136: The Cruelty of the Path of the Extraordinary

Adjacent to the southeast of the Pedan Kingdom lies the Muspel Kingdom.

Inside its third largest city, Amruh, in the underground area of the Lanster Hunter Guild in the city center.

"Zimmerman is dead—"

At a huge oval table, a Cardinal whose face was obscured sat at the head; from beneath his black robe came a whisper devoid of emotion, sounding as if it came from hell itself.

"What? Zimmerman is dead!"

"How is that possible? He was an Archbishop of the Church, with strength already halfway into the ranks of the Cardinals. Who could have killed him?"

"Indeed, and I remember he went to the Pedan Kingdom not long ago. There aren't many people there who could kill him, unless..." 1

Hearing the commotion from the seats on both sides, which sounded like a noisy market, the Cardinal at the head of the table gave a cold snort.

Instantly, the noise dissipated, and no one dared to speak another word.

Seeing the atmosphere quiet down, the Cardinal's deep blue eyes beneath the black robe swept over everyone as he spoke, "His life crystal orb has dissipated; his death is an indisputable fact."

"I have called you here today because you need to decide who will go to the Pedan Kingdom to investigate the cause of Zimmerman's death."

In the third seat on the right, a man who looked extremely young asked with a puzzled expression, "Lord Prevost, doesn't the life crystal orb transmit information about the killer? Why do we need to take this extra step to investigate?"

"Gardner, you are right, but—"

Cardinal Spert Prevost nodded, but then paused and said in a heavy voice, "Zimmerman's life crystal orb did not send back even a shred of information regarding the person who killed him."

"How is that possible!"

The people in their seats couldn't help but cry out in surprise, some even wondering if they had misheard.

life crystal orbs were made using top-tier crystal resources combined with special magic, the power of faith, and other elements.

There had never been any problems, let alone something as absurd as not returning information about the killer.

"If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have had you come all this way. Decide quickly who will go to investigate."

O

Prevost's gaze swept over the crowd, his tone tinged with a hint of impatience.

"This..."

Everyone looked at each other, falling into silence for a moment.

Within the Church, Zimmerman was an Archbishop whose strength was in the top five, or even the top three.

Now he had died so inexplicably, and his life crystal orb hadn't even sent back information on the murderer.

Although they didn't know how the killer had bypassed the life crystal orb's feedback, their strength was certainly not weaker than Zimmerman's.

Naturally, no one present was willing to take on an investigation task that was both dangerous and offered no rewards.

As for any sense of brotherhood among Church members, that was even less likely to exist.

"If you cannot decide, then I will appoint someone."

Seeing that Spert was determined to investigate, everyone knew that someone had to go today.

However, compared to having Spert choose, they tacitly agreed it would be better to choose for themselves.

"Lord Prevost, no need to trouble yourself; we can choose for ourselves."

3

Spert Prevost nodded; it was best if they chose themselves, as he naturally didn't want to be the villain.

In the next second, under Spert's gaze as his lips twitched slightly, a group of Archbishops and Bishops gathered together and began to play rock-paper-scissors.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Two people won, and one of them, a bearded man, laughed loudly, "Haha, I don't have to go."

A moment later, he immediately realized he had laughed too loudly; after an awkward smile, he quickly regained his serious expression and sat back down.

Soon, the intense rock-paper-scissors match ended, and a beautiful young woman, as ripe as a peach, was awarded the glorious task of investigation.

Spert looked at her and said, "Archbishop Regina, this investigation task depends on you."

"As you command."

Regina although she felt bitter in her heart, she still respectfully accepted on the surface.

"Dismissed."

Everyone cupped their hands, and then magic circles appeared beneath them, causing them to vanish instantly.

In the eerily quiet environment, Spert couldn't help but clutch his chest with his left hand; the metallic taste of the blood he had just suppressed in his throat had not yet completely dissipated.

"Just who was it?"

On the way back to the Earl's manor, Lister and the other three first went to check on Sabrina.

