Chapter 1124

Chapter 1102 Thirty Regents in Ten Years: The Weaknesses of the Unforged Empire!

In the celestial river above, the Macedonian witch walked amidst white ripples. This river was like the veins of this world, teeming with boundless vitality. Holding the Heavenly Cabbage, she sensed the shifting life force and spiritual energy. A smile played on her lips. From the moment the Elven Empire accepted the Mother of Insects into the Great Magic, she knew this would happen. As a witch who had earned her reputation as an Insect Slayer by slaying insects on the new sea route, she knew these insects all too well. The Void

Swarm was like an unkillable swarm of insects. Once an area was infected, it was nearly impossible for the world to eradicate them completely.

Killing them might temporarily eliminate them, but after a while, the swarm would reappear.

For the wizarding civilization, the most formidable aspect of the swarm wasn’t its evolutionary ability; the wizarding civilization’s research speed even surpassed the swarm’s evolutionary speed. The most troublesome aspect of the swarm for the wizarding civilization was its infectivity. Successfully eliminating the swarm wasn’t impossible, but once infection was successful, completely eradicating the swarm was harder than climbing to heaven.

Moreover, most successful eradication cases involved small swarms without an Overlord, or swarms in the early stages of parasitizing the world. If a swarm with an Overlord successfully parasitized, the difficulty of eradication would increase to the maximum.

Edgar still lacked experience.

He dared to allow the swarm to enter his Great Magic. The most troublesome thing about the swarm was that once it parasitized an environment, it would burrow in and remain parasitic forever. At best, one could suppress them by reducing their numbers; it was extremely difficult to completely eradicate them.

The Macedonian witch, holding a cabbage, walked on the Milky Way. Many small cabbage boats floated on the Milky Way, carrying many passengers—rain summoners.

The Macedonian witch said, “Rainbowers are sorcerers, and I am the head of all sorcerers. Sorcerers, sorcerers, sorcerers communicate with heaven and earth, harmonize life, eradicate evil completely, and promote good and suppress evil; teachers spread civilization, impart knowledge and skills, sow virtue, and ignite the flame of civilization. I am now lacking in virtue, so I will only be a sorcerer, promoting good and suppressing evil, punishing sinners, and therefore I gather rain.”

As the principles of different planes surrounded the Macedonian witch, her magical pressure grew stronger and stronger, almost breaking through the limits of the Star Ring.

The amplification of magical pressure by the extremely powerful magic of the zero-fake forging was enormous.

The rainbowers on the small cabbage boats around her began to sing, and with their singing, the surrounding rain fluctuated, as if it had some kind of rhythm, filled with magical power.

The Macedonian witch’s ultimate spell, “Heavenly Rain,” has been undergoing constant modification. Now, this “Heavenly Rain” is about to transform into the pseudo-forged ultimate spell, “Head of the Rain Witches,” which she truly intends to construct.

The construction of the Head of the Rain Witches is incredibly complex. It requires building a magical realm and achieving a certain degree of integration between this realm and the real world. This necessitates the collaboration of numerous rain spirits, continuously deepening the fusion of the rain realm with the prime material plane. Simultaneously, it requires organizing the principles of the three realms according to the theory of a unified, large-scale water cycle. The intrusion of the goddess Rose has even increased her workload by a quarter; now, she also needs to obtain the principles of the underworld’s plane.

Originally, the Macedonian witch only wanted to experiment with her unified, large-scale water cycle theory in a relatively common world, but now she has no choice but to proceed. She can only temporarily modify her spell model, treating the earth as both the surface world and the underworld, forcibly attempting to unify the three realms.

The Macedonian witches drifted downstream along the river, their rain-summoners singing ethereal and beautiful songs that proclaimed the imminent demise of the elven empire’s tyranny.

The Macedonian witches were unleashing their ultimate magic, the Rain Witches’ Chief, for a final attack on the elven empire and the Tree of Perfection. Dark clouds blanketed the capital, and the residents, looking up, could see the thick, blanket-like clouds descending upon them.

Each elf tilted their head back, as if contemplating their fate.

Was this impending doom?

Had the Emperor abandoned the city?

In the streets, a priest of the Emperor’s cult shouted, “Because of your sins, because of your original sin, we are doomed! Greed, lust, these are the sins of us elves!”

