Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, the human adventure team had already rested in the elven camp for 10 days, which were more like torment than rest.
After a long period of peace, a commotion broke out in the campground again. It was in fact even more chaotic than the one that Lin Li had caused previously.
Even Lin Li who was not often bothered by anything else around him had no choice but to put down the Book of Eternity, because he could clearly sense that the elves were not taking revenge, but rather were obviously panicking.
Lin Li stepped out of the tent and took Norfeller to the gate of the camp, where he was greeted with the sight of a team of elves who were entering the campground one after another. However, there were obvious scars on their bodies, and they were no longer graceful. Instead, they were rather disheveled.
There were definitely some spectators who were gloating over the incident. However, more people were worried about the situation—just like the elves. With the current abilities of the elves, they were definitely formidable, yet they ended up in such a sorry state. Clearly, the dangers in the Haiga Mountain Range were far beyond imaginable.
Although not everyone had a clear understanding of the purpose of the mission this time, they were sure that they had to enter the Haiga Mountain Range. The thought of the attacks from the magical beasts that they had suffered just now made everyone tense up. No one knew if they could walk out alive.
Lin Li looked around and realized that the elves had all got far, far away after seeing him. However, they were all looking at their injured companions with melancholy.
Lin Li got Norfeller to ask around, after which they roughly got the idea what had happened.
The injured elves were said to be the elites of the elves, and had already delved into Haiga Mountain Range to look for the holy relic along a vague route even before the humans arrived. Unfortunately, they met with the attacks of magical beasts; hence, they had no choice but to retreat.
Those who did not know elves well could not figure out clearly if they were really elites, but Lin Li could sense that the power of those elves was much stronger than that of those he met in the campground. Most of them were level-18 and level-19.
However, what caught Lin Li’s attention was not their strength, but their injuries. Given the abilities of the elves, most ordinary wounds would be no big deal, and injuries wouldn’t affect their power even without treatment.
However, Lin Li could sense a curse-like aura that was coming from them. He frowned and carefully scrutinized the elves, after which he found something fishy.
Lin Li stroked his chin and decided to stop looking at them. Instead, he turned around and returned to the tent together with Norfeller. According to the characteristics of the wounds of the elves, Lin Li already guessed something. He reckoned that they might have been poisoned by something.
Lin Li was reminded of a kind of poison that belonged to the prehistoric viper. The viper’s poison was the most deadly of all. Besides, it was a combination of a curse and toxins.
However, he could tell that the poison that the elves were infected with was not that serious as that of an actual prehistoric viper. Perhaps it was a mix between prehistoric magical beast and the prehistoric viper; hence, the genetics would be already different.
During the presidential inauguration ceremony back then, all of the various forces came forth to congratulate Lin Li and send him some gifts. The Summoning Lamp in which the Lord of Nightmares was sealed had been gifted to Lin Li by Englos from the Brilliance Shrine. However, it was an extremely precious gift that was not given away for nothing. When the Summoning Lamp was given to Lin Li, he had to promise that he would help the Pope of the Brilliance Shrine and remove the viper’s poison in his body once he was powerful enough to do so.
The viper’s poison in the Pope’s body was pure, concentrated, and much deadlier than that in the elves’ bodies. Although Lin Li had already become a pharmaceutics Guru back then, formulating a Guru-level potion required more than just skill and technique. The understanding of the Rule Power was equally important. Back then, Lin Li had been just an Archmage, and he could only give Englos a verbal promise.
If Englos had demanded that Lin Li helped the Pope get rid of the poison before he gave him the Summoning Lamp back then, Lin Li probably would have rather turned him down than make a promise that he couldn’t keep, no matter how precious the Summoning Lamp might be.
However, Englos had told him that the Summoning Lamp only required a right opportunity, and that Lin Li could fulfill his promise whenever he had the confidence to do so. If he still didn’t have the confidence by the time the poison overwhelmed the Pope, Englos wouldn’t blame him, and the Summoning Lamp would still be his to keep. Hence, Lin Li verbally promised Englos to get rid of the poison within the Pope’s body as long as he had the ability to.
Although it was only a verbal promise, Lin Li was a man of his word, and he would never go back on it. Ever since he made the informal verbal promise, Lin Li had been keeping the matter in mind, and searching for ways to remove the viper’s poison from human bodies.
Lin Li was now already a level-21 Legendary-mage. In addition to reading the Book of Eternity, his understanding of the Rule Power had become deeper. Many techniques of pharmaceutics Gurus could be now used by him; hence, he finally got some clues about getting rid of the viper’s poison.
With Lin Li’s current abilities, there might be a gap for him to close before he could really remove the viper’s poison, but the toxin in the elves’ bodies had been diluted; hence, he had a way to remove it. Although he could not eradicate the toxin immediately, he was still about 70-80% confident.
