After leaving Shadowmoon City, Lin Gui did not let down his guard.
The flying vessel continued to accelerate, speeding deep into the Wall of Sighs.
In just a few dozen minutes, he had crossed over a dozen kilometers of wasteland.
Ahead, the gray mist gradually thinned.
A dense forest shimmering with faint light came into view.
Gloomlight Forest.
The trees were tall, and natural fluorescent moss was coiled among the branches and leaves.
It illuminated the entire forest area in a hazy pale green.
Elven-style treehouses were built against the wood, small and exquisite.
Vine bridges connected them, and stairs spiraled around.
This was a typical elven border town.
It wasn't large, but it exuded natural ingenuity everywhere.
Lin Gui maneuvered the flying vessel, landing in a hidden corner at the edge of the forest.
Vines hung all around, perfectly concealing the vessel's silhouette.
He activated the Eyes of the Netherworld, carefully scanning his surroundings.
After confirming there were no spirits lingering, he let out a sigh of relief.
He turned around to check Eve's condition.
She leaned against the back seat of the flying vessel, her eyes tightly closed and her breathing weak.
There were no obvious wounds on the surface.
But under the gaze of the Eyes of the Netherworld, that soul gap at the location of her heart...
Was continuing to shrink at a speed visible to the naked eye.
When they were in the Carter Royal Capital, half remained.
Now, only a third was left.
The price of the Hall of Heroic Spirits...
Was far more cruel than her understated description.
Lin Gui's brows furrowed deeply.
What alarmed him even more was the strength of that elven assassin.
No matter how thin Eve's defense was, her mana was of the actual Legendary rank.
Yet that assassin's power, in Lin Gui's judgment, was at most at the Mid-tier Transcendent rank.
But by relying on an incredibly tricky attack angle and a terrifying insight into the flow of mana...
She had forcefully pierced through all the shields by striking the points.
Such assassination skills had reached the realm of perfection.
Recalling the trajectory of that wooden stick weaving through the light and shadows...
A chill ran down Lin Gui's spine.
If Eve hadn't delayed for time...
This time, he really might have died there.
Thinking of Theia's eyes when they parted...
Lin Gui quietly clenched his fist.
In the end...
He was still too weak.
So weak that even to protect himself, he had to gamble with his companion's life.
He needed power.
A power that could truly strike back instead of blindly running away.
Lin Gui's current strongest offensive method was only the High Rank magic Shadow Pierce.
But this magic had too many limitations.
Activation required a complete chant, the attack trajectory was singular, the range was extremely small, and the attack speed was slow.
Its destructive power was also mediocre among High Rank magic.
Back then, his pockets were empty, and he couldn't afford high-quality High Rank magic scrolls.
He could only pick a few "bargain" items sold at a discount.
Shadow Pierce was one of them.
If he wanted to change the status quo...
His only hope was the Messenger's Advancement.
Intermediate magic might not be as powerful as Shadow Pierce.
But if he could draw a type with a fast attack speed and combine it with chantless casting.
Quantitative change might truly lead to qualitative change.
After all, a High Rank spell like Blade Storm was essentially an overlapping release of countless intermediate Wind Blade techniques.
Lin Gui composed himself and thought silently in his mind:
System, check the progress of the Messenger's Advancement quest.
A pale blue panel emerged quietly:
【Messenger's Advancement】
【Letter Signing Requirement: 10,000 letters】
【Currently Completed: 9,970】
【Special Commission Requirement: 5 times】
【Currently Completed: 4】
【Long-Term Commission Requirement: 1 time】
【Currently Completed: 1 (Reached)】
He was still thirty letters short.
And one special commission.
Advancement... was within reach.
Regarding the letters, if Alyia kept her promise.
He would be able to gather them quickly.
As for the special commission...
Sending Clotina back to Blackwater City wasn't difficult.
The flying vessel could arrive in a few hours at full speed.
Lin Gui asked the system in his mind:
Can I return to Blackwater City first to complete the special commission and then continue to deliver the remaining letters?
The system replied calmly:
【The Host may adjust the route and the sequence of nodes independently.】
【The route provided by the system is only a reference for the safest path planned based on the Host's strength and capabilities.】
【As long as the sign-off target is completed within the time limit of the Weekly Commission...】
【Even returning to New Covenant City first and then turning back to the Wall of Sighs is permissible.】
Lin Gui nodded.
He looked onto the flying vessel.
Eve had been carefully placed on the back seat padded with soft blankets, and her breathing gradually stabilized.
He then looked at the quiet treehouses in elven style around him.
"Alright."
He murmured to himself.
"We'll rest and regroup here."
