At the next moment, a phantom appeared in front of Shao Ci, and the figure of the other party was unclear. All that could be discerned was that it seemed to be a young boy, and the figure was shrouded in black mist.

"Save me."

A small voice echoed in space.

Shao Ci: "???" Huh, is the Holy Tree really asking for help?

But how should he? Should he purify the tree like purifying an ordinary person?

The next moment, this dream shattered, and Shao Ci woke up.

It seems that because it was just a dream, there was no change in the target of purification... After all, now, dealing with situations that require purification frequently changing targets would be troublesome.

【Purifying magic requires the use of your own power, the host.】 The system suddenly said. 【The more concentrated the magic on the other party, the harder it is to purify. For colossal entities like the Holy Tree, it would probably take several years to complete the purification.】

"What?!" Shao Ci was astonished. "The world would have been destroyed in so many years, right?!"

【Of course, Host, you can also choose to use the most effective method, even if the other party is enormous, it only takes one time.】

"..." Really?

The scene was too scary and Shao Ci didn't want to think about it.

"No... I think, let's see how it goes." Shao Ci sighed. Anyway, there are so many monsters in this world, there's no need to trouble himself like this.

That's how Shao Ci completely ignored the Holy Tree's request.

After having breakfast, Shao Ci came to Igleia's sleeping chamber. Since he was here for treatment, the guards let him in directly.

Inside was pitch black, with only the faint glow emitted by the minerals placed on the base. A few attendants stood guarding, and Igleia was still in deep sleep.

Considering he had been constantly invaded by magic, his body should be exhausted. It wasn't easy for him to be so energetic and troublesome regularly.

Shao Ci walked to the bed and was about to tell Igleia to wake up, but the latter's pale and slender fingers grabbed his wrist.

Seemingly having a nightmare, Igleia's beautiful and pale face showed a slightly painful expression. In the dim light filtering through the curtain, it looked obscure and unclear. He held Shao Ci's wrist with considerable force.

"Ugh..." Shao Ci instinctively made a sound and then leaned over, "Are you okay? It's time to get up now—hey, hey?!"

In that moment, Igleia seemed a bit impatient, furrowed his brows, and then reached out, embracing Shao Ci's neck, directly pulling him into his arms.

Fortunately, the heavy and overlapping curtains shielded the attendants outside from their sight. Otherwise, Shao Ci thought Igleia would be angry when he woke up.

Struggling to break free from his embrace, Shao Ci didn't dare to say much, afraid of being misunderstood by those outside. He could only whisper, "Um, can you let go of me..."

He kind of regretted coming to wake up Igleia for no reason; that's probably why the attendants around the bed kept their distance.

Igleia finally seemed to hear him. He loosened his grip on Shao Ci's hand, who breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking of standing up, the next moment, he was abruptly pushed down on the bed, and a kiss descended.

Shao Ci: "!!!" What the heck!

Although Shao Ci was accustomed to kissing others forcibly all day, being on the receiving end was a different story!

Shao Ci was dumbfounded, and the next moment, Igleia opened his emerald-green eyes. He still seemed not completely awake, with a somewhat hazy color in his beautiful eyes.

After realizing what the two were doing, a blush immediately appeared on Igleia's pale cheeks. He raised his head abruptly, "Shameless human, how dare you do such a thing?"

"..." Shao Ci was innocent! "Your Majesty, can you take a look at the current situation? I... I didn't.."

"What?" Igleia was stunned for a moment, then finally fully awakened. He recalled that he was too tired earlier, didn't want to get up, and this human had been saying something. So he subconsciously tried to shut the other up by doing that.

"Damn it." Igleia didn't know if he was angry with himself or with this human, and Shao Ci still wore an innocent wide eyed look. Igleia glared at Shao Ci fiercely, "Get out quickly."

If Shao Ci weren't afraid of making the other angry, he would have left long ago. Now, he quickly retreated.

Completely composed, Igleia's heart was once again filled with a wave of displeasure, as if he felt disliked or rejected by someone.

Just a human, why should he be rejected? Is it a loss to be kissed by him? It should be a delightful experience. What's with this attitude?

