Chapter 001: The Blade of Darkness

After speaking, Frida’s aura surged, instantly reaching Naixiu’s level. She suddenly closed in on Naixiu, gripping her hand tightly as a dark dagger appeared. They were so close that even the watching elves couldn’t see the pitch-black dagger in Frida’s hand!
The moment the dagger appeared, Naixiu immediately sensed a strong aura of darkness.
“Frida, have you also been corrupted?” Naixiu asked urgently.
“I’m sorry, Naixiu. Though I like you very much, this time I must obtain the Eternal Bow. It’s my master’s order.” With one hand still holding back Naixiu’s dagger, she used the other to thrust the dark dagger at her.
“A little bit—just a little—even if it only scratches Naixiu’s skin, this Blade of Darkness will take her life,” Frida said excitedly. Naixiu frowned and reached out to grab Frida’s wrist holding the blade. Frida swiftly flipped her wrist, causing the blade to slash toward Naixiu’s hand.
Just a little more, and it would cut through Naixiu’s palm.
The Blade of Darkness was one of the dark magic spells—concentrating all one’s dark magic to form a dagger. Once it cut through an opponent’s skin, it transformed into elemental dark magic that invaded the opponent’s body, quickly destroying its vital functions and claiming its life.
Frida deliberately fought up close to use this move.
Although Naixiu quickly retracted her hand, Frida’s Blade of Darkness followed her movements as if attached to her hand. If she stepped back further, the dagger would pierce her chest. Naixiu frowned and instead reached out to grab the blade.
Seeing this, Frida felt delighted—wasn’t this exactly what she wanted? She quickly pushed the blade forward so Naixiu could grasp it tightly. Hehe, then with a slight force, she was sure the sharp blade would tear through Naixiu’s skin!
When Frida’s dagger touched Naixiu’s skin, a cruel smile appeared on her lips—like that of someone who, unable to get what they wanted, chooses to destroy it.

Before Flinda could laugh, a powerful divine white light emanated from Naixiu! The Blade of Darkness came into contact with that white light and could not penetrate further at all.
Seeing this divine white light, Du Fan smiled and said, “Great Sage Lan Ling, look—Flinda finally couldn’t hold back and used dark magic.”
Lan Ling looked at Du Fan in confusion. In her view, aside from the sudden divine light emitted by Naixiu, there was no evidence that Flinda was using dark magic.
Of course, Lan Ling didn’t know that Du Fan had already bestowed a divine protection spell on Naixiu. This passive magic would activate automatically whenever Naixiu was attacked by dark magic.
So, when he saw the divine protection emanating from Naixiu, Du Fan was confident that Flinda had used dark magic.
The protective magic bestowed by a master of the light magic at the peak of its power was incredibly strong, and light magic was the nemesis of dark magic. As the white light continued to radiate from Naixiu, the Blade of Darkness in Flinda’s hand gradually dissolved!
Under the baptism of that divine light, the Blade of Darkness was completely destroyed.
As the pure light continued to shine on Flinda, she collapsed to the ground in pain!
Lying there, writhing in agony, Flinda’s body displayed alternating black and white hues. This alternating light stopped once the divine light from Naixiu disappeared.
While Naixiu stood there in shock, Flinda lay motionless on the ground. The judges outside didn’t see Flinda use dark magic; in their eyes, she had simply been defeated and fallen.
“The Kayi Tribe, Naixiu wins!” With the judge’s announcement, the barrier was lifted.
“Be careful! Flinda might have been corrupted!” Lan Ling shouted loudly when the barrier was removed.
Flinda suddenly stood up, revealing a sinister smile. Before the elves could react, her body twisted, and she vanished from sight.
Someone had already reported this to Saito. While Du Fan rushed to the spot where Flinda disappeared, searching for clues, Saito also arrived.
“Elders, what exactly happened?” Saito asked urgently.
Du Fan was the one who knew the most about what had happened.
“If my guess is correct, that Flinda must be from the race of dark elves,” Du Fan said, rubbing his nose.

