Chapter 156: That is a Certain Future.

With the Elven King’s permission to venture out onto the continent ahead of schedule, Shu Li was delighted. He sat in his little wooden basin, blissfully relaxed.

The Elven King leaned against the steps at the edge of the pool, his eyes closed as he rested. Like Shu Li, he had a damp towel draped over his head.

Shu Li’s little wooden basin floated beside him. Whenever the Elven King moved even slightly, ripples spread across the water, rocking the basin like a cradle. Far from making Shu Li uncomfortable, it gradually lulled him to sleep.

He had no idea how much time had passed when, in his half-conscious state, he suddenly remembered an important question. He opened his eyes, craned his neck, and asked the Elven King, “Your Majesty, can’t the soul vessels be controlled? Why does my time travel always happen at random?”

Listening to an Elven poem had sent him through time. Entering a teleportation array had done the same. Oh, right—there had also been the time he prayed to the Light God and saw a very different version of the king.

The Elven King removed the damp towel from his head and ran his long, slender fingers through his hair, revealing his smooth forehead. Even without his forehead ornament and crown, he had lost none of his nobility.

“Since the soul vessels contain fragments of the God of Time and Space’s soul, they possess wills of their own. With your current strength, you are not yet capable of controlling them.”

“I see!” Shu Li touched the little flower crown on his head. “Then what rank do I need to reach before I can control them completely?”

If he succeeded in mastering the soul vessels, would he be able to use them however he wished?

For example, could he cross through space and return to his original world?

“I cannot give you a definite answer.” The Elven King lowered his gaze to the Little Fairy. “When the time comes, you will naturally gain control of them.”

That was certainly a vague answer, but Shu Li understood. If even he, the soul vessels’ master, did not know, how could the Elven King possibly know? He had never used them himself.

“Oh, right!” Shu Li paddled at the water with his hands, guiding the little wooden basin closer to the Elven King. He then described in detail the tragic scene he had witnessed while praying in the temple.

That “illusion” had remained hidden in his heart all this time. He had never asked the Elven King about it. Now that he knew the illusion had not been an illusion at all, but something he had truly witnessed after traveling through time, he felt that, as the chosen master of the soul vessels, he needed to question the Elven King.

What exactly had happened then? When had it taken place? And who was that young Fairy in his arms, the one who looked somewhat like Shu Li?

As Shu Li continued his account, the Elven King’s gaze grew increasingly profound. His emerald-green eyes darkened to nearly black, with the faintest trace of crimson flickering within them.

Immersed in his memories, Shu Li failed to notice the change. By the time he finished and raised his head again, the Elven King’s eyes had returned to their jewel-like emerald green.

“Your Majesty, do you remember any of this?” Shu Li clasped his hands tightly and looked at him with anticipation.

The Elven King shifted slightly, sending ripples through the pool. As the little wooden basin drifted away, he reached out and drew it back into the crook of his arm.

“No.” His voice was slightly deeper than usual. “I fear the scene you described was not from the War of the Gods ten thousand years ago.”

Shu Li’s mouth fell slightly open in surprise. “It... it wasn’t?”

So many Elves and Fairies had sacrificed themselves. So many members of the other races had died in battle. Within the ruined temple, only the Elven King had remained, drenched in blood. When Shu Li appeared, the Elven King had clearly recognized him as a Little Fairy, yet still pointed his sword at him and demanded to know whether he was some monster created by the Dark God to deceive him.

The king’s eyes had been bloodred, and the icy aura emanating from him warned away every creature that approached.

At the time, seeing the Elven King like that and the dead young Fairy in his arms had made Shu Li unbearably sad. He had been unable to stop crying.

The Elven King pondered for a moment. “The soul vessel Scott possesses the power to alter the future. What you saw may have been a scene from the future.”

“The future!” Shu Li was stunned.

He had considered countless possibilities, but never imagined that the horrific battlefield he had witnessed might lie in the future.

Of course. The king had just said that the War of the Gods was merely the beginning of the prophecy. The true age of darkness had yet to arrive.

If what he had witnessed while praying in the temple was the future, then it would explain why he resembled the dead young Fairy.

Because that young Fairy might have been his future, fully grown self!

Shu Li cupped his cheeks in alarm, his heart heavy with worry.

“Your Majesty... are we going to lose?”

