Sorrowful Palace
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Chlocolatte
“We’re here. This is our palace, the holiest place to our clan.”
Dwarf Chief Dilo stopped in front of a pair of tightly closed stone doors.
The Dwarf Clan’s palace was not too large, and didn’t seem very magnificent. Upon arriving, Ling Chen noticed that the raucous crowd of Dwarves behind him became incredibly silent, and did not make any noise. Every Dwarf’s expression became quite heavy. It seemed that this really was the most holy place to the Dwarves.
Ling Chen did not call out Xiao Hui… Su’Er’s information, that there was a mysterious palace past the eerie mountain ridge in the east, had already been proven to be true. This meant that he could fully trust what Su’Er had said. As such, there was definitely an orb within this palace.
“Please enter.”
The palace’s stone doors were opened, and an incredibly old Dwarf, older than Dilo, walked out. He looked at Dilo, and calmly said, “Chief Dilo, you’ve come.” Just ask he spoke, he saw Ling Chen, and he lost his composure as he yelled, “He… He is?!”
“Elder Dita, please don’t worry, he is a human, but he is a visitor sent here by our guardian god,” Dilo immediately explained. Although he was the Chief of the Dwarf Clan, he was incredibly respectful towards this Elder called Dita.
“What? H-Human? We’ve been discovered by humans… since the guardian god allowed him to come in, he probably can be trusted. However, even so, why did you bring him here?! This is our holiest place; we can’t let any outsiders enter,” Elder Dita said loudly.
“But…” Dwarf Chief Dido looked at Ling Chen, then walked up to Dita and said in a small voice, “He brought a legendary Spatial Stone… as well as the Mysterious Red Sun Gold that our ancestors spent their entire lives searching for.”
“What?!” Elder Dita, who was hunched over at a 60 degree angle, jumped up like a monkey, his old eyes staring at Ling Chen. His white beard and eyebrows trembled, and the look of suspicion in his eyes was instead replaced with one of fervour. He quickly walked forwards, and stood to the right of Ling Chen, as he smiled widely, “Esteemed visitor, please excuse my rudeness! This is our Dwarf Clan’s palace, and my job is to guard this palace. For you to come here is our honour. Please come in. If you need anything, please tell me. Oh, and also, although I guard this place, my forging abilities have never declined. Within the entire Dwarf Clan, there are less than three Dwarves whose skills are superior to mine. No matter what material it is, I can…”
“Ahem, ahem!” Dwarf Chief Dido coughed loudly, and cut Dita off as he took a step forward, “Wasting our visitor’s time is quite disrespectful. Friend, please follow me.”
Only Dwarf Chief Dido and Elder Dita went into the palace with Ling Chen. All of the other Dwarves could only wait outside. Normally, Dwarves could not enter the palace without permission.
This palace was in the centre of the Dwarves’ home, and looked like it had been there for a very long time. Although it looked quite ancient, it was not decrepit or dusty in the slightest. Within the palace, there were many display stands. On top of the display stands were weapons, equipment, and items. Knives, swords, spears, staffs, bows, daggers, heavy armour, light armour, decorations, jewellery… there was every type of equipment and item, some of which Ling Chen didn’t even recognise.
“Within this palace are the most excellent works of our clan from the ancient times until now. Most of them are equipment. After all, forging is our life. For every Dwarf, having their works placed in here is the greatest honour they can receive,” Elder Dita explained, “These are the greatest works in the entire world.”
“Can I have a closer look?” Ling Chen asked. The Dwarves were the most talented beings at forging and engineering, and these were their best works over the ages… even the worst piece of equipment or item was bound to be amazing.
“Of course.” Dwarf Chief Dilo replied.
Ling Chen walked towards the right, and looked at the Machete that was closest to him:
[Ancient Moon Seven Star Machete]: Type: Double Handed Sword, Grade: Gold, Equipment Requirements: Warriors above LV50. Forged by the Dwarf Dilulu 2,300 years ago. The Machete is made from fine iron that has been refined hundreds of times, combined with cold iron. It is shaped like a crescent moon, and has seven stars carved upon it. It is incredibly heavy and incredibly sharp, and can easily destroy wood and stone.
Stats: Physical Attack Power+410, Constitution+20, Agility-10, attacks have a chance of knocking back the enemy.
Ling Chen: “……”
Ancient Moon Seven Star Machete… a LV50 weapon! This was the highest levelled weapon Ling Chen had seen in Mystic Moon. Its stats were quite high, as it was a LV50 Gold grade weapon.
But why was it a Gold grade weapon?!
The Dwarves were the most talented beings at forging, and were described to be gods of forging. If it wasn’t for other beings wanting to exploit them for their heaven-defying talents, they wouldn’t have had to hide away. The Dwarves had hidden away for over 10,000 years, and only the best works were kept in this palace…
So why were there Gold grade equipment in here?! What was going on? Gold grade equipment were valuable, but they shouldn’t be in such a place!
