Pillar of Yita

”Don’t worry, it’s not my first time here.”

The High Order Craftsman watched him go in alone, closing the door, then shook his head and muttered, ”Arrogant fellow.”

But the young Alchemist obviously didn’t hear this remark behind the door.

He merely tucked the command letter into his pocket and then walked through a long corridor. However, instead of entering Elfendo Spire’s central area directly, he turned to another side, first arriving in a hall filled with many enormous Magic Guided Conductor installations.

The young man stood in the center of the room and looked up at the tall magical machinery around him.

They were connected to the upper Elfendo Spire through numerous pipelines, and at the moment, each piece of magic machinery was operating at full capacity, its main Core Crystal emitting a dazzling light, while a low rumbling sounded from within the machinery.

The young man admired this for a moment, then took a pen-shaped crystal from under his coat and inserted it into a nearby control panel.

He walked to each control panel in turn, repeating the previous actions three times, and when he completed the action for the last time, the surrounding magic machinery suddenly emitted a teeth-gritting tremor—

As if a giant beast were treading slowly, but eventually came to a halt.

And the light on its main Core Crystal gradually dimmed.

Elfendo Spire’s core defense was disabled—

The young man took out a pocket watch for a glance, then immediately turned and walked towards the central area.

He knew it wouldn’t take long for the outside to notice the anomaly, and time was short— footsteps of the guards were already echoing through the deserted circular corridor— but the young man, having rehearsed many times, swiftly slipped through the corridor, entering the other side’s central area.

There, two Combat Golems almost immediately advanced towards him, raising their War Halberds with a ’swoosh’.

But the young man remained calm, merely taking out a brooch and waving it, causing the two rigid Constructs to instantly freeze as though petrified.

He glanced at the two golems, breathed a sigh of relief, and continued forward, passing two or three checkpoints before finally entering the central High Tower hall of Elfendo—

Although it wasn’t his first time entering the Tower Heart, every time he saw the expansive interior resembling a plaza, the towering arches, and the Ice Longstone suspended at the center, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat awed.

Yet thinking about his mission, he couldn’t suppress some excitement, took a deep breath, and walked towards the center of the hall.

There was a small workbench with Sonan Steelbrow’s unfinished Core Crystal on it. But the young man didn’t even spare it a glance as he passed by the unfinished piece, walking towards the central Ice Longstone.

The magic protection indeed hadn’t been activated.

Suppressing his excitement, the young man took out the crystal he had earlier from his pocket.

But just at that moment, he heard a dull sound from below, with the ground slightly trembling. Startled, he stepped back, only to realize that the hall’s floor was gradually sinking, revealing a dark entrance.

After a moment.

The young man saw an entirely black, plump ’monster’ climbing out from below the entrance. The creature was so bizarre, with a pair of pitch-black, round eyes like a human’s, cautiously watching him.

But peculiarly, there was an unusually large armor plate on its right hand.

When it saw him, it obviously was startled, showing a look of fear, raising its ’claw’ and exclaiming, ”Ah, sorry! I just took a wrong turn, I’ll leave immediately!”

The young man was stunned.

But then he realized that it wasn’t a monster at all, but a person.

A peculiarly fat Shield Bearer.

And Luo Hao nervously pulled back his front foot, suddenly realizing something was wrong. He promptly turned around, looking at the crystal in the young man’s hand, then the towering and magnificent Ice Longstone behind.

Ice Longstone?

This is the Tower Heart Hall?

Suppressing Crystal?

His mind flashed like lightning, almost immediately comprehending, as he looked at the young Alchemist and shouted, ”What are you doing!?” Before he finished speaking, he threw the shield in his hand forcefully at the other party.

But the other party was obviously prepared, sidestepping the shield that whooshed past him with a loud clang, striking Sonan’s crystal nearby, shattering it into pieces.

Luo Hao, still unaware of what he had done, just pounced towards the young man.

The latter, merely an Apprentice Alchemist, was certainly not his match in reaction, only feeling an unpleasant stench in his face, nearly fainting, and then being thrown heavily, crashing to the ground.

Luo Hao, quick on hands and eyes, reached out to grab the crystal from the other’s hand.

But the young man was clearly vigilant, cursing spitefully even though he was dizzy from the fall, retracting his hand to let him grasp nothing.

Luo Hao was fast to react as well, pinning the other’s arm and flipping to sit on him, reaching with the other hand to grab. But just then, he suddenly heard a sharp gust of wind—half a year’s training saved his life, instinctively releasing the other to roll aside.