I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

"Forget it, I'll wait until we get back to the Elven Kingdom and ask her father myself."

Ji Tian temporarily suppressed his thoughts about Ophelia and turned to Legolas and Anna: "How much do you know about Moontundra?"

"Please follow me, everyone."

Legolas waited until Ji Tian's team members assembled before leading them to a wooden table in a house inside the city wall, where an old sheepskin map was spread out.

He pointed to a pale blue area at the top of the map and said, "Moonlight Tundra is located about 120 miles north of Border Fortress No. 3. It gets its name from the silvery-blue glow that the moss there emits at night. The terrain is mainly low hills and wetlands, with a wide field of vision, making it unsuitable for large-scale troop concealment. Infiltration by elite squads is the ideal route."

"Didn't the Elven Royal Court set up defenses there?" Elena also brought Lilith to Ji Tian's side, her gaze falling on the location the other was pointing to.

"It was fortified. Three hundred years ago we built an outpost on the edge of the tundra, but it was later abandoned. That area is not within the traditional territory of any tribe, and it has no strategic resources, so it is not worthwhile to garrison it for a long time. Now there are only a few ruins left, and even the forest patrols rarely venture there."

Legolas pushed the map towards Ji Tian's direction. "If your intelligence is accurate, that is indeed the best hiding place."

Ji Tian memorized the map details. "Then let's go. If the Shadow Demon Clan Chief wants to bypass the border, he certainly won't bring too many people. But the question is, who exactly is the demigod he's looking for?"

Legolas's eyes narrowed slightly as he voiced his suspicions: "There can't be many demigods who can make those arrogant demons think they're powerful. Among the ancient demigods of the Elven Royal Court, the only one still alive and whose whereabouts are unknown is 'The Sleeper'."

"The Sleeper?" Lilith repeated the unfamiliar title.

"She was one of the first creations of the Goddess of Life, and the third demigod in elven history. It is said that she existed before the establishment of the elven royal court and sheltered early elven settlements during several cataclysms. However, she always maintained a distance from mainstream elven society and never participated in the power struggles of the royal court..."

Anna, holding the holy book, spoke calmly: "She's mentioned in some of the Church's ancient texts. She seems to possess the portion of the Authority of Life concerning 'reincarnation,' and the reincarnation legends still circulating among the Elves are largely related to her. If the Shadow Demon's target really is her—"

Legolas didn't finish his sentence, but his words carried enough weight.

After listening quietly, Ji Tian said without hesitation, "Then let's go to Moonlight Tundra first and see if she's there. If not, we'll think about the next step."

"I'll go with you," Legolas said almost simultaneously. "I've been to that tundra twice and I know the terrain well. Besides, if we really run into the Shadow Demon Chieftain, my insight will come in handy."

Anna wanted to say, "I'll go too," but she glanced down at the holy book in her arms and then at the elven soldiers patrolling the city walls. She changed her mind and said, "I'll stay at the border to assist with the defense. If there's any emergency, I'll notify you via secret church communication."

Ji Tian nodded in agreement, "Then let's set off now."

So everyone went their separate ways to make preparations. Elena took Lilith to the fortress warehouse to retrieve some dry rations and emergency supplies, Legolas tuned his bowstring under the city wall, and Ophelia sat down again on a sheltered stone step to divine the fate of their journey.

When everything was ready, they began to travel north along the gentle slopes between the hills.

……

Deep within the territory of the Roland family in the Elven Royal Court, a tower constructed of ancient tree roots and silver-white stone stands tall.

Inside the tower, the magic crystal lamps illuminated the circular laboratory as if it were daytime, and the parchment scrolls and elven runes spread out on the table glowed with a faint blue light under the lamps.

Zeppelin Roland stood in front of the lab table, his long, silvery-white hair loosely tied back, and his dark blue scholar's robe had several ink stains on the cuffs.

Before him lay a life crystal core the size of a fist, its interior shimmering with a warm, emerald-green light. It was the essence extracted from a branch plucked from the core of the ancient tree of life, and only five major noble families in the entire royal court each possessed a small portion.

He carefully embedded the crystal core into a container surrounded by runes, then raised his hand, condensing a wisp of pure life magic at his fingertips and slowly injecting it along the surface of the crystal core.

The emerald green light patterns began to climb outwards along the container wall, intertwining and entwining in the air, eventually condensing into a blurry human-shaped outline.

He held his breath slightly.

The silhouette lingered for about three breaths before dissipating like mist, leaving only a few wisps of echo silently drifting in the air.

Zeppeli stood there, watching silently for a long time, then picked up his quill again and wrote down a few lines of data on a new parchment:

"The ninety-second physical condensation experiment—the compatibility between the life crystal core and the soul anchoring rune has increased by about 30%, but the duration is still less than five breaths. It is speculated that a higher concentration of life essence is needed, or an item imbued with the strong emotions of the deceased during their lifetime can be introduced as a guide."

He put down his pen and looked down at the silver comb on the corner of the table.

It was his wife's keepsake, still bearing the scent of a human, unlike that of ordinary elves. He had kept the comb there ever since she passed away a few years ago, never moving it.

For the high elves, whose lifespan is three thousand years, all of this seems like yesterday.

Zeppelin ran his hand lightly over the comb teeth and murmured:

"Wait a little longer, I have found a way to stabilize the soul. When that time comes, you will stand in the moonlight again as an elf, and our family can be reunited. We will have enough time to stay with our daughter Ophelia until she no longer needs us."

He stopped.

Ophelia.

He hadn't seen her for several years.

……

After walking for about three hours, the sky began to transition from bright to soft.

The air became humid, and the soil underfoot gradually changed from gravel and dry grass to dark humus, with occasional clumps of gray-green moss.

In the distance, a low, silvery-blue expanse faintly appears on the edge of twilight.

We've arrived at Moonlight Tundra.

Legolas stopped, crouched down, pressed his finger on the moss, then stood up and looked at Ji Tian: "Someone has been here. The footprints are heading north-west, and there aren't many, about five or six people."

"How long ago?"

"No more than two days."

Ji Tian squatted down to examine the almost invisible marks; the moss imprints from being stepped on were still fresh.

He stood up and walked in the direction Legolas had pointed.

The group then stepped into the silvery-blue tundra. A night breeze blew, and the fireflies in the moss slowly rose from the ground, like a layer of low-hanging starlight in the twilight.

In the distance, there were the chirping of unknown insects and the low calls of birds; the entire tundra was as quiet as a mirror sunken to the bottom of the water.

Ji Tian walked in front, and suddenly felt that his footsteps seemed to become very distant, like stepping on very deep snow.

He glanced down at his feet: the moss was undulating slightly, almost imperceptibly, as if the whole earth were breathing.