The Returning Saint Knight

Return of the Saint Knight

July in Hang City, the blazing sun was like fire.

Braving the rolling heatwaves, Zhang Hong forcefully strode forward with heavy steps, rushing through the gates of the International Exhibition Center with lightning speed.

The incoming blast of air conditioning made him shiver all over, involuntarily pulling a refreshing smile onto his face.

Standing one hundred and eighty centimeters tall and weighing over two hundred pounds, Zhang Hong—known throughout the circle as the Flesh Mountain Demon King—suddenly charged in, startling the security guards in front of the checkpoint and making their expressions turn vigilant.

Before they could make a move, however, Zhang Hong ingratiatingly handed over his identity badge.

The middle-aged security guard carefully inspected the card, and after confirming it wasn't a counterfeit, he reluctantly waved him through.

The 17th Daxia Anime Expo was being held at the International Exhibition Center over these few days. Because the organizers deliberately controlled the number of entries, tickets were exceptionally tight, leading certain otaku who failed to grab tickets to frantically forge documents in an attempt to muddle through.

The security guard had personally caught several of them, all of whom were combat-level-five losers claiming to be Acers.

Zhang Hong—who looked very much like an Acer and in fact was an Acer member—smoothly passed the security checkpoint. The broad main exhibition hall was right before his eyes; he grabbed the SLR camera hanging from his chest and excitedly wanted to roar out loud.

Little sisters, this demon king is here!

Bang!

Zhang Hong, who had just rushed forward a few steps, suddenly saw darkness before his eyes, feeling as though he had crashed into a solid wall. He felt terrible!

Under the rebound force generated by the impact, he staggered back a few steps, barely managing to keep from falling to the ground.

The next moment, Zhang Hong clearly saw the culprit responsible for his running into a wall.

It was a tall man, even taller than the one-eighty-centimeter Zhang Hong.

He wore a set of black-brown leather armor, the surface densely covered with streaks of deep and shallow scars, along with dark red spots resembling bloodstains, as if he had just survived a fierce and bitter battle.

The leather armor was cinched by a belt of the same material, with a sheathed dagger and a silver flask tied to his left and right waist respectively, and trousers and leather boots covered in mud underneath.

The rejoicing Zhang Hong was extremely annoyed, but upon seeing the other's attire and getup, he felt astonished.

He had seen too many domestic cosplays, but he had never witnessed such a special mercenary adventurer cos. Although the equipment was very crude and not dazzling or magnificent at all, it gave off an overwhelmingly intense sense of realism.

The problem was, how did this guy suddenly appear? Just a moment ago, there clearly hadn't been anyone in front of him!

Right as Zhang Hong was sizing up the other party, the man seemed to notice, turning around to lock gazes with him.

All the fat on Zhang Hong's body involuntarily quivered, his pent-up anger instantly melting away without a trace.

This tall man was around thirty years old. His hair was cropped very short, standing straight up like dense steel needles. With a broad forehead, a high bridge of the nose, bright and spirited eyes, and a resolute face, although he wasn't extremely handsome, he exuded immense masculine charm.

He could effortlessly crush all those effeminate pretty boys; would a man like this even need to spend money to pick up girls?

The plump Zhang Hong thought with a strong sense of inferiority.

Then he heard the man say, "How, do you do."

Zhang Hong was stunned.

The man's voice was quite deep; strangely enough, the words were spoken with great difficulty, as if he hadn't spoken out loud for a very, very long time.

He scratched his head and stammered, "H-Hello, I-I'm an intern reporter for Xinman, Zhang as in bow and long, Jiang as in river, Jiang as in bird Hong. Sorry for bumping into you just now. May I ask which character you are cosplaying?"

The corners of the man's mouth twitched in self-mockery. "My name is Zuo Yi, Zuo as in left and right, Yi as in perseverance."

This time, the man's words were much more fluent.

"Uh, Mr. Zuo, hello..."

Zhang Hong was practically on the verge of scratching his scalp raw. He was awed by the invisible aura emanating from the other party and felt under immense pressure. Unawares, his body grew stiff, his mouth lost its agility, and his usual cleverness vanished completely, making him excruciatingly constrained.

Zuo Yi smiled, his gaze leaving Zhang Hong to sweep across the International Exhibition Center's hall.

The main hall was extremely lively. COSERs dressed in bizarre costumes strolled among the crowd, striking poses to accept the gaze of spectators and the flashing of camera lenses—elves, fairies, orcs, monsters, Iron Man, crossdressers...

It made the place appear quite magical.

His gaze ultimately locked onto a banner hanging down from the exhibition hall's dome: 2019 Daxia International Anime Expo!

2019, Daxia!

A trace of incredulous expression flashed through Zuo Yi's eyes.

