Leaving the Vale de Bild, the fiefdom of the Marquis of Hector, the temperature plummeted. Even if the date is still a theoretical summer, everyone has to put on a thick blanket, and even a literary and artistic youth like Lu Xi, who wants to pretend to be forced at any time, does not dare to play any "anti-seasonal dressing cultivation method".

In less than half a day's walk to the north, the wide avenue seems to be cut off from it and finally becomes a trail. Cedars on both sides of the road, large trees that can grow even in the coldest of the lands, are becoming scarce. The hills and hills that sandwich the Beard Valley between them become steeper and steeper, as if a giant with snow on its shoulders has grown from a baby to an adult, and finally merges with the majestic Atlas mountains. As the north wind blows, snow and ice chips form a gray tornado that whirls between the towering peaks.

"Cryolite and cold iron can be found in that valley, and veins of obsidian have also been discovered." Marquis Hector pointed to a valley and said to the crowd: "Obsidian aside, but cryolite and cold iron are very valuable minerals, but unfortunately in addition to minerals, there are also several snow monster lairs hidden in it. Before the winter was severe, the brutes would run around the village, injuring a lot of people...... I've been unsuccessful in clearing it several times, so I've had to spend it like this. ”

I don't know if it's an illusion, as soon as the marquis said this, Lu Xi felt as if he could hear the roar of a giant beast faintly coming from his ears. It's really unpleasant to make yourself.

At the foot of the hill there is a stockade made of logs, and the sentinels in it are all appointed by the marquis to rotate all year round, about twenty people. Through the wooden village of Guò, the steps leading to the mountain become steeper and narrower. This is no longer accessible to livestock.

The crowd had to dismount and walk, which took several more hours. When Lu Xi felt that he had walked ten thousand steps, he finally arrived at the Heavenly Dome Sanctuary halfway up the mountain.

In all fairness. The Sanctuary of the Heavenly Dome is not a monumental structure of any magnitude, but its existence is already a miracle in the history of human architecture. The sanctuary is built halfway up the towering Gordes Peak, which is already over 4,000 meters above sea level, making it one of the tallest buildings in the human world.

This is a typical Nord scale tile sloping roof building, the whole building layer is gray and black, as if it was built with cold steel and the vicissitudes of life, and the black bricks and decorative lines of the exterior wall have been covered with scratches and corrosion marks. The sanctuary is another main building connected to two wings, the central main building is only about ten meters high, and the heavy bronze door is crowned with the stigmata of the god of the mountains and the goddess of the storm. But because of the perennial wind and rain, it has become a little blurry.

There is also a stone tower on the top of the cliff next to the sanctuary, and there are about ten soldiers stationed in it all year round, who are responsible for guarding the vicinity of the sanctuary. Of course, the symbolism of this work was more important than the practical meaning - perhaps because they did not know the divine might of the two great gods, Atlas and Yaguila, the monsters that inhabited the mountains did not dare to approach the sanctuary for several miles.

In addition, the staff inside the sanctuary were four elderly archpriests and a dozen or so slightly younger priests. The necessities of life for these people, including supplies for the guards at the outpost, were brought up from the bottom of the mountain every month.

The head of the sanctuary was a shriveled old lady. The rickety is no longer the same, and she is about a head shorter than Artoria, and she may be more than a hundred years old. She didn't look very energetic, and her dense wrinkles were like fossils and full of vicissitudes. You can even see a little bit of historical precipitation, and the blue eyeballs seem to have faded a little, and the color is almost close to gray-blue.

The old lady was dressed in a simple but neat gray-black robe. In one hand, he carried a cane that was taller than himself. Two women, probably in their mid-forties, stood guard carefully behind her.

It's not just the Marquis of Hector, though. It was Artoria who was the first to bow down to the old man.

"Your Excellency, it is better to see your health than anything else." The Marquis saluted.

"Anya Mama. I've come to see you. Artoria's statement was much more affectionate.

"Look at me secondary, the trial is the main thing, right?" Just like all old people, once they get older, they will become kind and kind (of course, a certain narcissistic arrogant and black-bellied archmage is a special case), the old man Anya looked at Artoria with an embarrassed expression, and nodded with an inaudible movement: "Look at this, Otto has already decided, right?" ”

"Yes, the Father Emperor has already announced it at the assembly of the Skyrim Palace...... If I can pass the path of the trials, I will be the future Empress of Virginia. ”

The High Priestess of the Heavenly Dome Sanctuary, the Great Prophet of High Status among the Nords, was silent, she looked at Artoria with her dim gray-blue eyes, and then glanced at Lu Xi, who was looking around admiring the interior of the Sanctuary, and nodded slightly: "The Morning Star has not given me any more revelation, so I can't judge the good luck of your trip. If you are enlightened, come with me. ”

The old man led Artoria and the others through the main hall and towards the backyard. Although Lu Xi himself still wanted to see the magnificent statues of the gods Atlas and Yagila in the center of the main hall, he had to follow quickly after seeing that the old lady was so neat and tidy.

