Chapter Seventy-Six: Not on the List Anyway

Beside Crescent Lake, Lin Lei gazed at the shimmering water.

“What effect does the Requiem of the Twin Moons have on the living?” he asked the earring. The earring pondered a moment before replying, “Normally, it shouldn’t affect them. I suppose the Twin Moons has amplified the song’s powers.”

“What happens when the effect is amplified?”

“It can extract the soul from the living,” the earring said, its tone tinged with sorrow. “Both the Twin Moons and I were weapons of the original elves. It was meant to heal, but now it uses this song to devour souls. It seems it has fallen completely…”

“Master!”

Just then, the leopard returned.

“I’ve been searching for you,” it said, running to Lin Lei’s side. “Eve has been hypnotized by the Requiem.”

Lin Lei looked at it. “You know the Requiem?”

“I do.” The leopard nodded. This song was something every original elven priestess had to learn; its cousin excelled at it.

“Once this song takes effect, only the caster can break it,” the leopard said, troubled. The Requiem’s power wasn’t great. Sung by high-ranking priestesses, it was ineffective against powerful undead, only achieving perfect hypnosis when the power disparity was vast. But once it worked, only the caster could lift it.

Earlier, the Twin Moons had personally unleashed the Requiem. If the leopard hadn’t built up resistance from repeated exposure, it might have succumbed as well.

Most crucially—the leopard keenly sensed the power of the Twin Moons through the song.

“Master, we need reinforcements. The Twin Moons is far too strong. We can’t defeat it, and you can’t use your ultimate move right now.”

Lin Lei glanced at the field scattered with wounded elves. He knew he couldn’t best the Twin Moons, but if these night elves were still conscious, he could have used them for his ultimate move. He hadn’t expected that just as he left, everyone would fall.

There was no other way. Lin Lei had to call for help, but not here.

“Prince, Hera, I must leave. Guard this place well,” he said to Ilei and Hera. Both were startled. “Where are you going?”

“The Hall of Fate. There’s no time. I sense that its energy is unstable—it might relocate soon.” Lin Lei looked back at Crescent Lake. “I’d love to play, but there’s no time to fight my way through. I need to dash straight there.”

Ilei knew time was of the essence, but doubted, “Dash through? There are many traps on the lake.”

“I know, but I’m fast enough. I should make it,” Lin Lei said. He hoisted the leopard, bent his legs slightly, and with a thunderous sound, vanished in a flash.

Ilei and Hera stared, shocked by Lin Lei’s astonishing speed.

In martial arts, speed is invincible. Lin Lei raced toward the tower faster than the eye could see. The song’s melody faded in his ears in less than a second. Several mysterious entities tried to seize him but couldn’t match his velocity.

He passed through frost and storm in an instant, bursting through a window into the tower.

With a crash, Lin Lei and the leopard's heads slammed elegantly into a wardrobe.

“Peh, peh!” The leopard yanked its head free, spat out splinters, then bit Lin Lei’s foot and pulled him out too.

Lin Lei felt his head was nearly torn off. “That wardrobe is awfully hard!”

“Lucky our heads are hard, too.” The leopard worriedly looked at Lin Lei. “Master, is your body all right?”

Crashing into a wardrobe was nothing, but the leopard knew that the speed just now inflicted real trauma on Lin Lei. He’d moved so quickly he was invisible, and even a dragon’s body couldn’t withstand such acceleration—let alone Lin Lei, who hadn’t reached that level.

“My body’s fine, but my legs might not work for a while,” Lin Lei checked himself. The flight lasted less than two seconds; his body was unharmed, but his legs, reinforced by true energy, hurt fiercely and would need time to recover.

“No choice. My remaining true energy is scarce. I must summon reinforcements before the enemy arrives.”

Lin Lei reached into the earring and pulled out a scroll, spreading it out nearby. He bit his finger, smeared blood on the scroll, and rapidly formed hand signs.

“Spirit Summoning—Toad Superman!”

A puff of white smoke flashed, and Lin Wen appeared atop the scroll.

“Who are you calling a toad!” he exclaimed, landing a punch on Lin Lei’s head as soon as he arrived. Lin Lei’s face crumpled. “Brother Wang, why is it you!”

This scroll was an invention by the Guardians—a cultivation teleportation gate crafted from the Great Shift technique, allowing a cultivator holding a scroll to be summoned.

But Lin Lei didn’t know this scroll had ended up with Lin Wen. He’d thought it would summon a mage from the Wang family. If he’d known it was Lin Wen, nothing would have made him use it—such a fun adventure, and now his brother was here to ruin it.

“I heard you were causing chaos in the Night Elf Kingdom, so I snatched the scroll for myself.”

Lin Wen sighed, grabbing Lin Lei’s hand and inspecting the finger. The wound had already healed.

“The Great Shift is just the Great Shift. Don’t do these pointless finger-biting antics again,” Lin Wen scolded. He sensed that his younger brother’s true energy was dangerously thin—just a few days out, and he’d become so weak.

“Where is this place?” Lin Wen continued. Before him was a woman’s chamber, filled with feminine luxuries and drifting floral fragrance that seemed oddly familiar.

“This scent…” He was about to search for its source when a powerful presence suddenly appeared outside the room.

“Who’s out there?” Lin Wen drew his bow, facing the door.

The door slowly opened, and an elven mage entered, eyes glowing white.

“An original elf!” Lin Wen exclaimed, surprised. Glowing eyes were a mark of the immortal ones—why was an original elf here?

The leopard eyed the mage warily. She felt this was her kin, yet something was off.

“What a twisted amusement…” the earring suddenly remarked. “Twin Moons, you’ve possessed an elf’s body. Do you fancy yourself a god?”

It realized the situation was even worse than it had imagined, for the elven mage before them had no soul—he was merely a vessel controlled by the Twin Moons.

“That familiar voice… Sister Irene, so it’s you,” the elven mage’s glowing eyes turned toward the earring.

“How weak you’ve become, sister. Is this what you are now? A mere earring?” His gaze narrowed. “Ridiculous. You, who once recorded every ultimate spell in existence—reduced to this. I truly pity you.”

Lin Lei touched the earring. “He called you sister—you were that powerful?”

“When the ancient war broke out, there was a ranking of the ten divine artifacts. I was fourth,” said the earring.

Lin Lei was stunned. He never would have guessed such power. “What about the Twin Moons? Where did it rank?”

“Twelfth.”

The earring’s tone was calm, but the mage’s expression changed.

“Nonsense, I was eleventh!”

“All the same—you weren’t on the list, anyway.”