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"Great, majestic, and loving, the goddess Isis, the mother of fertility to the earth and hope to all living beings, the god Horus the king, who protects Eju and whose unquenchable light shines on the world, the god Nunn the Father, who was born in the primordial lotus and created all things, the nine-linked gods who dwell at the source of the river of God, and all the gods who rule over the earth and the sky...... Listen to my prayers, the oracles of the gods, that only the purest piety can receive God's mercy, and I will give everything I have to Isis, and give me the tears of the gods......"

Ak-Maria prays to the gods in a remote town on the border of the Hati kingdom, which is part of the great empire of Eju. In this desolate and remote place, the town of Duc is no small in size, with hundreds of homes and 2,000 inhabitants. Dusty was a nobleman with the title of Lord Harti, as well as a citizen of the Great Empire of Eju, and enjoyed the privileges of a citizen of the Eju Empire.

In such a remote town, the mayor's identity is so prominent, of course, because of its special status. The town of Duk is the southernmost part of the city-state of Syria, which belonged to the Kingdom of Hati, and the three things produced in the state of Syria are the most famous, and they are also the most important commodities traded by the Kingdom of Hati and the most precious tribute to the Eju Empire: iron, sacred stones, and cedar wood.

Iron can make the sharpest weapons, especially the finest iron refined by skilled craftsmen, and the armor and sword are both sharp and tough, a symbol of strength, a guardian, and a weapon for plundering wealth. Iron is produced in many countries on this continent, but production is still very limited, and the production and trade of iron is strictly monopolized by the government. Hati is the most famous for its iron production, and although the iron production in the town of Duk is not high, it produces very scarce fine iron, and almost all the adults in the town are both miners and blacksmiths.

Produced in the western plateau of Hati and in the mountains and mountains on both sides of the Youdi River, cedar wood is the best shipbuilding material after being soaked in cold water, dried, soaked in oil and baked. The boats built from it could sail inland lakes, rivers and seas, and were necessary not only for armies to fight, but also for merchants to travel between countries. The town of Duk does not produce cedar trees, and although there are mountains and mountains outside the town to the east, it is inconceivable to cut down huge cedars and transport them out of the mountains.

The most important product of Duke Town is not high-grade fine iron, but divine stones. This kind of thing is very rare in the Tianshu Continent, and the Xuya State of the Hati Kingdom is one of the important production areas, and the divine stones produced in Duke Town account for almost half of the production of the entire Xuya State. Every country in the Tianshu Continent needs the Divine Stone, especially the noble priests who have mastered the supreme divine art in the various temples are extremely eager for it.

Many ordinary civilians and slaves did not know what the sacred stone was for, but they had only seen it inlaid on the scepter of a priest or on the armor and weapons of a noble samurai, which seemed to be a symbol of status, wealth, or divine power. The Divine Stone itself is also the most expensive currency on the continent, and the value of a Divine Stone is equivalent to twenty times that of the same weight of gold, and it is indivisible.

As a noble circulation currency, it is the most common standard divine stone, the texture, size and shape are exactly the same, there is no difference, its weight is also the standard of weights and measures on the Tianshu continent, the common weighing unit on the continent "baht" is the weight of a divine stone, I heard that the extravagant priests even directly use the divine stone as the standard weight on the scale.

This time, Echo Maria followed Rhodes Dick, the ruler and priest of her native city-state, to the town of Duke, and prayed to the gods, of course, not an ordinary divine stone, but the legendary tears of the gods. Only by obtaining it can one be recognized by the high priests in the temple of Isis in the city of Monfils, and become the holy woman who guards the goddess Isis. Legend has it that only the purest summoning can communicate with the gods and receive the tears of the gods bestowed by the gods, which means that her identity is recognized by the gods.

Echo-Maria's prayers were so devout, but in fact, any of the sacred stones produced in the Celestial Continent, including the incomparably precious Tears of the Gods, were not given by the hands of the gods, but mined by the hands of miners.

Maria's residence is at the southern end of the town, near the Temple of Horus, and is one of the prettiest courtyards in the town, originally where the mayor lived. As in other towns on the mainland, the most important building in the settlement was the temple, which was dedicated to and dedicated to the local patron deity, and whether the temple was majestic or magnificent was also a symbol of the strength of a city-state.

Of course, the temple of Duk Town can't compare to the big city-states, but compared to other ordinary towns, the temple of Horus here is majestic enough, built of tall white boulders and inlaid with blue-black stone carvings. The white marble used to build the columns was brought in from other places, while the shimmering lapis lazuli is a specialty of the nearby mountains and may be expensive elsewhere, but it is the most common stone here.

