There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

"And the other person with the [psychic] talent is me."

"I already knew that." Lu Qing rolled her eyes inwardly, but outwardly feigned surprise and said, "You mean...?"

"What I mean is, I will personally teach you how to use the power of [Spirit Communication]," the Pope said, looking at Lu Qing and emphasizing each word.

"..." Lu Qing pretended to be too surprised to speak and looked at the Pope.

"Don't be so surprised, after all, the [Spirit Communication] talent is very important."

"Do you know what I'm responsible for?" the Pope asked, looking at Lu Qing.

"You mean the Sacred Tree Festival?" Lu Qing asked the Pope, as if she had just remembered something.

“That’s right.” The Pope nodded in satisfaction and smiled. “You should have learned from your teacher that the Sacred Tree is absorbing energy from the void every moment.”

"And it is because of the protection of the sacred tree that there are vibrant forests, as well as us humans and other life forms."

"But the energy in the void is extremely violent. Even the sacred tree will inevitably have residual impurities that it cannot purify after absorbing it."

"My job is to clean the inside of the sacred tree during the annual sacred tree festival so that it can continue to grow healthily."

“…” Lu Qing frowned, as if she had thought of something.

"But, Your Holiness, I have read in books that the forest formed by the sacred tree has existed since ancient times, long before humankind was even born."

"Since the duty of the [Spiritual Communication] talent is to purify the sacred tree of its impurities, how were the sacred tree cleansed of its impurities before the birth of humankind?"

The sacred tree existed long before the birth of humankind. This was not something Lu Qing learned from a book, but rather from a dream. Saying it was from a book was just an excuse.

However, this time she wasn't acting; she was genuinely curious about why.

"Regarding this issue, I'm not entirely sure either. Based on the speculations of scholars throughout history, two doctrines have ultimately been defined," the Pope said, stroking his beard.

"The first theory is that the sacred tree did not grow over a very large area back then, and the amount of void energy it absorbed was limited, so it left almost no residue."

"However, there is little evidence for this claim, and not many people agree with it."

"The second theory is that before the birth of humankind, the sacred tree had other methods to cleanse the body of impurities. This theory has many supporters and is supported by substantial evidence."

"The only thing we don't know is how the sacred tree cleanses itself of its filth; all we know is that this method seems to be related to the elves."

"An elf?"

This was the second time Lu Qing had heard the word "elf"; the first time was during Mo Luni's divination.

"Do you know what elves look like?" Lu Qing asked curiously.

"Elves..."

The Pope recalled for a moment and said, "Elves do look somewhat like rabbits. They have pure white fur, flat, long ears, and a pair of bright, large eyes."

"They walk on two legs and only use their hands when running fast. They are very agile in the forest and can even jump in the air."

"In addition, elves can also change their form, transforming from animalistic shapes into pure elemental beings. In this state, they can unleash mental and magical attacks, but correspondingly, their movement speed will be much slower, and they can only float slowly in the air."

"To solve this problem, the elves usually act in pairs, one remaining in the form of an animal, and the other transforming into an elemental form, floating beside their animal partner."

"When they act together, the elements on their bodies will be drawn together, allowing the elemental spirits to move together with the animal spirits. Even when facing a much stronger enemy, they can defeat the opponent with their excellent magic and skills."

Unlike Knight Myron and Moruni, who had only met elves by chance, the Pope clearly knew a great deal about them.

This understanding goes beyond just appearance and ability; he even knows the habits of elves, where to find them, and so on.

Of course, he only mentioned the latter two casually and did not tell her any specific information.

After all, if you were to explain something like this seriously, you could talk about it for three days and three nights and still not finish.

"Your Holiness the Pope is truly knowledgeable," Knight Myron said with admiration as he listened to the Pope's explanation.

"Sir Myron, you flatter me. You are far superior to me in both combat and training troops," the Pope said with a smile upon hearing Sir Myron's words.

"Your Holiness, you are not much worse than me in combat."

"Not at all, I'm still far inferior to you."

"........."

After a round of mutual flattery, Yorick, dressed in a white robe, walked in from outside the church and looked at the Pope, saying:

"Your Holiness, the carriage you requested has arrived."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work, Yorick," the Pope nodded and said.

"It's nothing hard, just work," Yorick said calmly.

"........"

Even though Lu Qing was already familiar with Yorick's attitude, she was still somewhat speechless at this moment.

What do you mean by "it's all just work"? Don't you have any self-awareness as a member of the Hony Sam sect? You are a believer, not a worker brought in by the Hony Sam sect to do your bidding!

How did this guy become a believer? Seriously, does he really believe in religion?

Lu Qing mentally complained for a moment, then followed the Pope into the carriage.

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously.

"Go to Fremures."

