Wandering Horse paid his bill and walked quickly into the El Paxin Craftsmen's Association. There was a thick red carpet on the ground in Hall X, and flower petals were scattered. He had not seen such a grand scene the last time he came here.
As soon as he passed through the crowd, the wandering horse heard someone calling his name.
"Mr. Wandering Horse, this way! Thank God, you've finally arrived!" A naive dwarf lady was waving to him. She was a little fat, and the wrinkles on her face were all piled up: "Sir, Lotas, I heard that your flight was a little late, and I should have asked someone to pick you up. But you don't know how busy we are here. I've been worried about it all morning."
"I'm here, Ms. Aisha," the wandering horse opened his arms and enthusiastically gave the dwarf lady who was trotting over a hug: "You haven't changed at all. The last time I saw you was half a year ago. Oh no, if I must say it, you are much younger, madam."
The dwarf lady laughed happily. "Come on, I know, I know, I know my own situation, dear friend. I am old and no longer young. I am already one hundred and twenty years old, which is not considered among the dwarves. Young, this may be my last time as a preparatory committee member for the Continental League, and then I have to retire. How I miss the mountains of Ithulian, and my warm little cave, in the winter, the fireplace The fire is bright and my knees don’t hurt so much.”
She enthusiastically grabbed the latter's hand and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to meet those old diehards. They've been so busy lately that they definitely didn't expect that you would be the one to host the competition this time. Speaking of which, How did you get this opportunity? The last time I met you, you were still a newcomer."
The wandering horse smiled slightly: "It's just a coincidence, Ms. Aisha, I didn't expect it either."
He didn't just talk nonsense. Before receiving the commission from the military, he really didn't expect that a freelance anchor who was not in the mainstream view would get such an important opportunity.
That's why he immediately interrupted his live broadcast plan in the Hill of Giant Trees and hurried back to Aquin.
Although the Continental Alchemy League is only a non-combat-oriented event, in terms of scale, it is only second to the three major super events in the Second World. The participating areas cover the four floating continent groups of Cloud Sea, Osu, Giant Tree Hill and Lotao, so it is also called the Intercontinental Alchemy Competition.
It's just that this competition only includes traditional alchemy projects, and no combat craftsmen participate, so the attention on the earth is only tepid.
But even such a live broadcast task is an item that all major platforms compete for. Wandering Ma doesn't know that the military took the wrong medicine this time and actually caught the strong man on his head.
He had signed a long-term contract with Stargate Port before, but that was only a temporary worker at best.
However, he had heard rumors that Stargate Port was short of manpower recently. It seems that most of the internal security forces in Stargate Port have entered Aitaria in the past week. In addition, there was news about the unstable situation in the second world some time ago. For a while, people were panicked, thinking that another outbreak of the world was coming. There was a big war.
Naturally, he was skeptical about these rumors of wandering horses, but fortunately, he finally had some connections in the Elpaxin Artisan Association, so he didn't become blind.
I don’t know if the military is interested in this.
The Continental Alchemy League doesn't get much attention on Earth, but in Aitaria, it's just the opposite.
The league rotates approximately every two years. In the first year, twenty-two winning teams from each region will be determined through a round-robin format, and then a half-year offseason will begin. Half a year later, in the second half of the league, the five teams with the highest points will be selected from the 22 winning teams to advance to the finals.
In the finals, there are a total of twenty teams from the four regions, plus six directly invited teams appointed by the royal families of various countries. Twenty-six teams will compete for the final title in the hall of the Holy King of the Oshur Empire in the hot summer. champion.
In fact, every two years, many talented alchemists will emerge on the mainland because of this competition, because most of these talented alchemists will eventually flow to major forces and the Chosen Guild. Therefore, this competition has also become a symbol of these major forces. Target to focus on.
For example, the Kaolin Merchant Alliance actually relied on the absorption of these outstanding alchemists. In recent years, it has shown signs of unifying the sea of clouds and even competing with the Kaolin Craftsmen Association.
And almost a quarter of the master craftsmen of the two largest guilds in the country, the Silver Vislan and Elite guilds, come from this group.
In Aitaria, the royal families of various countries also regard it as a means to cultivate their own echelon of young alchemists, and regard it as an important way to demonstrate national power and show off the development level of alchemy.
