Chapter 161
Long Haochen felt something was different the moment Gao Yingjie released Brilliant Body. He could feel from the depths of his consciousness the light essence in the air overflow, rapidly concentrating around Gao Yingjie. Long Haochen could even perceive slight fluctuations in the light essence.
This was the second time Long Haochen had seen Brilliant Body, but unlike last time, it was being used in battle. After that formidable ability was unleashed, it seemed as if Gao Yingjie’s body itself had turned into an enormous light gem, frantically absorbing the integrality of the light essence present in the air.
Even though she was sent flying, Wang Yuanyuan didn’t sustain any injuries because of Cai’er’s influence. When Gao Yingjie blocked her Gigantic Divine Soul Shield, he was unable to use his full force and the might of this blood-bound equipment that is already close to the legendary tier was revealed, not only swaying Gao Yingjie, but also protecting Wang Yuanyuan’s body.
On Gao Yingjie’s face appeared total astonishment. As his heavy sword was pierced, he naturally felt that although Brilliant Body and the wings made of condensed spiritual energy on his back had, with difficulty, neutralized Cai’er’s attack, the ice cold piercing aura had penetrated into the depths of his mind.
Even more shocking to Gao Yingjie was that he still had an intense feeling of crisis.
In a split second, hundreds and thousands of white lights glowed from Cai’er’s chest, erupting out. It was precisely the Thousand Strikes Spiritual Stove. And these glowing lights from the Thousand Strikes Spiritual Stove were completely concentrated on Gao Yingjie’s body without scattering. That highly concentrated attack, further adding to the fact that Cai’er’s short dagger was performing another stab, left Gao Yingjie unable to turn around even with his superior cultivation.
Brilliant Body’s formidable might appeared at that moment. In the blink of an eye, a golden penetrative light came out, surprisingly condensing before taking the shape of a golden armor. Regardless of whether it was Cai’er’s Thousand Strikes Spiritual Stove or her dark golden dagger, all of her repeated blows, letting out metallic sounds, were actually uneffective. The powerful recoil even pushed Cai’er back. The golden armor and the pair of wings made Gao Yingjie appear just like a large angel, and although this kind of angel couldn’t be regarded as beautiful, it was still awe- inspiring.
“To have forced me into using Brilliant Body, you have already done pretty well. Long Haochen, receive my attack!” Under the effect of the Saint Spiritual Stove, the other party could only direct his attacks at Long Haochen. This was the undoubtable and enormous assistance brought by the Saint Spiritual Stove in team battles.
Not even turning back to peek a glance at Cai’er, he stepped forward. His basic brilliant armor made of Brilliant Body’s condensation was something these little fellows at the fifth step were not capable of breaking.
A penetrating yellow flame appeared, giving off an illusory feel. This flame did not appear blazing in the slightest, instead giving off a vague stagnating sensation.
It was actually not the sunfire used formerly by Yang Wenzhao, but the holy sacred fire using light as flame, a terrifying ability consuming 300 units of internal spiritual energy per second. If he hadn’t opened the spiritual orifice when cultivating through the sixth step of Radiant Knight, he wouldn’t have been able to use it. Simply said, the supplementary power provided by the holy sacred fire had the same might as a full-power Holy
Sword. Holy Sacred Fire used in combination with Brilliant Body, the two signature a
At that moment, Gao Yingjie was at a distance of roughly ten meters from Long Haochen, the heavy sword in his right hand pointing at him and aiming his holy sacred flames just like a chain which was going straight for him. At this very moment, a gaudy golden halo broke out from Gao Yingjie. Behind him were Cai’er as well as Han Yu, who was standing not far away and only felt his whole body heating up before being pushed back, interrupting Storing Power at the same occasion.
In his capacity as a powerhouse of the seventh step, Gao Yingjie’s perception was beyond comparison to these youths he was facing. Everything occurring near him was incomparably clearer to him. Of course, he also knew about Han Yu using Storing Power, and the fact he didn’t try to interrupt him earlier was to make him use up more spiritual energy. At the moment Han Yu’s Storing Power was near completion, his consumption of spiritual energy higher than half, Gao Yingjie made him lose all of his power with a push from his golden halo. The golden halo, in itself, didn’t have any offensive power, but under its effect, except from Long Haochen, everyone was pushed back. And more alarming to them was that, because they saw he wanted to attack Long Haochen, Haoyue and Lin Xin were putting great efforts into preparing their defensive spells. However, under the effect of this golden halo, the elemental shields they were preparing just disappeared noiselessly.
Lin Xin let these words slip out, “Element Obliterating Halo!”
Element Obliterating Halo was a spell that could make anyone under the seventh step instantly crumble as well as interrupt elemental magic, an effective spell against powerhouse summoners belonging to the demon race.
But surprisingly, this Element Obliterating Halo, when used by Gao Yingjie, also had a notable repelling effect, just like Resisting Ring of Fire. More exquisite was the optimal course of action, leaving Long Haochen without another choice but to take on this attack by himself.
Only in this instant did the youths comprising the soldier graded Demon Hunt Squad #1 truly understand what a real powerhouse was.
Without assistance from his companions, Long Haochen had to face Gao Yingjie head on. However, he remained as cool-headed as before. The Holy Filter Shield was, the same as the others, a spell, and as such, disappeared under the effect of this Element Obliterating Halo. Now all he could do was to resist firmly.
Taking a deep breath, Long Haochen made the golden liquid surrounding his Saint Spiritual Stove quiver madly, both arms turning into a golden color. The golden liquid kept flowing out, filling the air above his two arms.
Bowing, he used Divine Obstruction.
Without possibility of dodging, he could only grit his teeth with his arms stiff.
Puff.
The holy sacred fire hit the Holy Spirit Shield, covering it with a dense gold color. If he was facing real enemies, Gao Yingjie would only have needed to let his holy sacred fire spread through the air, turning them all into ashes. But at this moment, he was only trying to evaluate the strength of these youths and nothing more, so he would naturally not resort to such methods. The one he was the most interested in was Long Haochen, the captain of this team. As this year’s Demon Hunt Selection’s first position, what could his limits be?
Exquisitely controlling the holy sacred fire, he kept his attack going. The moment Long Haochen could no longer resist, Gao Yingjie would immediately cease.
The Holy Spirit Shield’s defense was truly formidable, even surpassing Long Haochen’s former Radiant Shield. However, there was no way it could withstand the holy sacred fire. Instantly spreading out, it aimed at both of Long Haochen’s hands.
This time, there wasn’t an intense physical pain, but the pure light essence gave him a scorching pain. Directly in contact with it, he could feel its heat. It was a genuinely mild but overwhelming scorching heat. When Long Haochen’s liquid spiritual energy met with the holy sacred fire, it felt as if it turned into fuel. Although the holy sacred fire was only spread to his two arms, Long Haochen could only feel as if his body’s defenses were all ignited.
In his chest, the Saint Spiritual Stove had turned dark, the liquid spiritual energy in his body moving back and forth in an unstable state. However, Long Haochen found out to his astonishment that, even in this predicament, he could not sense any danger.
Long Haochen didn’t sense any danger, but in this split second, Gao Yingjie did.
Right after his Element Obliterating Halo dispersed all magic from the members of the Demon Hunt Squad #1 and the sacred holy fire’s attack was aimed at Long Haochen’s Holy Spirit Shield, a torrential killing intent immediately burst out from behind.
Cai’er’s purple hair faintly moved, dispersing around, and her expressionless eyes turned grey. Emitting a deep blue aura all around, she made the dark green dagger in her hand disappear and slowly spread her two arms aside.
Outside the deep blue aura, the air five meters around suddenly turned completely grey.
No one found out what this grey color was, but Gao Yingjie could discover to his shock that, on his back, the killing intent transmitted was almost completely pure.
Even if he was clad in the Brilliant Armor made with Brilliant Body and further adding the burst of power from the holy sacred flame, he could still feel that with the wind blowing behind, that heavenly killing intent was unexpectedly full of holy aura and in complete tranquility.
This… What is this?!
Reacting almost instantly, Gao Yingjie immediately turned around and happened to see that the one releasing it was Cai’er.
How can this seemingly blind girl release such a terrifying aura?! It completely surpasses her level of cultivation at the fifth step!
Fortunately, with the previous attack using the holy sacred fire, the effects of Long Haochen’s Saint Spiritual Stove were interrupted. If not for this fact, Gao Yingjie would have had to face danger.
This feeling, as cold as a blizzard, made Gao Yingjie feel as if he fell into hell. If this was an enemy he was facing, he would absolutely, without the slightest hesitation, choose to attack. However, the one standing in front of him wasn’t an enemy. As the grey area surrounding her expanding, her terrifying killing intent deepened at an astonishing speed as well.
Also at that moment, all members of the soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad #1 sprung suddenly, as if affected by the intense pressure erupting frantically.
Slowly recovering her strength, Wang Yuanyuan jumped up once again, the Gigantic Divine Soul Shield in her hand carrying intense silver radiance. The enormous fluctuations of spiritual energy blended into the air with frantic speed as her pair of big eyes carried a hint of silver.
The enormous Creature Summoning Gate finally opened at the last second. This time, it wasn’t a sheep, but what took the initiative to come out were over thirty pitch-black slender tentacles, shooting out and twisting the air violently. A plump body then finally followed, coming out from the Creature Summoning Gate.
Above Han Yu’s head, his Demonic Eye was preparing to attack Gao Yingjie, but in the instant the enormous creature came out from the Creature Summoning Gate, against expectations, it shook violently, evading and hiding behind Han Yu’s back.
Chapter 162
Chen Ying’er was seated on the ground, carrying an intimidating pale face, and taking deep breaths. Clearly, her spiritual energy was overflowing.
Lin Xin couldn’t attack, but he was not the only fire attribute user on their side! Blazing World was unleashed: a red radiance shone upon his fire cloud crystal, bursting out before falling on Little Fire’s head. Rapidly, he transmitted his own spiritual energy to Little Fire.
ly, in the instant the halos were broken together with the elemental shield, Lin Xin was the only one to notice that Haoyue’s three heads: Little Light, Little Flame and Little Green’s eyes had turned ferocious. Behind his back, the bulges emitted faint ripples of purple color and his three head chanted with rapid tempo.
Suddenly sounding, it seemed that they were respectively chanting their own incantation, but if one was to pay careful attention, they would notice that these three heads’ chants had surprisingly a single tempo, and their eyes, previously lit in different colors, turned into a faint-purple color
However, they weren’t the first to make their moves.
An enormous silver light hammer appeared suddenly. It had a length exceeding five meters, the length of the head could be seen to exceed two meters. Holy white color was scattered on a hexagonal trajectory, forming a halo. But in the instant it appeared, a pleasant mysterious sound seemed to resound all around.
In particular, in the silver hammer’s surroundings, a layer of blood filled the air. After this attack was launched, a bald headed man fell on his butt, on the ground. And his complexion looked even worse than Chen Ying’er’s.
With the shield in his left hand, Gao Yingjie blocked, producing a loud dang sound. His body was suddenly lit with a golden color; it was precisely Divine Obstruction.
The enormous silver hammer of light was routed, but Gao Yingjie’s two feet were slightly sunken down.
Suddenly, from the Creature Summoning Gate, an enormous silhouette could already be clearly seen. Surprisingly, it was an enormous Demonic Eye.
That fellow’s enormous eyeball, serving as his body, had a diameter exceeding 3 meters. It was no wonder that he needed the enormous Creature Summoning Gate to come out: he had more than thirty tentacles, each one twenty meters long, surrounding Gao Yingjie from all directions. Meanwhile, on the enormous eyeball, strong white heat arouse, forming circles of white fog. Its terrible might was surging out.
Demonic Eye Ruler, magical beast of the eighth step, and evolution of the Demonic Eye.
No one would have expected that the one with the least expectations, Chen Ying’er, would actually accomplish this feat, summoning a magical beast of the eighth step.
In itself, a magical beast of the eighth step was equivalent to a human powerhouse of the seventh step. More importantly, this Demon Eye Ruler was a particular kind of magical beast of the eighth step, relying on spiritual attacks.
Gao Yingjie naturally felt the aura of a magical beast of the eighth step, but at this moment, he didn’t dare to turn back, because he felt that Cai’er was at this moment even more dangerous than that magical beast of the eighth step.
“Splintering… Space… Sauté” Wang Yuanyuan shouted out loudly, and an enormous silver-colored light pillar exploded out, with noisy whistling sounds, directly aimed at Gao Yingjie. This was the most complete Splintering Space Sauté she was capable of, at least twice as powerful as it was at the time she used it against Long Haochen.
At the same time the Splintering Space Sauté was used, the Demonic Eye’s tentacle also arrived.
Gao Yingjie sighed, and
A bright silvery light appeared, but this silvery light didn’t have high intensity, giving off a boundless feel. Around Gao Yingjie, the air turned viscous, the sign of magic element condensation.
Under him, a twisting silvery light appeared, taking the shape of a silver square shaped box with numerous silver patterns designed on it. And when he was about to be seated, it happened to be on this box.
Silvery light ascended, forming an enormous pillar of light. When the Demonic Eye Ruler’s tentacles met this silvery light, an electric shock bounced at them, blocking their path.
Gao Yingjie’s hand shone with a golden luster, and on his hand, the fine iron shield carried a whimpering sound, blocking the Splintering Space Sauté.
Comparing the fine iron shield and the Gigantic Divine Soul Shield, the gap between the two was just like the one between heaven and earth, but with the cultivation level gap, he could still dominate the clash with his tyrannical power.
With a loud explosion, the fine iron shield filled the air with traces of Splintering Space Sauté, and the igniting holy sacred fire dispelled the major part of the Space Splintering Sauté, which in the end could only hit a small part of Gao Yingjie’s body. His body was completely surrounded by a viscous matter shining of silver.
Meanwhile, a sharp and pleasant noise resembling music resounded. Everyone could only see a sweep of silvery light, and from that silver box, a pair of greaves came out, wrapping Gao Yingjie’s two legs, including his feet. From the place where he was seated, it could be seen that his lower back and thighs and his two feet were wrapped inside/in this silvery light.
Along with Gao Yingjie’s movements, the silvery light fluttered downwards, continuously producing melodious sounds. In a few breaths’ time, a helmet and an armor enveloped of silver had already covered Gao Yingjie’s body. They had not expected this phenomenon, nor had they seen it before, but they heard of its legend.
