35: Chapter 35 Breakthrough to Senior Knight! The Professional Succubus Unleashes Her Power!

White Cliff Castle, top floor.

Rowan sat cross-legged in the center of the room, facing the horizon where the sea was gradually brightening.

Inside his body, the Myriad Furnace Breathing Technique was circulating at an unprecedented speed.

Douqi flowed like a rushing glacier through his wide and tough meridians, bringing a bone-chilling cold while also surging with vigorous vitality.

At the core of the life seed, light spots of four colors—ice blue, silver-white, dark red, and shadowy—floated and rotated.

They were clearly demarcated, yet under the harmony of the furnace, they reached a certain smooth balance.

Beside him on the floor sat an empty crystal bottle.

During this time, as Rowan methodically took the secret medicine and practiced relentlessly, he finally reached a critical point at this moment.

As the cold morning wind rushed in, he ignited the invisible furnace deep within his body.

Boom—!

It was as if a silent roar exploded in the depths of his soul.

The rushing Douqi instantly accelerated!

In the life seed, that bit of ice-blue radiance suddenly blazed bright, and the coldness surged.

The silver-white light spot flashed and disappeared, bringing clarity of mind.

The dark red light spot throbbed violently, causing his blood to boil.

The shadowy light spot was like a drop of ink in water, quietly diffusing, giving the Douqi more agile changes.

The four did not fuse, but rotated around the more solid furnace core like satellites, forming a small and stable energy system.

His bones began to make slight cracking sounds, his muscle fibers became tighter, the vitality of his internal organs significantly improved, and his mental power also jolted, becoming more acute.

When all the anomalies slowly subsided, Rowan opened his eyes.

Deep in his amber pupils, fine starlight seemed to flow, then vanished, leaving only a profound calm.

Deep in his consciousness, the system panel clearly appeared:

[Myriad Furnace Breathing Technique lv2 (3001/10000) (Senior Knight)]

[Current Traits: Frost (Blue), Insight (Blue), Blood Rage (Blue), Shape-shifting (Blue)]

Rowan looked at the panel, according to his understanding of the Breathing Technique's progress.

0-3000 proficiency should correspond to an Initial Knight.

Douqi condenses, strengthens the physique, and masters basic combat skills.

3000-8000 proficiency corresponds to a Senior Knight.

Douqi condenses and undergoes a qualitative change, initially forming personal traits, allowing for long-duration high-intensity combat, and mastering advanced combat skills and mindset.

Above 8000 proficiency corresponds to a Peak Knight.

Douqi tends toward perfection, traits fuse and sublimate, one begins to touch the edge of rules, possessing the potential to be a one-man army.

"Senior Knight..." Rowan whispered this realm classification, feeling the majestic Douqi that had nearly doubled in his body, a satisfied curve hooking at the corner of his mouth.

In one year's time, from just entering Official Knight to Senior Knight, this speed could be said to be extremely fast.

Within this, there was the power of the Myriad Furnace Breathing Technique, and also the support of secret medicines.

More importantly, it was brought about by the increase in cultivation speed after accumulating and melting multiple Breathing Techniques.

With the breakthrough complete, he stood up, stretched his muscles and bones, and began to think about another matter.

During this time, besides his hard cultivation, he hadn't neglected the development of his relationship with Priestess Aliyah.

Over the past few months, using impeccable reasons such as "asking for advice on doctrine," "reporting possible movements of the Crimson Knights," and "confiding lordly confusion," he had gone to the Dawn Cathedral in Gino City to pray many times.

Every meeting, the Charm skill, which worked as silently as rain moistening things, continued to play an important role.

It wasn't crude mental control, but rather creating an atmosphere that made it easy to generate goodwill, amplifying his own advantages in knowledge, conversation, and appearance, and extremely keenly capturing and responding to Aria's emotional fluctuations.

From pure theological discussion to occasional sharing of personal experiences, the relationship between the two had quietly warmed up.

He could feel that Aria's feeling toward him had changed from a baron of a remote region with a slight impression and a fairly devout believer, to a conversation partner with whom she could communicate deeply and who made her feel relaxed and trusted.

In three days, they would have another meeting.

This time, it wasn't at the Dawn Cathedral.

The location was set at a private tavern in Gino known for its quietness and collection of replicas of ancient books, which had quiet private rooms specifically prepared for conversation.

Thinking of that body under the holy priestess robes that was gradually showing vividness and softness, a meaningful smile appeared on Rowan's face...

Three days passed in a flash.

Gino City, Dusty Scroll Tavern.

This tavern was built behind a grove of tall oak trees; its exterior was a simple stone and wood structure, and its sign was a sculpture of an open ancient parchment scroll.

The interior lighting was soft, and the air was filled with the scents of old books, mead, and wood.

There were very few customers, and most were scholars, mage apprentices, and the like who really came to read or seek quiet conversation.

In a private room partitioned off by a magic circle on the inner side, the fireplace burned with a comfortable flame.

A large oak table, two high-backed chairs.

On the table were two cups of mead with calming herbs added, and several rubbings of leather scrolls with ancient church-style patterns that Rowan had carefully prepared were spread out.

Aria sat in one of the chairs.

Today she was not wearing her signature pure white priestess robes, but a simple cream-colored wool dress.

Her silver-white long hair was tied up with a simple wooden hairpin, and a few strands of hair hung by her cheeks.