No way! Someone must have put it here by accident. Ling Chen looked at the other equipment around it.
[Moon Fang Axe]: Type: Double Handed Axe, Grade: Gold…
[Clear Wind Splitting Water Sword]: Type: Single Handed Sword, Grade: Gold…
[Cloud Covering Hexagonal Whip]: Type: Whip, Grade: Gold…
[Dragon Abyss Battle Armour]: Type: Upper Armour, Grade: Gold…
………………….
………………….
Ling Chen looked from left to right, top to bottom, and his face became more and more distraught. He looked through 70-80 pieces of equipment, but they were all Gold grade!
All of them were Gold grade! There was not a single Celestial grade equipment, much less Heaven’s End grade.
Having so many Gold grade equipment in one place looked quite impressive. Any normal player would drool upon seeing such a sight. However, this was where all of the best works of the Dwarves were kept!
There was definitely something wrong! Ling Chen had initially believed that with the Dwarves’ prowess in forging, the worst equipment in here would be at least Celestial grade… and top tier Celestial grade equipment at that. Even if there weren’t any Mysterious God grade equipment, there should be at least some Heaven’s End grade equipment, right?! Ling Chen had thought that Celestial grade equipment could only barely make it in, and Gold grade equipment weren’t even qualified to be in here… how could there be so many Gold grade equipment in here?
“These are… the best equipment here? Gold grade equipment?” Ling Chen knew that asking something like this could offend the Dwarves, but he simply couldn’t help but ask.
Dwarf Chief Dido and Elder Dita looked at each other and bitterly laughed. Elder Dita nodded and sighed before saying, “Indeed. These are the best works of our Dwarf Clan in recent times. I know what you’re feeling confused about. Although we’ve been hidden away for so long, there are still many legends about us in the Forgotten Continent. After all, our forging skills are not something that can be easily forgotten.
“Our ancestors have created many Heaven’s End grade weapons before, as well as Mysterious God grade Weapons. The Mysterious God grade Weapons became many cities’ Guardian Weapons… moreover, back then, our clan even created indestructible Saint Destroyer weapons. You know, most of the Saint Destroyer weapons in the Forgotten Continent were left behind by the True Gods in the ancient area. After the gods all died, no other creatures could create Saint Destroyer weapons… except our Dwarf Clan.”
Speaking to here, Dwarf Chief Dilo and Elder Dita smiled with expressions of pride, and Elder Dita raised his head as his voice became more emotional, “Not only that, our ancestors even created a Forbidden Weapon that surpassed even the Saint Destroyer Weapons. This Forbidden Weapon became a powerful clan’s Guardian Weapon, and with it, even the Moon God Clan didn’t dare to attack them.
“Although much time has passed, our intelligence and pride haven’t decreased at all, and I’m sure we’re still remembered in the outside world. However, all of what I just talked about has become the past. Ai,” Elder Dita sighed dejectedly.
“Indeed, all of that has become the past, and will remain in the past,” Dwarf Chief Dilo also sighed. He looked around at the things in the palace as he said, “Our pride has become but a legend. Now, creating a Silver grade piece of equipment is something to be proud of. Creating a Gold grade piece of equipment can shake the entire clan.”
“But with your talent and intelligence, even if creating Gold grade equipment is difficult for normal Blacksmiths, surely it should be incredibly easy for Dwarves,” Ling Chen said, confused.
“Haha,” Dwarf Chief Dilo laughed grudgingly, “You’re right. Creating Gold grade equipment is something incredibly simple for us. However, we need materials. Even a world-class chef, if he only had grass and dirt, can’t create a dish that is fit for a world-class restaurant. This principle applies to us as well. In order to comply with our ancestors’ wishes, we have lived in this sealed world. However, this place only has stones, sand and dirt, as well as some trees and grass. How can we possibly create high grade equipment?”
Ling Chen, “……”
Dwarf Chief Dilo walked forwards and picked up a thin single handed sword as he disappointedly said, “This Coiling Dragon Shadow Sword was forged by me, and is my best work and my pride. I was overjoyed that it was placed in the palace. Do you know how long it took me to forge this Gold grade sword? Ai, 300 years, a whole 300 years. True forging takes very little time, but in order to create adequate materials, I had to refine countless stones… over the course of 300 years, I can’t even remember how many I’ve refined. This Gold grade sword took up nearly half my life.”
Ling Chen: “……”
At this moment, Ling Chen suddenly realised why the Dwarves had reacted in such a way when they saw the Rainbow Agate, Spatial Stone and Mysterious Red Sun Gold. That was why they had discarded all of their dignity and integrity.
To them, these things were things that they could normally only dream of.
After hiding themselves away, the Dwarves were safe, but their talents and bodies were locked in this small space. They could only use the materials that they could find on this mountain. As time passed, materials became harder and harder to find… in the end, this race that had once created Heaven’s End grade, Mysterious God grade, and even Saint Destroyer grade equipment had fallen so low that they took pride in Gold grade equipment.
