Big Mouth

The cultivation of a Knight, strictly speaking, only has two stages.

The first stage is the "Qi Seed Stage," where one cultivates a Battle Qi Seed in the lower abdomen through years of physical conditioning and the consumption of medicinal supplements.

Most cultivators can nurture a Battle Qi Seed as long as they have sufficient nutrition.

However, the vast majority only manage to cultivate a Battle Qi Seed and rely on the meager power it disperses to strengthen their bodies.

After all.

It is extremely difficult for a Battle Qi Seed to bloom and produce true Battle Qi.

For instance, Russell's mother, a young lady from the Monochoria Family, lacked for nothing in terms of resources or guidance from renowned teachers since childhood, yet she only ever reached the Battle Qi Seed stage.

Even Russell himself, if not for his predecessor's desperate gamble, would likely have remained stuck in the Qi Seed Stage his entire life, unable to progress further.

Fortunately, Russell perfectly inherited the brilliant future that his predecessor had fought and bled for.

The Battle Qi Seed bloomed, and he entered the second stage, the "Battle Qi Stage."

The Battle Qi Stage can be further divided into two levels based on the cultivation process. One is the "Armored Knight" level, where one excavates meridians and strengthens Battle Qi, striving to open all the meridians in the body, allowing Battle Qi to flow throughout, thus entering the "Great Knight" level.

Therefore.

In the Dark Dreamscape, the luminous silhouette of an Armored Knight is not complete; missing limbs or heads are common.

Throughout Wuyou Snake Manor, Armored Knights like Charles, Tom, and John all appear with missing limbs in the Dark Dreamscape.

Only Eric has a complete human silhouette.

This signifies that Eric, a Great Knight, has reached the pinnacle of Battle Qi cultivation and cannot advance to a higher realm independently.

He must either contract a Phantom Beast or ride a Dragon.

"Wake up... call Eric and capture the assassin alive!" Russell, currently asleep, his eyes tightly shut and brows furrowed.

He seemed to be struggling intensely, his body trembling slightly.

Suddenly.

As if reaching the limit of his struggle, Russell's tightly closed eyes snapped open, two sharp beams of light flashing in the darkness.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..." Russell gasped for breath, followed by an indescribable joy, "I'm really awake!"

However, the next moment, he became tense: "Oh right, the assassin!"

He quietly got out of bed and went to the window. After careful observation, he indeed spotted a slender figure clinging to the outer wall of the second floor, peering into the window, seemingly trying to ascertain who was inside the room.

"The other rooms are all empty, a perfect opportunity!"

Russell turned, quickly opened his door, and tiptoed to Eric's guest room. The door was unlocked.

He pushed it open and entered.

With just this slight movement, Eric was startled awake from his sleep: "Who!"

"Shh, Teacher Eric, it's me!" Russell whispered, "Quick, come with me, there's an assassin in the manor's annex, they're identifying rooms, it's likely they're after me!"

Eric was startled but said nothing. He immediately got out of bed barefoot and followed Russell to the master bedroom.

Through the window, they could see the assassin on the outer wall. Having confirmed the other rooms were empty, the assassin then crawled like a gecko towards Russell's window.

"It's someone from the caves," Eric judged the intruder's identity with a single glance. "Silent, Battle Qi circulation reduced to the absolute minimum, this is the survival rule of cave Knights, no, they should be called... Wanderers."

"Wanderers?" Russell narrowed his eyes.

Noble territories like Guangguang River Valley, protected by Wyverns, were fertile grounds, while outside Guangguang River Valley, the harshness of ice and snow still prevailed.

Criminals, evildoers, and some free citizens hid in the borderlands between warmth and cold, in the dark crevices of the caves, living like humble weeds under the ravages of Snow Demons and Snow Ghosts, their lives hanging by a thread.

Knights within the territories could fight on horseback, on Phantom Beasts, or even on Dragons.

Wanderers outside the territories could only rely on their own strength, wandering through the dangerous caves, doing their best to survive.

"My Lord," Eric whispered, "When he gets here, you open the window, and I'll immediately drag him in!"

"Okay."

After a brief discussion, they each took a position by the window, quietly awaiting the cave wanderer who dared to trespass on this rainy night.

Within a minute or two, the wanderer had crawled to the master bedroom window.

His movements were extremely subtle, and with the rain falling that night, any noise would have been imperceptible if not listened to carefully.

However.

Someone was already watching him.

As soon as the wanderer reached the window and was about to poke his head through the glass to see who was inside, the window was suddenly flung open. Then, a pair of large hands precisely gripped his arms on the windowsill, forcefully dragging him into the room.

Clack.

The window was closed again.

The Retainer Knight downstairs was not sound asleep. His eyes opened a slit, as if sensing something, but after listening carefully for a moment and hearing no unusual sounds, he rolled over and continued sleeping.

He had no idea that an assassin had already been captured upstairs.

Tight leather attire, short hair reaching her ears, a black face mask – Russell and Eric recognized almost immediately that this was a female wanderer.

But Eric didn't hold back at all. He directly picked up the rope Russell had prepared and tied the female wanderer's hands behind her back.

"Speak, who are you," Russell said, sitting on his chair and looking down at her.

Eric lit a Gem Lamp Fixture. The light emitted by the magical gem illuminated every corner of the master bedroom, making it almost as bright as daytime.

"I mean no harm, absolutely no harm," the female wanderer had calmed down from her shock. "Respected Lord Russell Yujiu Flower, is this how you treat a guest who comes to bring you news? This is hardly hospitable."

"Bring news?" Russell chuckled. "My manor doesn't lack a front door, why would you need to climb through a window?"

"As you can see, I had special reasons that forced me to... find an alternative route."

"Quibbling is pointless. Speak, who exactly are you?"

"Can you untie me first? In front of two Great Knights, what danger could I, a mere wanderer, possibly pose?" The female wanderer twisted her body, leaving a wet patch on the floor.

Russell frowned.

He stood up directly from his chair and walked in front of the female wanderer.

Just as the female wanderer twisted her body and raised her wrists, preparing for Russell to untie her, Russell slapped her hard across the face.

"Can't you understand human language? I asked who you are!"

Slap!

With blood at the corner of her mouth, the female wanderer was stunned by the blow.

Beside them, Eric also opened his mouth slightly. It was rare to see the usually gentle and refined Russell display such ferocity.

Seeing the female wanderer dazed, Russell slapped her again. "Still not talking?"

Sneaking around and climbing through windows late at night. If he hadn't discovered her by chance while riding his Little Dream Dragon, she might have already slipped into his room.

She could have killed him a hundred times over!

In such a situation, even Russell, with the best temper, couldn't help but feel like killing the wanderer on the spot. He certainly wouldn't tolerate her trying to turn the tables and even asking him to untie her.

"I..." The female wanderer was finally jolted awake by the two slaps and no longer dared to delay. "My name is Catherine, sir."