Honestly, the one who screamed didn't seem to lack much in ability if compared to his twin-sister Lily.

When that little demon used her vocal-cords to unleash one of her sound-attacks, even Tai the mighty in his caveman version would scurry away like a panicked-rat!

Lin reflexively reacted once he heard the extremely high-pitched scream and protected his body, especially his eardrums, with a layer of soul-force.

However, doing so seems like it's the wrong decision.

*Grunt... ugh...*

The boy attempted to power-through the pain when he felt dizzy all of a sudden, but... the agony escalated at an insane rate.

He fell backwards while feeling as if someone had just cracked his skull open.

"You Idiot. You're wounded all-over the place yet you go and use soul-force once you wake up, if you want to die then die... just don't do it under my watch!" That female was still shouting in his ears despite doing her part of stopping the great-sage from falling or hitting his head against the bed.

'I would appreciate it more if you stop talking so loudly, especially not so close to my ears... thank you.' Lin thought to himself while wishing if he could roll his eyes at this chick, right now he's in too much pain to do that.

Only now did he realize that he doesn't have a right-arm and his right-leg is just bones!

'Now I know why that silky fabric managed to reach my face, I used my nonexistent right-hand to catch it.' The boy thought while trying to calm down and assess the damage.

He really appreciated the gentle wood-energy this woman used to surround his body, it managed to scatter the great majority of his pain in a few seconds.

"Phew... safe for now I guess," That female rested the great-sage back on the bed and covered him gently while sighing in relief before wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead once she straightened her waist, "What the hell were you thinking? The holy-envoy had finally stabilized your wounds after spending three days and three nights, it would take her at least a few centuries just to recover the loss of energy that she had to spend just to prevent you from dying."

Lin was feeling really uncomfortable and under pressure with all the yelling, being scolded by that woman is an experience that he doesn't wish for it to continue or to happen ever again.

Once he opened his lips to say something but that female glared fiercely at him from above before saying : "I've spent the past four days helping you reconstruct your ribcage plus the flesh and skin you lost around that area, right now that right-leg of yours is just bones and I plan to finish my work on it before doing the same with your right-arm."

The boy immediately closed his lips shut and smiled an awkward smile while nodding a few times.

He thought to himself : 'I've seen mother make that expression many times before, I know the hidden-meaning behind that look.' And his deductions were confirmed once he noticed how that woman was clamping-on his shin-bone with one of her hands, clearly she was planning to do "something" to it if the great-sage annoyed her by saying or doing something else other than to submit to her will.

That green-eyed woman smiled sweetly when she received the right answer and let go of the boy's leg-bone, she used a finger to correct a stray of her green-hair and returned it to its place behind her pointy-ear while saying : "Good. Now that you're up, it should be easier for you to recover much faster if you work with me."

The extreme change of attitude was a bit too frightening and Lin warned himself not to annoy that woman, especially not when he's in a helpless state.

He nodded and said : "I'm in your care then... big-sister Odla'nor."

Odla'nor seemed surprised that this human kid was able to recognize her and that he already knows her name, she squinted her eyes slightly while asking : "How do you know my name?"

The boy had this strong urge to tease her and said : "I read minds." Hoping to ease the tension in the air slightly and lighten the mood.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the result that he wanted because... the wood-elf extended her hand again and grabbed his thigh-bone while saying : "Are you now?" She had this daring look within her eyes, it was simply too frightening because she lacked all sorts of emotion.

"Ehehehe. Of course... I'm kidding," The great-sage said that while thinking : 'Just like I thought... that chick is dangerous.' Then after a short pause he continued to say : "Can't you remember that we already met before?"

The wood-elf seemed to recollect the incident where she first met this human about months ago, but during that time he was too absorbed into his own self... trying to fight for his life against that bolt of tribulation lightning!

And that's when her name was mentioned by the princess, these facts don't match.

"What else do you know about me?" These pair of green-eyes were peering into the boy's golden-eyes when she asked, it seemed like she's trying to look deep into his very soul.

Lin : "Other than you being the kindest big-sister in the world?" Again he found himself teasing that woman instead of giving her a direct answer, it was really confusing him.

Odla'nor : "Uh-huh." She squinted her eyes while reaching for his right-foot.

The boy could sense imminent-danger from the gentle touch of that pristine and jade-like hand.

He felt a bout of shivers overtaking his spine, beads of cold sweat burdened his forehead and threatened to slide into his temples.

"Other than you thinking that I'm special?" When he uttered these words, the great-sage was genuinely wishing for it to stop!

He never felt like this before, it's like as if... his guard is off.

'Maybe it's because these guys were finally extracted from me, I feel extremely relaxed. But is that how my true self really looks like?' He thought while deciding to further his awareness about this topic in the future since it's worth being informed about that new side of himself.

