Five years later, in the underground training ground of the Knight Temple.
A wooden sword whistled through the air again and again, monotonous and powerful.
Huo Yuhao, who did not know whether he was seven or eight years old, was training in the practice ground, sweat pouring off him.
His external spiritual power had been stuck at 198 points for several days, just one step away from the 200-point limit before the awakening of his innate internal spiritual power.
As soon as his external spiritual power reached 200 points, he could awaken his innate internal spiritual power.
But after all these days, he still could not take that final step.
He could feel that his body had reached a limit. It was like climbing a cliff: every time, he was only a palm's length away, yet he always fell just short.
Having lived two lives, he knew he could not be careless in training, and especially could not settle for "close enough."
If every training session was only "close enough," it would cost him his life when he faced an enemy.
On top of that, the allure of the Holy Demon Continent's unfamiliar cultivation system filled him with motivation, and he trained for seven or eight shichen every day.
By now, he knew all the basic training movements Yang Haoyu had taught him over the years by heart.
He repeated the five basic movements-cleaving, chopping, rising slashes, lifting strikes, and thrusting-in a continuous cycle, executing each one with perfect form.
He had also mastered some simple sword techniques for facing opponents.
Now, the wooden sword traced precise arcs in his hands, cutting through the air with a crisp, clean sound.
In the shadows some distance away, Yang Haoyu leaned against a stone wall with his arms folded, watching the hardworking little fellow in the training ground.
As he watched that figure, he could not help feeling a touch of emotion.
For five years, he had watched Huo Yuhao grow up bit by bit, and he knew that Huo Yuhao's perseverance exceeded anything he had imagined.
In those five years, no matter how tired he was, Huo Yuhao had never missed a single day of training.
Huo Yuhao always completed at least the amount of training Yang Haoyu set for him, and only stopped when Yang Haoyu told him to.
What moved Yang Haoyu even more was Huo Yuhao's talent.
For many knight training movements, Yang Haoyu only needed to demonstrate once for Huo Yuhao to perform them properly. On the second attempt, Huo Yuhao could adjust them to suit his body and find the approach that suited him best.
In more than a hundred years of life, Yang Haoyu had never seen talent like this before.
Now, Huo Yuhao's external spiritual power had reached a critical point, only one step away from the two-hundred-point limit.
That step could hold many people back for quite some time.
But Yang Haoyu was not worried about Huo Yuhao, because he knew it was only a matter of time before the boy broke through.
He was more concerned about something else: what path should Huo Yuhao take after awakening his innate internal spiritual power?
As an Elemental Body, Huo Yuhao possessed unimaginable talent for magic. Even in the Magic Temple, someone with such a constitution would be a genius seen only once in thousands of years.
Yang Haoyu had originally only wanted to see whether Huo Yuhao had talent for the path of a knight, but clearly, his talent there was also exceptional.
That left him in a dilemma. Over the past few years, they had gotten along very well with Huo Yuhao, and Yang Haoyu did not want him to grow up resenting him for never giving him a choice.
After long consideration, Yang Haoyu had ultimately decided to let Huo Yuhao choose for himself between the Knight Temple and the Magic Temple.
He would explain the advantages and disadvantages of both temples clearly.
If Huo Yuhao insisted on going to the Magic Temple, he would not stop him. He would still be very pleased to see the human race gain another powerhouse.
If Huo Yuhao chose to stay, he would teach him everything he knew.
Just as Yang Haoyu was thinking this, Huo Yuhao suddenly stopped in the middle of the training ground.
He took a deep breath, gripped the wooden sword tightly with both hands, and planted his foot. His whole body became like a fully drawn bow as he gathered his strength, then cleaved down with all his might.
With a muffled thud, the wooden sword struck the spiritual power testing pillar in the training ground.
The Spiritual Energy patterns on the pillar's surface lit up abruptly, and a silver-white light shot up from the bottom, rising rapidly.
Huo Yuhao held his breath and stared intently at the light.
50!
100!
150!
180!
195!
200!
The light stopped at the two-hundred-point mark, and the patterns shimmered with a steady silver-white glow.
Huo Yuhao stared at the number for a few seconds, a smile appearing on his face for the first time in a long while.
"Haha, two hundred points! I finally did it!"
He could not help shouting, his voice filled with excitement he had not felt in a long time.
He had never experienced a feeling like this, not even in his previous life!
After more than five years of effort, he had finally taken this crucial step.
The next step was to awaken his internal spiritual power.
He had been looking forward to using internal spiritual power for a long time.
In his previous life on the Douluo Continent, he had cultivated from a Soul Scholar all the way to the God King realm.
After coming to the Holy Demon Continent, everything had been reset to zero, and he could do nothing.
The frustration was like that of a learned scholar locked in an empty room, unable to do anything but read.
Now, he had finally undone the first lock.
"Congratulations, Yuhao!"
Yang Haoyu's voice came from behind him.
Huo Yuhao turned around and saw the old man walking toward him. A rare, gratified smile touched his usually stern face.
Yang Haoyu walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder in encouragement.
"Thank you for the praise, Grandpa."
Huo Yuhao bowed respectfully. Yang Haoyu had adopted him, and there was more than a hundred years between them, so it was only natural for him to call Yang Haoyu Grandpa.
Huo Yuhao quickly raised his head and asked excitedly:
"Grandpa, when can I start awakening my innate internal spiritual power?"
"Right now." Yang Haoyu did not want to dampen Huo Yuhao's enthusiasm. "Come with me!"
Grandfather and grandson crossed the training ground and headed toward the awakening chamber deeper inside the mountain.
Halfway there, Yang Haoyu suddenly spoke:
"Yuhao, before you awaken your innate internal spiritual power, there's something I need to make clear to you."
Huo Yuhao looked up at Yang Haoyu, somewhat puzzled.
Yang Haoyu's expression was calm, but his tone was more solemn than usual.
"Yuhao, you have a very special constitution. You should know that by now, shouldn't you?"
Huo Yuhao nodded, and Yang Haoyu continued.
"Of the six basic attributes on the Holy Demon Continent-light, darkness, water, fire, earth, and wind-most knights in the Knight Temple have the light attribute. A minority have attributes such as fire and earth, but as for ice-attribute knights..."
Yang Haoyu paused, then said helplessly, "There hasn't been an ice-attribute knight in nearly a thousand years. The Knight Temple does have some records concerning them, but no one has cultivated as one for a long time, so we don't know whether those records are accurate."
"Your talent for the ice attribute would let you take to the Magic Temple like a fish to water. It has a complete inheritance of ice magic, and with your talent, you would definitely be a top-tier genius there."
"Now, Grandpa is giving you two choices. If you want to go to the Magic Temple, Grandpa will support you; if you want to stay at the Knight Temple, Grandpa will personally teach you to cultivate from now on."