Transcendence

Night.

On the warm bed, Dongbo Xueying leaned back against the headboard and read a book. The Fire Crystal Lamp beside him cast its light across the entire room.

The book was titled The Ten Great Transcendent Knights.

It was a biographical tale, and Dongbo Xueying loved stories—especially tales of legendary Transcendents. As a noble whose mother was a mage, he had access to a huge collection of books... and had learned plenty of things about the world.

For example, knights were divided into seven ranks: Human-Rank, Earth-Rank, Heaven-Rank, Meteor, Silver Moon, Title, and Transcendent.

Human-Rank, Earth-Rank, and Heaven-Rank knights were all considered ordinary knights.

Meteor, Silver Moon, and Title knights were known as Star Knights.

Above the Star Knights were the Transcendents.

The three major ranks... were incredibly difficult to cross! His father and Uncle Tong were both only Heaven-Rank Knights.

As for Star Knights, they were called that because they shone like stars on the battlefield, dazzling and impossible to injure even when beset by countless arrows. They could seize an army's commander's head from the midst of the ranks and move across the battlefield undefeated.

But these were all mortal powers.

Even Title Knights, who could single-handedly destroy an army of a hundred thousand... Though they were known as "one-man armies," "the pinnacle of mortals," and "possessors of power approaching that of the Deities," their strength was still mortal. They could ultimately be worn down by sheer numbers.

But once someone crossed into the Transcendent realm...

That was a qualitative difference, a leap to an entirely new level of life. They were no longer mortal, but Transcendent beings. Mere numbers of ordinary mortals no longer mattered. Under normal circumstances, no matter how many mortals there were, they couldn't wear a Transcendent down—or even hurt one. They possessed incredible powers that went beyond the material world!

Even Deities were wary of them.

The legendary thousand-meter-tall Lava Giants and the great Infernal Demons from the Abyss were all Transcendent beings. Humans, too, could become Transcendent through cultivation.

Humanity's Transcendent experts drove back invading Demons and slaughtered all who dared resist!

They were the power that defended humanity, keeping all other races in check!

"If only I could become a Transcendent Knight! I'd catch a few Demons to play with, get a dragon for a mount, and have a drink with the Deities." Dongbo Xueying grinned foolishly as he read the tale, imagining himself as one of its Transcendent Knights. Just then—

"Ding!"

The Fire Crystal Lamp beside him went out on its own.

"Huh? Why did the Fire Crystal Lamp go out? So soon?" Dongbo Xueying, who had been engrossed in his book, immediately grimaced in frustration. "Having a mage for a mother is such a pain. Even the Fire Crystal Lamp shuts itself off when its time is up."

"Fine, time for bed!"

Without a light, all he could do was sleep.

Dongbo Xueying soon fell fast asleep. In his dreams, he became an all-powerful Transcendent Knight. Even in his sleep, he couldn't help grinning, clearly having a wonderful dream.

******

Dongbo Lie and his wife were also in bed, preparing to rest.

"Dongbo, I've been feeling uneasy lately," his wife said, lying in her husband's arms.

"A Yu, don't worry. We've been in Yi Water City for eight years, and everything's been peaceful. Your family hasn't come looking for you. You can relax; nothing will happen. Our family will live in peace for many years to come—ten, twenty... We'll grow old together. They won't find us. They never will." Dongbo Lie held his wife gently.

She rested her head against her husband's chest.

She said nothing more. She knew all too well how powerful her family was. Sooner or later, they would probably find her.

A faint smile touched her lips. She had never regretted her choice. If she had obeyed her family back then, that would have been the real disaster. She had fled her family and traveled to many places on her own, then finally ended up with the man she loved. She even had two adorable sons. She was already content.

"Dongbo, do you regret it?" his wife asked softly. "If they catch you, they won't let you go either."

"How many times have we faced life and death together? And you're still asking me that?" Dongbo Lie replied with a smile.

"Mm."

Night had fallen deep, and the castle was quiet.

Apart from the soldiers still on duty, almost everyone was asleep.

"Rumble~~~" A huge bird, dark as an ominous cloud, flew toward them at high speed. The thunderous rush of air made some of the castle's glass windows rattle.

