Chapter 5: Practice Session

The warden, seeing this, roared in anger, "Go to hell, Frank! This is a lord of the Order of Knights! He is nothing like a murderous monster like you, you vermin from the gutter!"

Frank sneered, "What's the difference? A knight? More like a dog of the Sun King. Sooner or later, when the Sun King grows tired of playing with you, he’ll toss you aside without a second thought."

"Say that one more time, and see what happens!" The warden, terrified that this man might provoke the knight, drew the flintlock pistol from his belt and aimed it at him.

This man had once tortured and murdered the wife and child of a high-ranking government official, and had orchestrated a series of horrific homicides. In his fury, the city lord had ordered him to be locked in the black dungeon for life, to be tormented until his dying day.

Frank chuckled with disdain, "When I get out, you’ll be the first one I kill! And then your entire family..."

His words suddenly cut off. Mo Xuanyu had stepped closer to the iron bars, and Frank was instantly stunned by the peerless, otherworldly beauty revealed under the flickering light of the kerosene lamp.

"Is this man a Transcendent?" Mo Xuanyu asked calmly.

Transcendent—a term for those who have moved beyond the ordinary, possessing strength and gifts far surpassing those of common men. Their physical attributes are typically significantly higher than those of an average person, which is the standard used for selection into the Solar Order of Knights.

"Yes. He has possessed immense strength since he was a child and even distinguished himself on the battlefield. It’s a pity, though; he committed too many crimes. Otherwise, he could have easily made it as a high-ranking officer," the warden explained.

"What is his approximate level of strength?" Mo Xuanyu continued.

"Around the upper-middle tier among Transcendents, equivalent to an intermediate knight, bordering on an advanced knight. He is devious and cunning," the warden recalled. "It took an advanced knight acting personally to capture him back then."

Mo Xuanyu nodded in understanding. Thanks to the comprehensive information he had obtained, he successfully triggered Frank’s attribute panel.

Name: Frank Saar
Strength: 12
Agility: 12
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 7
Luck: 1
Charisma: 3
Skill 1: Combat Mastery: Lv. 15 (Passive). Having experienced bloody slaughter on the battlefield, Frank has mastered the most lethal killing techniques without a mentor.
Skill 2: Melee Weapon Mastery: Lv. 10 (Passive).
...

"Open the door."

Mo Xuanyu gestured for the warden to open the cell, and under the warden’s puzzled gaze, he borrowed the flintlock pistol from his hand. Mo Xuanyu walked into the cell, looking down at Frank from a height, and leveled the muzzle at his head.

Frank, believing he had been provoked and that the man intended to shoot him, slowly clenched his shackled fists. His gaze turned cold, like a viper entering a hunt. But the turn of events caught him off guard.

"I am giving you a chance to live."

As Mo Xuanyu said this, instead of shooting him, he tossed the flintlock into the corner of the cell, where it landed with a crisp clatter.

"You don’t need to pretend anymore. These chains haven’t been able to hold you for a long time, right?"

Mo Xuanyu’s single sentence shattered Frank’s hidden trump card, leaving the latter with a chill running down his spine. It was true; the chains binding Frank had long since loosened. He had been waiting for an opportunity to escape, which was why he had deliberately provoked the warden, hoping to seize the keys from him.

"What are you talking about, my lord knight?" he managed to say, forcing a smile.

Mo Xuanyu could not be bothered to entertain him. He delivered his judgment in a flat tone: "Kill me and escape this place, or be killed by me right here. You have no other choice."

Outside the door, the warden finally snapped out of it and shouted in alarm, "Lord Knight, watch out!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The chains binding Frank shattered instantly. His eyes were fierce, and like a panther released from a cage, he lunged toward Mo Xuanyu at lightning speed. Hidden in his hand was a sharpened piece of iron, seemingly pried from the bed frame nearby.

The distance between them vanished in a heartbeat. Frank was certain no one could dodge this long-planned strike, especially since Mo Xuanyu appeared to be nothing more than a novice knight. He had already killed several intermediate knights! Frank couldn’t wait to tear out Mo Xuanyu’s throat and savor the taste of blood. Such a beautiful face—it was a shame to kill him so hastily, but time was short. At the thought, Frank’s pupils contracted with excitement.

But to his disbelief, Mo Xuanyu reacted within that fraction of a second. He leaned slightly and stepped back, dodging Frank’s attack with effortless grace. His pale blue eyes remained ripple-free, clearly having anticipated the strike.

"How is this possible... he’s faster than me?"

Frank was stunned. Before he could regain his footing, a violent gust of wind rushed toward him. After stepping back, Mo Xuanyu executed a standard spinning kick, aiming with speed and precision at Frank’s head.

Having spent time on the battlefield, Frank’s combat reflexes were sharp. He knew for certain that if that kick connected, his head would explode like a ripe melon! Moreover, Mo Xuanyu’s timing was excruciatingly precise—attacking exactly in the window where Frank had exhausted his old momentum and had not yet gathered new strength.