Except from Cai’er, all members of the Demon Hunt Squad #1 shouted out in unison, “A Mithril Foundation Armor!”
The silver armor glittered faintly, that mercury-like thick glitter spread in a range of a third of a meter, letting off an irresistible formidable pressure.
The silver armor was not decorated with excessive designs, but its overall appearance was simply magnificent. Each protrusion, each line carried a feel of perfection. On it, each line appeared almost alive: straight lines, arced lines, edged lines, clearly enabling smooth movement. They blended together perfectly, giving birth to this magnificence.
More importantly, putting aside the silvery light, there was also that blazing holy sacred light. And at the same time Gao Yingjie put on the armor, the holy sacred fire erupted and rose ten meters high. How formidable would a flame extending ten meters be? The violent pressure was already enough to make all people feel weak.
In his hands, there was no shield; he was only holding his fine iron sword. However, the current Gao Yingjie gave Long Haochen a feeling of expectation.
Creak. With a sharp and severe sound, a terrifying white ray with three meters diameter brazenly broke out/erupted, aiming straight for Gao Yingjie.
The Demonic Eye Ruler’s attack was finally launched. In the instant this white ray appeared, everyone felt confused, because that huge bright ray passed near Hao Yue. As for the incantation his three heads were completing, it was suddenly interrupted, although almost over. Three different colored magic elements dispersed from his body. With a flash of Hao Yue’s body, his three heads suddenly turned back, their six purple glittering eyes filled with anger, staring at the Demonic Eye Ruler.
From beginning to end, Gao Yingjie didn’t turn back, just like his eyesight extended behind him. Trembling holy sacred light erupted, sweeping behind him and condensing into the shape of an immense brilliant shield.
There wasn’t a violent explosion, only a faint and sour sound. Bright dust fell, and the holy sacred fire turned dimmer. Gao Yingjie’s body was surrounded by a thick silvery layer, sparkling for a bit before it came back to normal.
A Mithril Foundation Armor was completely made of mithril, a very rare kind of metal. In the present time, mithril was considered to be one of the best type of metal for wounding demons. Even a fist-sized block of mithril had a crazy value of 10,000 gold. Any weapon with the slightest bit of mithril in it would suddenly reach the rank of magical weapon, and if a little more was added, it would immediately reach the rank of spiritual equipment. And this armor was entirely made of mithril, formed with at least seven different magical arrays.
Mithril was an extremely thick material, so naturally, its weight was also astonishing. This silver armor covering Gao Yingjie’s entire body had at least a weight of 500 kilos! Mithril Foundation Armors were especially important to the Knight Temple, considered to them as the most formidable type of armor. Only the most outstanding Temple Knight, of the seventh step, had the qualifications to wear it, and there was also a luck factor in that.
In the entire Knight Temple, there were a total of 365 Mithril Foundation Armors and to forge them all, a total of 3000 years were spent. In some aspects, they managed to copy the Divine Thrones’ might. Each Mithril
Foundation Armor was a genuine Legendary Tier equipment, and furthermore, covered the entire body! All the 365 Mithril Foundation Armors already had a master. If a new Temple Knight of the seventh step wanted to wear one, he would not only have to challenge and defeat other knights of the same step, but also wait for an opportunity. One either had to challenge a mithril foundation knight, and gain it, or a mithril foundation knight had to perish or retire. Only under these circumstances could a Temple Knight obtain this set/piece of legendary equipment.
Of course, there was another method, which is to exchange it with enough contribution points. When doing the exchange, the priority was given to the better ranked ones. But to get a set of Mithril Foundation Armor with this method, the required amount of contribution points was absolutely astronomical.
Ever since the 365 Mithril Foundation Armors were forged, they had been a cornerstone of the formidable might of the Knight Temple, and none of them were ever lost.
In case the knight died in combat, the supplementary Mithril Foundation magic would activate, making it come back to the Knight Temple autonomously. Furthermore, a Mithril Foundation Armor possessed extremely formidable restorative capabilities; trying to destroy it completely would be extremely difficult.
At this very moment, Long Haochen’s group had seen this legendary equipment’s existence for the first time of their lives, their originally intense thirst for battle seemingly vanished completely.
With a dazzling glitter, and a bright stimulation of light, the Saint Spiritual Stove was once again activated, its light falling on Gao Yingjie’s body.
Chapter 163
Even the magic protective screen formed by the Mithril Foundation Armor was unable to stop the Pull ability of the Saint Spiritual Stove. Gao Yingjie couldn’t help but look slightly shocked, his face concealed behind the helmet. From his point of view, Long Haochen, who had taken the attack of the holy sacred fire head-on, should have lost all fighting spirit. How could he still activate his Saint Spiritual Stove?
But did Long Haochen really lose his fighting spirit? No! And at the same time his teammates launched their most powerful attacks, a change also appeared on him. His entire body turned immaterial, penetrated by bright light. Dazzling golden flames were rising above his body and his pair of golden eyes took in and sent out a great brilliance.
If one was to assess his current state, then, from an exterior point of view, he looked just like the former Gao Yingjie, fully using Brilliant Body and bathed in holy sacred light.
Boundless light element spiritual energy came out from him, exceeding by far his strength in normal conditions. Bright light was coming in and out from him at an intense speed, carrying an illusory feel, and a heavy sword was in the former position of his Holy Spirit Shield. At the same time he activated his Saint Spiritual Stove, Long Haochen shouted out loudly, launching a charge toward Gao Yingjie who was clad in his Mithril Foundation Armor.
Naturally, Long Haochen knew that, no matter how, he had to find a way to be a match against Gao Yingjie. He was also not sure about what had happened to his body, or how his strength suddenly rose. However, he felt
that Cai’er was not in a normal state. Cai’er was his most beloved that he wanted to protect throughout his whole life, how could he let her be the one to face the formidable Gao Yingjie? Facing powerful foes and blocking them at the front, these were his duties as a knight and as a man.
As a result, even though he was aware of the disparity between them, he still chose to once again utilize the Saint Spiritual Stove, and furthermore switched to Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light, choosing to charge forth toward the opponent.
It didn’t matter if everyone else was shaken by that Mithril Foundation Armor; as the captain, and as the heart of the team, he couldn’t. He had to act first, so as to arouse his teammates’ courage.
Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light swayed, taking the shape of ripple-like waves while a pair of foggy blue and gold colored light was being emitted. Then, the heavy sword in Long Haochen’s hand suddenly disappeared, faint golden and blue afterimages becoming visible. They looked just like a stream of water and a stream of light intertwining with each other, aiming directly at Gao Yingjie. In the same instant, the holy sacred fire on Long Haochen’s body was ignited before extinguishing instantly, the immaterial feeling disappearing at the same time. Because of that, he tumbled a step forward, but used the Holy Spirit Sword to stand firm.
At the same moment, Cai’er calmly moved on the other side , a black light bursting forth from the top of her head. The formerly grey aura surrounding her body instantly turned black, seemingly turning into pure killing intent, achieving an astonishing change. As for Gao Yingjie who was clad in his Mithril Foundation Armor, the thick layer of silvery light enhancing his defense disappeared. Gao Yingjie just felt a choking sensation in his whole body, having difficulty to resist that terrifying killing intent even with the aid of his Mithril Foundation Armor.
This is not a material attack, but sheer killing intent! How can this girl have such terrifying killing intent?
Gao Yingjie snorted, and to one’s surprise, took half a step back. At this time, he was in an extremely passive state; with the existence
“Cai’er, stop!” was said with a chilly and distinct voice.
Just recently, the dark light spreading from above Cai’er’s head was something she didn’t let the others see clearly, but in this instant, it disappeared, not leaving any trace behind. With this, Gao Yingjie only felt cold sweat flowing through his entire body. He didn’t know what kind of ability Cai’er was using, but he was completely sure that, if that blow was unleashed, it would not have been easy in any way to block it.
However, Long Haochen’s attack was now about to fall on Gao Yingjie’s back.
A blue and golden colored radiance was hovering and spinning at high speed, condensing into the shape of a sharp cone and ferociously striking Gao Yingjie’s back, aiming to penetrate the thick layer of defense of the Mithril Foundation Armor.
With a Pu sound, Gao Yingjie leaned forward, terrifyingly destructive power bursting forth onto his body.
With a hand on the ground and the pair of wings on his back unfolding, Gao Yingjie forced, with difficulty, his body to stay stable. However, the upper part of his body was slightly swayed, and he let out a mouthful of blood. Clearly, on the Mithril Foundation Armor on his back, a large gap could be seen, proof that his body had been wounded, and around this gap, there were little needle-sized gaps.
Water causing multiple holes, overwhelming and penetrating light; it was the effects brought by the supplementary ability of Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light; Bright Rain of the Thrusting Hibiscus.
Originally, Long Haochen was prepared to use this technique in the battle for the championship against Yang Wenzhao. But in the end, Yang Wenzhao didn’t manage to withstand his formidable fighting spirit, and lost before he even had the occasion to use this move.
In regard to Bright Rain of the Thrusting Hibiscus, Long Haochen himself didn’t have much information, because with his current cultivation
level, even launching this attack was difficult. The cultivation level and the spiritual energy output on it was also a factor of this blow’s power. Long Haochen’s internal spiritual energy had just had a sudden increase, and although he had no idea on what had happened, he decided to pour this foreign spiritual energy entirely in Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light, to activate this technique, the most powerful offensive skill that he currently possessed.
Even Long Haochen didn’t think that Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light would have such great offensive might, to actually manage to wound Gao Yingjie who was protected by his Mithril Foundation Armor.
Golden and blue streams of light flowed back, coming back into Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light in Long Haochen’s hand.
Looking at the sword in his hand, Long Haochen couldn’t mask the fondness he felt for it. This sword was furthermore blessed with intelligence, its spirit connected with his, linked to his soul in a similar way to Haoyue and him.
In the air, a crack appeared beside Cai’er and a tall and thin figure completely clad in black appeared. The one who came was no one else but the Assassin Temple’s Hall Master, hero of the ninth step and secondary Alliance leader Sheng Yue.
Sheng Yue completely ignored everyone else and stared blankly at Cai’er, “Reckless kid, this is a mere spar, how could you utilize that power? Could it be that you forgot the price you have to pay when using it?”
The grey luster in Cai’er’s eyes gradually scattered, and she replied indifferently, “Great-grandfather, this is my first battle together with him, I didn’t want it to be a loss.”
Sheng Yue’s face suddenly darkened, “You girl… Is he so good?
Deserving that you pay such a price?”
Cai’er seemed to suddenly become obstinate, replying with a rebellious tone, “He is the only one who let me feel affection and warmth.”
Sheng Yue blanked out, his former ferocious look suddenly easing up. His breath turning heavier, he turned to look at Gao Yingjie who withdrew his Mithril Foundation Armor.
“You’re also quite a source of trouble, don’t tell me you didn’t realize that the power she stirred wasn’t something that belonged to herself, not in the slightest. Why didn’t you stop her with words?”
Gao Yingjie respectfully bowed toward Sheng Yue, performing a knight salute, “Heroic Senior.
I only wanted to try out these youths’ limits. As their current leader, I needed to test them to know their real strength.”
Sheng Yue wrinkled his brows, “Then what are the results of this test?”
Gao Yingjie’s eyes flashed brilliantly, “It’s even greater than I expected. Although they can’t be described as well-coordinated and a lot of them have unstable abilities, under these circumstances, they displayed strength far exceeding their normal capabilities. Having gone through this short examination, I believe they are able to display even greater potential. Truly deserving to be this year’s soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad #1”
Sheng Yue nodded, his glance sweeping past this group of youths and stopping suddenly on this Demonic Eye Ruler, “Young girl, this Demonic Eye Ruler is truly not bad, why not consider letting it become your contracted beast? Although its power is quite greater than yours, if you are willing, this old man will help you by suppressing it. A Demonic Eye Ruler has a chance of turning into a Demonic Eye Despot, a peaked magical beast of the ninth step.”
Chen Ying’er stood up at that moment, shaking her head without the slightest hesitation, “No way! It’s just toooo ugly! Return immediately!” As she ordered, she waved her hand to this Demonic Eye Ruler. Filled with loathing, it resentfully gave her a last glance before going in the Creature Summoning Gate.
Sheng Yue sighed with some regret, telling her, “A Demonic Eye is truly not fitting for a girl. But the occasion of turning a summoned beast with the possibility of breaking through the ninth step into your contracted beast is not something you will easily find.”
Chen Ying’er stuck out her tongue and said, “Still, I definitely don’t want it. Grandma said that a personal contracted beast had to be fostered since young to get its perfect obedience. This one is already so grown up, what if it bites me back in the future?”
Sheng Yue indifferently spoke back, “As you wish.” In the end, he wasn’t a powerhouse from the Spiritual Temple. And what he had no way to know was that this young girl was in the middle of thinking, That bad guy Yang Wenzhao has such a beautiful Starlight Unicorn. If I take such an ugly contracted beast, wouldn’t it be an extreme loss of face?
Sheng Yue took a deep voice, “You young fellows really have an exaggerated opinion of your own abilities! Could it be that you really had the delusion that you could defeat a Temple Knight? Do you realize what the difference of level between you both is?”
Wang Yuanyuan was a girl with a reckless temperament who didn’t care about who she was facing. She could not help but give this spontaneous reply, “We were just about to win. Captain has just gotten wounded against us.”
Sheng Yue snorted coldly, “Just about to win? You fell by an extremely large amount, you mean! If he really wanted to kill you, he wouldn’t even need three seconds to do so. For him to have gotten a Mithril Foundation Armor, his cultivation level is at least at the seventh rank of the step of Temple Knight. And what does the fact that he’s at least a Temple Knight of the seventh rank imply? It implies that his internal spiritual energy is above 23,000! Even if we add up the internal spiritual energy of each of you, it’s still inferior to his! The only reason why he got wounded is indeed because of that attack LHC just executed, but more importantly, he was afraid of wounding you and was always in a defensive state. Otherwise, how could Long Haochen attract his attacks for so long with his Saint Spiritual Stove? For all vocations, the higher the cultivation step
is, the more obvious the disparity becomes. A full force attack from a powerhouse of the seventh step is something only someone with my cultivation level can take head on lightly. As for you? Humpf!”
Chapter 164
These youths suddenly shut their mouths, and looked at each other, astonished inside. Internal spiritual energy: 23,000. Such a terrifying number! Even if they added up the seven people in the whole group, the amount would not even reach 14,000. With such a gap of spiritual energy, how could they be compared?
