Chapter 326

Half an hour later.

In the suburbs of Atelasen, there was a very inconspicuous tree-hole entrance.

Follow behind me, I'll take you in.

The tree hole is deep and dark, but don't worry, it's safe inside.

Luosen nodded and followed closely behind him.

The tree-hole entrance was blocked by a thicket of bushes, indeed inconspicuous, but the interior passage was spacious, forming a multi-layered spiral; the spiral diameter was about twenty-plus meters, and each turn descended about five-plus meters.

Inside the passage it was pitch black, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and besides there were thick soil layers blocking it, Luosen's void vision was suppressed to less than 300 meters.

Moreover, there's no need to worry about danger, because within 300 meters everything is normal, and in this world hardly anyone has the ability to scheme against another person through solid soil layers over 300 meters thick.

At least Luosen himself couldn't do it.

Through void vision, one could see the spiral passage continuing downward, making about forty-plus turns, extending over two hundred meters underground.

This project's scale is not ordinarily large.

He was quite curious: 'The underground cave seems deep; when was it dug?'

Even with magic, this is a rare large-scale project; it's hard to accomplish silently.

'It was dug about 5000-plus years ago, as part of the Fire Seed Plan.'

Luosen didn't understand: 'Fire Seed Plan? I've never heard of it.'

Lixia patiently explained: 'Over 5000-plus years ago, De Rui Tan suddenly departed; the Elves, bereft of their sovereign, felt both joy and panic.'

'The ancestors worried that De Rui Tan might return, and also feared another void deity like De Rui Tan invading, so they dug vast underground passages beneath the earth.'

'These underground passages intersected and connected, forming an underground city network spread throughout the Endless Forest, named the Luminous Giant City.'

'This way, even if De Rui Tan returns, we can still retain some freedom under the earth's protection.'

'But De Rui Tan never returned, the Fire Seed Plan was gradually forgotten, and many of the underground cities collapsed. Nowadays, the new generation of Elves hardly knows of its existence at all.'

'But the Luminous Giant City is extremely sturdy; even after five thousand years, it still retains most of its structure.'

'Many powerful Elves still retain ancient memories, so the Luminous Giant City has been reactivated.'

As they spoke, Lixia led Luosen through the spiral passage; after descending a downward staircase, they entered a deeper underground level about two hundred twenty meters deep.

Ahead appeared a very spacious arched underground passage, fifty meters wide and twenty meters high, far more spacious than a modern highway tunnel from his previous life.

Light came from the passage, from giant mushrooms growing in the soil layers on both sides.

Each mushroom is larger than a person's head, emitting brightness roughly equivalent to a one-ring illumination spell.

Individually the mushrooms' brightness isn't striking, but the countless mushrooms together produce illumination comparable to a night of a full moon.

Upon closer inspection, Luosen discovered that these mushrooms were quite remarkable; they could actually draw power from the spell rings and convert it into steady light.

This ability exists because the mushrooms contain souls.

Human souls.

Seeing Luosen looking at the mushrooms, Lixia explained: 'These are ghost mushrooms; each ghost mushroom contains an elf's soul.'

'Do they have a chance to reincarnate?'

'Logically, they should not.'

'Because their identities are either criminals executed by death penalty, or longevous beings utterly weary of life; the mushrooms are their final destination.'

Luosen's brow twitched: 'This is a bit cruel.'

Lixia spread her hands: 'It does sound a bit like that, but the criminals sentenced to death have no choice, whereas the longevous beings weary of life actively choose it.'

'However, if the new ruler in the void discovers these ghost mushrooms, they would likely rebirth these souls as warriors, for that entity has an enormous craving for warriors.'

Recalling the scarlet lady's description, Luosen knew Lixia was right.

As they spoke, the two gradually passed through the spacious passage illuminated by ghost mushrooms, arriving at a deeper, more expansive underground space that could even be called magnificent.

Here it is huge, height exceeding a hundred meters, width over a kilometer, the spatial structure also becomes very complex, presenting a grid-like three-dimensional structure, somewhat similar to termite nests.

Together with the omnipresent illuminating ghost mushrooms, Luosen felt as if he had arrived at a kind of vast, sleepless underground city.

Around them also appeared many Elves, of various kinds.

Because of the openness, Luosen's sensory range expanded greatly, and he sensed the presence of many Elves.

'The numbers are quite considerable, the average strength is also considerable, the minimum being Four-ring.'

From time to time, Elves greeted the female demon Lixia, while also looking at Luosen with gazes mixing curiosity and vigilance.

It was evident that Lixia held a high status in the Hare Society.

Considering she once possessed a soul of nine-ring strength, this is completely understandable.

Lixia whispered: 'They are all members of the Hare Society, both new and old.'

'Sister, you must be a new member too, right?'

'My body is, but my soul is not. I've been in the Hare Society for eight years.'

'Moreover, the Hare Society has a long history, traceable back to five thousand years ago. Previously, its function was as guardians of the Luminous Giant City; now it has transformed into rebels against tyranny.'

Luosen's heart stirred: 'Eight years—could that not be exactly when the Lord of Truth began to return?'

In other words, once the Lord of Truth's return was confirmed, the Elves began to act.

At that moment, a cute-looking female demon came hopping over cheerfully, laughing as she greeted Lixia: 'Sister~~ why do you have time to come today?'

