Chapter 1070, The Unicorn’s Agitation

Translator: Silavin

 

Following Fiery’s lead, Qin Yichen and Little Ling’er rode together atop the Unicorn, soaring toward the depths of the Elf Forest.

 

After passing beyond the territory of the Fire Elves, which spread like a crimson ocean below, a peculiar sight opened before their eyes.

 

Rather than the towering, canopy-shrouded forest one might expect, an open and sweeping grassland stretched out before them. Across its surface, flowers of every variety competed in brilliant splendour, bathed in generous sunlight, making the place appear like a paradise utterly removed from the world.

 

At that moment, across the grassland, it was not only Fiery astride a single Unicorn. At intervals, swift-moving figures swept past, and head after head of magnificent Unicorns spread their wings and blazed across the sky.

 

“Wow, Xue, look, so many of your friends!”

 

At the sight of those Unicorns, Little Ling’er waved her arms and called out in excitement.

 

At this, Fiery pressed his eyes firmly shut, unwilling to face the peculiar looks being directed his way from atop those other Unicorns.

 

“Well now, is that not Fiery? And who might he be bringing along?”

 

Without anyone quite noticing when, figures mounted on Unicorns had gathered in a ring around Fiery. These individuals were all High Rank Elves of no small standing.

 

Yet it seemed that beyond Fiery’s own Unicorn, every other bore only a single prestigious High Rank Elf. None carried two riders.

 

Qin Yichen also noticed that off to his flank, Mei Ler was seated atop a Unicorn alongside a high ranking female Elf, the two of them conversing with animated familiarity, as close as Sisters.

 

At that moment, Mei Ler’s beautiful wide eyes were fixed upon Qin Yichen with a flash of astonishment, as though bewildered by how he had managed to obtain an invitation to this banquet.

 

After all, even Mei Ler herself had only secured a place by leveraging the prestige of her three consecutive victories as champion of the Merchandise Fair, and only after privately promising the high ranking female Elf beside her an untold number of fine garments had that Elf grudgingly agreed to bring her along.

 

So, how had Qin Yichen managed to persuade Fiery?

 

“Hey, what do you all think you are doing?”

 

Hearing the voices directed at him, Fiery’s eyes snapped open. When he saw the Unicorns and riders converging from every direction, his body gave a sharp jolt, and he raised his voice in a loud shout.

 

[What do these shameless creatures think they are doing, crowding around me like this? Those three old bastards had only left me with that last jar! But, from how they are moving, are they thinking of robbing me now in daylight?]

 

“What are you on about? You old thing, why are you acting so strange. Also, why would you bring along some young man and a… well, a little girl to attend the banquet.”

 

“Indeed, old Fiery, have you been drinking so much that your mind has gone foggy? That banquet is not something just anyone can attend.”

 

Seeing Fiery’s bearing, several of the gathered riders asked with puzzled expressions.

 

What was this old man so tense about?

 

[*Phew!* So they are not here for that after all…]

 

Relief settled quietly through Fiery’s chest at those words. He replied with cool indifference. “*Hmph!* My reasons for bringing him are my own, and I need not explain myself to any one of you. So explain to me why you bastards are blocking my path like this?”

 

At the sound of Fiery’s cold disdain, the faces of many of these High Rank Elves coloured with a moment of embarrassment.

 

Truth be told, while they were indeed curious as to why Fiery had brought an outsider along, they would not ordinarily have been so brazen as to ride forward and demand an explanation.

 

The most pressing issue was that they themselves had no idea what was happening. The Unicorns with whom they had signed contracts were simply ignoring them entirely, flying straight in this direction of their own accord.

 

“Can it be that Unicorns have a mating season?”

 

The gathered Elves were thoroughly baffled. What they could see was that the Unicorns they rode, with their large and luminous eyes, were gazing steadily in Fiery’s direction. And at intervals, low, resonant whinnying sounds rose from the Unicorns’ throats.

 

“I say, old Fiery, did you go and force-feed your Bai Ling wine again? Is this all of them banding together against you?”

 

Atop a Unicorn ahead of Fiery, an old man furrowed his brow and asked with a tone of mild displeasure.

 

“Its name is not Bai Ling. Its name is Xue!” Just as Fiery was drawing breath to fire back, a clear and silvery voice rang out. Little Ling’er turned to face the old man with complete seriousness and declared in a loud voice.

 

“Xue? Ha, Fiery, when did your Unicorn change its name?”

 

“Quite right, Bai Ling is such a fine name. Why call it Xue of all things?”

 

At those childlike and innocent words, a few of the old men on better terms with Fiery burst into laughter.

 

“Its name is Xue!” Little Ling’er pursed her small lips, puffed her fist in mild indignation, and scolded them in her tiny voice.

 

“Ha…” At Little Ling’er’s utterly endearing display, these old fellows, each several thousand years in age, found helpless laughter rising unbidden from the depths of their hearts.

 

Yet in the very next instant, that laughter died abruptly.

 

For they suddenly sensed, all at once, that the Unicorns beneath them had simultaneously transmitted a signal of displeasure through their contracts. Some of the creatures even began to tremble faintly, as though, should the laughter continue one moment longer, they would simply toss their riders off.

 

Aware of this, every one of them went pale.

 

Under ordinary circumstances, they had no capacity for direct communication with their Unicorns, managing only the simplest exchanges through their contract. There was simply no way to explain to these Unicorns the innocent reason behind their laughter.

 

“How peculiar. What on earth is going on?”

 

Sensing the Unicorns’ agitation, the old men stared at one another, entirely at a loss.

 

They dared not make any untoward move against the Unicorns. Though it was true that these Unicorns were bound to them through contracts, if it were ever discovered that someone had mistreated a Unicorn, that contract would be forcibly annulled.

 

And possessing a Unicorn was the mark of a Deacon within the Elf Race. To have that contract stripped away would be tantamount to losing one’s standing.

 

Without further delay, the assembled High Rank Elves ceased their lingering, dared not say another word, and immediately swept in urgent haste toward the depths of the grassland that lay spread before them like paradise itself.

 

After approximately half an hour, Qin Yichen’s pupils contracted sharply.

 

The seemingly boundless plain appeared to have reached its end. In the far distance, a succession of mountain ranges lay coiled and sprawling like great dragons, and more breathtaking still, when one looked upward, those mountain ranges seemed to have no end at all.

 

[The Tree of Life!]

 

Gazing at those peaks that vanished into cloud and mist, Qin Yichen’s expression grew grave.

 

[How immense must this Tree of Life truly be? Could it genuinely be as legend claimed, that the Tree of Life is the very pillar upon which this great continent of the Myriad Races is being held up by?]

 

At the far edge of the plain, the silhouette of what appeared to be a palace began to take shape within everyone’s field of vision.

 

That place was the dwelling ground of the Elf Royal Family. Under ordinary circumstances, even High Rank Elves rarely set foot within it. Only those of Deacon rank, like Fiery, held the standing to receive an invitation into its halls on certain select occasions.