Chapter 147: Judgment Paladin

By the time Li En finished the battle here, the slaughter on the other side of the bridge was also nearing its end.

"What a massacre." The wails and screams of the dark elves still echoed in his ears, but they seemed to have nowhere to retreat.

"Uh, as a Paladin, shouldn't you at least hide your smile when facing a massacre?"

"Ha, a massacre of evil by evil; I'm already being polite by not applauding."

Looking at the corpses over there, Li En was quite pleased.

That third daughter of the Third Family, after Li En severed the rope bridge, was already dead as a doornail. Who could expect rationality from a frenzied beast horde? Now, the other side of the bridge was a brutal dining scene.

On their own side, Larry, having removed her armor, was moving quickly.

She pulled some netting from behind and tried to weave another log bridge to cross.

Judging by how skilled she was becoming, it shouldn't take long.

In a sense, this was the instinct of the Spider People.

As the heir to the Web Baron (a monopoly industry of the Glorious City), she had received some basic training when she was young.

Li En noticed that she did not seem to have the ability to spit webs; she only used saliva to soften the netting before re-solidifying and weaving it.

The pale blue crystals exposed on her various arms kept flashing and glowing, catching Li En's attention.

This should be a racial evolutionary trait of hers, but such information involves racial talents and weaknesses, which are basically the core secrets of Beast-kin Ascendants.

"Uh, I'm of the Crystal Spider lineage, mainly pursuing crystallization abilities. The ability to liquefy and produce webs has devolved into crystallization. This path mainly compensates for the Spider race's fragile physical body. Didn't Senior Li En notice that I hold my sword quite steadily? I should be able to possess my own crystal armor and crystal shield very soon."

This female knight was too honest; Li En had only glanced a few times, and she had voluntarily revealed everything, even voluntarily stating her future evolutionary tendencies.

Li En nodded. He really didn't understand others' racial evolutionary paths, but if a speed-attack type like Larry really put on a layer of crystal armor and shield, it should be quite suitable.

"Not only that, I can also enchant my sword. Crystalization virus and sharpness enchantments are very suitable for a speed-type melee fighter like me."

Uh, this evolutionary path sounds impressive. Are there any weaknesses?

"Weakness... I guess not. Maybe I'll keep gaining weight. Forget it. My web-weaving ability is basically gone. Although I can still climb walls with my crystal arms, it's not as easy as before. Very Clumsy and heavy."

Probably only Paladins could exchange such confidential information so honestly.

"Gah. Nonsense. The weakness of the Crystal lineage isn't that."

Lord Lord Lord Kuku was watching the web-weaving process with great interest, seeming to have a different opinion.

"Uh, are there any other weaknesses?" Larry seemed truly unaware and immediately asked.

"It's expensive! This advancement is super expensive! You have to eat magical gems, eat crystals! And you need many cores from high-level crystal creatures! They are rare on the Prime Material Plane, very expensive!"

"I see. I have learned from you."

Larry looked as if she had suddenly understood and learned, Lord Lord Lord Kuku was full of pride, but Li En felt like punching someone.

"Expensive advancements, besides being expensive, indeed have no other problems."

However, Lord Lord Lord Kuku was right. If one really had to eat rare living crystals, gems, and crystals on the Prime Material Plane, this advancement would probably be extraordinarily expensive.

But since she was the child of the Web Baron's family, this really couldn't be considered a weakness.

"Senior Li En, is it the False Dragon path? Is it the Fire Dragon branch?" Some things are hard to hide.

Li En's various flamboyant fire enhancements, the suddenly changed dragon eyes, and the occasionally changed dragon claws were all displayed before his teammates.

And since she had already revealed her secret, Larry finally asked the doubt she had held for a long time. Her words were somewhat hesitant, seeming slightly uneasy.

"Uh, it's fine if you don't say it..." Before Li En could answer, she shrank back first.

Li En fell silent for a moment, then nodded with a smile.

"It's the Red Dragon."

"Oh, the Red Dragon path? That must be expensive too. Red Dragon lineage materials are the most expensive." Immediately, Larry smiled very happily.

Was it for Li En to walk the path of strength again? Or, more likely, because of the other party's honesty.

"Is it expensive? Hmm, Red Dragon materials are indeed very expensive."

Li En couldn't really say it; he only needed to "capture a dragon soul" to stabilize his evolution into a Dragonborn, and there were big shots specifically taking him to farm dragon materials.

It seemed he was even more excessive than the "Young Master" before him.

Was this a new era battle between free-loaders and pay-to-win whales?

The small interlude passed in a flash. Larry was very efficient; after weaving the net bridge, the work entered the final stage, and Li En's squad began a new round of mopping up.

Remaining in the village were only some scattered small beasts and minions.

Trapped on the high ground, they didn't even have the possibility of running away, and most of them had already fallen into madness.

The squad mopped them up one by one. After cleaning thoroughly, they also helped the dark elves clean up their remains. Meat and bones were gone; the beast horde really wasn't picky at all.

During the mopping-up process, Li En also confirmed a reality: "Beasts" were also regarded as "enemies of man," and the oath rewards after killing them were indeed substantial.

