Chapter 71: Discussing Merit and Bestowing Rewards, an Unexpected Reward!

"Open the door, I'm here to bring some warmth."

Long Xingyu's muffled voice came from outside the door.

He did not open it directly, but waited for his disciple to come and open the door.

Ye Ling quickly stepped forward to open the main door.

Ye Ling said: "Teacher, you are awake."

Long Xingyu had black lines across his forehead; has this kid cultivated himself into a fool?

He helplessly supported his forehead: "Forget it, long periods of cultivation and seclusion are a good thing, especially since the war just ended; it is normal to have some insights."

Then he took a step forward, walked into the room, and said: "However, this direct improvement of yours is also a good thing. Once you reach the Fifth Rank and can master Liquid Spiritual Power, I will pass on my own inheritance as well as all of Anan's cultivation experience to you. That will be the appropriate time."

"There are still about four years until the Demon Hunt Squad Competition. With your natural talent, your ranking at that time will definitely not be weak. Even if you haven't reached the peak cultivation age for professionals—twenty years old—by then, you will still be more than capable of standing out from the crowd."

"However, you don't need to break through so quickly for now. For us, everything before the Seventh Rank is just laying the foundation. After you suppress it for a while, I will take you to a place. You should be very familiar with that place; we will see when the time comes."

As Long Xingyu spoke, he walked into the room with familiarity, intending to find a chair to sit on.

But the furniture inside had long since been burned to nothing by the Holy Light Fire, which left Long Xingyu stunned. He turned his head to look at his disciple, a trace of confusion appearing in the depths of his eyes.

But upon this direct look, he noticed something different.

"Third... Third Rank Peak?"

"Four hundred and seventy points of Internal Spiritual Power?"

"How did you shoot up like this in these two months?"

Long Xingyu was dumbfounded.

In his memory, before he went out on this trip, his disciple's cultivation was only at the early stage of the Third Rank.

And previously, because of the insights from Anan, he had broken through to the Third Rank Sixth Level.

Even for a Child of Light, that should have been the limit.

But what the hell is this now?

Third Rank Peak?

No? Did you take some drugs, kid?

"Third Rank Peak? Four hundred and seventy points of Spiritual Power? Did it increase by over a hundred points just like that?" Ye Ling looked at himself in confusion; he naturally hadn't reached the level where he could see his own cultivation without an instrument.

It was just that he really hadn't expected himself to break through so quickly, and he hadn't felt much of anything either.

"You kid, you don't even know how you broke through?" Long Xingyu widened his eyes, looking at his disciple.

As a genius, he had also been envied by others in the past, and he also believed that there shouldn't be anyone in this world whose cultivation speed could make him envious... but now, looking at Ye Ling, he suddenly understood the thoughts of those people from before.

Comparing people to others really makes one angry.

"I do know, actually." Ye Ling nodded, then called out: "Yating, this is my teacher, one of the contemporary Divine Seal Knights. You don't need to hide."

"Okay, Brother Ye." Yating's voice came softly from Ye Ling's chest, and light surged, continuously gathering into a physical form; it was precisely the cute Light Elemental Spirit, Yating.

"Spirit Yating, greets the Divine Seal Knight." Yating flew out and gracefully performed a Knight's salute toward Long Xingyu.

Long Xingyu immediately used his Spiritual Power to probe the Light Elemental Spirit in front of him, but found nothing amiss.

That pure Light Spiritual Power was definitely the Light Element Spiritual Stove, no mistake.

"Light Element Spiritual Stove, what is going on with you, kid?"

"How did you master the Light Element Spiritual Stove without a sound?"

Long Xingyu asked in confusion.

Ye Ling told him everything about the matter regarding Leng Xiao, as well as his month of nourishing Yating and the month of fusion.

Upon hearing all of this, Long Xingyu couldn't help but exclaim in admiration: "You kid, this luck of yours is truly something."

He wasn't angry that Ye Ling hadn't reported it, but rather angry at the restriction set by the Tree Demon God Busong: "That guy Busong, even when he was at death's door, he still planned to scheme."

"But this guy didn't expect that our Knight Temple really has a Child of Light, a being of Divine Favor and light, did he? It ended up being a wedding dress for you."

Long Xingyu was very pleased. The losses this war had brought him were great; not only was he injured, but his original potential had also been squeezed quite a bit.

But looking at Ye Ling, he felt it was worth it.

He even started to find Yating pleasing to the eye.

"Not bad, not bad. Although the Moon Bright Canghai Spiritual Stove you obtained from your grand-teacher last time is a powerful Wisdom Spiritual Stove, it is useless to you. After all, it has never awakened in six thousand years; that so-called Wisdom Spiritual Stove is just a decoration sitting there."

