001, the purest summon ()

"Great, solemnity, and mercy, give the earth abundance, and the goddess Isis, the mother of hope of living beings; God's power protects Aju, and the undying light shines on the world; God's Father Nun, who created all things in the first lotus, the nine-couple gods who live at the source of the river of God, rule over all the gods of the earth and the sky!... Please listen to my prayers, the gods' oracles, and only the purest piety can obtain the mercy of God. I am willing to dedicate everything to Isis, and please give me the tears of the gods..."

Aiko-Maria was praying to the gods, and the location was on a remote town on the border of Hati Kingdom, which belonged to the Great Eju Empire. In this desolate and remote place, the town of Duke was already quite large, with hundreds of families and two thousand inhabitants. The town mayor Dasti was a nobleman with the title of Lord Hati, and also possessed the status of a citizen of the Great Eju Empire and enjoyed the civic privileges of the Iju Empire.

In such a remote town, the mayor's identity is so prominent, of course because of its special status. Duke Town is located at the southernmost end of the Syrian city-state under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Hati. The three things produced in Syria are the most famous, and they are also the most important goods for the Kingdom of Hati's foreign transactions and the most precious tributes presented to the Eju Empire: iron, divine stone, and snow fir.

Iron can create the sharpest weapons, especially the fine iron refined by skilled craftsmen. The armor and swords created are both sharp and tough, and are symbols of strength, a weapon for guarding and plundering wealth. Many countries on this continent produce iron, but the output is still very limited. The production and transactions of iron are strictly monopolized by the official. The iron produced by Hati is the most famous. Although the iron production in Duke Town is not high, it produces very scarce fine iron. Almost all the adults in the town are miners and blacksmiths.

The snow fir trees produced in the western plateau of Hati and the steep mountains on both sides of the Youdi River are soaked, dried, and baked after being processed in cold water. The ships made of them can travel to the inner lakes, rivers and seas. They are not only the army of war, but also the necessary for merchants to travel to and from all countries. Duke Town does not produce snow fir trees. Although the mountains and steep mountains growing in the east of the town are steep mountains, it is unimaginable to cut down the huge snow fir and transport them out of the mountains.

The most important product of Duke Town is not high-quality fine iron, but divine stones. This kind of thing is very rare on the Tianshu Continent. The Syrian 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 output of the entire Syrian state. Every country in the Tianshu Continent needs divine stones, especially the supreme divine techniques in each temple, and the noble priests are extremely eager for it.

Many ordinary civilians and slaves did not know what the use of divine stones was. They had only seen divine stone inlays on the priest's scepter or the armor and weapons of noble warriors. It seemed to be a symbol of identity, wealth or divine power. The divine stone itself is also the most expensive currency on the continent. The value of a divine stone is equivalent to twenty times the equivalent gold and is indivisible.

As a noble circulating currency, it is the most common standard divine stone. Its texture, size and shape are exactly the same, and it has no difference at all. Its weight is also the standard for weights and measures on the Tianshu Continent. The weighing unit "Zhu" that is used on the continent is the weight of a divine stone. I heard that luxury priests even use divine stones to make standard weights on the scales.

This time, Aiko-Maria followed Rod Dick, the magistrate and priest of his hometown city-state, to Duke Town. Of course, what she prayed to the gods was not an ordinary divine stone, but the legendary tears of the gods. Only by obtaining it can she be recognized by the high priests in the temple of Isis in Mengfeisi City and become the saint who protects Goddess Isis. In legend, only the purest summoning can she communicate with the gods and obtain the tears of the gods given by the gods, which means that her identity has been recognized by God.

Aiko-Maria's prayer was so pious, but in fact, any divine stone produced on the Tianshu continent, including the extremely precious tears of the gods, was not given by the hands of the gods, but mined by the hands of the miners.

Maria's residence is located at the southern end of the town, close to the Temple of Horus. It is one of the most beautiful courtyards in the town. It was originally the place where the town mayor lived. Like other towns on the mainland, the most important building in the settlement is the temple, which worships and worships the local patron gods. Whether the temple is majestic and magnificent is also a symbol of whether a certain city-state is strong.