“Dark elves! Those traitors haven’t appeared in thousands of years. Who would have thought they’d show up at the Millennium Festival today?” At the mention of dark elves, Saito was immediately shocked.
“After today’s matches, no further contests should take place. Pass my order: this evening, all the elders of the elf race must gather for a meeting,” Saito instructed the elves behind him.
“Elder Du Fan, I hope you’ll definitely attend tonight’s meeting,” Saito added after giving the order.
As the guardians of the Ancient Elf Tree, the leaders of the Ancient Elf Tree clan functioned as the alliance leaders of the entire elf race in the absence of an elf king. In such emergencies, they held the authority to issue orders.
At eight o’clock that evening, all the elders of the elf race gathered in the conference hall.
“Elder Du Fan, are you sure Flinda is a darkened dark elf?” one elder asked.
Du Fan silently counted—there were over forty elders in total! And none of them seemed to possess a cultivation level below the Sacred tier!
“If the ability to use dark magic is a sign of darkening, then I think I’m right,” Du Fan said with a smile. In front of so many skilled elves, he paid close attention to his image, offering a smile that revealed an extremely pure expression.
“As you all know, I am a devout follower of the Light Religion. I practice the martial arts of the Light faction, so I’m very sensitive to dark forces. Even before this, I detected dark energy around Flinda. That’s why, during Nayshu’s match against Flinda, I deliberately bestowed a sacred protection on Nayshu—a passive magic that activates automatically when under attack by dark magic. Unfortunately, it was activated during Nayshu and Flinda’s battle,” Du Fan explained slowly.
“In that case, Flinda must indeed be darkened,” the elder nodded, and all the elders nodded in agreement.
“It’s been thousands of years since the dark elves last appeared. Their reappearance is surely related to the disaster foretold by the Goddess. If any of you elders have any opinions, now is the time to speak up,” Saito said.
“Since Flinda participated in the competition, it’s obvious that one of the dark elves’ goals is the Eternal Bow. Therefore, we must protect it at all costs,” another elder said.

“There’s no problem protecting the Eternal Bow. In that place, even if it’s a god-level opponent, they won’t be able to take it away,” Saito said firmly.
“Another possibility is that they might try to cause trouble during my Millennium Festival. We must take strict precautions for the upcoming events,” said another elven elder.
“It’s quite likely. When we hold combat competitions, with all our skilled warriors competing on the field, they’ll have a chance to cause disruptions,” Saito said after some thought.
“Then, for the competitions ahead, aside from the finals, only ordinary contestants should participate, with half of them serving as a protective force,” Saito said.
In other words, when only twenty teams remain in the competition, although all twenty barriers can accommodate them, only ten teams can compete at a time, with the other ten acting as a protective layer. Although this slows down the competition schedule, it’s still a viable solution.
As soon as Saito proposed this idea, it was immediately approved by the many elders.
During the meeting’s conclusion, Saito suddenly called Du Fan over.
In Saito’s room, he brewed a pot of tea for Du Fan.
“This is the Cloud Mist Tea of our elven race. It can only be found at the very highest parts of our ancient elven trees. These tea plants grow on those trees, absorbing not only their powerful vitality but also the essence of the clouds and mist from those high altitudes,” Saito said, holding a cup of tea and offering it to Du Fan.
“Delicious tea,” Du Fan said without hesitation, taking a sip. A refreshing sensation flowed down his throat—it was indeed top-quality tea!
“Elder Du Fan, according to the instructions of the Goddess, our elven race is indeed facing a crisis. The key to overcoming this crisis lies with you. I hope you’ll still step in to help us when our race is in danger,” Saito said seriously after taking a breath.
“Pfft,” Du Fan spat out some tea. “Elder Chief, I certainly won’t hesitate to help. But with so many skilled warriors in our race—there are at least five at the peak of the Sacred rank—I don’t think the key lies with me, right?”
“The will of the Nature Goddess is surely correct,” Saito said firmly.
Seeing Saito’s unwavering conviction, Du Fan was moved.
“Elder Chief, there’s no doubt about that. As an elder of our elven race, I’ll surely take the lead and do my utmost in times of crisis!” Du Fan said passionately.

“The Goddess of Nature truly didn’t pick the wrong person.” Seeing Du Fan’s performance, Saito’s eyebrows rose in delight.
“But Great Clan Leader, as you know, I’m human. When the time comes, I’ll have to return through the Twilight Mountains, which are extremely dangerous. So, I hope…” At this point, Du Fan smiled shyly.
“What do you hope for?” Saito asked quickly.
“I hope that when the time comes, an army of elves can be sent with me,” Du Fan said suddenly.
“Five hundred—will that be enough?” Saito asked.
“I’m afraid not,” Du Fan replied with a smile. “You must know, those dwarves have hundreds of thousands of soldiers.”
“One thousand. One thousand elf archers—will that suffice?” Saito said, feeling a bit uneasy.
“Two thousand! If the Great Clan Leader agrees to assign two thousand elves to me, I will definitely help the elf race overcome this crisis!” Du Fan declared firmly.