Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 366 - 349: Elves? Elves Again?

That was news from the desert traders of the Death Desert.

It’s said that last year, the Half-Beast organized a war against the Evil God, but suffered a devastating defeat in the battle...

Tens of thousands of troops were annihilated, the Half-Beast King died in battle, and even the Divine Artifact they passed down was lost.

And the rumor says that the ones who fought the Half-Beasts were a group of elves who worshiped the Evil God.

They were well-equipped, numerous, ferocious, and incredibly powerful...

When Huo Xu heard this news, he didn’t believe it at all.

*Elves worshiping the Evil God? Ferocious and numerous? And capable of annihilating an army of tens of thousands of Half-Beasts?*

*What a joke!*

Even though Huo Xu was a resident of the underground, he was very familiar with the nature of elves.

*Those beautiful long-eared ones, although quite powerful, were as gentle as sheep and famously devout. How could they worship the Evil God?*

*They rarely even resorted to killing when confronting enemies, let alone being ferocious.*

Furthermore... *everyone knew that the population of the Elf Clan was dwindling. Where would they get the power to annihilate tens of thousands of Half-Beasts?*

In Huo Xu’s view, the news of the Half-Beasts suffering a crushing defeat might be true. After all, during their skirmishes with the Human Empire over the millennia, they hadn’t been without setbacks. And this time, they were likely at war with the Aries Kingdom again.

But if it were said that this defeat came from elves, and it led to the annihilation of their army, that would be too exaggerated.

*Impossible, absolutely impossible, definitely just a rumor!*

*Huo Xu dismissed such absurd news from his mind upon hearing it, unconcerned, uncaring, and unbelieving.*

However, today, when he arrived in Blackrock City and saw these strange elves... *his heart suddenly became wary.*

*These elves... were so similar to those described in that ridiculous rumor!*

Not only that, if Huo Xu recalled correctly, *the Deep Rift Cave where Blackrock City was located seemed to be right beneath the Dark Mountain Range, very close to the Elf Forest, and even closer to the battlefield where the Half-Beast suffered a great defeat, according to the rumor!*

*By the Death God... Could the rumor be true?*

Unexplainably, *hesitation suddenly filled Huo Xu’s heart.*

All the way, *he carefully observed these elves, comparing them with those long-eared ones he had seen in his memory. The more he compared, the more strange he felt, the more vigilant he became...*

*He had to be on guard.*

*For the Silent City State Alliance, the Evil God was an incredibly sensitive issue. They were constantly on guard against the corruption from these fallen great beings... *

Therefore, *when he realized these elves might be problematic and possibly connected to the Evil God, Huo Xu’s heart was raised.*

However, *looking at those elves freely moving in Blackrock City, and noticing the dark dwarves around who were accustomed to the elves’ presence, even enthusiastically welcoming them, Huo Xu felt the situation might not be as simple as he thought.*

And just as this old dwarf was pondering, the party finally arrived in front of the Death God Temple in Blackrock City.

The higher-ups of Blackrock City had long been waiting in front of the temple, and from a distance, Huo Xu could see the Temple Leader of the Death God Temple—Lady Eno, the Divine Favored.

He put away his thoughts and smiled, while instructing the members of the envoy to present their gifts, he said to the Dark Dwarf Temple Leader,

"Lady Eno, it’s been years since we last met. You remain as beautiful as ever... May the Death God always protect you."

"It’s been years since we last met, Lord Huo Xu, may the Death God always protect you,"

the Dwarf Temple Leader replied.

Afterwards, she gave a friendly smile and said,

"I’ve received the divine oracle and understood your intentions. You all have traveled a long way; the temple has arranged accommodation at a tavern for you. Please take a short rest and we will engage in further discussions after lunch."

Hearing the other’s words, Huo Xu also felt his stomach growling.

Their journey here had been hurried, and indeed they hadn’t had a proper rest and meal for several days.

After expressing gratitude to Lady Eno, the envoy was led by the Dwarf Guards to check into a brand new tavern opposite the temple called "Amway."

The exterior of the tavern was unremarkable, yet the interior decor was quite exquisite and elegant.

Dwarves in exquisite maid uniforms and steward suits came and went inside the tavern, with dwarf minstrels playing relaxing and melodious music, making it completely different from the typical rough style of ordinary taverns in the Underworld. Instead, it was very much like a noble inn in the ground world... which greatly surprised the group.

After washing and freshening up, they sat at the table, and the meal prepared by the tavern amazed these envoys from the bustling regions of the Underworld.

Different from the common foods found in the Underworld, in front of them were aromatic white bread, exquisite spicy roasted meat, various lavish dishes they couldn’t name, fragrant fruits, and a transparent liquor with a tremendous after-effect but delightful taste.

"By the Death God? Does Blackrock City’s tavern actually have white bread? The last time I ate these was during the celebration in our city-state!"

"My goodness... the fruit! So much fruit! Sweet and crisp! These must be fruits from the ground world!"

"This roasted meat smells amazing! It seems to have spices added to it! They are actually lavish enough to add spices to roasted meat!"

"And the liquor! This is definitely the finest grain-brewed liquor with a unique mellow aroma!"

"Is Blackrock City... so wealthy? No wonder it’s an Underground City close to the surface..."

The envoy couldn’t help but exclaim while enjoying the delicious food.

You should know, the environment in the Underworld was harsh, and the food was relatively monotonous and scarce compared to the ground world. Even though they held power and influence in their own city-state, they rarely enjoyed such delicacies.

And it was evident that these delicious foods were sourced from the surface.

However, unlike the amazement of others, Huo Xu, while surprised, also felt puzzled.

He had been to Blackrock City once some decade ago.

And in his memory, Blackrock City didn’t have such good conditions at that time!

It should be known, being an Underground City near the surface world didn’t necessarily mean that commerce was flourishing or resources were abundant, because the location of the surface world entrance also had to be considered...

Generally, only if it was adjacent to a developed surface civilization, especially human civilization, would it bring abundant surface specialties to the nearby underground cities.

And the exit of the surface world corresponding to Blackrock City, in Segis World, was quite remote, being in the barren Dark Mountain Range...

At most, neighboring the almost deserted Elf Forest with just demon beasts and plants left.

So, where did such abundant resources come from?

Huo Xu had just noticed that it wasn’t only them enjoying these delicacies; the dwarves in the tavern hall were also relishing the same surface-originated delights!

Thinking of this, Huo Xu couldn’t resist catching hold of the dwarf steward serving them, curiously asking,

"Friend, where did all this food come from?"

The dwarf who Huo Xu caught seemed a bit reserved. After giving a bow, he respectfully and proudly replied,

"Sir, our tavern belongs to the Amway Trading Company, which is a trading organization we established with our elf partners. All our food is traded with our enthusiastic elf partners."

Elves? The elves again?

Huo Xu was slightly taken aback.