Of course, the temple of Duke Town cannot be compared with the large city-state, but compared with other ordinary towns, the Temple of Horus is majestic enough. It is built with tall white stones and inlaid with blue-black stone sculptures. The white marble that builds the columns is transported from other places, while the lapis lazuli, which is shining with a faint luster, is a specialty of nearby mountains. It may be very expensive in other places, but it is the most common stone here.

There are two main temples of similar size in Duke Town. One is Horus, the patron saint of the Eju Empire, which means that this place surrenders to the Eju Pharaoh, and is built on the south side of the town with white marble. The other is the patron saint of this place since ancient times, Goddess Muyun, who has been widely worshipped in Hathi, Assyrian in the northeast and the Barron kingdom in the southeast.

The Kingdom of Hati was an alliance of dozens of city-states. Although the Eju Empire conquered this place, in order to better manage and make the Hati people surrender more respectfully, Eju Pharaoh Ten allowed them to worship their patron saints without destroying the original temple, but at the same time ordered that Horus, the patron saint of Eju, must be worshipped.

Maria prayed in the second floor room. Every morning after getting up, wash up, before lunch, when night fell, she would pray like this. It has been three days since she arrived in Duke Town, pious, respectful and meticulous. Even Gabriel, the most strictly trained temple warrior, could not help but secretly applaud her, and she thought in her heart that she should meet the requirements of a saint, and the gods might sympathize with her.

There are two vast fertile land along the Ronnie River in the territory of the Eju Empire, called Upper Eju and Lower Eju. Gabriel was a warrior sent by the Temple of Isis, the Temple of Isis, the capital of Lower Eju, to protect Mary. In response to the report and request of the chief priest and chief magistrate of Lower Eju, the Temple of Isis will send people to protect it.

When Maria was praying, Gabriel stood downstairs at the door of the courtyard. A heavy sword was hanging on her waist, and a divine stone was inlaid on both sides of the sword thigh. Even in the absence of danger, she was still meticulously wearing silver armor, with a solemn and solemn expression. At this position, you can see the blue-gold dome of the Muyun Temple at the other end of the town. The corners of her mouth were pursed, and there was a hint of undetectable sneer in her eyes.

Obviously, the guardian of the Temple of Isis had no good feelings for the gods worshipped by aliens, but Pharaoh Eju allowed the original temple to be preserved here, and she could not say much. Her duty was only to protect Aiko-Maria and not to worry about other people's affairs.

Gabriel has a slender and upright figure, sexy and strong beauty. Her face has obvious characteristics of a northern alien, fair skin, straight nose, and charming blue eyes. Her golden curly hair draped on silver armor, and her softness and firm temperament are so harmonious. She is young and beautiful, but the children in the town who throw stones at each other and play with each other unconsciously are far away from this courtyard and dare not play at the door.

When people see her, the first thing they notice may not be a very beautiful woman. Around her, there is a sense of confidence and pride invisibly majesty, as if full of strength and without restraint.

Only Gabriel was guarding this courtyard. The Temple of Isis sent only a warrior like her to protect Aiko Maria, one of the candidates for the Saint. But Gabriel also knew that in the Temple of Horus in Duke, not far away, there were a personal guard brought by Rhode Dick, a total of 60 fully armed elite warriors.

Obviously, Lord Dick did not believe that she could protect Maria alone. Although it was full of dangers to travel through the desert between Eju and Hathi, it was obviously a bit exaggerated to bring so many elite soldiers. Lord Dick didn't say anything out of the good cultivation of a nobleman, but Gabriel could also feel that he was dissatisfied.

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

...

At the other end of the town, near a small building in the Temple of Goddess Muyun, Rod Dick held a wine glass and looked at the courtyard where Gabriel was located from afar through the window. His brown eyes were a little deep, and he was silently thinking about something-

It seems that this temple warrior from Meng Feisi is not used to restraining himself and always exaggerating his own power aura. It is no wonder that one of her duties is to promote the majesty of the gods. But for hereditary city-state nobles like Rhode Dick, this is not a good habit. People always need to hide something and cannot expose all their strength to potential opponents. They just show their true power at the right time.

The battle between secular power and wealth is always cruel, and requires always preparing, showing appropriate deterrence, and leaving a trump card for response.

