Therion, his pride wounded, stepped forward, eyes blazing with fury. "Ancestor, with all due respect, this human has used external aid to gain his enlightenment. We are pure in our intentions and have not relied on any enhancements."
Following his example, the other elves also started grumbling one after the other, greed shining through their eyes.
"Ancestor, we've dedicated our lives to our crafts and the elven legacy. How can an outsider come and surpass us so easily?"
"Elder, if I had the herb I could have also attained a Dao seed."
"I would have only needed half of that herb."
"Yes. Yes. Any elf would have been more talented than that human being."
"Elder, please force him to hand over all the herbs to us!"
"Hear! Hear! Strip him and ask him to hand over all of his treasures!"
Seeing his inheritance site getting rowdy, the elven ancestor grunted in annoyance. "SILENCE!" His shout cut through the noise and immediately quieted down all the elves.
"Do you believe that the Verdant Heartroot granted him the Dao seed directly? It merely cleared his mind. His experience, understanding, and dedication did the rest. The herb only enhanced what was already present."
"The Dao is attained not by chasing after it but by immersing oneself fully in one's path."
"I suggest that you do not disappoint me any further and stop this senseless bickering. My inheritance will go to the individual who receives the highest enlightenment!"
A murmur spread among the elves, some nodding in agreement, while others looked unconvinced. However, no one dared to open their mouth any longer and waste their time.
Unfortunately for the elves, before any of them could refocus, the glow surrounding Liam started to become even brighter.
The elves gasped in shock, some even forgetting to breathe. But what they feared happened the very next second.
The glow turned a bright yellow and Liam received his next series of notifications, once again bumping his level.
[Ding! You have obtained Dao seed of Resilience]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
Liam's body trembled lightly, overwhelmed by the sudden rush of energy and knowledge. He felt as if he was in his peak condition, everything that he wanted right within his grasp.
It was as if a barrier had been lifted. He was now free. No one was suppressing him any more. If it was within his reach, then he could attain it.
His current level had already reached the 400s. He was getting there, slowly and steadily. He had once again gathered a huge chunk of stat points which he quickly added in vitality.
Almost immediately, Liam could feel a tremendous life force gushing inside him. His heart pounded powerfully but calmly, circulating a vitality that seemed boundless.
When he had leveled up bit by bit and had his stats one or two at a time, he had never experienced this phenomenon but now that he added hundreds of stat points at the same time, he could clearly feel the increase in his power.
And he was not done yet.
Liam had worked hard tirelessly up until now. The fruits of his labor were finally starting to show. It seemed all he needed was a little push and in this case a couple of the verdant heartroot herbs!
Eldrin's eyes widened in disbelief. "Two Dao seeds... in such quick succession... How?"
Therion's face was ashen. But he wasn't the only one feeling ; all the elves were astonished.
It was a feat they had never witnessed before.
Most elves spend their entire lives trying to grasp just a single Dao seed, but Liam had done it twice in a matter of moments.
"This is impossible!"
"This isn't fair! He's just a human! How can he possess such capabilities?"
The chasm between them and Liam was continuing to widen and there was nothing that they could do to stop it.
Therion's fury was palpable. He shot Liam a glare that could have set a forest ablaze. "A human should not be able to surpass us in our own sacred ground," he spat.
The atmosphere in the inheritance site grew tense as the elves, feeding off Therion's anger, began murmuring their discontent louder.
The previous aura of disbelief now mutated into one of hostility.
"This is our birthright!" shouted another. "How dare a mere human come here and steal from us what is rightfully ours?"
An elven warrior with a braided silver mane and tattoos covering his arms said, "He probably cheated! This is all because of the S-Ranked herb!"
"He is gaining an advantage over us because of that single herb! Ancestor, you have to seek justice for us!"
The crowd erupted in agreement, their anger rising like a tide. They clamored for Liam's expulsion, and some even went as far as demanding his execution.
However, the elven ancestor's voice did not come through once again.
After a while, a few of the elves stopped shouting at the monolith and turned to see Liam when they froze in their tracks with a look of utter shock engraved on their faces.
The glow surrounding his body was once again changing. It shifted from a bright yellow to a lighter shade of orange.
By now one thing was clear. Inside this trial dimension, the nature of the glow seemed to depict when a person gained enlightenment.
They had actually learned this from watching the human being and now, that same despicable human being seemed to be on the cusp of another dao seed.
One by one all the elves noticed this and they all held their breaths in utter astonishment. They no longer even had words to voice out their frustration.
If this human being somehow managed to gain another fragment of the myriad daos, then their entire reality would be shattered.
Please do not let that happen! Please do not let that happen! Subconsciously, the elves started praying to their gods that Liam wouldn't succeed because if he did…
But unfortunately for them…
The light orange glow around Liam slowly started to turn darker.
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