Chapter 323

Endless Forest.

Luosen is still discreetly heading to Aterasen, speed not slow but not fast either, similar to sightseeing tourism.

But there is something, Luosen feels a bit strange.

「Duola and Xixi, the information they recently provided, seems a bit trivial. 」

Although he is in the Holy Elven Empire, he has always controlled the Natural Empire through the means of spirit resonance.

Also constantly paying attention to the battle situation on the Dragon Isles.

Before De Rui Tan's return, the information provided by Duola and Xixi was always timely and accurate, perfectly matching the battle reports sent from the front of the Radiant Empire.

But after De Rui Tan returned, the situation gradually began to change.

Although there is also a lot of information, and it roughly matches the frontline battle reports, but it always makes Luosen feel that something is off.

He finds it hard to use this information to obtain high-value results.

This feeling is very subtle.

It's like the next winning chess game; in the first half, the opponent is a clumsy player, easily manipulated.

But in the second half, it switches to a true chess master, becoming slippery.

After careful analysis, Luosen concluded: "Since the Lord of War has intervened, there is an eighty or ninety percent chance that the commander on the battlefield has been changed."

But who is this commander?

Where is he currently?

What does he plan to do next? Luosen has no idea; in the information provided by Duola and Xixi, there is actually not a single valuable clue to be found.

"This commander should have already noticed the problem of the insider, but surely hasn't yet suspected Xixi and Duola; otherwise, given the nature of the Void God, these two girls would already be dead."

"But this commander is far more capable than De Rui Tan; it's only a matter of time before the two women expose their identities."

"My earlier plan to use Duola to seduce De Rui Tan definitely won't work now; not only will it fail, it might instead plunge me into a great crisis."

Plans really can't keep up with changes.

What to do?

Of course, go with the flow and immediately adjust the plan.

While pondering, Luosen gradually slowed his steps toward the Elven capital Aterasen.

When he got close enough that there were still 200 kilometers to Aterasen, he received another piece of information sent by Duola.

It was a piece of information concerning the mobilization of the Elven frontline troops.

Before, this would have been quite normal.

But this time, upon hearing it, Luosen immediately felt something was off.

"If the information is true, its value would be considerable, enough to inflict huge losses on the Elven army."

But such high-value information hasn't appeared for a while.

After a little thought, Luosen judged: "It seems Duola has already been suspected, and this information is a test!"

Luosen thought for a few seconds, then immediately sent a message via spirit resonance to Duola: "Leave Aterasen at once and go to Swan Castle!"

The soul of the Strong God already has sufficient sensitivity.

They certainly cannot ascertain the specific content of spirit resonance; in fact, no one can do this, not even Luosen.

However, they might possibly detect the existence of the spirit resonance phenomenon.

If Duola were suspected, she would be closely monitored; at that point, if she again used spirit resonance to transmit information, there would be a risk of exposure.

Therefore, Duola's current situation is already very dangerous.

If the enemy later confirms on the battlefield that the information was indeed leaked, Duola will be eliminated immediately.

Therefore, while the enemy hasn't yet fully confirmed it, letting Duola flee at once is the only way to save her life.

Luosen still quite likes this Moon God, but he can't bear to let her die.

After the message was sent, he immediately received Duola's reply: "Yes, Master."

After another 5 seconds, he again received Duola's reply: "Master, I am already at Swan Castle."

This reply let Luosen secretly breathe a sigh of relief: "Fortunately this lass runs fast."

Duola is the inventor of the Infinite Phase Shift technique; her single-handed phase shift ability is extraordinary.

Luosen estimates that the Elven commander surely looks astonished.

Sensing a hint of panic in Duola's tone, he gently soothed her.

"Very good, go stay safely in the secret laboratory in the northern hills of Swan Castle and wait for my return."

"Master, there is only your puppet substitute here; where are you now?"

"I'm out on business; I'll be back after a while."

Having settled Duola, Luosen sped up his pace toward Aterasen.

The Moon God Duola's sudden disappearance naturally confirms her identity as a human insider.

And with Duola as a precedent, the Elves' new commander will surely conduct a comprehensive identity investigation of the Elven high command.

Thus, Xixi, who has visited Weilan several times and undergone a great change in temperament, will soon be exposed.

Xixi now possesses the base soul of Legendary 11, and De Rui Tan put thought into crafting her a +5 erudite hat, which equals the strength of Legendary 16, making her clearly the foremost among the Elves, and a peerless existence.

This talent is truly outstanding, so De Rui Tan believes it is a priceless treasure bestowed by the Creator; the affection he once showed Duola has now been entirely transferred to Xixi.

Moreover, much of the important information Luosen has obtained also largely comes from Xixi.

Once Xixi is identified as an insider, it will definitely cause a huge upheaval within the Elven Empire.

At that time, not only will De Rui Tan appear, but the new commander is also very likely to appear beside Xixi to personally conduct the interrogation.

