Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Squire Knight Assessment (Part One)
Odin Town is located on the southern border of the Temple Alliance. With over three thousand households, it ranks as one of the larger towns under the jurisdiction of Haoyue City.
As the morning sun rose, its light and warmth gently caressed the earth, seemingly awakening life itself. At this moment, in the center of Odin Town, within a relatively large two-story building covering an area of approximately one thousand square meters, an assessment was underway.
“Tell me, why do you wish to become knights?” A deep, powerful voice rang out, carrying a metallic resonance.
“Protect humanity, protect kindness, protect the Holy Temples, protect our loved ones.” The reply came in unison, youthful yet disciplined; clearly, this was not the first time they had answered this question.
This two-story building is the Odin Town branch of the Knight Temple, known simply as the Odin Branch. It is specifically responsible for selecting and training children from Odin Town who show potential to become knights. Today, the thirty-plus children standing here will undergo the assessment for the most basic knight title: Knight Squire. Only those who achieve the rank of First-Rank Knight Squire may continue their studies and cultivation here.
The owner of that deep, resonant voice was a tall and powerfully built middle-aged man. His name was Balza, the Chief Instructor of Knight Squires at the Odin Branch. It was said that, back in his day, he had come within a hair’s breadth of becoming a true knight himself.
“Tell me, what are the principles of a knight?” Balza gazed sternly at the children before him, most of whom were between eight and ten years old and resided in Odin Town.
The response remained perfectly unified, “Humility, honesty, compassion, courage, justice, sacrifice, honor, perseverance, benevolence, righteousness.”
Balza nodded with slight satisfaction. “Very good. You have cultivated here for one year; today is the day for your assessment. Knight Squires range from Grade One to Grade Ten, corresponding to spiritual energy levels from ten to one hundred. Your task today is to achieve a spiritual energy level above ten and become a Grade One Knight Squire. All who successfully pass this assessment will continue cultivating here for three more years before proceeding to Haoyue City to take the examination for Probationary Knights. Only when you become a Probationary Knight like myself will you truly be considered a member of the Knight Temple. Begin now, Jiang Hu.”
“Yes.” A relatively tall youth stepped forward while removing the wooden sword from his back.
All the youths were equipped identically, each with a wooden sword three feet long, three inches wide, and two inches thick. The assessment for Knight Squires was also straightforward: before Balza stood an object resembling a wooden stump, connected behind it to a stone trough containing stone beads. Striking the stump would cause the beads to vibrate, and their spiritual energy would be evaluated based on the height to which they bounced during vibration. This could be considered the most primitive tool for measuring spiritual energy. However, within the range of one hundred units of spiritual energy, it remained fairly accurate.
Spiritual energy is the universal metric used across the Saint and Demon Continent to evaluate the strength of all professions. Whether knights, mages, or any other vocation, their power is measured solely by spiritual energy. Generally, ten points of spiritual energy equate to the strength of an average adult man.
“Ah—” Jiang Hu roared loudly, gripping his wooden sword with both hands and swinging it in a full arc to smash fiercely onto the wooden stump.
“Clang.” The stone bead leaped upward.
Balza nodded in satisfaction, recording the result on his roster while announcing, “Jiang Hu, thirteen points of spiritual energy. Passed. Next,…”
The assessment proceeded at a rapid pace; within a short while, half of the participants had already completed it, with roughly half of them passing.
“Long Haochen.” Upon calling out this name, Balza instinctively lifted his head, his gaze locking onto a somewhat frail-looking youth.
Compared to the others, this youth appeared noticeably malnourished and slender, yet he possessed a face of astonishing beauty.
Naturally arched and smooth eyebrows, large eyes, long eyelashes, a straight nose, fair skin, and lips of moderate fullness. Though he appeared to be only eight or nine years old, his beauty was sufficient to drive even women into frenzied jealousy. Especially striking was that, despite his black hair, he possessed a pair of clear, azure-blue eyes. Had he been dressed in women’s attire, he would undoubtedly have possessed a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.
