Chapter 96: Shu Shu was stunned by the little boast of the Divine Tree!

After the Elven mother tree grew a little fruit, every Elf remained in a state of constant excitement. They held grand banquets as though every day were a festival, filling the air with singing, dancing, and merriment.

Shu Li studied there for another two weeks. On his final day, under the Elves’ reluctant and intensely affectionate gazes, he nimbly leaped onto Doray’s back and fled Crystal Castle as though making his escape.

He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, they would pet him bald.

The Elves had been in a frenzy ever since the fruit appeared. Whenever they saw him, they wanted to cuddle and squeeze him, and they kept giving him precious gifts. The sheer amount of affection was overwhelming.

After enlarging his body, he rode on Doray’s back with an unobstructed view, taking in all the magnificent scenery of the Elven Kingdom.

As they passed over Daya Forest, Shu Li signaled for Doray to descend.

He needed to gather thunderflame grass.

When he had been tiny, digging it up had been extraordinarily difficult. Now that his body was larger, harvesting herbs could not have been easier.

Shu Li had deliberately bought a sturdy shovel from one of Crystal Castle’s shops. Squatting in the grass, he dug up one plant with each thrust of the shovel. In less than ten minutes, he had collected more than thirty. If he had not spent time searching for them, he could have dug up a hundred in one go.

Doray crouched on a branch of a towering tree, tucked in his head, and dozed.

Shu Li had set out at the crack of dawn to make his escape... No, to continue his journey. Doray had not gotten enough sleep, so while Shu Li gathered herbs, he took the opportunity to catch up on his rest.

Half an hour later, Shu Li had gathered more than a hundred thunderflame grass plants, along with a jumble of other herbs.

Yesterday, while Shu Li was purifying the mother tree and Fruit Number Two, Efit had given him a list. It named a large number of herbs that grew only in the Faerie Forest and the Elven Kingdom.

He had paid an enormous deposit that made Shu Li’s eyes nearly pop out. Shu Li had originally intended to refuse it, but Efit insisted, so he had reluctantly accepted.

Five hundred gold coins!

That was so much money!

It was five times the reward for his current thunderflame grass commission.

The one thing the Faerie Forest never lacked was medicinal herbs. They grew everywhere and could practically be gathered by the handful. They might be extremely valuable in the outside world, but here they were as cheap as cabbages.

Shu Li felt slightly guilty about accepting so much money and decided to gather as many herbs for Efit as he possibly could.

“Doray—”

At his call, the supposedly dozing Seckern bird opened his eyes alertly. He spread his wings, swooped down from the branch in an instant, and landed on the grass.

Shu Li jumped onto his back. “Let’s go. Back to the divine tree.”

“Chirp~”

Doray answered in an affectedly sweet voice. With a beat of his wings, he soared upward, slipped through the dense branches, burst out of the forest, and climbed toward the clouds before racing toward the divine tree like a bolt of lightning.

On the divine tree, the Fairies flew busily to and fro.

The newest group of cubs would soon leave the Fairy Nursery, and everyone was making the final preparations, such as arranging new dormitories for the eight Fairy babies.

When Shu Li returned, he was still in his enlarged form.

Doray landed on the school field, and Shu Li lightly jumped down from his back. The young Fairies who had just finished class were dumbstruck at the sight of him.

“Aaaaaah—”

“Sperien? Is that Sperien?”

“You’re kidding, right? Sperien is only ten! How can he make himself bigger?”

“But that really is Sperien!”

“Sperien became a Senior Mage!”

“That’s incredible!”

Disio and the other young Fairies had just left class when they heard the commotion on the field. They curiously peered out the window. When they saw the “giant” Shu Li, they froze for a moment before letting out excited shrieks.

“Sperien is back!”

“And he’s bigger!”

“Oh my goodness! Sperien is amazing!”

“Come on! Let’s hurry over and see!”

Twenty-four young Fairies poured out of the classroom. Their wings beat at high speed as they shot toward the field and began circling Shu Li.

“Sperien, Sperien, how did you get so big?” Angel stared at him with wide amber eyes. His head turned up, down, left, and right as he examined Shu Li in amazement, his beautiful silver hair flying around him.

