Chapter 163: The cubs are so pitiful.

Shu Li felt no sympathy for Ilio whatsoever.

Ilio had made the Elf cub cry on the very first day of his life. His earth-shattering wails made every Elf and Fairy present ache with distress.

So, to no one’s surprise, the Elven King punished Ilio by sending him to the pasture to clean the deer-cattle stalls.

Ilio rubbed his nose and slunk away in disgrace.

The moment he left, the Elf cub abruptly stopped crying. There were barely even a few tears on his pale, tender cheeks.

Shu Li finally understood. The little fellow had made plenty of thunder but produced hardly any rain. He had merely been howling at the top of his lungs.

The birth of the Elf cub brought hope to all the Elves. With the Midsummer Festival taking place at the same time, the entire Elven city overflowed with joy, and beautiful music and singing drifted through the air everywhere.

At last, the courtyard for Elf cubs could serve its true purpose.

Isral had originally clung to Shu Li and insisted on sharing his room, but the Elf assigned specifically to care for him stopped him.

“No, Isral. You need to learn to be independent.” The beautiful brown-haired Elf gently wagged a slender finger as she bent down to speak to the cub.

The moment Isral heard that he couldn’t, his mouth puckered.

Afraid that he would start crying again, Shu Li hesitantly said, “Haileni, perhaps... you could let him share my room?”

The brown-haired Elf called Haileni smiled and asked, “When you were born, did all of you cling to Sayah?”

Shu Li froze, then shook his head. “Of course not.”

Fairy cubs were highly independent after birth. Each had their own flower cradle. They neither clung to Sayah, who had nurtured them inside their flower buds, nor to the first teacher responsible for educating them.

Shu Li crouched down until he was face-to-face with the pouting Isral and gently stroked his soft, fine hair.

“It’s all right. We live in the same courtyard, so we can play together whenever we want. For now, will you go with Haileni to your own room?”

Isral obediently nodded and looked up at Haileni.

Haileni bent down and held out her arms. “Would you like me to carry you?”

“No.” Isral strode away resolutely on his short little legs.

Watching his tiny body wobble with each step, Shu Li couldn’t suppress a smile.

Haileni shook her head in amusement and followed the little fellow at an unhurried pace.

With the cub finally sent away, Shu Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since Isral’s birth that morning, he had followed Shu Li everywhere, clinging to him no matter where he went.

At first, Shu Li had been delighted. He carried Isral every chance he got, seizing every opportunity to cuddle him. He had been beside himself with happiness, while every Elf he passed stared at him with envy.

However, when evening came and the cub wanted to sleep with him, Shu Li began to worry.

Every night in the Elven Kingdom, Shu Li had to leave to perform his purification work. He wouldn’t be able to care for the cub properly.

Fortunately, Haileni had appeared and taken the little fellow with her.

Haileni was a female Elf more than two thousand years old. She had cared for many Elf cubs and possessed a wealth of experience. Now that Isral had been born, she would serve as his first teacher.

Shu Li closed the door, then rolled his aching shoulders and stretched his sore arms.

Taking care of a child truly wasn’t easy.

The back of his right hand suddenly grew hot. The Mark of the Fire God appeared, and a streak of red light shot out. It landed on the bed and transformed into a plump little magical beast.

“Awooo!”

Falm lazily stretched his short, chubby limbs, spread his batlike wings, and let out a childish cry.

Three years had passed, but his body hadn’t changed at all. He still retained his juvenile form.

Because of this, the Fairies pitied him even more. They firmly believed he suffered from a defect that prevented him from growing up, which was why his mother had abandoned him.

Shamelessly, Falm never corrected their misunderstanding. He had carved out an enviable existence for himself at the divine tree and couldn’t have been happier.

After stretching, Falm rolled across the soft blankets and began chattering incessantly.

“The bed here is still the most comfortable! It’s so big and soft, and I can roll around on it. The little Fairy houses at the divine tree are nothing like this. I can’t even turn over without hitting a wall.”

