Chapter 1456: Greater Secrets, A Tardy Arrival

Generally speaking, only those in high positions can decide their own schedules, while those in lower positions must follow whatever orders come from above, whenever they are given; there is no room for you to delay or refuse.

The Elves' reinforcements have been slow to arrive; either there are no reinforcements at all and those few Wood Elf Mages were just acting, or the one coming to reinforce is very likely an Advanced Mage.

Otherwise, below the level of an Advanced Mage, an order from an Upper Family would likely have brought them here long ago.

Although Xia Duo does not fear an Advanced Mage, he does not want to expose himself so early, and coupled with the uncertainty of how many reinforcements the other side has, it is best to avoid them for now.

However, he still left his Magic Mark at the Green Vine Tribe; if any reinforcements arrive, he might be able to use it to communicate with them.

As for the Mithril Mine that Youwa mentioned, Xia Duo did not take it to heart.

This mine is far away in the Langas Plain, beyond the reach of Netheril; at most, he can notify the Seven Towers, then let it escalate to the Northland Alliance, and carve out a share from there.

In the end, what reaches Xia Duo's hands would likely be just enough to fill the gaps between his teeth—not even worth the effort.

……

"Great Shaman, I am taking this Youwa away. Staying behind here is unlikely to bring him any good. I am also taking those Elves. If the Elves from the Moonshadow Family arrive, tell them to come to Seventon to find me!"

Upon hearing that Xia Duo wanted to take the Elves away, the Great Shaman became anxious and hurriedly knelt on the ground, and the other Shamans also knelt down one after another, begging:

"Powerful Netherese, those Elves have very important duties. Once they leave here, the Moonshadow Family will know immediately. Even for your own sake, please leave them behind!"

"You are not telling the truth again!"

Looking at the Great Shaman who was just pretending to be strong but was now kneeling on the ground, Xia Duo sighed deeply, though he did not rule out the possibility of what the other party said.

At the same time, he also realized that the secret here might not be as simple as just a Mithril Mine.

One must know that the status of a Senior Mage in Elf society is not low. If it is truly as the Green Vine Great Shaman said, those two Senior Mages would be discovered by the Moonshadow Family the moment they left here.

For a Mage, this is no different from being in prison, which indicates that there is very likely a great secret hidden here; it wouldn't be worth making such a fuss for a mere Mithril Mine.

Of course, it still needs to be judged in conjunction with the background of the Moonshadow Family; perhaps it really is just for the Mithril Mine.

However, regardless of what the secret here is, it has nothing to do with Xia Duo. As long as it does not affect his continued recruitment of people from the Langas Plain, he is happy to pretend he didn't see anything.

This incident might just be a misunderstanding, or rather, a misjudgment.

As for what the Moonshadow Family thinks, that can be discussed slowly later.

Thinking this way, Xia Duo simply decided not to take those few Wood Elf Mages away. Anyway, the purpose of this trip had already been mostly achieved—

He confirmed that there was indeed "someone" behind this incident, and learned that it was highly likely the Moonshadow Family from Yierlan.

He had no need to stay here and run into the Moonshadow Family's Elves; letting the other party come to Seventon for a meeting, or issuing a warning to them through the Seven Cities Council, would both work.

For Xia Duo, the biggest worry is not the Moonshadow Family, but the unknown.

As long as the other party's identity is confirmed, there are plenty of ways to solve it.

Of course, before meeting with the Moonshadow Family's Elves, the matter of the Mithril Mine still cannot be revealed. Although the Mithril Mine might not be important, it can be used as a cover for a more important secret.

……

After making his decision, Xia Duo left the Green Vine Tribe with Youwa.

After returning to the Grey Eagle Tribe, he handed Youwa over to the Grey Eagle Great Shaman for custody, and only then did he call for the Grey Eagle Patriarch Maka, instructing:

"A powerful enemy is about to arrive here. Notify everyone to retreat to Daxia Territory."

The new order was clearly different from the previous one, and Maka asked with some confusion: "Lord, are we not leaving some people to keep watch?"

"No need, everyone leave," Xia Duo emphasized again.

The potential appearance of an Advanced Mage made him change his mind temporarily; if he left people here, they might become targets for the other party to vent on.

As for the Green Vine Tribe, Xia Duo did not have the energy to care about them.

In fact, from the moment the other side took the initiative to launch the hunt, it was destined that one of the parties—the Elves, the Green Vine Tribe, Xia Duo, or the Grey Eagle Tribe—would be the injured one.

Without a doubt, the Green Vine Tribe would be the most injured one.

……

Compared to before, when they were dragging their families along, now there were only some combatants left, and there wasn't much that needed to be moved, so the efficiency of the evacuation was very high.

Not long after Xia Duo's order was issued, Maka came to report: "My Lord, everyone has finished evacuating."

"You leave too."

"Yes."

After Maka left, Xia Duo quickly dismantled the Portal and also left the Langas Plain.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, at the Green Vine Tribe.

Amidst the anxious waiting of the tribe's high-level members, the Moonshadow Family's Advanced Mage Kalano finally arrived late.

The place where he appeared was in the Green Vine Tribe's Ancestral Spirit Hall, but at this moment, the Ancestral Spirit Hall, which had been intact, had turned into a ruin, with only the altar in the center spared.

Looking at the eight Wood Elf Mages who were still in a state of confinement around the altar, Kalano snorted coldly with a gloomy face. Then, turning his head, he caught a glimpse of the Green Vine Shamans who were looking over here trembling, and scolded:

"Still not giving me an explanation!"

"My Lord, a Netherese just came. Talma and the others were no match for him, and it ended up like this," the Great Shaman explained cautiously with his head lowered.

Looking at Kalano again, the other party was no longer looking at him, but had turned to study the state of Talma and the other Elves. Seeing this, the Great Shaman stopped speaking.

A moment later, only a cry of surprise was heard; Talma and the other eight Elves finally regained their mobility. The Great Shaman was about to leave, but was stopped and kept behind by Kalano.

"Talma, Andu'en, why did you issue the highest level of alert? And what is going on with that Netherese?" Kalano asked in a deep voice.

Talma and Andu'en, the two Senior Mages who had just been freed from confinement, had no time to feel the joy of regaining their freedom before they had to face the interrogation of an Upper Family. Their moods suddenly became even worse, but they still had to explain cautiously:

"My Lord, the Netherese are making big moves in the Langas Plain. I was worried it would affect 'that', so I had to take action, but it attracted the prying eyes of the Netherese. Just now, a powerful Netherese Mage defeated us, but fortunately, he did not continue to harm us."

"What exactly is going on?"

"A Netheril Lord is sending people to constantly contact the Langas Tribe, seemingly wanting to recruit them as his subjects. Currently, one large tribe has already been persuaded. I was worried that the situation had changed, so I arranged for the Green Vine Tribe to lobby the major tribes to hunt down that large tribe, but it was discovered by the Netherese in advance, and they even found this place."

"Which Netheril Lord is it?"

"It is the Daxia Territory Lord."

"Daxia Territory Lord? So it was him!"

Kalano subconsciously frowned, waving his hand to signal Talma and the other Elves, as well as the Green Vine Great Shaman, to leave, before he opened the Magic Mark that Xia Duo had left in the void above the altar in the Ancestral Spirit Hall.