Pillar of Yita

”Not just a few?!” Dianmo Ran Qingzhu shook his head vehemently, ”It’s only you, in foreign countries, you probably can’t find a second one. You’ve made quite a name for yourself, big shot; now the entire Colin Ishurian Artisan Association is probably looking for you.”

Fang Hong fell silent for a moment, pondering whether he had unwittingly been used by someone—but it was improbable that those who gave him the system could have foreseen his participation in the Continental League, let alone integrating the technology of the Multi-Polarity Sphere into the Artisan System, which was merely his own exploration.

It was simply an inadvertent thought.

So, a more likely scenario was that he blundered into the situation with a bit of fortuity.

But for the time being, he could not clearly discern whether this incident was good or bad; at least from the information revealed by Dianmo Ran Qingzhu, the incident at Mount Holy Pact years ago might not have been so simple. Was that so-called legacy left behind something those people gave him?

Then who were those people?

And why did they give him that Training System?

Fang Hong couldn’t help but make a mental note of it.

After the rudimentary form of the canoe had been shaped, it of course needed further refinement and structural reinforcement; however, for an alchemist with the Summoners System, these tasks were trivial, especially for Fang Hong.

In less than ten minutes, he had finished all three canoes and stopped to check his work.

It suddenly occurred to him—were these the first boats he ever made?

Fang Hong hadn’t expected that his first venture into boat-making would be completed in such circumstances.

He thought that if Miss Hilveld were here, she would surely have teased him—but, without a doubt, the Noble Lady would have watched these clumsy creations with a unique, gentle smile of admiration.

With this thought, he subconsciously looked down at the brooch in his palm, feeling a hint of unease.

At that moment, Sophie turned to look for him and hurriedly glanced over, jumping in surprise, ”You’re already done?!”

To astonish the princess of Silver Weslan, Fang Hong couldn’t help but feel a little pleased, ”Is there a problem?”

”Don’t tell me this is a shoddy project, I’m warning you, the underground waterways are rife with danger,” Sophie couldn’t help saying, ”and you’ll be riding these boats yourself.”

But she spoke her mind, knowing full well Fang Hong wouldn’t take such matters lightly and turned to Dianmo Ran Qingzhu, who looked excited yet unable to help but hold his tongue. She asked suspiciously, ”So what exactly is going on here?”

”Your Highness, this is a personal privacy,” the young man excitedly replied, ”It’s a secret between the big shot and me.”

”Wait for it,” Sophie glared at him irritably.

Fang Hong couldn’t help but give the guy a thumbs-up from the side.

Well done, showing loyalty.

However, the princess of Silver Weslan obviously wasn’t one to keep probing; since Fang Hong didn’t wish to reveal more, she didn’t press the issue and simply conveyed the completion of the boats. The people of Silver Weslan were all amazed and then came together to meet up.

Working together, they launched the three canoes into the water, with Sophie, Xi and Fang Hong among those on the first boat at the forefront, which also included a priest and the ranger who had questioned him earlier, followed by several knights and Dianmo Ran Qingzhu sitting at the very end.

As soon as the boat touched water, Fang Hong felt the underground river appear calm on the surface, but the undercurrents were fast and strong, carrying the boat swiftly, quickly putting distance between the three boats.

The boat traveled along the underground river, glowing faintly with phosphorescence, with both banks presenting sights both strange and marvellous; sometimes it was a dense Mushroom Forest, at other times rugged groups of caverns, rounding a rapid bend to reveal a vast subterranean plain where subterranean creatures came to drink.

But when the scenery changed again, the boat entered a low and gloomy cave, where between columns of stalactites, one could even see piles of bones—remains of unknown creatures.

Sometimes, treasures left by those before them flashed past, but the speed was too great, Fang Hong couldn’t react in time, and in the blink of an eye, the boat entered another underground river channel.

Fang Hong checked his pocket watch; nearly half an hour had passed, and suddenly, the view ahead of them opened up—but the openness was an illusion as the underground river grew tumultuous, the broad water surging toward a massive cave in the distance.

Viewed from afar, the cave was like a giant Skull with its mouth agape, nearly twenty or thirty meters in height and half as wide, with sharp rocks forming the fierce Fangs of the Skull.

The river water behind its Fangs poured into the dark throat, leading to bottomless depths, making even Fang Hong’s scalp tingle at the sight.

”There lies the Bottomless Depths,” Sophie mentioned from behind the viewport, ”No one has ever been there before, think it through carefully.”

Fang Hong looked at the dark gaping maw—

The brooch in his hand was getting hot, it wasn’t just a token from Miss Hilveld—it was also left by his teammates, and with the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team moreover inside, he didn’t have much time to ponder.

”I just hope this river doesn’t take us straight down to the tenth level,” he turned and responded.

”Why?” Sophie seemed surprised.

”Wouldn’t we miss out on the rewards from the previous levels then?”

The princess of Silver Weslan paused for a moment, but the knights on the boat were already laughing heartily, appreciating the humor in their plight.

”Haha, you’re right, you’d be at a huge loss.”

”Our Little Princess has also made a profitable deal for once.”

”What do you mean ’for once!’”

Fang Hong couldn’t help but smile slightly.