I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha.

Chapter 25: The Sacred Tree and the Elves (Updated)

The rest of the journey was uneventful, and the team arrived at the ruins smoothly.

It's called a ruin, but in reality it's just a huge, ancient ruin. It seems that there was once a city here.

The ruins of this ancient city are divided into two layers: above ground and underground. The ruins on the surface have become ruins, but the ruins underground are still intact.

The group's destination was the underground ruins. When Instructor Leonard came here to explore the way, he had already seen the entrance according to the route given by the baron - it was a huge dry well under a huge tree.

After checking the situation over there, Reynard returned with this statement: "It's safe over there. The dry well is next to a huge banyan tree. There are elves nearby guarding the entrance. They hope we can help them quickly and eliminate the evil spirits in the underground ruins."

Soon, everyone saw the huge banyan tree.

It is a single tree that forms a forest. Its huge crown covers the sky like a canopy. There are many aerial roots in the crown that fall vertically to the ground, connecting the crown to the earth.

The crown of the tree covers at least the area of ​​a small community. If it were a normal tree, it would definitely be very beautiful.

But its leaves were covered in hairy, rotting blood threads, and its trunk and aerial roots were covered in layers of rotting flesh. The flesh was slowly wriggling, as if alive.

After the team arrived under the big tree, a human-shaped monster slowly emerged from the fleshy trunk.

Their bodies were skinless and covered in tumors. Their lower bodies had fused with the flesh of the tree trunk, while their upper bodies twisted and turned on the tree like leeches.

The team stopped immediately and the atmosphere became tense in an instant.

"Relax," Instructor Leonard said to everyone, "This is the elves' territory, the safest area in the entire forest."

"Elves?" Roland's expression turned strange. "If there are elves, why don't they purify these monsters? Is it because they can't be purified?"
Roland quietly observed the apprentices around him and found that although everyone was nervous, they were very calm.

Roland felt a little strange: "When Instructor Reynard came back, he didn't specifically mention these monsters. Could it be that these monsters are very common in the wizarding world?"
Roland couldn't help but look at Instructor Leonard and found that his expression was very calm.

Roland looked at Baron Hall again. The baron stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the monsters on the tree trunk with a very calm expression.

Roland was well aware of Baron Hall's strength, and seeing him so calm, he felt much more at ease.

Roland thought to himself, "Baron Hall often comes here, and Instructor Reynard was here just now. Neither of them showed any excessive reaction. It seems these monsters are harmless indeed. Well, it seems these monsters must be sealed monsters, and the ones who sealed the monsters are the elves."
"Indeed, this is the place, Reynard." Baron Hall said with a smile, "Don't be nervous. I know some Elvish. I'll communicate with the elves."

Having said that, Baron Hall left the team. He walked to the tree trunk, bowed slightly to those "leech people", and began to speak.

The 'leech man' was like a drowning man on the verge of death, with a rumbling sound coming from his mouth - it was basically a groan of pain, not a communication.

Their arms kept waving and scratching at the Baron. If it weren't for the short distance, they would have torn the Baron to pieces.

The baron remained calm and composed, maintaining his elegant and aristocratic demeanor, as if what he saw were not monsters but a group of people who could speak and communicate.

Instructor Reynard, standing nearby, looked at Baron Hall's back with a look of astonishment. He said, "I didn't expect Baron Hall to be so proficient in Elvish."

Those leech people obviously didn't respond to the Baron in Elvish - they just wanted to tear the Baron to pieces!

Roland's expression became increasingly strange.

The blond freshman suddenly patted Roland on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Roland, have you ever seen an elf before?"

"I haven't seen any elves," Roland said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "But I hope the elves guarding this place come here quickly, because it seems the Baron's mental state isn't quite right."

After hearing this, the two freshmen were stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh out loud: "It seems that Roland still hasn't seen those ancient elves!"

After all, he was still a country bumpkin. Although he had some talent, he had never set foot in the real wizarding world and had no experience. He was no match for a pure-blood wizard like himself.

The red-haired freshman raised his head and said to Roland, "You haven't systematically studied 'Anthropology.' So you don't know what real elves look like—in fact, they are somewhat different from the images told in adventurers' stories."

The blond freshman smiled and said, "That's right. The vast majority of elves that mingle in the secular world are half-elves, and they are very different from pure-blooded elves. Roland, today, we will give you a lesson."

The blond freshman pointed at the leech people on the tree trunk and said, "They are elves."