In the small town of Little Probus, a dark cloud on the horizon grew ever larger, filled with ever-growing lightning bolts. A bolt of lightning ripped through the dim world, like a spark of civilization striking the earth.

Little Probus was pale. “Is the world going to end? Arvin, let’s leave this city first.”

Arvin, supported by him, and his still-living elven companions quickly fled the city, fearing that elven inspectors would discover everything and blame them—elven inspectors were far more terrifying than the dark clouds in the sky.

Above the Milky Way, the Macedonian witch held the Heavenly Cabbage, this magical plant serving as the core of her ultimate magic, and was currently casting it.

At this moment, all she needed to do was gather life force and use the Star Ring spell model: Heavenly Protection, to wipe out the entire capital.

However, the Macedonian witch hesitated to take that step.

A rainmaker on a small, cabbage-shaped boat bowed to the Macedonian witch, saying, “Queen, why haven’t you delivered the final blow to this wicked empire and ended its evil?”

In the Rain Marsh, on the viewing platform, there were now over two thousand, nearly three thousand spectators.

All of them were wizards of the second ring or higher, and below the platform, there were tens of thousands of first-ring wizards.

These wizard spectators all celebrated.

The Macedonian witch’s impending completion of the False Forged Heavenly River Rain Witch’s Head had truly opened their eyes, proving the strength of the Rain Marsh’s breeding science, which was no less than that of any other wizarding land.

Originally, these wizards had been worried because of the power of Edgar and Locke, but now, faced with the False Forged Heavenly River Rain Witch’s Head, they no longer had any concerns about the level of breeding and botany in the Rain Marsh.

The celestial river that spanned heaven and earth, the flow of life force throughout the world, and the life-giving lightning so powerful it seemed capable of destroying the entire imperial capital in a single strike—all these demonstrated the advanced level of breeding science in the Rain Marsh.

A Moon Ring Wizard Academy headmaster quickly consulted the data.

“

I looked up some information and discovered that this Rain Witch Chief possesses a completely new, pseudo-forging-level, extremely powerful spell. This spell is actually an original creation of the Macedonian witch, its foundation likely stemming from her treatise on the unity of the three realms—plants and rainwater cycles. Truly impressive; at her age, she can already achieve this level of pseudo-forging. Who says our Rain Marsh’s breeding science is inferior to others?”

A Star Ring Academy headmaster smiled and said, “Now it’ll be much easier for me to recruit students when I go to the No Man’s Land in the Three Marshes. I’ve already filmed this footage; I’ll definitely need it next time I go to the No Man’s Land.”

“But judging from this, if the Macedonian witch is willing to strike, Edgar David’s ultimate magic will definitely collapse, along with Ramses, Patrick, and that Haisan, all of them will be eliminated. Perhaps destroying this ultimate magic can also destroy the insectoids?”

Another old wizard with the ultimate magic pressure of the Star Ring said, “Even if it can’t destroy the insectoids, at least it will make them unable to hide anymore. I think Edgar’s ultimate magic has already begun to provide hiding places for the insectoids. If we can expose the insectoids’ location, perhaps we can use the ultimate magic – Rain Witch’s Head – to destroy the insectoids.”

Many wizards began to urge the Macedonian witch to quickly strike down that lightning and remove the capital and the Tree of Perfection at the same time.

“Quickly use the ultimate magic to destroy the Tree of Perfection, Lady Macedonian.”

“Lady Macedonian, quickly complete that final blow.”

“Lady Macedonian, only one last blow is needed before the ultimate magic – All Things Return to the Tree – is finished!”

On the judges’ panel, Dean John frowned.

“How come there are so many Imperial Paths these days? In the past hundred years, no wizard has successfully attempted to forge an Imperial Path. Although these two haven’t succeeded yet, they are indeed forging an Imperial Path, and both have already glimpsed the path; they just lack a bit of refinement and academic accumulation.”

“The Void Emperor, the Head of the Rain Wizards—these are all Imperial Paths, just different branches of them.”

