Xian'er Jiu remained silent, gazing at Xu Mu with a complex tone.
The inverted realm sea roared, icebergs shattered, lava erupted, and fierce winds howled. Various anomalies appeared that day, and thus all the elves in the Elven Kingdom knew their king was dead.
Only the king of the Dark Elves remained alive, for he had not entered the realm sea, only dispatched his most powerful Saint Guards, whose combat strength was comparable to that of an Elven King.
But they too had perished.
With so many great beings dead, how could that insignificant human possibly survive, let alone take away the legendary sacred relic?
Xian'er Jiu dared not believe it, but now, this was the reality.
Xu Mu bit his tongue, reminding himself repeatedly in his heart not to pass out.
He widened his eyes, gazing at the hazy, tree-lined sky, and asked in a hoarse voice:
"I'll give you one last chance."
"What do you want to know?"
"Who is the mastermind behind the Weaving Heaven Pavilion, how to obtain crucial evidence, where the escaped individuals have fled, why you appeared in the human world, and what conspiracy is afoot."
"If I tell you, will you let me go?"
"How will you know if you don't tell me."
"What if you go back on your word after I tell you? Your kind, humans, are all insidious and cunning. Don't think you can fool me so easily."
Xu Mu felt a surge of anger and instinctively wanted to raise his voice, but the pain, as if his lungs were tearing, interrupted him. His body curled up in misery. After a long pause, he finally spoke:
"So much nonsense. Then you shall die now."
As his voice fell, the Dao Origin cage that had imprisoned Xian'er Jiu merged with the lightning elements that bound her limbs. It was as if heavenly thunder ignited earth fire. In an instant, Xian'er Jiu's soul perceived a fatal danger, nearly scaring her to the point of soul dispersion.
"Wait, I'll tell you!"
Xu Mu did not stop. The fusion of Dao Origin and lightning continued methodically. This process was merely a result of Xu Mu's thought and had not been excessively interfered with, hence it was extremely slow.
Xian'er Jiu grew truly anxious. The dread of death loomed in her heart, and she hastily exclaimed:
"Don't you already know? The mastermind behind the Weaving Heaven Pavilion is the First Prince, Zhou Wuji! He personally founded the Weaving Heaven Pavilion!"
"Furthermore, he is extremely cautious. He never personally gives orders for tasks or leaves any evidence. Apart from the Seventh Prince, who is also a prince and an informant for the Weaving Heaven Pavilion, you cannot convict him no matter who you apprehend!"
"As for those who escaped the imperial city, I also don't know where they went. Because I deceived both sides simultaneously. I had arranged a place beforehand, and they could no longer trust me!"
Xu Mu heard this and struggled to commit the information to memory. In fact, it aligned with his own suspicions.
If Xian'er Jiu were simply fearless of death and wanted to deceive him to buy time for the Weaving Heaven Pavilion to escape, she could have simply fabricated a wrong time or place to make them pursue a wild goose chase, creating a scenario where both sides were weakened. Fabricating the number of people was completely unnecessary.
Unless her original intention was precisely to make both sides mutually destructive.
But what was Xian'er Jiu's ultimate purpose in doing this?
Xu Mu guessed that it must be closely related to her arrival in the human world.
"Continue. How did you join the Weaving Heaven Pavilion? Is Zhou Wuji colluding with your Dark Elf tribe?"
Xian'er Jiu hesitated and agonized for a moment. She knew that if she revealed this secret, even if she lived, she would face endless pursuit from her own people.
But if she didn't speak now, Xu Mu would kill her immediately!
"I can't care about that anymore!"
Xian'er Jiu's soul manifested as a tiny figure, trembling as she spoke: "It's not that Zhou Wuji colludes with my tribe. It was I who actively joined the Weaving Heaven Pavilion."
"Five years ago, I and thirty other prodigies from my tribe were sent out of Alfheim by our elder to hide in a remote human town to observe and learn from humans. In the end, only eleven passed the assessment."
"Afterward, we were dispatched to the human world on missions. By chance, and after several twists and turns, I joined the Weaving Heaven Pavilion!"
Xu Mu asked:
"Explain clearly. Why did the Dark Elf tribe send you out of Alfheim? What were your objectives and missions in observing, learning from, and coming to the human world!"
Xian'er Jiu's emotions were complex:
"Strictly speaking, I am not a member of the Dark Elf tribe."
"Our tribe consists of elves who betrayed the Dark Elves, sorcerers who wielded evil and powerful dark magic. There were two missions to come to the human world."
"The first mission was to find a suitable place for my tribe to reside in the human world. That place must meet all the conditions required for elves to live, and it must be far from the territories of powerful human factions."
