Chapter 178: The First Meeting, Beautiful Golden Elf Lady (Second Update 5k)
Heiser walked through the sunless city, her wide white robe billowing in the wind, surrounded by ancient buildings built from massive stones.
There was no sun here, nor the light of stars or the silver moon.
Only a few luminous ores were embedded in the ancient stone pillars, serving as the world’s only source of light.
“Is that… Elder Heiser?”
“Senior Heiser… is the ninth seat elder who rarely attends the Tower Council, the one from the legends? She’s out of seclusion?”
“I had only heard of her name in legends before. I never thought I’d see the true face of a historical figure today.”
“The elders of the Forest Elf lineage said she was always engrossed in exploring the forbidden outside world, and would eventually bring ill fortune to the Royal Court…”
“I’ve also heard similar rumors from my elders… No one really cares about those things; our current life is already prosperous enough.”
“Shh, speak carefully—don’t you know the elder’s perception?”
As she appeared, whispers came from the onlookers.
Heiser looked up and saw surrounding elves crowding near the hall leading to the Elf Tower.
Except for infancy, elves cannot accurately judge age by appearance—the posture of their ears is a more accurate method of determining age.
Compared to Heiser’s drooping ears, the onlookers’ ears were all pointed and slender, indicating that most of them were no older than fifty or sixty.
“Has the curse of the elven bloodline deepened again…”
Heiser whispered silently in her heart.
An age of fifty or sixty, while considered old for other ordinary races, even bordering on old age, was at most considered childhood for the High Elves before the Great Calamity, far from adulthood.
Not to mention entering the Elf Tower to participate in the actual governance and work of the Royal Court.
However, after the Great Calamity, the Fallen Sun’s pollution not only destroyed the Royal Courts of the Ancient Dragons and Giants but also directly affected the High Elf bloodline itself.
With each iteration, the elves’ pure bloodline became increasingly defiled.
Amidst the continuous disasters and pollution, High Elves like Heiser, born before or after the Great Calamity, who could live for a thousand years even without cultivation, were few and far between…
The lifespan of the vast majority of newborn elves was only a hundred or two hundred years.
Perhaps in a few hundred or a thousand more years… the lifespan of the elves on the Lost Island would assimilate to the point where they were similar to the race known as humans in the ancient scrolls.
Heiser walked through the hall, stepped onto the gray-white long stairs, and proceeded deeper into the tower.
She paid no mind to the discussions of her kin, even though, with Heiser’s perception, all those discussions had already entered her ears word for word.
After all, it had been many generations since the Great Calamity.
They had forgotten their fear and lost their drive.
They had forgotten some things.
There was nothing strange about it—
*Tap. Tap.*
Heiser ascended the pale stairs step by step. The complex clamor from the ground floor hall of the tower gradually faded and eventually disappeared.
Her footsteps paused on a certain floor of the tower.
It was a massive ancient door, ten-plus people high, broad, and magnificent.
On either side of the door were two ethereal blue torches. As Heiser approached, they suddenly lit up, illuminating this dim world.
The Golden Elf stood before the enormous door, extending slender fingers from under her white robe to touch the ancient door.
“I, Heiser Zejin.”
“As an Elder of the Golden Elves and the ninth seat of the Tower Council, I request to open the Royal Court’s Grand Library within the Elf Tower.”
“Opening duration: fifty years.”
“Reason for request—”
“To use ancient knowledge to explore the depths of the Astral Realm and discover new, unSource powers beyond the cursed elven bloodline.”
“And using this as a foundation, to find the way forward for the Lost Island.”
“And… the future of the Elf Race.”
As the Golden Elf spoke.
The ancient door boomed, and the Ancient Mystery, along with the ripples of Subspace, surged outward.
This tower, as the former center of the Elf Royal Court, still retained extraordinary and mysterious elements despite the Calamity and the passage of long years.
The Royal Court’s Grand Library was one of the foundations of the Elf Tower.
Due to the actions of the fallen Elf King, the High Elves, unlike the Ancient Dragons and Giants, were the most well-preserved among the Three Great Royal Courts, still possessing a relatively complete inheritance.
The Royal Court’s Grand Library was an independent Subspace, containing a considerable amount of ancient knowledge and scrolls that were not lost or damaged in the Great Calamity.
According to elven law, only elders of the Tower Council had the right to open it.
However—
A few breaths later.
The ancient door did not open.
Instead, a crimson light emanated.
Heiser’s request to open the Grand Library was denied.
“I’m very sorry, Senior Heiser.”
“Because you have been wandering in the Subspace and dimensional rifts appended to the Lost Island for a long time, we haven’t had a chance to inform you.”
