TL Note: After the confusion about Blue Mark/Lan Xiaoyin’s name in an earlier chapter, I finally figured it out. Lan Xiaoyin is the person’s true name and is what the author generally uses when referring to him. Blue Mark is his game ID. So the author will sometimes switch between these two when referring to him.
Lan Xiaoyin followed the hooded man and walked deeper into the alley.
Perhaps his acting was a bit exaggerated. Judging from the man’s expression, he must be suspicious of Lan Xiaoyin. However, who made him a real elf?
His character was set to be an elf whose camouflage had failed, but his camouflage had failed more than a month ago.
“What’s your name?” The hooded man asked him.
Lan Xiaoyin was stunned. He thought of his game name that had been complained about many times and was a bit embarrassed.
After a moment of silence, he still whispered, “Blue Mark…”
The hooded man didn’t make fun of him. Instead, the man just nodded and said, “I know you. You are the son of Green Mark.”
Lan Xiaoyin: “……???”
[Hahahaha, I’m laughing to death.]
[The son of Green Mark.]
[Ahahaha, what the hell is Green Mark?]
Lan Xiaoyin felt that he was very tired playing the game recently.
He could be 100% sure that Blue Mark was the name he chose himself. This was the online name he had used for a long time. So the question was…
In the game, why was one of his parents called Green Mark?
“Doesn’t your family live over at Dongcheng Ranch? Why did you come here?” As he was in a daze, the hooded man continued to ask.
Lan Xiaoyin’s birthplace was indeed in Seizing Star City, but according to the general laws of the game, his life experience definitely couldn’t be fully explained from the beginning. Therefore, he knew very little information.
Of course, he knew that his elf parents had passed away, so he hesitated, “I sensed an abnormality.”
The hooded man paused and looked back at him. “Did you sense it too?”
Lan Xiaoyin saw the man’s sparkling eyes. He thought for a moment before hesitating, “The Tree of Life?”
“Shh!”
The hooded man made a silence gesture at him and scanned the area cautiously.
Lan Xiaoyin hurriedly covered his mouth.
Was this some big secret? So nervous.
The hooded man nodded and continued walking forward. His attitude toward Lan Xiaoyin was much better. He must’ve lowered his guard.
“Keep walking. I’ll take you to see the elder.”
[Wow, elf elder!]
[It seems there should be quite a lot of NPCs in the elf tribe. They have also sensed the resurrection of the Tree of Life.]
[Come on, anchor. Whether we can be reborn as elves in the future depends on you!]
[I think the anchor’s acting skills are worrying!]
[I never thought that playing games also requires acting skills. It seems it is time to buy a book on acting training.]
[By the way, I will send it to the anchor, hahaha.]
Lan Xiaoyin saw the barrage and rolled his eyes.
Were his acting skills that bad? This NPC believed him in the end… didn’t he?
He was still a bit concerned about that Green Mark or whatever!
Finally, the hooded man led him to a house with its own garden and expertly slipped in through the back door.
This house looked quite impressive. It could be seen that the owner was well-off.
Of course, no one would’ve thought that a legendary elf lived in this house.
“Angus, who is this?”
The moment they walked in through the door, an old man greeted them first. He first said hello to the hooded man before looking at Lan Xiaoyin.
Lan Xiaoyin could feel his scrutinizing gaze. Finally, the old man’s eyes fell on his ears.
The real feeling of being looked at often made him forget that he was in a game.
He bowed slightly, following the example of the hooded man called Angus by saluting the old man.
“Good day, Elder Witchell.”
After he finished his salute, Angus introduced him, “This is Blue Mark. I saw that his disguise failed on the street, so I brought him back.”
“Blue Mark?”
Elder Witchell nodded. “Are you the son of Green Mark?”
Lan Xiaoyin: “……”
Just say yes.
“They look quite similar,” Elder Witchell said. “Come over here.”
He raised his hand towards Lan Xiaoyin.
Lan Xiaoyin was a bit cowardly, but he thought about how he was a player and could be resurrected after death. There seemed to be nothing to be afraid of, so he took a few steps towards the old man.
