I don't know what to name Chapter 24, so I'll just call it "Transition"...

The Mermaid Palace is an exquisitely designed building in light blue and white, which shines beautifully in the sunlight. If Sky City is the crown of Mermaid Star, then the Mermaid Palace is the most dazzling jewel on that crown.

The most central location in the Mermaid King's Palace is where the Mermaid King receives foreign guests, and it is also the venue for this banquet.

"Welcome to the Elven race." The Mermaid King greeted Irene, who had come with Monark, at the entrance of the main hall.

"Thank you for letting the mermaids pass by," Irene said politely.

"We are both members of the Star Alliance, and only by supporting each other can we go further," the Mermaid King replied with a smile.

The two kings exchanged a few polite words before heading to their studies without prior arrangement.

Monaco and Hara also stood guard outside the study to prevent anyone from breaking in.

"What does the Mermaid King want to say?" Yi Lei was somewhat surprised that the Mermaid King suddenly suggested that the two of them go to the study for a private talk. She really couldn't understand what they needed to talk about in private.

"Does the Elf King know about the Book of Prophecy?" the Mermaid King asked after a moment's thought.

Irene paused for a moment before nodding and replying, "Of course, the Book of Prophecy is a treasure of the Star Alliance, and also the guiding star that leads the Star Alliance to avoid disaster and move towards the future."

The Mermaid King sighed softly before saying, "Several months ago, I received a message from the Star Alliance, a prophecy warning the Mermaid race of a great calamity."

"What calamity?" Irene asked, somewhat surprised.

The Mermaid King paused for a moment before continuing, "Of my Mermaid royal family, only Raru survived, while most of the Mermaids perished in the calamity."

The Mermaid King didn't elaborate on the specifics of the calamity, and Irene didn't ask further. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Then what does this have to do with my Wind Elf clan?"

The Mermaid King continued, "According to the prophecy, hope will be born among the elves, not only to help them escape their calamity but also to find a new path for the mermaids."

"You suspect that Sylph is the person in the prophecy?" Irene frowned slightly.

The Mermaid King thought for a moment before saying, "I've had people inquire among all the elven races, and only you wind elves have recently had a baby elf born, and..."

Irene immediately understood his unspoken meaning and replied with a forced smile, "Moreover, only my Wind Elf clan has recently faced the crisis of extinction."

The Mermaid King sighed again before continuing, "I think if you hadn't run too fast, you would have received the message from the prophecy book, and it should have been able to tell you more."

After thinking for a moment, Irene said, "I can't be sure if Sylph is the prophesied girl you mentioned, but Sylph is the hope of us wind elves, and I don't want any person or race to take advantage of her."

The Mermaid King shook his head before saying, "No one will exploit hope. You wind elves have been closed off for too long, and now everyone in the Star Alliance is not doing very well."

“A thousand years ago, a prophecy said that prosperity will eventually lead to decline. What we are experiencing now is just decline. In our long history, haven’t we seen this kind of thing too many times?” Irene asked, somewhat puzzled.

The Mermaid King continued to explain, "No, a simple decline wouldn't have caused this, but rather, the shortest period since any race has gone two hundred years without a newborn."

A look of surprise flashed in Irene's eyes. She looked at the Mermaid King with a puzzled expression: "Is this also true of your Mermaid race?"

Merfolk are the most prolific races in the Covenant. Some special species can give birth to hundreds of children at once. It has been joked that in the future, the Covenant may be overrun with merfolk.

The Mermaid King nodded with a grim expression.

Seeing his reaction, Irene's expression also turned grave. She hadn't expected things to have come to this. After a moment's thought, she said, "You mean, the prophecy foretold that Sylph could resolve these issues?"

The Mermaid King nodded: "If Sylph really is the daughter of prophecy."

The Mermaid King thought for a moment and then said, "The prophecy says there is a traitor in your race. Do you know who it is?"

Irene paused for a moment before replying, "We've already caught them by the tail. What? You know that?"

"Since you're currently in the Merfolk territory, and the rest of the journey will be spent on the road, why not just finish this here to avoid any unforeseen complications?" the Merfolk King said.

After thinking for a moment, Yi Lei nodded and said, "You're right, then we'll have to trouble the merfolk."

The Mermaid King replied with a smile, "You're too kind."

The two briefly discussed the specific plans before continuing to attend the banquet together.

Halfway there, Irene suddenly spoke up: "By the way, do you mermaids still have any mermaid grass? Why don't you give some to Sylph?"

