Long Haochen's Mount Companion (I)

Aside from Ye Hua and the elderly guardian, Gui Ying and his son Gui Wu were there as well.

Ever since Gui Wu had been frightened into teleporting out by the Star Brilliance Unicorn, unease had filled his heart. Especially after hearing from his father about the wager with Ye Hua, that unease had only intensified. He hurriedly recounted everything he had seen and heard regarding Long Haochen.

Gui Ying was likewise greatly startled. If Long Haochen obtained a mount like the Star Brilliance Unicorn, his son would stand no chance against him. Thus, the father and son simply stayed behind, cultivating outside the holy mountain as they waited for Long Haochen to emerge, wanting to see what mount he had truly obtained.

They waited for more than twenty days. Seeing that time was nearly up and Long Haochen still had not appeared, Gui Ying's face had been piled with smiles these past few days, and he would occasionally needle the frantic Ye Hua with a few remarks.

Now, seeing that Long Haochen had truly returned empty-handed, Gui Ying felt immense relief. He burst into laughter and said to Ye Hua, "Brother Ye Hua, don't forget our wager. We'll be waiting for you at the Demon Hunter Group Selection Competition. Wu'er, let's go." As he spoke, he deliberately had Gui Wu summon the Crimson Armored Earth Dragon, then sped away with Gui Wu, whose face was full of contempt and arrogance.

A trace of anger appeared on Long Haochen's gentle, jade-like face. He watched Gui Ying and his son depart with an icy gaze, engraving this humiliation deeply into his heart.

"You gained nothing at all?" Ye Hua asked bitterly. He had never imagined that his disciple would follow in his footsteps—perhaps with even less to show for it than he had.

Long Haochen lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Teacher. I've disappointed you."

The elderly guardian asked in puzzlement, "With talent as great as yours, how could you have gained nothing? Could all those magical beasts be blind? How strange."

Long Haochen gave a bitter smile. "I don't know why, either. I crossed the entire holy mountain and encountered many magical beasts, but not a single one was willing to grow close to me."

The old man sighed. "You needn't take it too much to heart. Warriors without powerful mounts can still become great powerhouses of their generation. Mounts are indeed very important to us knights, but they do not represent everything. What will you choose now? Either hunt magical beasts yourself in the future, or try your luck here with me. However, you must understand that if we use the teleportation array to draw in a mount, you must first form a contract during the summoning process. Only magical beasts that have formed a contract with you can be teleported here. Although we knights can change mounts, if you wish to break an Equal Contract, your mount companion must die. Your teacher and I can both act on your behalf in that regard, but if you do so, it will surely leave a shadow in your heart and greatly hinder your future cultivation."

Without the slightest hesitation, Long Haochen said, "Senior, I am willing to try my luck here with you."

The old man nodded. "Very well. But don't hold too much hope. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment." As he said this, he seemed to recall something from the past, and a trace of melancholy surfaced in his single eye.

A golden token appeared in the old man's hand. With a sweep of his wide sleeve, a layer of golden light enveloped the three of them. Above the light curtain, six strange symbols appeared one after another, and the surrounding space instantly twisted.

Long Haochen vaguely understood that the old man was using the power of the array to teleport freely throughout Knight Holy Mountain by special means. It seemed that their ability to detect outsiders entering the mountain was also inseparably linked to this array.

Golden light flared. The intense radiance made Long Haochen close his eyes, and he was astonished to discover that during the teleportation process, the funnel-shaped vortex within his chest suddenly began spinning violently, at least ten times faster than usual.

However, the process lasted only around ten seconds. The vortex's speed abruptly slowed and returned to normal. Long Haochen opened his eyes, and the scenery around him had completely changed.

They were actually inside a cave. Pale golden gems were embedded in the cave walls, their faint golden glow illuminating everything within.

The Light Element in the cave was not particularly dense, far inferior to that within Knight Holy Mountain—at most, it was only slightly stronger than outside.

This cave was enormous. Looking upward, the ceiling stood at least twenty zhang above the ground. The entire cavern was an irregular circle, with a diameter of no less than a hundred zhang. It was practically like a massive plaza.

Yet the place was completely empty, without a single person in sight.

Long Haochen lowered his gaze to the ground and discovered in surprise that it was covered in trapezoidal grids. The grids were packed tightly together, forming enormous rings that converged toward the center of the underground plaza. Within every grid was a symbol he did not recognize at all. At present, all those symbols were dim and devoid of light.

"Don't bother looking. Not only can you not understand them—even old fellows like us can't understand them. This is Ancient Elven Script, the writing of an ancient race that has already gone extinct. We don't know how the ancestors of our Knight Temple discovered its mysteries, but many parts of the enormous array within Knight Holy Mountain were completed with the wondrous power of Ancient Elven incantations. This is one of the teleportation arrays. Through this place, one can instantly connect to other parallel spaces. Each operation of the array consumes an enormous amount of energy, so you only have a quarter of an hour. If, within that time, you still cannot find an aura close to you and complete a contract, then this time, you will truly have to return empty-handed."

There was a measure of regret in the old man's voice. In all his life, he had seen talent like Long Haochen's only once. It would be such a pity if a young man this outstanding could not possess a powerful mount.

"Thank you, Senior." Long Haochen respectfully bowed to the old man.

The old man nodded. "Go sit at the center of the teleportation array. Once I activate it, you will naturally feel something."

"Yes."

Following the old man's instructions, Long Haochen strode to the center of the underground plaza. There was a circle roughly three zhang in diameter there, with the largest symbol at its center.

The symbol looked somewhat like the character "ru," except it was twisted and distorted. For some reason, when Long Haochen saw this enormous character, the Holy Guiding Spirit Furnace within his chest gave a slight pulse.

Sitting cross-legged, Long Haochen cleared his mind of distracting thoughts. This was his final chance.

Ye Hua was no less nervous than Long Haochen. Veins bulged across his tightly clenched fists, and he did not even notice his nails digging into his palms.

The old man slowly raised the golden token in his hand. Ye Hua clearly saw that in an instant, the old man's right hand holding the token turned translucent, brilliant gold, as though his palm had become a gemstone.

Radiant Body—the mark of a Seventh Tier Holy Knight. It transformed one's body into a part of the Light Element itself. Holy Knights of formidable cultivation could even transform their entire bodies into a Radiant Body. In this state, the holy Light Attribute spiritual energy they unleashed could instantly double. Though it could only be maintained for a short time, both attack and defense would be doubled. What kind of concept was that?