"If you can use the Light Element Spiritual Stove as your first Spirit Stove, it will be of great benefit to your future."

Long Xingyu was very satisfied.

However, his disparaging remark made a certain old fellow who had lived for tens of thousands of years or more quite unhappy. A touch of light appeared on Ye Ling's body, and his figure slowly condensed, standing right in front of Long Xingyu.

At this moment, one could even see a bit of red light on its jade-like body; it was clearly "red-lining" from anger.

"Little doll, what kind of talk is that?"

"What do you mean this old man is useless? I am, at the very least, one of the Twelve Watchers at the peak of the Spirit Stove world. The Moon Bright Canghai Spiritual Stove—what kind of talk is that?"

The gentle voice carried a trace of anger, and the red light grew even more intense.

This sudden, triggered Spirit Stove actually gave Long Xingyu a start.

However, Long Xingyu felt no anger at its appearance, because he saw something extremely terrifying. Ignoring the triggered Moon Bright Canghai, Long Xingyu turned his head to look at his disciple Ye Ling, his eyes filled with confusion.

"This is? That Wisdom Spiritual Stove from before, right?" Long Xingyu asked in surprise.

"Yes, it is the one grand-teacher gave me during the Youth Knight Competition." Ye Ling nodded.

Long Xingyu: "..."

This disciple? He really is a monster.

He was speechless.

After a long while, he slowly exhaled and apologized to the Moon Bright Canghai Spiritual Stove: "Apologies, Senior, it was Xingyu who was abrupt."

Only then did the Moon Bright Canghai let out a cold snort and follow Yating back into Ye Ling's body.

Although Long Xingyu was extremely arrogant, he was still a Knight and naturally knew that one should admit mistakes and apologize when in the wrong; the current him was not yet as extreme as he would be in the future, and he even felt a touch of vitality while teaching Ye Ling.

With this touch of vitality present, it made Ye Ling his concern.

He would not become too extreme.

Likewise, his heart was also somewhat shaken.

Truly, he is worthy of being my disciple! Worthy of being the Child of Light! Even the Wisdom Spiritual Stove, which has never appeared in these six thousand years, was pocketed by him; his future can simply be described as having limitless prospects!

Of course, this was also because he did not know the side effects of the Moon Bright Canghai Spiritual Stove, otherwise, his mindset would probably be collapsing right now.

However, he did not know, and the protagonist did not intend to tell him for the time being.

After Long Xingyu finished apologizing to the Moon Bright Canghai Spiritual Stove, he also turned his head at the first moment to look at his good disciple Ye Ling, saying: "You have created another record, a miracle, and perhaps even more than one; if your grandmaster knew, he would probably be overjoyed to death."

Ye Ling laughed happily: "I'll tell him when I go back; perhaps it will give him a big shock."

Then, thinking of something, he asked: "Over these two months, how has the recovery of the Assassin Temple been?"

"The Holy Alliance has sent quite a few craftsmen and experts here one after another over these two months to help with the reconstruction of Exorcist Pass."

"Then, about a month ago, after I finished recuperating, I temporarily presided over the award ceremony for this great battle. Originally, seeing that you were cultivating, I even had them delay it; after all, you can be considered one of the contributors to this great battle."

"But who could have thought that you brat would be promoting for so long this time..."

"However, it is truly worth it; you really gave me quite a surprise this time. A Third Rank Peak at only thirteen years old, and it has been less than a year since your Sacred Awakening! This speed of promotion is enough to make even the Child of Light feel surprised from the bottom of his heart!"

Long Xingyu was very happy.

Ye Ling was also very happy, but what made him happy was not this, but a certain sentence before Long Xingyu's; at this moment, a glimmer of light appeared in the depths of his eyes, and he asked: "Then, do I have any rewards?"

"You brat, you only get excited at times like this," Long Xingyu laughed and scolded.

Ye Ling laughed happily.

"There are, but it might be a bit different from what you think."

"The rewards for the two things you did are given separately," Long Xingyu said.

"Different?" Ye Ling was puzzled.

Long Xingyu explained: "They are divided into Slaughter Merit and Battle Situation Merit."

"The meaning of the former is the Demon Race you slaughtered. I checked, and you did not kill too many demons this time, nor did you participate in too many battles, so the reward for this part is not considered very high."

"However, I took the liberty of upgrading it for you, which will be of great use to you now: a full set of Spirit Magic Grade Equipment and a sword and shield, as well as a Seventh Rank Heaven Defying Demon Dragon Magic Crystal for body tempering. This matter was decided after a full discussion, so you do not need to have any burden."

Hearing this, Ye Ling's eyes lit up with joy.

The equipment he was currently using was a full set of Magic Grade Equipment and a half-step Spirit Magic Grade sword, the effects of which were already extremely strong; if he were not using this set of equipment...

