Alchemy Master

Chapter 1090, The Same Root and Origin

Translator: Silavin

“Irene, even if he is of the Human Race, that should not be grounds for bringing him to this place.”

The Jade Elder’s expression eased only a little. He still showed no inclination to step aside.

This was the most sacred ground of the Elf Race. Not the slightest error could be permitted here. Had this fellow not been of the Human Race, and had the Elf Queen not been the one to bring him here, he would already have treated him as an intruder and ground him to dust.

“Senior, if my assessment is correct, in another few tens of thousands of years, no matter how diligently your people work to protect this place, you will no longer be able to cover up the problem here.”

Facing this Jade Elder whose aura alone placed him firmly above his own, Qin Yichen’s expression betrayed not the slightest trace of fear. Instead, he asked with unhurried composure.

[This is bad…] At this, the Elf Queen’s heart jumped, and her complexion shifted.

“Young man, it seems you know quite a bit…”

Sure enough, the moment Qin Yichen’s words fell, the Jade Elder’s expression grew considerably heavier. His overwhelmingly powerful aura locked onto Qin Yichen with iron precision, as though the slightest deviation on the latter’s part would cause that formidable pressure to instantly transform into a terrifying offensive force capable of crushing him.

“I respectfully ask Senior to stand aside. Perhaps I am able to help you.”

Beneath the oppression of that aura, Qin Yichen felt even breathing had become laboured. Beads of cold sweat rolled down his cheeks, yet he did not retreat. He simply shielded Little Ling’er behind him and answered with unwavering resolve.

“Just you?” Seeing Qin Yichen’s steadfast bearing, a brief flash of surprise crossed the Jade Elder’s face. Yet upon hearing those words that knew neither the height of Heaven nor the depth of Earth, undisguised contempt burst instantly from his lips. Whatever faint admiration had stirred within him was, in that moment, utterly extinguished.

“I humbly ask Senior not to become a sinner of the Elf Race.” As for the Jade Elder’s attitude, Qin Yichen paid it no mind whatsoever. At this moment, the spirit tree within his Space Ring was trembling with ever-increasing violence. It was as though it were being summoned by something, straining to leap free of his Space Ring.

Having said what he needed to say, Qin Yichen walked straight forward past the Elder.

“Stop…” The old Guardian’s eyes bulged, and a furious shout erupted from his mouth as he prepared to seize this insolent fellow who knew nothing of the rules.

“Jade Elder, do not be rash.” Yet just as he was about to make his move, the Elf Queen’s voice reached his ears, freezing his actions in an instant. Meanwhile, Qin Yichen seized the opportunity to advance several more steps.

“Your Majesty, does this conduct not violate the ancestral precepts!?”

The Jade Elder’s face darkened, and he spoke to the Elf Queen in a low voice, his tone carrying more than a hint of displeasure.

“Let him try.” The Elf Queen’s expression remained serene as ever. For some reason, she could not quite put it, she found herself harbouring a peculiar sense of anticipation towards Qin Yichen.

The latter had come for the sake of his Daughter. One could only presume he genuinely wished for Little Ling’er to be able to cultivate the Life Scripture from the Tree of Life, and he would therefore never engage in conduct harmful to the Tree of Life.

Moreover, there were too many things about this young man she could not see through. Had not even the Blood Beastmen’s supposedly incurable Blood Devouring Poison, which the Elf Race had studied across endless ages without finding any solution, been unravelled by him?

Perhaps he truly did possess some means by which the weakened portion of the Tree of Life might be repaired.

And most crucially, when she had brought Qin Yichen to this place, only a single Guardian had appeared. That Supreme Expert had not shown itself.

Given that person’s all-encompassing power, how could that person have failed to notice someone of a Foreign Race entering this place? Which meant that even that person had tacitly approved of this.

“Your Majesty, if anything goes wrong, you had best think carefully about the consequences.”

The Jade Elder’s expression cycled through several changes before he finally let out a cold snort and said with unconcealed displeasure.

The pressure that filled the space did not recede in the slightest. The moment he detected any irregular movement from Qin Yichen, he would intervene to stop it at the very first instant.

By now, Qin Yichen had already arrived before that hollow void. Between himself and the void, there was the flickering of light from the Runes. Runes linked together in an effort to seal the torrential Power of Life threatening to escape from within.

“If you belong to it, then go back.” Qin Yichen drew a deep breath, his fingers trembling slightly as he reached into his Space Ring and drew out the spirit tree.

*Swoosh!*

The moment it emerged, the spirit tree, as though possessed of intelligence, or as though something were forcibly pulling it, transformed into a streak of light and shot forward with explosive speed, plunging directly into the brilliant barrier ahead.

[In the end, what is not mine cannot be kept…] Watching the spirit tree vanish from sight, Qin Yichen felt a wrenching ache in his chest. This was a priceless treasure, and it had simply flown away from his hands just like that!

Behind him, the Guardian who had been watching Qin Yichen’s every move felt his pupils contract sharply. He had barely registered a blur before a beam of light plunged into the Array ahead, and his expression darkened to something thoroughly grim.

“What was that!?”

A cold cry burst from the Jade Elder’s lips, and an overwhelmingly powerful pressure descended upon Qin Yichen in an instant.

“Jade Elder!” And just as that aura, capable of grinding even a Martial Ancestor to nothing, was about to engulf Qin Yichen, the Elf Queen’s clear and resonant voice rang out, and the all-pervading pressure vanished without a trace.

The terrifying magnitude of a Supreme Expert’s power was made unmistakably clear in that single moment.

*Hum…*

Then, before Qin Yichen, the Runes that made up the barrier suddenly began spinning at a furious pace, even showing faint signs of being torn apart.

A colossal Power of Life flooded through this entire space. Clearly, the barrier had been struck, causing the barrier’s power to diminish drastically, unable to sustain its seal any further.

“Your Majesty…”

Witnessing this scene, the Guardian’s face turned as bleak as still water, and within his voice, there was even the faintest tremor.

This barrier had been created by an Elf Queen who had offered herself as the sacrificial offering to bring it into existence. Across the long ages that followed, it had been sustained by the reinforcements of countless elite experts from the Elf Race, and it was through all of this that it had endured to the present day.

Were this Array to be destroyed, the Elf Race would face catastrophic repercussions.

After the erosion of such a vast span of time, even sacrificing another Elf Queen might not be enough to restore this Array to its former perfection.

In response to the Jade Elder’s low call, the Elf Queen offered no reply. Her expression bore not even a fraction of panic. In fact, within her beautiful eyes, there was even a glimmer of excitement.

Earlier, Jade Elder had not been able to clearly make out what that beam of light contained. But as a Supreme Expert, the Elf Queen had seen it with perfect clarity.

It had been an ancient tree. And from that ancient tree emanated the unmistakable sense of sharing the same root and origin as the Tree of Life itself.

She did not know what that thing truly was, nor how Qin Yichen had come to possess it. But her instincts told her that it would cause no harm to the Tree of Life.

This was also the reason she had intervened to stop Jade Elder.