Elder Witchell was taller than him. He put his palm on Lan Xiaoyin’s head and a faint green light appeared around his palm.
[Ding~ Elder Witchell is using Advanced Camouflage on you.]
[Ding~ Under the influence of Advanced Camouflage, your appearance has changed.]
Lan Xiaoyin touched his ears and found that the tips of his ears were rounded again. He didn’t need to look in the mirror to tell that they looked human.
[Wow, he gave the anchor plastic surgery!]
[I feel he looks better as an elf.]
[Sure enough, I thought the anchor was a bit handsome before. It was all the bonus from the elf filter.]
Lan Xiaoyin glanced at the barrage and almost jumped in anger. Unfortunately, there were two elves in front of him staring at him, so he didn’t dare to act rashly.
Under his detection, the strength of these two elves was unfathomable. Of course, anyone was basically unfathomable with his lv 5.
“Thank you, Elder,” Lan Xiaoyin said very shamelessly.
Elder Witchell shook his head. “You’re welcome. The elves are in decline. This is the time when we need to unite and get through the difficulties together.”
Then he seemed to want to send Lan Xiaoyin away.
Lan Xiaoyin was a bit anxious. He finally found two elves. Even if they couldn’t help him with the main mission, they had to give him some benefits before letting him go, right?
“W-Wait.”
In the end, it was Uncle Angus who helped him speak. This made Lan Xiaoyin feel that he was really loyal!
“Elder, he can sense the Tree of Life,” Angus said.
Lan Xiaoyin clearly saw that Elder Witchell’s originally peaceful eyes suddenly flashed with light. The elder looked at him again with a bit of surprise.
Lan Xiaoyin felt strange. They were all elves. Why was it strange that he could sense something wrong with the Tree of Life?
He asked with the idea of not being afraid of death.
Angus and Elder Witchell looked at each other. Finally, they explained it to him.
It turned out that Lan Xiaoyin, also known as Blue Mark, was a pure-blooded elf. But he was born in the human world after the disaster a hundred years ago.
This also meant that he had never been in contact with the Tree of Life, and he had no way to return to his clan to awaken his bloodline.
Therefore, even if he had elf blood, his lifespan was only a hundred years longer than that of ordinary humans. It was even less likely that he would have any reaction to the Tree of Life.
This was probably the reason why his level was stuck at lv 5.
It was worth mentioning that Elder Witchell was over 700 years old this year. With such a long life span, he was naturally more knowledgeable, wiser, and wealthier than ordinary elves.
This house was the best proof.
At the same time, he was more wary of humans. After all, he had experienced the slave era and witnessed too many elves’ sufferings and tragedies.
Before the natural disaster, he had been rescuing the elves who had been living in the human world. In the one hundred years since the natural disaster, he had been rescuing the surviving elves.
“So, child. What did you sense?” Elder Witchell stared at him and asked.
Facing the old eyes that seemed to be able to see through everything, Lan Xiaoyin felt a bit numb.
He could only say truthfully, “I sensed the resurrection of the Tree of Life and… the elf queen.”
“What?”
Elder Witchell was surprised at first and then showed a bit of confusion. “Queen?”
Among the elves who were in the human world from the beginning, there was no royal blood…
It turned out that the elves didn’t know?
Lan Xiaoyin was forced to bite the bullet and say, “Yes. After I sensed the resurrection of the Tree of Life, I sensed that a new queen has been appointed. She is preparing to establish a new elf tribe.”
This last sentence was naturally made up by him.
Elder Witchell and Angus looked at each other. Their expressions were obviously more confused.
“How did you sense it?”
Elder Witchell finally couldn’t help asking.
It wasn’t common sense to be able to sense it in such detail! If it wasn’t for the blood induction telling him that there was indeed an elf in front of him, he would wonder if this was a spy sent by humans!
Lan Xiaoyin calmed down and said, “In my dream, I saw it in my dream!”
He started to make things up.
“I saw in my dream that the Tree of Life was dying and someone brought an elf girl to the Tree of Life…”
“I don’t know how, but the Tree of Life turned into a seed. The elf girl became the queen but fell into a coma.”
