Death Notice Book 8: Chapter 21: Inheritance

Release Date: 2026-06-02 00:23:02

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“Why did it come to this?” Qin Lun asked with a darkened face. As soon as he spoke, he realized it was inappropriate—he was originally from the Qiongda’er Elves himself, so how could he ask such a question?

However, Iristin was lost in thought at that moment and didn’t notice the oddness of the question. She casually replied, “Ever since the World Tree began to decline, the Council of Elders of the Elven Court united and used various excuses to take away the mines that originally belonged to the Moon Elf Tribe. Even our hunting grounds were severely restricted. They wanted to force us to take care of the World Tree Seed.”

“King Testiel did try to stand up for the Moon Elf Tribe a few times, but in the end, the Council of Elders overruled him.” Iristin’s expression turned somewhat gloomy. Although the Moon Elf Tribe had long since moved out of the Elven Court, descendants of the pure-blooded royal line like her still held a place in the royal court. She truly didn’t want to see her own people fighting each other.

Qin Lun nodded silently. Without the mines and with restricted hunting grounds, it was no wonder the Moon Elf Tribe was living in such hardship. When governing subordinates, there were only two methods: high pressure or placation. The Green Elves’ Council of Elders’ slow-pressure approach wasn’t entirely wrong. If it weren’t for Ank Forest interfering, the Moon Elves would have eventually given in.

As for King Testiel—if the Elf King really wanted to care for the Moon Elf people, couldn’t he carve out even a single hunting ground or iron mine from the vast Qiongda’er Forest? He and the Council of Elders were simply playing good cop and bad cop, applying pressure from both sides. Their act could only fool someone as young as Iristin; the Moon Elf tribal elders probably all saw through it.

“No, we need to go around to the back of the tribe. The Great Elder of the Tribal Union is waiting for us there!”

…

In a forest clearing behind the elf tribe, Qin Lun held a small tree seedling with two green leaves, looking completely bewildered. Around him stood a circle of plainly dressed silver-haired elves.

“Young Moon Elf, use your inherited power to plant and revive this Treant sapling!” said the leading female elf mage among the silver-haired elves, her expression kindly.

The elf mage held a staff, and her face somewhat resembled Iristin’s without makeup, but she was old enough to be Iristin’s grandmother. Elves lived very long lives; although this great mage was over four hundred years old, she still looked like a youthful young woman, full and vibrant, with only a few fine lines at the corners of her eyes. Standing next to Iristin, they looked like a pair of sisters.

Qin Lun stared expressionlessly at the Treant sapling in his hands. It had sprouted from a seed that came from a Dryad. However, even if the Treant sapling matured, it wouldn’t necessarily become a Treant—it was more likely to become an ordinary tree. Of course, if the elves carefully nurtured it, the chances of it becoming a Treant would be higher.

The young man felt extremely conflicted. He had thought the Moon Elves’ bloodline test would be similar to Iristin’s—just a blood check. He never expected these silver-haired old elves to ask him to revive a Treant sapling.

Actually, Qin Lun didn’t truly understand the real meaning of elf bloodline; otherwise, he would never have come with Iristin. Unlike humans, for elves, bloodline wasn’t just about ancestry—it also contained inherited power.

The inheritance of womb-born elves came from teachings by elders and awakening the power in their blood, while elves born from World Tree Fruit naturally possessed part of the soul inheritance.

To hide his identity, Qin Lun had once told Iristin that his bloodline came from a World Tree Fruit. That was why these Moon Elf elders wanted to use the Treant sapling to see if his inherited power came from a Moon Elf royal line.

If he revived the sapling, these Moon Elf elders might treat him as a royal descendant like Iristin and grant him corresponding status and a voice within the tribe. But Qin Lun didn’t actually need this identity. Even if they made him the Elf King, what good would it do? He couldn’t stay in the Toril World for long.

If he failed to revive the Treant sapling, it would be terrible. The Moon Elf tribe might see him as King Testiel’s spy and refuse to let him and Nicole continue traveling with the migration group.

Qin Lun secretly steeled himself. It wasn’t that he had no way at all to stimulate this Treant sapling. After entering the Toril World, Shattered Starry Sky had informed him that “Tree World Descent” could be temporarily lowered by one major tier—from A+ to B+—by paying ten thousand Shattered Crystals. This would bypass Master Vima’s seal.

“Tree World Descent” could definitely stimulate the life potential of this Treant sapling, making it grow rapidly in a short time. But this spell was like forcing growth, and the elemental fluctuations would surely be noticed by the observing elf elders.

Qin Lun sighed. At this point, what else could he do? He had to try everything, no matter how unlikely it seemed. At worst, he would lose a Side Plot; these Moon Elf elders probably wouldn’t kill him over it.

He thought for a moment, then stepped forward and placed the Treant sapling into a pre-dug hole in the center of the clearing. He tightened his hand, crushing a small thumb-sized vial. A drop of emerald-green juice dripped onto the sapling’s roots. After doing this, Qin Lun clasped his hands together and immediately covered the sapling’s roots with soil, burying the life energy emitted by the drop of liquid underground.

