Standing on any street in Greenway, even in the deepest and most cramped place, as long as one looked up towards the edge of the city towards the Black Forest, one would be able to see that glowing green.
And that was the enchanted wall known as the 'Greenwood Barrier', using the greyish-white obliques unique to the southern border of the empire as its foundation, and embedded with thirty thousand runic bricks made by the elven craftsmen, it was a miracle of engineering that protected the city from being consumed by the forest, and it formed a unique and repellent life cycle to ensure that Greenway's land was completely isolated from the land of the Black Forest, and such a spectacle was Greenway's most unique sight.
Hao Ren and the rest who were here for the first time were of course attracted by the magnificent wall that could be seen from anywhere, and as they listened to Awenna's description of the city and the Black Forest, their curiosity was piqued.
"The Black Forest is one of the biggest mysteries in the Dragon Empire, and even the scholars of the empire could not explain this vast forest. No one knows when this forest that is the size of several provinces was formed, but ever since the empire expanded its borders to the south, it has been here." Awenna looked at the scenery outside as she explained, "The life force of this forest has even confused the elves who call themselves the children of the forest. Be it cutting down or burning, the Black Forest would recover in a matter of days, and sometimes when you cut down a tree, it would even start to sprout and regenerate right under your nose, and the deeper you go into the forest, the more obvious the life force becomes …"
As she said that, Awenna paused for a moment as she pointed at the city in the distance, "You see this city? Greenway, it used to be a part of the Black Forest, but because it was at the edge, the life cycle was weaker, and the empire spent a great deal of effort to isolate and stabilize it, but if you go deeper, even the elven runic bricks would not be able to stop the forest's invasion and retaliation. "
Charlemagne added, "That is why the empire gave up on the development of this forest. The forest is like a stubborn dragon, guarding its territory. Humans have spent generations and countless resources, but they could only get a little dust from under its claws. It is not worth it."
Vivian laughed. "It seems like the Emperor who possesses the Dragon Soul has given in to the Forest Dragon."
On the other hand, the first thing that came to Hao Ren's mind when he heard the description was — the First Born.
The epic creatures living inside the planet would occasionally poke their tentacles out of the surface, and when they did so, they would transform their tentacles into something like a forest or giant tree for camouflage. The plants that evolved from the tentacles of the First Born had similar super vitality. The most obvious example was the Gnarled Grove in Holletta.
But this was L 'Haronne, a place far away from the Plane of Dreams. There could not be any First Borns here. Nolan's planetary scan had confirmed this.
Then the strange life force of the Black Pine Forest was a little interesting.
"Speaking of which, if the life force of the Black Pine Forest is so strong, why hasn't it covered the entire empire after so many years?" Lily asked curiously. "And I saw the Greenwood Barrier just now, it only blocked this part of Greenway, and the forest did not spread out where there was no barrier."
"That is the second incredible thing about the Black Forest," Awenna smiled lightly, she seemed to be very happy to introduce these things to others, if not for the fact that she was born a princess, she would have been a five-star tour guide, "The Black Forest has a strong life force, if a part of it is destroyed, it will quickly recover, but other than that, it will not expand at all, its area is fixed, and no matter how the weather and geology changed over the millennia, it did not expand or shrink. Of course, the few settlements that the empire built at the edge of the forest are the only 'defects' of the forest, but compared to the entire forest, these defects are insignificant, and not even a thousandth of its total area. "
"The so-called expansion of the forest is just what the people of Greenway said, the land that they occupy belongs to the forest." Charlemagne shook his head, as if he was disdainful of the locals on this point.
"Neither expand nor shrink huh …" Hao Ren rubbed his chin as he pondered.
"I really don't know how the 'Basilica of the World Tree' lives, it's so cut off from the world that you don't even know about the famous Black Pine Forest." Awenna shook her head and sighed, "When I first heard your name, I thought you were hiding in the Black Pine Forest, since the name of your Basilica seems to be related to the legend of the Black Pine Forest."
Lily's curiosity was piqued again, "The legend of the Black Pine Forest? Tell me, tell me … "
"It's all nonsense made up by adventurers and third-rate scholars." Charlemagne waved his hand in disdain, he who had received an orthodox education from the royal family may know about these rumors, but he had never believed them. "The abnormal vitality of the forest cannot be explained with common sense, so many people made wild guesses. One said that there is a 'World Spring' in the center of the forest, and that spring is the origin of all life in the world, and its power spread out to form the Black Pine Forest. It's said that drinking a mouthful of water from the World Spring would grant one immortality. So, there's an accompanying legend, which is that His Majesty Berentine isn't a dragon soul, but he became immortal after drinking the water from the World Spring. "
"There is also a legend that there is a temple in the Black Pine Forest called the Holy Temple of Life, and the content is similar to the World Spring, but it is said that one needs to pray in the Holy Temple of Life for a night to become immortal." Awenna smiled, "But everyone thinks that praying in the temple is more troublesome than drinking a mouthful of water, so most people think that the World Spring is more reliable."
