The Dark King
chapter-239

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The buzz of knives and forks that touched the plates stopped the moment the girl spoke out. The eyes of all the members were focused on Dudian as they waited for his reply. The words said by the girl had been in their hearts for a long time. Even the quality of the dishes had gone down, so the dissatisfaction in their hearts had gone up during this time.

“Nonsense!” Old Fulin’s face sank.

The girl knew that she had done the wrong thing by talking out of turn as her grandfather got so angry. She bit her lips and bowed her head.

Jake, who was sitting next to Dudian talked out: “Father the child is young and not sensible so don’t be offended by her words. Mr. Dean, please take her words lightly. We will be waiting for your body to recover as long as it would take.”

Dudian didn’t reply, but smiled in response.

There was a trace of disappointment and anger in Jake’s eyes as he saw the indifferent reaction of Dudian. He looked at the angry face of his father and turned to look at Sander who was sitting calmly. Eventually, he held back the impulse to ask for anything else.

After the dinner, Dudian, as usual, went back to his room and locked the door.

A few more days passed by.

On this day Dudian had breakfast in his room and afterward found Old Fulin.: “I’ll be late today. Maybe I won’t be on time for dinner.”

Old Fulin looked at him and sighed: “The members of my family are getting insensible these days. Don’t listen to them at all. We have to nurse you back to top condition before going out of the giant wall.”

Dudian smiled: “I’ll recover soon.” He got up and took his jacket from the chair. He bid farewell to Old Fulin and walked down along the wooden stairs to the hall. Hugh and several other members of the younger generation were chatting in the hall. The young girl from a few days ago was also in that group.

“Hello.” Dudian casually greeted them as they were on his route.

The others looked at him, but didn’t reply. Only Hugh squeezed out a smile and looked at Dudian: “Hey, Mr. Dean. Are you going out?”

Dudian nodded: “I have to make a trip to ‘Temple of elements’”

“The Temple of Elements?” All of them were surprised the moment they heard the name of the organization. Their eyes lit up. Hugh came forward and asked: “Mr. Dean, are you going to join the Temple of Elements?”

Dudian smiled: “I’m going for tea, but I’ll see what happens there.”

One of the other youth said: “If you can join and make a friend then you could get some good objects from them. Afterward, we wouldn’t be worried about the future of the New World consortium.”

One of the girls was surprised as she uttered in exclaim: “I don’t have to worry about the new skirt.”

The previous girl dissatisfied with the Dudian also had a happy face. She looked at Dudian and tried to encourage him.

Dudian bid farewell to these few people and got out of the castle. He sat on the carriage and ordered the coachman to take him to ‘Temple of Elements.’

The structure of ‘Temple of Elements’ was totally different to the magistrate, the Holy Church, or consortia. They had no divisions or headquarters. All the architects were gathered in one place. They would communicate with each other on weekdays to try to inspire each other. It could be described as the holy land of learning and studying. Many alchemists and potion masters longed for a peaceful and stable learning environment such as that.

The Temple was located in the northern part of the commercial district, close to the direction of the inner wall of the giant wall. The Temple was located on ‘Church Mountain’ (TL notes: de ga shan – it doesn’t refer to a building (church) but to the idea [Catholic Church e.g., the body that controls the system]). According to the people, the word Church meant holy in the old era.

Church Mountain was very tall. Its foothills were surrounded by several small towns. All of the towns were under the protection of Holy Church. There were dozens of Knights of Light patrolling the area. Everyone was the believer of God of light as their robes and clothing were typical of members of Holy Church.

Dudian sat in the carriage for five hours. Finally, they came to the front of Church Mountain. They passed by the hillside to go to the first town on their way. There were eight Knights of Light wearing bright silver helmets stationed at the entrance of the town. There were solemn expressions on their faces as they coldly looked at Dudian.

“Stop.” One of the knights stopped Dudian: “Please show your proof of identity.”

Dudian took out the invitation letter: “I will be joining the Temple today. I came over to report.”

The young knight picked the letter and checked the badge above the envelope. He recognized it and nodded: “Go.”

Dudian took back the envelope and continued on the mountain road. Every 100 meters he met a team of patrolling knights. He submitted the invitation letter to confirm his identity three times. It was a proof of the level and strictness of defense of the area. Even a fly couldn’t fly in, let alone enemies. Moreover, if the Holy Church was so focused on protecting this area, then it meant that there were quite a few important figures within the Temple. Even if senior hunters came over to attack the Temple, it would be hard for them to reach the castle.

After all, there was only one Temple of Elements. It was an important tribute that showed the power of Holy Church. If they faced losses here, then it would be a very heavy hit to Holy Church.

After a moment Dudian came to the top of the Church Mountain. He saw a majestic castle standing at the peak made out of white granite.

“Stop! Who are you?” The guard standing in front of the gates of the castle shouted as he saw Dudian approaching.

Dudian didn’t reply with words, but instead gave the envelope directly.

Guard took the letter and confirmed that it was the real thing. He gave back the letter: “Please wait, I will announce you.” He made a gesture to another guard and turned into the castle. After 10 minutes he came back while a middle-aged man followed after him. It was Kerry.

“Mr. Dean?” Kerry identified Dudian at sight. There was a little surprise on his face: “You finally came over! Please come in.”

Dudian said: “I was delayed because of business. I hope it won’t have any effect on the invitation.”

“There won’t be.” Kerry enthusiastically replied: “The doors of the Temple are forever open for such young and promising architects. Although you have just came over, your name is already spread wide in our ‘Temple of Elements’. Your improved looms didn’t only changed the efficiency of the textile machines, but opened up a new era. Many masters have been inspired by your work and had a great harvest.”

Dudian knew that true meaning behind the improvement of the loom was not to improve its efficiency, but to let people understand the concept of mechanical energy.