Soaking in a Hot Spring

Chu Zeming's expression froze.

Although this person had elven ears and was dressed in an exceedingly woodland style, based on Chu Zeming's many experiences facing fake Yue Lian in illusions and dreams, this person was absolutely Yue Lian himself!

Chu Zeming felt that he had developed a bit of Yue Lian phobia by now.

Why was Yue Lian everywhere? Why could he never escape him?

Fu Hongchen did not know Yue Lian.

Yue Lian had entered the sect less than half a year ago and was not some dazzling top genius worth the attention of a heaven-blessed prodigy at Fu Hongchen's level. But he remembered what his master had instructed him—elves were a race that loved peace and maintained a friendly attitude toward human cultivators.

Fu Hongchen released his grip around Chu Zeming's throat and rose from him. After slightly straightening his disheveled clothes, he courteously saluted the surrounding elves and said with elegant poise, "I am Fu Hongchen. I had no intention of disturbing the elven race, and I hope you will be most forgiving..."

Before Fu Hongchen could finish, the Elfkind holy son suddenly pointed the elven staff in his hand at him.

Yue Lian said, "Fork this man up for me."

Fu Hongchen: ???

Immediately afterward, countless tough vines coiled around Fu Hongchen's body, binding him hand and foot, after which an elf skewered him on a trident and hung him upside down.

Chu Zeming burst out laughing on the spot.

"Ha ha ha ha, Young Master Fu, you deserved that."

Fu Hongchen took a deep breath and smiled at Chu Zeming. "Idiot, perhaps this is merely the elven race's way of receiving guests. My master said that elves are a race that loves peace and is exceedingly friendly toward human cultivators. My master has never lied to me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the elven holy son added, "Lock him in the highest tree cage."

Tree cages—the place where Elfkind imprisoned criminals, equivalent to a dungeon.

Chu Zeming laughed even louder.

Fu Hongchen's face turned livid. "Don't get smug. You won't escape either."

The elven race was extraordinarily formidable and highly skilled in archery. No matter how fast Chu Zeming flew, a single arrow would still shoot him through the guts and rip open his belly!

Yue Lian slowly stepped forward, took hold of Chu Zeming, who had been "humiliated" by Fu Hongchen until his clothes were half stripped and red marks covered his body, then raised his staff and announced to the elves, "This—this is your holy maiden."

The elves first froze, then wild joy appeared on their faces.

"Holy maiden!"

"Our race's holy maiden has finally appeared!"

"The Elf Tree can be saved!"

The old elf set down his cane, pressed his trembling hands together, and knelt on the ground. Crystal tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.

"Wonderful, the elven god has blessed us, the elven god has blessed us..."

Fu Hongchen's eyes widened on the spot. Twisting atop the trident, he roared, "Are you blind? Where is there any Elfkind holy maiden? This is clearly a human—and a man at that!"

The burly elf holding the trident rebuked him in a low voice, "Silence! Do not show disrespect to the holy maiden!"

Having said that, the burly elf also dropped to one knee, muttering fervently under his breath.

Fu Hongchen was beside himself with rage. He twisted, trying to get down, but the vines seemed alive as they wound even tighter around him.

Fu Hongchen was thoroughly miserable.

These powerful elves probably had something wrong with their brains. They did not love peace, they were blind, and they pointed at a man and called him a holy maiden.

What kind of goddamn nonsense was this!

Though Chu Zeming was delighted to see Fu Hongchen suffer a setback, that did not stop him from thinking it was goddamn ridiculous too.

The elves lived in the trees, in exquisite, beautiful little houses grown directly from the trees, verdant and dripping with life.

Chu Zeming and Yue Lian sat facing each other on rugs in a treehouse, and the atmosphere was exceptionally grave.

Chu Zeming did not want to know how Yue Lian had climbed to the fourth floor so quickly and even wormed his way into the position of holy son. As the protagonist, he could do anything. Chu Zeming only wanted to ask: why had Yue Lian told them he was the holy maiden?

Chu Zeming's mood was extremely low.

