Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong heard the implication in her words and subconsciously looked up—though ahead, all he could see was a pitch-black void. Elf Miss shook her head, took the Illumination Crystal from his chest, and lit it with a touch of her fingertip.

But when the crystal’s light brightened, Fang Hong was momentarily stunned.

The light of the Illumination Crystal wasn’t particularly bright, pale and cold, just a faint glow in the darkness—only illuminating a few feet. Yet within those few feet, Fang Hong saw a wall artificially built.

The wall loomed before them, stretching from left to right, its ends disappearing into the darkness, the extent unseen. Rising up, about fifteen feet high, the entire wall was neatly constructed of square bricks, nearly identical to the material of the outside Idus underground passageway.

Yet its architectural style considerably differed from that of the ancient city.

And atop the wall was a massive crack with which Fang Hong was exceedingly familiar. The crack resembled a wide-open mouth, yawning blackly before them, with the faint glow of the Illumination Crystal unable to penetrate it, seemingly leading to an unknown space inside.

Fang Hong was astonished upon seeing this crack.

Wasn’t this precisely the place he and Eve completed the sealing earlier?

But he and Atira clearly traveled in the opposite direction, how did they end up here? Even if lost in the darkness, unable to find his bearings, he clearly remembered that place only had a single passageway.

The passage was at the face of a sheer cliff, below which lay an abyss, and the place even had a tentacle monster. Even if confused, he and Miss Atira traversed various terrains, surely he hadn’t misremembered?

Could it be an Illusion Technique?

Miss Eve perhaps used a spell to create two identical sealings, fooling the Dragon Worshippers who invaded here thirty years ago. But if it were indeed a spell, wouldn’t its range encompass this entire underground river? How vast would that scale be?

Fortunately, there was some anticipation beforehand, thus after a slight shock, Fang Hong quickly regained composure. Since Eve mentioned that the Ring of Golden Flame could bring him here, encountering any peculiarities wouldn’t be strange at all.

He gestured to Atira to let him down.

Elf Miss turned her head to look at him.

Only then did Fang Hong respond: ”The Dragon’s Heart is hidden here by Eve, she let me come here, presumably there’s no danger. Besides, the Ring of Golden Flame is still in my hand, and I have Pale Glory’s protection—there should be no issue, Miss Atira.”

His words were merely to reassure her.

Atira only nodded and then released his hand, gently supporting him beside. Fang Hong took a look inside, then raised the Ring of Golden Flame in his hand, wanting to test if it had any reaction.

Indeed, he was not mistaken; when he raised the ring, the flame on the Ring of Golden Flame slightly swelled. Simultaneously, a faint glimmer flashed across the sealing, but the glimmer vanished as quickly as it appeared, and the stone wall returned to normal.

Yet within that instant, Fang Hong seemed to hear a strange sound.

He hadn’t clearly heard what the sound was, but instinctively glanced at Atira’s Magic Guided Reactor beside—because he worried there might be Descendants of Flor behind him. But this reassuring glance allowed him to see the Magic Guided Reactor briefly flicker.

The disturbance in its glow was extremely subtle, merely because Elf Miss was nearby, Fang Hong couldn’t immediately ascertain if there was truly someone behind. Still, out of habit, he turned to take a look.

Thankfully he did, for he immediately saw a white shadow standing in that direction.

He was startled in terror.

Not because the white shadow belonged to the Descendants of Flor, but because that white shadow seemed vaguely familiar to him. Fang Hong suddenly recalled, on his way here with others, he inadvertently noticed such a white shadow.

But upon inquiry, aside from him, no one else saw it, leading him to momentarily believe he imagined it.

And at that time, the white shadow seen appeared exactly identical to the one just glimpsed.

Fang Hong learned his lesson this time, remaining silent, only gently tapping Atira’s shoulder. Elf Miss was taken aback, turning to see his expression, Fang Hong signaled with his eyes, and she promptly comprehended and followed his gaze.

At that instant, the white shadow flickered and vanished in that direction.

But the brief delay was sufficient for Atira to glimpse the scene. She immediately raised the spear in her hand, hurling it in that direction, only for the spear to fly into the darkness, soon producing a crisp collision sound.

Clearly, it had struck a rock and missed.

Atira frowned upon seeing this, only telling him: ”You wait here, Ade, I’m going over to take a look.”

Fang Hong lightly nodded and simultaneously released a Clockwork Fairy, replying: ”Follow my Clockwork, Miss Atira. If anything happens on my side, we can communicate through it.”

Elf Miss was surprised by his forethought, pondering briefly, then nodded.

With a lift of his hand, the Clockwork Fairy buzzed and flew over. Then he pulled down his Wind Goggles, watching as Atira headed that way, soon vanishing into the darkness. Meanwhile, Fang Hong was preparing to squint his eye and see what he could discern.

But at that moment, he again heard a sound similar to the previously strange one.

This time, the sound was noticeably clear.

It was coming from behind him.

Fang Hong was slightly startled inside, instinctively turning around, seeing nothing but the previous sealing there. As he turned, he saw behind the crack of sealing, two bright orbs of light appeared.

Like a pair of violet eyes, fixedly staring at him from behind that crack.

Upon seeing those eyes, cold sweat immediately flowed from Fang Hong. Because he recognized it, that thing was nothing else but the violet flame-like monster they had seen earlier in the outer hall.

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