Taking a master

The door closed!

"Temple Master!" Yang Tian turned around and saluted.

The fat man smiled amiably. "Good, Yang Tian. Come here!"

Yang Tian did not know what the man intended to do. Even if he intended to do that to him, Yang Tian would have no way to resist.

Against a fifth-tier expert, someone at the second tier was helpless, especially with another fifth-tier expert standing nearby.

"In recognition of your outstanding performance, I've kept all your information as it appeared in the documents submitted by your instructor, Balza!"

"Still, our Branch Temple certainly won't let talent go to waste. This is Ye Hua, a fifth-tier Sky Knight and the chief instructor for Squires and Knights at our Haoyue Branch Hall. I recommend that you take him as your master. What do you think?"

Nalan Shu watched the somewhat youthful-looking Yang Tian as he spoke calmly, then introduced Ye Hua.

The fifth tier was a level some people could never reach in their entire lives.

Put that way, anyone would be tempted.

Even if this man was the strictest of them all, known as Night Asura.

He was still a fifth-tier expert. Even if your internal spiritual power awakened at just one point, he could train you to reach the fourth tier, or even the fifth.

After all, he had been through it himself.

Yang Tian looked at the plump Temple Master, then at the intimidating Ye Hua beside him.

He had only just arrived at the Haoyue Branch Hall. Taking a "renowned master" now would bring nothing but benefits.

Besides, with a fifth-tier expert overseeing his Sacred Awakening, the internal spiritual power he awakened should be much higher.

Though Ye Hua had terrible luck-ahem-that would not affect anyone else's awakened talent.

At the very least, even if his awakening went terribly, there would still be hope of improvement.

Just as that Holy Knight Commander had said, there were so many people in the Holy Temple with low internal spiritual power. If every one of them could be trained into a fourth- or fifth-tier professional, what a powerful fighting force they would make!

Though Yang Tian hoped to take a Divine Seal Knight as his master, which would ensure his awakening went well, there were only a handful of Divine Seal Knights. That was nothing more than a pipe dream!

"I, Yang Tian, pay my respects to you, Master!"

In the end, Yang Tian made his decision. Since there was no downside, he would take Ye Hua as his master.

Even if his talent proved poor, Ye Hua would surely understand his plight and train him wholeheartedly.

The stern-faced Ye Hua nodded, then said flatly, "Mm. From now on, you'll train with the Squires. I'll observe you for a while longer. If you turn out to be spoiled and lazy, I'll have no choice but to give up on you!"

"You haven't awakened your internal spiritual power yet?"

Ye Hua added the question at the end.

Internal spiritual power was something Yang Tian cared deeply about, too. Though there was still some room to improve his external spiritual power, internal spiritual power would become the main focus of his future training.

"That's right, Master. When can I undergo Sacred Awakening?"

Yang Tian followed up with a question of his own.

"In two days. Settle in first!"

Seeing the eagerness on Yang Tian's face reminded Ye Hua of his younger self.

"Yes, Master!"

Yang Tian answered respectfully.

With that, he had taken a "renowned master."

Just as Yang Tian thought they were finished, Ye Hua walked over and said, "Yang Tian, come with me!"

Yang Tian glanced at Nalan Shu and saw the plump Temple Master rise as well.

"Come along, child!"

The Temple Master smiled amiably, looking just like the Laughing Buddha.

Yang Tian nodded and followed.

On the second floor, they entered a room behind the six Divine Throne models.

They stood before a Test Pillar.

Ye Hua's face remained stern and impassive as he said flatly, "Test yourself again!"

Naturally, that blunt instruction was not directed at the fat Nalan Shu, but at Yang Tian.

Yang Tian walked over.

"Master, my swords are in the dormitory..."

He felt a little embarrassed. He normally kept his swords with him, but he had come in such a hurry that he had not strapped his twin swords onto his back.

But in the next instant...

As if by magic, Ye Hua produced a heavy sword and casually tossed it to Yang Tian.

Though the throw looked casual, it was actually a test. This was a Knight-grade heavy sword, and he wanted to see whether the child could catch it.

"It's a little heavy!"

After catching Ye Hua's heavy sword, Yang Tian merely found it somewhat heavy.

Of course, it was not so heavy that he could not catch it.

That must be a storage item!

Having watched Ye Hua pull a weapon from a concealed item, Yang Tian looked forward to obtaining one himself when he could.

"Zombie-face, aren't you going a little too far? He's only a Squire, yet you handed him a Knight-grade heavy sword!"

Nalan Shu leaned his bulk toward Ye Hua and asked in a lowered voice.

"He's my disciple. If he can't even hold a heavy sword, then I've misjudged him!"

Ye Hua replied flatly.

Smack!

Yang Tian raised the heavy sword, then swung it down with all his strength, striking the stone pillar.

"One hundred and eighty-three!"

The resulting number surprised even Ye Hua a little.

After all, this child looked to be in his teens, but he was actually only seven years old.

What kind of punishing training had made him grow like this?

Having seen the result he wanted, Ye Hua gave a slight nod. This marked the beginning of his evaluation.

He would naturally devote himself wholeheartedly to teaching a promising youngster. But if that youngster proved arrogant and lazy, he would not mind teaching him a proper lesson.

Yang Tian had good character and strength. At the very least, Ye Hua could see no trace of laziness in the child, which suited him perfectly.

"All right, Yang Tian. Go back for now. Come to the third floor in two days for your Sacred Awakening!"

Finally, Ye Hua sent Yang Tian away. He could continue observing him over time; this was only a preliminary assessment.

"Yes, Master!"

Yang Tian saluted and said goodbye.

Before leaving, he also saluted Nalan Shu.

Only after the two middle-aged men watched Yang Tian leave did they begin to talk.

"Well, Zombie-face? What do you think?"

Nalan Shu smiled casually.

"Not bad. He's determined, and his talent is good. But you know that his future depends on his innate internal spiritual power. Even if he reached the limit of two hundred points of external spiritual power right now, I wouldn't be too surprised!"

Ye Hua spoke calmly, his face stern.

"Ye Hua, tell me. If he suffers the same fate as you, will you give up on him? He's only seven now. He should have plenty of time!"

Nalan Shu asked, really just wanting to be certain.

If Yang Tian's innate internal spiritual power turned out the same as this man's, then...!

"We've been friends for so many years. Don't you understand me by now? One of me is enough. Do we really need another?"

"Don't worry. If that happens, I'll do everything I can to teach him. He's only seven. By the time he reaches my age, I'm confident I can make him a Temple Knight, or even a Holy Knight!"

Ye Hua rolled his eyes at the fat man who weighed over three hundred jin, then spoke confidently.

He had now reached a bottleneck, yet he was still racking his brains for ways to improve.

Yang Tian was much younger. Given time, he could surely bring Yang Tian to the rank of Radiant Knight and have him strive for Temple Knight!

Nalan Shu nodded. "That's good, then. He's found a good master!"

Having a friend like this was something to be grateful for, too.

Yang Tian had made the right choice as well.

But would Yang Tian's internal spiritual power really be so low?

No one knew. They could only leave it to fate.