"Wait for Alyia to finish sending the letters, and wait for Eve to recover a bit."
"After I finish delivering the letters for Gloomlight Forest..."
"I'll go straight back to Blackwater."
To complete... the Messenger's Advancement.
Since he had decided to take a temporary rest in Gloomlight Forest, Lin Gui set about finding a suitable place to stay.
Like other city-states within the Wall of Sighs, Gloomlight Forest was a dead wasteland.
A large number of treehouses and elven homes were vacant and could have been used at will.
But the matter of the elven assassin had rung alarm bells for him.
Among the spirits, there were still powerful individuals.
Not all ghosts were as weak as the residents of Blackwater City.
This forest appeared empty and dead on the surface, but in its corners...
Powerful elven spirits that did not wish to show themselves were surely hiding.
Lin Gui did not want to attract attention.
He maneuvered the flying vessel to the outer area of Gloomlight Forest.
Eventually, he chose a hidden corner surrounded by massive tree roots.
The ground was covered in decayed leaves, and vines hung from above, naturally forming a cover.
He jumped off the flying vessel and tapped the ground lightly with his fingertip.
【Soil Loosening】.
The soil churned silently and parted to the sides, forming a burrow about two meters deep and five or six square meters in area.
Next was 【Grass Growth】.
Fine velvet grass quickly sprouted from the walls and ground of the burrow, soft and dry, with a faint, fresh fragrance.
Lin Gui jumped into the burrow with the flying vessel.
Then, the velvet grass quickly spread, almost completely covering the entrance of the hole.
Having finished everything, he began to take out daily necessities from his storage space.
Two simple mattresses covered with thick blankets.
A crystal lamp infused with Glimmer hanging from the ceiling of the burrow.
A small stone hearth with dry firewood piled inside.
Several water skins filled with fresh water, neatly stacked in the corner.
There was even a small bag of dried herbs and a few clean spare clothes.
In just a few minutes, the cold and simple burrow turned into a cozy underground room.
The soft light dispelled the darkness, and the grass-covered walls emanated warmth.
Lin Gui walked to the side of the flying vessel and gently picked up the unconscious Eve.
Her body was very light, yet she curled up slightly due to the pain.
Through her robes, he could clearly feel her fine curves and her currently fragile trembling.
Lin Gui slowed his movements further, carefully placing her on the inner mattress and covering her with a quilt.
Seeing her furrowed brows even in unconsciousness, Lin Gui fell silent for a moment.
"...I owe you a big favor."
He whispered.
As the words fell.
Eve's pained expression seemed to soften for a moment.
Then, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she slowly opened those purple eyes.
The lingering weakness was still in her gaze, but a faint smile had already rippled out.
"Then..."
She said softly, her voice carrying a bit of breathiness.
"How does Mr. Lin Gui... plan to repay me?"
Lin Gui watched her eyes, which were clearly awake, and was speechless for a moment.
"...You were faking sleep?"
"I just happened to wake up."
Eve blinked, her smile deepening.
Lin Gui sighed and tucked the corners of her quilt.
"Anything within my power, just name it."
"As long as I can do it."
The smile on Eve's face appeared exceptionally bright under the soft light.
It was as if even the pain of her missing soul had temporarily faded a bit.
After settling Eve, Lin Gui thought of a certain little fellow who had "deserted at the critical moment."
He pulled that glass bead from his pocket and weighed it in his palm.
Recalling how Clotina had played dead and stayed silent during the crisis just now...
His expression was somewhat sour.
"Why didn't you come out when I called you just now?"
Lin Gui's voice was a bit cold.
The glass bead lay quietly without any reaction.
Lin Gui sighed.
Whatever, why am I picking a fight with a child?
"...I'm not a child anymore."
Clotina's muffled voice suddenly came from inside the glass bead.
"Before I died... I was already eighteen."
Lin Gui looked at the bead, speechless.
"Then why did you play mute just now?"
"If you had come out to testify..."
"Eve might not have had to suffer such heavy injuries."
Clotina was silent for a moment.
When she spoke again, her voice carried obvious guilt:
"...I'm sorry."
"Because... I was afraid."
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.
"Afraid?"
"Wasn't the other party also an elf?"
"And she looked like she came to save those fellow elves."
Clotina hesitated for a long time before saying softly:
"She... didn't come to save people."
"At least, not to save those who were... 'expunged'."
"She should have come to..."
Clotina paused, her voice even softer.
"Kill them."
Lin Gui's brows furrowed tightly.
"Do you know 'her'?"
Clotina remained silent for even longer.
Long enough that Lin Gui thought she had played dead again before she slowly spoke:
"As long as one is an elf... there is no one who does not know her."