In fact, he wasn’t actually lying. This was indeed what he saw with his own eyes. He even took a video!
“Now that the Tree of Life is resurrected, the elf queen should’ve woken up.”
Why else wasn’t she in Imperial City?
“Now we must find the Tree of Life as soon as possible and assist the queen in rebuilding the elf tribe!”
The two elves were stunned. Angus obviously didn’t believe it. However, Elder Witchell frowned and thought about it for a while. Then he said, “The dream you saw… might be true.”
He looked out the window and whispered, “For so many years, we have tried to return to the tribe land, but many people have been sent out and there has been no news.”
There was a bit of sadness in his voice.
“However, we always sensed that our mother tree was still alive! She has been waiting for us to go back!”
“Due to this hope, we never gave up. We have always wanted to return to her.”
“But recently…”
Elder Witchell sighed deeply. “There was a time when I lost my sense of the mother tree.”
Angus also nodded. “Yes. Including me, all the elders sensed the disappearance of the mother tree overnight.”
“There is only one possibility for this.”
Elder Witchell said sadly, “The mother tree… died.”
Lan Xiaoyin also quickly showed a pained expression. Of course, he was teased by the barrage again.
Then Elder Witchell’s expression quickly calmed down and he said with some relief, “This was our initial guess. Then things changed in the past two days.”
“We sensed the breath of the mother tree again, and… she isn’t far from us!”
Elder Witchell looked at Lan Xiaoyin, his old face radiant. “After hearing about your dream, I finally understand what happened.”
During a time of danger, someone brought a child with elven royal blood to the mother tree. This way, the mother tree could be reborn with the power of that child!
Lan Xiaoyin was still waiting to hear what was going on, but Elder Witchell stopped talking and looked at Angus. “Call everyone together immediately. We need to discuss this matter with them.”
“Yes, Elder Witchell!”
Angus received the order, put on his hood again and walked out of the house.
Lan Xiaoyin was left in the house. He was pulled by Elder Witchell to talk about the specific details of the dream.
He didn’t hide it either and replied very carefully.
At the same time, he once again truly felt how awesome the AI of Starry Sky Age’s NPCs was.
They were just… a bit stingy.
He answered so many questions that his mouth was dry, but there was no mission reward in the end!
Lan Xiaoyin felt very resentful but there was nothing he could do. He had to rely on these elves to help him find the elf queen.
The elder’s words just now caught his attention. He said—she wasn’t far from them.
What did this show?
It showed they could really sense where the True of Life was!
So no matter what, Lan Xiaoyin wouldn’t run away. He had to follow them and urge them to set off as soon as possible. He had to quickly find the elf queen and swear allegiance to her before the main mission was over.
Angus’ efficiency was very fast.
In addition, after the transportation system of Seizing Star City had been reformed, a lot of public transportation had been added. This was not only fast but also economical. It made the circulation of people in the main city several times faster than before.
Lan Xiaoyin watched as all types of strange leaves and petals flew into the house. Before they landed, they turned into NPCs with outstanding looks.
This was the innate skill of elves: Plant Transformation.
The skill was quite easy to use and it was stealthy enough.
However, Lan Xiaoyin could only turn into a whole plant at present. If he wanted to turn into a small part of the plant like them, he still needed to continue to practice.
The players watching his live broadcast soon discovered a secret.
[Aren’t these NPCs all wood elementalist teachers from Seizing Star City?]
[Right! That chubby one. I remember he is from Dongcheng Ranch. I even ran errands for him.]
[They are all elves?]
[Wow. No wonder why there are so many wood elementalist NPCs in Seizing Star City!]
In fact, Lan Xiaoyin had made some guesses during his previous investigation. Now it was confirmed.
The elves should be doing well in the human world. Many of the elves who came were rich.
So, that led to the question…
Did he also have an ‘ancestral inheritance’ that he could inherit? Lan Xiaoyin touched his chin and decided to explore the background of his elf account later.
As the number increased, the elves soon moved to the basement.