“That Elf cub finally left. I was trapped inside the Mark of the Fire God all day.”

“Sperien, do you have any fruit? I’m hungry!”

Seeing how comfortable he looked, Shu Li’s fingers itched to pinch his fat belly.

The Fairies fed him fruit every day. How could he possibly still be hungry?

“Sperien, Sperien! Fruit! Fruit!” Falm wagged his tail like an eager puppy.

Utterly defeated by him, Shu Li took a pear-shaped fruit from his storage ring and tossed it over.

Falm sprang up and caught the fruit perfectly between all four paws.

“Don’t eat on the bed,” Shu Li warned.

Falm flapped his wings and flew to the desk. He sat beside the glowing magic-stone lamp, opened his mouth, and began gnawing on the fruit.

Ignoring him, Shu Li sat at the desk, took out a stack of books, and began studying them carefully.

There was still half an hour until midnight. He needed to make the most of it and research as much as possible.

Today, they had defeated Ilio through trickery. Once the Midsummer Festival ended, the Little Fairies would leave the forest and travel to the Human World.

Shu Li needed to organize all the information he had gathered.

After three years of research, he had roughly determined the locations of the Earth Spirit and the Wind Spirit.

According to ancient records, the Earth God Herdfis Lovigne was worshipped by dwarves and goblins. They believed that the ores they used for forging were gifts from the Earth God. Every household displayed a statue of him and knelt before it in prayer each day.

The followers of the Fire God had built the Temple of Edas in the Ergoga Desert. In that case, had the dwarves and goblins who worshipped the Earth God also built temples for their deity?

The answer was yes—and there were many.

The Enkak region, where the dwarves and goblins lived, contained more than a hundred temples dedicated to the Earth God, all of them considerable in size. Every year during the Saide Festival, those temples became packed with dwarves and goblins seeking blessings.

Shu Li believed that since the Fire God and the Fire Spirit had shared a close relationship, perhaps the Earth God and the Earth Spirit had often fought side by side as well. If he traveled to Enkak and visited every temple dedicated to the Earth God, he was certain he could uncover clues concerning the Earth Spirit.

He gripped his quill and recorded the information carefully. After finishing his fruit, Falm lowered his head to examine Shu Li’s writing and tilted his head.

“What are you writing?”

Shu Li paused. Looking at the square Chinese characters on the page, he calmly replied, “A personal system of notation, so no one else can decipher it.”

Falm burped and shuffled closer to the notebook. “It looks pretty good. Every symbol is square, and they all look almost the same.”

Shu Li closed the notebook, poked Falm’s bulging stomach, and changed the subject. “Are you full now?”

Falm rubbed his belly. “Barely! But another piece of fruit would make it even better.”

Accustomed to his shamelessness, Shu Li handed him a cherry-sized kuku fruit to satisfy him.

Falm swallowed the kuku fruit in one bite, chewed twice, and still looked as though he wanted more.

“I’m leaving for work,” Shu Li said. “Are you going back into the Mark of the Fire God, or will you stay here?”

Falm rushed to the bed, sprawled across the soft blankets, and flicked his tail.

“Go on. Come back soon, and don’t work too hard.”

There was nothing inside the Mark of the Fire God. Of course he would choose the comfortable bed!

Shu Li pressed a hand to his forehead. Suppressing his core power, he shifted into his smaller form, turned off the magic-stone lamp, flapped his wings, and flew out the window.

During this trip to Vanaku, he needed to do more than purify the Mother Tree and its fruits. He also had to tell Efit that he would be leaving in a few days to gain experience on the continent.

Although the Mother Tree’s roots spread throughout the Austin Continent, most of them had been contaminated by the power of darkness. So far, only the roots leading to the Elven Kingdom and the Ergoga Desert had been purified.

When Shu Li decided three years ago that he would attend a magic academy, the Mother Tree began purifying the roots leading to the Central Court.

That meant he could resume his purification work only after reaching the Central Court.

Shu Li flew to the Mother Tree. First, he affectionately pressed himself against the fruits, encouraging them to grow quickly and strive to be born safely just like Number Three.