However, being sure didn’t mean that he had to take a shot. Lin Li was indeed very generous to his own people, and he would never hesitate to deplete his resources in order to help those who were related to him. However, he could be selfish too, especially when facing those who were irrelevant to him. He would never bat an eyelid even if an outsider died in front of him. The elves might be poisoned by a viper, but what did that have to do with him?
To Lin Li, it was just an interesting show for him to watch and get over after he was done. Once he was done watching the show, he would go back to doing what he had to.
The Haiga Mountain Range treasure quest did not mean that much to Lin Li in the first place. It would be great if he could find any treasures, but if not, he would just go back to the Tower of Dusk. It was no big deal to him at all. Anyway, he and Norfeller were the only ones from the Tower of Dusk here on this journey. With Legendary-realm power, it should be no problem for them to leave safely.
With such a mindset, Lin Li did not value the cooperation with the elves as much as Cheyenne and Borg did. Hence, upon returning to his own tent, he immediately forgot about the matter and continued to immerse himself in studying the Book of Eternity.
Lin Li did not attract any attention at all when he left, for everyone was focused on the injured elves who were soon brought to the large tent in the center. The elven elders brought the high-level elves to look at the injured ones.
After checking the injuries of the elves, the faces of the elven elders grew increasingly sullen. Before the elders even spoke, the high-level elves knew that things were awry.
When the last injured elf was checked, the elder stood up and pondered with a frown, after which he said to the elves, “You guys, go out first. I’m going to use natural rejuvenation. I hope it’ll help with healing their injuries.”
Upon hearing his words, the hearts of the elves wrenched up, though they did not say anything. Natural rejuvenation was not an ordinary healing magic, but a legendary divine magic of Druids. Even a dying person would be able to quickly recover with the help of natural rejuvenation. Everything could be cured using natural rejuvenation, including physical trauma and disabilities.
However, the power of the Natural Rejuvenation was the very reason the high-level elves seemed extremely worried. It was the first time that they had ever heard their elders saying that even Natural Rejuvenation might not be able to heal the injured elves. That meant that there wasn’t another way to save their lives.
The high-level elves walked out of the tent worriedly, while the elders frowned. One of them then whipped out a magic staff that was similar to a withered tree branch, and performed Natural Rejuvenation, the legendary magic of Druids.
After a long period of time, a strong Scent of Life radiated from the tent, thus waking up even the elves who were waiting outside. They seemed to have experienced a rebirth. However, no one rejoiced, and they all entered the tent immediately after the scent dissipated in a bid to see the results of using the Natural Rejuvenation instead.
The wounds on the bodies of the few wounded elves in the tent had completely healed. However, the elves were still lying there and exuding aura of death, which made them seem like Undead creatures.
Upon sight of that, the hearts of the elves instantly sank to rock bottom. One of the high-level elves walked towards the elders, and asked, “Elders, when… can they wake up?”
However, the elven elder shook his head. In an aged voice, he said, “They’ve sustained more than just abrasions and external injuries. They’ve also encountered a peculiar force that is constantly eating away at their vitality. Natural Rejuvenation can only slow down the process, but it can’t drive the force away.”
“Well… did they get poisoned with something? Why don’t you try using an antidote…” Actually, the high-level elf was already at his wits’ end, because there hadn’t been a poison that Natural Rejuvenation could not get rid of.
The atmosphere in the tent suddenly became much tenser, and the high-level elves were at a complete loss for what to do because the wounded were not ordinary elven warriors. One of them was the most important and prestigious elf, Princess Elune, the daughter of the elven queen.
If Princess Elune were to die there, it would be a disaster for the entire Elven Kingdom. The Queldana Family would probably be at a loss for an explanation even if they were in-laws with the queen. Moreover, the other elves also had extraordinary identities, and the death of any one of them was not something the Queldana Family could tolerate.
“Elders, how much time do we have left?” one of the senior elves asked with agony.
The elven elder sighed, and answered, “10 days. The Natural Rejuvenation can suppress it for 10 days. After 10 days, the force will flow to their hearts, and even Goddess Monferra will be powerless by then.”
In the eyes of the elves who lived long lives, the time period of 10 days was simply insignificant. However, the time limit seemed like a time bomb that was heavily pressed against the chests of the elves. If they couldn’t find a solution to save the wounded elves, it would mean that Princess Elune only had only 10 days left to live, and the Queldana Family would cease to exist after that.
If Princess Elune and several other elves really died in the campground, the Queldana Family would be the ultimate sinners of the entire Elven Kingdom. Even if they were descendants of Druids and their patriarch was the queen’s husband, they would be eradicated from the Elven Kingdom, despite holding two seats in the Emerald Council.
Most importantly, no one knew what poison the elves were infected with, not even the elven elders. Even though they wanted to find a way to save the wounded, there was nothing they could do but watch and wait for the elves to die and their family to end.
In spite of this news, the elders ordered for the information to be kept secret; hence, no one except a few high-level elves knew about it. However, when the other elves saw their injured peers, they could sense that something was amiss. Everyone knew how much Princess Elune meant to the elves; she was the key to their survival.
