Pillar of Yita

The Seven Seas Traveler quietly anchored between the fjords, with towering, majestic cliffs on both sides, like two silent and loyal guards, standing silently amidst the swirling clouds and mist.

Fang Hong took a sip from his flask filled with chilling liquid, gazing at the silver sails standing amidst the mist, squinting his eyes.

Despite the opposition from Tianlan, Xiaoxiao, and a group of ladies, Luo Hao and the others still hung up the bloody head of the Arrow-Tailed Kite.

According to Bakins, this was a tradition of the hunters. The sailors of Scarna would also hang up the largest and most hideous Sky Sea monsters they caught, as if displaying spoils of war.

Scarna is south of the Scepter Coast, and Hilveld laughed, believing that the sailors there did that just to show off their goods to merchants, having nothing to do with demonstrating valor and such.

But the seasoned sailors clearly couldn’t agree with what their young lady said.

However, the true value of the Arrow-Tailed Kite lies in its carcass. Close to two and a half tons of meat and tendons, though the meat of predators is often not too palatable, once dried, it would at least leave about half its weight as reserve food. Moreover, once boiled tender and seasoned, any ingredient in Miss Atira’s hands could showcase its magic power; at least today, there would be a hot steaming pot of broth to look forward to.

And there’s the iron feathers, which fetch a market price similar to the long feathers of the Dragon Feather Emu, though the output is not on the same order of magnitude. This one Arrow-Tailed Kite has at least a hundred usable feathers, equivalent to spoils of war in the ten thousand range; although the Seven Seas Travel Group isn’t short on money, who would complain about having too much money?

Fang Hong even felt a bit regretful.

Hunting such a large Sky Sea raptor was a rare opportunity; their victory over the Arrow-Tailed Kite had an element of luck, thanks to Xiangzi’s timely stroke of genius.

Otherwise, even if the Arrow-Tailed Kite couldn’t defeat them, in such an environment, it could easily escape.

Furthermore, this spiteful creature would likely harass them for the next few days; apart from those three or four-masted large ships, smaller ones like the Seven Seas Traveler would still find it easy to be threatened by an Arrow-Tailed Kite, so generally, those making a living on the Sky Sea would avoid clashing with large creatures of this level.

Later, even though this big bird fell to the ground, it took quite some effort for them to subdue it — Luo Yu almost drained his mana and the pre-stored elemental crystals, and a few valuable Wind Crystals were also used up.

Fang Hong shook his water bottle, feeling warmth spreading through his body. The flask contained water mixed with a bit of alcohol; shrouded in fog in the fjord, it was chilling. The bosun told him this method would make the cold less unbearable, and the alcohol content was so low it hardly caused intoxication.

After a while, Xiangzi and Luo Yu walked over. Bakins told them that the Arrow-Tailed Kites living here probably hadn’t seen humans, and its evasive behavior towards firearms raised some concern. Since they speculated that this big bird’s nest was nearby, they planned to explore a bit.

And find a water source while they were at it.

They split into two groups, with the remaining people staying behind to service the Seven Seas Traveler. Fang Hong, Xavier, and Luo Yu were together, and Fang Hong looked at the two, asking, ”All set? Did you bring the tents?”

Exploring inland, they weren’t sure how far the water source was, with a possibility of not being able to return, so camping gear was essential.

Both nodded.

Fang Hong glanced back at the ship and saw Tang Xin daydreaming on the shore. He pondered for a moment and called out, ”Tangtang, want to join us?”

Tang Xin was actually collecting Holy Ether.

Hearing her cousin calling her, she turned to look, initially about to refuse, but beside her, Ai Xiaoxiao was already nodding eagerly like a pecking chick, ”Yes, yes!”

Tang Xin gave her best friend a smack on the back of her head, but in the end, she nodded.

She put away her Magic Guided Wand and walked over, glancing at her cousin, who seemed to be in a good mood. Secretly, she was also pleased for the Seven Seas Traveler.

Though outwardly, she remained cold.

Fang Hong gazed at his aloof cousin, suddenly feeling a bit of regret; Crybaby lately had been so cold it was even getting to him.

But then, Tang Xin softly asked, ”Cousin, do Xiaoxiao and I need to prepare anything?”

Fang Hong finally let out a sigh of relief, shaking his head. ”We have brought enough tents; you can just share one with Ai Xiaoxiao.”

Tang Xin nodded.

On one side of the canyon, a path wound its way up the cliffside; they had found it when they docked and surveyed the harbor.

The group ascended the path, with Fang Hong holding a compass in his gloved hand, trying to determine their position.

He sent out a few Clockwork Fairies, but in this mist-shrouded environment, they were of limited use, and he could only rely on intuition to ascertain where the Seven Seas Traveler likely was during the previous combat.

After a while, two beams of silver light flew back through the mist. Fang Hong retrieved the Clockwork Fairies and found two paths to the north and west, but he felt that the earlier battle occurred north of the Seven Seas Traveler, so he sought the opinions of the others.

The others agreed.

The path to the north grew more rugged, as if nature’s mighty power had carved it out from the cliffs, its width barely allowing two people to walk side by side, winding through the foggy canyon.

From the Sky Sea, this foggy fjord appeared devoid of life, dead silent. But down in the canyon, they found there was still some vegetation present.