Chapter 555 - 543: Sage (2)
The air quality in the Elf territory was actually quite good.
After all, trees were everywhere.
There were none of the sources of pollution found in human society.
The air was fresh and the oxygen concentration was high.
Many of the elves watched Li Wei with curiosity as he passed by.
Humans rarely appeared in the Elf territory; some elves had never even seen a human before.
To them, Li Wei was like a rare animal.
However, the elves didn’t approach Li Wei.
Not only that, but they also forbade their children from getting near him.
They were exceptionally wary of him.
Rumors about what happened last night had already reached the elves’ ears.
They knew a group of humans was hunting elves and selling them like merchandise.
As a human, Li Wei was naturally labeled as dangerous by them.
Seeing that the elves in Green Tree Territory didn’t seem to welcome him, Li Wei turned and walked back toward his treehouse.
He was no longer in the mood to wander around in such an atmosphere.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
Li Wei heard a voice call out from behind him.
He turned around, a bit confused, and saw it was the female Elf who had brought him to Green Tree Territory yesterday.
’If I remember correctly, her name is Laya.’
Li Wei replied politely, "I’m fine, everything’s going well."
Laya glanced around and asked curiously, "Where’s your companion?"
"Oh, sorry, I should have introduced myself first. I’m Laya."
Laya waved her hand a little embarrassedly, as if she’d just remembered.
Li Wei said, "Hello, I’m Li Wei."
"My companion isn’t here."
"Oh, did she go somewhere else?" Laya didn’t press the matter.
She looked at Li Wei and said with a smile, "Would you like me to give you a tour of Green Tree Territory? After all, it’s rare for humans to get a chance to visit the lands of the Elf Race."
Li Wei was about to refuse. "No, thank you..."
Laya said, "Don’t be so formal. This is a task the Lord assigned to me."
Hearing this, Li Wei could only say, "Alright then."
He glanced at the wary elves around them.
"Given who I am, it doesn’t seem very convenient for me to be walking around Green Tree Territory."
Laya looked around and nodded seriously. "True. After hearing about last night, the people have developed a subconscious aversion to humans."
She placed her index finger on her chin, pondered for a moment, then looked at Li Wei with a smile.
"How about this? Let’s go to Moon Lake. The scenery there is beautiful, and there’s no one else around."
"Is that so?"
’I have to kill time waiting for news from the Elf King anyway.’
So, Li Wei followed Laya to Moon Lake.
Moon Lake was outside Green Tree Territory, but not far from it.
According to Laya, Moon Lake was the source of Green Tree Territory’s water supply.
After passing through the woods, the view suddenly opened up to reveal a massive, crescent-shaped, azure lake.
At first glance, it looked as if a piece of the sky had been inlaid upon the earth.
There were even drifting clouds within the lake.
Only when the occasional ripple broke the lake’s placid surface did one realize that the azure sky was just a reflection in the clear water.
As Li Wei gazed at the vast expanse of the lake, his own spirit seemed to broaden with it.
In that instant, many of the worries in his heart dissipated like a gust of wind, carried away by the beautiful scenery.
"This place... it really is wonderful."
Li Wei said with a faint smile.
Laya also smiled. "When I was little, my favorite thing to do was sneak out with my friends to play by Moon Lake."
Li Wei was a little surprised. "Weren’t you afraid of running into danger?" he asked.
"It seems to me there are quite a few Magic Beasts in the Elf Forest."
On the way here, Li Wei had sensed the auras of many Magic Beasts.
Laya smiled and pointed to a small wooden cabin by the shore of Moon Lake.
She said, "Of course we were afraid, but as long as the Sage is here, we won’t run into any danger."
"The Sage is different from other adults. He never criticized us for being reckless."
"He said it’s the nature of an Elf."
Li Wei chuckled. "Not just Elves, I think. It’s the nature of all Holy Spirits."
"When I was a child, I also liked to sneak away from the adults and go play in dangerous places."
