An Era Belonging to Knights

Chen Zhuoqu stubbornly pursed her lips and stood up. "Can I try again?"

Xiao Qi glanced at her in surprise. "Sure, but you have to wait in line. There are so many people behind you... Doesn't it hurt?"

Instead of answering the question about whether it hurt, Chen Zhuoqu suddenly asked, "Can we train here tonight?"

The first stage only lasts 48 hours, which means that she might not have enough time to earn points or buy the fruits of the Longevity Sky.

Therefore, we must race against time.

She concluded that her strength was sufficient, and to train her skills repeatedly, she had to utilize the time when no one was around at night.

Xiao Qi laughed when she heard her question, "Of course you can, no one is stopping you. As long as you're not afraid of pain or fatigue, you can train however you want."

"Thank you," Chen Zhuoqu turned around and walked to the side to watch the rock climbing instruction, without saying another word.

Xiao Qi scratched the back of his head. At this moment, most people would say something tough, such as "I'm not afraid," "I can," or "I will never give up," as if they were afraid that others would not believe them.

But this girl didn't.

To be honest, he had a bit of a crush on this girl; she was the kind of girl he couldn't find even driving his Porsche 911 outside of school.

At that moment, Qing Chen was watching from within the crowd.

Seeing many people giving up and leaving, Xiao Wu whispered, "Parents..."

Qing Chen glanced at him but did not correct his form of address.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Wu immediately beamed with joy. "Parents, how about I pretend to be an ordinary person and climb it once, and then you can reward me in front of everyone to motivate them and let them know that the reward is real? That way, more people will stay."

But Qing Chen shook his head. "No need, I want to see who the first group of people who persevered were."

What's needed on this journey are fellow travelers, and each of them must learn to endure loneliness on this solitary path.

Today he saw many cowards who retreated because of pain and difficulties.

But I also saw many lonely figures.

That's exactly what he needs, and what the Knight Organization needs.

Qing Chen was very clear about one thing:

Why do those old guys in Forbidden Zone No. 002 favor him so much?

The old folks who have been detached from worldly affairs for centuries are openly helping him with the power of Forbidden Zone —isn't this exactly what they wanted to see?

To restore the glory of our knightly ancestors... that Knight Organization that could fight in large groups!

Qing Chen's ambition is not to restore the Twelve Knights of his predecessors. If it only ends there, he will still be living in the shadow of his predecessors' glory.

He cannot be considered the restorer of the knights.

Night falls.

Chen Zhuoqu kept watching rock climbing tutorials in front of the first cliff. Whenever she saw a detail, she would play it on a loop to deepen her impression.

She looked up at the cliff, where nearly a thousand people were still trying and queuing up, and Xiao Qi was also constantly sprouting Chicken Blood Sprout.

No one successfully reached the summit.

In this situation, even knowing that there were safety ropes to protect them from falling to their deaths, only a little over a thousand of the original ten thousand people survived.

Chen Zhuoqu didn't join the queue; instead, she continued watching videos. When she got tired, she would lie down on the lawn and take a nap to recharge.

For a skilled gamer like this, the greatest strength lies in resource allocation, and right now, time is her resource.

Instead of wasting time queuing like everyone else, it's better to conserve your energy and wait until nighttime when no one is around so you can practice a few more times without having to queue.

Midnight.

Chen Zhuoqu glanced around and saw that there were more than a hundred people making the same plans as her.

At this moment, the queue in front of the cliff finally stopped, and she got up and slowly walked over.

The girl rubbed her still-aching arm, her expression full of stubbornness.

Lu Yuan and Xiao Ying arrived at the cliff. Looking at the remaining hundred or so students, he was suddenly filled with emotion.

Of the 16,000 participants, only 138 remained after just 12 hours.

This attrition rate is terrifying.

Moreover, this is only the first hurdle.

Xiao Ying chimed in, "It's already quite good that over a hundred people were able to stay. I used to think these students were like flowers in a greenhouse, but I never expected that some of them would be so hardworking. Look at their injuries, all bloody."

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Those still remaining at the edge of the cliff are all promising talents. Have they all been registered?"