“After a joint vote by the remaining eight members of the Tower Council—”
“Your certain authorities as an elder of the Council are temporarily suspended, including the authority to open the Royal Court’s Grand Library.”
A voice came from the darkness.
It was a Moon Elf with long, light blue hair, wearing a white robe similar in specification to Heiser’s.
“Elara Frostsong…”
“Why would the Council do this?”
Heiser looked at the Moon Elf before her and spoke softly.
“No, I don’t go by that name.”
“And I’m not married yet, so how could I have an Ice Elf surname?”
“If I recall correctly, Elara Frostsong seems to be the name of my grandmother or great-grandmother? I can’t quite remember.”
“But it doesn’t matter, it’s all ancient history anyway.”
The female Moon Elf played with her long hair and chuckled.
“As for the reason you asked for, Senior Heiser—”
“Of course, it’s because exploring the Astral Realm is too dangerous. There’s no ‘Veil’ to protect you there… A slight mistake could lead to madness as recorded in ancient texts.”
“It’s fine if you go crazy alone, but if you go mad, we’d have to spend time cleaning up after you, which would be too annoying.”
Heiser’s gaze flickered for a moment, then returned to tranquility.
She spoke softly, “But your ancestor—”
“The former second seat of the Council, Elara Frostsong, devoted her entire life to finding a way to resist the curse and leave the Lost Island…”
“She once told me that the future of the High Elves should never be confined to this lightless island.”
“Instead, they should bathe in the true sunlight.”
“When the Council was first established, its purpose was to coordinate efforts and help the Elf Race find its future path…”
Before the Golden Elf could finish speaking, she was interrupted.
“It was you old fossils messing around back then, wasting hundreds of years and vast amounts of resources, only to achieve nothing. You frequently lost control and caused countless deaths.”
“Always talking about the path forward for the Elf Race, the future of the Elf Race.”
“The Royal Court is ancient history, who cares about those old, stale clichés?”
“Why should your inexplicable obsessions ruin our current peaceful lives?”
“Moreover, doesn’t it seem ridiculous to try to create a completely new power system to resist the curse that fell from the Creator’s demise? That is the power of deities!”
…
Instead of forging their own new path forward.
They placed all their hopes and expectations… on the continuation of the ‘Veil.’
Was this the right way?
Was the Veil created by that Elf King eternal?
Before these words could be spoken, Heiser saw that the Moon Elf before her had already disappeared beyond the torches, into the boundless darkness and shadow.
Soon, the ethereal blue torches were extinguished, leaving only the vast, silent tower.
She turned slightly and looked at the now dust-sealed library door behind her, its vibrations ceased.
Long-accumulated dust rained down, covering the ground.
This Grand Library, containing the inheritance of an entire race’s civilization, had not been opened for several hundred years.
Clearly, even with the authority to open it, the knowledge contained within this library was considered valueless by the current Elven Council.
And many years ago, this Grand Library door had been open all night.
The elders replaced the magnificent Council Hall with the library, discussing the path to solving the pollution, restoring light, and the future of the Elf Race.
Heiser remained silent for a long time.
Myriad thoughts finally turned into a soft sigh.
“Never mind—”
Her purpose for coming to the Royal Court’s Grand Library this time was to search for methods of coordinate positioning in the dimensional void from the knowledge passed down by predecessors.
Of course, without a method of positioning, the task she had to undertake would not change.
It would only be riskier.
Her figure disappeared into the tower and entered the ready-prepared ritual site.
Beside her were thick books filled with various experimental data.
And also complex Holy Relics, ritual materials, and auxiliary tools… all of which were readily available.
Each piece of material information contained the countless attempts, hundreds or thousands of times over, by an elven elder.
With each attempt, when an experiment failed and a void rift was opened incorrectly without protective measures, it meant the loss of control and madness for an High Elf, or direct dismemberment and devouring by the space rift.
Countless failures had brought this research to its current stage.
Yet, the descendants of those pioneers had personally denied the efforts of their ancestors.
…
Without overthinking.
Heiser simply followed the steps, carrying out all the preparation procedures according to the experience gained at the cost of countless blood and lives.
Then, in an instant.
Surrounded by Extraordinary Materials.
In the center of the ritual altar, a pitch-black rift quietly opened.
It was not a fleeting, extremely unstable spatial turbulence that could sever and devour anyone approaching at any moment.
Rather, it was a stable form, sufficient to allow one person to pass through.
Of course, without a method of positioning, rashly entering the dimensional void meant one might be forever lost within it, never to return.
But at this moment, Heiser had no possibility of turning back.
She stepped forward, her figure disappearing into the diffusing rift.
…
The void was pitch black.
