The beautiful male elf stood at the head of the boat and lightly blew on a piece of leaf.
âWhat is he doing?â Scarlet silently asked.
âNot sure, it seems like some sort of signalâ Reneedol said.
The elf put the piece of leaf down and turned around: âBeautiful ladies, I am summoning the Arbitrator team of us Jungle Elvesâ
âArbitrator? What do you mean?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
The elf gently answered: âIn the Isle of Protection, our race and the Giant race each take over half of the territory. The Giant race are responsible for the dirty species and life forms that do not have any value. Theyâve already established a refugee camp, but we Jungle Elves are not the sameââ-â
Boss suddenly spoke up:
âOh? How are you not the same?â
He slowly sat up from Reneedolâs lap.
âHow are you feeling?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Boss smiled and coolly replied: âIâm fine, I was just shaken up a bit by a distracted momentâ
The Jungle Elf looked at him and answered: âWe Elves choose only the most excellent species. Only the species with the most powerful, most talented, and have the greatest potential are welcomed in our territoryâ
âAs you are honorable warriors of the World Valley, it is natural that you should reside in our elven territoryâ
Scarlet scoffed: âI think I prefer staying in the Giantâsââ-â
Gu Qing Shan lightly patted her shoulder, gesturing her not to continue.
He smiled at the elf and asked: âAnd what does that have to do with the Arbitrator team that you mentioned earlier?â
The elf replied: âThe Arbitrator team are the most powerful group within our race, they are responsible for discerning your strength and determining your status within our territoryâ
âThe stronger, the higher the status?â Boss asked.
âIndeedââ theyâve arrived!â the elf announced.
A gate of light opened up in between them.
A group of 6-7 fully-armed Jungle Elves appeared.
âFrom the World Valley?â the leader Jungle Elf asked.
âIndeedâ the ferryman elf replied.
The leader looked at Shroud, Gu Qing Shan, then at Reneedol and Scarlet.
ââtheyâre only teenagers, barely 20 years old.
Thatâs good.
His expression became firm and stern:
âVery well, there is no issue with you entering our territory, but I must tell you ahead of time, we Jungle Elves respect the law of nature, only species that can endure careful selection would be allowed to exist as well as obtain the corresponding status and authorityâ
The leader then pointed at Reneedol first and said: âYouâve already passedâ
Reneedol asked: âHow did I already pass your test?â
The leader replied: âYour charm and elegance is unparalleled, as long as you exist in the world, you would be considered the symbol of beautyâ
Reneedol giggled and said: âIf you put it that way, my impression of you have gotten much betterâ
The leader nodded: âA young beautiful girl like yourself, even if you have no strength, could also become a female slave or something similar, a dependent of us Jungle Elvesâ
Reneedolâs smile froze.
Boss took the hand and stepped forward, shielding her behind him.
Boss asked:
âThenââ wait a moment, I want to ask how youâd arbitrate thisâ
The leader replied: âA fight. If you can receive ten attacks from any of us, youâd get the chance to temporarily remain; if you can receive twenty attacks, you would be allowed to stay permanently; if you want to obtain more privileges and right, that would depend on whether or not you can win against my menâ
âWhat about in the case of deaths?â Boss asked.
The leader coldly smirked and answered: âMy apologies, but everything is survival of the fittest in the cruel law of nature, we respect it, adhere to it, and pass it downâ
âââVery wellâ
Boss took out the Book of Prophesized Destinies and chanted an incantation.
A spear glowing in three different colors appeared in his hand.
Gu Qing Shan asked: âNeed my help?â
Boss replied: âI havenât had the chance to properly work out after arriving hereâ
An unnamed presence slowly rose from his body.
ââeven though Boss only had his teenage yearâs powers at this point in time, his experience, techniques, grasp of strength, and comprehension of spells remained the exact same as his peak.
He was the Greatest Above the Star Crown.
Gu Qing Shan took a few steps back and said: âRemember to leave the ferryman or weâre going to have to find the way ourselvesâ
âGot itâ
Boss looked at the Jungle Elves and smirked: âAll of you, at onceâ
He didnât care whether or not the other party agreed and leapt into the middle of those elves like a starving wolf.
âHow braveâ
The elven leader drew his weapon but suddenly found the world going dark.
Huh?
Whatâs going on?
The elven leader felt surprised.
A second later.
The last of his vitality left him.
All the Jungle Elf Arbitrators had disappeared from the wooden boat.
Their tattered corpses fell into the rushing river below, soaking the water red before they were quickly washed away by the flow.
The battle ended almost immediately as it began.