“Could it be that our wizarding world has reached the point where Imperial Paths are appearing collectively?” “

The Red Dragon Witch pondered, “A thousand years ago, I also tried to forge the Imperial Path, but I couldn’t do it at all. The Imperial Path didn’t react to me at all. But now—these two young people—I don’t think it’s just because of their talent; it might also be due to the times. Haven’t you noticed? The base value of the magic tide concentration gradient hasn’t been increasing too quickly recently, but at certain times, the magic tide concentration gradient suddenly rises by several levels.” “

Something must have happened over there in the Starfield Sea.” “

Their magic ascension plan is too big.”

Dean Faust said, “What exactly does the Starfield Sea want to do?”

The Macedonian Witch frowned, looking down at the capital of the Elven Empire and the magnificent, towering Tree of Perfection.

“This is—”

—

“All sins converge into one?”

The Macedonian Witch saw all the sins of the entire empire converging on Edgar David’s body. He alone bore the sins of the entire empire, and not only that, he was bearing the original sin of the destruction of that super civilization. The sins of the entire Elven race were converging on him alone.

The Macedonian witch frowned. She had finally seized an opportunity to remove the Tree of All Things, but she hadn’t expected Edgar to use the spell model: “All Sins Return to One. “

The Macedonian witch pondered for a long time in the sky, then the Milky Way receded, the dark clouds dissipated, and the thunder vanished.

Above the Milky Way, in a small boat, numerous rain-summoners asked the Macedonian queen in bewilderment,

“Queen, why do we suddenly have to leave when we clearly have the opportunity to destroy the Tree of All Things?”

“Yes, that Tree of All Things is extremely evil. If it isn’t destroyed, we will all die. It consumes resources but has absolutely no ability to solve problems. You told us that this world has a creation problem. We are all prepared to wait until our civilization reaches its peak, then naturally return to destruction, and then let the Creation Lotus bloom again. This is the collective wish of us rain-summoners. I dare say that those imperial warriors absolutely do not have our high moral character.” “

They will only make one mistake after another, creating more sins! That’s not the Elven Empire; that’s the Sinful Empire.”

“They enslave their own people, they destroy other civilizations everywhere, absorbing their cultures into their own countries. Wherever they go, they destroy the local civilization, and to alleviate their sins, they absorb the local culture, appointing the most cultured people as rulers and paying them ten times the original reward.”

The wizard spectators watching the competition were dumbfounded, because in their eyes, the Macedonian witch had spared Edgar; otherwise, Edgar would have been eliminated long ago, perhaps even dying in the creation puzzle, since he was the one who entered the creation puzzle in his true form.

However, these are all choices made by adults.

Every adult must be responsible for their choices.

But why did the Macedonian witch suddenly leave?

In the primordial world of the Azure Lotus, the Macedonian witch addressed the other rain-summoning elves in the Milky Way: “It’s not that I’m letting him off the hook, but that I simply cannot. My ultimate magic, ‘Head of the Rain Witches,’ utilizes the massive, unified water cycle of the three realms to control the flow of life. Water represents the flow and change of life; therefore, when life ceases and the world is filled with righteous indignation, life automatically transforms into lightning as punishment, killing the guilty. This is the essence of my ‘Head of the Rain Witches.’ ‘

After all, the will of Heaven is the will of the people, and the will of the gods is the will of the people.’

‘Just now, the Void Emperor used the ‘All Sins Return to One’ technique on his own empire, attributing all the sins of the entire empire to him alone. The entire empire was innocent, and Heaven and Earth, moved by this act, were touched, their anger subsided, and the people’s rage temporarily died down.’ ‘

Therefore, my ‘Head of the Rain Witches’ lightning bolt cannot strike. It’s not that I don’t want to, but that I cannot.'”

“If I were to force it, I would be doing something that would incur divine wrath and popular resentment. The Void Emperor has united all sins into one, moving heaven and earth. At this moment, all the sins of the Elven Empire have been concentrated on him alone. Of course, doing so—”

Even a super genius wizard between the Star Ring and Moon Ring realms couldn’t withstand it.

Edgar’s condition must be very poor.

His actions were incredibly foolish in Macedonian eyes, but they would earn her respect.

She didn’t agree, but she could understand and respect it.

