Astrology Staff, Ancient Elf Tribe (5600)

Chapter 564 Astrology Staff, Ancient Elf Tribe (5600)

Soon, Cao Xing led everyone back into that cave entrance.

"Bing Lan, come in and search with me."

"Renice, guard her outside."

"Yes!" Renice replied respectfully.

After speaking, Cao Xing took the lead and entered the cave.

The Dragon Speaker followed behind him, gradually raising her lightsaber.

With a hum, the lightsaber emitted a dazzling radiance, dispelling the darkness in the cave.

Cao Xing chuckled, "Can this weapon of yours even be used as a flashlight?"

Bing Lan said indifferently, "It's a function I accidentally discovered, usually of no use."

"Although this lightsaber is good, an ice-attribute weapon suits me better."

Cao Xing nodded slightly, "I know. Later, I'll see who has an ice-attribute legendary longsword or something and get you one."

Hearing this, Bing Lan instantly became interested.

She asked solemnly, "Is that true?"

"Will you really get me an ice-attribute legendary weapon?"

Looking at her serious gaze, Cao Xing felt a bit guilty.

He asked, "What, do you know where there is one?"

"That's right."

Bing Lan nodded slightly, "Near the Eternal Frozen Sea, there is a kingdom called the Silver Sea Kingdom."

"The king there uses an ice-attribute legendary longsword called [Dance of Fine Snow]."

Cao Xing was slightly stunned, then speechlessly said, "You don't want me to go and take down this king and rob his weapon, do you?"

Bing Lan spread her hands, "Not really, I was just saying it casually."

"If it can't be done, forget it."

Cao Xing gave her a speechless look.

Damn it, she was setting a trap for him right here!

"I got it. When we go to the Silver Sea Kingdom later, we'll check it out."

"Of course, if we can't get the Dance of Fine Snow, I'll find a way to get you another legendary weapon later."

"Okay," Bing Lan replied indifferently.

Hearing her agree, Cao Xing breathed a sigh of relief, then walked forward.

At this moment, the corners of Bing Lan's mouth following behind had already slightly curved into an arc.

Soon, they arrived deep within the cave.

However, the tragic scene imagined inside did not appear; instead, it was quite clean.

Deep inside the cave was a small room with very simple facilities: a stone bed and a small table.

On top of the table, two things were placed.

That was a uniquely shaped necklace and a thick book.

Cao Xing walked over and put away both items.

The system prompt appeared.

[Obtained: Lana's Commemorative Necklace (White)]

[Obtained: Ancient Elf Grimoire (Orange)]

"Oh? Ancient Elf Grimoire?"

"Could this be the holy artifact those Ancient Elf need?"

But before that, Cao Xing first took out the necklace to take a look.

This necklace used vine as its chain body, with a white scale hanging on it.

However, it had no special attributes.

When Cao Xing saw the remarks on the necklace, a hint of amused smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"Interesting—"

Shaking his head, he put the necklace into his backpack.

Then, he took out that antique book.

This book was very thick, conservatively estimated to have at least several thousand pages.

One could imagine that it definitely recorded a considerable amount of information inside.

The book seemed to have traces of frequent reading, but it was still relatively well-preserved.

Looking at the attributes.

[Ancient Elf Grimoire (Orange)]

[Quality: Epic]

[Equipment Type: Special]

[Effect 1: It records the crystallization of wisdom of past patriarchs of the Ancient Elf Tribe, including various Elf Clan spells, battle skills, secret medicine recipes, and thousands of other knowledge types]

(Note: To learn the Elf Clan secret techniques above, one needs to master the Ancient Elf language and a lot of practice time)

[Effect 2: After binding this grimoire, one will inherit the memories and heritage of past patriarchs and become the new Ancient Elf Tribe patriarch. The binder needs to possess Elf Clan bloodline.]

(Introduction: After the death of past patriarchs of the Ancient Elf Tribe, they would record their lives and some knowledge on it. Through generations of inheritance, this grimoire has recorded a considerable amount of information, and it is also the foundation of a tribe.)

Obviously, this grimoire was the holy artifact of the Ancient Elf Clan mentioned by Renice.

Cao Xing sighed emotionally, "This grimoire actually records the knowledge of the past patriarchs of the Ancient Elf Tribe, no wonder it's so important!"

"However—what did this snake-person Lana grab their grimoire for?"

Shaking his head, he couldn't be bothered to think too much.

After all, no matter how precious this grimoire was, it wasn't suitable for him.

