"Not ready yet?"
"Why are you asking me? How should I know?"
At the entrance of Higi Village, Washizu and Dan Oni Roku conversed in hushed tones.
Their gazes occasionally darted towards the Golden Tree in front of them. Ever since Ember entered it, the large tree had remained motionless.
"Stop shouting, stop shouting, he's already out." Just as Washizu and Dan Oni Roku were getting bored, Ember's voice echoed from within the Golden Tree, and then he walked out.
"What did you go in for?" Washizu, seeing Ember finally appear, immediately ran over to ask.
"To call someone. Hey! Dan Oni Roku, what are you doing?" Ember answered Washizu's question while questioning Dan Oni Roku.
Seeing Ember approach, Dan Oni Roku stopped his actions of fumbling up and down the Golden Tree. He spread his hands and replied earnestly,
"I'm looking for the entrance to this tree, to see how you got in."
As he spoke, Dan Oni Roku's gaze did not leave the Golden Tree. Although this Golden Tree was not as thick as the one in Dragonspine, its trunk could certainly accommodate a person.
"Stop looking. When this tree grows bigger, the entrance will appear automatically." Ember stopped Dan Oni Roku's actions. The Golden Tree's interior could form its own world, but the prerequisite was that it had to be large enough.
And this Golden Tree had clearly not grown to that extent. As for when it could form its own space, Ember could only say he didn't know.
The one in Dragonspine was matured by him; for it to truly grow that large, even a Golden Tree would find it difficult.
In any case, if Dan Oni Roku didn't leave the country, he probably wouldn't see the beautiful scenery inside the Golden Tree in this lifetime.
"Call someone, through this tree?" Washizu first looked at Ember, then at the Golden Tree. The words "I don't believe it" were practically written on his face.
"Of course! Just wait a bit. I sent an urgent signal. The biggest delay should be the time wasted by someone getting furious because his head was poked."
Ember whistled, then sat down cross-legged and waited quietly.
"Alright, since you put it that way, I'll believe you this once." Washizu, hearing this, put away the doubt on his face and waited with Ember.
"I want to see who you can call." Dan Oni Roku sat on a nearby field ridge and also waited with them.
To be honest, he was also very curious about who Ember could summon.
The sun over Yashiori Island was obscured by dark clouds, but many rays of light still managed to penetrate the clouds and shine down.
Thus, the people of Higi Village could roughly determine the time by the change in light.
"It's almost dark. We should rest for the night and wait tomorrow." Washizu, seeing the gloomy light, which was almost turning pitch black, suggested.
"Hehe, no need. Look, aren't they here?" But Ember did not agree. He nodded towards the Golden Tree at the village entrance, signaling Washizu to look.
The Golden Tree, faintly covered in gold, suddenly turned fiery red, as if a great fire had ignited within it, transforming it into a smelting furnace.
"Thump!"
Around the Golden Tree, a thick dark shadow appeared, and then the shadow landed on the ground, making a dull thud.
"Your Majesty..."
"Alright, alright! I know! All of you stand straight, don't let others look down on you!"
The Crucible Knights arrived through the void, and as soon as they landed, they saw Ember sitting cross-legged.
They were about to bow, but Ember forcibly held them in place. The Crucible Knights felt the lifting force around their bodies and wisely gave up the idea of bowing.
Seeing the Crucible Knights stand straight, Ember rubbed his wrists hard. Dragging such a large group of iron lumps from the Akasha, did they really think he wasn't tired?
Getting up from the ground, Ember began to examine the group of Crucible Knights he had been waiting for.
But very quickly, he noticed something amiss.
"No, I remember there were fourteen of you, right? Why are there only thirteen now?"
"You better not be engaging in workplace bullying."
Ember circled the Crucible Knights once, only finding thirteen figures, which didn't match the fourteen in the Knights of Favonius.
"Haha, well..." Ordovis gave a few dry laughs, then, as if giving up on treatment, quickly said,
"The reason is simple, actually. It's just that Charcoal Daly, that kid, fell for Tanith and is pursuing her madly. This matter has nothing to do with us, the Knights of Favonius. We've already expelled him from the Knights of Favonius. Please, Your Majesty, do not project your disdain for him onto..."
"Stop, stop, stop!"
"Let me catch my breath." Ember saw a series of extremely rapid sentences coming from within Ordovis's armor and immediately raised his hand to stop him from continuing.
"Charcoal Daly is pursuing Tanith? Is he still a member of your Crucible Knights?" Ember muttered to himself.
"He used to be, now he isn't." Ordovis reached out and pulled out a notice, which stated the news of Charcoal Daly's expulsion from the Knights of Favonius.
"I knew it! When we all scattered, I wondered why he stooped to become a woman's attendant. Turns out he'd had ill intentions all along." Ordovis looked at the notice and couldn't help but complain again.
"A knight's disgrace." Siluria didn't say as much as Ordovis. She simply gave a cold snort.
"Hey, hey, hey, you can't say that! At least for you Crucible Knights, this is good news."
Ember, seeing Ordovis and Siluria's disdain for Charcoal Daly, waved his hand and said.
"Your Majesty, Tanith is Rykard's concubine." Siluria reminded Ember.
Liking someone, that's fine, but if the person you like is a married woman, that's a big problem!
"I know." Ember nodded, but quickly added,
"But I also know that Tanith never liked Rykard, but rather Rykard after he transformed into the Great Serpent."
"Likes the Great Serpent? Tanith has such heavy tastes?" Ordovis was startled upon hearing this.
Tanith was located in Volcano Manor. Legend had it that a Great Serpent, one capable of devouring the world, slept beneath the volcano.
During the Shattering War, or perhaps even further in the distant past, Rykard, the master of Volcano Manor, began trying to awaken this Great Serpent.
He used the convenience of Volcano Manor being a place of judgment and execution, feeding countless provisions to the Great Serpent.
When criminals weren't enough, Rykard began to lure heroes. When even heroes couldn't satisfy the Great Serpent's appetite, he threw himself into the serpent's mouth.
Rykard hoped his consciousness could overcome the Great Serpent, gaining the power to devour the world, and thus resist the Golden Order.
But he ultimately failed. The former Rykard might have had a chance. At that time, he was a just and strict judicial officer, judging criminals while also pondering the various irrationalities of this world.
Whether these irrationalities were legal or moral.
The more crimes he judged, the more Rykard understood the extent of the world's irrationality.
That's why he was determined to change the world. Unfortunately, no matter how thoroughly Rykard thought and how meticulously he prepared, he still forgot one thing.
And that was the most important point—his own change was faster than the world's change.
Judging others placed Rykard above people; he grew to enjoy looking down on others. Thus, judgment was no longer for justice, but for his own pleasure.
Summoning heroes was not to overthrow the world, but to witness the heroes' confusion and struggle when facing the serpent's maw.
So when Rykard plunged into the serpent's mouth, he was swallowed by the Great Serpent, as expected. What remained was only a man-faced, half-asleep, man-eating Great Serpent.
The knights witnessed their lord's downfall firsthand, and then a miraculous scene occurred.
The fallen lord awakened the legendary world-devouring Great Serpent, and the knights, to let their pure lord rest in peace, also found the legendary spear that suppressed the Great Serpent.
Things that only existed in legend were actually found, both the serpent and the spear.
And then, Ember came running over.
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