Chapter Sixty-One: Returning to the Old Place
Amber City.
This city, which thrived by relying on the Agate River, completely fell into decline overnight.
The disaster that occurred that night had a profoundly deep impact on Amber City, to the extent that even the survivors wanted to restore the city, but there was no way to bring back its former glory. Soren advanced along the broken streets, where what was once a smooth paved road had nearly turned into a muddy path due to a lack of wealth for repairs. In this once-prosperous city, many dilapidated buildings and the remnants of walls left by the great fire could still be seen.
At night, near the graveyard, the cries of spirits could be heard from a distance.
That night, too many innocent people died in Amber City. Some of these wandering souls lingered in the mortal realm, wandering around the graveyard near the treasure cave where Soren had first discovered it.
Soren arrived at the cemetery area.
In the farthest corner, he found a small mound, which was the grave of his loyal old dog Hess. Everything that had happened still felt vivid in his memory, but now he was qualified to stand on the cloud and look down at all beings.
The docks of Amber City had fallen into disrepair.
Merchants no longer came here, as the current state of turmoil in the continent was not suitable for trade. All that remained were dilapidated warehouses that had long been left unattended. Soren even saw the warehouse where he had once practiced his lock-picking skills, but now the door stood wide open with not a single shadow in sight.
There were too many beggars!
Soren saw many impoverished people begging, who were frightened by the aura he exuded. They dared not approach but looked at him with pleading eyes.
“Alas.”
Soren let out a soft sigh and casually tossed a handful of copper into the air, quickly drawing a crowd of beggars to scramble for it.
What he saw before him truly reminded him of the scenes after the Saint’s Cataclysm broke out. In the future, such scenes would become increasingly common, and they might even be more tragic than all of this.
Amber City was no longer viable.
The city was filled with a sense of dusk, devoid of even a hint of vitality.
Soren passed through the ruins of the central district, where the disaster had struck the hardest; the ground was littered with remnants of broken walls that they were powerless to clear, and all they could do was abandon this place for new residential areas elsewhere. Just beyond this area was the only well-preserved temple district, where the priests, with the help of divine power, defended against the attacks of Fear Worshippers and the Undead. Today, it was also the most popular area in Amber City.
The result of the battle was mutually destructive.
It was said that other Legendary Professionists had appeared in that battle, and the Church of Fear also suffered heavy losses. At the very least, the Fear Knights and the Blasphemous Priests had been annihilated.
A group of children appeared in Soren’s line of sight.
All were half-grown kids, dressed in worn and patched clothing that had become faded. They gathered outside a temple, looking inside with yearning eyes.
Hunger.
The price of food in the mainland had doubled. Hungry people could be found almost everywhere.
“Come here.”
A gentle female voice sounded, and the children surged forward.
Soren suddenly stopped in his tracks, his expression momentarily stunned, then he walked forward. In his line of sight was a young and beautiful female priest, who, unlike other fragile female priests, possessed a strong and resilient aura. This young female priest wore the emblem of the Lord of Dawn and had begun to manage a church on her own as she had once served as a trainee priest; she seemed to have become a regional bishop of the Church of Dawn.
Priestess – Anya.
The girl who had once helped Soren and Vivian had returned to Amber City. She took over the former temple and appeared to have adopted some orphans.
“Your Grace, the Bishop.”
A young girl with freckles replaced Anya in her previous position, having become a trainee priest. She quietly approached the young priestess and whispered, “This won’t work. There aren’t many donations to the temple now, and the expenses are too high every day. I fear we will go bankrupt soon.”
The smile on the young priestess’s face froze for a moment, then she calmly said, “Are we running out of money?”
“Yes.” The trainee priest nodded.
With a dry chuckle, Anya glanced at the children in front of her, then quietly said, “It’s fine. I’ll take on a few adventurer tasks in a couple of days, and I’ll earn money quickly.”
She had been supporting these children by working as an adventurer.
Now, the ruined Amber City could no longer sustain the temple, but as a priestess, she was quite popular among adventurer teams.
“Looks like someone is about to donate?”
The trainee priestess’s eyes suddenly lit up as she quickly walked over and saw a man dressed as a robust hunter.
“How could a hunter come to our Temple of Dawn to donate? Is he praying for the Lord of Dawn to grant him more game?”
“Never mind.”
“It’s been a long time since anyone donated! I hope he can donate a little more money!”
The trainee female priestess put on her most welcoming smile and saw that the hunter seemed to put something that looked like a stone into the donation box. Instead of hearing the clear clink of coins, there was a dull thud like a stone falling to the ground. The trainee girl’s smile immediately stiffened; this annoying guy can’t possibly have thrown a broken stone into it, right?
She used her last bit of patience to wait for him to leave.
After the man departed, the trainee female priestess immediately opened the empty donation box and indeed found not a single gold or silver coin inside.
That man really did throw a stone in.
The trainee female priestess felt she was about to explode with anger, but when she took out the stone from the donation box, she was suddenly dumbfounded.
It was an uncut diamond, the raw form of a diamond!
Her small hand trembled slightly.
Although the trainee female priestess didn’t know how much the diamond was worth, its size made it clear, even to a fool, that it was extremely valuable.
So, she quickly took the diamond and ran breathlessly towards the bishop.
Bishop sister!
Today, we’ve finally encountered a wealthy patron.
………………
Returning to the old place.
Amber City gave Soren a few feelings, but they were merely feelings, and he quickly set them aside to continue on his way.
The next destination was—White Horse City.
Soren planned to take a look at how this city was doing and also wanted to probe the situation of the Ancient Red Dragon. This Ancient Red Dragon had a challenge level of 24 or higher, and the difficulty of killing it was not much different from that of low-level deities. At present, no deity had personally dealt with it, and it was almost impossible for mortals to kill it.
Soren felt that since he was already here, it would be unjust not to check it out!
………………(To Be Continued…)
