Approaching Loren City

"My lord, someone ahead!"

A cry of alarm rang out, and the entire Knight Order immediately prepared for battle.

Hearing the knight's words and seeing the figure lying ahead, Thor's heart stirred. He instantly realized that this was likely the severely wounded mysterious old man.

"Do not panic. Go and see what happened over there!"

Thor waved his hand as he spoke solemnly.

"Yes!"

A knight nodded, then waved his hand. Several people quickly stepped forward.

Before long, they returned.

"My lord, the person ahead appears to have been poisoned. His life is already in danger!"

A respectful voice reported to Thor.

"Bring him over!"

Thor pondered briefly before giving an order to the Knight Captain beside him.

"Yes!"

Steve nodded and swiftly gathered men to go forward.

Soon, several knights carried the old man over.

Thor finally got a clear look at the mysterious old man.

The old man wore dark armor, his hair already completely gray, his face haggard and withered. A brownish discoloration had nearly spread across his entire face.

Seeing this, Thor frowned.

Clearly, the poison had likely already reached the man's heart.

Whether he could be saved was hard to say.

Thor felt slightly doubtful, but he still looked toward Ryan.

"Ryan!"

He called out.

"My lord!"

Ryan answered respectfully.

"Place him in the rear carriage. Also, give him the fruit I acquired a few days ago."

Thor spoke, having already made his decision.

He had even taken out another extremely precious item he had recently obtained.

It was a Divine Wood Fruit he had harvested in the forest three days ago. Though it was not as valuable as a Life Fruit, it was already comparable to a Star-Moon Fruit. The only difference was that a Star-Moon Fruit tree generally bore countless fruits, while a Divine Wood Fruit was only one of a kind. It could only be born from a tree over a thousand years old that contained life power. Every fruit contained a vast amount of Life Source Power. It was not only a primary ingredient for Intermediate Life Potion, but also a supplementary ingredient for High-Grade Life Potion.

Under normal circumstances, as long as one had not lost an arm or a leg, a single Divine Wood Fruit could save them.

But the old man's condition truly did not look good. Thor was not certain that the Divine Wood Fruit could pull him through.

Still, since he had chosen to save the old man, Thor intended to give it a try.

In any case, he could afford to lose one Divine Wood Fruit. There was no need to worry too much.

"Yes!"

Ryan nodded.

He did not hesitate in the slightest.

He promptly went to make the arrangements.

"I hope he doesn't die."

"Otherwise, this will all have been for nothing!"

Thor muttered to himself. After taking another look, he withdrew his gaze.

There was nothing more he could do.

As for using a High-Grade Life Potion—

Not to mention that he did not have one, even if he did, he most likely would not gamble with it. After all, he did not yet know how much of a pleasant surprise this old man could bring him. Even now, the value of a high-grade potion was beyond imagination.

Naturally, he could not use one so casually.

This was merely an interlude.

The group set off once more.

They were now getting ever closer to Loren City, the administrative center of Northern Province.

At their current speed, they would arrive in at most ten days.

Thor directly chose to increase their pace.

He no longer went out of his way to search.

After all, as they drew closer to Loren City, the gains in the surrounding area had clearly diminished.

They were no longer attractive enough.

Under such circumstances—

A journey that should have taken ten days took only seven before Loren City came into distant view.

For seven days—

Everyone had been traveling.

Fortunately, they were all at least Reserve Knights, so exhaustion was not an issue.

As for the reduced gains, no one cared even less.

After all, everyone knew they could not keep finding rewards forever. What they had gained before was already enough to delight them.

Thor did not care much either. Everything that had happened before was enough to prove the immense usefulness of the Daily Intelligence System in Northern Province.

They were not even in the frontier lands yet. Once they entered those lands, the gains would only become greater.

Things had not even truly begun, so there was naturally no need to care.

The only thing on Thor's mind was the mysterious old man.

After seven days, the old man's breath remained weak, with no sign of waking.

If Thor could not still sense fluctuations of Life Source Power, he would have suspected that the old man was already dead.

There was no helping it. Even merely sensing that poison made Thor's scalp tingle. He suspected that even a Formal Knight would be unable to withstand it.

No, not merely suspected.

He was certain.

Under these circumstances—

Whether the old man could awaken was now even more uncertain.

If he could not wake up, then Thor's investment and risk would undoubtedly have been wasted.

Fortunately, the intelligence over the past few days had not indicated any danger.

Otherwise, he would have had to consider abandoning the old man.

After all, no matter how he looked at it, it would not be worth it.

However, since there had been no warning of danger and the old man was not dead, Thor considered it for a moment before keeping him.

After all, in the traditions of his previous life, once you saved someone, you saved them to the end.

Then, on the eighth day—

Just as the group could clearly make out Loren City ahead—

Ryan's aura suddenly surged. The next moment, green motes of light spread around him, while waves of Life Source Power swept outward. His aura rapidly rose.

"A breakthrough!"

Thor opened his eyes and looked at Ryan in the distance, the corner of his mouth twitching again.

He had only just sensed that he was nearing the middle stage of the Apprentice Knight rank. He had likely needed another day to break through. Yet now, Ryan had directly broken through to the peak of the Apprentice Knight rank. If it had merely been a guess before, then at this moment Thor was almost certain that Ryan would break through to Formal Knight before they reached the territory.

A Formal Knight. That was a Formal Knight.

At his current cultivation speed, perhaps he could hope for it in ten years.

That was with his enhanced talent. Before that, it would probably have taken decades.

Shaking his head, Thor could not help sighing.

At this moment, everyone in the Knight Order had been alarmed. Even Steve, the Knight Captain, looked at Ryan in shock.

Along the way, he had already gained a sufficient understanding of Ryan's talent. Yet Ryan's repeated breakthroughs still deeply stunned him.

Steve knew that Ryan had been practicing the Knight's Breathing Technique for less than three months.

Thinking back to himself—

After three months, he seemed to have only just mastered the proper Knight's Breathing Technique. Let alone reaching the peak of the Apprentice Knight rank, he had not even entered the gates of the Apprentice Knight rank.