Herito Hewen had every reason to thank King Vellent. Yu Lian could sense that the Franmorian was quite powerful. At the very least, the strength of his psionic fluctuations was probably no weaker than that of his junior disciple, "Thea."
The Franmorians weren't naturally gifted with psionic talent. To have reached this level of mastery, he could probably be considered a great sage among his people.
Of course, the price had been steep.
"But your life is already bound to this Sky Garden. Even if you advance to sainthood, you'll only be the anchor that keeps this artifact stable here. You're nothing more than a sacrifice to let that Void Lord descend into the material world." Yu Lian's tone was sympathetic, but he made no effort to hide his malicious mockery. "Of course, given your ultimate value, perhaps you'll be a sacrifice they can recycle. That depends on whether a demigod steps in to undo your mental shackles. Mr. Hewen, are you really worth that much?"
He gave no direct answer.
"Besides, King Vellent wasn't the one who made those mental shackles. He only provided the artifact." Yu Lian shook his head. "You volunteered for this plan. And the one who designed the shackles, anchored your soul to the Sky Garden, and then used the garden to anchor the Root of a Thousand Eyes couldn't have been him."
"General, I still stand by my view: simply staying alive is already a battle." The Franmorian gave a grim, resolute smile. His eyes even held a trace of death.
Yu Lian shook his head. "I can understand your situation, and I respect your choice. But frankly, if you wanted a powerful backer, you should've chosen Queen Sullica... I mean, Queen Brin. She'd never look down on you just because your brother was