Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill

He looked at the Sage and pointed overhead. "You mean, They’re the ones behind all this?"

Now, Li Wei knew who the "they" the Beast King had mentioned were.

The Sage shook his head. "That’s beyond the scope of our conversation."

"In any case, it’s enough that you are now aware of this. As for the truth, you must seek it out for yourself."

"Alright, the message you were waiting for has arrived. You may leave."

The Sage was dismissing him.

Li Wei walked out of the treehouse, lost in thought.

He looked up at the sky. It was a tranquil expanse of azure blue, dotted with lazily drifting white clouds.

Laya couldn’t contain her curiosity. "What were you and the Sage talking about? Who are ’they’?"

Li Wei glanced at her. "It’s not good for you to know too much."

"Let’s go. Based on what the Sage said, the Elf King should have agreed to meet me."

Li Wei started walking in the direction of Green Tree Territory.

Laya hurried to keep up with him.

On their way back, the rustling of nearby bushes made Laya suddenly realize something. She and Li Wei hadn’t been attacked by a single Magic Beast on their way to Moon Lake.

It was unbelievable.

She hadn’t noticed it before.

Her mind had been completely preoccupied with how to bring Li Wei to the Sage, leaving no room to notice anything unusual along the way.

Now that things were more relaxed on the return trip, she naturally started noticing the smaller details.

She glanced at Li Wei, suspecting it had something to do with him.

Usually, when she took this path, she would at least see signs of Magic Beasts, even if she wasn’t attacked every time.

This time, however, she hadn’t seen a single one.

The reason was simple: Li Wei had released a minuscule amount of his Dragon Mighty to intimidate the surrounding Magic Beasts.

Upon sensing the Dragon Mighty, all the Magic Beasts in the woods had fled.

That was why, naturally, Laya hadn’t seen any.

As Li Wei walked, a thought occurred to him.

Without turning his head, he asked, "By the way, how do we get to the Elf Imperial Court in Ferruccio?"

"Does Green Tree Territory have a Teleportation Array leading to Ferruccio?"

Laya shook her head. "How could that be possible?"

"If Green Tree Territory was ever breached, wouldn’t the enemy have a direct route to Ferruccio?"

"For security reasons, there could never be a Teleportation Array to Ferruccio within Green Tree Territory."

"If you really want to go to Ferruccio, the only way is to travel on foot through the Elf Forest."

Li Wei was a bit speechless. ’Has the Elf Race really fallen this far?’ he thought.

Hearing that, Laya frowned and asked angrily, "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Are you saying the Elf Race is inferior to you Humans?"

Li Wei quickly waved his hands. "That’s not what I meant."

"I was just surprised. After all, the Elf Race once ruled the world in ancient times."

"Even today, many Human scholars are desperate to obtain the Magic Technology of the Ancient Elves."

"I just never imagined that the Elf Race in the Elf Forest would have completely discarded all the Magic Technology of the Ancient Elves."

At his words, Laya’s expression faltered. She lowered her voice, a hint of helplessness in her tone. "Actually, it’s not that the Elf Race doesn’t want to inherit the Magic Technology of the Ancient Elves. It’s that the Magic Technology from that ancient era was lost long ago."

"Right now, the depth of the Elf Race’s research into Magic is not even on par with that of the Human Mages who have emerged over the past few millennia."

"At present, the Elf Race can only rely on its innate talent for Magic to eke out some minor achievements in that Domain."

Laya was well aware of the Elf Race’s current predicament.

As such, she told Li Wei about it without hesitation.

It wasn’t a secret, anyway.

Anyone familiar with the history of the Elf Race knew about it.

The Elves of the Elf Forest were a branch of the original Ancient Elves.

One could even call them the traditionalist faction.

In the golden age of the Ancient Elves, they split into two factions: the Magic Faction and the Natural Faction.

The former were the true rulers during the era of the Ancient Elves.

The Elves of the Natural Faction maintained their primordial worship of nature and remained within the Elf Forest.

The Ancient Elves of the Magic Faction looked down on the Elves of the Natural Faction.

They considered them too rigid and old-fashioned.