In a way, the Dark Elf Guardian's speculations about the psychological activities of his king, whom he is loyal to, were quite accurate.

As Shao Ci swiftly retreated, finally relaxing his body, he stepped back and unexpectedly bumped into someone.

Startled, Shao Ci turned to see the person behind him, only to find that it was the Dark Elf Captain who had silently appeared behind him.

After all, the Dark Elf captain was also a Dark Elf, exceptionally handsome, with seemingly straightforward character and minimal speech. At this moment, he was staring directly at Shao Ci with his pitch-black eyes. The expression was quite subtle.

Shao Ci suddenly felt uneasy. He remembered being deceived by this seemingly honest Dark Elf Captain yesterday. Now, was he trying to exploit the situation again?

Then, the Dark Elf Captain spoke, "I think the king likes you."

Shao Ci: "???" Is that why you came over?

"The king has an extreme aversion to humans. Almost every ordinary human can be sensed by him from a distance due to their aura," the Dark Elf Guardian explained. "However, the king trusts you deeply. Even when you approached closely, he didn't wake up due to his trust."

"Is that so..." Shao Ci couldn't see that at all!

Maybe it's because Igleia is tsundere... although his arrogance is obviously much greater than his tenderness!

This Dark Elf Guardian is indeed loyal. He even explained on behalf of Igleia. Shao Ci doubted whether he misunderstood him yesterday.

When Igleia finally calmed down, he arrogantly instructed Shao Ci to come feed him breakfast.

Perhaps fearing that Shao Ci would repeat yesterday's actions, he behaved quite obediently while eating, making it much easier for Shao Ci.

Afterward, it was time for purification. Igleia dismissed all the maids, and his expression became stiffer than before.

Shao Ci hadn't fully regained his composure yet when Igleia seemed displeased again.

Realizing this, Igleia seemed to have endured for a long time, looking embarrassed as he said, "Do you want me to call you over for purification?"

"I'll be right there!" Shao Ci quickly stood up and walked briskly to him.

Originally, this was just for purification, not involving anything else. Just comparing it to the first time purifying a Siren would be enough... at least that's what Shao Ci thought.

However, things couldn't go as smoothly as Shao Ci imagined. Although Igleia tried hard to appear calm and composed, his pale cheeks were faintly blushing. He tightly gripped the quilt with his slender fingers, and his eyes awkwardly looked aside.

This behavior made Shao Ci feel ashamed!

Thinking about it, Shao Ci thought yuyens was quite impressive because yuyens always seemed indifferent, making intimate moments feel fine.

However, Shao Ci had done this many times before. After a brief contemplation, he gathered courage and approached.

"Aren't you supposed to close your eyes?" Igleia suddenly gritted his teeth.

"Ah? Oh, um..." Shao Ci quickly closed his eyes and then leaned down for a kiss.

In this way, the two spent the whole day on the bed (with nothing disharmonious happening!).

When Shao Ci came out, his lips were swollen. Along the way, he received many strange looks from passing dark elves.

Shao Ci: "..." Ah ah ah! It was supposed to be like with the Siren, kissing once or twice a day was fine!

It turns out that Igleia heard that prolonging the time of kissing could speed up the purification. He actually teased him like this!

However, the effect was quite significant, and it was estimated that it would be over in just over ten days.

Of course, before that, Shao Ci felt that he had to find a way to reduce the swelling.

Later, the Dark Elf Captain found Shao Ci. Before speaking, his gaze lingered on Shao Ci's lips for a moment. Thinking that the king was rough, he said, "The human mercenary group has returned, but they said that your subordinate is missing."

"He probably went back on his own." Shao Ci said.

"Since you're not worried, that's enough." The Dark Elf Captain said, "Anyway, during this time, I hope you will focus all your energy on purifying the king."

"Of course, I will!" Shao Ci felt that he had worked hard enough.

After bidding farewell to the Dark Elf Captain, Shao Ci returned to the room and knocked on the table. "Come out."

The next moment, a gorgeously dressed young man with a black cloak appeared. He was lazily leaning on a chair, his clothes were loose, revealing fair collarbones. Yuyens raised his eyebrows, and his ruby-like eyes looked at Shao Ci, speaking in a deliberately drawn-out tone, "Brave Sir, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The Dark Elf King's chamber had set up a special magic array, so Yuyens couldn't enter and could only wait for Shao Ci to come back.

