Pillar of Yita

Led by the dwarf goblin, after passing through a golden oak forest, everyone reached the center of the valley. There was a clearing in the forest, and under the bright light pouring down from above the cave, stood a small dwarf hill. A towering ancient tree grew atop the hill, so ancient that it could hardly sprout new branches, and on its cracked and dried bark, an elderly face appeared.

Upon seeing that face, Fang Hong seemed to subconsciously guess that this was the owner of the voice. At that moment, he felt as if the entity looked in their direction from afar, perhaps unintentionally.

Then, he once again heard the gentle, elderly voice within the world of the mind:

”Thank you for coming here, young ones.”

Fang Hong immediately asked, ”What is this place? Why did you bring us here, was it because of those monsters outside?”

”Don’t worry, I will answer your questions one by one. They are not monsters, but ancient guardians,” the voice replied slowly.

”Ancient guardians?”

”In the ancient era, our master created us, two races, and tasked us to guard the Heart of Chongshan. A thousand years ago, a great war swept the land, and dark forces invaded our realm. We paid a terrible price in that war to repel the enemy. Not long ago, some humans came here, and from them, I again sensed the same dark aura. I had a foreboding, and soon after that, the Crystal went mad, seemingly searching for the Heart of Chongshan. But now I am old and no longer a match for the Crystal, so to avoid losing the Heart of Chongshan, I sought your help.”

Fang Hong was almost certain that the war from a thousand years ago was the Giant War, which brought about the destruction of Aithelin and the final departure of the Numelin Elves.

He pressed, ”But what exactly is the Heart of Chongshan? Who is your master? And who is the Crystal?”

”The Heart of Chongshan is the core of the crystal mine veins buried under Nogness, a nearly pure Ether crystal. It is the junction of all Ether rivers and the starlight in Nogness. Without it, this land would turn into a dead zone. The Crystal is its watcher, and the crystal creatures you saw outside are just parts of her. As for our master—”

Fang Hong was slightly startled, meaning this Guardian— the Crystal, is very likely the one described in the logs as controlling the Crystalysis Beast from behind.

What is this—a symbiotic mind, a gestalt?

The elderly voice paused, ”No doubt you have guessed that our master is what you call the Xinsas, our masters resemble giant dragons, with magnificent scales, vastly different from you today.”

It was not out of his expectations.

Indeed, Xinsas serpent folk, although this ancient treant appears loyal and simple, is quite flattering—calling them dragon-like in appearance, aren’t they just reptiles?

However, the matter of the Heart of Chongshan still shocked Fang Hong, the crystal mine veins deep beneath the earth determine the flow of the Ether River across the continent. As all life and energy in this world are closely linked to the activity of Ether, one could say these ever-flowing Ethers shape everything on the Floating Continent.

Should the Ether River dry up or change course, what would happen afterward is simply unimaginable. And he had heard rumors about the Crystal Heart—a massive Ether flow might create nearly pure elemental crystals, becoming the core and center of magic power flow in a region.

But all of this was just hearsay, no one had ever truly seen the Crystal Heart, nor proven its existence. Who would have thought that there might be a Crystal Heart within the Pieriad Mountain Range?

He digested this huge amount of information, then asked again, ”But you said the Crystal is searching for the Heart of Chongshan, as its caretaker, does she not know where it is?”

”Because the Crystal’s task is only to defend against external threats, whereas the true Heart of Chongshan is indeed here, guarded by our tribe for generations. Yet, soon she will figure this out, she has tested us more than once, but my strength alone can hardly prevent her coveting the Heart of Chongshan. This is why I need you here.”

”You want us to help you ward her off?”

”Not just that,” the owner of the voice shook its head, ”Wait a moment, young ones, I will give you a satisfactory answer.”

Suddenly it raised its voice, letting a heavier and deeper sound resonate throughout the valley:

”...Thank you all for coming to the Greywood Lands, although perhaps your reasons for coming here are not entirely the same, your encounters may be quite similar. The Crystal has blocked the exits outside, she won’t let you return to the surface alive; your purpose here is simple, to survive—at least in this respect, we have a common enemy.”

”I can offer you a relatively safe shelter until your rescue arrives. However, all this does not come free, for the Crystal will soon attack this place, and while I’ve gathered you here, survival now depends on yourselves.”

So this place is called Greywood Lands, but these two paragraphs were evidently not meant for them.