As time passed, the Elf Empire established by the Ancient Elves of the Magic Faction fell to ruin.

Only the Elf Race of the Natural Faction, dwelling within the Elf Forest, survived.

With the Magic Faction wiped out, the Ancient Elf Magic Technology they had mastered was naturally lost.

The fall of the Elf Empire has always been a mystery.

Long, long ago, before the Gods existed, the world was already populated by a multitude of races.

Relying on their powerful, innate talent for Magic, the Elf Race rose above the myriad other races to become the rulers of the world.

They established the Elf Empire.

The reign of the Elf Empire lasted for a very long time, and it marked the Peak of development for Magic Technology.

Even the most ordinary citizen of the Elf Empire could use Magical Creatures. It was a true era of magic for all.

It was unlike the Human Empire of today, where Magical Creatures are exceedingly rare and Mages are one in ten thousand.

The Elf Empire had even begun taking steps to conquer the Star Realm.

However, at the very Peak of its power, this mighty Elf Empire suddenly collapsed and vanished, utterly destroyed.

It was as if such a glorious civilization of Magic Technology had never existed.

Later generations could only glimpse the glorious history of the Ancient Elf Race through the magical ruins that were occasionally unearthed.

The fall of the Elf Empire has always been an unsolved mystery.

Now, Li Wei had a growing suspicion that the Gods were involved.

After the fall of the Elf Empire, the second to rule the world and establish an empire was the Beastman Race.

After the magic-wielding Elf Race suffered devastating casualties and immense losses, the Beastman Race, known for their robust bodies and immense strength, took to the world stage.

Relying on their racial gifts, the Beastman Race quickly became the most powerful race in the world.

They established a mighty empire second only to that of the Elves.

Only after the fall of the Beastman Race Empire did humanity rise.

That all happened a very long time ago.

The fall of the Elf Empire, the decline of the Beastman Empire, the extinction of the Dragon Race...

These were the major events that reshaped the world.

Li Wei was now certain that the hand of a Divine Spirit was behind all of it.

And these were just the events that had taken place on this world. This didn’t even account for interplanar wars, the Undead Calamity, invasions from the Abyss, incursions from the Star Realm, elemental tides...

The thought made Li Wei’s scalp tingle.

This world had long been toyed with by the Gods until it was riddled with wounds.

Who would be the next to be destroyed?

The Human Empire was already showing signs of decay.

The Demon God was returning to the world.

A war between gods and demons, one that would span a hundred thousand years, was about to erupt.

The Elemental Lords of the Elemental Plane also wanted to get involved and claim a piece of the pie.

The Abyss was stirring restlessly.

The curtain had already been raised for the Undead Calamity.

Li Wei could already sense that an unprecedented age of chaos was about to descend.

In any other era, the arrival of just one of these disasters would be a world-ending cataclysm.

And yet, now it seemed likely that all of them would erupt in the very same age.

Li Wei pondered something.

’Why are the Gods engineering the rise and fall of empires?’

’What benefit do they get from it?’

Li Wei shook his head. ’Idle speculation is useless. It only creates more worries.’

’Unless I meet one of the Gods in person, I’ll never understand their motives and goals.’

’I should just focus on the task at hand.’

Li Wei arrived at the Lord’s Hall in Green Tree Territory.

"Lord Delvin, is there any news from the Elf King?" Li Wei asked.

Delvin smiled. "I was just about to send someone to look for you. Just a moment ago, the Elf King agreed to grant you an audience."

Li Wei nodded. "Is that so? Then can I head directly to the Elf Imperial Court?"

Delvin was taken aback for a moment. "How do you plan on getting there?"

Li Wei said, "By flying."

Delvin said quickly, "Wait, don’t be hasty."

"There’s an unwritten rule in the Elf Forest that forbids anyone from flying through its airspace."

"If you fly, you will certainly be attacked by the Guardian Tree Spirits."

"Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll have someone escort you to the Elf Imperial Court. That way, you’ll avoid being attacked by Elves from other territories who don’t recognize you."

Delvin turned to Laya and said, "I’ll leave this task to you."

"Huh?" Laya looked completely bewildered.