Boss put the spear away and turned back to look at Reneedol.
âShroud, youâve become strongerâ
Reneedol tilted her head and gently smiled at him.
Boss casually replied: âItâs nothing bigâ
His legs suddenly became like jelly as he knelt down in front of Reneedol with a âclunkâ.
The atmosphere instantly became silent.
Boss knelt on the ground motionlessly.
From the looks of it, he was surprised by this as well.
After a bit, his lips twitched before he said: âReneedol, I havenât been able to take good care of you in the past, this kneel is my apology to youâ
Reneedol tried to remain calm and said: âStand back up firstâ
âNo, I want you to forgive me before I stand upâ Boss insisted.
Gu Qing Shan looked at Boss strangely.
ââhow did the situation suddenly come to this?
Although Boss is... but he isnât quite...
âShroud, stand up already, thereâs nothing great about kneeling downâ Gu Qing Shan tried advising him.
Their gazes met.
âWhy did you do that?â Gu Qing Shan sent his voice.
Boss sent his voice in return: âI havenât gotten used to this body yet, exerted myself too much, lost strength, donât have the strength to stand back upâ
Gu Qing Shan was extremely speechless.
âââthen why not just say that you donât have the strength to stand? Arenât you taking advantage of the situation to apologize a bit too naturally?
Did you practice this before?
At this point, Reneedol walked forward to help Boss stand up, telling him sternly: âI forbid you from doing this from now on, I canât handle you like thatâ
From her expression, she seemed to be embarrassed.
Gu Qing Shan sighed, then walked to the head of the boat and patted the Jungle Elfâs shoulder, telling him: âWhat is there to watch about a loverâs quarrel, steer the boatâ
âAh, yes, yes!â the Jungle Elf hurriedly said.
Gu Qing Shan continued: âI only saw you use the technique to send one message earlierââ how would that be enough? Send a few more, better yet, call your Guardian here as well, thatâll surely be livelyâ
The Jungle Elf looked at Gu Qing Shan in surprise.
Gu Qing Shan smiled and said: âDo it, donât let me tell you againâ
A cluster of black flames manifested into a skull that silently hovered over his shoulder, staring deeply into the Jungle Elfâs eyes with its empty sockets.
The elf shivered, then hurriedly sent another message.
...
Half an hour later.
The boat came to shore.
Groups of Jungle Elves have already gathered here like they were going to face their greatest enemies.
It wasnât just the elves, but the giants were here as well.
Standing at the very front of them all was a young girl.
She was silently waiting for the boat to dock.
And thenââ
She saw that person.
Two elven generals walked forward and asked in a low voice: âVenerable Guardian, should we attack right away?â
âNoâ Little Dusk replied.
She stared closely at Gu Qing Shan with a reminiscent gaze, then quickly regained a regal expression.
âVisitors of the World Valley, why did you kill the Arbitrators of the elves?â she asked.
Boss was barely standing and wanted to talk, but Gu Qing Shan stopped him.
Gu Qing Shan replied: âWe heard that the elves respect the law of nature and that everything will adhere to âsurvival of the fittestââ
âIndeed, this is the choice and will of their race as a whole, even I cannot interfere with thatâ Little Dusk said with a troubled tone.
Gu Qing Shan clapped his hand: âWell I agree with the elves on this, I also agree that there isnât a necessity for inferior species to surviveâ
The elves appeared furious as they all drew their weapons.
Little Dusk silently continued to wait for what else he had to say.
Gu Qing Shan looked down and took out a pair of flame-colored gloves.
This was a birthday present that Banishing Sword Saint Wang Shun gifted him for his birthday.
ââthere are too many people here with unknown intentions, and he was also feeling uneasy.
So Gu Qing Shan didnât opt to use his sword right away.
He donned the gloves and warmed up his hands a little bit.
Hoh!
Two clusters of black flames manifested on his hands.
Gu Qing Shan chuckled, then said: âSo let us do this according to the Jungle Elvesâ rulesâ
âDo what?â Little Dusk asked.
âKilling them to extinctionâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
The Jungle Elves laughed.
A young man just declared to kill the entire Jungle Elf race!
He must be insane!
An Elder of the elves glared strongly at Gu Qing Shan and said: âYoung man, your life is over, we will show everyone here the outcome of those who offend our elven raceâ
Gu Qing Shan shook his head: âNo, today Iâll be showing YOU the outcome of offending the Death Godâ
Fwoom!!!
Immense black flames rose from his body all the way to the sky.
He stood still and silently shifted to a combat stance.
Samsara fist technique, [Ethereal]!