He couldn’t dodge it! This guy was absolutely not a novice knight!

In panic, Frank could only use his left hand to shield his head. The moment they collided, Frank heard the sound of his own hand bones shattering, cracking like frozen glass against his ear. He was sent flying by the immense force, slamming heavily into the cell wall. When he landed, his head was still buzzing, and his vision went black.

Outside, the warden’s eyes widened. Was this supposed to be a novice knight? The power in that single kick was something even an intermediate knight might not be able to withstand! To be honest, when the warden first saw Mo Xuanyu, he thought he was just a well-connected individual from the Sun King’s circle. After all, he was too pretty to look like a fighter, and carrying a pardon issued by the Sun King himself made one suspicious. But now, it seemed he had been shallow; this knight’s strength was likely approaching that of Lord Velon! Lord Velon was the Sun King’s most trusted high-ranking knight commander, guarding the Seventh Main City at the heart of the kingdom and overseeing the nation’s logistics and armaments.

"Is this the extent of it?"

Under the dim light, Mo Xuanyu looked down at Frank, who was kneeling on the ground. Frank coughed up a mouthful of tainted blood and looked up into Mo Xuanyu’s eyes. He saw only indifference and disdain, as if looking at a dead man. But Frank was not a normal human; faced with Mo Xuanyu’s gaze—the look one might give to trash—his heart actually began to race, his blood boiling.

Like a madman, ignoring the comminuted fracture in his left hand, he gripped the sharpened iron in his right and lunged at Mo Xuanyu again, abandoning all defense. This desperate, self-destructive style of trading injury for injury made Mo Xuanyu frown slightly.

This expression, caught by Frank, made him think he had found an opening. "Although his physical stats are on par with an advanced knight, he is clearly a novice who has never killed anyone. He has no combat experience and only knows rigid, academic fighting styles. This is my chance!"

Frank had been famous for his recklessness on the battlefield, so he could tell at a glance that Mo Xuanyu had never killed a man—he was just a recruit fresh out of the academy. He was betting that Mo Xuanyu would fear injury and shrink back, giving him the chance to counterattack and flee.

What Frank was thinking, Mo Xuanyu did not know, but he was currently busy adapting to his body, which now had its base stats doubled. In just two or three seconds, Mo Xuanyu dodged several of Frank’s attacks, gradually mastering the strength and speed that had initially felt unfamiliar.

To put it simply: he had found his rhythm.

"No... no! This guy is using me as a training dummy! He was just warming up!"

A flicker of terror emerged in Frank’s eyes. He realized Mo Xuanyu’s combat experience was far superior to his own; he was not the novice he had imagined. Sure enough, once Mo Xuanyu stopped merely dodging and defending, he instantly seized a flaw in Frank’s offense. A gust of wind struck...

"Damn it! Another spinning kick!" Frank cursed internally, with no way to avoid it.

Boom!

Frank couldn’t block in time and was sent flying. A large section of his shoulder and chest caved in; broken ribs had pierced his heart. He was not long for this world.

The warden outside was now staring, dumbfounded. He thought, surely Frank must be dead now? But Frank had not given up. Ignoring his injuries, he rolled upon landing, snatched up the flintlock pistol, and aimed it at Mo Xuanyu.

"Go to hell!" Frank laughed maniacally, staggering to his feet, and pulled the trigger on Mo Xuanyu, who was slowly walking toward him.

*Whoosh—*

The lead ball whistled through the air, but in Mo Xuanyu’s eyes, this white-quality flintlock’s performance was lacking. As he advanced, Mo Xuanyu side-stepped the bullet and spun. He used his right hand as a blade, slashing toward Frank’s neck, but it seemed to be off by two centimeters?

"The distance was off!" Frank thought, overjoyed. But the next moment, his joy vanished.

*Snick!*

A hidden blade sprang from the inner side of Mo Xuanyu’s wrist, the sharp edge instantly slicing across Frank’s throat. Mo Xuanyu’s entire sequence of movements was fluid and elegant, making the warden feel as if he were in an opera house, witnessing the magnificent final act of a stage play.

*Splurt!*

Crimson blood sprayed out, painting the walls and floor. Frank clutched his gushing throat, his body slumping to the ground.

*Click.*

Mo Xuanyu shook the blood off the hidden blade, retracted it, and turned to walk out of the prison. His demeanor remained as calm as it had been from the beginning, without a single ripple of emotion. In truth, during the first few enlightenment trials of the Sacred Geometry, he had already experienced countless life-and-death battles; after all, the Sacred Geometry did not support the idle. Thus, killing was no different to him than killing a chicken; it caused no psychological barriers like nausea, especially since he had only killed a piece of social refuse.

The warden outside came to his senses and tremblingly offered a handkerchief. "Lord Knight, would you like to wipe the blood from your face?"