He murmured the words, sinking into panic. The next instant, a warm hand settled gently over his head, soothing the unease in his heart.

“The future the soul vessel showed you was only one possibility, not the whole of what lies ahead. You need not fear it.” The Elven King’s fingertip touched the little flower crown on Shu Li’s head. “There are countless possible futures. The direction in which events ultimately develop depends upon what you do now. That is precisely why the God of Time and Space sacrificed himself to create the three soul vessels.”

Listening to the Elven King’s deep, powerful voice, Shu Li gradually calmed down, and the tiny flame of hope within his heart reignited.

He truly was still too inexperienced. Nothing had even happened yet, and he was already frightened. His resolve was nowhere near firm enough.

He still needed a great deal of tempering.

Nodding, he regained his confidence and embraced one of the Elven King’s fingers, his eyes shining brightly. “Your Majesty, I’ll make sure the future moves in a bright and wonderful direction. The Dark God had better stay obediently in hell. Every time she dares stick her head out, I’ll smash it right back in!”

Seeing the Little Fairy brimming with energy again, the Elven King smiled, his expression gentle.

Shu Li continued giving himself an internal pep talk, urging himself to become stronger, survive at all costs, and never allow the Elven King to grieve over him.

Remembering how he had mistaken the “dead young Fairy” for the Elven King’s “lover” and even gone to Sayah for confirmation, he was so embarrassed that he wanted to dive straight into the pool.

He was the king’s carefully nurtured youngest disciple. If he died in battle, of course the king would be devastated. With so many of their people dead outside as well, how could the Elven King possibly remain rational? It was already impressive that he had not completely lost his mind.

After their conversation, the Elf and the Fairy continued soaking peacefully in the hot spring. Suddenly, two deafening roars erupted outside.

Startled, Shu Li twitched his pointed ears and recognized one of the voices immediately.

It was the fire dragon lizard!

Had Falm gotten into a fight with one of Mount Amitai’s native magical beasts?

“Your Majesty...” Shu Li scratched his head and stammered, “Um... you knew about this, right?”

“Falm?” The Elven King rose, sending water splashing around him. His nearly transparent robe clung to his chest, faintly revealing the well-proportioned muscles beneath. “I have not seen him in ten thousand years either. Let us go have a look.”

“Oh...” Shu Li quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

They soon left the hot spring, dried themselves with magic, changed into formal robes, and departed the palace, flying toward the source of the roars.

When Shu Li saw the two enormous beasts locked in fierce combat, his jaw dropped.

The fire dragon lizard, more than ten meters long, was trading blows with an ape over ten meters tall. Their battle was extraordinarily vicious. Neither used any magical power, relying solely upon their natural physical advantages in a contest of brute strength. Every clash unleashed terrifying destructive force. Trees all around them had been knocked askew, and low-ranking magical beasts fled in abject terror.

“Roooar!” The white-furred ape furiously pounded its powerful chest muscles and unleashed a threatening bellow at the intruder.

This was its territory, yet this foreign magical beast had ignored its presence and hunted prey as it pleased. At first, the ape had shown it some respect as a high-ranking magical beast and allowed it to eat its fill. But the creature had pushed its luck and even tried to drive the ape away!

The ape was having none of that. Without another word, it had lunged forward and started brawling.

It was not that the ape did not want to use its formidable power. The true master of Mount Amitai was the Elven King. If the ape dared cause widespread destruction, it would be expelled!

It had lived here comfortably for more than ten thousand years. How could it bear to leave?

“Awooo!” the fire dragon lizard roared back, refusing to yield.

It had not eaten fresh, delicious magical-beast meat in ten thousand years. Now that it had arrived at Mount Amitai, how could it not feast to its heart’s content? It had merely become so carried away with eating that it unknowingly approached the ape’s home. The ape had suddenly charged at it with a furious roar, refusing to listen to any explanation before attacking outright.

If the ape wanted a fight, then they would fight. Did it think Falm was afraid?

Since its opponent was not using magical power, Falm, as the Fire God’s mount, naturally would not bully a child.

Indeed, in its eyes, an ape merely ten thousand years old was little more than a child.

The fire dragon lizard had followed the Fire God through countless battles. It did not take the ape’s threats seriously in the slightest and merely humored it for several rounds.

The ape felt it was being looked down upon and fought with increasing ferocity, nearly losing control and unleashing its magical power.