Because of these reasons, the development of the mainland league has gradually gained momentum in recent years.
The two walked down the hall and through the back corridor. The Elpaxin Craftsmen's Federation arranged the competition venue in the square behind the Craftsmen's Federation. It was originally an arena, but it was only used for citizen celebrations on weekdays.
The second half of the league rotates between several cities. This is the second time we have come to El Pashin, and today will also be the most important one.
The top five finalists will be determined.
The wandering horse turned back and asked: "Ms. Aisha, how are you preparing for the competition?"
"Everything is fine, but you know those old die-hards who are holding their breath and want to avenge their shame. I have seen the young people Roger Tower selected from the union, and they are far from it. They are the most But I just figured out what alchemy is. It’s hard for me to beat my opponents, especially the team from the Iron Oak Principality.”
"Is it really that difficult this year?" Wandering Ma'er himself is just a scenery anchor and doesn't know much about this aspect. He also did some homework on the way here. He knew that the Chinese competition area was generally sluggish this year, but he didn't expect it to be so sluggish. .
Elsa shook her head.
The Kingdom of the Ancient Tower Knights is located to the east of the Sea of Clouds and to the north of Ithurian. It is a united kingdom composed of several small states. It has a strong folk custom and has always had territorial disputes with Ithurian. And since these two larger national forces are the only ones in the Yunzhihuan area that belong to the same division, the competition between them in the mainland leagues over the years has been particularly fierce.
It can even be said that a feud has been formed.
After all, in Aitaria, there is no such thing as friendship first and competition second.
It is said that before the new King Kaolin succeeded to the throne, the previous king Abedian would have his court alchemists visit various countries in the ancient pagoda every year. In fact, they were showing off their strength nakedly, which made all the nobles of the principalities and princes in the ancient pagoda angry. itch.
The Continental League has a long history, even before the three major super events, and has been held for 11 times today. The one that has won the most championships is naturally the Oshu Empire, the undisputed overlord of the alchemy world. Corin Ithulian is naturally not to be outdone, with the number of trophies he owns not far behind.
In the face of such strength, the people of Guta naturally had nothing to say.
However, the situation has gradually changed in recent years, especially with the overall sluggishness of the Chinese competition area in the past two years, and Kaolin Ithulian has also suffered successive losses in various competitions. In the competition two years ago, Kaolin Ithulian's four participating teams were almost wiped out. In the end, they relied on a mysterious team of unknown origin to retain a second place.
This year, in the first half of the round, most of the twenty-two teams from Kaolin Ithulian had already sunk. This was something unprecedented in history, so much so that it alarmed the Kaolin royal family.
"Look, not only the Kaolin royal family, but also people from the Forging Hall. We must keep at least three of the five seats, otherwise we will never even think about raising our heads in front of the ancient tower people in the next two years. Thorne will My hair has turned gray due to worry, and this year even the team from the Elpaxin Craftsmen Association does not have an advantage in front of the opponent." Aisha replied.
The two of them have arrived at the square branch.
Today's square is naturally different from usual ones. Celebration curtains have been pulled up in the sky, banners have been erected, and a layer of carpet has been laid on the aisles.
The wandering horse looked around and saw a huge crowd of people in the stands all around, a dense darkness. Not far away was the VIP stand, which was red and the knights stood at attention. He recognized those as the Knights of the Dawn from Kaolin. One of the two people guarding the red knight was the governor of Elpaxin. Count Sandor was tall and his black hair shawl was his conspicuous feature.
The other one is fat, slightly bald, wearing a gorgeous robe, and is about forty years old. The dwarf lady turned back to him and told him, "That's Prince Coleman."
Only then did the wandering horse become clear. Prince Coleman was born in the direct line of the Cowling royal family. He was one of the only two surviving children of Queen Fossa, the brother of the former King Abedian. She was married to an earl husband whose identity has not been disclosed. The fourth son is the uncle of the current young king.
It is said that he was born with extraordinary intelligence, but he was lame and had a harelip, and his ugly appearance was not liked by the courtiers.
This is the first time that Wandering Horse has seen this long-famous prince. There should not be too many rumors about this prince in Kaolin Ithulian. Some say he is cruel and lustful, while others say he is cold and fair. However, it is almost certain that this person will not be liked by the new king who is only fourteen years old.
