Astonishment and a choice
Lu Yuan was brought back to the North Campus from Bronze City by the Blue Knight. What exactly did the two of them experience together during the chaos in Bronze City?
Although the files handed over by the Night Watcher were vague and didn't leave much clear information, given the status of the String Knight and Lantern Knight in the North Campus, they had heard some rumors in private and knew that Lu Yuan and the Blue Knight were definitely sworn brothers who had risked their lives for each other.
Logically and emotionally, Lu Yuan would never joke about the life or death of the Blue Knight.
The String Knight on the inner side of the sickbed was the first to suppress his astonishment. The icy rationality that had been gathering in his palms slowly dissipated, and his slightly cloudy but still sharp old eyes fixed intently on Lu Yuan. With a complex expression, he asked in a deep voice:
"Are you sure you have a way? If you don't, and the Blue Knight dies as a result, you will bear full responsibility, yes, full responsibility."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became heavy with the old knight's words. The String Knight didn't give Lu Yuan a chance to respond immediately, extending his withered finger to point to the ring of pale blue starlight left by the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander around the sickbed, and continued in an increasingly stern tone:
"Although I cannot save the Blue Knight for the time being, my freezing techniques, combined with the Stellar Formation Patterns left by the Astrologer, can at least keep the Blue Knight alive for a very long time."
Faced with the heavy scrutiny of a high-ranking old knight, Lu Yuan stood at the foot of the hospital bed without even blinking, and showed no intention of backing down.
He had just used [Forbidden Studies - Deep Study] to thoroughly investigate the Blue Knight's background, and naturally understood the embellishment and helplessness in the String Knight's words. He immediately met the String Knight's sharp gaze and calmly replied, neither humble nor arrogant:
"Yes, that's right. Your methods can indeed allow the Blue Knight to live for a very long time, but what about her Pathway? Beneath that layer of ice, the Contamination of her Pathway won't stop; it will only continue to Mutation little by little until it completely erodes her sanity and foundation. My plan can't guarantee a 100% cure for the Blue Knight, but it's at least 80% certain."
The moment the words "eighty percent certain" were uttered, even the String Knight's graying brows furrowed instantly, his aura sharpened, and his gaze fixed intently on Lu Yuan's face.
"Are you sure you're 80% confident? You know, once this Fourth Order Pathway goes wrong and gets Contamination and entangled by higher-level beings, even looking at the entire empire, there's still no good way to eradicate it!"
As the String Knight finished speaking, his chest rose and fell slightly, his voice revealing an undisguised heaviness and helplessness.
He was fully aware of some of the harsh realities involving the empire's upper echelons, even without them explicitly stating them. It wasn't that the entire empire was completely helpless against the Fourth Order Pathway Mutation; in the Central Imperial Capital, there were indeed a handful of Empire Grand Potion Master at the very top of the Potion Studies, possessing extraordinary methods that could have some effect on this thorny disease.
The problem is that those great apothecaries usually have princes, nobles, and Fifth Order experts lining up to see them, and their schedules are already fully booked. With the situation in the Northern Territory in such a chaotic state, if the Blue Knight wants to travel thousands of miles to cut in line for medical treatment, the Knight Academy must offer an exorbitant sum of sincerity and price to entice the great apothecaries. In terms of both time and resources, there simply isn't enough time right now.
Faced with a desperate situation where even the empire's top doctors were helpless, what gave this young man, who had just earned his Intermediate Potion Master badge, the confidence to claim an 80% chance of success?
Seeing the String Knight's tense expression, Lu Yuan had long anticipated that these two seniors would press for details. He naturally couldn't reveal a single word about the secrets of the Sea of Knowledge and the Gray-White Text, but he had already prepared a set of excuses that no one could find fault with, based on the records he had left in the Academy.
Lu Yuan shrugged and met their gazes frankly, saying:
"The reason I can heal is because of the abilities I acquire through my own Pathway. I'm sure you two reviewed my file after the certification exam. During the freshman combat a few days ago, apart from using that Revolver, I didn't display any offensive methods from my Pathway on the stage. That's because the abilities I acquire through my Pathway have nothing to do with direct combat; they're mainly related to healing. That's why I can heal."
This half-true, half-false explanation is plausible, connecting his bizarre dissection technique during the intermediate potion certification and his strange behavior of firing only guns without using Transcendence attacks in the Freshman Tournament. However, it still feels somewhat far-fetched, after all, what Pathway could be so powerful?
The String Knight paused for a moment upon hearing this, and subconsciously exchanged a glance with the Lantern Knight beside him. Both of them clearly recalled the extraordinary records in Lu Yuan's file, and their tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly in unison.
The two did not press Lu Yuan for the Pathway name of the method, as that was the most core secret of every Transcendence person. The String Knight took half a step back, pulled the Lantern Knight closer to the side of the sickbed, and whispered a few words to each other.
A few breaths later, the Lantern Knight turned around. The flame of his small brass lantern cast flickering shadows on his wrinkled face. He stared intently at Lu Yuan with a complex expression and asked in a deep, deliberate voice, "..."
"Are you sure? Blue Knight is someone we watched graduate from the North Campus. Are you sure? If anything happens to Blue Knight, I will absolutely not let you off the hook!"
Beside him, String Knight in a dark gold robe stepped forward heavily. The two senior members of the North Campus fixed their gazes on Lu Yuan, their tone extremely stern and their attitude unequivocal: if anything were to happen to the Blue Knight during the treatment, Lu Yuan would have to give the entire Knight Academy an explanation. This was imperative!
Looking at the two elderly men before him who genuinely cared about the Blue Knight's life and death, Lu Yuan knew that with the 91% success rate guaranteed by [Forbidden Studies - Deep Study], this treatment would definitely go smoothly. However, to appear reassuring and trustworthy, he didn't speak too confidently, but instead calmly nodded in response to their gazes and said:
"There's a high probability there won't be any problems. I wouldn't joke about the Blue Knight's life or death."
A brief silence fell over the Infirmary once again, broken only by the faint breathing of the Blue Knight on the sickbed and the occasional soft flickering of the Stellar Sealing Formation Patterns around them.
The String Knight glanced down at the Blue Knight, whose face was ashen and whose Black Qi between his brows was barely contained, then looked up at Lu Yuan, whose expression remained resolute and composed. Finally, he sighed deeply in his heart and made a decision in secret.
Even now, he still couldn't understand what gave Lu Yuan, a Third Order Transcendence, the confidence to say such things. But what better option did they have besides trusting Lu Yuan?