The wood-elf gave the wounded human kid a serious look and said : "You were listening to us that time! Who would've thought that you'd have spare energy to eavesdrop on the conversation between me and Mela when you're supposed to be focusing on overcoming your tribulation instead, you really are a pervert. Humph." She seemed disappointed at the end and she crossed her arms while taking a step back and looking-down on the boy.

Lin : "Does that mean that you no longer feel any intimacy towards me?" Once he uttered these words... the great-sage thought to himself while using his remaining arm to protect his face : 'Now I've done it. It seems like it's true, am I really someone who lacks the ability to hold-back his loose tongue? That's some nasty characteristic you've got there Mr. great-sage! Enjoy hell in the days to come.'

*****

Within a hallowed tree near the central-area, a very spacious and extravagantly-decorated hall exists.

A meeting is being held between some elves.

Each and every single one of these elves is either holding the highest status of seniority and influence among their elven-race, or... they're carrying on their shoulders the hopes of their entire race and are expected to lead them into a bright and stable future.

Around a wooden table these elves gathered.

The elven king and queen sat next to one another, behind them stood the princess and the young-prince.

On one side sat Kamen'dir and eight more old-looking elves, on the other side sat supreme-commander Ena'dir and four more elves.

A line-up of sixteen spirit-sovereigns was gathered, once news of the human kid's being awake reached Zae'nor he summoned the high-council and the five supreme-commanders to discuss a matter of extreme importance.

Since it concerns the fate of their holy-tree, none of these elves dared to delay a single second.

Ela'nor : "Thank you all for coming on such a short notice." The graceful woman smiled towards the men and women on her left and right before raising her cup of tea to take a small sip.

Some nodded, some looked in silence.

But one old woman next to Kamen'dir said : "Of course we'd come, that boy almost gave me a fright of a lifetime that day! I really thought he was trying to commit suicide in the end."

Another man of that group of nine seniors rolled his eyes towards her and said : "Really now? I'm sure at that time you were worried about not being able to get your hands on that decree more than anything else."

"Zip it Nemo'ner. Nobody would mistake you for a senile mute and a fool if keep your trap shut!" That old elven-lady glared at the one who spoke cynically and snapped at him without a care for anything in the world.

Nemo'ner : "You foul-mouthed old hag better show some respect, being around you has always been an insult to my image. Humph."

Another one of these nine seniors spoke to meditate between these two hot-headed companions of his : "Now, now sister Hime'sac. That really was uncalled for. And you brother Nimo'ner... you of all else should know about her interest towards foreign and ancient runes."

Hime'sac : "Maybe that's his inferiority-complex as an expert in the dao of formations, finally he's courageous enough to admit the superiority of my dao of talismans." The old elven-lady ridiculed the man once again and enjoyed seeing the infuriated look on his face.

"See? Brother Boad'mer, she doesn't respect you at all... better sell that blood-congealing pill to someone who do. Like me, I have nothing but respect for you as a person and your accomplishments in your profession as an alchemy-expert." The formation-expert ignored the underhanded jab from the shadow-elf and took advantage of the opportunity to suck-up to the moon-elf.

"Really now? Can you not do "this" right now? You're making us lose a lot of face in front of our juniors." Another woman shook her head and sighed.

"Sister Aida'nor took these words right from the tip of my tongue." A red-headed elder nodded as if to agree to what the green-haired old woman just said.

Another woman sighed and said while looking towards the shadow-elf and the high-elf before saying : "Just how far low have our standards gone for sister Aida'nor and brother Jae'gar to lecture you two right in front of our juniors! The impression left on the princess and young-prince must be that we're unfit to be members of the high-council."

Kamen'dir thought to himself : 'A few words from these two and like expected... Nemo'ner and Hime'sac don't even dare retort. One was responsible for foreign affairs while the other was responsible for teaching our juniors all about the long history of our ancestors.'

"Now that sister Bela'ner has spoke some sensible words, I believe we need to focus on the important matter at hand instead." Another one of these nine seniors looked towards the king and queen when he said that.

"Vela'mer spoke my mind, I agree."

Zae'nor nodded and said : "Since senior Faen'dir and the rest of my seniors are so eager to discuss the topic I naturally wouldn't dare delay your wishes," After a short pause the elven-king continued to say : "The most important matter on our agenda is the troubling issue of the ancestral-tree losing a lot of its reserve-energy when the holy-envoy healed the boy, we do have a solution for this problem. But... me and my wife are helpless to do anything to fix it without receiving all of your approval and assistance."

Kamen'dir : "Sister Aida'nor. Before the queen, you've been the one responsible for taking care of the ancestral-tree... do you really think the brat can do it?"