Sheng Yue’s look fell one last time on Cai’er, “The one making the most trouble is you. That’s right, sure, that power you tried to unleash was capable of threatening him. However, it would have definitely forced him to go all out to handle you. The reason why I came out was not to help him, but to help you. Otherwise, although you would have definitely inflicted heavy wounds on him, you would surely have died in the process.”
Cai’er calmly stood there, not saying a single word. Toward this great- grandfather of hers, she didn’t have any familiar feelings at all.
“Long Haochen, come with me. I have something to tell you.” Sheng Yue’s look turned ice-cold, like a sharp knife, as he turned back to look at the weakened Long Haochen.
Hearing these words, Cai’er finally showed some reaction, her body slightly shivering.
Sheng Yue shot her a glance before taking a step forward. With it, there was already a distance of ten meters between them.
Long Haochen retrieved his weapons and equipment before chasing after Sheng Yue with big strides.
Gao Yingjie turned to look at everyone, his resolute face revealing a faint smile, “Although I suppressed a part of my strength you forced me to take out my Mythril Foundation Armor for defense today, which is something you can be proud of. There will be a day when you will reach my level and even surpass it. Alright, you may rest for half an hour. Then, we’ll set off.”
In this instant, Chen Ying’er seemed to have already been revitalized, hopping vivaciously to Cai’er’s side, “Cai’er, you’re really strong! Just now, what was that called? So strong!!!”
Cai’er didn’t say anything, only shaking her head before sitting in her previous seat, silently recovering her consumed spiritual energy. Aside from Long Haochen, she acted coldly towards everyone, and didn’t speak much. This was not really an attitude that she displayed deliberately.
Chen Ying’er secretly made an dissatisfied grimace to Cai’er before running off toward Wang Yuanyuan.
Long Haochen headed to the other side of the stadium together with Sheng Yue, who stopped his steps there before turning back to look at him, “Long Haochen.” Calling out the name of this youth, Sheng Yue had a feeling of not daring to speak to him.
The word ‘beautiful’ could be used to describe this handsome youth possessing an abundance of special qualities not present in normal people. Even if Sheng Yue was extremely picky by nature, he had difficulty in finding defects in this youth. However, he still felt somewhat uneasy in his heart; no matter what one may say, he was still the one who snatched his own great-granddaughter.
“Heroic Senior.” Long Haochen raised his right hand to perform a knight salute to Sheng Yue.
Sheng Yue stayed silent for some time before saying gently, “Cai’er, this girl, has been in much pain since she was young. I don’t know why you hold such importance to her, neither do I know what attracts you to her, but you are a knight. And as such, I wish that you’ll fight together with her in the future and protect her in those moments.”
Long Haochen resolutely replied, “I made an oath that I would protect Cai’er during my entire life. That I would use my life to protect her.”
Shen
Long Haochen’s thoughts shivered. ly, when Cai’er released that terrifying killing intent at Gao Yingjie, how could Long Haochen not be alarmed by it? He didn’t expect that Cai’er would be so powerful to such an extent, so much that he began to look up to her. Pondering over this matter, he realized, How could Cai’er, who only reached the fifth step of cultivation, display such a formidable ability? As it turned out, it actually came with a great price to pay.
She said that she definitely did not want to lose because it was her first battle by my side. Cai’er, ah, Cai’er! Even though I swore that I would protect you for a lifetime, you were the only one to sacrifice yourself so far.
Looking at Long Haochen, Sheng Yue’s eyes gradually turned more and more red, knowing that he understood his point. “Now go. And remember, both you and Cai’er are even more important than divine artifacts. In your capacity as the squad captain, you should never permit your squad and yourself to enter a situation of unforeseen danger. Until you mature to twenty years old of age, your priority will be to keep yourself and Cai’er safe. After that moment, you will be more than qualified enough to defend yourself.”
“Thank you for your guidance, heroic senior.” Long Haochen saluted Sheng Yue once again.
Sheng Yue revealed a faint smile, shaking his head, “In the future, you can call me great-grandfather, just like Cai’er.” Having spoken these
words, he once again revealed his overwhelming superior capability by disappearing after taking a single step, leaving nothing behind.
Long Haochen returned to Cai’er and sat by her side. His previous consumption of spiritual energy was just too great, so he needed time to recover.
Half an hour hadn’t passed, but Gao Yingjie seemed to have already recovered completely, reverting back to his normal state. Long Haochen previously dealt him severe wounds, but there wasn’t the slightest trace of them anymore.
“Let’s depart.” His appearance was average, but the entire soldier 1st Demon Hunt Squad acknowledged their leader’s formidable strength.
After all, this man had already exhibited his strength to them. The seventh step, this was a real powerhouse of the seventh step!
Leaving the Knight Stadium, an absolutely large carriage was waiting for them at the entrance. Using the word gigantic to describe this carriage would not even be an exaggeration. The carriage was three meters wide, about five or six meters long, had eight fine horses pulling it, and two drivers were seated in front of it.
Each newly created Demon Hunt Squad would receive this treatment. After all, not everyone amongst themselves would have mount, and they couldn’t go on this journey by walking. If they did so, their efficiency would just be too low.
In the moment everyone was prepared to get on the carriage, a young girl suddenly ran up to them from nearby.
Most of them were powerhouses at the fifth step, so their perception was naturally not weak. They all unconsciously stopped their steps to look at this young girl.
It was a lady looking 17 or 18 years-old, about the same age as Wang Yuanyuan though she looked more delicate. Her round face was puffing up
and her astute-looking eyes seemed full of bitterness. Having short golden hair, she looked nimble and very lovely.
“Uncle master, are you insisting on leaving me behind like this?” The girl hurriedly went in front of Gao Yingjie, opening up both of her arms to block his path.
Looking at her, a hint of helplessness appeared on Gao Yingjie’s previously cold and stern face, “Xiaoxue, don’t be noisy and hurry up and return. Uncle has to go on a mission. I will be back as soon as it is completed. Stay at home and train well.”
“I don’t want to, I want to go on this mission with uncle! I’m also a knight!” The girl called ‘Xiaoxue’ stubbornly stared at Gao Yingjie.
Gao Yingjie’s face dropped, “Xiaoxue, your actions are making uncle angry. Furthermore, you are not young anymore, you can’t stay with uncle for your entire life.”
Xiaoxue’s eyes flashed with a hint of red, “Papa and mama all left. Could it be that uncle also doesn’t want me anymore? That’s right, I just want to spend my whole life with uncle; if she stays alone at home, Xiaoxue will be afraid.” As she was declaring these final words, her voice was already accompanied with sobs. However, this was clearly not just an act. The grievance and fear in her eyes was not fake. From her looks, she was older than Long Haochen and Cai’er, but in terms of maturity, she seemed quite below the both of them.
Having heard these words, Gao Yingjie looked down helplessly, his brows wrinkling. With a sigh, he finally said, “Okay okay, just come together with us then. Let me introduce you to them.”
As he said so, he looked at everyone in the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad and said, “Her name is Shi Xiaoxue, she’s a a fifth ranked Retribution Knight of the fourth step.”
Long Haochen inquired with some curiousness, “Fourth step fifth rank? With her cultivation level, she should have been able to participate in the
Demon Hunt Selection? I’m curious on why I didn’t get to meet her.”
Hearing him, Shi Xiaoxue immediately pouted, “Humpf! It was uncle who didn’t let me participate. Otherwise, I would have gone through the qualifiers without a problem.”
Gao Yingjie sighed before speaking in response, “Her mother was a Demon Hunt Squad member, my battle companion, but she lost her life in battle, leaving this child behind. How could I let her face the danger of entering a Demon Hunt Squad? I only hope for her to live calmly within the Alliance. Ever since her parents both passed away, this child had suffered mentally, making her especially uncourageous. She just never accepts to be separated from me. Sorry everyone, please permit me to bring her along during this operation. Rest at east, she will not disturb you; I make sure to take responsibility for her safety.”
Hearing that Shi Xiaoxue had lost both her parents and seeing her mournful and pitiful appearance, how could anyone not give their agreement? Her grief turning into relief, Shi Xiaoxue mounted the carriage.
The inside of the carriage was really spacious and there was even a specialist to take care of the rations on the road.
With his height of four meters, even by doing his utmost to curl up, Haoyue still occupied quite a large a area. Han Yu had sent his Demonic Eye back to its own space, but Haoyue was not the same. Unless it was by his own will, Long Haochen would never force him to return. After all, he had personally seen the vile environment and formidable foes in it. After he gave a simple explanation to his comrades, everyone naturally accepted Haoyue’s presence.
Upon the orders of the drivers, the eight healthy horses pulled the carriage outside of Holy City.
Gao Yingjie sat in the most exterior seat of the carriage, and Shi Xiaoxue sat at his side. If someone was to look at her carefully, they would notice that this girl had her eyes glued on Gao Yingjie’s figure. As for him, he simply ignored her completely.
“Alright, let’s take advantage of this time to sum up our previous battle. Answer this first, on what aspect of this battle did you do well, and on what aspect were you lacking?” Gao Yingjie said in a deep voice.
Naturally, the point of the battle they had just before was not to stake everything for an nonexistent chance at winning. It was actually not only to assess everyone’s ability, but at the same time to enable everyone to have a better understanding of everyone else’s strength when pressured to a great extent.
Chen Ying’er, as a girl with a mind full of shit, immediately declared, pleased with herself, “Putting Cai’er aside, the strongest one should be me. I have, after all, summoned a formidable magical beast of the eighth step. We really had some chances of winning.”
Sima Xian chuckled before speaking, “Little sister Ying’er, if I were to tell you to do so, would you be able to summon another magical beast of the eighth step?”
Chen Ying’er’s look immediately changed as she muttered hastily,
“There will inevitably be a time when I can.”
Gao Yingjie turned to look at Long Haochen and said, “Haochen, you are the captain, give us your thoughts.”
Long Haochen nodded and replied, “Let’s start with the strong points. Our strong points are pretty obvious, the main one being that almost everyone here possesses an offensive strength surpassing the average; my Bright Rain Hibiscus Thrust, Wang Yuanyuan’s Gigantic Divine Soul Shield, Sima Xian’s combination of Madness with Sacred Hammer, Ying’er’s summon using the Creature Summoning Gate, as well as Cai’er’s extraordinary power. In comparison, Han Yu and Lin Xin are closer to the role of support, but their utility in battle remains quite considerable.”
Everything he said up to there was a thorough observation of everyone’s capabilities, just casually fiddling around and ordering his thoughts.
“Possessing these abilities that transcend our own ranks, we should easily display strength surpassing our enemies’ expectations. As long as our team’s power has the chance of being displayed, I believe that we can definitely be called the strongest newcomer Demon Hunt Squad.”
Hearing him up to there, everyone spontaneously nodded in succession. During the course of the previous battle, the most dazzling one was, without a doubt, Cai’er. But in his capacity as the captain of the team, Long Haochen’s ability couldn’t be neglected either. If not for his control over Gao Yingjie using his Saint Spiritual Stove combined with a defense that reached the greatest of heights, even granted that Gao Yingjie didn’t use his full strength, they would have had a lot of difficulties to fully use those ultimate techniques of theirs. Long Haochen’s last blow also left a deep impression on everyone else. After all, Bright Rain Hibiscus Thrust’s formidable penetrative offensive power had even managed to wound Gao Yingjie despite the fact that he equipped his Mythril Foundation Armor. That was how great Long Haochen’s offensive power was. As a result, everyone just grew more convinced that the strength of Long Haochen, their captain represented the first position well after all. Even Wang Yuanyuan, who was originally not totally convinced, could only feel admiration toward Long Haochen having personally witnessed the immense efficacy of both Bright Rain Hibiscus Thrust and the Saint Spiritual Stove.
Even though everyone wasn’t clear on Long Haochen’s age, they could still clearly see that, in the team, the three youngest were him, Cai’er, and Chen Ying’er. And from the fact that Cai’er and him had even managed to reach the fifth step at such an age, everyone could see how immense their future prospects were.
Gao Yingjie nodded and said, “Now tell us about the shortcomings?”
Long Haochen said, “It is also obvious that we were quite lacking. First of all, we weren’t familiar with each other, so we didn’t know each other’s skills, preparation time, power, efficacy, as well as fighting patterns. In such circumstances, it was hard to act in coordination, and thus, we were unable to fully display our combat power. To reach the level of perfect coordination, we will need to exercise continuously and increase our fighting experience. In the future, we’ll definitely pay attention to this
aspect. The second shortcoming is of the indefinite nature. This point is in regard to Ying’er’s side; Ying’er’s Creature Summoning Gate is indeed a formidable summoning spell, but she herself is unable to know what summon will come out. As a result, in the middle of battle, I find it hard to include her capability to our calculations. Even in the case that she calls out a formidable magical beast, it will still be a bad situation if it cannot act in coordination with us. For instance, just previously, that Demonic Eye Ruler’s attack had actually disturbed Haoyue’s magic.”
On the side, Chen Ying’er stuck out her tongue, “If the summoned magical beast is too powerful, I’m indeed unable to control it completely.”
Gao Yingjie slightly wrinkled his brows and said, “Chen Ying’er, I know that there has to be some secret to this Creature Summoning Gate, and it can be classified as a personal secret of yours so I don’t feel comfortable asking you. However, you are now a part of the entire Demon Hunt Squad. Just like Han Yu, you are a seventh of the group’s power. In this entire team, everyone is important. Thus, if you want the team to grow faster, you will have to stabilize your summons the earliest you can.”
Chen Ying’er was slightly startled before she murmured, “I’m afraid that I have to at least reach the seventh step before I can completely control the Creature Summoning Gate.”
Gao Yingjie said, “There’s another solution, it is to get your contracted beast as soon as possible. In the current situation, I’m afraid we’ll have to wait a dozen years before you reach the seventh step. Don’t tell me that during these ten years, you will always rely on your companions to protect you? From the point of view of the team, you’ll likely bring a catastrophe upon everyone else.” When he spoke out these words, his tone had clearly become stricter.
Chen Ying’er’s charming face became paler as she slowly lowered her head, not uttering a single word.
