Envisioning the Little Nightmare Horse

On the Dragon Sleep Continent, Snow Demons bring extreme cold, while Dragons bring warmth.

After the Glimmering River flowed out of Wuyou Snake Manor, it left the territory of Guangguang River Valley. The power of Clay Dragon Ross rapidly receded, unable to protect the territory with warmth any longer.

Thus, beyond the territory lay a world of ice and snow.

Only at the border between the territory and the snowfields, relying on a trace of power that leaked from Clay Dragon Ross, could a portion of the cave ecosystem continue to function beneath the ice cover and within the underground rivers. This allowed a group of criminals and freemen to hide there.

They survived by relying on the rats, ants, moss, and fungi that lived underground.

This formed their cave habitat.

The noble lords allowed the cave freemen to operate on the edges of their territories primarily to create a buffer zone with the snowfields.

When Snow Ghosts crossed the border, the first to be threatened were naturally the cave freemen.

This was their natural barrier.

"The Xiangshui River Cave is indeed one of our defensive lines, but Teacher Charles, Teacher Eric, if this defensive line is not completely under our control, then it is a double-edged sword. It can defend against Snow Ghosts, but it can also wound us."

Russell saw it very clearly.

Perhaps for his father, Baron Roman, the Xiangshui River Cave was a good defensive line, and Wuyou Snake Manor was also a defensive line. Therefore, the damage from the Xiangshui River Cave could not shake the territory at all and could not be considered a double-edged sword.

Unfortunately.

Now that Wuyou Snake Manor was his territory, the double-edged nature of the Xiangshui River Cave made him lose sleep.

Charles was momentarily speechless.

Eric nodded heavily, "My Lord is right. The Xiangshui River Cave cannot be left unchecked any longer. We must pacify it as soon as possible!"

Russell smiled, "Precisely."

Charles thought for a moment and said, "Actually, we can still negotiate with Lone Wolf Lisbon and establish a cooperative relationship. We can treat him like a guard dog we keep, occasionally throwing him some bones to guard the border for us, how about that?"

"Even if we want to adopt this guard dog, we must first tame it. Otherwise, the guard dog will still harm its master."

"Alright, I have to admit, Russell, you see further than I do." Charles spread his hands, "You were born to be a lord."

Knock, knock, knock. Butler Morris knocked and entered, holding a tray.

"I woke up Mrs. Moore to make milk tea for Master and the two Lords." Morris placed three cups of milk tea down.

"Oh my goodness, to drink fragrant milk tea on such a cold night is truly blissful," Charles said contentedly.

Eric remained silent but showed a fleeting smile.

Russell smiled, "It's so late to bother Mrs. Moore. Morris, please thank her for me. Also, tell her that tomorrow I'll add a pudding for herself and for you, Morris. It's my treat."

Morris smiled, "Serving Master is our inherent duty. Master, you are too generous."

Charles took a sip of milk tea and teased, "If only this milk tea could be replaced with Black Pearl Wine, it would be perfect."

"Don't drink alcohol recently, Charles," Eric interjected.

"Of course, of course. Don't I understand that much?" Charles raised his voice slightly.

Dawn broke, and the rain stopped.

The territory's Patrol Knight Captain, Kendall, did not return with Tom and John. Instead, the Castle Guard Knight Captain, Chris, arrived.

"The Baron takes this very seriously and has specifically ordered me to come and support Young Master Russell." Chris arrived alone, riding a Nightmare Ghost Horse, without bringing any other knights—for a mere Snow Ghost invasion, one Phantom Beast Knight was enough to suppress it.

"I thought it would be Lord Kendall," Charles said as he accompanied Russell to greet him. He was more experienced than Russell in such welcoming and seeing-off duties.

"If Kendall had come, Lone Wolf Lisbon might not have dared to lure the Snow Ghosts to invade," Chris explained. "There are secret passages connecting the caves. Lisbon would have had to determine Kendall's location first before luring the Snow Ghosts."

The caves around Guangguang River Valley were not limited to just Xiangshui River Cave.

