Chapter 002: Betrayal

Seeing Saito’s hesitant expression, Du Fan quickly continued, “Elder Chief, after this crisis, there shouldn’t be any other threats, right? So, losing two thousand elves shouldn’t be a big deal for your people now that the crisis is over.”
Noticing Saito’s growing reluctance, Du Fan pressed on, “Elder Chief, moreover, I believe those two thousand elves, after some training, will surely become the core strength of your people!”
“Two thousand elves—no less, and I won’t do it,” Du Fan said firmly at last.
“Two thousand then!” Saito replied, his face turning red.
“The Elder Chief is truly straightforward!” Du Fan said with a smile, his face once again adorned with an utterly pure expression.
As soon as he said that, Saito regretted it. As the Elder Chief, he forced a smile, unable to back out. Yet no matter how he looked at Du Fan, he felt trembling, like a lamb facing a smiling wolf!
And so, those two thousand elite archers were betrayed by Saito to Du Fan.
The two secretly agreed to the human trafficking deal, after which Du Fan returned to his residence.
Upon entering the room, he found Nai Xiu and Lan Ling there.
“Du Fan, thank you so much,” Nai Xiu said sincerely.
Nai Xiu had asked the other elf elders, and those experienced elders naturally knew the power of the Dark Blade. Even now, after learning about the magic’s strength, she still felt terrified!
To have even tried to grab that kind of magic with her own hands! If it weren’t for Du Fan casting a protective spell for her, she might never have been able to avenge her parents.
Seeing Du Fan enter, Lan Ling smiled and left.
“There’s no need for thanks between husband and wife,” Du Fan said. “Could I, Du Fan, just stand by and watch my wife get bullied?”
“You!” Nai Xiu didn’t know what to say.
This man would climb higher the more she gave him. A sense of helplessness overcame her.
“I have a question for you—do you really want to obtain the Eternal Bow?” Du Fan asked suddenly, his tone serious.
“The Eternal Bow? Yes, I must get it,” Nai Xiu replied firmly.
Originally, she had high hopes of obtaining the Elf Bow, but after being baptized by the Spring of Life, her cultivation level soared to the peak of her domain. Such strength gave her unwavering confidence.

“Then think about it, among all your competitors, who are those you’re not sure you can defeat?” Du Fan said.
After thinking for a moment, she replied, “I don’t know about the others, but when it comes to Moses, I’m not certain I can win. He specializes as a Demon Warrior.” Nai Xiu said seriously.
“You should be able to win. His cultivation level has just reached the Domain stage,” Du Fan said.
“You don’t realize how powerful Demon Warriors are. If you did, you wouldn’t say that,” Nai Xiu sighed.
The night passed without incident.
When they woke up during the day, the elves continued with the competition. After two rounds of elimination, more than 400 people were left with only 100, though some had withdrawn.
The next opponent scheduled for Nai Xiu was also an archer, but only at the peak of the Saint stage. And after yesterday, only half of the competitors were sent in each round. Nai Xiu didn’t enter immediately; according to the order, she was among the last to compete.
Taking this opportunity, Du Fan watched the elves’ matches around.
Soon, he saw a battle between a Level 9 Demon Warrior and a Saint-stage archer.
The strength difference between the two was exactly one level!
Inside a huge barrier, the two fought fiercely!
“Elven Demon Warriors are truly formidable,” Du Fan exclaimed, watching the battle between the Demon Warrior and the archer.
Elven Demon Warriors were a profession chosen only by elves with physical abilities far superior to ordinary elves.
Their innate talents included an exceptional affinity for natural magic and a high level of mastery in archery!
Most elves chose to be archers or use natural or magical spells.
Few elves chose to become Demon Warriors!
Early Demon Warriors could only attack at close range and were no match for mages and archers!
Moreover, elves who practiced combat energy progressed much slower than those who practiced archery energy or magic!
If you saw an Elven Demon Warrior, your first thought should be that this elf had extremely strong innate talents!
Elves with not very strong innate talents would never consider becoming Demon Warriors. The legendary Elven Ranger was actually a Demon Warrior.
On the battlefield, the archer’s arrows at the Saint stage had no effect on that Level 9 Demon Warrior. Thanks to the elves’ agile bodies, the arrows were dodged before they even reached them.
The archer let out a sharp shout: “Thousand Rain.” With a violent surge of archery energy, the elf archer actually used a forbidden archery technique—Thousand Rain!

