Pillar of Yita

”No need,” the one who spoke was Beiji, who had not spoken all along. The young girl looked at them and responded concisely, ”I can do it.”

Upon Fang Hong’s inquiry, he found out that Beiji was also an apprentice of the Orlenze Artisan Association and had quite a talent in identifying minerals.

But upon thinking, it’s not surprising that she would follow in her outstanding brother’s footsteps.

However, why doesn’t his sister think the same way?

He looked at Tang Xin with curiosity, but Tang Xin, as if knowing what this pigeon was thinking, frowned a little, giving him a sideways glance.

Once again despised by his cousin, Fang Hong felt worn out, and at this moment the Big Cat People suddenly spoke:

”Ade, do you remember what we found out in Patchiwa?”

Fang Hong was slightly stunned.

They had picked up a lot of information in Patchiwa, but it took him a moment to realize what the other party meant.

”Mr. Reed, are you referring to the one about the strange decrease in the crystal mine veins throughout Nogness?”

Reed nodded, ”If we connect these two matters, the people mentioned might just be the ones we previously guessed.”

Fang Hong then recalled this matter, right, he almost forgot to inquire about those humans with a ’dark aura’ mentioned by Moenyalit.

Unfortunately, another opportunity for inquiry would have to be found.

What he didn’t expect was that this opportunity came quickly.

Not long afterwards, Moenyalit instructed the Grey Tree People to escort the Invokers out of the valley, but specifically let the Dwarf Goblins take them to another location.

It was a square made of ancient trees.

There, a towering Ancient Treant had been waiting for them for a long time.

Its long dragon beards hung down to the ground, with scorching marks left from its left shoulder to its left leg, and the cracked bark had completely turned into a charred scale-like appearance. When it spoke, it was with a deep, buzzing echo:

”Young humans, I am called Grey Bark, the last remaining Elder of the Grey Tree People here.”

”For a thousand years, Lord Moen, in order to maintain the form of the Heart of Tree, has not been able to keep its consciousness clear for a long time, so the remaining questions shall be answered by me.”

At this moment, Fang Hong was curious whether it was only them who came here, or if others had already met this Tree People Elder?

But hearing his question, Grey Bark straightforwardly shook his head, ”The only ones who can see me are you.”

”Why?” Fang Hong asked in confusion.

”Because this is Lord Moen’s command, you carry the aura of Goddess Ameya on you.”

”Goddess Ameya?”

Fang Hong immediately understood what had happened, it was all because of that brief Descent of the Gods in Istania.

He didn’t expect that the aura left by the Forest Goddess on him at that time would play a role here.

Speaking of which, he is still the Holy Chosen of Marlan, thankfully the relations between the two goddesses are good, otherwise Lady Roman and Lady Marlan might have fought.

But Moenyalit and Grey Bark might have mistaken one thing, the natural aura on him was only accidentally acquired.

Fang Hong realized this could explain why he was the only one who could hear the call from the other side.

But if this Heart of Tree and this Great Elder thereby assumed he was a divine envoy of Ameya, aiming to have him deal with some crystal matters, that would be a huge misunderstanding.

He quickly asked, ”So what exactly are we here for, is it merely to defend against the crystal’s attack?”

”That is just one aspect,” Grey Bark responded, ”Lord Moen knows those people have the ability to transmit messages to the outside world. If we attract enough people to this place, we could stand a chance against the crystal.”

”But the Invokers are a mixed bunch,” Fang Hong couldn’t help but remind, ”there are quite a few Dark Followers among them.”

Grey Bark shook his head, ”No need to worry, Lord Moen has the ability to discern dark aura; we will never let those with dark power enter the Holy Land.”

That may not be the case, Fang Hong glanced at Nini, who was mumbling in her sleep.

However, it was hard for him to determine whether Nini’s power could be classified as dark in nature.

”Then what about us?” Fang Hong finally asked, ”Why did you summon us here?”

”To investigate the cause of the crystals’ madness, young human,” Grey Bark replied, ”we have always wanted to find out what those people have done.”

Fang Hong didn’t expect the issue to circle back to this topic.

He paused for a moment, surprised, before asking, ”Have you ever seen those people?”

Grey Bark shook his head, ”Only Lord Moen sensed their entry; no one has seen them.”

”Have they already left?”

The Ancient Treant slowly nodded.

...

”At least they didn’t make us work for nothing.”

Parker murmured while lying on the all-natural wooden windowsill.

The Tree People had unexpectedly arranged accommodations for them, not just for the Seven Seas Travel Group, but for every Invoker who arrived here.

They used magic to build treehouses among the trees, which, although somewhat simple, without any furniture, at least prevented them from sleeping in the wild.

They even set up a simple hall for Invokers to form teams.

As a result, the Invokers had already turned it into a bar.

Fairies also resided in the forest, serving as brewers.

With the Fairies’ fine wine, a bar, adventurers, tasks, and generous rewards, all that was missing were the adventurers’ stories.

Fang Hong looked at the bustling tree hall in the distance, suddenly understanding the mindset of that ancient tree sage.

The intention was to transform this place into an adventure camp, perhaps even a town.

Just think, this location is abundant with treasures, surrounded by priceless mineral deposits.

And as long as the Tree People could provide rewards to pay adventurers, this place would soon thrive, becoming the hottest adventure destination.

The only outstanding issue is how to let people know about this place.

But for now, leveraging the survival instincts of these Invokers, reinforcements would likely arrive steadily here.

By that time, with the actions of the Grand Guild, Free Summoners would naturally discover the clues.

Not to mention, there were already Free Summoners caught here.

Fang Hong was not very sure whether Moenyalit understood the difference between Free Summoners and Guild Summoners or whether this was a deliberate intention of the latter.

But being able to arrange things to this extent was already quite impressive; it seemed quite knowledgeable about the Holy Chosen.

And once this Grey Forest becomes a town of adventurers, the threat of the crystal here would naturally become negligible.

It might even be possible to solve the problem once and for all by leveraging the power of adventurers.

But is it really that simple?

The information Grey Bark told him constantly lingered in his mind.

”The scouts have returned!”

Tianlan suddenly called out.

When Fang Hong looked up, he saw Walnut and the others emerging from the underground, returning from outside.

...