Apprentice Knight

[Demon Bloodline!]

The personalities of the estate stewards were cut from the same cloth.

As expected, the other estate stewards were likewise hosts to Quasit Bloodlines.

There was clearly something wrong with the Golden Lion Count's Estate!

The hosts parasitized by Quasit Bloodlines just happened to be estate stewards in charge of serfs.

Obviously, this was to make it easier for the Quasits to collect chaotic souls that had died from murder.

"A First-Ring Demonic Beast is equivalent in rank to an Official Wizard. Even if Quasits are not skilled at combat, they are not something a Junior Wizard Apprentice can hunt."

Yin Ming knew his own limits.

However, Abyssal creatures would not remain in the mortal world for long.

Quasits, creatures cautious and cowardly by nature, were even less likely to settle permanently in the mortal world.

The only things he needed to worry about were those powerful Demon Bloodlines, as well as the human knights controlled by the bloodlines.

Little Black Fur Ball was the weakest initial-stage Quasit Bloodline. After obtaining the True Blood of its bloodline source, it could evolve into advanced bloodlines such as Giant Husk, Heart-Eater Worm, and Armorbound.

"Fortunately, I'm a serf. I have no value as a host."

Golden Lion County was entangled with Abyss Demons. It was clearly no kind-hearted place.

Yin Ming had no plans to leave for the time being.

The greatest known danger here was a First-Ring Abyssal Quasit.

Elsewhere, who knew how many-ring Demons might be lurking!

"..."

Mortals believed that the transcendent were mysterious and unfathomable.

They could search for an entire lifetime and fail to find even a scale or claw-tip of transcendent clues.

Yet once one truly stepped into the transcendent world, one would discover that the transcendent was everywhere.

At the end of the day, the transcendent and mortals lived within the same space.

The reason mortals could not see transcendent beings was merely that their understandings did not overlap.

Jeroen Hoven had been parasitized by a Demon Bloodline, yet even at death, he had not known that he had crossed paths with a transcendent creature.

"If I killed... all the Demon Bloodlines! The extracted mental essence could probably directly stabilize the second Mental Rune forever."

Yin Ming only dared to think about it for now. Unless he had a Minor Teleportation Talisman on him, the idea of hunting Demons and fleeing afterward was extremely dangerous.

If he really put it into action, then no matter how cowardly the Quasit was, it would have to emerge from the Abyss to take revenge.

"Too weak! If I had the strength of a One-Ring Wizard, I should be considering how to fish that Quasit out of the Abyss right now."

Yin Ming found that his strength was not enough!

Yet in the short term, he could not find any way to rapidly increase it.

Accumulating a wizard's mental power was a long process. He still needed nearly two months before he could condense his second rune.

Even if he used the Scavenger Gourd to increase the activity of his brain's nerve cells, it would still take a month.

The third Zero-Ring Wizardry: Crimson Flame Ring.

It was a purely offensive wizardry, stronger than Wizard's Hand, but only by a very limited margin.

Flesh Strengthening had also reached a bottleneck. His physique had reached the standard of a High Knight, but without real combat experience, the combat power he could actually display was limited. He could only crush Low Knights with his physical qualities and was absolutely no match for a High Knight.

"Knowledge! If I knew the basic principles behind constructing rune spell-formula circuits, I would not have to chew on others' leftovers, unable to make even a single constructive breakthrough."

Whether it was making wizardry instant-cast,

or maintaining two or more spells at the same time,

or using the same principles to develop Wizard's Foot and Wizard's Head, all of it would bring a qualitative leap in combat strength.

Unfortunately, Hanhai Wizard's inheritance contained no theoretical knowledge whatsoever. He could only cultivate step by step.

"..."

Tulip Manor!

Pains Gagarin put away his bloodstained whip.

He took out a small piece of freshly baked white bread, golden-brown and soft, and rewarded it to a brawny man built like an iron tower beside him.

