Slime Immortal.

Chapter 199 The Forest Sages' Gathering
The next day, in the tree spirit's territory.

Inside the mushroom farmhouse.

Iselin sat upright in a wicker chair, her fingers lightly tapping the table. She raised an eyebrow, her eyes filled with undisguised suspicion.
"So, you mean that the people you sent to Ironboot Town for trade went to a tavern for drinks, angered the local adventurers, almost attracted the sheriff's attention, and in their hasty escape, accidentally discovered a child hidden in the caravan, and then brought her back?"

Chen Yu bounced around and shook his gel body up and down to show his confidence: "Well, that's probably it. Whether you believe it or not, this little guy is here with us now, and we can't just leave him like this."

"Why don't you tree spirits take her in? You're all elves, so you should have more in common."

Iselin rubbed her temples, her tone tinged with helplessness: "In our tree spirit territory, we only have forest guards and oak gardeners responsible for patrolling and keeping watch, but we don't have elven mothers who can carefully look after and educate children."

She initially wanted to refuse outright, but then she thought that a young elf child living in an environment full of slimes, lizardmen, and all sorts of monsters would probably never learn even basic language and manners, which made her feel quite pitiful.

Perhaps... we could ask the experienced old Bloom to help look after it; he's taken care of many Grimlins and should have some experience.

Thinking of this, Iselin sighed slightly and nodded: "Alright, bring the child in so I can see him."

After receiving permission, the wooden door of the farmhouse was gently pushed open a crack, and a figure, like an anvil of a sturdy wine barrel, cautiously poked its head in, giving Iselin a guilty, smirk.

"Hello, Miss Elf..."

He carefully squeezed in sideways, and only after his figure was fully revealed did Icelyn see that a little girl was lying on his back.

Her little face was serene, as if she were sleeping soundly.

Iselin lowered her voice and said, "I have a general understanding of the situation. If this little girl who was captured... cough, stumbled upon this place by mistake, and she is willing to stay here, our tree spirit territory can take her in."

The anvil nodded earnestly, as if pounding garlic: "Thank you, thank you so much, Miss Iserline, you are so kind-hearted..."

"Does she have a name?" Icelyn interrupted his thanks and asked.

Chen Yu thought for a moment and recalled the scene of meeting the little girl yesterday. The little girl was initially wary, but eventually played with the slimes and, in a relaxed state, seemed to vaguely say her own name.

"It seems... her name is Little Eileen."

Iselin pondered for a moment, then crossed her arms in front of her: "Before making a formal decision, I must remind you of something."

"Based on my observation, this little one... may not be a pure-blooded nature elf. Her hair and the subtle fluctuations in her life force suggest that she is more likely a half-elf with human blood."

"Half-elf?" Chen Yu was taken aback. He wasn't very familiar with the subspecies of elves.

Iselin affirmed, "That's right. This means that her lifespan may not be as long as you think, and she is closer to a human than an elf."

"it's okay no problem!"

Iron Anvil quickly waved his hand, seemingly unconcerned about such a distant issue as lifespan. "As long as someone can take good care of her and let her live like a normal child, that's enough. As for the rest... we'll talk about it later."

He breathed a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and then he gently shook his shoulders, trying to wake little Eileen on his back.

A few seconds later, little Eileen's long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her bright blue eyes.

She looked around groggily, then instinctively tightened her grip on the anvil's neck, mumbling something indistinctly:
“Daddy…”

"..."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, and Iselin's gaze toward the anvil took on a strange quality.

Iron Anvil's short, stocky body froze instantly, his dark face flushing red. He frantically waved his hands, explaining incoherently:

"Miss Iserline, please don't misunderstand."

"Our territory is inhabited by either slimes or lizardmen. I'm the only one who looks like her, though not by much, but it's entirely possible that I'd mistake her for someone else."

"I... I've never even properly touched a female dwarf's hand, how could I possibly have a daughter?"

Chen Yu watched the scene unfold, and after thinking about it carefully, he realized that what Tiezhen said made sense.

Compared to the bizarre slimes and scaly lizardmen in the territory, Anvil, the only dwarf, at least had some semblance of being "human"—he had limbs, walked upright, and could talk…

It's not entirely incomprehensible that she mistook him for her father.