There are two main temples of comparable size in the town of Duk, one dedicated to Horus, the patron saint of the Eju Empire, to signify the submission of the Eju Pharaoh, built on the south side of the town, and the main body is made of white marble. The other is the goddess Muyun, the patron saint of this place since ancient times, and she is widely worshipped in Hati, Assyria in the northeast, and the Barun kingdom in the southeast.

The kingdom of Hati is an alliance of dozens of city-states, although the great empire of Eju conquered this place, but in order to better manage and make the Hati people more submissive, Eju Pharaoh Teen allowed them to also sacrifice their patron gods, did not destroy the original temple, but at the same time ordered that the patron god of Eju must be worshipped Horus.

Mary prayed in her room on the second floor, and she prayed every morning after getting up and washing, before lunch, and at nightfall, and had been in Duk for three days, and she was so reverent and meticulous that even Gabriel, the most trained of the temple warriors, could not help but secretly approve of her, and secretly said in her heart that she should meet the requirements of a holy woman, and the gods might have mercy on her.

Within the territory of the Eju Empire, there are two vast fertile lands along the Ronnie Divine River, called the Upper Eju and the Lower Eju. Gabriel was a warrior sent by the Temple of Isis in the city of Montfilsh in the capital of Lower Ejue to protect Mary, in response to a report and request from Rod Dick, the chief priest and governor of the Lower Ejusea Heads State. Anyone who has passed the test of the gods and is qualified to become the patron saint of the goddess Isis, the temple of Isis will send someone to protect her.

While Mary was praying, Gabriel stood downstairs, at the door of the courtyard. She had a heavy long sword hanging from her waist, and a divine stone was inlaid on both sides of the middle of the sword, and even in a non-dangerous environment, she was still meticulously wearing silver armor, and her expression was solemn and solemn. From this position, you could see the blue-gold dome of Mu Yun's temple at the other end of the town, the corners of her mouth pursed, and there was a subtle sneer in her eyes.

Obviously, the guardian warrior of the temple of Isis has little affection for the gods worshiped by the alien race, but Pharaoh Eju has allowed the original temple to be kept here, and she can't say much, her duty is only to protect Ek-Maria, and she doesn't have to worry about other people's affairs.

Gabriel was slender and erect, with a strong surname, and her countenance was distinctly characteristic of a northern alien, with fair skin, a straight nose, and charming azure eyes. The golden curls were draped over the silver armor, and the temperament of softness and perseverance was so harmonious. She was young and pretty, but the children in the town who threw stones at each other and played with each other were unconsciously far away from the courtyard and did not dare to play at the door.

When people see her, the first thing they notice may not be a very beautiful woman, but around her, there is an invisibly permeated sense of confidence and pride, as if full of power and undisguised.

The courtyard was guarded only by Gabriel, and the Temple of Isis had sent only a warrior like her to protect Echo-Maria, one of the candidates for the Holy Maiden. But Gabriel also knew that in the temple of Horus in the town of Duk not far away, there were stationed the personal guards brought by Rod Dick, a total of sixty elite warriors in full armor.

Clearly, Master Dick did not believe that she could protect Mary alone. Although it was dangerous to cross the desert between Eju and Hati, it was obviously an exaggeration to bring so many elite warriors, and Lord Dick did not say anything out of the good cultivation of a nobleman, but Gabriel could sense that he was dissatisfied.

Gabriel didn't care, not only out of cultivation, but also out of noble pride.

......

At the other end of the town, in a small building near the Temple of the Goddess Mu Yun, Rod Dick was holding a wine glass and looking at Gabriel's courtyard from a distance through the window, his brown eyes were a little deep, and he was silently thinking about something.

It seems that this Templar from Memphis is not used to restraint and always exalts her own power, and it is no wonder that one of her duties is to proclaim the majesty of the gods. But this is not a good habit for a hereditary city-state aristocrat like Rod Dick, and people always need to hide something, not to expose all their strength to potential opponents, but to show their true strength at the right time.

The struggle for worldly power and wealth is always brutal and requires constant readiness to show proper deterrence and leave the hole cards for contingencies.

Not far from the small building where he was located was the temple of Goddess Mu Yun, and Lord Dick didn't think there was anything wrong with it, the people on this continent were already worshipping all kinds of gods, large and small. Some are legendary gods, while others are considered guardian gods by the inhabitants of various places.

The pharaoh of the Eju Empire claims to be the human incarnation and spokesman of Horus, the son of the gods, and rules over the god kings of the upper and lower Eju. The patron saint of the Lower Eju tradition is the goddess Isis, the legendary mother of Horus, whose main shrine is located in the capital city of Mepfil, the capital of the Lower Eju. Almost every country on the Tianshu Continent is ruled by the unity of monarchy and divine power, and the monarch is claimed to be the spokesman of the gods, and the Temple of Isis in the city of Meffilsi is the most important center of power in Xia Eju.