Xiao Ying said, "Yes, I've written them all down. There's a high overlap between these people and the group that runs morning exercises. I just checked the data and found that out of the 138 people who are still training, 91 of them run morning exercises every day."

Lu Yuan nodded. "That's the principle of the strong getting stronger. What makes them strong is not a wealthy family, nor being born at the starting line of the finish line, but the courage and determination to run to the finish line. Very good."

At this moment, Xiao Ying asked curiously, "But this cliff seems incredibly difficult. No one has managed to climb it yet. I heard that two of the students who participated were skilled rock climbers, and they still failed. Qing Chen spent so much money on this; I wonder what he's trying to achieve?"

Lu Yuan suddenly seemed to remember something and fell silent.

He quickly walked towards the highest cliff... Lu Yuan drinking Jingshan Tea, he saw the inscription on the mountainside from afar at the foot of the mountain.

129 meters, left by Zhang Wensheng.

At this moment, Lu Yuan knew what the cliff in front of him was: it was the Green Mountain Cliff!

Qing Chen actually rebuilt a Green Mountain Cliff on Whale Island!

He suddenly looked at the students who were still training in rock climbing in the distance, and he finally knew what Qing Chen was going to do!

Holy crap!

Is this a selection process for knights?! And they're picking several, a dozen, or even dozens at a time!

Etc!

Kunlun has taken a liking to so many promising talents, and so many of them have come to participate in this selection. If the rest hadn't already exchanged for the Myriad Thunder Department, they might have come too!

"Damn it," Lu Yuan exclaimed, "This is stealing people from Kunlun!"

They had previously devised a plan to guard against Jiuzhou, after all, He Jinqiu and others were in seclusion on Whale Island.

Everyone agreed that if Jiuzhou were to come out of the pass to poach people, Kunlun would send people to follow Jiuzhou 24 hours a day to prevent them from snatching people and causing trouble.

As a result, before the Jiuzhou members had even emerged from seclusion, Bai Zhou made his move.

Moreover, they unleash their most powerful moves, determined to poach all their best talents.

Lu Yuan rubbed his hair vigorously. "What should we do? We have to stop him! These are all the best talents. Kunlun can't afford to pick the leftovers!"

The Xiao Ying asked quietly, "How can we stop it?"

Lu Yuan paused for a moment. Yes, how could he stop it...?

The prizes offered by Bai Zhou are a set of Longevity Fruit, Purple Orchid Star, and Longevity Sky for each person. The little stuff Kunlun has is all from Bai Zhou.

How the hell are they trying to steal players from daytime?

This time, Qing Chen was extremely generous, so much so that no one believed it was true. Some of the students who failed went back and said that the academy had deliberately set the difficulty level so that they had no intention of letting them receive any rewards.

But Lu Yuan knew that the truth was not like that.

"Why doesn't he recruit from among the most talented cultivators?" Xiao Ying asked curiously. "That doesn't make sense. We need these promising talents because they are more determined, and once they reach a certain level in their cultivation, they will have exceptional command and combat abilities, which is what a large organization needs. But Daylight isn't like that. They've always followed an elite path. What would they do with so many mediocre students?"

Not to mention rare individuals like Chen Zhuoqu, the 16,000 students who participated in the cliff selection were actually mediocre cultivators who had been screened out by the Kunlun Meditation Diagram, and 98% of them were students from the Foundation Academy.

Therefore, what Bai Zhou is doing now seems very strange...

What they didn't know was that Qing Chen didn't care at all whether these people had talent or not. Although the path of the knight was difficult, it only cared about one's character.

As long as you can complete the eight Life and Death Trial, you will definitely reach the peak of A-level, and nothing will change that.

Lu Yuan stood in the night with a bitter face, his pleasant mood from when he was looking at the seedlings long gone. "Damn it, I have to go talk to the boss right away... someone snatched the seedlings I had in hand!"

The two left in a hurry, while Chen Zhuoqu continued to climb the cliff again and again.

Xiao Qi and the others sat in place cultivating, while Chicken Blood Sprout and magnesium powder were placed in bamboo baskets for the students to use.

