Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

A beautiful golden rose floated in front of me. Most things in dreams are blurry, but this golden rose, so realistic and detailed that even the grains are clearly visible, is obviously the work of a dream traveler.

"Maybe you've forgotten, but I'll always remember this moment. It's the moment I met you, the day my sister Susanna was born."

"My golden rose has been delivered."

Happy birthday, Susanna.

Chapter 639 Elemental Chaos

The azure sky was filled with clouds as thick as snow. The wild, turbulent winds, like unruly garden fairies, tore these clouds apart. They laughed and mocked the clouds, which moved slowly like turtles trying to reassemble, before beginning their second act of devastation.

The wind here is harsh; the airspace of the Southern Wind Lord is always filled with swarms of noisy, bee-like wind elements.

Baron Garden loathed these capricious, whirlwind elementals, and their arrogant elemental lordship. The whirlwind elementals were large vortices filled with elemental power; their cores were relatively calm, while their surfaces were swirling air currents as sharp as blades. Lightning occasionally crackled between the air currents. Baron Garden knew all too well what it felt like to punch them—like being pricked by needles hidden in cotton.

Overall, the Gale Elemental is an elemental creature that can be quite irritating.

The elemental region of wind is called the Storm Sky, which occupies all the sky in the elemental world. Some floating stones, catalyzed by elemental power, float in this sky. They are carved and cut by the gale, becoming the dwelling place of the wind element.

For example, the place where Baron Gardens is now is the Temple of the South Wind on the south side of the Storm Sky. Yes, the Elemental Lord of the Gale built a temple, his own temple.

Within the sheepfold enclosed by ball lightning lies Lord Southwind's collection. Among it are precious magical scrolls and ornaments, fragments of carved figures with various patterns, and a number of abducted intelligent beings—humans, elves, and other minority races.

The wind elements love to steal or plunder; they are a group of shameless thieves who act entirely on their whims, devoid of any sense of honor. Sometimes, a tornado will suddenly appear in the material world, sweeping away humans and livestock—undoubtedly, this is exactly what these wind elements enjoy doing.

They kidnap humans for their own amusement. Their only redeeming quality is that they cherish their spoils immensely; everyone taken by the winds receives ample care, as long as the wind elementals haven't grown tired of the process.

Unpredictable nature is one of the characteristics of the gales. Their fondness for the living is often short-lived, ranging from three minutes to over a decade. When they tire of them, they throw people down, letting those who fall be torn apart by chaotic elemental currents in the gaps between elemental planes. A lucky few may survive and fall into lower elemental planes.

However, the lower elemental planes of the Southwind Lord's domain are the fiery lands, the home of the fire elementals.

The Garden Baron harbors a deep hatred for the Southwind Lord, who has a penchant for throwing things from high places; this may be the only connection between the two elemental lords.

Despite having mentally beaten up the Michelin Man-like Lord of the South Wind countless times, on the surface, Baron Garden still wore a smile and rubbed his hands together with a grin.

He's here today to discuss business.

"My esteemed Hitchur of the South Wind, what is your decision?"

The Wind Elemental Lord rotated its orb of lightning, and currents flowed between the two compressed bolts of lightning. An unpleasant, frivolous sound rang out amidst the buzzing.

"I didn't consider it. I didn't listen to you at all. You know, I've been thinking about why you visited my territory. Do you know how ridiculous you looked, so hesitant as you tapped on the elemental barrier? I recorded it with the projection crystal; it will become one of my most prized collectibles." Elemental planes provide power boosts to elemental lords, widening the power gap. In the gale, Lord Southwind possesses an unbridled ability.

Suddenly, the furious Garden Baron clenched his fist, then relaxed it.

“Hithur, my humility stems from my goodwill. If you were distracted just now, I will repeat myself. I wish to spread the faith of the Red Dragon among the wind elements, and I hope that you, as the Lord of the South Wind, will be accommodating.”

"Spreading faith? Red dragon? Who is that?"

"The resurrected dragon father's newborn cub, the red dragon Immelt who controls the power of life, if any wind elementalist is interested in her power, you can come to the Great Forge to consult me."

Lord Nanfeng's aura seemed to pause for a moment. He stretched out his arm and touched the stone pillar beside him. The stone was rubbed together, making a noisy cutting sound.

"Did I hear that right? Our Fire Elemental Lord, Baron Garden, who has been fighting amongst ourselves for years, is now submitting to a newly born dragon? And it's obvious that the power this red dragon possesses is incompatible with our Wind Elementals. Can I interpret this as a disguised territorial expansion by you Fire Elementals? You're gathering allies using a ridiculously stupid method. If the Wind Elementals worship power, why should we worship that little guy? Wouldn't it be better to worship its father, the former King of Ages? That way, we Wind Elementals wouldn't be subservient to you Fire Elementals."

Lord Hitchur of the South Wind suddenly hit the nail on the head, leaving the Garden Baron, who had been harboring righteous intentions, speechless. Persuasion failed; even after a dozen days of intensive training, the Garden Baron, who was used to letting his fists do the talking, was no match for the Wind Elemental Lord, who had been practicing fence-sitting for years.

The failure of his rhetoric forced Baron Garden to settle for second best.

"Um... all we really need is for the wind element to acknowledge the noble status of the red dragon Immelt within the wind element. After all, if you worship the Dragon Father, we will become fellow believers, and Immelt will be your close goddess. We can even act as a matchmaker for you and the Dragon Father, allowing your faith to receive greater rewards."

Lord Nanfeng's expression had completely changed, and his demeanor revealed a hint of amusement, which made Baron Garden realize his disadvantage in terms of momentum.

“You’ve changed a lot, Baron Garden. I think you’re probably not just trying to spread your faith; your true intentions aren’t in that…”

Baron Garden's heart sank. Had this seemingly insightful but shallow fool discovered something?

"What special relationship do you have with that red dragon that makes you so protective of it, even at the cost of your own interests and reputation?"

“She is my ward, like my child, my treasure. I think you can understand what I mean.”

“Ah, I understand completely. I can understand the desire to possess treasures.” For the first time, Hitchur showed an expression that pleased the Garden Baron. “But… to expand one’s network and pave the way for one’s offspring, one needs to pay the toll, Garden Baron, you understand that, right? What can you offer that will interest me?”

The wind elementals are very selective; they are profit-driven individuals who won't act until they see a tangible benefit. Baron Garden knows that they have now entered the formal negotiation stage, and everything before was just nonsense from Lord Southwind. He has no interest in the Dragon Father's faith; every wind elemental is a narcissist, believing only in themselves.

"Are you interested in the power of the Elemental Sovereign, Hitchur?"

A golden light flashed in the Wind Lord's eyes; it was an expression of interested longing.

"Elemental Lord? Oh? Did you persuade the other Flame Lords? Or are you planning to target someone else?"

Above the elemental lords are the elemental sovereigns. These are beings envisioned by the elemental lords as a higher level, the rulers of elemental power. It is deduced that at least the combined power of two elemental lords is required to create an elemental sovereign.

The cunning Lord of the South Wind naturally assumed that the Garden Baron had finally seen the light and was plotting with him to kill an Elemental Lord or even another Fire Lord.

Baron Gardens gestured for Hitchur to come closer, indicating to keep quiet.

"Yes, I plan to create an Elemental Master, and that poor guy whose power we're about to steal..."

"It's you."

The sky was ablaze, with countless fire elementals and the dwarves they carried pouring forth from the ever-opening fiery portals. The flames dyed the clouds crimson, a breathtaking spectacle of destruction.

"Liar! How dare you deceive the Lord of the South Wind in the Stormy Sky!!!"

Baron Gardens laughed heartily, and the already etched Temple of the South Wind was instantly ignited, with the winds engulfed by the intense heat.

"If I hadn't brought up cooperation and all that nonsense, would you have obediently waited for me to assemble my army, arrogant Hitchur? You deliberately banished the surrounding wind elementals and blocked intelligence here, which really did me a great favor."

"Now, my flames and my dwarf brothers!" Baron Garden pulled out a projection crystal he had prepared earlier, which was repeating the Southwind Lord's vulgar words to the red dragon Immelt. "How dare this wind elemental insult our Red Dragon Queen! How dare he turn our noble lady into a bargaining chip! Can we tolerate this!"

"cannot!!!"

"Then what should we do?"

"Beat him up!!! Burn him alive!!!"

The Garden Baron, his fist adorned with elemental rings, had just delivered a satisfying punch to Hitchur.

"Your actions will be seen as a provocation from the Blazing Lands against the Stormy Sky! Baron Garden, the fire elementals will be attacked en masse! Do you have the guts to face the counterattack from the three elemental planes?"

Baron Garden has completely unleashed his power; the fire giant, several meters tall, is clad in full elemental armor, and the flames rage ever stronger in the gale.

"Provocation? You're wrong. This isn't provocation, it's a declaration of war."

"We, the Firelords, are tired of your childish standoffs. Now, the Firelands declare war on Stormsky, Tidal Abyss, and Rock Rift. We're not just targeting the wind elementals; we're going to beat you all up."

"Let the flames burn everything! Let every elemental creature know the name of the Red Dragon!"

"For the sake of the Red Dragon Queen Immelt, we offer up a war against all elemental beings."

"This is the elemental chaos brought about by us, the followers of the red dragon."

Chapter 640 Flame Venerable

Storms and flames collided in the air, the roar of wind and fire replacing the rumble of thunder. Just as Baron Garden had said, this was the Flame Lands' declaration of war against the stormy sky; the Flame Lands portal he had painstakingly opened had taken away almost all the fire elementals that obeyed him.

Dwarves riding fire elementals sit on specially crafted saddles, wielding flaming hammers to bombard every swirling vortex or bolt of lightning in the sky. The wind elementals move with incredible speed and possess exceptional initiative within their elemental plane; often, before a dwarf can even swing his hammer, he has already been struck three times by the whirlwind's scimitars. Fortunately, speed comes at the cost of power; the wind's attacks are not particularly strong thanks to the protection of elemental armor.

