CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER51-ONLY YOU CAN DO IT

Diana’s status was extraordinary; her identity, if revealed, could terrify the emerald sprites.

Even the emerald sprite king would treat her with utmost respect.

Should anything happen to Diana,

The human sage-tier magi would intervene and could devastate their homeland.

Naturally, the emerald sprite king would not want to witness such a scene.

Owen’s lips curled into a peculiar smile.

If the sprite king knew it had brought back a human lady saint, a saint of dragons, would it tremble with fear?

After all, its grandmaster-tier status might be threatening in Owen’s presence, but it was nothing in front of dragons.

The emerald sprites were just an intermediate race, after all.

Inside the palace of the emerald sprite king,

The sprite prince was laid on a bamboo bed.

After examining the prince’s wound, the elder emerald sprite spoke to the sprite king:

"King, there is a strange evil energy on the prince’s wound, hindering its healing and continuously stealing its life force. If this continues, the prince..."

The elder didn’t finish his sentence, but the sprite king understood the unspoken words.

It felt clearly that the life force of the sprite prince was fading, now just a thread.

If this persisted, the sprite prince would surely die.

"What should we do now?"

"We can only pray to the Old Tree, asking it to bestow a divine oracle to save my child."

...

"Sir, do you have any brilliant plan to get us out of this?"

Finn leaned towards Owen and whispered, "We’ve been sitting idly for half a day, and the emerald sprite king is completely ignoring us!"

Owen opened his eyes, exhaling a turbid breath.

This place was indeed a blessing; just half a day of cultivation here had increased his arcanergy more than a full day’s worth of regular practice.

"There is a way."

"Oh?" Finn’s eyes sparkled, "Please tell, sir, we are in dire straits."

"Heal the emerald sprite king’s child, and we can leave. The emerald sprite king might even treat us as honored guests."

Finn’s eyes dimmed, staring blankly at Owen:

"Sir, this is not the time for jokes."

"I’m actually not..."

Before he could finish, he saw the emerald sprite king flying down from the Old Tree, holding the prince.

Not just that, all the sprites who had been playing in the tree followed behind the emerald sprite king, their expressions full of reverence.

The emerald sprite king knelt before the Old Tree, and its subjects did the same.

Altars were erected by the emerald sprites.

The elder emerald sprites, dressed in magnificent green robes, wearing crowns made of jade, and holding ancient staffs, stood solemnly in front of the altars, their faces filled with devotion.

In the center of the altar lay a giant Emerald Wreath, studded with various gems, shimmering with a mysterious light.

The area around the wreath was filled with fresh flowers and fruits, emitting a rich fragrance.

At the very center of the wreath was a large emerald gemstone, radiating a soft light, from which endless life force seemed to emanate.

Owen watched the scene with a hint of amusement.

The emerald sprites, like children in their own realm, were conducting a solemn and serious ceremony.

The stark contrast gave Owen a sense of the absurd, reminiscent of kindergarten children playing house.

"What are they doing?" Finn was utterly confused, unable to grasp what was happening.

Diana, knowledgeable and observant, explained earnestly:

"This is the ceremony of the emerald sprites to summon an oracle from the Old Tree. It seems the emerald sprite king’s child is gravely ill, and the emerald sprite king has no other recourse."

Owen leaned his head close to Diana:

"An oracle? Summoning a deity, does an intermediate race possess such ability?"

Feeling the warmth of Owen’s breath, Diana blushed slightly, lowering her head as she spoke:

"Well, it seems sprites generally have this ability. Perhaps it’s due to their racial purity."

While Owen and Diana conversed, the ceremony on the other side officially began.

The elder emerald sprites started chanting ancient incantations, their voices melodious like a flowing stream, filled with mysterious power.

As the chanting continued, the entire altar began to tremble, a powerful energy emanating from the ground, filling the space.

Suddenly, a green light rose from the Old Tree, piercing through the wreath, shooting straight into the sky.

The light gradually coalesced into a green light ball, hovering in midair.

A vague figure appeared within the light ball.

Owen’s eyes moved, slightly surprised:

"Did they really summon a deity?"

Diana let out a chuckle:

"This is just an avatar of the Old Tree, not an actual deity. If the emerald sprites had the power to summon deities, they wouldn’t be just an intermediate race."

