Passing through the gate beside the dam, the full vista of the Eternal City, Nokstella, unfolded before Bai Shi’s eyes.
In the profound darkness of the underground, a star-strewn expanse suddenly appeared.
The do above was so high it was pitch black, a false night sky draping over the land like a curtain, yet starlight illuminated the path ahead.
Flecks of starlight materialized beside Bai Shi, only to vanish an instant later.
A pale purple mist perated the subterranean air, and the high concentration of mystic energy veiled Nokstella in a hazy shroud.
Majestic clusters of buildings lood in and out of view within the mist, as if recounting the final pride of the Nox dynasty to the people of a later age.
But alas, its doom had long been sealed. Now, all that remained of that grand pride was solitude.
Amidst vast, crumbling ruins, Grave Gloveworts had beco the final resting place for the city’s inhabitants, blooming silently between the rubble and the streams that flowed through it.
Even knowing this was a false sky, even having seen an underground cosmos before...
No matter how many tis he saw it, Bai Shi was captivated by the fantastical, stunning scenery, unable to resist pausing to admire it.
Whenever he witnessed these magnificent sights that he had once only seen in a ga, Bai Shi felt an indescribable sense of emotion.
This was the ga that had fulfilled all his fantasies about a world of wonder.
And now, Bai Shi was in it, rewriting its ending with his own hands.
None of the possible endings had satisfied him.
The Lands Between deserved a better, brighter future.
So he would use everything he had to compose a new chapter, to bring true peace to the land.
When he first set this goal, Bai Shi had not yet understood what it truly ant.
As its realization grew nearer, the weight of this ideal grew heavier.
But the weight didn’t matter. The gravity of reality could no longer crush Bai Shi.
The Bai Shi of today was strong enough to bear the world on his shoulders.
Whether he was a hero with grand ambitions or a wise lord saving a dynasty from peril in a chaotic era...
No one could deny that Bai Shi’s was the hand that had reignited the flas of war across this troubled land.
And this ti, it seed there was no one left on the board who could truly stand against him.
The new player was only a few moves away from victory.
His ideals, his ambitions, would ultimately beco a blazing fire that would light up the world.
—
Bai Shi stood at the entrance to Nokstella, carefully observing the city forgotten by ti.
Unlike the Eternal City, Nokron, which had been completely subrged, Nokstella still stood tall.
The Ainsel River’s flow was even more astonishing than the Siofra’s, but it was kept firmly in check by the various waterworks built by two dynasties, the Uld and the Nox.
Only serene streams flowed through Nokstella, gently winding through the Eternal City under the night sky.
Though ravaged by Astel, many of the structures remained.
A great number of buildings were preserved in a relatively intact state.
Seeing a complete Nokstella brought Bai Shi great relief.
To witness the true, forr glory of the Eternal City, even just a fragnt of it, was thrilling enough.
After committing the scene to mory, Bai Shi decided to begin his exploration.
Before moving, however, Bai Shi asked Ashmi within him:
“Ashmi, do you have any impression of Nokstella?”
Ashmi began to ponder, her core slowly rotating.
‘None at all.’
‘I was always in Nokron. Soone was assigned to look after , and I wasn’t allowed to go out.’
‘I only know that even though we were in different places, the relationship between Nokron and Nokstella was extraordinary.’
‘I think there used to be a waterway that connected the two, making travel very convenient.’
Bai Shi nodded.
It was a bit of a sha Ashmi didn’t know the way; otherwise, he could have had her lead him directly.
Unlike the ga’s version, this city had many more buildings, making certain locations harder to find.
But it didn’t matter. He should be on the right track if he just searched for the most opulent-looking structures.
The important buildings were surely clustered together in the sa area.
Bai Shi asked Ashmi again:
“Can you locate the Teardrop Chalice?”
“If you can, we’ll head straight there.”
The Teardrop Chalice was cut content from the ga, existing only in text, so its location was naturally unknown.
If Ashmi could find it, it would save him a great deal of ti spent searching everywhere.
