Chen Lun silently repeated the honorable name of Ms. Holy Tree in his heart.
Immediately, he felt a gaze coming from a faraway place.
'The favor of Mother Nature...'
Chen Lun was both surprised and delighted.
It was extremely rare to be able to gain the favor of a being of this level...Except for the most outstanding volunteers in each church and a very small number of fanatics who had this honor, ordinary believers would not even dare to think about it.
He secretly guessed that he was neither a natural path transcendent nor a member of the natural sect, and that he had this honor probably because of the help of Maggie, the cat god...
"Thank you for your gift."
Chen Lun bowed his head respectfully and spoke in a deep voice.
These words were spoken both to Mrs. Elk and to the Mother Goddess of Nature who had noticed him.
"You can leave now, Jack."
Mrs. Elk nodded and raised her hand to signal.
"When the time comes, you can come here again... Since ancient times, destiny, nature, and magic have been integrated into one, working hand in hand to promote mutual development... Then you will understand what I said to you today."
"Yes, Mrs. Elk."
Chen Lun nodded in response, a thoughtful look on his face.
Immediately, he bowed again to the woman on the vine throne and turned to leave.
'Nature and magic are adjacent to fate... Mrs. Elk means that in the past few eras, the extraordinary people of these three paths were not only not enemies, but also stood on the same front? According to the third law of the extraordinary, the law of extraordinary asymmetry, if you want to be stronger than ordinary people on the path of God, you need to constantly explore the extraordinary knowledge of adjacent paths, so as to draw inferences from one instance and rise in a spiral.'
While thinking, Chen Lun walked out of the "Heart of the Holy Tree" hall.
Gloria, who was waiting outside, strode forward.
"Mr. Jack, the Saint sent a message. She said she can personally take you to the Augusta Mountains to meet the hermit Fredetri of Meteor Tower."
Chen Lun was a little surprised, and then nodded.
"In that case, I'll trouble Your Majesty the Saint."
*
*
*
After a moment.
Chen Lun followed Golian and the Holy Tree Guard down the spiral staircase and returned to the ground. Saint Rutina had changed her clothes and was waiting at the door of the church.
Her original white hollow robe disappeared, replaced by a dashing dark yellow windbreaker, paired with a tilted-brimmed cowboy hat and long leather boots. She looked like a professional hunter who traveled back and forth across the border all year round.
"Jack, now that you've met Mrs. Elk, let's go."
Rutina chuckled and spoke.
She stroked her long golden hair and patted the shoulder of Noah, who was a head shorter than her.
"After you finish your business, we will go to the royal city together. What do you think?"
"It all depends on the will of Her Majesty the Saint."
Chen Lun said very respectfully.
He was extremely happy to have someone of high rank traveling with him.
Rutina nodded, a smile on her delicate face, put her hands in the outer pockets of her windbreaker, turned around and walked behind the sacred tree.
"Come with me... It would take days to reach Mount Augustus by walking through the forest, but we can take a shortcut."
Chen Lun brought Noah and Anton and followed the saint.
This time, Olga and Gloria did not follow because Rutina had greeted them in advance and told them that they did not need to see them off.
Just like when they came here, Lutina led Chen Lun and others into a tree hole and went underground. In the pale blue tree root space, under the illumination of the fluorescent bacteria, Lutina slightly tilted her head and explained to Chen Lun:
"The roots of the sacred tree are spread throughout the Coleridge Forest. Many seemingly ordinary towering trees are actually roots growing out of the ground... So within the forest, almost nothing can be hidden from our perception."
"No wonder Priest Olga was able to find me so easily."
Chen Lun raised his eyebrows and said suddenly.
He secretly sighed in his heart that in the Coleridge Forest, the Naturalists had an absolute home advantage... No wonder the Empire only banned them from preaching within the country instead of expelling or suppressing them.
It’s not that the authorities don’t want to, but that they can’t do it.
The size of the Natural Sect is completely comparable to any other Orthodox Church, and with the home advantage, it can even surpass it!
After everyone had walked in the underground tree root tunnel for most of the day, Lutina suddenly stopped and pointed to the far right of the three forks in the road ahead.
“We’re here… From here, we’ll reach the northern end of Coleridge Forest, and you can clearly see the Augusta Mountains.”
There were countless twists and turns in the underground tunnel along the way. Chen Lun was surprised that Lutina's choices were always extremely accurate, to the last detail, as if she had memorized the entire "underground network" in her mind.
"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."
Chen Lun said.
Rutina chuckled and glanced at him.
"Come to think of it, you can just call me Rutina. I like this name better than 'Saint'."
Seeing this, Chen Lun said tactfully:
"Thank you, Miss Rutina."