"It feels a bit subtle... Shouldn't the weak not be regarded as enemies? Isn't the oath supposed to allow growth only by cutting down strong enemies?"

Magical items and loot were all thrown to Lord Lord Lord Kuku to clean and store. After appraisal and once things settled down, they would be distributed according to needs.

Leaving aside other things, the magical scrolls Miss Shaliman expended for the battle, according to adventurer rules, everyone should compensate her for the consumption, at least partially. But Li En estimated that even giving her all the loot wouldn't cover the consumption, so at that time, it would just be a token gesture.

The group was also extremely exhausted. After a hasty meal, they agreed to discuss anything else tomorrow and went to rest and recover separately. Whether it was mana, holy power, or physical strength, depletion brings both mental and physical fatigue.

In the squad, only Purple Rose was still happily hopping around, holding a deer head as if doing something.

Li En was truly exhausted. The overly long continuous battles caused him to encounter, for the first time, a state where mana, holy power, and physical strength were all depleted.

However, he did not rush into sleep; there were some things he couldn't wait for.

"Huff, finally I can advance."

In reality, one cannot shout at the system to add points. Advancement might be a forward step in a trance, but fully controlling and digesting the benefits after advancement requires time.

Li En had already crossed the threshold of the Second-Tier Paladin, but he needed to make up for many lessons to complete the true advancement.

Thanks to Su Er's final gift, not only would he progress rapidly in the first three tiers of the Paladin path, but it also came with a large amount of professional "knowledge," so he wouldn't be fumbling in the dark without a mentor.

"It's time to make a choice... but it seems there was no choice from the beginning."

Most Ascendant professions begin branching out around the second and third tiers.

For a Mage, the choice at Stage Two to pursue dual studies in "Scholarship," and at Stage Three to specialize in a specific school of magic (Enchantment, Transmutation, Alchemy, Evocation) is a decision that likely determines one's entire life; it must be made with considerable caution.

Paladins are the same, and even more so—once the bow is drawn, there is no turning back.

"Light of Protection, Light of Judgment, and Light of Sanctity."

Li En somewhat understood why Su Er's Holy Power was so aggressive; he had likely gone too far down a certain path.

This choice processes the Holy Power, causing it to develop distinct functional branches.

The Holy Power of the Light of Protection is more condensed and steady; the greater the enhancement to the physical body, the more it can also bolster auxiliary divine spells.

"Cover the flesh and armor with Holy Power, fuse it with the body's vital energy, increase strength in all aspects, and enhance the endurance of divine spells... a quite good choice."

Li En, having possessed the "Holy Power Technique," naturally understood the importance of stats; this was the beauty of data.

Higher stats also allow for heavier armor and better shields; indeed, this is the path of "Protection" in the literal, physical sense.

The Light of Sanctity isn't very useful; it is the sole choice for support-type Paladins and the choice for spell-casting Paladins. Its greatest buff is healing spells.

"Introduce 'Positive Energy of Life from the Upper Planes' into the body, fuse it with the Holy Power, greatly enhancing the Paladin's healing ability, and also boosting the effects of some auxiliary divine spells."

This is quite good, but Li En would absolutely not choose it.

Li En was actually somewhat interested in the Light of Protection; stacking stats is never wrong.

However, due to certain reasons, he chose the last path, which clearly offered far greater adaptability.

"The Path of Judgment: Integrate Radiant Energy into the Holy Power, re-process the Holy Power to make it more aggressive and destructive... but since the Holy Power completely mutates into Radiant Energy, the effect of healing divine spells will be even worse."

For an ordinary Paladin choosing this path, the damage of the Evil-Cleaving Slash increases significantly; its attacks against "Evil Creatures" are exceptionally painful.

Choosing a divergent path does not mean everything is over; it is merely the beginning of a progression route.

Integrating the power of Radiance into his Holy Power for the first time also meant Li En had become a Judgment Knight; thereafter, like Su Er, he would need to constantly refine and sublimate his Judgment Holy Power.

And this still does not represent the entirety of the choices required for a Stage Two Paladin.

"Do I need to determine a combat style? Uh, seems there's no choice anyway."

Combat styles commonly used by Paladins and Warriors are relatively fixed; the most common combat style for Paladins is often Shield-and-Sword (or Mace), Two-Handed Greatsword (or Great Hammer), Great Shield, Holy Fist, or Dual One-Handed Weapons.

However, this is often directly related to the chosen Holy Power path; the Path of Sanctity basically involves a shield, the Path of Protection also favors the balanced Shield-and-Sword mode, while the Path of Judgment is either a two-handed weapon or two one-handed weapons... six is also possible.

It is not that there are no Paladins using ranged weapons, but they are truly rare; for most Paladins taking this path, their strength is wasted.

"Come to think of it, Su Er's successor is truly a hundred percent a Judgment Knight."

There was no choice from the very beginning; using the same two-handed sword as Su Er, Li En was very accustomed to it (Su Er actually knew others as well).

"How to be a good Paladin? Take the Path of Judgment, max out Two-Handed Swordsmanship, put all skill points into Evil-Cleaving Slash, and just bring a divine spell for illumination."

(End of Chapter)