Aida'nor : "Well... we've all seen that human kid show an enormous amount of strong will, his insane latent potential is undeniable as well. We could use this opportunity to test his limits while he's still immature before giving him another chance once his attainments advance and flourish, I'm a lot more worried about his character instead of his abilities to be honest... these humans can not be trusted after all."

Jae'gar : "Indeed. According to my thousands of years of experience... their attitude and view on life does change in a blink of an eye."

Bela'ner : "They're attracted to benefits, they always have been... and always will be. Brother Jae'gar, all we need to do is keep hold of what interests him... that way we can always control the boy."

Vela'mer : "I honestly don't think we need to go through all that trouble, that method might really work and I'm not against it. But, I think you're forgetting an important factor here."

The woman looked towards the man and asked : "And that is?"

"Sister Bela'ner, having the holy-envoy go through the trouble of spending days and nights just to heal the boy despite the hefty expense of all that energy... is enough testament to how far we should go to use the boy to our advantage while we have the opportunity."

Faen'dir : "I agree. If we keep hesitating then we might miss our chance to heal the ancestral-tree."

Boad'mer : "Let's not forget that accomplishing our goal critically require someone with the special and extremely rare guiding-light physique."

Nemo'ner : "Not to mention how Mu Jianhong and the beasts wouldn't allow us to hog all the benefits to ourselves for too long."

Hime'sac : "As much as I hate to say it... I agree with him."

"What was that?" The man suddenly glared at the shadow-elf with eyes that could piece holes into iron plates!

Ena'dir : "Seniors, I can personally confirm these facts. Mu Jianhong said that he's planning to take the boy with him during the next mercenary-gathering, he wishes for him to participate in the competition and compete against other mercenaries of the junior-generation. On the other hand there's the slaughter-monarch who willingly lowered his head to the holy-envoy and silently accepted to let her take the boy, but I'm sure that his patience wouldn't even last until the mercenary-gathering which is less than four years from now." The supreme-commander suddenly spoke to prevent these two from butting heads once again.

"I have to admit that having the forces of these two powers as allies has tilted the scale of power towards our coalition, the cultivation-alliance didn't even voice a single complaint and having their territories snatched away. I hear they've sent an insane amount of gifts to appease their allies, apparently the new minister of the ministry of knowledge is a little evil or something!" A red-headed supreme-commander said these words while feeling slight disbelief at how fast the pieces moved on the game-board at such a little amount of time.

"Brother Ae'gar, it seems like you still don't know about that queen Lily. She's managed to forcefully push the alliance into a corner, she's an arm-twister that one... hopefully I'll get to meet her someday." A silver-haired woman among the supreme-commanders seemed really interested when she spoke about Lin's twin-sister.

"Sister Loly'mer, I'm sure the majority of your interest is because your names are a bit similar." A black-haired woman among the supreme-commanders rolled her eyes when she said that.

Loly'mer : "H-how did you know?" The female moon-elf looked at her friend with an amazed expression and her wide, glittery-eyes were practically a pair of miniature moons!

"Tsk. I counted on my fingers... that's how." The female shadow-elf replied while shaking her head.

"As expected of our most formidable supreme-commander, sister Laela'sac guessed it right once again." A green-haired supreme-commander was amused by the exchange between his two friends.

Laela'sac : "Not at all brother Cony'nor, not at all. It's just that... this one shouldn't be a supreme-commander of the yellow-belt."

Cony'nor : "Where would you put her then?"

"With the infants." That female shadow-elf didn't hesitate any.

"Yes! I'm great with kids." Loly'mer said with a wide and proud smile on her face... she even made a victory sign with her hand.

"I can see your point." The sly wood-elf acted like he's agreeing with the moon-elf and gave her a smile with a thumbs-up gesture, but his words were directed towards the shadow-elf instead.

*Cough...*

The elven-king seemed like he heard enough, he cleared his throat to draw their attention.

Ela'nor : "I'm the current caretaker of the ancestral-tree," The elven-queen paused before continuing to say : "Yet I can't operate the eternal-reinvigoration formation without your help. That's why you need to make your decision on this matter today."

Aida'nor : "Us wood-elves have always been the most devoted to the cause of healing the ancestral-tree from the wounds it received during that incident." When the wood-elf old female said these words she looked towards supreme-commander Cony'nor and gave him a meaningful look.

Vela'mer : "Humph. The elven-queen who created that eternal-reinvigoration formation was one of us moon-elves, she left us the supreme-legacy of how to cultivate creation-energy."

Jae'gar : "Sister, you seem to downgrade the sacrifices we blood-elves made through the ages."

Faen'dir : "We sun-elves carried the burden of..."

The elven king and queen watched as the situation turned into a political struggle between these seniors once again.

High-elves, sun-elves, moon-elves, wood-elves, shadow-elves, and blood-elves... none of them accepted the other as superior while relentlessly advocating and attempting to convince the others to change their opinion!