Chapter 603 - 598: Elven Sanctuary
While some faced trials that'll decide their future, and three went to search for the whereabouts of someone that'll resolve their pressing issues, others were still making their way off the planet Third Sky. Amongst these individuals was a group that was oddly and specifically composed for those who choose the second option.
A group of tens of billions were all gathered together after being transported away from the World-Shifting Net's uniquely designed internal world. Those brought together looked to their neighbors with a trace of excitement, and then confusion. This confusion turned into concern for some, and a few even felt cold sweat.
Those who had cold sweat formulate on their bodies were high-level cultivators, leaders, those with a little bit of intelligence to grasp what was happening.
Every last individual amongst the tens of billions had a single thing in common: they were all of the Elven Race!
Those cultivators could all feel the strangeness of this. While it could just be attributed to a segregation of races, as humans with humans, elves with elves, and demons with demons, this felt stranger because they were isolated to a single area.
A few tried to fly, yet found that they would be brought downwards by a strange force. Unable to leave a certain area, they could only await their fate with throbbing hearts filled with an ominous feeling. The area itself wasn't harsh by any means, rather spacious in fact, and a grassland with rich, lively grass. The air was fresh, filled with essence, and there was a particular fragrance effusing into the surroundings.
It formed a square-shape and housed them all with more than enough leg space, but there was something else that was absolutely strange about this. There were no humans in sight!
They had to stay like this for hours, with no explanation as to why they were isolated or even here in this strange area. They could only have conversations and discussions with those they were paired up with. There was a specific group of elves in this group that were gathered together, and they had slightly higher than three hundred million in number.
They all had light bronze-colored skin and slim physiques, be it men or women, and they huddled together with a unity forged by thousands of years of reliance and oppression.
They were the Grey Sands Elves.
Ai Juling was with her two parents. She beautifully stood there alongside them, with her signature boho-styled ponytail and dark-green eyes with grey flecks. Her grey-colored outfit was more conservative when she was made a woman, wearing looser clothes, but it did little to hide her curves and ample bosom.
When she was given the choice to pick two names, she chose Wei Wuyin and her mother, yet she wasn't placed in Wei Wuyin's group. Instead, she was sent with her mother and the other Grey Sands Elves in the surroundings. Fortunately, she found her family, including her father.
Her mother, Ai Mingli, was currently talking with the other elites and high-level cultivators of the Ai Clan. They weren't the only elven clan from the Four Extreme Continent in the surroundings; the Navy River Elves, the Black Mountain Elves, and Verdant Forest Elves were also present.
They were shocked to discover the Everlore Starfield's elves. Unlike the different characteristics from the four elves, such as the bronze-skin of the Grey Sands Elves or the aquatic scales of the Navy River Elves, the Everlore Starfield's elves were widely divergent with nothing too extreme about them. They just had colorful hair and eye-colors that mixed and matched, making each elf have a unique feeling.
When Ai Mingli returned, Ai Juling asked with a tinge of worry: "Have they discovered anything?" Since arriving here, they were essentially trapped and isolated in this area. She hadn't expected this after choosing the third option.
However, her mother shook her head, trying to conceal her own worries as she comforted. "It's fine. We're probably being segregated by race." However, her tone was a little strange. They had discovered that the vast majority of their youths that choose 'recruit' were here. There was an unsettling feeling about this.
But unable to confer with humans, they were left waiting for any changes.
Ai Mingli looked at her daughter. She reached out and rubbed her head, "It'll be fine. Even if something happens, the Holy Son isn't going to leave you. He's far too domineering for that."
When Ai Juling heard about Wei Wuyin, she strangely felt a calm gush into her heart. Just as she was about to speak, a gorgeous figure of similar skin-tone yet proud aura arrived. Ai Juling immediately noticed Ai Yin, her eyes brightened as she exclaimed excitedly: "Big Sister Yin!"
When Ai Yin appeared, she brushed aside her wavy brown hair from her face, revealing more of her enchanting beauty to the world, and gave Ai Juling a warm smile. After they shared the same bed, the same man, the two had recognized each other as sisters despite the age and cultivation difference.
As a Timelord, she had taken it upon herself to investigate the surroundings. She discovered that escape was impossible. Furthermore, she couldn't find the Starlord that existed among the Navy River Elves. While he was present during the transportation, he wasn't present here.
It was strange, however, because she had met him in the World-Shifting Net's space alongside the other Timelords and remaining Realmlords of the Four Extreme Continent, and he had decided to choose the second option. They were going to forge out an area for their groups, finding comfort in unity based on familiarity.
His current absence left her feeling concerned. Fortunately, she discovered that only those who picked the second or third option were here, while the first option was not. This indicated that they were sent to the fresh planet created for those who came from the Everlore Starfield.
They started to discuss, with one of their topics being Wei Wuyin. After all, Ai Yin had written down his name too. They didn't know if their exclusion from him was on purpose or if it meant he was dead. With the absence of the human and demon race, the former seemed more likely.
BOOM!