Xiao Qi would occasionally open her eyes to look at Chen Zhuoqu's back, and only after seeing that he was alright would she close her eyes again to continue her cultivation.

At this moment, Chen Zhuoqu finally climbed to the nine-meter mark for the first time, and then froze.

No wonder even the top rock climbers in the academy couldn't pass the test.

No wonder no one has succeeded yet.

Because there is no path at all in the last meter of this 10-meter cliff.

Chen Zhuoqu then looked at other positions, and found the same thing: the last meter of every climbing position was bare, with no place to grab on.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, it can be seen that the last meter bulges slightly outward, and if one tries to climb normally, one will inevitably fall downward.

She then looked at the other challengers, who seemed to have encountered the same predicament as her.

"Is it really true that they don't intend to let anyone pass?" Chen Zhuoqu asked, panting.

No, the college operates with integrity and would never cheat its students like that.

Chen Zhuoqu tried to continue climbing, but fell down because she had nowhere to grab onto.

She was suspended by a safety rope and slammed heavily against the cliff face before slowly descending.

The girl approached Xiao Qi and asked, "Was the last meter intentionally set up?"

Xiao Qi didn't even open her eyes, nor did she say a word.

The parents instructed that they must not interfere with any of the students' challenges, and that the students must complete everything on their own.

Seeing that Xiao Qi didn't speak, Chen Zhuoqu didn't say anything more and turned around to walk towards the cliff again.

Xiao Qi opened her eyes with a happy smile; this girl was quite cool.

Interesting.

Chen Zhuoqu climbed again and again, but no matter how she tried to adjust the angle, her arms could not cross that one meter.

The top of that cliff seemed like an end point she could never reach.

Until the darkest dawn before daybreak.

The greyish-white sky faintly illuminated the cliff.

At this moment, Chen Zhuoqu, who had returned to the ninth meter of the cliff, suddenly saw a line of small characters carved on the cliff above her. "Life should be like a candle, shining brightly from beginning to end."

Those were the words Qing Chen had seen, the words that had given strength to all the knights, right at the last meter of the Green Mountain Cliff.

Chen Zhuoqu looked up, suddenly took a deep breath, and leaped into the air!

She grabbed the edge of the cliff with her right hand, but her left hand slipped and fell.

As the first rays of the morning sun shone down, Chen Zhuoqu felt that she had never been so joyful in her life.

However, at that moment, she heard footsteps above her head.

The girl looked up and saw Qing Chen standing there calmly saying, "Congratulations. Xiao Qi will distribute your reward. I must remind you, please restrain your desires and do not cultivate on your own, because you may be able to take a better path. Don't be too happy, this path has only just begun."

After saying that, Qing Chen turned and left.

Chen Zhuoqu hurriedly climbed to the top of the cliff using both hands and feet, staring blankly as Qing Chen walked away.

Qing Chen hadn't disguised herself, so she knew that was Bai Zhou's boss.

Exhausted, Chen Zhuoqu sat on the cliff and looked down. She saw that Xiao Qi, who had refused to talk to her before, was now standing up and smiling at her.

The students who reached the top, once there was a first, there would be a second. When they saw Chen Zhuoqu leap into the air, they understood the meaning hidden in the last meter.

As the sun rose, 107 out of the 138 students successfully reached the summit. The remaining 31 students seemed to understand what was happening, and they turned around and went back to their dormitories to sleep without hesitation, preparing to try again the following night.

What they didn't know was that there was no safety rope for the very last meter.

What they considered a thrilling day will be nothing to mention when they look back on it in the future.

Just as Qing Chen said, these people's journey has only just begun.

Countdown 64:00:00.

The college was already bustling with activity by 8 a. m.

The students who were still asleep in the dormitory area were awakened by the lively discussions in the corridor... The students who had trained all night finally returned to their dormitories and excitedly talked about how they had completed the first cliff challenge.

The students woke up with a start. They opened their dormitory doors and saw the successful ones covered in wounds, yet carrying fruit, tea leaves, and Purple Orchid Star.

