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

With her eyes slightly closed, Lu Qing put these distracting thoughts behind her and walked along the street with a focused expression.

The warm sunlight shone on the blue and white ceremonial attire, making its colors even brighter. The precious silver-white metal pendants constantly touched each other as Lu Qing moved, producing a crisp sound. However, these sounds were drowned out by the singing composed of a harp and a wooden flute; only the nobles standing at the forefront of the street could hear them…

The nobles marveled at the princess's beauty and the saintess's grace, while the commoners felt the majesty of the royal family and the sanctity of divine authority. But in any case, there was no doubt that Lu Qing was the most dazzling one today.

Suddenly, Lu Qing spotted a familiar figure in the crowd. She saw Eileen, covered in sweat, standing at the back of the crowd waving at her. It seemed that she had run all the way from the cathedral.

Beside her, Muir emerged from his shadowy state and waved to Lu Qing as well. It's unclear whether Lu Qing will get her wages docked for this...

Lu Qing smiled slightly at the two of them, indicating that there wouldn't be any problems at this level.

"Your Highness, we are about to leave the city." After walking for quite some time, Knight Myron followed behind Lu Qing and said in a low voice.

"Yes, I know." Lu Qing nodded almost imperceptibly.

The area outside the city is quite different from the area inside. The rugged roads and the sudden appearance of monsters will cause considerable trouble for this team.

However, perhaps because people travel this route every year, there are far fewer monsters on it. They've probably been killed so many times that they know humans travel this route every so often.

Even so, we cannot let our guard down, especially at a time when the Church of the Dead is so active. There is no doubt that if Archbishop Angus were to appear at this time, none of them, except for Knight Myron, would be able to stand against him.

The priests' performance gradually stopped, and the guard knights standing on both sides of the procession tensed up, causing the entire procession to suddenly increase its speed.

Since they are all superhumans, this level of acceleration does not cause anyone to feel tired.

......

High in the sky, imperceptible to humans, there are three... two people and a brain floating here.

"Won't we really fall?" Number Five clung tightly to Number Two's thighs, her legs trembling, her eyes fixed on the clouds below, her voice filled with terror.

"Can't you break character a bit? Number Five, you're a core member of the Guiji Sect, how can you be afraid of heights?" Number Two said with a strange expression.

"Don't worry, newbie, I'm here, you won't fall," Archbishop Angus said, wiggling his scalp.

“It’s not a question of whether it will fall or not…” said the mouth on Number Five’s cheek.

“Then you can continue like this. I need to check where the princess is.” Archbishop Angus said, then ignored Number Five and looked down through the thick clouds.

“The clothes are quite nice,” Archbishop Angus suddenly remarked.

"???"

"Did you...did you say something just now?" Number Five asked, somewhat puzzled.

“It’s nothing,” Archbishop Angus said, shaking his body.

Suddenly, as if he noticed something, he turned to look at the other side of the sky, but there was nothing there, only calm water.

"It's probably just my imagination," Angus thought after checking around and finding nothing.

However, what he didn't know was that something had indeed been watching him.

.......

"Archbishop Angus is right above us?" Lu Qing thought to herself in surprise. Just now, Vein had sent her this message, so she immediately synchronized her vision with Vein's.

As soon as the synchronization was complete, Archbishop Angus seemed to have discovered something and looked in the direction of Vein.

Fortunately, Lu Qing stopped visual synchronization at that moment, and Wayne used magic to conceal himself, so he was not discovered.

"Wow, this brain is so alert," Wayne said in Lu Qing's mind.

P.S.: This chapter tried hard to depict the charm of the deer, and it took much longer than I expected, but I'm quite satisfied with the final result.

What do you think...?

Oh, by the way, I looked at the replies, and everyone thinks 17 PM and 18 PM are better. I'll clarify here that this starts tomorrow, not today.

Don't wait for the update at 17 PM today.

What? You're saying that this means I missed a day of updates?

*sobs* QWQ......

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Chapter 535: The Elf Forest

"What are they trying to do?" Lu Qing didn't look up at the sky. Firstly, even if she did, she wouldn't be able to see them. It wasn't a matter of eyesight; their figures were simply obscured by the clouds.

Secondly, she was afraid of being discovered by Archbishop Angus. Although she didn't know what they were doing floating in the sky above her, it was best not to alert them at this time.

"But why do you see that they're all fine?" Lu Qing wondered to herself.

“Because I’m just a bird, quack,” Wayne said with a touch of quirkiness.

"Be serious." Lu Qing rolled her eyes and said irritably.

"Maybe it's because I'm too amazing."

"Never mind, I don't even know what I'm expecting from you..." Lu Qing sighed, sounding rather helpless.

"......"

The man and the bird remained silent for a moment, then suddenly, Wayne shouted in his mind, "Gah, little master, that head and the person next to him have suddenly disappeared!"

"Disappeared?" Lu Qing raised an eyebrow, subconsciously syncing her vision with Wayne's.

The azure sky, the drifting white clouds, and the slightly dazzling sun on the distant horizon—this was all that Vein saw. As for Archbishop Angus, and the Second and Fifth members of the Silent Church, it was as if they had never been there at all.

"Did you see how they disappeared?" Lu Qing asked herself.

“Gah, it just disappeared suddenly.” After a pause, Wayne stated his speculation: “It must be some kind of projection spell.”

"They didn't actually come into this sky; they just used magic to create a projection and project it into the air."

"Can projections also have vision and instincts?" Lu Qing asked with some doubt.

