo! It's a three-tailed silver wolf! Everyone, run!"

Silver's sudden appearance in the tribe quickly frightened the nearby elves into fleeing from the area with all their strength.

The matter blew up and quickly drew the Supreme Elder's attention, along with thousands of elven warriors rushing over.

"Huh? Isn't that the Skysilver Beast King? How did it get into the forest?" an elven warrior exclaimed with wide eyes upon arriving at the scene.

However, another elven warrior quickly refuted, "The Skysilver Beast King? How can the Skysilver Beast King be so small?"

"Is this the Skysilver Beast King's offspring? Why is it here without its father?"

"Nonsense, the Skysilver Beast King doesn't have any offspring."

Another group of elven warriors guessed Silver's identity before it was also quickly refuted by another group of elven warriors.

When Silver saw so many elves looking at it warily with defensive stances, it also became guarded and howled mightily to exert its dominance, "Awooo!"

"Ahh!" Some elves began to cover their ears from the three-tailed silver wolf's mighty howl and retreated several steps, intimidated by its strong presence.

"Transcendent-level beast!"

Some of the elven warriors quickly determined before one of them spoke, "There's only one Transcendent-level three-tailed silver wolf around here, and it is none other than the Skysilver Beast King itself!"

"Oh my god, how did the Skysilver Beast King become so small? Wait, there's someone on its back!" Another elven warrior shouted in discovery.

At the same time, Leon calmed the three-tailed silver wolf down with a few pats, "Easy, Silver. Everything is going to be okay."

"Arf, arf!" Silver barked in response, indicating that it understood and no longer prepared to attack the elven warriors.

Nevertheless, it still growled at them, "Grrr!"

Eeek!

Few elves were successfully intimidated before the three-tailed silver wolf raised its head pompously, satisfied with the elves' reactions.

"Quit it."

Leon gave it a quick nudge before hopping off Silver's back, landing on the ground with a thud.

Shortly after, Supreme Elder Haldir and Aria arrived as they descended from the sky, landing not far from Leon.

"Young prince."

"Leon, you're back."

They both welcomed him back before Supreme Elder Haldir turned his attention to Silver behind Leon and asked uncertainly, "This is…?"

"The Skysilver Beast King." Leon smiled before adding, "Well, it's my tamed beast, Silver now."

"How is that possible?" Supreme Elder Haldir widened his eyes in surprise.

He thought he had seen many things, but nothing was surprising like this since the World Tree's appearance.

"Never mind that." Leon shortly shook his head and said while gazing up at the sky, "You taught the elven warriors well."

Thousands of elven warriors could be seen flapping their wings in the sky, while there were also those standing on the ground with their own pair of wings.

"Not really. There were just quick learners." Supreme Elder Haldir shook his head, not intending to take credit for the elven warrior's efforts.

Leon nodded before asking Aria, "Did you pass the exploding pill bottles to Marquis Haldir?"

"About that, I asked Miss Aria to continue holding onto for the time being. It's far too dangerous to have those things lying around." Supreme Elder Haldir quickly interjected wryly before Aria could answer.

"True." Leon nodded in agreement.

The exploding pills were made for their survival, but they must be careful not to be burned by their own chief weapon against the rat tide.

A single mistake would cause a greater tragedy than what the rat tide could bring them.

Chapter 491 - A Woman's Intuition

"How are the tribesmen's preparations going?" Leon asked while gazing at the idle tribesmen in the distance.

Supreme Elder Haldir followed Leon's gaze before he explained, "These tribesmen have lost their homes during the ground collapse. They have nothing to bring with them except whatever is left below. As for the rest of the tribe, they will still need some time. It's not easy to mobilize the entire tribe."

"I see." Leon nodded.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "It will be a waste if we leave anything of value behind like the herbs lying around. The Crawford Empire is not exactly abundant in herbs. The tribesmen should help carry these herbs and seeds. In return, they will be rewarded."

"Not a bad idea, young prince. It will keep these tribesmen busy and help them take their mind off their losses." Supreme Elder Haldir commented with a nod before saying, "I will arrange it."

After calling over a few elven warriors and speaking a few words to them, Supreme Elder Haldir sent them off to relay his message to the idle tribesmen.

"The rest of you, continue to practice your flying skills!"

"Yes, Supreme Elder!"

Shortly after the surrounding elven warriors left the area, Supreme Elder Haldir returned his attention to Leon before asking, "What happened to your attire, young prince? If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, this?" Leon glanced at the dried saliva and blood on his body before gazing at Silver, "I also wonder about that too. You should know what happened, right?"

"Ar-rooff!" Silver responded while shaking its head dumbly.

Supreme Elder Haldir quickly understood Leon's meaning and became surprised by Silver's playful behavior.

Doubts seeped into his heart before Supreme Elder Haldir asked, "Is this really the Skysilver Beast King? What happened to it?"

Seeing the Supreme Elder pointed at his head when he said this, Leon answered, "A deterioration of intellect after being infected by Demonic Energy. Right now, it's no different to a child."

"I see… To think there would be a day I get to see the Skysilver Beast King reduced to a pet… Ah, no. I did not mean anything by this. Congratulations on gaining a powerful pet, young prince." Supreme Elder Haldir said.

Leon waved his hand, not minding the Supreme Elder's words at all. On the other hand, Silver snorted with displeasure.

"Oh, yes. There are some changes to the plan, Marquis Haldir. I believe with this improved plan, the risks will be much lower." Leon suddenly said.

"Oh?" Supreme Elder Haldir was pleasantly surprised before he said, "Let us hear it, young prince."

Leon nodded.

While Leon began explaining the details of the new plan to the Supreme Elder, Aria took out a fresh white cloth from her interspatial ring and wiped Leon's face clean with tender care.

After Supreme Elder Haldir finished listening to Leon's plan, he went silent while running the visual simulation in his mind.

Sometime later, Supreme Elder Haldir spoke while clapping his hands together, "Flashy. But I like it. Although the rat tide will be closer, it's actually more foolproof. I don't see any problem with this plan."

Leon smiled lightly in response.

"I will take all the proficient flyers with me to set the route ahead for us." Supreme Elder said before preparing to leave immediately.

It was a long way to the Great Wall by foot, especially while carrying goods with them. The sooner the road is paved, the less they would be delayed.

"Alright." Leon nodded before saying, "Take the airship with you, Marquis Haldir. Its loud noise is a good source of attraction."

"I will. Thank you, young prince."

"Safe travels, Marquis Haldir."

Shortly after Leon big his farewell, the Supreme Elder Haldir round up the elven warriors and departed for the eastern direction.

The migration route was as follows; exiting from the Great Forest's eastern outskirts before making a beeline southeast for the Great Wall.

If not for something Leon wanted to check before he leave Elvengarde, he would have offered to accompany the Supreme Elder.

Not long after Supreme Elder Haldir left, Princess Faelyn could be seen making her way over through the busy group of elves scavenging the area for anything useful to take with them on the journey.

Princess Faelyn seemed to have something to talk about but changed her mind after seeing Leon's appearance and decided to bring it up later.

"Would you like to pay our tribe's bathhouse a visit for a wash, Prince Leon? Us elves quite pride ourselves on our hygiene." Princess Faelyn suggested politely with a light boast.

After Leon sniffed himself and crumpled his expression slightly from the stench, he nodded, "Alright, I think I will just take you up on that offer, Faelyn. Is there enough space in the bathhouse for this big oaf too?"

Princess Faelyn followed Leon's pointed-thumb gesture before becoming startled by the big three-tailed silver wolf soaked in dry rat blood behind him.

"Arf, arf!" Silver barked twice in response even though it did not know what Leon meant by big oaf. It only understood that it was going to get cleaned.

"This is…" Princess Faelyn began to question.

"The Skysilver Beast King."

"Oh, the Skysilver Beast King's offspring…"

"No, the Skysilver Beast King itself." Leon corrected Princess Faelyn's misunderstanding, causing her eyes to shortly widened in response.

However, Princess Faelyn quickly recovered and nodded, "The public bathhouses in the tribe are built to hold hundreds of elves. There will be plenty of space."

"I see, that's great."

Shortly after, Leon turned to his side and asked with a smile, "Do you want to join me, Aria?"

Seeing the hidden intention in Leon's smile, Aria smacked his chest lightly with a blush, "We—I am still clean from the last bath. You can enjoy your bath alone. I will find something else to do."

There were other people around. She was not bold enough to accept his invitation.

"Alright. Wait for me." Leon smiled, not minding Aria's rejection in the slightest. He shortly returned his attention to Princess Faelyn and said, "Please lead the way, Faelyn."

"Of course. Right this way, Prince Leon." Princess Faelyn gestured.

Leon nodded and called out, "C'mon, Silver. Let's go get ourselves washed up."

"Arf, arf!" Silver responded excitedly.

Just as Princess Faelyn was about to leave with them, Aria pulled her over and whispered, "Is everything alright, Princess Faelyn?"

Princess Faelyn's expression changed slightly before it quickly disappeared with an impassive nod, "Everything is fine. Thank you for your concern, Miss Aria."

Shortly after, Aria released her hand and watched them leave together. Her expression could not help but wrinkle her brows, feeling something was wrong.

Princess Faelyn did not seem like her usual self. Did something happened?

