I ascend to the throne of God with arcane magic.

Chapter 696 The Purpose of the Church of the God of War

Lonely Mountain City,
Facing the dwarves with unknown intentions, Bishop Caleb frowned slightly.

The holy warriors of the Church of the God of War reacted quickly, holding their weapons and ready to face those rushing towards them.

However, at Caleb's signal, the paladins did not take the initiative to attack.

When the dwarf guards came not far from the Church of War's team, they looked at them warily but did not move any closer.

Caleb noticed that the dwarves who appeared here were the elite troops of the Dwarf King's Court.

Did something happen in Gushan City?
Caleb guessed in his mind.

If that's the case, that's a bit of a problem.

Dwarves have always been xenophobic, and it is very likely that they will refuse to allow them to enter Lonely Mountain because of this kind of thing.

Then it is very likely that they will return empty-handed after spending so much effort to cross the Gano Mountains.

At this moment, behind the dwarf guards, a dwarf who looked obviously thinner came running over breathlessly.

"Who are you?"

Ricky dusted himself off, coughed, and looked seriously at the people from the Church of the God of War in front of him.

Seeing this obviously unusual dwarf appear, Caleb heaved a sigh of relief and took the initiative to come out and said:
"Ricky, it's me, Caleb."

"Caleb?"

The dwarf in front of him was a little surprised. He rubbed his eyes and looked at him for a long time. Then he took out a pair of crystal glasses from his pocket and put them on. Only then could he see Caleb's appearance clearly.

"It's really you, Caleb!"

"You guys came really quickly. It's not been long since the approval was sent back."

Ricky glanced at Caleb in front of him and said with a sigh of relief.

It would be fine if it was someone from the Church of the God of War.

He had been searching for the legendary sun elf with others in Lonely Mountain City these days, and was surprised to suddenly hear that there was a team of human paladins outside the city.

When did the Holy Knight get so close to Lonely Mountain City? They haven't received any notification yet.

If they are from the Church of the God of War, it will be fine. At least they have communicated with the Dwarf Royal Court in advance and have obtained permission to come to the heart of the Dwarf Kingdom.

It was he who approved the permission for the Church of the God of War.

"Okay, okay, go back, everything is fine."

"I'll just take these people away."

Ricky turned and spoke to the dwarven guards who were still on guard.

These people are the most elite forces in Gushan City, so they are assigned to keep a special eye on any suspicious persons approaching Gushan City.

Looking at Ricky's laughing face, Caleb knew that his good friend had forgotten that the Church of the God of War was coming, which led to such a big mistake.

But after this incident, he could also see that Gushan City seemed to be in some trouble recently.

Otherwise I wouldn't be so nervous.

Now that Ricky said so, the dwarf guards began to leave and return to Lonely Mountain.

Upon seeing this, Caleb gave some instructions to his followers, asking them to continue moving towards Lonely Mountain with the paladins.

He came to Ricky's side, walked towards Lonely Mountain City, and asked in a low voice:
"Has anything happened in Lonely Mountain City recently?"

"Why are you so nervous?"

"There's nothing we can do. It's all caused by those damn long ears."

Ricky said with a sigh.

"Elves, what happened to those elves?"

"They haven't figured out their own affairs yet, and they're in conflict with you?"

Caleb was curious.

Although the Great Forest of Navia, where the Elf Kingdom is located, and the Ganor Mountains, where the Dwarf Kingdom is located, are geographically connected, they do not actually have much contact between them.

Because there is nothing valuable at the border between the two countries, the elves and dwarves don't care much about it.

Moreover, it was once an ancient battlefield where the Elf Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom fought each other, and no dwarf or elf wanted to live there.

What's more, the elven kingdom of Tringonor was destroyed by the demon prince Demogorgon a few years ago, and the strength of the entire elven kingdom was greatly affected.

Aside from the [Wrath of Nature] established by the elven sage, the Elf Kingdom has rarely sent elves out of the Elf Forest to the territories of other races.

In this case, how could the Dwarf Kingdom come into conflict with the Elf Kingdom?

Moreover, even if there really was a conflict, why was Lonely Mountain, located in the heart of the Dwarf Kingdom, so tense?