Now as long as he brings it back, the mission will be considered complete.

Just as he was about to leave, Bing Lan's cold voice sounded.

"There seems to be a treasure chest in here."

"A treasure chest?"

Cao Xing immediately turned around to look.

In the corner of the cave, there was indeed a gorgeous treasure chest with a transparent luster throughout and patterns carved on it!

"Haha, it's actually a Bright Moon Treasure Chest! This is quite an unexpected harvest!"

With a look of joy, Cao Xing stepped forward.

[Discovered an unlocked Bright Moon Treasure Chest. Open it?]

"Yes."

[Opened successfully.]

[Obtained: Hero's Heart * 1]

[Obtained: Astrology Staff (Orange) * 1]

[Obtained: Lingyun Green Spar * 4]

[Obtained: master-level elemental crystal * 18]

[Obtained: Large Resource Pack * 32]

"! Not only did I open a Hero's Heart, but I also got an epic staff out of it. This feels pretty comfortable!"

Obviously, Cao Xing's luck burst out once again with this wave of chest opening!

Among them, the most important one was naturally that Hero's Heart.

A large number of personnel in Cao Xing's territory currently need to break through to heroes, including himself.

Once he can break through to Tier 8, his combat power will improve by another huge chunk!

Especially in the upcoming last wave of monster siege, his level can soar by a notch!

But there's no rush; it won't be too late to break through after going out.

Then, Cao Xing took out that epic-quality staff and examined it.

This staff had a rather peculiar shape, about a person's height, and the staff body was dark brown.

At its tip, a pebble-sized transparent crystal was embedded, emitting glimmers of starlight.

The lower part of the staff body was also wrapped with a few circles of black metal edges, which both increased the feel in hand and added a few traces of grim texture.

"Not bad, the shape of this staff is quite handsome."

Looking at the attributes.

[Astrology Staff (Orange)]

[Quality: Epic]

[Equipment Level: Level 70]

[Attack Power: 4872 ~ 5032]

[Attached Special Effect ①: Spirit + 1200, Physique + 800, Casting Speed + 20%]

[Attached Special Effect ②: Star Power (At the instant of casting magic, there is a 50% probability to increase this magic's effect by 50%, no trigger interval)]

[Attached Special Effect ③: Meteor Shower (When launching a magic attack, there is a 50% probability to summon a meteor shower, causing 5 * 254% damage to enemies within a 1000-meter diameter ahead, trigger interval: 3 minutes)]

(Note: If the 'Meteor Shower' special effect is triggered during spellcasting, you can choose to release it or not.)

(Equipment Description: A staff containing the power of stars, the holder can possess the power to summon meteors.)

"The attributes of this staff seem quite good."

"That Meteor Shower special effect at the back has a huge range and sufficient damage, almost equivalent to a large-scale spell!"

"It just so happens that what I'm currently using is still a Level 40 Thousand-Ice Staff, which can bring me a significant boost!"

Cao Xing directly swapped this staff on.

In an instant, his attributes and attack power increased by another notch!

With a look of satisfaction, Cao Xing looked at the Dragon Speaker beside him and said, "Let's go, there's nothing else here, let's head out."

After speaking, he took the lead and walked toward the passage.

The Dragon Speaker silently followed behind him.

At this moment, Renice gazed at that pitch-black cave entrance, gripping the weapon in her hand tightly.

Seeming to worry that Cao Xing might encounter any accidents inside, she was ready to provide support at any time.

After not waiting long, she saw a mage wearing a dark blue magic robe and holding a dark brown staff walk out of the cave.

Surrounding his body were bursts of starlight power, making him look full of holiness and power.

After coming out, Cao Xing looked at the tightly bound snake-person Lana on the dragon's back.

A hint of a strange smile appeared on his face.

Facing Cao Xing's gaze, this snake-person also seemed to understand that her secret had been discovered by him.

Snorting coldly, she turned her head aside.

Renice asked softly, "Lord, have you found the holy artifact of the Elf Tribe?"

Cao Xing nodded slightly, "Found it. Take me directly to the Elf Tribe now."

After hearing this, the expression of this Ascalon archer appeared somewhat hesitant.

"Is there any problem?" Cao Xing asked.

Renice slowly replied, "It's like this, Lord. Those elves are extremely xenophobic and forbid all foreign creatures from approaching their tribe."

"If they see you appear, they might attack you—"

"It's fine. I will negotiate with them personally; these elves can't hurt me," Cao Xing said confidently.