Ashmi’s core shifted within Bai Shi’s body for a mont, as if in thought.
After a while, Ashmi replied again:
‘Hmm... should I say yes or no?’
‘I’m not entirely sure myself...’
‘I’ll definitely be able to sense it when we get close, but as for the range... that’s hard to say.’
Understanding Ashmi’s aning, Bai Shi shrugged.
“I see.”
“No matter, we’ll just have to explore it thoroughly then.”
Recalling the layout of Nokstella from the ga, Bai Shi first needed to find the massive building near the entrance with the long staircase.
In the ga, that building connected to almost all of Nokstella’s major locations.
From there, he should be able to reach the site of Nokstella’s treasure, the Moon of Nokstella.
Bai Shi was confident he would recognize the building if he saw it.
Flying along the gentle stream of the Ainsel River, Bai Shi collected Grave Gloveworts from its banks.
The lingering spirits of Nokstella’s dead resided in these flowers, which were so nurous they resembled a sea of blossoms.
Grave Gloveworts didn’t have particularly harsh growing conditions and could be found in various catacombs.
But this was the first ti Bai Shi had seen them on such a massive scale.
It was a sight rarely seen anywhere else in the Lands Between.
Bai Shi descended from the air and plucked so of the higher-quality specins.
The quantity and quality of these gloveworts were quite good.
They were only around [7] and [8] though.
Grave Glovewort [9] and the most precious and rare Great Grave Glovewort were still too hard to find.
They were likely the kind you could only find in chests.
Just then, a giant ant suddenly scurried out from behind a ruin.
This giant ant was carrying a Nox Swordstress on its back.
Upon spotting Bai Shi, the Nox Swordstress steered the giant ant to close in on him.
As they drew near, the giant ant took flight with the Nox Swordstress, crashing down heavily toward Bai Shi.
At the sa ti, the stinger at the giant ant’s rear jabbed forward.
Bai Shi sidestepped, letting the surprise attack hit nothing but air.
After landing, the giant ant showed no hesitation and imdiately moved again.
The giant ant circled Bai Shi with great speed, while the Nox Swordstress’s flowing sword extended as she swung it.
The flowing sword lashed out like a whip. Bai Shi reached out and easily caught it.
Though the blade was sharp, it was completely unable to break through Bai Shi’s defense.
Realizing the situation had turned against her, the Nox Swordstress imdiately controlled the giant ant to retreat, attempting to enter a tug-of-war with Bai Shi.
But how could they possibly be a match for him?
With a powerful tug, Bai Shi yanked the Nox Swordstress off the giant ant’s back, sending her tumbling to the ground.
Bai Shi dragged her over and pinned her to the ground with one hand.
“Are you still conscious?”
The figure remained silent, rely struggling chanically.
Seeing this reaction, Bai Shi knew the answer.
He reached out and lifted the Nox Swordstress’s veil.
As expected, it was another gaunt, living corpse.
Realizing he was dealing with another creature he couldn’t communicate with, Bai Shi restrained her hand and reached for her neck.
With a firm squeeze, he snapped it.
Bai Shi stood up, intending to finish off the giant ant as well, only to find it had already vanished.
Looking back the way he ca, he could faintly see a retreating shadow, crawling away from Nokstella.
The giant ant had already fled quite a distance, steadily making its way toward an anthill.
Seeing the giant ant run away, Bai Shi shook his head.
Since it had already left on its own, he didn’t need to bother with it.
It seed these giant ants were controlled by the Nox Swordstresses using a special thod.
Now that the Nox Swordstress was dead, it was free again.
Bai Shi looked out at the boundless expanse of Nokstella and once again set off to explore.
—
Thanks to the building’s distinctive grand staircase, coupled with its enormous footprint, Bai Shi found it with ease in a short amount of ti, much faster than he had expected.
Facing the massive flight of stairs, Bai Shi confird this was the place he was looking for.
As he ascended, a pool of silver liquid suddenly appeared on the ground before him.