After confirming she was alright and giving her a few instructions, the four of them prepared to return to the manor.

However, halfway there, they were suddenly stopped by people from the Church of the Goddess of Revenge.

Looking at Modima, who had been with Saintess Tina before, Lister asked in confusion, "I wonder what business Lady Tina has?"

"Lord Lister, the Saintess asked me to tell you..."

Modima bowed slightly and said, "Among those who stirred up the unrest in Aetheria this time, there were none of us—"

People from the Church of the Goddess of Revenge.

" 1

"After today, all of our people from the Church of the Goddess of Revenge will leave Aetheria. If you need any help in the future—"

"Just send someone to Boli Town in Baron Jonathan Steven's territory, find an inn called the Daughter of the Stars, and give the information to the owner."

Lister nodded and said, "I understand."

Modima gave a slight nod and then quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

After a brief analysis of Tina's actions, Lister understood her intent.

Tina was afraid he might mistakenly think the Church of the Goddess of Revenge had also stirred up unrest in Aetheria like the other factions.

Therefore, she specifically informed him to dispel his doubts and maintain the cooperative relationship they had just established.

Indeed, just as Tina thought, if Lister had discovered they were involved in the attack, their partnership might have truly ended.

After all, the risk of cooperating with an evil organization that disregarded everything and slaughtered innocents was immense.

At least according to Lister's character, he would never cooperate with such an organization.

And the fact that Tina cared so much about their cooperation was indeed beyond his expectations.

Without thinking further, the four of them continued back toward the Earl's manor.

Just as he arrived at his room door, Lister saw Daisna and the little maid Norse waiting there.

Seeing him return, Daisna hurried forward and asked, "Lister, are you alright?"

"I'm fine; I didn't participate in the fighting."

Seeing the worried look on Daisna's face, Lister felt a slight warmth in his heart.

After looking him up and down and seeing that Lister was indeed fine, Daisna gave a soft sigh, "That's good."

"Alright, you should go back and check on the Earl. He just went through a major battle with Lord Ellis and the knights."

Lister said with a smile, teasing her, "Even though he's fine, if he finds out you came to see me first, won't he give me a hard time in the future?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Daisna's face instantly turned Red as she said, "Then I'll be going. Make sure to get some rest."

"Okay."

Watching Daisna's back disappear, Lister opened the door and returned to his room.

Although he hadn't participated in the fighting this time, he had gained a general understanding of the strength of the powerful and the battles between them.

If he encountered this group in the future, he wouldn't be completely lost in how to deal with them in battle.

After eating something, Lister went to the large open space outside his quarters to prepare for cultivation.

Just like him, Red and the other two also appeared here by coincidence.

After witnessing the top-tier battle today, their desire to become stronger had become even more urgent, just like Lister's.

This world was ultimately one where the strong were respected, and strength was the criterion that decided and dominated everything.

Except for Red, the goal for Lister, Spartacus, and Sejin now was to advance to Silver Knight as soon as possible.

Lister wanted more self-preservation power for when he was in the Western Frontier Territory, while Spartacus and Sejin aimed to better serve and protect Lister.

As rhythmic, heavy breathing slowly sounded in the air, the four of them became completely immersed in their cultivation.

Witnessing the battle of Earl Elsie and the others was not only an insight into their combat techniques but also a significant realization regarding their Spiritual Power.

While they were cultivating, four figures slowly appeared not far away.

"With Aetheria in such turmoil today, it's truly admirable that Lord Lister and his knight attendants can still cultivate so calmly!"

Looking at the four in the open space, Baron Moses Hanselton said with a look of amazement.

Morris, whom he happened to meet on the way, didn't speak, but in his heart, he strongly agreed with Moses' words.

Just then, four intimidating beast roars suddenly rang out, and the shackles of battle qi energy on Lister and the others were completely broken through.

Feeling the battle qi energy within their bodies, which was more majestic than before, all four of them couldn't help but look joyful.