The others were all clear on the problem regarding her, but the team had just formed and she was just a little girl so no one said much about her, so as to avoid affecting their unity. And as the temporary leader, Gao Yingjie
was obviously the most suited to be called an outsider. In fact, even if Lin Xin was unable to launch attacks, he could still rely on his outstanding magic control and magic quality to assist the whole team by taking care of the defense. But in the case that Chen Ying’er’s Creature Summoning Gate couldn’t summon a powerful magical beast, she would only be a burden to the whole team. In fact, even if she summoned something good, she wouldn’t be able to control it well, which would not necessarily make it a good thing for the team. As a result, she could only be said to be the most unstable part of the team.
Gao Yingjie’s dignified look swept past everyone and he said in a deep voice, “You will all have to firmly keep in mind that you are a single entity, a complete team. You will have to prioritize the team’s interests. Otherwise, if a problem arises in any one of you, it’s the whole group that will be weighed down. In the middle of a battle, you will have to depend on each other. Even if your power is nearly exhausted, you must always find a way to do your part in the team.
In the next three months, I will do my utmost to pass my experience onto you. The amount you will manage to learn and to display will depend on yourself. Now, I am going to make a personal analysis on everyone in this 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad .
I have already told everything about Chen Ying’er; she is the most undeterminable element of the team. But since you are a team, in battle, it will be everyone’s duty to protect her. Once she is grown up in the future, she will inevitably become an important part of the team.”
When his look fell on the sole mage of the team, Gao Yingjie clearly revealed some interest, “Lin Xin, did you know that you are the most outstanding mage I’ve seen this year?”
“Eh?” Lin Xin started, feeling that this sudden praise was somewhat unbefitting of him. He originally believed that Gao Yingjie would look down upon him for not being able to attack.
Gao Yingjie continued in a deep voice, “Today was the first time you cooperated together, but in this collaboration, aside from Long Haochen’s
magical beast, you were the one with the best coordination with him. When your total energy elemental shield as well as your elemental shields were used on him, the defensive support you gave Long Haochen was even greater than his magical beast’s!
If I am not mistaken, you relied on your control to improve the efficiency of your elemental shields, providing even greater results. The magical staff in your hand should be a pure fire cloud crystal, bringing you quite a decent amplification. However, if you didn’t naturally have outstanding talent, it wouldn’t have been possible for you to use your defensive spells with such speed.
Even though I should not ask of another’s secret, among all of you, the one I’m the most curious about is you; why can’t you use any offensive magic? I know that you are also an alchemist. Further adding to the fact that you possess this kind of double specialization, your defensive magic has great utility. If you wholeheartedly devote yourself on training your magic control, I can predict that you are bound to become the pride of the Mage Temple in the future.”
Hearing Gao Yingjie’s words, Lin Xin turned silent. This narcissistic, deep green-haired youth’s complexion darkened, but he didn’t say anything, only lowering his own head and sitting there.
Gao Yingjie gave him a deep look and said, “Okay, okay. Presently, we have assessed the utility of Lin Xin, who can only use defensive magic, to our battle strategy. In this team, Lin Xin’s utility is no less than a shield warrior’s, and thanks to the fact that he uses magic, he can be said to have an even greater utility compared to a shield warrior. Lin Xin, keep in mind that if you will forever be unable to use offensive magic, you will have to exert a lot of efforts on your fire control on defensive and assisting magic in the future. This way, when facing powerful foes, you will be able to assist Long Haochen’s defense, just like you did today. And the time you will shine the most in the team will be when facing numerous weak enemies; when someone meets danger or needs assistance, you will be the first to rush out to help them. This will require you to always keep an eye on the general situation.”
Lin Xin nodded in silence, “I will try my best.” Giving this short reply, he did not say any more, seemingly becoming somewhat irritated by the fact that Gao Yingjie raised the question on why he couldn’t use offensive magic.
Gao Yingjie declared, “I am placing Lin Xin in the rear, and Chen Ying’er, as the one who will need the most protection, is to be placed in the middle of the formation. Long Haochen, take note that your mount will have to assist them in moving during battles, using, for example, the ‘Float’ wind system technique and so on, and to carry them when it is necessary.”
Long Haochen paid serious attention to each word Gao Yingjie said. It was someone speaking based on real experience! In the field of cultivation and training, few could match Ye Hua’s research, but in the field of real combat experience, especially team battles, Ye Hua could hardly be compared to Gao Yingjie. Just like it could be seen from the scars on his body, his experience was based on lessons he learnt with his blood!
Gao Yingjie continued speaking, “Wang Yuanyuan, Sima Xian, from my eyes, you two are warriors, nothing more than an axe warrior and a holy warrior.”
Hearing him say so, Wang Yuanyuan and Sima Xian couldn’t help but reveal some embarrassment on their face.
A faint smile appeared on Gao Yingjie’s face, “You don’t have to feel embarrassed, this is not a problem of any kind. No one takes the same path of development, the most important thing is that this path is suited to the two of you. Without a doubt, your external spiritual energy outstrips most people. Wang Yuanyuan, I will not say much to you, but in battle, you have to pay attention in order to match your rhythm with the others. You have to take note of the situation Long Haochen is in, act in parallel with him, and help him in handling the defense. You cannot create a hole in the whole formation on an impulse. Also, your ultimate move is powerful, but the consumption of spiritual energy is just too great, don’t use it rashly.”
“Yeah.” Wang Yuanyuan nodded. She had a straightforward personality, so she would listen to the only party’s guidance only if she acknowledged them as being more powerful than her.
Gao Yingjie turned towards Sima Xian and said, “As for you, there’s more in what I need to tell to you. You are a priest, but chose a path close to a warrior’s. In itself, there’s nothing wrong in that. As I see it, you can take the path of a Discipline Priest.”
“A Discipline Priest?” Sima Xian started, staring at him blankly. It was the first time he had heard of this.
Gao Yingjie explained, “It is something that hasn’t appeared for many years already. A so called Discipline Priest is a kind of priest that mostly relies on combat. But you have to bear in mind that it is a priest and not a warrior. Thus, he must learn priest abilities, and not only offensive ones, but also the support skills. Choosing the path of a Discipline Priest implies the abandonment of healing, but you have to know that a Discipline Priest will rely on the bursting power of his sacred magic. Your combined use of Madness with Sacred Hammer is good, but from what I saw, your combination of sacred magic and close combat is still not good enough. On this side, you may ask Long Haochen for guidance. If you train well as a Discipline Priest, you will have the possibility of becoming a powerhouse uniting magic and combat arts.
As for your positions in the team’s formation, Sima Xian and Wang Yuanyuan, you will be both behind Long Haochen, covering the left and right sides to alleviate a part of Long Haochen’s burden while protecting Chen Ying’er and Lin Xin if it is needed.”
“Yes.” Listening Gao Yingjie’s detailed analysis, everyone paid deep attention. Gao Yingjie was not only guiding everyone in their future development, but also their role in the formation, their accurate positioning. In the future, when cooperating to fight together, their coordination would be better this way.
“Han Yu, your position will be at the back of the formation. I know that you are a Guardian Knight, but to a team, the rear is also extremely
important. Your 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad ’s best advantage over the others is that you have one more Guardian Knight. Holding a good defense at the rear will lighten your teammates’ worries. At the same time, the Demonic Eye you have as a magical beast companion will also provide good support. In case a rather powerful enemy appears, you will have to make your Demonic Eye intimidate it through spiritual magic to earn some time for your comrades to prepare themselves.”
Han Yu spoke, “Captain, I have something to say.”
Gao Yingjie replied in response, “Speak.”
Han Yu said, “At the present time, the biggest problem of our team is that it doesn’t have access to the healing spells of a priest, which will affect our ability to sustain in combat. Thus, my future training path will be inclined toward the defense and healing aspects; this will make up for the deficiency of our team.”
A trace of astonishment immediately flashed in Gao Yingjie’s eyes and he said, full of appreciation, “Very good. This is something I wanted to mention. The fact you had this kind of awareness is a fortunate thing.”
Sima Xian sat at Han Yu’s side, and hearing Gao Yingjie that he immediately stretched his hand, putting it on Han Yu’s shoulder, “Good brother, in the future, I hope to share my contribution points with you.”
Han Yu felt somewhat helpless as he cast him a glance aside, “Don’t stick to me with your flesh, I rather prefer the soft body of a young woman.”
Sima Xian laughed out loudly, blinked his eyes, and did some flirtatious glances, “Are you not okay with me?”
“Shut up…”
The others couldn’t help but laugh at this scene.
Sima Xian felt guilty because of the fact that he couldn’t carry on the duty of the healer for his team, but seeing that Han Yu took the initiative of assuming this responsibility, deep inside, he felt extremely grateful. What a great initiative!
In the carriage, the atmosphere had lightened because of this episode, turning friendlier.
Gao Yingjie’s look finally fell on Long Haochen and Cai’er.
“Cai’er, your offensive power is extremely great. You can be said to be the team’s sharpest blade: within this squad, your attack is the greatest. Thus, your duty is even greater. I know that your relationship with Long Haochen is good, but don’t forget that you are both members of this squad, and there will be a lot of times when you should not let your emotions affect you. Otherwise, you will not be helping him but harming him instead. He is the captain so, if you want to help him, help him in fulfilling his role as the captain.”
Gao Yingjie’s tone had become once again stern and serious. Cai’er slightly raised her head; although she was blind, it could be seen from this motion that she was carefully listening. “Wah, Banzai, Yipiie!
Uncle, you’re so handsome!” At that instant, a foolish and lovable voice interrupted Gao Yingjie in his serious talk. Shi Xiaoxue grabbed his arm while crying out.
Gao Yingjie’s face turned a little red and he furiously said, “Let go of me and look at yourself. Don’t interrupt me!”
“Oh…” Feeling aggrieved, Shi Xiaoxue lowered her head, but was still grabbing his sleeve with her hand. In regard to this young girl, Gao Yingjie indeed felt completely helpless.
Sima Xian, Han Yu, Chen Ying’er, and Wang Yuanyuan couldn’t help but secretly laugh. At that time, Lin Xin, who was quietly pouting, seemed to also ease up by quite a bit, dubiously looking at Gao Yingjie before looking
at Shi Xiaoxue and thinking to himself, Could it be that this is the so called old cow that eats light grass?
“Cough cough.” Gao Yingjie coughed a few times, trying to mask his embarrassment. Firmly looking at Cai’er, he spoke, “There are three points you have to keep in mind in regard to your duty. First, relying on your formidable offensive power, you will have to kill the enemies; be sure to be the one who kills the most of them. When there is no especially formidable existence among them, you will have to do your utmost to wipe them all out. This will lighten the pressure on your comrades.
is to break the enemy formation. In the presence of enemies that are also organised well, you will have to break the enemy ranks’ stability so as to provide an opening for your teammates to attack.
Last is to provide support when facing the most powerful foes. Cai’er, tell me: as an assassin fighting in team, in which context would you use your most powerful blow?”
Cai’er coldly answered, “When killing the enemies.”
Gao Yingjie shook his head and said, “No, you are wrong. That way, you will only display your own force, and while under the restrictions you will face in battle, your own firepower will have no chance to come out completely. When facing enemies more powerful than yourself, acting this way will be of no help to the team.
You should know that the Knight Temple and the Assassin Temple have the closest relationship among all. The reason for this is not because that these two great Temples both specialize in close quarter combat, but more importantly, it is because of the nature of the abilities of a knight and an assassin naturally complementing each other. A knight is the shield of an assassin, and an assassin is the sharpest weapon a knight can have.”
Hearing him speak, everyone could not help but feel moved. It was especially the case for Long Haochen, who seemed to have realized something.
Gao Yingjie said, “When facing a single enemy with strength completely surpassing yours, what you will have to do is not to act by yourself, but to act jointly with Long Haochen. You are the concealed existence that spreads Long Haochen’s shadow everywhere. The moment he is blocking the ultimate enemy’s move is the moment when your offensive power can burst out. This is the so called ‘Knight and Assassin Forming a Single Entity’.”
“In front of powerful foes, the assassin has to be a sure-kill weapon directed against them, but will also have to assist the knight in defending against the attacks he can’t block completely, ensuring his survival. Hence, I wish for Long Haochen and you to most rapidly comprehend each other’s capabilities and limits. Only this way, will you both unite so as to become the heart of the team.”
Cai’er nodded calmly, slightly bowing at Gao Yingjie’s direction,
“Thank you.”
To make her speak out the two words of submission, ‘thank you’, was not an easy feat to accomplish. Everything Gao Yingjie had just said was for Cai’er to finally realize her real duty as a member of the squad. Obviously, the part that had impacted her the most was the expression ‘Knight and Assassin Forming a Single Entity’, the assassin helping the knight’s survival. In the previous battle, Cai’er was always trying her best to help Long Haochen, but she didn’t know what was the best method for her to do so at all. But with these directions given by Gao Yingjie, given her intelligence, she had already begun to realize a great deal more.
Gao Yingjie revealed a gratified look. As long as these youths listened to him, him taking the role of leader this time would not be for naught.
The Temple Alliance attached extensive priority to the Demon Hunt Squads. And it was precisely for the sake of increasing these Newcomer Demon Hunt Squad’s probability of survival and letting them have a better chance to meet the standards, that they had these formidable Temple Knight of the seventh step to guide them for these three months. These three months were a period of assessment and also a period of refinement, and
these ten Temple Knights headed by Gao Yingjie were all among the elites of elites in achieving favorable results.
“Long Haochen, the last person I have to speak of is you. In the previous battle, you were the one I was the most satisfied with among all of you, and the one I have the most expectations for. The Saint Spiritual Stove is among the best choices, but the fact that you possess one doesn’t imply that you will become an outstanding knight for sure. In your capacity as the heart of the team, you did not renounce; you did not give up. You faced danger despite everything, using your firm defense to give your companions the opportunity to move forward. You did very well.
Your position is at the center and at the front of the formation. When facing powerful foes, you will always be the first one to welcome them. That is what a knight is. The ten great standards of a knight: modesty, honesty, compassion, courage, fairness, sacrifice, honor, perseverance, charity, and justice, are the most crucial for a team. You will have to combine attack and defense as a whole, leading the whole team. You carry the most important duty, and each of your choices will decide the fate of your team.”
Chapter 165
Gao Yingjie’s resounding voice was very vigorous, each word piercing into the depths of Long Haochen’s mind like sharp needles, “To knights, the words ‘taking risks’ will never exist in the dictionary. That’s because you won’t be fighting alone. Safety and stability will be the basic qualities you need to seek for, when making your choices.
