Chapter 265

One month later, Weilan entered the deep winter again, and a first snow fell.

The lakeside of Swan Lake was wrapped in a thick layer of winter attire.

On a scarcely visited small island in Swan Lake, the lower-tier Elf‑styled Luosen raised his hand and traced a rune in the air, murmuring, "Parolomenasis~"

This was the signal he had agreed upon with the witch.

After a dozen seconds or so, a white‑haired, frail old woman appeared out of thin air beside Luosen.

This time Luosen understood: the opponent was using a very exquisite phase‑shift technique.

The transfer speed was extremely fast and also very covert.

To ordinary human perception, it was indistinguishable from appearing out of nowhere.

But under Laifu's millisecond‑level probing ability, nothing could remain hidden.

During the phase shift, at the most unguarded instant—perhaps less than a tenth of a second—Laifu had already gathered two key pieces of information.

'Basic soul strength Legendary 14, mana scale 35, Luosen.'

Luosen's wariness dropped by ninety percent at once: 'Surely a fake witch.'

According to the Encyclopedia of Void Life, a true witch possesses a Legendary 17 soul, a being of immense scale—hundreds of thousands of times Luosen's soul scale.

She is stronger than this person before her by an unknown amount.

On the other side, after the old woman appeared, she scrutinized Luosen with her murky eyes, in which the whites and irises were barely distinguishable, then slowly shook her head.

"No~~ no~~ Your substitute may be perfect, but it lacks a soul core, so you can't fool De Rui Tan."

"It must be you yourself."

Luosen secretly marveled: "This guy's perception is really sharp."

He kept a straight face: "My lady, my true body is the emperor of the Natural Empire; I cannot lightly risk it."

The old woman chuckled: "I can sense that your true body is nearby."

"Since you've come, don't hide."

Luosen's true body is indeed not far away, about five kilometers from this lower‑tier Elf substitute, hidden almost perfectly.

If someone hid using a similar method, Luosen would not be able to detect them.

Yet this old woman saw through it at a glance—she really has some skill.

But Luosen isn't afraid, because the old woman's combat ability is surely poor; at least she lacks confidence in defeating him, otherwise she wouldn't bother with tricks.

Thus he smiled faintly: "My true body won't take this risk for you. Either you figure out how to disguise this substitute, or you'll have to abandon the plan."

The old woman gave a slight smile: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid you can't refuse my proposal."

Upon hearing this, Luosen's mind tensed instantly, and the alert level of his true body's Heart of the War God rose to the extreme.

The old woman added: "I don't like chatting with substitutes; I'll go find you directly."

As soon as she finished speaking, her figure vanished on the spot, but a few seconds later she appeared at the shore of Swan Lake.

By a cypress tree on the lakeshore, Luosen stood with arms crossed, back against the trunk, calmly awaiting the old woman's arrival.

After the old woman appeared, he smiled faintly: "Speak plainly."

The old woman sized Luosen up and down, then smiled: "Turning the Legendary Archmage's Hat into a near‑perfect wig is not a bad idea."

"But you probably don't know that this magical item has a loophole."

Luosen gave a slight shrug: "And then?"

The old woman blinked, sensing that Luosen's reaction was off, and hesitantly said: "I can invade your soul through the loophole and make you my true follower."

Luosen stared at the woman's white yet thick hair and said: "I guess you're also wearing a Legendary Archmage's Hat, right?"

The old woman grew more uneasy, frowning at Luosen: "Since I've spoken plainly and you feel no fear, you must have discovered where the loophole lies."

"Even so, I still want to give it a try."

"If it succeeds, there's no need for talk; if it fails, we can continue discussing a new cooperation."

Luosen had fully figured out the principle of the Legendary Archmage's Hat, so he nodded.

"You may try, but I will try as well."

"We'll see who first invades the other's hat and enters their soul."

The old woman's brows knit again: "I advise you not to try, for my tolerance of provocation is limited; you'd better not make me angry."

Such words might scare ordinary people, and they used to work on Luosen before, but not now.

He has seen through the opponent's ruse; the only thing still unclear is the opponent's true identity and intent.

Thus he responded with a faint smile.

"I have always lived by this saying: only by drawing one's sword can one gain equal standing; retreat only makes one a slave."

"So, as soon as you act, I will draw my sword without hesitation."

The old woman sighed: "You're really stubborn; then go ahead and try."

