Lynch had already experienced the eccentric personality of the Great Druid the last time he saw him. Anything unrelated to Heather, this Druid would never listen to. He would quietly stand aside, stroking a staff crafted from a branch burned in the fires of war, his mind filled solely with thoughts of his fellow elves; but the moment anything related to Heather arose, even if it was but a single blade of grass turning yellow, he would perk up and personally go to inspect it. Heather seemed to be his everything, his life and honor, the source of his power to live eternally.

Behind him were some ancient elves, the sages here, who had weathered countless trials. Even an eternal race could not escape the erosion of time. The elves present, except for Her Majesty the Empress, all unwittingly borne wrinkles.

However, in the eyes of outsiders, these wrinkles bore not the slightest hint of age; they more resembled signs of long labor, representing wisdom, imbued with memories.

"Greetings, rulers of the elves." Lynch stood in the center of the great hall, bowing to the hosts. "Thank you for your gracious hospitality."

"For friends, no hospitality is too much, for friendship is itself an immeasurable ocean," said the Elf Queen. "Moreover, to us, your position is not merely that of a friend."

Lynch smiled and nodded, "Indeed, I am not only a friend of the elves, but also a servant to friends. Should the elves of Heather have any orders, I shall do my utmost."

"The residents of Heather thank you for your generosity, Mage." Nosta's deep voice sounded. Injuries sustained in battle had left his vocal cords unable to sing mellifluously, instead making his voice resonate like thunder rolling from the horizon. "This is my second honor of welcoming you."

Lynch rummaged in his pocket for a moment and pulled out the item given to him by the Brass Dragon. "Great Druid, this is an item entrusted to me by a creature I encountered on land, which he asked me to deliver to you." As he finished speaking, the black stone slowly floated toward the Great Druid.

Seeing the approaching item, Nosta quickly took two steps forward, carefully catching the stone from mid-air, then wrapped it in thick cloth around his waist, finally breathing a sigh of relief. The elves in attendance all gasped at the sight of the stone, while Anna next to Lynch covered her mouth in shock, afraid that her voice might distract the mage and cause the stone to fall and be damaged.

Only the Elf Queen kept smiling, as if she already knew everything.

Lynch couldn't figure out what had happened; in his memory, nothing could make the elves so cautious. He had observed the stone many times with his Eye of Insight and had used spells to analyze it. Besides knowing it was very ancient, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about it.

"Thank you very much, young mage." The Great Druid smiled. All the elves knew that Nosta was a serious leader; his smile only appeared in the happiest of times, rarely seen even in decades.

"Lynch, you've done us a great service this time. In one respect, you've saved Heather," said the Empress. "This stone is the only seed left by the Holy Tree, which can only be preserved intact in its hard shell. Some traitors tried to steal the secret of the Holy Tree of Heather and thus stole this seed. Thank you for returning this important item to the hands of the elves."

"It was nothing," Lynch replied. Now he understood why he couldn't figure out the secret of the stone. Using magic items analysis to study plant seeds would yield results; that would indeed be strange. "Great Druid, the Brass Dragon will not return for some time, and he asked me to wait here."

"That old dragon is still mischievous, unchanged after a thousand years," said Nosta. "Since he has said so, please stay with us for a while longer. Now please excuse me, I must immediately return the seed to its place."

With that, the Great Druid nodded farewell to those present and left the Holy Temple briskly but hurriedly.

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