"Are you really Lorisa? The Elf Queen Lorisa?"
Hao Ren stared intently into the elf "girl's" eyes and asked with utmost seriousness.
The moment he asked, Lily, who had been craning her neck beside them to look out the window in search of something tasty on the street, immediately turned around. "Huh? Landlord, didn't we already confirm her identity?"
"All our confirmations were based on what she claimed about herself." Hao Ren leaned back in his seat. "I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I've finally decided to ask. You—are you really Lorisa?"
The elf slightly furrowed her beautiful brows, but her expression did not change at all. Hao Ren's sudden question seemed insufficient to shake her resolve. In fact, ever since leaving the Dark Mountain Range, this "ancient Magic Emperor" had quickly regained her composure and steadiness. The shock of ten thousand years passing had apparently only shaken her for a short while before she swiftly returned to the state of an "Elf Queen."
"Why are you suddenly asking that?" she asked calmly after several seconds of silence.
Seeing her reaction, Hao Ren wore an expression that said he had expected this. He relaxed his body. "Do you know about the Life Tree Plan?"
"The Life Tree Plan?" Lorisa finally showed a trace of confusion. Clearly, this was the first time she had heard the term. "There is indeed a Life Tree in elven legend. It was the first tree in the world, and all elves were born from its leaves. But the Life Tree Plan... I've never heard of it."
Vivian seemed to understand what Hao Ren was thinking. She first looked enlightened, then turned toward Lorisa in confusion.
"The Life Tree Plan, in short, was to use source-blood power and the elves' secret magic