Chapter 1012: Trial Begins, Pass/Fail Exam

But regardless, for Xia Duo, as long as it did not affect his participation in the Divine Sword Trial, then it was no big deal.

Soon, the number of ordinary Elves at the foot of the Elder Oak stopped increasing, and at this moment, Coronal Osons of Jielunsita, who was already so aged he hardly looked like an Elf, arrived here supported by two attendants.

Following behind Osons was his Advisory Group; the vast majority of them were Patriarchs of the various Upper Families of Jielunsita, while a few were high-level Mages who followed the Coronal, or certain individuals with peculiar talents.

After the Coronal arrived, he did not stand with the others, but instead came to the front of the position where the Jielunsita Elves, including Xia Duo, were standing, facing the various factions involved in the merger directly.

By this point, all relevant personnel had arrived, lacking only the high-level Mages responsible for presiding over and witnessing all of this.

Of course, some high-level Mages had already arrived, such as Mikaier, a follower of Coronal Osons, or certain Patriarchs of the Upper Families.

But more of them were those elders and seniors who had famous reputations circulating throughout the various kingdoms, mostly high-level Mages from the neutral ground of the Elf Court. (These high-level Mages also came from various kingdoms, but not necessarily Listar Forest, and were here for retirement or seclusion~)

And wanting to integrate the vast stretch of land surrounding the Elf Court into the territory of the emerging Cormanthor Kingdom could not be done without the recognition of these seniors and elders.

From this perspective, they were the witnesses in the true sense.

Even though the sun had already risen to a certain height and dappled sunlight spilled through the lush branches and leaves of the Elder Oak onto the crowd of Elves, none of them showed the slightest impatience.

As the sun continued to rise, a faint mist seemed to rise in the forest, and the light merged into the mist, turning into drifting, ethereal light-mist.

And it was in such a mist-filled environment that the sound of real wind chimes, string plucking, and the voice of an aged Elf that was gradually becoming clearer, could be heard faintly from afar.

This voice slowly recounted the history of Elf expansion in Listar Forest, from the founding of Akaola, Jielunsita, and Wuweilun, to the later discovery and development of Saibohomu.

Thousands of years of history, including certain major events and heroic deeds, unfolded like an epic before the younger generation of Elves.

Until the trajectory of history reached one thousand years ago, the aged voice gradually became low, but at the same time, it was as if an emotion suppressed for a long time was about to burst forth:

"One thousand years ago, a meteorite fire falling from the sky destroyed the Wuweilun Kingdom, which seemed to portend the decline of Listar Forest.

"First, Coronal Akaola was murdered, and later the Elf Court was breached; in that catastrophe, the new Coronal of Akaola, the Coronal of Jielunsita, and countless Elves were brutally slaughtered.

"And it was at that critical juncture that Coronal Osons became the spiritual guide for all Elves, leading us to banish the Drow and recuperate.

"Until today, the life of Coronal Osons will finally come to an end; next, he will head to Faruier Jiayuan to begin a new life, but for us who remain in the Mortal Plane, how should we go on?"

The voice paused, and among the crowd of Elves, some began to whisper: "Unite! Unify!"

At first, it was just the whisper of an individual, but then it converged into a whole; the voices of union and unification echoed around the Elder Oak, shaking the gradually rising hazy light-mist until it became even more fragmented and even more hazy.

And at this moment, Xia Duo discovered that the area around the hexagonal silver platform prepared for the ceremony was already filled with Elves, almost every one of them looking aged, as if they would fall over with a gust of wind.

But their bright, clear eyes did not look old at all; instead, they revealed a light of realization and Wisdom, profound and piercing straight to the heart.

One of the Elves raised a hand slightly, suppressing the calls for union and unification that lingered around the Elder Oak and were gradually rising, and continued:

"Yes, we need union! We need unification! For this, Coronal Osons, disregarding the frailty of his body, has made one final prophecy for us—

"He prophesied that among us will appear a true King destined to unify Listar Forest and lead the brand-new Cormanthor Kingdom to unify the entire Elf World and even more territories!

"And the Divine Sword Trial is the coronation ceremony dedicated to this Sole True King!"

Next, the old Mage summoned three balls of light, just as Xia Duo had seen in his dream: gold, silver, and red, with gold in the center and silver and red guarding the sides.

Only in reality, these three balls of light hovered above the silver platform and had a faint, continuous connection with that silver platform.

Subsequently, the old Mage announced the rules; the rule was that there were no rules. As long as an Elf could pull a Divine Elf Sword from the three balls of light, they would automatically become the Coronal, military commander, or Spellcaster leader of the new nation.

In addition to the Elves who had previously signed up, other Elves present could also participate, but they had to be placed behind the registrants, and only after all registrants had failed could other Elves participate.

This meant that as long as the first Elf succeeded, the Divine Sword would have an owner, and this sword would no longer accept other trial-takers.

Hearing such rules, Xia Duo could not help but frown. This was not quite the same as what he had previously envisioned—a few rounds of testing to finally select a winner; this was more like a pass/fail exam.

Even if he could score 100 points, as long as Kaifumu was ranked ahead of him and scored 60 points, then it would have nothing to do with him!

Xia Duo knew that in the history of the Main Plane, the final winner of the Divine Sword Trial was Kaifumu, and in the Projection Plane, he could hardly guarantee that this scene would not happen again.

"I can only hope that the trial order is arranged according to the order of registration!"

The first to proceed was the Sword of War trial. If this trial failed, one would be attacked by the Divine Sword; as for the intensity of the attack, that was unknown.

But there were quite a few registrants for this trial; on the contrary, it was the most numerous of the three trials. Xia Duo even heard Elves around him beginning to encourage each other, preparing to go up and try their luck.

He shook his head inwardly, but did not show it at all on the surface. This trial should be a test of war command or overall planning ability; if it was not a match, then the probability of failure was high.

And the failure result of the Divine Sword's attack was also very interesting. Would it just kill everyone who had no real talent, and if one had a little talent but did not meet the standard, would it just stop at a light touch?

Thinking this way, the failure result of the Sword of Artistry could also be understood. Even among Elves, Spellcasters were precious, even noble, so they certainly could not be killed easily.

It would just be cutting off the connection to the Magic Net for a few decades. If this were placed on a human, it would probably be agonizing, but a few decades was trivial for the normal lifespan of an Elf of several hundred years.

And the Sword of Ruling was quite different from the first two; it was competing for the future ruler. How could one do it without the courage to risk everything!

But at the same time, for those who had such determination, if they failed and did not die, would they be unwilling to give up? Would it affect the Coronal's rule?

Then let them die!

Xia Duo thought darkly, and what he could think of, Coronal Osons, who created the Divine Sword Trial, should also be able to think of with high probability.

Perhaps the truth was just like this.

And the so-called true King in the prophecy might really be that the opportunity for unification had arrived, while Coronal Osons' successor did not have the ability to realize these things, and might not even be able to continue the rule over Jielunsita.

That was why he arranged all of this.