Suddenly, a loud, thunderous sound drew the attention from everyone. They looked to the skies to see numerous figures arriving as if from thin air. This was an indicator of using a Void Gate to arrive.
Ai Yin used her astral force to protect Ai Juling and her mother, at the ready for any unexpected event. While she might not be powerful in comparison to the beings that could bring them here, it didn't mean she was willing to accept whatever fate they had for her. But her vigilant expression changed after noticing the appearance of the arrivals.
There were four figures at the lead, and they looked remarkably similar to the four Elven Tribes of the Four Extreme Continent. Extremely, outrageously similar! Furthermore, they all had auras that left her feeling overwhelmed.
It wasn't that unseen pressure from those who exceeded Mortal Limits, but that terrifyingly forceful pressure that indicated they were at the peak of Mortal Limits! They were all Starlords!
To add, there was an old elf with a hunched back, an ancient aura, and a pair of dimly lit sapphire-like eyes that looked emotionally at the tens of billions of elves below. He had two notable gills, one each at both sides of his neck, and navy-blue scales that littered his body without rhyme or reason.
Directly in front of him was a middle-aged elf that was handsome. He didn't have a haphazard set of aquatic scales on his body, but only around the gills on his neck and one at his glabella that was shaped with a curve on the sides, bent at the bottom triangle. It glistened with an aquamarine light that radiated the feeling of the ocean, vast and peaceful.
His appearance seemed more orderly, more stable, and even his eyes were ocean-blue, not the overly shiny sapphire-color of others.
One of the other leading figures had traits very similar to the Black Mountain Elves, with a burly elf with skin like soot, and eyes that were distinctively a fiery crimson. His hair was white like ash, and he seemed to embody the essence of a volcanic mountain.
There was a dark green-haired, light green-eyed woman with a willowy figure that made her seem graceful, as light as a breeze, and close to nature. She resembled Verdant Forest Elves, except her eyes were lighter, exuding an airy aura within, and her hair was darker, giving it a feeling of being similar to plantlife. She just felt purer by comparison.
There was another woman of bronze-skin, but it wasn't lightly shaded, and it had a particular sheen that exuded healthy and strong.
It was quite obvious that these four had characteristics that strongly resembled the four elves. In fact, they might even be mistaken as their ancestors. This caused all the elves below to gawk at those above, not just their auras, but their appearances were extremely close to their own.
Ai Yin's eyes narrowed as she spotted another familiar figure behind one of these leading figures, the woman with green hair. There was Qing Qiumu. She was the elf that had tried to halt the conflict between Wei Wuyin and that one human…she couldn't recall his name.
It wasn't just Qing Qiumu that was present, but nearly a hundred or so elves.
The old Starlord with a hunched back slowly floated to the front, lowering himself as he did as he swept his gaze across the others. He recognized that some of them weren't from the Four Extreme Continent's four tribes, likely originating from that starfield they were whisked away from.
Still, he calmly spoke: "To those who don't know me, My name is Shui Jin; I'm the Ancestral Master of the Navy River Elves. I've led the tribe through the Season of Devils for centuries. I've come bearing news about this new world, and a choice you now have."
He took a deep breath, continuing to speak with his voice amplified by his power. "As some of you might have found out, the elven race is not a dominant race within this new world. We are a minority, a great, devastatingly low minority. Be it in terms of strength or numbers. But we've eked out our own territory, and these four here," he pointed his wrinkled finger towards the four figures that calmly stared at those below, "are the leaders of the four Sacred Sects, collectively known as the Sacred Elven Sanctuary."
The crowd was flabbergasted, riled into a strange frenzy of disbelief and confusion, sprinkled with unwillingness. Especially those from the Sacred Light Astral Territory or Myriad Monarch Astral Territory, ruled by the Sacred Light Palace and Myriad Monarch Sect respectively. They belonged to the proud race of elves, one of the hegemon of their world!
While their population was somewhat low, when have they lacked figures at the strongest level? Qin Rui? Jiang Feilang? But neither of them were here, having chosen the first option alongside many others.
The Four Extreme Continent's elves weren't so aggressive in their response. When haven't they been suppressed by humans? The Holy Bloodlines were all humans, the top-tier forces were all humans, and even the Grand Priests and Priestesses that represented the divinities they worshipped? All humans.
The lives of their line of elves never experienced hegemony or strength, only hope after Wei Wuyin's unbiased manner of forming a relationship with the Grey Sands Elves! Yet that dream shattered with the movement of their continent and subsequent movement of their race.
So they were less affected, merely just unwilling.
Shui Jin noted these different levels of reactions and sighed heavily in his heart. "The choice you have before you is similar to your choices before: You can either choose to enter one of the three Domains or join one of the four Sacred Sects. Each of the four sects have their own planet, and they have elves like me and you there."
The elves were once again met with a choice, but their information was still mostly incomplete. Why was entering the three Domains bad? Was it even bad? After all, they couldn't all just be stuffed on four planets, right? But…what if…
"I'll be joining the Sacred Aquatic Palace… I hope those of the Navy River Elves will join me."