Anyway, his goal was to trick this group of Ancient Elfs back into his territory, and they would have to meet sooner or later anyway.

Hearing this, Renice nodded solemnly.

She also knew that her lord was powerful, and that group of elves couldn't do anything to him.

Cao Xing continued to instruct, "Bing Lan, Ilena, you guys continue to stay on the dragon's back next."

"Try to fly into the air and don't let this group of elves notice. Wait until I finish negotiations here before coming down."

Bing Lan nodded indifferently, then leaped lightly and jumped onto Seraphis's back.

With a gentle flap of its huge dragon wings, it carried them high into the sky.

Before long, only Cao Xing and Ilena were left in the forest.

"Renice, take me there now."

"Alright, my Lord."

Renice executed the command without hesitation, then led him forward in another direction through the forest.

Soon, they entered the depths of the dense forest together.

Twisting and turning all the way, it took a full two hours and they walked nearly a hundred kilometers.

They came to a secluded area, and Renice suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"My Lord, the tribe of those Ancient Elves is just ahead."

"They have set up many traps around the tribe, please be careful."

Cao Xing nodded slightly.

Then, Renice led him forward.

Before they had walked for long,

"Whoosh!"

An arrow instantly hurtled toward his face.

Seeing this, Cao Xing casually summoned an ice wall to intercept the arrow.

However, the next moment, more arrows struck.

The sound of piercing through the air constantly came from overhead!

Cao Xing and the others had anticipated this scene long ago.

He casually summoned wall after wall of ice, intercepting all the arrows.

At the same time, Renice quickly stepped forward.

"It is me! Stop!"

"I have brought what you wanted."

Hearing the voice, the attacks ahead stopped.

Then, among the crowns of those tall trees, a group of light and agile figures emerged.

They had slender bodies, but they did not appear delicate, exuding a sense of power.

The dark green battle armor on their bodies blended seamlessly with the surrounding branches and leaves.

Above their bodies were faces that carried a wild yet handsome look, with pointed ears sticking out from the tips of their hair. Everyone held a longbow, and their eyes looking at Cao Xing and the others were filled with extreme vigilance.

Clearly, these were the legendary Ancient Elf clan.

However, this was vastly different from what Cao Xing had heard.

The appearance of these elves did not look as transcendent and peerlessly handsome as imagined.

However, by comparison, the features and faces of these elves were indeed much more delicate than other races.

Of course, this might also be related to Cao Xing seeing all kinds of beauties and handsome men on a daily basis.

Cao Xing chuckled, "The eyes of these Ancient Elves are quite innocent. If this were placed on Blue Star, they would at least be internet celebrities with tens of millions of followers."

At this moment, these elf warriors looked down from above, each pulling back their bowstrings, ready to launch an attack at any time.

Renice continued, "I am the human who came to your tribe not long ago, and this is my Lord."

"Together, we have brought your tribe's sacred artifact."

Hearing this, the elf warriors on the field exchanged glances.

They did recognize Renice, but their eyes still carried heavy vigilance, and their gaze toward Renice even held anger.

One of the elf archers stepped forward and said, "* & * # ——." (Ancient Elf Language)

This was an extremely ancient language, and Cao Xing and Renice exchanged glances.

Clearly, neither of them could understand it.

Seeing that Renice did not answer, those elf archers pulled back their bowstrings once more, seemingly preparing to attack them.

Seeing this, Cao Xing's gaze sank, and he raised his staff.

Damn it, he had gone to such great lengths to run thousands of kilometers to this forest to help them retrieve their tribal sacred artifact, and now he had to endure this kind of treatment.

A powerful aura of frost instantly erupted, and the surrounding temperature plummeted by more than a dozen degrees.

The atmosphere became tense and ready to explode!

At the same time, a group of figures appeared deep in the dense forest ahead.

That was a group of elf warriors also dressed in ancient battle armor, holding either longspears, swords, or sabers in their hands.

Most of them were male elves.

As for the one leading them, his attire and temperament were completely different from the other elves.

He wore a cyan-gray robe, held a dark green staff, and carried an extremely strong magical aura on his body.

Cao Xing quickly glanced at the attributes.

[Ancient Elf Patriarch: Auriel Windwhisper]

[Race: Elf]

[Level: Level 68 (Tier 7 Commander-grade creature)]

[HP: 3146825 / 3146825]

[Attack Power: 23517 ~ 24161]

[Armor: 3519 ~ 3578]

[Skills: Master-level Elf Magic Mastery, Leaf Spirit Summoning, Morning Dew Healing, Blooming Flowers, Moonlight Purification]

[Commander-grade Skill: Nature's Wrath (Mobilizes the surrounding nature to increase one's own magic casting speed by 50%, and grants attack abilities to all plants within a 1000-meter radius. Cooldown: 10 hours.)]

