Ch. 352 - The Powerful Paladin

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A multi-jointed skeletal arm stretched out from the center of the ritual formation. With two fingers, it pinched the money pouch, weighed it in its hand, then raised its fingers like an elegant orchid-hand gesture, pointing in the same direction as the eyeball-like object from earlier before taking the money pouch away.

“Looks like we’ve determined the direction,” Yang Yi said.

The two directions were almost identical, which meant the general heading was probably correct. They needed to go in this direction.

Yang Yi’s plan was to first find a way to obtain Crystal Diamonds and build the Crystal Cottage. After that, whether they were heading to the Sea of Miracles or making contact with the natives, things would be much more convenient.

After all, no matter how he looked at it, this skeleton ship did not seem like something friendly. The natives could easily mistake it for an enemy and start an unnecessary battle.

And then there was another thing...

This direction also passed near Cook Island, so they could stop by and take a look along the way.

When they got there, they could perform another ritual to determine the direction once more. The intersection of the two directions was highly likely to be their target.

“That’s the plan for now. Does anyone have anything else to add?”

Yang Yi explained the navigation plan and looked at the other crew members to see if they had any suggestions.

If no one had anything to add, they would proceed according to this plan.

“Wait! We can perform a third ritual, right?” Suna suddenly spoke up. “Can I operate it? I want to try something.”

“Try what?”

Yang Yi suddenly had a bad feeling and asked, “You can’t try any outrageous ideas. It’s too dangerous!”

“It’s not dangerous. I just want to know, if we place some special item, such as a Player Teleportation Gate, at the location we’re asking about, would this unknown existence point toward the location of the system?”

Suna came up with a wild idea.

“This...”

After hearing Suna’s suggestion, Yang Yi was tempted as well.

However, Tricia was completely confused. Her understanding of special items such as Player Teleportation Gates was limited.

“Let’s give it a try, but we can only use a Concealment Capsule.

“The Player Island Teleportation Gate is relatively valuable. It wouldn’t be good if something went wrong with it.”

After thinking it over, Yang Yi replied.

Thus, the third ritual was decided.

 would take the lead this time, and she would also choose the offering.

Suna casually placed a bottle of Sea-Brewed Rum on the ritual formation, then injected it with magic essence, activating the ritual formation.

The ritual formation lit up instantly, but the light it emitted turned dark red, completely different from when Yang Yi had performed the summoning.

This time, the process was exceptionally long.

It was not until thirty minutes later that the offering suddenly exploded into fragments, with liquor spilling all over the floor.

The ritual was declared a failure.

No existence responded to the summoning.

There were two possibilities.

The first was that the offering was too poor and had failed to attract the unknown existence.

The second was that the question was too difficult. No existence was willing to answer it, or perhaps it simply did not know the answer.

Suna fell into thought and decided that she would find more valuable offerings and try again in the future.

Yang Yi, meanwhile, let out a long sigh of relief.

He had been keeping his nerves taut the entire time, worried that they might summon some excessively dangerous existence.

Fortunately, nothing had happened. Everything remained as usual.

The crew members then dispersed, each going off to do their own thing.

Suna continued sewing the corpse together. She estimated that she would be able to finish by tomorrow night or the night after.

Xiao Ji served as her experimental assistant. Its mechanical arms could be quite helpful during the surgery, significantly reducing her workload.

As for Yang Yi, he ordered the Old Captain to resume sailing, then began exercising to improve his attributes while also trying to lose some weight.

Previously, he had eaten a lot of delicious dried meat, and he still had not slimmed down. He needed to exercise and convert the nutrients into muscle.

Two hours later, Yang Yi switched to practicing swordsmanship.

This was something he had always practiced. After all,  had confiscated the Penitent Armor, so if he wanted to display that superb swordsmanship again, he could only rely on practice.

“Your swordsmanship is way too crude. You’re basically an amateur!”

With Suna absent, Tricia became lively again, flying beside Yang Yi and shaking her head repeatedly.

“Do you know swordsmanship?”

“Of course!”

Tricia nodded.

“As the partner and guide of a Paladin, a Light Fairy undergoes strict training. This includes swordsmanship and various combat techniques.”

Yang Yi stopped moving.

“You’ve mentioned it several times already. What exactly is a Paladin?”

“You don’t even know that?”

Tricia was somewhat surprised, then began explaining.

A so-called Paladin was actually one of the outstanding children with special talents selected by the church from those it had raised from a young age.

As these children grew up, each would be assigned an excellent Light Fairy as a partner. The two would be both teacher and friend to each other, growing together.

Once both of them passed the required examinations, they would officially become Paladins, gaining the qualifications to operate independently in the Sea of Darkness. Their primary responsibilities were to suppress heretics and deal with some particularly troublesome criminals.

Tricia herself had originally been about to complete her training and become the partner of a certain Paladin, but something unexpected happened at the last moment, and she was eliminated.

She could no longer recover the memories concerning that part of her past. She only knew that it had been her own decision—that she had deliberately failed in order to escape and find an opportunity to expose the true nature of the Goddess of Radiance.

“So that’s how it is. Are those Paladins powerful?”

Yang Yi asked. He was not particularly interested in the true nature of the Goddess of Radiance. After all, Tricia herself could not remember it clearly.

“Powerful?

“They’re not just ordinarily powerful! There are no more than fifteen active Paladins in the entire Holy Radiant Church. Every single one of them is a renowned powerhouse!”

“More powerful than Old Dad?”

“Let me put it this way. If you encountered one, that stinky old man would definitely die!”

Yang Yi’s expression became serious.

If the Holy Radiant Church could field a whole group of vicious fighters who were even stronger than Old Dad, then its overall strength would be terrifying. If they ran into them in the Sea of Miracles, they might very well be completely wiped out.

“So you mean Paladins are taught by Light Fairies after undergoing training? Then take a look at me. Do you think I’m suitable to become a Paladin?”

Yang Yi suddenly spoke up, intending to have Tricia teach him swordsmanship.

Although she was only somewhat knowledgeable herself, she was still better than having no teacher at all.

“No chance. Paladins are children cultivated by the Holy Radiant Church from a young age. They receive the blessing of the Holy Communion. Even if they do nothing, they can emit a faint white light just like Light Fairies. You’re a Polluter. The difference between you and them is like heaven and earth.”

Tricia was not optimistic about Yang Yi, but she was still willing to teach him. Otherwise, she would not have brought it up in the first place.

Thus, Yang Yi began receiving orthodox swordsmanship training........

Two days later.

Yang Yi’s swordsmanship had improved by leaps and bounds, already displaying some of the characteristics of his swordsmanship when he wore the Penitent Armor.

His body still retained the memories from that time. Therefore, after receiving Tricia’s guidance, he immediately understood everything with just a little instruction, something even Tricia had not expected.

“Sacred Saint Slash!”

Yang Yi shouted and swung his sword.

The wooden stake in front of him was sliced cleanly in half, with an extremely smooth cross-section, demonstrating just how fast his sword swing had been.

Moreover, he had slimmed down again. His muscles bulged beneath his skin, and sweat poured from his body.

“I told you it’s useless! Without the blessing of the Goddess of Radiance, even if you practiced it ten thousand times, you still wouldn’t be able to perform the Sacred Saint Slash.”

Tricia complained, telling Yang Yi to give up.

Just then, Yang Yi received a private message from Suna. She told him that Mars’s body had been stitched back together and asked him to come over and attach the head.