Alchemy Master

Chapter 1079, One Chance Only

Translator: Silavin

“I hope Her Majesty will not go back on her word.” Qin Yichen gave the Elf Queen a polite nod, speaking in an unhurried tone.

“Since I have agreed to give her one opportunity, I will naturally not go back on my word.” The Elf Queen gave a slight nod in turn. “However, whether she succeeds or not, the chance will only be given once.”

What surprised the Elf Queen was that Qin Yichen simply smiled and nodded at this as well, offering no further words.

His manner was that of someone who harboured complete confidence in the outcome.

The Elf Queen found her gaze drifting toward Little Ling’er at the sight of it.

The reason she had agreed so readily was that she felt no concern whatsoever about Little Ling’er walking away with the Life Scripture.

For throughout the Myriad Races, countless peak experts had coveted the Life Scripture of her Elf Race. Even Human Deities had been among them.

And yet, even when a Human Deity had been handed the Life Scripture with both hands, the great being had studied it at length, then departed in quiet resignation.

The Life Scripture could only be cultivated by Royal Family Elves nourished by the Tree of Life from birth. Beyond that, even High Rank Elves could not cultivate it, much less any outsider.

In the Elf Queen’s impression, Humans were people who never willingly accepted a loss, whose capacity for scheming was something the straightforward Elf Race could not hope to rival.

And yet the manner Qin Yichen now presented left the Elf Queen with a quiet, gnawing suspicion, wondering whether she had somehow walked into a trap.

[Would the Human Race truly be so magnanimous as to suffer in silence, and all for something that is impossible?]

“Still, what a spirited child!” The moment the Elf Queen’s eyes landed on Little Ling’er, a flash of wonder lit within them.

The little girl before her appeared young in years, yet within those bright, lively eyes of hers lay a quality of life and spirit that many High Rank Elves could not begin to rival.

“Your Majesty!” Just as the Elf Queen was about to look more carefully, a hurried cry rang out from the palace corridor at the far end of the hall.

“Enter!” The Elf Queen’s brow creased faintly as she spoke.

At her word, a figure swept in from that corridor. This figure’s silver-white hair clearly identified that person as a Royal Elf.

When that Royal Elf’s eyes swept across the devastation filling the hall, they flooded with barely contained shock.

Had the Elf Queen not been standing there in plain sight, with Elder after Elder of distinguished rank moving about in urgent activity all around, this Elf would likely have raised a hand and slapped themselves across the face, just to confirm this was not a dream.

“What is it?” At the sight of this Royal Elf, the Elf Queen’s brow furrowed slightly, her voice dropping lower as she asked.

Around her, the Elders had at last finished distributing the pills that Qin Yichen had provided, and one by one their gazes turned in this direction. Within each of them, without exception, a creeping sense of unease had begun to stir.

“Your Majesty, Elder Felletin… he has taken the Life Scepter into the Ancestral Tree…”

Roused by the Elf Queen’s question, the Elf finally collected himself. Not even pausing to draw breath, he answered at once.

“He has entered the Ancestral Tree?!” At those words, the Elf Queen’s brow drew tight.

“Yes, he has the Life Scepter with him, and none of the Clansmen dared to stop him. I found it strange as well, so I immediately came to report…” The Royal Elf’s voice held an uncertain edge.

The Tree of Life had always been guarded by the Royal Family Elves, and beyond the coming-of-age ceremony for Royal Family members, no Elf was permitted to approach it at any other time. Yet with the Life Scepter in his possession, the symbol of the Elf Queen’s Will, even the Royal Family Elves dared not defy the wishes of its bearer.

“Felletin has colluded with the Blood Beastmen Race, and now he has entered the Ancestral Tree. Your Majesty, he must be stopped, and he must be offered as a sacrifice to the Ancestral Tree!”

One after another, the Elders knelt within the hall, addressing the Elf Queen with urgent voices.

At their words, the Elf Queen’s expression grew steadily colder, like frost settling over still water.

Though she too had been afflicted by the Blood Devouring Poison, her cultivation had been enough to suppress it. Yet her concern for the others had left her with no choice but to yield to Felletin’s coercion.

Now, with the Blood Devouring Poison cleared, it was time to purge the traitor from within the Elf Race.

“Your Majesty, the Princess is still within the Ancestral Tree…” Hearing the Elders’ words, the Royal Elf’s expression shifted sharply. Something had just come to mind, and he spoke at once, urgent and breathless.

“This is bad!” The Elf Queen’s face changed in an instant. Her silhouette flickered, and she vanished from the hall in a streak of light.

“Hey! Your Majesty! You have yet to fulfil your promise!” Amid a chorus of startled stares, Qin Yichen suddenly called out, his figure already in motion, pulling Little Ling’er close as he swept after the Elf Queen toward the palace depths.

“How dare you! Who do you think you are to act so presumptuously…”

At the sight of an outsider boldly charging deeper into the Elf Race’s palace grounds, that Royal Elf who had come with the report gave a loud shout.

Yet just as he moved to intervene, he found, with some bewilderment, that none of the figures within the hall had made the slightest move to stop Qin Yichen. Two Royal Elves with whom he was on closer terms even shot him quiet, meaningful glances, silently telling him not to meddle.

[What the heck is going on?] After a brief moment of thought, Qin Yichen’s silhouette had already vanished from sight. The Royal Elf pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling as though his head had grown several sizes.

…

The Tree of Life.

Legend held that it had existed in this world since the very moment of creation, a wondrous ancient tree that was the Source of Life for all things, nurturing within itself an endless, flowing vitality, shaping and sustaining the natural order of Heaven and Earth.

Some whispered, too, that the very existence of World Energy throughout this world was bound inextricably to the Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life rose in the heart of the Elf Forest like a mountain range without horizon, its breadth beyond what any eye could fully grasp.

*Rustle rustle rustle…*

Upon one of the branches of the Tree of Life, wreathed in drifting mist and cloud, leaves swayed in a quiet, living rhythm, pulsing with a gentle radiance of faint green light.

Within that green luminescence, a young woman sat in still, serene meditation, dressed in a flowing green gown, her hair drifting softly around her, every inch of her radiating an ethereal, living grace.

That young woman was none other than Avril.

Avril was the youngest member of the Elf Royal Family, and more crucially, in the span of several thousand years, she bore the purest Royal Bloodline of them all.

Even the Elf Queen herself was not her equal in that regard.

And so, from the very moment of Avril’s birth, she had been granted the title of Princess, and it had been decreed that when she came of age, she would become the next Elf Queen.

Today, at last, the day of Avril’s coming-of-age ceremony had arrived.

Perhaps because of the ambush she had suffered on her last venture outside, the Elf Queen had chosen not to allow Avril to attend the ceremonial banquet, sending her directly to the Tree of Life instead, to receive the sacred blessing of the coming-of-age rite.

Avril harboured no complaint at this. Yet in her heart, she carried a deep sense of guilt toward Qin Yichen, who had once saved her life, and whom she had since failed to go and visit as she had promised herself she would.

As the green radiance settled slowly around her, Avril cast one last, regretful glance in a certain direction, then gently closed her eyes.

Enveloped by the green luminescence, Avril’s silhouette gradually melded into the Tree of Life.

What she did not perceive was that several kilometres below her, a wild-eyed old figure was watching her with a face twisted into a vicious, unhinged grin.