Iron Anvil quickly and carefully put little Eileen down from his back, gently patted her little head, and gestured for her to walk towards Iserline.

"Go quickly, Miss Iserline is your kind."

Iselin took a deep breath, trying to appear less serious, and said softly, "Come to your sister, sweetie."

Little Eileen glanced warily at Iserline, then looked up at the anvil, and finally, with the anvil's encouraging expression...

She turned around, grabbed the anvil's thigh, buried her face in it, and refused to let go.

anvil:"……"

Iserlin: "..."

Iron Anvil said awkwardly, "She's a little afraid of strangers. Please don't mind, I'll try to talk to her."

Iselin ignored Anvil's explanation. She kept staring at little Eileen, her expression thoughtful, and finally shook her head gently: "No need, she won't come with me."

"Why?" the anvil asked, puzzled.

“Maybe she’s afraid of elves,” Chen Yu said.

Iselin nodded and said, "Although I don't know how she got here, if I'm not mistaken, this little one may have come into contact with the elves of the Ancient Tree Council, and her parents had some unpleasant conflicts with those old-fashioned elves."

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly used the gel to convey her feelings.

"This little guy seems to have lost his previous memories, and he may very well be under the curse of the council... He won't live for more than a few years."

"Let her enjoy her last days, at least be happy. There's no need to send her back to me."

After hearing this, Tiezhen was stunned and fell silent.

He couldn't help but look down at little Eileen, meeting her innocent gaze. He sighed inwardly, then coughed lightly and said, "Let's go back, let's go home."

“Go...home?” Little Eileen was taken aback at first, then a joyful smile bloomed on her face. She immediately let go of the anvil’s leg and clung to his back again.

"Your Majesty, Miss Iserline, I'll take her back first."

Chen Yu shook the gel and nodded. After watching the anvil leave, he asked Iserline curiously, "What do you mean by the curse you mentioned?"

Viola's spirit suddenly floated out and said slowly, "Of course, it means exactly what it says. It's a curse cast by the nature elf elders of the Ancient Tree Council, targeting 'unclean bloodlines'."

"Generally speaking, most half-elves born in that place, especially those born from the union of elves and humans, do not survive past childhood."

"Her parents were likely to have escaped from the elven city of Quel'Thul, but unfortunately, the seeds of a curse are often sown at the very beginning of a child's life, and this child is unlikely to escape this fate."

Iserlin explained, “It’s an ancient curse known as ‘Root Withering.’ It stems from an oath made by some extreme elves who believed that hybrids tainted the pure bloodline of elves and would incur nature’s punishment.”

"The curse will subtly erode the life essence of a half-elf, making it like a sapling eaten by insects. It may appear healthy on the outside, but it will wither away more quickly inside. It usually breaks out in these few years."

"It is extremely difficult to purify this root of the curse unless we can find the legendary Forest Sages."

“Those sages who still follow the oldest natural will may possess the means to combat this curse of fanaticism.”

"The Forest Sages Society?" Chen Yu muttered to himself, feeling unfamiliar with the name.

Viola replied lazily, "You can think of it as a loose organization that spontaneously formed by a group of ancient beings who were unwilling to be bound by the Ancient Tree Council and were committed to maintaining the balance of nature, in order to facilitate communication."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu glanced at Viola with curiosity.

"What?" Viola felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze.

“You look quite like a forest sage to me,” Chen Yu probed.

Viola yawned, and her spirit slowly floated to Chen Yu's side.

"Of course, who am I, Viola? I'm a tree spirit sage. Getting into the Forest Sages' Gathering is a piece of cake for me."

"It seems that some members of the Nature Families did contact me before and invited me to join, but that was a long time ago, um... I've long forgotten the specific details."

She waved her semi-transparent hand: "Never mind, if there's a chance, I'll ask them about lifting the curse next time they come to me."

As she was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and turned back, saying, "Do you remember that exiled castle in the Ice Elemental Plane? This thing might be related to the alchemist you're interested in. If you're interested, you'd better go and explore it yourself."

Alchemist?

That Golden Elixir Immortal who mistakenly entered Zearella?
He silently noted down this important news, then hopped onto Iserline's shoulder and led her to a carriage parked outside the farmhouse.

The slime guards waiting nearby immediately stepped forward and swiftly lifted the heavy tarpaulin covering the carriage.