Long Haochen walked up to Balza. Unlike the others, he did not first remove his wooden sword; instead, he clenched his right fist, placed it over his heart, bowed deeply, and saluted, saying, “Instructor.”
Balza’s originally stern gaze noticeably softened. He nodded and said, “Begin.”
“Yes.”
Removing his wooden sword, Long Haochen took a deep breath, then swung the massive blade with all his might, smashing it down onto the wooden stump.
With a soft pop, the stone bead bounced. However, it clearly failed to surpass the mark of ten.
Balza immediately furrowed his brows. “Spiritual energy: nine. Failed.” From the degree of rebound off the wooden sword, he could tell that Long Haochen had indeed given his all, yet he still hadn’t passed the assessment to become a Squire Knight.
Long Haochen’s handsome face instantly turned crimson. Looking at Balza, he spoke with agitation, “Instructor, I… I…”
Balza sighed slightly and said, “Step down.”
Long Haochen said urgently, “Instructor, please give me one more chance. I will definitely pass.”
Balza frowned slightly and replied, “But that would be unfair to the others who did not pass.”
Long Haochen fell silent at once, yet something new seemed to emerge in his eyes. Balza noticed his gaze; in that instant, the Squire Knight Instructor was momentarily stunned. What was that? Perseverance? The perseverance listed among the Ten Knightly Precepts? These Ten Precepts are also the Ten Knightly Spirits; even among true knights, one might not witness a single one shining brightly. Yet this child before him…
At that very moment, Long Haochen turned around to face all the youths present. He dropped to his knees with a thud and, in an extremely earnest voice, pleaded to these companions with whom he had trained for a year, “I beg you, give me one more chance.” As he spoke, he actually bowed his head to the ground.
Balza was stunned, and the young boys were equally bewildered. For these children, mostly eight or nine years old and none older than eleven, they simply could not comprehend why Long Haochen was so persistent. To the vast majority of them, whether or not one became a squire knight mattered little.
Gradually, something new appeared in Balza’s eyes. Had it been any other child, he might have assumed the boy was overly eager for quick success or perhaps cowardly, but not with Long Haochen. Although this handsome youth appeared frail, over the past year of training, he had been the most diligent of all. Not only did he flawlessly complete his daily required exercises, but every morning he would arrive two hours early and depart two hours late.
As a level ten prospective knight who had served as an instructor in Odin Town for ten years, Balza had never encountered a trainee as hardworking as Long Haochen. This boy never needed urging; not only was he tireless in his daily training, but he was also exceptionally gentle and kind to everyone. Whenever his fellow trainees asked for his help, he never refused.
This was precisely why Balza’s gaze softened when it was Long Haochen’s turn for assessment. Yet, Long Haochen’s failure to pass the examination still came as a shock to him. If such a diligent child could not pass, the only possible explanation was that his innate talent was simply too poor.

Squire Knight Assessment (Part Two)
“Instructor, please let him retake the assessment.” It was Jiang Hu, the first to pass the test and the oldest among the children, who spoke up.
“Yes! Instructor, give Haochen another chance.”
“Instructor, Haochen trains diligently every day. Please let him try again.”
In an instant, voices pleading on Long Haochen’s behalf rose from nearly every young trainee. This was the goodwill he had accumulated through his kindness toward others; moreover, they were merely children, far removed from any entanglement of personal gain.
Balza’s voice sank low as he commanded, “Silence.” The spacious hall immediately fell quiet.
Balza continued, “Very well. I will grant him one chance. However, to ensure fairness, Long Haochen must first defeat Jiang Hu in a one-on-one duel to earn this opportunity. The same rule applies to all of you who failed: whoever can defeat Jiang Hu will be granted a chance to retake the assessment, but only within the next three days.”
Overjoyed, Long Haochen first thanked his companions once more before turning to Balza. “Thank you, Instructor.”
Seeing the sunlit and pure smile on his face, which resembled that of a breathtakingly beautiful young girl, even Balza, a man himself, couldn’t help but be slightly stunned. Ignoring Long Haochen, he instead turned to Jiang Hu and said calmly, “Go all out; otherwise, I will revoke your title of Squire Knight. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Jiang Hu replied, drawing the wooden sword from his back as the other youths scattered around to clear an open space.
