Night Asura (III)

Many people speculated that the young knight might be the descendant of some great figure and had been abused by Ye Hua, causing that great figure to fly into a rage and strip the Asura instructor of his post. Of course, no matter how one looked at it, this was wonderful news for the knights. At last, they no longer had to face that zombie-like expression every day, nor endure that hellish training.

Day after day passed. Even Li Xin, who was closest to Long Haochen, rarely saw him. She only knew that he was receiving Night Asura's private instruction. And even when they did meet, Long Haochen never uttered a word about his Asura teacher's methods of instruction.

The food at Haoyue Branch Temple was quite good, not to mention that Long Haochen already received special meals. Cultivation strengthened his physique, and with sufficient nourishment, his body grew remarkably quickly. Yet what was somewhat surprising was that the lines of his face had softened again, making him increasingly radiant and striking.

Two years later.

Haoyue Branch Temple's training grounds.

Clang, clang, clang—the dense clashes of weapons and eruptions of holy light were completely sealed within the magic arrays surrounding the training grounds. Nothing could be felt from outside.

Bang—

A figure was sent flying violently, hurtling more than twenty meters before crashing into the wall and slowly sliding down.

The figure who had been flung away stood around one meter seventy tall. He did not look particularly muscular, yet his frame was slender and well-proportioned. Dressed in a light-blue fitted outfit, with black hair and golden eyes, his face was like polished jade and his lips as red as vermilion. His brows and eyes were exceedingly gentle, and his fair, tender skin showed not even the slightest pore. Put him in women's clothing, and he would absolutely have the potential to topple a city with a single smile.

"Long Haochen, get up! You useless trash! Is this how I taught you? When facing an opponent far stronger than yourself, meeting force with force is the stupidest possible choice. Did a single remark from me calling you a soft egg make you lose your head? For a Guardian Knight, the most important thing is endurance. Again."

"Yes."

The youth who had been sent flying was undoubtedly Long Haochen, the one receiving Night Asura's private instruction.

Over those two years, he had grown at an astonishing rate. Although Night Asura's Cultivation Level was far inferior to his father's, when it came to teaching him how to cultivate, Long Haochen vaguely felt that many of his Asura teacher's ideas surpassed even his father's. Especially his bizarre and endlessly inventive ideas, as well as his understanding and evolution of skills—he was never bound by convention, placing practicality above all else.

Of course, cultivating under Night Asura was by no means a pleasant experience. Night Asura's temper truly lived up to the title "Asura"; the slightest dissatisfaction would immediately be met with fists and kicks.

As for the real combat Long Haochen had requested back then, Night Asura had fulfilled that request to the fullest.

Night Asura's practical combat instruction differed from Long Xingyu's. Long Xingyu had completely refrained from using spiritual power, relying only on technique to attack Long Haochen and train his technical abilities.

But Night Asura was different. This teacher, who seemed as though he had truly come from hell, went all out in every practical battle. At most, he held back slightly so as not to genuinely injure Long Haochen's muscles and bones. It was the very definition of bullying the small with the big.

Yet under such oppressive real combat, Long Haochen's growth rate was astonishing. Every day, after exhausting himself to the limit, he would meditate and cultivate, his own potential gradually being drawn out bit by bit.

However, the gap between master and disciple was simply too great to be bridged in two years. Although Long Haochen's spiritual power increased faster and faster as his Cultivation Level rose, there was still no small gap between him and Night Asura.

One had to know that a knight's spiritual power requirement from Level One to Level Ten was two hundred and one to five hundred, while an Earth Knight required two thousand and one to four thousand. That was nearly a tenfold difference. The same was true for every profession. This was why the gap between high-level and low-level powerhouses grew ever greater.

For example, Long Haochen's father, Long Xingyu, was a Divine Seal Knight. The starting point for a Ninth Order profession was one hundred thousand spiritual power.

Clang—

"Hm? Pause."

The sound of a collision and a soft exclamation rang out almost simultaneously, and the battle in the training grounds temporarily came to a halt.

The reason was simple: using the Shield of Radiance in his hand, Long Haochen had blocked Ye Hua's heavy sword.

Intense golden light continuously poured from master and disciple alike. Though Ye Hua had called for a pause, Long Haochen did not dare relax in the slightest. His teacher often did unexpected things—for example, sneak attacks.

"You were able to block one of my strikes head-on, even if it was by relying on Divine Seal Block. Your spiritual power should have broken through. Rest for two hours, then undergo a spiritual power test." As he spoke, a trace of a smile could not help but appear on Ye Hua's icy face. Only when Long Haochen made a leap forward would he reveal a smile. Of course, Long Haochen had never regarded that sort of expression as a smile. Just imagine it: a stiff face, its facial muscles suddenly twitching a few times—what effect could it have besides making him look even more ferocious...?

"Yes."

Two hours later.

Boom— Dazzling golden light illuminated the entire training grounds almost instantly, as though coating the place in a layer of gold.

Ye Hua said gravely, "One thousand and fourteen. Very good. You've finally broken through one thousand, just as I judged. I've been stuck at Fifth Order Level Five for six years. My spiritual power is roughly around three thousand."

If someone had witnessed this scene and known Long Haochen's exact age, their jaw would likely have dropped in shock.

Every whole-number threshold in spiritual power was a bottleneck, similar to the bottleneck encountered when breaking through the final level of each order. Ye Hua had been barred at the whole-number threshold of three thousand spiritual power for six years, unable to advance an inch! No matter how hard he worked or how intelligent he was, he could not break through that barrier. Yet he clearly remembered that about a week ago, Long Haochen's spiritual power had only been around nine hundred and eighty. In other words, within a single week, his spiritual power had not only risen by more than thirty points, but had also broken through a bottleneck.

"Haochen, when you've been cultivating Internal Spiritual Power these past few days, have you felt any sluggishness?" Ye Hua asked.

Long Haochen shook his head. "No! Everything's normal."

"Ah—!" Ye Hua suddenly threw back his head and let out a neurotic howl.

Long Haochen, standing beside him, merely watched calmly. Clearly, this was not the first time he had seen his teacher like this.

After a long while, Ye Hua seemed to stabilize somewhat. Without even looking at Long Haochen, he said coldly, "Go back and pack your things. You're leaving with me tomorrow."

"Yes." Long Haochen put away his Shield of Radiance and heavy sword, respectfully gave his teacher a knight's salute, then turned and left.

Only after watching Long Haochen disappear through the training grounds' doors did Ye Hua throw back his head and roar again, saying in grief and indignation, "There's no justice in heaven! You thieving old heavens, you bastard, do you have any humanity at all?! That little brat didn't even feel the bottleneck! What level of talent does that take? In two years, he went from two hundred and sixty-eight spiritual power to one thousand and fourteen. Damn it, didn't those old bastards from the Temple say that before the age of twenty, spiritual power wouldn't grow too quickly, and only after twenty would growth begin to accelerate? You bunch of charlatans, do you see this? One thousand spiritual power at thirteen years old—damn it, a Fourth Order Great Knight! If I had even one-fifth of that talent, I'd at least be a Radiant Knight."

Long Haochen returned to his room, washed up, and changed into a clean set of clothes. After eating something simple, he was just about to return to his room to cultivate when a knock sounded from outside.