It was a massive blob of silver, and its form was still growing, far larger than any tear he had seen before.
Bai Shi was slightly surprised.
This was the first ti he’d seen a tear like this; he wondered what was so special about it.
No, the tear wasn’t getting bigger.
Bai Shi quickly realized that the giant tear was seeping up from between the cracks in the flagstones.
That was what created the illusion of it appearing from nowhere and continuously expanding.
Once he understood the cause, his surprise faded.
Though its size was considerable, it was still just a Silver Tear, not a Mimic Tear or sothing else entirely.
Faced with an intruder, the enormous Silver Tear imdiately reacted.
Its massive body blocked the wide staircase, then surged toward Bai Shi like a tidal wave.
The giant silvery form morphed into a do, as if trying to envelop him.
As it transford, countless sharp spikes grew densely within the Silver Tear’s body. If an enemy were trapped inside, a grueso fate would surely await.
Against such a simple attack, Bai Shi calmly took two steps back.
The Silver Tear’s swift advance looked like slow motion in his eyes; it was hardly a worthy opponent.
Bai Shi extended a hand, and a ball of scorching fla flew into the body of the lunging Silver Tear.
Bai Shi could react to the Silver Tear’s attack, but the reverse was not so simple.
Caught off guard, the Silver Tear swallowed the ball of solar fla into its body.
Then, visibly, the Silver Tear beca red-hot.
Its tallic surface turned viscous like molten iron, then began to vaporize and evaporate.
The searing flas burned through its body, sending pillars of fire erupting from within.
Soon, the Silver Tear’s insides were completely incinerated, leaving only a puddle of scorching liquid tal that slowly solidified.
These Silver Tears were the most basic, crudest type of tear.
They lacked intelligence, moved sluggishly, and didn’t even have a core.
These things were rely mass-produced soldiers for automated defense.
He didn’t know if this giant Silver Tear was a special model or if it had been ford by many smaller ones rging over ti.
Bai Shi paid the giant tear no more mind and continued up the stairs.
The sides of the staircase ahead were connected to several buildings, and right before him was a room with a treasure chest.
Inside the room was an unconscious Nox Swordstress, also a living corpse.
After dealing with her, Bai Shi opened one of the chests, anticipating its contents.
In the ga, many chests couldn’t be opened. Now, each one was a surprise.
Inside the chest, resting on a bed of cotton, was a large smithing stone.
It was a Smithing Stone [8].
This stone was semi-vitrified and extrely hard.
It would have been better if it were a somber one, as that could be used to upgrade more of his weapons.
Unfortunately, almost all the weapons Bai Shi wielded were imbued with special powers and could only be enhanced with Somber Smithing Stones.
Though not an exceptional surprise, it was still quite good.
With a few more stones of this level, he could upgrade a normal weapon to near its maximum potential.
Bai Shi turned to the next chest, licked his lips, and continued opening them.
Pushing open the heavy lid, the head of a giant ant appeared before him.
This ant’s head was different from the others. It was remarkably flat and thick, massive enough to be as tall as a man.
Anyone else seeing this ant head here would surely wonder what it was.
But Bai Shi knew it was actually a special shield: the Ant's Head Plate.
It was an item made by directly using the thick head of a great ant that dwelled in the underground river basin as a shield.
Due to its shape, this shield was exceptionally good at deflecting enemy attacks.
The great ant was a poisonous insect, and as such, the shield retained its poison.
Striking an enemy with it would build up poison, and in the ga, the accumulation was not low—a full 90.
Of course, Bai Shi had no intention of using this shield.
Putting aside whether its performance could hold up in the battles he now faced, its appearance alone was enough for Bai Shi to reject it.
He casually tossed the shield aside and continued opening chests.
Soon, Bai Shi had rummaged through every chest in the room.
Besides the Ant's Head Plate, the contents were all various smithing stones and Grave Gloveworts.
With nothing else of particular note, Bai Shi silently collected everything and continued his ascent up the grand staircase.
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