Pillars of Ita

"I can take you to that place," the pine needles rustled down, soft and silent, and the tail of Eleusis's words dissipated in the wind at the top of the canyon. Even though she had to lower her head, her tone was still as hard as a needle tip, occasionally poking out from the softness and piercing people.

"You are in no position to negotiate with them in your current situation, Miss Eleusis." Olivia loosened her arms around her knees, cleverly catching the hidden meaning in Eleusis' words, and reminded her in a 'friendly' manner.

She did it out of good intentions, only because she was worried that the other party would not be able to swallow this insult and would get a bloody head, which did not conform to her aesthetic standards; it was like a good medicine, although bitter, it could always be integrated into the aftertaste.

Eleusis snorted softly.

"Vor-Salastir's connection to the Fountain of Youth is not accidental, and the appearance of that fountain is not random. Only the stars can lead the way."

"Have you heard of the legend of the place where the twelve stars shine together? Vol-Salastir represents one of them. The spring water is reflected by the stars in the sky, and it can only be seen when the moonlight is at its brightest -"

The Duchess paused for a moment - according to the laws of the empire, she should be the Grand Duke of Abernand, "That's why I asked her to bring you up." There was reluctance in her tone.

She turned into black mist and looked in one direction, facing the rolling sea of ​​clouds at the edge of the canyon, as if waiting for a certain moment to come.

The back of the square plover was just leaving the fir trunk. Alessa looked away with some boredom, and the movement of raising her head was condensed into a silhouette at that moment - the moon just emerged from the clouds at that moment.

At first, it was just a touch of glaze on the edge of the blue-gray twilight, as if someone had poured a pot of silver paste, soaking the ink-stained cotton wool. The entire sea of ​​clouds was losing the warmth of the night, and the undulating pine waves gradually condensed into the texture of gypsum, but were melted by the moonlight at the highest point, forming a translucent flocculent edge.

The wind made a whistling sound, and the pine needles on the branches began to fall off like snow. At the moment when the fragments flew into the canyon like catkins, a long and narrow gap suddenly appeared in the clouds.

A pale waterfall of light poured down, illuminating the dragon bones lying dormant in the sea of ​​clouds. It was originally a limestone ridge that stretched for more than ten miles, and now it was soaked in moonlight and looked like one with the spine of the giant beast.

Fang He saw a ray of starlight falling from the distant sky.

That is the tail of a comet.

Like a blue-gray candlelight, it flickered and disappeared in a flash, and before disappearing, the long blue tail floated across the clouds and pulled in one direction.

"Have you written it down?" Eleusis suddenly broke the mysterious silence of the moment and asked.

"Twelve degrees from the main island of Drakirim, forty-four miles south, is the Changwei Huanyu Island. That is the closest place in the archipelago to the Red Whirlpool."

Fang He replied.

The Duchess turned into mist and swirled in the air, with a helpless annoyance, "I really envy you for having such ability. If I knew how to sail, I wouldn't have to take such a risk."

"You approached us not just for this purpose," Fang Yu mercilessly exposed her, "and if you don't have an experienced captain, how can you escape from the Oshu Empire?"

“She had,” Alesha said.

"Oh, I executed them all," Eleusis said coldly, "This is related to my secret. If they are still alive, that man might come to me."

"Then you will receive a fair trial," Fang He put the silver box back into his waist bag, "I will not kill you. This is to give you the last bit of dignity, allowing you to accept the trial of another monarch. Should this be in line with your status?"

"He is just a usurper. That position should belong to her sister. How can a bastard become king?"

"You'd better not say that in front of them," Fang He said, shaking his head. "Miss Eleusis, are all the nobles of the empire so annoying when they talk?"

Eleusis snorted, and was actually a little happy, as if Fang He's words were a compliment to her. Fang He was speechless, the imperial nobles were really too perverted.

But he suddenly thought of something, "Since she handled the secret properly, why did the imperial people still come to her?" Isn't this inconsistent with what Eleusis said? If the emperor of the empire still found this place, then wouldn't all those methods be in vain?
"It's none of your business." The Duchess' voice was a little nervous.

Olivia couldn't help laughing. "Those people were resurrected in the temple of Anjina, so the news spread to the entire Gulf area. The Sons of the Gulf learned about it and sent out a fleet to entangle the pirates and the imperials."

"But they don't know about the 'shadow man'. Miss Eleusis at least has a basic sense of confidentiality, otherwise they would be suspicious of every outsider."

She reminded again 'kindly'.

"So you only killed them once?" Fang He turned around and asked.

"I told you this has nothing to do with you!" Eleusis shouted in anger.

"The good news is that you only have to be executed once," Fang He nodded. "You still have Xinghui. You've killed so many people, you might be sentenced twice, but you can't escape imprisonment."

But he thought it was a little ridiculous. This princess had been out of touch with reality for too long and regarded human life as worthless. She probably thought that only she had the power to be resurrected again.

But it's not surprising. He has been to the Empire, a country with strict hierarchy. The superiors in that country may not even regard the inferiors as human beings. Perhaps they have already regarded them as another species.