The bird stopped in midair.

The gray-robed man and the silver-armored man looked down.

"We've arrived." The gray-robed man's expression was complicated. "Little sister... I really don't want to take you away."

"Raise the alarm!!!"

A deep, powerful shout rang through the entire castle. The Lion-Man Tong San let out a roar.

"Is that a Lion-Man from the Beastmen?" The silver-armored man looked down, curious.

"He's a Lion-Man slave the family assigned to my sister back then. I didn't expect him to still be with her all these years later. He's quite loyal." The gray-robed man looked at the burly Lion-Man and recalled the young slave who had once been locked in a cage. Back then, the Lion-Man boy had silently followed his sister. Now he had grown so strong and imposing.

The castle below covered an area of two li and was divided into the Outer Castle and the Inner Castle. Four battalions of soldiers and the servants lived in the Outer Castle. Knights could bring their families to live there, and a battalion of soldiers patrolled the Outer Castle walls every night.

"Enemies!"

"Enemies!"

The three hundred soldiers on the walls each grabbed the huge, dark-red crossbow beside them. The thick bolts were already loaded, and all the crossbows were aimed at the Four-Winged Vulture in the sky.

"You go," the gray-robed man ordered.

"Yes." The silver-armored man leaped down from the sky. He fell nearly fifty-six meters without slowing his descent at all, then landed on the castle's stone pavement with a thunderous crash. The ground shook, and the flagstones beneath his feet cracked in every direction.

The silver-armored man looked ahead. Dongbo Lie and his wife had already come outside, and even Dongbo Xueying and his younger brother, Qing Shi, had gotten up.

With all the shouting and rumbling outside, there was no way they could sleep.

"What's going on?" Dongbo Xueying asked, holding his younger brother as they stood behind their parents and watched.

"Moyang Yu!" The silver-armored man stood in the open space in the castle. Though countless soldiers on the distant, elevated walls aimed their crossbows at him, his voice remained cold. "Now that things have come to this, are you still going to resist? Why not come with us quietly?"

"Look around you," Dongbo Lie shouted.

The silver-armored man glanced around. Soldiers lined the high walls and surrounded him on the ground, each holding a dark-red crossbow. His pupils narrowed slightly, then he smiled. "Star-Breaking Crossbows. Impressive. This is just an ordinary little fief in a county, yet you've managed to equip so many Star-Breaking Crossbows? With this many of them attacking me at once, you really might be able to kill me."

"You're a Meteor Knight. In a one-on-one fight, nobody in our castle is your match," Dongbo Lie said. "But we have five hundred Star-Breaking Crossbows, and every one of them can hurt you. With all of them attacking at once, and a few of us joining in... we have a good chance of killing you."

"This is the Dongbo Clan's territory," Moyang Yu said as well. "You've intruded on a noble's land, which is an act of provocation against our clan. We're entirely within our rights to kill you. Your death would be on your own head."

The Empire's laws granted nobles special privileges, and a noble's territory was inviolable.

"You two should come with me. Stop resisting," the silver-armored man said with a frown.

"Nobles are protected by the Empire's laws. Are you going to defy those laws and forcibly abduct two nobles?" Moyang Yu asked coldly.

"Little Yu."

A hoarse voice drifted down.

Everyone looked up at the gray-robed man on the back of the great bird, a staff in his hand. A terrifying, surging power gathered around him. Thick clouds appeared out of nowhere in the sky, filled with countless flashes of lightning. Sparks also appeared in many places throughout the castle below. The countless bolts of lightning shimmered beautifully in the night, then struck the soldiers. They screamed, convulsed, and fell to the ground, while the Star-Breaking Crossbows clattered everywhere.

With a mere gesture, he had rendered hundreds of soldiers powerless to resist. He had already shown mercy; otherwise, every soldier would have been reduced to charcoal.

The Four-Winged Vulture descended from the sky. The gray-robed man climbed down and pulled back his hood, revealing a pale yet handsome face. His features were remarkably similar to Moyang Yu's.

"Little Yu, are you still going to resist?" the gray-robed young man asked.

"Brother..." Moyang Yu's eyes widened, and her body trembled slightly.