The Country of Yonglan is a nation ruled by Knights. The title of Knight represents a path, a profession, an identity, and moreover, a social class.
Knights are already considered elites, and Knight Lords are the elite of the elite!
Compared to the Radiant Holy Tree Empire, the system in the Country of Yonglan was a complete ss. The Empire, at least, had a central authority. No matter how autonomous local nobles were in their own territories, they still had to align with the Imperial Capital and the Royal Family, obeying the central governnt’s directives.
However, the Country of Yonglan was completely different. Things were manageable when a Knight King was present, but if the throne was vacant, the country was jointly ruled by a group of Knight Lords. In their own territory, each Lord wielded power equivalent to the Branch of Prosperity.
Even though Knights were as common as blades of grass in the Country of Yonglan, Knight Lords were few and far between. Each one was a Yonglan Knight of at least Hero Tier, or even Legend Tier.
"Viona is a Grand Knight. It’s normal for her to have a territory, right?"
Mivana replied matter-of-factly, "It’s just that my teacher never cared for power and influence before. She never used her status as a Grand Knight to claim a territory. It was only after taking as her disciple that she claid my holand as her Knight Territory... No, it can’t be called a Knight Territory just yet."
"Because in the eyes of the Yonglan People, land that hasn’t been thoroughly purified isn’t worthy of being called a Knight Territory. Is that right?"
Westheid understood the situation. A Knight Territory in the Country of Yonglan had to et the requirent of being "thoroughly purified." Otherwise, it could only be considered a Preparatory Knight Territory.
And Mivana’s holand... that was the ultimate crucible, polluted by the Chaos Source God, a place where a knightly expedition had t a bitter end.
The Wolf-eared Maiden tucked back her lustrous, violet-black hair and shook her head. "The Chaos Corruption is one reason. Another is that, in the eyes of most Yonglan People, my kinsn are not considered official subjects."
Beastn... ’That’s a whole other can of worms,’ Westheid thought, his mind turning to the origin of the Beastn.
Although the world of the Poem of Destiny was filled with a flourishing variety of mortal subspecies—humans, Elves, Giant Dragons, the Celestial Vault People, and more—the maidens with their cute animal ears and tails were not a native race.
The Beastn were the product of "forbidden experints" conducted by the Grand Mage, Helennandi.
This Grand Mage, who had once wreaked havoc across the nations of the Mortal World, even surpassed the limits of the Legend Tier to beco one of the rare Transcenders. He founded his own kingdom and enjoyed a period of great prominence.
Helennandi had almost everything: wealth, power, influence, status, fa... Yet he remained unsatisfied, aspiring to ascend to the supre state of godhood.
Thus, to achieve a "feat that would astound the world," he chose a unique path and achieved truly remarkable results.
He modified human beings, creating a brand-new species.
A great enterprise it was, and it certainly shocked the world.
The entire Mortal World was first stunned, then enraged. Even the Celestial Gods, who rarely intervened, handed down a judgnt.
And so, Helennandi was "attended to" by several great Realms of Order in succession—no small honor. Even as a Transcender beyond the Legend Tier, he couldn’t withstand such pressure and was utterly crushed.
His body was destroyed, his path erased, his kingdom shattered, and his family annihilated.
Judging the sinner behind the forbidden experints was the easy part. But Helennandi had already caused the Beastman population to flourish during his lifeti. What was to be done with these experintal creations, who were reproductively isolated from humans but otherwise shared their appearance and their capacity for joy and sorrow?
In the end, the all-rciful Celestial Gods had hearts of pity and compassion and did not resort to genocide. Since the Beastn had been brought into existence, so be it; they were to be treated as just another ordinary subspecies.
However, no matter the nation—not even in a place like the Imperial lands, known for being "welcoming" to outsiders—the Beastn could never beco part of mainstream society.
They were forever in a state of barely hanging on, destined to beco either playthings for the powerful or stateless wanderers on the fringes of society.
"Because our very Origin is taboo, our existence itself is considered a defilent. Helennandi created the Beastn to be living weapons, and that is the original sin we are born to bear... Back in my holand, my compatriots are also afflicted by the Chaos Erosion. Even though we are just struggling to survive, in the eyes of the Yonglan People, it just makes us doubly guilty."
"After we were driven out, that land would probably have remained a Preparatory Knight Territory forever. I once thought that might be for the best. After all, without a Lord or nobles to rule them, at least my people wouldn’t have to bear heavy taxes. But looking back now, I realize I was just running away."
Mivana lowered her gaze, reflecting on her past as she spoke:
"I was running from my responsibilities, ashad of my identity, and terrified of my own bloodline. I left my ho, deceiving myself by calling it ’traveling’ when in reality, I was just a vagrant."
Seeing the Wolf-eared Maiden radiating a brilliant, newfound vitality from within, Westheid couldn’t help but smile.
"So, you’re confident now?"
A slight smile graced the Lady Knight’s lips as she nodded.
"Mhm. It’s because I’ve made progress on my Knight Path. And it’s all thanks to you, Teacher West. You’re the one who helped achieve a breakthrough on the Path of the Knight."
"...That’s good to hear. I was just doing what I should."
Looking at Mivana’s expression, Westheid was tempted to ask exactly how he had helped her achieve a breakthrough on her path as a Yonglan Knight.
It was common knowledge that only thrilling combat could advance the Path of the Knight.
But "combat" didn’t necessarily an charging into battle to slay foes. Any struggle against a powerful opponent would suffice; the key was to enjoy the process.
Westheid recalled that Mivana had been extrely calm during her life-or-death battle with the Chaos Hundred Forms; she hadn’t shown any signs of enjoynt.
’Her "bouts" with , on the other hand, had been... uh...’
But Westheid held his tongue. In the end, he simply waved a hand, signaling for Yolanda to grant the Lady Knight’s request.
Mivana wanted to study what it ant to be a Lord. Such a small matter was of no concern to him, of course, though he doubted learning such things would be of any use to the Wolf-eared Maiden.
In the Country of Yonglan, any kind of scheming or technical skill was just flashy, useless nonsense.
Power was the only thing that made a king.
After Mivana and Yolanda left, Westheid returned to his room and, for a mont, found himself with nothing to do.
’Perhaps it’s ti to pay another visit.’
Sitting on his bed, Westheid looked at Shadow-Born, which lay beside his hand.
This signature weapon housed the Secret Realm of the Master of Extinction. After his conversation with the Celestial Vault People, Westheid had a deeper understanding of this Great Demon.
His suspicions were most likely correct, but he needed to be certain.
So Westheid gripped Shadow-Born, relaxed his spirit, and imrsed himself in the Demon Secret Realm.
VMMMM—
Accompanied by a profound, lingering sense of weightlessness and a ringing in his ears, Westheid arrived once again in the ruin-like Imaginary Space.
This ti, however, he appeared directly before the Master of Extinction, sparing him the long journey from before.
The Master of Extinction looked at the newcor to the Imaginary Space and, as if replicating the gesture from their first eting, slowly extended a hand.
"My love... co a little closer."
Westheid looked at the Celestial God’s Shadow, who sat upon a brass throne surrounded by candlelight. He took a deep breath and got straight to the point.
"Are you the shadow of the Venerable Master of the Azure Heaven?"
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