Lich Rebirth?

Rumors whispered that a lich's rebirth required an immense amount of life energy. Once successful, they could achieve immortality. Although undead were often called immortal beings, they had a lifespan limit. If an undead was sealed off from the outside world, its soul fire would gradually extinguish, and its body would decay over time, eventually turning to dust. But a lich was different. A lich had evolved an eternal substance akin to that of gods. Even if sealed for millennia, a lich's body remained alive.

Life Water was the perfect catalyst for a lich's rebirth. However, it was unavailable in the market. Nonetheless, diluted Elven Spring Water also contained life energy. Typically, the life energy in three to four hundred bottles of intermediate Elven Spring Water equaled that of one bottle of genuine Life Water.

Upon hearing the elven mayor's analysis, Ayla and Amy immediately suspected that a death mage was trying to transform into a lich or that a lich was attempting to revive and regain power. Coupled with the rapidly expanding undead plague in the Karar Desert, this seemed even more likely. After all, undead plagues were often the work of liches or death mages. If it was the latter, it was still manageable. But if it was the former, the situation would be dire.

The elven mayor said, "Our speculation might not be accurate. Perhaps these people are buying up the Elven Spring Water simply for profit. Once the major forces go to war with the undead army, the price of Elven Spring Water will surely rise."

Ayla and Amy fell silent. This seemed almost impossible. What faction would use dragon corpses to trade for Elven Spring Water just for profit? That was absurd.

Ayla suggested, "Mayor, it might be best to capture those people for a thorough interrogation."

The elven mayor shook her head. "We captured three, but they all committed suicide, and their souls were destroyed by some dark magic, leaving no trace of information."

Ayla pondered for a moment and said, "We could approach the Crystal Merchant Guild for more information."

The elven mayor replied, "We've already investigated. The Crystal Merchant Guild is not at fault. Their president, Sophia, only conducts business and didn't inquire about her mysterious client's details during the dragon corpse transaction."

Ayla asked, "If we confirm that this mysterious force is using Elven Spring Water to aid in a lich's rebirth, can we stop the Crystal Merchant Guild from selling it?"

The elven mayor shook her head again. "It's just a suspicion without concrete evidence. Forcing the Crystal Merchant Guild to stop selling Elven Spring Water would damage Forest City's long-standing reputation and offend the Golden Oasis."

"You're right," Ayla sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "We'll investigate those mysterious individuals' identities in the next couple of days, then go to the Golden Oasis to negotiate with the human lord."

"That's our best option," the elven mayor agreed, nodding.

At that moment, the expression on the elven mayor's beautiful face suddenly changed.

"What's wrong?" Ayla asked.

The elven mayor stood up abruptly. "A mysterious person has entered the Crystal Merchant Guild!"

Ayla urged, "What are we waiting for? We need to capture him. Even if we can't get information from him, we can't let him leave with even a single bottle of Elven Spring Water!"

The elven mayor shared the same thought. Without hesitation, the three elven saints flew towards the Crystal Merchant Guild at their fastest speed.

---

Meanwhile, Sophia waited in the guild's hall. Soon, a masked man walked in. It had only been a few days, and he still wore the same outfit as in the bounty hunter tavern, the same mask on his face.

Sophia greeted him with a slight smile. "You seem to be in a hurry?"

The masked man's voice was low and grave. "Miss President, you must know by now that the elves in Forest City are hunting my companions. I suspect I'm being watched too."

Sophia nodded slightly. The masked man and his group had been frantically buying goods in the market. This time, he had contacted her in advance to trade for Elven Spring Water—1,500 bottles of intermediate Elven Spring Water for a dragon corpse, 300 bottles less than the last time.

"Miss President, do you have the Elven Spring Water ready?" he asked.

"Of course," Sophia replied, waving her hand to produce a gray space pouch. "Fifteen thousand bottles of Elven Spring Water are all here."

The masked man quickly scanned the pouch with his mental power. Satisfied, he handed over a space ring. Sophia glanced inside and saw ten enormous dragon corpses neatly arranged. The transaction was quickly completed.

"Thank you, Miss President!" The masked man took the space pouch and swallowed it whole, startling Sophia.

"What are you doing?" she asked, bewildered.

"Just a precaution," he replied with a smile.

No sooner had he spoken than a beam of sword light, like an aurora, slashed through the air, cutting the masked man in two. Three figures appeared in the hall: the elven mayor and the two sisters, Ayla and Amy.

Sophia stood frozen, staring at the trio, then at the bisected corpse on the floor. Her delicate face turned pale. The arrival of three powerful elves, and the instant slaying of her business partner right in front of her, filled her with dread. She feared the next sword would be aimed at her.

At that moment, something bizarre happened. The two halves of the corpse began to reassemble, and the masked man stood up again, alive.

"Good thing I was prepared!" he sneered at the elven trio before his body vanished like a bubble. Before leaving, he addressed Sophia, "Miss President, it was a pleasure doing business! Next time, please prepare more Elven Spring Water. My master will not forget your kindness!"

Sophia was left speechless.

"Damn it! He escaped!" Ayla fumed. "Even with domain power, we couldn't stop his teleportation."

"If only we had a space domain," the elven mayor lamented. "We could have captured him."

In frustration, the elven mayor turned her gaze to Sophia, standing a short distance away. Sophia silently put away the space ring with the dragon corpses, then said, "I have nothing to do with him. I don't know his identity. We only conducted a business transaction."

"How many bottles of Elven Spring Water did you trade?" the elven mayor asked.

"That's a business secret," Sophia replied.

"Do you know that his faction might be using the Elven Spring Water to revive a lich?" the elven mayor pressed.

Sophia's body trembled. Reviving a lich? By the gods of commerce! That was a terrifying creature from legend!

Taking a deep breath, Sophia said, "I'm just a merchant, responsible for selling goods, not investigating buyers' motives."

The elven mayor was silent for a long time. Recalling Ayla's earlier suggestion, she said, "We'll let this go for now, but you should avoid trading with him in the future."

"That's not up to me," Sophia replied.

"Then I will visit the Golden Oasis and discuss this with your lord," the elven mayor stated.

"Actually, I have a better solution," Sophia suggested with a smile. "If you don't want us to sell Elven Spring Water to that mysterious person, why don't you buy it all yourselves? With the resources of your wood elf race, that shouldn't be a problem!"