I traveled through time and space and became the Archbishop of Stormwind!

Urged on by Elwin, Stella, still somewhat distracted, vaguely cooperated with him to complete the magical coordination of the barrier stone.

As the purple light faded completely, her mind was clearly still preoccupied with the astonishing news she had just received.

"So that red-clad girl's father is actually Mr. Coresttraz!"

She murmured to herself, her blue eyes still filled with unbelievable shock.

Alvin tugged at her sleeve with a hint of exasperation: "My blue dragon lady, why are you still thinking about this? Let's hurry up and figure out where we should go next! We need to get down to business!"

Stella suddenly came to her senses, but still couldn't help but retort, "You don't understand at all!"

"Because most dragons are born with incredibly strong bodies, their claws, fangs, and breath are enough to make them stand out from the crowd. Therefore, apart from us blue dragons, other dragon races aren't particularly enthusiastic about studying magic in depth. But that red dragon, Mr. Corestrastras, is a truly rare archmage, recognized even within our blue dragonflight! His name and papers frequently appear in ancient magical texts and academic discussions; he's a true polymath dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge! I... I've often heard of his fame and achievements, but I've never had the privilege of meeting him... So, the thought that he's actually the father of that wild girl Akalitasa is a bit hard for me to accept..."

Her face was filled with an expression of "this world is too magical," and she continued, "That Akali is clearly a wild girl who only knows how to use brute force, charges around recklessly, and whose brain seems to be full of muscles! There is not a single trace of the mage inheritance she has received from her learned father!"

Elwin couldn't help but laugh at her conflicted expression, teasing, "Don't overthink it. If you ask me, you blue dragons are really strange. With such a serious low birth rate, the entire race is almost extinct, and you're not even trying to lay more eggs to continue your bloodline? At this rate, I don't think other forces will even need to attack you. In a few years, with this pitifully low birth rate alone, your blue dragon race will simply disappear from Azeroth!"

Stellagoth's face flushed crimson, as if her most embarrassing secret had been exposed. She retorted, somewhat exasperated, "What do you know! We blue dragons are born mages, our blood flowing with an endless thirst for the mysteries of magic! And those truly great archmages, look at them, each one possesses their own magic tower, immersed in their own little world conducting profound research? A single deep meditation, the analysis of a complex spell configuration, can easily take decades, even centuries! Completely absorbed in the vast ocean of magic, we don't have that much time to think about marriage, having...laying eggs..."

Her voice trailed off as she spoke, her face growing redder and redder. Finally, she suddenly realized she had been discussing such an embarrassing topic as laying eggs with this awful human, and was instantly filled with shame and embarrassment, almost jumping up and down: "You! What have you made me say! You bastard!"

Knowing he could stop while he was ahead, and realizing that teasing the blue dragon lady any longer would really provoke her, Erwin quickly raised his hands in surrender and awkwardly changed the subject: "Okay, okay, my bad, my bad! Um, let's get down to business, what's the next step?"

Stella suppressed her shame and anger, took a few deep breaths, and tried to regain her usual composure.

She closed her eyes, carefully sensing the flow of magic around her. After a moment, she opened her eyes and pointed below the platform: "I can no longer sense the magical fluctuations of the barrier stone here. I can sense that the remaining energy core, or rather, the more powerful blockade, seems to be located beneath our feet, beneath the surface."

Erwin nodded, and the two walked together to the edge of the platform, leaning on the cold stone railing to look down.

Below is the huge sunken plaza.

In the center of the plaza, the treant that had previously stood motionless as if asleep, covered in irregular arcane crystals, had somehow awakened.

Its face, made of twisted wood and shimmering crystals, faced them, and two unstable purple arcane energies "stared" at them like eyes from its huge, empty eye sockets.

Under Stella's tense gaze, Alvin did something that left her speechless—he actually raised his hand and waved very naturally at the huge tree-man below.

"what are you doing!"

Stella nearly screamed, grabbing his arm. "How dare you greet the enemy?! It doesn't look like it can be communicated with!"

However, something even more shocking happened.

The giant treant in the center of the plaza downstairs, upon seeing Erwin wave, slowly swung its thick arm, made of branches and crystals, in their direction!

Alvin lowered his hand and shrugged at the dumbfounded Stella: "It's obvious that this big guy is the gatekeeper here. See that semi-circular archway that's vaguely visible behind its massive body? That's probably the entrance to the underground. According to the conventions of places like this, we can probably only proceed by defeating it."

He shrugged and continued, "Besides, it has obviously spotted us. There's no way we can sneak past or launch a surprise attack now. Since that's the case, we might as well be open about it. We're going to fight eventually anyway, so let's just go for it head-on!"

Elwyn gently touched the Naaru Beacon in his hand towards the two of them, and a gentle yet firm holy light energy enveloped them.

The levitation spell took effect instantly, causing them to lose most of their weight, like two feathers lifted by a gentle breeze.

He nodded to Stella, and the two of them, without further hesitation, stepped directly off the edge of the towering platform and floated down into the deep, sunken plaza.

The hem of her clothes fluttered gently in the breeze, and the fall was exceptionally smooth and quiet.

The tree-man maintained the same upward-looking posture throughout their slow descent.

It made no move, no roar, no threatening gesture; it simply watched in silence. This excessive calmness was more alarming than direct hostility.

Elwin and Stella did not rashly land near the tree-man. Instead, they used their levitation spell to land smoothly at a relatively safe distance of several dozen yards from the behemoth.

The two felt the solid texture of the stone slabs beneath their feet and immediately went on alert.

A deep voice suddenly rang out, echoing throughout the square: "Why don't you come closer, stranger?"

Stella immediately grabbed Elwin's arm nervously and said in a low, urgent voice, "Be careful! This guy has been corrupted by arcane energy! It might be a trap!"

Elwin stared intently at the treant standing like a mountain in the distance, and replied in a low voice, "I know. Something's very wrong with this thing. But let's see what it's up to. If we can get through without fighting, just by communicating, wouldn't that save a lot of effort? Of course, we have to be extremely vigilant."

He took a deep breath, held his staff horizontally in front of him, and called out loudly towards the treant, "Great guardian, we have no intention of offending you. We are simply passing through and need to detour to the area below. May we pass peacefully?"