The darkness deep within the archway was like congealed ink. Even Snow Spirit Qilin's luminous white frost mist could illuminate only a few meters ahead. Loran tightened his grip on his knight's sword, the pure white light of Three-Element Unification condensing into a faint point at the tip of the blade, barely dispelling the stench of rotting souls around them. The smell grew stronger as they ventured deeper, as though tiny fragments of souls floated in the air, bringing a bone-piercing chill when they settled on the skin.
"Watch your step. There are rune traps on the ground." Elder Aila suddenly stopped. The emerald atop the staff glowed pale green, illuminating the barely visible grooves in the floor. "These are the Elf Clan's Soul-Devouring Traps, originally meant to guard against invading evil creatures. But the Insect Clan may have modified them. Once triggered, they'll release a blast of remnant souls."
Liya crouched and gently brushed her fingertips over the grooves. The Illustrated Catalog of Plants automatically flipped to a certain page, and the Elvish writing on it began to glow. "The catalog says that disabling the traps requires 'life light.' Channel nature power or light power along the paths of the runes, and we can temporarily seal the traps."
Loran and Liya exchanged a glance. One gathered pure white light while the other summoned emerald-green nature power, and the two streams of light flowed slowly along the grooves. When the light filled the final rune, the grooves in the floor gave a soft hum before sinking underground, revealing a passage paved with blue stone slabs. A faintly glowing green "luminous stone" was embedded in the walls on either side every few steps, clearly lighting devices left behind by the Elf Clan long ago.
The Icefield Wolf charged into the passage first, its golden eyes scanning its surroundings warily and its nose twitching constantly. Besides the stench of rotting souls, it could smell an extremely faint rustling sound like metal scraping, as though something were wriggling inside the walls.
"That sound... those are the Abyss Insect Race's Bone-Eroding Insects." Elder Aila's expression shifted slightly. Taking a jade bottle from a sleeve, the elder poured out several pale green pills and distributed them to everyone. "These are insect-repelling pills. Holding one in your mouth will temporarily mask your presence and keep the insects from being attracted to you. Bone-Eroding Insects can gnaw through rock and metal. What they like most is burrowing into living people to lay eggs. Once they get onto you, they'll even hollow out your bones."
Everyone immediately held the pills in their mouths. A cool, herbal flavor spread down their throats, and sure enough, the rustling inside the walls gradually faded, as though the insects had lost their targets.
At the end of the passage was a circular secret chamber. A waist-high stone pedestal stood in its center, bearing a crystal ball covered in cracks. Intricate Elvish runes were carved around the crystal ball, with a palm-sized pale green crystal embedded at their center. Faint light pulsed across its surface like a miniature sun.
"It's a Life Crystal Core!" Liya stepped forward in delighted surprise and gently touched the crystal. "This is a fragment of the core of the Elf Clan's Tree of Life. It can nourish all things and suppress evil power! No wonder the runes in the old ruins have held out for so long. It's been supplying all their energy."
Snow Spirit Qilin's frost mist brushed over the crystal ball, and an image slowly emerged from its cracks. In it, a group of elves in green robes surrounded the Life Crystal Core, anxiously chanting spells. Black clouds shrouded the distant sky, and countless tiny black insects fell from them. Upon landing in the forest, they transformed into thick evil vines that devoured the elves' lives.
"The Insect Clan from the Rotting Soul Abyss have invaded!" In the image, an elven elder raised a staff high. The Life Crystal Core's light surged, temporarily driving back the surrounding insects. "We must seal the passage, but someone needs to remain behind to guard the crystal core and prevent the Insect Clan from destroying the seal!"
"I'll stay!" A young elf stepped forward. Her features actually bore some resemblance to Liya's. "My bloodline can resonate with the crystal core. As long as I'm here, its light won't go out!"
The image abruptly cut off there. With a crack, the fractures in the crystal ball widened further, and the pale green crystal's light dimmed as well.