And this, is Luosen's opportunity.

When the timing is right, he will act to kill this new commander.

The timing is not right; at the very least, we need to figure out the opponent's exact identity.

So, he now needs to sneak quickly to Xixi's side.

At this moment, Luosen is still 200 kilometers away from Aterasen.

If relying on one's own strength to travel, going fast risks exposure, while going slow might not leave enough time.

Just as he was pondering, he suddenly heard hoofbeats from beside him; turning his head, he saw a tall forest demoness.

His eyes lit up; he pulled out ten sun nuts from his pocket and handed them over, saying, "Sister, can you do me a favor?"

Thanks to De Rui Tan's perfect obsessive-compulsive disorder, this forest demoness is extremely beautiful.

She had deep gold long hair, azure eyes, gorgeous features, a tall and full figure, and was also strong and agile.

She lowered her gaze to look at the sun nuts in Luosen's hand, then lifted her eyes to look at Luosen, her gaze sweeping over his tall, sturdy body, and she gave a light laugh.

"Little guy, you've mistaken me; I'm not the Joyful Sister."

"However, I don't mind playing with you for a while."

Luosen had no mood to play; seeing the misunderstanding, he immediately said, "No, sister, I have urgent business to rush to Aterasen."

"If this money isn't enough, I can add more."

The demoness's face showed a hint of displeasure: "Another one who treats us as a horse to ride, but for the sake of the money, come up."

Luosen immediately flipped over and climbed onto the demoness's back.

The demoness tapped her hooves and said, "Ten isn't enough; I want twenty."

"Alright, twenty then."

Luosen took out enough sun nuts, stuffed them into the demoness's upper-body clothing pocket, and asked, "Where should I hold on?"

"You've never ridden a demoness before, young man?"

"No."

His lower-elf clone had infiltrated the Endless Forest long ago, but he acted very discreetly and rarely had intimate contact with strangers, so he only knew he could ride, but had never actually done so.

"Ha~~ what a novice, grab my hand or hold my waist."

Luosen observed a bit, then chose to grab the demoness's hand.

"Hold tight!"

The demoness shouted, flung open her four hooves, and galloped along the Pilgrimage Road toward the direction of Aterasen.

The forest demoness had tremendous stamina; while running, she still had breath to speak to Luosen: "Young man, what's your name?"

"Luode, a villager of the Colorful Valley, going to Aterasen for pilgrimage." "How old are you?"

"36."

Luosen had exaggerated his age a bit; for a lower-elf, that age was roughly equivalent to 18 years old.

The demoness glanced sideways at Luosen, smiling narrowly, and said, "You really are a young, handsome little guy."

She then introduced herself: "My name is Lisia Belening."

Luosen startled: "Are you an upper-elf?"

Surnames are the privilege of upper-elves, and ordinary upper-elves are very arrogant, never allowing lower-elves to ride on them.

The demoness Lisia shrugged her shoulders, showing a hint of cynicism on her face.

"What upper-elves, lower-elves — just the difference between gods' pets and gods' sheep; essentially, they're all gods' playthings."

While speaking, the demoness moved her wrist: "Don't pinch my wrist, it's uncomfortable; grab my hand instead, yes, interlock your fingers, oh — your hand is quite big and feels strong; you're truly a young person like the morning sun."

After sighing, Lisia asked again: "Why are you in such a hurry to go to Aterasen?"

"Pilgrimage."

"Bullshit!"

Lisia gave a light snort: "There's never been an elf rushing to pilgrimage; only elves rushing to answer the call of the wild."

"Be honest with me — does Aterasen have the girl you love?"

Since she wanted to guess that way, Luosen naturally wouldn't contradict her.

Although he thought this demoness was a bit talkative, and since rushing was important, he gave a perfunctory reply: "You guessed right, Miss Lisia."

Lisia whistled: "Oh ho~~ then that girl is truly blessed."

Luosen startled: "How do you mean that?"

"My back is very sensitive; I can feel many things."

While speaking, Lisia furrowed the skin on her back, her face showing a mix of teasing and curiosity: "What's that girl's name?"

"Lilian; she went on pilgrimage ahead of me, I was delayed by some matters, but we had agreed to worship the Great Life Tree together."

"Oh~ I see, truly an innocent and naive young person."

Lisia finally stopped talking and focused on bringing Luosen forward as they ran.

She possessed Six Rings' mana, most of which was used to strengthen her body, giving her immense energy and great speed.

After running for over two hours, they had covered about 160 kilometers, leaving less than 30 kilometers to the border of Aterasen.

By then, through the gaps in the treetop branches and leaves, the outline of the Great Life Tree could be clearly seen.

This tree is extremely tall, with a trunk diameter exceeding 200 meters and a height over 1500 meters.

Its lush canopy directly pierces the clouds and spreads out in all directions, magnificent and grand.