Yesterday, someone on the forum said that the academy was lying and that no one could complete the challenge, especially those two rock climbing enthusiasts who testified that there was no path at the top of the cliff and it was impossible to climb up.

However, overnight, some successful people stepped forward and proved them wrong.

They really gave out rewards!

And they actually sent a whole set!

Oh, and there are 300 points left!

The students were ecstatic, each one as energetic as if they had been injected with adrenaline, all saying that they were determined to succeed in the challenge today!

Everyone's enthusiasm was rekindled.

At this moment, Chen Zhuoqu had just eaten the Longevity Sky Fruit given to her by Xiao Qi. Xiao Qi gave her two, saying it was a special reward for the first place winner, so these were the third and fourth fruits she had eaten.

There was also Jingshan Tea being brewed in the dormitory, filling the room with its aroma.

She sat blankly on the edge of the bed, staring at the dazzling Purple Orchid Star in her hand... Was this the item that could aid in cultivation?

But if the Lord of Daybreak gave the item, why did he say that those who passed the challenge could not cultivate? Wasn't giving this thing redundant?

Wait a minute, is the purpose of giving this thing out to people so they can exchange it for money to make a living?

Should she sell it or not? If she fails in the subsequent challenges, keeping the Purple Orchid Star would be a backup plan. If Qing Chen's path is blocked, she might be able to use the Purple Orchid Star to explore other paths.

But...

Why do we need to leave ourselves so many escape routes in life?

Chen Zhuoqu made a phone call, "Hey, are you still buying anything?"

A student on the phone laughed and said, "Tea leaves or fruit? Don't worry, we'll take as much as you have. There are plenty of students waiting here."

"What I want to sell is the Purple Orchid Star," Chen Zhuoqu said.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a sudden question, "You passed that training? Wait a minute."

"Yes," Chen Zhuoqu said, "I was the first to pass."

"I'll offer 5 million," said the rich second-generation on the other end of the phone.

Chen Zhuoqu calmly said, "6 million, not a penny less. As you know, this is the first cultivation item to circulate among the public. The previous ones were all snapped up by the Matrix, the Freemasons, and Red Leaf. Their people took turns queuing overnight, and you couldn't compete with them. I know you are starting a club. Getting this item will prove your club's strength and attract more elite students."

There was another silence on the other end of the phone. "Deal. Are you in your dorm? I'll transfer the money now."

Purple Orchid Star, something that's hard to redeem even with team points, is incredibly precious to wealthy second-generation individuals who aspire to embark on the path of cultivation.

Moreover, it was the first ear of grain to circulate among the common people.

My sister is saved.

Chen Zhuoqu hung up the phone. For some reason, she felt as if her fate had changed from this day forward.

However, instead of being happy, she kept typing on her phone and then clicked send.

A paid guide appeared on the homepage of the academy's app. "Why was I the first person to successfully complete the challenge?"

This guide details her process and tips for challenging a 10-meter cliff, including how to use the body for three-point positioning, how to conserve energy, and how to jump over the last meter.

She knew that even if other students saw this guide, they would still find it difficult to succeed in the challenge.

But it doesn't matter. As long as this guide and the reputation of challenging the number one person can make her money, that's enough. As for whether others succeed or not, what does it have to do with her?

At this very moment, Qing Chen was lying on a chair in the Agricultural Academy, posting on his alternate account. "Wow, there really is a reward! I'm determined to succeed in the challenge today, or I won't sleep! Everyone, let's go together!"

Then, using another alternate account, he commented, "I'm going too!"

Qing Chen chuckled as he scrolled through the posts. Kunlun and Jiuzhou wanted to steal him away? No way! They could only pick what was left over from Baiyue.

The next second, he suddenly came across Chen Zhuoqu's paid strategy guide and immediately laughed, "It does have a bit of a knight's style."

He suddenly remembered the time when his master, Li Shutong, took him to the boxing gym to earn money.

The most glorious era for the knights is about to begin.

Shadow told Chen Yu to go back and eke out a living, waiting for the era that belonged to Qing Chen to arrive.

Since his brother has already said those words, Qing Chen must keep them.

Two chapters totaling 10,000 words have been updated. Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets.