"The Dragon Blood Clan and the Sacred Palace were destroyed in a battle. They're long gone," Belle replied sadly.
"Alas..." Darren sighed remorsefully. Did his old friends really die?
Kirk, Chad, the Grand Blood Refiner, Timothy, Abelard, and his friends from the Sacred Palace—they were all dead.
Darren couldn't help but sigh knowing how ruthless the war had been.
"How about the Ancient Void Battlefield? Weren't you there at the time?" It suddenly occurred to Darren that he had left the Ancient Void Battlefield on the Lothlann Continent when he left.
"The Ancient Void Battlefield didn't have an owner or the soul power of the controller. Thousands of years after your departure, it collapsed because of the exhaustion of the spiritual energy."
"Alas! I left in such a hurry. I was too careless!" Only then did Darren realize the error in his ways.
"Belle, I have a question," Elsa said suddenly.
Seeing Elsa's sad expression, Darren instantly knew what she wanted to ask. After all, they had come back here to see Belle and her father.
"Elsa, do you want to ask about Uncle Thomas' condition?" Belle had also guessed that only Thomas could make Elsa so worried. She was afraid to hear bad news.
"Yes! Belle, how is my father?" Elsa asked excitedly.
"Don't worry, Elsa. Uncle Thomas and Aunt Diana are living in a secluded place. They should be fine and happy, in fact!" Belle said with a smile.
"He lives with Aunt Diana? Are you saying my father-in-law is with Holy Lord Diana?" Darren also smiled faintly.
"Yes, after you left, we all lived in the Ancient Void Battlefield. At the beginning, Uncle Thomas and Aunt Diana became good friends. Then, they fell in love and, under our encouragement, decided to live together. When the Ancient Void Battlefield was about to collapse, Uncle Thomas and Aunt Diana went to a small relic to live a happy life. That place is very secret, and nothing that happens on the Lothlann Continent can affect them," Belle explained cheerfully.
"That's great. Darren, let's go to see Father and Aunt Diana! Belle, lead us to where they live, please." Elsa was overjoyed.
"Okay. I remember where the entrance is. I'll take you there right away. I haven't seen Uncle Thomas and Aunt Diana in so long. I was afraid I'd bring only trouble to them."
Over the years, Belle had either cultivated or been chased, so she never dared to look for her friends.
After they got everything prepared, Darren, Elsa, Belle and Belle's family headed out to the small relic.
After flying for a while, they came to the border of the southern land, a gloomy marsh.
With Belle taking the lead, they soon found the relic's entrance buried at the bottom of the marsh. It was around the size of the mouth of a well.
Unhesitatingly, they slipped into the entrance. After passing through layers of seals, they fell into a completely different world.
It wasn't that big, with a radius of roughly hundreds of kilometers, but there were mountains, rivers, blue sky and white clouds.
"Dad, Aunt Diana, we're back!"
Elsa's voice rang out.
"We're back!" Darren echoed.
By the river, in front of a thatched cottage,
an old man was dozing off in a bamboo chair. At the sound of their shouts, he slowly raised his head and said, "Diana, I seem to hear the voices of Elsa and Darren."
A beautiful woman then emerged from the hut. Clad in an apron, it seemed that she had been cooking.
Standing next to Thomas, Diana squinted into the distance. What she saw caused tears to well up in her eyes.
"Alas, I am old and am seeing things again." Thomas closed his eyes, seemingly unbothered. He was used to the notion of hallucinating.
"No, you're not hallucinating this time!" Tears streamed down Diana's cheeks.
"I know Elsa and Darren aren't coming back, but I'd have wanted to see them before I died," Thomas said weakly, still not believing his eyes.
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