“Haochen, be careful; I will not hold back.” Jiang Hu held his wooden sword before him and performed a knight’s salute toward Long Haochen.
Long Haochen returned the salute in kind. “Brother Jiang, please.”
With a low shout, Jiang Hu surged forward, his wooden sword slashing directly at Long Haochen’s left shoulder.
Long Haochen remained eerily calm; his movements seemed almost a beat too slow. It was only when Jiang Hu’s wooden sword had completed half its downward arc that he finally moved. His own wooden sword swept upward, striking precisely at the lowest point of Jiang Hu’s blade.
With a soft “thud,” Jiang Hu’s sword was deflected despite his spiritual energy being clearly superior to Long Haochen’s.
Upon witnessing this strike, Instructor Balza’s eyes flashed with surprise.
Although Jiang Hu’s wooden sword had been deflected, his reaction was swift; leveraging the momentum, he spun his body, using the power of his waist and back to drive his arm, causing the wooden sword in his hand to circle once before slashing horizontally outward.
Jiang Hu’s adaptability was impressive; for someone his age, achieving such a level was already quite remarkable. However, Long Haochen’s response was even more astonishing.
As he deflected Jiang Hu’s attack with a single sword strike, he had already stepped forward. The distance between them was already close; with this advance, he instantly closed in right beside Jiang Hu. And this moment happened to be when Jiang Hu’s body was rotating.
How can he attack? Balza wondered as well. The wooden sword was three feet long, and Long Haochen was already pressed against him, leaving absolutely no room to maneuver.
Yet, at that very moment, Long Haochen launched his attack. He used the hilt of his sword.
His body dropped slightly as he thrust the sword hilt upward, striking precisely beneath Jiang Hu’s ribs. Long Haochen didn’t even exert force with this strike, yet Jiang Hu’s body was already knocked backward, his sweeping wooden sword passing just over Long Haochen’s head.
“Stop!” Balza shouted.
A sharp glint flashed in Balza’s eyes as he stated gravely, “You’ve lost your balance and overextended your move, Jiang Hu. You’ve lost. If Long Haochen had applied even slightly more force with his sword hilt, you would already be lying on the ground.”
Jiang Hu scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. “Haochen, you’re truly cunning.”
Long Haochen sheathed his sword and stood upright, casting an apologetic glance at Jiang Hu, who had finally managed to steady himself.
Balza nodded toward Long Haochen and said, “You may proceed with your second assessment attempt.”
Returning to the wooden post, Long Haochen’s expression grew markedly solemn. Such gravity on the face of a youth like him evoked an unusually profound sensation.
Gripping the wooden sword tightly with both hands, the determination in Long Haochen’s eyes intensified noticeably. It seemed as though a faint, shimmering aura had begun to envelop him. Especially in his gaze; within those clear, azure-blue eyes, his resolve was unwavering.
Suddenly, Long Haochen spun sharply, swinging the wooden sword in his hand with a determination far beyond that of his peers.
Bang—The stone bead rebounded, while Long Haochen himself staggered back a step from the recoil, nearly dropping the wooden sword. Clearly visible, threads of blood had already seeped from the base of his thumbs where he gripped the hilt.
“Spiritual energy level eleven, passed.” Balza’s voice rang out, filled with shock. From spiritual energy level nine to eleven might seem like a mere difference of two numbers, yet during the previous assessment, Long Haochen had clearly exerted his full strength! To achieve such a significant increase now meant he had pushed his potential to its absolute limit.
After a brief moment of astonishment, Balza regained his composure, instructing Long Haochen to head to the infirmary to have his wounds dressed before continuing with the remaining assessments.
“The assessment is concluded. Those who did not pass need not return tomorrow. Those who passed will be assigned new instructors tomorrow. You are now dismissed; after collecting your Nourishing Elixir, you may go home.”
“Thank you, Instructor!” the youths shouted in unison.
“Long Haochen, stay behind.”
The young trainees departed amidst cheers, regardless of whether they had passed the assessment or not. At this age, it was easy for them to find joy and a sense of fulfillment.
