When Xiao Chen and Di Ning left Maya's magic shop, Maya simply closed the shop and followed them. Knowing that Xiao Chen was going to live in Di Ning's house, she said that she would also live there in order to study Xiao Chen's mobile phone. Di Ning thought this was a good trend and agreed.
After cleaning herself with magic, Maya's image changed drastically. She took off her scarf, revealing her short hair. She didn't wear a wizard's robe or an elf's long skirt, but an elf swordsman's suit, which made her look very energetic.
As it was getting late, Di Ning took Xiao Chen and Maya back to his home.
Dinning's family's dinner was prepared by his two disciples. Although they were low-level wizards, their cooking skills were quite good by the standards of the elves.
They prepared a feast in the local style, with all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, which were combined into various cakes, rolls and platters. The meat was a wild rabbit and beef. The elves advocated original ecological food, so the rabbit meat was cut into shreds and mixed with wild vegetables, and the beef was cut into small pieces and made into a shape similar to beef tartare.
The dishes were presented in a very delicate and sculptural way, and there was a special cooking magic that made the dishes shine and look even more gorgeous. But the taste was too bland, and Xiao Chen would rather go to a human noble's house to eat barbecue anyway.
After dinner, the two elves naturally continued to study their phones, while Xiao Chen began to read Di Ning's collection of books while waiting for Elena to come back.
However, it was already midnight when she showed up. After Elena found her teacher to understand the situation, her face seemed to be even more worried.
Elaina did not avoid Di Ning and Maya, but asked everyone to sit down and said, "The situation is very troublesome. The World Tree is withering. And the speed of withering is getting faster and faster."
Di Ning obviously knew about this situation, and his expression did not change. But Maya's expression changed drastically, "How could this happen? I have no idea. No wonder I had a vague feeling that something was wrong with the surrounding environment. I thought it was just because I was too tired from doing experiments. This is a big problem that has never happened before. What are the elders going to do?"
Elaina said, "The teachers didn't know the specific reason at first. After checking every part of the World Tree above ground, they determined that the cause of the withering was in the roots, so they gave the task of finding the problem underground to the dark elves."
"What are dark elves?" Xiao Chen had never heard of this race in this world. According to the settings in many previous games, dark elves are the mortal enemies of high elves.
Di Ning said, "The dark elves are a branch of the high elves. A long time ago, there appeared a kind of root-eating worm that devoured the roots of the World Tree. The dark elves are the elves who voluntarily went underground to clean and protect the roots of the World Tree. It took them hundreds of years to completely eliminate the root-eating worms. Later, they got used to life in the underground tunnels and stayed to become the guardians of the World Tree. Over thousands of years, affected by the energy emitted by the roots of the World Tree, their appearance changed and gradually became dark-skinned and white-haired."
Elaina continued, "Because the roots of the World Tree are much larger than its crown, the dark elves have been digging and exploring tunnels underground for the past few months, looking for suspicious targets. Until two weeks ago, they found a huge hole more than 1,500 meters underground. The hole was filled with white mist, and it was difficult to see what was inside."
"Did they go to investigate?" Maya asked.
"Of course! But the result was very bad. At that time, a saint and three masters of the dark elves went to explore together. But once they entered the cave, the energy and mental strength in their bodies began to drain away like crazy. The stronger they were, the faster they drained away. The first to fall was the saint, followed by the three masters. In the end, only the weakest greatswordsman escaped. By the time he organized some low- and middle-level warriors to form a death squad and found the saint and the two masters, they had all turned into mummies." Elena's tone was calm, but what she said was terrifying.
"A saint died silently like this?" Maya covered her mouth and looked at her in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking.
"Then, two of the five elders entered the mist again with protective artifacts. However, they only entered a little bit before the same thing happened to the dark elf saint. The two artifacts left by the God of Nature not only failed to provide any protection, but also lost all their power and turned into iron blocks without magic. Fortunately, the two saints were prepared and retreated in time, but they also suffered great damage. Among the elves who entered at the same time, only those below the master level were not greatly affected." Elaina said, "But even so, they were still affected in another way: they were subdued by something in the mist for no reason, and naturally they had the emotion of wanting to obey a certain will in their hearts."
Di Ning added: "I also participated in the research. I proposed at the time that there was a powerful object in the mist that could absorb energy. I thought it was at least a divine weapon. It would absorb the energy of the Tree of Life as well as the power of the strong who approached it."
"It's useless to just guess. No matter what it is, we have to go inside to see." Elaina said, "The elders are going to organize a team of high-level warriors, mages, and priests to find out. This team must be composed of elves and non-elves, so they need to find a few reliable foreign warriors."
Xiao Chen now finally understood why Di Ning said this was his chance at the beginning: "So, I really came to the right place this time. I can also provide a ready-made high-level warrior. Roger is staying in the small town on the border. If I take him over, this expedition will be more secure."
Elena looked hesitant. She said softly, "I mentioned your situation and the matter of the World Tree sap to the teacher. I didn't expect her to agree without hesitation. This actually makes me very worried. The fact that she is willing to pay such a price shows that this is a very, very dangerous thing. I think you really need to think about it carefully."
Just as Xiao Chen was about to answer, Elena reached out to stop him and said again: "I want to get the World Tree sap for Luo Ling just as much as you do. But if it requires your life in exchange, I will never agree to it."
"Elena, will everyone here go?" Xiao Chen asked.
Elaina looked at Di Ning and Maya, with unspeakable emotions brewing in her eyes: "Yes. The elders do think so. The three of us are the best among the high-level ones. Di Ning is good at fighting, I am good at healing, and Maya is good at dealing with various mechanical door locks."
"That's good, not only for Luo Ling. It's also for me not to regret it, for your safety, for Di Ning to have the opportunity to marry a human beauty, and for bringing Maya back to Montenegro. Aren't all these reasons enough?" Xiao Chen said with a smile.