Chapter 469
Chapter 469 - 449: The Most Valuable Legacy
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10 min read
Schlei Domain, in the grand scheme of Valastalod world, was probably considered a rustic place.
As the captain of a semi-civilian armed knight corps to a rural area, Catherine was outstanding for her age... but that’s about it.
On the way back to the camp, she was as pale as a ghost, almost falling over numerous times due to her distractibility.
Her condition was so appalling that Knight Ben couldn’t ignore it, so he scolded her a few times.
"Who told her?" Lu Ping’an realized she might know more than he had anticipated.
In his small team, Lu Ping’an asked casually, but no one engaged him.
𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
So, Lu Ping’an rephrased his question.
"Who has been getting along fairly well with her these past few days, chatting a lot?"
All eyes turned to the pointy-tailed cat, Meow, who was pretending nothing had happened.
"Meow? Why are you looking at me?"
Meow lifted her head with an innocent look, but it was clear she wasn’t pulling off her charade.
Hearing this, Lu Ping’an walked over and rubbed Meow’s head rather forcefully... Meow could only teary-eyed, put on a pitiful face, she felt guilty indeed, she recalled, no wonder the female knight brought so many treats for her...
"Well done. Keep up the communication with her from now on, talk about anything."
"Huh? Then why did you rub my head meow!"
"Isn’t it your reward? I see you quite enjoying it, not resisting at all..."
Grabbing the claw that Meow swung at him, he then went on to rub her round face, which instantly boosted his mood.
"...Quit messing around. I’m being serious. As long as she’s asking, you can tell her everything. The truth, something reliable... uh, this seems a bit redundant since you can’t lie. Just maintain your naive image."
"You’re the naive one meow! I’m a mature, sexy lady!"
"Sexy... haha, I am trained not to laugh unless I can’t hold it in. Hahahaha."
After playing with Meow, Lu Ping’an let her go, signaling her to chat more with the female knight whenever she has time... The path of the Otherworldly Warrioress is a bit stiff, a bit difficult for the knight.
The Child of the World, or Son of Destiny, actually has many ways to go about it. Given the same resources, they produce totally different yields for a genius and a dullard... If you have divine artifacts or outlying bloodlines, you can benefit even more at this time.
Catherine is just an average Salin hybrid, her likelihood of winning the draw isn’t high, but if she really wins, it’ll be a windfall.
During the resting time at the camp, Guan Xinxian also took the initiative to look for Knight Ben to chat about their respective homelands... .This knight is really exceptional, more importantly, he has decades of real battle experience and cultivation accumulation.
"Oh, your battle tactics are truly interesting. You actively create specific functional sealing tags, right? So, where does the ’contamination’ within the seal come from..."
This behavior, under normal circumstances, would have crossed a boundary. However, since the lord commanded it, the old knight didn’t decline and selectively discussed his knowledge.
"...The spirits sealed in our weapons are the ’seeds’ split from our spiritual power. During training, we foster these from a young age and match them with appropriate sealing weapons..."
In this world, over 80% of supernatural powers are related to sealing skills, but they aren’t limited to them.
These armed knights, their standard armors serve merely as "shells". The truly valuable thing is the carefully nurtured spirits inside... This has a bit of the flavor of a Beast Tamer. A specialist who cultivates "sealed spirits".
For every professional knight, from the composition and structure of the sealing objects, to the training of matching weapons, to the adjustment of their own basic abilities, each aspect embodies technological accumulation, corporate secrets, and "local specialty". For instance...
"Our region is close to the Ashen Forest. There’s a type of hundred-year-old fir tree here that’s perfectly suited for creating spirit totems. Our shields, sword handles are all made of it, so our ’turtle spirits’ are somewhat stronger than those in other areas. A standard Guardian Knight needs to be cultivated from a young age. By adulthood, they should be able to use two sealing items. Around peak performance levels at their 40s, the standard is five sealing items..."
At this moment, the way Lu Ping’an sees these "sealed items" was not simply as equipment.
".....Broken? As long as the spirit hasn’t faded away, you can substitute it with another object for it to dwell in. However, substantial damage is unavoidable, and it often takes several years to recover from the loss."
In a sense, the "Sealed Ones" within sealed weapons were his "spiritual clones", controllable avatars that he cultivated.
On the other hand, Catherine and other Sanctuary Knights, although all being "Knights", took a completely different path.
"We need to ignite the Holy Fire within ourselves. There’s approximately a fifty percent chance of dying on the spot. Only those blessed by the gods would be able to master the Purifying Flames. Then, using our own bodies as sealed objects, we cultivate the ’fire seed’ within us. The process is incredibly tormenting. Seventy percent of people give up halfway. To eternally seal the extracted Holy Fire, one must periodically undergo ’ice healing’. Only one or two out of ten manage to make it through, and the process is excruciatingly painful."