Yue Lian pondered for a moment before lifting his eyes and asking, "Senior Brother, aren't you happy to be protected by the powerful Elfkind?"

Chu Zeming said, "...I can't be happy about it. Would you be happy if you were dressed like this?"

He had a circle of flowers on his head, flowers covering his body, and flowers—fucking flowers—around his wrists and ankles.

Yue Lian thought about it very seriously, then told Chu Zeming, "I would be happy."

Sure enough, as soon as he said it, Chu Zeming punched him.

Yue Lian covered one red-purple eye and looked at Chu Zeming resentfully. "I am Elfkind's holy son now. Hitting me violates Elfkind's law."

Chu Zeming withdrew his fist. "Cut the crap. Tell me why you told them I'm the holy maiden."

Yue Lian readily answered, "Because holy son and holy maiden sound like a perfect match."

Chu Zeming's fists itched again. He slammed his hand viciously onto the small table between them, looming over Yue Lian with an exceedingly dangerous gaze. "Believe it or not, I'll beat you until you can't take care of yourself?"

Yue Lian: ...

So fierce.

Under Chu Zeming's glare, Yue Lian finally revealed the truth.

It turned out that he knew a way to bypass the other floors and directly enter the summit of the Divine Tree—that was, to have the Spirit of the Divine Wood supporting the Divine Wood Secret Realm send them upward.

And the spirit of the divine tree was the elven sacred tree on the fourth floor.

But several hundred years ago, the Elf Tree had fallen ill, and the sacred tree's spirit had sunk into slumber. Forget cultivators—even ordinary elves were not allowed to approach it casually. That was why Yue Lian had made up the lie about being Elfkind's holy son.

Naturally.

Where there was a holy son, there had to be a holy maiden.

Yue Lian fooled Elfkind by saying that if the holy son and holy maiden who had wandered outside performed a ritual together, the Elf Tree would regain its vitality.

Elfkind believed him.

Chu Zeming put away his urge to beat Yue Lian senseless and asked quietly, "What should we do next?"

Chu Zeming had long concluded through practical experience that his luck could not contend with the protagonist's halo, so he decided to temporarily follow Yue Lian's arrangements—after all, reaching the tenth floor first was the real priority.

Yue Lian said softly, "Rest well tonight. Tomorrow, the restoration ritual for the Elf Tree will be held. When the time comes, you and I will play it by ear." Having said that, the noble elven holy son left Chu Zeming's room with one blackened panda eye.

Within the forest where Elfkind dwelled, the elves joyously prepared for the next day's restoration ritual under blazing lights.

Meanwhile, the third floor of the Divine Tree Realm finally became lively as well.

Various small groups met head-on across the Ancient Battlefield. The terrifying Ancient Battlefield was shrouded in smoke and haze, and they fought until blood flowed and lives were lost for the treasures.

Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, and Junior Brother Wu had already reunited. The three did not participate in the fighting. Instead, they concealed their auras and watched from the side—they all remembered Chu Zeming's teachings: do not act unless necessary, and obtain the most secret treasures at the smallest cost.

During breaks in observing the battlefield, Ling Tian also kept an eye out for cultivators dressed in black. Yet not a single one was Chu Zeming, and a trace of worry could not help surfacing on his face.

Xuan Mo noticed Ling Tian's unusual behavior and asked suspiciously, "Are you looking for Eldest Senior Brother?"

Ling Tian said, "...No."

A dead duck with a stubbornly hard beak.

Xuan Mo cast Ling Tian a cold glance and said blandly, "A weakling like you shouldn't worry about Eldest Senior Brother. He might already have run several floors higher. Spend your time thinking about how to snatch treasures later instead."

Ling Tian's face chilled. "Who are you calling a weakling?"

Xuan Mo said, "Whoever answers is the one."

Ling Tian clenched his fists, then loosened them, then clenched them again. In the end, he still did not start fighting Xuan Mo on the spot.

There were two reasons. First, the timing was wrong—they still had to stand united against outsiders. Second, Xuan Mo was now as strong as he was. If they fought, he might not necessarily win...