Inside the spacious hall of the Odin Sub-Temple, only Long Haochen and Instructor Balza remained.
“Haochen, tell me, why did you choose that particular attack method during your fight with Jiang Hu?” Balza asked sternly.
Long Haochen replied without hesitation, “Because my strength is inferior to Brother Jiang Hu’s, I could only look for his openings. You taught us that when slashing, the greatest force is at the tip of the sword; the closer to the hilt, the weaker the force becomes. Then, during his second attack, I observed that his waist was his center of gravity. So I closed in tightly, preventing him from fully exerting his strength and disrupting his balance, which made it impossible for him to continue his assault.”
Balza’s eyes were filled with astonishment. “In other words, you deduced all of this through observation?” He had never taught these children actual combat, because at their age, laying a solid foundation was paramount; it was not yet time to practice real fighting. Yet Long Haochen’s calmness in battle and his precise grasp of timing truly shocked him.
“Alright, you may go home as well.” Balza waved his hand, vaguely sensing that this child possessed a potential unlike any other youth.
“Instructor, what about my Peiyuan Liquid for this week…” A hint of shyness appeared on his pretty little face as Long Haochen asked tentatively.
“Oh, go ahead and claim it.”
“Goodbye, Instructor,” Long Haochen said cheerfully as he walked away.
Watching his buoyant figure depart, a faint smile appeared on Balza’s face. “This child is pure-hearted, diligent, and seems to possess remarkable combat talent. Truly a rare gem!”
“Do you know why he could so easily find his opponent’s weaknesses?” Just then, a clear and pleasant voice sounded beside Balza. The suddenness of its arrival startled him.
At some point, a middle-aged man had appeared beside Balza. He looked to be in his thirties, dressed in simple and unadorned robes, yet his eyes shone as brilliantly as stars. Deep within those eyes lingered a glow of wistfulness and reminiscence, even tinged with a hint of pain.

Squire Knight Assessment (Part Three)
“My lord, I do not know,” Balza said, hastily bowing upon recognizing the middle-aged man. This man had arrived at the Odin Sub-Temple only a few days prior; Balza could neither confirm his identity nor gauge his cultivation level, knowing only that he was an important figure from the Haoyue City Knight Branch Temple.
The middle-aged man withdrew his gaze and spoke indifferently, “It is because he possesses spiritual energy far beyond that of ordinary people. Otherwise, why do you think he was able to unleash such potential?”
Long Haochen was overjoyed, clutching the small glass bottle in his hands as if it were a priceless treasure, and ran gleefully toward home.
To other children, the liquid inside this bottle was merely foul-tasting medicine, but to him, it was the very reason he had joined the Knight Temple.
As he walked, he muttered to himself, “Brother Jiang Hu was right; this Yuan-Nourishing Elixir is truly wonderful. Ever since Mother started drinking one bottle every week, her health has improved so much. Mother, I’m sorry. Although you taught me that a man’s knees hold gold, if I cannot pass today’s assessment, I won’t be able to bring back any more Yuan-Nourishing Elixir for you to drink. I cannot bear to lose you. For your sake, Mother, I am willing to do anything.”
If Balza had heard Long Haochen’s words, he would surely have widened his eyes in astonishment.
The Foundation-Building Elixir is a potion distributed by the Knight Temple, designed to strengthen the constitution and nurture the roots of children under fifteen, aiding their cultivation and laying a solid physical foundation. The reason Long Haochen nearly failed today’s assessment was that he had never once consumed the Foundation-Building Elixir himself; he had saved every drop for his mother. Just one year ago, he was merely a frail and scrawny little boy. Yet now, after a year of relentless effort, sustained solely by his determination to ensure his mother could receive the elixir, he had forcibly broken through the barrier of ten points of spiritual energy.
For a child only nine years old, the difficulty involved in this feat even surpassed that of passing the Squire Assessment to become a full Knight. What extraordinary talent and sheer perseverance must it have taken to achieve such a thing!
Sunlight bathed Long Haochen, shimmering with a golden luster, much like his own heart of gold.
