Pillar of Yita

Summer’s End Tower is a three-day journey from Nevade, leaving the Fairy Residence and heading west, deep into the western foothills of Holy Bow Peak, nestled within the whispering depths of the Forest in the Kudi Mountain Range. Gazing upward, the ancient tower stands amidst a sea of greenery day after day.

A day earlier, Fang Hong had already glimpsed the weathered stone tower with its mottled white walls, standing solitary on the hill. Yet after a continuous day’s trek, they finally reached their destination, viewing the ancient stone tower from the mid-mountain, enveloped by vines and greenery—there grew many privet trees nearby. The tower was built by the Ancient Numelin Elves, a venerable witness to history—since the era of the Aithelin disaster, it has been guarding this land.

The shimmering expanse of Long Lake, red ridges pierce the Emerald Forest, the dark forest didn’t change much compared to the previous era. Due to the geological shifts caused by the great catastrophe, the main road bypassed the Kudi Mountain Range, turning this area into an adventurer’s paradise.

Accompanying them was the Tower Guard, Mierliu Ximi Si, or self-proclaimed ’Elf’ Anluose, and a girl who awed Fang Hong, with a cold demeanor, long black hair, and glasses, exuding a distant aura.

The Tower Guard was elusive, often invisible during the day, yet always ghostlike near the camp at night, advising them on what to watch for the next day.

But before dawn, he drifted away.

Most others had already departed from Nevade—as Odin described. Queen Nether had intended to join them, but due to an urgent Guild summons, she had to change her plans unexpectedly. Nevertheless, she gifted him a control glove the night before she left.

It was from the Silver Fire series of the Imperial Workshop, much better than the one he was currently using, enhancing the role of calculative power in control by about fifteen percent (the previous one was only ten percent). After upgrading, his calculative power had increased to over one hundred and eighty, thereby using this glove allowed the calculative power to surpass the two hundred threshold.

As for the one Luo Yu originally gave him, he modified it for secondary use, as his previous secondary glove was damaged during the Dulun battle, and he hadn’t had the chance to repair it, so he simply sold it cheaply to a second-hand merchant in the Fairy Residence.

Among the remaining, besides Odin, only two or three others were left. Included among them was Leiya, and although they didn’t quite hit it off initially, they found common ground as idealists and got along well.

Because of her ’Holy September’ ID, Fang Hong would casually refer to her as Sister Little Nine.

Leiya told him she would also give him a gift on the day he leaves the Hall of Thousand Doors.

This made Fang Hong quite anticipate.

On the day of reaching Summer’s End Tower, it was exactly half of the Shimmering Moon, the spring equinox in Eteliria—locally called Candle Day—the last day of winter, where people light candles at home and pray for a prosperous year.

It’s just a minor festivity. In the wild, adventurers don’t bother with such things, hence Fang Hong didn’t see any flickering candlelight.

But they arrived precisely at dusk, facing the westward Long Lake, as fiery red clouds stretched across the sky, bathing the nearby Forest in a muted red glow.

Winter’s spectacle divides north and south with the Kudi Mountain Range, so actually the Southern Region was already seeing the revival of spring, with snow and ice melting away, even the wilderness beginning to exhibit a lively scene. Silently counting the days, Fang Hong realized there were thirteen days left to his one-year anniversary of arriving in Eteliria.

However, upon taking the headcount, Fang Hong noticed the absence of the cold-natured girl who had been with them throughout these days. He was slightly surprised, so he went to ask Odin if someone was missing.

Odin looked at him oddly: ”Girl, what girl?”

This response gave Fang Hong a chill.

He thought he had seen a ghost; the girl had clearly been traveling with them, he even saw Leiya talking with her, but Odin seemed entirely unaware. After listening to his description, Odin finally understood.

”You mean him?” The King of Warriors rubbed his forehead. ”That’s Handwasher; he had something to do and left early.”

”Huh?”

This reply instilled a serious psychological shadow in Fang Hong for the following week.

The opening of the Hall of Thousand Doors was the next morning.

But on that night, they first experienced the wonders of the Hall. Before the Silver Moon rose, the Tower Guard arrived as expected and informed them that they could enter Summer’s End Tower that night and stay overnight.

Initially, Fang Hong was somewhat skeptical; after all, the white tower’s outer walls were mottled, some bricks seemed loose, visually hinting at its age, giving off the impression of ancient relics from the Numelin Elves Era.

The conditions inside seemed dubious.

Yet upon entering, he was astonished—the scenes within and outside the tower were completely different.

Upon entering, the first sight in Fang Hong’s vision was an expansive, profound hall, albeit looking like it hadn’t been visited in years, but not at all dilapidated, even somewhat grand. Rows of tables and chairs, strips of curtains, doors extended endlessly toward the horizons of the vision.