Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 382 - 374: The Divine Artifact Appears Again

Chapter 382: Chapter 374: The Divine Artifact Appears Again

Elf King Oriel, together with Ilo, arrived at the central ancient tree used for ornamentation in the Royal Court, placing his palm gently against its trunk.

As he recited in a low voice, the tree began to emit a soft green glow.

In Ilo’s eyes, Oriel’s seemingly simple operation was actually unraveling numerous protective barriers here, a privilege exclusive to the Elf King.

With the Elf King’s actions, the entire ancient tree split open and then began moving!

Only now could it be seen that this was not a single tree, but a disguise made of countless living vines entwined together.

The vines, like a waking swarm of serpents, emitted a faint rustling sound as they slowly parted, revealing the core within.

At the center of the intertwined roots, a wooden staff stood silently in the soil, precisely the divine artifact that Ilo had mentioned—the Yesheng Wood Core.

An artifact with countless ties to the Divine Wood.

Its staff body was woven from the branches of the Divine Wood, these living wood fibers maintained a gentle golden-brown hue, feeling smooth to the touch, with a surface that naturally exhaled and dimmed with a breath-like glow, as if it were the world’s most perfect creation.

Yet, atop this near-perfect creation, there existed one striking imperfection.

Near the top of the staff, where the most lush branch center ought to be, the most critical main branch was missing, leaving a scar as if gouged out.

While the rupture spot had healed smoothly, no new shoots grew, only a dull, withered hue remained, like a scar that could not be erased from a beauty’s face.

Each time the staff’s glow passed over this spot, it would pause slightly, as if the entire artifact was sighing for the missing part.

The artifact in hand, Oriel felt none of the anticipation to use its power.

The Yesheng Wood Core was sealed here for a reason; its imperfections brought great side effects, and when used, the user’s life would drain heavily from the fracture.

In simple terms, this was a life-draining weapon, requiring mastery because those without sufficient power couldn’t even fully wield it.

If not for this lethal flaw, Oriel would have wished to let the artifact’s brilliance shine on the Royal City all day like the Blood Race Emperor. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Instead of now, using it once meant embracing the sacrifice.

As his fingertips traced the winding wood grain, a deep sense of regret surged in Oriel’s heart.

His ambition had led to the artifact’s destruction, almost burying an entire generation of Elves, leaving only a few old remnants to support until now—a grave mistake.

Ilo came beside Oriel: "King, allow me to use it."

Oriel, however, simply patted this old minister’s shoulder: "No, this is my duty and my consequence to bear."

Ilo’s eyes showed a hint of emotion as he suddenly said, "King, the Demon Race’s hands now stretch to the Divine Wood; we must retaliate later."

Oriel nodded: "Later, lift the restrictions on aiding humans."

Yet Ilo was not satisfied with this: "Forgive me, but this... is too weak."

"I understand, Ilo." Oriel sighed, "But now, the Elf Race barely managed to pass through its most fragile years, young Elves with talent are finally emerging, and we shouldn’t sacrifice their lives in the continent’s endless conflicts."

"For these three hundred years, it wasn’t only the Elf Race that was weak, and we need to move forward..."

Ilo wanted to persuade further, but the Elf King had made his decision long ago and remained unmoved.

Seeing this, he could only close his mouth, the emotion in his eyes quickly fading into calm.

...

Tree City.

With the arrival of the Royal City Guards, and the timely return of the Forest Patrol, a large number of Elf civilians were systematically rescued, escorted batch by batch to be temporarily settled around the Royal City.

The animated giant trees caused considerable casualties, but due to distance, they weren’t fully awakened, even those like Riel, who were relatively weak, could resist for a while.

Some civilians gathered, barely able to withstand for a long time, and with numerous rangers and mages in the city, the final casualties were heartbreaking yet manageable.

However, the current safety was only temporary.

The degree of the giant trees’ animation was visibly deepening, left unchecked, it might evolve into Elves relying on the Royal City to fend off the forest’s attack.

The likely result would be nearby giant trees being utterly destroyed, leaving Elves to stare blankly at a desolate, treeless land.

Not to mention the Elf Ranger brigade is still trapped in the Underground City, and Captain of the Guard Eco is confined in the Alternate Space, his fate unknown.

All these reasons led to Ilo proposing using the divine artifact, quickly prompting the Elf King to take it out—he had little time to hesitate.

The guards escorted the Elf King and the chief mage through Ishildorin, heading toward the Underground City.

Passing through an open area, Ilo paused, glancing downwards.

He sensed an immature Little Elf below, surrounded by multiple demons.

Was it dragged into an underground cave in the chaos?

There was still a chance to rescue the Little Elf.

However... the Little Elf’s position was too deep, rescue would take considerable time.

And now, an earlier arrival in the Underground City, allowing Oriel to use the artifact to complete his plan, could preserve more valuable Elf Rangers.

Just a pause, Ilo made his decision, he didn’t stop, continuing silently forward.

Below, was just part of the cost.

...

Underground, Riel widened his eyes, watching everything around!

In the specially excavated small underground cavern, it was filled with glowing mushrooms of various colors.

Beside Riel, the Pukis sat closely together with her.

The hole was dug temporarily a day ago, so the space was small.

Fortunately, Riel was small and the hole the Pukis could crawl through, she managed to squeeze in with their help.

From above to below ground was a necessity, those giant trees were becoming increasingly active, seemingly ready to move, the safest way naturally being to delve deep underground, beyond the reach of the giant trees.

Riel was not terribly afraid now, rather it seemed like she was visiting a friend’s house, occasionally touching the Pukis beside her, occasionally gazing at the beautiful glowing mushrooms around, exclaiming "wow, wow, wow" in admiration.

No need for Lin Jun to divert attention to her, fortunately, Lin Jun’s focus was entirely on Elf King Oriel now!

Or rather, on the almost complete divine artifact in Oriel’s hand!

[Divine Artifact: Yesheng Wood Core (Fragmented)]

Lin Jun had seen the other part of this artifact!

And knew approximately where it was!

That means... that means!

If he could obtain it, there was a big chance of creating a complete artifact?!

Can’t be greedy... Can’t be greedy... Can’t... just a little greed?