The Macedonian witch pondered: “My Rain Witch’s Head is not yet complete. Forcibly destroying the Tree of All Things might also affect my Rain Witch’s Head. However, even if the sins of the Elven Empire temporarily disappear, I think that problematic Great Magic will continue to accumulate resentment and create sins.

What difference does it make if I wait another fifty years?” “

However, I didn’t expect that the World-Destroying Sin could be absorbed into Edgar alone. At this moment, even if Edgar isn’t dead, he should be close to death.” “

Then I’ll wait another fifty years.”

Fifty years later, I will destroy the Elven Empire.

At this moment, everyone in the Elven Empire suddenly felt a sense of relief, as if

something had partially disappeared. Edgar’s voice appeared in the ears of all the elves.

“Half of the World-Destroying Sin has disappeared. From today onwards, all elves can live to be a hundred years old.”

“My subjects, you should make good use of this gift I have given you.”

Instantly, all the elves in the entire Elven Empire were grateful to Edgar.

They bowed one by one towards the direction of the Tree of Perfection.

Little Probus, who was fleeing, stood there stunned, seemingly thinking about something. “Can the World-Destroying Sin be eliminated?”

“Everyone is thanking the one who eliminated the World-Destroying Sin, but what about the one who absorbed half of the World-Destroying Sin from us? He

must be in great pain. I can feel that pain.”

It wasn’t fair to him personally, but he created a fairer world for all people.

Little Probus didn’t know why, but two tears streamed down his face.

He himself didn’t understand why he shed these tears.

Arvin asked the suddenly stopped little Probus, “Probus, why did you stop? What are you thinking about?”

The answer was a very dignified and mature voice. Little Probus lowered his head, staring at his toes, and shook his head, saying, “I suddenly realized I might have made a mistake. This mistake has lasted for sixty years, until a few friends pointed it out.”

“But the mistake has already been made. No one can share my sins; the sins are too great. I have no way back.”

Arvin, the elf, and his other companions looked at him in bewilderment. “How could that be? You’re so young, how could you commit such an unforgivable, irreversible sin?”

The elf Yavin grabbed his hand and asked, “Look at me. I did so many wrong things before, but didn’t I still think about turning back? You told me to walk the right path, and I did. Probus, look at me, I’ll show you I’ll walk the right path. Even someone like me, the lowest of the low, can walk the right path, why can’t you? You’re still young, you have an unlimited future.”

“Children, I’ve thought it through. We’re not going to do petty theft anymore. I almost died this time, I’ve decided to change my way of life. We’ll go to another city and start over.”

“Life will definitely get better.”

Little Probus blinked, looked up, his face full of doubt. “Did I just say something?”

The elf Arvin led Probus and the others to a new city. Because there was no crime in the land, everything flourished. They were fortunate to live in a good era; the Emperor’s envoy had decreed a three-year tax exemption for the empire. Arvin, along with Probus and the others, ran a pie buffet. This pie buffet was inexpensive and of high quality. Two years later, they opened a branch

.

Three years later, they opened another branch.

They had three branches in one city, and Arvin quickly became a small-time tycoon in the city.

Arvin, along with Probus and other elven teenagers, were celebrating Probus’s birthday in a rather well-equipped elven dwelling. Arvin smiled at Probus and said, “Probus, I want to thank you. Without your advice three years ago, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I never dreamed I could live like this.

Let’s celebrate Probus’s birthday.”

“Probus, you’re truly my lucky star.”

Probus watched as Arvin awkwardly placed a beautiful floral necklace around his neck. Probus whispered, “But Arvin, why did you refuse when someone approached you a few days ago about running a slave trade, a slave arena? I looked into it; the arena was doing well, but the original owner was promoted. If you took over, your wealth would double. You could even use that slave arena to formally enter the ruling class of the empire. Running that business would make it easy to come into contact with high-ranking officials, wouldn’t it?”

“From now on, you’ll be different from other common elves. You might even get citizenship in the capital. We’re just provincial citizens and free citizens.”

Arvin’s expression turned serious. He seemed a little depressed. He poured himself a glass of wine and said to Probus, “Probus, what I hate most in this life is these so-called ruling class. I don’t want to associate with them. I have absolutely no interest in that arena.”

“And what I hate most are imperial citizens.