Chapter 492 - Faelyn's Move

Elder Tree's crown, Royal Palace's courtyard

A long time seemed to have passed since Princess Thessalia entered the Heart of Spring Chamber, and everyone guarding the area had left in preparation for the tribe's big departure from the Great Forest.

At that moment, the proud and tough Princess Thessalia was weeping like a little girl within the Heart of Spring Chamber before the remains of her mother, elder brother, and elder sister.

This was quite the contrast to Princess Faelyn, who had entered before her.

The weaker Princess Faelyn had taken a much shorter time to shelve her sadness aside and move forward.

On the other hand, the tougher Princess Thessalia continued to weep, unable to extricate herself from her sorrow.

"Why did this happen?" Princess Thessalia struck the ground while tears continued to flow from her eyes, dripping down her cheeks and into the soil.

Her family was her pillar of support that allowed her to stand firm in front of the tribesmen. But now that they were all gone, she felt small and lost…

'No! I still have my little sister!' Princess Thessalia suddenly shot to her feet and wiped her tears.

She recalled her sister had been calm when they met at the entrance.

Her baby sister had always been the softest of the four sisters. There was no way her baby sister could be fine after learning of their family's death! She must be hiding it!

As the bigger sister, Thessalia had to remain strong and look after her only family member left! Otherwise, her baby sister might do something stupid in her grief!

"Right, Baby Sister should have known what happened here! I will go find out the truth from her!" Princess Thessalia stated while clenching her fist with a determined look.

After washing her face and removing all traces of sorrow, she patted her cheeks with both hands and returned to the surface to look for her baby sister.

…

"This is the bathhouse, Prince Leon." Princess Faelyn introduced to Leon as they arrived at the entrance of the large bathhouse ahead of them.

"It certainly is large enough." Leon nodded after gazing at the big bathhouse before asking with wrinkled brows, "Didn't we agree to drop the honorifics between us, Faelyn?"

"Ahh, we certainly did. I apologize, Leon." Princess Faelyn curtsied in apology before calmly asking, "Will you be washing the Skysilver Beast King by yourself, or shall I arrange for people to do it so you can enjoy your bathing experience?"

"There's no need to apologize," Leon said before gazing at the big three-tailed silver wolf.

His lips shortly twitched.

Although it had been reduced in size, it was still huge. It would take a while to cleanse all the blood from the three-tailed silver wolf, even if five people were on the job.

"Then… I will trouble you to find some people to wash Silver for me, Faelyn." Leon requested while scratching his cheek wryly.

"It's no trouble at all. It will be my honor to help the future sovereign ruling over my people." Princess Faelyn said politely with a curtsy

Leon creased his brows at these words.

He studied Faelyn's expression, only to see her smile back at him. He could only pass it off as a joke to called over Silver, "Make sure not to cause any trouble for the people cleaning you later, understood?"

"Arf, arf!" Silver barked.

Shortly after, Leon followed Princess Faelyn's lead into the bathhouse.

The bathhouse was separated into three sections; the male, female and mixed sections. Within each of these sections, there were also private rooms.

As the tribe was preparing for their departure, the entire bathhouse was vacant of business.

Even so, Leon was slightly scarred from his experience with the last mixed bath. Thus, he decided to enter a private male bathroom while Silver was taken to an open mixed bathing area.

The elven tribe's public bathhouse was similar to the Darkmoon tribe's bathhouse.

He undressed and unloaded his dirty clothes into a leaf bucket in the changing room before grabbing a clean towel provided by the establishment and entering the bathing area.

After scrubbing and rinsing himself squeaky clean of the rat blood and saliva on his body, Leon finally took a dip in the perfectly warm bath water to relax.

'After I'm done here, I should investigate the source of Demonic Energy under the tribe.' Leon silently decided, not forgetting why he stayed back in the tribe while Supreme Elder Haldir had gone ahead to pave the road for the elves.

Shortly after, Leon used his divine sense to communicate with the Guardian Spirit, persuading it into leaving the Great Forest with them.

The Guardian Spirit was resistant against such an idea at first, but it shortly agreed after Leon baited it with the allure of Spirit Energy, albeit reluctantly.

Creak…

"Hm?"

The private bathroom door suddenly creaked open from the changing room, causing Leon to sweep his divine sense over.

However, he was quickly stunned in the next moment. His divine sense was locked while his breath was taken away by the divine sight.

"What are you doing here, Faelyn?" Leon gulped while gazing at the naked elven princess with only a white towel covering her private parts.

Princess Faelyn was, without a doubt, a beauty with her supreme elven genes. Even then, she was considered the cream of the crop.

At that moment, Leon found her especially alluring in her current appearance and felt an immediate reaction in his nether region, causing him to silently cuss.

He was quite resistant to beauties in ordinary circumstances, but not when they become this revealing, especially a top beauty to boot.

He ultimately still a man.

Was he actually sexually frustrated? Leon began to ponder with a slightly forced expression before suddenly picking up the scent of perfume coming from Faelyn's body.

"This smell…" Leon frowned in thought.

"Please allow me to join you, Leon," Faelyn said with a smile before slipping into the bathwater and sitting beside Leon without waiting for his response.

Chapter 493 - Unveiled Intention

"Ahem, isn't this supposed to the men's only bathing area? I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to be here." Leon said with a cough while turning slightly to the side to hide his boner.

Nevertheless, the pleasant scent waiving off Faelyn's body made his bulging rod rage more fiercely like it was threatening to pierce through the towel wrapped about his lower body.

Seeing Leon being a gentleman and refraining himself from looking at her inappropriately, Faelyn smiled slyly and inched closer until Leon could practically feel her breath on his ears.

"Do you not enjoy my company, or do you think I am not pretty enough?" Faelyn whispered before blowing onto Leon's ears with her cool breath.

Her enticing actions immediately made Leon's body shivered with excitement, causing him to almost lose control of himself and pounce on her.

However, he forcefully suppressed the urge with his strong willpower. He was not stupid and understood that Princess Faelyn was trying to seduce him.

If a woman as beautiful as Faelyn wanted to throw herself at him, he would gladly take her and avoid the torment of only see but cannot touch.

But not before he understood the reason compelling her to behave as such!

"Of course, I am happy to have the company of a beauty such as yourself, Faelyn. However, I am confused. We are not that close. Thus, I do not understand why you are doing this." Leon forced himself to give a calm reply.

Faelyn peeked over Leon's shoulders and saw his bulging tent. Her long golden eyelashes trembled slightly before she suddenly giggled, "At least you are honest enough."

"The reason is quite simple. I like you, and you like me too, right?" Faelyn said.

Leon felt Faelyn's cool hands placed on his shoulders before she embraced him from behind with her supple twin peaks.

He almost lost control then and there.

A vein protruded on his forehead before Leon spat with gritted teeth, "I don't! At least, it has not reached such a stage."

Although he appeared to be resistant to Faelyn's advances, he did not make any move to stop her. It was like resisting his urge took all his strength.

The nefarious fire inside his nether region grew ever stronger by the moment.

"You really don't like me?" Faelyn did not appear to be disheartened by Leon's words and slyly whispered, "Then what kind of reaction is this down here?"

She reached out daringly, slipping her hand under Leon's towel to stroke the bulging dragon raging underneath.

Leon's body immediately trembled.

He turned around instantly and shove her against the bath wall with his hands on her shoulders.

With reddened eyes, Leon spoke, "This is a natural reaction! Now answer my question, or I will really push you down. Don't test my patience further."

Faelyn was not intimidated by Leon's threat.

In fact, she welcomed it with an alluring smile, "Even if your feeling has yet to reach such a stage, we can work on that together. Make love to me, Leon."

She wrapped her arms around Leon's neck and pulled him in for a kiss while her legs wrapped around his waist.

However, Leon pulled his head away before Faelyn's soft lips could make contact with his own lips after seeing his threat produced the opposite effect.

There was an aphrodisiac pill in Faelyn's mouth.

He had swept her with his divine sense earlier, but he could not see anything wrong with her except for the self-induced excitement brought by the aphrodisiac properties in her perfume and pill.

Leon separated himself from Faelyn angrily before gazing at her sternly, "You're looking down on me too much if you think you can drug me with the aphrodisiac pill hidden in your mouth, Faelyn! Just what are you after?!"

Faelyn shivered after being found out.

However, she quickly recovered and answered stubbornly, "I'm not after anything! I am in love with you so much I want to make love with you! Why do you reject me so?"

Tears began spilling out from Faelyn's eyes.

However, what Leon saw was not the tears of having her love rejected but the grief of losing her loved ones.

Leon was surprised by this discovery before he softened his stance with a sigh, "You know as well as I know that this is not true, Faelyn. This is not like you. Tell me what happened…"

His soft and gentle words filled with concern immediately struck a chord in Faelyn's heart, causing her tears to flow more uncontrollably as she crumpled to her knees in the bath.

"My mother… my eldest brother… my second eldest sister… they're all gone! I only have my third eldest sister, and the tribesmen left… I had to do this to secure their future!" Faelyn cried ceaselessly, feeling the crushing weight of the elven kingdom on her shoulders.

Leon finally understood the reasons for Faelyn's behavior.