[Talent: Ancient Elf Polymath (Reduces the time to learn various elf skills by 50%)]

[Talent 2: Ancient Elf Blessing (Ancient Elves raised in the primeval forest can increase max HP by 30%)]

Cao Xing's heart stirred slightly.

The handsome elf before him was the patriarch of this tribe.

In addition, he was also a Tier 7 Elf Mage, which could be considered quite powerful.

As this transcendent-tempered male elf mage gradually walked out, more than a hundred elf warriors followed behind him.

They wielded either longswords and shields, or bows and arrows, or staves.

Everyone's eyes carried a solemn expression.

At this moment, the male elf mage made an ancient voice and said, "Outsider, you have brought outsiders to our tribe."

As the patriarch of the tribe, he was also one of the few Ancient Elves who could speak the Common Language of the Continent.

Renice stepped forward and said solemnly, "He is not an outsider, he is my Lord."

"He is also the Lord I told you about, who possesses a prosperous territory and is recognized even by the Tree of Knowledge and the Wind Ancient Tree."

Hearing this, all the Ancient Elves on the field cast their gazes at Cao Xing.

And Cao Xing stepped forward at the right time.

"My subordinates said that you once made an agreement."

"As long as we helped you take back the sacred artifact of the Ancient Elf tribe, you would agree to join my territory."

"Now, I have brought the sacred artifact back."

With that, a dark green book appeared in his hand.

The moment that book appeared, a commotion broke out across the entire Ancient Elf tribe.

Even the elf patriarch stared at the book in Cao Xing's hand, a look of excitement appearing in his eyes.

But soon, he calmed down.

"This is indeed my clan's long-lost sacred artifact, the Ancient Elf Grimoire."

"It seems you defeated that giant snake?"

"That's right."

Cao Xing nodded and said, "So now, can you return to my territory with me?"

Hearing this, this Ancient Elf mage shook his head.

"Our original agreement was that after you brought back the sacred artifact, we could discuss matters in this regard, and it did not say that we must go to your territory."

Cao Xing immediately frowned.

"You mean you want to go back on your word?"

"Are the so-called Ancient Elf clan all such untrustworthy existences?"

As his words fell, a dangerous aura rose from his body once again!

Cao Xing hated people who played dumb the most.

This fellow neither agreed nor refused; he just wanted to drag things out with him.

And to deal with such people, only powerful force could make them submit.

Feeling his terrifying aura, the group of elves immediately turned solemn.

Being a Tier 7 mage as well, the Otherworld Lord before them was far too terrifying compared to their patriarch!

Seeing Cao Xing flare up in anger, the elf patriarch's facial expression remained calm.

Then he slowly explained, "No, we do not want to go back on our word. The Elf Clan always keeps its promises."

"According to the original plan, our intention was that if this lady truly helped retrieve the sacred artifact of the Elf Clan, our tribe would send two elves to inspect your territory and decide whether to migrate based on the situation."

"However, not long after this human lady left, a group of human mercenaries came near our tribe and got into a fight with us."

"These mercenaries were powerful, and our tribe paid a heavy price to repel them."

Hearing this and connecting it to the reaction of the elves just now, Renice instantly understood something.

"You suspect that I leaked it?"

These elves remained silent; clearly, they had already tacitly assumed so.

Seeing this, a trace of anger instantly appeared in Renice's eyes!

She was inherently a straightforward person, and faced with such a matter, she almost lost her reason on the spot.

Cao Xing gently patted her shoulder, allowing Renice to calm down.

Then he looked at the group of elves before him and said, "I think you can tell that if my subordinate had leaked the information, there would be no need to say so much to you."

"With her alone, it would be enough to slaughter your entire elf tribe."

"Let alone going to great lengths to track down that powerful giant snake and help you retrieve the sacred artifact."

"If you treat someone who helped the Ancient Elf tribe like this, it will disappoint those who sincerely help you Ancient Elves, and I will also give up continuing negotiations with you."

He didn't say what he would do after giving up, but the intense chill emanating from Cao Xing was already oppressing these Ancient Elves to the point where they could barely breathe!

All the elves raised their weapons one after another, preparing to deal with Cao Xing's outbreak.

The atmosphere became tense and ready to explode once again.