Having said that, her murky eyes emitted a faint glow, and at the same moment Luosen felt a secret force pressing on his soul, making him feel oppressed.

If the Legendary wig truly had a loophole at that moment, this force would clearly seep into his soul.

Luosen, without hesitation, immediately retaliated.

He now possesses base soul strength of Legendary 6, capable of focusing into stable Legendary 13 soul power—slightly inferior to hers, but not by much.

He followed the loopholes he had previously found on the Legendary Archmage's Hat, trying them one by one.

Meanwhile, the Heart of the War God operated at its peak; should it detect his soul being invaded, it would immediately launch a powerful assault to destroy the opponent's body.

At this instant, the two were like Earth's net‑hackers, searching each other's souls for loopholes at breakneck speed.

Luosen, being merely human, is naturally not fast enough, but Laifu is a Soul GPT; after training, its loophole‑searching speed is millisecond‑level.

Within one second, it attacks each loophole in turn, as swift as lightning.

Thus, while Luosen still felt a bit stifled, Laifu found a loophole on the opponent's Legendary Archmage's Hat—one of the three major loopholes he had previously discovered.

The situation was obvious: there were three major loopholes; the other side had patched two, thinking they had fixed everything, but they didn't expect there was still one left.

After finding the loophole, Luosen immediately set the Overlay Wave Focus Technique to standby trigger mode, then, using the soul power of Legendary 13, he gently poked along the opponent's soul loophole.

To avoid killing the opponent, he used very little force; the sensation was like poking tofu brain.

Plop~~

The old woman suddenly knelt in the snow, her body lunging forward, her trembling hands braced on the snow, and she let out a piercing wail.

Luosen did not continue attacking; he simply stared intently at the old woman.

As soon as she made any move, he would immediately use the Overlay Wave Focus to unleash a killing strike, physically piercing her brain straight through.

After a while, the trembling of her hands gradually eased.

She slowly lifted her head, looking at Luosen with a gaze full of fear.

You are definitely not a mortal—who exactly are you?!

Luosen had already prepared his excuse: "If the Lord of Truth could luckily pick up a branch of the Life Tree, then I could naturally also luckily pick up other divine artifacts."

If the other side could bluff him, he could certainly bluff them back.

It just comes down to who can bluff better.

The old woman's pupils contracted sharply: "Picking up a divine artifact—actually it's this easy to find one, to the point that an entire plane would have two of them?"

Looking at this, she at least believed seventy to eighty percent.

Luosen couldn't help but laugh loudly: "Now, stop hiding your true form—reveal your real self within three seconds, or I'll kill you!" The old woman's face shuddered; after hesitating a few seconds, light and shadow flowed over her body.

After a dozen or so seconds, a young woman with golden hair and blue eyes appeared, her skin shining in contrast with the white snow.

Why was it just skin? For some reason, she wore no clothes at all—only a deep-blue wide-brimmed pointed hat on her head, while the old woman's earlier hemp skirt was actually a magical disguise.

Luosen found it strange: "Where are your clothes?"

"The first principle of Infinite Phase Shift Technique is to minimize the number and quality of items carried, in order to reduce mana consumption and abnormal disturbances to the soul."

Luosen understood, so he took off his fur cloak and threw it over.

"Put it on, then tell me your true identity."

The witch draped the thick fur cloak over herself, sat cross-legged in the snow, but the cloak wasn't wrapped tightly, so Luosen could see much of the scenery.

This made him feel she might be trying to seduce him, but it didn't matter; even if his mind were addled by temptation, the reaction of the Heart of the War God remained as swift as ever.

She spoke, her voice tinged with slight fatigue, as if she had not yet recovered from the soul's pain.

"I am not a void being; I am a mortal, or rather, a high-ranking elf of De Rui Tan."

"I have lived for 7,000 years; my true name is Duola."

"Duola? The moon goddess Duola?!"

Luosen's heart gave a slight jolt, and he instantly felt the situation had become very interesting.

Of course, he didn't fully believe it; he only believed fifty to sixty percent.

"Then why did you betray the Lord of Truth?"

"I didn't betray; I resisted."

"Five thousand years ago, I used some schemes to scare De Rui Tan away, but after five thousand years, this fellow actually wants to come back and continue ruling our elves."

"This is absolutely unacceptable!"

As she spoke, she took off the Legendary Grand Mage's hat, and Luosen clearly felt her legendary power drop from unfathomable depths to the level of Legendary 8.