The memories of the past few days remained vivid in his mind, causing him to doubt the reality of what he was seeing before him.

Three days ago, after adventuring in Sadea World for many years, Zuo Yi returned to the starting point of his initial crossing to Sadea—the Thorn Town at the edge of Black Mountain Forest—only to run right into the Abyss Demon Legion invading the ground.

To cover the townspeople's retreat, he guarded the outpost fortress alone, engaging in a fierce and bitter slaughter with countless demons. He broke through his limits on the battlefield to ascend to Saint Rank, and finally fought a decisive battle against the Lord of the Ninth Abyss and commander of the demon army, Sol, outside Thorn Town.

Relying on the Sanctum Power condensed from the faith of the eight virtues, Zuo Yi heavily injured Sol—who held the title of Flesh Mountain Demon King—but he was also struck by the Grand Banishment cast by Sol at the cost of burning his final life force, thereby being forcibly dragged into the spatial turbulence.

Yet now, he was standing right here!

Was it an illusion?

Zuo Yi instantly dismissed the thought.

Even in the high-dimensional Sadea World, back when he was still of Legendary Tier, Edith—hailed as the strongest mental wizard—had exhausted every means yet failed to breach his Iron Will.

Let alone that the current Zuo Yi had become a Saint Knight.

An illusion? It didn't exist!

Since it wasn't an illusion, it meant he really was back. Thirty years after crossing over to Sadea World, he had returned to his homeland, returning to the world that bore and raised him, the world that truly belonged to him!

At this moment, Zuo Yi wanted nothing more than to laugh out loud.

How many years had it been? He once thought he would never be able to return to this world that made his soul ache with longing, never expecting that in the end, he would actually be sent back by his strongest enemy at the cost of sacrificing his life.

Sol was simply a northerner in the abyss!

What made Zuo Yi feel somewhat inconceivable was that he had actually only been gone for three years.

Although in the multiverse different dimensional worlds had different times, the tenfold difference between high-dimensional Sadea and low-dimensional Blue Star was baffling.

Zuo Yi didn't dwell on this issue; the multiverse possessing countless planes held endless mysteries that saints couldn't exhaust a lifetime to understand even a fraction of a fraction, and for ordinary people to think too much was sheer self-torture.

What he wanted most right now was to go home!

"Reporter Zhang..."

Zuo Yi withdrew his gaze. Repressing his inner excitement and agitation, he said to Zhang Hong, who was still standing before him, "Can I borrow your phone to make a call?"

When he first crossed over to Sadea World, Zuo Yi carried quite a few things with him—a backpack, a cell phone, a wallet, a passport, an ID card, and so on. By now, those items belonging to Blue Star World had long since vanished and ceased to exist.

Yet Zuo Yi still felt extremely fortunate; a mere three years wouldn't make him feel much of a disconnect from Blue Star World.

"Oh, oh, sure."

Zhang Hong snapped out of it, hurriedly pulling out his phone and unlocking it with his fingerprint before handing it over to Zuo Yi.

Zuo Yi said a "thank you" and took it.

This phone was no different from the one he used back then, and the operating system was also familiar to Zuo Yi. He entered a number and dialed out.

"The number you have dialed is powered off..."

The voice coming from the phone made Zuo Yi somewhat disappointed. He had originally wanted to contact a friend living in downtown Hang City to come pick him up, but he hadn't expected this fellow to actually have his phone turned off.

Forget it. Zuo Yi handed the phone back to Zhang Hong. "Thanks."

With that, he strode toward the exit, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Hong, left behind in place, dazedly gripped the phone, feeling as though he had lived through a dream with a very unreal quality.

Walking out of the International Exhibition Center, the blazing sunlight shone on Zuo Yi's face, causing him to narrow his eyes slightly.

Zuo Yi's home wasn't in downtown Hang City; he had always lived in Riverside Town across the Qiantang River, a distance of over a dozen kilometers from here.

At his walking speed, walking home was very simple. If he weren't afraid of shocking the world by being discovered, flying straight back was something that could be accomplished in mere seconds.

However, Zuo Yi adopted neither approach, instead finding a jewelry store near the exhibition center.

The International Exhibition Center was located in the most prosperous area of downtown Hang City, and the surrounding commercial facilities were extremely well-developed. The storefront of this jewelry store was decorated quite grandly. The two pretty receptionists at the door, upon seeing Zuo Yi dressed in otherworldly attire, didn't display any expressions of disgust or aversion, but instead bowed in unison and said, "Welcome to Gold Jade Fortune Jewelry!"

One of the receptionists politely asked, "Sir, how may I help you?"

Zuo Yi inquired, "Do you buy back gold here?"

New book uploaded, seeking recommendations and collections, thank you everyone!!