The Mysterious New Instructor (I)

"Mmm..." Long Haochen slowly woke from his unconsciousness. He blinked, his long eyelashes—enough to make any girl green with envy—fluttering twice before he gradually came to his senses.

He suddenly rolled over and sat up from the ground. "I'm okay?" Seeing that his body was completely unharmed, he could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

The surroundings were utterly silent. Only the chirping of insects and birds could be heard within the forest.

Lowering his head, Long Haochen immediately saw the wild vegetables neatly arranged beside him. He froze for a moment, then rubbed his temples.

Did I fall asleep just now? Was everything only a dream?

Eh, what was this? He immediately noticed an extra ring on the hand rubbing his head. The blue ring gleamed with a lustrous sheen—not the shine of metal, but the smooth, jade-like luster of porcelain. A pale golden Forget-me-not pattern encircled it, with a transparent gemstone no bigger than a grain of rice set into it. The gem was completely embedded within the ring; touching it, he could only feel the ring's smooth surface.

The inner band of the ring was golden, with a slight protrusion where it rested against the finger. Yet when worn, it gave no sensation at all.

Long Haochen stared blankly. He immediately realized that everything that had happened before he lost consciousness was real. But precisely because of that, his mind was filled with questions.

What was the relationship between Little Mute Girl and the man in white? And how had that man in white made those vicious-looking pursuers disappear? Who had given him this ring?

For a nine-year-old Long Haochen, these questions were clearly too complicated, and he had no way to find the answers.

He flipped himself up onto his feet and instinctively looked toward where those pursuers had vanished. At once, he noticed that something was wrong.

Quickly walking over, Long Haochen saw that all the grass on that patch of ground had disappeared, leaving only bare earth. The ground had also visibly sunk somewhat, while the grass around the outer edge bore scorched black marks, the same color as the bare patch of earth.

"Forget it. I won't think about it anymore. I'd better hurry home and make Wild Vegetable Soup for Mom." Long Haochen felt inside his clothes. The Essence Replenishing Liquid was still there, and he immediately felt much more at ease. Picking up the Wooden Sword beside him, he headed home.

But the moment the Wooden Sword entered his hand, he stopped in his tracks. He had discovered something miraculous: his Wooden Sword seemed to have become lighter, as light as nothing, like a feather.

One had to know that although the Wooden Sword in his hand was not a heavy sword used by a true knight and was made of wood, it was still solid hardwood and weighed a full seven or eight jin. When he had first joined the Odin Sub-Temple, he had practiced for more than a month before he could steadily wield this sword with both hands.

The Wooden Sword had become lighter? No, it still looked exactly the same! Could it be that my strength had grown?

As he thought, Long Haochen gripped the sword with both hands, taking a forward-charging stance as he chopped the Wooden Sword down before him. A sharp whooshing sound immediately rang out. The force behind that strike startled even him. Yet both his hands remained remarkably steady. He clearly felt as though every limb and bone in his body contained inexhaustible strength. After hopping a few times, it even seemed as if his body, like the Wooden Sword, had become lighter.

This was at least the strength one could only possess with twenty spiritual energy, right? Long Haochen could not help recalling Little Mute Girl's face, cold yet stubborn. He murmured, "Did you give me all this? Tomorrow, I'll go to the Sub-Temple and test how much spiritual energy I have. The wooden post that measures spiritual energy is always there, anyway."

A young boy's heart was not overly complicated. Though what had happened today troubled Long Haochen somewhat, the thought that his mother could drink the Essence Replenishing Liquid to nourish her body made him cast everything else to the back of his mind. After all, Little Mute Girl had merely been a passerby. He only prayed silently that she would be safe.

A small courtyard, two thatched cottages, several trellises draped with melon vines, and some dried vegetables laid out in the sun—this was Long Haochen's home.

"Mom, I'm back."

The door to the thatched cottage opened, and a woman dressed plainly, with a simple hairpin in her hair, stepped out. Seeing Long Haochen run back from outside with such excitement, a faint smile immediately appeared on her face.

She was Long Haochen's mother, Bai Yue. Long Haochen looked almost as if he had been carved from the same mold as her. Though Bai Yue dressed simply and had weathered many hardships, her peerless beauty could still bring a powerful shock to anyone who saw her. The only difference between her and Long Haochen was the color of their eyes. Her eyes were black, while Long Haochen's were a clear azure blue.

Yet it was precisely because of this beauty that life had become even more difficult for mother and son.

Because of her beauty, Bai Yue, raising her son alone, had no idea how many times she had been harassed. Though she had resolved every incident one by one, how could they possibly live like that?

Left with no other choice, even after coming to Odin Town, she could only build their home in the most remote corner. In daily life, she relied solely on washing clothes for a laundry shop run entirely by women, earning a meager income.

"Chencheng, you're back. How was today's test?" Smiling, Bai Yue pulled her excitedly rushing son into her embrace. She was very tall; nine-year-old Long Haochen only reached her chest.

Feeling the softness of his mother's body and her fresh scent, Long Haochen said joyfully, "Mom, I passed."

Bai Yue smiled faintly. "I knew Chencheng was the best. Go wash up quickly. Mom will make lunch for you."

Long Haochen leaped out of his mother's embrace. "I'll make it instead. I picked some wild vegetables. I'll stew soup for you."

As he spoke, he rushed straight toward the smaller thatched cottage beside them. When he reached its door, he could not help turning back to look at his mother. For some reason, he felt that his mother seemed especially happy today. Normally, she rarely spoke, much less praised him. Most of the time, he saw her sitting alone in a daze. Only when facing him would she reveal a little tenderness, but even then, she seldom spoke.

Bai Yue watched her son until he entered the kitchen, murmuring, "Chencheng, you've truly suffered so much. But..." With a soft sigh, a trace of struggle appeared in her eyes, yet in the end, she still suppressed the impulse in her heart.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, after getting up and eating the breakfast his mother had made, Long Haochen headed for the Odin Sub-Temple.

After falling asleep the night before, the scenes from the day had appeared again and again in his dreams. He seemed to have even dreamed of Little Mute Girl placing the ring on his hand. As a result, he could barely wait to verify just how much his spiritual energy had increased by when he got up that morning.

Because he had arrived especially early, no one else had come yet when Long Haochen entered the Odin Sub-Temple. There was nothing valuable in the Odin Sub-Temple, so there was no need for guards. Besides, Instructor Balza, a Quasi-Knight, lived in the back.

He quickly walked over to the wooden stump used for yesterday's assessment. Long Haochen removed the Wooden Sword from his back. He had deliberately come early today to prove whether his guess was correct—to test his spiritual energy.

The Wooden Sword slowly rose. Long Haochen focused his mind, planted his feet one before the other, took a deep breath, and swung the Wooden Sword down with all his strength.