Chapter 559: Visitors from Cathay

"This city is indeed the place where my father's dragon-like rise began; looking from afar it seems ordinary, but only upon approaching does one realize its extraordinariness!"

"Gaga!"

The rail transit between Gaoyuanbao and Baikushenmiaogang has already opened; this line is primarily for freight, yet it still reserves a few carriages for brave sailors and adventurers seeking to seize profit between the Western Lands and the East.

A strange young man walked out of the train station, stopping in the center of the station square before the statue of the King of Gold, Sinuoli. Seeing the offerings covering the ground, a peculiar smile appeared on his face.

At first glance, he appeared to be a Dwarf, but his body proportions seemed somewhat different, appearing rather slender instead of broad-shouldered and thick-waisted. He wore a well-tailored, plain-colored Cathay robe, with only a ring on his middle finger catching the eye.

Perched on his left shoulder was a crow-like monster bird whose body was composed of five-colored glaze. The young man had been talking to it; though it could not speak human language, it was quite intelligent and chirped lightly in response.

"Greetings, brother. May I ask if Balin lives here?"

The young man stopped before the most prestigious mansion in the wealthy district west of the city. Guarding the gate were two Hammer Guard wearing blue uniforms; the Dwarfs knew this represented supreme honor.

"Which Balin? There are quite a few who go by that name."

"You should add the Clan to be clearer."

"The Balin of the cadet branch of the Drazkrad Clan. Shouldn't he be quite famous?"

"You brat, why are you so rude?"

"That is the Prime Minister before the King of Gold, the Great Sage of the Qunshan, Lord Balin! Even the High King himself would not dare address him by his name directly!"

Facing the guard with bristling beard and hair, the young man scratched his head in embarrassment. He finally understood why he hadn't felt the legendary hospitality while asking for directions along the way.

After Sinuoli left the Old World, the High King throne was taken over by Agelimu-Ironfist, and Balin returned to Gaoyuanbao to govern the Southlands on behalf of the King of Gold. But the Slayer Demigod did not like complex official duties; after fifty years on the throne, he handed over the Great Book of Grudges and went out to find strong enemies worthy of a battle.

The new round of elections for High King had a few more waves; the great war of the Northern Expedition to the Chaos Wastes and the closing of the portals caused a reshuffling of major forces and cultivated many famous generals with distinguished military achievements.

Considering that if a vote were forced, the winner would have too low a support rate to exercise the rights of the High King to represent the Dwarf Realms externally, Balin himself gave up running and simultaneously carried out much work, pushing Sinuoli's nephew, Sinuorui, the son of Genuomu-Suiluozhe, onto the throne.

To help him sit firmly on the throne of power, Balin served as an advisor to assist from a lower rank. No matter how great the conflict, in the Great Throne Room, a single sentence from him—"If the King of Gold were here, he would probably do such and such"—could lead to a fair resolution.

Once Sinuorui established his own prestige, Balin withdrew to Gaoyuanbao to bury himself in writing. A series of works represented by "Sinuoli's Military Thought," "Sinuoli's Governance Philosophy," and "Sinuoli's Chronicles" allowed the masses to understand the stories and thoughts of that great hero who saved the world.

"Forgive me, forgive me! I come from the East, carrying a letter to be delivered into the hands of the Great Sage for his personal opening."

"The East, the Cathay Empire, eh..."

The guard looked him up and down, but one of them still took the letter and walked into the mansion. The Eternal Hammer Guard who followed the High King naturally had broad experience; they felt a noble air from the young man before them that could not be insulted.

"Grandfather, slow down!"

"What is going on here? Protect the Great Sage!"

"Huff, huff!"

The young man and the bird on his shoulder were leisurely admiring the crowds on the street. A moment later, the mansion was in an uproar. A luxuriously dressed old Dwarf came stumbling over, clutching his white beard that dragged on the ground with one hand and leaning on a cane with the other, while the clansmen and guards behind him were in a chaotic mess.

"Let me take a good look at you, Your Highness! Ah, you are a Dwarf after all, you should be a Dwarf! But your brows and eyes are like hers, like your mother's."

Balin threw away his cane and rushed up to grab the young man's hand. He took his glasses out of his pocket to carefully examine his face, comparing it inch by inch to the figure in his memory.

"You have met the Queen Mother, that time she arrived at the Everpeak?"

"Yes, who could forget her demeanor? With a flick of her sleeves, the wind pressure pressed all the elders of the clan to the ground, leaving face only for your grandfather, His Majesty Thorgrim."

"It is only proper to perform the rites of a regular court audience when meeting the Queen."

"This is not the place to talk, come in and sit. Second son, seal the news and reactivate the Geomantic Web and the constructs! Did you come by yourself? You should have brought some men? But it doesn't matter, I have plenty here, the Southlands have plenty!"

"Haha, Uncle, you are too polite. I originally had some—Dragon Guards and war-ships, but my father stopped them. But Grandmother was still worried, look, this is her favorite little bird."

Balin looked at the empty doorway, his white eyebrows knitted into a ball. The young man smiled and stroked the monster bird on his shoulder. This was originally the "Commander" of the Agate Raven-men, an existence whose name could stop children from crying at night.

"Is His Majesty well? Last time, the last time he appeared in the Qunshan was over a hundred years ago!"

"Yes, Arkhan the Black collected the relics of the Lord of Undeath and kidnapped many Chosen as sacrifices to resurrect Him. The one at the Everpeak mobilized a great army deep into Sylvania, and at the moment of failure, the great King of Gold arrived from the East riding a true Dragon, throwing down his divine hammer to crush those bones!"

