Meeting Long Haochen

"We're here."

Wei Ping suddenly raised a hand and pointed at several figures a short distance ahead.

"I didn't expect there to be two others coming to the Knight Sacred Mountain to choose their mounts today, besides you."

Puzzled, Yue Shen immediately ran ahead of Wei Ping.

"What a coincidence!"

Yue Shen couldn't help saying it aloud. He didn't even need to scan them with his identification tool to know who they were.

Wasn't that boy standing beside the man with the expressionless face, looking a little younger than him, none other than this world's protagonist, Long Haochen?

"This shows how many talented people our Knight Temple has produced over the years. Pick any day to come here, and you'll find three knights qualified to choose mounts at the Knight Sacred Mountain," Wei Ping said cheerfully.

The elder up ahead also seemed somewhat surprised by how lively it was today. Three knights qualified to choose mounts at the Knight Sacred Mountain had arrived all at once.

The elder turned his gaze toward Yue Shen, who stood beside Wei Ping, and said gravely, "State your names."

Wei Ping dared not delay. He grabbed Yue Shen and leaped over to the elder, then bowed deeply and respectfully.

"Wei Ping, Mithril Number Eight of the Knight Temple, has brought Grand Knight Yue Shen to the sacred mountain to choose a mount companion, on the orders of the Holy Knight Commander."

Yue Shen said nothing. He simply followed Wei Ping's example and bowed to the elder with an equally respectful expression.

"Oh?" the elder asked, sounding puzzled. "Old Han sent you? Is this boy his disciple, then?"

Wei Ping shook his head. "No, but I can explain that to you later, senior."

The elder nodded. "In that case, take out your credentials."

After retrieving a scroll from his Storage Ring, Wei Ping did not rush to hand it to the elder. Instead, he turned toward the two pairs who had arrived first.

"First come, first served. Please, go ahead." Wei Ping gestured with one hand, then led Yue Shen to the back of the line.

"Thank you, senior. My name is Ye Hua." The expressionless Ye Hua bowed to Wei Ping, then led Long Haochen up to the elder first.

"Thank you, senior. My name is Gui Ying." Gui Ying also approached from the side, bringing his son Gui Wu over to greet Wei Ping before taking his place behind Ye Hua with a disgruntled expression.

After all, a Mithril Foundation Knight had said it was first come, first served. Could he really cut in line right in front of him?

Bored at the back of the line, Yue Shen seemed to sense something and looked up at Long Haochen, who stood at the very front. Long Haochen happened to look his way as well, and their eyes met.

"Hi there." Yue Shen took the initiative and waved to him.

From what he remembered, Long Haochen was actually a decent person, someone worth befriending.

Long Haochen looked somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected the genius from the Holy City his teacher had mentioned to greet him first.

"Hello."

Long Haochen nodded at Yue Shen in reply, then followed his teacher toward the elder in front of the curtain of light.

Yue Shen pointed at the golden curtain of light ahead of them and smiled. "See you inside."

Although Yue Shen already knew he was Long Haochen and had a fairly good grasp of his current stats, he still couldn't resist scanning him with his identification tool.

[Charm: 95 (ethereal beauty)]

Yue Shen couldn't help smiling at the result. Sure enough, I'm still the better-looking one.

Standing in the middle of the line, Gui Ying glanced at the two boys greeting each other ahead of and behind him, then patted his son Gui Wu on the shoulder.

"Go greet that fellow from the Holy City too. Let him get familiar with your face," Gui Ying whispered, lowering his head to speak into his son's ear.

Gui Wu's expression immediately soured, but he also knew that someone escorted to the Knight Sacred Mountain by a Mithril Knight in person was not someone he could afford to offend. Getting on good terms with him would naturally be a good thing.

After waiting a moment and seeing that Yue Shen apparently had no intention of greeting him first, Gui Wu couldn't help feeling irritated. Back home in Xiu City, everyone else had always been the ones trying to curry favor with him.

"Hurry up!" Seeing that his son still hadn't moved, Gui Ying couldn't help urging him on.

Under pressure from his father, Gui Ying, Gui Wu finally suppressed his anger and forced out as much of a smile as he could.

Gui Wu turned toward Yue Shen and fought down his discomfort. "Hi. My name is Gui Wu."

"Mm."

Yue Shen merely nodded slightly, then casually shifted his gaze away, muttering something under his breath...

"What rotten luck."

Gui Wu: "???"

"I'll only explain what comes next once, so pay attention." The elder up ahead pointed at Gui Wu. "If you don't hear it clearly, I won't go out of my way to explain it again."

Gui Ying's expression changed, and he immediately reached out to turn his son's head back around. Yue Shen had angered the boy so much that even his mouth had twisted.

"You're being pretty obvious about treating them differently," Wei Ping whispered, tilting his head toward him. "Is there something wrong with that fellow?"

"Nothing. He just instinctively rubs me the wrong way." Yue Shen shrugged indifferently. "It's not like we'll have anything to do with each other in the future anyway."

"That's true." Wei Ping didn't object either. "My first impression of him wasn't as good as that of the boy up front."

Yue Shen smiled faintly. That was because Wei Ping was a Retribution Knight, just like him. As Retribution Knights, they naturally had fewer rules and restrictions to follow and enjoyed relatively more freedom than Guardian Knights.

A long, black token suddenly appeared in the elder's hand. He raised it high so that Yue Shen and Gui Wu, standing farther back, could see it clearly.

"This token is not only your pass into the Knight Sacred Mountain, but also a safeguard for your personal safety.

"When you encounter magical beasts of different ranks, the token will display the corresponding color. The lowest-ranked magical beasts on the sacred mountain are rank two, corresponding to red. After that come yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, white, and silver.

"If the token starts flashing gold, you've encountered an aggressive magical beast. Unless it shows an affinity for you right away, get away from it as quickly as possible.

"If a magical beast shows an affinity for you, you can try communicating with it mentally and attempt to form a Mount Contract.

"But if you don't wish to communicate with it, continue searching on your own until you find the one you want.

"You may remain on the sacred mountain for thirty days. Even if you haven't chosen a suitable magical beast within that time, the token will turn reddish gold and teleport you out. I will then take the token back. Understood?"

"Understood," all three answered at once.

"One more thing: if you encounter a danger on the Knight Sacred Mountain that you cannot handle, immediately pour spiritual energy into the token. It will quickly teleport you out."

The elder said gravely, "Although I know choosing a mount companion is very important to you, I also hope you won't push yourselves too far.

"Those qualified to come here and choose mount companions are undoubtedly the elite of our Knight Temple. I don't want any of you to lose your lives here."

After explaining all the rules in one go, the elder handed the black token he had been holding aloft to Long Haochen, then began checking his bone age.