"Are you okay?" Shao Ci completely ignored his deliberately tempting posture, sat on the other side, and drank dark elf specialty juice, "Won't you be discovered by the dark elves?"

"Oh?" Yuyens smiled slightly, "These dark elves would need a few hundred years to discover me."

"That's good." Shao Ci nodded. When he thought about it, nightmares, as non-substantial entities, would indeed be challenging to deal with unless they deliberately exposed their weaknesses for others to exploit.

"However, Brave Sir, I'm curious." Yuyens stood up, approached Shao Ci, and hugged his neck intimately, speaking affectionately into his ear, "What happened last night? I couldn't enter Brave Sir's dreams... Did you sleep with the Dark Elf King?" Towards the end, his eyes also took on a dark shade.

"How is that possible!" Shao Ci's cup nearly dropped from his hand. "We just have a mutually beneficial relationship. It's impossible for us to do that kind of thing. What are you thinking, hey!"

"That's great then." Yvaine looked relieved. "I don't want to have a love rival after being apart from Brave Sir for just one day."

"Yesterday, I dreamt of strange things." Shao Ci explained, "It seems the consciousness of the Sacred Tree was calling me."

"Oh?" Yvaine reached out, tousling Shao Ci's hair and gave a gentle kiss near his lips. "Does it want Brave Sir to purify the dark magic on its body too?"

"Uh..." Shao Ci unconsciously made a sound of agreement. Then, he suddenly realized and turned to Yvaine in astonishment. "Wait, you, do you know about my ability to purify magical creatures?"

"I certainly do." Yvaine smiled slightly. "After all, Brave Sir once purified me, didn't you?"

He was well aware of what happened to himself.

"Well..." Shao Ci started, "But whether you're purified or not doesn't seem to make much difference."

"Yes, no matter what, I am the most loyal to the Brave Sir." Yvaine looked directly at Shao Ci, whispering, "I am willing to do anything for Brave Sir to be happy."

"Don't joke like that." Shao Ci felt goosebumps rising on his body after hearing those words. Even someone as enthusiastic about mischief as Yuyens saying this made him feel embarrassed.

"Brave Sir, just consider it a joke from me." Yvaine laughed lightly, leaning closer and using his fingers to press against Shao Ci's lips.

Suddenly, Shao Ci felt a tingling sensation. He remembered his swollen lips from kissing Igleia for a long time. His cheeks blushed with embarrassment, and he turned his head, saying, "W-what are you doing? Anyway, you know how I purify others. It's quite normal..."

Ah, yes, very normal. Yuyens thought so, but it was quite eye-catching.

"Let me treat Brave Sir?" Yuyens said. Without waiting for Shao Ci's response, he lowered his head and kissed him. His tongue directly entered Shao Ci's mouth, exploring every corner as if a storm was licking over every inch.

After who knew how long, this kiss finally stopped. Shao Ci, leaning on the table, panted heavily. He gritted his teeth and looked at the culprit on the side, only to find that he had disappeared.

"Damn it!" Shao Ci slammed the table, but whether it was an illusion or not, it seemed that his lips felt a bit better.

Maybe knowing he had done something wrong, the nightmare did not come to disturb Shao Ci that night. Also, the so-called Sacred Tree did not appear. Shao Ci had a rare good dream that night.

Several days passed smoothly. Regarding how to smoothly reduce the swelling – Shao Ci finally remembered that he still had a healing ability.

And over these days, Shao Ci finally confirmed it – Igleia was indeed a tsundere!

In any case, although Igleia always had a high and proud attitude and easily said things like "you filthy shameless people," he suddenly remembered that he had healing powers.

"'Humans are nothing but trash in this world; I wouldn't have any contact with them if it weren't for purification.' That's the kind of talk he spouts."

In reality, Igleia treated Shao Ci quite well, agreeing to almost any request. Despite his contradictory words and actions, if Shao Ci pretended to be upset, Igleia would awkwardly comfort him with strange words – although it's doubtful that anyone could be comforted by such words.

