"Ding!"
"Notification: Instance 'Ember of Twilight' is entering, estimated remaining time: 1 day and 6 hours. Please prepare as many instance supplies as possible to assist in clearing."
Three months passed in the blink of an eye.
Fang You stood in the enclosed training ground, facing a giant, pure white cube: the 'Purification Cube'. With the help of this crimson secret treasure, he had purified piles of polluted divine crystals into clear, pristine ones, ready for use.
Half of them were placed on the organization's exchange list, with no intention of lowering the price.
The other half were stored in his dimensional palace, prepared to accompany him into the unknown instance.
Fang You took out his palace and swept his divine sense into it. The main hall and several side halls were filled with supplies and equipment, even the small garden was piled high.
In these gardens, there were many flowers and plants that An Jianyou had asked the planting department for before returning the palace, and then transplanted. However, many of these plants were now bent under the weight of the stacked supplies.
"A sin, a sin." "I'll decorate it properly after I return from the instance."
He, Mentor Fang, was never one to pay attention to such things, but he couldn't have An Jianyou discover that all her planted flowers and grasses had died the next time she used the dimensional palace. That would be quite embarrassing.
He got up and walked out of the training ground.
Before entering the instance, he had to collect another batch of plant seeds. Liu Shang should have them ready.
The Hearthfire Secret Realm, now a level 6 super secret realm, was vastly larger than Trial Ground 404.
After several expansions and continuous construction, the secret realm had undergone a great transformation. Even Mentor Fang, who hadn't visited for a while, was astonished.
The core of the secret realm, the 'Suspended Base', was one of the few areas that hadn't changed much, except for the fourth layer of land in the outer ring that had been opened up for planting, tripling its original area. Inside the base, new buildings that were indistinguishable from the outside had also appeared.
Outside the base, there was a blue sky with white clouds floating overhead, with the alternation of sun and moon.
Below was a vast, boundless ocean, with long coastlines stretching as far as the eye could see in both directions, and numerous small islands scattered like stars.
Land occupied one-third, and the sea occupied two-thirds. This was the result of the secret realm's natural evolution. However, on top of this, the strong cultivators of Hearthfire had used their great abilities to reclaim land and raise islands.
These islands, though appearing small from a high altitude, contained many that were comparable to the original Pacific Training Camp island, sufficient for building small towns upon.
And indeed, they had!
However, they were not located on the islands themselves. Most of these islands were used for research facilities or breeding bases, for conducting dangerous research or cultivating special species that were difficult to coexist with other plants.
At the other end of the long coastline stood a massive, lush tree, as if it were nature itself, life itself, and the symbol of harvest – the Yidola Tree of Life.
This Tree of Life, possessing vast and great authority, had now emerged from its sapling stage and entered its growth phase. Its size was no longer that of a small sapling, having grown to over a hundred meters tall, finally possessing a hint of the Tree of Life's majesty.
Its authority covered a wider area and its power was stronger, providing a strong guarantee for the rapid growth of Hearthfire's plants.
Otherwise, the output of treasures like the Clear Heart Tea Tree would not even be enough for internal use, let alone be abundant enough for external sales.
From Fang You's current perspective, the Yidola Tree of Life was among the top-tier 'Divine-Demon level' treasures. It might even be classified as Divine-Demon level only because it was in its sapling stage.
Outside the Yidola Tree of Life was a verdant sea of trees, their lush leaves rustling in the wind, exuding a strong aura of life.
This forest contained trees originally planted by Hearthfire, as well as those that had grown from the Seeds of the Forest.
More than ten kilometers away from the forest, the atmosphere became more lively, and a small, exquisite town came into view.
The town was not large but had everything. All kinds of living facilities could be found here.
The most striking feature was a building to the west of the town, resembling a train station platform. The building had dark tunnels on all four sides, but only entrances, no exits.
Occasionally, a Winged Serpent-class train could be seen roaring out of one of the tunnel mouths, rushing into another tunnel without stopping, and disappearing in an instant.
Seeing the orderly, clean, and tidy town, Mentor Fang nodded with satisfaction.
He didn't teleport, but flew across the sky, taking in the scenery of the secret realm. Finally, he landed near the Yidola Tree of Life, outside a medicinal garden with a mix of green and red.
"Mentor!" "You're looking for Sister Liu Shang, right? I'll go call her."
A girl tending to the growth of medicinal herbs in the garden jumped up as if she had seen a ghost when she saw him descend from the sky. After saying a few words, she darted away like a startled rabbit towards a wooden house not far from the medicinal garden.
That was Liu Shang's usual residence. She preferred to stay near the Tree of Life, and it was also her workplace. She could start working as soon as she stepped out, and work at home, saving a lot of time.
However, there was no need for the little girl to notify her, as Liu Shang had already come out of the wooden house.
She wore a gorgeous purple-green dress, her three thousand strands of black hair cascading down her back like a waterfall, showing no sign of having worked in the fields.
Not that it mattered.
When Liu Shang first joined the organization, in her third awakening, she already had the demeanor of a noble lady, more elegant than Meitisha from Sword Flower City. Now, she was a seven-awakened mythical being, and there was no need for her to roll up her sleeves, nor would she get a speck of dust on her.