But in any case, His Excellency the Prince can be said to be a heavyweight in the competition field of El Paxin.
No wonder the dwarf lady said how much pressure there is on the Elpaxin Artisan Guild.
However, as a selector, he was not very interested in the political structure of the Kaolin Kingdom and only turned his attention to the side. Next to the red knight is a deep black, with rows of Ithurian dwarves sitting neatly, mainly from the two clans of Steelbrow and Dwarf. This time, Elsa did not need to remind, the wandering horse recognized it. The origin of these dwarves.
The dwarves are taciturn and do not whisper to each other. They have solemn expressions. These ethnic groups in the underground of Eldron are good at metallurgy and alchemy. The shaken status of Corin Ithulian in the alchemy world has a much deeper impact on them.
He looked beyond these dwarves, and then to the east, he saw the representatives of the Knights Kingdom of the Ancient Tower. In that direction, the staff of the Craftsmen's Federation were debugging the last set of projection crystals. Not far away, there were several dwarves wearing alchemist robes from the Elpaxin Craftsmen's Federation, arguing fiercely with each other about something.
The wandering horse was slightly startled. "What are they doing? Are those people from the Guta Craftsmen Association?"
"Who says it isn't?" the dwarf lady said with a frown. "Those people are the chosen ones of the Guta Craftsmen Association, they"
She was about to say something else, when a burst of cheers suddenly erupted outside the stadium, attracting the attention of the two people.
The wandering horse and Elsa both turned back in that direction. The dwarf lady couldn't help but widen her eyes when she saw the crowd entering in that direction. The former had already shouted lowly before her.
"Elf Aquin, why are they here too?!"
"Brianne Caranthill!"
Outside the gate of the Craftsmen's Association.
Fang looked at the carriage team on the other side of the street with some disbelief, as well as the elf lady who got off the carriage. He seems a little unfamiliar with many things in the first world, but these silver-clad elf guards are very familiar with the Dawn Guards, the guards of the Aegnor Elf Court.
And he happened to know that elegant lady.
"How come the hero of the Battle of Byrne, the daughter of Aranya, the Unicorn Ranger, and the mistress of the Far Star Bow, is here?" Rhett also stood up, looked at this scene curiously, and scratched with his claws Scratching the mane on his chin: "Elpaxin is really strange today. It seems that the harvest celebration is not yet time. The elves of Aquin are also here. They have been living in seclusion in the Summer End Forest for a long time. No longer in the public eye.”
The three of them watched silently as the Elf Princess disappeared into the Craftsmen's Association. It took a while before they came back to their senses.
Fang and Red looked at each other, each a little confused.
The Equan elves are the remnants of the Numerin elves. They have been allied with Corrin Ithurion after the Giant War. Before the Holy Sword of Dawn was lost, they had maintained a good relationship with humans, but after that they gradually Alienation.
Until the Battle of Bain more than ten years ago, Oshur invaded the southern border of the kingdom. At that time, the Equin elves also sent an army to help the Kaolin people resist the imperial army. At that time, Brianne Caranthir also participated in that war as the daughter of the Elf King Alanya, and after the war, she became one of the Seven Heroes and the most legendary female ranger.
The battle in which she killed the Floating Island Whale with one arrow on the battlefield using the Bow of the Far Star was recorded as a video by some good people. It is still widely circulated in various communities and is one of the most classic battle examples in Aitaria.
However, after that, the Princess of Yuanxing returned to the Xiajin Forest and lived in seclusion. She has not appeared in front of the world for at least thirteen years.
In fact, if it weren't for her iconic long white hair, Fang would have almost not recognized Zeng, a hero who has appeared many times in promotional posters for the Chinese competition.
"Why is she here?"
Fang also had doubts in his heart.
As the 'Selector' of the Chinese Division, he has grown up listening to the legend of this elf princess. Kaolin Ithulian's Seven Heroes was the dream of many teenagers in China. Now that he finally saw it with his own eyes, Fang almost subconsciously followed the Elf Guards without thinking.
But before he took a few steps, he was stopped by someone.
The person who stopped him was the staff of the Artisans Federation.
...r