Long Haochen’s home was located in a remote corner on the western side of Odin Town, so secluded that one even had to cross a small river to reach it. Soon, he walked across the lone log bridge spanning the river. However, instead of heading directly home, he followed a narrow path straight into a forest west of Odin Town.
Each time before giving his mother the Nourishing Elixir, he would first gather some wild vegetables, then mix the medicinal liquid into a strongly flavored vegetable soup, ensuring his mother couldn’t detect its taste. He didn’t want his mother to know about this. Long Haochen clearly remembered Instructor Balza teaching them that a true man should bear all responsibilities.
Upon entering the woods, he quickly set to work. Over these years, Long Haochen and his mother had relied solely on each other. Even within Odin Town, their family was among the poorest. Children from poor families mature early; while many children his age still spent their days merely playing, he was already able to share some of his mother’s burdens. Although mother and son survived only on the meager income his mother, Bai Yue, earned daily by tailoring clothes for others, he had always felt happy.
In just a short while, a considerable amount of wild vegetables accumulated on the ground. Long Haochen knew these plants extremely well; although they were merely wild greens, their taste was far from bad. From childhood until now, he had eaten plenty of them.
Just as Long Haochen was preparing to gather the wild vegetables he had picked and head home, a sudden soft “puff” sound startled him. This forest was far from peaceful; wild beasts occasionally roamed here.
Long Haochen looked up toward the source of the sound and vaguely spotted a petite figure that seemed to have fallen. Driven by curiosity, he cautiously approached. After just a few steps, he realized clearly that the one who had fallen in the woods was no beast at all, but a little girl.
The little girl appeared to be only seven or eight years old, her figure extremely frail, with short hair of a pale lavender hue. Her cloth garments were torn in multiple places, with blood seeping through at least six or seven spots. Though she had fallen to the ground, she remained conscious and was struggling to rise, yet it seemed an immensely difficult task for her.
Long Haochen quickly stepped forward, catching hold of her to support her, and asked in surprise, “What happened to you?”
The little girl also seemed startled; her body instinctively shifted as she turned her head to look at him. Only then did Long Haochen clearly see her appearance.
Her pretty little face was smeared with dirt, and a trace of blood lingered at the corner of her mouth. Despite her disheveled state, she still managed to evoke a sense of striking beauty. Yet her beauty differed from Long Haochen’s. His eyebrows and eyes were exceptionally gentle, easily inspiring feelings of warmth and approachability. This girl, though young, possessed brows and eyes filled with stubbornness and coldness; upon meeting her gaze suddenly, Long Haochen couldn’t help but shiver.
Seeing Long Haochen, the little girl also seemed startled, but whether due to his powerful affinity, she soon calmed down.
“Are you alright?” Long Haochen asked again.
The little girl barely managed to lift one hand and wrote a line on the ground, “I cannot speak. Bad people are chasing me and will arrive soon. Sister, save me.”
Reading what she had written earlier, Long Haochen was alarmed, but upon seeing the last few words, several black lines involuntarily appeared on his forehead.
“I’m a brother, not a sister.” After making this rather dejected protest, driven by compassion, he lifted the little girl into his arms. Having already passed the assessment to become a Squire Knight, his strength was now comparable to that of an adult; moreover, the little girl was exceptionally light, so holding her felt almost weightless.
After lifting her, Long Haochen returned to the wild vegetables he had gathered, tied them together with a grass rope, and picked them up. At that moment, however, the little girl anxiously tugged at his clothes.
Long Haochen paused in surprise and quickly set her down on the ground. The little girl swiftly wrote upon the earth: “I can sense their presence; they will arrive any moment. They can sniff out my scent. You must leave immediately, or it will be too late.”
Long Haochen’s brows furrowed slightly as he firmly shook his head. “No,” he declared, “I am a man; I must protect you.” Though only nine years old, uttering these words lent his pretty little face an added touch of resolve.