As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeve to show Lu Ping’an’s group the golden flame "tattoo" on her arm... along with numerous burn scars.
Ordinary Sealing Knights cultivate the "Spirit" outside their bodies (in sealed objects), while Holy Fire Knights "burn fire" within their bodies. The pressure they bear isn’t on the same level. Evidently, she must be frequently subjected to an internal roasting akin to purgatory.
"Moreover, because of the presence of the ’Purifying Flame’ within, it’s impossible to cultivate any other powers. If you try to forcibly merge them, you’ll burn to death from inside out...hehe, even if you cultivate obediently, every year there are numerous knights in the Sanctuary who die by self-immolation."
Catherine’s forthrightness greatly shocked Ben and the others. This "dark side of the church", although everyone had vaguely heard about it, it wasn’t something that devout believers and Sanctuary Knights would talk about to outsiders.
Lu Ping’an nodded thoughtfully. The Holy Fire Knights were quite interesting. In this respect, their abilities were more akin to the rare Elemental system.
Throughout the journey, Lu Ping’an’s group had been diligently replicating the abilities, techniques, and knowledge of others. The more they understood, the more they realized its profoundness....So, instead of scrambling for bits of knowledge like others, Lu Ping’an decided he might select to bring along those who "possessed knowledge".
Lu Ping’an noticed that most of the Guardian Knights who followed them had four to five pieces of equipment. The most common being "Shield", "Sword", "Bow and Arrow", "Spear".
In the knights’ terminology, they respectively hosted ’Turtle Spirit’, ’Tiger Spirit’, ’Bird Spirit’, ’Snake Spirit’...How to cultivate spirits is an incredibly profound knowledge. The gap between the upper and lower limits was immense. The local rural knights were only able to use common goods, relying on their surroundings for the Ancient Trees used as dwellings.
Spiritual Knights, or so-called "Sealing Weapon Warriors", were the most common battle-professions in this world. However, even though they were common, they were not weak. The growth potential of the "spirit" that grew together with the tamers was virtually unlimited.
The setup of Holy Fire Knights was even simpler. High-level knights like Catherine (approximately a third-tier) only had a sword and a necklace (Holy Image).
The former was a "flamethrower", and the latter, a "fire extinguisher".... The Holy Image that the female knight always touched and prayed was a connection to the divine network and was used to seal her own flames.
Holy Fire Knights and ordinary spiritual knights were completely different, the latter grew together with the sealed objects, weak in the early stage and strong in the later stages, had a stable growth curve. But since the bodies of Holy Fire Knights were the sealed objects, successful appointment started them off as mid-tier Knights..... The Purifying Flame that burns everything, was extraordinarily powerful.
If you go even higher, there are branches like Radiant Knight Commanders who control sea of fire and burn everything, or Thunder Knight Commanders specialized in slashing techniques and Thunder Flame Martial Arts. It is said that there are even higher-level ’Archangels’.
This is just one of the powerful professional branches of the Yang Flame Church, which is subordinate to the Sun God...considering the legacy of the seven major Gods in this world and their inheritance, and perhaps hundreds or even thousands of inheritance from Evil Gods, what a fortune this is.
"Unfortunately, the Sun God ran away....."
Some things, once lost are too late to cherish. Without the existence of the Sun God, mass-production of the Purifying Flame imbued with the Power of Life probably wouldn’t be possible.
"Hehe, you’ve thought of this. Wouldn’t your kind think of it? Most likely, they would create a Sun God. What they might be fighting over now could be the legacy of the previous Sun God."
The big cat was actually quite envious. Who wouldn’t like the purifying flame imbued with the Power of Life? However, when Lu Ping’an tried it...his skin burned faster than anyone’s, he couldn’t even stand the flame being close to him.
"Damn it, I’m screwed."
At that moment, Lu Ping’an actually felt numb. He had transformed into a non-human in a sense, specifically a wood-based one, naturally being completely countered by the purifying flame.
But Lu Ping’an did not miss the chance to strike it rich. This was a power system outside of the "professional system", and this was its hometown... it meant that everyone could have an extra share, even a seed could potentially become a sky-supporting power in the future.
But this place is after all a rural area, with relatively few inheritances. Apart from the Sanctuary’s Holy Fire, they were all common goods..... What Catherine studied and mastered were also the common goods in the Sanctuary.
The Purifying Flames that Lu Ping’an was most envious of seemed to be beyond his reach. While the others were not interested in internal roasting, the big cat reminded him.
"Are you stupid? When has our Life system ever needed to control dangerous powers directly? Are you cultivating magic plants and magical beasts for viewing?"
— End of Chapter 469 —