This time, the Temple of Isis sent only one samurai to protect the candidate of the Mischief Saintess of the Cape State, and Lord Dick was clearly dissatisfied with the fact that he and the Cape State he represented were being looked down upon. The location of the Cape State is located on the northeastern border of the Eju Empire, closest to the kingdoms of Barron and Hati, beyond the border is a vast and desolate desert that cannot be compared to the rich city-states of other fertile lands.

Its geographical location is important, but this important surname does not bring all the benefits to the Cape State, which will bear the brunt of the ravages of war in the event of war. In the ostensibly peaceful era, it was an important port for trade and trade with the countries of the northwest, full of countless opportunities.

Now the kingdom of Hati is subject to Eju, but Lord Dick has also vaguely heard that many lords of Hati city-states are unwilling to accept the fate of such vassals now, and always want to unite and secretly resist. It just so happened that the Temple of Isis chose a holy woman, and of course Dick hoped that this holy woman would come from the Cape State, which not only meant the glory of the city-state, but also hoped that the Temple of Isis and the power of the entire Lower Eju would be able to protect the Cape State more.

Dick, of course, didn't want Maria to have an accident, so he brought the most elite personal guards around him, such a force was obviously superfluous just to protect one person across the desert, and Dick of course had his own plans. At a young age, he became the chief magistrate and chief priest of the Cape State, and he held the power of theocracy, in addition to the prominent status of the lineage, of course, with his own talents, he was able to maximize and use all the benefits of one thing.

The temple of Isis sent only one person, which was fine, and saved a lot of bribes. At the sight of Gabriel, Dick had the impression that the warrior of the temple was different from many greedy priests, that she was like a haughty little rooster, who disdained to accept any bribes, and that she seemed to have no idea of wealth.

Gabriel didn't seem to know how expensive the sword she was equipped with, so it hung swaggering around her waist, if she walked alone, the sword probably wouldn't play a role in protecting her, and the first to attract was the robber. Gabriel came from Monfilth to Cape by herself with a sword, and even Rhodes Dick was surprised, how lucky she was to be able to arrive safely! Perhaps because the thieves along the way knew her identity and did not dare to offend the temple of Isis.

With so many personal guards and retinues, in the name of protecting the Holy Maiden and serving Lord Gabriel, the huge convoy of course prepared all kinds of supplies, mainly the most popular wine and food in Duk Town. With Lord Gabriel in his presence, the checkpoint on the border between Eju and Hati will naturally be allowed to pass without any inspection, and of course no taxes will be charged.

The inhabitants of Duk Town had to pay taxes to the city-state for all the sacred stones mined, and the city-state's law stipulated that one out of every ten would belong to them, and that was their due reward. At the same time, Rod Dick of course also knew that Mayor Dusty, who had the power to levy the power of Duc Town, would not be so selfless, and he must have intercepted a lot of it.

The Divine Stone is a popular currency, worth twenty times the weight of gold, and it is the same in Duk Town. However, the products of Duke Town are both abundant and barren, except for the production of sacred stones and iron, only a small amount of barley is grown on the barren land for people to eat, and all other necessities of life and enjoyment need to be transported from other places. And its location is so remote that everything is transported here many times more expensive than anywhere else.

Unbeknownst to the people of Duke, they were perhaps the wealthiest inhabitants of the Continent, and that it was also the most expensive place on the continent, and that despite the heavy taxes levied on the trade routes, a successful trade was still lucrative.

In order to provide cover for the trade he was transporting to Duk Town, Dick also organized a caravan from the city-state of the headland to accompany his convoy. The merchants were naturally willing to follow Lord Dick's convoy, which was equivalent to a guarantee of absolute safety and saved the cost of mercenaries, and with Lord Gabriel and Master Dick present, the tax collectors at the checkpoints along the way would not maliciously extort but would only do business, and they were full of gratitude to Lord Dick who cared for his subjects, and many noble officials would not take such care of merchants.

At dinner, Master Dick had just had a pleasant conversation with Mayor Dusty, and even more pleasantly was the deal between them, which was satisfactory to both parties. In addition to the Divine Stone, Lord Dick also purchased from the mayor the precious fine iron, which is a smuggled secret that is not for outsiders, and the two of them are tacitly acknowledged in the company of fine food and wine.

The deal was pleasant, but Rod Dick didn't like the place, especially since he felt uncomfortable with the smell of smoky fire everywhere. He felt a little anxious, and he didn't know how long it would take.

