Elven cultivators

laugh!

With a soft whooshing sound, Cui Erning's short sword sliced ​​through the chest of the ethereal monster before him.

Where the sword blade passed, the translucent body was split in two as if a thin veil had been torn apart.

The two severed pieces disintegrated in the air and vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, as if they had never existed.

With the last monster completely vanished, this unexpected encounter came to an end.

The passageway fell silent again, with only the heavy breathing of the group and the faint sound of a few drops of blood, not yet dried, dripping from the rock wall.

Cui Erning sheathed his sword, turned around and scanned the ranks, his expression immediately darkening.

Several members of the tribe were injured.

Another lay motionless on the rocky ground five steps away, its pupils dilated and its chest no longer rising and falling, clearly dead.

The enemy's attack came too suddenly, without any warning.

The ethereal monsters seemed to seep out of the rock wall, emerging silently from above, below, and to the sides.

Even though she reacted quickly enough and intercepted them immediately, she still couldn't save all her clansmen.

Cui Erning was not grieving over the deaths of his people.

In Vion, it's perfectly normal for the weak to die; there's no need to waste your emotions on it.

What she really cared about were the monsters themselves.

You should know that the dark elves she brought out were all the elites of their tribe.

In any city-state, any one of them could easily handle three to five ordinary soldiers of the same rank.

However, their prized combat skills were almost useless against those strange, ethereal monsters.

If it weren't for her presence as a Gold-ranked individual, this team would likely have been completely wiped out.

Even the elite troops of Vion City suffered losses, so one can imagine what the situation would be like for the armies of other city-states when facing these monsters.

No wonder the alliance's army suffered repeated defeats during this period, losing tens of thousands of troops in just one month.

This kind of monster with ethereal properties can only be substantially damaged by spellcasters or silver-ranked warriors who can imbue their weapons with magic.

Ordinary soldiers who engage them in close combat will not even be able to wear them down; they will only be slaughtered in large numbers.

"A puppet with ethereal properties...?"

Cui Erning muttered to himself, his brows furrowed tightly.

Based on her understanding of the earth elves, those with pointed ears were always known for their skillful and precise craftsmanship and the use of natural magic.

But the monster in front of her was completely different from the elf style she remembered.

It is more like a natural product of the ghosts and vengeful spirits in the dark underworld.

But Cui Erning didn't have more time to investigate further.

She took a deep breath, suppressing her heavy thoughts for the moment, glanced at the remaining troops, and coldly ordered: "Pack your things and head back to the city."

The team quickly regrouped and quietly retraced their steps.

After passing through the last arched crack, the view suddenly opened up.

The ground became relatively flat, and dense moss began to appear on the rock walls. A large number of dark blue light spots spread out in layers, illuminating much of the space in front of us.

We have arrived in Vion.

Cui Erning led his team along a spiderweb-like path, weaving through stalactites and stone pillars, and finally entered the main building of the Vian family.

Without lingering, she instructed her people to go and rest, then wrapped her cloak tightly around herself, bypassed the front hall, passed through a narrow corridor with dark red torches burning on both sides, and went straight into the innermost hall.

The hall was small, with several animal skin tapestries woven from silk threads hanging on the stone walls.

In the center was a low black stone table, on which sat a half-extinguished bone oil lamp. The flame flickered twice on the wick, casting an uncertain light and shadow.

Marise sat behind the table, her head slightly lowered, as if pondering something laid out in front of her.

Hearing footsteps, she merely raised her eyelids slightly without saying a word.

Cui Erning walked to the table and knelt down on one knee.

"Mother."

"Speak," Marise said succinctly.

Cui Erning recounted his encounter on the road in a low and rapid voice.

This includes the physical characteristics of those ethereal monsters, their attack methods, and their ability to repair their bodies.

After listening, Maris remained silent for a while.

The firelight cast flickering shadows on her profile, making her delicate features appear even more enigmatic.

After a long pause, she nodded slightly and said, "I understand."

"Mother, what should we do next..." Cui Erning began tentatively, but was interrupted by Maris halfway through her sentence.

"Go and rest first," Maris said calmly, revealing no emotion.

Cui Erning pursed her lips, asked no more questions, and got up to leave the hall.

The stone door closed behind them with a dull, scraping sound.

Marise was left alone in the hall.

She leaned back in her chair, and the faint composure on her face vanished as if wiped away, revealing an undisguised gloom beneath.

How do you explain that?

In the shadows of the corner of the stone wall, the gray-black outline swayed slightly.

Two dark red dots of light emerged from the shadows, lingering with a hint of hesitation, as if they were carefully considering their words.

"I was also very surprised. Silver... Nine Nether City has never shown such a strange puppet before."

Maris stared coldly at the shadowy figure: "Do you know how many troops we've lost during this time? Because of your intelligence failures, we've suffered enormous losses."

The two points of light in the dark figure flickered, as if it were smiling: "The other city-states suffered heavy losses, while Vion City has been preserving its strength, so its casualties shouldn't be too high."

Maris didn't speak, she just stared at him coldly.

The shadowy figure softened his tone: "At this point, complaining is useless. I suggest you abandon guerrilla warfare and move the battlefield to the Fertile Land region."

"In open areas, the advantage of ethereal puppets is greatly reduced, making them easier to deal with."

"Without the cover of the rock wall, they must approach from the front, and spellcasters can take them out from a distance by focusing their fire."

Marise lowered her eyes, as if she was considering something.

After a moment, she spoke slowly, her tone utterly cold and calm: "You'd better really have a way to deal with Nine Nether City, just like you said before. Otherwise..."

"Don't worry, I want to destroy Nine Nether City even more than you do."

The shadowy figure spoke with absolute confidence.

But only he knew that there was a bit of bluff in those words.

What he didn't say was that on the battlefields where those ethereal monsters had appeared, his organization was completely unable to collect any death energy.

This is undoubtedly a very strange situation.

But obviously, Maris couldn't know about this, otherwise, given the cunning and suspicious nature of the dark elves, she would definitely break the agreement without hesitation, and even betray them.

In any case, they must collect enough death energy as soon as possible, otherwise the subsequent plans will not be able to proceed.

On open battlefields, the rate at which death energy is generated by the casualties of a large number of soldiers is far greater than that of small-scale skirmishes.

Even if those ethereal puppets still devour some of them, the rest will be enough to support their plans.

After receiving a definite answer, Maris ignored the shadowy figure.

She lowered her eyes again, her gaze falling on the rough map spread out on the table. A faint glint flashed in the depths of her pupils, but it was quickly swallowed up by the flickering lamplight.