Hao Ren facepalmed, "Just based on that last sentence, I don't think either of them is reliable …"
"Anyway, they are all legends, and neither of them can be trusted." Charlemagne snorted, "While the Black Pine Forest is dangerous, it is not impossible to pass through, and after so many generations of hard work, the Empire had already found a few more stable paths in the Black Pine Forest, and occasionally there would be brave adventurers who went to explore the unexplored parts of the Black Pine Forest, and many came back alive, but no one had ever found the Spring of Life or the temple. Other than that, there are many airships that fly over the Black Pine Forest on a regular basis, and the forest is clear from above, there is no temple or spring. "
Hao Ren was curious about how they were going to pass through the forest if the Black Pine Forest was so mysterious, and now that Charlemagne mentioned the paths in the forest, he finally understood, but he was curious, "There are paths in the forest? Didn't they say that the deeper you go into the forest, the stronger the life force, and the traces left by humans would be wiped out in an instant? "
"Those roads are not man-made. They were originally in the forest," Awenna explained. "This is also an unsolved mystery. The roads have obvious traces of artificial construction. They are paved with stone slabs, and there are lights on both sides of the road. There are even stone houses on both sides of the road, but those are things that existed before the Empire discovered the forest. Some people guessed that those were relics from the previous era, but this guess is even more unreliable than the Spring of Life … and there is no way to explain why the paths were not devoured by the forest … "
Hao Ren and Vivian looked at each other.
This theory … might be the most reliable one.
"There is no end to the story of the Black Pine Forest." Charlemagne noticed that the caravan was approaching the Greenwood Barrier, and was about to end the conversation, "There are many forks in the Black Pine Forest, and I have already planned out the best route to the north, if you are really that curious about the forest, then wait until you get in there and see for yourself."
While Greenway was a wonderful city worth visiting, the group did not stay here for long, and the caravan went straight through the main road in the center of the city, and after going through the paperwork, they headed straight for the northern exit of the city.
In that direction, the majestic Greenwood Barrier kept the forest out, and at the bottom of the wall were twelve grand doors, these doors were clearly elven in style, and the tall and elegant doors were engraved with the glorious deeds of elven craftsmen and humans working together to build this miraculous city. Now, the first human pioneers of the city had died many years ago, but the elves who engraved the 'Oath on the Door' were still working for the city, and their main task was to monitor the changes in the Black Pine Forest on the other side of the wall, as well as to guard the doors with the human soldiers.
With a lifespan of a thousand years, the elves were very loyal.
These elegant creatures with pointy ears were scattered all over the world, and it was said that they had once built a powerful dynasty, but now the ancient elven empire had become a legend, and other than a few small kingdoms that continued to live in seclusion in the forest, most of the elves had already integrated into the human kingdoms, and the elves of the Dragon Empire were the most integrated. Probably because the empire had an immortal emperor who could understand the thoughts and habits of the elves with a longer lifespan, the elves in the Dragon Empire were living quite well.
There were very few people queuing up to enter the Black Pine Forest, and out of the twelve doors, only three were opened. It seems that while the Black Pine Forest was rich in resources, the mystery and danger of the forest still kept many from entering.
There were basically only three types of people who dared to enter the forest, the first were the locals of Greenway, they were familiar with the forest's edge, and relied on certain fixed areas to mine ores or rare herbs for a living; the second were the experienced adventurers, they would go deeper into the forest, and follow the existing paths in the Black Pine Forest to look for beast nests and magical gathering spots, they would not stray too far from the forest paths, but they would still be able to hunt a lot of rare prey, and a successful adventure would bring back enough wealth for everyone to squander for half a year; the third were the travelers or merchants, they would use the forest paths as a shortcut to head north or west, and the main reason for this was to save on the expensive airship fare, as unless they were unlucky enough to encounter a magical migration, it was safer to follow the forest paths.
The merchant group that Hao Ren and his group were disguised as used the third reason to get the permit to enter the Black Pine Forest.
As there were not many people queuing up, the caravan quickly approached the towering gate, and Hao Ren saw the imperial soldiers in black light armor standing in front of the gate, as well as the elven rangers in green ranger jackets, but the most eye-catching among the guards were the Ebon Blade knights in heavy armor with black mechanical swords slung at their waists.
