009 Deep Blue Today Too!! Hope to Check In

Halfway up Mount Thor.

A natural Owl Ant nest.

This was the first Trial Field Yang Haoyu had required.

And the training site that "Brainstorm and Green Hat Throne" Long Xingyu had chosen for Long Xiaogua.

It could not be called similar. It was exactly the damn same.

Long Fan seriously suspected something.

Were the Divine Seal Knights of the Temple all bitten into shape by Owl Ants?

Perhaps, many years later...

Even a half-baked magical beast like the Owl Ants would be able to brag for a lifetime—

You things flying in the sky, running on the ground, swimming in the water—no matter how awesome you are, are you as awesome as me?!

I've bitten tons of Divine Seal Knights!!!

Long Fan moved aside the large stone at the cave entrance.

Inside this nest were thousands upon thousands of fierce Owl Ants.

Although they could not yet be considered proper magical beasts, they were extremely aggressive.

Especially toward intruders. Once they fought as a swarm, they could display power no weaker than ordinary first- or second-rank magical beasts.

He could not use spiritual power.

He had to protect himself with Bamboo Swords.

These were the two simple instructions Yang Haoyu had given him.

Long Fan's expression remained calm.

He jumped straight into the pitch-black cave beneath the large stone.

Only after dropping five or six meters did his feet touch solid ground.

All around him, it was so dark he could not see his hand in front of his face.

And at that very moment—

A few buzzing sounds rang out.

Long Fan only felt as if countless densely packed things had appeared around him, flying toward him from every direction.

Instantly—

Long Fan gripped the pair of Bamboo Swords in his hands and began to swing them.

Knight skills such as Thrust and Charge were not allowed and could not be used.

He could only rely on the most basic techniques—chopping, cleaving, stabbing, and the like—to arm himself.

This was one way to temper willpower and mental strength.

Of course, it could also refine that seemingly lofty sword intent, which in truth still came from the fundamentals.

However, facing an unknown number of frenzied Owl Ants, he was bitten in several places almost as soon as it began.

If not for the powerful body forged by his Outer Spiritual Power...

The intense pain would probably have been unavoidable.

But being bitten by Owl Ants still brought an infuriating itch.

Even so, the Bamboo Swords in Long Fan's hands never grew disorderly.

Although he could not see...

What he had temporarily lost was only his vision.

What he had to do was use his other five senses to perceive everything around him...

As time passed...

The Bamboo Swords in Long Fan's hands began to move with increasing rhythm.

They danced out a defensive sword wind.

Pfft!

Pfft...

Every time, he struck an Owl Ant attacking him from a different angle with perfect timing.

On the dim, damp floor of the nest, a thick layer of corpses had piled up.

From time to time, notifications also sounded in his mind, telling him that Attribute Points had been gained through battle.

Gradually...

He no longer knew how much time had passed.

The buzzing inside the nest began to fade.

Because most of the Owl Ants had been killed by the pair of Bamboo Swords in Long Fan's hands.

And at that very moment, Yang Haoyu's voice rang out again.

"Little Fan, congratulations. You've passed the trial."

Immediately after, the stone ceiling of the cave opened.

A powerful force pulled Long Fan's body upward.

Outside, it was already evening.

"Go home. Eat."

Four simple words.

But to Long Fan, who had been alone for so long, they warmed his heart.

Carrying the Bamboo Swords, he happily trotted after the old man ahead of him back to the little wooden cabin.

Yang Haoyu was like a magician.

All sorts of ingredients appeared on the wooden table in the blink of an eye.

Under Long Fan's gaze, just after he had washed his hands, those foods immediately began to give off curling steam and waves of rich aroma.

Three meat dishes and three vegetable dishes—six dishes that were not especially large.

There was also a basin of fragrant, rich Blue Silver Bullfrog Soup.

Starry Sky Knight, as expected of you!

Gourmet and Rice King Throne—without you, it wouldn't be worth watching.

For this first meal, old and young ate with great relish.

Long Fan was very happi.