The reason why he brought Mary here was not only to make a business in this name, but also to obtain the tears of the gods. The high priests of the Temple of Isis announced that a Tear of the Gods would be bestowed on the earth, and that the person who received it would be the patron saint of the goddess Isis.

Rod Dick has his own thoughts about this, the Tears of the Gods is nothing more than a more precious divine stone, if it really appears, the greatest possibility is in the place where the divine stones are most concentrated, then take advantage of the geographical location to rush to Duke Town to wait, the most likely to be the first to arrive. Of course, this is also a gamble, but this gamble is profitable regardless of success or failure, and if you succeed, everything is perfect.

He told Maria that he had been guided by the goddess Isis in a dream, and Maria relayed it to Gabriel, convincing the Templar to come across the desert border.

Coming to the town of Duke, Mary prayed devoutly every day, while Rod Dick, who made up the lie, was a little impatient. In this town where blacksmith stoves burn everywhere, the harsh conditions are unbearable for Lord Dick, and he simply does not want to stay for a day, and he can't help but think of the legend of the Tears of the Gods.

He was already a little drunk, and secretly cursed: "Is it the will of the gods or the lies of the priests?When did this ancient oracle come down? It is only a stone, no matter how precious it is, but a useful stone." Instead of praying to the gods, it is better to ask the miners for help, and to get the tears of the gods means to be a saint?

Just thinking of this, a wind with a fiery breath blew outside the window, Dick shivered inexplicably, the wine also woke up, and quickly pressed his hand to his chest and prayed: "Great goddess Isis, the thoughts in my heart are not disrespectful to you, but just a frank expression. ”

At this moment, Rod Dick was suddenly stunned, he seemed to feel something, a mysterious power fluctuation, mysterious and strange, the unpleasant fire and the inexplicable chill seemed to be somewhat soothed. The source of the turmoil came from a family on the edge of town.

Rod Dick immediately put down his cup and shouted, "Fayol, come in, the tears of the gods may appear, you go and do as I tell you at once!"

......

Gabriel, who was standing in silence, suddenly raised her head and looked sideways in a certain direction of the town, she felt a mysterious and familiar wave of power fluctuate slightly in the air, both indiscernible and as clear as it was, and her eyes flickered with inexplicable gratification, and she glanced back at Maria's window.

......

There was a crunch, then a small humming sound echoing through the room, and Amon held a heavy hammer and smashed it against a fist-sized cobblestone that shimmered with black light.

The hammer looked so heavy that it fell with a sharp sound of the wind, and when it landed on the surface of the stone, it became as if it were just a feather, and it only made a soft "ding".

Amon's posture with the sledgehammer is a bit funny, his hand is held very forward, and his entire upper arm from the wrist to the elbow is attached to the handle of the hammer, he is not too tall, after all, he is only fourteen years old this year, and he has not fully grown up Chengren.

But the muscles of his whole body are very strong and strong, and when he tensed and swung the sledgehammer, there seemed to be small snakes scurrying on the bulging muscles. According to the rules of Duke Town since ancient times, a child of his age is not qualified to mine the Divine Stone alone. Using Duke's unique hammer technique to open the hard-mined core is the final and most crucial step in obtaining the Divine Stone.

Today, however, he had to do so at home, because his father had drunk too much and his hands were shaking and he could not control the hammer, and tomorrow he had to hand over a sacred stone.

**

Xu Gongzi's note: The background information of the first chapter is a little too much, thanks to the help of the book friend "Pranyashui", I made a background map of the Tianshu Continent, marked with all the place names mentioned in this chapter, it is recommended to read the text content against the map, otherwise it may be a little easy to get dizzy :)

List of characters in this chapter -

Echo-Maria: A candidate for the Holy Maiden from the Cape State of the Egü Empire, who has the potential to become the patron saint of the Temple of Isis in the City of Montfils. The Eju Empire is divided into two territories, the Upper and the Lower Eju, and Monfils is the capital of the Lower Eju.

Dasti: Mayor of Duk, a town on the border of the city-state of Syya, the kingdom of Hati, which was subject to Eju.

Rod Dick: Lord of the city-state of Cape in the Kingdom of Eju, Ruler and Chief Priest.

Gabriel: The guardian warrior of the Temple of Isis in the city of Methfil.

Amun: The son of a blacksmith in the town of Duk.

Background of this chapter -

Horus: The god of the Lord and the King of the Eju people, Pharaoh Eju is known as the human incarnation and spokesperson of Horus.

Isis: The mother of Horus in myths and legends, the patron saint of Lower Eju, and the Virgin of Eju.

Mu Yun: A goddess widely worshipped in the Hati, Assyria, and Barun kingdoms, and a patron saint worshiped by the residents of Duk Town since ancient times.

**

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