“The scent?” Long Haochen’s eyes flickered. He swiftly plucked a few wild herbs from his collection, crushed them in his hands, and quickly rubbed the juices onto both the little girl and himself. Then, scooping her up, he dashed toward a nearby thicket, gently placing her within its dense foliage before crouching over her. Supporting himself on his elbows, he avoided touching her directly yet completely shielded her with his own body.
He did not notice that throughout all this, the girl he protected watched him with an odd expression, remaining utterly still and silent.
Just as Long Haochen finished hiding, a rapid series of whistling sounds sliced through the air outside. Peering cautiously through gaps in the bushes, he spotted a group of figures clad entirely in black. These men were exceptionally tall, and a faint, fishy odor drifted subtly from them. Several were sniffing the air forcefully.
“How did the scent suddenly vanish here? Could it be that someone rescued that little girl?” A hoarse, unpleasant voice echoed through the forest.

Squire Knight Assessment (Part Four)
Bathed in sunlight filtering through the shadows of the trees, Long Haochen caught a clear glimpse of one of the men clad in black, nearly causing him to cry out in shock. The man’s face was covered entirely in coarse black hair, his yellow eyes exuding a vicious ferocity, while his nose twitched incessantly as he sniffed the air.
Just then, an icy voice echoed through the forest, “This is where it ends. Since you have pursued us this far, there will be no return for any of you.”
A crystalline brilliance silently materialized in the air, tracing a graceful arc before flashing through the woods with the speed of lightning several times. The seven or eight pursuers dressed in black instantly froze in place, and the next moment, they all collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Long Haochen’s vision blurred for an instant as a white-clad figure, face concealed, suddenly appeared not far ahead. Immediately after, a breathtaking scene unfolded before his eyes. Without any visible movement from the white-robed figure, countless points of light erupted from their chest. In that fleeting moment, it seemed as though the entire forest had been illuminated by this radiance, so brilliant that Long Haochen could barely keep his eyes open.
When he finally managed to see clearly again, he was horrified to discover that all the black-clad figures who had been lying on the ground had vanished completely. Only the white-robed figure remained, standing silently in place.
Everything had happened with such incredible speed; it was almost as if, in the mere blink of an eye that blurred Long Haochen’s vision, all was already settled. It felt as though those vicious-looking individuals had never existed at all.
The white-robed figure slowly turned around, gazing in the direction where Long Haochen and the mute girl were located, and said calmly, “Come out.”
Long Haochen’s heart tightened; clearly, the other party had already detected him. At the same time, he caught sight of the white-clad figure’s eyes. They were a pair of utterly emotionless orbs: black in color, yet with pupils that seemed gray. Long, shoulder-length black hair was simply tied back, and the plain white martial attire bore no adornments whatsoever.
The white-clad figure’s overwhelming power made Long Haochen’s heart tremble; after all, he was only nine years old. Yet, when he glanced down at the pale face of the little mute girl beneath him, a surge of hot blood instantly transformed into courage.
He first shook his head gently at the little girl, signaling her to remain silent, then pushed hard against the ground with both hands and leaped out from the bushes, simultaneously drawing the wooden sword from his back.
The white-clad figure stood motionless, yet even so, Long Haochen could instinctively sense that this person before him was far more dangerous than any beast he had ever encountered.
Long Haochen made no sound; he merely gripped his wooden sword tightly with both hands, his eyes fixed firmly on the white-clad figure. All he hoped now was that the figure hadn’t noticed the little mute girl.
“We should return.” The white-clad figure’s voice carried no emotion, yet those simple words made Long Haochen feel a chill as if submerged in ice and snow.
At that very moment, with a sudden whoosh, a petite figure appeared before Long Haochen. To his astonishment, the incredibly fast-moving silhouette he hadn’t even been able to see clearly was none other than the little mute girl he had been protecting earlier.
Her speed is incredible! Long Haochen stood stunned.
The little mute girl spread her arms, using her frail, tiny body to shield Long Haochen. Her gaze, firm and stubborn, locked onto the white-clad figure before her as she vigorously shook her head at him.
The emotionless eyes of the white-clad figure seemed to flicker. In the next instant, his body moved as well, flashing forward like an elegant streak of white light. Yet the little mute girl standing before Long Haochen also sprang into action, her speed equally astonishing.