The emerald sprite king, clearly not his first time seeing the Old Tree’s avatar, knelt down proficiently:

"Great Tree Spirit, I am the emerald sprite king. Recently, my child has been attacked by evildoers and has fallen into a coma. I hope the Tree Spirit can help my child recover."

The image of the Tree Spirit was blurry, vaguely resembling an elderly man.

It spoke slowly, its voice like the whisper of the wind:

"The life of the sprite king’s child has been eroded by an evil force. With my current strength, I am powerless to help."

"What?" The emerald sprites were shocked, the Old Tree Spirit actually admitting its inability.

"How can this be? Isn’t Grandfather Tree Spirit omnipotent?"

"What exactly happened to the prince that even Grandfather Tree Spirit cannot heal?"

"My heavens, am I hearing this correctly?"

Owen’s expression also turned somber, what kind of evil force was on the emerald sprite king’s child?

Even the Tree Spirit, revered as a deity by the emerald sprites, was unable to help.

Oddly, Owen felt a deep malevolence.

The emerald sprite king became anxious:

"Great Tree Spirit, what should we do now? Are you just going to watch the heir of our tribe die like this?"

The Tree Spirit hesitated, then said reluctantly:

"My power is not at its fullest now. If the Emerald Heart can be obtained to restore my strength, perhaps I can save the prince."

The eyes of the emerald sprites lit up.

One of them stepped forward, bow and arrow in hand:

"Grandfather Tree Spirit, tell us how to obtain the Emerald Heart. I will go."

The Tree Spirit seemed to nod:

"You are brave, but sadly, you are incapable of doing this."

The emerald sprite king furrowed his brows:

"Great Tree Spirit, perhaps you could clarify a bit more."

The Tree Spirit looked towards the emerald sprite king and sighed deeply:

"The emerald sprites were born alongside the emerald tree, living in dependence on it. However, you are also greatly restricted by the emerald tree."

"Haven’t you noticed that you are utterly unable to fly above the true heights of the emerald tree?"

The emerald sprite king remained silent.

Flying above the emerald tree was something every adult emerald sprite had attempted.

But they found that beyond 2,000 meters, they simply couldn’t ascend any higher.

Even those at the grandmaster-tier were unable to do it.

"Is the Emerald Heart above the emerald tree?"

"Correct, at 4,000 meters."

"..."

A silence fell among the sprites.

Owen, Finn, and the others also fell into a contemplative silence.

They had never imagined the emerald sprites would have such a limitation.

But it made sense - born as favorites of the forest, if they were also favorites of the sky, wouldn’t they be invincible?

Suddenly, Owen felt intense beams of light coming from afar.

He looked towards the center of the ceremony.

Countless emerald sprites were staring at him.

Finn, frowning, muttered:

"Maybe we should try to escape later? Once we get the Dreamscape Stone, we can run..."

Seeing Owen didn’t respond, Finn looked up, only to meet the gazes of thousands of emerald sprites.

Finn didn’t know what expression to wear and just said with a gloomy face:

"Your ears are too sharp, you heard that?"

The emerald sprite king, with a strong aura, landed in front of Owen.

Finn closed his eyes, his desire to survive extremely strong:

"Emerald sprite king, I was just thinking that, I didn’t do anything, you can’t kill me."

"I am the Second Prince of Laine Kingdom, if you kill me, my father the king won’t let you off... eh..."

Expecting a slap or a sword that never came, he opened his eyes to see the emerald sprite king kneeling before Owen.

"Mr. Owen, I hope I got your name right. I hope you can help us, the emerald sprites, to ascend to the high skies and retrieve the Emerald Heart."

Owen was stunned.

Did he just kneel?

He remembered what Finn had said: the emerald sprites’ kingship was passed down in a single line, and the prince must be extremely important.

Though it was gratifying to have a race’s king kneel before him, Owen didn’t let it go to his head and hastily agree:

"Emerald sprite king, you are a grandmaster-tier, and if you can’t accomplish this task, it seems inappropriate to ask me, a diamond-tier, to do it."

The emerald sprite king, bowing his head respectfully, replied:

"If there’s anyone present who can do it, it’s only you."

Owen furrowed his brows, wondering why the emerald sprite king was so certain.

He abruptly turned to look at the avatar of the Old Tree.

The avatar, which had been watching Owen, quickly looked elsewhere.

If it weren’t just a spirit, it might have whistled to cover its embarrassment.