Chapter 009: The Shameless One

Naixiu’s lips moved slightly; at this point, she didn’t even have the strength to speak. Yet from the expression on her face, Du Fan could still tell that she had said “get lost.”
Sigh. Truly a stubborn girl. A wise person avoids immediate losses. Even if you dislike me, if you pretend to obey me for now, I’ll still help you.
Du Fan sighed helplessly. For those who were too stubborn, he usually had only one solution: ignore them.
Just as Du Fan planned to walk away and ignore Naixiu completely, the Spring of Life suddenly made six loud noises. Six people flew out of the spring and lay on the ground.
These six were Moses and the five elves from before. They were now unconscious, but their complexions looked rosy and healthy, clearly thanks to the effects of the life spring.
Could it be that they couldn’t handle too much power?
After observing their reactions, Du Fan figured it out roughly. Aside from himself, who had achieved it through his own strength, the rest had barely entered thanks to his gifts. It seemed that without one’s own strength, the power obtained would likely be quite limited. But if that was the case, it made sense—after all, the Goddess of Nature was fair to everyone.
Lan Ling hadn’t come out yet, obviously because her time in the spring for purification had been too short.
At the thought of Lan Ling’s alluring figure, Du Fan couldn’t help but daydream. He really wanted to see what it would be like if Lan Ling were submerged in the spring. With that thought, he jumped in.
The spring rejected the six elves but showed no resistance to Du Fan. With this life spring, he could enter whenever he wanted, effortlessly.
The spring was as clear as crystal, allowing a clear view to the bottom. Du Fan quickly found Lan Ling.
At that moment, Lan Ling’s large white robe had swollen, floating like a big ball in the center of the spring.
Just as Du Fan swam over…
“Lord Du Fan, could you fulfill one of my requests?”
Just as Du Fan was about to reach Lan Ling, she suddenly spoke up in the water.
In the Spring of Life, just like outside, nothing was restricted, which was why Lan Ling could speak.
“A request? What request? To bring Naixiu in? If that’s the case, I advise you not to waste your effort. Naixiu is too stubborn; she won’t accept my help.”
As soon as Du Fan saw Lan Ling’s eyes, he guessed what she wanted to do.

“Lord Du Fan, you’re wrong. In fact, Nai Xiu has a very fragile heart; she’s just tough on the outside. Most importantly, she’s someone who always repays kindness and settles grudges. If you help her, she’ll repay you tenfold without any promises needed.”
“Hmm, what you say sounds reasonable, but can I really trust you? Great Sage Lan Ling, if it were you, I wouldn’t need your promises. But if it’s Nai Xiu…”
Du Fan shook his head outright. He still remembered clearly the murderous look Nai Xiu gave him just now. He believed that Nai Xiu wouldn’t act now; if she could, she would have killed him long ago.
“Besides, you can still move now, right? Why not just bring her in directly? Why do you need my help?”
Du Fan also didn’t quite understand Lan Ling’s motives.
Lan Ling smiled slightly. “I’ve received the goddess’s command to help you. And to do that, the first step is to resolve the conflict between your races—your conflict with Nai Xiu.”
“Hey, don’t talk nonsense. There’s no conflict between me and Nai Xiu. It’s she who wants conflict with me. Well, I believe if I weren’t human, she wouldn’t treat me like this.”
“Alright, let’s just say… you owe me a favor this time.”
Du Fan smiled at Lan Ling and swam outside.
Nai Xiu was about to faint. At that moment, Du Fan came to her side again, bent down, and picked her up, carrying her into the Spring of Life.
Nai Xiu’s consciousness was already blurred, but under the effect of the Spring of Life, her body recovered quickly. In the blink of an eye, she returned to normal.
Du Fan still held her tightly, their posture as intimate as that of lovers.
“Since you won’t praise me anyway, might as well collect some interest first.”
Lan Ling naturally couldn’t guess Du Fan’s thoughts. She looked at him with gratitude, too excited to speak.
When Nai Xiu woke up, her first reaction was to pull away the strange hand pressing on her chest…
“Wicked man! How dare you desecrate me!” Nai Xiu struggled in anger, but Du Fan just smiled faintly and threw her aside.
“Don’t act like you were so great before. I just wanted to see how much of a difference there is between you and Great Sage Lan Ling.”
Faced with Du Fan’s shameless words, Nai Xiu tried to rush at him for revenge, but Lan Ling pulled her back.