So, one day, seeing Igleia in a good mood, Shao Ci tentatively inquired about the Sacred Tree.

Even though Shao Ci had decided to ignore the Sacred Tree, he felt it might be related to the main plot, so it was better to ask.

"Why do you ask about this?" Igleia coldly looked at him. "This is a secret of the Dark Elf tribe. Do you think I would casually tell you?" Without waiting for Shao Ci to speak, he coldly snorted, "But since you're begging me like this, I'll reluctantly tell you."

Shao Ci: "! I didn't beg at all! And you're revealing the Dark Elves' secrets so casually."

"The Sacred Tree is the soul of the God of Life split in half," Igleia explained. "Our Dark Elf tribe has one, and the Elf tribe has another."

"Okay." Shao Ci nodded; he already knew about this.

Unlike the Dark Elves, ordinary Elves lived in a distant forest, relatively unaffected by the dark magic, leading a secluded life. There wasn't much information about them in the original text.

The rest was a bunch of information about the Sacred Tree, similar to what Shao Ci already knew.

The only new information was that the Sacred Tree could resist dark magic, protecting the Dark Elves. It was because of this that the Dark Elves had not been completely infected for a hundred years. However, in recent decades, it seemed the power of the Sacred Tree had depleted, and it could only maintain basic strength, unable to resist the invasion of dark magic.

Now, the Dark Elves were desperately sustaining the life of the Sacred Tree. Still, the effect was not apparent. Even the Dark Elf King had been infected by dark magic.

Shao Ci: "..." The Sacred Tree also had a hard time.

The following days went quite smoothly, and soon, most of the dark magic on Igleia had been purified (the cost being that Shao Ci, who spent the whole day looking at that face, had become completely numb to Igleia's beauty). Now he looked quite normal, and finally, he could leave the room to deal with the long-overdue official business.

Feeling that the time was right, Shao Ci made his request, wanting a Sacred Tree seed.

Igleia, who was busy with official matters, paused at the request, looked up at him, and said, "It's not impossible, but you have to wait until the purification is complete."

Shao Ci quickly said, "I don't need it right away. I just mentioned it... By the way, if you don't mind, I can also go outside to purify the dark magic for other Dark Elves."

Seeing those Dark Elves tortured by dark magic these days, Shao Ci felt a bit unbearable. Purifying dark magic wasn't much of a burden for him.

"This..." Igleia's expression suddenly darkened. "How can you do such a thing!"

"What's wrong with it?" Shao Ci felt he said something normal!

"You did such a thing to me, but thinking of doing that to others too?" Igleia gritted his teeth. The Dark Elf guards who heard this sentence pretended as if they hadn't heard it, each staring at the ground. It had been so long, and they still didn't know what Shao Ci and Igleia were usually doing, which was strange.

"..." Shao Ci's face turned green. He said, "No! Your Majesty, did you forget? I only need to touch the body during purification!”

It dawned on Igleia that he might have misunderstood something. His expression softened, and he coldly snorted, "Go ahead and do it if you want. I allow you."

Once Shao Ci left, Igleia's expression darkened.

"King," the Dark Elf Chief Guard beside him immediately said, "The situation is improving, why are you worried?"

"I don't know." Igleia, somewhat puzzled, covered his forehead with his hand. "I just don't want this human to leave. I want him to stay here."

"Because you appreciate his purification abilities?"

"Is that so..." Igleia whispered, "If it's only that. But I find myself thinking about things I shouldn't."

Yes, unknowingly, Igleia realized he had developed unprecedented feelings for this human.

And obviously, the feeling wasn't mutual.

This was what frustrated Igleia the most. As the Dark Elf King, wasn't his charm enough to captivate a human?

Of course, in front of Shao Ci, Igleia remained cold and distant, absolutely unwilling to show any signs of caring. But when Shao Ci wasn't around, he couldn't control himself.

"That's how it is." The Dark Elf Captain nodded. He had long noticed that Igleia's attitude toward this human was unusual. The progression of events was predetermined, "So, King, actually... we can use a method to make him stay."

"You're right!" Igleia's eyes suddenly lit up.

Author's Note: Ah, I guess everyone has noticed... Anyway, I just really like yuyens.【