What Kind of Monster Was This?

But... but what could he use to prove it?

Long Haochen stood there blankly, unsure how to prove himself for a moment.

"Xin'er, what are you doing here?"

A muffled voice came from afar, followed by a huge fat man walking into the room.

The one who entered was naturally Nalan Shu, the master of Hao Yue Sub-Temple. Nalan Shu was eight feet tall, and his waist was also eight feet around. Even within the sturdy structure of Hao Yue Sub-Temple, his steps seemed to make the ground tremble.

Li Xin teased, "Uncle Nalan, if you don't lose weight soon, Hao Yue Sub-Temple is going to collapse because of you one day."

Nalan Shu was clearly used to Li Xin's teasing. He laughed heartily. "What can I do? I just can't control this mouth of mine. Huh? Xin'er, is this little girl your relative?"

Li Xin briefly explained why Long Haochen had come. At the same time, Long Haochen stepped before Nalan Shu, respectfully bowed, and handed him the letter in his hand.

The moment he saw the contents of the letter, Nalan Shu's previously carefree expression turned solemn. He stood straight and read the letter word by word with a grave expression.

Li Xin glanced at Long Haochen in surprise. What exactly was written in that letter? It had actually made Nalan Shu, a Fifth-Level Earth Knight, so tense. Long Haochen's background was probably far from ordinary.

"Come with me."

Li Xin and Long Haochen followed Nalan Shu to the third floor, where the trial assessment was held.

The third floor contained only an exceedingly spacious hall, devoid of any furnishings. Faintly glowing symbols and patterns were engraved into the surrounding walls.

Nalan Shu walked to the center of the trial hall and poured spiritual energy into his right hand. A gentle green glow spread from it, and guided by that light, a sharp crack rang out as a pitch-black stone pillar slowly rose from the floor.

Pointing at the stone pillar, Nalan Shu said, "Since you're here for the Squire assessment, let's begin now. Attack the stone pillar with all your strength, just as you did during your Squire Knight assessment."

"Yes!"

Long Haochen drew a fine iron sword from his back. The instant he gripped the sword, his entire bearing changed.

In Li Xin's eyes, the shy little girl instantly became a boy as solid as a rock. The childishness vanished, replaced by cold determination.

Long Haochen's movement was simple: a forward lunge, then a slash. With a thunderous bang, the fine iron sword in his hand struck the ink-black stone pillar with all his strength.

As Long Haochen slashed, a gentle blue radiance instantly lit up the walls around the hall. Then, a number appeared above the black stone pillar—a number that left Nalan Shu and Li Xin gaping.

One hundred and fifty! It was actually one hundred and fifty! Without using any skill to enhance himself, the spiritual energy behind Long Haochen's single slash had actually reached one hundred and fifty!

Nalan Shu and Li Xin could hardly believe their eyes. Li Xin even rubbed her eyes, but the number remained the same. She had no choice but to believe it.

Before the third rank, every ten points of spiritual energy meant one level. At only ten years old, Long Haochen was already a Fifth-Level Squire!

Yet Long Haochen, the person in question, merely froze for a moment before returning to normal.

A year ago, when nine-year-old Long Haochen had taken the Squire Knight assessment, his spiritual energy had already reached fifty points. Now, one year later, his spiritual energy had increased by one hundred points. That should be within the normal range, right?

Long Haochen sheathed his fine iron sword and turned to look at the stunned Nalan Shu and Li Xin. Only then did Nalan Shu come back to his senses, and the way he looked at Long Haochen changed dramatically.

Nalan Shu cautiously asked, "Long Haochen, right? May I ask how old you are this year?"

Nalan Shu wanted to confirm Long Haochen's age.

Long Haochen answered calmly, "Ten."

"Ten" struck Nalan Shu and Li Xin like a bolt from the blue, making their scalps tingle.

A ten-year-old Fifth-Level Squire—what kind of monster was this?

"Temple Master Nalan, please continue."

Long Haochen knew he had not yet passed the Squire assessment.

For an ordinary Squire assessment, one only needed to reach one hundred and one points of spiritual energy to pass. For a monster like Long Haochen, that was simply too easy. Thus, Long Xingyu had added an extra assessment to increase the difficulty. Only by passing that additional test could he become an official Squire.

This extra assessment was also the first task Long Xingyu had given Long Haochen: defeat a Knight, a true Knight.

Under normal circumstances, it was already quite impressive for a Fifth-Level Squire to last fifteen minutes against a Knight one rank above him. Yet Long Haochen's assessment required him to defeat a Knight one rank above himself. Nalan Shu did not believe Long Haochen could pass such a harsh test.

Nalan Shu lowered his head and whispered something into Li Xin's ear. Li Xin nodded, then looked back at Long Haochen.

"Big Sister will be your opponent."

Li Xin dearly wanted to see whether this ten-year-old Fifth-Level Squire was truly capable.

Seeing Li Xin eager to fight, Long Haochen had no reason to dampen her enthusiasm.

"Please, Big Sister."

The two of them simultaneously drew the dual swords from their backs. Their auras steadily rose, their fighting spirit blazing.

Nalan Shu stepped back several paces and said in a low voice, "The match begins!"

With him acting as referee, Nalan Shu believed he could rescue Long Haochen in time and keep Li Xin from hurting him.

"Big Sister, please be careful."

The moment Long Haochen finished speaking, his feet moved. Using the light-footed technique Feng Xiu had taught him, he rapidly closed in on Li Xin, then immediately launched a swift and powerful thrust.

Li Xin was slightly startled. Long Haochen's speed was already no less than that of a true Knight, catching her off guard from the very start.

Li Xin had trained for many years, after all. Instinctively, she swung her left-hand sword upward, barely blocking Long Haochen's attack. At the same time, she slashed at Long Haochen with the sword in her right hand.

Long Haochen spun away from Li Xin's strike, then used the momentum of his turn to swing his right-hand sword. Light instantly flared along the blade, and his slash was even faster than before.

Pure White Blade, Thrust!

Li Xin did not dare be careless. She braced her right foot behind her, lowered her body slightly, and raised her right-hand sword. Her left-hand sword then shot toward Long Haochen like lightning. In the blink of an eye, dozens of sword shadows enveloped him.

Third-Rank Retribution Knight Skill, Lightning Thrust!

Li Xin was not merely a Third-Rank Knight, but a Third-Rank Second-Level Knight with two hundred and forty-five points of spiritual energy—ninety-five points more than Long Haochen.

The moment she used Lightning Thrust, Li Xin regretted it. She had originally intended to go a little easy on Long Haochen, but she had not expected the pressure he put on her to be so great that she instinctively used this skill.

Nalan Shu, standing nearby, had already prepared to rescue Long Haochen.