Chapter 37: Exploration - 37
Since the war ended, Zhou Fan didn't plan to go back to the surface. He had no interest in the upper world as of now. Essentially, he had faked his death.
Of course, he had remembered to bring Yipeng along. Right now, he was in the cabin eating. On his way down, Zhou Fan remembered to bring some food so that they wouldn't have to go back up.
Standing up, Zhou Fan walked into the house and spotted Yipeng.
"Hey. Me and the beasts are going to explore the tunnels tomorrow. Do you want to come?" Zhou Fan asked.
"I would like to." Responded Yipeng.
Hearing his answer, Zhou Fan nodded before heading into his room and going to sleep. Although he could now go longer and longer without sleeping, Zhou Fan hadn't slept in almost a month.
—--------------------------
The next morning, Zhou Fan, Yipeng, and the beasts made their way to another tunnel. The last time, they chose to go through the tunnel directly across from the exit tunnel, while this time, they chose to go through the tunnel left to the exit tunnel.
When they made it to the entrance, Zhou Fan sent Xiaolong in first in order to clear a path. He, Yipeng, and the rest of the beasts followed behind.
After what seemed to be an hour of walking, a light shone from the distance. The group picked up their pace and made it to the light in 2 minutes.
When they finally exited the tunnel, Zhou Fan saw a familiar, yet unfamiliar scene. In the middle of the sky, a giant crystal once again hung. However, unlike the previous crystals he had seen, this one didn't make the cave seem like day.
Instead, the crystal gave off a black light that emulated the night. There were also small white crystals that were embedded into the ceiling, looking like stars.
Looking around, Zhou Fan saw a lamp post standing next to them. Clearly, it had given off the deceiving light from earlier.
In fact, there was a path of lamp posts that seemed to create a trail. If not for these, Yipeng and the beasts wouldn't be able to see anything. Although the beasts can be lightly considered cultivators, they were only in the first stage of Qi gathering. The improvement to their eyesight was minimal.
As for Yipeng, he couldn't see anything past the light the lamps gave off.
Looking into the darkness, Zhou Fan spoke.
"Do you think that another race like the elves lives here?" He said towards Yipeng.
"It would seem so due to the existence of the lamp posts. However, I can only think of one race that could live in such darkness."
"Dark elves." Zhou Fan interrupted.
"Indeed", said Yipeng, wearing a slight grimace on his face.
Recalling the elves' library, Zhou Fan knew that the elves and dark elves were mortal enemies. If the hatred of humans could be said to have disappeared from the elf population, the hatred of dark elves were the exact opposite.
It was as if their sole purpose was to hate each other. Throughout the elves' history, there had been no less than 20 wars with the dark elves. However, they had always been similar in strength and been unable to kill the other race off.
Zhou Fan didn't admire the big black crystal in the center of the cave for long before he and the rest started to follow the torch path. Although dark elves had near perfect night vision, they could still see more details with light.
The group followed the torches for about 30 minutes before they came upon a gate. The gate was made out of wood and was wide open.
'I guess they aren't expecting intruders.' Zhou Fan thought.
To Zhou Fan, the entire area was as clear as day, but to Yipeng and the beasts, the torches were about as far as they could see. Since he didn't know if there were any traps, Zhou Fan had Yipeng ride on Xuanwu's back. After all, there was no way the dark elves would see the beasts and still have the courage to attack.
After another 10 minutes of walking, Zhou Fan saw some movement up ahead. Ordering the beasts to stay, Zhou Fan and Yipeng traveled 3 minutes before he found the source.
On the ground not far away, stood around 50 houses. Outside of these houses, something similar to elves were walking around. The only difference between them and the elves that Zhou Fan had known is their skin color. Unlike elves, these elves had dark skin. Clearly, they were dark elves.
Like Zhou Fan, they saw through the darkness as if it was day. Zhou Fan didn't observe for too long before he walked into the village, followed by Yipeng.
It wasn't long before the dark elves spotted Zhou Fan and Yipeng. When they looked at Zhou Fan, they felt surprised. However, when their gazes fell upon Yipeng, an immense hatred burst out of their eyes.
As for Yipeng, although he couldn't see too well, he could see the dark elves outline and infer who they were. An equally immense hatred burst out of his eyes. If he had Zhou Fan's power, he would have already destroyed the entire cave.
It was then that Zhou Fan spoke up.
"Hello. We come in peace." Zhou Fan tried to say.
However, he didn't even have time to talk before the dark elves started to pull out their weapons.
The most common weapon was a bow while a few carried a sword or a spear.
"Okay, that seems unnec–." Zhou Fan attempted to say.
Before he could finish, 30 arrows came flying at his face. Using a small amount of Qi, Zhou Fan created a shield that blocked all the arrows.
Assuming that the magical display would bring the elves to a halt, Zhou Fan tried to talk again. However, he was interrupted by another bunch of arrows shooting at him and Yipeng.
Looking at them with surprise, Zhou Fan could see such violent hatred in their eyes that they were able to ignore the magical occurrence that just happened.
