Respawn Point Beneath the Ruins

Fang Heng felt as though he was in a very strange place. All he could see was boundless darkness, devoid of any sense of space. The world seemed to be nothing more than a thin sheet of paper, with neither up nor down, left nor right. He could not even sense his own existence. Am I dead, or am I alive?

But specks of light suddenly appeared in the darkness, like an unfurled painting that displayed a magnificent starry sky before him. Though Fang Heng had never died in Aethelria before, he recognized it as the respawn interface.

Every point of starlight represented a resurrection temple. Different colors represented different deities. A cluster of pure white light close to him was the divine radiance of the Milera Temple at Hidden Spring.

Milera, the Healer, protector of the honest, god of redemption, and goddess of fertility, was the symbol of life in Aethelria. Respawning in her temple reduced experience loss by fifteen percent. This small benefit was also one of the gods' ways of drawing in believers.

Fang Heng's mouth fell open in astonishment.

Being able to see the respawn interface meant something extraordinary—the stowaways were not restricted by the Zone of Silence. It also confirmed a long-standing conjecture: compared to the Chosen, stowaways were more like natives.

He did not know whether he was the first person to discover this fact, but there was no doubt this secret could not be widely known.

The enormous and unexpected delight instantly filled his heart. After all, no one wanted to die, did they? But Fang Heng soon discovered that most of the starlight on the star map was extremely dim and unavailable for selection.

The respawn range in Aethelria was roughly a hundred li. Respawning beyond that range was commonly called "having your corpse picked up." As for which deity picked up your corpse, that depended on which temple was closest in a straight line. Such a respawn caused massive experience loss, generally increasing by one percent for every additional li.

There were three resurrection temples within a hundred li of this forest. Aside from the Milera Temple at Hidden Spring, there was also a Traveler Temple and an Ameya Forest Temple.

Roman was not only the god of commerce, but also the guide of travelers. There was a saying in Aethelria describing this goddess: the main road was her temple, and the trail her shrine. Though somewhat exaggerated, wherever travelers went was within the reach of her divine power. Her temples were spread across the world. In deep mountains, ancient forests, and untamed wilderness, the only temple one could usually find was a Traveler Temple.

As for the latter, Ameya was the god of forests and nature, so it was not strange for her temple to appear in a place like this.

Yet all three temples appeared locked in Fang Heng's field of view.

That made no sense at all.

On the vast star map, only a nearby cluster of pale blue light remained selectable. It was the temple of Anjina, god of knowledge and self-improvement.

"Why is there a Temple of Knowledge here?" Fang Heng froze for a moment. Knowledge spread among people, and Anjina's temples were usually found in densely populated cities, often beside grand libraries. He had never heard of anything as strange as a Temple of Knowledge appearing in the middle of nowhere.

He tried to sink his consciousness into that cluster of starlight. Suddenly, an irresistible suction force came from within the vortex.

When Fang Heng opened his eyes again, he found himself inside an unusual temple. Its design was vastly different from the temples he had seen in Kapuka and Rodell. It had no bright, spacious vestibule, no tall and beautiful rose windows, no broad and comfortable side corridors, nor any sacred and solemn pulpit—all of those came after the religious reforms of the New Era.

Before that, temples had been like the one before him: a tall circular hall, austere and silent, with pale light falling from the vaulted ceiling, cast by faintly glowing Light Quartz above.

Between the stone pillars stood statues with religious themes, most depicting legendary heroes. They had been Anjina's devout followers and chosen ones. Fang Heng could recognize only a few of them, such as Shale the Quick-Witted, Bock the Sage, and Ed the Creator—the last being the greatest alchemist in history, the creator of Holy Crystals, and the source of Fang Heng's ID.

At the center stood Anjina's enormous stone statue—this was no different from modern depictions. The recorder of history still held a quill in one hand and a long parchment scroll trailing to the ground in the other.

Anjina was depicted as a stern middle-aged man with a goatee and meticulously groomed hair, making him appear exceptionally old-fashioned. He wore the robes of an alchemist, and some people therefore considered him the patron of alchemists.

The temple was bitterly cold.

Fang Heng could not help shivering. He checked what he had on him before remembering that he had nothing at all. The three Clockwork Sprites had been damaged, and there was nothing worth dropping from them anyway.

Scarpe's Glowstone was still in his shirt pocket. He gently rested a hand over it, as though he could still feel its warmth.

Less than a day had passed, yet Dawnstar had already fallen apart like this. Faces once familiar to him could never be seen again in this world, and even he himself had respawned in this bizarre place.

I wonder how Miss Scarpe, Mr. Quilod, and the others are doing. Have they returned to Starport?

Fang Heng had heard that many people who had just returned from Aethelria found it difficult to readjust to life in the real world—just as they had struggled when they first stepped through the door into this world.

But sometimes it was more serious than that. When they arrived here, they at least knew they would return to Earth one day. Leaving, however, meant a true farewell.

Many people met all sorts of others in this world and built lives of their own here. Some even formed friendships with natives—and the moment they left, they were destined never to see any of it again.

