Walking across Marions Plain gave one a wonderful illusion: if one kept going, one could always reach the end of the sky.
This was the fertile heartland of the Salion Kingdom, where the soil was so rich it seemed ready to ooze oil. If not for the wars of recent years and the Gatu People's plundering, calling it a land of fish and rice would not have been an exaggeration.
"Thirty years ago, I was only fifteen, a child who knew nothing. My home was over there. We were self-sufficient farmers with ten mu of land, two horses, and an ox. I even had a little sister. You have no idea how mischievous she was. When she laughed, she sounded like a fairy. Ah, even now, I often think back to it. Those truly were the best of times."
Mounted on the tall Death Knight Warhorse, Old Alec spoke with deep emotion. Yet the place he pointed to had already become a ruin. Decades of wind and rain had eroded it until the once fairly prosperous little village was left with only a few crumbling walls.
Zhang Yang could not know what story lay hidden within those ruins, and Old Alec had no intention of telling it. He had simply grown old, while this world had left him far, far behind.
The group crossed desolate fields, dense woods, and trade roads overgrown with weeds. Gradually, a ridge appeared ahead, seeming to lie across the land like a giant dragon. According to Old Alec, one end of the ridge connected to the Nordo People's Elf Forest, while the other led straight to the sea. This was Nudal Ridge, also known as the Dragon's Skeleton.
Near the sea, the Salion Kingdom had built a sturdy fortress. It had once served as the