Hellrose Li Xin

The once-clean warrior's uniform was now tattered. Aside from his handsome little face, every part of Long Haochen's body had swollen up a size, and his pair of bamboo swords were covered in marks from Owl Ant bites.

Though Long Haochen looked utterly bedraggled, fortunately, he remained conscious.

"Teacher Xingyu, how did I do tonight?" Long Haochen asked weakly.

Long Xingyu did not answer. Taking advantage of Long Haochen opening his mouth to speak, he stuffed a pill into it. Then, Long Haochen felt the scenery around him rapidly shifting. In no time at all, Long Xingyu had brought him back to the wooden cabin atop the mountain.

There was a pool inside the cabin. Its water was brown, with countless unknown medicinal herbs floating in it.

At once, Long Haochen understood what Long Xingyu intended to do.

"Teacher Xingyu, I can do it myself."

Long Haochen swiftly stripped off his tattered clothes and sank into the pool, leaving only his nose and mouth above the water.

Long Haochen had soaked in this kind of medicinal bath since childhood. Though the medicinal bath here could not compare to the ones in the Demon Emperor Palace, it was still a token of Long Xingyu's care. How could Long Haochen possibly dislike it?

With the help of the medicinal bath, the swelling on Long Haochen's body gradually subsided. Soaking comfortably in the pool, Long Haochen soon fell asleep.

The next day, Long Haochen acted as though nothing had happened. Under Long Xingyu's astonished gaze, he began what Long Xingyu considered hellish training.

Just like that, a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Aside from the afternoon and evening training, Long Xingyu had constantly tried to change Long Haochen's "incorrect" way of thinking through the knowledge lessons held each morning.

However, how could Long Xingyu's year of effort compare to Feng Xiu's painstaking cultivation of more than seven years? On the path of shaping Long Haochen, Feng Xiu had long since gained the upper hand. Thus, no matter what Long Xingyu said, Long Haochen seemed to take it in on the surface, but his thoughts did not change in the slightest.

Over that year, Long Xingyu always found time to secretly visit Bai Yue. Long Haochen saw all of it but never exposed him.

Under Long Xingyu's high-intensity training, the exceptionally gifted Long Haochen improved at an astonishing rate. His cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, and his spiritual energy successfully broke through 100, making him a Squire.

One morning, after finishing the knowledge lesson, Long Xingyu asked, "Haochen, would you rather become a Retribution Knight or a Guardian Knight?"

Retribution Knights specialized in offense. They wielded two-handed weapons, mainly cultivated offensive holy arts, and possessed formidable combat strength.

Guardian Knights specialized in defense. They wielded a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other, mainly cultivated support and healing holy arts, and though they were weaker in combat than Retribution Knights, their role in a team far surpassed that of Retribution Knights.

Long Haochen had already considered Long Xingyu's question before coming to the Temple Alliance.

"Teacher Xingyu, why can't one person be both a Retribution Knight and a Guardian Knight? If I had to choose, I want to become a knight who cultivates both retribution and guardianship."

Long Xingyu was somewhat surprised. Long Haochen's choice was beyond his expectations.

"Haochen, a person's energy is limited. If you choose to cultivate both retribution and guardianship, that means you must learn the skills of both branches at the same time. Do you think you can manage that?"

Long Haochen nodded without hesitation and said firmly, "Teacher Xingyu, I can!"

Feng Xiu had told him long ago that his innate spiritual power far exceeded that of ordinary people. Such outstanding talent was enough to let him cultivate the skills of both Retribution Knights and Guardian Knights at once.

Seeing this, Long Xingyu said nothing more. It was Long Haochen's own choice.

"Go back and say goodbye to your mother. Tomorrow, you'll be going to Bright Moon City for the Squire assessment. Remember to complete the two tasks I gave you."

"Yes, Teacher Xingyu!"

Among the major cities of the Temple Alliance, Bright Moon City counted as a respectable medium-sized city. Although Long Haochen had visited the city more than once, he was still young. Moreover, he had spent nearly the entire past year cultivating on Odin Mountain and had long been stifled. The moment he arrived in the city, Long Haochen completely let loose.

Long Haochen went to Bright Moon City's snack street and visited every single shop, eating to his heart's content.

The people on the streets were extremely curious about Long Haochen. In the eyes of passersby, this little girl who looked no older than ten actually had two rather heavy refined iron swords crossed over her back. It was truly strange.

Only after eating his fill did Long Haochen head for the Hao Yue Sub-Temple of the Knight Temple.

The Hao Yue Sub-Temple stood in the center of Bright Moon City. It bore the emblem of a shield and sword, making it very easy to find.

The scale of the Hao Yue Sub-Temple was clearly incomparable to that of the Odin Sub-Hall. It had at least five floors and occupied a considerable area, with two young knights standing guard outside its entrance.

"Little sister, who are you looking for?" one of the young knights at the entrance asked with a smile.

Numb to it by now, Long Haochen could not be bothered to reiterate his gender. He first politely saluted the two knights, then said, "Hello. I'm from the Odin Sub-Hall. My teacher told me to find Hall Master Nalan Shu and asked me to deliver a letter to him."

"Unauthorized people cannot enter the Knight Sub-Temple. You should give the letter to me instead," the other young knight said.

Long Haochen firmly shook his head. "No. I must personally deliver it to Hall Master Nalan Shu."

These two gatekeeping knights clearly had no right to inspect the letter Long Xingyu had written. Long Haochen could not possibly give it to them.

"I'm afraid that won't do. Only members of the Temple can enter the Knight Sub-Temple. Either give me the letter, or please leave."

Long Haochen frowned. Just as he was about to think of another way in, a clear and pleasant voice drifted over from nearby. "What are you doing? Why are you making things difficult for a child?"

Before the woman was seen, her voice was heard. Judging from the tone in which she spoke, she was clearly a rose from hell.

A woman who looked seventeen or eighteen walked slowly out of the temple gates with graceful steps. She was clad from head to toe in light armor. Her long pink hair was neatly tied into a ponytail behind her head, and her lively pink-blue eyes were large and beautiful.

Her figure was balanced and full, with the hilt of a sword exposed on each side of her shoulders.

Upon seeing the woman, the two young knights hurriedly bowed respectfully. "Knight!"

The young woman walked up to Long Haochen, carefully examined him, then said, "Rules are dead, but people are alive. Since this little sister is also a member of our Knight Temple, I'll take her to see Uncle Nalan. She's just a child—what trouble could she possibly cause?"

"Yes!"

Facing this rose from hell, the two young knights obediently chose to comply from the bottom of their hearts.

The young woman extended a hand toward Long Haochen and said gently, "Little sister, my name is Li Xin. Come with your big sister. I'll take you to see Uncle Nalan."

Li Xin spoke like an older sister luring away a little child. Long Haochen could not be bothered to correct the mistake in her words. Because he was overly handsome, this was not the first time someone had mistaken his gender.

Li Xin was the third girl to misunderstand his gender.