It was therefore understandable to regard departure as a true death. Others might find such feelings difficult to comprehend, but many people were never able to adapt to their old lives afterward. Most Chosen developed psychological problems after retirement—depression or other disorders—and quite a few took their own lives because of them.

That was why Fang Heng was somewhat worried. Though the industry had gradually become more regulated in this era and retired Chosen were given an extended period of psychological counseling, accidents could still happen.

He let out a faint sigh.

Then he could not help raising his hand to look at the back of it. Sure enough, the emblem of half a crown was still there. Seeing it reminded him of that breathtakingly beautiful face and the girl's calm eyes.

What had she said to him at the end?

A faint ache rose in Fang Heng's heart.

He knew she had not truly wanted to kill him, but if not for that dagger, would she have acted? Fang Heng vaguely had an answer, but he did not want to believe it.

He stared at the emblem and could not help rubbing it, but it had no effect. "What exactly is this emblem?" Fang Heng did not understand what Miya wanted that crown for, just as he did not understand what this emblem did.

He considered smearing blood on it, but he was afraid of the pain and could only give up.

After standing there for a while, he realized no priest had come to receive him.

Strange? Fang Heng thought. Even if Anjina's believers were aloof, surely they would not stop spreading their god's gospel altogether.

He looked around, only then realizing how strange this temple was—there was not a single person inside. No respawned Chosen, no staff, nothing at all.

He was the only person in the enormous hall.

"An abandoned temple?" Fang Heng looked around in confusion. "But how can an abandoned temple still receive divine favor?"

He slowly walked forward. His footsteps sounded especially loud in the empty space. After circling the hall once, he discovered something even stranger—the temple had no exit.

The natives of Aethelria regarded the south as sacred, so most buildings faced south with their backs to the north. Religious buildings such as temples were supposed to follow this rule even more strictly. Yet the south side of this temple held only a side hall. Fang Heng walked in with some surprise and found a solitary statue inside.

A tall elven statue.

Its form and size were much the same as those mortal followers outside. It wore long robes, held a book at all times, and exuded scholarly air. That was not surprising; most of Anjina's followers were like that.

But Fang Heng was still puzzled. "Why was it placed here by itself?" He walked over and looked at an open stone book at the statue's feet. As expected, its pages were engraved with an account of the person's life. The text was in Elvish and Auschian—those who entered this world naturally knew one local language. Fang Heng had naturally learned the official language of Corin-Ishurian, which shared roots with the Imperial language, so he could barely understand the writing on the stone tablet.

The first sentence on the tablet startled him.

'The most outstanding student of Rolin-Ed, Hain-Pham, 779–921.'

Rolin-Ed was the great alchemist Ed, the most outstanding alchemist in history, even one of the founders of alchemy. He had been born in the Age of Magic, which meant the owner of this statue might also have lived in that era. The dates on the page likely referred to the years 779 to 921 of the Magic Era.

That had been more than a thousand years ago. Fang Heng could not help drawing a sharp breath.

He immediately thought of the era when the Numenor Elven Empire had existed. "Could this temple be connected to the ruins outside?" A huge possibility suddenly occurred to Fang Heng. The Zone of Silence in those ruins might have been meant to conceal this mysterious temple respawn point.

And if no native had come here in the thousand years since the Numenor Elves departed, then he might very well be the first person to discover this temple.

Because the Chosen could not possibly reach this place.

His heart suddenly began pounding.

The unknown meant rewards—this was one of Aethelria's iron laws. And if the Numenor Elves had hidden this place so deeply, could it really contain nothing but an empty temple?

Thinking of this, Fang Heng suppressed his urge to hunt for treasure and continued reading.

But as he read, he suddenly cried out.

The sound reverberated through the hall, amplified until it startled even him.

He wiped away a cold sweat, but his heart was racing and his hands were trembling. Yet this trembling was not from fear or terror, but from excitement and exhilaration. The stone pages recorded Hain-Pham's life, describing how he had further explored his teacher's achievements and attempted to spread alchemy more widely.

Alchemist Rolin-Ed's greatest achievements in life had been the invention of Artificial Holy Crystals and Magic Furnaces. The former led to the birth of Dragon Knights—allowing artificial knights to appear in Aethelria's history for the first time and breaking the monopoly that the contractors of Natural Dragon Souls, the Sky Knights, held over higher-tier power.

The latter was an even greater symbol of the popularization of alchemy and magical power, making an alchemical civilization truly possible.

Of course, none of this had happened overnight. Rolin-Ed had only completed the initial designs, and the first generation of Holy Crystals and Magic Furnaces had requirements far harsher than those of today. They were nowhere close to being widely accessible. But it was precisely because generation after generation of successors continued blazing the trail that Aethelria's alchemical civilization reached its present scale.

Hain-Pham was one such pioneer.

And Hain-Pham's achievement recorded on the stone page was the creation of a unique crystal called "Zero." Zero was an Attribute-less Crystal. One line concerning this crystal made Fang Heng's heart leap: Hain-Pham had created a genuine Attribute-less Holy Crystal.

An Attribute-less Holy Crystal.

When Fang Heng saw those words, he almost could not believe his eyes. He read them three times before confirming that he had not misread them.