The dwarf warriors were somewhat surprised, as they had experienced the power of the fire elemental's fists beforehand and assumed their opponent would be someone of the same strength.

Is this all? I feel like my emergency wind protection gear was a complete waste of time.

"Put some effort into it! You can't even blow as much as my bellows! Do you even deserve to be called elemental beings? Are you wind elementals the weakest of the four elements?!" The dwarf's verbal attacks seemed to have a miraculous effect on the wind elementals, who had a strong sense of pride. Instead of using their unpredictable, stabbing-in-the-blind-spot attacks, these rapid gusts of wind unwisely launched a continuous barrage of attacks.

Although neither the fire elementals nor the dwarves could hit the gales because their attacks were too slow, they managed to hold off the gales guardians.

The real battle takes place at the Temple of the South Wind, where the clash between the two elemental lords will determine the outcome.

Baron Garden exploited Lord Southwind's arrogance by setting up fiery runes in his palace, creating a wall of fire to restrain the raging winds. But this only prevented him from escaping; he still needed to confront Southwind Hitchur, and quickly, before the other wind lords could react.

"You'll regret facing my storm!" Hitchur roared, the swirling cyclone growing ever more blinding with lightning. The elemental lords were no fools; they understood that wind attacks were ineffective against fire, but concentrating lightning was also a strength of the wind element. The ever-changing winds granted them the swiftest attacks and the most terrifying ranged strikes; wind could face many enemies.

"Thunder! Devour my enemies!"

The lightning struck the Flame Lord's breastplate with lightning speed and precision. In a flash, the arc of electricity leaped to the nearby bookshelf, blasting the Wind Lord's collection into dust.

"Aaaaaah!!! Damn armor!!! You actually had such equipment hidden away. I should have guessed that what you were wearing was elemental gear!!" The Garden Baron visited Hitchur wearing an extremely flamboyant set of elemental gear. Since wind elementals themselves liked that kind of flamboyant and impractical clothing, they naturally assumed that the Garden Baron's attire was just for show, just like their own.

There aren't many pieces of equipment in this world that prioritize appearance and effect.

"Operations Officer! We're here to help you!!" Despite their burns, several dwarven life overseers stormed into the battle between the two elemental lords.

"Insects! Die!" The raging lightning was faster than any words. Lightning strikes have a special effect on flesh and blood creatures because their strong penetrating power can ignore armor to a certain extent. Of the five Life Overseers who landed, one of them was caught in the chain of lightning strikes because he was standing in the middle. Although he withstood the attack with his superhuman physique, white smoke was rising from his body, his eyes were completely white, and he had lost consciousness after being struck by lightning.

"careful!"

A second bolt of lightning followed closely, about to deliver the final blow to the unfortunate dwarf. Two red dragon hammers blocked the lightning, but the two warhammers themselves were deflected by the impact of the lightning and struck the wounded dwarf. The two Life Overlords were somewhat surprised that their warhammers had deviated from their trajectory; they had only intended to shield their companion from the lightning.

Lord Nanfeng's maniacal laughter quickly provided the answer.

"Hahahaha, you foolish flesh and blood creatures, are you the new pets recruited by the Flame Barbarian? Idiots, I am the embodiment of the storm! I can not only control lightning, but also trigger some magical chain reactions. You actually use iron as weapons! Fools, electromagnetic control is also one of my abilities. The weapons you use to attack me will become weapons that harm yourselves!"

The Life Overseers were collectively stunned, and the Garden Baron stood frozen in place. The dwarves' silence and astonishment greatly pleased Hitchur, whose even more rampant laughter was like a series of thunderclaps.

"Hahaha, are you scared now?!"

Another flaming red dragon hammer flew toward Lord Southwind's face; the stubborn dwarf seemed to have made another foolish attempt.

"No matter how many times you try, it's useless! I control your weapons!" With a flick of his finger, Hitchur deflected the Red Dragon Hammer and struck a dwarf on the head.

The "angry" dwarf swore.

"Holy crap! This is amazing! You don't even need to aim!!! Baron Garden, didn't you pick the perfect opponent?!" This is like a dish delivered right to your doorstep!

Southwind Hitchur did not sense the despair of the Overseer of Life.

Baron Garden scratched his head somewhat sheepishly, "I didn't know he was so weak. Since he's easy to beat, let's take him down as soon as possible!"

Flames erupted from the dwarf struck by the Hammer of Life, his injuries were fully healed, and his aura became even more vigorous.

It was Lord Nanfeng who was surprised.

"How is this possible?! Why are my attacks ineffective against you?! I clearly returned all the force I had to you!!!"

The Ten Rings on the Garden Baron's fist shone brightly as he roared and charged forward.

"This is the life force bestowed by the Red Dragon. If you had listened even a little bit more, you wouldn't have been so surprised. Arrogant Hitchur, prepare to get a beating!!!"

After about three or four rounds of brutal beatings, Hitchur finally understood the power of the Life Overseers. They could actually beat him up to heal, and the damage caused by his lightning strikes could be healed with a single blow. These annoying ants were practically immortal. Moreover, the counterattacks from his weapon could help them heal even faster, making it a classic case of shooting himself in the foot.