Right now, you need to reinforce your ability to judge and to command. You have to grow to become a leader that can convince his own teammates, and for this, you will have a lot to do. This is pressuring, but also a force of motivation. In the next three months, I will not give the others any direction, but focus my guidance solely on you. If the others do anything wrong, you will have to correct them. The others’ course of action will be something that you will have to decide upon. Within three months, you will have to become a leader that meets the standards; a qualified captain. Starting from the instant you became the captain of the 1st soldier-grade Demon Hunt Squad, your life does not only belong to yourself anymore, but to the whole team. Similarly, every member of the team has handed their lives to you. This heavy responsibility will require you to continuously make great efforts in order to handle it properly.”
At this point, Gao Yingjie’s words became heavy, and the atmosphere in the carriage turned solemn accordingly. Everyone’s looks fell on Long Haochen.
Long Haochen took a deep breath, slowly stretching his right hand forward. In a deep tone, he said, “Never renounce! Never give up! I, Long Haochen hereby pledges: I will never abandon any of my teammates, I will use my life to defend the team’s honor and keep each of you safe! My
sword will be drawn before me for all of you, and my shield will be for blocking our most powerful enemies!”
“GOOD!!” Sima Xian shouted loudly. With a simple sound, his hand was placed on Long Haochen’s hand. Lin Xin and Han Yu also stretched their own hands forward, placing theirs above the other two’s.
Wang Yuanyuan slapped hers down with force, stinging Lin Xin’s hand and causing him to grimace in pain.
Chen Ying’er nimbly placed her hand above Wang Yuanyuan’s, standing tall with her other hand pressed on her little chest, “I will not drag everyone down neither.”
Cai’er’s hand was discreetly stretched and pressed under Long Haochen’s palm.
And at that moment, a huge claw was also stretched forward, placed on Chen Ying’er’s with a shriek.
It was actually Haoyue.
Chen Ying’er stared fixedly at this fellow. But then, Haoyue’s three heads turned at the same time, his eyes looking up and down. That appearance was a lot more human-like than a lot of humans, making Chen Ying’er’s heart beat up.
Long Haochen said loudly, “We are a team, comrades that can entrust their backs to each others!“
The group spoke up in unison, “Never renounce! Never give up!” “Woo woo!” This was Hao Yue’s declaration…
Looking at this scene, Gao Yingjie couldn’t help but tighten his lips. He felt as if he had come back to that day, twenty years ago, when his own Demon Hunt Squad was established. But now, his companions…
What Gao Yingjie didn’t expect was that this group of youngsters would act in cohesion so quickly. Without a doubt, this truly was a good beginning.
“Uncle, Demon Hunt Squads are extremely interesting! I want to enter a Demon Hunt Squad too!” Shi Xiaoxue looked at these youths, full of envy, and then murmured in Gao Yingjie’s ear.
Gao Yingjie, who was originally already burning with anger towards her, imm
Shi Xiaoxue’s eyes lit up, “Uncle, so what’s your answer?”
Gao Yingjie looked at the carriage “Let’s speak of it in five years.”
Although the carriage carried so many people, including the heavy- weighted Haoyue, it was still advancing at a fast pace. Eight large horses were pulling it with all their force until sunfall, resting only once an hour. They finally stopped at a medium sized city. After a day of travel, they had surprisingly already covered 250 kilometers.
On the road, Long Haochen’s group was cultivating spiritual energy and the carriage was rather calm. Under the watch of Gao Yingjie, a true powerhouse, they naturally didn’t waste time. Every time their spiritual energy increased, their chance of survival on the battlefield would increase as well.
For this trip, this town was their first rest stop. When arriving before the hotel, they saw that they were next to nine other similar-looking carriages; the other newly-formed Demon Hunt Squads had obviously arrived earlier.
The first advantage they held in their capacities as members of a Demon Hunt Squad could be seen. The accomplishment point tile they had on their left arm enabled them to rest in any of the hotels in the Alliance for free. At the same time he informed them of this fact, Gao Yingjie also told them that, being a soldier grade of Demon Hunt Squad, they would also get a 10% discount in the auction houses. This preferential treatment would increase together with the grade of their Demon Hunt Squad.
Demon Hunt Squads were the true elites of the Temple Alliance, which explained this treatment. After all, they frequently had to confront powerful enemies, so how could they not get some help to protect their lives better?
Every person had a room to themselves, and after a simple meal, Gao Yingjie urged them to rest well after returning back to their own rooms.
Long Haochen led Cai’er by the hand, seeing her off to her room, “Cai’er, you too should be tired after this day of travel, go to rest early.” Having said so, he was about to turn around and leave.
With a flip of her wrist, Cai’er grabbed Long Haochen’s hand, her cane tapping on the ground, and closed the door to the room.
Seeing what she did, Long Haochen instantly felt his heart beat faster, his handsome face starting to blush slightly. A boy and a girl all alone in a room, this situation in itself was a bit dubious.
“Please keep me company for a bit, is that okay?” Cai’er asked with a soft voice.
How could Long Haochen refuse her request when she asks that way? Holding her hand, he replied, “Alright.” Holding each other’s hand, the two youths were seated on the sofa, their bodies drawing close to each other. Feeling beautiful and yet secluded charm coming from her, Long Haochen’s heart could not calm down in the slightest.
In the carriage, although they were seated next to each other, there were also other people present. But now, they were only by themselves.
Long Haochen couldn’t help but loosen his hand that was holding Cai’er’s waist. She didn’t resist, on the contrary taking advantage of this to nestle against his shoulder.
The two of them treasured this peaceful and warm moment. Although Long Haochen’s heart beat very fast and his face was heating up, this feeling was, to him, the most pleasant. He didn’t feel the slightest dissatisfaction, simply holding Cai’er’s waist even closer. Truly speaking,
as only a fourteen year old, he basically did not know what he should do in these kinds of moments.
Cai’er was his most precious treasure, so he would not attempt to do anything to her.
After a long time, Cai’er moved a bit, sitting up straight, and asked,
“Haochen, what did great-grandfather tell you today?”
“Mh?” Long Haochen awoke from this quiet warmth, “He said I had to take good care of you and protect you.”
Cai’er was slightly startled, “That’s all?”
Long Haochen replied, “He also said that I could do the same as you in the future and call him great-grandfather, and that you had a very hard life.”
Cai’er’s whole body shook. Looking at Long Haochen right in the eye, she asked with some hope, “Did he really say so?”
“That’s right, what about it?” Long Haochen gave her a puzzled look.
In the next instant, he glanced at Cai’er’s, whose eyes were moist and her whole body shaking slightly. Seeing her in this appearance rose his passion even further. Long Haochen immediately felt a pain in his heart, hastingly pulling her to his bosom, “Cai’er, don’t cry. What’s wrong?”
Leaning against his warm bosom, Cai’er’s body gradually stopped shaking. Slowly taking off the veil covering her face, she sticked it close to his chest, both of her arms surrounding his waist.
“Haochen, do you want to listen to my past?” Cai’er asked.
Long Haochen gently replied, “As long as you are willing to tell it to me, I am willing to listen.”
Cai’er’s voice was gentle and carried a bit of uneasiness, “I am a person who had no childhood. In the eyes of the others from the Assassin Temple, I
am a sort of princess. But if I had the choice, I would have preferred to live as an ordinary girl.
The heritage of our Assassin Temple is not as simple as the one of your Knight Temple or the Warrior Temple at all; anyone has the possibility to learn how to become an assassin. The only requirement is to have extremely high perception and innate talent. Fostering an assassin is a lot harder than fostering a knight or a warrior; it requires one to exert a lot of physical and mental efforts. Thus, within the Assassin Temple, a secret training method was devised. It can be used on children around three years old to determine whether they have the innate cultivation talent or not. As long as their innate talent was not too mediocre, meeting at least the base requirement to be capable of becoming a qualified assassin, they would be fostered by the Assassin Temple.”
It was the first time Long Haochen heard Cai’er speak so much. At that time, he was her only listener, gently holding her hand and listening to her story.
“At three years old, I was found to have an innate internal spiritual energy exceeding 90, making me the so called Saint Daughter of Samsara.”
Hearing her words, Long Haochen was immediately startled, but he didn’t say anything, only listening to the continuation of her story.
“It was at that moment that my nightmare began.” A trace of deep sadness appeared on Cai’er’s beautiful face.
“As a three years-old child, I originally should have been pampered by my parents, playing without caring or worrying of anything. However, I was never with the children of my age. At the time I was only three years old, I was taken out by my great-grandfather to a dark and cold cave. There, I had no relatives, and even no food. Seven days out of seven, the only thing that accompanied me was a black dagger floating in the air.
I cried, and I cried. I called out for my father, for my mother. But even when my voice had become hoarse, even when my tears had run dry, there
was not the slightest reply.
I felt cold. I was very scared. Even if I was only three years-old at that time, I can still remember everything clearly. No one came to save me, no one. I had to bear the cold and the fear, all alone…”
Chapter 166
“My consciousness gradually vanished, my senses dulled. At that time, I was a three year-old kid who didn’t even know what ‘despair’ was, but I felt like the inside of my body was as cold as that cave. I hate them! I hate great-grandfather, I hate father, I hate mother! I hate everyone! Why, why did they have to discard me in that kind of place?!”
At this point, Cai’er was already bathed in tears. Long Haochen would never have expected that she would actually have this kind of experience. To a three year-old kid, how painful and miserable was it? No wonder… No wonder Cai’er is always so cold. Everything actually originated from that time.
Long Haochen only felt that his heart was in pain. He used force to embrace Cai’er, holding her closely. He wanted to transmit his body’s warmth to her, so as to influence her body and the ice in her heart.
Cai’er similarly held him closer, her heart breaking out in fear and feeling as if she had just returned to that gloomy moist place that was only cold and dark, to the extent that her fingernail were digging into the flesh of Long Haochen’s back, her body shaking over and over. For a long time she was unable to calm down at all.
“From that instant onwards, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, and great-grandfather, those were nothing more than names. I hate them, and will not regard them as relatives. For their selfishness, I hate them. Even if what they did was for the sake of the whole Temple Alliance. Did they… Did they think about my feelings? Starting from that instant, I was
no longer their relative, but merely an ice-cold weapon, a weapon with the possibility of dealing more destruction than anything else.”
Cai’er spoke up once again, perhaps because of the warmth coming from Long Haochen’s body or from the fact that a part of the ice in her had dissolved. Her body’s shivers gradually calmed down, but her voice was just as scornful as previously, filled with sadness and wrath.
She kept these words in her heart for more than ten years already, and now that she was able to tell someone else everything she had kept suppressed, she felt that her heart was somewhat more peaceful.
“After seven days, seven entire days, as I was about to faint, I saw a black figure appearing like a ball of fog and digging into my body. Consumed by despair, I sank into absolute solitude. Then, I lost all awareness of the surroundings.
When I awoke from that ice-cold world, my ‘family members’ were surrounding me with astonished faces. Then, I heard them speak of the Spiritual Stove of Samsara and the Dagger of Samsara. At that moment, a black lump and a dagger were put in my body. On that same day, I lost my sense of smell. And later, I learned that, this time, I had lost consciousness for a total of two years. When I awoke, I was already five years old.”
Long Haochen breathed in astonishment, “Was it the power you used the other day?”
Cai’er nodded lightly, “Spiritual Stove of Samsara, ranked first among all spiritual stoves. Attack-type. Before me, a single person possessed it. That person belonged to a former generation of our Assassin Temple. Relying on this spiritual stove, he raided the Demon God Emperor, the first ranked demon god. In the end, that Scion of Samsara died by the hands of the Demon God Emperor, but the latter also died soon after and the next Demon God Emperor succeeded him. During that time of crisis for the Alliance, that event managed to stall for some precious time.”
At that moment, Cai’er seemed to have calmed down, though her grip on Long Haochen’s body was still tight. The sensation of her bottom sitting on
Long Haochen’s thigh made him almost forget
“The Spiritual Stove of Samsara is extremely powerful. Especially with the divine artifact ‘Dagger of Samsara’, it has more killing power that you can even imagine. The Scion of Samsara that lived in those days, after having just reached the ninth step, had already confronted the Demon God Emperor whose internal spiritual energy was nearing 1,000,000 when his own internal spiritual energy had not even reached 200,000. Just by relying on the Spiritual Stove of Samsara and the Dagger of Samsara alone, he managed to drag this Demon God Emperor to the other side with him, becoming the greatest hero of our Assassin Temple.
However, cultivating the Spiritual Stove of Samsara comes with a tremendous cost.” At this point, Cai’er’s mood seemed a lot darker.
“To get the approval of the Spiritual Stove of Samsara and the Dagger of Samsara, possessing the physique of Samsara is the first prerequisite. It requires an assassin to have an internal spiritual energy surpassing 90. Under the effects of the Spiritual Stove of Samsara, my internal spiritual energy had even surpassed the peak level of 100. To fully use the real power of the Spiritual Stove of Samsara, in addition to endlessly training, the body is also subject to continuous trials which can go as far as to be called ‘torture’. From that day onwards, my five senses were disabled in turns.
First, it was the sense of smell, the sense of hearing, and then the sense of taste. And in this process, the most horrible time was when I lost my sense of touch and couldn’t feel anything. At that time, when I could neither feel or grasp anything, I could not even control my body and was laid down in a cold place for two entire years before finally recovering. Then the most recent one I lost was the sense of sight. And because of that, I am currently blind.”
As she spoke, Cai’er withdrew her hand from Long Haochen’s back, softly fondling his face.
Deep inside, Long Haochen was shaking. All along, he knew that his path of cultivation was not only reliant on his innate talent, but also on great
effort. But compared to Cai’er’s experience, how much could his own efforts be worth? To achieve her present results, just how much torture did Cai’er have to endure!?
“Several times, I was close to being unable to stand it any longer. Particularly at that time and place when I could not even move the slightest bit for two and a half years, I really had gone crazy. At that time, I no longer held any attachment to life. Having been tormented to such an extent was even worse than death! But when that thought appeared, the silhouette of a little idiot appeared in my heart. One without the slightest capability, but who protected me with his body and life. Facing an incomparably powerful enemy, this idiot stepped forward bravely, willing to stake everything to protect me whom he had just met moments before.
And it was precisely that fool that left a seed of warmth in me. With the warmth this seed brought me, I finally felt some longing for life, looking forward to the day I’d be able to pay back that debt. It was that anticipation that helped me persevere. Every time I was unable to bear the Spiritual Stove of Samsara’s aftereffects anymore, I would think of that idiot who said he would protect me at that time when I lost my voice together with my sense of taste.