At the same time, he was surprised to learn of the Elf Queen, Crown Prince, and Second Princess's deaths.

Shortly after, he dropped down and pulled Faelyn into his chest before rubbing her head soothingly, causing her to weep even harder in his arms.

"You don't have to do this to secure your people's future. All elves and humans will naturally be treated equally in my empire…" Leon assured before frowning, "How did they pass away? No… don't you still have another big sister?"

He recalled Princess Faelyn was the Fifth Princess, while he knew about Third Princess Thessalia and just learned of the Second Princess's death.

But what about the Fourth Princess?

"My fourth eldest sister missing many years ago when my father intended to betroth her to one of the elder's son. No one knows where she nor whether she is still alive or dead. Third Eldest Sister is my only family left…"

Shortly after explaining, Faelyn shook her head with strengthened resolve, "I can't entrust the entire fate of the elves on an oral promise alone!"

She had seen the overwhelming lascivious expressions from humans.

Evidently, she did not believe a Marquis position was high enough to elevate the elves' status in the empire and deter greedy humans from secretly exploiting them.

However, it was a different story if she could become the queen or concubine or the empire's future monarch.

She would have a greater say then.

Chapter 494 - A Beauty's Tears

Suddenly, Faelyn launched herself up and sealed her lips with Leon before prying his mouth open and slipping the aphrodisiac pill inside with her soft tongue.

A part of Leon wanted to continue savoring her supple lips, but he knew he would lose himself and commit something he might regret later if it let the aphrodisiac pill take effect.

The aphrodisiac pill melted quickly in Leon's mouth and flowed into his body under Faelyn's wood manipulation.

However, she had underestimated what Leon could do. With his Divine Will, the medicinal essence was quickly gathered back towards his mouth before being absorbed by his body.

After separating from Faelyn, Leon spat out the medicinal essence of the pill to the side before wiping his lips, "Stop being silly, Faelyn. Even if you give your body to me, it will not change anything if I don't want to accept you. Please show yourself some respect."

Hearing this, Faelyn immediately trembled.

Leon was right.

What was the point of giving her body to Leon if he does not accept her as one of his women?

"Then what must I do for you to accept me? Do you not want me? Or am I not good enough?" Faelyn asked as despair gripped her heart.

Her father was a true hero, but the people will never know.

Even so, she had a duty to her people—to carry on what her father would have done. He was undoubtedly a great king, but at the same time, a terrible father.

More and more tears flowed down her cheeks as she recalled what was written in the diary found within the hidden chamber.

Through the diary, she had learned of the secrets hidden underneath the tribe, and at the same time, understood everything her father had done.

She did not have the confidence to continued leading the people alongside the Supreme Elder like her father had secretly entrusted.

However, if it was Leon, she felt like she could entrust everything to him. With her elevated status and Leon's ability, her people would be guaranteed fairness in the new land.

Alas, her plan seemed to have failed. It was flawed, to begin with.

Seeing Faelyn sad, Leon felt uncomfortable in his heart like someone was clenching it. The tears of beauties are hard to bear.

Leon pulled Faelyn up and embraced her before wiping her tears with a sigh, "I do not want to take advantage of your weakness like this. Let us take it slow, shall we? No need to rush into things. How can I have the heart to refuse a beauty such as yourself?"

He felt that if he had followed what Faelyn intended and took her chastity to establish their relationship, something else inside her would also break and create an irreversible rift between them.

"Despite having multiple women, I did not know that you were quite the sentimental and romantic person," Faelyn said with a bright smile hung on her face while tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

Leon continued to wipe Faelyn's tears as he spoke with a light smile, "I do not wish to have a loveless relationship with any of my women. Call me greedy, but I want for all of our feelings to be mutual."

Distance creates disunity, and disunity births conflict. If even the relationship with his women was not good, how could he then expect them to get along with one another?

There would be disharmony and chaos.

"Maybe this is what I like about you," Faelyn smiled while resting her head on Leon's robust chest.

To be honest, she did not know what she liked about Leon. She was just looking for reasons to convince herself that she had feelings for him.

At least, she was starting to believe it had become true as she felt like something had slightly filled the void in her heart.

"What you like about me, huh?" Leon repeated softly, finding it hard to believe.

It would be more believable if she said she admired him instead. Perhaps, she was looking for a new pillar of support in him.

Faelyn suddenly herself away from Leon's embrace before asking, "Did you think I was joking when I said I like you?"

"To be honest, I don't be—" Leon was suddenly stunned silent as he watched Faelyn's wrapped towel loosened and fell, revealing her lustrous twin white peaks.

"Ahhh—!" Faelyn exclaimed while covering herself with her hands, ducking into the water to hide from Leon's prying eyes.

After Leon recovered, he suddenly smiled teasingly, "Where did all the courage you have earlier go?"

"D-Don't look! Th-This is different!" Faelyn quickly grabbed the fallen towel in the bathwater with one hand before wrapping herself.

How can the ice tower remain tall after melting? Her defense was lowered. Naturally, she would not have the same preparedness and determination she had a moment ago.

While Faelyn lowered herself in the bathwater, her line of sight was also aligned with Leon's bulging tent, causing her face to flush with redness.

Leon's expression immediately crumpled with awkwardness before shortly sitting back down in the bathwater.

The two entered a strange silence.

A few moments later, Faelyn asked in a small voice, "Is it painful?"

"What would you do if it is?" Leon responded to her question with another question.

"I… I will help you relieve it!" Faelyn said with gritted teeth after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Oh?" Leon gazed at Faelyn with surprise and studied her blushing expression before asking, "Really? You would really help me relieve it?"

"Y-Yes! A-After all, it became like this because of me." Faelyn stuttered.

"But how will you relieve it? Will you hands, your mouth, or will you use…?" Leon shortly gazed down on her hidden twin peaks.

"H-How vulgar!" Faelyn cried. A moment later, she answered with, "I will use my hands!"

"It's fine, it's fine. I was only teasing you. I can settle this myself." Leon chuckled light for a moment before his expression suddenly turned solemn. "What happened? I want to hear it from you in detail."

Faelyn was distracted and had taken her mind off this matter. But after being reminded by Leon, her expression quickly turned sorrowful once more.

Alas, it was something he had to do. He wanted to learn about what happened, and he could only hear it from Faelyn herself.

Her mind was more stable now.

Chapter 495 - Touched Heart

After listening to the recount of Faelyn's discovery inside of the Heart of Spring Chamber below the Elder Tree, Leon's brows were furrowed.

"I see… Your eldest brother and second eldest sister were both infected by Demonic Energy while cultivating… I'm sorry for your loss… and for making you recall this," He said before continuing to frown in thought.

"Don't be." Faelyn shook her head with a sad but helpless look. No matter what, she cannot change what had already happened.

Seeing Leon seemed to have something on his mind, she could not help but ask, "What are you thinking about?"

"I think I am starting to understand King Erendriel's series of actions now. He was actually a good and wise king, wasn't he? Your father, that is." Leon shortly spoke.

Faelyn's eyelashes trembled along with her heart.

She had not intended to tell anyone about her father's good deeds and keep the secret buried in her heart.

It was better if the elves never learn the truth and have their hearts aligned with the Supreme Elder and humans. Otherwise, her father's efforts and sacrifice would be in vain.

However, it seemed as though Leon had understood something about her father without her telling him about it.

"You… What makes you say that? You don't dislike my father after how he treated you?" Faelyn queried with a slightly trembling voice while doing her best to hide it.

Leon nodded and said, "If we think about it, the plan to relocate the elves to the Human Domain had proceeded far more smoothly than I would have hoped. There should have been some elves that are reluctant to leave…"

"…But thanks to your father's act, he had pushed all his supporters to the Supreme Elder's side instead. This seems far too convenient to be a mere coincidence…"

"…On top of that, your father did not seem to have pulled have sharp punches at the Supreme Elder when they battled. While it seemed like he was out for the Supreme Elder's blood, he had only used blunt attacks…"

"…Another thing to note is that I've found an incredible amount of Demonic Energy inside King Erendriel's head. Such quantity should have made him berserk, but he was able to retain his sanity for so long due to the defense he constructed around his mind…"

"…Alas, he must have known that it was only a matter of time before he went completely berserk due to his flawed defense. This must be why he concocted such an elaborate plan to gather hatred onto himself and force everyone to leave…"

Of course, the tribe can be forced into leaving with their sheer strength and authority, but the tribe would not be as united, leaving behind a seed of trouble and dissension for the future.

However, thanks to King Erendriel's actions, Leon would not have to worry about the elves causing trouble while integrating them into the Crawford Empire. He would only need to worry about the human's side.

"…Everything makes sense if we follow this line of thinking. Your father should have been quite the wise ruler for decades. It makes no sense for him to suddenly stumble at the last moment due to prejudice against humans…"

As Leon continued to speak, he was still unsure if King Erendriel had also predicted the rat tide using the subterranean passageways to arrive in the tribe.

If King Erendriel had known this and made use of the information by giving the tribesmen first-hand experience of the danger, which forcefully raised the elves' awareness of the threat underneath the tribe and compelled them into leaving, then King Erendriel's foresight was simply too terrifying.

"…Towards a king who thought and sacrificed himself for the wellness of his people while knowing his time was limited, I only have admiration and respect for such a person," Leon stated.