Surrounding this warm river valley were other caves of various sizes, such as Red Bat Cave, Savage Cave, Blind Cave, and Gap Cave.

"So that's how it is," Russell suddenly understood.

As the territory's Patrol Knight Captain, Kendall was naturally feared by the wanderers in the surrounding caves.

If Kendall's location could not be confirmed, Lone Wolf Lisbon would certainly not dare to act rashly.

Conversely, Chris, the Castle Guard Knight Captain, did not often appear in the territory and was therefore not as closely watched.

"Then I will trouble Young Master Russell for these few days."

"I will only feel at ease if you can stay in the manor's detached courtyard. These few days, I can ask Lord Chris some questions about cultivation."

"Good!"

On Chris's first day staying in the manor's detached courtyard, nothing happened. Russell treated him as an additional Knight Teacher and asked many questions about Battle Qi.

The cultivation of an Armored Knight involved opening meridians and strengthening Battle Qi as the foundation, while also practicing various Battle Qi circulation techniques.

These were roughly divided into four aspects: Battle Qi Penetration, Battle Qi Rotation, Battle Qi Instantaneous Burst, and Battle Qi Sword Qi.

"There are no shortcuts for Battle Qi Penetration, Young Master Russell. The method Eric taught you, using Battle Qi martial arts to open meridians, is itself the best way to cultivate Battle Qi Penetration. You only need to persevere, and Battle Qi Penetration will naturally be mastered."

"I understand."

"As for Rotation and Instantaneous Burst, you don't need to try them for now. These require you to open multiple meridians before you can connect the Battle Qi to unleash them... When the three bursts are combined, you will be able to break through the Battle Qi Sword Qi stage and project Battle Qi externally."

"Thank you for clearing up my confusion, sir."

"This is all common knowledge. Even if I didn't say anything, you would understand, Young Master Russell," Chris said with a smile, maintaining a respectful attitude towards Russell.

Of course, Russell knew very well that this respect wasn't directed at him personally, but at his father, Baron Roman.

Night fell. Chris's arrival wasn't announced with great fanfare, so a simple dinner was held in the second-floor dining room.

The banquet dispersed when the wine had flowed freely.

After bathing and sleeping, Russell drifted into unconsciousness. After an unknown amount of time, the Dark Dreamscape appeared again, and the Little Dream Dragon chirped and flew over.

"Let's go, Snowflake! We'll patrol properly today and see if any more assassins dare to show up."

"Caw!"

Man and dragon circled the manor's grounds. Two spots of magic power shone exceptionally brightly, undoubtedly emanating from Chris and his Nightmare Ghost Horse.

"So this is what a Phantom Beast Knight looks like, so bright!"

Russell watched Chris's radiating light up close. The light had completely solidified into Chris's silhouette, and even his facial features were faintly discernible. Of course, it was still more blurry than Baron Roman's appearance in the Dark Dreamscape.

In this territory of the Guangguang River Valley, Lord Ross was the undisputed king of combat power, followed closely by Baron Roman.

This was because Baron Roman was a High-level Phantom Beast Knight.

"Let's go, I want to see the Nightmare Ghost Horse." After admiring Chris's light, Russell moved on to admire the phantom beast, the Nightmare Ghost Horse's light.

Phantom beasts originated from ordinary beasts.

Perhaps a beast absorbed enough Earth Power, its own strength underwent a transformation, evolving into an extraordinary phantom beast.

Or perhaps a beast accumulated enough strength and gave birth to phantom beast offspring.

Naturally, two phantom beasts could also mate and produce offspring. These second-generation phantom beasts would have better potential.

"Father has a female Nightmare Ghost Horse, and Chris's is a male. I wonder if they could mate and produce a little ghost horse... If they did, and Mother put in a good word, perhaps the little ghost horse..."

Thinking this, Russell suddenly chuckled and shook his head, "That's probably wishful thinking. If a little ghost horse were born, Big Brother Roland would still be ahead of me. No point thinking about it too much."