"So, what should we do now? Do you think Elinna's words are credible?" Hao Yun asked, looking at the combat forces gathering downstairs.
Dao Lao pondered for a moment before responding, "It's hard to say. Don't forget, Elinna retains her previous life's personality, which means she's still highly attracted to powerful forces. We can't rule out the possibility that the Mould Spirit Energy exploited her desire for power to trick her into helping them."
"Of course, it's also possible that Elinna genuinely regrets her past actions. That's why she told us about her suspicion that Anselin's dark magic might be related to the Mould Spirit Energy. Although I'm skeptical about her repentance and think she's just trying to buy time, I can't deny that I'm intrigued by the dark magic power Anselin left behind."
"Because it's peculiar that Anselin, after being stuck at a bottleneck for so many years, suddenly gained such immense power and broke through. And if Elinna's account is accurate, the way Anselin suddenly grasped this powerful force does resemble how the Mould Spirit Energy infiltrates and takes over lower beings."
"Moreover, Anselin's sudden death is very similar to the way many hosts of the Mould Spirit Energy end up destroyed, unable to bear its power. So, I believe we must investigate Anselin's dark magic to see if there's any connection with the Mould Spirit Energy."
"Do you mean we should cooperate with Elinna to find Anselin's dark magic?" Hao Yun asked.
"Hmph, cooperate with her? We wouldn't know how we'd end up dead," Dao Lao replied irritably.
Then he added, "Of course, on the surface, we must appear cooperative. But our true goal is to find a way to free ourselves from Elinna's control. That way, we can explore Blackstone Castle."
Hao Yun nodded in agreement. "I agree with your plan. Since Anselin's breakthrough and newfound power originated from beneath that castle, anyone can see there's something odd about Blackstone Castle. There must be something strange in its basement."
"But," Hao Yun hesitated, "from Elinna's tone, it's clear she rejects Blackstone Castle. Is it because she had some unpleasant experiences there, or does she not want us to focus too much on the castle itself?"
"Moreover, having lived in Blackstone Castle for so long, if there was something strange there, wouldn't she know? And if she does know, why didn't she return there after coming back to Elve? Could it be there's nothing valuable in the castle?"
Dao Lao shrugged. "Maybe we need to explore Blackstone Castle to figure out what Elinna's hiding."
"But how do we get to Blackstone Castle? We don't even know where it is. And should we take Elinna with us? We can't just let her go," Hao Yun asked.
"No way," Dao Lao pointed to the sky. "Do you think Master Gu's blockade around this timeline on Elve is just for show? Especially after I informed Master Gu of Elinna's location, and he reinforced the blockade here, Elinna can't escape, even if she grew three heads and six arms."
"Hey, Dao Lao, how did you contact Master Gu? I couldn't reach him," Hao Yun interjected.
"You can't contact Master Gu because we're in the lower realm. Unless we use my spatial base to contact the upper realm, we can only receive messages from the upper realm through a special cross-timeline link to minimize interference. But this consumes a lot of mental energy."
"Without the protection provided by the spatial base, frequent communication with the upper realm is difficult. If our mental energy isn't replenished, it could affect our mission performance. Since your mental energy is currently too weak, it's better for me to handle communication with Master Gu," Dao Lao explained.
Hao Yun felt a warm sense of care from Dao Lao's actions but also a bit embarrassed about needing Dao Lao's support. He silently resolved to gain more experience from this mission to grow stronger and free himself from Dao Lao's watchful eye.
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Dao Lao continued, "Since Elinna hasn't had deeper contact with the Mould Spirit Energy, we can temporarily set her aside and investigate the presence of Mould Spirit Energy on Elve. We can deal with Elinna later."
Dao Lao's relaxed tone indicated he never considered Elinna a real threat. His confidence in his strength was likely why Elinna treated them so courteously. Hao Yun, observing Dao Lao's confident demeanor, thought about this.
"But how do we get to Blackstone Castle? It seems Elinna wants to keep us close. Leaving might not be easy," Hao Yun said, gesturing to the Light Elves outside. Even though Elinna feared Dao Lao's strength, she could use the Light Elves to constrain them. As divine officers, they had to avoid conflicts with lower beings to prevent unnecessary disruption to the timeline's stability.