Shu Li grinned, feeling just a tiny bit smug as he stood still and let his classmates admire him. “I’m a Senior Mage now! When I restore my core power, I grow bigger!”

“How did you become a Senior Mage?” Disio landed on his shoulder, rose onto his toes, and leaned close to whisper into Shu Li’s ear.

“Well... that’s a long story.” Shu Li tilted his head and raised a hand to cover his ear. “You can speak normally. I can hear you.”

Budeno clung to his cloak and swung back and forth like he was on a swing. “Sperien, your cloak is so beautiful! Where did you buy it?”

Shu Li lifted the cloak, caught Budeno where he hung, and placed him on his palm. Mimicking Ilio, he poked Budeno’s cheek with one finger.

The poke instantly knocked Budeno over. He lay there dazed for several seconds, then flailed twice and swiftly escaped Shu Li’s wicked clutches.

Shu Li chuckled, and Budeno pulled a face at him.

Who would have thought that after going to the Elven Kingdom, Sperien would be thoroughly corrupted by Ilio?

Shu Li spread his hands with an innocent expression and answered Budeno’s question. “The Elves prepared all my clothes, cloaks, and jewelry.”

“That’s amazing!”

The other young Fairies spoke enviously.

Clothes that could grow and shrink with their wearer were not cheap!

The many adult Fairies who had come after hearing the news landed on nearby branches to watch. They all exclaimed in amazement.

“Sperien truly is extraordinary.”

“A ten-year-old Senior Mage! It’s unprecedented!”

“I thought Kumandi becoming a Senior Mage at fifteen already made him a genius. I never imagined Sperien would surprise us even more.”

“The Elven King told us long ago that his talent was exceptional.”

“He awakened Seven-Element Magic simultaneously. He truly is blessed by nature!”

“I’d love to know how the little fellow advanced. Did he have some remarkable adventure?”

“Heh. Shall we hold a discussion this afternoon?”

“Excellent idea!”

Shu Li let out a tremendous sneeze, sending several young Fairies hovering in front of him tumbling through the air. Fortunately, they reacted swiftly and nimbly dodged his “spray.” After somersaulting several times, they regained their balance.

“S-Sorry...” Shu Li rubbed his nose and apologized.

Who’s talking about me? Why else would I suddenly sneeze?

Please don’t let it be the Elves!

He had gone to such lengths to escape the Elven Kingdom. He did not want to return anytime soon.

Once Shu Li had shown off enough, he withdrew his core power. After a flash of dazzling light, his body shrank back to only a few inches tall.

The other young Fairies crowded around him, bombarding him with questions. Shu Li patiently answered them until the bell rang, whereupon they reluctantly returned to the classroom one after another.

Oress, their dance teacher, and Lia, their music teacher, entered the classroom together, both smiling warmly at Shu Li.

“Sperien, congratulations on becoming a Senior Mage.”

“Thank you, Oress. Thank you, Lia.” Shu Li scratched the back of his head. “I didn’t expect to advance so quickly either.”

According to his plan, he had expected to be like the prodigy Jingjing and only break through to Senior Mage after turning fifteen. Instead, he had unexpectedly gained the Spirit of Wood’s recognition and shot through the threshold like a rocket.

It was simply unbelievable.

A gleam flashed through Oress’s deep blue eyes, and his lips curved upward. “I’m very much looking forward to hearing your story.”

Shu Li froze. A chill ran down his spine as an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

Lia cleared her throat twice, took out her harp, and lightly plucked the strings, producing a beautiful melody.

Oress clapped his hands and called out, “Children, use your own magic to move the desks and chairs to the sides of the classroom.”

“All right!”

The Little Fairies answered in unison. They took out their magic staffs and skillfully cast their spells, filling the classroom with chanting.

The twenty-five sets of desks and chairs seemed to come alive under the effects of their magic. They moved on their own and, amid the orderly chaos, stacked themselves neatly against the walls one after another.

Oress looked at the perfectly arranged furniture and praised them. “Wonderful.”

The Little Fairies stood in the middle of the now-empty classroom, each proudly puffing out their tiny chest.

Oress swept aside his waist-length pale golden hair and spread the light yellow cicada wings on his back. His gaze shifted toward Shu Li, and he extended a hand.

“Sperien, let me see how much your dancing improved in the Elven Kingdom.”

