CHAPTER 160: GETTING READY

She didn’t know whether to trust him, but his words had weight, truth hidden in riddles. The idea that light and darkness had once been one people, that the elves had once balanced both sides of the world... it made unsettling sense.

She looked up at the moon again. It hung directly overhead, framed by swaying branches and shimmering leaves.

Her reflection stared back at her in the stream, eyes shadowed, hair pale under moonlight, the faint golden sigil on her hand pulsing softly.

Light and shadow.

Maybe she wasn’t so different from those elves after all.

She returned to the camp quietly. Nie Ziyu had rolled halfway off her bedroll, snoring even louder than before, while Ye Qingxue had claimed her blanket entirely.

Ling Yu sighed. "Honestly," she muttered, tugging the edge of her cloak tighter.

Fluffy was still curled in its nest, one paw twitching as it dreamed. She reached down, gently brushing her fingers through its fur.

Its heartbeat pulsed faintly against her fingertips, steady, comforting.

"Dark elves guarding the roots," she murmured. "Light elves singing to the stars... maybe this world isn’t so different from ours."

As she lay down again, her eyelids finally grew heavy. The forest seemed to hum around her, not words, but something deeper. A lullaby woven from roots and leaves and moonlight.

By the time sleep finally claimed her, the first faint glimmer of dawn was already seeping through the trees.

And deep beneath the earth, where shadows and roots entwined, a pair of violet eyes watched from the darkness, thoughtful, ancient, and faintly amused.

"Dragon Slayer," Kael whispered, "we shall see if you can truly balance light and shadow."

***

The next morning came with golden sunlight filtering gently through the canopy of the ancient elven forest. The soft rays shimmered through the emerald leaves like drops of molten gold, landing upon the tents and forest floor, painting the realm in hues of morning warmth. The air carried a faint scent of dew and flowers — light and ethereal, yet somehow intoxicatingly pure. For most of her team, it was a beautiful start to another day in the elven domain.

But for Ling Yu, it was the beginning of a long, exhausting ordeal.

She was barely awake when the First Elder’s attendants arrived, their expressions polite yet firm. "The Chosen one must undergo purification," they said in their melodic voices. "You carry the scent of blood, a stain that will anger the Tree of Truth."

Ling Yu blinked, still groggy from the restless night before. "...Scent of blood?"

One of the elf maidens stepped closer, sniffing lightly, her delicate nose wrinkling in visible discomfort. "Monster blood," she said, her voice soft but certain. "It clings to you like a shadow. The Tree would reject your presence if you approached in such a state."

Ling Yu’s lips twitched. Reject? She’d fought beasts ten times the size of a house, crawled through dungeons filled with death, and survived apocalyptic storms of miasma, only to be told she smelled bad

?

Nie Ziyu had to turn away to hide his laughter, earning a sharp elbow from Ye Qingxue as she just shrugged, expression half-smug and half-sympathetic, while Xian Yu, who was always more serious, nodded thoughtfully. "They aren’t wrong," he said. "The forest’s mana reacts to impurities. It might attack if you’re not purified."

Ling Yu sighed. "Fine. Lead the way."

And so began the most painstaking, thorough "cleansing" she had ever experienced in her life.

They brought her to a crystalline spring deep within the heart of the forest. The water was so clear it seemed invisible, a shimmering veil that reflected moonlight even during the day. Petals floated on its surface, drifting lazily with the current, and silver-winged insects hovered above it, their delicate bodies glowing faintly like tiny stars.

The elf attendants handed her a bundle of robes woven from silken leaves. "Please, change into these," one said with a gentle bow. "And do not resist the magic when it begins."

Magic. Of course.

The process started with her standing in the center of the spring. The water rose slowly, not through waves, but as if gravity itself was reversed. The droplets shimmered and spun around her, forming a translucent cocoon. Runes etched themselves in the air, luminous, ancient symbols that pulsed with life.

As they chanted, she could feel the purification begin. It wasn’t just washing her body; it was cleansing her mana, peeling away the dense layers of battle aura, corruption, and monster essence that clung to her like second skin.

For someone like Ling Yu, whose path had always been tainted with blood and survival, the sensation was unnerving. It felt like her entire body was being disassembled and rebuilt, her veins burning one moment and freezing the next.

She clenched her jaw, forcing herself to remain still.

The elven priestesses continued to sing. Their voices blended with the sound of flowing water and rustling leaves, creating an otherworldly harmony that resonated through the forest. The notes were pure, yet ancient, the kind of sound that felt like it had existed before time itself.

At some point, she caught her reflection on the surface of the spring. Her eyes, which were normally sharp and shadowed, glowed faintly with silver light. The faint mark of the bond sigil on her hand pulsed in response, its pattern spreading faintly across her arm like veins of light before retreating again.

Fluffy, who had been forced to stay outside the spring, sat grumpily on a nearby stone, occasionally letting out tiny chirps as if protesting that his master was being bullied.

By the time the chanting ended, Ling Yu felt... weightless.

The spring released her gently, lowering the water level as if in reverence. The runes vanished into mist, and the elven priestesses bowed deeply. "It is done," one said softly. "You are now cleansed. The Tree will welcome your presence."

Ling Yu exhaled slowly. Her limbs felt strangely light, and even her mind felt clearer.