Knight Holy Mountain (IV)

Long Haochen flipped his wrist and removed his Shield of Radiance. Staying vigilant at all times was a required lesson for every knight.

The enormous figure slowly landed several dozen zhang away from them. It was clearly a flying demon beast.

Compared to Ye Hua's Mountain Shaking Eagle, this flying demon beast looked even more majestic. It was roughly six meters long, pale gold all over, with the head of a dragon and the body of a bird. Long, multicolored plumes trailed behind its head and tail. After drifting down to the ground, it slowly folded its broad wings, lifted its head, and cast glances all around with proud grace.

A seventh-level demon beast, a Dragon Eagle. Long Haochen recognized its origins at a glance.

Dragon Eagles were Light Attribute flying demon beasts. To knights, mounts with the light attribute were the most precious, capable of greatly enhancing a knight's combat strength.

Two people also leaped down from the Dragon Eagle's back: a middle-aged man and a youth. The moment they landed, their gazes turned toward Long Haochen's group.

"Oh, so it's Brother Ye Hua. Long time no see!" The middle-aged man was briefly startled upon seeing Ye Hua, but quickly approached with a smile.

Ye Hua remained as cold as ever and made no move to greet him.

The middle-aged man wore a suit of pale golden armor, from which the aura of light clearly seeped. He carried no weapon and wore no helmet, letting his long golden hair fall loose behind his back.

He looked somewhat younger than Ye Hua. His facial lines were rather soft, and his long, narrow eyes in particular gave off a faint sense of naked sharpness.

The young man beside him bore at least a seventy percent resemblance to the middle-aged man. He appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen, tall and broad, with a trace of arrogance on his face.

The middle-aged man came closer and smiled. "What, Brother Ye Hua? Don't tell me you no longer recognize me. We may not have seen each other in six or seven years, but we grew up together. I spotted your Mountain Shaking Eagle from far away just now. Though that demon beast is only sixth-level, it's exceptionally rare. It had to be you."

Ye Hua said coldly, "Gui Ying, you're still as full of yourself as ever."

The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly, but the youth beside him could not hold back any longer. He snapped, "What did you say?"

"Enough." The middle-aged man, Gui Ying, smiled faintly, his expression already restored to normal. "Ye Hua, Teacher has missed you very much. You've been gone from Xiu Cheng for many years now, yet you've never gone back to see him. A teacher for a day, a father for life!"

Ye Hua's face grew even colder. "I don't need your instruction. We're leaving." With that, he ignored Gui Ying completely and led Long Haochen toward Knight Holy Mountain.

Watching their retreating figures gradually fade into the distance, the youth could not help asking Gui Ying, "Dad, who was that? Why's he acting so high and mighty?"

Gui Ying said blandly, "Just a piece of trash. Back then, your grandmaster threw him out like sweeping filth from the door. Looks like he brought that boy beside him to Knight Holy Mountain to obtain a mount. That boy doesn't seem older than you. Once you enter the holy mountain, if the opportunity arises, make a little trouble for him."

The youth nodded excitedly. "I'll let him know what's what. If I break one of his legs, let's see what demon beast would still be willing to get close to him."

Gui Ying narrowed his eyes, a cold gleam flickering within them as memories from decades ago slowly surfaced in his mind.

"Brother Ye Hua, you're about to become a knight, right? Why has your spiritual power improved so quickly? Do you have some secret? Teach me, please?"

"Cultivation depends on one's own effort. There are no shortcuts."

"Hmph. Teacher must have played favorites and taught you some special cultivation method. Otherwise, you're only three years older than me—why should you already be becoming a knight?"

Slap—

"You dare hit me? You dare hit me..."

"I'm hitting you exactly because you deserve it. If you dare speak ill of Teacher again, I'll break all four of your limbs and throw you out of Xiu Cheng Main Hall. Get lost. Don't let me see you again."

That year, he was twelve, and Ye Hua was fifteen.

"Gui Wu, if you get the chance, break that brat's four limbs." Only after saying this coldly did Gui Ying stride ahead.

The prideful Gui Wu froze slightly. "Break all four limbs? Isn't that a little too cruel? But I like it." A vicious expression flashed across his face.

Ye Hua walked on in silence. His face was still as icy as ever, but Long Haochen, who knew him well, could clearly sense that his teacher's emotions were unsettled.

"Teacher, is that your enemy?" Long Haochen asked in a low voice.

Ye Hua glanced at him. "He was once my fellow disciple. Xiu Cheng borders the headquarters of the Holy Temple Alliance and is one of its largest main cities. My teacher was a Holy Temple Knight of the Knight Alliance. He possessed Mithril Base Battle Armor. Back then, I entered Xiu Cheng Main Hall at thirteen and broke through to the third rank at fifteen. I was hailed as Xiu Cheng's greatest genius in a century and became Teacher's direct disciple. But one step led to heaven, the next to hell. When they discovered that my Innate Internal Spiritual Power was nine, the genius became trash. I struggled on in Xiu Cheng Main Hall for another two years, but my internal spiritual power cultivated at an incredibly slow pace. So Teacher drove me out of Xiu Cheng Main Hall. Gui Ying was among those responsible for throwing me out. And among those who mocked me as trash, he was the most vicious."

Having said that, Ye Hua fell silent, as though he had merely recounted something that had nothing to do with him. Yet his pace abruptly quickened. Driven by spiritual power, he shot forward like an arrow.

Long Haochen could not help clenching his fists, silently swearing that he would certainly wash away this humiliation for his teacher. Though Ye Hua had described it simply, he could imagine that his teacher must have suffered an immense blow back then to become what he was now. And Gui Ying was clearly one of those who had caused it.

Turning back to glance at Gui Ying and his son, who had landed a hundred zhang behind them, a faint glint appeared in Long Haochen's clear pale-gold eyes.

A distance of a hundred li was nothing to them. In less than two hours, Long Haochen had followed Ye Hua to the vicinity of Knight Holy Mountain.

The closer they drew to Knight Holy Mountain, the denser the aura of Light Element became. Mist that glowed with a pale golden luster rose ahead of them, while towering mountain peaks loomed faintly into view. Clearly, Knight Holy Mountain did not refer to a single mountain, but an entire mountain range. As they approached, the mist seemed to thin considerably, so that they were no longer unable to see anything at all.

Gradually, they entered the range of pale golden mist. Long Haochen discovered in surprise that this mist seemed to be exceptionally pure light element. Once inside it, the light element was at least five times denser than outside, with barely any impurities.

"You feel it, don't you? The light element here is far denser than outside. This mountain range of Knight Holy Mountain is itself an enormous magic formation, formed with mountain peaks as its seals. These light elements are also absorbed by the formation. If we knights could cultivate here, it would yield twice the result with half the effort. But clearly, that is impossible. It is precisely the presence of these light elements that suppresses the ferocity of those demon beasts. Therefore, no knight is permitted to cultivate within Knight Holy Mountain—not even the elders who guard it. Otherwise, if the balance of light elements within the formation is disrupted, it could very well trigger a riot among the demon beasts inside. After you enter, it's fine if the spiritual power in your body circulates on its own, but you must not cultivate through meditation."