With beautiful visions of the Future in his heart, Velin lay on his bed and soon fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Velin gathered his men and prepared to sneak down to the bottom of Lake of Praying Stars, find the cave, and harvest the Life Flowers.
"My lord, why not let this subordinate go down first and scout the situation?" Belder hesitated before offering his advice.
"No need. I know what I'm doing."
As soon as he finished speaking, Velin took off his clothes, clenched a Short Sword between his teeth, and jumped into the lake.
Orlando and Hebrew followed close behind, diving into the lake and following their lord down to its depths.
Sunlight passed through the lake's surface, bringing faint glimmers of light to the bottom and allowing the three men to barely make out their surroundings.
After searching for some time, Velin discovered a hidden cave whose entrance was blocked by a massive boulder.
Seeing Velin's hand signal, Orlando swam over to the boulder and, exerting all his strength, shoved it aside.
With the boulder no longer blocking the way, the three of them swam inside without hesitation.
After traveling more than a hundred meters, Velin emerged from the water and entered the interior of the cave, staring around him in shock.
Hundreds upon thousands of Seven-Colored Life Flowers bloomed in dazzling competition, covering a cave spanning more than a hundred square meters. A faint purple glow filled the entire space, making everything seem mysterious.
"We've struck it rich."
Velin climbed out of the water, feeling a trace of chill in the air. His eyes were filled with Seven-Colored Life Flowers.
Orlando and Hebrew tacitly stood behind Velin, curiously observing the flowers glowing with seven colors, unaware of what strange effects they possessed.
Then, Velin made his way to a Seven-Colored Life Flower with seven fully bloomed petals. He carefully dug into the soil and, following the harvesting method described in the book, extracted the entire plant intact.
"Bring the box over."
At his words, Orlando removed the box from his waist, walked over to Velin, and opened it.
Velin moved with great care as he placed the intact Seven-Colored Life Flower into the box.
According to the records in the books, seven blooming petals accompanied by a faint seven-colored glow signified that a Seven-Colored Life Flower had matured.
For the next stretch of time, Velin led the two men through the cave, harvesting mature Seven-Colored Life Flowers.
Throughout the entire process, they were cautious to the extreme.
The immature Seven-Colored Life Flowers needed protection, lest their clumsy movements damage these precious magical plants.
Four hours later, all the mature Seven-Colored Life Flowers in the cave had been collected. There were twenty-three in total, preserved in exquisite waterproof boxes.
During this process, Velin also took stock and recorded the number of Seven-Colored Life Flowers in the cave.
There were thirty-one with seven petals but no seven-colored glow, fifty-seven with six petals, one hundred and seventy-six with five petals, and four hundred and twenty-five with four petals or fewer.
"We can come back and harvest them again in two years."
Velin silently noted the time before leading Orlando and Hebrew back the way they had come.
Since he did not know how to cultivate them, Velin could only let the Seven-Colored Life Flowers continue growing here. He would not alter the environment, lest it affect their growth.
Belder, who had been waiting on the shore, paced back and forth anxiously, glancing at the calm lake surface from time to time.
The next moment, when he saw his lord emerge safely, the heart he had been holding in his throat finally settled. He stepped forward and handed Velin a towel. "My lord, please dry yourself."
"Belder." Velin accepted the towel and wiped himself down as he replied with a smile, "Tomorrow morning, I'll hold a meeting. Notify all the knights to attend."
"Yes, my lord."
Afterward, Velin got dressed, took the box from Orlando, and returned to his room.
After closing the door, Velin took a Seven-Colored Life Flower from the box, lightly cleaned the roots to remove the soil, and swallowed it whole.
Moments later, a strange energy erupted from his stomach and spread throughout his body.
In an instant, Velin felt as though he had returned to his mother's embrace. Everything was so warm and comfortable.
He did not know how long had passed, but when he opened his eyes again, he was astonished to discover that he had easily crossed the barrier from Bronze to Silver, becoming a Silver Low-Tier knight.
"How terrifying. No wonder this thing was worthy of the Temple of Life lowering itself to 'advertise' it in the introduction to the Seven-Colored Life Flower."
At that moment, Velin felt better than ever before. The strain he had once felt during cultivation had completely vanished.
In the past, given his talent, even if he gave it everything he had, his limit would only have been around Low-Gold.
Now, he felt that the road ahead was wide open. Below the legendary realm, there were no barriers left for him.
As for becoming legendary, Velin still lacked confidence. Even with Guidance of Fate, it could not guarantee that he would become a legendary powerhouse.
The reason was that advancing from Soul Intent to legendary required something called the world's favor. In other words, one had to contribute to the world to obtain a path to advancement; otherwise, one could only stop there.
There were many ways to gain the world's favor: resisting demonic invasions, killing invaders from a Different World, purifying heinous necromancers, and so on.
Then, judging by his own nature, wasn't he an invader from a Different World? Did that mean he had to kill himself?
"Forget it. I'll focus on cultivating first, become a Soul Intent grade powerhouse, and worry about the rest later."
Velin then rose from the floor and checked the time. Staring at the hourglass on his desk, he could hardly believe it.
"Twelve hours. At least twelve hours have passed."
The next moment, he looked out the window. The sky was hazy, clearly indicating that dawn had just broken.
"In other words, swallowing the Seven-Colored Life Flower actually took me twenty hours."
Knock, knock, knock.
There was a knock at the door. Facing the entrance, Velin calmly said, "Come in."
Belder, who had been standing outside, pushed the door open and entered. He struck his chest in salute and respectfully said, "My lord, everyone has assembled and is awaiting your meeting."
"Mm."
Velin picked up the box and headed to the meeting room with Belder.
The moment he entered the meeting room, everyone stood and saluted.
Seeing Orlando and Hebrew seated in the second and sixth positions respectively, Velin nodded in satisfaction.
The seating order in the meeting room had always been decided among themselves. He had never forcibly interfered.
Those with ability rose; those without fell.
The fact that the two of them could sit there showed that they had earned everyone else's unanimous recognition.
"You fourteen are all people I trust. You are Guardian Knights who swore loyalty to me under the witness of the Goddess of Life. Our fates are bound together; we rise together and fall together. Over the past six months, your actions have proven your loyalty to me."
Upon hearing this, the fourteen of them straightened their backs and calmly accepted their lord's praise.
"Therefore, I will spare no expense in cultivating you."
As soon as Velin finished speaking, he opened the wooden box, revealing the twenty-two Seven-Colored Life Flowers inside, each one blooming with seven-colored light.
If you think this book is good, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't have trouble finding it next time.
At the request of many readers, the VIP member ad-free function is now available.
Click to view
Before you continue