A Holy Crystal was the vessel of a Dragon Soul. They came in two kinds: naturally formed and artificially manufactured. Natural Holy Crystals were crystals left behind after true draconic creatures died. Under special conditions, humans could resonate with them and become Sky Knights.

Artificial Holy Crystals contained Artificial Dragon Souls. Those who formed contracts with them became Dragon Knights.

The greatest difference between the two was that the former was influenced by the powerful memories and inheritances of draconic creatures and generally focused on strengthening the user's own body for combat. The latter lacked true draconic inheritances, so it took another path—treating Artificial Dragon Souls like intelligent AI and using them to control Dragon Knight Constructs in battle, compensating for the power gap with Sky Knights.

Thus, a Dragon Knight was a trinity: Dragon Soul, operator, and Dragon Knight Construct. None could be absent.

Of course, some Chosen believed Sky Knights were suited to physical builds, while Dragon Knights were more suitable for intelligence, summoning, and magic-oriented builds. But Natural Holy Crystals were impossible to come by, so many top-tier physical Chosen still chose the path of the Dragon Knight.

But whichever path one took, Holy Crystals were the mark of combat-oriented professions.

That was because Holy Crystals first had to be Attribute Crystals. Attribute-less Crystals could not bear the immense power of a Dragon Soul; this was almost an established fact.

Yet today, that established fact no longer seemed to hold.

Provided the words recorded on this stone page were true.

This was of extraordinary significance to Fang Heng, because an Attribute-less Holy Crystal meant that even someone without Magic Adaptability could become a Dragon Knight. Even if the stone page said Hain-Pham had only designed the Holy Crystal and had not created a matching Dragon Knight Construct.

That did not matter.

With his current level of mental power, he could not control a Dragon Knight Construct anyway. That was something to consider only at levels twenty or thirty. An Artificial Dragon Soul alone would benefit him immensely—he was an alchemist, after all. Combat Artificers were known as Lesser Dragon Knights.

Because artificers had the ability to control multiple Flexible Constructs.

And a Dragon Knight Construct was, in essence, merely a top-tier Flexible Construct.

More importantly, a Dragon Soul also granted an extremely powerful ability—the Knight System, or Dragon Knight System. It was essentially the original Chosen System.

In fact, humanity's Glowstone Devices had been imitated from the Dragon Knight System. This was widely known. The first generation of Chosen had entered the Star Gate directly, and they had been no different from Fang Heng now.

They were outstanding soldiers and scientific workers selected by governments across the world. They expanded humanity's understanding of Aethelria and used Glowstones and human electronic information technology to replicate the Dragon Knight System—the Chosen System.

That system opened a new chapter in the Star Gate Era. Once data had been quantified, people could explore the New World as though playing a game, greatly lowering the threshold for entry. From then on, the Chosen gradually became more accessible to ordinary people and accepted by the public.

The governments and militaries that had initially stood at the forefront also gradually stepped into the background, allowing exploration of the New World to become increasingly commercialized and entertainment-oriented.

Though he did not say so, Fang Heng had always dreamed of having a Chosen System.

Especially after this experience.

And now, that dream seemed almost within reach. It was even an advanced version of the Chosen System, something that even top Chosen generally could only encounter in the Second World.

The Dragon Knight System.

At that moment, Fang Heng felt as though immense happiness had struck him. He could not help silently praying that the Holy Crystal of the respectable Mr. Hain-Pham was somewhere nearby.

The possibility was high. He had a feeling that this temple had an extremely deep connection with the elf named Hain-Pham; otherwise, they would not have erected a separate statue for him here.

He even had the feeling that this temple was the true secret hidden beneath these ruins.

The Sea Forest Crown was valuable, but the timing did not match. The Corin-Ishurian Alliance had only existed for a little over seven hundred years. The Sea Forest Crown might have been forged earlier, but it could not possibly be older than the Numenor Elven Empire itself.

The Numenor Elves could not have created the Giant Construct called "Cerberus" to protect a crown that would only appear in the future. Its true objective could only lie deeper within the ruins.

And that was this temple—

Fang Heng quickly sorted out his thoughts. The more he considered it, the more convinced he became that his guess was correct. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he read the final sentence on the stone page. Only after finding no further clues did he raise his head and look around.

The side hall was empty.

But he immediately noticed something wrong. The light in the main hall outside came from Light Quartz set into the vault, so why was this side hall illuminated?

He instinctively looked up and, sure enough, saw a colorless, translucent crystal floating above the statue's head.

Its shape, its gentle radiance, the Dragon Soul imprint and alchemical markings on its surface.

There was no doubt—

It was a Holy Crystal.

Fang Heng's mouth went dry. His heart seemed to stop beating. What he saw was no longer merely a Holy Crystal, but the path to his future.

A door that could be pushed open.

Beyond it lay another, far broader world.

Longingly, he reached out toward it as though he could grasp it directly in his hand. But then he froze—wait, the Dragon Soul imprint on that Holy Crystal was transparent.

No Dragon Soul?

An empty crystal?

Come on, everyone, please add it to your favorites~