Not far from the small building where he is located is Goddess Mu Yun's temple. Lord Dick didn't think there was anything wrong. People on this continent originally worship various gods, big and small. Some are legendary gods, and some are the patron saints that residents of various places consider themselves.

The Pharaoh of the Eju Empire claimed to be the human incarnation and spokesperson of Horus, the son of the gods, and ruled the god king of the upper and lower Ajus. The traditional patron saint of the Lower Aju is the goddess Isis, the legendary mother of Horus. Her main temple is located in the capital of Lower Aju. Almost every country on the Tianshu continent is under the rule of the unity of monarchy and divine power. The monarch is known as the spokesperson of the gods. The Temple of Isis in the City of Mengfeisi is the most important power center in Lower Aju.

This time, the Temple of Isis only sent a samurai candidate to protect the saint of the Cape State. Lord Dick was obviously dissatisfied and believed that he and the saint state he represented were despised. The saint state was located on the border of the northeast corner of the Eju Empire, closest to the Barron and Hati Kingdoms. Outside the border was a vast and desolate desert, which could not be compared with other rich city-states with fertile land.

Its geographical location is very important, but this importance brings not entirely benefits to the Cape State. Once war breaks out, the Cape State will be ravaged by war. In the era of peace on the surface, it is an important port for trade transactions with the countries in the northwest, full of countless opportunities.

Now the Kingdom of Hati surrendered to Eju, but Lord Dick also vaguely heard that many lords of Hati City-states were unwilling to be despair of the current fate of such subordinates and always wanted to unite and resist secretly. It just so happened that the Saint of Isis Temple was selected, and Dick certainly hoped that this Saint of Isis came from the Capeland. This not only meant the glory of the City-state, but in the future, in case of conflict, Isis Temple and the entire Lower Aicu could protect the Capeland more.

Of course, Dick didn't want Maria to have an accident, so he brought the most elite guards around him. Such a force was obviously unnecessary to protect one person through the desert, and Dick of course had his own plans. He became the chief magistrate and priest of the Cape State at a young age, and held the power to unite politics and religion. In addition to his prominent identity in the lineage, he was of course able to maximize the use of all the benefits of one thing with his own talents.

Isis Temple only sent one person, which saved a lot of bribes. When she saw Gabriel, Dick felt that the warrior in the patron temple was different from many greedy priests. She was like a proud little rooster, disdainful of accepting any bribes, and it seemed that she had no idea about wealth.

Gabriel seemed not sure how expensive the sword she was for was, and she was just hanging around her waist. If she was walking alone, the sword might not be able to protect her and the first one was to attract robbers. Gabriel came to Capeland from Mengfeisi alone with the sword. Even Rhode Dick was surprised. She was so lucky that she could arrive safely! Perhaps it was because the thieves along the way knew her identity and dared not offend the Temple of Isis.

With so many personal guards and followers, in the name of protecting the saint and serving Lord Gabriel, the huge convoy of vehicles was of course prepared various supplies, mainly the most popular wine and food in Duke Town. With Lord Gabriel at the border, the checkpoints on the border between Eju and Hati will naturally be released without any inspections, and of course there will be no taxes.

The divine stones mined by the residents of Duke Town must be handed over to the city-state in the form of taxes. The city-state's laws stipulate that one out of every ten belongs to them, which is their reward. At the same time, Rod Dick of course also knew that the mayor of Duke Town's levy of power would not be so selfless, and he would inevitably intercept a lot of them.

The divine stone is a common currency with a value of twenty times that of equal weight of gold, and the same is true in Duke Town. However, the products of Duke Town are both rich and barren. In addition to producing divine stones and iron, only a small amount of barley is planted on the barren land for people to fill their stomachs. All other living and enjoyment supplies need to be transported from other places. Its location is too remote, and everything is transported here many times more expensive than other places.

People in Duke Town may not know that they may be the richest residents on Tianshu Continent, and this is also the most expensive place on the mainland. Although the taxes are heavy on the trade roads, a successful transaction is still profitable.