” “If you want me to mingle with them, I’d rather steal from them, rob them, I’d rather be a thief or a robber among them, hahahahaha—”

Little Probus looked at him with considerable worry.

“I know what you’re thinking, Avan. But Avan, I feel the environment has changed again, it’s not the same as before. I’m worried that if you don’t go along with them, you’ll face their ostracism. Avan.”

The elf Avan laughed, “I’ve been ostracized for half my life, I don’t want to go along with them.”

“By the way, I heard that the jungle next to this city is the world of the Forest Rangers, one of the Three Demons. Be careful, and don’t go there. I’ve heard that the Forest Rangers are extremely ferocious and should not be approached.”

A year later, the Elven Empire suddenly announced that because Emperor Edgar had absorbed all the sins for the sake of the world, he had fallen into pain and slumber. Therefore, an elven regent from the capital city was appointed as the imperial prime minister, and he announced that the empire’s fiscal revenue was poor, so taxes would be increased.

That year, Avan’s two branches immediately went bankrupt.

Because the cost of opening a shop suddenly increased, whether it was the rent or other aspects, everyone’s life suddenly became difficult.

Another year passed, and it was said that the prime minister had been assassinated, his body hung on the walls of the capital, unclaimed. It was rumored that he had embezzled funds from the elven legions through complex documents, leaving the elven warriors not only unpaid but also indebted to the empire. All of this was accomplished through meticulous calculations and intricate regulations by his appointed civil officials.

The prime minister, once the head of the civil service, was driven back to the capital by the enraged army and hanged on the city walls.

It was said that the imperial legions had a law forbidding entry into the capital without orders, but Probus knew that from this day forward, this law was merely a name.

The imperial army welcomed a highly respected historian to serve as the new regent.

Little Probus comforted Alvin, encouraging them to continue running their last remaining pie shop; perhaps with a new regent, everything would be better—he was said to be a very good man.

Six months later, the new regent suddenly died, and the army elected a new, highly respected high judge as regent.

Yavin’s pancake shop business declined day by day.

A year later, Probus heard that the regent, due to his unfair actions, had angered a merchant. The merchant, a man of fiery temper, in a fit of rage, killed the high judge, who was not even a high-ranking official.

The empire had once again lost its regent.

This time, the army seemed determined to equip a regent with military strength. The infantry commander, a level 20 Unseen Forging Elf warrior of the War Tree rank, became regent.

Upon assuming power, this Elf warrior ordered the empire to concentrate all its resources on attacking a large Zerg hive established in the northwest of the Elven Empire. He also abolished numerous exorbitant taxes. He seemed to be a truly loyal elf to Emperor Edgar, and thus he worked diligently to restore the empire to its former glory under Emperor Edgar.

He wanted to annihilate that large Zerg hive.

The entire empire’s resources were mobilized, making life increasingly difficult for the elves, even more so than during the previous regency. Yet, they held onto hope, believing this new regency was genuinely committed to eradicating the massive insectoid hive. If successful, it would greatly benefit everyone.

The elven empire’s subjects heard daily reports of victories from the front lines.

But then one day, they heard of the death of an elven warrior of the level 20 War Tree rank, strangled by the Hive Mother, a giant insectoid monster with spider-like legs. They had fallen into a trap, without support, surrounded by a sea of insectoids. They succumbed to repeated attacks, and the Hive Mother swallowed the regency whole.

Panic gripped the entire empire.

In a tragic chaos, the empire ultimately repelled the insectoid invasion, losing a third of its territory and a quarter of its population. But the insectoid hive had grown even larger, now known as the Insect Capital.

The people of the Empire grieved the death of the level 20 elven warrior regent, thus calling him the great warrior, Aurelian.

People said that Aurelian, as the strongest warrior after the Emperor, was capable of defeating the insect swarm; someone betrayed him at a crucial moment. There were bad people within the Empire, but even until the great warrior’s death, no one knew who had betrayed him. The

Empire descended into utter chaos.

Rebellions erupted repeatedly, warlords rose and fell.

Ten years passed, and they had thirty-one regents.

The legions were completely out of control. Historians record it thus: the noble regent, favored by the Emperor, became a plaything in the hands of the army. Each new regent, unable to pay the army, would cause riots and chaos. The elven warriors forgot all their past virtues, fighting only for themselves.