Less of the holiness and distance of the priestess robes, more of the softness and a trace of imperceptible restraint belonging to a young woman.

Her ice-blue eyes fell on the patterns of the leather scrolls, her fingertips lightly tracing a pattern similar to a variation of the Dawn Holy Emblem, her expression focused:

"This variation of the symbol was mentioned in the appendix of 'A Study of Early Church Stone Carvings in the North,' and is usually associated with the saintly legends of 'Border Guardians' and 'Forest Pilgrimages.'"

"You found this near the White Cliff Territory?"

"Yes, deep in the Black Pine Forest, on the rock wall of a cave almost completely covered by vines." Rowan sat in the chair opposite her.

Most of the time, his gaze fell on the leather scrolls.

But occasionally, it would also naturally meet her gaze; those sincere eyes were filled with focus on knowledge and a thirst for learning.

"It's very remote there, almost no one goes. I was also very surprised when I found it." Rowan's voice was steady and gentle, with a hint of pleasure from sharing a discovery.

The conversation unfolded in an academic atmosphere.

Aria's knowledge was indeed profound, often pointing out deeper connections in Rowan's "discoveries" or supplementing related saintly trails.

Rowan played the role of a good listener who could occasionally raise clever questions or associations, keeping the topic active and deep.

But gradually.

A subtle change was quietly happening.

Perhaps it was this private and relaxed environment, or perhaps it was the reassuring aura Rowan continuously radiated.

Aria felt an inexplicable pleasure.

She was somewhat dazed.

Why did she agree to this private invitation that clearly exceeded the usual relationship between a priestess and a believer?

The place of invitation was also so private.

But when she received his invitation with eager expectation, she found it difficult to find a reason for a firm refusal.

Even more so, she couldn't bear to let him down.

Why was it like this?

"You seem particularly interested in the stories of early church saints preaching in the wilderness."

Aria picked up the mead and took a small sip, trying to dispel that unfamiliar throb in her heart and pull the topic back to safe territory.

"Because what they faced was a double desolation and danger, both material and spiritual." Rowan also picked up his wine glass, his voice deepening a bit:

"Just like the North now. Sometimes, looking at the territory, looking at those subjects full of anxiety about the future, I wonder what kind of faith the saints of the past relied on to sow seeds in seemingly desperate situations and firmly believe they would eventually start a prairie fire."

Rowan's words suddenly touched a corner deep in Aria's heart.

She had come to the completely unfamiliar North, burdened with the task of investigating the Crimson Knights, while also needing to find ways to purge potential shadows within the nobility or the church.

Was she not also moving forward in a kind of desolation and danger?

Loneliness, pressure, constant vigilance... these things she had never spoken of to anyone, yet at this moment, in the words and eyes of this handsome baron, she found a strange resonance.

"Faith... comes from absolute belief in the Goddess, and also from the certainty of the path one takes."

Aria responded softly, a trace of complex ripples appearing in her ice-blue eyes, with firmness and also a very faint weariness.

"Certainty..."

Rowan repeated the word, leaning forward slightly, the distance between the two shortening inadvertently.

The scent on him was clean and crisp, with the smell of northern wind, snow, and sunlight:

"Perhaps, sometimes, the greatest challenge is not the external desolation, but the internal uncertainty.

"Doubting one's own judgment, doubting whether what one insists on can really bring light, or even doubting whether one can respond to the expectations of others."

Rowan's words, carrying an inexplicable meaning, gently touched Aria's mental defenses.

Her experiences from the Inquisition had made her see much of the filth and betrayal under faith.

Carrying a secret mission, maneuvering between various forces, maintaining absolute reason and vigilance at all times.

Facing the unpredictable minds of the northern nobles and potential enemies who might harbor evil intentions... how could she not have had moments of wavering and self-doubt?

It was just that these were all pressed deep beneath the ice by her strong will and piety.

At this moment, however, they were gently spoken by the young baron before her in a nearly understanding posture.

Aria was stunned.

She looked at Rowan, looking at the gentle gaze in his eyes, and the lip shape that appeared exceptionally beautiful under the firelight...

Her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.

An unfamiliar warm current spread from her heart, rushing to her four limbs and hundred bones.

The slight tipsiness of the mead, the warmth of the fireplace, the sense of security of the private space, the long-repressed self...

Rowan keenly captured the fleeting blurred and dazed look in her ice-blue eyes.

He understood that after using the Charm skill multiple times, the time to harvest the fruits in stages had finally arrived.

Aria felt her breathing become somewhat disordered.

He is a believer, a noble, a...

The church does not forbid the marriage of clergy, but...

At the moment her eyes were blurred and dazed.

Rowan moved, and his Charm skill was fully activated!

He gently pressed close to her white and exquisite earlobe, saying with a hint of magnetic raspiness: "Aria... you are so beautiful..."

Hearing this voice, Aria became somewhat muddled, and she involuntarily closed her ice-blue bright eyes.

This was a positive signal!

Rowan no longer hesitated.

He leaned in, his lips brushing over her smooth long hair and delicate skin, gently pressing onto those slightly cool lips.

"Mm..."

A very faint whimper.

Aria's body instantly stiffened.

A sensation never felt before, a forbidden sense of transgression, mixed with a trembling tingling and throb, coursed through her whole body like lightning...

...