Alas, if Elf King's symptoms were realized sooner, he could have removed the Demonic Energy and cured the Elf King.

However, King Erendriel had most likely chosen this path of self-sacrifice after losing his will to live. The depression that came from the loss of his wife and the killing of his two children must have broken the person.

"Uh… What's wrong, Faelyn?" Leon asked after realizing silent tears have been dripping down from Faelyn's cheeks all this while.

As he wiped her tears, Faelyn grabbed his hand and held it on her cheeks before smiling brightly, "Nothing… I just think I really like you now… like a lot!"

His words had brought her great consolation, and at the same time, touched her heart greatly.

Knowing there was at least another person who recognized her father's deed and sacrifice gave her heart some peace and comfort.

If she had heard Leon's words of respect after explaining everything about her father to him, then the impact would not have been significant.

However, it was precisely because Leon understood everything on his own that his words had a significant impact on her heart.

Leon was taken aback by Faelyn's words before asking intriguingly with a grin, "Now? What happened to saying that you liked me earlier then?"

"Uh… I don't know what you are talking about. We have been inside the warm bath for a long while now. W-We should leave." Faelyn said as she changed the topic and got out of the bath to leave.

However, Leon grabbed her hand and gave a sudden yank, causing Faelyn to fall back into the bath with a splash as she cried, "Kyaaa!"

"What are you doing, Leon?!" Faelyn asked with a reproving gaze. Her hair had become soaked in the bathwater.

Leon suddenly pulled her closer before he whispered into her ears, "On second thoughts, I'll have you help me relieve this little brother down here."

"W-What?" Faelyn herself away slightly with an angry blush before she hammered his chest, "You're a rogue! I thought you were a gentleman."

"A gentleman is when courting women, while a rogue is after having courted women," Leon grinned before standing up.

His bulging dragon was shown in the full display after the towel fell loose.

"Kyaaa!" Faelyn immediately exclaimed after taking a glance. Her face became deeply flushed as she cried, "Don't show me such a thing!"

"Are you saying you don't want to help me?" Leon asked slyly after seeing Faelyn peeking between the gaps in her fingers. "Just your hands will do."

"F-Fine…" Faelyn shortly agreed in defeat.

A brighter flush of embarrassment was hung on her face after knowing her sneaky peek was found out.

Chapter 496 - Bathhouse Moans

Sometime later, Leon and Faelyn exited the private male bathing area together in fresh, clean clothes.

A satisfied and refreshing smile hung on Leon's face while Faelyn's face remained flushed with a deep red color.

Walking alongside Leon while peaking at his side profile from time to time, Faelyn saw his calm look and could not help but wonder what exactly was their current relationship considered.

"What are you thinking about?" Leon asked, noticing a hint of insecurity in her eyes as he secretly paid attention to her.

Faelyn was surprised for a moment before feeling warm from his concern. However, it shortly disappeared as she asks, "Are we considered lovers now, Leon?"

"What do you think?" Leon returned her question with a smile.

However, Faelyn knitted her brows before she said, "I don't know. Isn't that why I am asking you?"

"Oh? You really don't know?" Leon grinned with a teasing look before he queried, "Do you do that sort of thing with just any guy if they wanted you to?"

"What sort of—"

Faelyn was about to ask when she suddenly blushed deeply in understanding. She quickly smacked Leon on the shoulder before she pouted, "Of course not! Do you think I'm some sort of loose woman?!"

"Oh? Then are we friends with benefits?" Leon asked casually as he continued to tease.

Faelyn paused in her tracks and stared at him with disbelief, "F-friends with benefits? W-Who would do something like that between friends?!"

"Actually, there are people like that out there, you know? People are capable of doing anything, after all." Leon shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"T-That might be right for humans, but elves are very conservative! I wouldn't do something like that for just a friend!" Faelyn responded agitatedly.

Friends with benefits? Che! Who can accept such a thing?!

Seeing Faelyn throwing a tantrum like a riled cat, Leon chuckled lightly. Shortly after, he held her cheeks with both hands and gazed into her eyes seriously before asking, "You don't do that with anyone else, and you also don't want us to be friends with benefits. So, what are you confused about?"

"I… I…" Faelyn stuttered, not sure how to answer. Exactly, what was she confused about?

"Of course, we are lovers," Leon assured her with a smile before stealing her soft lips with a sudden hot kiss.

"Mmf—!"

Faelyn was caught unprepared by Leon's sudden attack as her hands tightened in resistance subconsciously on reflex.

However, she could not pull away from Leon before his experienced tongued pried into her mouth and intertwined with hers, exchanging a long and passionate.

It was different from her inexperienced attempt previously.

Under Leon's guidance, she experienced the true sensual pleasure of kissing and melted in his arms as her arms slowly dropped before wrapping around his body.

Sometime later, their lips separated with a thin thread of saliva connected between them.

However, Faelyn was not satisfied and wrapped her arms around Leon's neck before pulling him in for another long and passionate kiss.

It was not long before Faelyn's breathing began haggard and looked at Leon with a feverish gaze.

"Leon, I… I want—"

Faelyn's words were interrupted with Leon's index pressed on her lips before he shook his head, "Not now. We have important things to do now. Let us save it for later, okay?"

"But I feel so hot right now… It's uncomfortable… I want it." Faelyn said feverishly with pinkish glints in her eyes while her body squirmed in his arms.

Leon realized that he may have been too intense with his kisses for Faelyn's first time, making her unnaturally excited, along with the aphrodisiac perfume that had taken effect on her.

"Then… how about I relieve you the same you relieved me with your hands?" Leon suggested after a moment of thought.

Faelyn nodded her head shyly, "Mmm!"

Shortly after, they head back into the private male bathing area, where there was no one else around, unlike the public mixed bathing area with the open sky as its ceiling.

"Mmm~!"

"Ahhh, ahhh~!"

Faelyn's loud moan could be heard coming out from the area as she felt inexplicable waves of pleasure assaulting her body from Leon's dexterous fingers.

Female elves assigned to washing Silver in the big open mixed bathing area all blushed from hearing their Fifth Princess's erotic moans as they began to feel strangely excited themselves.

Alas, they could only endure it and continue with their task at hand.

Half an hour later, Leon and Faelyn exited the male private bathing area once more. They did not cross the last line since Leon only used his fingers and nothing more.

Even so, it was enough to make Faelyn climax a dozen times within such a short time frame. Her body was especially sensitive to his touch.

When Leon made his way to the public mixed bathing area with Faelyn, the atmosphere of the place appeared somewhat off and peculiar.

They could be seen entering the place together hand in hand.

"Your Highness. Savior. It will just take a bit longer before we finish washing the Skysilver Beast King." One of the female elves informed blush as they snuck subtle glances at both Leon and Faelyn.

Leon quickly understood they had overheard Faelyn's moan earlier and shortly glanced at her, only to see a crimson blush appeared on her cheeks.

Nevertheless, Faelyn tried to keep her composure before she calmly said to the female elf, "Alright, I understand. Carry on with your work."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Shortly after the female elf left and rejoined the other five female elves washing Silver, Leon moved his head closer to Faelyn's ears and whispered, "It seems the private bathing area wasn't very sound-insulated."

"I know! No need to remind of that," Faelyn whispered back with a hushed tone as she stepped on his feet grudgingly.

Naturally, Faelyn did not use excessive force and only appeared playful in Leon's eyes.

"Hey, hey. Don't make it seem like it was my fault."

"It was your fault!" Faelyn pouted unhappily.

Hearing this, Leon could only shake his head with a wry smile. The struggles of men. Even if you are right, you are still wrong.

"How is it feel over there, eh? Silver?" Leon hollered.

"Awooo!" Silver howled and wagged its tails to expressing its contentment.

At the same time, it caused chaos in the surroundings as the female elves cried while water splashed everywhere.

"Yikes," Leon uttered facetiously.

Chapter 497 - Paving The Way

Great Forest's eastern outskirts.

Not surprisingly, the region was filled with smothering black smoke rising into the skies while droves of rats roamed the wide-open plains outside.

Supreme Elder Haldir stood on the deck of the airship as it flew above the tall forest trees engulfed in flames before briefly disappearing into the clouds of black smoke.

Moments later, the airship reappeared on the other side of the black cloud, exiting the boundary of the Great Forest. The Supreme Elder waved his hands and dusted away the black smoke on his body.

"Do you remember the plan, captain?" Supreme Elder Haldir queried the person dusting the black smoke beside him.

"Yes, Marquis Haldir." The airship captain nodded in response. He had been briefed on the mission before they departed from Elvengarde earlier.

Supreme Elder Haldir nodded before gazing down on the ground behind their leading airship.

Several dozens of elven warriors had boarded the airship, awaiting the Supreme Elder's orders, while thousands more were making their way through the burning forest on the surface.

Shortly after, Supreme Elder Haldir gazed at the swarming sea of rat tide on the plains ahead before he nodded, "Let us proceed with the plan, captain."

"Understood, Marquis—" The captain suddenly paused before he gazed up in the sky with Supreme Elder Haldir.

Aria's figure could be seen standing on top of her ice-lightning sword as she descended and landed softly on the airship.

"Miss Aria, you've come. What about the young prince?" Supreme Elder Haldir greeted with surprise.