Ten years later, Probus looked at the elf Arvin lying on his sickbed. Perhaps because of the parasite infection he had suffered, Arvin’s life had ended before he even reached fifty.

Probus, now a 27-year-old young man, had a resolute gaze and a strong physique, yet his eyes held the wisdom of a scholar. He looked at Arvin; Arvin’s pie shop had long since closed down, but Arvin hadn’t given up. He had tried several more businesses, each time showing promise, and they thought they were about to become rich, only to have their shops fail again due to natural disasters or human calamities.

All the elf boys who had followed Arvin in the past had left him for various reasons, leaving only Probus by his side.

Looking at the still impoverished Arvin, Probus felt a bitter taste in his mouth; he didn’t know what it was.

Arvin, on his deathbed, grasped Probus’s hand.

“My life was a mess in the first half, and a struggle in the second half. I worked hard, I had my moments of glory, I almost thought I was going to get everything I wanted, but in the end, I lie on this wooden bed, still ignored, still penniless.”

Probus asked, “Arvin, do you regret it?”

Arvin, the elf, lay on the hospital bed, his eyes seemingly shining, a smile playing on his lips.

“I don’t regret it.”

“Probus, thank you, you gave me such a wonderful second half of my life.”

“I won’t think my previous life was any better because of my current predicament. Without you, I might have been reported to the police for theft and imprisoned long ago. I might have died in a fight.” “

Until now, I finally understand that when you broaden your perspective on life, the wealth you gain might slip through your fingers, the business you build might disappear before your eyes, just like all the results of your efforts will vanish, like a mirage, leaving nothing behind. But I don’t regret it. Because the experience of struggle remains in my heart.” “

My life can be summed up in one word: worthwhile!” “I don’t know why I feel this way. Probus, you’ve always been smarter than me, you know? Can you figure it out? Why am I like this—”

Alvin laughed from his hospital bed, a loud laugh. “I actually think it’s ‘worth it.'”

“I’ll never regret this life. I feel it’s been wonderful. Cough cough—”

“Probus, I’m leaving. You’ll go back to your lonely days. Probus, go to the world of the Forest Ranger.”

Probus’s pupils suddenly contracted. “Arvin, didn’t you stop me from going to the world of the Forest Demons several times?”

Arvin said, lying on his sickbed. “I’ve come to a realization as I’m dying. Just as my first half of life was that of a thief, I don’t want to spend the second half with those citizens of the Empire. I see many elves fleeing to the world of the Forest Demons. I wonder if those Forest Demons are the same as me; they don’t want to be with those glorious citizens of the Empire, so they’d rather be called demons by the world and stay in the jungle.”

“I apologize for my past shallowness. Probus, you were right. Go, Probus. In this world, whether you’re a thief or a serious businessman, you’ll end up with nothing. Probus, go into the jungle and become a demon.”

“My mind isn’t sharp; I can’t explain this logic. If you can, then you explain it. Probus—you must make something of yourself.”

“No, Probus, perhaps being a good person is enough. Probus, you must find a world where you can be a good person.”

“This world forces you to become a demon, but it’s not your fault.”

When Probus looked up, Alvin had already lost his breath. He lay there on a broken bed. He had lived a life of glory, but in death, he had only a tattered straw mat.

But as he died, the corners of his mouth were turned up.

He had no doubt about his path.

Probus walked to Alvin’s side, who had lost all vital signs.

“Father, in my heart, you are my adoptive father. Father, you have always been a good person. Good people are born in bad places, but that’s not the fault of good people.”

Probus left. He sold all of Alvin’s remaining possessions and buried him.

As he left, he witnessed the empire descend into chaos. Too many regents had changed, and Emperor Edgar had completely lost contact, offering no further instructions. The empire was divided, with four regents each establishing their own court and collecting taxes four times over.

Unable to subdue each other, they could only acknowledge one another, designating the strongest as the Great Regent, representing Emperor Edgar’s will.

When Probus reached the edge of the jungle, he saw in a border city that three more elven generals had led a rebellion, meaning the empire now had seven regents.

Probus stood before the announcement. “Seven regents.” “

But there’s only one empire.”

“Too many kings.”

