150: Chapter 150 Rachel Mandy

The afterglow of the setting sun gradually dissipated, and the twilight quietly emerged.

Under the ruthless harvesting of Spartacus and the other knights, who were like reapers of death, all twenty-seven bandits of the Blood Fiend Bandit Group were slaughtered.

The twisted corpses lay, sprawled, or slumped on the gravel ground in silence, most with their eyes wide open, revealing an unspeakable terror before death.

After surveying the battlefield, Spartacus ordered the knights to clean up and informed Isabelle in the convoy at the rear, then he walked toward the nearby woods.

The "tramp, tramp, tramp" of heavy footsteps rang in the ears of the women in the cages, causing them to feel a surge of heart palpitations toward the unknown.

Before they could think further, accompanied by the shining afterglow of the sunset, Spartacus appeared before their eyes.

Looking at the young women in the cages with terrified expressions and trembling bodies, Spartacus spoke with a soft expression: "You are safe now, come out."

As his voice fell, Spartacus waved his arm, and a cold light flashed. The iron lock of the cage broke with a "clang" and fell to the ground.

The women, who were originally somewhat afraid upon seeing Spartacus because they did not know his origins or purpose,

heard his words, which suddenly sounded like heavenly music to their ears, yet their faces still bore looks of disbelief.

"We... we are saved?"

"Yes, you are saved." Spartacus nodded and then added, "The bodies of the bandits who plundered you are just outside the woods."

As his voice fell, the women huddled together in small groups and began to cry with excitement.

One of the girls, who was the most beautiful and had a temperament as tranquil as a spring breeze, plucked up the courage to walk to Spartacus's side. Holding her skirt with both hands, she bowed in gratitude and said, "Thank you, Lord Knight, for saving my life. I, Rachel Mandi, will certainly keep this in my heart."

Seeing such a beautiful girl thanking him, Spartacus's face suddenly turned red, and he stammered, "M-Miss Mandi, you are too k-kind, there's n-no need for this."

Seeing his embarrassed appearance, Rachel couldn't help but let out a "pfft" and laugh, and the sense of trepidation she felt before dissipated quite a bit.

She had never seen a knight who could be as shy as Spartacus; he was like a completely different person compared to his serious manner just moments ago.

At this time, the other crying women also realized what had happened and collectively began to thank Spartacus, causing him another wave of embarrassment.

Suppressing the inexplicable excitement in his heart, Spartacus said, "Let's... let's go out."

Leading Rachel and the other women, Spartacus arrived outside the woods, where Isabelle's convoy had already arrived.

The other guards and handymen accompanying the convoy were helping to deal with the corpses on the ground, their eyes filled with admiration and longing for Spartacus and the other knights.

Seeing the corpses on the ground, except for Rachel, the other women couldn't help but retch, and Rachel's face was also pale, her body trembling slightly.

On the other side, Isabelle, who had already stepped down from the carriage, felt somewhat uncomfortable with the smell of blood drifting in the air, but her expression remained calm without any sense of fear.

Moving her gaze toward Rachel and the other women, she suddenly showed a look of surprise and asked loudly, "Rachel, why are you here?"

As she spoke, she quickly lifted her skirt and walked toward Rachel and the others.

Rachel, hearing the familiar voice, turned her head toward the sound and immediately showed a look of surprise and joy.

"Sister Isabelle!"

Immediately, Rachel walked quickly toward Isabelle, while Spartacus, who was on the side, looked completely bewildered.

Soon, the two beautiful women came together and gripped each other's hands tightly. Isabelle asked, "Rachel, what happened to you?"

"Sister Isabelle, my family's merchant group was... was plundered by these bandits. Third Uncle, in order to protect me—waah—!"

Seeing Isabelle was like finding her pillar of support, and Rachel threw herself onto Isabelle's chest and cried loudly.

Hearing these words, Isabelle showed a look of heartache and pity. Holding Rachel's body, she gently stroked her back, offering silent comfort.

After crying for a while, Rachel's emotions finally began to stabilize. She then recounted to Isabelle what had happened recently: "...That's how it was, until that Lord Knight saved us." As she spoke, Rachel looked toward Spartacus, who was currently handling the aftermath nearby.

Nodding, Isabelle had the attending girl arrange for the other captured women before taking Rachel to Spartacus's side.

Seeing the two walk over, Spartacus asked formally, "Miss Isabelle, do you have any instructions?"