Since he was here, Fang You couldn't just say he was only here to collect seeds. He strolled around the surrounding medicinal gardens, inspecting the results of Liu Shang's cultivation.
"This is the number three golden seed. Even without the Tree of Life and special soil, it can achieve 10 times the growth speed and 6 times the yield per mu of conventional rice seeds. The only drawback is that a small amount of strange crystal needs to be ground into powder and sprinkled during planting to ensure the energy supply for the number three golden rice."
This was naturally not a problem.
The issue of food was related to the grand plan of Blue Star, and now, food exports were also an important source of income for Hearthfire, with the profits far exceeding the expenses.
"This is the number two berry, which can satisfy hunger and restore stamina." "These are the number three walnut trees..."
"Here are the number four devil seedlings, which were also cultivated by grafting special crops from the 'Fantasy Forest'."
These devil seedlings were one of the plants Fang You had asked Liu Shang to focus on cultivating. They had undergone several improvements, possessing extremely fast growth speeds and super strong resilience, making them highly practical 'combat-type plants'. They could be used effectively in both real-time combat and strategic deployment.
"While we were cultivating the devil seedlings, we also unexpectedly produced a special young plant," Liu Shang pointed to a patch of green, slowly wriggling like seaweed in the distance.
From this seedling, Fang You could sense a vague, nascent emotion.
Liu Shang said, "It has already gained sentience and has high growth potential. Mentor, would you like to take it with you?"
She could probably tell that her mentor looked like he was going on a long trip. But it was unnecessary to pry, and it wouldn't be lady-like. Fang You shook his head.
He would have liked to take it, but the instance did not allow the entry of any sentient beings other than himself. Ordinary plants were an exception.
After chatting with Liu Shang for a while longer, he noticed a few young girls hiding behind a gourd vine, peeking in their direction. Seeing him look over, they quickly disappeared.
Fang You chuckled.
With a pile of special seeds, he returned to the Apostle Dormitory for a temporary rest.
The next day, Fang You did not go anywhere. He stayed in the Apostle Dormitory, calming his mind and spirit, waiting silently.
When the countdown on the 'Instance Shuttle' interface reached zero, the panel chimed.
"Notification: The threads of destiny and time have been locked. Please enter the instance 'Ember of Twilight' as soon as possible to avoid the temporal anchor disengaging."
"Notification: ..." "Notification: ..."
Fang You took a deep breath and placed his hand on the black hole-like instance shuttle interface. A hum...
Space-time twisted, and in an instant, he left the secret realm, left Blue Star, as if he were in a vast river. The river water surged, imbued with endless mystery, flowing from an unknowable shore towards an unfathomable distance.
He stood on the river, enveloped by the power of destiny, not touching a single drop of water, seemingly detached from the torrents of the river, and was rushing upstream against the current.
In a hazy state, Fang You seemed to see some scenes, but he couldn't remember them. He could only be led by the power of destiny, flying towards his predetermined destination.
Time seemed to pass for a long, long time, or perhaps, there was no concept of time here.
When Fang You came back to his senses, sunlight streamed in through the window, and the chirping of birds reached his ears. The world seemed to have come alive from silence.
"I am..." "Right, the instance!" He was still a bit dazed.
Even though he was a mythical existence, the pressure he faced seemed greater than the last time. After a moment of recovery, Fang You opened the panel. "Ding!"
"Notification: You have entered the instance 'Ember of Twilight'."
"Notification: Twilight is approaching, and radiance will be extinguished in darkness, but some embers can burn eternally. Savior of Destiny, please cultivate as many embers as possible to resist the coming disaster."
"Notification: The maximum stay time for this instance is 3 years. Using power beyond the mythical level may shorten the stay time. You can return at any time."
"Notification: ..." The panel appeared, and the light on the characters gradually faded. Fang You fell into thought.
The place he was in was about the second floor. Outside the window, there were leafy trees, with a few birds with large eyes perched on the branches, chirping incessantly. However, he didn't recognize these birds; they were unlike any species that had existed on Blue Star in the past. He was certain of that.
As for his surroundings...
In front of him was a large desk, and he was sitting in a soft chair. On one side of the desk was a shelf filled with various decorative items, and on the other side were several silver-white curved chairs. A large character, '修' (xiū - cultivate), hung on the wall, imbued with immense power.
"It seems..."
"I've actually come to this era? Well, it's not entirely unexpected."
"Moreover, this time, I have an 'identity' in this instance: the director of an orphanage in Xiaguang City!"
These pieces of information surfaced as his consciousness gradually cleared from its haze.
An orphanage, as the name suggests, was an institution for raising orphans. However, it was a bit different in this era. This era and empire were highly developed. Ordinary people could live to over a hundred years old, and awakened beings often lived for two to three hundred years. Facilities were convenient, and life was worry-free. For a large portion of people, they had no concept of family and were only responsible for procreation, while upbringing was the responsibility of the empire and orphanages.
Therefore, there were many orphanages in the empire. However, the 'Sunlight' orphanage where Fang You was located was special; it was a cultivation orphanage!