This drop was the last of Qin Lun’s Ancient Tree Essence. Master Vima hadn’t given him much to begin with, and he had used it several times during the Metropolis Domination War. Now, less than an ounce remained. He had kept it as a memento, but now he had to use it here.

I hope you can handle it! Qin Lun looked pityingly at the little sapling less than a foot tall. He still remembered the sprawling vine fortress that spanned over a kilometer. Even though “Tree World Descent” was only at B+ level now, the actual effect was hard to predict.

“Tree World Descent!” Qin Lun reached out and touched the sapling. The Stamina Points inside his body surged like a tide into the young plant…

“Boom!” The young man’s consciousness suddenly wavered, and a strange scene appeared in his mind. He felt as if he had become a green sapling, swaying gently in the wind, stretching its branches under the sunlight.

The meridians inside the sapling gradually became clear. Countless tiny particles flowed along the roots into the branches. Under the sunlight, threads of warmth merged into the leaves. Qin Lun felt a tingling, electric sensation. Fresh green leaves sprouted from the canopy, and the trunk slowly grew thicker.

When he grew from a sapling into a towering tree, its canopy covering the sky and reaching into the heavens, the scene in Qin Lun’s consciousness changed once more.

He looked down at his feet. Groups of tiny elves, like ants, danced and cheered around him, building many small wooden houses on his body, letting him shelter the tribe from wind and rain. In return, these little elves carefully tended to his growth, removing pests and other parasites from him.

Over the long years of companionship, these little elves formed a symbiotic relationship with him; neither could leave the other. Some of the gradually aging and dying little elves entrusted their souls to him even after death. And he, in turn, accepted these souls into his fruits, allowing these elves to be reborn in a certain sense.

I’ve become a World Tree! Qin Lun observed everything happening in his consciousness with curiosity. He suddenly realized that the root of his bloodline also came from a World Tree Fruit. Now, nurturing the sapling seemed to trigger some change in his elf bloodline at the genetic level.

Did it really awaken some sort of elf inheritance? Qin Lun’s curiosity peaked. He forced his consciousness to delve into one of the World Tree Fruits that was nurturing an elf. However, to his surprise, the blurred, curled-up figure inside the fruit rebuffed his consciousness.

Qin Lun was somewhat surprised by this result. He hadn’t expected that the scenes within his own consciousness could somehow resist him. Unconvinced, he tested one fruit after another. Finally, after more than ten failures, one fruit accepted him.

The elf inside this fruit was also curled up in a small form. He wore leather armor, carried a large bow on his back, and had a dagger and an animal trap at his waist. Qin Lun suddenly understood—no wonder this fruit accepted him. This was the soul inheritance of an Elven Hunter.

As soon as Qin Lun’s consciousness entered the fruit, the Elven Hunter’s soul inheritance emitted a powerful suction force, pulling him unresistingly into the illusory form of this Elven Hunter.

The scene in Qin Lun’s consciousness changed for the second time. He was draped in camouflage woven from green leaves, leaping and bounding among the trees, tracking a winged tiger-like magical beast. In the end, he shot a magic arrow through the beast’s neck.

He jumped down from the tree. After a brief prayer on his knees, he drew the dagger from his waist, killed the barely-alive beast, and began dissecting the body, murmuring softly in ancient elvish. Qin Lun couldn’t understand this elven language, but he felt he could grasp the meaning of the words.

The Elven Hunter respected the life of this beast. For survival, he had no choice but to kill it. But he wouldn’t waste any part of the prey. Its flesh would feed him, its fur would keep him warm, its bones would be carved into tools and totems. It allowed the hunter’s life to continue.

The Elven Hunter followed the laws of the forest and obeyed the rules of nature. One day, when dust returned to dust and earth to earth, the hunter and his prey would return equally to the embrace of the Earth Mother.

The scenes in Qin Lun’s consciousness shifted like fleeting shadows. Soon, he found himself on a battlefield, riding a pure white Unicorn. Alongside his elf companions, he drew his large bow. Arrows fell like rain into the enemy ranks opposite them. Enemies’ lives vanished before the hunters—Goblins, Dwarves, humans, Trolls, and even Dragons flying in the sky, breathing flames…

The war ended. The Elven Hunter knelt on one knee, praying for the many departed souls, and took an item from each enemy as a memento.

A spark of understanding rose in Qin Lun’s heart. At this moment, this Elven Hunter’s faith and heart opened completely to him, letting him grasp the true essence of the Jungle Hunter profession.

Meanwhile, outside Qin Lun’s consciousness, he still knelt on one knee, eyes closed, holding the sapling. Tiny specks of green starlight gathered from all directions, thread by thread merging into his body.

The observing elf elders had retreated quite a distance. They all watched the scene with smiles, occasionally nodding to each other.

“Great Elder Adeline, is Firal going to be alright?” Iristin asked the great elf mage beside her with concern.

“Hmm, just using a branch from the World Tree triggered the Ancient Inheritance. His Moon Elf bloodline is very pure; his identity as a royal descendant shouldn’t be in question!” The youthful-looking great elder’s face flushed with excitement. She blinked as she looked at Qin Lun, a sly glint flashing in her eyes.

«Volume 8 Chapter 19: The Gleaming Moon

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Volume 2 Chapter 31: Combat Model »