similar to government. The important policies were decided by the Parliament formed
by the shamans. The Parliament was divided into two parts. The Lower House was
made of the advanced shamans. They were in charge of solving the important political
matters of the country. Other matters like finance, taxation, human resources, and all of
that were handled by the Lower House. And the Upper House was formed by the
legendary shamans. They were in charge of big matters like foreign affairs, military-- -
-the grand masters were very busy. They were not free to mind those trivial matters.
"What exactly are the legendary shamans busy doing?" Sui Xiong curiously asked.
Lei thought for a little bit then said, "Basically, they must be researching how to break
their own limits to step in the boundary of semi-gods- -- -- -at least those grand masters
are studying these things."
"Do you also know a legendary shaman?"
"It can be said that I am acquainted with them. Actually, I know them. But more
than half of them didn’t have any impression of me." Lei smilingly said, "When I
was young, I used to come here to study. At that time, the capital city of the Mystique
Tower Federation was the Supremacy Tower. Due to some luck, I was able to meet
two Grand masters. I also met two other Grand masters, including that Grand master -
Green. Among the fourteen legendary shamans in the Mystique Tower Federation, the
number of people I know could be counted on the fingers of one hand, which would
make many mid-level and low-level shamans jealous to death if I mentioned this."
"With your current ability, even not counting your background, you completely
qualify to meet these legendary shamans." Sui Xiong said very excitedly, "On
our way, will we pass the territory of those legendary shamans? I think it is not bad to
drop by and say hello."
Lei recalled for a bit then shook his head."To be honest, as for those grand masters’
whereabouts, I don’t have much of an idea-- -- for example the "Green Sea
Tennant", I know his existence, but I didn’t know he was staying in the Green
Tree City."
"Are these kinds of information kept confidential?"
"They are probably not kept confidential, but I don’t have any interest in that kind
of information. Maybe when I am a little older and start to feel interested in this
kind of information, it will have already...." Lei’s face suddenly darkened. He sighed
deeply and didn’t say anything more.
It was very obvious that he was thinking about the heartbreaking old story.
Sui Xiong gently patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Don’t be hurt, people
couldn’t live in memory forever. Your future is very promising. No need to be sad
about this unhappy matter in the past!"
"You are right." Lei nodded while smiling. But his face was still the same, looking
deeply sad.
After all, he was a veteran adventurer, and he was really good at adjusting his emotion. It
didn’t take long for him to recover his normal self and once again bury
the old sad matter deep down in his heart.
The Mystique Tower Federation was made up by cities and towns. Due to the
protection of the Magic Tower, the security in the city was very good. Only after
getting out of the city, the number of goblins and moths were breeding like flies. Even
on the big road, there were always many demons and ghosts coming and going.
This was the reason why the terrain of this place was very high-- -- the Main
Surface of the Southern mainland was a highland with a high dark power
concentration. That was also the reason why the shamans chose this place to focus on
building the magic tower here.
The high dark power concentration attracted many shamans to this place,
which made it slowly become a country of shamans. However, the high dark power
concentration also drew a large number of demons and ghosts. They were like
weeds, which could never be cleaned, no matter how many of them were cut off.
There was a time that the patrol had clearly swiped across an area. In a wink, after
a rain, demons and ghosts were like spring bamboos, appearing out of nowhere in a
massive quantity.
Lei swung his long sword which slashed the snarling Ox-headed monster into four parts.
Then, without looking back, he put his hand on his back, pulled out a bayonet, and
stabbed into the snarling Ox-headed monster ruthlessly. In the meantime, his legs
weren’t idle either. On one side, he was running away like flying, on the other side, he
stomped on a mutant Slime with scales all over its body. When the Slime bumped into
a large tree trunk, an extremely igneous power exploded, making the bunch
of monsters - which were immune to the majority of physical attacks- turn into a
muddy mire, splashing everywhere.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of monsters were killed. Dirty blood filled the ground,
creating a messy sight.
"Why does this place have so many monsters like this?" Sui Xiong
annoyingly said, "The Ash Rock Mountain is fine, the Ancient Wood Desolate
Marsh is the same. They don’t have as many monsters as this!"
Not far away from that, Stelle flew back, held a wood log in her hand and wrote a big
line on it. You ask me, I ask who?
Hence, one person and one pig laid their eyes on Lei.
Among them, Lei was the only one, who had come to the Mystique Tower Federation
before.
"I don’t know either. At first, I went by boat and then after I landed on the White
Tower Harbor, I used the transmission magic formation to get to the
Supremacy Tower." Lei said, "Afterward, when I studied, I didn’t set one
foot out of the Supremacy Tower. Therefore, I just knew the actual situation of the
Mystique Tower Federation through books."
"I didn’t pay attention to the matters outside, wholeheartedly studying-- -- - that year,
you really looked like you had an exam-oriented education!"
"What is an exam-oriented education?"
"It is like you, just focusing on studying, not minding other things."
"Such a kind of lifestyle is indeed not bad." Lei smilingly said, "Being calm and
tranquil, standing aloof from worldly affairs. My teacher that year always wanted me to
become a scholar instead of a knight who just
knows how to fight and kill, beating and killing."