Only four or five Dwarfs were qualified to enter the secret chamber beneath the Geomantic Tower. The sharp-spoken middle-aged man who took up the conversation was Balin's second son, Fending; as he spoke, golden light rose in his eyes—he was born before Sinuoli left the Mortal World and had once received a personal blessing from him.

"Ah, I know, Mother mentioned it to me; Father pestered her for a long time just for that entrance! I don't know what was in the letter, but generally speaking, he is doing very well. Mother is Governor of Weibei and is not often there; several concubines keep him company."

"Then where does He reside in Cathay now?"

Balin smiled, and the spirit belonging to a young man returned to his face. He nodded and continued to ask. For a Dwarf not known for his strength, he was already very old, but no one would feel sad for the death approaching him, and his descendants were no exception.

Everyone knew that the King of Gold had already ascended to the Divine Kingdom, and as His Prime Minister, Balin would certainly be qualified to enter the Divine Kingdom to share in the eternal glory—perhaps He still needed someone to help govern the Divine Kingdom, who knows.

"Father opened up a layer of heaven beyond heaven outside the Tianting; in recent years, many heroic spirits have entered it..."

"Forgive my rudeness, do you have any heavy responsibility on this trip back? For example, ascending the throne of power to lead the various citadels of the Qunshan?"

Before the words were finished, a sturdy young man stood up again; this was also something the attendees were concerned about. Balin was the only one who had read Sinuoli's letter; after hiding in the East for nearly three hundred years, why did he send the "Son of Gold" before them?

"This is good! Once your great banner is raised, who in the Southlands would not respond?"

"Eight Peaks and Tiefengbao would naturally respond as well; King Belegar Ironhammer is the strongest in the Qunshan of the Mortal World today. That is The Exiled—Skarbrand! Besides your father, who else could defeat a Greater Daemon who dared to swing an axe at the Four Gods to help him recover his ancestral land?"

"What kind of talk is that? Could it be that any fortress would actually oppose it? In my opinion, at most, Weifengbao would remain neutral! I wonder how happy Empress Dowager Nina of the four cities of Norsca will be when she sees you!"

"Everyone, everyone, quiet down. My coming here is firstly to travel the Western world and broaden my knowledge; secondly, to return to my father's clan and visit old friends on his behalf. As for the High King throne, that is not something I should covet."

The young man was startled by the enthusiasm of the Dwarfs; he sipped his tea and answered tactfully. As a descendant of a true god and a true dragon, he had not yet fully developed the talents in his bloodline; how could he be burdened by worldly things so early?

"No matter what, stay here for a few more days and tell us stories about the King of Gold!"

After confirming repeatedly that he did not want to make a big splash, Balin ultimately did not summon the old generals who had once followed Sinuoli. After lingering in Gaoyuanbao for several days, he had a simple understanding of Dwarf social customs and was no longer so out of place.

"We respect your wish to travel light, but you must have two people to lead the sheep and assist you, right? This is my second son, Fending; he doesn't have much great ability but served a term as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the High King's Court and has been all over the world, so he can serve as your guide. This is my eldest grandson, Gimli; he likes to dance with spears and sticks and can barely count as a good hand, so he will serve as your guard for now."

Old Balin supported the sheep's back and sent the group off at the north gate of Gaoyuanbao under the cover of night. Beneath the massive statue of Sinuoli, he handed the reins of the golden Rock Sheep to Gimli, who had a pair of hammer-axes on his back, clearly also imitating Sinuoli's style.

"Your Highness, our first stop is Tumobao, where the King of Gold defeated the Nurgle demon army led by the Plague Father—Kugasi. As a new city, it has the largest Human community in the Southlands, and both the Sigmar Cathedral and the Shengbei Jiaotang are worth seeing; those who hold them are also powerhouses in their own right."

"I have heard that story; the greatest daemon under Nurgle, and also His test for Father."

Walking alongside the sheep, Fending introduced the origins and characteristics of the fortress. The Rock Sheep the young man rode was a descendant of Sinuoli's mount; the long-term immersion in divine power allowed that sheep to also possess an extraordinary appearance that could be continuously passed down.

Cultivating both runes and martial arts; dual-wielding hammer and axe; and riding a golden Rock Sheep is the highest pursuit of Dwarf nobility. Those with variegated golden fur have already been hyped to sky-high prices, and pure gold ones are even more priceless.

"Grandfather didn't even dare to write it all in the book; is it true that he refused the temptation of the Four Gods?"

"Of course. After beheading Archaon, They invited my father to succeed as the Everchosen, promising him the position of a lesser god to conquer the heavens for Them. Defeating Kugasi, Skarbrand, Kairos, and N'Kari represented the tests of those four; picking up the Crown of Domination would have allowed him to crown himself."

Gimli was one of the few martial-arts types among Balin's descendants; his mother's bloodline provided him with sufficient combat talent. The father who is now the Prime Minister of the High King's Court married the Princess of Tiefengbao—

Being captured and tortured by the Greenskin caused Prince Kazilike to become dispirited and disgraced, and it also meant his daughter could not marry into an equal royal family, allowing the eldest son of Balin to pick up the bargain.

"The Lord of Tumobao, Hendesen, is the son of Henlide-Ruifu; he was once your father's champion, and his defeat of the Greenskin warrior Iron Foot at the Stone Mine Outpost, as well as his night capture of three strongholds during the northern expedition, are all celebrated tales."

"His original nickname was Dragon Slayer, right? I met him once at Heaven Beyond Heaven before departing, and he entrusted me with a message to bring. By the way, continue north and detour to see the Conglin Zhixin; the two aunts always say it is as beautiful as Grandma's garden, and the Junwang Lin in Athel Loren is even better."

"As you wish, Your Highness!"