Chapter 013: Separation

Although Garfield had expressed his intentions, Du Fan still saw him as an enemy rather than a friend. Their brief cooperation was purely for their own interests.
What Du Fan thought more about was keeping Garfield in the Lanni Empire so that Leoport couldn’t get his way. All those lofty words were lies—Garfield only cared about profit and anything that benefited him. If not for the current crisis that brought them together, their relationship would likely remain one of constant conflict.
There was no friendship between them, and Du Fan didn’t want any either—that was his current mindset.
What Du Fan didn’t expect, however, was that just as he and Garfield discussed parting ways, Leoport’s men surrounded him. Leoport hesitated not at all; with a wave of his hand, his Blood Armor soldiers rushed forward.
There was no way out anymore. No one could care about others at this point. Du Fan had no time to worry about Garfield, and Garfield certainly couldn’t care about him now.
“Fighting our way out gives us a chance to survive; surrendering means certain death.” It was the first time in Du Fan’s life that he fought despite knowing he couldn’t win.
No spells could work—there were simply too many enemies…
“Charge!”
Du Fan roared and swung his sword lightly: “Holy Light Cross Slash!”
Garfield, equally frenzied, fought his way forward, ignoring the Blood Armor soldiers’ attempts to block him, heading straight for Leoport. With him doing this, most of the Blood Armor soldiers turned to confront him, easing the pressure on Du Fan.
“Leoport!”
Garfield’s intention was clear—capture the leader first! Kill Leoport!
Knowing he was weaker than Garfield, why wouldn’t Leoport send guards to protect himself?
The Blood Armor soldiers formed human shields to stop Garfield’s relentless advance, while on the other side, they stood shoulder to shoulder, closing in on Du Fan.
All attacks were futile—the enemy numbers were too great. In just a short while, Du Fan was already injured. Now that the Blood Armor soldiers were charging in formation, how could he resist? He couldn’t kill them or disperse them. If they surrounded him, death would be inevitable.
Was this it? Was Du Fan going to die here today?
A fierce look appeared in Du Fan’s eyes as he unleashed a Spatial Tear Slash at the Blood Armor soldiers’ formation, killing dozens instantly.

There are too many of them. Dozens of the enemy die, and the number of replacements filling in the gaps doubles that of last time. If this continues, the killing will only increase, making it impossible to break through at all.
Suddenly, Du Fan felt a pain in his back. He gritted his teeth and turned to swing his sword, just killing the guy who had attacked him from behind, when another pain struck his chest…
“Pfft—”
Du Fan felt his vision growing blurrier. In a flash, he saw Chenchen transform into human form and fly in the air, before darkness swallowed everything around him…
“In the name of mine, space transfer…”
As Du Fan was about to pass out, he heard such a voice.
…
It’s so cold, unbearably cold…
After what seemed like a long time, Du Fan slowly regained consciousness. The chill from his body made him shiver involuntarily.
He was in a strange place, surrounded by a forest. What surprised Du Fan the most was that he even had clothes on—he was completely naked…
His clothes, weapons, everything—gone. He was now lying on the cold grass like a newborn baby, no wonder he felt so cold…
Where was Chenchen?
Du Fan’s first thought upon waking was Chenchen. Though he considered himself not a good person, his feelings for her were genuine.
Looking around, he saw nothing but dense forests and weeds. Chenchen wasn’t by his side.
“In the name of mine… space transfer… That’s Chenchen’s voice. She’s the one who transferred me here. But where did she go?”
Du Fan stood up, tore some broad branches from a tree, and wrapped them around his waist. Although there was no one around, being naked still made him uncomfortable.
“Chenchen should be fine. The connection deep in my mind remains. It’s just… she seems unconscious now. I can sense that she’s safe, but I can’t get a response from her.” This had happened before, so Du Fan wasn’t overly worried about Chenchen. As long as the connection remained, it meant she was still safe.
“Amazing… a space-level forbidden technique. But where is this? Where exactly did Chenchen transfer me to?”
Without weapons or clothes, and unsure if the forest was dangerous, Du Fan picked up a tree stick and used it to clear the weeds as he walked. He couldn’t tell east from west, so he simply chose a direction and started walking slowly.
…
In the Twilight Mountains, somewhere in the Lost Forest.