"Her name is Lynn Celine Aethel Shadow."
"The first Title Rank powerhouse of the Night Elves in a thousand years."
Clotina's voice carried a tremble that was almost like reverence.
"Her talent was too terrifying. Before she was thirty, she stepped into the Legendary rank."
"Even the most famous High Elf genius and the prince of the Moonlight Royalty of that time..."
"Were suppressed by her with ease."
"In the Golden Age, the Elven Forest was not yet unified, and various tribes were separate."
"Her status among the Night Elves... was as lofty as a faith."
"Everyone believed she was the next clan chief."
"But..."
Clotina's voice dropped.
"After the Demon God descended... she became like a different person."
"From a refined, noble elven warrior..."
"She became reclusive, stubborn, and even... insane."
"Later, she suddenly disappeared. At that time, she was already a High-tier Legendary."
"The third-ranked powerhouse in the Night Elf tribe."
"And during that time... the Night Elf tribe was facing a terminal disaster."
"The Dark Tide swept through the Royal Capital. Not only us, but other elven tribes also suffered heavy losses."
"After the catastrophe, the surviving elven tribes united to form the 'Elven Forest'."
"But the leadership... fell into the hands of ancient, native tribes like the Forest Elves and the Moonlight Royalty."
"Tribes like ours that 'fled for refuge'... didn't have a say at all."
"That's why the High Elves left in indignation."
Clotina paused.
"It was at this time... that Lynn Shadow returned."
"Upon her return, she was already a Mid-tier Epic, a level of strength sufficient to shake the entire Elven Forest."
"Only the Elven King of the Moonlight Royalty could slightly surpass her."
"All the Night Elves thought... hope had arrived."
"With her strength, she could have fought for status and rights for us."
"But who could have imagined..."
Clotina's voice began to tremble.
"The first thing she did was assassinate members of the Elven Forest Elder Council."
"Next, she set fire to the World Tree Nursery."
"And then... she was discovered colluding with humans to sell her fellow kin."
"Finally... she stole the only divine artifact of the elven race."
"The Crown of the World Tree."
The burrow was deathly silent.
Only the light of the crystal lamp flickered slightly.
Clotina curled up in the glass bead, her voice full of sadness and confusion.
"Everything she did... triggered a chain of disasters."
"The Elven Forest was enraged, and the Night Elves were once expelled."
"We are not like the High Elves... we have no foundation, no Royal Capital, no protection from the World Tree."
"Leaving the Elven Forest was equivalent to pushing the entire Night Elf race into destruction."
"To compensate for the crimes she committed... the clan members paid an unimaginable price."
"The three tribes under the Night Elves, especially our Shadow Clan."
Clotina's voice was almost inaudible.
"And it was at that time..."
"She turned her dagger... toward us, toward her true kin."
"To undermine the clan's atonement, she killed too many Night Elves."
"She even killed the Night Elf clan chief..."
"The one who personally fostered her as she grew up."
The glass bead was slightly hot.
The soul-shadow inside was curled into a ball.
As if resisting a memory that was far too heavy.
"The blood of too many of my clan is on her hands..."
Clotina's voice was trembling.
"It's impossible for her to come and save the Night Elves."
"Especially... those who were 'expunged'."
She recalled what she had glimpsed through the gaps of the iron cage.
The clear brand on her fellow kin's forehead.
A black mark of a tangled thorn and a broken branch.
Representing a "sinner."
Representing being permanently expelled by the Elven Forest.
Sixteen years had passed since the three city-states of the Night Elves were swallowed by the Wall of Sighs.
And the Elven Forest...
Ultimately, it had branded the entire Night Elf race as "traitors."
Clotina had been eighteen years old when she was alive.
Although young, in eighteen years...
She had witnessed the downfall of the Night Elf Royal Capital, witnessed the migration of her people, and witnessed that assassin's awakening and madness.
She had already seen too much sadness from her people.
Seen the blood and tears they shed just to survive.
Her soul body trembled slightly, and her mental fluctuations were filled with grief:
"By Elune..."
"Is this why..."
"Why the sacrifice of the people of the Night ultimately resulted in such a reward..."
There were no tears.
But the soul's grief caused her soul light to flicker and sway constantly.
Like a candle in the wind, it could go out at any moment.
As Lin Gui listened, his heart sighed.
However, in the next second, he suddenly turned his head and stared at the glass bead:
"Wait."
"Lynn Celine Aethel Shadow..."
"Lynn...?"
His pupils contracted slightly.
"You're saying that elven assassin... is 'Lynn'?"
"Shadow Blade Lynn??!"
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