Hearing this, Laya covered her mouth and giggled.
Li Wei looked at the cabin and said, "The Sage, you say? Since we’re here, why don’t we pay him a visit?"
Laya nodded. "We can. The Sage is the wisest person in the world, and he never refuses a visitor."
Li Wei found this strange. "Wouldn’t that be a lot of trouble for him?" he asked.
Laya said, "Although the Sage doesn’t refuse anyone a visit, that doesn’t mean just anyone can meet him."
"You’ll see when you get there."
Li Wei walked up to the small wooden cabin.
The cabin was also grown from a single tree.
Its door was shut tight.
Li Wei walked forward, preparing to knock on the door and pay a visit to the Sage of the Elf Race.
Suddenly, he found himself in a forest.
He was surrounded by identical trees.
When he looked back, Laya was gone.
Li Wei’s brow furrowed slightly. ’Is this an Illusion Realm? Or have I been transported somewhere else?’
He thought back to the moment just before.
Just as he was about to touch the door, he realized everything around him had changed.
He hadn’t sensed any spatial fluctuations.
Li Wei glanced around. He couldn’t sense any signs of life.
He could basically conclude that what he was seeing was an Illusion Realm, not reality.
A real forest couldn’t possibly be devoid of life.
’So this is what Laya meant when she said not everyone can meet the Sage?’
Li Wei guessed that this must be a test.
Only those who passed the test could meet the Sage of the Elf Race.
Laya stood behind Li Wei, watching him stand motionless before the door.
She knew he had fallen into the Sage’s trial.
She waited quietly for the result.
Laya had also undergone the Sage’s trial.
It had happened when she was a child, the first time she came to play by the lake and encountered the Sage.
Back then, she hadn’t known that the person living in the cabin was the revered Sage.
Fortunately, by a stroke of luck, she passed the Sage’s test and got to know him.
Li Wei walked through the forest, looking at the completely identical trees around him.
’What exactly is this test?’
There was no danger here, nor were there any enemies.
Li Wei scanned the surrounding trees.
’Am I supposed to find the one different tree among these countless identical ones?’
But all these trees looked exactly the same.
Li Wei used his Spiritual Perception to observe them; even the finest details of their bark and the growth rings inside were identical.
They were like duplicates.
No matter how far he extended his Spiritual Perception, all the trees he saw were exactly the same.
Li Wei looked into the distance. The forest seemed endless.
It stretched as far as the eye could see.
Li Wei reached out and placed his hand on one of the trees.
He closed his eyes and quieted his mind to perceive.
He perceived with his soul, not his senses.
Soon, Li Wei made a discovery.
The different tree he was searching for was, in fact, within his own heart.
The trees he saw were not real trees.
They represented the lives of countless people.
Everyone’s life looks more or less the same—from birth to death, just another face in the crowd.
The world is mostly filled with ordinary people.
What Li Wei was searching for was the extraordinary within the ordinary.
His past experiences were anything but ordinary.
But, stripping away all the halos and looking at him simply as a person,
Li Wei was also an ordinary person.
He, too, experienced worry, joy, pain, and sorrow. He, too, would face aging, sickness, death, and the sadness of goodbyes...
He was still a person.
An ordinary person who possessed great Power and lived a bit longer than most.
Li Wei didn’t think there was anything wrong with that.
It was true he had no grand ambitions, often just doing whatever came to mind.
He would hesitate and waver when faced with danger.
And he would feel frustration and regret afterward.
There was nothing wrong with that.
This was the very mark of his humanity.
Li Wei didn’t want to become some emotionless, desireless immortal.
He just wanted to be a free person.
Power and longevity were merely the means to achieve that freedom.
"Freedom?"
"Ultimate freedom, unbound by anything."
"Freedom from time, space, lifespan, species, morality, relationships... True freedom."
"A freedom that transcends all."
"Is this what you desire?"