CHAPTER 92: INTEREST IN BLACKSTONE CASTLE
"Indeed. Well, let's see how things unfold and then figure something out." Dao Lao nodded, though he seemed slightly troubled. Suddenly, he gestured for Hao Yun to be silent. Dao Lao had heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the hall.
As the footsteps grew louder, Hao Yun and Dao Lao soon saw Serwinf's figure appear again.
"Hehehe, my lords, I apologize. Lady Elinna had to deal with an enemy attack, so she cannot continue chatting with you." Serwinf bowed politely and made a gesture, inviting Hao Yun and Dao Lao to follow him downstairs.
"Hahaha! No worries! Duty calls, duty calls!" Dao Lao laughed, giving Serwinf a knowing look, signaling Hao Yun to follow his lead.
"By the way, Serwinf, is the attack significant? Do you need our help?" Dao Lao asked with concern as they followed Serwinf down the stairs.
"Lord Dao, although the dark elf strike force ahead is formidable and includes many zombie soldiers, with Lady Elinna leading us, we are confident of victory. So, please rest assured and do not worry about the battle," Serwinf replied respectfully. His tone was filled with unwavering confidence in Elinna's abilities and disdain for the dark elf attack.
"That's good, that's good," Dao Lao nodded, feigning concern. Then he suddenly asked, "By the way, Serwinf. How many zombie soldiers do the dark elves have? I heard from Elinna that they were created by Anselin. Since she's dead, shouldn't the zombie soldiers be a one-time resource? If that's the case, once their zombie soldiers are exhausted, won't the Light Elves be able to launch a major counterattack?"
"Ah, Lord Dao, we thought the same at first. But we later discovered that although the other high-level dark mages couldn't create zombie soldiers like Anselin, she had already prepared for this," Serwinf replied with a bitter smile.
"Oh? How did she prepare?" Hao Yun asked curiously.
"Anselin converted her method of creating zombie soldiers into a standardized process and built multiple factories for producing them. This way, other dark elves with some knowledge of dark magic can follow her process to create more zombie soldiers."
"Of course, due to their limited dark magic skills, the dark elves only have a 30% success rate, and the process is time-consuming. It takes them several months to create a zombie army."
"Moreover, the zombie armies created by the dark elves are far less powerful than those made by Anselin herself. This has decreased the dark elves' overall combat strength, allowing us Light Elves to fight back. That's why, despite the harassment from the dark elves, we've managed to defend our land and maintain a relatively stable life."
"It seems Anselin's power was indeed formidable. Fortunately, she died suddenly, or else you Light Elves might have..." Hao Yun sighed, trailing off.
"Yes, we are fortunate that Anselin died suddenly. Otherwise, the dark elves might have taken over our territory long ago," Serwinf said with relief.
However, Serwinf's tone soon changed, his face clouded with worry. "But who knows how long our relatively stable life will last. The dark elves, besides clashing with us, are also heavily focused on finding Anselin's dark magic. If they find her remaining power, they might bring another disaster upon us."
Hearing this, Hao Yun seized the opportunity to ask, "So, is Anselin's power really hidden within the Light Elves' territory? Haven't you found it after all this time?"
Serwinf shook his head in disappointment. "If we could find that power, we would either disperse it or hide it deeper. That way, we wouldn't have to live in constant fear."
"And—" Serwinf started, but hesitated as if afraid of saying too much.
"And what? Serwinf, don't worry, we're not after Anselin's power. It's too insignificant to us. We're merely curious observers of the events between your two races," Dao Lao encouraged earnestly.
Knowing Dao Lao and Hao Yun's background, Serwinf finally spoke cautiously. "Well, Serwinf thinks that since Anselin's dark magic is so powerful, and since it can choose its hiding place after her death, it could be anywhere in the world by now."
"Even if it initially flew towards our territory, who knows where it ultimately went? It might be hiding in our territory, or it might have flown there to mislead us, allowing it to hide more safely in its real location."
"Like the dark elves' territory," Dao Lao suggested.