That idiot was you. That kind-hearted idiot. My idiot.”
At this point, tears flowed from Cai’er’s eyes once again. The difference was that, this time, they weren’t tears of pain and sadness anymore, but these ones were only filled with… warmth and happiness.
Long Haochen replied blankly, “You… You were the little girl from that time?”
Cai’er’s grief suddenly turned into happiness, “You really are an idiot! If not for the fact that I recognized you, why would I have let you see me off on that day?”
Long Haochen was completely surprised, “But after we have grown up, I could not even recognize you! How is it that you recognized me?”
Cai’er softly stroked the forget-me-not ring on his hand, “That day, you seemed to have put your weapon back into a ring. At the moment I was about to leave, I suddenly felt the energy fluctuations coming from the forget-me-not ring.”
I had been wearing it since I was young, so I am incredibly familiar in regard to it. Afterwards, it was to check if it really was this ring that I let you take my hand. Then, after I even asked what your name was, how could I not know that you were that idiot? For you to have wanted to help me, a blind girl you didn’t even know, you are still as kind-hearted as before.”
“So it was like that. I wondered why your attitude had changed so suddenly that day.” Long Haochen came to a realization.
Cai’er said serenely, “I really didn’t expect that I would get to see you so quickly. Originally, I wanted to overcome the last trial of the Spiritual Stove of Samsara before looking for you. I didn’t know how much you would have changed, but still,I wanted to return the warmth you gave me that day. But you appeared before me so suddenly. Perhaps it was fate.
Did you know? Those times were the happiest of my life. To wait every day for you to escort me, to walk on this short road, led along by you. The seed of warmth in my heart seemed to be sprout, and that day you said you would protect me for a lifetime, I knew that I was finally not alone anymore. As long as I could be by your side, I would have the feeling that I am actually a person and not a killing weapon.”
“Of course you are not a weapon, you are a person. You are my Cai’er.” Long Haochen held her tightly, as if afraid to lose her.
Cai’er shut both eyes, still leaning on Long Haochen’s bosom and warmed up by his body. Her breathing gradually calmed down; she seemed to fall asleep in Long Haochen’s embrace.
Curling up in Long Haochen’s bosom, she was sleeping peacefully, sparkling teardrops flowing down from her long eyelashes, her pale face seemingly colored pink which signified warmth, and the corners of her mouth revealing a smile of satisfaction.
She was deep asleep, to such an extent that she didn’t even show the slightest reaction when Long Haochen gently lifted her up to the bed. After that, Long Haochen was planning on leaving but Cai’er’s grip was tight, too tight. In the end, he was unwilling to leave her like that. Looking at her serene sleeping face, Long Haochen felt greatly at ease.
He prudently pulled Cai’er’s hand before taking her soft body in his arms and pulling the blanket over her, then laid down by her side, with the blanket separating the two of them This way, the two youths wouldn’t have excessive body contact. He didn’t want, in any way, to hurt Cai’er the slightest bit, even if it was just being embarrassed from when she’d wake up.
Cai’er’s thirst for Long Haochen’s warmth had already surpassed his own attachment to training.
He wanted to give her this warmth.
Gently kissing her forehead, he declared, “I will be your idiot forever.”
Chapter 167
Early morning, breakfast time.
When Long Haochen and Cai’er arrived together in front of their companions, everyone, including Gao Yingjie, felt that something was off about the two of them.
Although Cai’er was blind, a change could still be felt in the atmosphere. Only, because she was wearing her black veil, no one could see the current expression on her face.
The nine other newly formed Demon Hunt Squads were also eating in this same dining room. Later on, their journey was going to continue.
Lin Xin whispered in Long Haochen’s ear in a low voice, “Well done captain. You truly deserve to be called a young hero.”
Puzzled, Long Haochen replied, “What?”
Lin Xin chuckled and explained to him, “Last night, I went to your room looking for you, but there was no one there. It appears that you didn’t come back to your room for the whole night. Restrain yourself—you should restrain yourself.”
Only then did Long Haochen understand the reason behind the look on his companions’ faces, instantly declaring embarrassedly, “It’s time to eat, let’s hurry up.” As he said so, he gave Cai’er a bowl of porridge, took some food for himself, and then started eating.
Although Sima Xian’s expression was not as vulgar as Lin Xin’s, he was also giving Long Haochen bewildered glances while stealthily raising his thumbs up in Long Haochen’s direction.
However, Long Haochen was eating with his head down, so he didn’t see it at all.
But when they were done eating and had climbed on the carriage again, Gao Yingjie went past Long Haochen’s side and let a little sentence slip out, “Isn’t this development a bit hurried?”
A change appeared on the corner of Long Haochen’s mouth, but in the end, he didn’t explain what really had happened to the others. He couldn’t bring himself to say, Actually, I haven’t done anything like that! And in fact, in the morning when Cai’er awoke from dreamland at his side, she had secretly hugged him after feeling his uncovered body under the blanket. And also in that early morning, Long Haochen already felt much more self- disciplined than last night. To hold Cai’er’s body with the blanket between them was already a great test to his willpower.
There was originally a lusty side on him, so toward his comrades’ mockery, he could only admit he wasn’t totally innocent.
Contrarily to expectations, Cai’er didn’t appear the slightest bit bashful. Her shyness and her other hidden feelings were things she would only reveal to that idiot. From the eyes of the others, she was the same as before; an ice-cold youth and the best assassin of her generation. In the remaining ten days, the ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squad members spent most of their time in the carriages, remaining inside from dawn to night while heading to the eastern border of the Alliance.
Gao Yingjie did as he said he would, passing his experience onto Long Haochen on a daily basis. Although the one he was speaking to was Long Haochen, the others naturally got to listen to him. Ten days passed, and everyone felt like they had benefit a lot from the situation.
At the same time, with the assistance of Lin Xin’s Spiritual Gathering Pills, the growth of Sima Xian and Chen Ying’er’s internal spiritual energy
was extremely fast. Naturally, Shi Xiaoxue wasn’t able to benefit from such a treatment of receiving these Spiritual Gathering Pills as she was not a member of their Demon Hunt Squad. The cost of making these Spiritual Gathering Pills was too considerable.
Within this short span of time, everyone’s position within the team was established with Lo
Exorcist City, this was the most strategic town at the border area of the Temple Alliance. This town was almost built like a fortress, situated atop of a mountain range, and was between two huge mountains. The terrain made it appear like an unreachable fortress, extremely hard to attack.
Exorcist City was also called Exorcist Mountain Range and could be described as a continuous mountain range which blocked the path of the demons and extended over a thousand miles, and was also known as the important mountain pass that symbolized the resistance of the Temple Alliance against the demon attacks from the east. In other words, in the case that the Exorcist City was to fall, the demon armies would be able to enter and march right into the territory of the Alliance.
Thus, the Temple Alliance had a massive military force on standby there while, at the same time, the main headquarters of the Assassin Temple was also located there. This was the place where Cai’er had grown up since young. And today at noon, the ten carriages coming from Holy City arrived at Exorcist City, and under the arrangements of the Assassin Temples, the ten newly formed Newcomer Demon Hunt Squads had been checked into a hotel in the east of the government office.
Having already rested during the afternoon, the ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squads were led by their respective team captains to a conference hall after dinner. They had finally reached the location for their next mission.
The ten Demon Hunt Squads were seated in ten rows, each Demon Hunt Squad captain seated in the first seat. Long Haochen was in the first row, and to back was Yang Wenzhao.
Yang Wenzhao occasionally turned his head to look at Chen Ying’er, seated at the rear of the 1st Demon Hunt Squad’s seats, but Chen Ying’er didn’t look back at him, though she did occasionally encompass her surroundings with a few glances.
Long Haochen was looking at Li Xin, who was on the second row, and greeted her with a hand gesture. Li Xin was the vice-captain of the 4th Soldier Demon Hunt Squad and had an extremely high position within her team.
Ten Demon Hunt Squad captains were to be seated at the front row of seats, but two seats were still empty. Clearly, other people were still arriving.
Footsteps sounded and everyone unconsciously turned their head to look outside the door to only see a man and a woman enter the conference hall with several bodyguards clad in a complete martial attire.
From their appearances, these two looked approximately thirty years-old. The man was clad in black military clothes bordered by a golden thread and carried a luxurious appearance; he had a slender build, a handsome appearance, a short purple-colored hair, and appeared to be full of vitality. His eyes glinted with coldness and pride. With a look as sharp as a spear, a biting cold atmosphere immediately filled the enormous conference hall as soon as he entered. By his side was a woman clad in a blue-colored mage gown, her body surrounded by a rich water essence that was pulsing as if it was alive. She looked quite younger compared to the man by her side, had light-blue-colored hair, and a picturesque face—naturally dazzling. Her charming eyes swept past the crowd, as if she was looking for someone in particular.
Seeing this couple, Long Haochen couldn’t help but stare blankly at them. He didn’t know why, but in his heart, he held a somewhat familiar feeling toward them.
Quickly, these two people arrived on the middle of the stage. The ten Temple Knights and leaders had stood up a while ago, and Gao Yingjie took the initiative to go up and welcome them, greeting them politely.
“Eldest Brother Gao.” From his voice, this man sounded somewhat excited as he went forward to give Gao Yingjie a big hug. The woman followed him and smiled at Gao Yingjie before remaining on the side.
Hearing the voice of the man, seated behind Long Haochen, Cai’er’s body shook slightly, but quickly recovered to normal, her face still as cold as usual.
Gao Yingjie changed direction and looked at the group of youths, “Let me introduce him to you, he is Sheng Lingxin. Mister Sheng is the commander in chief of the Exorcist Military District and also the youngest assassin to have reached the step of Assassin King within the whole Alliance. ”
Assassin King? That was an assassin of the seventh step. This mister Sheng only seemed to be about thirty years-old, could it be that he was already a powerhouse of the seventh step at such a young age? For a moment, the Six Great Temples’ selected talents couldn’t help but stare at him, filled with admiration.
Sheng Lingxin smiled faintly and said, “Elder Brother Gao is exaggerating. I am thirty-seven years old this year, this cannot be counted as young anymore. You are the true young heroes. I hope that on this trip in the Exorcist Military District, in my Exorcist City, everybody will be able to show off their potential.”
Gao Yingjie happened to look at the woman, and at this moment, her gaze was focused in the crowd, a slight change appearing in her look. This look was filled with sadness, with longing, and with some other things.
“This person is the leader of the Exorcist City’s mage regiment and hall master of Exorcist City Auxiliary Mage Temple, the Magic Grandmaster Lan Yanyu.
Sheng Lingxin lightly touched the dull-looking Lan Yan Yu. Only then did she react, nodding to everyone below. However, she didn’t say anything, her look remaining the same from beginning to end.
Long Haochen noticed this change because Lan Yanyu’s look was actually oriented in his direction. Is she looking at Cai’er?
Sheng Lingxin and Lan Yanyu sat on the seats in the middle of the platform, and Sheng Lingxin said in a deep tone, “Welcome to all of you in Exorcist City. Before assigning different missions to all of you, I will first present the current situation of the Exorcist Military District and the Exorcist City. I hope that when it is time for you to leave, you will be in a good enough shape to later return fully loaded with contribution points.
The Exorcist Military District is in control of the whole area including the entire Exorcist Mountain Range. From north to south, it covers a continuous distance of 1,654 kilometers. The terrain of this mountain range extends vertically, making the overwhelming majority of the Exorcist Military District extremely hard to attack and enables us to block these demons. And because of this, the Alliance is stable and we are still alive.
At the present time, the majority of the Exorcist Military District is supervised and commanded by our Assassin Temple with the assistance of the five other Great Temples. Including the major portions of those guarding the strategic locations of the Exorcist Mountain Range, our troops total 80,000 soldiers. Under the main command of the Alliance’s Headquarters, the Assassin Temple has pledged its life to resist the enemy with unwavering determination. From the time this dark era started 6,000 years ago, the Exorcist Military District and Exorcist City has gone through thousands upon thousands of attacks from the demons, but has never fallen. This place is filled with the blood and the tears of countless of our elders whose lives were taken by the merciless demon invaders.”
Hearing Sheng Lingxin’s words, the ten Newcomer Demon Hunt Squads’ assassins, with the exception from Cai’er, all looked incredibly excited and proud. This Exorcist City was the holy land of assassins. To them, being able to partake in the battle here was in itself an enormous honor.
“The demons’ military offensive has already been launched, fighting with our soldiers who have pledged their lives to the Alliance. You will be divided to ten military campsites to work in concert with our most basic infantry troops to learn how to act cooperatively. Among these troops, you
will have no privileges of any kind, and killing enemies will not only bring you contribution points, but will also be the only way for you to be promoted within the army. The higher the amount of contribution points a team has, the more important the missions a team will receive Within the span of three months, whichever level you will reach will depend on your own efforts. You have to keep in mind that, in case any of the members of your team dies, your Demon Hunt Squad will be dissolved and your contribution points will be taken back. On the battlefield, individual power will forever remain insignificant; cooperating as a team is the only way to survive.
Chapter 168
The conference lasted a short duration. After Sheng Lingxin’s little speech was over, ten officers came in from outside. They were the ten infantry battalion commanders, each of them leading a newly formed Demon Hunt Squad to the barracks. Naturally, they would not waste any time as the newcomers had already arrived.
Her eyes glued on Long Haochen, Cai’er left together with her 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad. Lan Yanyu, controlled by her emotions, wanted to stand up to chase after her, but was stopped by Sheng Lingxin. The latter shook his head with a solemn face and Lan Yanyu’s beautiful eyes immediately turned moist.
Long Haochen’s group was assigned to the first infantry battalion. The battalion commander was a middle aged man with an external appearance somewhat resembling that of Gao Yingjie’s.
“All of you are amongst the Alliance’s elites. I feel deeply honored by the fact that you have, even if it is only temporarily, joined my battalion. I am the battalion commander of the first battalion, Zhang Hairong.”
Exiting the conference room, this commander of the first battalion simultaneously led the group to the barracks while introducing himself.
The responsibility of social interaction naturally fell upon Long Haochen. Faintly laughing, he said: “Battalion Commander Zhang, you are too modest. The soldiers of Exorcist City are all heroes who guard the nation, and it is more accurate to say that it is our honor to be able to enter the 1st Battalion. From now onwards, we will be a group of soldiers under
your command. As the representative of the 1st Demon Hunt Squad, I guarantee you that, although we are not soldiers, we will obey strictly to each of your orders.”
