Pillar of Yita

Who was it that first brought him over, right, it was that girl Jenny. But that girl isn’t reliable at all, definitely clueless if asked, and Rolin thought of another person, right, it was Aquitez, where was Aquitez? The Old Dwarf turned around, only to notice that at some point, Aquitez had quietly approached the courtyard gate, sneakily trying to make an escape.

”Aquitez!” the Old Dwarf Chairman bellowed with wide eyes, ”What are you doing?”

Aquitez, in that direction, paled. ”Ah, you see!” he responded just as loudly. ”Rolin, you know, I still have some things... that’s right, I am on duty today, you know it’s important.”

With those words, the old fellow vanished in that direction, leaving everyone in the courtyard exchanging bewildered glances.

How embarrassing, Rolin sighed, but this old guy had always been like this. A real scoundrel, never one for seriousness, and compared to him, Merrifin was much more reliable. However, it was a relief that the people from the Ancient Tower had already left the scene earlier, otherwise, the humiliation would have been much greater.

He grabbed Jenny, who was also ready to make her escape, ”It’s not my fault!” The young girl, scared into a shiver, began to cry, not understanding the situation: ”It was Lord Aquitez who asked me to bring him over, I don’t know anything, boo hoo hoo, please don’t kill me, I’m still young, and I just found this job——”

She rattled on nonstop, going over every trivial matter of the past week, deeply remorseful.

”Shut up, no one is going to kill you.” Rolin, unable to bear it anymore, replied irritably.

The weeping Jenny suddenly stopped, then stared wide-eyed at the Old Dwarf.

”Really?”

Fang Hong, stepping out the door, saw exactly this scene—a suddenly quiet courtyard, with everyone’s gaze involuntarily turning towards him. Jenny, with tears streaming down her face, blinked at him.

And the Old Dwarf, looking at him as if he were gold buried in the ground, his eyes gleaming in reflection.

What’s going on?

This seemed quite different from Kapuka’s examination, Fang Hong thought to himself.

He even paused, wondering if there was something wrong with the way he’d opened the door, then looked at the others again.

Then turning back around, he shut the door with a bang.

Rolin’s eyes, already small, bulged out in surprise. What was this guy doing?

After a moment, the competition room’s door opened again, and Fang Hong, along with Big Cat and Parker, still utterly confused, stepped out. ”...I thought I went into the wrong room.”

I thought I went into the wrong room?

The Old Dwarf nearly blacked out and almost collapsed to the floor. As Rotas is my witness, he thought, there is just a straight passage leading to the competition room.

But not only could he not afford to lose his temper, he even had to strive to muster a friendly smile.

This young man, in Rolin’s eyes, was a living treasure. With the strength of a single person, he had stood against the entire Iron Oak Duchy; he couldn’t help but wonder how Ottolos had discovered such a youth, and why hadn’t he been as lucky?

Moreover, he saw a certain hope in Fang Hong.

The hope of an Artisan Master, a Great Alchemist.

Rotas above, had Colin Ishurian gone without a true Great Alchemist for how many years?

Rolin would have to take a moment to calculate carefully, to think properly.

Ever since Ox Steelbrow, his successor Antony managed the Colin Craftsmen’s Guild for about sixty years, and this learned man was presumably the most outstanding Great Alchemist in the history of Colin Ishurian.

It was he who facilitated the balance of power among the four great Artisan Associations of the Cloud Sea.

After him came Brout Greybeard and Luo Zhen, the latter born roughly in the generation after Nick Leme. Although not a member of the Artisan Association, it didn’t change the fact that he was born in the Kingdom. Moreover, he left a precious legacy to this Kingdom—the Rose Workshop, and the most powerful of fairy tales.

He was the last Great Alchemist of Colin Ishurian.

Since then up to the present day, this ancient Kingdom had gone almost one hundred seventy years without the birth of a true Great Alchemist.

Rolin scrutinized the young man before him, feeling a premonition. Perhaps the era where Colin Ishurian had only had Artisan Masters without a Great Alchemist for over a century would soon come to an end.

And what is a Great Alchemist?

He knew that this ancient title might have to be traced back to the first generation Great Alchemist, Rolin Ed.

Before this unparalleled genius, Alchemists only had five ranks. It was after him that people began to use this title for those artisan masters who made extraordinary achievements in a particular domain and clearly surpassed their contemporaries.

Great Alchemist.

Although in every subsequent era, there were often more than one Great Alchemist, the title was still usually quite exclusive.

Even during the most prosperous period of alchemy after Rolin Ed, at the end of the Heroic Era—Nick Leme’s lifetime, the days when Eteliria had the most Great Alchemists simultaneously, only seven Great Alchemists were born in succession.

From Brout Greybeard to the disappearance of Luo Zhen, spanning 142 years, seven alchemists existed in the same era. That was also the most glorious history of Eteliria since the passing of Rolin Ed, so people referred to it as the ’Era of the Seven Sages’.