Pioneer Lord: A Leisurely Imperial Life

Chapter 331 Returning to Chiffon

Autumn July 10th.

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After more than half a month of turmoil, the situation in the Eastern Territory has finally become clearer.

The first thing the three princes did upon arriving in the Eastern Territory with their guards was to forcefully put the sword of the Grand Duke of Skyhawk, which had been stained with blood for several days, back down.

Prince Ares personally led his royal guard to oversee Eagle Territory, using the strongest possible stance to restrict the Grand Duke's movements.

The conscription order was withdrawn, and the assembled lords dispersed. It's not hard to imagine how frustrated the Grand Duke of Skyhawk must be. It was like this last time, and it's like this again this time.

However, the Starry Sky Royal Family issued a carefully worded statement explaining their reasons for doing so.

The statement is as follows:

Regarding the War Tree and the Blackwisp Elf assassins that appeared in the Eastern Territory, the Royal Family has submitted a formal note to the Golden Forest, demanding a reasonable explanation from the Elven race.

Prior to this, no excessive action may be taken against the elves within the Eastern Territories.

The royal family's attitude was clear: they were targeting the Blackbush tribe, but they did not want to completely break with the Golden Forest.

As for the Vatican, the royal family did not give any explanation, but the Vatican's reaction was faster than anyone expected.

A statement signed by the Pope of Light was delivered by fast horse to all the territories:

The collusion between Baron Yellowstone and the Blackwisp Elves was a personal act, not authorized by the Holy See. The Holy See strongly condemns this and reserves the right to pursue legal action regarding the massacre of more than a dozen Churches of Light in the Eastern Starfield.

In this incident, the Vatican seems to be quite aggrieved, and that is indeed the case.

During their subsequent investigation, Princes Athena and Eros uncovered two more baronies and one viscounty that were secretly colluding with the Dark Elf to foster the War Tree.

The results of the interrogation sent a chill down everyone's spine: these three lords were indeed not affiliated with the Papacy and were hereditary nobles.

The viscount family's history is even longer than the history of the Papacy.

As for the Holy War Alliance itself, after comparing information from both the Demon Spirit and Starry Sky factions, a rough outline has finally been pieced together.

The composition of this organization can only be described as "mixed".

An Obsidian Marquis from the Demon Empire is involved; he was the one who orchestrated the last undead horde incident.

Several high-ranking mages from the various mage towers in the Demon Realm are also on the list. They use the resources of the mage towers to provide the Alliance with magical items and magic array support.

The Blackwisp Elves are primarily responsible for the germination and cultivation of the Ancient of War. As for the Papacy, besides Baron Yellowstone, there should be even higher-ranking figures secretly pulling strings.

The three nobles from the Eastern Territory who were exposed are just the tip of the iceberg; there seem to be other participants among the nobles of the Eastern Territory.

Most surprisingly, traces of the Spirit Descendants were discovered during the interrogation!

Those creatures born from the elements of nature, who have never cared about worldly affairs, have also become involved.

In addition, there were two unknown Saintly Glory experts who ambushed the heir of the Sky Eagle.

The members of this holy war alliance are all powerful and individualistic, making them invisible underwater giants.

The news caused an uproar!

The barriers between different races on the continent of Huanxing have always been strict. Humans look down on non-humans, and elves consider themselves to stand above all living beings.

That's fine, the Empire had a blood feud with the Eldar and was at odds with the Holy See, who would have thought that some people from these forces would actually come together.

It's truly remarkable that they could join forces and create such a huge commotion on the territories of two major human empires.

Many people are now speculating that the plague that occurred in the North last time was probably not the work of the Holy See, but rather the work of this Holy War Alliance.

The Holy See had privately testified to the Stars, which is why the three princes immediately stopped the Grand Duke of Skyhawk from massacring the forces of light, so as not to be used as pawns by others.

As for the true purpose of the Holy War Alliance, no one knows.

Of the dozen or so members arrested, only one succumbed to torture and confessed to some of the information; the rest committed suicide at the very beginning of the interrogation, a decision that was astonishingly decisive.

Richard remained silent for a long time after seeing the intelligence.

The name "Holy War" is well-deserved; their resolve is truly unmatched, and they're quite ruthless!

However, these messy things have nothing to do with him anymore.

Because he's going home to build a super weapon!

Ten thousand meters above the northern sky, five unicorns raced against the wind. There were very few people, only Richard, Freya, Nia, Avril, and Im.

The twenty guards remained in Red Sand Territory, under the command of Anthony, responsible for protecting the trade routes and for defense.

Each month, a new batch of people will be rotated so that everyone can go back to Chiffon to rest and recuperate.

The team has been on the move for five days and has just entered the northern territory. They will be back in Qifeng in another day.

The weather changed rapidly, dropping from the heat of the Eastern Territory to the chill of late autumn. As a result, Im was not used to it and complained that this awful weather was not as warm and comfortable as the Red Sand Territory.

Apart from Avril, the other four are all superhumans who can easily resist temperature changes.

To prevent her from catching a cold from the strong winds at high altitude, Richard specially wrapped her up in several layers of wool blankets, making her look like a fat dumpling, with only her big eyes showing. She would glare at Richard from time to time.

She certainly didn't want to come to the North, and Richard didn't like forcing a young girl's will, but what could he do when she came to Red Sand Castle seeking refuge in the first place?

With this premise, it becomes perfectly legitimate to pack her up and take her away.

Of course, Richard wasn't after her looks; it was simply because she was a living priestess of light, and Freya wanted to continue her research into light magic.

That's perfect. Let Freya study her slowly; we should indulge my sister's little hobby.

Richard said he would build her a library, and he was no joke.

Before leaving, he wrote another letter to Earl of the Vast Ocean, entrusting him with the task of collecting various books and magic books available on the market.

I'll take any book, even the kind that's written on a deserted roadside and nobody reads, as long as it has words on it.

Richard wanted to transform one of the secondary sword pavilions into a super-large library, containing all the books of this era.

Not only the Demon Empire, but also the Stars and Titans, and even the scriptures of other continents or alien races.

Whether you watch it or not is none of my concern, but as a cultured person, you should have a collection and a certain level of prestige to match, right?

Then my sister can stay in this secondary sword pavilion permanently, so she can do her studies there and research whatever she wants.

Freya rode on the unicorn, facing the howling wind, and reached out to touch its smooth neck.

The warm touch came from her palm, like touching a piece of silk warmed by the morning sun. She had been riding it for several days, but she was still full of curiosity about this noble and elegant creature.

Richard told her that he had encountered these animals by chance on the shore of the Arctic Ocean, and that there were over a thousand of them. He then used the secret method of taming wolves to raise them all in his territory.

This claim is quite bizarre.

But she believed it.

She suddenly reached out her hand, and a soft light enveloped it. An energy she had never experienced before flowed through her body, carrying a rich life force.

Yes.

Her beloved younger brother, with his awakened life-based magic talent, instilled in her profound divine knowledge, allowing her to comprehend the power of life and light!

—Apostle of Life!

She studied light magic for several years, read countless ancient books, visited more than a dozen scholars with the same aspirations, and wrote stacks and stacks of notes.

She wanted to prove that the essence of the Light Healing Technique was magic, knowledge that could be analyzed, learned, and mastered, rather than a gift from a goddess.

She thought she was still far from finding the answer.

Now, she seems to have a slight realization...