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The Alliance of Sixteen Nations, the Kingdom of Ruby, and Mountain Spring Palace.

This summer retreat of the Ruby Royal Family is built in the mountains and forests, over a hundred kilometers away from the capital, completely surrounded by beautiful trees and vegetation. Opposite the palace is the most beautiful cluster of waterfalls in the entire southern continent, and the waterfall's flow encircles half the palace, with many structures standing on the water, reflecting brilliantly.

In the palace's southeast corner stands the Water Sound Pavilion, a structure of white marble and glass. Currently, two young men are sitting in the pavilion, sipping a southern specialty blue leaf beverage and conversing softly.

"Any news about that werewolf?" asked a tall, thin red-haired youth, the faint flame waves reflected in his eyes revealing his identity—the Flame Phoenix Knight Morova.

Answering him was a youth dressed in desert attire but with the refined features typical of southerners: "Don't worry, there's been no sign of him since the battle at Green Water Valley."

This youth had pale golden hair braided and hanging down his back, with two ancient curved swords of the same style crossed at his waist. His gentle demeanor couldn't mask his noble bearing—he was the young saint Moonlight Knight Carol, who had recently returned from the northern front resisting the orcs. They were naturally discussing the werewolf Chen Xuanfeng, who had recently unleashed a wave of bloodshed across the southern continent.

Morova shook his head slightly and said, "That's precisely why it's concerning. According to Xi Luo, that werewolf isn't a mindless beast that kills without reason. He often uses flashy actions to conceal his true motives. So, his previous killings were likely for a certain purpose, and now that he has stopped, it might mean he has achieved his goal."

"What purpose?"

"The elves."

Carol took a sharp breath, naturally understanding Morova's implication. No matter how strong the forbidden spell casters are, they can't control the orcs. Therefore, the orcs' assassination of the two forbidden spell casters must be paving the way for the elves' counterattack. Once the two dominant races of the continent unite, even with humanity's vast numbers, defeat would be inevitable.

Although the elves are not as warlike as the orcs, and humanity's efforts over the past four hundred years have greatly divided the elves' strength—at least it's certain that the blood elves have completely sided with humans, and the moon elves and wood elves are likely to stay neutral, while the dark elves, living underground, harbor far greater hatred towards their exiled kin than towards humans—only the proud and numerous high elves would never forget the shame of their retreat. Even if they fear casualties, once they confirm that such losses are within their tolerable range, war is almost inevitable. After all, four hundred years is a long time for humans, but for elves, it's just a generation. Many of the old elven warriors who retreated to the elven islands are probably still capable of fighting.

That orc who can transform into a human must be trying to incite the elves to return to the continent after killing the forbidden spell casters, thereby dispersing human forces and ensuring the success of the western continent's campaign. Thinking this way, his recent disappearance might mean he has found a way to bypass the elven blockade.

Although they thought of this, there was nothing they could do to stop it. After all, these young saints who have just entered the saint realm haven't even established their own influence in their country, let alone affect the affairs of the elven kingdoms overseas.

"Well, let's put this aside for now. Even if we can stop him, the possibility of war is still high. After all, we have truly lost two forbidden spell mark crystals this time. How long can such a change in combat power be hidden?" The blond noble youth sighed slightly and finally changed the topic: "By the way, how is Xi Luo now?"

Speaking of their companion, Morova also sighed softly before answering, "Still training. It seems the previous battle had a significant impact on him."

During the battle at the ruins, Morova and Xi Luo, whose power had surged, joined forces but still lost to Chen Xuanfeng's divine skill "Snow Dragon's Lament." Morova used the "Lotus Substitute" ability of the "Crimson Lotus Sword" to bear all the damage, while Xi Luo took dozens of heavy blows directly. Even though his power was close to that of a sword saint and he had the Hero Sword that could withstand divine punishment, he still suffered shattered bones and was near death. Fortunately, he wasn't a true sword saint, so his body could still receive healing from divine light magic. Therefore, when Morova took him to the Light God's church in the southern continent, the Dawn Cathedral of the Ruby Kingdom, they finally managed to save the young man who was almost dead.

However, after this failure, Xi Luo seemed deeply affected. After recovering from his injuries, he became reticent and no longer concerned himself with Chen Xuanfeng's movements, instead immersing himself in self-abusive training. Even Morova had no way to console him.

However, the Ruby Kingdom held them in high regard and sought to win them over. After they expressed their intention to stay temporarily, the kingdom immediately vacated this most beautiful royal palace for them to stay in and sent the second princess, Elena Ruby, to receive them.

In fact, the Ruby Kingdom had a long-standing grudge with Chen Xuanfeng. Chen Xuanfeng's sword, the Sword of Divine Punishment, was originally a collection of the Ruby Royal Family but was inadvertently taken by Chen Xuanfeng when the River Styx Tower returned. Elena Ruby, a disciple of the Sword Saint Arshu, had personally gone to the Saint Spirit Mountain to question Chen Xuanfeng about this matter, but due to the chaotic situation at the time, it was left unresolved.

Behind the Mountain Spring Palace, there is also a training ground. This was set up thousands of years ago by the elves, who used the nearby ley lines' magic, with the help of several grand mages, to create a place that could generate dozens of times the normal gravity and conjure thousands of powerful combat illusions to hone practitioners. At the same time, the abundant ley line energy could continuously nourish the practitioners' bodies, ensuring that even under constant high-intensity challenges, their bodies wouldn't break down but instead grow stronger.