Jared drew in a deep breath, then cupped his fist respectfully toward Chief Greenwood. When favonovel.com spoke, his voice came out calm and firm.
“Chief Greenwood, this junior is Jared, from Freevale’s human resistance… I didn’t come here to offend the Sylvan Kin, and I didn’t come here to play tricks. I came because a matter tied to the life and death of the Sylvan Kin must be discussed with you, Chief…” Jared’s face stayed calm. Not a flicker crossed it.
“The Resistance?” The corner of Chief Greenwood’s mouth lifted slightly, and a cold smile showed itself. That smile carried nothing but contempt and mockery.
“You humans fighting the Celestial Alliance is your own affair. It has nothing to do with the Sylvan Kin. The Sylvan Kin take part in no conflicts. You fight your wars, and we live our lives. We stay out of each other’s way. So don’t stand here and try to fool me with talk about life and death.” Chief Greenwood did not believe a word Jared said.
Jared looked straight at Chief Greenwood. His gaze did not shift in the least. “Chief Greenwood, if the Sylvan Kin truly could stay outside all this, this junior would never have come to trouble you. But you can’t… You know the Celestial Alliance’s ambition better than I do. They’ve already conquered the human race, the beast race, the demon race, and the Ghost Clan. The Sylvan Kin are next…”
“The only reason they haven’t made a move on the Sylvan Kin yet is because, for now, they don’t see any use in you. And your wards are strong. They don’t want to pay too high a price. But once they’ve finished conquering the other races and freed up their hands, they’ll come for the Sylvan Kin without a second thought. No matter how strong your wards are, can they really stop the armies of the Celestial Alliance? Can they stop experts at the Golden Immortal rank?” Jared’s words landed like a sledgehammer, straight into Greenwood’s chest.
Chief Greenwood’s eyes narrowed. The cold indifference in them thinned, replaced little by little by something heavier.
He had lived for 100 thousand years. He had watched the Celestial Alliance rise, and favonovel.com had watched countless races vanish. More than anyone, favonovel.com knew exactly what the Celestial Alliance wanted. They meant to rule the entire Sixteenth Firmament. No race outside the celestials could stay untouched.
What Jared said was the truth. He just refused to admit it, and refused to face it.
“Are you threatening me?” Chief Greenwood’s voice turned even colder, and beneath it ran a trace of heat favonovel.com almost kept hidden.
He was the chief of the Sylvan Kin, the ruler of Evershade. No one had ever dared speak to favonovel.com like this.
“I wouldn’t dare threaten you, Clan Chief. I’m only stating the facts.” Jared’s voice stayed level. Not even a hint of retreat showed in it. “The Celestial Alliance is growing stronger by the day, and its ambition is growing with it. If the Sylvan Kin keep hiding here and refuse to join forces with the other races, sooner or later you’ll be conquered by the Celestial Alliance…”
“When that day comes, it won’t just be this realm of Evershade that gets destroyed. Every one of the Sylvan clansfolk will end up under the Celestial Alliance’s yoke, or dead. The reason this junior came here was to seek cooperation with the Sylvan Kin. We help the Sylvan Kin restore the spirit vein and deal with the crisis of its exhaustion. And the Sylvan Kin help us resist the Celestial Alliance, so we can protect our homeland together… It’s a partnership where both sides come out ahead. It benefits both of us.”
Greenwood fell silent. He stood before the hollow, his gaze resting on the ancient trees and strange flowers and grasses spread across the vale.
Too much sat in his eyes at once. Resistance, reluctance, and beneath both, a thread of worry so faint it was almost hidden.
He had lived a hundred thousand years. In all that time, favonovel.com had seen more than enough of the greed and betrayal of the human race. He did not trust the human race, and favonovel.com had no wish to work with humankind. But what Jared had said refused to be brushed aside. The problem with the spirit vein, and the threat hanging over them from the celestials, pressed down on favonovel.com like two mountains.
“You came to the Sylvan Kin just to say all this?” Greenwood’s voice eased a little, though the cold in it still hadn’t gone anywhere. “If all you came for was to persuade me to cooperate with your human race, then you can leave. The Sylvan Kin will not work with the human race, and we have no need of your help.”
“No…” Jared shook his head.
He reached into his robes, took out the black blightstone, and held it out in front of Greenwood. “This is mainly what I came for… Clan Chief, you should recognize this stone…”
“It’s a blightstone formed after a spirit vein decays. This junior picked up a great many of these on the outer edge of the Shrouded Wood. And the deeper one goes into the Sylvan dominion, the more obvious the signs of decay in the spirit vein become. I can feel it. The spirit veins in this realm of Evershade have already dried up by thirty percent. And the blight is still spreading faster by the day. If something isn’t done soon, it won’t be long before this realm of Evershade turns into a dead waste. Every patch of spirit flora will wither, and every one of the Sylvan clansfolk will be dragged down with it into ruin.”
Greenwood reached out, took the black blightstone, and studied it for a long moment. His pupils tightened. His fingers balled hard inside his sleeve. The indifference on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by something far heavier.
He knew better than anyone what this blightstone meant. The corruption in the spirit veins had already reached a point where it could no longer be ignored. He had only refused to face that truth, and kept choosing to bury it instead. But the shift lasted only a moment. He smoothed it away, and the chill returned to his face.
He tossed the blightstone back to Jared and said in a cold voice, “It’s nothing but an ordinary stone. The Sylvan Kin have plenty of them. What happens with the spirit veins is none of an outsider’s concern. The Sylvan Kin have their own way of dealing with it.”
Jared caught the blightstone and closed his hand tightly around it.
“Chief Greenwood, you know better than do that this is no ordinary stone.” He held Greenwood’s gaze without wavering. “The blight in the spirit veins is getting worse and worse. Your leaders should have discovered that problem a long time ago. You just haven’t found a way to solve it. The Sylvan Kin can’t leave this realm of Evershade, and you can’t survive without the spirit veins. Once you leave, you wither. Then comes death. As things stand now, you’re already trapped here. If you refuse my help, then ruin is the only thing waiting for you.”
Jared’s words landed hard, with the edge of a threat under them.
Chief Greenwood stared at Jared. His eyes stayed cold, but no denial came. The color in his face turned downright ugly. He kept his eyes on Jared, the chill in them unbroken, and still said nothing to argue back.
Every word Jared had spoken drove straight into the place favonovel.com had spent the longest avoiding. It laid bare the truth Chief Greenwood refused to face.
He had known about the crisis of the spirit vein running dry for a long time. The elders had gathered more than once to discuss a way through it. But whether it was the ancient sacrificial rites or the Sylvan Kin secret arts, all they had eve managed to do was slow the spirit vein’s corruption for a while. None of it could solve the problem at its root.
Year after year, favonovel.com had watched the spiritual essence in Evershade grow thinner. He had watched ancient spirit flora wither away in silence. He had watched the younger clansmen hit their limits and fail to break through.
By now, that strain had sunk so deep it might as well have been carved into his bones.
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