------------

Chapter 475: Hunting in the Snow

In the border forest of Fremures, white snowflakes fell from the sky, and two nimble figures quickly swept across a patch of snow before hiding behind a withered bush.

Fang Qingrou, dressed in thick cotton clothes, lay on the ground, her eyes fixed on a rabbit pawing at the snow not far away.

"call........"

She gently exhaled a breath of warm air, reached for the hunting bow behind her, placed it horizontally in front of her, and slowly drew the bowstring.

"Boom!"

The bowstring made a dull thud, followed by a mournful cry, and a sharp arrow pierced the snow hare's neck.

"Clap clap clap, well done." An uncle lying next to Fang Qingrou clapped his hands and said.

"It's so easy~" Fang Qingrou said with a hint of pride.

"It took you half a day to catch a rabbit, what are you so proud of?" Seeing Fang Qingrou's smug look, the other party couldn't help but say.

He was Charles, the most famous hunter in Fremures, who found an abandoned baby on a snowy night eighteen years ago.

No, perhaps it wasn't abandonment. After taking the baby home, Charles returned to the place where he found the baby. He followed the traces left on the snow slope and saw drag marks and bloodstains at the scene.

These tracks lead to the cave of the forest's overlord—a giant black bear.

After some investigation, Charles found two young people who had just become parents on the list of missing persons. Perhaps they were attacked by a black bear, and before they could even celebrate the joy of their child's birth, they were killed by the bear.

I heard that they were originally going to visit the elderly in the countryside, but a blizzard hit them halfway there, and an avalanche caused by the migration of a flock of stormbirds caused them to lose contact with the convoy.

Charles originally intended to give the baby to the old man, but when he found the town where the old man lived, he learned from the other townspeople that...

The old man felt extremely guilty because he knew that the two young people had gone missing because they had come to visit him. He died of exhaustion a few days later.

With no other option, Charles could only silently mourn as he returned to his home.

He did not send the baby to an orphanage because he himself had come from there and knew very well what it was like to be an orphan.

If it weren't for my own talent, and the fact that my deceased master had taken notice of me...

The icy wind howled and lashed at Charles's face, snapping him out of his reverie.

Looking at his daughter, now grown up, smiling broadly as she grabbed the rabbit's ears and stood up from the snow, Charles was momentarily dazed.

“Time flies.” Shaking his head with a sigh, Charles walked up to Fang Qingrou and said, “This is your dinner tonight.”

"Oh!? One rabbit isn't enough to fill our stomachs..." Fang Qingrou said with a bitter expression.

She had been in the dream world for over a month and had long since gotten used to being with Charles. He said that she would only have this one rabbit for dinner tonight, and that meant it really would only be this one.

“You think it’s not enough?” Charles chuckled twice and said, “If you think it’s not enough, go catch some more. If you can catch a couple more rabbits, you won’t think dinner is too little.”

"Er..."

Fang Qingrou looked embarrassed, feeling that what Charles said was not very realistic.

She spent a long time trying to catch this snow rabbit, and now it's almost dark. Where is she going to catch another one?

After all, she had only been learning from Charles for a month, and she wasn't very skilled at using a bow and arrow.

Actually, with her physical abilities, catching rabbits would be very easy for her, but the difficulty lies in the fact that Charles won't let her do it!

According to Charles, as a hunter, one must be familiar with how to conceal oneself and learn how to kill animals without being discovered.

Her method of forcibly seizing prey using her physical abilities might work against weak prey, but it would be completely useless against cheetahs, tigers, or powerful magical beasts.

"Haha, if we can't catch it, then there's nothing we can do~"

Seeing the embarrassed expression on Fang Qingrou's face, Charles laughed loudly and then walked back in the direction he was going.

"Let's go, let's see how the traps you set this morning are going, maybe we'll catch something?"

"Oh right, there are traps too!"

Fang Qingrou suddenly remembered some traps she had set this morning. If those traps could catch prey, then she would have enough food for tonight.

"Oh?"

Upon reaching the trap, Charles raised an eyebrow, surprised that the trap had actually caught something.

On the tree branch overhead, a large net held a pure white fox. The little creature was trembling inside the net, making pitiful cries.

“It’s just a little guy who hasn’t grown up yet.” Charles sighed almost imperceptibly, then untied the large net and placed the little fox on the snow.

"Woo~"

The little fox glanced at Fang Qingrou, then at the hunter. Her little mind didn't understand why the two of them would let her go, but she knew how precious her life was, so she ran away without looking back.

"Ah, what a pity," Fang Qingrou said, watching the white fox escape.

“There’s nothing to regret.” Charles shook his head, then repeated the words he had said countless times.

"Although we hunters are engaged in the work of hunting and killing, we must not forget that we are also part of nature. Indiscriminate hunting is absolutely unacceptable."

"I know, I know, Master, you've said it so many times already," Fang Qingrou waved her hand and said.