Long Xuanye’s eyes moved slightly.
As expected, the system reward proved one thing.
If he exposed himself, he would die.
“Choice One.”
Long Xuanye silently made the decision in his heart.
He did not hesitate at all.
Using the shadows of the forest and the cover of the morning mist, his figure retreated like a ghost and silently merged into the depths of the forest.
After searching for a while, he found a cave under an unremarkable cliff, hidden behind vines.
This became his temporary shelter.
…
Time flowed.
Almost half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Long Xuanye gradually adapted to life in the forest.
Hunting.
Training.
Hiding.
The Knight Temple’s search teams were like maggots attached to bone, repeatedly sweeping the outer forest.
They gave him no chance to get close to Odin Town.
But just as he had expected, this endless pursuit instead became a “cash machine” for the system’s missions.
[Choice Triggered: Avoid the Knight Temple’s search…]
[Choice Completed.
Reward Issued.]
Almost every one or two days, a prompt like this would appear.
That day, Long Xuanye sat cross-legged inside the cave and opened the system panel he had not checked carefully in a long time.
[Host: Long Xuanye]
[External Spiritual Power: 198]
[Innate Internal Spiritual Power: 98]
[Skills: Instant Step — Proficient, Basic Swordsmanship — Perfect, Stealth — Master, Trap Arrangement — Proficient…]
His External Spiritual Power was only one step away from the threshold of a second-rank knight.
But his Internal Spiritual Power was stuck at 98 points and refused to move.
The later choice missions became more and more stingy with Internal Spiritual Power rewards.
From 1 point, they became 0.5.
Then even 0.1.
The last mission simply gave no Internal Spiritual Power at all.
It only gave some proficiency in basic knight skills.
Long Xuanye understood.
Every single point of Internal Spiritual Power represented a huge increase in talent.
The system would no longer let him obtain it easily.
However, this half month of bitter training and real combat had also transformed his fighting ability.
Now, his combat power was infinitely close to the third rank.
It could even be said that below the third rank, he had no opponent.
But where was the path ahead?
Without the Knight Temple’s inheritance, forget continuing his training.
He could not even awaken his Internal Spiritual Power.
His External Spiritual Power was also about to reach its limit.
When that happened, even if the system gave missions, he would no longer be able to keep improving.
Just as Long Xuanye was thinking, the familiar transparent light screen lit up again.
This time, the choices were completely different from before.
[Choice One: Explore the middle region of the Magical Beast Forest.
Reward: Innate Internal Spiritual Power +1.]
[Choice Two: Continue hunting in the safe region.
Reward: Knight Skill “Heavy Slash” Proficiency +100.]
Long Xuanye’s eyes sharpened.
His gaze locked tightly onto the first choice.
Enter the middle region of the Magical Beast Forest.
Reward: Innate Internal Spiritual Power +1.
His External Spiritual Power was 198, already at the limit of a second-rank knight.
With his proficient Instant Step, the danger of the middle region was not unbearable.
More importantly, there was that one point of Innate Internal Spiritual Power.
Over the past few days, no matter how many missions he completed, his Internal Spiritual Power had remained stuck at 98.
It had not moved at all.
He could feel it.
This was a bottleneck.
The system rarely gave this kind of reward now.
If the reward had been +2, pushing him past the barrier of 99 and reaching the legendary realm of 100, he would never have dared to go.
A reward like that would definitely hide a trap with almost no chance of survival.
But now, it was only +1.
It would push his talent to 99.
“I’ll do it!”
Long Xuanye made his decision.
“I choose One.”
He did not delay.
He gripped the short blade he had picked up at his waist, turned around, and moved like a stream of light blending into the shadows.
He headed toward the depths of the forest.
…
At the same time.
In the middle region of the Magical Beast Forest.
Deep within the dense woods.
A small figure was running for her life.
Her white dress was covered in mud and blood.
She looked extremely miserable.
Sheng Cai’er.
On her left arm, a claw wound deep enough to reveal bone was still bleeding.
The blood had dyed her entire sleeve red.
Behind her, a sturdy Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf chased relentlessly.
Drool dripped from between its fangs.
Its beastly eyes were filled with cruelty and mockery.
This was the trial of the Saintess of Samsara.
In absolute danger, she had to awaken her sleeping potential.
But she was still only a girl of around ten years old.
After running for two straight hours, her spiritual power had long since been drained.
Her physical strength was also nearing its limit.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf’s unique rotten stench was right behind her neck.
Every pounce carried a vicious wind that tore through the air.
Each time, she barely avoided it.
I can’t keep going…
Sheng Cai’er’s vision darkened in waves.
Her steps became more and more unsteady.
The only thing supporting her was the most primitive instinct to survive.
Despair surged in her heart like a tide.
“So painful…”
She even had a thought.
Maybe she should stop here.
At least then, this endless chase would end.
Just as the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf gathered strength again and pushed hard off the ground with its hind legs, preparing to launch the fatal blow, Sheng Cai’er tripped.
She fell heavily to the ground.
Struggling, she turned back.
What she saw was a bloody mouth rapidly enlarging in her vision.
The girl’s pupils shrank in fear.
She closed her eyes in despair.
Roar!
The pain she expected did not come.
Instead, a miserable beast howl rang out.
Sheng Cai’er opened her eyes.
A black shadow moved like lightning.
Stepping with a mysterious footwork, it closed in front of her in an instant.
Puchi.
The old short blade in the boy’s hand accurately pierced into the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf’s soft neck.
Blood sprayed out.
The figure turned slightly, revealing a delicate yet calm face.
It was Long Xuanye, who had entered the forest’s deeper region.
Sheng Cai’er froze.
She saw that the person before her was a strange boy around her age.
She instinctively opened her mouth.
But she could only make hoarse “wu wu” sounds.
She raised her right hand, the only hand she could still move, and pointed behind herself, signaling for him to run.
She did not want to drag this stranger down with her.
However, that slight movement pulled at the wound on her left arm.
“Hiss…”
A sharp pain struck.
Sheng Cai’er sucked in a cold breath.
Her body weakened, and she collapsed toward the ground again.
Awoo!
The Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf’s pain fully ignited its savagery.
It abandoned its prey and locked its crimson eyes onto Long Xuanye.
Its huge body turned into a blood-colored afterimage and pounced at him.
Long Xuanye’s eyes focused.
While dodging the wolf claw sideways, he reached back with one hand and pulled the limp Sheng Cai’er behind him.
Instant Step activated again.
Holding the girl, his figure slid backward several meters like a ghost, steadily opening up the distance.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf missed its attack and became even more violent.
It was about to pounce again.
Long Xuanye gave it no chance.
He reversed his grip on the short blade.
Spiritual power poured into the tip.
Then he threw it.
The short blade turned into a streak of light and shot straight into the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf’s open mouth as it roared.
It pierced through its brain.
Bang.
The huge wolf corpse crashed to the ground.
It twitched twice, then stopped moving.
Long Xuanye’s chest rose and fell slightly.
His breathing was a little rushed.
But a trace of joy flashed in his eyes.
The system prompt had already arrived.