"That young elf... was my ancestor, Liya Lüzhi." Liya's voice trembled as her fingertips stroked the crystal ball. "Our family's ancient records say she disappeared after the War of the Insect Clan. So she's been here guarding the crystal core all this time."
Loran walked over to the pedestal and noticed a totem carved into its side. It depicted a massive black beetle, its back marked with patterns similar to those on the black insects in the rock crevice earlier. Evil vines coiled around the beetle, their roots connected to a black vortex. Countless tiny points of light were faintly visible within the vortex, like devoured souls.
"This is the Abyss Insect Race's Mother Nest Totem." Elder Aila stared at the totem with tightly knitted brows. "The black vortex on it should be the passage connecting the Rotting Soul Abyss to the continent. Although the Elf Clan sealed the passage back then, the totem remains. As long as the Insect Clan finds a way to activate it, they can reopen the passage."
Just then, the chamber's walls suddenly shook violently. The rustling sounded again, denser than before. The Icefield Wolf growled at the wall and raked its golden claws across the stone, leaving three deep gouges.
"This is bad! The Insect Clan has detected us!" Loran raised his knight's sword, and its pure white light surged. "Snow Spirit Qilin, reinforce the chamber with frost mist! Liya, see if you can activate the defensive runes with the Life Crystal Core's power! Elder Aila, keep watch. I'll hold off the Insect Clan!"
No sooner had he spoken than a crack suddenly opened in the wall. Countless black insects poured out, each the size of a thumb, their shells gleaming with a metallic luster. Black liquid dripped from their mouthparts, corroding small pits wherever it struck the ground. They were exactly the Bone-Eroding Insects Elder Aila had described.
Lei Lin immediately spread fiery wings, turning golden-red flames into a wall of fire in front of everyone. The Bone-Eroding Insects sizzled as they landed on it, instantly turning to charcoal. But more insects crawled out of the crack and even began gnawing at the wall of fire, whose light actually started to weaken.
"The Life Crystal Core's power!" Liya suddenly shouted. She pressed her palm against the pale green crystal and poured emerald-green nature power into it. The crystal's light instantly surged, and the Elvish runes around the chamber lit up with it. A pale green barrier enveloped the entire chamber.
The Bone-Eroding Insects struck the barrier and were immediately purified by its light, turning to black ash. The rustling inside the walls gradually disappeared as well, seemingly driven back by the barrier's power.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but Liya withdrew her hand, her face pale. "The crystal core doesn't have much energy left. It can last two hours at most. We must find a way to seal the passage as soon as possible, or once its energy runs out, the Insect Clan will break through the chamber completely."
Elder Aila walked over to the totem and lightly touched the black beetle on it with the staff's emerald. "According to the runes on the totem, sealing the passage requires the 'power of three sources': nature power, light power, and... Qilin power. Back then, the Elf Clan had only nature power and light power. They couldn't seal the passage completely and could only suppress it temporarily."
"Qilin power?" Loran looked at the two Qilin beside him. Lei Lin's golden-red flames and Snow Spirit Qilin's luminous white frost mist pulsed at the same time, seemingly resonating with the totem. "You mean we need the two Qilin's power to seal the passage completely?"
"Not just the two Qilin. They also need to restore their origins in full." Elder Aila shook their head. "They sacrificed part of their Qilin origins to help you break through earlier, so their current power isn't enough. To restore their origins, we need to find the Qilin Holy Land. The Qilin Clan's origin fire and origin ice are hidden there. Only with the Holy Land's nourishment can their origins recover."
"Where is the Qilin Holy Land?" Loran asked urgently.
Elder Aila pointed to a mural in a corner of the chamber. It depicted a mountain floating among the clouds, with two Qilin at its summit, one breathing fire and the other ice. A line of Elvish writing was carved beneath the mountain: "The Eastern Sea of Clouds, where Qilin dwell."
