"You said you had a new discovery about the energy of the Whispering Forest?" Arthas became interested; he wanted to hear Kel'Thuzad's research results.
"Yes, I found that this area is surrounded by three extremely pure energies: Holy Light, Arcane, and Shadow. Besides Arcane, I also have some research on Shadow power."
As soon as Kel'Thuzad talked about his "specialty," he immediately became different. He gave a brief overview of his findings.
"The concentration and purity of the Shadow power here are quite high, and it possesses extremely strong corrosiveness. It can even deeply corrode items made of saronite."
After Arthas heard this, he couldn't help but frown slightly. He had originally planned to find a time to take the Death Knight to explore that tomb, but after hearing Kel'Thuzad's words, he felt it was better to abandon that plan.
saronite is the most suitable metal material that the Scourge can currently find for the Death Knight to use. Basically, all high-ranking Scourge soldiers use equipment and weapons made of saronite.
If the power of K'thir sleeping in that tomb was strong enough to further corrupt saronite, then it would be hard to say what would happen.
It's even possible that the corrupted power within saronite would be assimilated and attracted by the K'thir's power. Waking this flesh beast would undoubtedly cause a lot of trouble for Arthas's actions.
The Void represented by Shadow is the most insane and unpredictable thing. Arthas didn't know what would happen if he rashly entered the tomb, but that scene would definitely not be pleasant.
"Moreover, the root cause of the Whispering Forest's corruption is very likely related to these Shadow energies…"
A strange light flashed in Kel'Thuzad's eye sockets, as if he was ready to say the next sentence.
But Arthas had already sensed the Archlich's fluctuating mood. He calmly said, "Don't be in a hurry, Archlich. I can tell you, now is not the time to pursue the source."
The words Kel'Thuzad was about to speak were immediately choked back. He said with some incomprehension, "Why, Your Majesty? This energy can even help us create more powerful weapons…"
Mid-sentence, Kel'Thuzad stopped himself, realizing he seemed to be overly excited.
"Don't be too impatient, Kel'Thuzad," Arthas said this time without anger. "The Archlich's body should make your mind calmer than a normal person's. You should understand what this energy represents."
Hearing Arthas's words, Kel'Thuzad fell silent, and Arthas continued, "I don't know if you have read history books about Emperor Thoradin."
"Of course, Your Majesty. Studying history in my spare time is also one of my hobbies," Kel'Thuzad responded. Then, the Archlich seemed to recall something. He muttered to himself with some uncertainty, "But according to the most reliable records…"
"That's right, the last place Emperor Thoradin disappeared was precisely the mountains and forests west of Tirisfal Glades."
Kel'Thuzad's soul fire instantly brightened by three points. He felt like he was unraveling a very remarkable mystery. "It is said that in his later years, Emperor Thoradin was very interested in the origin of humans and embarked on a journey to trace their roots with his mages."
So the place he disappeared… was indeed this "Whispering Forest," which has been called an ominous place since recorded history!
Upon thinking of this, even Kel'Thuzad, as an Archlich, couldn't quite control his emotions. Emperor Thoradin's disappearance caused a certain impact on the ancient human empire, which was also the reason for the later division of the empire into seven kingdoms.
However, what excited Kel'Thuzad more than Emperor Thoradin's own legendary deeds was that if the burial place of this ancient emperor could truly be found, then the divine sword stromgarde, which had almost become a symbol of kingship, would very likely be found with him.
This divine sword had another name—the "Trollbane." Emperor Thoradin, wielding this ancient weapon, unified the human Horde of that time and led the human empire in their struggle against the Amani Troll.
Compared to the weapon's own power, the meaning it symbolized was even more important, because this weapon had fragments of the weapons of all the human Horde leaders of that time melted into it.
At that time, humans still followed extremely ancient traditions. They regarded the weapons passed down by their tribes as the dwelling places of their ancestors' souls. Melting fragments of weapons into stromgarde meant submission and unification.
The reforged stromgarde shone brightly in the Emperor's hand. The brave and skilled Arathor monarch used the divine sword to slay countless Trolls. The Arathor royal family's title of "Troll Slayer" originated precisely from this divine sword.
After joining forces with the elves, the human and elven allied forces completely crushed the Amani Troll empire. To show their gratitude, the elves invited Thoradin to be a guest in Quel'Thalas and, using their magic, once again bestowed new power upon stromgarde.
From then on, stromgarde's blade would not rust due to anything, nor would it be damaged by any impact. It completed its final transformation, becoming a truly divine artifact.
Legend has it that because this sword had reaped too many Troll lives, any Troll would tremble and flee in terror before it.
And humans also regarded stromgarde as a symbol of kingship.
When Emperor Thoradin abdicated in his later years, he should have passed this sword on to his descendants, but he believed that the sword's excessive brilliance would instead weaken the empire's kingship.
So he decided to travel far with the divine sword, seeking the whereabouts of his ancestors and origins.
Here, the story of Thoradin ends. No one knows where this great Emperor went with his renowned divine artifact, nor does anyone know how the divine sword and its master ultimately ended.
The only historical record that has been passed down is the last place Emperor Thoradin was sighted, which was the western part of Tirisfal Glades.
If Kel'Thuzad still had a beating heart, he would be certain that his heart was now pounding "thump-thump." Although mages are not all archaeologists, discovering a hidden history, especially one about Emperor Thoradin, was enough to make any mage ecstatic.
But then, Kel'Thuzad also calmed down. After Thoradin entered this forest, he lost contact with human civilization. There was only one possibility he could think of, and that was that a terrible threat was lurking here.
The expedition team that followed Thoradin included many powerful mages and adventurers, and Thoradin himself was a battle-hardened warrior wielding a divine artifact.
—But not a single person survived this "calamity."
Thinking of this, Kel'Thuzad finally understood Arthas's caution. He respectfully said, "I understand, Your Majesty. Before completely dealing with those Dreadlords, I will not delve deeper into this matter."