A neatly dressed young man gave a good first impression, but that's all there was — he was nothing like the legendary Ethan!

Back in Sivalentine, she had heard many rumors about Ethan.

Legend had it that he was bathed in eternal radiance. He had hundreds of faces and would always appear as you imagined, but his true form had a stature as grand as the sun, an existence that stood on par with the Old Gods, and even the Evil God's Followers held him in high regard.

Including those followers of the Father of War who escorted her out of Sivalentine, they always held an optimistic view of the war.

— As long as Ethan initiated the attack, everything would be fine.

They always had this phrase on their lips.

But the young man before her seemed too "frail," and those mercenaries in the Adventurer's Guild looked far more capable of fighting than him.

"I am Ethan."

"I am Vivian Gallog, the princess of Sivalentine."

She got out of bed, holding her dress lightly with both hands, and gave Ethan a standard courtly noble greeting, not realizing the light cream that stained the corner of her mouth, which gave Ethan and the others quite an odd déjà vu.

"I heard from the Baron that you have something for me."

"It's right here."

A magic wand with silver patterns slipped into her palm. She held the wand in her hand and lightly pointed it towards the direction of the bedside table, causing the scattered magic power dust to condense into a letter that slowly floated towards Ethan.

This was a letter personally written by Viper.

A group of followers of Kaisaros and Sincaro had already infiltrated the capital of Sivalentine. Due to the presence of the golden radiation, only the followers of the Old Gods could take on the duty of infiltration and investigation.

The letter mentioned that the King of Gold had never appeared in Sivalentine, and perhaps he had never personally descended from the Golden Kingdom. The rule of the King of Gold was maintained by the Six-Person Council. Originally there were seven people in the council, but after Cynthia's "defection," only six remained.

Sivalentine was their strategic center. They were constructing some unknown power-generating device in the capital, and Viper speculated in the letter that once this device was completed, it would mark the day Sivalentine launched a full attack on the Empire. They had already placed a vast number of war machines in various towns, things they had never seen before.

They referred to the developers of these war machines as "scholars," who were composed of the original residents of the Golden Kingdom and many craftspeople from Sivalentine.

This refugee team was also composed of a squad of "scholars."

In addition, the experiment with Shadow Lamp was progressing smoothly. As Ethan had guessed, the energy of the Old Gods had a natural suppressive effect on the will of the King of Gold.

This letter confirmed many of Ethan's suspicions.

Now it seemed that the King of Gold played a crucial role in the Dark War. Cynthia speculated that the "echo of the ancestors" that McCarthy Delin heard in the magic web and the "future" seen by Kadela might all be orchestrated by the Guild.

For some unknown reason, they hoped to isolate the Old Gods from this world.

In addition to the aforementioned content, Viper also hand-drew a map of the Sivalentine Royal Capital for Ethan.

If he was brewing an assassination plan or something similar, this map could be of help.

An assassination plan…

Ethan glanced out the window; it wasn't as if he hadn't considered such a plan.

The golden curtain enveloping everything beyond Ximu Town became a barrier to his visit to Sivalentine.

'World Interferer'.

This was the name provided by Cynthia.

The King of Gold had conquered many planes and held in his possession many divine artifacts that defy common sense, and the World Interferer was one of them.

The golden curtain was the result of the plane's modification, and those shrouded within could never reach the places they wished to go.

Now, these golden curtains were like cages, enclosing the entire Empire within.

Ethan tried to move forward within the golden curtain, yet no matter how far he advanced, the distance to his destination never shortened.

This belonged to a kind of rule-level power, and the clock that tolled when the King of Gold descended was also one of his many divine artifacts. That clock would propagate the will of the King of Gold. Generally, the conquest wars experienced by the Golden Kingdom would not exceed three days. After three days, even the most steadfast individuals would ultimately succumb to his will.

Cynthia could not foresee the course of this war either, for this touched upon her blind spots of knowledge.

In past wars, the Six-Person Council was never needed, nor was it ever necessary to establish a strategic center on the surface.

And in these three months, the King of Gold had never appeared.

After leaving the manor, Ethan once again arrived at the outskirts of Ximu Town. When he left the cemetery, the golden curtain blocked his path.

He only needed to lift his head to see the faintly visible aerial fortress through the curtain.

He reached out and touched the illusory curtain.

Returning to Ximu Town after three months, Ethan hadn't been entirely unfruitful in his long practice.

He was facing one of the underlying mechanisms of this world, akin to many others.

The Fire Element corresponded to purification, the Ice Element to reconstruction, the Lightning Element to perception, and the Wind Element with the ability to format…

In theory, these belonged to the underlying mechanisms of this world. This was probably why the King of Gold was reluctant to come personally to the surface and face them.

The more powers you possess, the more fear you have of a slash from the Wind Element.

"Thinking about me?"

A lively voice came from Ethan's feet.

The Wind Element was always the most unique one. She was carefree, seemingly unaffected even after the King of Gold's descent. Being with the Wind Element always lifted Ethan's spirits, though the only issue was that this blue-haired girl always appeared in unexpected ways.

Like right now.

A head suddenly popped up from the ground beneath his feet, with everything below her neck embedded in the soil. Her blue hair looked like an oversized potato.

The blue potato raised her head, her expressionless face gazing up at Ethan.

"What are you doing again?"

Is this girl a Wind Element or an Earth Element?

"I'm playing a gopher; I'm Gopher No. 1."

"I'm Gopher No. 2."

Another yellow potato emerged from the soil. She looked younger than the Wind Element and spoke with vigor, reporting eagerly to Ethan on her own initiative, "Reporting, Commander, the Gopher Squad is exploring the treasure of Ximu Town!"

"Treasure? Is there a treasure here?"

"I don't know!"

The little yellow potato was eager to try, "It's more interesting because we don't know!"

She was probably the friend mentioned by the Wind Element. Ever since returning to the academy, the Wind Element frequently ran off to play with friends, sometimes disappearing for days on end. She would only appear when summoned with Elemental Magic.

The Wind Element's friend should be a natural element too, right?

"Are you an Earth Element?"

Ethan asked curiously.

"Please call me Gopher No. 2!"

The yellow potato corrected him, "Out here, you need to use our titles!"

"Alright, Gopher No. 2, I hope you all have fun."

"Thank you!"

The little yellow potato declared heroically, "According to the laws of nature, if you find gophers in the field, you'll encounter good luck."

"But this isn't a field."

Ethan glanced around.

Not only was it not a field, but behind him was a cemetery, which wasn't considered an auspicious place.

"That doesn't matter; what matters is I've been watching you for a few days, and you seem to have hit a dead end."

"A dead end?"

"You're too caught up in your identity as an 'Elemental Shaper' and have ignored the truth in front of you."

"Explain more."

Ethan's intuition told him that the yellow potato was communicating an important message to him.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I can bury a treasure in the town for you to dig up, I can assure you that the treasure I bury is unique, nowhere else in the world will you find another like it."

The yellow potato pondered and felt this was a good deal.

"Then... it's a deal!"

She paused and then added, "If I were you, I'd think carefully about the process of elevating the elements: is it the Natural Elements that grant you powers, or do you grant the Elements powers?"