Pillar of Yita

But sometimes it was more severe because they at least knew they would return to Earth one day when they arrived here, but leaving meant a true farewell forever.

Many people made many different friends in this world and had their own life trajectories here, some even forming friendships with natives — and the moment they left, they were destined never to see any of it again.

Therefore, it was understandable to regard departure as a true death; it may be hard for others to comprehend this feeling, but in fact, many people were unable to adapt to their previous lives because of it. Most Invokers suffered from psychological diseases such as depression or other issues after retiring, and not a few ended up committing suicide because of this.

Thus, Fang Hong was somewhat concerned, though the profession had gradually become standardized in this era, and there was a relatively long period of psychological counseling for retired Invokers, accidents could still happen.

He sighed deeply.

He couldn’t help but raise his hand, looking at the back of it, the half-crown emblem was still there. Whenever he saw that emblem, he remembered that exceptionally beautiful face, and the girl’s calm eyes.

What was the last thing she told him?

Fang Hong felt a vague pain in his heart.

Although he knew that she did not really want to kill him, if it weren’t for that dagger, would she still have acted? Fang Hong tentatively had an answer, but he refused to believe it.

He looked at the emblem, couldn’t help but try to wipe it off, but it was no use. ”What exactly is this emblem?” Fang Hong didn’t quite understand what Miya really wanted with that crown, just like he didn’t understand the purpose of this emblem.

He thought about smearing blood on it, but fearing the pain, he decided against it.

After standing there for a while, he realized that no monks had come to greet him after a long time.

”Strange?” Fang Hong thought to himself, even if Angina’s believers were distant, they wouldn’t stop spreading the gospel of the Deities.

He looked around, only then did he notice that the Holy Sanctuary was quite odd — there was not a single person inside, neither resurrected Invokers nor staff, it was completely empty.

He was alone in the vast hall.

”An abandoned Holy Sanctuary?” Fang Hong looked around with some confusion. ”But how could Divine Strength still favor an abandoned sanctuary?”

He couldn’t help but slowly walk forward, his footsteps echoing loudly in the empty space, and after circling the hall, he discovered an even stranger feature — the sanctuary had no exit.

The natives of Eteliria considered the south sacred, so most buildings were oriented with the front facing south, and religious buildings like sanctuaries were especially supposed to strictly adhere to this. But the southern part of this sanctuary only had a side hall, Fang Hong unexpectedly walked in and found a lonely statue inside.

A large Elf statue.

Its shape and size were basically consistent with those of the mortal followers outside. It was also dressed in a robe, holding a book in hand, embodying scholarly vibes, which was not unusual, as many of Angina’s believers mostly were like this.

But Fang Hong was still puzzled. ”Why is it placed here alone?” He walked over, looked at an open stone book at the statue’s feet, and not surprisingly, its pages were inscribed with the biography of this individual.

The text was in Elf and Osh — upon entering the world, one naturally knew a local language, and Fang Hong naturally learned Colin Ishurian, which is from the same root as the Empire’s language, so he could barely understand the text on the stele.

The first sentence on the stele surprised him.

’Rolin Ed’s most outstanding student, Hain Famm, 779-921.’

Rolin Ed was the Great Alchemist Ed, one of the most outstanding Alchemists in history, and even one of the founders of Alchemy. He was born in the Magic Era, which indicated that the owner of this statue might also be from that era, and the dates on the stone book likely referred to the years 779 to 921 of the Magic Era.

That was about a thousand years ago. Fang Hong couldn’t help but gasp.

Immediately, he thought that must have been the era when the Numelin Elves Empire existed. ”Could it be that this sanctuary is related to the ruins outside?” Fang Hong suddenly thought of a huge possibility. The Dead Silence Zone in the ruins outside might just be to disguise this mysterious sanctuary’s Resurrection Point.

And if no natives had been here over the past thousand years since the Numelin Elves had left, then it was very likely that he was the first to discover this sanctuary.

Because an Invoker couldn’t possibly reach this place.

His heart suddenly began to beat fiercely.

The unknown meant rewards — that was one of Eteliria’s iron rules. And if the Numelin Elves had hidden this place so deeply, could it be that there was just this empty sanctuary here? Unlikely.

With this thought, Fang Hong forcibly suppressed the impulse to hunt for treasures and continued to read.

But as he read, he suddenly exclaimed aloud.

The sound echoed in the hall and even startled him.

He wiped a cold sweat, his heart pounding wildly, and his hands trembled slightly. Yet this trembling was not due to fear or dread, but excitement and thrill, for the stone page described the life of Hain Famm, recounting how he further explored on his teacher’s achievements, attempting to further propagate Alchemy.

The greatest achievement of Alchemist Rolin Ed was the invention of the Artificial Holy Crystal and the Magic Guided Reactor, the former leading to the birth of the Dragon Knights — a phenomenon that marked the first appearance of artificial knights in the history of Eteliria, breaking the Contractor (Sky Knights) monopoly over the upper-tier powers with the Natural Dragon Spirit.