"He won't be coming yet. He still has something to do." Aria shook her head before saying, "How could you leave without these exploding pills, Marquis Haldir?"

A wooden crate filled with bottles of exploding pills was taken out from Aria's interspatial ring and dumped on the deck with a soft thud.

"Hold on, there's still more," Aria said while preparing to take out the remaining crates of exploding pill bottles in her interspatial ring.

"W-Wait!" Supreme Elder Haldir exclaimed with a raised hand to stop her before he said, "There's no need to take them all out now, Miss Aria. Let me distribute these first."

At the same time, the captain beside them broke into cold sweats as he gazed at the crate of exploding pill bottles by their feet.

Although they all knew that the exploding pills were not so easily broken, they still could not help but feel anxious.

The exploding pills were far too dangerous and had to be treated with utter care.

"Alright," Aria said before dropping her ring hand back down.

Shortly after, the Supreme Elder called an elven warrior over to take the crate away and distribute an exploding pill bottle to each warrior on board.

"Can I trouble you to distribute the rest to the warriors on their way over from below?" Supreme Elder Haldir requested.

"Alright." Aria nodded.

She hopped on her ice-lightning sword and took off to deliver the exploding pill bottles to the other elven warriors moving along the surface.

"Take us down, captain," Supreme Elder Haldir said, shortly after Aria left.

"Yes, Marquis Haldir!" The captain answered with honor, feeling mildly excited with a hint of anticipation for what was about to come.

"Lower the power output!"

"Increase the rotary speed!"

Shortly after barking out a few instructions, the airship began descending closer to the ground and attracted millions of rats in the surrounding region.

"I guess it's time I also make my preparations," Supreme Elder Haldir muttered before making his way forward to the front of the airship.

"Are we beginning, Supreme Elder?" One of the elven warriors on the deck quickly asked as the Supreme Elder approached them.

Supreme Elder Haldir nodded.

"Come. Your assistance are all needed. We are reinforcing the airship right now!" Supreme Elder Haldir urged.

"Yes, Supreme Elder!"

Shortly after, numerous vines proliferated from the seeds in everyone's hands before making their way to the edge of the airship.

They wrapped and weaved around each other, forming a thick woven layer of vines underneath the airship to reinforce the airship's outer hull.

As the airship pulled all the rats away from the forest outskirts, the elven warriors charged out of the burning forest and immediately took flight into the skies.

Aria flew over and passed the crates over to their high commands for distribution.

Boom!

An exploding pill went off in the distance, engulfing hundreds of rats in its fiery flames while the surrounding vermin quickly fled from the burning spot.

At the same time, the drumming noise of the airship was loudly heard as it continued to descend towards the countless rats leaping at it.

However, the airship did not hover above their range this time.

No, the airship descended slightly further and rammed straight into the endless sea of rats and sailed on their mountain of flesh and blood!

Bam!

The heavy airship immediately bulldozed thousands of rats out of the way as thorny vines protecting the airship's hull ripped them to countless shreds!

At the same time, the strong impact of the collision sent the airship flying higher before it descended into the sea of rats once more like it was sailing through rocky waves on stormy weather.

Boom! Boom!

More exploding pills were tossed out from both sides of the airship as they sailed through the rat tide, paving the path southeast towards the Great Wall's direction!

"That's the signal! Follow the plan!" A high-level elven warrior immediately barked at the first sign of an explosion.

"Yes, sir!"

The army of elven warriors flying high in the sky immediately formed two divisions and separated themselves by rough 500 yards.

Shortly after the rat tide was attracted to their large numbers of fleshly bodies, the two armies of elven warriors began to fly in the same direction as the airship, albeit at a moderately slow pace.

Waves after waves of rats leaped towards them but fell short out of their reach. The situation was incredibly dangerous, and the sight, especially nerve-wracking for the elven warriors.

A single mistake would pull them down to their deaths, drowned and devoured clean by the swarming rat tide.

Nevertheless, they pressed forward with the plan.

Aria hovered on her ice-lightning sword in the sky and witnessed large numbers of rats crushed to death by their brethren as the two elven armies flew away from the Great Forest and pulled the rat tide along with them.

Shortly after, two tall walls made by mountains of rat carcasses were revealed in their trail.

Chapter 498 - The Hero's Journey

Aria continued to hover in the sky on her ice-lightning sword and watched everything proceed according to plan, which was, in truth, quite simple.

It required the airship to act as a vanguard and trailblaze ahead, clearing out the rats from the center while two teams would then attract the rat tide to kill each other and form two walls of rat carcasses on either side as seen before Aria.

These two walls will extend all the way to the Great Wall, forming a safe passage for the tribesmen, who were preparing for their departure back in Elvengarde.

"Everything seems to be proceeding smoothly," Aria muttered softly to herself.

Sometime later, another elven warrior army exited the Great Forest behind Aria before she heard one of them barked, "The advance team already went ahead! Proceed with the plan!"

"Yes, sir!"

After the elven warriors answered, they covered the lower half of their faces with wet cloths like surgical masks before advancing to clean up all the carcasses left behind in between the two walls.

Night arrived and plunged the world into darkness, but the situation was visible as the remnant fires of exploding pills and burning rat carcasses lit the road ahead.

Their job was to clear the road and patch up any openings in the two walls of rat carcasses. Evidently, the pungent stench of blood in the area was too intense for the elves to breathe normally.

"Although the advance team has cleared the road ahead, we don't know if any stragglers were left behind! Keep your eyes peeled for any sudden movements, understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

The elven warriors brought branches with them from the Great Forest and lit them on fire like torches to increase their visibility in the region before carrying out their work.

Aria observed them for some time before flying off into the distance.

Boom! Boom!

Exploding pills were thrown out of the airship from time to time as they continued to cruise through the sea of leaping rats and mow down all the vermin in their way.

"We'll continue on this course all the way to the Great Wall," Supreme Elder Haldir stated before summoning his pair of wings and vine armor from a handful of seeds.

"Yes, Supreme Elder!" The elven warriors onboard answered before one of them asked with slight anxiety, "Are you leaving us here, Supreme Elder?"

"Yes, the Great Wall's garrison needs to be alerted of arrival and make preparations to receive our 500-thousand tribesmen." Supreme Elder Haldir stated while gazing into the distant night.

He also needed to check the situation of the Great Wall.

…

Elvengarde

Shortly after the bathhouse's chaos settled down, Leon left the building with Silver and Faelyn before she suddenly tugged on his sleeve.

"Hm? What is it, Faelyn?"

"I want to retrieve my father's body."

"Alright. I'll come with you." Leon shortly agreed to accompany Faelyn to retrieving her father's body from the southern area.

A great person like King Erendriel should be properly buried instead of being left in the open to rot. That being said, the person's body was transformed to that of a plant and would not rot.

When they arrived at the tribe's southern area, most of the tribesmen had already moved to the eastern parts of Elvengarde.

However, a few elvish children could still be seen playing around with their parents nearby. They were throwing stones and pebbles at King Erendriel's transmogrified body for fun.

Leon saw the sadness and grief in Faelyn's eyes as her eyelashes trembled. After sighing softly, he made his way over to the group of elvish children.

"Ahh! It's the Savior!"

"The Savior is here!"

The group of children quickly exclaimed excitedly as they flocked over to Leon's side and gathered around him with keen interest.

"What are you doing here, Savior?"

"Did you also come to punish the evil king, Savior?"

Children were most easily influenced, especially when it came to fairytale stories that are catered to them.

As such, they all showed preferential reverence and respect for Leon, who was supposedly the hero and savior of their favorite fairytale story.

Leon bent his knees and lowered himself to their height before he asked with a smile, "I've come to take the evil king away. Is that okay?"

"Yeah!" An elven boy of roughly 9 years of age answered.

"Thank you." Leon smiled and reached out to rub the boy's head before curiously asking, "What are you all still doing here when the rest of the tribe have already gathered towards the eastern area? Are you all not afraid of getting left behind?"

"Not afraid~!"

"We have the Savior here!"

Leon smiled wryly at their cute answers before a little girl gave him a proper response, "Our parents are still busy packing up some things in our home, Savior."

"I see. Thank you for answering my question." Leon quickly understood before giving the little girl a head rub.

While many elven homes were destroyed in the area, there were still some that managed to survive the disaster.

"Me too!"

"Oh, oh, me too!"

The kids were strangely excited to be patted by him.

After giving them all a head rub, his gaze shortly fell back onto the book the little girl's arms and asked, "Is this the book about the Saviour?"

The little 7-year old girl nodded.

"Can I take a look at it?" Leon asked with a gentle smile.

The little 7-year old girl hesitated for a moment before she finally decided to pass the book to Leon with a cute nod.

He was quite interested after hearing about the prophecy.

After accepting the book, he quickly skimmed through the fairytale story called 'The Hero's Journey' before recording everything into the Archive for reading later.

Maya would also be interested.

"Thank you," Leon said after passing the book back to the little girl.

Shortly after, he looks at the surrounding kids. He was afraid they might run off and get lost after taking their source of entertainment.

"Try not running around and wait here patiently for your parents to pick you, okay?" He instructed.

"Okay~!" The children agreed obediently.

"That's good." Leon nodded.