"You are too polite, Lord Spartacus."

Isabelle smoothed the hair on her forehead and thanked him, "I have come to thank you for saving my good friend, Rachel Mandi. The Mandi family, like our Cole Family, is a merchant family from Telris."

"She is like a sister to me, but I didn't expect her to encounter such misfortune on this trip."

"Hereby, I express my most sincere gratitude to you and the escorting knights." As she spoke, Isabelle performed a Kingdom's feminine salute of gratitude to Spartacus.

Rachel, standing beside her, also expressed her thanks to him once again.

"Miss Isabelle, there's no need for this—" Spartacus looked anxious, wanting to stop Isabelle from saluting, but because of gender propriety, he could only watch helplessly.

After finishing the salute, Isabelle held Rachel's hand and introduced him, "Rachel, this is Lord Silver Knight Spartacus Bulk, a knight sworn to Lord Lister Howard, the Lord of Ironthorn Territory."

"This time, Uncle Kim asked me to lead the family merchant group to Ironthorn Territory to discuss some business cooperation matters with Lord Lister."

"Lord Spartacus and the other Lord Knights were specifically arranged by Lord Lister to escort us."

Pausing for a moment, Isabelle continued to introduce, "Lord Spartacus, Rachel is the youngest and only daughter of the Head of the Mandy Family. She should be a bit younger than you."

"A Silver Knight! And only a bit older than me!" Rachel couldn't help but cover her small mouth with her snowy-white hand, her eyes filled with immense admiration as she praised, "Lord Spartacus, you are so amazing. A Silver Knight of this age—even those students from the royal family or the Church Academy might not necessarily be able to compare to you."

Spartacus scratched the back of his head, no longer feeling his previous restraint, but still somewhat embarrassed as he said, "You flatter me, Miss Rachel. Everything I have was bestowed by Lord Lister; it was just good luck."

Rachel hadn't expected him to say that. In her view, although a lord's sworn knight would receive cultivation resources from the lord, it still relied on one's own talent to achieve results.

If it all depended on the lord's bestowal, then how could there be any talk of a knight's cultivation talent? Wouldn't it be enough to just pile up resources?

But the words with a hint of "rebuttal" that she was about to say changed immediately when she saw the genuine reverence in Spartacus's expression when he spoke of Lister.

"Then Lord Howard must be a very remarkable lord, otherwise how could he have trained such a powerful knight like you?"

"Miss Rachel is right."

Spartacus nodded heavily, very pleased with Rachel's words. He said seriously, "Lord Lister is the person who remade my life. Without him, there would be no Spartacus of today."

Once Lister was mentioned, it was as if a chatterbox had been opened for Spartacus, and he had endless things to say, most of which were words of praise for Lister.

Hearing this, Rachel followed Spartacus's words and kept nodding in agreement, which made Spartacus very happy.

Watching the two of them chat like that, Isabelle shook her head with a smile. She was very clear about Rachel's little thoughts and cleverness.

However, she didn't say much. she could see that Rachel truly had a good impression of Spartacus, and might even be smitten.

She wasn't surprised. After all, most young girls admired heroes, not to mention that this "hero" had displayed great prowess and personally saved her today. It would be hard for any girl not to be moved.

Moreover, the Mandy Family and the Cole Family had always been on good terms. But unlike the Cole Family's Slave-selling industry, the Mandy Family focused mainly on the sale of agricultural and handicraft products, and they had their own shops in the main towns of several territories.

But most importantly, the Mandy Family also had no lord they were sworn to, and they had recently faced some pressure in business.

If she could use Spartacus as a link to pull the Mandy Family onto Lister's flourishing "ship,"

it would not only be a great help to Lister and Ironthorn Territory but also enhance the status of the Cole Family in Lister's heart.

Although Isabelle didn't know why her heart subconsciously leaned toward Lister, she had indeed felt the difference between Ironthorn Territory and other territories during this trip.

It wasn't just the difference in economic and agricultural development, but also the Serfs' heartfelt love and protection for the territory, and their infinite passion for life.

She sincerely hoped that this model of territorial development could be promoted to the entire kingdom, but she knew very well that most lords could not achieve this.

Therefore, what she had to do now was to do her best to assist Lister in continuously strengthening the power of Ironthorn Territory, thereby influencing the entire kingdom.

The method of governance was certainly good, but in her view, the person governing was more important.

As night fell, the bone-chilling wind surged past Lister's ears with a "whoosh."

