Pillar of Yita

This was Fang Hong’s first clear view of the entirety of the gigantic creature, towering like mountains. Resembling a colossal deep-sea octopus, it sat quietly at the bottom of the pit, its trunk resting against the rock walls, its oval-shaped head as high as the cliffs.

Layers of copper-plated shell covered its trunk, reflecting strands of light in the dim glow, imposing and majestic. The raised parts of its scale armor were covered with soil, and bushes and lichens grew on them, resembling layers of gardens.

Massive eye sockets were located where the body connected to the tentacles, slightly turned outwards, and beneath the moss-covered surface, the sockets had lost their luster, appearing as two large, dark caverns.

The sky gradually brightened, dyed blue and purple with morning twilight, and morning light fell on its yellowish shell, emitting bright purple and pink glows with a hint of halo. Several Red-Tailed Robins flew over, landing in the forest atop its head, and the bottom of the pit immediately resonated with clear chirping of birds.

It was then that Fang Hong realized this massive creature seemed to be in a deep sleep. Its twelve tentacles, end parts resembling grotesque giant insects, with four pairs of dark red eyes atop its head also lost their luster, sprawled haphazardly at the bottom of the pit, motionless.

He stood still, carefully observing for a good while before he was certain that the creature had no signs of movement. Although he was unsure if it was the arrival of daylight that calmed the giant creature, or if it was for some other reason.

Growing bolder, Fang Hong temporarily set aside the matter of Miya and that dagger, looked around, and realized he landed on a platform with layers of architectural rubble beneath him. He moved to the edge and looked down—it wasn’t very steep.

Only then did he grab the edge, and slowly climbed down—without anyone to help, it was quite strenuous, and he couldn’t help but miss his days in the Adventure Group. Thinking this, it took him several minutes to reach the bottom, where the light was still dim, and the air was filled with the smell of soil and moss.

He looked northward where the lake water cascaded down the cliff like a curtain, still crashing down in a loud spray under the morning sun, sparkling brightly with a faint rainbow hanging above it. A pool had already formed below, and Fang Hong, feeling his mouth dry and a fiery throat, hastily walked over, leaned down by the pool, and took a big gulp of water.

The chilled and refreshing sensation of the water made his pores relax and invigorated him, almost as if bringing him back to life, and he couldn’t help but exhale a long, comfortable breath.

However, Fang Hong restrained himself from drinking more.

This place was thousands of miles away from Capuca, and he didn’t bring his usual medication which was left in his backpack. If he were to catch some acute disease, it would be trouble; if he carelessly lost his life, that would be even more absurd.

His stomach was also growling loudly, showing that he had little energy left. Luckily, he always prepared in advance, and his pockets still had a few pieces of biscuit, but that was also his last reserve of food. Going forward, even if he managed to escape from here by luck, he still didn’t know how he would trek out of the vast Forest Sea.

But he wasn’t too worried, having long gotten used to taking things one step at a time.

Fang Hong chewed and swallowed half a biscuit, temporarily fooling his stomach. Then he raised his head to examine the motionless colossal creature.

He had almost finished observing; at the bottom of the pit, he found no path leading back to the surface, and the only option seemed to be finding a way to climb on top of this giant creature’s head.

He knew that such large Construct beasts generally contained emergency passages for craftsmen to maintain them, but he wasn’t sure if the ancient alchemists had such a habit. If not—

That would indeed be too frustrating.

Fang Hong walked around this mountainous Construct beast for half a circle and finally found an entrance at its base. He approached, but the impact of this massive creature’s fall had liquified the soil beneath, making his trek extremely burdensome.

In some places, water was still bubbling up, flowing from north to south, indicating that the terrain in that direction was lower. The beak of such cephalopod species is generally located underneath their body, at the junction between the tentacles and the trunk, and the entrance was there as well—Fang Hong carefully walked past these sleeping mechanical giants.

Initially, he was a bit worried, but he soon relaxed and his curiosity took over. It was a pity he didn’t have a user interface; otherwise, he would have definitely taken a couple of pictures and shared them on the community platform, possibly causing a sensation.

He went over and gently touched their metallic shells, finding no reaction and then shifted to petting them, feeling quite a unique texture.

Only then did Fang Hong realize that ancient alchemists were indeed wealthy; the plating on this creature’s shell was not copper but mithril, and the components inside were almost entirely of pure copper—more fitting for the conduction of magic power. As for the parts needing to balance magic power and strength, those were made of mithril.

He was drooling at the sight.

He even wished he could disassemble a few pieces, especially the mithril parts, but after some thought, he decided not to risk it. Not only did he lack the necessary tools, but waking up this giant would have really been entertaining.

He patted the giant’s shell and sighed. He thought this adventure was a huge loss; he had lost three Clockwork Fairies, and the money Sicape had given him was still tucked away in the ruins below.

Not to mention a backpack full of hard-earned alchemy tools.