What kind of nonsense is this, that you'd be chosen by the gods and favored by all the gods?

Because the matter of the dragon blood was not yet resolved, Lyle was in no hurry to leave.

So the next morning, he got up early, did some light exercise, and then took Helena to the Dea Forest outside the city to meet up with Adeline and the others.

You look like you didn't sleep well.

Lyle noticed Adele's two huge dark circles and bloodshot eyes, which struck him as odd.

Doug, standing to the side, added:

"In order to find the real culprit as soon as possible, she spent the whole night sorting through Jin Tai'er's belongings and organizing the recent records of the river mouth."

"Hard."

Adele shook her head.

"That's not all... The accounts on the surface are almost without problems. Following the instructions left by my father, all travelers and merchants entering the town are strictly registered, and the source of the dragon blood has not been traced."

"To be honest, it's incredible that something like this even exists here."

"In other words, there are almost no problems on the surface, and no clues either." Lyle was somewhat disappointed. "But it's understandable. If it were so easy to find out, these tragedies would not have happened in the first place."

"Yes, so I changed my approach and started by looking at some recent rumors."

After a moment's thought, Adele took another piece of parchment from her pocket.

"I heard some interesting stories from the old tailor who lived at the city gate. She said she once saw Dr. Kintail go out to the city late at night when no one was around, dressed well, as if he were going to meet someone."

"At the time, she was excitedly telling me that the old man seemed to be having a secret rendezvous with someone, and whether he was experiencing a second spring... Oh wait, such gossip shouldn't be recorded here."

Seeing the exasperated looks on the faces of those around her, Adele quickly turned to the next page.

"Ahem... But what's strange is that this isn't just once or twice. Although there's no pattern, she's seen Dr. Kintail hurriedly leave town and then hurriedly return more than once."

"If it's about collecting special herbs that only appear at night, this frequency is still a bit suspicious."

"And this might be our breakthrough point. I've already recorded the path he took, which is the direction we're heading from here."

The group remained silent, pondering the meaning behind Adele's words.

For Lyle, as long as there is a definite direction, he can easily determine his location.

"I'll do it."

Adeline, who knew about Pud's tool bag, had some impression of Lyle's abilities. She didn't ask any questions and simply made way for him.

Lyle, however, still used the sword as a medium and the divination staff to determine direction.

By using divination sticks in two different locations, along with some calculations, one can easily estimate the approximate distance to the location of the secret rendezvous.

Of course, in principle, such hasty divination is disrespectful to the gods and is not allowed.

However, I have no objection to the principle.

"Found it."

Led by Lyle, the four quickly left Reed City and headed deep into the Dea Forest that surrounded the city.

There was hardly anything noteworthy to be seen in the golden forest, and even an experienced hunter like Adley couldn't find anything useful.

However, they all trusted Lyle completely, believing that his judgment was correct.

"Found it."

As Lyle noticed that he seemed to have stepped on something hard, he stopped, bent down to look, and saw what was hidden under the golden leaves.

wow-

Lifting the leaf carpet, Lyle stepped on a stone brick with a strangely shaped relief beneath the pile of leaves.

"What is this?"

Adrie looked at the stone brick in Lyle's hand with a curious expression. She had never seen such a relief before, nor had she seen anything like it in Reed City or the surrounding area.

"I don't know, it looks like relief art from the last era."

After reading through Pudde's collection of books, Lyle's knowledge of mythology and history had been greatly enriched. He examined the stone bricks in his hands and was able to easily identify the artistic style on them.

"The architectural style of the Holy Bern Empire is mainly based on stone construction, which is heavy and sturdy. They also tend to make only a few carvings on large stones to preserve the traces left by nature as much as possible, resulting in a grand and simple style."

"Interestingly, the predecessor of the Holy Bern Empire, the Covenant Empire during the Zain era, was an era without division or conflict. Architects and artists had an almost pathological pursuit of architectural carving techniques, which gave rise to many miraculous buildings that even the best modern sculptors cannot replicate."

"This piece in my hand, I guess it counts."

Lyle reminisced about the previous era.

It is said that in that prosperous golden age, the gods never fell silent, and the relationship between the gods, angels, and their followers was like that of a shepherd and his sheep. The Great Covenant Empire, which was built on earth around a sacred covenant, did not strictly conform to the definition of a nation-state.

In that era, there was no need to talk about ethnicity or ideology, because God was everything. The gaze of the deity was the direction in which believers went, and the benevolence and love of the deity complemented this perfectly.

Theocracy is integrated with religion, and the realm is defined by God.

Unfortunately, everything was destroyed in an instant.

The silence of the gods and the collapse of the covenant forced people to face this cruel world alone. The fledgling human civilization was like a child who was learning for the first time that there was eternal darkness and man-eating monsters in the world. The weak humans could only learn to use fire, prayer, and swords to deal with the threats.

As the main inheritor of the legal and territorial principles of the Great Covenant Empire, the Holy Bern Empire represented the continuation of the old sacred order in the secular era. Its national strength was built on the maintenance and absorption of the legacy of the "Great Covenant," and the theocratic system was once the cornerstone of its stability.

The fundamental dilemma facing the empire today is that the "covenant" upon which it was founded has itself proven to be structurally flawed, and the divine authority necessary to repair it is irretrievable.

"So, we've found an ancient ruin beneath this land?"

Adlie's thoughts quickly shifted to the land beneath her feet. Although she was a warrior, she was also very interested in ancient history.

"But what does this have to do with our purpose?" Doug was a little out of sync with the two. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Most of the architectural remains from the Zaan period are buried underground, but the sturdy and durable buildings themselves are not easily worn down by time," Adley continued. "Therefore, these ruins naturally became hiding places for cultists."

"I never expected that there would be such ruins here..."

"I can't tell what style it is either, so I can't help you with that, I'm sorry."

Lyle casually tossed the stone brick aside and shook his head.

"That's not important. Now let's think about how to find the entrance to the ruins."

"Should we go back and get some more people?" Doug asked uneasily. "Just the four of us... it's really..."

"I left a letter for Kevin. If anything goes wrong, he'll come to our aid." Lyle pulled out a gold coin.

"Moreover, I have complete confidence in my ability to avoid risks."