They hadn't expected the gains this time to be so great; it hadn't even been five days since their last breakthrough, yet they had succeeded again.

Such a breakthrough speed was something few in the entire kingdom could achieve.

At this moment, Lister was Bronze Rank 8, Red was Silver Rank 4, Spartacus was Bronze Rank 9, and Sejin was Bronze Rank 7.

Among the four, besides Lister, Red and the other two had the greatest gains from the breakthrough.

Spartacus was only one step away from advancing to Silver Knight; with his talent, Lister had no doubt he would succeed.

Even if he unexpectedly failed, Lister still had dragon blood fruit in reserve to grant him help in breaking through.

At the thought that the Ironthorn Territory would soon have another Silver Knight, Lister couldn't help but feel some excitement and anticipation.

As for Red and Sejin, the former had broken through to Silver Rank Middle, and the latter to High-Rank Bronze; their strength was much greater than before.

Especially Sejin; since becoming Lister's direct knight, in less than a month, he had broken through from Bronze Rank 2 to Bronze Rank 7.

This breakthrough speed had already left all the knights of Lister's original team far behind; his talent was nothing short of terrifying.

In his original team, besides Red, Locke, and Carlyle, the highest-ranking ones were now only Dewey and Langman at Bronze Tier 4.

Compared to these later knights, most of the knights in the original team were indeed quite lacking in talent.

If Locke and Carlyle hadn't been given the purple soul fruit by him, they would likely have followed in their footsteps.

The path of a knight—or rather, a Transcendent—was just that cruel; even if one's rank was much higher before, with the boost of terrifying talent, latecomers would soon overtake those ahead of them.

Lister's direct Knight Squad was already starting to evolve in this direction.

This evolution would cause subtle changes in the relationships between the knights, and even generate some conflicts.

However, Lister was glad he had noticed this immediately; as long as he provided more guidance and management later, he could certainly avoid such negative situations.

Of course, he wouldn't show favoritism between the original team and the new generation of knights regarding cultivation resources.

In the Ironthorn Territory, or rather under him, wanting to obtain corresponding cultivation resources depended only partially on talent; more importantly, it depended on one's contribution to the territory.

Only in this way could the Knight Squad continue to develop healthily; otherwise, many problems would arise.

Naturally, he would still give some preferential treatment to those knights from the original team, such as giving them more opportunities to show their abilities.

After all, as the number of knights in the Ironthorn Territory increased, the opportunity for each person to show their abilities would decrease, making contributions harder to earn.

But the original team were veterans who had followed him after all, so he still needed to provide them with some support.

Favoring the new while forgetting the old was not Lister's way of doing things.

"Lord Lister, congratulations on your successful breakthrough!"

Just as the four were carefully sensing the changes in their bodies, two sincere voices of congratulations rang out. Moses and Morris, accompanied by their respective Knight Captains, walked quickly toward them.

"Thank you, Lord Moses, Lord Morris!" Lister responded with a smile.

Beside him, Red and the other two also gave respectful greetings.

Although Morris couldn't sense Lister's actual rank, judging by the nature of the battle qi energy leaking out, it was definitely much stronger than his own, which was already Bronze Tier 4.

He couldn't help but praise, "For Lord Lister to possess such formidable strength at such an age truly makes us feel inferior."

"Lord Morris, you overpraise me."

Lister waved his hand and said sincerely, "Your courage in not fearing to put yourself in danger is what I admire even more."

"I believe this rare courage will surely help you go further and further on the path of a knight."

"Haha, then I'll take your kind words to heart, Lord Lister," Morris laughed.

After some pleasantries, Moses suggested they go for a drink, and Morris nodded in agreement.

Lister naturally didn't refuse; after all, when away from home, it was good to make a few friends, especially since they were both sons of Earls, even if their situations within their respective families weren't great.

However, since the city was still undergoing a cleanup, and Lister suddenly remembered he still had ironthorn whiskey, he thought he could bring it out for them to taste and perhaps have them take some back to their respective family territories to promote.