Quasi-Knight Assessment (I)

"Yes." The two young knights did not dare offer the slightest objection and respectfully agreed.

The girl held out her right hand to Long Haochen. "Little brother, my name is Li Xin. Come on, I'll take you to see Uncle Nalan."

Long Haochen was overjoyed. Taking Li Xin's hand, he said, "Thank you, Sister. My name is Long Haochen."

Li Xin's palm was slender and strong, though the skin was noticeably rough—clearly the result of frequently practicing swordsmanship. Yet Long Haochen's hand felt entirely different in her grasp. His hand was also very slender for his age, but Li Xin found it soft and exceptionally pleasant to hold.

The moment he entered the Haoyue Branch Temple, Long Haochen first felt an ancient, majestic aura rushing toward him. Blue-gray stone slabs covered the floor, while twelve enormous stone pillars on either side supported the entire hall. At the very front stood six massive stone chairs, each over ten feet tall, carved with countless patterns Long Haochen had never seen before.

"Sister, what are those?" Long Haochen asked curiously, pointing at the six stone chairs.

Li Xin's expression immediately turned solemn. "Those are the Divine Seal Thrones, symbols of the highest glory of our Knight Temple. Only Divine Seal Knights may possess one of them. Little brother, do you know what a Divine Seal Knight is? They are the highest rank among us knights, a ninth-tier profession. Every Divine Seal Knight is a legendary existence. It is said that each of them has the strength to challenge alone the Demon Gods ranked among the top ten of the Seventy-Two Pillars."

This was the first time Long Haochen had heard the title Divine Seal Knight. Xingyu had never told him anything about Divine Seal Knights.

"Sister, just how powerful are Divine Seal Knights? Why are they called Divine Seal Knights?"

Li Xin said, "Precisely because they possess a Divine Seal Throne and have received its recognition, they can become Divine Seal Knights! Don't think they're merely chairs. Every Divine Seal Throne is a true divine artifact, bearing an imprint left behind by the gods. My goal is to become a Divine Seal Knight someday."

Long Haochen asked in confusion, "But there are only six Divine Seal Thrones. What if there aren't enough?"

Li Xin giggled. "Silly boy, how could it be that easy? What do you think Divine Seal Knights are? Let me put it this way: our Knight Temple currently has only three Divine Seal Knights. Becoming one is simply far, far too difficult."

As she spoke, Li Xin led Long Haochen up to the second floor. From the outside, the Haoyue Branch Temple looked very tall, but every floor inside was extremely high, so there were only three floors in total.

The two entered a spacious room on the second floor. Li Xin said, "This is where Uncle Nalan works. It's still a little early, so he hasn't come to the branch temple yet. But he should be here soon."

As she spoke, Li Xin lowered her voice and leaned close to Long Haochen's ear with a mysterious look. "Long Haochen, should I call you little brother? Or little sister?"

"Huh?" Long Haochen jumped in fright and looked at her without understanding.

Li Xin grinned. "Stop pretending. Back then, I disguised myself as a man and ran away from home to sneak into the Knight Temple. Otherwise, they wouldn't have accepted us girls so easily. You're like your sister too, right? How could a man possibly be as pretty as you? But in a few years, once you develop too, it'll be hard to hide when you start swelling up here like your sister."

Ever since he could remember, he had never been this close to anyone, not even his mother. The shyness buried in his subconscious burst forth at once, and his face reddened as though it might drip blood.

"My, so shy! Little sister, you're so cute. Don't worry, from now on, your sister will take good care of you here at the Haoyue Branch Temple." As she spoke, Li Xin giggled and pinched Long Haochen's little cheek.

Only then did Long Haochen react. "Sister, I'm a boy, not a little sister..." His voice was very quiet.

"Hm?" Li Xin froze. "You really are a boy?"

Long Haochen nodded desperately, pulled his hand back, and retreated several steps like a child who had done something wrong.

Li Xin said in distress, "But why is your hand so soft? And why are you so pretty? Could I really have gotten it all mixed up?"

She had originally been about to head out when she happened to see Long Haochen at the entrance. At first glance, she immediately thought of how she herself had infiltrated the Knight Temple back then, and her favorable impression of Long Haochen soared. She promptly brought him inside. Only now did she realize that she had made a complete blunder—and that she had even taken a little boy's hand herself. The frustration in Li Xin's heart was beyond words. Fortunately, the boy before her looked to be only around ten years old.

"I... I don't know either," Long Haochen answered honestly. Yet inwardly, he thought, You were the one who took my hand and felt it. I never wanted to touch you!

Li Xin's face alternated between red and pale. After a long while, she said helplessly, "Fine, you little rascal got off easy. But you have to keep it a secret for me! Don't let anyone else know. From now on, I'm your sister. It seems like it's no big deal for a sister to let her little brother touch her once."

The fact that she had dared to run away from home alone to become a knight spoke for the girl's personality. Broad-nerved as she was, she quickly found herself a flimsy excuse and stopped dwelling on it.

"Xin'er, what are you doing in my office?" At that moment, a deep, booming voice rang out.

Long Haochen and Li Xin turned around at the same time, only to see a colossal figure walking in.

That was right—a colossal figure. This man was at least over two meters tall, and he was absolutely the sort of burly fellow whose height was eight feet and whose waist was also eight feet. Even within the solid structure of the Haoyue Branch Temple, every step he took seemed to make the ground tremble.

"Uncle Nalan, you really should lose some weight. Or just move down to the first floor. Otherwise, one day our Haoyue Branch Temple will collapse from the inside out," Li Xin said irritably.

This "burly fellow" was naturally Nalan Shu, the master of the Haoyue Branch Temple.

Nalan Shu was not angered by her words. He chuckled. "I gain flesh even from drinking water. What can I do? Eh, did you bring this little girl? A relative of yours?"

"I'm a man!" Being mistaken for a girl by Li Xin was one thing—after all, he had touched her—but for this fat uncle to say the same thing was more than Long Haochen could bear. He immediately shouted.

"Hm?" Nalan Shu paused. Li Xin struggled to suppress her laughter as she explained Long Haochen's purpose in coming.

"What letter? Let me have a look." Nalan Shu held out his hand to Long Haochen.

Long Haochen took a deep breath and calmed the frustration in his heart before taking a letter from his clothes and placing it in Nalan Shu's hand.

Nalan Shu casually opened the letter and glanced over it. But after only a few lines, his expression changed abruptly. Even his body straightened a little more. With a solemn and respectful expression, he read the entire letter.