After finishing the welcome feast for Philemon and the others, Lister took Christina, Bai Ze, and the other little ones to the back of the castle to cultivate.

Before heading to the Western Frontier Territory, Lister hoped to advance to a Silver Knight; otherwise, he always felt a lack of security.

Swish, swish, swish!

Accompanied by the operation of the Breathing Technique, Lister's nimble and elegant figure, combined with the spear dancing in his hand, continuously made sharp air-piercing sounds.

At the same time, Christina also consciously practiced Wizardry nearby.

Although cultivating in such cold weather was very difficult for a little girl like her, she had proactively suggested cultivating together and had persevered.

Regarding this, after serious thought, Lister did not refute her idea. Since she had become a wizard, the dangers she would face in the future would be many.

If she didn't work hard to become stronger, how would Christina get through it when she faced danger alone?

Moreover, according to Christina's thoughts, she also wanted to go to the Western Frontier Territory together. First, she didn't want to leave Lister's side, and second, she wanted to see her hometown again.

So before heading to the Western Frontier, she indeed needed to make herself stronger.

Besides the two of them, Bai Ze also joined the ranks of cultivation under Lister's urging, while Li Huo and Raymond were much more self-disciplined.

Lister had always been contemptuous of Bai Ze's usual lazy behavior. Although it could slowly become stronger without cultivating, wouldn't it be a waste not to work hard with such good talent?

Lister wasn't sure if all Purple-Eyed Magic Lions were this lazy, but Bai Ze was definitely the laziest magic beast he had ever seen.

Therefore, in order to change its "bad personality," Lister had no choice but to give it some pressure and ramp up the intensity.

But it had to be said that Bai Ze's cultivation talent was indeed enviable to the point of jealousy.

It hadn't been cultivating for long before it entered a state of meditation again, as if this precious state of cultivation was as simple as drinking water in its cultivation career.

Although envious to the point of gritting his teeth, Lister was still very happy in his heart, because the faster Bai Ze broke through, the more mana and strength feedback Lister, who was contracted with it, would receive.

Accompanied by the whistling wind, the two people and three beasts worked hard at their cultivation in their respective areas. After an unknown amount of time, Bai Ze's body in the meditation state shook.

A strong energy aftershock quickly surged outward with its body as the center. Fortunately, the energy intensity was not high and did not cause much impact.

Immediately afterward, Bai Ze slowly opened its eyes, and a bewitching purple light flashed through them. A human-like smile appeared on its face.

It had broken through again. Now its strength was roughly equivalent to a Bronze Rank 8 knight, or even quite a bit stronger.

The powerful force gushing out of its body made it proudly lift its head, striking an "Am I awesome or what?" posture. But unfortunately, the other four, including Lister, were all immersed in cultivation, and no one looked at it.

As for Lianna and the three Pixies, they were in the castle taking care of the Magic Cloud Eagle.

The whistling wind in its ears made Bai Ze feel a bit awkward, but then its gaze was drawn to Lister.

Lister was seen sitting cross-legged. With the rise and fall of his chest, air passed through his nasal cavity in a rhythmic inhalation and exhalation, which was extremely heavy and powerful.

Around his body, strong Dou Qi Energy was constantly being drawn in, like a small storm swirling.

At the same time, the Fighting Spirit Seed inside him was like a whirlpool in the sea, constantly rotating at high speed, frantically absorbing the Dou Qi Energy seeping in from outside his body and then rapidly growing stronger.

The Fighting Spirit Seed was like a sharp spear, constantly striking the bottleneck between a Bronze and Silver Knight.

But that bottleneck was too solid; despite the impact of the Fighting Spirit Seed, it was not damaged in the slightest.

Lister knew that this was because the Dou Qi Energy was not pure enough and not abundant enough.

In the next second, he released his Spiritual Power to mobilize the Mana Energy within his body, merging it into the Dou Qi Energy. At the same time, the chi vortex accelerated its rotation, absorbing the external Dou Qi Energy with all its might.

In an instant, the Dou Qi Energy within a radius of dozens of meters continuously poured into his body, making the chi vortex inside more pure.

At the same time, with the enhancement of Mana Energy, the originally impact-lacking "Chi spear" also became sharper and more powerful.

As a booming sound that only Lister could hear rang out, the bottleneck within his body was completely shattered, and the aura of his body began to skyrocket wildly, reaching straight to Silver Rank 1!