Seven regents meant seven courts, essentially one empire, to be taxed seven times the previous amount.

Probus looked up at the distant sky and saw that the Tree of Perfection had indeed branched out into seven branches, which grew on the ground to form seven magnificent golden trees. The seven regents proclaimed that the empire had entered a golden age, and the Tree of Perfection had branched into seven ancient sun trees, whose light would illuminate the world.

Before Probus entered the jungle, his figure moved through the trees, his voice so low that only he could hear it:

“Too many suns. The people of the empire are going to be killed by the sun’s rays. Your Majesty, the fair environment you created only lasted a few years before it was destroyed.”

“Your Majesty, did you foresee this?”

Probus had walked halfway when suddenly a sharp blade was pressed against his chin. An elven girl holding a dagger looked at him warily.

“People of the empire, why do you enter my Ranger’s territory? Don’t you know this is the domain of Master Locke Augustine?”

When young Probus heard this name, his heart skipped a beat, as if he heard someone calling his name from the depths of his being.

Little Probus said to the female ranger, “Sister, please forgive my unannounced visit. I’ve come to become a ranger. Though I am a citizen of the Empire, we are all elves, and all elves are the same. Please allow me to become a ranger.”

The female ranger sized him up, then sheathed her dagger and said disdainfully, “Don’t your Empire’s citizens call us Ranger Demons and think we are all uncivilized barbarians? Because we have no kingdoms, no strict hierarchy, and no luxuries.”

Little Probus laughed, “Whether we are barbarians or not, I’ll only know after I see them for myself.”

The female ranger said, “You…”

“Hmph, this place is a million times better than your Empire. Come with me. I was born in the Empire, but the sun there was too strong, so my parents took me and fled into the shadows of the jungle. Here, at least we can escape some of the excessive sunlight.”

Little Probus looked at her in surprise. “You are also a citizen of the Empire?”

“Are the citizens of the Empire flowing into the jungle like a river?”

The female ranger led him to the settlement of a group of rangers. Probus had heard that this was supposedly a sacred place for the rangers.

After discussion, the ranger elders decided to let Probus join the rangers, but first he had to undergo the rangers’ trials.

The female ranger pointed to an elven statue sitting on a rock in the jungle and said, “This is the teacher of all of us rangers. You must first pay homage to this teacher before you can undergo the rangers’ trials, which are the Four Questions of Nature. Only after passing all the trials will you be qualified to learn how to become a ranger.”

Probus nodded. He saw that besides the seated statue on the rock, there were four elven ranger masters sitting on rocks. Clearly, he had to kneel before this teacher of all the rangers before he could undergo the trials of the four ranger masters.

The female ranger said, “Then kneel down.”

Probus stood before the statue, suddenly frowning. His intuition told him he didn’t need to kneel.

The female ranger looked at him strangely. “Boy, what are you doing?”

“Why are you standing still?”

Probus shook his head. “I don’t think I want to kneel before this statue.”

The female ranger’s expression changed drastically. “What did you say?”

She drew her dagger again. “Could it be that you’re an Imperial spy?”

The other rangers also drew their bows and aimed their arrows at him, while Probus glanced at the arrows out of the corner of his eye.

Probus stood with his hands behind his back, coldly observing them. “There’s no need for excessive etiquette. Etiquette exists to inspire respect and distinguish right from wrong. At this moment, I sincerely want to ask you what it means to be a ranger. You shouldn’t force me to bow. This is not how you treat someone who earnestly seeks knowledge.”

The female ranger sneered. “Imperial spy, what utter nonsense!”

At that moment, a Ranger Master suddenly opened his eyes. “That makes sense. Aura, don’t make things difficult for this guest. Since that’s the case, you don’t need to bow to the statues of our ancestors.”

“Come here.”

“I have a question for you. I ask you. Why did our ancestors, decades ago, follow the laws of nature and die at thirty-three? And why do we Rangers practice breathing techniques to prolong our lives? Do our actions follow the rhythms of nature? If we do, then why did our ancestor follow birth, aging, sickness, and death, dying at thirty-three, living a shorter life than any Ranger? Wasn’t he foolish? Or futile? This is the first of the four questions about nature.”

“What does it mean to be close to nature?”

“Young man, do you know?”