With Leng Xiao's Third Rank Peak cultivation at that time plus the ultimate combat power of the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon, perhaps he and Cai'er really would not have been opponents, and even if they were, they might not have been able to capture her alive; instead, one of the two groups would have surely died.

In such a situation, one knows the importance of equipment.

"Many thanks, Teacher Xingyu. I am already very satisfied with having a reward of this level for Slaughter Merit," Ye Ling was satisfied, but still asked curiously: "Then? How is the Battle Situation Merit calculated?"

"Cai'er and I captured Leng Xiao alive. Although this battle cannot be said to be the greatest contribution, it can be said to have guided the direction of the battle situation significantly. How did the Alliance calculate this portion of merit?"

Long Xingyu explained: "Regarding this point, we have also discussed it specifically."

"Among them, that old shameless Sheng Yue can be said to have been helping you fight for benefits the whole time, arguing on strong grounds to increase the total amount of this portion of merit."

"In the end, we decided to divide this portion of merit equally between you and Sheng Caier. Her merit seems to be something the Assassin Temple has ideas about, but your merit has truly and concretely turned into your honor!"

"Ye Ling!" Long Xingyu shouted suddenly: "The result of our discussion is that we will give you an opportunity to become a Knight Temple Hall Master!"

Ye Ling: "???"

Originally, he was still pondering what the reward would be; he did not expect Long Xingyu to say such a thing. Once these words were out, it completely stunned Ye Ling.

He had thought about how good the reward would be, but he did not expect it to be this... "Teacher Xingyu, wouldn't this be too fast?"

"Not to mention the Knight Temple, even in the entire Holy Alliance's Six Great Temples for the past six thousand years, there has never been a Hall Master below the Ninth Rank, let alone a Third Rank Hall Master."

"What do you mean by this?"

Ye Ling looked at his teacher with great surprise. He was only sixty-something, which was still very young for a professional, so he shouldn't have lost his mind, right?

Hearing this, Xingyu was taken aback and laughed: "This, of course, does not mean letting you become one right now."

"Even if you are the Child of Light, for a Third Rank to become a Temple Hall Master, not to mention outside the temple, even those old fellows inside the temple would come out to confront it directly."

"This Knight Temple Hall Master position is naturally for the future, and it is a guaranteed treatment and benefit."

Hearing Long Xingyu's explanation, Ye Ling was still puzzled and asked: "Please elaborate."

Long Xingyu laughed: "In the Temple, all positions, in addition to one's own strength and cultivation, have a series of merit assessments. Only after completing that series of assessments are you qualified to become that position."

"And the reward given to you now is to waive this part of the assessment, starting from the next Knight Commander, and then to the Fifth Rank Knight Regiment."

"The Secret Silver Foundation Knight assessment and the Temple Knight Regiment, the Gold Foundation Battle Armor assessment and the Holy Knight Regiment, and even the Saint Knight Chief, as well as the subsequent Knight Temple Vice Hall Master and Hall Master, including the incidental positions represented by these positions in the Alliance, are all exempt from assessment."

"As long as your strength reaches the level, and you can be recognized by the knights in the regiment, as well as the experts one level above those positions like Knight Commanders and Saint Knight Chiefs, you can immediately take office!"

"Of course, the Demon Hunt Squad is managed independently of the Six Great Temples, so it cannot be waived together this time. Perhaps after you join the Demon Hunt Squad and make a great contribution, who knows, Teacher Hao Yu might also directly waive the assessment."

Long Xingyu said these words extremely straightforwardly.

It gave Ye Ling a shock.

"The magnitude of this reward has long exceeded my contribution, right?"

"Converted into merit, it's already more than a million, right?"

Ye Ling said in surprise.

Was the reward this time this comfortable?

However, he was not a fool, and he instinctively felt that something was wrong.

There was definitely a problem.

Long Xingyu explained:

"It is related to your capture of Leng Xiao with Sheng Caier this time, but it is not entirely related."

"However, this other connection also has a great deal to do with you yourself, so there is no need to worry about anything."

Ye Ling was still puzzled, but he saw Long Xingyu continue to explain: "I have already reported it upward."

"By myself, Divine Seal Knight of Judgment and Trial Long Xingyu, Divine Seal Knight of Control and Restriction Long Tianyin, Saint Knight Chief Han Qian, and Saint Alliance Leader, Divine Seal Knight of Defense and Coordination Yang Haohan, the four of us have unanimously approved it!"

"Although it is not the only one."

Having said that, Long Xingyu stood up.

Looking at Ye Ling before him, he shouted: "Congratulations, Knight Ye Ling!"

"From now on, you will become the next Temple Head Candidate of the Knight Temple!"

Sleepy, so just one update, will continue writing tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)