He forced an unnatural smile onto his face and praised him extravagantly. "This serf, who only entered the manor five days ago, has completed his plowing task outstandingly. This is what a qualified serf is like, and only such a serf is qualified to enjoy delicious white bread."

Having retired from the border battlefield, Pains was not skilled at praise, social dealings, or schemes.

Yet whenever thoughts of murder surfaced in his mind, he felt an incomparable pleasure.

If he could successfully carry out a murder, he would gain enjoyment beyond the limits of the body.

Misleading perception, controlling emotions, twisting one's own will, driving humans to do things they had never wished to do—this was the power of an Abyss Demon Bloodline.

Murder! Murder without leaving a trace.

Quasits could not digest souls carrying hatred. To them, this was a necessary cooking process to remove the poison.

All the serfs played along. Randy wore an envious expression, then whispered, "I'll bet half a piece of black bread that this guy won't last two months."

Yin Ming blended into the crowd. He did not possess the bold spirit to save strangers of another race and make an enemy of the entire world. "Then you're bound to lose! This guy is strong on the outside but weak within. I bet he can't even last one month."

"I..." Jack lowered his head. He had been unusually silent all day, and after glancing at Yin Ming, he hesitated to speak.

Suddenly!

Pains Gagarin changed his tone.

He pointed at Jack among the crowd and said excitedly, "In addition, another serf has caught young master Adams Arthur's eye because of his outstanding performance and will become an Apprentice Knight of the Golden Mane Knights."

Fake, right?

Not even dogs would believe that!

Who would get promoted to a full-regiment officer just because he farmed well?

The Landon Duchy had not launched a full-scale war, so the nobles simply could not recruit serfs into the army.

The old serfs' eyes were filled with confusion and vigilance as they pondered what new trick this was to trap people.

The new serfs were emotional. If they had hoes in their hands, they would have swung them until smoke rose from them. Working well could actually give them a chance to change their social class.

"Jack..." Randy looked astonished. Turning his head, he quietly asked, "Pains isn't using you as a pretext so he can secretly kill you, is he?"

"I'll explain when we get back!" Jack shook his head.

Yin Ming also felt it was impossible. To slaughter a few serfs, there was no need to borrow Adams Arthur's fearsome name.

An estate steward could neither make decisions for the count's heir nor dare use his name to do anything.

"..."

"Eno, I'm sorry!"

After returning to Blackstone House, Jack deeply bowed to Yin Ming in apology.

Before anyone could question him, he took the initiative to explain. "Do you remember that Silverleaf Grass Root can stop bleeding? I traded that information for a chance to become an Apprentice Knight. I'm willing to offer any compensation."

He remembered how Adams Arthur had slain the Shadow Leopard and raised its head high for everyone to see. Jack had said then that he wanted to become a knight, yet he had unexpectedly truly seized an opportunity!

"Eno trusted us, which is why he did not hide the recipe for Hemostatic Powder. You shameless thief, you already offered the prescription to someone else, and it can't be taken back. What compensation are you even talking about?" Randy cursed furiously.

"I... I can confess to Lord Arthur and prove that the prescription was Eno's discovery, then fight for another Apprentice Knight position." Jack drew a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said.

"No need! This is Jack's own capability. I have the prescription, but I get scared just seeing Lord Arthur's mount, let alone stopping him to speak with him. Whether you can become an Apprentice Knight has little to do with the prescription."

As a serf, merely managing to speak with Adams Arthur meant risking one's life.

Yin Ming did not seek credit, nor was he interested in becoming an Apprentice Knight.

Before becoming a knight, an Apprentice Knight

was, to put it bluntly, a handyman responsible for feeding a knight's horse and remaining on call twenty-four hours a day.

Wasn't being a serf who only needed to work half an hour a day far better?

Besides, Apprentice Knights also had to follow knights onto the battlefield. Who knew whether a War Demon might be hiding in some corner of the battlefield, devouring the battle souls of the dead?