“You devils will surely be punished! I swear it—”
With a scream, a feathered arrow flew forward and pierced straight into the middle-aged man’s throat.
Swish! Swish!
As more arrows kept coming, the dozen or so humans tied to the trees died one after another, their blood covering the ground.
A group of handsome elves approached from afar, carrying long bows. Leading them was a female elf—tall and beautiful, clearly a peerless beauty.
The elves were renowned for their beauty throughout the world, and these elves exemplified that perfectly. Whether male or female, any one of them could stand out as a rare beauty or handsome man in the human world.
In the human world, having an elf slave was the greatest honor, as such slaves were often used in competitions among nobles.
To the elves, humans were undoubtedly devils, and their hatred for humans was just as deep.
In the Dusk Mountains, countless hunters infiltrated there every year, making a living by hunting elves and selling them. The dozen humans who had just been killed by the elves were such hunters.
Unfortunately for them, they ran into a powerful elf tribe in the Dusk Mountains—the Kayi Tribe.
The Kayi Tribe was one of the strongest elf tribes in the Dusk Mountains, led by Nayixiu, that tall female elf. Humans often ranked people by strength, and they had their own standards for elves as well.
Nayixiu was a level-9 archer, equivalent to a level-9 warrior in the human world.
The Kayi Tribe was famous not only for having several level-9 archers but also for having several level-9 elf archmages.
Just as humans despised elves, elves hated humans equally. Every year, thousands of elves were captured by humans in the Dusk Mountains, and similarly, over ten thousand humans died at the hands of elves each year.
No one wanted to die. Even a team composed of level-9 warriors or even holy realm warriors had no real chance of defeating an entire elf tribe. What drove them to risk their lives was the irresistible lure of money. Some people believed that capturing just one elf would ensure them a comfortable life for the rest of their lives, freeing them from worries about survival.
Danger and profit were always intertwined.

“Damnous humans, attacking the tribe over and over again. Now Joey and the others are missing—likely they’ve met with disaster.”
Naixiu kicked the corpses of the humans she had shot dead in anger, venting her fury.
Earlier, the Kayi tribe had clashed with a human hunting party. Although the Kayi elves emerged victorious, three elves still fell into human hands.
It was almost impossible for elves captured by humans to return alive. As the tribe leader, how could Naixiu not know this?
There was nothing to do—given the elves’ sensitivity, they couldn’t even trace the whereabouts of those three elves. Now, besides being angry, Naixiu was at a loss.
“There were five fleeing humans. It’s only been half a day—surely they haven’t escaped the Dusk Mountains.”
Naixiu frowned, carefully analyzing the situation.
“Jono, Mu, lead ten warriors to search in the south. I’ll take the rest to search in the north. These are the only two ways out of the Dusk Mountains. We must not let Joey and the others fall into those damned humans’ hands.”
After giving orders, Naixiu rushed north with a group of warriors without waiting for Jono and the others to respond. This time, she was truly desperate.
A dozen elf soldiers split into two groups and headed north and south. Soon, only the corpses of the slain humans remained in the forest.
“Oh, heavens, what have I seen?”
Du Fan emerged from the bushes, leaning on a cane with leaves wrapped around his waist.
He had wandered aimlessly and happened to enter elf territory. He had hidden in the bushes while the elves executed the humans. Of course, he wouldn’t go to save those damned hunters—not only did he lack the ability, but he also thought those hunters deserved it. Even in the time of the Gavin Empire, he had heard of their notorious reputation.
Though they weren’t the same race, both were intelligent species—there was no need to be so extreme. Du Fan had always struggled to understand the current situation in this world. He couldn’t figure out why humans and elves couldn’t coexist peacefully.
Perhaps when the Creator created elves and humans, he already set their relationship on a path of conflict? “Damnous humans! Look at the arrow!” As Du Fan stared at the dead hunters in shock, a green arrow shot toward him…