It was obvious that the fire dragon lizard held the advantage. With its territory about to be taken from it, the ape released an outraged, grief-stricken roar.

Seated on the Elven King’s shoulder, Shu Li gently tugged at his hair. “Your Majesty, we have to stop them!”

No wonder the Fire God had made the fire spirit merge with Falm. Once this brute started fighting, it truly had no restraint whatsoever.

Its hide was so thick and tough that the ape’s enormous fists struck its back without causing the slightest pain. Yet a single sweep of its thick, barbed tail sent the ape flying. As if knocking the ape away were not enough, it had also smashed through a vast swath of trees. The entire mountainside looked as though it had been ravaged by a terrible tornado, its ecosystem severely damaged.

Shu Li covered his forehead, realizing that allowing Falm to enter the mountain alone had been a terrible mistake.

With such an overbearing temperament, how could he ever let the creature live in the Faerie Forest? It would inevitably throw the entire place into chaos and leave no one in peace.

The Elven King hovered in midair upon the wind. His green eyes sharpened, and a vast, overwhelming pressure burst from him, surging toward the two battling magical beasts like a tidal wave.

The ape and the fire dragon lizard shuddered simultaneously, instantly subdued by the powerful and familiar pressure.

They hastily sprang apart and looked up at the golden-haired Elven King floating in the air.

The ape wore an expression of utter doom. Without hesitation, it prostrated itself on the ground and begged the Elven King for forgiveness.

The fire dragon lizard glanced around. Upon spotting the Little Fairy seated on the Elven King’s shoulder, its golden eyes darted craftily. Shamelessly, it transformed into a plump little cub resembling a chinchilla, flapped its batlike wings, and flew before the Elven King with a look of perfect innocence.

It was the Fire God’s mount, after all, and exceptionally bold. It had often caused trouble in the divine realm. Today’s minor scuffle was nothing at all in its eyes.

The sight of its innocent expression infuriated Shu Li. He spread his wings, flew over to the little magical beast, raised his fist, and struck it on the back.

“Hiss!”

The little beast might have looked soft and plump, but the scales on its back were every bit as hard as ever.

Shu Li shook his aching fingers and glared furiously at it. “Falm, what did you promise me earlier?”

Falm clasped its short, pudgy forelegs together and answered dejectedly, “Not... not to cause trouble or bully the local high-ranking magical beasts.”

Shu Li asked sternly, “Then what have you just done?”

Not only had it bullied a local high-ranking magical beast, but it had also destroyed a vast expanse of forest.

Falm glanced downward and only then seemed to notice the toppled trees. It asked incredulously, “Did... did I do all that?”

“Who else?” Shu Li frowned.

Falm pointed one pudgy foreleg downward. “That big brute is one of the culprits too!”

It was not going to shoulder all the blame by itself. No matter what happened, it was dragging the other beast down with it.

The ape’s hearing was exceptionally sharp. Upon hearing the fire dragon lizard’s shameless attempt to defend itself, it cried out indignantly.

It was the innocent victim here! What had it done wrong by defending its own territory?

Shu Li’s head began to ache. He turned to the Elven King for help.

The Elven King glanced at the fire dragon lizard in its cub form and said unhurriedly, “Falm, compensate Terik.”

Hearing this, the ape Terik bowed gratefully to the Elven King.

Falm swished its tail. Not daring to argue, it obediently opened its mouth and spat treasures from its dimensional pouch.

Clatter—

A pile of crystal ores rained from the sky and landed squarely before the ape.

When the ape saw that they were rare crystal ores not found on Mount Amitai, it accepted them delightedly. It waved a fist at the fire dragon lizard, indicating that the score between them was settled.

After bowing to the Elven King once more, it bounded away and vanished among the trees.

Shu Li reached out and jabbed Falm’s belly hard.

Its belly was softer than its back and felt rather pleasant beneath his finger.

Falm looked ingratiatingly at the Elven King. “Noble Elven King, it has been so long since we last met, yet you remain as handsome and elegant as ever, sternly impartial, fair and just—”

Before it could finish, Shu Li clapped a hand over its mouth. If he allowed it to continue, it would start spouting utter nonsense.

“Your Majesty, I’ll restore the forest.”

The damaged woodland could only be repaired with wood magic.

The Elven King smiled and nodded to Shu Li.

“Very well.”