Although Luosen looked down on De Rui Tan, he couldn't deny that this Great Life Tree is truly huge, absolutely deserving of being the first man-made wonder of this plane.

Here, the intensity of the soul mist is also unusually high.

Luosen's void vision dropped from 2 kilometers to 1.4 kilometers.

If placed in a human city, this distance would be almost like blindness, but in a forest with dense foliage, long-range sniping is practically impossible.

Others' void vision is also absolutely much smaller than Luosen's.

Even if a great god were to come, it would probably not exceed 200 meters.

No names.

Therefore, Rosen still has a huge field-of-view advantage.

Contains Rosen -> Luosen.

Lixia was getting a bit tired from running, her breathing grew much heavier: "Young man, I need to rest a while, no objections?"

"Of course no objections, Miss Lixia, please rest."

Lixia then reduced her speed, switching to small, quick steps jogging, but her speed remained fast, about forty-plus kilometers per hour.

"I'm thirsty, do you have water?"

"Certainly."

Luosen used magic to condense a ball of clear water and handed it over.

Lixia went "gulgulgul" and took a big gulp, exhaled deeply, then asked: "After the pilgrimage, what do you plan to do with your Lilian?"

"Still don't know."

Luosen controlled his expression to show a youthful bewildered look.

Lixia suddenly switched to a sixth-ring telepathic message: "I have a suggestion for you, want to hear it?"

"Certainly."

"After the pilgrimage, immediately bring your Lilian back to the Colorful Valley."

"If possible, it's best to leave the Endless Forest right away, go to the Heavenly Pillar Snow Mountains to find a secluded spot to hide and live out the rest of your life in seclusion."

Luosen's heart twitched slightly, he blinked, his face showing "a youth's inexperience with the world": "Miss Lixia, why do you say that?"

"Don't call me Miss, I'm over 90 years old, just call me Auntie."

Whether it's high-ranking Elves or sixth-ring power, being over 90 is still very young; barring accidents, this demoness can live at least 3,000-plus years, and her power can reach at least ninth ring.

Calling her Auntie makes her seem old.

Luosen naturally knew how to win favor, so he said: "I'll just call you Sister Lixia."

Lixia indeed smiled with brows relaxed: "That's fine."

But the smile only lasted a moment before fading.

"My sister is a holy demoness warrior; she said a new commander has arrived from above, very strict and also very ruthless."

"As soon as he arrived, he began a major military overhaul and started preparing for large-scale conscription of soldiers."

"In the near future, countless soldiers will likely be sent to the battlefield; I surely won't remain free for long."

"The battlefield now is extremely brutal, the death rate absurdly high; out of a hundred who go, just one coming back is considered lucky."

Saying this, the forest demoness's face showed deep sorrow: "With the gods' return, the good days are completely over!"

She then looked at Luosen: "Little guy, you're still young; there's no need to waste your life for those ruthless gods."

Those words made Luosen's heart twitch: "Sister Lixia, aren't the gods supposed to protect us?"

"Hmph~"

Lixia let out a cold snort, her sorrow revealing an undisguisable anger: "The gods never protect us mortals."

She turned her head to glance at Luosen: "Want to hear my family's story, little brother?"

They had already entered the core region of Atelasen, beneath the canopy of the Great Life Tree.

Here it's still a bit of a walk to the trunk of the Great Life Tree, but the distance to Xixi's position is already very close, less than one kilometer in a straight line.

The reason is, Xixi lives in that huge canopy above Luosen's head.

And the demoness Lixia's behavior also let Luosen clearly feel that the Elves' submission to the Void God is out of necessity.

They harbor great dissatisfaction, even resentment.

"'Elves are also mortals, merely a group that after modification has somewhat greater strength and longer life.'"

"'Before I wasn't strong enough, and the Natural Empire wasn't strong enough either, unable to shoulder the responsibility, but now we can.'"

"The Elves' new commander is indeed formidable, but no matter how formidable, she is still just one person."

"Without the cooperation of the Elven Empire, even a clever woman cannot cook without rice."

"Originally, Luosen was still thinking about how to deal with this troublesome opponent."

"But now he has an idea."

"'If the assassination fails, I'll unleash an Elf Spring, ruin your foundation, hehe.'"

"This plan is highly feasible and much more stable than assassination."

"If pulled off, it could not only defeat the Void God but also completely dismantle the Elven Empire, possibly even annex the Elves into the Natural Empire, once and for all solving the Elf problem."

"Other races are truly hard to integrate, but Elves can be."

"Because Elves are used to being dogs, they have tremendous psychological inertia."

"As long as the new master is strong enough and treats them well, they can switch roles swiftly."

"Moon Goddess Duola is a clear example."

"Thus, Luosen, while monitoring Xixi in the canopy above, said: 'Let's find a quiet place to talk, Sister Lixia.'"

"(End of chapter)"