To call it an orphanage was correct because it received underage orphans.
But Fang You felt it was more like an academy, receiving young boys and girls from other basic orphanages who had reached a certain age and were detected to have cultivation talent.
And it was his duty as the director to nurture these young boys and girls until they turned 18 and officially entered society.
"You can consider it a middle school for commoners."
"However, even though it's a commoner's academy, the welfare benefits are quite high. Basic Body Tempering Fluid and Spirit Nurturing Fluid are supplied without limit, as well as a full set of upper-level medicinal liquids, matching cultivation methods, compatible awakening ritual arrays... and so on."
The effects of some of these medicinal liquids seemed to be even stronger than those mass-produced by Hearthfire.
And now, these accompanying resources were considered the lowest tier in the Candra Empire. However, it was evident that the Candra Empire placed great importance on the cultivation of its younger generation.
"Indeed, after all, Candra also spent a large sum of money to create numerous trial grounds."
"If the orphanages are middle schools, then the trial grounds are higher education institutions... However, there is no information related to trial grounds in what I have received."
The information he received was mostly about the duties of the director.
Although called director, he was essentially just a laborer, a versatile laborer combining 'teaching', 'management', and 'supervision'.
There were not many real human employees in the entire orphanage!
After all, the only senior position in the entire orphanage was the director; other positions were not willing to be stooped to by senior talents, and ordinary laborers... the orphanage didn't care for them.
Even without any human employees, the entire orphanage could still operate normally.
This was because there were instructor puppets, physician puppets, chef puppets, security puppets, and so on. The only real laborers needed were senior instructors.
Well, after pondering for a while, Fang You realized that other laborers worked part-time, only coming in during fixed hours, and at most three days a week. Only he, the director, was a full-time employee, living, eating, and working here.
"However, I have nowhere else to go, so this is fine."
He had considered the idea of going outside to see and experience the Candra Empire of this era, and perhaps even sneak into a trial ground.
However, it was not allowed.
Just like the first 'Birth of Embers' instance, his activity area was limited to within the orphanage – an orphanage that occupied an area comparable to a university campus.
Returning to the director's office, Fang You looked at the instrument on the desk, which resembled a globe. "This seems to be an instrument for receiving information? Similar to a mobile phone in modern society."
However, it required mental power to operate. He dispersed his mental power and gently probed into it.
Instantly, a holographic interface appeared before him.
"Lord Fourth Pillar, Steel Pillar, announced the official release of the Divine-Demon level Puppet Guardian Dragon v1.0. This puppet will undertake various important security tasks."
"The Governor of Yunxia Province announced that welfare benefits will be increased in the future to attract more high-level awakened beings to take up positions in orphanages."
"The six-star celebrity Feng Nan will hold a concert in Xiaguang City, and tickets are hard to come by." "The most beautiful girl group has officially debuted, each of them a fairy descended to earth."
Fang You examined it for a while and could only conclude that it was "passable."
He meant that the news was passable, but it didn't contain the information he wanted to know. The entire Candra Empire seemed to be at peace? However, there wasn't much news, and most of it was related to Xiaguang City locally. There was very little news beyond Yunxia Province.
The technology was advanced, but there wasn't the overwhelming amount of information that would make one's head explode, as was the case before the mysterious descent of Blue Star.
"Moreover, this news is clearly aimed at ordinary people. If anything were to happen, it wouldn't be broadcast so openly... However, does this instrument have a hidden backdoor?"
No, it was advanced mode.
By switching the mental power used to divine sense, he could enter the upper-level network inaccessible to ordinary people, a... well, a mythical forum.
He felt like complaining, but his expression immediately tensed as he glanced at it, his gaze firmly fixed on it. "Last month, two kingdoms were annihilated, related to the spreading darkness."
"Why fear? Our Candra Empire is a symbol of glory. We live under the protection of glory. Mere darkness and filth will be purified in the face of true light. Didn't dark gods try to mess with our Candra back then? And then, hehe."
"It seems a true god has fallen."
"Are they the gods of faith? It's normal for them to fall in rank or even die if they lose their faith supply. I've always said that the path of faith is no good."
"No, it's an ancient god. A great and supreme ancient god, the 'Three-Faced God,' has fallen. The reason is still unclear."
"I have a rumor here: the guardian god of the Silver Moon Ancient Kingdom in the Far West, the 'Moon Goddess,' has also fallen, and it seems it wasn't due to the ancient god war."
"Our Candra Empire doesn't need gods. Whether they live or die is irrelevant." The speaker was clearly also a mythical being, aware of many secrets.
Unfortunately, there were only texts, no pictures, and no videos. The truthfulness of these words was still questionable.
Forget it, there's plenty of time in the future. He'll understand slowly.
What he needed to do now was to familiarize himself with the orphanage. If he lost his job at the orphanage, he might lose his anchor and be forced to leave the instance.
That wouldn't do at all. Mentor Fang, now a laborer, sighed.
At this moment, a "didi" notification sounded, and a woman with a stern expression pushed open the door. "Director, a new batch of children has arrived."