Chapter 38: Dark Elves - 38
Since the dark elves didn't want him to talk, Zhou Fan didn't waste anymore words. After blocking yet another bunch of arrows, he waved his hand and used some wind Qi to form a bubble around the group of dark elves.
They continued to shoot arrows for about a minute before they realized that their arrows were blocked by the greenish wall in front of them.
After a brief moment of confusion, a dark elf fell to the ground. The remaining elves turned around and saw their friend passed out.
THUD!
Turning back around, they saw 3 more dark elves passed out. Within 20 seconds, every dark elf was passed out on the ground.
Only then did Zhou Fan stop siphoning air out of the wind bubble and dispersed it.
By now, the dark elf settlement was silent. It seemed that nearly all of the dark elves had gathered to attack Zhou Fan, or more accurately, Yipeng.
Looking at the passed out dark elves, Zhou Fan used wood Qi to bind them to the ground before he started to walk around the village. Everything seemed similar to the elf cave, however, they were missing trees. The most obvious difference was the lack of a world tree. In fact, they didn't have any sort of centerpiece to their village. Not even a water fountain or a statue.
One similarity to the elf village is that on the north side of the village, there was a big palace. Like the elf palace, it was made with wood. However, this wood was a much darker type.
Since he had previously knocked out the guards, Zhou Fan walked right through the gates of the palace and into the elegant door that led to the throne room. It had to be noted that the entire palace was lit with torches.
When Zhou Fan walked through the final door that led into the throne room, he noticed that the sides were lined with metal armors. He then noticed the presence on the throne.
"Who are you?!" The dark elf king said with great confusion.
However, after a moment, he quickly realized Zhou Fan's identity.
"Human!" He said while frowning.
Like the elves, the dark elves had a hatred for humans. Also, they too had slowly lost this hate over time. However, the dark elf king was naturally informed and seemed to hold some hatred for humans.
"Let's not waste any time", Zhou Fan said while looking towards the throne with his hands behind his back. "Take me to the library."
The dark elf king looked at Zhou Fan with both a little bit of disdain and a little bit of wariness.
"I'm afraid I'll have to refuse. GUARDS!" The king screamed.
However, even after a minute had passed, no guards came. It seemed that every single one had been knocked out by Zhou Fan earlier.
"It seems that they're busy right now." Zhou Fan taunted.
Clearly, the king didn't know about the arrival of an elf. He also didn't see Yipeng since Zhou Fan told him to wait outside the palace.
"Do you want to take me there or do you want me to beat you up then make you take me there?" Zhou Fan asked.
Hearing his words, the king let out a small chuckle. "I don't think you have the ability to make me show you the way."
The king pulled out a sword from the side of his throne and lept towards Zhou Fan with a downward swing. Zhou Fan stepped sideways to dodge with his hands still behind his back. The king's floor hit the sword, but he instantly turned and side slashed at Zhou Fan. Zhou Fan jumped back as if there was little gravity and dodged the sword. When he landed next to one of the armors, he grabbed the sword from it and attacked the king. Since he had decided to use the strength of an average warrior, the king easily parried his downward slash.
Zhou Fan found great fun in fights like these. He could both practice his sword skills and fight someone without instantly defeating them.
After 3 minutes had passed, the king was looking extremely fatigued. He was gasping heavily and was only able to stand up because he was leaning on his sword.
On the other hand, Zhou Fan looked like he was in perfect condition.
Looking at Zhou Fan, the dark elf king sighed. "I admit defeat, but I won't tell you the location of the library. You'll have to kill me."
It was clear that although the king knew he couldn't win, he felt that he shouldn't give up the library's location.
"Hahaha", Zhou Fan laughed.
He naturally knew that the king would be unwilling to disclose the location if he defeated him like that.
He then stopped holding his aura back and released it.
BOOM!!
A great pressure descended upon the room and the elf king instantly fell on his knees. An immense fear found its way into his mind. In his eyes, Zhou Fan no longer looked human. Instead, he looked like a great devil from the depths of hell.
"I-I-I-I'll show y-you." After a bit of stuttering, the dark elf king was able to agree to Zhou Fan's earlier words.
Hearing him, Zhou Fan stopped releasing his aura pressure. He was slightly disappointed actually. He was hoping that the dark elf king would take longer to crack under the pressure. It wasn't because Zhou Fan had expectations, however. Instead, it was because he felt more natural when his aura, or more accurately, cultivation, was being released without restraint. In fact, it actually took up a bit of energy to stop it from being released. Luckily, the amount of energy was negligible.
"Good. In that case, please lead the way." Zhou Fan said.
The dark elf king didn't dare hesitate before he walked to a seemingly random hallway in the castle.
In that hallway, the dark elf king started to pull torches down which surprisingly acted like levers.
With a smug look on his face, he started to brag.
"Incredible isn't it? This is one of th—"
"Already seen it." Zhou Fan interrupted.
Looking disappointed, the dark elf king kept pulling levers until a section of the wall moved like a sliding door, revealing a lightly lit path.
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