Pillar of Yita

Lavali sighed and then shook her head. ”It’s about the Star Ceremony,” she said, her gaze coldly fixed on Fang Hong, ”Do you understand?”

Fang Hong almost paused for a moment before he reacted.

He was equally at a loss for words, for in this annual festival, the Star Ceremony was the climax of the event—during the completion of the Star Ceremony, the Master of Ceremonies would give blessings on behalf of Androma to the spectators. Generally speaking, in past years, the first person to be blessed in the ceremony would only be the King of Sand.

Of course, there are exceptions. Nineteen years ago, the previous King of Sand bestowed this honor upon Barbaltan, and not long after, this current King of Sand ascended to become the king. In fact, throughout countless past years, such events have repeatedly occurred, but regardless of how it plays out, only one person is blessed during the Star Ceremony.

Fang Hong’s first reaction upon hearing this news was—Barbaltan intended to pass the throne to his eldest son. Of course, it was not long ago that he found out Aleph was Barbaltan’s first son.

But his second reaction left him somewhat confused, as he suddenly remembered that Barbaltan intended to have both himself and Aleph be the first to receive the blessing.

Though the Star Ceremony’s blessing was merely symbolic, the meaning behind it was anything but simple.

Fang Hong looked at Lavali’s somewhat complicated expression and suddenly understood.

Of course, he didn’t think that the King of Sand intended to pass the throne to him, but merely as a gesture of gratitude, it seemed excessive. King of Sand Barbaltan, having ruled over Istania and reigned for nearly twenty years, certainly understood the consequences of his actions.

What does this mean?

Fang Hong immediately realized he was being thrust to the center of the storm by this King of Sand, but for the moment, he couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind it. If it was revenge, that seemed too childish; would a King of Sand need to resort to such means for retaliation against his actions in Bain?

Isn’t this akin to harming a thousand enemies to lose eight hundred of his own?

He was about to ask further, but Barbaltan suddenly spoke up:

”Aleph, you and your friend come over and stand by my side.”

Fang Hong heard this and couldn’t help but look back, seeing the eyes of the courtiers and princes turn red as they looked at him. He naturally understood how much of a favor this was for the Istania people, but unfortunately, being an Invoker, this honor held little meaning for him yet brought trouble.

But he had no choice but to brace himself and go up—although the ”Stargate Declaration” didn’t specify whether a king’s decree has any real effect on an Invoker, looking at the heavily guarded royal guards around, Fang Hong felt that if he had any sense, he shouldn’t defy this king publicly.

Power doesn’t necessarily have to come from legal texts; it’s enough if it can immediately threaten your life—

Fang Hong stepped onto the edge of the high platform for the first time.

He saw a long arched staircase dividing the pitch-black waters, extending down to the square below. Previously, viewing the stairs from below and viewing them from the high platform gave entirely different impressions, for due to the presence of King of Sand Barbaltan, the dense crowd in the square—be it nobles or commoners—all bent down, prostrating on the ground.

Even the Invoker tourists followed suit according to local customs, though they only needed to bow and salute, forming a unique scene at the square’s edge. Some even noticed Fang Hong and Aleph; the nobles and commoners dared not raise their heads, but the Invokers were under no such constraints, and they even started to discuss:

”That’s the King of Sand.”

”Those two young men are his sons, right?”

”I don’t think so; one of them is clearly wearing an Alchemist’s robe.”

”Yeah, could it be an Invoker?”

”Are you kidding? How could an Invoker appear there?”

Fang Hong naturally couldn’t hear these discussions.

However, he was well aware that if it weren’t for this year’s communication system malfunction, this scene surely would have been captured by many and spread over the community. Every year’s celebration was like this in past years. But this year’s unexpected incident left him a bit relieved; he already had enough trouble on his hands, and he didn’t want any more.

Yet looking at the dense, prostrate crowd on the square, Fang Hong couldn’t help but feel a sense of shock—despite his indifference to power, seeing this scene led him to somewhat understand why the kings of past dynasties were so fascinated by that cold throne.

And Istania, plainly speaking, was just a corner of the Colin Continent.

The celebration of this small kingdom was shocking enough.

As if sensing his thoughts at that moment, the King of Sand turned his head and asked:

”How is it?”

”How is what?” Fang Hong asked unexpectedly.

”How’s the view?”

Fang Hong was momentarily stunned—thinking how all of this king’s questions seemed so cryptic.

But the flickering lights of Quistack in the dark were reflected deep within his dark pupils, like a candlelight illuminating the Sand Sea. The answer to this question seemed to naturally arise from his heart, and after pondering for a moment, he blurted out, ”It’s beautiful.”

This time, it was Barbaltan’s turn to be momentarily stunned.