Long Haochen’s powers of observation far surpassed those of his peers, yet even he could only barely discern that a short dagger had seemingly appeared in the little mute girl’s hand. As she charged forward, she executed several irregular dodging maneuvers, resembling a fierce little tiger. Merely possessing such speed would likely require a spiritual energy level of twenty or higher, wouldn’t it?
Unfortunately, the little mute girl clearly faced an insurmountable gap between herself and that figure in white. In merely the span of a single breath, everything fell silent.
The dagger in the little mute girl’s hand vanished; she herself was now tucked under the white-clad figure’s arm. How this had been accomplished, Long Haochen hadn’t even seen clearly.
“Let her go!” Long Haochen shouted, executing a perfectly standard knight’s lunge as he swung his wooden sword toward the figure in white. At that moment, he completely forgot just how terrifying his opponent was; his mind held only one thought: to save the little mute girl.
Immense force struck. Long Haochen, along with his wooden sword, was instantly sent rolling to the ground, his consciousness plunging into darkness. The figure in white had merely raised a hand.
The mute girl tucked under his arm began to struggle violently. The figure in white was suddenly startled, for he distinctly felt the little girl beneath his arm radiating intense heat, while a layer of dark red light started emerging from beneath her skin.
“Be quiet, I won’t hurt him.” A hint of human emotion finally surfaced in the white-clad figure’s voice, seemingly one of helplessness.
Only then did the little mute girl cease her struggles, lifting her head to look at the white-clad figure.
The white-clad figure nodded slightly toward her, took a single step forward, and instantly appeared before Long Haochen. Crouching down, he began probing Long Haochen’s body with one hand, not even sparing the boy’s pretty little face.
After a moment, the white-clad figure slowly furrowed his brows. “His aptitude is above average, but his skeletal development is insufficient. His temperament and potential are both better suited for becoming a knight.” As he spoke, he released the little mute girl.
The little mute girl quickly made several hand gestures toward him.
The man in white said, “His future achievements? It’s hard to say. Based on his aptitude, becoming an Earth Knight would be the utmost limit. However, at merely eight or nine years of age, he already possesses four of the Ten Knightly Precepts: compassion, courage, perseverance, and sacrifice. His future potential is boundless. For an excellent knight, especially a Guardian Knight, the requirements for character often surpass those for aptitude.”
The little mute girl pointed to herself, then to Long Haochen, and subsequently made a few more hand gestures.
The man in white nodded and said, “Very well, his courage just now indeed merits this reward.”
A wisp of white light quietly ignited at the chest of the figure clad in white robes. Faintly discernible, this radiance took the form of a small furnace, within which pale azure flames flickered softly.
The white-robed figure extended the index and middle fingers of his right hand, gently brushing them across the azure flames before swiftly pressing them onto Long Haochen. With a single smearing motion, he drew forth trails of greenish luminous fire.
Moments later, both the green light and the white glow receded together, merging back into the white-robed figure’s body. Yet his eyes now clearly betrayed a hint of exhaustion.
“It is done. Using the power of my Spiritual Furnace, I have cleansed his twelve primary meridians, burning away all impurities within them. At the very least, this has elevated his potential by an entire tier. Your trial here is also concluded; let us return.”
As he spoke, the man in white slowly rose to his feet and beckoned to the little mute girl.
Yet the little mute girl quickly stepped before Long Haochen, removed a ring from her own finger—a blue band adorned with golden forget-me-not patterns—and placed it on the middle finger of Long Haochen’s left hand. Strangely enough, the moment the tiny ring touched his finger, it expanded slightly on its own, fitting his finger perfectly.
“Cai’er, you…” the man in white exclaimed in a low voice. But all he received in return was the little mute girl’s stubborn and determined gaze. She then neatly arranged the wild vegetables Long Haochen had picked earlier beside him before returning to the man in white’s side.
The man in white frowned deeply. After remaining silent for a long while, he finally nodded slowly, took the little mute girl’s hand, leaped into the air, and vanished into the depths of the forest.