Pillar of Yita

Ande’s face wore an incredibly complex expression. With excitement, surprise, and an anxious heart, he paced back and forth twice before turning to ask, ”Then...” The old man’s voice was even trembling slightly: ”Recently, the rumor about the Hall of Thousand Doors...?”

Fang Hong nodded again.

”Was it really you?”

”Yes,” Fang Hong replied, ”I encountered Odin in Dulun, and he gave me this opportunity.”

”Is he your King of Warriors?” Ande showed a look of surprise: ”It seems he thinks highly of you.” He pondered for a moment before asking, ”Did you know about Mierliu Ximi Si leaving Nevade?”

”I knew.”

”Is this matter related to you too?”

Fang Hong just shook his head: ”I’m not sure. Mr. Anluose left Nevade the day I departed.” After speaking, he looked at his teacher strangely, not understanding why the other was interested in this matter.

Ande looked greatly disappointed at this.

He grabbed his student’s shoulders and said, ”What a pity, have you heard the rumor? Mierliu Ximi Si has been seeking a qualified successor in the Southern Region, and in the prophecy, that successor is the one who bears the Dragon’s Mark.”

The old man shook his head while muttering to himself: ”Indeed, as you are not the one spoken of in the prophecy. What a lost opportunity... If Mierliu Ximi Si had chosen you, Vilravito couldn’t possibly ignore you as a successor.”

Fang Hong was a bit surprised to hear this: ”Successor?”

He didn’t expect that the prophecy had such a layer of meaning, and couldn’t help but recall the bits he’d learned in the Hall of Thousand Doors, mentioning it: ”I’m not quite sure what a successor is, but Mr. Anluose certainly taught me some things.”

”What!?” Ande’s voice raised by a few decibels: ”You didn’t mistake his casual pieces of advice and lessons as his inheritance, did you?”

”No, of course not,” Fang Hong quickly shook his head, recalling the incidents: ”They were the knowledge of the Numelin Elves. Possibly because of a missing final hurdle in the Hall of Thousand Doors, after I passed through the seventh Red Door, Mr. Anluose used this knowledge to test me, serving as the last stage of the hall.”

He thought for a moment: ”He also gave me the chance to visit the three high towers of Osh, Rotal, and Giant Tree Hill.”

After he finished the sentence, he suddenly closed his mouth.

Because he saw his teacher’s face turning pale, pointing at him with a trembling hand as if ready to collapse at any moment. Frightened, Fang Hong couldn’t even care to speak any longer, hurriedly supporting the Alchemy Master together with Hilveld.

Ande shivered for quite a while, finally managing to speak: ”You said you passed through which Red Door?”

”The, the seventh?”

”Ade, do you remember what I once told you?”

Fang Hong shook his head, thinking to himself: You’ve said so many things, how would I know which one you’re referring to?

The old man lamented bitterly: ”To know what you know and admit what you don’t, that’s your own saying. And in the path of Alchemy, one mustn’t exaggerate or brag. You say you passed the seventh Red Door, but do you know how many doors the founder of the Colin Ishurian Alchemy School passed?”

Fang Hong shook his head.

The old man showed a number with his fingers.

Six doors?

”Isn’t that the same as Loofah?” Fang Hong was somewhat surprised, surprised that Loofah’s achievements were so high, able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the founder of the Colin Ishurian Alchemy School.

However, he understood at last that his teacher assumed he was exaggerating out of dissatisfaction with the gap between him and Rolin. He couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated, thinking that speaking the truth seemed hardly possible now.

Fortunately, he still had the means to prove his abilities, so he said: ”Teacher, look at this.” Then he raised his right hand, slowly tracing an Alchemy Array in the air.

Ande froze as soon as he saw that array.

Others might not instantly recognize the origin of this array, but as a leading figure in Southern Region Alchemy, he needed only one glance to realize — it was indeed the legacy of the Numelin Elves. Alchemical arrays differ among schools, naturally displaying distinct characteristics of each.

And the characteristics of the Numelin Elf School, of course, vastly differ from present-day alchemy.

What surprised Ande even more was that he didn’t recognize this particular legacy — given his broad knowledge, this was no ordinary affair.

In other words, his student mastered an Elf Alchemy that perhaps had never appeared before the world.

And Fang Hong was changing hand gestures, consecutively drawing five arrays, each corresponding to one form of inheritance he learned from Mr. Anluose. It was unfortunate that, due to external intruders, he managed to learn only half of them at that time.

Seeing these five arrays, Ande no longer had any doubts that there might still be some Elf legacy unknown to him appearing in the world. But the emergence of so many at once could only mean his student truly received teachings from the Master of the Holy Bow Peak.

The rumor was true, and his mind couldn’t help but conjure the ancient prophecy.

But the question was —

If his student were that prophesied one, what about Rolin beside Vilravito?

...