In the countless useless trains of thought, there are occasional flashes, and it's these points of starlight that converge into a glittering river of light, flowing through history—collectively forming today's dazzling spire of magic guided engineering.
Without all of this, it's just like seawater leaving the ocean, or a water lily without roots.
No matter how much of a genius one might be, it's impossible not to stand on the shoulders of giants to move forward. Even if Fang Hong arrogantly believes himself to be the greatest of all time, he couldn't possibly climb this world's magic guided technology tree from scratch all by himself.
Although he has learned much knowledge from the Artisan Association, compared to what he still has to learn, that's just a mere ripple in a vast ocean.
Of course, leaving the Artisan Association doesn't mean the Alchemist career ends here, but the road afterward can be imagined to be a hundred or thousand times harder. The Alliance is practically pulling the rug out from under him, trying to completely cut off his future possibilities—
Fang Hong couldn't help but gently take a breath, wondering what he had done to deserve being targeted by the mighty Invoker Alliance like this.
In fact, there's still room for turning back.
Previously, under Sophie's guidance, he checked the community posts, where people were skeptical about their activities in Tansnier, only believing they had indeed become pirates due to the momentum created by the Water Army and the Descendants of Flor's alt accounts.
Though becoming a pirate in itself isn't much of anything, if only among Invokers, it doesn't even count as violating the "Stargate Declaration". In fact, there are many privateers active on the Sky Sea, like Loofah, who specialize in clashing with major guilds.
But choosing this path means potentially giving up on becoming a professional player and the opportunity to participate in the three top-tier competitions in the future.
Given today's background of new talents dwindling in the Third District, many originally viewed him as a rising Novastar, and such happenings are bound to leave them feeling disappointed and regretful.
Even turning from fans to foes is not uncommon.
And the Super Competitive League pretended to be generous by leaving them a way out—in the community's pinned announcement, they advised the Seven Seas Travel Group with a tone filled with regret that "turning back is the shore".
Only Fang Hong recalled that announcement, and couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.
Turning back is naturally impossible, no matter what the Alliance is plotting, he wasn't used to easily bowing down to anyone.
"Actually, deregistering your craftsman identity isn't that easy," Su Changfeng, noticing his expression, comforted him with a sentence, "Don't worry, we won't just stand by and watch."
Fang Hong nodded, naturally believing him. Protecting the legal rights of Invokers is also part of Stargate Port's duties, not overstepping.
But the Super Competitive League's focus is likely on their attack on Tansnier, the only concern for the Alliance and the Descendants of Flor is probably the pressure from public opinion in the community.
After all, there is not only one voice from the Grand Guild in the community following the battle of Mount Holy Pact.
So regardless, he has to be prepared for the worst, considering how to continue in the Combat Artisan profession if the path with the Artisan Association doesn't work out.
Su Changfeng also considered this, and added, "Even if, taking the worst case scenario, you really lose your craftsman identity, our military isn't without its own database, so you don't have to worry too much about that."
But in the end, this is just some consolation. Fang Hong had heard about the military's database; regarding other combat professions, it might be relatively complete, but concerning magic guided technologies, it's barely satisfactory.
Seeing his expression, Su Changfeng understood that he had inflated things but wasn't at all embarrassed, just changed the subject, saying, "Alright, let's not talk about this now. Besides you, there's actually something else I want to tell you, it's about us."
Fang Hong couldn't help but lift his head to look at the other, having been in Eteliria for almost two years, with his uncle, aunt, and cousin currently here, he couldn't think of what about them he needs to be notified about.
But Su Changfeng paused for a moment before speaking:
"Huang Bingkun is dead."
...