She quickly ran to Lixia's side, happily hopping around her a few times. Her short tail, reminiscent of a rabbit's, kept twitching, quite rabbit-like in spirit.

She suddenly exclaimed in surprise: 'Eh~ Sis, why is your butt swollen? Which warrior did this?'

Lixia pursed her lips toward Luosen beside her and said naturally: 'It was that little guy Luo De who did it; he has a divine spear.'

The cute female demon then turned her gaze to Luosen, studying him with a curious look: 'Eh~~ this little guy is that powerful?'

Such a return-to-simplicity, wild-filled Q&A left Luosen somewhat overwhelmed.

He didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he could only stand there and give an awkward smile.

The cute female demon's face again showed a gloating expression: "Little guy, you're in trouble."

Luosen stared, then turned his head to look inquiringly at the female demon Lixia.

Lixia laughed: "Don't be nervous, it's not a big deal."

She also explained: "My husband will be dissatisfied, but don't worry, I'll explain it to him."

The cute female demon chuckled: "If it were normal circumstances, there really wouldn't be a big problem, but now it's not normal."

"Captain Leikeisi treats Sister Lixia very gently, but you're being so rough with her; he might challenge you to a duel."

Luosen hadn't expected this layer of relationship, but it's indeed not a big deal, because the Elves' male-female relations are very chaotic.

More accurately, all long-lived races are quite chaotic.

Lixia beside her waved a hand: "All right, Gelisi, don't scare Luo De, let's get down to business."

She composed her expression: "Luo De plans to join the Wild Hare Society and become our brother/sister. So I need five official members to witness his initiation ceremony."

"Now I'm one, you're one, I still need three people; do you have any candidates?"

The cute female demon Gelisi didn't answer immediately; she turned and carefully sized up Luosen: "You're quite young, your magic is pretty good, but just that isn't enough to join the Wild Hare Society; you need specific skills."

"Tell me, what can you do?"

Luosen had indeed prepared; he then said: "I am a Harvest Mage, proficient in cultivating fruits, especially skilled at cultivating healing fruits."

In the Holy Elven Empire, the highest-grade fruits are crafted from life-tree branches, but many fruits with relatively ordinary functions also exist.

At the same time, there is a series of fruit magics, and there exists a kind of staff similar to a life-tree branch, called an ordinary Sprout Staff.

Those mages who master fruit magic have a special title: Harvest Mage.

The Elves rely on various fruits, so the Harvest Mage's role is great and their status is quite high.

Sure enough, Gelisi's eyes lit up: "How many kinds of fruits can you craft?"

"About fifty or so. I've loved crafting fruits since childhood, spending almost all my time researching fruit magic."

"Oh~~ that's quite a lot. What is your strongest fruit?"

"The 6th-ring Resolute Will Fruit and the 6th-ring Soul-nourishing Fruit. Since they are one level above my magic strength, I spent a lot of effort to master them proficiently."

Gelisi's eyes shone even brighter, and even Lixia looked at Luosen with new respect.

One reason is the high status of Harvest Mages; another is that the Wild Hare Society is severely lacking Harvest Mages.

Because of the importance of fruits, De Rui Tan values Harvest Mages highly, giving them very generous treatment, far better than other Elves, especially since they don't have to go to the front lines to fight desperately.

Thus, Harvest Mages leave a very good impression on De Rui Tan.

For them, there is no such thing as tyranny, so naturally they have no reason to join the Wild Hare Society to rebel against tyranny.

Gelisi's attitude became very enthusiastic: "Luo De, it's an honor that you can join us; I'll go gather the witnesses now."

She bounced away.

Lixia said to Luosen: "What about your Sprout Staff?"

Luosen had an embarrassed look: "While rushing, it was stolen."

He then added: "Even without a staff, I can still cultivate fruits; of course, the speed will be much slower."

While speaking, he took off the leather luggage bag he'd been carrying on his back, reached inside, and pulled out three blue-shelled fruits resembling hard-shelled kiwifruit—soul-nourishing fruits.

"Sister Lixia, try my craftsmanship, and may it help you recall the image of your departed sister."

For him, crafting such low-grade fruits is a piece of cake, so he prepared some on the side to disguise his identity.

Lixia took it, took a bite, and her face instantly showed astonishment: "The quality is quite good!"

She could clearly feel a warm current flowing into her mind, continually nourishing her damaged soul, reducing the pain considerably.

Thus, she ate all three fruits at once; her soul pain greatly eased, and even the blurred memories from her soul damage recovered somewhat.

Luosen's action also deeply moved her heart and greatly increased her regard for him.

From a lower-tier Elf youth with decent growth potential, he became a genius Harvest Mage with extraordinary fruit skills, extremely important to the Wild Hare Society.

"Luo De, after you join, I'll take you to meet Master Yilina."

She also explained: "Master Yilina is also a Harvest Mage, possessing 9th-ring magic power."

"She once was an apprentice of the Moon Goddess Duola, received her guidance, and is one of the most important members of the Wild Hare Society."

"I believe she'll be happy to meet you."

These words exactly suited Luosen's mind; he silently thought: "I'm getting closer and closer to the leader of the Wild Hare Society."

He neither intended nor had time to gradually rise through the ranks of the Wild Hare Society.

Once he clarifies the specific situation of the Wild Hare Society next year, he will immediately begin to take control and, in the shortest time, expand it into a powerful force capable of overturning the order of the Holy Elven Empire.

(End of chapter)