Yang Haoyu also wore a pleased expression.

The next day.

Before the sun had even risen, Long Fan had to get up and receive today's training.

Master and disciple walked out of the wooden cabin.

They arrived at the mountaintop.

Yang Haoyu waved his large hand.

"Swords, come!"

Two newly made Bamboo Swords, precisely cut into shape by spiritual power, appeared in his palms.

Holding identical Bamboo Swords, they stood facing each other.

"If you want to protect everything, you must first protect yourself. I'll teach you the Sealing Word Technique now..."

The utterly ordinary Bamboo Sword, in the old man's hand, danced out a dazzling sword light.

Line after line of mnemonic chants, accompanied by the singing of the dancing sword, kept falling into Long Fan's ears.

Long Fan already had the foundation he had previously built under his master Pein.

Very quickly, he grasped this relatively basic sword-form Sealing Word Technique.

Long Fan then began sparring with Yang Haoyu, this profound great swordsman.

Yang Haoyu also held swords in both hands.

"Sword training has officially begun."

Hearing this, Long Fan's expression immediately turned solemn.

His hands tightened around the swords without him realizing it.

Yang Haoyu moved.

His body seemed to have not the slightest bit of weight.

Light as a drifting feather.

With just a flash, the Bamboo Sword in his hand appeared before Long Fan.

Riding the momentum of Charge, he brought his sword down first.

It opened up the offensive.

Although there was no spiritual power contained in the Bamboo Sword, Long Fan still felt a wave of pressure bearing down on him.

The Bamboo Sword in Long Fan's right hand quickly blocked sideways.

Pfft—

He barely blocked the vertical chop.

But Yang Haoyu's other Bamboo Sword had already swept out horizontally.

Seeing this, Long Fan quickly took a step back.

At the same time, the Wooden Sword in his left hand flicked upward.

With a clang, he knocked aside the Bamboo Sword's attack.

But in the next instant, Yang Haoyu suddenly sped up his assault.

Countless bamboo shadows, like mercury spilling across the ground, had already appeared all around Long Fan.

They stabbed at him from every direction.

And the pair of Bamboo Swords in Long Fan's hands danced back and forth.

At first, he still handled it with ease.

But as it progressed from shallow to deep, from easy to difficult, skills were even added on later.

A faint white glow covered the Bamboo Swords.

It was unmistakably Pure White Blade.

Long Fan seemed a little overwhelmed by this situation.

Every now and then, he would be stabbed.

A continuous string of Bamboo Sword impacts rang out without end.

There were also the occasional pfft-pfft sounds of Bamboo Swords striking flesh.

This was much fiercer than being bitten by Owl Ants.

Long Fan's body ached from the blows.

Fortunately, the skill attribute points Ding Ding generated and Xiao Xu's Free Attribute Points helped a great deal.

Long Fan fought as he went.

From time to time, he would Deep Blue a few skills.

His progress was actually rapid.

Yang Haoyu would deliberately control his spiritual power level and the grade of his sword moves.

It was equivalent to an automatically adjusting sparring partner.

After hardship came reward.

Fighting against a strong opponent produced relatively more attribute points, and of better quality too.

In just one morning, he maxed out all his second-tier knight skills.

Noon.

Home, food.

Afternoon.

They continued sparring.

However, Long Fan was handling it much better now.

He could even occasionally counter with a few Charge + Thrust or Pure White Blade attacks.

However, the coach on automatic difficulty began raising it by another tier again.

Yang Haoyu lowered his body slightly, and the sword in his right hand lifted upward once more.

The sword in his left hand stabbed forward like lightning.

Lightning Thrust, a third-tier skill!

Ding!

The rounded, blunt tip of the Bamboo Sword caught Long Fan off guard and stabbed into his chest.

He fell back onto the ground.

At once, he sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

Fortunately, he had just gained Attribute Points for the Lightning Thrust skill.

With a thought—

Deep Blue, add points!

Lightning Thrust (Tier Three: 1/500)

At the same time—

He sprang to his feet.

"Again!"