Pillar of Yita

including this maintenance bridge and the way to enter the upper levels, there was hardly any difference. It was evident that although Eteliria had experienced several catastrophes in its history, the ancient alchemists' technology seemed to have been passed down quite intact to the present day.

But the upper level was not the core power room they had imagined—the place that would be the lift cabin section on a winged ship, where the core crystal would typically be placed in a ground magic guided conductor. Fang Hong thought he might see the legendary Ice Longstone, but he was disappointed.

Only then did he realize that this construct, which was like a small mountain, was much larger than the constructs of the Colin Ishurian Alliance.

The second floor was also a maintenance passage, the corridors filled with dust and dirt, permeated with the scent of rust, having been untrodden for who knows how many years. Fang Hong even saw some iron plates that had grown together with the floor, inseparable from each other.

Surprisingly, there was a residential area above, a long corridor with door numbers on either side. Fang Hong hadn't learned the writing on them and couldn't understand what they said. Some doors were still open, leading to empty rooms, and apart from the rust mentioned before, there was no strange smell in the hallways, no scent of mold, and not a single skeleton to be seen.

It seemed that this construct had been left here on purpose, and its original owners had not left in a hurry.

The deeper Fang Hong went, the more curious he became about what the last command given to this construct was, whether its original owners were the Numelin Elves, and why they would leave their homeland and leave this thing behind?

He vaguely felt that Miya might know the truth, but then his thoughts wildly speculated about her motives—were her objectives the same as those of the Silver Forest Spear and the people like Jiefulite?

Fang Hong wasn't a fool; he faintly guessed that Miya might have played everyone, as neither party seemed to have gained any advantage from the fight last night.

Of course, the Morning Dawn Star Adventure Group, treated as cannon fodder, was hardly worth mentioning.

Fang Hong suddenly wanted to know how Miss Sicape and the others were doing outside. How many members of the adventure group were still alive? Although those who had died were destined never to return to this world.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a UI and couldn't contact the outside.

He paused and pressed his hand against his chest; Sicape's Glow Stone was still safely in his pocket, which gave him some reassurance. At that moment, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from the darkness ahead.

Fang Hong was slightly stunned; he should be around the fourth or fifth floor by now, which by estimation was still within the lower levels. He shouldn't be so close to Miya, could there be someone else inside this huge construct?

Was it Jiefulite or someone from the Silver Forest Spear? Or maybe the Numelin Elves?

But what made him most uneasy was the fear that what was coming might not be human at all.

The sound approached quickly, and up ahead was a fork in the path. Fang Hong cautiously stepped back, hiding behind the wall without so much as breathing, watching the outside.

Then he saw a white figure swiftly pass by the fork, and Fang Hong was momentarily startled—he realized that was definitely Miya's silhouette.

He instantly chased after her—

But the corridor was pitch black, and he couldn't see anyone at all.

"She left so quickly?" Fang Hong was somewhat dumbfounded and instinctively opened his mouth to shout, but he bizarrely held back the sound. After thinking it over, he shut his mouth and followed in that direction.

He moved quickly, the floorboards in the darkness making hollow sounds. After a while, Fang Hong suddenly realized that Miya couldn't have possibly missed hearing his footsteps. Just as he had this doubt, he suddenly saw that ahead the corridor reached an end—leading to the only room. His heart lifted with relief, thinking he wouldn't have to worry about losing track now.

But as he passed through the door, Fang Hong was taken aback once again.

He had thought he would see Miya here, but behind the door was instead a platform, empty on the outside, with no sign of the young girl's shadow.

Fang Hong couldn't help but look around, the platform was made of those maintenance pathways, with a layer of wire mesh laid on top of the metal frames and simple railings around the perimeter. Ahead was pitch black, and what lay below was unknown, with one section of the railing having been broken through and bent outward.

Could she have jumped down from here?

At the sight, Fang Hong was momentarily stunned, thinking there was no need to break the railings.

A wave of confusion swept over Fang Hong, and he couldn't help but move closer to take a look, but before he reached the edge, he suddenly felt a strong push from behind.

He immediately lost his balance and fell out through the gap, his heart turning cold. As he turned around, he just managed to see a white mist forming the shape of a figure, gradually appearing above the platform.

Sharp, shrill laughter came from the darkness, the sound's owner appearing extremely pleased and wild with themselves.

"Hahahahahaha..."

The laughter echoed in the dark space, sounding eerily hollow, hardly like something a human could produce. Fang Hong, breaking out in a cold sweat, finally realized what he had encountered—a Resentful Spirit.

How could he have forgotten about these ghostly beings?

In Eteliria's shadow-haunted underground, adventurers always encountered such beings unawares, these Negative Energy creatures born from hatred that could read people's negative emotions when least expected and morph into whatever form unsettled them the most, luring them step by step into deadly traps.

Fang Hong was very familiar with these entities—from television, the internet, the descriptions by top Invokers. He had thought he was way out of a newcomer's league, not someone who would be so easily duped, but to his shock, on his first encounter with such a being, he fell for it due to a moment of confusion.

He cursed under his breath, these ghostly things were just too pervasive.

But there would be no next time.

This time was just bad luck, Fang Hong embarrassedly rationalized to himself.

Luckily, he still had one chance to use his Fall Arrest Construct, or this really would have been capsizing in the gutter. Fang Hong glared at the arrogant Vengeful Spirit, thinking, just you wait, then reached back to pull the lever of the Magic Guided Reactor.

But at this press, his sweat ran cold.

Where was his Magic Guided Reactor?

That huge Magic Guided Reactor, he had clearly placed it right there, how could it just disappear?

Then it dawned on him, and he quickly turned back, indeed seeing the misty figure holding his Magic Guided Reactor in the air, still smirking triumphantly at him.

"I—!" This time Fang Hong really did swear. But before he could finish, it felt as if a wall had suddenly risen in the darkness and slammed into his face with a loud crash, blacking out his vision.

Fang Hong lay on the floor, taking a long time to finally catch his breath.

...