Stelle laughed out loud, took a wood log out, brushed to write two
lines: A scholar sets fire and kills people? A bandit wholeheartedly studies?
Lei couldn’t stand, but force a smile, and shake his head.
Sui Xiong thought a while then asked, "So how about you now? Do you want to
become a scholar or a knight? Or... You have become determined to be a successful
powerhouse?"
"If I can, I still want to be a knight." Lei said. "It is just that the possibility is not
big and the requirement for a knight is very high."
"I don’t think so. You have already been a powerhouse who is about to step in the
Legendary Realm. If you don’t qualify, then how many knights in this world can?"
Lei sighed, "This is not a problem about strength, it is a problem about virtue. To
become a Knight, one must follow eight virtues such as: modesty, honor, sacrifice,
gallantry, mercy, religion, honesty, and righteousness. There are oaths respectively for
each one of them. I won’t tell each one of them.... In short, I have already gone
against the virtue of the knight. Even if my strength is more powerful, I couldn’t
be seen as a knight."
"Seems like an appearance of a knight is very high-grade..." Sui Xiong lowered his
voice, whispering, "there are unexpectedly many high moral standards. . ."
Stelle laughed out loud, took out a wood log, and wrote a big word: Cheat!
"Cheat! What do you mean?" Sui Xiong curiously asked.
When Sui Xiong saw Stelle taking out another wood log, he decisively swung up his
tentacle, temporarily launching a lingual understanding magic on everyone, letting Stelle
exchange words with others.
"Those good virtues of the Knight are just a ceremony when conferring a knight. A
lord or a bishop will be in charge of hosting the ceremony, the appointed knight
would act to vow an oath-- -which, in fact, nobody takes seriously." Stelle smiled then
said, "I have met many knights. Not to mention among eight good virtues, I have never
seen one who could satisfy half of them."
"There is no one who could satisfy half of them?"
"Of course." Stelle took out the log, wrote all the eight virtues, explained in details,
"Honesty, this requires that a knight must be modest to anyone, lower their attitude,
not be arrogant, not be pugnacious. The majority of capable people are pretty
arrogant. Only the weak are humble. I have already seen the knights confronting
someone with higher position and status, and they were indeed modest. But nothing more
than this."
"This can be considered half a point." Sui Xiong said.
"Alright, let’s take it as half a point." Stelle continued, "Honor, a knight is required to
consistently protect his own honor. He can’t do anything, which will damage his
honor. In order to keep his honor, he can’t back down. This is the
commonly mentioned saying about the virtues of the knight. It is "Honor is my life",
which is said over and over by many people-- -but once they are forced to risk their
lives to protect their honor or pay a big price to keep their honor, most of them will
withdraw. I met some knights, who were willing to keep their honor at times-- -- -
luckily, there are still some."
"Then this is one point."
"Uhm. No need to talk about sacrifice. After all, a knight is a soldier serving for a
Lord or a church. What is the point of talking about a soldier who backs down in a
battle? Therefore, among the good virtue of the knight, this is the best implemented
point."
"Two and a half points."
"Gallantry, many blinded people can also do this. The majority of the blinded people
can’t become knights. If they do, there aren’t many valiant people." Stelle said,
"Among the noble knights, there are basically no valiant people. If considering the
church’s knights, there will be few valiant people."
"Can this be considered one point?"
"It is at most half a point." Stelle continued, "Next is mercy. On the contrary, I have
never seen a knight have this virtue. When you guys meet one, you can call me there to
observe a little bit, to broaden my vision. As for religion, a noble knight doesn’t have
any religion. A church’s knight of course has a religion. But his religion is not for the
righteousness or any justice, but for his own God-- -it applies the same for an Evil
God."
"Is this also considered a good virtue?" Sui Xiong asked.
"Maybe, there will be some people that see it this way. But I don’t think madly
worshiping a God, pointing your sword at anyone who goes against the doctrine of
one’s own God is a good virtue."
Sui Xiong beamed a smile, "This really can’t be counted."
"Honesty and righteousness, these two could be counted in one try-- -because I have
never seen them. Just like mercy, these three virtues are very rare. I have never seen
them in a knight. Even among nobility, I have never seen those things." Stelle
wrote then drew on the wood log for a while, then beamed a smile in the end.
The total of the remaining good virtues was only three.
Sui Xiong turned his head to look at Lei. His eyes looked quite gloomy. It was very
obvious that the criticism of Stelle about the virtue level of the knight really upsetted
him.
"Only having followed eight good virtues could be honored as a knight." He stressed,
"Fake is everywhere, not only among the knights-- -- -- the nobility also have standard
rules about good virtues. But how many noble men could fulfill these?"
Stelle laughed twice and said disrespectfully, "The nobility originally have been rotten
to the core! Look at me, except for being lecherous, do I have other weaknesses? Hasn’t
my inheritance right been stolen by others as usual..."
"You are not ‘a little bit’ lecherous, but you are overly lecherous!"
"That doesn’t matter. It is just a small problem related to personal style...’
Lei and Stelle started to argue as usual again, while Sui Xiong was silently watching,
silently calculating inside.
Maybe...after my church is established, should I do an ordination ceremony for Lei?
Alright, let’s do it!