Strictly speaking, a knight's training had only two stages.
The first was the Qi Seed Stage. Through years of physical conditioning and nutritional supplements, one nurtured a Battle Qi Seed in the lower abdomen.
Most cultivators could nurture a Battle Qi Seed as long as their nutrition kept up.
However, the vast majority ultimately only cultivated a single Battle Qi Seed, relying on the trace of power it radiated merely to strengthen their bodies.
After all.
For the Battle Qi Seed to bloom and give birth to true Battle Aura was exceedingly difficult.
Russell's Mother, for instance, had been the daughter of the Monochoria Family. She had never lacked resources or renowned teachers from childhood, yet she had ultimately stopped at the Battle Qi Seed.
Even Russell himself might have remained at the Qi Seed Stage for the rest of his life, unable to advance a single step, if not for his predecessor risking his life to break through.
Fortunately, Russell had perfectly inherited the brilliant future his predecessor had fought for with his life.
The Battle Qi Seed bloomed, allowing him to enter the second stage—the Battle Aura Stage.
Based on the cultivation process, the Battle Aura Stage could be divided into two levels. One was the Armored Knight level, where one opened the meridians and strengthened Battle Aura, striving to clear every meridian in the body so that Battle Aura could flow throughout the entire body, thus entering the next level—the Great Knight level.
Therefore.
Within the Dark Dreamscape, an Armored Knight's glowing outline was incomplete. Missing arms, legs, or even a head was perfectly normal.
Throughout Wuyou Snake Manor, Armored Knights such as Charles, Tom, and John all appeared in the Dark Dreamscape with missing limbs.
Only Eric possessed a complete human-shaped outline.
This meant that Eric, a Great Knight, had already reached the pinnacle of Battle Aura cultivation. If he wished to enter a higher realm, he could no longer do so on his own.
He either had to contract a Phantom Beast or ride a dragon.
"Wake up... Get Eric and capture the assassin alive!" Russell, still asleep, had his eyes tightly shut and his brow deeply furrowed.
He seemed to be struggling with all his strength, his body trembling faintly.
Suddenly.
As though he had reached the limit of his struggle, Russell's tightly closed eyes flew open, two sharp glints flashing through the darkness.
"Whew, whew, whew..." Russell took several ragged breaths, followed by indescribable joy. "I really woke up!"
But in the next instant, he grew tense. "Oh, right—the assassin!"
He quietly climbed out of bed and went to the window. After carefully looking outside, he indeed spotted a small, thin figure clinging to the outer wall of the second floor, peering hard through a window as though trying to determine who was staying in the room.
"The rooms over there are all empty. This is a good opportunity!"
Russell turned around, swiftly opened the door, then padded on tiptoe to the guest room where Eric was staying. The door was unlocked.
He pushed it open directly.
At that slight sound, Eric awoke with a start. "Who is it!"
"Shh, Teacher Eric, it's me!" Russell said quietly. "Quick, come with me. An assassin has come to the manor annex and is checking the rooms. They're very likely here for me!"
Eric was startled. Without saying a word, he got out of bed barefoot and followed Russell to the master bedroom.
Through the window, they could see that the assassin clinging to the outer wall had already confirmed that no one was in the empty rooms. Like a gecko, she then crawled toward Russell's window.
"She's from the burrows." Eric identified the intruder after a single glance. "Silent, with her Battle Aura circulation slowed to the absolute limit—this is the survival code of burrow knights. No, they should be called... wanderers."
"Wanderers?" Russell narrowed his eyes.
Noble territories such as Guangguang River Valley were protected by Wyverns, becoming warm and fertile land. Yet beyond Guangguang River Valley, the cruel ice and snow still reigned.
Criminals, evildoers, and some freemen hid where cold and warmth met, in the dark cracks of underground burrows. Amid the ravages of Snow Demons and Snow Ghosts, they lived as humbly as weeds, with life and death decided in an instant.
Knights within the territory could fight on horseback, fight atop Phantom Beasts, and even fight while riding dragons.
Wanderers outside the territory could only rely on their own strength, roaming the danger-filled burrows and doing their utmost to survive.
"My lord," Eric said softly, "when she comes over, push open the window. I'll immediately drag her inside!"
"Alright."
After a brief discussion, the two hid on either side of the window and quietly waited for the burrow wanderer trespassing through the rainy night.
Within a minute or two, the wanderer reached the master bedroom window.
Her movements were exceedingly light, and with rain falling that night, no sound could be heard unless one listened closely.
Unfortunately.
Someone had been watching her all along.
The wanderer had just reached the window and was about to poke her head forward to see through the glass who was inside. Without warning, the window was yanked open with a whoosh, and a pair of large hands precisely clamped around the arm she had braced against the windowsill, forcibly dragging her into the room.
Click.
The window closed again.
The attendant knight downstairs had not been sleeping deeply. His eyes cracked open as though he had sensed something, but after listening carefully for a while and hearing nothing unusual, he turned over and went back to sleep.
He had no idea that an assassin had already been captured upstairs.
Tight leather clothes, short hair cut to ear length, and a black face covering—Russell and Eric could tell almost immediately that this was a female wanderer.
But Eric showed no mercy. He directly picked up the rope Russell had prepared and tied the female wanderer's hands behind her back.
"Speak. Who are you?" Russell sat in a chair, looking down at her from above.
Eric lit a Gem Lamp Fixture. The light emitted by the magical gemstone illuminated every corner of the master bedroom. It was not as bright as daytime, but not far off.
"I mean no harm, absolutely no harm." The female wanderer had already recovered from her shock. "Respected Nobleman Russell Fluorite Mushroom, is this how you treat a guest who came to bring you information? This is hardly proper hospitality."
"Bring me information?" Russell gave a cold laugh. "My manor annex isn't without a front gate. Did you need to climb through a window?"
"As you can see, I had special reasons and had no choice but to... take another route."
"Excuses are meaningless. Speak. Who exactly are you?"
"Could you untie me first? Before two Great Knights, what danger could a wanderer like me possibly pose?" The female wanderer twisted her body, leaving a puddle of water on the floor.
Russell frowned.
He rose directly from his chair and walked over to the female wanderer.
Just as the female wanderer twisted around and raised her wrists, preparing to let Russell untie her, Russell swung his hand and slapped her hard across the face.
"Can't you understand human speech? I asked who you are!"
Smack!
Blood at the corner of her mouth, the female wanderer froze from the slap.
Eric, standing beside them, also opened his mouth slightly. It was rare to see the usually gentle and refined Russell display such a violent side.
Seeing the female wanderer staring blankly, Russell gave her another hard slap. "Still not talking?"
She had sneakily come to pry at his window in the middle of the night. If he had not accidentally discovered her while riding Little Dream Dragon, she might already have slipped into his room.
She might even have killed him a hundred times over!
Even Russell's good temper could not endure such a situation. He wanted nothing more than to chop this wanderer to death on the spot, so how could he allow her to turn the tables and even ask him to untie her?
"I..." The female wanderer had finally been slapped awake by the two blows and dared not waste any more time. "My name is Catherine, my lord."
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