The Hidden Dangers of the Sacred Tree

Sletta's face still bore an impeccable smile, much like a mask.

Liyana's eyes, however, lit up. It seemed there was a turning point in the situation.

Sletta took off her hood, revealing her pretty face.

It was a face that perfectly matched everyone's fantasies of an elf, even more flawless than the appearance of ordinary elves, as if the Creator had spent all His energy sculpting her visage.

Moreover, just as Liyana expected, those eyes indeed narrowed into long, thin slits in her smile. This girl really was a squinty-eyed type!

"Well... since you put it that way, I won't hold back," Sletta chuckled gracefully, covering her mouth. "Let me reintroduce myself, Mr. Xia Lun, Lady Aina... I am Sletta, an avatar created by the Divine Tree."

"What!" Liyana gasped. "You are actually the Divine Tree?"

Sletta shook her head. "Lady Liyana, your comprehension skills are truly somewhat worrying... I am an avatar, not the Divine Tree. I am an independent individual, possessing an elven body. The mission of my birth is to protect the Divine Tree, nothing more... Other than that, I have my own consciousness. Whatever I want to do is my freedom, even if it means finding a male to reproduce with."

An elusive gleam seemed to flash through the slits of Sletta's narrowed eyes.

Xia Lun found this quite easy to understand. After all, Aina had explained that the Divine Tree, as a spiritual realm creature, had a consciousness different from normal beings, which made communication impossible.

The Divine Tree of Life was Sletta's creator; Sletta was born from the Divine Tree, yet independent of it.

But with an existence like Sletta around, things were much more convenient.

"So, what will it take for you to let Liyana go?" Xia Lun asked straightforwardly.

"Xia Lun..." Liyana felt a surge of emotion in her heart. Xia Lun really did care about her; she shouldn't have complained about him privately before.

"The Divine Tree is facing a crisis. As long as the crisis is resolved, it might send down a new revelation and select a new queen," Sletta said, her eyes narrowed into slits, her voice completely placid.

The underlying meaning was already obvious: the Divine Tree had encountered a predicament it could not solve on its own, and it hoped Xia Lun would step in to help.

However, for an entity like the Divine Tree of Life, what kind of crisis could possibly shake its very foundation?

Xia Lun looked at Aina beside him. In his impression, it seemed only Aina had such capability...

"It's not me," Aina said, slapping Xia Lun's butt with some dissatisfaction. Xia Lun realized she was getting more and more fond of copping feels from him.

Sletta began to explain, "You know about those drugs that are currently poisoning the elves, right?"

"Those drugs can threaten the Divine Tree?" Xia Lun was a bit surprised. Having seen the true body of the Divine Tree of Life with his own eyes, he couldn't imagine how such a majestic life form could be affected by those drugs.

"Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't," Sletta said in a very calm tone. "Just a little bit of the drug naturally couldn't affect the Divine Tree. But if it accumulates over days and months... the ultimate result becomes difficult to predict."

"Someone would drug the Divine Tree day after day?" Liyana's eyes widened in disbelief.

"That is naturally impossible. As the astrologer, I wouldn't allow such a thing to happen either." Sletta slightly opened her eyelids, and an invisible pressure quietly permeated the air.

Liyana glared at Sletta with ill intent. "Are you messing with me, then?"

Sletta replied, "Although no one is actively drugging the Divine Tree, the Divine Tree passively absorbs those drugs."

Mo Lini asked, "What does that mean?"

"In the elven race, the deceased are given a tree burial after death, their bodies and souls returning to the embrace of the Divine Tree... Even for elven adventurers who die outside, as long as their bones remain, they will be sent back to the Elven Forest for burial." Sletta explained some basic common sense about the elven race to Mo Lini. "Tree burial is an unchanging tradition of the elven race for tens of thousands of years."

"Could it be..." Liyana covered her mouth, suddenly realizing something.

Sletta confirmed, "Exactly. Those elves who die from taking excessive amounts of drugs will also be given a tree burial, and the drugs remaining in their bodies will be completely absorbed by the Divine Tree."

Drugs had been present in the elven race for some time now.

Elves poisoned by the drugs, without exception, had their lifespans drastically shortened.

By the time the elven race realized something was wrong and started to put a stop to it, the drugs had already spread to a certain scale, resulting in a large number of victims... and drug supporters.

Bringing unparalleled bliss... that was how the elves who had taken the drugs described it.

"Taking drugs is our freedom!" "It's our life, we can squander it however we want!" "Those guys from the Elven Guard interfere too much!" "As elves, with our long lifespans, we should seek out more stimulating things!" ...

At first, there were even quite a few people who resisted, but under the thunderous strikes of the previous queen, they were quickly suppressed... However, that elven queen was also impeached and dismissed from her post due to her overly heavy-handed methods.

As for that elven queen, people's attitudes toward her were previously mixed, but now they were unanimously full of praise.

Drugs were indeed hazardous substances that required great vigilance, and now the members of the elven race also had a sense of precaution.

But the harm could never be completely eradicated... Even though the elven race had enacted harsh laws, where being caught selling drugs would lead to hundreds of years of imprisonment in the tree jail, there were still those who would take the risk for the sake of profit.

And within the Elven Guard itself, it wasn't necessarily completely clean either...

"In other words, until Liyana solves this problem, she can't leave this position?" Xia Lun felt a headache coming on. "You think too highly of us, Miss Sletta... In this kind of matter, no matter how strong we are, it doesn't seem like we can be of much use."

"Of course not." Sletta shook her head gently. "I naturally know that this is a problem that requires long years to rectify; wanting to eradicate it in a short period of time is impossible... What I want to ask of you is another matter, something you excel at."

"Oh?"

Sletta bowed slightly to Xia Lun and Aina in front of her. "The Divine Tree... needs your help to resolve an immediate hidden danger, a rather troublesome enemy."

"How so?" Aina seemed somewhat interested, wondering what kind of enemy could actually threaten the Divine Tree.

Sletta explained, "The Divine Tree couldn't let the drugs it absorbed spread throughout its entire body, so it gathered all the drugs into one place... And then, that place went out of control.

I hope you two lords can help the Divine Tree cleanse the corruption in that area."