Shengyue Arrives, Long Xingyu Confronts Him, All Because of Cai'er!

At Ye Ling's words, a smile flashed across Long Haochen's little face as well. He steadied himself. The pill Long Xingyu had given him had swept away all his exhaustion!

Good stuff!

"That's good." Long Haochen nodded. "As long as I passed."

"I hope that next time, I can successfully forge metal with over ninety percent purity. Then, according to what you described, Brother Ye, could I begin the next stage of Thousand-Temper and make the metal start to transform?" Long Haochen asked curiously.

"More or less. But if you want to complete Thousand-Temper, metal with merely ninety percent purity will make it very difficult. Or rather, it can't be done at the Knight Squire or Crescent Knight stage. You need to become a true knight and gain proficient control over your Inner Spiritual Power before you have a chance."

"Though forging is closely tied to strength—External Spiritual Power—the further you go, the greater the demands it places on your Inner Spiritual Power. So in the future, you should still focus on cultivating Inner Spiritual Power. Don't throw yourself entirely into External Spiritual Power just to improve your Forging Skill."

That was what Ye Ling said.

However, he seemed to have misunderstood quite a few things.

"Brother Ye, I haven't awakened my Innate Internal Spiritual Power and become a knight yet. I asked Teacher Xingyu before, and he told me to wait until I became a Crescent Knight before awakening it. Right now, I should still have a long way to go before reaching Crescent Knight," Long Haochen said.

Well, without being tested, he could only feel himself growing stronger bit by bit. He had no idea that he had already crossed into the realm of a Crescent Knight.

Still, it was no big deal. Holding him back a little was fine too.

For a genius like Long Haochen, waiting until he had two hundred points of External Spiritual Power before awakening would indeed be twice the effort for half the result.

More precisely, one hundred to one hundred and fifty points was the range most suited to them, the best time to awaken Innate Internal Spiritual Power.

According to Ye Ling's estimates, in another five months, after they returned, Long Haochen should be around one hundred and fifty. So there was no harm in enduring for now.

And during that time, Long Haochen could first stabilize the basics of his forging as much as possible. That was the important thing.

With that in mind, Ye Ling took out some more Pig Iron and handed it to Long Haochen, letting him begin forging on his own.

Forging could also increase External Spiritual Power.

So it could be fully incorporated into his current foundational training.

Seeing this, Long Haochen did not think much of it. He simply accepted Ye Ling's Pig Iron, exchanged a few words with Long Xingyu, and immediately began forging.

After cultivating where he stood for a while, Ye Ling left and headed down the mountain.

He had already cultivated for half a year in one go!

Even an iron man could not cultivate for that long at a stretch and keep going without taking a walk, could he?

So he left the place and made his way down the mountain.

Long Xingyu saw this, but he had no particular thoughts about it and no intention of stopping him. For a genius like Ye Ling, if he wished, he could head to the Holy City right now—the headquarters of the Knight Temple.

If he displayed his talent, Yang Haohan would surely choose to nurture him well, perhaps even granting him treatment surpassing that of his own grandson, Yang Wenzhao.

And if he showed off his unique forging methods...

What a joke. Forget the Knight Temple—even the other five Holy Temples would try to poach him.

It could be said that as long as Ye Ling dared reveal even the slightest secret about himself, countless forces, including the Six Great Temples, would seek to recruit him. Even Holy Temples whose attributes conflicted with his, such as the Assassin Temple, would choose to alter his attribute and bring him into their own temple.

But Long Xingyu did not take that matter too seriously. The question Ye Ling had asked him before was deeply etched in his mind.

That question concerning where he belonged and whether he would stay.

So Long Xingyu was not worried at all.

Besides, at present, the number of people who knew about Ye Ling's talents could probably be counted on one hand. How could it possibly leak out so easily?

Just as Long Xingyu was thinking this, his eyes suddenly widened as he looked ahead.

He saw him.

A white-haired old man clad in purple assassin robes was pacing about below, his expression anxious, as though he were waiting for something.

And Long Xingyu happened to know him.

"The Assassin Temple Master? Shengyue?"

"Why would he come here? And why did he arrive just as Ye Ling was leaving?"

"Could he have learned of Ye Ling's talent long ago? Did he specifically wait for Ye Ling to leave, betting that I wouldn't notice in time, so he could take him away?"

Long Xingyu muttered.

Long Xingyu had not had much contact with Shengyue. They could only be said to know each other, after all, Shengyue was one of the outstanding assassins of his father Long Tianyin's generation.

Still, even though he did not know him well, Long Xingyu knew that Shengyue was not the sort of person who would forcibly abduct someone, was he?

So he planned to go over and see for himself.

"Haochen, I'm leaving for a few minutes. I'll be right back," Long Xingyu said to Long Haochen.

"Alright, Teacher Xingyu." Long Haochen nodded.

When Shengyue appeared before Ye Ling, the anxiety on his face immediately gave way to a flicker of delight.

That brat really is here. Shengyue rejoiced inwardly. Without explaining anything, he waved his hand and moved to take Ye Ling directly away.

Mm.

He really did look like a human trafficker taking someone away!

Although Ye Ling knew Shengyue would not harm him, he had no intention of being captured for no reason. He hurriedly activated his Second Martial Soul, the Space-Time Dragon. While using Time-Space Shuttle, he was confident that he could call Long Xingyu over before his spiritual power was exhausted.

But that was unnecessary.

Because Long Xingyu had noticed him long ago.

"Senior Shengyue, as far as I recall, the Assassin Temple and the Knight Temple have always enjoyed a good relationship. Even if the Knight Temple produces a genius, surely you would not wish to take that genius away and poach him from the Knight Temple?" Long Xingyu's voice boomed.

It was deafening.

Very soon, an Epic Grade precious sword descended from above and plunged into the ground between them, blocking Shengyue's path. Long Xingyu slowly stepped out as well, his expression indifferent as he looked at Shengyue before him.

"Senior Shengyue, aren't you afraid that this will cause conflict between the Assassin Temple and the Knight Temple?" Grasping the Epic Precious Sword, Long Xingyu spoke sternly. Ye Ling could be said to be one of their hopes for the future!

If Ye Ling was willing, Long Xingyu would not say much and would let him leave. After all, they would all fight for humanity in the future!

But if Ye Ling was unwilling, Long Xingyu would keep him here!

"Long Xingyu?" Shengyue was startled. He was somewhat bewildered, but after considering what he had just done, he seemed to understand something. "Xingyu, you misunderstand. I have no intention of forcibly poaching someone from the Knight Temple!"

As soon as Shengyue said this, he suddenly froze. He had never intended to poach anyone in the first place!

"Then how do you explain this?" Long Xingyu remained indifferent. He believed Shengyue was merely stalling for time. A battle would likely follow.

Facing another Ninth Rank powerhouse, even if Shengyue was weaker than him, he would still use the Throne of Judgment to end things quickly.

"There is an extremely important matter that requires Ye Ling," Shengyue said.

"Poaching someone? That is indeed very important!" Long Xingyu nodded in agreement.

Hearing this, Shengyue was dumbfounded. What are you imagining?

Ye Ling seemed to think of something and suddenly realized what was going on. "Is it because of Cai'er?"

Upon hearing this, Shengyue nodded and shouted, "Yes, it's because of Cai'er!"