Hearing Long Haochen’s declaration, Zhang Hairong felt comfortable deep inside. He really didn’t expect that this ten or so years-old youth would actually act in such a suitable manner.
Demon Hunt Squads were something every soldier from the Temple Alliance yearned to be a part of, but Zhang Hairong wasn’t really too interested in temporarily adding one of them to his troops. Even if these proud and talented youngsters had all at least reached the fourth step of cultivation, would they actually obey orders?
In fact, Zhang Hairong was a mere warrior of the fourth step himself. In the case that these young talents didn’t listen to his orders on the battlefield and started acting of their own accord, they would not only be of little use, but would also likely bring them a lot of trouble.
Although Sheng Lingxin said that these Demon Hunt Squads’ elites had to be treated like average soldiers, could they really do so? Each one of these Demon Hunt Squads were made up of the favorites of the Alliance, and if harm was to ever come to them, they would possibly be unable to bear the consequences. Furthermore, Sheng Lingxin had told these battalion commanders in private some time ago that, no matter what circumstances, their foremost priority was to guarantee the safety of these young talents.
In particular, when Zhang Hairong had seen this group that formed the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad for the first time, he felt even more disappointed. Among them, aside from the bald one who seemed a little older, it looked as if none of them were above twenty years old. And from the looks of it, the younger ones weren’t even eighteen! Only heavens knew how they became Demon Hunt Squad members. To have this privilege at such a young age was not necessarily a good thing; they would most likely be extremely arrogant upon arriving.
But when he felt worried over this, Long Haochen’s words melt those worries, those sentiments of unease, like a cup of hot tea.
To a soldier, the most important thin
Long Haochen’s declaration was naturally not something he came up with by himself. Yesterday, Gao Yingjie warned him again and again on how to act when entering the army, and at the same time, told him what a soldier’s most important duties were. Although even without Gao Yingjie’s repeated warnings, Long Haochen would still have behaved correctly. With this declaration he just conveyed, it would undoubtedly become even easier for this new team to blend in with the soldiers.
Zhang Hairong laughed out loudly and responded, “Captain Long, you are too modest. With a vulgar old man such as me, politeness is not needed. From now onwards, your group will act as new soldiers. Your duty will be to follow me in assaulting the enemy.”
Sima Xian could not restrain himself from asking, “Battalion commander, will we get to fight in the front by your side?”
Zhang Hairong straightened up his own chest, formed a fist, and placed it on his chest, “You’re right to ask about this. The battalion under my command does not have a single coward in it. My sworn brothers and I will be staking our lives together with you, acting in the most suitable way for a soldier to act. You may be at ease; by my side, you will always be fighting in the frontlines, facing the most powerful enemies.”
At this point, everyone could only feel complete respect for this man. Zhang Hairong’s implication was very clear. On the battlefield, he would be at the very front. If the commander of the battalion, the one who commands a thousand soldiers, was assaulting the enemy in the front, how could the officers and soldiers not follow him?
“Yes.” Long Haochen performed a salute toward Zhang Hairong. Within the army, a salute was not a very standard way to show respect. Of course, a knight salute was even more unstandard.
The infantry battalions were located close to the city. With the great threat that was the demon race, the military power had to be robust. In the case that a battle was to break out right in front of the population, they
would have no chance at survival. Thus, since long ago, the humans have been attaching great importance to the defenses, and the most important part of these defenses is naturally the infantry.
Zhang Hairong assigned them to a living quarter that accommodated ten people, though boys and girls living together there seemed a bit indecent. Because of the distinction of genders made within Demon Hunt Squads, the standard equipment wasn’t given to them, but everyone had only a set of clean military clothes.
There weren’t any uniforms for females, though Wang Yuanyuan wasn’t too bothered by it because she had a tall build which could be said to be a match for men. However, the uniforms were too baggy when worn by Cai’er and Chen Ying’er, making everyone have a hard time holding back their laughter.
At that moment, Chen Ying’er revealed another side of hers. This girl had actually taken a set of needles and threads with her, cutting up her uniform together with Cai’er’s and sewing it anew. And after only half an hour of work, the two girls’ uniforms fit them closely.
“I didn’t expect that you would have such a move up your sleeves, Ying’er. It’s no wonder that Yang Wenzhao is so conscious of you.” Lin Xin said with some surprise.
Chen Ying’er declared with pride, “Now is the time for this lady’s story to come to an end. Don’t associate me with that Yang Wenzhao, I’m not in the mood to hear his name.”
Lin Xin chuckled and said at his turn, “Okay, okay, I’m not digging any further in this matter. Come, it’s drug time, drug time.” As he said so, a few porcelain bottles appeared in his hand; there were actually two bottles per person.
Sima Xian gave him a thumbs up, “That ‘big bro has drugs’ really was no exaggeration; this is indeed quite impressive. What are these things this time?”
Lin Xin laughed out faintly and declared, “In the white bottles are Spiritual Replenishment Pills, once again named by Haochen. In the yellow bottles are Energy Pills. The Spiritual Replenishment Pills will recover 200 spiritual energy within a short time, approximately five to ten seconds. Everyone’s replenishment speed is not the same, so calculate it by yourself the first time you take one. As for the Energy Pill, it can increase your external spiritual energy by 500 units and it will persist for the duration of twenty breathes. After I improved these ones, their effects are now even better! The shame is that I don’t have the material for Spiritual Bursting Pills, otherwise, I would have made some more of those things for you.”
Long Haochen told him, “You already gave me some Spritual Bursting Pills last time so there’s no need for me. I still have ten of them left, let’s divide it out to everyone. With an equal share of it, our chances of survival will be a little better.”
However, this time, Lin Xin had emptied a great deal of his hard-earned savings. There were a total of thirty of the Spiritual Replenishment Pills and the so called Energy Pills. Further adding the Spiritual Bursting Pill that Long Haochen split with his teammates, the other newly formed Demon Hunt Squads could not possibly compare with them in terms of the quality of the supplemental items.
Han Yu chuckled, “Who said not having a priest won’t do? The utility of an alchemist like Brother Lin is even greater than that of a priest’s.”
Lin Xin grimaced, “Big bro has drugs! This catch phrase of mine is naturally no empty words. Brother Han, I’m counting on you to watch out for my back. Don’t let the enemies come from behind and burst my chrysanthemum 1!”
Wang Yuanyuan opened her both eyes wide, “Brother Has-Drugs, your words are so civilized!”
“Aight, aight.” Lin Xin stood up, stretching up his body, “I’m off to wash my handsome face. Aï, every time I need to go find someone to worship, I just have to take a look at the mirror.”
“Pooh, truly shameless.” Wang Yuanyuan felt truly amused by his words.
The living quarters were very commonly built; there were ten beds and very simple cabinets beside each of them. Without a doubt, males were to go to one side, and females to the other. Although Wang Yuanyuan and Chen Ying’er were unsatisfied sharing a room, they had to calmly bear it as it would only last for a short duration of three months.
While neatly ordering their own beds, everyone got to see a stupefying scene.
Cai’er put her bamboo cane in a small crack on the bedside and pushed her bed to the side of Long Haochen’s bed. Although she was blind, the two beds were neatly joined together.
Tcheh… Doing ‘that’ right in front of so many people… It is just too brazen.
Let alone the others, even though Long Haochen loved Cai’er deeply, he could still not help but feel embarrassed in such a situation and blushed, not knowing how he should act in these kinds of moments.
Sima Xian looked at Han Yu on the other side and said in a low voice, “It can’t be. Don’t tell me captain and vice-captain are going to do it in public tonight?”
Cai’er touched the bed that she had merged together, and after thinking deeply for a short time, proceeded to go before another bed. With a swing of her bamboo cane, a sharp glint shone and the wooden bed instantly turned into several wooden boards. With a sweep of her cane, these wooden boards merged with their own bed.
Once again, Cai’er’s speed astonished everyone. All they could see was a glint and an afterimage before the wooden boards surprisingly fell on the side of their bed, encircling their two beds that was merged together.
Although the living quarter’s floor was not too hard, to produce a two meters long and two-thirds of a meter large board from it was just astonishing. Furthermore, it was cut very neatly like a piece of art that came from pure craftsmanship. For her to have accomplished such a feat without the use of her eyes, how great was her perception?
The bedding next to the bed that Cai’er destroyed was now being carried by her.
Having already understood what she planned on doing, Long Haochen said in haste, “Let me help you.”
Cai’er shook her head and said, “I can handle this by myself.”
Chapter 169
Quickly, these beddings were turned into cloth sheet, acting as curtains hanging on the two sides of the bed. From outside, the interior of these curtains could not be seen at all.
At this time, Lin Xin had just returned from washing his face, and regrouped with the others to stand there slack jawed in astonishment.
Wang Yuanyuan and Chen Ying’er shared a glance, and abruptly jumped up, hastily pulling two other empty beds together. Clearly, these two ladies wanted to learn from Cai’er’s example. After all, they were girls who, unlike guys, emphasized more on privacy. Cai’er’s demonstration no doubt reminded them of that.
After completing everything, Cai’er returned to Long Haochen’s side and pulled his hand, saying a sentence that nearly brought Long Haochen to tears.
“This is our home now.”
Long Haochen’s original shyness and embarrassment completely vanished, and as if he had totally forgotten about the others present, he pulled Cai’er into his embrace in a single move.
Added up, the two simple wooden beds occupied a space of four square meters. With the addition of a few wooden sticks and rags surrounding them, this was their first home. Although it was simple and crude, Long Haochen could see that Cai’er was very happy of it. From the shape that her brows had taken, satisfaction and happiness was clearly written across her
face. Cai’er wasn’t too demanding; all she wanted was to have a home. Even if it was even more simple than this home, as long as she could be together with the one she loved, she would already be very satisfied.
“Cai’er, I promise you. From now on, I will definitely give you a warm home; it will be our home.”
Cai’er cuddled her head near his shoulder and answered with a soft ‘yeah’.
Lin Xin, Sima Xian, and Han Yu’s faces were dripping with envy. Long Hao Chen was the youngest male in the squad, yet he already had a considerably close female friend. Their relationship truly aroused other people’s jealousy.
Feeling everyone’s gazes, Long Haochen lifted his head and looked at them with his red face, saying, “A moment ago, Battalion Commander Zhang said that we could be called to battle at anytime. For now, everyone should use their time wisely and rest a bit.” As he said this, he hugged Cai’er and directly entered into the canopy, into their home…
With any other person, based on their personalities, Lin Xin and Sima Xian would’ve definitely started teasing. However, they truly did not dare do so with Long Haochen. Long Haochen wasn’t really the issue, but they really did not want to have Cai’er’s murderous killing intent directed at them. Anybody could see that only Long Haochen occupied her heart, and that she did not care much about anything beyond him.
“Hey, you guys still aren’t coming over to help?” Chen Ying’er waved her hands towards Sima Xian and Han Yu. She was only a summoner, and to have pushed the bed over was already pretty good from her.
Sima Xuan chuckled and said, “Little Sister Ying’er, Let me help you.”
Chen Ying’er hastily shook her head as she replied, “Never mind, I’ll just have Big Brother Han Yu come help me. Once that big metal stick of yours swings down, the bed is just going to crack. How can it be used to support anything?”
Dark veins popped out on Sima Xian’s head, “What are you calling a big metal stick? This thing of mine is a magic staff.”
Chen Ying’er stuck out her tongue, “Ask everyone here, who would think of that as a staff?”
Han Yu walked over with a slight smil
Long Haochen was together with Cai’er on their bed, with the latter nestling against his bosom, her eyes completely shut. Because of what she experienced as a child, Cai’er had grown with a contrasting personality, fundamentally different from the other youths; she didn’t care what others thought of her at all. To her, that day when she fell asleep on Long Haochen’s bosom was the sweetest night she had ever had since she was three years-old. Sleeping under his warm embrace, Cai’er rested without being woken up by a nightmare or a chill coming from the depths of her heart. Although it happened only once, she really liked this warm and cosy feeling she had at that moment. At least, the time when she was nestling against his bosom while listening to his heartbeat was the most blessed moment Cai’er could think of.
But on the rest of their hastened journey, because Long Haochen was afraid of doing something obscene to her or that his comrades would be discontented, he never shared a room with her again.
In these living quarters for ten people, Cai’er could not hold her expectation for this warmth anymore, thus taking the initiating of setting up this temporary home. This was a small home, but to her, it was far enough.
Nestling against Long Haochen’s bosom, she pulled down the veil covering her little face, revealing a satisfied expression.
“Toc, toc toc.” The door could be heard being knocked.
“Who’s it!?” Sima Xian shouted out this question loudly.
“Hello, I am looking for Cai’er.” From outside, a gentle and excited; though somewhat muffled, voice was heard.
Hearing this voice, Cai’er who was previously lying down on Long Haochen’s bosom was shaken, slowly opening her both eyes. Wrinkling her eyebrows, from the looks of it, she didn’t like the holder of this voice at all.
Sima Xian opened the door of his room. A single person was waiting outside; it was that mage regiment commander they had seen previously in the conference hall, the Hall Master of the Mage Temple of Exorcist City, Lan Yanyu.
“Hall Master Lan?” After blanking out for a little instant, Sima Xian hastingly paid respect to her.
Lan Yanyu revealed a reluctant smile, inquiring, “Is Cai’er there? I am looking for her.”
Sima Xian nodded before hurriedly opening up a path, replying, “There, please enter.”
“Thank you.” Lan Yanyu entered these living quarters. Standing there, she couldn’t directly see Cai’er. Her path of view was naturally obstructed by the sort of curtains formed with the bedclothes’ cloth, acting as a frame.
“Please return, I am resting right now.” Cai’er’s cold voice was transmitted from the bed. Long Haochen, whose bosom was still pressed against her, could see the blatant hostility that came out from her body, forming a chill in the nearby air.
Lan Yanyu revealed a distressed look, hurrying to her bedside, “Cai’er, mommy just wants to take a little look at you!”
Mommy? Hearing that, the others couldn’t help but look absolutely shocked. This Mage Temple Hall Master of Exorcist City was actually Cai’er’s very own mother!
“There’s no need, you should have already seen me a little earlier, in the conference hall. Please return.” As before, Cai’er’s voice was very cold and severe.