The Eastern Sea of Clouds... Loran silently repeated the name as a map of the continent surfaced in his mind. The Eastern Sea of Clouds was a stretch of sea shrouded in clouds and mist year-round, said to conceal floating islands from ancient times. No one had ever truly reached it. "To go to the Eastern Sea of Clouds, we'll need enough ships and supplies. And the sea of clouds is full of unknown dangers, such as Mist-Hidden Giant Beasts and Spatial Turbulence."
Liya put away the Illustrated Catalog of Plants and said firmly, "No matter how dangerous it is, we have to go. Once the two Qilin restore their origins, we can seal the Insect Clan's passage completely and stop the invasion from the Rotting Soul Abyss. Besides, I need to find more clues left behind by my ancestor and see whether the Elf Clan left any methods for fighting the Insect Clan back then."
Snow Spirit Qilin walked over to Loran, luminous white frost mist condensing into an ice talisman in its palm. "This is a locating talisman. My bloodline can sense the direction of the Qilin Holy Land. As long as we head east, the ice talisman will guide us to the entrance to the sea of clouds."
Lei Lin nodded as well, golden-red flames condensing into a small flame overhead. "Although our origins are damaged, we can still fight. We'll face the dangers along the way together."
The Icefield Wolf gave a low growl and rubbed its head against Loran's palm, as though expressing its support.
Loran looked at his companions, then at the Life Crystal Core on the pedestal, and made his decision. "First, we'll return to Green Forest Town and help the villagers recover their souls. Then we'll go back to Fallen Maple Territory to prepare supplies. Meanwhile, have Elder White notify the Radiant Temple, Liya contact the Elven Forest, and Chief Tongchui prepare dwarven-forged ships. To cross the Eastern Sea of Clouds, we'll need 'sacred warships' capable of withstanding Spatial Turbulence. Only dwarven forging techniques can accomplish that."
"Sacred warships require Fallen Star Iron, an ore found only deep in the mine tunnels of the Blackstone Mountain Range," Elder Aila added. "And nature power and light power must be infused during the forging process to give the warships the ability to withstand evil power and Spatial Turbulence."
"Then we'll split up." Loran immediately laid out a plan. "Liya, take some of the elven warriors back to the Elven Forest and prepare the ritual for infusing nature power. Chief Tongchui, lead the dwarven smiths to the Blackstone Mountain Range to mine Fallen Star Iron, and begin forging the warships at the same time. Elder White, you'll contact the Radiant Temple and mobilize the Holy Spring's power to assist with forging the warships. The two Qilin, the Icefield Wolf, and I will return to Green Forest Town first. Once we've dealt with the villagers' situation, we'll go to Fallen Maple Territory to organize the guards and prepare for any Insect Clan attacks we might encounter along the way."
Everyone voiced their agreement. Liya walked over to the Life Crystal Core, carefully removed it, and placed it in a specially made vine box. "We can't leave the crystal core here. I'll take it back to the Elven Forest and nourish it with the Tree of Life's power so it can last longer."
Just as everyone was preparing to leave the chamber, hurried footsteps suddenly came from the passage entrance. The mayor of Green Forest Town rushed in with two villagers, his face pale. "Lord Loran! Something terrible has happened! Although the evil vines outside town have withered, new black insects have appeared. They've crawled into the villagers' homes, and several people have already been bitten!"
Loran's heart sank. It seemed the Insect Clan had not given up, but had instead begun invading through more concealed means. "We're going back right now!" He turned and led everyone out of the chamber. The pure white light of his knight's sword shone through the passage, illuminating the road ahead and the even greater challenges to come.
Inside the chamber, the crystal ball on the pedestal shattered completely, but a faint black glow quietly lit up the black beetle patterns on the totem, as though transmitting some kind of signal that flew toward the distant Rotting Soul Abyss. Meanwhile, deep within the Eastern Sea of Clouds, a floating mountain suddenly trembled. The Qilin statues at its summit opened their eyes, golden-red and luminous white light intertwining, as though waiting for someone to arrive.
An adventure spanning ancient times and the present had only just begun.