Following the old lady through the corridor behind the main building, everyone came to the backyard of the sanctuary.

Due to the perennial snow, there are only a few polar cedars with extremely strong vitality growing in this backyard, and there are naturally no elegant objects such as Lamei that can be used for infinite literature and art. Behind the courtyard is a tall and steep mountain wall, with a canyon split in the middle, forming a natural path, and between the backyard leading to the canyon, stands a thick bronze gate, as if it were embedded in the mountain wall.

"Once you open this door, there's no going back." The old man took one last look at Artoria, took out a bronze key from his bosom, which looked very old, and handed it to the young priest beside him: "The last time I used it was thirty years ago. Artoria, I don't want to use it again anytime soon. Atlas and Agila will protect you. Go through the storm, my child......"

The priest unlocked the door. The two sturdy soldiers pushed open the two gates on the left and right, revealing the path between the mountain walls. It twists and turns, but it doesn't know where it leads.

"I'll have to send it here, Your Highness, and then you'll have to rely on yourselves." The Marquis of Hector was also opening his mouth to say goodbye: "I will wait here for His Highness's successful return." ”

"You've helped us a lot, Uncle Hector, you still have your own business, right? I really don't need to delay your precious time for me anymore. Artoria said.

"There is nothing more important in the entire empire." The marquis replied with a smile: "And it's summer, and the demonic beasts rarely descend the mountain at this time, so there shouldn't be any urgent military affairs, as for my own territory...... Hi. There's not much to say. So I'm really idle right now. ”

Artoria smiled and laughed, and Lu Xi took out a stack of parchment from his bosom and handed it to the Marquis.

"It's ......"

"Thank you, honorable Marquis. You gave me ten full pages of information, and I returned you ten pages of proposals. If you do that, you'll probably never feel like you're running out of things to say about your territory again. Lu Xi blinked, "Actually, I'm more confident in my business ability than magic. Five years ago, I could have expanded a dilapidated town of Ringu tenfold. And in my opinion, there is a lot of untapped potential in your territory. In my opinion, this is like starving while guarding the mountain of gold, which is really a tyrannical thing. If not there is a more important copy to be placed. I'm going to have to find a time to talk to you about that. ”

Although the marquis took the stack of parchment, he did not seem to fully understand the other party's words, and his expression was a little dazed. It took him more than five seconds to react. Just as he was about to ask something, Lu Xi had already pulled Artoria and jumped over the bronze gate. Strode deeper into the valley, and the rest of the group hastened to follow.

"What did you give the Marquis?" Artoria walked beside Lu Xi. I couldn't help but ask.

She's not a gossip girl, but there's still curiosity.

"It's just a development plan for the Beard Valley." Lu Xi said as he walked: "Didn't you find out? Are the temperatures in and outside the Beard Valley noticeably different? We only had to wear coats in the valley, but as soon as we got out of the valley, we had to change into leather coats. ”

"This ...... It seems that this is indeed the case. "It's not a detail like Artoria that a natural girl would pay attention to.

"I don't know why there is a low-grade heat at such a high latitude, but since even the land can float in the sky, it is possible that there is an active volcano buried under the geologically stable mountain." Lu Xi seemed to be answering, and seemed to be muttering to herself, and Artoria could only say "I don't understand it, but I feel so powerful."

"Where there is geothermal heat, there are hot springs, and where there are hot springs, it will definitely attract tourists, plus the scenery of the valley is actually not bad, and the cedar forests are still very meaningful in the winter landscape. In addition, although it is too cold to grow food here, it is completely possible to grow some cash crops that can only grow in the polar regions, such as silver mulberry fruit, snow grapes and so on. In addition, although Bilder is remote, it is also connected by a large road, and the traffic is not a problem. As long as we continue to operate conscientiously and steadily, it is only a matter of time before we prosper...... Uh, Artoria, why are you looking at me like that? ”

"Huh? Oh, no, that ......" The girl blushed and said, "When I ascend the throne, can Lu Xi come and help me govern the country?" ”

"Don't you have so many brothers to help you?"

Artoria lowered her head and whispered, "But, this ...... This one is different. ”

"Then let's wait until you actually ascend to the throne." Lu Xi smiled and said, "Moreover, according to the Marquis, this path of trial is even more troublesome than imagined." ”

"This ...... Why? ”

"Didn't he say that it's June, and Warcraft usually rarely go down the mountain?"

"It seems that there is such a sentence......

"Doesn't that mean that our chances of encountering the enemy have increased greatly?" Lu Xi looked at everyone's increasingly exciting expressions, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Of course, from the perspective of monster farming experience, this is not a bad thing. (To be continued.) )

PS: Well, yesterday and the day before yesterday was the test screening and press conference of the movie, which were all supported by the manuscript. Tomorrow, well, will you be able to code the word tomorrow? But fortunately, I have already vaccinated everyone......