In other words, her hat has an extraordinary effect, boosting soul strength by +6.

Judging solely by the enhancement effect, it is absolutely a good thing.

Duola is extremely sensitive, even to the point of being able to feel one's inner thoughts.

Without Luosen asking, she voluntarily spoke up to explain.

"I haven't told you all the knowledge for crafting the legendary hat."

"This hat of mine was made by De Rui Tan; it grants Legendary +6, so my true soul strength is Legendary 8. Yours, on the other hand, can only grant Legendary +3, right?"

Having come this far in the conversation, Luosen believed seventy to eighty percent.

"How can you prove what you're saying?"

Whoosh~

Duola lifted her cloak: "My soul has been injured; I can't cast spells for a short time. Feel free to examine my body—I'm sure you know how to recognize a high-ranking elf."

Luosen really did want to check.

He used the Radiant Insight spell to shine light, then carefully observed her deep bodily structure.

Soon he reached a conclusion: "Judging by your bodily structure, you seem not to be lying."

This is indeed the body of a high-ranking elf, very similar to the legendary high-ranking elf he had killed, but with a difference: it appears overly perfect.

One can sense that the designer poured enormous thought into the remodeling, so that inside and out, no flaw can be found.

Luosen couldn't even imagine such a perfect body in this life, nor in his past life when photo editing was rampant—he had never seen one, not even in dreams.

It was too perfect, to the point of feeling unreal.

Moreover, this person resembles a high-ranking elf by about eighty to ninety percent.

That is none other than Miss Xixi, who once visited him as an envoy.

But she is a super‑high‑spec version of Xixi; compared to her, the latter is like a shoddily made product.

After comprehensive consideration, he believed ninety percent.

"So, does the Lord of Truth really possess a divine artifact?"

"That's correct."

"Then why don't you steal it yourself?"

"All elves are creations of the Life Tree's branch; they lack the ability to steal it, so they must bring in an outsider. And that outsider should be as strong as possible—obviously you are the best choice."

Then you can speak openly with me directly. Oh, I understand, you not only want me to steal the staff, you also want me to perish together with the furious Lord of Truth, so that your elves will not only be completely free, but also deal a heavy blow to the worldly opponent, and even grasp the divine artifact.

And precisely for this reason, you insist on letting my true form enter the Elven Empire, right?

Duola remained silent.

What an excellent plan.

Luosen gave a praise, then his face turned cold: "Now, convince me to spare your life."

Duola wrapped her cloak again, this time tightly, leaving no gaps.

The Lord of Truth's return is a catastrophe for my elves, and a disaster for humanity.

And I am his most beloved elf; wanting to steal the Life Tree Branch, my assistance is indispensable.

Interesting, anything else?

Through the Life Tree Branch, one can directly control the first-generation elves, and also subtly influence all mortals containing elf blood.

And elf blood has long spread across the White Continent, even you have some.

And I, know how to shield this weak influence.

This greatly convinced Luosen, because it is closely related to him and his family.

He asked: "Are the secrets of the Life Tree Branch truly incomprehensible to mortals?"

Duola shook her head: "I don't know, but I once heard my master say that to truly understand it, one needs truly great power."

So I guess, perhaps it requires a soul greater than Legendary 15 to have sufficient sensitivity.

A soul greater than Legendary 15 made Luosen suddenly feel a headache.

Because this is basic soul strength, not power after various later-stage focus.

He brought a Legendary wig, only reaching Legendary 6; even wearing Duola's +6 hat, he'd only be Legendary 9.

To reach Legendary 15 feels hopelessly distant.

But as long as it is comprehensible, he has confidence to crack it.

At this moment, Duola spoke: "I cannot stay away from the Life Tree for too long, otherwise De Rui Tan will notice."

"If you want me to continue as De Rui Tan's insider, then let me return quickly."

Her voice was somewhat urgent.

Luosen thought for a moment, then shook his head: "I won't let you go back; from now on you will stay by my side."

"Because I lack a research sample of high-ranking elves beside me."

Duola exclaimed in shock: "If that's the case, once De Rui Tan returns, he will immediately launch an army to attack you."

Luosen chuckled, a hint of coldness in his eyes: "Bring it on; I'm just afraid he won't come."

He has forged so many powerful war weapons; they are meant to be used.

(End of chapter)