As it was an important town in the south, it was expected that the Ebon Blade knights would personally guard the gate.
There would not be too many guards boarding the caravan, and if there was any trouble, he could get Rheia to use the same tactic to get the guards to let them pass, so Hao Ren was not nervous at all, and just stood in front of the window curiously looking at the scenery outside.
His gaze was suddenly attracted by a few imperial officials who were in a hurry.
The imperial officials were walking past the sentry post in the distance, and they looked to be military officers, and from the way the nearby soldiers saluted them, they were of high status.
These usually calm and proud imperial officials now looked worried, and as they hurried past the sentry post, they seemed to be in a heated discussion as if something urgent had happened. Seeing this, Hao Ren could not help but try to listen to their conversation.
But just as he was about to do so, Lily who was sitting further inside the carriage had already repeated what she heard, "We have lost contact with the Ebon Blade knights sent to Graymountain … Count Naaem has refused to respond to the conscription order from the imperial capital … We can confirm that Graymountain is on the side of the princess … The signal of war … That's about it."
Charlemagne and Awenna looked at Lily in shock, and did not know what she meant. They did not notice the imperial officials outside, and it was impossible for them to hear the whispers from afar.
"Looks like the civil war has finally spread to the south," Hao Ren explained softly, "Lily heard the imperial officials talking, and just as you expected, Count Naaem of Graymountain supports Princess Constance, and he might have even killed the Ebon Blade knights who were sent to Graymountain for negotiation."
"Hiss …" Charlemagne subconsciously sucked in a breath, he did not expect the situation to change so quickly, and his next action was to look at the Greenwood Gate that was just a few feet away. The caravan was already being inspected, and it would only take a minute or two for the three caravans to pass through the gate and into the Black Forest.
But there was a sudden throbbing in his heart, and the gate that was right in front of him seemed to be moving further and further away from him. He felt that a crisis had quietly descended, and the smooth journey so far seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Hao Ren had also noticed the change in the prince, and his intuition was far stronger and more accurate than the mortal Charlemagne's, and a cold feeling made him immediately pull open the cover at the back of the carriage, and looked in the direction they came from.
A group of Ebon Blade knights in black armor were galloping towards them on horseback.
And the imperial soldiers guarding the Greenwood Gate had already inspected the caravan, and with the accompaniment of two soldiers, a tall Ebon Blade knight entered the carriage, and from the black helmet, a pair of cold eyes scanned everything in the carriage.
The people near the gate, including the soldiers and civilians waiting to pass through, could not help but look at the seemingly ordinary caravan. To be more precise, their gazes were attracted by the ten Ebon Blade knights who were galloping towards them, and they immediately noticed their target.
One of the knights charged forward, as two red dots appeared under his helmet, and he pulled out the black chainsword by his waist. The blade vibrated at high speed, emitting heat that could melt steel, and a low, hoarse roar came from within the helmet, "Stop the three caravans! Kill everyone in the caravan! "
In the carriage, the Ebon Blade knight who was performing his inspection suddenly froze, and the eye sockets on his visor glowed red as if they were on fire. A strong hostility and murderous aura emanated from him.
Rheia, who was pretending to be asleep, suddenly opened her eyes and stared at the two red dots on the knight's helmet. "Let them through!"
The Ebon Blade knight in the carriage trembled violently, and he tried to use his willpower to resist the sudden power, but in less than a second of resistance, a dying voice came from under his helmet, "Let them through …"
The soldier beside the knight had already noticed the strange situation, and immediately asked, "My Lord?"
The roar from outside the carriage became clearer, "… Kill everyone in the caravan!"
The Ebon Blade knight who was struggling under Rheia's control seemed to gain boundless mental strength when he heard the voice, and after a spasm of violent convulsions, he forcefully placed his hand on the chainsword by his waist again, and with a hum of magical activation, he pulled out his sword and roared as he pounced at Hao Ren and the rest, "Execute … command!"
The two imperial soldiers who were already in the carriage reacted less than half a second later, and after the knight attacked, they immediately raised their weapons and pounced forward!
Charlemagne blocked Awenna with one hand, and the other was already holding the sword by his waist. "Back off, I …"
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and facing the sudden loss of control, Rheia could only let out a soft sigh. "Sigh …"
As she sighed, all the weapons pointed at her, including the black chainsword and the two imperial longswords, turned to dust.
The Ebon Blade knight fell to the ground, and one of the imperial soldiers was blasted out of the carriage by Vivian's lightning ball, while the other was knocked down by Lily and thrown out of the carriage after breaking a few of his bones.
Hao Ren slapped the rear guard of the carriage. "Charge!"
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