Beneath the tarpaulin, rows of well-sealed glass jars were visible, through which one could vaguely see amber-colored, viscous liquid that shimmered with a warm luster in the sunlight.

"Are these all ancient resins?" Iselin looked at the entire truckload of precious materials with some surprise.

Chen Yu jumped up and down, and said with certainty, "The trade team was lucky. They found a reclusive elven nobleman in the White Horse Kingdom and bought all his inventory at a reasonable price."

Is this enough?

Iseline stepped forward and carefully examined the resin jars on the carriage. She even opened one, dipped her finger in it, and felt the energy contained within.

After a long while, she finally raised her head, a satisfied look on her face:
"The resin is of high quality and there is enough of it to hold a complete ceremony to guard the three oak trees."

“However, drawing such a complex energy circuit requires a lot of time and effort, and I need some assistants to help with material processing and energy stability.”

Chen Yu immediately understood her meaning; she wanted to send slime scholars to help out.

“No problem, I will arrange for a group of the most meticulous slime scholars to come and assist you,” Chen Yu readily agreed.

"Then, while we are preparing, could you lend us that silver oak tree called Faldorn for a while?"

"For what?" Iserlyn asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Of course, it's to help our new allies."

……

Northern Underlands, at the forefront of the Fald front.

On this battlefront named after an immortal monarch who had long since fallen, the Blackfang Mercenary Group built makeshift bunkers and fortifications against the ruins of ancient ruins, facing off against the dark, swarming goblin army on the other side.

But the mercenaries guarding the bunker knew very well that without a sufficiently advantageous terrain, they and their bunker were as laughable as the surging goblin army.

If the goblins are determined to launch a reckless charge, their small number of men and pitiful fortifications will be overwhelmed in an instant.

At that point, all they can do is abandon their armor and flee for their lives.

The reason they are still able to hold their ground and maintain a stalemate is entirely because the employer has offered a high salary.

For these desperate criminals who risked their lives, every extra day they stayed meant more glittering gold coins flowing into their pockets.

This is simply the best deal in the world.

Inside a ruined bunker made of broken stone pillars and rammed earth, a warrior in tattered leather armor spat fiercely onto the ground.

"Damn it, when did these goblins become so smart that they know how to use dimensional rifts to infiltrate here?"

Another companion, who was leaning against the wall wiping his short sword, shrugged.

"Who knows."

"But speaking of which, the big boss behind our mercenary group is reacting so strongly and mobilizing so many people. Could it really be those vampires who never see the light of day, as the rumors say?"

"Who cares? As long as I get enough gold, I'd do it even if it's a demon hiring me," the warrior muttered.

Just as they were about to continue complaining about the food in this godforsaken place, a commotion suddenly arose in front of the bunker. Someone shouted at the top of their lungs, "They're back! The negotiators are back! The goblins have agreed to a temporary truce!"

Upon hearing this news, the mercenaries in the bunker did not show any joy; instead, they began to complain.

"They've made peace already? That was way too fast!"

"Exactly, I want to earn a few more days' worth of garrison fees!"

"Hopefully, the number of mercenary slots tomorrow won't be reduced because of this..."

Amidst their whispered complaints, Deng Lun, looking rather grim, and Kazimir, escorted by a squad of elite mercenaries, quickly crossed the defensive line without lingering, heading straight back towards the Eternal Night Territory.

Throughout the journey, Deng Lun's brow remained furrowed, clearly indicating his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the negotiations.

He glanced at Kazimir beside him, who seemed to be just out for a walk, and couldn't help but ask again to confirm.

"Sir Casimir, are you sure those undead in the swamp will keep their promise and attack the goblins when we need them?"

Casimir shrugged: "I'm sorry, my dear Deng Lun, as for what those undead are thinking, whether they will act, when they will act, and in what way they will act... please forgive me, this lord cannot give any definite guarantee."

"Perhaps they are making preparations in their territory right now."

Deng Lun glanced at him, his eyes flashing with dissatisfaction and doubt, but in the end he didn't say anything more.

Upon returning to the castle, he quickened his pace, putting some distance between himself and Casimir, and walked alone through the gloomy and silent courtyards and corridors of the Eternal Night Territory, heading straight for the solitary castle that stood on the edge of the cliff.

(End of this chapter)