Westheid and Yolanda had traveled the road from their residence to the Holy Tree Palace countless tis, so they entered the court with practiced ease.
They proceeded to the appointed location, a corner on the outskirts of the Holy Tree Palace. There, a few Yonglan Knights were chatting with a group of court nobles, seemingly bragging about their experiences in the Secret Realm Trial.
This was perfectly normal. For Yonglan Knights, who loved to show off their martial prowess, a day without bragging about their heroic deeds was an unbearable itch—worse than going a day without beating their at.
As Westheid drew closer, he heard Rafati’s voice.
"Fun fact: Duke Qinghui is a fan of Lord Uther."
The surrounding crowd was stunned. "What? Is that true?"
"That can’t be right. Duke Qinghui is the Imperial’s [Branch of Prosperity]. He’s completely unrelated to the Country of Yonglan, so how could he be a fan of a Yonglan Grand Knight?"
Rafati huffed, his eyes wide, and thumped his chest.
"How could it be fake? Duke Qinghui told himself! He said he deeply admires Lord Uther, and that it was by learning from Teacher Uther’s tenacious spirit that he was able to stand against the Demon Dragon during the Trial."
"I believe that anyone who doesn’t learn from Teacher Uther’s character and spirit is dood to live a relatively unsuccessful life."
Listening to Rafati’s fervent declarations, Westheid almost lost his composure.
’So everyone is a fan of your precious Lord Uther now, huh? When did I ever say that?’
’You’ve brought the unhealthy fanaticism of the Country of Yonglan all the way here. With a bunch of Uther-worshippers like you, it’s no wonder the Black Knight’s reputation is hyped to the heavens, yet he can never actually beco the Knight King.’
’If Rafati keeps this up, I’m going to end up as Uther’s number-one, hardcore fan.’
’This is why these Uther fanboys are just... impossible to deal with.’
Westheid almost turned and walked away, but unfortunately, he still needed sothing from Rafati.
So, he had no choice but to brace himself and walk over. Upon seeing Westheid, Rafati waved him down.
"Duke Qinghui! Perfect timing! Co and tell them, is Lord Uther the strongest Yonglan Grand Knight of our ti or not?"
’Fuck, don’t drag into this!’
Westheid found it impossible to answer and could only change the subject abruptly.
"Lord Rafati, lovely weather today. I was just wondering if you brought what I asked for."
Fortunately, the Yonglan Knight with choppy, silver hair didn’t mind Westheid’s evasion. He just shrugged and said:
"Of course."
He then took several thick Magic Tos from his side, placed them on the table, and patted the stack.
"The Yonglan Knight Breathing Technique, ditation Technique, Ritual Knowledge, and Training thods. These make up a fairly complete Knight Path. As long as you strictly follow them, the probability of becoming a Knight Series professional is very high. Of course, you can also modify them a bit. Everyone does, anyway."
Rafati smiled. "Just make sure you credit the original. Don’t be like certain War Knights who just rip us off."
Westheid lightly ran his fingers over the cover of a Magic To. This dium was no simple paper book. A Magic To was a secret manual capable of directly transferring knowledge and experience into a reader’s mind, and it could even be reused.
The Paths created by the Celestial Gods had, over thousands of years of evolution, developed extrely efficient thods of inheritance. As long as one could gather a complete set of Magic Tos, one could create a batch of Knight Professionals from scratch.
Of course, this only got them through the door. Whether they could advance further depended on their own destiny and effort.
"You’ve been a huge help. It must have taken a lot of effort to bring these Magic Tos from the Country of Yonglan. How can I repay you?"
Rafati waved his hand dismissively. "We are fellow admirers of Lord Uther, rely helping each other out. What need is there for repaynt? Besides, Duke Qinghui plans to use the Path of the Knight on the battlefield against Chaos. For that reason alone, any Yonglan Knight would be duty-bound to lend a hand!"
"The Divine Ancestor passed down the Knight Path for the very purpose of resisting Chaos. The Knightly Path has always been open to all beings of the Mortal World, without reservation."
’The Yonglan People are truly open-minded. Even if the Knight Realm has its many flaws, you can’t fault their dedication to fighting Chaos.’
Westheid nodded in satisfaction and gestured for Yolanda to put the Magic Tos away.
"Brother, are you planning to train Transcendents of the Knight Path in the Qinghui Territory?"
Only then did Yolanda realize what Westheid intended to do. The platinum-blonde girl’s lips twitched slightly as she said:
"But our Purity Forest has its own specialized profession. There might be... conflicts with the Knight Path."
Her subtext was clear: this went against the ways of their ancestors.
Westheid scoffed. "The Qinghui Series’ specialized profession? You an the [Glow Gatherer]? How many people can actually master the [River of Qinghui]? If we’re counting on [Glow Gatherers] to fight Chaos, we might as well just surrender now!"
Yolanda was still not convinced. "[Glow Gatherers] are not one bit weaker than Knight Professionals! Besides, the latter is far too aggressive. A profession so reliant on war and slaughter is ill-suited for our role as the [Branch of Prosperity], the [Wall of the Imperial]."
’Here we go again with the hate for the Knight Path. I’ve really had it!’
Westheid turned and launched into a tirade against Yolanda.
"The Knight Path, created by the [Yonglan Riding God], is the one and only perfect combat profession! It has beco one with the battlefield, a seamless and natural art, the very bedrock of fighting against Chaos."
"The Knight Series’ [Rhythm of Battle Intent] provides the ans to wage grueling wars against powerful enemies from Chaos, allowing mortals to fearlessly engage in battles of attrition against the Chaos Hundred Forms."
"The [Knightly Hundred Arts] push the human body to its absolute limit! Its mastery of distance, stamina, and skill is a marvel to behold—it’s the most substantive martial art on the battlefield."
"Its signature ultimate technique, [Annihilation Light Punishnt], created a classic school of combat and ushered in the Golden Age when the Mortal World drove out Chaos."
"You can’t find a single Chaos Battlefield without a follower of the Knight Path! By bad-mouthing the Knight profession, are you trying to sabotage the reclamation campaign?!"
These were Westheid’s heartfelt words.
The Knight Path created by the [Yonglan Riding God] did indeed fuel endless war. If the Qinghui Territory were still the [Branch of Prosperity] guarding the Imperial frontier, an excess of Knights would have no purpose.
But Westheid, who could foresee the coming changes, knew that an endless age of turmoil was approaching.
To secure their footing, they would have to rely on absolute violence, and the Knight Path was the perfect choice.
’As for the inconvenient shortcomings of the Yonglan Knights... well, we’ll just adapt the Path to our local conditions. It’s what everyone does, after all.’
After being thoroughly reprimanded by Westheid, Yolanda lowered her head, silently gathered the Magic Tos, and fell silent.
If they were at ho, in private, Yolanda would have surely used the weight of the Qinghui Clan’s thousand-year history to debate the matter with her brother. But in front of outsiders, she had to maintain the dignity of the Qinghui Patriarch at all tis.
"Duke Qinghui! You really should have been one of the Yonglan People!"
After hearing Westheid’s assessnt of the Knight Path, Rafati excitedly slapped his fist into his palm and exclaid:
"It’s a sha we have to return to our country soon to prepare for the next knightly expedition. Otherwise, I would have loved to go with you."
"Lord Rafati, we appreciate the sentint. However, I have already invited a Yonglan Knight to join us. Mivana will be participating in this reclamation campaign."
"What?"
The knight with choppy, silver hair was no longer smiling. His eyes went wide as he hastily asked:
"Wait, Mivana? Duke Qinghui, you’re not joking, are you?"
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