Volume One: The Lord’s World of Hell Difficulty Chapter 39: The Holy City of Elves

After leaving the great river and entering the sacred river of the Elven Realm, the speed of the vessel finally slowed. This was not by Chen Gu's intention; the sacred river itself flowed more gently, and he had no way to urge the ship onward any faster.

Fortunately, along this journey Chen Gu saw many undead creatures lingering on the banks, none of whom seemed inclined to enter the waters. Not to mention the legendary ghost ships—Chen Gu did not encounter a single one. Thus, he and his companions arrived safely at the sacred river.

Once in the sacred river, with the boat’s pace now slowed, Chen Gu witnessed a different scene. Many vessels of all sizes lay sunken in the river. As they passed a large stretch of rocky reefs, Chen Gu spotted a sapphire-colored elven ship wedged firmly atop one of the rocks. Though it was impossible to tell how long the ship had been stranded, its hull still gleamed vividly, clearly the flagship of an elven noble. Yet, there it remained, abandoned due to the unfortunate obstruction.

This sight compelled Chen Gu to ponder the current state of the Elven Holy City.

“A rather fine elven ship—marked it down,” he murmured.

Upon entering the sacred river, Chen Gu pulled out his map and began sketching. Every sunken vessel visible from his ship became a target for his record. They were all treasures, each brimming with timeless magical power. Boarding any one of these ships could yield countless spoils. If not for his urgent quest to reach the Holy City, he would have liked to stop and search each ship in turn.

Nevertheless, Chen Gu understood the priority of his mission; he did not halt his journey to search the wrecks. Instead, he steered clear of them, quickening his approach toward the Holy City.

His thoughts were clear. If he could take the Holy City as he had Silverpine Valley, he could later dispatch seven or eight heroes to scour these wrecks at leisure. These sunken ships had floated in the sacred river for so many years—they would not disappear simply because he ignored them. Rather, the business in the Holy City was of true importance.

Trailing behind Chen Gu’s vessel, Allen regarded Chen Gu’s ship with a strange expression. He had not anticipated that, in just two short days, Chen Gu would mature so rapidly.

At first, when Allen was still trapped within the crystal, Chen Gu had been a novice, ignorant of all things. Yet now, within mere days, Chen Gu’s command was well-formed and decisive. Most importantly, Chen Gu possessed a keen sense of direction—he knew precisely what he wanted. He was like this in Silverpine Valley, and now again upon the sacred river.

Reflecting on this, Allen finally dismissed the last traces of his own misgivings.

Just then, Allen suddenly looked up to the sky.

“My lord, wait a moment.”

Chen Gu, standing at the helm and sketching the map, heard the voice from the aft of the ship and glanced back. He found, as always, that his view was blocked by various objects.

“Slow down,” Chen Gu ordered, leaping onto the deck.

At that moment, the Mars, following behind, caught up. Allen, visibly anxious, spoke, “My lord, we cannot enter the Holy City.”

“Why? According to the map, we only need to round one more bend to reach the Elven Holy City. Why stop now?” Chen Gu was perplexed.

“My lord, look over there,” Allen said, pointing.

Chen Gu followed Allen’s gesture and saw, not far from the river bend, a beast over a hundred meters tall crouched beside the water. It appeared as if a colossal dragon were drinking from the river.

The sight startled Chen Gu, but upon closer inspection, he realized the situation was not as he had feared. The towering dragon was sculpted from stone, with river water pouring from its mouth and cascading into the sacred river.

“There are three canals in the Elven Holy City: an underground river, a city river, and an elevated aqueduct. That spot is the outlet of the elevated aqueduct.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” Chen Gu asked, bewildered.

Allen explained, “I’ve heard that the dragon by this river is a special city defense weapon. Ordinarily, for celebrations, the dragon holds its head high, and all water flowing into the sacred river is sprayed outward. When boats pass through the sacred river, the sky is filled with rainbows.”

Listening to Allen, Chen Gu could almost envision the beauty of the scene. Yet, he knew that the lovelier the spectacle, the more perilous it must be.

Indeed, Allen continued, “But when the dragon bows its head to spout water, it signals that the city defense weapon has been activated. The passage from the sacred river into the Holy City is sealed, and any ship attempting to enter will be attacked by the weapon.”

“How does it attack?” Chen Gu tensed. With a city so grand, its defensive weapon must be formidable.

“I don’t know the details. I’ve heard that the dragon’s back stores vast quantities of river water. When a ship tries to enter the city, all of it is released at once, like a flood, sweeping the vessel away.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Gu did not panic nor immediately stop the ship. Instead, he pondered carefully before finally saying to Allen, “Prepare to dock.”

“Here? My lord, we can move a bit closer and approach by land. Just because the waterway defense is active doesn’t mean the land route is. Besides, even if it is, the Holy City has been assaulted by the undead—the defensive system may be broken.”

“We dock first,” Chen Gu replied, disregarding Allen’s suggestion.

Approaching by land? With their meager forces, if the Holy City truly had been overrun by the undead, they would not even reach the city walls.

Despite Allen’s confusion, they moored their ship at the riverbank. Once ashore, Chen Gu had the Corpse Vine pull the Fire Crow up onto land.

“My lord, what are you—?”

“The Mars can move on its own. Let it advance further. I want to see how powerful that weapon is.”

Chen Gu calmly treated the Mars as a sacrificial pawn.

His intentions were clear: assess the weapon’s strength. If it proved too great, they would retreat. But if it was weaker, or could only be triggered once a day, then after the Mars activated the defense, the Fire Crow could carry them into the Holy City.

Allen could not grasp Chen Gu’s plan. But Chen Gu’s authority was undeniable now; Allen could only listen and follow orders, dragging the Fire Crow further from the river’s edge.

Meanwhile, the unmanned Mars began advancing toward the Holy City, slowly approaching the crouching stone dragon, over a hundred meters tall.