Elven Legacy (Part 2)

Chapter 399: Mortal Punishment

Opening my eyes, the sun's rays pierced the thick canopy of trees and illuminated my body, causing me to reflexively raise my hand, blocking the sun's intense light as I slowly stood from the dirt ground.

'Weird, that's never happened before; well, I suppose an illusion can make anything happen.' Thought Elif lightly as he glanced at the sky, only to suddenly shiver as a gust of wind hit his delicate body.

Shivering from the cold, I glanced down at my body, curious as to why I felt a cold draft, only to see I wasn't wearing any clothes, which was a first; I'd never been naked while just out in the forest.

"Weird things are happening." Muttered Elif softly as he raised his head and observed his surroundings, seemingly looking for something.

Not seeing Illumia anywhere in sight, I attempted to use my divine sense, yet, let alone divine sense, I had no Qi in my body whatsoever.

'No, Qi isn't the problem; I don't have a lick of cultivation; I'm pure mortal right now.' Thought Elif lightly as he clicked his tongue while opening his eyes, prompting him to sit down cross-legged, entering meditation.

Chanting the Elven Royal Cultivation Manual within myself, I attempted to draw in the Qi of the world into me, and since this was far from my first time doing this, it should've been easy, akin to breathing; however, even after ten minutes, not even a particle of Qi had drifted near me, let alone enter my body.

Having concluded that either the area I'm in lacks Qi or the Illusion I'm in takes away the ability to use Qi altogether as if it had never existed in the first place, I stood up and stopped wasting my time with cultivation and intended to find Illumia.

'It's probably the latter; if it were the former, I should still have my cultivation at the least, yet even that's been taken away from me.' Thought Elif softly as he gracefully walked in a random direction with his hands clasped behind his back.

While walking through the forest, searching for Illumia, I also noticed the abundance of beasts. Most were prey and tended to peacefully coexist with me as I passed them; however, I would occasionally spot a lurking predator in the distance, eyeing a prey to hunt.

"What are you doing, little fox? Do I look like something you could possibly hunt? Even without my Qi, I could still easily kill you; it would merely be far more bloody and brutal, and since I don't wish to get my hands dirty, move along." Remarked Elif lightly as he fearlessly stared at the bluish-white fox standing opposite of him before shaking his head and continuing past.

Ignoring the fox that scurried off in a different direction, I continued walking through the forest, coming across various beasts, yet not an inkling of Illumia, only to suddenly stop when I spotted a unique marking on a tree in the far left.

"Hmm, now that doesn't look like something a beast would do, and any beast that tall wouldn't leave such a shallow cut in the tree." Muttered Elif lightly as he approached the tree, which had a star marking around his neck level, causing him to raise an eyebrow before faintly nodding.

"Ho, I should've been doing that instead of enjoying the scenery; I suppose Illumia hasn't been alive for billions of years for nothing." Said Elif softly with a faint chuckle as he eyed the star marking before searching the surrounding forest.

Looking for another tree with the same marking, I spotted one far off in the distance, causing me to smirk as I skipped through the forest, reaching the next tree within only a few moments. Once I reached the tree, I didn't bother stopping as I had already spotted the next tree, which had a marking; this cycle continued for some time, and after several minutes, I eventually spotted the long, lustrous black hair of Illumia as she walked through the forest, and from her beautiful bubble butt, she too was also naked.