Only a scheming and tyrannical figure like Archduke Hawke might have some understanding of power, but a lady like Eleusis, who lives in an ivory tower, has developed an arrogant character due to court life.

The clouds had covered the moon again, and the light in the canyon was becoming dim again. Fang He looked in the direction the dragon bone was pointing - tonight's progress was going more smoothly than he had imagined.

He turned around and asked, "Olivia, can we go back?"

"Wait," Eleusis suddenly said, "There is something here. Every island here was once bathed in dragon blood. When the moonlight rises, we can find some secrets."

Fang He looked at Alessa, "Go with her." The Dragon Queen yawned, "Don't worry, she can't escape."

Fang He nodded and followed the misty Duchess into the nearby woods. Olivia also followed, but she looked very weak, so Fang He had to support her.

He didn't say anything nonsense, knowing Olivia's character, she would not wait behind at a time like this. When Kapka got into trouble, she almost lost one eye.

Eleusis probably knew that a chain was tied to Alessa's hand, so she didn't think much about it. Instead, she came to an open space in the woods. Faint starlight hung from the sky, reflecting the rocks there.

Fang He saw that it was a dried-up stream, which flowed down from somewhere on the mountain when the ice and snow melted. But the weather was still cold and there was only a pile of gravel here.

"What is this place?"

Fang He saw that Eleusis seemed to be somewhat concerned about this place. The mist she turned into floated over the gravel, like a cat, sniffing something alertly.

"Haha," the Duchess laughed maliciously, "you don't recognize what you are looking for when it is right in front of you. If it weren't for me, you would never find it in your life."

Fang He ignored her meaningless remarks and only grasped the key information in the conversation, "Is this the Fountain of Youth?"

"It used to be."

"It has different states at different times," Eleusis said, "but when Vor-Salastir draws the moonlight to this place, the stream flows forever, becoming part of the Fountain of Eternal Life."

"What exactly is Vo-Salastir?" Fang He asked, "Isn't it the legendary floating port? How can it attract the light of the moon and stars and correspond to a fountain of youth?"

But when it comes to this, Eleusis is rarely modest. She shook her head and said, "I don't know either. Whether Wo-Salastir exists is a mystery. No one can explain its relationship with the Fountain of Youth. But no one cares. As long as the prophecy is proven to be correct and the Fountain of Youth can be found, that's enough—"

"If the prophecy is correct, then Wo-Salastir should also exist." Fang Yu said.

Eleusis smiled mockingly and said, "Only fools care about illusory things. No matter whether it exists or not, as long as people can't find it, it doesn't exist." Fortunately, in her current state, other people could not see the mocking look on her face.

However, Fang He could understand it. For a century or two, the Sons of the Gulf, the Imperials, and the Rotaos had invested countless manpower and resources in searching for something that did not exist. Any stubbornness should have been sobered up in the light of time.

Ordinary people may still have illusions about this, but any monarch who sees the long investigation report and the corresponding waste of manpower and material resources will realize what the reality is.

This is probably why the Imperials and the Primus seem completely uninterested in Vor-Salastir.

But he didn't care about that, he just asked: "Then why did you bring us here?"

"The Holy Spring is the antidote to dragon blood," Eleusis licked her lips. "It only flows through places that have been bathed in dragon blood. In other words, this land was once cursed. Pick some of the flowers that grow there and give them to me."

When Fang He heard the angry and commanding voice, he couldn't help but look at the other party, a little curious about where this woman got her confidence from.
Eleusis probably realized that she had gotten carried away, so she quickly changed her words and said, "Those flowers are useless to you. I, I can accept your judgment, but I want a little reward."

Fang He really wanted to say that the trial and the reward had nothing to do with each other, but the other party's request was reasonable. If this could appease the woman and prevent her from causing them trouble in the future, it would not be unacceptable.

He looked at Olivia and the bachelor lady nodded to him, "It's okay, it's Sanguilacerta, which is Latin for dragon's blood, so it's good for it."

"Only dragon blood grown in the moonlight is good for me," Eleusis corrected. "Ordinary bloodstone flowers are worthless, and most astrologers' research on them is not worth mentioning."

Fang He walked over and found that there were indeed some inconspicuous plants growing in the cracks between the gravel. They looked a bit like succulents, and the scales they grew looked like blood-colored dragon scales.

It does look a bit like a bloodstone, but it is a completely different species. The real bloodstone is very common and can be found everywhere in most mountainous areas of Attalia. But it is also possible that, as Eleusis said, these bloodstones bathed in dragon blood and grown under the full moonlight may be very different.

This theory sounds incredible on Earth, but this is Etalia, where elements and ether together shape this world, and moonlight originally comes from the tides of the Sea of ​​​​Ether.

He took out a small shovel and dug out the bloodstones along with their roots and rhizomes, but he was cautious. Eleusis said that these bloodstones were useless to them, but who would know without trying?
As an alchemist, storing unfamiliar materials was an instinct. He gave one third of the bloodstone flower to Eleusis and kept more than half for himself.