It must be said that in terms of magical knowledge, Wayne currently knows more. If it weren't for the fact that each dream world is quite different and only has some similarities, Wayne would still want to learn, no matter how chaotic her knowledge is.

"Well, a projection is ultimately a physical entity created by magic. By moving your consciousness into the projection, you can naturally see and hear the senses that the projection experiences. As for instinct..."

"The aura emanating from that brain assimilated the projection as well. You could say that the projection was half of its body, so it's not surprising that it possessed instincts."

“A projection…” Lu Qing frowned. After discussing it for a long time, she still didn’t know the purpose of Archbishop Angus appearing above them.

Are you here to observe them? If so, what is the purpose of observing them?

Thinking of the Guiji cultists who tried to cast large-scale ritual magic last night, Lu Qing could only silently pray that Mage Moruni's method was correct. After all, she was the former leader of the Royal Mage Corps; she should at least put in some effort.

.......

Meanwhile, on a street in the capital of Vanhustan, Moruni stood in front of a deep pit dug by the soldiers, carefully observing it.

"I can't sense any fluctuations in magical power, and the parameters of the void power are completely normal..."

It should have been a happy occasion, but for some reason, Mo Luni's expression didn't show any joy at all. She frowned, pondering what she might have overlooked.

Based on multiple astrological simulations, the position and parameters of the stars at noon today will be exactly the same as the location where the Guiji Sect acted last night.

She couldn't detect any magical fluctuations here, and the parameters of the void power were also at a normal level. So, according to the rule that ritual magic must be kept intact in order to be released, this ritual magic should absolutely be unable to be activated.

That's true, but for some reason, Mo Luni had a bad feeling.

.......

Time flew by, and Lu Qing led the ceremony procession forward. Soon they saw the sacred tree in the distance that almost covered the entire sky, and the dense forest closely connected to it at its foot.

The trees in these groves are certainly not part of the sacred tree, but because they grow near the sacred tree, they are more or less influenced by it.

In fact, as she gradually approached the legendary sacred tree, Lu Qing couldn't help but feel a sense of worship and awe. These emotions didn't come from her own heart, but were influenced by the powerful aura that the sacred tree constantly exuded.

It was an aura she had never felt before—weathered, ancient, sacred, yet brimming with boundless vitality.

Almost the instant she stepped into this aura, Lu Qing felt the air become much fresher, and at the same time, she had an indescribable feeling in her body. Without exaggeration, if an ordinary person lived here, he could live for at least two hundred years!

Okay, the last sentence was actually something Lu Qing had seen in a book before. How could she possibly deduce how long an ordinary person could live here based on her own feelings?

Regardless, Lu Qing finally understood why the trees here could grow so lushly, including some items that were very popular in the human world.

Since the plants grow so lushly, the wild beasts here must also become stronger. However, Lu Qing heard that a long, long time ago, the three overlords of this forest signed a non-aggression pact with the elves as witnesses.

In addition to not invading each other's territories, the three overlords and their retinues could not launch an attack on elves when they encountered them. Later, after humans took control of the Sacred Tree Festival, an additional clause was added to this contract.

That means we cannot attack the human groups holding the Sacred Tree Festival; not only can we not attack them, but we can't even show our faces to them.

The subsequent rules were not added to the contract, but rather were unspoken rules. For reasons unknown to some modern scholars, the overlords of this forest did not particularly like humans.

However, since the Sacred Tree Festival is very important, they cannot attack the human procession that holds the festival. Therefore, they might as well avoid meeting them altogether.

"Your Highness, just now, past noon, Knight Myron suddenly spoke in a low voice as they walked through the lush forest."

"Has it already passed?" Lu Qing asked, slightly surprised.

They didn't carry anything with them to tell time, so Lu Qing didn't know what time it was.

Knight Myron said this based solely on experience. Looking at the sun in the sky, he said, "I don't know the exact time, but it's definitely past noon, and quite some time has passed."

"Really?" Lu Qing asked with a hint of delight.

“Of course it’s true,” Sir Myron nodded.

It has been quite some time since noon, yet the procession for the festival has not experienced any incidents. Does this mean that the ritual magic of the Guiji Sect has failed?

"Now is not the time to be happy. Who knows if there are any problems in the city or at the elven sacrificial site?" After a moment, Lu Qing calmed down and said.

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

Chapter 536: Set up formation and prepare for battle!

The original name of the Elf Sacrifice Site is unknown. It was only after humans discovered this uniquely styled building constructed next to the roots of the sacred tree that it was named the Elf Sacrifice Site.

Just as scholars have named it, the owner of this building was an elf. There is no concrete evidence, but the style of the building and the technology used in its construction that is completely incomprehensible to humans can probably be attributed to an elf.

Most importantly, it is the most suitable place to hold the Sacred Tree Festival. The elves created a space under the roots of the Sacred Tree, which makes it relatively easy for spirit mediums to connect with the Sacred Tree.

In ancient times, cleaning the sacred tree was a task that the elves had always been responsible for, so it's not a big problem that this building was left behind by the elves.

It is said that scholars argue about this issue every year. If you ask Lu Qing, she thinks it is more likely that the building was left by elves. As for the reason, she doesn't know, she can only say it is intuition.

If we could find an elf to ask, we might be able to get some information, but elves are rare to begin with, and these little guys like to hide from humans. Even if we did meet one, we wouldn't exchange more than a few words, so how could we possibly ask about the elf's sacrificial site?

Shaking her head, Lu Qing led the team deeper into the forest. Regardless of what happened at noon, she had to complete this year's Sacred Tree Festival.