No reference points, no direction.
Losing the coordinate positioning was equivalent to losing everything.
It was cold, and dark.
And from time to time, spatial turbulence transformed into sharp blades, cutting at Heiser’s flesh.
Tearing her pure white robe into bloody wounds.
Some were extremely fine, with only faint bloodstains, while others were deep enough to expose bone, with gruesome, bloody wounds.
But Heiser did not resist.
Her Status had reached Legendary, and among the nine members of the Council, she was of the highest tier.
And as a genuine Legendary High Elf.
The term “Golden Elf” itself represented an innate extreme affinity for the element of gold.
Chanting in ancient elven language also signified Authority and Word of Power. With her Legendary Status, as long as she spoke, resisting some spatial turbulence would naturally not be a problem.
But Heiser did not do so.
Because the High Elf bloodline itself was the object of curses and pollution.
After the Great Calamity, once they were outside the protection of the ‘Veil,’ if the elves mobilized the power of their bloodline even slightly, it would invite pollution and corruption.
And everything she and those pioneers had painstakingly done—
Was to eradicate the elven bloodline and seek a new power system, forging a path forward.
A path that would allow the Elf Race to walk in the world and live under the sun, without relying on bloodline power or racial talents.
Once she used the Authority of her bloodline.
Everything she persevered for and pursued would lose all meaning…
Without knowing how long this drifting lasted.
Until her wounds covered her entire body, the wounds dyeing her originally plain white robe a sienna red, and her consciousness became blurred from excessive blood loss.
She finally sensed it.
In the endless void, the vast energy that was almost infinite and without Source or origin.
“Not from the Creator, nor from the Sun God, nor from any deity’s Blessing.”
“But rather, energy that roams the Astral Realm and dimensional void, completely ownerless.”
“As long as one uses this unSource energy to weave the corresponding structural model, based on the understanding and cognition of world Laws and principles.”
“The power exerted in this way, its upper limit, would not be inferior to any deity.”
“Not even the Creator who brought all this calamity.”
When she tangibly sensed the unSource energy from the Astral Realm wandering around her.
A faint smile finally appeared on the Golden Elf’s lips for the first time.
However—
The smile quickly turned bitter.
Heiser knew very well that she could not go back.
Even though she had proven that what she and the pioneers pursued was not an illusion but a feasible reality, it was already meaningless.
No coordinates, no reference points, and no anchor to guide her.
It was impossible for her to return to the Lost Island.
The only outcome awaiting her was to drift with the currents in this icy void.
Until her lifespan ran out, or before that, she was swallowed by spatial turbulence, becoming another corpse lost in the void.
Heiser gently closed her eyes.
She allowed the chaotic spatial turbulence to carry her adrift in the pitch-black void.
Although she had left complete experimental records and data in the Royal Court—
If they could replicate her steps exactly according to the records and information, and then, with protective measures and positioning prepared, enter one by one in an orderly fashion by multiple Council elders.
Then, her fellow elves would still discover this treasure trove of potential in the void.
But—
Given the current attitude of the Council towards her.
She seemed to be a bit overly optimistic.
And this treasure trove of knowledge, painstakingly acquired by generations of Council elders, spanning countless Subspace dimensions, spent on their youth, blood, and long years.
It was destined to be permanently buried in this icy void.
“Did I really…”
“Do the wrong thing?”
The Golden Elf’s soft whisper vanished into the pitch-black void, unheard.
But in the next moment.
Heiser heard someone softly speak in her ear.
“It’s really the first time I’ve seen you in such a sorry state, Shī Jiang…”
“No, we’re still strangers now.”
“If I were approached with such a nonsensical greeting, I’d just think of the person as a perverted scoundrel.”
A pleasant chuckle sounded.
“Then, let’s try again.”
“First meeting, beautiful Golden Elf lady.”
Heiser turned back in astonishment.
Not far behind her, a young man with black hair and black eyes was leaning by the cockpit of a massive metal construct, his legs swinging as he looked at her.
The young man glanced at the surrounding dark, deep void and frowned slightly.
“This is supposed to be the important first encounter between the protagonist and the heroine, but the background lighting is a bit too dim.”
He took out a twig from his pocket and flicked his finger. The twig was cut into a slender wand shape by a silver-white blade.
“Speaking of which, this should be the first spell cast in the First Era. The sense of ritual must be maximized.”
The young man smiled and then lightly waved the wand he had just fashioned from the twig.
“Wizard’s spell… Let me think, got it.”
“Luminous Dust!”
A fraction of a second later.
The clear radiance gushing from the tip of the wand illuminated Heiser’s slightly widened, light golden beautiful eyes.
