Long Haochen the Show-Off

Temple Alliance, Bright Moon City, Odin Town.

The Odin Sub-Hall of the Knight Temple stood in the heart of Odin Town, covering roughly a thousand square meters. The Odin Sub-Hall had two floors, and an assessment was currently underway on the first.

At the center of the grounds, the burly middle-aged man Balza bellowed in his deep voice, "Tell me, why do you want to become knights?"

More than thirty children in the hall shouted in unison, reciting the slogan they knew by heart: "To protect humanity, protect goodness, protect the Temples, and protect our loved ones!"

Yet Balza, the chief instructor of the Squire Knights, was still not satisfied. He looked solemnly at the children and continued, "Tell me, what are the principles of a knight?"

The children had clearly prepared for the instructor's question. They once again answered in perfect unison, "Humility, compassion, justice, bravery, honesty, fairness, sacrifice, honor, perseverance, and benevolence."

Only then did Balza nod in satisfaction. These two questions were practically an open-book test for the children. What came next was the real assessment.

"Today's assessment is for Squire Knights. As long as your spiritual energy reaches ten or above, you can become a level-one Squire Knight. Only by passing this assessment can you continue studying and cultivating here."

At Instructor Balza's words, the children immediately grew nervous—all except Long Haochen.

Long Haochen wore a simple, clean warrior's outfit and carried a broad wooden sword on his back. Among the thirty-odd children, his wooden sword looked by far the heaviest.

Although Long Haochen was the youngest of them all, he was much taller and stronger than the others.

Long Haochen had never worried about failing today's Squire Knight assessment. All he wanted was to finish quickly and return home for the delicious food his mother cooked.

"The assessment begins now. First up, Jiang Hu."

Jiang Hu drew the wooden sword from his back and walked up to an object that looked like a wooden stump. Behind the stump was a stone trough containing stone beads.

"Ah—!" Jiang Hu shouted, raising his wooden sword high before bringing it down hard onto the stump.

With Jiang Hu's chop, the stone bead bounced up. It reached the mark for thirteen before falling back down with a bang.

Balza nodded approvingly and recorded the result in the register. "Jiang Hu, spiritual energy thirteen. Passed. Next, Long Haochen."

After saying that, Balza lifted his head with great interest and fixed his gaze on Long Haochen.

Long Haochen was the most diligent cultivator among these children, and his strength was also the greatest. Balza believed Long Haochen's spiritual energy would not disappoint him.

Long Haochen placed his clenched right fist over his heart and answered, "Yes, Instructor."

Removing the wooden sword from his back, Long Haochen took a deep breath and poured all his strength into his arms. Then he swung the wooden sword fiercely, chopping down at the stump.

Everyone first heard a muffled thump as the stone bead shot upward. Then came a crack—the enormous wooden sword in Long Haochen's hands had actually snapped!

Balza's eyes widened as he stared blankly at the mark reached by the stone bead, unable to believe it.

Fifty! It was actually fifty!

Squire Knights ranged from levels one through ten, corresponding to spiritual energy from ten to one hundred. Based on the result, Long Haochen had clearly reached the level of a fifth-level Squire Knight.

Such a thing had never happened in a Squire Knight assessment at the Knight Temple. According to the Knight Temple's records, the highest result in a Squire Knight assessment had been twenty-five spiritual energy, achieved by a ten-year-old child.

At only nine years old, Long Haochen had achieved fifty spiritual energy in this assessment, clearly breaking the Knight Temple's record.

"Long, Long Haochen, spiritual energy fifty. P-passed," Balza announced with a stammer.

Only after hearing Instructor Balza's words did the other children recover from their shock. Cheers and cries of admiration immediately erupted throughout the hall.

Long Haochen paid no attention to anyone as he calmly returned to his original spot, muttering, "If I'd known, I wouldn't have used so much strength. Now I have to spend time making another sword. What a pain."

Fortunately, Long Haochen's shameless boasting was drowned out by the children's cheers. If Balza and the others had heard him, they surely would have given Long Haochen a good beating.

The assessment continued. Long Haochen stood there bored, waiting for it to end, unaware that from a corner on the second floor of the Odin Sub-Hall, a middle-aged man was staring at him without blinking.

The man was tall, nearly two meters in height, with black hair and black eyes. He was not particularly handsome, but an invisible pressure radiated from him, making others afraid to challenge his authority.

The man clenched his fists, his entire body trembling slightly as he desperately restrained his emotions.

"He doesn't look like me, and his innate external spiritual energy and mental power both far surpass those of children his age. Could he be..."

Even though he already knew the answer, the man did not dare think any further. He feared he would be unable to stop himself from attacking Long Haochen.

"No, Yue'er would never betray me. I can't doubt Yue'er! I'll watch a little longer. Just a little longer..."

The Squire Knight assessment finally ended. After receiving his week's supply of Foundation-Nourishing Liquid, Long Haochen left the Odin Sub-Hall.

Long Haochen had originally planned to go straight home, but then he remembered that the wild vegetables he had casually planted in the western forest should have grown by now. So he headed into the forest, planning to harvest them.

"Glug, glug..."

Long Haochen drank the Foundation-Nourishing Liquid as if it were a beverage. Then he looked over the wild vegetables covering the ground. Just as he was about to start, a soft popping sound came from behind him.

Long Haochen thought it was a wild beast from the forest. He spun around sharply and scanned the surroundings warily.

If his wooden sword had not broken, he would not have been so tense. If a wild beast really attacked him, he could only fight it with his bare fists.

Focusing his eyes, Long Haochen vaguely saw a petite figure staggering toward him in the distance.

Thank goodness it wasn't a beast! Long Haochen secretly rejoiced.

The small figure collapsed beside a large tree with a thud. Long Haochen hurried over and discovered that it was a little girl.

The girl looked even younger than Long Haochen. She was slight and frail, with short pale-purple hair. Her clothes were torn in several places and stained red with blood. She had clearly suffered serious injuries.

The little girl struggled to sit up, but her injuries were too severe for her to stand. Just as she was about to collapse face-first onto the ground again, Long Haochen hurried forward and caught her.

"What happened to you?"

Long Haochen's actions startled the little girl. Driven by the instinct to protect herself, she instinctively shrank back and looked up at Long Haochen.