Can the Elf Kingdom still fight here?
"It's not what you think."

Noticing Caleb's suspicious look, Ricky knew he must be thinking the wrong thing.

After hesitating for a moment, Ricky decided not to keep it a secret from his good friend any longer.

After all, this matter has spread throughout Lonely Mountain, and Caleb can find out by just asking around in the city.

"A legendary sun elf broke into our tribe's holy land, Molten Core, and escaped from the guardian."

"His Majesty is very angry, so we have been looking for that damned sun elf these days."

"what?"

"The legendary sun elf broke into the Molten Core?"

Caleb could no longer conceal his surprise when he heard this.

As a high-ranking member of the Church of the Gods, he naturally knew what the Molten Core was.

It is said that it was the birthplace of Samakhar, the dwarf god of forging. It is one of the most important holy places for the dwarves and has a special status.

It is said that by entering there, one can gain the wisdom of the god of forging, Samaikhar, and greatly improve the forging technology.

However, this legend has never been confirmed, as only dwarves were allowed there.

Caleb was also very curious about Molten Core, but he knew that the Dwarven Court and the Temple would never allow him to enter there, so he never mentioned such a thing to Ricky.

"If that's the case, no wonder you're so nervous."

"But he is a legendary prince after all. It has been so long, and it is very likely that he has left Lonely Mountain City."

Although he was surprised, Caleb had no intention of comforting his friend.

"I know, but His Majesty is so angry, we can't just do nothing, right?"

Ricky said a little frustrated.

In fact, the ministers of the Dwarf Royal Court were naturally well aware that the possibility of finding this legendary sun elf was almost zero.

But not being able to find it and not having looked for it are two different things.

He didn't want to bear the dwarf king's wrath alone.

"Then can we continue to talk about what I came here for this time?"

Caleb suddenly remembered the purpose of his visit to Lonely Mountain this time, and quickly asked Ricky, "That matter."

Ricky thought about it and said hesitantly:
"As for the [Philips Crystal] in the Ganuo Mountains, we are actually not very interested in it."

"Why is this happening? Weren't we chatting just fine before?"

Caleb was a little surprised and continued to ask.

"Your Majesty was not familiar with these matters before, so we are the only ones who can discuss this matter."

"But it is also true. Instead of participating in the exploration of those small worlds, we would rather purchase the gains from those adventurers."

"Although the cost will be much higher, we are not short of money."

"Many ministers are not very interested in exploring the small world or managing the [Philips Crystal]."

Ricky shook his head and spoke honestly.

Since Caleb has come all the way to Lonely Mountain on behalf of the Church of the God of War, there is no need to hide many things from him.

Caleb frowned and felt a headache after listening to Ricky's words.

In fact, the place where the [Crystal of Phillips] fell in the Ganuo Mountains is one of only three places on the Fanor continent, and it is also the most chaotic place among the three.

The other two places, the one managed by the World Tree-loving One Lis Kane outside Port Danlo, is the place with the best order.

As far as Caleb knew, His Majesty the World Tree's Blessing had established a relatively complete order there through cooperation with the Church of the Gods, especially the Church of Dawn, allowing many forces to abide by his rules and explore the small world.

The other place is on the edge of the Elf Forest and the Southern Human Kingdom. The Elf Kingdom seems to have made some preparations for this, allowing adventurers from the Human Kingdom to explore the small world through the passage there to a limited extent.

There are conflicts between them, but they are all controlled within a relatively reasonable range.

But the place where the [Crystal of Phillips] fell in the Ganuo Mountains is different.

It has completely become a lawless place.

After the news spread that one could explore the small world through the [Crystal of Phillips] and obtain countless wealth, quite a number of adventurers flocked to the [Crystal of Phillips].

There are a lot of mixed people among them.

Compared to exploring the small world with great effort, it is faster and more convenient to just rob others.

The Dwarf Kingdom, as the landlord, turned a blind eye to this.

Anyway, as long as no one provokes them, it doesn't matter who you buy the extraordinary materials from.

Dwarves are not very keen on exploring small worlds, and most of those adventurers are humans.