“Cai’er, don’t be like that.” Long Haochen said in a low voice. As a pure boy with filial piety, seeing that Cai’er had a such cold relationship with her own mother, he found it hard to take, and couldn’t help but let this remark slip.
But this careless remark was naturally heard by Lan Yanyu, who was still standing outside. Immediately, her complexion changed greatly. With a stretch of hand, she lifted up the cloth curtains in front of her, happening to see Cai’er, who was leaning on Long Haochen’s body.
“You… You two…” Lan Yanyu was completely stupefied, her eyes immediately brimming with hot anger.
Cai’er sat straight, and coldly asked, “What about us?”
Lan Yanyu spoke out with both alarm and wrath, “How can you act like this? You are still just a kid.” Dense magic ripples immediately burst forth from her, her killing intent immediately locking on Long Haochen.
Cai’er was still only fourteen years-old; when seeing her daughter in the same bed as a man in such circumstances, any other mother wouldn’t be able to bear watching it.
Cai’er’s complexion changed, taking her veil to put it to her face. In a flash, a silhouette went down from the bed, getting in the way of Lan Yanyu. “Who allowed you to meddle in my affairs? This is the army camp and you are not a military officer, you have absolutely no authority, there. Please leave.”
At that moment, Long Haochen had also gone down from the bed, and pulling Cai’er’s hand, said in a low voice, “Cai’er, don’t be like that. Aunty has come specially to see you.”
Lan Yanyu glowered at Long Haochen, “We don’t need you to here to act like a nice guy. You… You dared take advantage from my daughter like that?! I am going to kill you.”
Rapidly, the temperature of the whole room plummeted, and with a lift of Lan Yanyu’s hand, a sharp ice cone flew out, aiming at Long Haochen.
With a flash of black light, dense killing intent instantly bursted forth from Cai’er’s body. Then, the ice cone shattered, turning into ice powder scattering in the air. In Cai’er’s right hand, a dark golden dagger instantly appeared, and in a flash, she arrived before Lan Yanyu. The sharp dagger was directly pointed to Lan Yanyu’s chest, accompanied with a voice that seemed as cold as winter.
“If you dare touch him, I’ll immediately kill you.”
Looking at the very near dark golden dagger, Lan Yanyu could only stare blankly, “Cai’er, I am your mother, you know!?”
Cai’er smiled coldly, “Mother? Where were you at that time, when great-grandfather threw me in that cold cave? In the year of my three years-old, my father and my mother already stopped existing. I have a single dear person, and that’s him. I’ll kill whoever tries to harm him.”
The wrath on Lan Yanyu’s face disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by extreme bitterness, with pale color.
“Cai’er, don’t tell me that in your heart, I am really just a stranger?“
Cai’er coldly spoke, “A stranger? When I was in great danger, despite not knowing me, he sheltered me from danger, protecting me with his own body. Facing an enemy he could not possibly compare to, he still protected me without the slightest hesitation. And he said that he would protect me for a lifetime. As for you? What have you done for me? I am this year fourteen, and in my memories are only training, training, coldness and pain. When I could not budge at all and had to stay lying down for two entire years, where were you? Don’t tell me that you were doing that for the sake of the Alliance, and so on, I don’t understand the ‘righteousness’ of your cause. All I know is that when I wanted to give up on life and part from this world forever, he was the one who recalled to my heart what warmth was, helping me to preserve a last bit of hope. ”
“Leave. Don’t ever show up in my presence again. I have already decided to cut all ties with you.”
Having heard such heartless words, Lan Yanyu stumbled two steps back, tears crazily falling down from her beautiful eyes. Looking at the ice-cold stubborn Cai’er a last time, she violently turned around and dashed out.
Long Haochen could feel that Cai’er’s body was shaking. How could she not be moved emotionally, right now? That person was after all her mother! After having spoken out such heartless words, could she possibly feel good?
Lightly grabbing her soft body, Long Haochen didn’t know what to say, and could only warm her up with his own body.
Cai’er murmured to him, “I will not cry for her sake, I have already cried far enough for her.
I am a parentless child, I am just a parentless child.”
Perhaps the others felt that Cai’er was a bit extreme, but everyone could imagine the kind of feelings she had when she was unable to hear, see, or move, but had to stay conscious for many years. What kind of torment could it be, to say nothing of how young Cai’er was at that time?
Chapter 170
Having said so, she slowly turned around, tightly drawing herself towards Haochen. Her delicate face rested on his bosom; her body was at that moment trembling violently.
Long Haochen held her tightly, feeling extreme pain too. Ever since he learned about Cai’er’s past, he cherished her even more deeply.
Dang… Dang… Dang… Dang… Dang… Dang… Continuous ear- piercing metallic sounds were heard from outside. Immediately, even louder sounds came in, producing tremors of noise.
Han Yu exclaimed, “It’s an army gathering!”
Everyone couldn’t help but look at Long Haochen and Sima Xian suggested, “Captain, vice-captain Cai’er looks like she is a bit unstable. How about you two don’t go?”
“That won’t do!” Long Haochen had a serious look, “I promised commander Zhang that I would obey any order. We are now soldiers; how can we not participate to a march. I will protect Cai’er, let’s go.”
Cai’er also stood straight, grabbing her cane. Her face seemed to regain its calmness after a short time, “I am all right. Let’s go. Go.”
Long Haochen looked down, once again grabbing her hand before lightly putting his hand on her forehand, saying in a low voice, “No matter what and when, you will have me. Even if it is only for my sake, you have to live properly. All I hope for is to see my Cai’er joyful and happy.”
“Yeah.” Cai’er nodded lightly, taking the initiative to grab Long Haochen’s hand.
“Let’s leave.” Long Haochen called out for his comrades before quickly rushing out, still holding Cai’er’s hand.
Outside of the living quarters, a group of soldiers were rushing at high pace, these officers occasionally shouting out.
Standing in a space in front of the living quarters, Zhang Hairong was stationed in front of the living quarters. At this time, he was already clad in martial attire, wearing heavy plate armor over it, and each of his hands holding a battle-ax. With this awe-inspiring appearance, he was looking at these soldiers rushing to him.
Long Haochen hastily led his comrades, running towards Zhang Hairong’s direction, and performing an army salute before him, “Battalion commander, our group of seven soldiers is reporting to you.”
In a situation of war, the current Zhang Hairong didn’t have his previous modest attitude, and said coldly, “Stand in formation behind me, and follow me in attacking the enemy.”
“Yes.” Long Haochen gave his reply, taking his comrades to stand behind Zhang Hairong.
Among the seven of them, some were tall, some were shorter, and above all, three of them were girls who all looked so young, immediately attracting the soldiers’ attention. In particular, the group of soldiers standing ahead of them occasionally cast some curious looks.
Newly formed Demon Hunt Squads coming to Exorcist City to carry out their duty and undergo test was a highly classified secret, not something these low level soldiers could possibly be qualified to know.
Quickly, all soldiers were gathered; although the sky was already dark, the battle formation was still quite neat, done without any rush.
The warriors’ weapons looked plain and simple, all worn out from having been used for a long time. And in addition to their military uniform, they also had leather armor. The officers were all wearing the same generic armor; only Zhang Hairong had a plate armor.
A moment later, the soldiers finished assembling, and Zhang Hairong declared, “Brothers, these days, the attacks of these minor demon soldiers are esp
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” The group of soldier lifted up their weapons, shouting these three words under the astonished look of Long Haochen’s group of seven before immediately departing, heading hurriedly to the border.
Zhang Hairong didn’t say much, but from this scene, it could be clearly seen that he had complete control of these troops. These soldiers were clearly not going to the battlefield for the first time. The majority of them had external spiritual energies of warriors between the first and the second step, but their frantic fighting spirit could immediately be sensed by Long Haochen’s group of seven, accompanied by a bloody aura.
Zhang Hairong led them in the front, carrying a pair of axes, followed by Long Haochen’s group of seven. By now, everyone in the squad remembered the formation perfectly. Long Haochen was at the front, Wang Yuanyuan and Sima Xian on the left and the right side respectively, Han Yu was in the rear. In the center were Cai’er, Chen Ying’er and Lin Xin in his capacity as a mage.
Although Chen Ying’er and Lin Xin were respectively a summoner and a mage, their bodies were enhanced by their spiritual energy, making them no weaker than average warriors between the first and the second step. Thus, no one had any problem keeping up with the others.
Soon, they arrived at the border of Exorcist City under Zhang Hairong’s lead, where they could see this imposing wall up close. Having come to this Exorcist Mountain Range for the first time and seeing these tremendous defenses, Long Haochen inwardly felt astonished; the walls were just too high. And although he couldn’t see from there that these walls were more
than a hundred meters thick, just looking at them, he already had a distinct feeling of thickness.
Ear-splitting shouts, screams, collisions and metallic sounds rang continuously around them. Having finally gotten to the battlefield for the first time, Long Haochen felt a great deal of excitement in the middle of his nervousness.
Quickly, Zhang Hairong had led them in the border of the city.
Carrying his two battle-axes in his left hand, Zhang Hairong asked a soldier they met on their way, “Where is your battalion commander?”
The soldier replied in a loud voice, “He is at the border, resisting the enemy.”
Zhang Hairong laughed out loudly, “Truly courageous! Go and tell your battalion commander that our 1st batallion has arrived to switch with you. Let your brothers have a little rest, and let us handle the lives of these demon soldiers. Brothers of my 1st battalion, follow me!” Saying so, this intrepid man charged with big strides to the front.
In their capacity as soldiers, Long Haochen’s group of seven didn’t dare slack off, following Zhang Hairong forward at his pace. At this time, they were stepping on the battlefield for the first time, but didn’t have the time to observe the surroundings. At the same time, a stunning scene unfolded; the blood within their bodies was boiling crazily.
Outside of the over hundred meter thick walls, a great amount of supplies were stacked up. Accompanying the unceasing yells, blood continuously flowed out at the forefront of the battlefield, and the number of killing shouts increased accordingly.
Zhang Hairong was rushing ahead, when suddenly, a roughly 1.5 meter tall Zelin Dual Bladed Demon arrived, brandishing its two sharp bladed limbs toward one of the soldier defending the city.
Zhang Hairong howled furiously and with thundering sounds, shot up forward using his left foot as support, his pair of axes slashing forward. With a pu sound, that Zelin Dual Bladed Demon broke into pieces.
That soldier who was just saved by him had been soaked in blood since long ago. Turning around to look at Zhang Hairong, he directed a thumbs up to him before swaying his body, sitting on the ground.
“You may go to rest, brothers from the 6th battalion, let us handle the rest of the defense.”, said Zhang Hairong before shouting out loudly, his pair of huge axes in full swing, rushing forward like a meat grinder, jumping up at the approaching demons, swinging while aiming at their heads.
The soldiers of the 1st battalion rapidly headed before the important locations of the city walls, a part of them resisting the enemies, while another part was assisting the 6th battalion in evacuating the wounded. The whole process was performed in a neat and organized fashion.
With specialized medical personnel helping the injured, the front relief took less than twenty breaths to be done.
Zhang Hairong suddenly felt his whole body heating up, his fighting spirit rising and the spiritual energy in his body becoming even fiercer. Bowing his head, he discovered that a white light was rippling on his whole body.
Long Haochen arrived at his side, clad in his entire Holy Spirit Set, his body distributing this white radiance.
It wasn’t only him; all the members of the 1st Demon Hunt Squad had made their preparations for battle.
Standing at Zhang Hairong’s side, Long Haochen looked at the outside of the city. He could see that demons were omnipresent, surrounding it from all sides. And the main part of the enemy forces was made up of Zelin Dual Bladed Demons. A great number of Dual Bladed Demons were unceasingly
trying to climb up above the walls, relying on their sharp arms. The nearby soldiers relied on rocks and flames to do their utmost to defend it.
These demon armies were impossible to count with a single glance; even when a great amount of Dual Bladed Demons were smashed down, these demons still kept attacking. As long as their cores weren’t crushed, they would stand up and keep attacking almost immediately. An intense war was being waged in the outside of the city.
Chopping a Dual Bladed Demon’s head off, Zhang Hairong asked Long Haochen, “You’re a Guardian Knight?”
Long Haochen nodded in confirmation.
Zhang Hairong said, “Regardless of your vocation, follow me in killing the enemy. The more we kill the better it is.”
“Yes.”
Long Haochen turned around to look at his teammates, “Wang Yuanyuan, protect Ying’er. Sima Xian, protect Lin Xin. Han Yu, take care of healing and harmonizing. We have to battle side by side.”
Protecting the city wasn’t all about rushing forward: naturally, they weren’t in position to do that. It was a battle between their troops and the enemy’s.
A smooth golden mist was produced, undulating around Long Haochen. Eight golden symbols were rapidly spread around, enveloping an approximately 20 meter diameter.
Immediately, the golden mist surrounded everyone’s body; it looked a bit like when a knight was using the ability ‘Storing Power’.
This was the first of the Guardian Knight abilities Long Haochen had chosen back in the Alliance’s Treasure Vault, Spiritual Gathering Halo. It consumed his own spiritual energy to increase the recovery rate of his mates’ spiritual energy by 30%.
At this moment, Long Haochen was displaying his formidable support capabilities. Spiritual Gathering Halo plus Holy Spirit Halo, in addition to Guardian’s Favor, were unleashed. These three halo-type abilities instantly strengthened the whole team.
At the same time, he pointed the Holy Spirit Sword forward, tracing ten lines of white light, and the nearby Dual Bladed Demons were instantly shaken, and they fell down.
Having gotten Long Haochen’s assist, Sima Xian shouted out loudly, “KILL–” The staff on his hand was waved just like a dark coiling dragon, and without making use of any ability, his formidable physical power erupted. With each chop of his staff, the head of a Dual Bladed Demon was blown up and turned into mincemeat.
Wang Yuanyuan’s valor was even greater than Sima Xian’s. This girl directly jumped up on the city walls, and waving her Divine Soul Shield, she swept it all around. Rapidly, no other Dual Bladed Demon was left in their direction.
Having just relieved the 6th battalion, Zhang Hairong was still enjoying himself with his two battle-axes. But after the time of a few breaths, he discovered that there was already no more pressure. That although two or three little kittens were occasionally approaching from the front, the enemies on the left and the right had already all been taken care of by Long Haochen’s group. After a little more than twenty seconds, this area was already completely clean.