After picking up King Erendriel's transmogrified body, Leon returned to Faelyn and gently whispered, "They're just children that don't know anything. Don't blame them, kay?"

"I wouldn't. I know better than that." Faelyn softly shook her head before saying, "...and thank you for accompanying me."

She knew that Leon had something to do, but he was taking his time to accompany her. The small act was enough to make her feel warm inside.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing." Leon quickly shook his head with a smile before asking, "Where do you want to bury your father?"

"I want to take my father back to Heart of Spring Chamber and place him together father with my mother, brother, and sister," Faelyn answered.

"Oh?" Leon's eyes flickered with interest before suggesting, "How about we also go there together? We can store their bodies in my interspatial storage and take them with us. That way, you can still visit their grave once the tribe is moved to the Human Domain."

"That would great... Thank you, Leon." Faelyn said with her head lowered while feeling gratified inside for Leon's consideration.

However, it was just a passing thought he came up with. His real interest lies in the sealed subterranean entrance in the Heart of Spring Chamber.

He intended to enter from the place he previously sealed in the subterranean space, but entering from the Heart of Spring Chamber was also fine.

More secrets might be hidden there.

Chapter 499 - Wrath Law

"Baby sister!" Princess Thessalia rushed over and gave Princess Faelyn a big sisterly hug when they arrived outside the royal palace.

"Third Eldest Sister." Faelyn greeted.

While accepting her third eldest sister's warm hug, she felt her third eldest sister's hidden emotion and began to feel overwhelmed by grief once more.

The death of their family was not something easy to get over. They can be distracted and have their minds off of it, but it will always be there in the end—sticking with them for the rest of their life.

Princess Thessalia wanted to act tough in front of her baby sister, assuring her that everything will be okay with her around.

However, they shortly ended up weeping in each other's arms.

Looking at this scene, Leon decided to quietly go on ahead and leave them together for some alone time. He knew they would take up some time.

"Stay with them and look after them for me, Silver," Leon quietly said to the three-tailed silver wolf that had followed them up to the Elder Tree's crown.

"Arf, arf…" Silver mimicked Leon with a quiet response before bringing its head closer to the ground by laying down.

Seeing Silver being obedient, Leon ruffled its fur, "That's a good boy."

He shortly fished out a supreme-grade spirit stone and fed it to the three-tailed silver wolf before leaving for the Heart of Spring Chamber, which he found out to be located inside the royal palace from Faelyn on the way.

Silver did not gobble down the entire supreme-grade spirit stone that Leon was beginning to run low on. Instead, it treated it like candy and licked it repeatedly.

Shortly after Leon left the area, the Elder Tree made some movements with its branches, wanting to steal the supreme-grade spirit stone from Silver.

Silver's fur immediately stood up as it softly growled at the branches and leaves poking near it. There was no way it was going to share with the Elder Tree.

Meanwhile, Leon could hear complaints from the Guardian Spirit with his divine sense as he headed inside the royal palace to find the Heart of Spring Chamber's entrance.

"Don't worry. You can have as many as you want once we move to the Human Domain." Leon spoke to the Guardian Spirit, taking some time to pacify it.

The leaves rustled gently in response before the Guardian Spirit retracted its leaves and branches back from the three-tailed silver wolf outside the palace.

Sometime later, Leon found the entrance to the Heart of Spring Chamber and made its way down the long spiral of vine steps before reaching the big gates.

The Elf Queen, Crown Prince, and Second Princess were quickly found at the bottom of the Heart of Spring Chamber beside the rich wood essence spring.

"It is as Faelyn said, the Crown Prince and Second Princess have become berserk from the Demonic Energy contaminating this place…" Leon spoke to himself while confirming the facts from Faelyn.

After removing the Demonic Energy inside hidden inside the three bodies wrapped together, Leon stored them inside the Worldspace before recalling, "Oh right, the Demonic Energy inside the Elf King hasn't been removed either."

"This could have gone terribly wrong…" Leon thought wryly.

An extraordinary amount of Demonic Energy had been accumulated inside the Elf King.

If this Demonic Energy had made its way outside and infected the surrounding tribesmen when the Elf King's body was left unattended, it would have caused a disaster.

As Leon prepared to remove the Elf King's Demonic Energy inside the Worldspace, Maya was curiously attracted over to the bottles of Demonic Energy he had stored.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Ah, Maya, you came at the right time," Leon paused his attempt and urged her over, "Come take a look at this. Can you tell what this is?"

"This is…" Maya studied the bottle before saying, "Isn't this just Demonic Energy?"

"I know that. I'm talking about the overbearing law infused into the Demonic Energy. You also cannot tell what kind of law it is?" Leon asked.

He had wanted to ask Maya about this, but perhaps the artifact spirit also does not know? Alas, he was just overthinking. The artifact spirit was very knowledgeable.

"This…" Maya scrutinized the Demonic Energy before her gaze turned serious and wore a solemn expression. "This is the Law of Wrath."

"The Law of Wrath?" Leon wrinkled his brows. He had never heard of such law before. No wonder he could not tell what kind of law it was.

Maya nodded.

"It's not surprising that a mortal like you don't know about the Law of Wrath. This isn't something easy to come in contact with unless you comprehend the Law of Destruction."

Leon was startled before quickly asking, "What does the Law of Destruction have to do with the Law of Wrath?"

"A lot of things, really. After all, the Law of Wrath is a specialized law of the Destruction Law. This isn't the kind of law you can comprehend unless you follow the path of the Devil." Maya explained.

"As I thought, this Demonic Energy infused with the Wrath Law came from a Devil after all, huh? But if such a strong Devil still exists, isn't this world done for?" Leon asked.

Only Great Devils could comprehend the Destruction Law. These beings were Devil amongst Devils, Divinity amongst Divinities. Who could possibly beat them?

Suddenly Leon paused and shifted his gaze over to Lumi's silently sleeping face and recalled Duna also wielded the Destruction Law.

The owner of the Wrath-infused Demonic Energy might not necessarily be a living Great Devil but a regular person or demon who had awakened one of their Devil Soul Fragment.

As if agreeing with Leon's thoughts, Maya explained, "Not necessarily. A Great Devil's body can infect the surrounding with its powerful law even if it's dead, not to mention its comprehension of laws can be consolidated into solid objects."

"Ah, like Transcendent Crystals and Celestial Sparks, right?"

"Right." Maya nodded before asking Leon curiously, "What are you collecting the Demonic Energy for anyway?"

Chapter 500 - Lumi Awakens

"Hm? Uh, I was going to dump them into the Universal Life Conversion Array. Such powerful Demonic Energy should be able to produce a lot of Life Energy, right?" Leon answered.

"You want to what?" Maya gasped with shock before angrily crying, "Holy mama, it was good that I asked! Are you fricking stupid?"

"Huh? Why? What did I do?" Leon asked while furrowing his brows in confusion. "Is there a problem with this?"

"Problem? Of course, there is a problem! A big problem! Do you know water and fire don't mix well?! The same goes for Life and Death, Spirit Energy and Demonic Energy! Basically, any two opposing forces should not be mixed!" Maya exploded like someone had fed her hot pepper.

Leon wrinkled his brows before he said, "You're telling me the Universal Life Conversion Array cannot accept Demonic Energy?"

"Not just Demonic Energy, but also Deathly Energy and Destructive Energy. Basically, any force on the darker side of the spectrum should not be added to the Universal Life Conversion Array."

"Dafuq? Why is a Universal Life Conversion Array even called a Universal Life Conversion Array if it's not even universal?" Leon asked with an incredulous look.

Hearing Leon's question, Maya's angry expression immediately crumpled with a bit of awkwardness.

"Err… well, it's not that the Universal Life Conversion Array cannot produce Life Energy from Demonic Energy… It's just that I—Ahem, it wouldn't have an easy time doing so." Maya said.

Leon stared at Maya with a dubious look before becoming enlightened suddenly like a lightbulb lighting up in his head.

As the artifact spirit of the Divine Book of Life, it was not wrong to say that the Universal Life Conversion Array was one part of Maya.

Looking at it from another angle, the Universal Life Conversion Array could even be said to be Maya's mouth and digestive system.

"So, devouring Demonic Energy is like eating spicy hotpot and getting a ring sting? The poop will still come out in the end, but you will just have a fiery asshole experience, huh?" Leon commented with an understanding look.

"No… well, yes," Maya admitted before glaring at Leon with a repulsive look. "Dammit, do your words have to be so vulgar and nasty?"

"So it is true then. Well… if my analogy is spot on, then why not?" Leon shrugged nonchalantly before his gaze turned serious. "The Worldspace lacks the energy to nourish the herbs, and your spirit also needs to be recovered. Now is not the time to be picky with what you eat."

"Wait… you are not planning to…" Maya saw Leon picked up the bottles of Demonic Energy and making his way over to the Universal Life Conversion Array before she cried, "Don't do it! Noooo!"

The few bottles of Demonic Energy was directly tossed into the array pool.

"Arghh, I will remember this!" Maya spat before her manifested form disappeared into hiding.

Shortly after, the Universal Life Conversion Array rumbled loudly like it had eaten something terrible and had difficulty digesting.

The entire space began to shake like the arrival of Armageddon, threatening to collapse and destroy everything inside.