Because of this situation, the order around the [Philips Crystal] in the Ganuo Mountains has become increasingly chaotic, and the impact has even spread to the endless desert in the west.

The Church of the God of War has no control over the Ganuo Mountains, but the Endless Desert is the territory of the Church of the God of War.

There weren't many people living in the desert to begin with, and being tormented like this was a real headache for the Church of the God of War.

That's why Caleb decided to come to Lonely Mountain on behalf of the Church of the God of War to negotiate with the Dwarf King.
But now, Caleb suddenly felt that there was a good chance that he would return empty-handed. How could he accept this?
"Is there really no room for redemption?"

Caleb looked at the dwarf Ricky and asked with a headache.

". Let's go back to Gushan City first. I'll ask for you then."

Richie felt a little embarrassed because it was very likely that his friend's trip would be in vain.

"May I meet His Majesty the Dwarf King Preston?"

Caleb asked next.

He would like to try to fight for it as long as possible.

To be honest, the Church of the God of War doesn't care much about the interests of controlling the location of the [Crystal of Phillips].

No one dared to mess with the exploration team of the Church of the God of War.

However, without the support of the Dwarf Kingdom, it would be difficult for the Church of the God of War to maintain order there.

Moreover, after the investigation by the Church of the God of War, the [Crystal of Phillips] has become a gathering place for many believers of the evil god.

Compared with the other two places, there is absolutely no danger here.

Moreover, the atmosphere there is more suitable for the activities of the evil god's followers.

All the evil god believers from the continent of Fanor gathered there. Caleb didn't care what happened to the Dwarf Kingdom.

But the Church of the God of War will surely feel very uncomfortable.

By then, it will not be possible for the Dwarf Kingdom and the Church of the God of War to stop the situation together.

These situations are also something that the Church of the God of War is concerned about, but it is unclear how much effect they can have on the usually closed Dwarf Kingdom.

Caleb sighed and followed Ricky into the Lonely Mountain.

Hammer Workshop,

In the forging room filled with a fiery atmosphere, a huge forging furnace was burning fiercely, spewing out blazing flames at will.

The flame in the furnace took on a strange golden red color, completely different from the orange-red of ordinary flames. It was a unique color of flames mixed with magical power.

Every leap of the flames seemed to carry a mysterious power, distorting the surrounding air and blurring it, constantly removing impurities from the smelting metal in the furnace.

The heat from the forge was like a surging tide, almost turning the entire room into a blazing oven.

The walls were baked hot, with a faint dark red color. From time to time, wisps of hot air came out from the cracks between the bricks, as if the room itself was gasping in pain.

In this hot room, Li Si stood in front of the forge.

Now he is short but extremely strong, with muscles wrapped around his body like tangled steel cables, and each muscle contains explosive power.

His skin was red from the fire, and sweat was dripping down his muscular chest like beads from a broken string.

As soon as the sweat hit the ground, it quickly evaporated in the hot environment, turning into wisps of faint water vapor and disappearing without a trace.

However, Li Si was completely unaware of the scorching heat and the sweat.

His eyes were fixed on the magical metal being smelted in the forge in front of him. His focused expression seemed as if everything in the world had ceased to exist and only the metal in the furnace was everything at the moment.

Li Si knew very well that smelting magic metals was an extremely critical step in forging.

If there is even the slightest mistake, this valuable magic metal will be scrapped and turned into useless garbage.

Only under such extremely high smelting temperatures can precious magic metals such as mithril, refined gold, and red copper be completely integrated and produce the best results.

The smelting temperature required for each magic metal is different. When smelting multiple magic metals at the same time, the requirements for temperature and smelting technology are even more stringent.

Every forging master has his own unique method of smelting metal.

And now, there are two forging masters behind Li Si, instructing Li Si.

The dwarf forging master Jeffreys looked at Li Si in amazement, smiled and whispered:

"You really are worthy of being my disciple. You are so talented."

"You have almost mastered my Blazing Gold Smelting Method in such a short time!"

Tom, who was standing by, looked at Jeffries and wanted to spit back, but then he remembered Patterson's instructions and had to hold it back.

Wait!
In the end, only my name will be remembered by Li Si!

(End of this chapter)