Chapter Sixty: It Is Said That Cultivation Can Restore Youth

Linley strode into the Astrological Hall where the Chief Starcaster resided, his entire body radiating murderous intent.

“So it was you!” Hera had already been awakened by the sounds of battle. She stood at the center of the hall, gripping her staff and glaring furiously at Linley. “What have you done? Why are so many night elves following you?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Linley brandished his sword, brimming with confidence. “Come on, face me! Let’s have a real, exhilarating fight!—But why have all your subordinates betrayed you? What heinous deeds have you committed?”

“You brat, if you want to fight, then fight! Do you think I’m really afraid of you?”

Hera waved her staff, and suddenly the space rippled. Her body swayed, and she spat out a mouthful of blood. “Teleport failed, you—”

“Damn, you’re trying to escape again—if I let you flee twice, wouldn’t that make me look pathetic.” Linley roared, “Don’t even think about running, just come at me! My mage has already disrupted the spatial flow here, your teleportation spells won’t work!”

Hera was so livid she nearly coughed up blood—what did he mean by ‘your mage’? That was clearly the night elf mage, her own kin.

“You despicable scoundrel, I’ll expose you for what you are!” She pointed at Linley, trembling all over. “If you have the guts, come at me!”

“I will! Do you think I’m as cowardly as you?” Linley spat, suddenly accelerating, his body vanishing in an instant and appearing before Hera with blinding speed. “Here I am! Let’s see if you have any backbone!”

The gleaming sword swept towards Hera’s throat, her expression changed dramatically, yet in the next moment, the sword stopped just short of her skin.

“…”

Linley bowed his head, his body beginning to tremble.

Hera quickly retreated, drenched in cold sweat. So fast—just what kind of person was this boy? Yesterday he acted like a mage, today he’s like a warrior!

“Why… how could it be like this…” Linley uttered in agony.

Hera stared at him. “What are you saying?”

“I’m asking!” Linley lifted his head, his eyes blazing. “Why are you so weak! I almost killed you, why didn’t you even try to resist?”

Damn, the dignified Chief Starcaster can’t even dodge a single attack—what’s the point of this?

His passion, his desire for battle—everything was dashed!

“Damn it! One by one, every single one… all of you are like this…” Linley paced back and forth, raising his sword to question Hera. “Why do you night elves have no backbone at all! You’re a Chief Starcaster, why can’t you even cast a decent spell?”

“You brat!” Hera glared fiercely at Linley. “I’m so weak now because of you!”

“Me? How did I do that?” Linley gradually calmed down.

“The papers you scattered yesterday…” Hera explained through gritted teeth.

Yesterday, she had been predicting Linley’s whereabouts for the guards, but the chaos in Verdant Emerald caused her prophecies to backfire several times, leaving her seriously injured. Coupled with her age and having stayed up all night, her strength was severely depleted—and she had yet to recover.

Hera had thought Linley would behave during the day, but upon waking, she found he had led the night elves to occupy the Starcaster Hall.

“What did you do today?” Hera pressed.

Linley listened to her explanation and lost all desire for battle. “Why don’t you just predict it yourself?”

“If I could predict it, would I need to ask you?”—Hera took a deep breath, suppressing her anger, and continued her interrogation. “So who are you, really? What do you intend for our kingdom?”

“An excellent question.” Linley surveyed the Astrological Hall and decided to channel his fervor into hunger. “I want to end the war between the forest elves and the night elves.”

“That’s simple…” Hera narrowed her eyes. “The war was initiated by the Queen. I can petition the new king to sign a treaty with you.”

“No, no… As long as the night elves remain under the control of the Twin Moons Wheel, any treaty is meaningless.” Linley began searching for food. On his way here, Eve had told him about the enmity between night elves and forest elves. In fact, they had signed several peace treaties, but whenever the night elf king changed, the treaty could be easily torn apart.

Therefore, to end the war forever, only two options remained—completely annihilate the night elves, or have the forest elves seize control of the Twin Moons Wheel.

“To survive or to perish, I’ll discuss it thoroughly with your queen.” Linley rummaged through boxes. “I’ve already ordered the army to stand by at the front lines.”

The Chief Starcaster closed her eyes heavily, having long felt the danger in the Dark Forest. This man was unafraid of the night elves’ refusal; though it seemed there were two choices, the night elves could only pick one.

“If we refuse to submit, you’ll destroy our kingdom alongside the monster.”

Hera asked, and Linley found an apple in the cabinet, peeling it with his sword. “That monster can’t harm us forest elves. In fact, it’s a perfect ally for us.”

Hera knew this as well—she had received intelligence about the monster, which was essentially a creation of the night elves meant to destroy themselves.

“Why must it be the queen?”

Hera asked again, but suddenly realization dawned on her and her eyes widened. “You’re the young prince of the forest elves!”

Yes, without a doubt, she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before—rumor had it the young prince was a prophet blessed with multiverse knowledge, the only one capable of overturning Verdant Emerald overnight.

Moreover, the queen had once adventured with this prince. His desire to negotiate with her stemmed from his trust in her within night elf society.

“Cultivation, so—that means the power you used before was the power of a cultivator!” Hera was shocked, no wonder Linley was so formidable.

She had always kept an eye on the forest elves’ intelligence, knew about cultivation, but had never imagined such power could truly manifest—it belonged to another world, didn’t it?

“You’ve developed a method for cultivation?”

Hera was dumbfounded.

“…How do even you know about cultivation?” Linley quickly finished his apple, tossed the core into the trash, and continued searching for food. “Do you want to learn cultivation too?”

“Of course I do!”

“What?”

Linley turned around to see Hera’s face glowing with excitement.

“I want to learn cultivation too! That’s the power to shatter stars with a single punch!” Hera exclaimed, “If I could learn it, I could escape the curse of the Twin Moons Wheel.”

Good grief—Linley nearly forgot, in the face of cultivation, the people of this world had an IQ of only five.

“Well, since that’s the case…” He thought for a moment, then pulled a black robe from his earring and tossed it to her. “Stick with me, then you’ll be a cultivator from now on!”

Under his guidance, Hera donned the black robe, still puzzled about its purpose.

But now that she knew Linley’s identity, she was far more interested in his weapon. “Young Prince, is this sword an immortal blade? Can it fly?”

“Haha, you have a good eye! It’s a treasure sword, sharp as can be, wounds sealed with blood. I’ll give you a demonstration in a moment!”

Linley laughed as he continued rummaging, but suddenly slipped, and his treasured sword fell to the floor with a clang, snapping in two.

“…”

“…I just grabbed it randomly off the street…”

Linley picked up the broken blade, his expression solemn. “Do you really want to follow me? I’m a man set to destroy your kingdom!”

“Whatever!” Hera waved her hand. “As long as I can escape the curse, the fate of those night elves means nothing to me—Young Prince, I heard cultivation can restore youth? Can I become young again?”

“…”

Linley finally understood why the guards and mages had so readily defected.

This Chief Starcaster was selfish beyond measure.