Xuan Mo glanced at Ling Tian, then arrogantly withdrew his gaze.

Did Ling Tian think he did not know what filthy thoughts he had? A toad dreaming of swan meat.

Eldest Senior Brother possessed the bearing of one beyond mortals. Eldest Senior Brother ought to shine beautifully alone.

Those dead gay bastards like Second Senior Brother and Junior Brother should all stay far away from Eldest Senior Brother.

The night grew deeper and deeper.

On the fourth floor of the Divine Tree Realm, countless cages imprisoning elves hung from an enormous ancient tree towering into the clouds. Inside one cramped tree cage near the very top sat a human cultivator.

"Brother, what crime did you commit? Elfkind has always been reluctant to act against outsiders lightly," the elf prison mate in the neighboring tree cage asked quietly.

Fu Hongchen looked at him. After a long silence, he slowly said, "I don't know."

The moment they met, he had been lifted up by the Elfkind's holy son.

The elf gave Fu Hongchen a suspicious look. "I don't believe you. You must have committed rape. All the elves on this floor were caught for rape."

"Yes, you must have committed rape."

"Bullshit, I didn't." Fu Hongchen turned his head after saying that.

He sat inside hugging his knees, unable to go up to heaven or down to earth, feeling nothing but desolation within.

Locked up by these damned elves, without a jade talisman to leave the Divine Tree Realm, a heaven-blessed prodigy like him would have to spend the rest of his life in this cage... surrounded by a bunch of gossiping rapists.

"Damn you, Chu Zeming, you crushed my jade talisman. I, Fu Hongchen, am irreconcilable with you..." His eyes suddenly stung. Fu Hongchen raised his head to the sky and tried hard not to let his tears fall.

Chu Zeming's ears burned.

He abruptly opened his eyes.

After using an incantation to cool himself down, Chu Zeming resumed meditating.

Spiritual energy circulated around him. Only after the wounds scratched out by Fu Hongchen's nails had healed did Chu Zeming begin cultivating. By the time he opened his eyes again, it was already dawn the next morning.

An elven attendant had long been waiting outside the room.

Hearing Chu Zeming rise and move about, the elf outside asked quietly, "Holy maiden, are you awake? The hour will soon arrive. The holy son instructed me to take you to bathe first."

Chu Zeming opened the door and gave a hum of acknowledgment.

Chu Zeming knew that for such a major sacrificial ceremony, the officiants generally had to bathe and burn incense.

"This is the Elfkind's Sacred Spring. It contains the essence of heaven and earth and is extremely beneficial to the body. Holy maiden, please be sure to wash all the filth from your body with the purest water of the Sacred Spring, lest you profane the Elf Tree." After speaking by the steaming hot spring, the elf withdrew.

Chu Zeming took Xiao Hei from his shoulder and set him on the bank. He untied the clothes made from flowers and stepped into the Sacred Spring. Soaked by the steaming water, Chu Zeming felt his entire body relax. He had only just closed his eyes to enjoy it for a while when he suddenly heard water splashing beside him.

Someone else had entered the hot spring.

Chu Zeming suddenly opened his eyes and saw Yue Lian standing before him.

Yue Lian looked at the peerless beauty in the pool, naked without a thread, and said sincerely, "Senior Brother, it is all for the Elf Tree."

Yue Lian's words were so upright, sincere, and calm, but his body's reaction was astonishingly intense. Even the thick, swirling mist could not conceal his excited, aroused rod.

Chu Zeming's fist beneath the spring hardened at once.

With a dark face, Chu Zeming retreated two steps and gritted out, "If you come one step closer, I'll smash your family jewels."

No sooner had Chu Zeming spoken than a group of elves who had been gathered nearby to peep at the Sacred Spring sprang out.

There were over twenty of them, startling both Chu Zeming and Yue Lian.

The shameless old man at their head was the first to kneel and shout, "Holy maiden, you must not! If you resist the holy son so fiercely and do not receive the holy son's blessing, how can you return to elven form? And how can our race's Elf Tree be saved!"