He had spent the past few days worrying over his inability to find a suitable instructor for Yue Shen. He had originally thought it would be a simple matter.
But before leaving, Long Xingyu had specifically asked him to choose an instructor who, like them, cultivated the Retribution Knight branch.
That put Han Qian in a difficult position.
After all, his original idea had been to let another Divine Seal Knight take over now that Long Xingyu had left. Besides, there were very few people in the entire Knight Temple qualified to instruct Yue Shen. After thinking it over, he had concluded that a Divine Seal Knight would be the best choice.
But Long Xingyu's insistence that the instructor had to be a Retribution Knight left him stumped.
Didn't Long Xingyu know that Retribution Knights were not only scarce throughout the Knight Temple, but that there was also no one among them who could replace him?
Then Han Qian learned from the staff responsible for looking after Yue Shen that the boy had gone shopping, and he lost his composure on the spot.
The staff also told him that Yue Shen still spent more than ten hours every day meditating and cultivating, and that his spiritual energy was increasing extremely quickly. Even so, Han Qian could not bear to see such an extraordinary talent slack off in his cultivation for even a moment.
He no longer cared about Long Xingyu's parting request to find a Retribution Knight to instruct Yue Shen. He was going to get a Divine Seal Knight.
Seated at his desk, Han Qian abruptly raised his quill. Just as he was about to put pen to paper...
"Old Long is stationed at Imperial Dragon Pass. The fighting there is intense, and they need a Divine Seal Knight to hold the fort. So he can't come, nor should he." Han Qian shook his head slightly. "Then I'll have Old Yang do it..."
As it happened, the Divine Seal Knight named Yang Haohan was in the Holy City, serving as chairman of the Federal Government. There were usually few matters at the Government Office that required his attention, making him the perfect choice to instruct Yue Shen.
"This is infuriating!" After scanning the letter, Han Qian could no longer contain his anger and smashed his desk to pieces with a single slap.
He had never imagined that old fellow Yang Haohan would reject his request on the grounds that he was busy with government affairs and, as chairman of the federation, could not interfere in the Temple's affairs.
Only after calming down did Han Qian realize why Yang Haohan had refused to become Yue Shen's instructor.
As chairman of the Federal Government, his movements were watched by plenty of people from the various temples. Having him instruct Yue Shen would be tantamount to exposing the boy to all of them.
If nothing else works, should I send Yue Shen to Imperial Dragon Pass?
Han Qian shook his head and immediately dismissed the idea.
Neither option would work.
That left him with no choice but to pick someone from among the Adamantine Foundation Knights and Mithril Base Knights.
But those knights were either active Demon Hunt Squad members who were away from the Holy City, or Guardian Knights who did not meet his requirements.
Since he had already relaxed his requirements enough to choose from their ranks, he would at least try to find a Retribution Knight of the eighth order or higher.
Han Qian got up and went to the Mission Tower to post an instructor mission.
To accept the mission, the knight had to cultivate the Retribution Knight branch and be at least at the eighth order.
As luck would have it, a Demon Hunt Squad returned to the Holy City a few days later to turn in a mission. Its captain happened to be a powerful eighth-order Retribution Knight who possessed Mithril Base Battle Armor.
The knight spotted the instructor mission while turning in his own. His squad had just completed its mission and planned to stay in the Holy City to rest for a while, and the rewards were quite generous.
Without much hesitation, he accepted the mission and went to report to Han Qian.
After meeting the knight who had accepted the mission,
Han Qian was very pleased. "Wei Ping, is it? With you handling this mission, I can rest easy."
Han Qian had an excellent impression of the knight who had accepted his instructor mission. Not only was he a renowned eighth-order expert in the Knight Temple and an active Demon Hunt Squad member, but he also possessed a highly ranked suit of Mithril Base Battle Armor.
More importantly, he was only in his forties, in the prime of his life. He would be much better able to weather blows to his confidence than an old man like Han Qian, and would be less likely to get discouraged by Yue Shen.
After all, Han Qian had witnessed Yue Shen's talent for cultivation and his learning speed. Even Long Xingyu had thanked him before leaving for finding him such an excellent successor.
"Holy Knight Commander, just who is this child?" Wei Ping asked in puzzlement. "Why did you need to post a mission at the Mission Tower to find him an instructor?"
Han Qian considered it for a moment, but did not conceal anything. He told him outright that Yue Shen was Long Xingyu's disciple. Had Long Xingyu not left on other business, he would never have needed to post a mission to find Yue Shen an instructor.
However, Han Qian required Wei Ping to keep the mission's details confidential, even from his Demon Hunt Squad teammates.
"He's Lord Xingyu's disciple. Am I really qualified to instruct him?" Wei Ping asked, uncertain.
After all, even elites of the Knight Temple like them had hardly ever interacted with the Divine Seal Knights, the Temple's most powerful figures.
To them, those three Divine Seal Knights were practically legends.
"You don't need to worry about that." Han Qian patted his shoulder. "Yue Shen's ability to learn on his own and his cultivation talent far surpass those of ordinary people. Besides, Temple Master Long passed an Inheritance Ring on to him before leaving.
"So there's actually very little you need to do. Apart from supervising his cultivation, pointing out mistakes, and answering his questions, all you have to do is train his practical combat skills.
"And as a veteran expert of the Knight Temple's Mithril Knights, are you really worried that you can't teach a child who has only just become a Fourth-Order Grand Knight?"
"That's true."
After hearing the Holy Knight Commander's explanation, Wei Ping felt much more at ease.
Although this child named Yue Shen carried the Knight Temple's future on his shoulders, he was still only a Fourth-Order Grand Knight.
Wei Ping was, after all, one of the outstanding knights of his generation in the Knight Temple. Instructing this child would be no problem.
"Then it's settled. Go find him tomorrow morning in the Knight Department's meditation chamber behind the Government Office."
With a broad wave of his hand, Han Qian finalized Wei Ping's assignment.
"I'll inform Yue Shen as well."
Long Xingyu probably had never imagined that Han Qian would go to such lengths to find Yue Shen an instructor, even recruiting an active Demon Hunt Squad member.
He had only intended to find a Retribution Knight with a minimum strength of around the sixth order to instruct Yue Shen. After all, he had already taught the boy almost everything he needed to teach him.
And whenever Yue Shen encountered anything he did not understand while cultivating or learning skills, he could find the answers in the Inheritance Ring Long Xingyu had passed on to him.
Long Xingyu had asked Han Qian to find Yue Shen an instructor for just two reasons: to supervise his training and to serve as a punching bag for his sparring practice.
As for why the instructor had to be a Retribution Knight, it was because Long Xingyu did not want Yue Shen spending too much time cultivating Guardian Knight skills.
After all, in his view, Yue Shen's mental strength truly was insufficient to support cultivating both the Retribution and Guardian branches. That was why he wanted a Retribution Knight as the boy's instructor.
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