However, the Divine Book of Life was a peerless treasure of its age. It would not be so easily ruined by some Demonic Energy, even if it is infused with the Law of Wrath.

After some bubbly rumbles and growlings from the Universal Life Conversion Array, the Worldspace began to regain its calm as the scattered light particles of Life Energy descended from the sky and nourished the herbs and soil of the Sacred Garden.

"As I thought, higher-quality energy will naturally produce higher-quality energy." Leon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

He observed the herbs' growth accelerating and dead soil regaining life, becoming suitable for planting more herbs.

"Uuu…" A soft groan was heard shortly after the Worldspace regained its calmness, causing Leon to shift his gaze over to the Yin area with surprise.

He quickly flashed over.

"You've finally woke up. How are you feeling, Lumi?" Leon asked with concern as he helped her get up from the ice bed.

Lumi's eyes flickered for a moment before she studied her body's condition with a frown, waving her hands and feet.

"I'm… fine, I guess?" Lumi answered unconfidently, uncertain of what answer Leon was hoping for. "How was I asleep?"

"Not too long. Only a few days." Leon responded.

"Oh, only a few days?" Lumi raised an eyebrow before asking suspiciously, "What seems to be the problem, then?"

"Eh? No problem, I suppose."

"Huh? What is that supposed to mean? Stupid."

Leon smiled wryly.

Spirits do not need to sleep due to existing in their soul forms and lack of mortal bodies. Only problems and damages inflicted on their souls would induce them to sleep.

That being said, Leon was not entirely sure. The soul was still a profound learning topic, researched by many back in the Divine Realm—even Peak Divine Kings.

However, he did not want to mention any of this, lest he accidentally makes her recall something unfavorable and lapse into unconsciousness again.

Nevertheless, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that it only took a bit of shaking for Lumi to awaken from her coma.

"Well, it's good that you are awake now. What will you do now? We are currently in the Wildlands beyond the Western Frontier. If you want, you can leave after we return. The Extreme Misty Forest a great place to…"

Leon slowly stopped talking as he saw Lumi shaking her head before shortly saying, "I'm not leaving. I like it around here, so I will stick around for a while longer."

Lumi roamed the surrounding with her gaze before patting the ice bed comfortably, making herself at home.

"If that is what you want, then suit yourself." Leon smiled wryly.

Seeing Maya have not reappeared, Leon went back to the Elf King's transmogrified body to remove the Demonic Energy.

At the same time, Lumi followed him curiously, checking out what he was doing. As his eyes shortly paused on the emerald ring, he decided to reach out for the ring and study its runes.

However, he suddenly recalled the words he previously said to the Elf King and shortly retracted his hand awkwardly.

"Is there something wrong or interesting about this ring? Why are you hesitating to take it?" Lumi asked curiously after grabbing the emerald ring and inspecting it closely.

Leon's lips twitched before he said, "It's nothing."

Chapter 501 - Sliver Of Will

"Weirdo. There's nothing interesting about this. You can have it back." Lumi failed to find any point of interest from the emerald ring before tossing it back to Leon.

However, Leon dodged the ring like it was a plague, causing it to fall to the ground some distance away from them.

Lumi glanced at Leon suspiciously before she asked, "Why did you avoid the ring?"

"Ahem, it's nothing. Don't think too much into it." Leon coughed before returning his attention to the Elf King's transmogrified body.

Seeing Leon unwilling to explain, Lumi could only shrug it off.

After Leon locked onto the Demonic Energy with divine sense, he began pulling them out with his Divine Will.

However, something unexpected happened.

The moment the invisible mental power of Leon's Divine Will contacted the accumulated Demonic Energy inside the Elf King's transmogrified body, the Demonic Energy became active like it was sentient.

It followed the traceless mental power coming from Leon's Divine Will and rushed out of the Elf King's body before invading his mind!

"What?!"

Leon was caught unprepared as the Demonic Energy poured into his mind through his seven orifices, rushing straight towards soul core!

"No!" Leon tried to resist their advances with his Divine Will. However, the Demonic Energy was like slivery snakes that could not be caught by his Divine Will!

There was a stronger existing will within the overbearing Demonic Energy that could negate the power of his Divine Will!

Leon's eyes immediately turned red as he exerted his Divine Will to the max!

At the same time, he willed the power within his Black Vortex to form a protective layer around his soul core to ward off the Demonic Energy and prevent them from trying to corrupt his mind!

However, another unexpected situation took place in the split second the Demonic Energy invaded into the region of his sea of consciousness!

Before the Demonic Energy could even come close to his soul core, they suddenly lost all sense of versatility before getting pulled in by the Black Vortex's powerful attraction!

Crunch!

The strips of Demonic Energy were crushed and grounded down within the Black Vortex until the sliver of sentient will hidden inside the Demonic Energy was destroyed!

Shortly after, everything was refined into raw power that Leon could manipulate before joining the grey ring of energy and circulating around his soul core.

Moments later, when everything seemed to have calmed down, Leon could still be seen trickling in cold sweats.

The situation had come too abruptly. And before Leon could do anything, the domineering Black Vortex inside his sea of consciousness had resolved everything for him—even granting him a boost in power.

"Are you alright, Leon?" Lumi asked with concern. She had witnessed the Demonic Energy flooding into Leon's head but was helpless to do anything to stop it.

Everything had happened too quickly for her to react.

"I-I'm fine… probably," Leon replied unconfidently.

"Probably? So, are you fine, or are you not?"

"I'm not completely sure yet. Give me a moment to check."

Shortly after, Leon performed an introspection on himself and visited the grey ring of energy within his Black Vortex.

Few red strips of Demonic Energy could be seen following the circulation of the grey energy revolving around his soul core like the asteroid belt in orbit around the stars due to gravity.

However, Leon could no longer sense any overbearingness from the Demonic Energy.

In fact, they have become so tamed and docile that he felt they could be manipulated easily like any other forms of elementary energy.

Shortly after, the Demonic Energy was pulled away from the grey ring of energy and moved around within the Black Vortex Space accordingly to his will.

His doubts were confirmed to be true.

He did not expect to be able to manipulate Demonic Energy so freely like he was manipulating Spirit Energy, even though he did not practice the demonic path.

'What on earth was that sliver of will, though? Who did it belong to? A Great Devil? No, that should be very unlikely.' Leon furrowed in thought.

No matter who it belonged to, it was not on his side since it tried to invade his mind and possess him. That was for sure.

'No wonder the Elf King did not go berserk with such quantity of Demonic Energy inside him. The Demonic Energy was special—in possessing the sliver of will from some being…'

Leon began to reconsider his plans.

The trip to the subterranean world might be proven to be far more dangerous than he had previously anticipated.

If the sliver of will from some being was already strong enough to overpower his Divine Will, then that goes without saying that the said being was most likely more powerful than him as well—and this was not by a small margin.

He would just be a sitting duck if he ran into such a powerful being.

'However, I am only scouting the situation of the subterranean world in this area… there's no need for me to venture too deeply. Perhaps, I won't run into such a being.' Leon began to contemplated.

If he could find the source of the Demonic Energy and put an end to its production, then that would be for the best—provided that the Demonic Energy came from an ancient relic's malfunction, responsible for producing artificial Spirit Energy.

However, if his theory was proven wrong and that the source came from the powerful demonic being, he would be f*cked if he ran into such a being even if he had nine lives.

After a bit of back and forward thinking, Leon ultimately sighed mentally, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Furthermore, dangers and fortunes come hand in hand. As I thought, I should still take a look."

Suddenly, he noticed something shined for a brief moment while his divine sense was still inside the Black Vortex.

A few transparent objects were floating outside the grey ring of energy. He had nearly missed it if not for the slight gleam that came from the soft refraction of light.

'Is that…?" Leon began to gleam with realization. The destroyed sliver of will had actually left behind some law fragments for him to comprehend!

Chapter 502 - Life-Saving Means

'To think this Black Vortex Space is capable of grinding down the being's will into law comprehension fragments. No matter how impressive the Destruction Law and Wrath Law are, they are still nothing in front of Nihility, huh?' Leon mused.

The [Hegemon of Primal Chaos] was starting to live up to its name. It was this technique that allowed him to gain a preliminary comprehension of the Nihility Law.

As the law that marks the beginning and end of all things, it truly did deserves to sit at the peak of all laws.

If he could fully comprehend this law, becoming the Hegemon of Primal Chaos would not be a farfetched dream.

'Let's see what these law fragments contain,' Leon wondered.

His divine sense slowly drifted over and contacted the first law fragment before a series of profound information in the form of images were transmitted into his mind.

He saw the waning moons and collapsing stars, the shattering of countless celestial bodies that were supposedly eternal in the dark and endless expanse.

Whether they were stars, star fields, or even star clusters; anything can be destroyed, and nothing seemed eternal in front of destruction.

Leon vaguely felt that the law fragment had something to do with the Destruction Law. Nevertheless, he could not understand anything from these jumbled images alone.

'Seems like I need to absorb them first.' Leon thought.

The law fragment was shortly pulled towards his soul core before disappearing inside like droplets falling into the sea, but without its ripples.

A series of profound images flowed through his mind once more. However, they were no longer and jumbled and confusing as before.

