Pillar of Yita

Boom, the third illumination bomb soared into the sky, and the bright light once again made every detail of the forest crystal clear. Fang Hong was breathing unevenly as he looked up but suddenly felt a lightness on his back. It turned out Kroid had casually picked up his backpack as he passed by.

"Ah, thank you..."

"Stay focused," Sicape came over and gave him a slap on the back that nearly sent him stumbling. "What are you looking at? Hurry up and keep up with the others. There's a habitat of withered treants nearby. We'd find those level 40 creatures troublesome, and if you wander off and stumble into it, you're dead for sure."

Fang Hong did want to see what withered treants looked like—he hadn't seen many magical creatures in this world. He had only seen a giant griffin at Kapuka's once, which left a deep impression on him. Following that was the terrifying bird he had seen earlier. Even that ancient species fascinated him, as he heard these creatures had been extinct on Earth for tens of thousands of years, and even biologists had come to the New World to observe them.

However, at this moment, he didn't dare to be reckless and thanked Kroid before obediently catching up with the team.

After the illumination bomb was launched, the team's route changed, no longer passing through the open and sparse woods and meadows but rather heading into the dense forest. They wound their way through for about a quarter of an hour. During this time, Fang Hong occasionally sent the clockwork fairy up to correct their course until they could once again see the semi-circular dome of the Holy Sanctuary in the distance.

This was Fang Hong's first time closely observing elf architecture in this world—it differed significantly from other ruins. The buildings were full of agility, light and airy decorative styles, with long and intricate colonnades. The main buildings used cross and ribbed vault structures, and the decorations were full of openwork continuous arch structures, a very intricate beauty that perfectly melded solemnity with detail.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Fang Hong would have found it hard to believe that such exquisite buildings could have survived for so long. Of course, the ruins could not escape the erosion of time, and nature had almost completely overrun the original domain of civilization. Vines covered every building, and aside from the occasional flash of white walls reflecting the moonlight, the entire ruins were shrouded in oddly-shaped greenery.

Fang Hong was entranced by the sight and subconsciously took a couple of steps forward but was suddenly pulled back by a strong force. He turned around in confusion and saw Sicape's frustrated expression, "What are you spacing out for? Look in front of you."

Only then did Fang Hong notice that Kroid had moved to the front of the group at some unknown time. Kroid was staring in one direction, so Fang Hong looked that way as well, but apart from the dark forest, he couldn't see anything else. He subconsciously reached into his pocket and fumbled around before pulling out a clockwork fairy, but Sicape reached out from behind and stopped him, shaking her head.

"Follow orders," she said, "Someone is coming."

"Is that so? Why can't I see them?"

Seeing Sicape roll her eyes in annoyance, Fang Hong realized he might have asked a stupid question. After a while, he indeed saw some people walking out of the woods in that direction:

The others were dressed in silver clothing, clearly visible under the glow of the illumination bomb. They emerged from the forest in an orderly manner, forming three columns about a few hundred meters away, blocking the path of the Morning Dawn Star Adventure Group.

"They've spotted us too?"

Kroid nodded, casually tossing the backpack back to him. Fang Hong caught the backpack, and Sicape, who was beside him, also took off the magic guided gun hanging on her back and tossed it over. Fang Hong hastily caught the long gun with both hands, feeling the weight shift.

"Ishurian's Type Seven flintlock gun, take it for self-defense. Do you know how to use it?"

Fang Hong looked at the people dressed in silver in the distance and said, "I know a little," as he subconsciously nodded.

"No worries, you'll get the hang of it after a few tries. It's much simpler than a clockwork fairy." Sicape took out a metal component as thick as a dictionary and waved it in front of him, "This is a water-cooling component. I took it off for you because with your strength, you wouldn't be able to hold the gun steady with it on. However, not having it will affect you, so you'd better stick to firing once a minute. If you fire twice within a minute, the non-attribute crystal inside will overheat and damage the gun mechanism, and if you fire three times, it will definitely burst, so you'll have to manage that."

Fang Hong nodded like a pecking chicken.

After the Lion War, non-attribute crystal magic guided guns began to be equipped by various countries' armies. Like clockwork fairies, this alchemy product that straddles the line between magical instruments and war gear was born out of the thinking of the Eteliria countries to expand their troop sources, but it wasn't very successful. First, the power of the non-attribute crystals was too weak to pose a threat to Invokers above level seven; second, the water-cooling mechanism of the crystals was too cumbersome and complicated for an ordinary person to carry into battle.

Thus, these guns were only popular among lower-level adventurers.

Unlike early muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, this magic guided gun also had rifling, a technology brought by humans. Just like the huge changes the New World brought to Earth, humans also had a comprehensive impact on this world.

"By the way," Fang Hong suddenly thought of something, "Where are Miya and the others?"

Sicape glanced at him dismissively, "What, worried about your little girlfriend?"