The Observatory of Graycastle, City of Dawn.
After Timothy's downfall, Graycastle had lost its name as King's City. Astrologer of Dispersion Star had expected a turmoil, but the order of the city did not change much. People were still busy with their own lives. Farmers cultivated the fields in the suburbs, masons repaired the damaged city walls, blacksmiths hammered the armors in the shops, and the patrols continued to play the game of cat and mouse with the refugees in Black Street. At first glance, Graycastle was still one of the most prosperous cities in the kingdom.
Of course, it was not completely unchanged. For example, there were people leaving the old King's City every day to seek new opportunities in the Western Region. The old rival of the Astrology Association, the Alchemist Workshop of King's City, had moved out of the City of Dawn. Now, the palace had been replaced by a group of unknown nobles. They were constantly fighting to divide up the land and power left behind by the old nobles. They had completely forgotten about the sages. No one asked about the fate of the kingdom, and no one predicted the future.
If it were not for the officials left by His Majesty who regularly allocated food and Golden Dragons to the Astrology Station, the apprentices would have already left.
Fortunately, they could still maintain the operation of the association.
As long as the Astrology Station existed, the mission of the astrologers would not stop.
They would always look up at the starry sky.
The sun slowly sank into the mountains in the west. The sky turned from orange to dark red and finally to dark purple. The work of the astrologers had just begun when night fell.
An oil lamp was lit on the high platform, and the apprentices were moving the instruments out of the warehouse. They had to be very careful, as the careless apprentices who damaged the instruments would face the double punishment of being whipped and having their pay deducted, especially the celestial observatories sent by His Majesty, which were the most precious of treasures.
When Astrologer of Dispersion Star first received the instruments in wooden boxes, he did not pay much attention to them.
Although His Majesty had promised to bring more advanced instruments to the Astrology Association, the manufacture of the instruments was an extremely complicated process. Unlike the crudely made telescopes, the adjustable mechanism inside the tube would give the most skilled craftsmen a headache for half a month, not to mention the polishing of the crystal lenses. It would take about a year from the selection of materials to the completion of the Star Gazer, which would cost about a hundred Golden Dragon Stones.
If there was anything in common between the Path of Sages, it would be that both were very expensive. It was just that the products obtained from alchemy were often welcomed by nobles and wealthy merchants, while astrology wasn't so lucky. Thus, only the capital of a country had the financial resources and manpower to build an observatory. As far as he knew, two years ago, Border Town in the Western Region was still a dilapidated and barren land. Even if they had plundered a large amount of wealth from all over the place, who would be willing to give these Golden Dragon to an unrelated astrologer?
But when the wooden box was opened, Dispersion Star was dumbfounded.
It was the first time he had seen such a stargazing tool. Unlike the bamboo-like instruments used by the association, the metal tube was as big as a bucket, and the glass mirror embedded in it was so bright that it could almost reflect a person's shadow. No matter how close he looked, he could not find a trace of polishing.
The mechanism was also ingeniously designed. There was only a thumb-sized knob at the end of the tube. As long as he held it and rotated it gently, he could adjust the distance between the lenses. After adjusting the distance, he didn't need to lock it again, so it was very convenient to use.
His Majesty sent three batches of six new Star Gazers in succession and gave them an easy-to-understand name: Astronomical Telescope.
Since Dispersion Star had used it once, he was unwilling to look at those old-fashioned instruments again.
The remaining five telescopes were naturally handed over to the five most experienced astrologers in the Astrology Station.
"Teacher, all the Star Gazers are in place," Yun, the First Disciple, reported.
"Have you distinguished the stars?"
"Yes." He glanced at the record book in his hand. "The Astrologer of Light Star, who is in charge of the North No. 1, is ill today. Astrologer of Void Star will replace him."
"Then light up the Starfire and start to observe the stars," the Chief Astrologer ordered.
"Yes!"
A raging flame rose from the brazier in the center of the Astrology Station. It symbolized Venus, the brightest star in the night sky. The astrologers standing around the brazier were its companions. The whole platform was arranged strictly according to the astrological signs. In this way, the astrologers stood in the sky and became one with the stars.
In addition to the expensive Star Gazers, it took time to train people to look up at the stars.
They could only rely on their own eyes.
Therefore, to become a qualified astrologer, they had to learn how to protect their eyes. Dispersion Star was already 55 years old, but his eyesight was still better than most of the young people in the City of Dawn.
It was not an easy task.
After passing the selection and becoming an astrologer apprentice, they could only see the stars in the night sky. Reading books under oil lamps or candles was absolutely forbidden. In addition, they were not allowed to go out during the day or at noon to avoid the irritation of the strong sunlight.
Their meals were also changed accordingly. Firstly, they had to eat animal organs and eyeballs. Secondly, they were not allowed to eat fish and spices. According to the knowledge passed down from astrology, eating more blood food could make the eyes brighter. However, fish was of the water attribute, and spices were of the earth attribute. The former would destroy the fire element in the blood food, and the latter would make the eyes dusty.
Dispersion Star had persisted for more than 40 years.
He believed that there was a limit to how long people could use their eyes.
In order to observe the stars as much as possible, he seldom read books or star charts. Anyway, the patterns of the constellations had been deeply imprinted in his mind.
The astrologer aimed his eyes at the observation hole, which was like a small tube at the end of the thick cylinder.
Obviously, there was a beveled mirror inside, which could bend the light into his eyes.
It was an interesting and practical technique.
Although astrologers understood this principle, they had never thought of using it on the Star Gazer.
Now it seemed that it could indeed greatly improve the viewing environment. At least, they did not have to stoop when they looked at the high star areas.
Since the telescopes sent by His Majesty were much more effective than the old-fashioned Star Gazer, what the association needed to do was to re-observe and re-map the existing star areas. Since using the six telescopes, they had found dozens of dark stars that were difficult to detect before.
Dispersion Star swept over the area he was in charge of. Although the constellations formed different shapes according to the seasons, which might be difficult for beginners to grasp, for him, their light was as familiar as the stripes on his face.
After observing the first star area, when he was about to move the telescope, a tiny light suddenly came into his eyes.
In an instant, the astrologer felt his blood freeze.
He held his breath and focused all his attention in that direction.
It was not an illusion...
A dim star was hiding between the Hexagram and the Blazing Sky Star. Its light was so weak that it seemed to be extinguished at any time. But what was different from the stars around it was —
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