Once he had finished nuzzling them, he slipped nimbly into the Mother Tree’s trunk.

“Isral, don’t stay by the window. It’s time to sleep,” Haileni gently told the Elf cub leaning against the windowsill.

Ever since she brought him back to his room, the little fellow had kept his face solemn. He had diligently learned how to wash and dress himself without making a fuss. He behaved like a tiny adult and was almost unnaturally obedient.

He was entirely different from every Elf cub Haileni had cared for before.

White Elf cubs raised among the branches growing from the Mother Tree’s main trunk were boisterous from the moment they were born. They were lively, insatiably curious, and constantly raced throughout the castle, forcing the Elves caring for them to chase after them.

Isral revealed his childish side only in front of Sperien. He maintained a distant reserve around every adult Elf.

After observing him throughout the day, Haileni had roughly guessed the reason.

Although Sperien had successfully purified him, Isral had spent more than forty years growing on a branch of the Mother Tree in Vanaku. He had witnessed the cold way the Dark Elves treated their cubs.

He had returned to the Mother Tree’s main trunk only three years ago and had been born before he could fully adapt. Even though he knew white Elves differed from Dark Elves, he instinctively remained wary.

As Haileni gazed at that tiny figure, her eyes involuntarily grew damp.

Isral stood at the window, looking out at the Mother Tree in the courtyard. Hearing Haileni’s words, he hesitated before nimbly climbing down from the windowsill and using the chair as a step to reach the floor.

He had pushed the chair to the window himself so he could climb onto the sill. Now that he no longer needed it, he strained to push it back into its original position.

Haileni didn’t offer to help. She waited patiently until he finished, then clapped and praised him.

“Well done, Isral!”

At the praise, the little cub’s cheeks turned faintly pink.

“Thank you,” he said politely.

He walked to the bed on his short legs, removed his shoes, and climbed nimbly onto the mattress. Then he tucked himself beneath the covers and lay down obediently.

Haileni approached the bed, pulled the blankets securely around him, and bent down to kiss his forehead.

“Good night, Isral,” she said softly.

Beneath the covers, the little cub’s toes curled involuntarily.

“Good night... Haileni,” he whispered.

Haileni dimmed the magic-stone lamp and sat on the chair beside the bed.

“Sleep peacefully,” she said with a smile. “I’ll stay here until you fall asleep.”

Isral closed his eyes. Listening to the soothing Elven song, he gradually drifted into dreams.

“Sleep now, sleep,

Adorable Child of Light.

You are the favored child of the Light God,

Forever untouched by darkness.

Sleep now, sleep,

Child of nature.

From a faraway kingdom, the wind

Brings beautiful blessings to you...”

The cub began breathing deeply in his sleep. Haileni stopped singing and quietly slipped out of the room.

Outside the door, Sayah and several other Elves waited for her. When Haileni emerged, they asked with concern, “How is he? Has he fallen asleep?”

Haileni raised a finger to her lips.

“He just fell asleep,” she whispered.

Learning that the cub was asleep, the Elves secretly breathed sighs of relief.

When they saw how dependent Isral was on Sperien, they realized that the child’s emotional state wasn’t entirely healthy.

Ordinary white Elf cubs were lively and carefree from the moment they landed. They ran everywhere and plunged the Crystal Castle into complete chaos.

Isral was far too sensible. After emerging from his fruit, he had first bowed to the Elven King. Then he threw himself into Sperien’s arms and refused to leave them.

Wherever Sperien went, Isral followed, nestling tightly against him like a newly hatched chick clinging to its mother.

Of course, Sperien himself had yet to reach adulthood and couldn’t assume the role of a “mother.”

The responsibility of caring for the cub still had to be entrusted to an experienced Elf.

Fortunately, Isral was obedient. He had agreed to leave with Haileni and stay in a room of his own.

Now that he had fallen peacefully asleep, the Elves could finally stop worrying.

Light God above, as long as they gave the cub more love and care, he would surely grow up strong and healthy.