Chapter 7 The Fourth Sanctuary Warrior

Faced with such a spectacle, the crowd fell silent, marveling at how extraordinary Miss Emilia truly was. She did not even deign to glance at the battlefield, holding such absolute confidence in Mr. Xia Yan!

"Impossible, this kind of power—" Hal, the Sword Saint of Wind, was shocked beyond words. He gazed deeply at Xia Yan. "Human boy, what kind of battle qi do you cultivate?"

Xia Yan felt a pang of frustration. He did not cultivate any battle qi at all, leaving him at a loss for how to answer.

"My servant here cultivates the Dragon Battle Qi." Emilia stepped in to answer for him on the spot, though her words were entirely composed of lies!

Sure enough, upon hearing the words "Dragon Battle Qi," Hal nearly jumped in fright.

"No, that's impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Hal was well aware of the unique nature of the Dragon Battle Qi. Only the descendants of Stein, the founding emperor of the Stein Empire, were capable of cultivating it. Furthermore, it was the only battle qi on the entire continent that allowed one to soar through the skies once it reached supreme mastery.

Hal gasped in horror, "Could you be a descendant of Dulat from that branch of the Freedom Alliance? Has your Dragon Battle Qi already reached supreme mastery? That's impossible! Only by consuming the Extreme South Dragon Crystal can one bring the Dragon Battle Qi to supreme mastery!"

Xia Yan felt helpless. He knew nothing about any Dragon Battle Qi, nor was he any descendant of Dulat. In fact, he wasn't even a person from this world to begin with!

Yet, he had managed to glean some information. First, Emilia had instructed him to learn the "Thousand Swords" martial arts set. Meanwhile, both the Thousand Swords technique and the Dragon Battle Qi had been created a thousand years ago by the founding emperor Dulat. Additionally, the Extreme South Dragon Crystal must be an immensely precious treasure.

Could his purpose in this otherworldly journey be related to the Extreme South Dragon Crystal?

Seeing that Xia Yan remained silent, Hal, the Sword Saint of Wind, simply switched his sword to his left hand and launched another attack.

Regardless of Xia Yan's true identity, it was an undeniable fact that he was shielding the continent's most wanted criminal. Hal could not back down now.

Xia Yan raised his blade to counter. His web of blades was completely airtight, boasting an impeccable defense!

This Sword Saint of Wind was, after all, a man of integrity; he did not attempt to attack Emilia, who stood behind Xia Yan.

Of course, had he actually tried, he would have been the one to regret it.

Xia Yan held no animosity toward the man, considering him to be the type who had trained for many years and remained indifferent to fame and fortune. If possible, he had no intention of killing his opponent.

"Chasing Wind Strike!" Spotting an opening, Xia Yan immediately executed the Chasing Wind Strike. With a sudden movement of his body, his offensive flowed endlessly, flashes of light and shadow from swords constantly materializing before him.

Hal was terrified and tried to retreat, but having fallen into Xia Yan's encirclement, how could he possibly escape? Taking four or five consecutive strikes from Xia Yan, he instantly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Xia Yan's strength was unimaginably immense, turning Hal's complexion deathly pale and utterly wretched.

He inwardly marveled at when he would ever encounter an enemy with such terrifying strength, deciding that the youth was indeed worthy of being a descendant of the Duhart family who cultivated the Dragon Battle Qi.

Xia Yan did not press his advantage. Following the flow of his opponent's movements, he withdrew his offensive.

Hal wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, fixing his bright eyes directly on Xia Yan as if trying to carve him into the depths of his soul.

"Kid, I lost this time. I shall naturally withdraw." Hal cast a wary glance at Xia Yan. "However, your act of harboring a wanted criminal of the continent will surely invite a crusade. Please take care of yourself!"

With those words, his figure flashed and he vanished from the spot.

The numerous mercenaries remained entirely speechless, frozen in place in a daze.

Over the past few days, they had experienced far too many shocks—so many that words could no longer describe them.

Mr. Xia Yan was only in his teens and was thought to be an intermediate warrior, leaving them speechless with astonishment. Yet, when the Sword Saint of Wind Hal tracked them down, they realized that Mr. Xia Yan was no intermediate warrior at all, but rather a saint-tier warrior.

Following that, Mr. Xia Yan had seized the upper hand and wounded Hal!

This had to be the absolute pinnacle among saint-tier warriors!

Then, Mr. Xia Yan had forced Hal to retreat, even making Hal admit defeat with his own lips!

What on earth was going on? Why did so many bizarre events happen in a single day?

When Xia Yan walked over, the mercenaries—including that fellow named Cindy—with a tacit understanding, took a step back, staring at Xia Yan as if they had seen a ghost.

"Lord Xia Yan, wuwuwu..." The bald warrior wailed, wanting nothing more than to rush over and hug Xia Yan's thighs as he pitifully pleaded, "Take me as your disciple! Jack will forever be your most pious believer."

"Scram!" Xia Yan rolled his eyes.

"Xia Yan, come massage my back; I'm exhausted." Emilia called out.

At once, everyone broke out in a cold sweat. This young lady seemingly hadn't moved an inch the entire time, while the bald Jack had been waiting on her hand and foot serving tea. How could she possibly be tired?!

Xia Yan was also left somewhat speechless, feeling genuine sympathy for Vivi—serving this young lady was truly no easy task.