It was said to be a basement, but it was very large. It was similar to a meeting room. It could be seen that it was frequently used, and the facilities were very thoughtful.
That night, a total of around 70-80 elves gathered. There were still 20 left because they couldn’t make it for one reason or another.
Lan Xiaoyin overheard that all the elves who didn’t come seemed to have joined the army. It was only by joining the army that they could have the opportunity to hide from human eyes and ears, safely passing through the protective barriers of the five major cities to enter the wilderness.
At the meeting, Elder Witchell reorganized what Lan Xiaoyin said and told all the elves present.
The elves were greatly shocked.
After some serious discussions, they finally decided to send personnel to immediately find the resurrected Tree of Life.
In fact, most of the elves who accidentally stayed in Roland during the disaster were captured and sold as slaves in the human world. They later escaped during the chaos, or were rescued and forced to stay because they couldn’t return to their tribe.
They started to hide their names and live in hiding. Even after the disaster, there were many scum among the human nobles.
Later, the slavery system was abolished. There were fewer people chasing after foreign species like them, but the elves no longer dared to easily expose their identities to humans.
In the past 100 years, they had been hiding in secret to accumulate strength. Except for new elves, basically every elf had the strength of a two star elementalist.
Combined with the rich knowledge in their inherited memories, and it basically wasn’t difficult for them to live a prosperous life in the human world after the disaster.
In the past one hundred years, they had never given up returning to their tribe’s land. They had always been concerned about the mother tree. It was a pity that even though elves were the darlings of nature, they weren’t favored by interstellar beasts and mutant plants.
After the great beast wave that occurred four years ago, their many years of hard work were in vain. The population also dropped from over 300 to around 100.
In the past month, they discovered even more despairingly… the mother tree had withered! It was like the collapse of faith. All the elves fell into confusion and grief.
The demise of the elves seemed to be confirmed.
Now, they had renewed their hope!
“Now we must find the Tree of Life as soon as possible and assist the queen in rebuilding the elf tribe!”
“Rebuild the tribe and revive the elves!”
“Rebuild the tribe and revive the elves!”
“……”
Lan Xiaoyin couldn’t help being infected by such an atmosphere. Even in the barrage, there were many people cheering for the elves.
Reviving a nation and surviving in hardships always resonated with people.
The elves acted very quickly. They were ready almost overnight. They determined their route and action plan.
As for Lan Xiaoyin, who was taken to fly the whole time, he could only shout ‘666’ along with the barrage.
Early the next morning, the elf team of 20 people set off from Seizing Star City with the hopes of the rest of the elves.
Since there were too many of them and they were afraid of attracting attention, the elves turned into leaves and petals again. Led by Lan Xiaoyin, who wasn’t very proficient in the Plant Transformation skill, they took the teleportation circle to Imperial City.
Later, he followed their instructions to the border of Imperial City and found a certain elf serving in the guard army.
This elf directly recovered his strength to three stars after the upgrade of the main city. But under the effect of Advanced Camouflage, he still managed to blend into the human army as an ordinary soldier.
The elf had received the news beforehand. He already found an opportunity for them and sent them out of Imperial City that afternoon all the way to the Asmo Mountains.
Now the Asmo Mountains weren’t what they used to be. Most of the interstellar beasts had been cleared away. The pressure on the defenders was much less and the value of this mountain range could gradually be developed.
This time, it seemed that a very suitable training site had been found in the Asmo Mountains. The soldiers were naturally the first to get the advantage.
This soldier, who was acting as an elf, also showed some outstanding wood-based talent. Thus, he was selected as one of the first batch of people to come and train here.
After the elves arrived, they understood what was going on almost immediately. They didn’t need Lan Xiaoyin to urge them at all. The moment they entered the jungle, they ran as quickly as fish swimming in the sea.
Clear goals and a strong acting ability.
The advantages of the forest elves were fully demonstrated at this moment!
Yet strangely, the elves traveled over almost all of the Asmo Mountains, leaving no corner untouched, but they still couldn’t find the Tree of Life.
Why?
They felt like the mother tree was right next to them!
Proofreader: Purichan
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