"You're welcome."
The saint smiled sweetly.
She was the first to walk out of the tree hole, followed by Chen Lun and others.
Just as Lutina said, this is already the edge of the forest. There are no longer those tall and dense trees blocking the view, and the view ahead is quite open.
The sun's rays shone through the clouds, and the world seemed to be shrouded in golden colors, magnificent and beautiful. A continuous ancient mountain range was located in the distance, but strangely, Chen Lun did not see any shadow of any buildings.
“See that tallest mountain?”
Rutina seemed to understand what Chen Lun was thinking from his puzzled expression, and pointed to the northwest of the Augusta Mountains with a smile.
Chen Lun looked in the direction of her finger and saw that there was indeed a mountain that was much higher, but its top was flat and its edges were even a little concave.
"That's the Augusta Crater. It's an active volcano. It has erupted three times since the Fifth Era... but the most recent eruption dates back to more than six hundred years ago."
Rutina explained softly.
"The location of the Meteor Tower is hidden under the crater. If it weren't for the intervention of Frederic Hermit, the previous volcanic eruptions would have been enough to destroy the Coleridge Forest... So she is not only a friend of our Natural Cult, but also the savior of the residents of the northern border of the empire."
"So there is such a hidden story..."
Chen Lun raised his eyebrows.
"Not only is Fredetree Hermit powerful, but she is also a very noble person. She is a person worthy of respect."
From Lutina's brief introduction, he could roughly outline in his mind the image of a great man who cares about peace... The reason why the other party chose to live in seclusion in the Augusta Mountains is not only because it is sparsely populated, but also because of the factor of suppressing volcanoes.
Rutina nodded in agreement, and then she slowly spoke:
"Let's go. We still have several hours to go. We should try to reach the Meteor Tower before the sun sets."
Chen Lun nodded to show his agreement.
Noah and Anton seldom spoke. They followed the leader very quietly, like two well-behaved and sensible little followers.
But Anton kept looking around along the way and was extremely curious about everything along the way, and when Noah encountered some beautiful scenery, he would stop to appreciate it, as if he wanted to remember the picture in his mind and paint it into an oil painting in his free time.
In the evening.
The setting sun dyed the clouds and the sky red, and everything in sight was red. Chen Lun and his party had already climbed the Augusta Mountains, getting closer and closer to the crater.
This area is extremely desolate. Although the vegetation is lush, there are few signs of living creatures, let alone any human habitation.
Soon, Chen Lun followed Lutina and stepped onto a huge rock at the highest point.
The rocks underfoot are dark black and have a bumpy surface.
Chen Lun could tell at a glance that this was a piece of obsidian, a type of volcanic crystal. So what Lutina said about this being an active volcano crater was probably true.
There was a wide area ahead, with a diameter of several hundred meters. The rock walls below were covered with black crystals, and a stream of scorching hot air emanated from the bottomless crater.
About forty or fifty meters below the feet, an ancient tower with a pale yellow body stood tall. Its outer walls were covered with traces of smoke, and countless red and blue sapphire crystals grew around the base.
"That's the Meteor Tower."
Rutina looked down at the tower and spoke softly.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you here."
Chen Lun nodded, thanked her, then asked Noah and Anton to stay where they were while he jumped down.
Feeling the heat wave, he stepped on the ground, performed the air walk, and landed gracefully at the entrance of Meteor Tower. He took two steps forward and knocked on the heavy door of unknown material.
Dongdong.
After a while.
Apart from the faint whistling sound of wind coming from the abyss beside him, there was no movement in the Meteor Tower.
Chen Lun frowned and knocked on the door again.
At the same time, he said respectfully:
"Dear Ms. Frederic, my name is Jackspeter. I am fortunate to have obtained a set of Carmen's notes, which have benefited me a lot... Mr. Carmen left a message in the notes, hoping that I will personally hand them over to you."
He took out three copies of Carmen's Notebook, as well as a letter from Mrs. Elk.
"Besides that, Mrs. Elk of the Natural Cult has asked me to deliver a letter to you."
A few more breaths passed.
The heavy door in front of him suddenly made a click and a crack opened on its own.
"Hand the stuff in."
A lazy, mature female voice came from the Meteor Tower.
Chen Lun was slightly startled, then he breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand and handed the note and letter through the gap in the door. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt a cold and stiff hand taking the things, and a dark blue color flashed through the gap.
The Meteor Tower fell into silence again.
Just when Chen Lun didn't know whether to continue waiting or turn around and leave, the door opened completely.
Kakaka…
"Come in."
That lazy female voice appeared again.
Chen Lun took a deep breath and walked into the Meteor Tower.