In order to provide cover for the transaction materials he had transported to Duke Town, Dick also organized a caravan of the Cape City State to arrive with his convoy. The merchants were naturally willing to follow Lord Dick's convoy, which was equivalent to obtaining absolute safety guarantees to save the cost of mercenaries. Moreover, with Lord Gabriel and Lord Dick, the tax collectors along the way would not maliciously blackmail them but would do their business. They were grateful to this sympathetic Lord Dick, and many noble officials would not take care of the merchants in this way.

During dinner, Lord Dick had a pleasant conversation with Mayor Dusty. What was even more pleasant was the transaction between them, and both parties were very satisfied. In addition to the divine stone, Lord Dick also purchased precious high-quality fine iron from the mayor. This is a secret that is not worthy of being told by the outsiders. Both of them were tacitly accused by the wine and delicacies.

Although the transaction was pleasant, Rhode Dick didn't like this place, especially the smoky and unpleasant smell of smoke and fire was everywhere, which made him feel very uncomfortable. He felt a little anxious and didn't know when he would have to wait.

The reason why he brought Maria here was not only to do a business under this name, but also another attempt was to get the tears of the gods. The high priests of the Temple of Isis announced the oracle to the outside world that a tear of the gods would be given to the earth, and the person who obtained it would be the guardian saint of the goddess Isis.

Rhode Dick has his own idea about this. The Tears of the Gods are nothing more than a more precious divine stone. If it really appears, the greatest possibility is to be in the place where the divine stones are produced. Then, using the convenience of geographical location to arrive at Duke Town to wait, the most likely to take the lead. This is of course a kind of gambling, but this gambling is profitable regardless of success or failure. If you succeed by chance, everything will be the most perfect.

He told Mary that he had received guidance from Goddess Isis in his dream, and Mary told Gabriel that he persuaded the temple warrior to come across the desert border.

When he came to Duke, Maria prayed devoutly every day, but Rhode Dick, who made up this lie, was a little impatient. In this small town where blacksmith stoves were burning everywhere, the harsh environment made Lord Dick unbearable. He didn't want to stay for a day, and he couldn't help but think of the legend about the Tears of the Gods.

He was already a little drunk and cursed: "The gods give mercy? Is it God's will or the priests fabricated lies? When did this ancient oracle spread? It was just a stone, and no matter how precious it was, it was just a useful stone. Instead of praying to the gods, it would be better to ask the miners for help. Does getting the tears of the gods mean a saint? So who is the miner who mined it? It may be a dirty old man!"

Just as I thought of this, a gust of wind blew out of the window, Dick had a cold war inexplicably, and woke up from the wine. He quickly pressed his hand on his chest to pray: "Great Goddess Isis, what I think in my heart is not disrespectful to you, but just a frank expression."

At this moment, Rod Dick was suddenly stunned. He seemed to feel something, a mysterious fluctuation of power, both mysterious and strange. The unpleasant fire and inexplicable chill seemed to be comforted by some kind of comfort. The source of the fluctuation came from a family on the edge of the town.

Rhode Dick immediately put down his cup and shouted: "Fayor, come in quickly, the tears of the gods may appear, go and follow my instructions!"

...

Gabriel, who was standing in a solemn manner, suddenly raised his head and looked sideways in a direction in the town. She felt a slight fluctuation of power fluctuation in the air, both invisible and as clear as it was. There was an inexplicable light of relief in her eyes, and she looked back at Maria's window.

...

A crisp "ding" sound followed by a tiny buzzing sound echoed in the room for a long time. Amon held a heavy mine hammer and smashed a round stone the size of a fist and shining with a dark light.

The hammer looked so heavy, falling down with the sharp sound of the wind. When it landed on the surface of the stone, it became light and as if it was just a feather, only making a crisp "ding".

Amon's posture of holding the sledgehammer was a bit funny. He held his hands very forward, and his entire upper arm was pressed against the handle of the hammer from his wrist to his elbow. He was not too tall. After all, he was only fourteen years old this year and had not yet fully grown up.

But the muscles in his body were very strong and strong. When he tightened his sledgehammer, there were like little snakes rushing on the raised muscles. According to the rules of Duke Town since ancient times, children of his age were not qualified to mine the divine stones alone. Using Duke Town’s unique hammer technique to open the mine core that has been mined through hardships is the last and most critical step to obtain the divine stone.
Chapter completed!