Chapter 001: The Ancient Elf Tree

As Momoya finished speaking, several more elves gathered around. The appearance of humans near the Ancient Elf Tree had already made these elves suspicious. Now, hearing the doubts expressed by the Elf Sage, those ordinary elves who did not receive any orders from the Goddess naturally sided with the Elf Sage. If they weren’t in the presence of the Ancient Elf Tree, these elves would likely have rushed forward and subdued Du Fan right away.
Within the bounds of the Ancient Elf Tree, fights were strictly forbidden unless under extremely special circumstances. Of course, the current situation certainly fell under such special circumstances. If Lan Ling hadn’t been by Du Fan’s side, the elves would have attacked long ago.
“Do you also want to stop guests of the Nature Goddess?”
Du Fan smiled slightly, showing no sign of panic despite being surrounded by the elves. His goal this time was to select powerful elves to accompany him to the Divine Ruins. If he lost his authority in their eyes now, would they still listen to him later? Definitely not. So, he absolutely could not back down.
“Humans are not our guests.”
Hundreds of elves surrounded him, glaring angrily at Du Fan.
The elf race had suffered greatly at the hands of humans, with humans trafficking elves for thousands of years. Their hatred for humans was deeply ingrained in their bones, and they would never forget it.
“No, no, no. I never said they were your guests. To clarify, I meant guests of the Nature Goddess.”
Du Fan shook his head with a smile. He already considered the Nature Goddess to be Chenchen. It didn’t matter much to say such shameless words now, as he believed the Nature Goddess would never abandon him. Otherwise, why would she go to the trouble of transporting him here?
By now, Lan Ling could say nothing more. Though she was a great sage, facing three sages and the doubts of hundreds of elves, she too felt confused.
The fact that the Nature Goddess hadn’t conveyed her orders to the various tribes was something that left her puzzled…
The situation stalled. More and more elves saw Du Fan—the shameless human they least wanted to see. What did it feel like to be surrounded by tens of thousands of elves? Du Fan understood now.

Looking at those handsome yet angry faces, Du Fan could only sigh inwardly. To him, racial hatred or deep-seated grudges meant nothing—after all, he wasn’t the one doing the evil; the slaughter of elves had nothing to do with him at all, so he never felt guilty toward them.

The Lord was always merciful. Unfortunately, the elves worshipped the Goddess of Nature. If they had worshipped the God of Light instead, communication would have been much easier. As a pious and devout monk, Du Fan considered himself quite qualified.

“Kill him!” “Use his blood to honor our kin who were harmed by humans!”
“Kill him…”

Countless hostile words aimed at Du Fan came from all directions. Tens of thousands of elves were arguing at once, and their voices were by no means faint. If these elves rushed at him all at once, even ten Dus Fans wouldn’t be able to survive. But thankfully, they were only talking—no one actually charged forward. After all, this was the Ancient Elf Tree, the domain of the Goddess of Nature. Even out of respect for her, they would never fight here—unless forced.

Du Fan wouldn’t give them such a chance. He was just braver and more decisive. Provoking these angry elves wasn’t something he intended to do.

It should be time by now, right?

With a smile on his face, as he pondered in his mind, a group of elves descended from the Ancient Elf Tree. There were less than twenty of them, all dressed in green robes, including both men and women. Needless to say, they were handsome, but what was truly remarkable was their aura—noble and elegant, clearly indicating their higher status among the elves.

These elves were the original inhabitants of the Ancient Elf Tree, the closest followers of the Goddess of Nature. Although Du Fan didn’t know them, seeing them made his smile even brighter. He had been waiting for these original elves, knowing that the Goddess of Nature would surely send her closest followers to explain this matter.

As expected, the green-robed elves quickly conveyed the Goddess of Nature’s orders to all the elves present.

“He is a guest personally chosen by the Goddess of Nature. The reason we haven’t conveyed her orders to you is due to some other matters…”

After a somewhat complicated explanation, all the elves fell silent. Before long, they dispersed on their own, climbing up the thick trunk of the Ancient Elf Tree along the winding paths.

“Honorable guest, please…”

The male elf in green robes leading the group smiled at Du Fan, bowed, and gestured for him to come forward.
“May the Goddess of Nature bless you.”
Du Fan said this with utmost sincerity, his smile becoming even more pure.
This time, Du Fan and Lan Ling followed the green-robed elves, so there were no problems along the way.
Although Lan Ling was a great elf sage, she had only been to the Ancient Elf Tree once—three hundred years ago, when she was summoned by the Goddess of Nature and transported here to receive divine power.
That act of bestowing power was brief, so, given the situation of the Ancient Elf Tree, she only knew a little about it; most of what she knew came from accounts told by older elves in her tribe.
Lan Ling was 500 years old, which was considered very young among elves. Unlike humans, the longest-lived elves could even live for over ten thousand years.
There were some things Lan Ling didn’t understand, but these green-robed elves knew them all, as they were natives of the Ancient Elf Tree.
The male elf in green robes leading them was named Moses, the eldest son of the chief of the Ancient Elf Tree tribe. He had come specifically to welcome Du Fan.
The Ancient Elf Tree was extremely tall, and it would take four or five days to reach the Spring of Life on foot. Of course, along the path to the Spring of Life, there were resting places on the tree, where the elves lived.
Because so many elves came to the Ancient Elf Tree, ordinary elves didn’t have the right to choose their accommodation. Only certain elite elves—such as the chief, sages, or powerful warriors—were eligible for proper lodging.
The green-robed elves were in charge of these matters, and Du Fan was one of those they were responsible for.
It was hard to tell how long they had walked. There were no sun, moon, or stars visible here, and strangely, not even darkness seemed to exist. It was as if everything remained unchanged—always bright, never dark.
Finally, the green-robed elves stopped. With a wave of their hand, a green glow struck the trunk of the tree, and instantly, a door glowing with green light appeared on it.
The elves’ homes were located inside the tree.
Though the small green door seemed unremarkable, Du Fan realized upon entering that it led to a whole different world.

Inside the green small door was an extremely luxurious living room large enough to accommodate thousands of people. Its decorations were highly elegant, perfectly reflecting the refined tastes of the elf race. There was a bar, a dance floor, residences, and more—everything one could imagine, leaving Du Fan in awe. This place was strikingly similar to the high-class banquets held among human nobles. In fact, this was not surprising at all. The intelligence of elves was not much different from that of humans, and their numbers were substantial. With so many elves gathering together day after day over long periods of time, if they had to maintain such elegance constantly, they might not have been able to endure it. Of course, this was not the most important factor; the real reason was human influence. Many elves had been captured by humans, and although few managed to escape, many still managed to return over thousands of years. It was these elves who applied what they had learned in the human world to their own world. The Goddess of Nature never interfered in any of this, and it was precisely because of her silence that the elves dared to gradually change their way of life. “Only those who are extremely devout to the Goddess of Nature and have made significant contributions to the elf race are eligible to apply to live in the Ancient Elf Tree.” Moses was quite talkative, constantly explaining things about the Ancient Elf Tree to Du Fan, broadening his horizons significantly. Only after leading Du Fan to his temporary residence did Moses bid him farewell and return to report. Although he didn’t know how much time had passed, Du Fan could feel the physical exhaustion from the long journey with the elves. Without the energy to wander around, he simply ate something quickly and lay down on the natural wooden bed, falling asleep. … “Honorable guest… Great Goddess of Nature, what on earth is going on?” A male elf who resembled Moses greatly stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the top of the Ancient Elf Tree, muttering to himself. He was the chief of the Ancient Elf Tree tribe, Moses’s father, Mu Seto. …