Now is not the time for revenge. If one doesn’t relax and absorb the power of the Spring of Life, what’s the use of bathing in it? With Lan Ling’s guidance, Nai Xiu quickly stabilized her emotions. After all, having reached her current level, if she couldn’t endure such things, she certainly didn’t deserve to progress any further. Nai Xiu and Lan Ling closed their eyes together to sense and absorb the power of the spring.

By now, Du Fan had absorbed as much as he could; the spring no longer had any effect on him. After thinking for a moment, he emerged from the spring to check if the other five elves had awakened. Fortunately, to his satisfaction, all five elves had woken up. The spring had no side effects—their fainting was simply due to their minds being unable to cope momentarily.

“I am Bai, the archer of the Bu Yi tribe. This is my sister Hong…”

“I am Lan, the archer of the Qiao Nuo tribe.”

“I…”

Soon, the five elves introduced themselves one by one. Elves valued promises greatly. Having agreed to Du Fan’s conditions, they would naturally do their utmost to fulfill them. The names of the five elves were easy to remember—matching the five colors: red, white, blue, green, and purple. All of them were archers, sharing the same profession as Nai Xiu—simple and memorable.

When heading to the Divine Ruins, it was better to take fewer people rather than more. After all, the larger the group, the more likely they would be detected by enemies. If it was just a small, unremarkable team, they might even manage to slip through unnoticed.

Including Moses, Lan Ling, and Nai Xiu, Du Fan already had a suitable group of elves in mind. Eight elves, plus himself, would make up a nine-member team—less was more, as quality mattered more than quantity. If many people were present but were all incompetent, it would be better to find just one elite individual.

Moses had also awakened. Like the five elves, although he was no longer seriously injured, he still couldn’t move. This was because the pressure from the Spring of Life persisted. Though they had been baptized by the spring, all their movements were passive, so they remained immobile.

Lan Ling and Nai Xiu… those two female elves seemed able to move freely in the spring. It was strange. Could it be that their potential was even greater than Moses’ and the others’? Du Fan couldn’t find an answer, as Lan Ling and Nai Xiu hadn’t yet emerged from the spring. He also didn’t realize that his actions that day had inadvertently accelerated the development of the elf race. After all, in the history of the elves, the number of those qualified to undergo baptism in the spring had never exceeded a hundred.

Just this once, eight elves entered—something that had never happened in the history of the elf race. It could be said that Du Fan inadvertently created history, giving rise to the legend of the Eight Elf Heroes. Of course, creating or not creating history meant nothing to Du Fan; what mattered to him was the strength of the elves, as he needed their power, and that was enough. The five elves had already clearly expressed their thoughts to Du Fan. They had already received the orders of the Goddess of Nature, so Du Fan’s request was merely a matter of following through. Moses, of course, would have no objections either. After all, his original goal was simply to take a look at the Spring of Life, but due to Du Fan, he became the first elf since the previous Elf King to be baptized by the Spring of Life. Lan Ling, of course, would have none either. Her biggest concern at the moment was Naixiu. What a paranoid fellow—conquering her would likely require considerable effort. From the elves’ performance, Du Fan could tell that the five elves were slightly stronger than Moses, while Naixiu was far stronger than them all. Having undergone the baptism as well, if there were no surprises, Naixiu’s strength would still rank first—of course, this ranking excluded Du Fan. Bubbles rose from the spring again, and before long, Lan Ling was brought out by the water. Though she could move inside the spring, once she emerged, she, like the other elves, could move no more and could only lie still on the ground. Without Lan Ling saying anything, Du Fan understood her feelings—she was grateful to him. “Lord Du Fan, I will always remember your great kindness to our elf race,” Lan Ling said sincerely. “There’s no need to remember it. You just… need to act accordingly.” Du Fan’s smiling expression stunned Lan Ling once again. “What I mean is, there’s no need to remember my favors. You just need to return the kindness I’ve shown you.” Hearing Du Fan’s explanation, Lan Ling suddenly understood. But within a minute, she couldn’t help but take another look at him—after all, someone as shameless as him was truly rare.