After listening, the Mermaid King pondered for a moment, nodded in agreement, and then instructed Hala to prepare the mermaid grass.

This conversation between the two kings was told to Sang Zhitao by Yi Lei.

After playing with Sang Zhitao and Xiya for a few days, while they were gnawing on spirit stones, Sang Zhitao suddenly remembered that she had always wanted to talk to Yi Lei about the two hundred spirit stones that had mysteriously appeared back then.

When she finally found Irene and wanted to have a proper talk with her, Irene directly explained the whole story between her and the Mermaid King.

"So... that's why Aesop said I'm the prophet?" Sang Zhitao pointed to herself in surprise after hearing her explanation.

Irene nodded, then reached out and touched her, saying, "Whether Sylph is the prophesied daughter or not, she is the hope of us wind elves, and our crown princess."

"What is the supreme staircase that Aesop mentioned?" Sang Zhitao had been trying to recall the words Aesop had used that day, but she finally realized that it was not a setting in her book.

After thinking for a moment, Irene said, "Legend has it that when a Star Alliance member's magic reaches its peak, it will open the Supreme Ladder. If one ascends it, one can become a god of the Star Alliance."

"Ugh... this sounds like something for fooling idiots," Sang Zhitao couldn't help but complain.

Yi Lei was amused by her and patted her head before saying, "It really does seem like something you'd use to fool an idiot."

“Then…” Sang Zhitao paused, her face showing hesitation.

Irene looked at her curiously: "What's wrong?"

Sang Zhitao took a deep breath before saying, "Yi Lei, do you know that I can take the spirit stone to other places?"

Yi Lei paused for a moment before smiling and nodding.

Sang Zhitao finally breathed a sigh of relief: "So, you were the one who prepared those two hundred spirit stones for me last time?"

Irene continued to nod.

Sang Zhitao looked at her with some confusion: "Why?"

Irene patted her reassuringly before continuing, "Sylph, no matter where your soul comes from, you are a wind spirit born from the Mother Tree. The Mother Tree acknowledges you, and we acknowledge you too."

Sang Zhitao looked at Yi Lei and etched her gentle smile deeply into her mind.

“However…” Irene thought for a moment and then said.

Sang Zhitao looked at her, her heart pounding.

As if deliberately teasing her, Irene slowly said, "However, next time you go there, Sylph should tell me in advance, otherwise it will be too troublesome to string together the spirit stones at the last minute like last time."

Sang Zhitao was stunned for a moment before realizing that Yi Lei was teasing her on purpose. She hummed softly and said, "I know, I know."

After thinking for a moment, Sang Zhitao asked again, "Do you know that I went there because I grew taller?"

Irene nodded: "Yes, Tina is very thoughtful."

Sang Zhitao nodded, finally relieved. She wondered whether she should tell Yi Lei about all the crises in the original story.

It took her a long time to realize that the mastermind, Aesop, was dead, the Dark Elf invasion would be dealt with by the Intelligent Race, and the Wind Elf Race was completely safe.

“Hmm…” Sang Zhitao hesitated for a moment before asking, “Aesop is dead, why don’t we send a message to the intelligent race through the merfolk and let them deal with the dark elves? That way we won’t have to go there.”

Irene suddenly smiled, tapped her forehead, and said, "Initially, it was indeed because we lacked the strength to seek justice. Now, I'm taking you there. The Star Alliance leader wants to see you."

"Ah, what about the dark elves?" Sang Zhitao asked.

“The Intelligent Clan has already arranged for people to handle it. I estimate that when we arrive in the Intelligent Clan, we can witness a trial concerning them,” Irene said.

Hearing that everything was resolved, Sang Zhitao nodded, only then realizing that the Star Alliance Leader wanted to see her: "Why would the Star Alliance Leader want to see me? Am I really the Daughter of Prophecy?"

Irene smiled and said, "Ninety percent, after all, Aesop also thinks you are. As for meeting you, we'll talk about that later."

Seeing this, Sang Zhitao sighed.

Seeing her make such an expression despite her small size, Yi Lei couldn't help but laugh out loud. She tapped her head and said, "We'll take care of everything. You just need to grow up well."

Sang Zhitao thought about it and felt that what she said made a lot of sense, so she stopped talking.

And so it went on all the way; she ate, played, slept, and ate again, living the carefree life she had longed for in the first half of her life.

A note from the author:

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I'm so tired today, I did all the manual labor. I'll stop here for now and finish the rest tomorrow.