The Duchess was quite critical of this, but she could do nothing about it. In the end, she kept muttering about the "blood of the dragon". She had no entity, and Olivia kept it for her.

The bachelor lady only briefly studied those unique plants, but her essential direction had nothing to do with plant and animal ecology, so she was not very interested in it.

After they finished all this, they returned to the outside of the canyon. The Dragon Queen Alessa had already disappeared. This was consistent with her character. Except in front of Fang He, she rarely showed up in front of other people.

Occasionally he would give Luo Yu some guidance, but those were very rare cases.

However, it seemed that Eleusis did have something on the Dragon Queen, and she had no intention of escaping even if Alessa did not show up at all.

Or maybe she cared about the legend of the Fountain of Youth, or the stone blood flowers in Olivia's hand. In any case, she did not do it again, and even spoke very little along the way.

Fang He took Olivia back along the same route, which took about two and a half hours in total, and they returned to the camp near Crescent Bay. Alice saw them first and greeted them.

But this Miss Nightingale didn't seem curious about the relationship between him and Olivia, or where they had been or what they had investigated.

Fang He found Elisa and told her the truth. The second Miss Nightingale was quite surprised and couldn't help looking Olivia up and down with curiosity.

"So those things before..." She couldn't help but ask, "Whose masterpiece was it?"

Fang Plover nodded.

“I’m sorry,” Alyssa apologized to Olivia, “My previous suspicion of you was all out of self-preservation.”

Olivia shook her head. "It's okay. That's what I should do." She could hear the stiff tone in the other party's voice and knew that Miss Nightingale still had some grudges against her.

But she really doesn't care about these things, and arguing is not in line with her aesthetics.

Fang He did not choose to disclose this to most people. After all, except for Daryl, most people did not know Olivia's true identity. Tianlan was yelling in the camp - saying why the leader hadn't come back yet, she was starving.

Alice told her that Fang He had already returned to the camp, so the poet lady hurried over. Fang He then realized that most people were waiting for him to eat.

In fact, the Seven Seas Brigade didn't care about this at first. Most of them ate separately, especially the Papara people, who would go to the kitchen to eat alone every two or three days.

However, there were few people on the Seven Seas Traveler at that time, and the supplies on the ship were more than enough for them to squander, but Catherine had her own rules, especially the sailors were already accustomed to it.

In their view, it was natural to wait for the captain to return before having dinner together, and after experiencing that storm, everyone on the ship was convinced of the plover.

In the eyes of the sailors, Fang He is undoubtedly the most experienced and decisive captain, especially since he is still young, which makes many old sailors convinced.

The Chosen One has no advantage at all in this job. In fact, all major guilds hire professional captains to command their fleets, and Fang He's ability in this regard is entirely due to his personal talent.

However, although Marigold claimed that she was a French chef, the meal was not as good as expected. Marigold's mushroom soup was outrageously salty, and Catherine's grilled fish had a strange mint flavor.

The magic flame from the box almost singed half of his eyebrow. Only the blueberry scones distributed by Olivia received unanimous praise. Fang He was really convinced. After the loss of Miss Attila, the food level of the Seven Seas Traveler dropped by more than one level.

"It's better to let Tianlan come."

After holding the sword and looking at the stars in the sky for a long time and thinking about life, Miss Catman suddenly said something.

Even Fang He couldn't help but look at her twice more. She didn't expect that Daryl could say such down-to-earth words. She had always claimed that she didn't care about these things at all.

However, only the main culprit Marigold did not get discouraged. She argued that it was the female pirate leader who put salt instead of sugar, and said that she would never make the same mistake again next time.

This caused Catherine to take out her magic pistol and chase her. In the end, everyone voted unanimously that these two female demons must not be allowed to approach the kitchen next time.

Silent all night.

The repair work of the Seven Seas Storm is still in progress. Except for the main magic engine, which has no repair function, the progress of other parts is very encouraging.

However, Fang He did not plan to wait any longer. He had actually already thought about how to make good use of this time the night before. It was just a small incident that happened unexpectedly, but overall, it did not change the result.

It was even better than expected. He originally planned to launch a small boat from the Seven Seas Storm and explore along the inter-island route towards the main island of Drakirim.

But now it seems that none of them will be used. The Seven Seas Storm did indeed lower its only small boat early in the morning. Although it was called a small boat, it was about fifteen meters long, with a lower cabin, and could also erect a mast.

It can be regarded as a smaller sloop. Although it has almost no ability to sail on the ocean, it has no problem sailing between islands and deep into the island chain.

Moreover, the triangular sail is more convenient for coastal wind and flexible in turning, which is especially suitable for such near-shore exploration. Fang He arranged the personnel and abandoned the original plan, intending to sail directly to the direction of Changwei Huanyu according to the guidance given last night.

Let’s first verify whether Eleusis’s judgment is really that reliable.

And if the prophecy comes true, this can help them save more time and gain the upper hand before the Imperials and the Court of the Oath of the Central Flame arrive.

...(End of chapter)