“Uh... all right.” Shu Li sighed inwardly and walked over to Oress. He placed his right hand over the left side of his chest, performing the gesture of a male partner inviting his companion to dance.

During his two weeks in the Elven Kingdom, his dancing skills had improved by leaps and bounds. In the final few days especially, the Elves had held banquets every night and constantly pulled him onto the dance floor until his calves had nearly cramped.

Oress raised an eyebrow and gave him a captivating smile.

The little fellow seemed quite confident! Not only had he invited Oress to dance as his partner, but he had also taken the initiative to perform the male steps.

As an excellent dancer, Oress did not care which part he danced.

Lia’s fingers moved deftly over the strings, beginning a lively tune.

Fairy and Elven music shared much in common. The Elves often danced to this particular duet, so Shu Li naturally began moving with the melody.

Oress’s body was supple and graceful. Matching Shu Li’s rhythm, he performed the female steps.

The young Fairies watching from the sidelines stared with their mouths wide open.

Sperien was such a good dancer!

Although he stood a head shorter than Oress, he performed the male steps with remarkable elegance. Every movement was perfectly measured, and he attended to his partner with impeccable care. Together, they were a delight to watch.

When the music ended, Shu Li was breathing slightly harder. He stepped back and bowed like a gentleman to conclude the dance.

Oress looked down at him with approval. “You dance very well.”

Shu Li replied modestly, “The Elves taught me well.”

Oress blinked. “May I ask which Elf taught you?”

Shu Li hesitated, then held out his fingers and began counting. “Sayah, Ilio, Rowlin, Lanki... and His Majesty.”

Far too many Elves had wanted to teach him partner dances. There had been both men and women among them, and they lined up to invite him every day. He had been run off his feet, dancing the male steps one moment and the female steps the next.

Even more Elves had invited him to dance during the banquets held over the last few days. Unable to take it any longer, Shu Li had asked the Elven King for help.

The result was that he had spent three consecutive days dancing the female steps.

The less said about that misery, the better. Shu Li was absolutely determined never to tell the Fairies any details about his time in the Elven Kingdom.

Having finally escaped back to the divine tree, of course he had seized the male part when Oress invited him to dance.

Oress raised his brows in understanding and reached out to stroke Shu Li’s head. “You’ve suffered.”

The Elves were always coveting Fairy cubs. Sending Sperien alone to the Elven Kingdom was practically the same as delivering a little lamb into the clutches of a pack of wolves.

He was lucky they had not petted him bald.

After lunch, Shu Li did not return to the dormitory to rest. Instead, he sprawled over his desk and frantically copied notes.

He had missed two weeks of lessons, during which his three friends had taken turns writing notes for him. Combined, they filled almost two entire notebooks. The dense sea of writing made Shu Li’s head spin.

He could handle everything else. Only the newly introduced language caused him unbearable suffering.

He had finished learning the Continental Common Language three years ago, then gone on to learn the merfolk language and the draconic language. He had barely finished those when they started teaching him Dwarven, the winged folk’s language, and Goblin.

In short, there were too many languages, and they never ended.

The notes he was copying now were for Dwarven.

Shu Li copied and memorized with the hollow despair of someone who had lost all hope in life, his head aching so badly that it felt ready to explode.

Languages would forever be his mortal enemy!

When he finally finished, he collapsed facedown on the desk, stars dancing before his eyes.

The Little Fairies returned to the classroom at the end of their lunch break. When they saw Shu Li lying half-dead across his desk, every one of them looked at him sympathetically.

Sperien was good at everything except languages.

Ding, ding, ding—

The bell rang. Aisha entered the classroom at the last possible moment and swept her gaze around the room. When she spotted the blond Little Fairy slumped over his desk with his soul halfway out of his body, amusement flickered through her golden eyes.

“Little darlings, everyone is going to the field.”

“Aisha, what are we going to the field for?” Budeno asked in confusion.

Aisha smiled kindly. “Elder Federo is holding a discussion. He would like to hear about Sperien’s adventures in the Elven Kingdom.”

“Wow! Hooray—”

The Little Fairies clapped excitedly.

At these words, Shu Li shot upright as though rising from his deathbed. He stared blankly at Aisha in utter disbelief.