The red-haired freshman smiled and added, "To be exact, it's an ancient elf."

The blond freshman nodded, looking at the shrunken, leech-like creatures, over a meter long, and said, "Yes, you see, although they are as handsome as the characters in the story, their bodies are not thin, but tall and strong."

"Indeed." The red-haired freshman pointed at the tumor on the leech man's body and said, "Did you notice, Roland, their skin is light blue with tattoo-like markings on it?"

The two freshmen patiently tutored Roland, one after another.

The more Roland listened, the uglier his expression grew. "You mean these monsters are elves?" The blond freshman laughed in astonishment. "Monsters? Haha, Roland, you'd better not speak in front of the elves. Otherwise, they'll think we're just ignorant wild wizards."

The red-haired freshman said, "Haha, it's normal for Roland to say that. After all, he hasn't seen a real elf. When I first saw ancient elves, I also made a fool of myself and even mistook them for monsters. However, it's normal for ancient elves to be over three meters tall."

Roland's face turned pale. He nodded deeply and stopped talking.

Those bloody, mangled leech-men were only about a meter long, but the blond freshman thought they were ancient elves over three meters tall!
The leech people seemed unable to move outside the big tree for too long. After scratching in the air for a while, their bodies gradually dried up and died.

The baron walked back with a smile and said to everyone, "The elves have left. They will follow us to explore the ruins and provide us with assistance along the way."

"The Baron has gone mad." Roland looked desperately at his silent mentor, Catherine.

Roland felt a little more at ease with his mentor's calmness.

The mentor remained calm, watching the Baron's actions with cold eyes, and also observing the sacred tree of flesh and blood.

At this moment, she seemed to have discovered something on the tree, and a serious look appeared on her face.

She said to Roland, "Roland, this tree is obviously not a banyan tree. It seems to be a beautiful and sacred tree of life."

Roland: "Ah? The beautiful, beautiful and sacred Tree of Life?!"

The instructor nodded slowly and said, "I won't be wrong. Go check it out. If it really is the Tree of Life, we can take some of its juice before entering the ruins."

Roland's face turned pale.

Just then, the blond freshman volunteered to step forward.

He bowed gracefully to Catherine and said, "My Lord, Roland may not know much about the Tree of Life. My father once brought back a branch of the Tree of Life, and I have done a lot of research on it."

Catherine nodded with relief: "Okay."

He walked to the twisted tree of flesh and blood, looked around, and suddenly drew out his sword and slashed it. Then, the very tough ancient tree was easily cut open with a scar more than a foot deep.

The depth and location of this scar are just right. It does not harm the ancient tree, but also allows it to ooze juice even though it is withered.

The blond freshman picked up some on his fingers, licked it, and showed a look of ecstasy.

"As sweet and delicious as it is, and this rich life force, Lady Catherine! You don't have to doubt it, this is truly the Tree of Life!"

Upon hearing this, Instructor Leonard hurried over. He pushed away the blond freshman who was in the way, tasted the pus, and then a look of ecstasy appeared on his face.

Leonard's voice trembled with excitement. "It really is! No wonder! I see! I understand!"

Many apprentices were shocked, and Catherine blurted out: "It really is the Tree of Life?!"

This is the tree of life that only grows in the core area of ​​the world!
Although it looks like it has not grown up yet, it still has unimaginable value!
For a moment, many apprentices had different thoughts. They secretly took a few steps back and looked at their companions vigilantly.

Even Baron Hall secretly observed Catherine out of the corner of his eye - Catherine was also secretly observing the Baron with a vigilant look.

It’s over, these lunatics are going to fight!

"Relax, relax, mentors and seniors."

Roland came out sweating. To prevent the group from suddenly starting a fight, he deliberately said soothingly, "A tree this big is more than enough for you. Besides, there are treasures like this everywhere—look at those aerial roots, they're also dripping with juice. There's no need to fight over them!"

"Are there a lot of them?" Everyone looked at the huge blood, flesh and air roots around them, their eyes reddened. "Indeed, there are a lot of them."

Everyone was delighted and gathered around the tree quickly to collect juice and branches.

Some people even drank the juice on the spot.

Even Teacher Catherine elegantly took out a small magic bottle and collected some of the pus flowing from the flesh and blood tree.

Only Roland stood there motionless.

He looked at everyone's actions with a deathly pale face.

"Crazy. Crazy, all crazy!"

(End of this chapter)