As he suspected, it was the comprehension fragment of the Destruction Law.

Even so, Leon's comprehension of the Destruction Law did not immediately improve after absorbing the comprehension fragment.

Just because the knowledge was there, it does not necessarily mean that he would immediately understand it.

'It seems I will still need to gain insight from studying these profound images if I want to understand Destruction.' Leon thought wryly.

He thought he could advance by leap and bounds in an instant—simply by absorbing the law fragments.

'I guess there is no way there would be such a thing in the world. You can try to teach a donkey how to drink water. But if it's too stupid to understand, any teachings would be ultimately fruitless, huh?' Leon pondered to himself.

In the end, the law fragments were another being's comprehension of the law and not his own.

He needed to interpret the being's comprehension in his own understanding to make it his own—just like how a teacher imparts their knowledge to their student.

That being said, the Destruction Law Fragment will help him gain insight into the law at a much quicker rate than if he was to attempt it through regular means.

Not to mention, it was the Destruction Law!

This was not supposed to be something mortal can easily come in contact with, let alone comprehend it with their mortal perception!

However, an opportunity was presented before him!

'Let me see what the rest of these law comprehension fragments contain.' Leon shortly cast his covetous divine sense onto the remaining scattered fragments.

There were not too many fragments. Only seven pieces were found floating around aimlessly in the Black Vortex Space, and not all of them contained the Destruction Law.

There were also the Death Law and Darkness Law, while the Wrath Law was nowhere to be found. However, Leon did not find this strange.

According to Maya's words, the Law of Wrath is a specialized law within the Destruction Law.

This is to say that the Destruction Law was so broad and profound that even the Great Devils from the primordial age could only focus on one aspect of destruction.

After all, there were different types of destruction.

That being said, Leon had no clue how wrath is related to destruction. Perhaps, the law was too profound for him to understand.

Nevertheless, he did not dwell on it.

After absorbing all seven fragments, Leon ended his introspection and opened his eyes to the Worldspace in his surroundings before letting out a soft sigh.

Evidently, he had entered the Worldspace with his real body rather than projecting his mind inside, forming an astral avatar like usual.

There was no one around inside the Heart of Spring Chamber to witness him disappear, nor was he going to spend too much time inside the Worldspace.

However, there had always been something he was curious about whenever he enters the Worldspace with his real body—was anything left outside when he enters?

It could become a life-saving method if he understood the answer to this question.

"How are you feeling, Leon? Everything okay?" Lumi asked.

Leon smiled and nodded, "Everything is good—No, great! Anyhow, I am going to return to the outside world now. Are you coming?"

"Of course," Lumi answered before casting him a curious gaze. "By the way. I've been meaning to ask, but what kind of space is this?"

Lumi's eyes narrowed in question.

"Perfect, I'll send you outside first," Leon state while completely disregarding her previous question.

"Eh? Wait, answer my question f—"

Poof.

Lumi's figure immediately warped through space and disappeared—kicked outside the Worldspace by Leon with a single thought.

Not long after Lumi was booted, Leon appeared outside shortly after her.

"Did you see anything?" He asked.

"See what? I did sort of feel something, though—No, never mind that. Answer my previous question!" Lumi shook her head and urged with strong curiosity.

Hearing her words, Leon understood that the Divine Book of Life does not manifest itself in his place when he brings his body inside the Worldspace—however, its existence could be subtly felt.

This was neither good nor bad news.

But if he can properly use this information, hiding inside the Worldspace could become a means to save his life in extreme situations.

"Tell me~!" Lumi grabbed his arm and began swinging them as she threw a tantrum.

Leon shortly glanced at her with a smile, causing Lumi's anticipation to rise. But contrary to her expectation, he replied, "I don't wanna~!"

"Che! Be that way!" Lumi immediately pouted unhappily while stomping her feet, no longer pressing Leon for an answer.

That was his secret.

If he did not want to tell her, then there was nothing she can do about it.

Chapter 503 - Not Simple

"Let's just say that at a certain realm in Divine Cultivation, one will be able to form their own inner world like you have just seen inside my world," Leon said.

Of course, he did not specify which realm, nor did he mention that a Divine Cultivator's inner world could be infinitely vaster but cannot sustain life.

In fact, even Peak Divine Kings are unable to sustain life in their inner world—at least not the lives of mortals who have yet to achieve the Divine State.

After all, the inner worlds' existence is not meant to carter living space for mortals but to become the vessel to contain the Divine Cultivators' power.

"Divine Cultivation? What is Divine Cultivation? And at what realm can Divine Cultivators form their inner worlds? The realm shouldn't be that low, right?" Lumi asked.

Leon smiled and refused to comment, causing Lumi's reignited enthusiasm to dampen shortly after. At the same time, she could not help but feel that Leon spoke with half-truths and half-lies.

However, she cannot affirm her doubts, seeing as Leon had no intention to continue on the topic. She would not get her answers.

Nevertheless, there was no rush. The road ahead is long. There will be plenty of opportunities to hear the answer from Leon.

Shortly after pouting a bit, Lumi asks, "What are we doing here?"

"We are going to explore the subterranean world and investigate the source of Demonic Energy that is currently plaguing life on the surface."

Leon began to fill Lumi in on the details of the recent events; the coming Cataclysm, the berserk changes of beasts, and the Demonic Energy spilling from underground.

"It's going to be quite dangerous. Maybe it's better if you don't follow me outside." Leon suggested after his briefing.

"Haa? Do you even realize who is stronger between the two of—Ahem, I mean… I understand. However, I am still coming." Lumi stated.

"Strong between the two of…?"

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

The first half of her words immediately made Leon looked at her suspiciously, which in turn caused her to avert her eyes and look elsewhere with a hint of nervousness.

Leon narrowed his eyes with stronger suspicion.

Objectively speaking, Lumi was far stronger than him by a landslide. The power over Destruction, Time, and Darkness made her almost invincible under the Celestial Realm—if not for the backlash, that is.

Even so, not many people or beings were her opponents in a quick battle.

Nevertheless, Lumi should not be aware of awakening such abilities—or at least that is what Leon thinks, but it seems she was fully aware of it.

After all, if Duna can wield those powerful laws, Lumi would be able to utilize them too—just like two sides of the same coin.

"Whatever. Let's just leave it at that then. We're going to now." Leon said with a shrug, deciding to pay too much attention to the matter.

There were more important things to do.

"Where to?" Lumi asked.

Glancing around, the Heart of Spring Chamber seemed to only have one entrance and no other room except the one they were standing in.

Leon already knew there was a hidden room in the Heart of Spring Chamber, but Faelyn had not specified where.

Even so, it was not difficult for him to find it as he gazed directly at the little waterfall at the back of the spring.

He did not even need to use divine sense. His sensitivity to Demonic Energy pointed him in that specific direction.

"Let's go," Leon said.

"Err, alright," Lumi responded, deciding not to overthink. She just needed to follow Leon. If they get lost, she would just blame him.

She was quickly surprised to find the hidden entrance behind the little waterfall.

The entrance seemed to have been recently sealed up with vines. Leon quickly understood it was Faelyn's doing.

After tearing down the seal, a burst of Demonic Energy escaped from the hidden room, gushing straight towards Leon's face.

However, he did not defend himself. Instead, he welcomed the wave of Demonic Energy and absorbed them into his body.

Shortly after the Demonic Energy was refined in his Black Vortex, Leon was slightly disappointed at the absence of law fragments.

'Well, this much is to be expected…' Leon thought.

There was no hidden will inside the Demonic Energy he devoured. Naturally, there would not be any law fragments for him to absorb.

"Are you alright? Didn't you say this Demonic Energy makes people lose their sanity and go berserk?" Lumi asked concernedly.

"Yes, but it won't work on me. I have a way to defend myself against the corruption." Leon stated before entering the hidden room ahead of Lumi.

"Eh? Why not? Hey, wait for me!" Lumi shortly followed after Leon before asking, "You didn't explain how you can stop the corruption."

"Aren't you being very nosy? Fine, I will tell you. It's because… of a secret."

Lumi had perked her ears to listen to Leon with rapt attention. However, the latter half of his words immediately made her angry.

"You're teasing me!"

"That's right. What are you going to do about it? Bite me?" Shortly after Leon said this, Lumi immediately pounced on him for a bite.

"Oi, oi! You're seriously trying to bite me?" Leon held her face back with his hand while studying the layout of the hidden room.

"That's right! What are you going to do about it? Bite me back?" Lumi said defiantly, mimicking Leon's previous words.

Leon shook his head and said, "No, but I can throw you back inside my Worldspace, and you will not be able to leave."

"If you do that, then I will wreck all your precious herbs!" Lumi threatened.

Leon was immediately struck speechless. If she was really committed to doing such a thing, the loss would pain him greatly.

Lumi was not someone to be trifled with.

"Alright, alright. It's my loss, okay? Quit it now. We have something to do. I will tell you about it another time, alright?"

"Eh, you're right. Fine, I will let you off for now."

Shortly after Lumi calmed down, Leon made his way over to the hidden room's back wall and tore down the vine wall sealing the entrance.

Leon's eyes quickly flickered at the well-built passageway as waves of Demonic Energy burst out from deeper inside the subterranean world.

"This place is not simple…" Leon muttered with a frown.