Qianyu, as the name implies, is like a rainstorm! It strikes enemies on a large scale, delivering indiscriminate attacks!
Arrows as dense as raindrops swarmed at that elf race’s demon warrior.
But with a low growl, the demon warrior immediately summoned a light shield in front of him. The magic practiced by the elf demon warriors was quite unique—although it consisted of only a few spells, they were extremely effective. What’s more, these spells unique to the elf demon warriors didn’t require any incantations at all!
With a mere thought, they could be cast immediately!
Activating the magic shield, he charged straight through the arrow rain! When it seemed the shield was about to vanish, the demon warrior let out another low growl, and a protective shield formed from combat energy appeared in front of him!
Judging from this, before Qianyu could fully unleash its power, the elf demon warrior had already reached the elf archer. Faced with a level-9 demon warrior archer, even a saint-class warrior would be utterly helpless!
Gritting his tongue hard, the elf archer retreated quickly, muttering strange words. Suddenly, he shot an arrow into the air!
In mid-air, the arrow transformed into a star and crashed toward the demon warrior!
Starfall!
Another forbidden-level spell!
Starfall came with terrifying force, leaving no time for the demon warrior to dodge!
The demon warrior suddenly roared, his body emitting intense green light. Raising his long sword, he soared upward rapidly! It seemed he intended to confront this forbidden spell head-on!
Could a level-9 warrior really withstand a forbidden-level spell?
When the two collided in mid-air and disappeared, the demon warrior fell to the ground.
A trickle of blood flowed from his mouth—clearly, he had suffered severe internal injuries. Yet he still managed to stand up, stepping forward with his sword toward the saint-class archer.
The saint-class archer had already exhausted all his stamina and arrow energy, relying solely on his fierce will to stay strong. As the demon warrior approached with his sword raised, the archer couldn’t muster any strength and watched helplessly as the demon warrior placed the sword against his neck.
A complete victory! In this duel across levels, the level-9 demon warrior emerged victorious!
“Amazing!” Du Fan thought. After running out of combat energy and magic, the demon warrior still managed to withstand Starfall with his body alone!
Such formidable physical strength shocked Du Fan greatly!
The elf race, known for their inferior physical conditions, could cultivate demon warriors with such incredible strength!

“Well, that Moses who has already reached the realm level—I wonder how strong his body can be!” Du Fan thought.
“Dear wife, I just went to watch the battle of the demon warrior,” Du Fan said with a smile as he returned and spoke to Naixiu.
Hearing Du Fan call her his dear wife, Naixiu frowned but didn’t say anything further.
“To be honest, that demon warrior just has an extremely strong body. If there’s a way to break through his defensive barriers, I believe it will be easy for you to win,” Du Fan continued.
“It’s easy to say,” Naixiu sighed.
“Dear wife, if you really face Moses, I still have a way to help you break through his defensive barriers,” Du Fan said with a mysterious smile.
Naixiu looked at Du Fan in surprise, who smiled again before turning to watch the matches.
“Hmph, I’ll first drain your magic and combat energy, then add weakness spells one by one. I don’t believe your body won’t weaken,” Du Fan thought as he walked.
Before Du Fan could finish watching one match, Naixiu’s turn came again—a clash between a peak realm archer and a peak holy-class archer. This mismatched battle ended quickly, with Naixiu winning, of course.
The next match was Naixiu against the demon warrior from before!
Logically, that demon warrior had been seriously injured just moments ago, but suddenly, he appeared lively once more before Naixiu.
The Elven Ancient Tree was famous for its immense vitality, especially the Spring of Life, which had the ability to instantly heal all wounds in a person’s body!
Over the years, the elves had always managed to obtain some of this Spring of Life.
Thinking about how the elves wasted this precious liquid on such battles, Du Fan shook his head helplessly. What he didn’t know was that the elves often faced wars and fights, so they accumulated plenty of Spring of Life!
Although the Spring of Life was valuable, the elves, especially those of the Elven Ancient Tree, were by no means short of it!
“Elder Du Fan, do you think Chief Naixiu can win?” Lan Ling asked, watching Naixiu fight against the demon warrior.
It seems this Lan Ling really cares about their chief of the Kaiyi clan, Du Fan thought.
“Great Sage Lan Ling, you’re not telling me that a demon warrior can defeat a peak realm expert, are you?” Du Fan said, pretending to be surprised as he saw her ask such a question.

“Hehe, I was just asking casually. Elder Du Fan, don’t overreact.” Lan Ling said with a laugh upon seeing Du Fan’s reaction.
“Could it be that a ninth-level Demon Warrior actually has the ability to fight against a master at the peak of his domain?” Looking at the determined gaze of that Demon Warrior inside the barrier, Du Fan also began to wonder.
The duel soon started at the referee’s command. What met Nai Xiuxiu’s arrow attacks were the swift and agile steps of that Demon Warrior.
A archer in such a situation felt like vomiting!
It was like being back in their childhood, when they first learned to use a bow and arrow, trying to shoot something but failing no matter how hard they tried—that deep sense of powerlessness.
Seeing this, Du Fan somewhat understood what Lan Ling had said earlier.
In fact, he also understood why that Holy-ranked Divine Archer had to rely on all his strength to cast two forbidden arrow techniques in a row! In such a situation, only forbidden magic could pose a threat to a ninth-level Demon Warrior!