"Our tribe's High Priest of Dark Magic prophesied that one day the Elven Kingdom would reappear. The sooner elves returned to the mainland, the stronger they would become. That is why my tribe sent me to find a territory."
Xu Mu was somewhat surprised by this.
The traitors of the Dark Elf tribe, the sorcerers, actually wanted to emerge from Alfheim and return to the mainland to live alongside humans? This was no small matter!
Xu Mu asked, puzzled:
"Although this continent is full of humans, there are still many remote places. The land is vast and resources abundant. If you were looking for a territory, why did you join the Weaving Heaven Pavilion?"
Xian'er Jiu sighed:
"This is related to my second mission."
"When the elves return to the mainland, no matter how well the location is chosen, they will inevitably be feared by human forces. Our tribe's strength is no longer as glorious as it once was, while humans are producing powerful individuals in droves."
"Our tribe's High Priest worried that emerging from Alfheim in this manner might lead to the extermination of our entire race. Therefore, he preemptively contacted human forces and reached a cooperation agreement."
"The specific mission is for us to cooperate and sow chaos in the world, inciting wars among the various human factions to weaken their forces. Then, our tribe will seize the opportunity to reveal ourselves and establish a foothold in the human world."
"What a malicious scheme!"
Xu Mu was shocked and quickly asked:
"Which force dares to cooperate with you to incite a war across all humanity? Are they not afraid of divine retribution? The peace on the continent was hard-won. Are they mad!"
Xian'er Jiu's soul figure shook its head and sighed, "There is only one faction on the entire continent that would agree to such a request."
"The Golden Horde."
Upon hearing this name, Xu Mu's heart trembled.
The Golden Horde. It was the Golden Horde again. During the Grand Assembly of All Races, they had brought geniuses to cause trouble. They were common enemies of the Great Xia and Great Zhou dynasties, an evil race inherently bloodthirsty and only knowing invasion!
"Only they would agree to something like this."
Xu Mu's heart grew heavy. The Golden Horde and the sorcerers of the Dark Elf tribe had allied. The latter sought to return to the mainland, while the Golden Horde's intentions were obvious.
"They want to instigate conflict and acquire more territory." Xian'er Jiu's voice trembled. Even she, who wielded evil dark magic, couldn't help but feel fear when recalling her conversation with that man.
She was certain that man possessed a more evil and powerful energy than her!
"Rather than the Golden Horde, it's the cult within the Golden Horde, the Totem Church."
"The one who reached a cooperation agreement with us was precisely the leader of the Totem Church, the peerless strategist wielding a sacred relic, Swain."
"Swain's cult has spread throughout the entire continent. Not only do they have people in the Golden Horde, but they also have operatives in the Hundred Races Alliance, the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Great Xia Dynasty, and even within the forbidden zones."
"We all share a common enemy, which is all of humanity, so our cooperation is seamless. The conflicts among the various races in the Hundred Races Alliance, as well as the grievances between Great Xia and Great Zhou, are naturally our primary targets."
"As for joining the Weaving Heaven Pavilion, it was merely a side task. The identity information I provided to Zhou Wuji was also false. They naively believed I truly had a younger brother to rescue. In reality, that was just a pawn arranged by the High Priest."
At this point, Xian'er Jiu let out a mocking laugh. Although Zhou Wuji had keenly sensed that her identity was not as it seemed, both parties tacitly avoided breaking the façade and exploited each other.
"Zhou Wuji thinks he profited from me, but in reality, no matter how much he thinks he gained, I will never lose, because I am not human, but an elf."
"It's humans who die, not me."
Xu Mu listened silently to Xian'er Jiu's words, his heartbeat quickening slightly.
"Is that all you have? Is that everything?"
"How to contact the people of the Totem Church, what is your next plan, where is the stronghold of that Swain, tell me all of it."
Xian'er Jiu:
"I don't know these things."
"Swain is being hunted by all humans in the world. Every time he gives instructions, he sends someone to contact me, rather than me actively contacting him."
"As for my next mission, there is no specific mission. I just need to wait for the Totem Church to find me. During this period, I only need to ensure my own safety."
Xu Mu heard this and hummed.
"What did you just say?"
"I said I have no specific mission."
"The previous sentence."
"No matter how much Zhou Wuji profited, I would never lose."
Xu Mu hummed again:
"Continue."
Xian'er Jiu's soul figure stared remotely at Xu Mu, a bad premonition arising.
"What do you intend to do?"
Xu Mu clenched his fist with difficulty, lightning surging instantly.
"I intend to kill you."
...