Xia Yan walked over to Emilia's side. Not really intending to massage her back, he instead inquired about matters related to the Dragon Battle Qi, the Thousand Swords martial art, and other such topics.

However, Emilia did not give him a direct answer, merely offering a vague and ambiguous explanation.

Both the Thousand Swords technique and the Dragon Battle Qi were created by Dulat, and one needed the Extreme South Dragon Crystal to bring them to supreme mastery. Yet Xia Yan was not practicing the Dragon Battle Qi, and Emilia had instructed him to practice the Thousand Swords technique. Could it be that they also needed to acquire the Extreme South Dragon Crystal?

"Then, where is the destination of our journey?" Xia Yan asked again.

"The extreme south of the continent, the domain of the dragons," Emilia finally replied.

At this point, Xia Yan considered it confirmed: this Extreme South Dragon Crystal was likely something he had to obtain. After all, martial arts and techniques alone could not dramatically increase his strength in a short period!

Over the next few days, news of Xia Yan defeating the Sword Saint of Wind spread like wildfire. The speed of its dissemination was astonishingly fast, sweeping across the entire Freedom Alliance and the Stein Empire in mere days.

Naturally, it was an earth-shattering event!

He believed that even if this news reached the Hasdat Magic Alliance, it wouldn't take much longer.

Simultaneously, intelligence regarding Xia Yan flowed into the hands of various major factions. He was the fourth apparent saint-tier warrior—and a saint-tier warrior who had defeated Hal, no less!

His age was seventeen!

Currently, the Star Continent was divided among three major powers: the Stein Empire, the Hasdat Magic Alliance, and the Freedom Alliance. In reality, a thousand years ago, the Stein Empire ought to have unified the entire continent.

A millennium ago, the founding emperor Dulat had traveled to the dragon clan and made a wager with them. Dulat emerged victorious, forcing the dragons to promise the Stein Empire that they would remain in seclusion and out of worldly affairs for a thousand years.

In the millennium that followed, the Stein Empire's initial move was to eradicate all non-human races. However, the other races refused to sit idly by and wait for death, gradually gathering together.

Yet resistance also spelled doom; over the past few centuries, numerous races had withered and suffered catastrophic casualties.

Even after Dulat's death, the progress of this grand plan slowed considerably, but barring any mishaps, the Stein Empire was still on track to unify the continent and exterminate the alien races.

Yet, a fatal problem emerged.

The reigning emperor of the Stein Empire had actually betrayed the empire, fleeing to the central regions to establish the Freedom Alliance.

This could no longer be called a mere betrayal; it was a schism!

Because of this heavy blow, the Stein Empire ultimately failed to annihilate the other races, thus giving birth to the Freedom Alliance.

Immediately afterward, however, the Stein Empire gradually recovered, using its formidable might to suppress the Freedom Alliance.

It was only due to the emergence of a third faction that the Freedom Alliance managed to survive.

This third faction was naturally the Hasdat Magic Alliance, a mages' organization established by an ancient clan of the Winged People. Their innate abilities granted certain individuals the power of magic—a terrifyingly strong power that managed to withstand the onslaught of the Stein Empire.

Thus, the current continent was divided into three parts.

The Stein Empire revered martial might and consisted mostly of warriors, with all three known saint-tier warriors belonging to the empire.

The Freedom Alliance was a coalition force founded by the descendants of the human emperor Dulat. With numerous races now residing within the alliance, its strength could not be underestimated.

The Hasdat Magic Alliance was founded by pure-blooded members of the Winged People, rooted in the worship of gods, and gave rise to the bizarre power system of mages.

The main city of the Freedom Alliance, Freedom City, was a massive metropolis with a population exceeding three million.

At the Aihuang Private Library, a young girl was bidding farewell to the managerial auntie. She was leaving this place to travel across the continent!

She was a delicate-looking girl with iridescent glints in her eyes, around seventeen or eighteen years of age, with silver-white hair and a sweet smile.

Overall, though very pretty, she appeared to be an ordinary girl. After all, one could not detect the sharp edge proper to a warrior on her person; at most, there was only the care and succor seen in the eyes of a healer.

She was a physician who had studied medicine since childhood, while also working at the Aihuang Private Library as a librarian. Many people were familiar with this young girl named Luolin, but no one knew that she was a warrior who wielded a sword.

Yet, resting quietly inside her bundle was a longsword.

She was a descendant of Dulat, currently possessing the strength of a saint-tier warrior. She cultivated the Dragon Battle Qi and the Thousand Swords technique, making her the fourth saint-tier warrior in addition to the three known ones.

And once the Dragon Battle Qi reached supreme mastery, it would also become the strongest battle qi on the continent, even breaking the rules to allow direct flight!

Yet she was only seventeen years old.

A thousand years ago, her ancestor Dulat made an oath with the dragon clan that they would not appear in the world for a millennium. A thousand years later, as Dulat's descendant, she must travel to the dragon clan to renew the oath of a thousand years ago!

The dragons must not emerge into the world, or else the continent would be plunged into devastation and misery!

This was the reason for her farewell. The young girl, whose eyes had never once revealed a sharp edge, was the fourth saint-tier warrior of the continent—even though none of the people who knew her had ever witnessed her engage in combat.

She was supposed to be merely a physician—at most, a physician working a part-time job as a librarian!