Way of the Knights

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After seeing the servant badly frightened to the point of fainting, Raven lost interest and sent a quiet pulse that destroyed his nervous system. 

Now even if a miracle occurs and this servant wakes up for some reason, he would no longer resemble a human anymore. 

He then turned around and faced the Highlander Clan, who's mouths still remained agape from everything they witnessed and heard. An embarrassed expression appeared on Raven's face as he directly returned the Heart of the Realm to Albert's hand and said:

"Here, you can have this back." Raven said as he directly went towards the entrance of the secret realm and formed multiple seals in a flash. 

The film of light that showed the other side of the secret realm blurred, numerous seals appeared on it's surface, creating a powerful restriction that cannot be broken by normal means. 

After turning around, he then saw Albert standing behind him with a solemn expression on his face. Both of them stared at each other for a bit before Albert gave in and patted Raven's shoulders.

"You did us another favor." Albert said in a helpless tone. "How could we ever repay you for this?" 

Raven laughed and said: "How about letting me pick a few treasures from Martial Emperor Sect?" 

Hearing this, Albert's face turned a little bit strange upon hearing this. He then asked: "You were serious about letting us takeover the sect?"

Raven tilted his head and said: "Well, if you guys don't want to then there's no need to force yourselves. But still, wouldn't you like to at least take out some sort of interest after all that those people made you go through?"

"What I mean is that, don't you want to claim the Martial Emperor Sect for yourself?" Albert's suggestion shocked Raven. "I mean, of course we are thankful that you want to present this chance for us, but I just thought that maybe you wanted it for yourself."

"That's ridiculous!" Raven laughed. "Management has never been my strongest trait. Even if it was, I still wouldn't dare to claim the Martial Emperor Sect as mine. Think about it, how would anyone accept a piddling newly ascended Hero Knight from the lower realms as a Sect Master of a sect that's been around for tens of thousands of years? That's just absurd!"

"Additionally, I don't think that the Martial Emperor Suits me. I have other thoughts in mind but for now, I just want to accumulate resources for my eventual breakthrough." Raven stated calmly, making Albert and the rest look at him at a different light. 

Raul then came over and said: "Don't worry Little Friend. From now on, you are my Highlander Clan's valued guest. So long as we stand, we will try our best to protect you."

"I appreciate it but no need to be like this City Lord. I've always been like this. If someone offered me a mile of respect then I shall give them ten miles of respect. If someone tried to cross me, then I shall retaliate!"

"I just didn't like how disrespectful these people were. It was clear that this secret realm were destined to be for your clan's use but not only did they want to seize it, they didn't even give you any kind of remunerations. They wanted to hog everything inside the realm without leaving any scraps for you. In fact, I could even tell that the Sect Master had no plans on rewarding you for sharing this at all. How could I possibly sit still and allow that to happen?"

The Highlander Clan was astonished, it would seem that they were clearly mistaken about Raven's attitude. This boy was very daring and in some ways, arrogant. Yet it was clear that he had the ability to act as such, after all he just tricked at least hundreds of people, making them fall for his trap and easily turning the unfavorable situation around with a flip of his palm. 

"Oh right!" Raven added, "Just now, I deactivated the entrance to the secret realm. No one could enter nor exit from now on. Whether you guys deal with them using the Heart of the Realm or not, I'll let you guys decide. The same goes for conquering the Martial Emperor Sect. Right now, I think I'll head inside to rest for a bit. My situation is becoming more and more chaotic, I'm afraid that I have to stabilize my condition for quite sometime. If you'll excuse me."

After saying his piece, Raven then turned around and went inside the palace with large strides, causing silence to descend on the vast open area once more. The Highlander Clan looked at each other in dismay but inwardly, they were celebrating. 

Truly, this situation is such a massive opportunity for their clan. 

"Dad. I won't question your decision, but personally I would like to grab this chance." Albert said after a round of silence. "Although I don't know what exactly his thoughts are, I believe that Brother Raven is an ally. His decisiveness just saved us right now, and he even gave us this massive opportunity without asking for too much. I have faith that he wanted us to use this chance as well."

After saying his piece, the rest of the Highlander Clan also expressed their agreement. All of them looked anxiously at the City Lord, praying in their hearts that he will listen to them. 

But instead of giving them an answer, Raul activated the array on the Heart of the Realm and immediately searched for a familiar figure of a youth that has long since grated his nerves. With a loud snort, he said:

"Time to die, you disgusting piece of shit! You really think this old man will allow you to stomp on my face just like that? You want to take something from my clan, then I'll take your life as an entrance fee."

*Bzzt!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

***

For the rest of the month, the whole Blue Marble Planet is on uproar. 

The skies were changing...

Rumor has it that the Sect Master of the Martial Emperor Sect stepped down on his position and made Raul Highlander his successor. At first, no one believed such thing but there also some people who said that Raul is only an acting Sect Master. Some people said that the old sect master decided to enter a seclusion along with the elders in the Secret Realm after encountering lucky chances. And that in order to repay his gratitude, he allowed Raul to represent him while he remained secluded. He even passed the Sect Master badge to him as a proof and his hand written letter. 

Of course many people are doubtful about this but in front of the badge, disobedience is not allowed. Therefore, even though many people grumbled about it, they could only watch in the sidelines. 

There are also some people who managed to discover the truth behind all of this. They knew that the Highlander Clan plotted against the Sect Master in order to usurp the position. And though they were disgruntled about this, they didn't dare to act rashly. 

In the end, strength is still the King. It was a known fact that Raul recently broke through the Knight Emperor Realm, the same stage as the previous Sect Master. This alone was enough to shut down most of the people who's trying to scheme against the Highlander Clan. 

The clan couldn't care less whether the crowd knew the truth or don't, in fact these misunderstandings are quite helpful for them. What's more important is that, from now on, the position of the Highlander Clan is formally unshakable in the entire Blue Marble Planet. 

Under Raul's lead, they swept through the last supporters of the previous Sect Master and replaced them with their own people. After entering the Secret Realm, their strength surges massively that they became powerful enough to sweep through all obstacles. 

From now on, Raul is no longer the City Lord of the Sky Blaze City, the position was now handed to one of his nephews. Right now, he is the true Sect Master of the Martial Emperor Sect and the true overlord of the Blue Marble Planet. 

Meanwhile, Albert decided to focus on his training. As a the young master of the Martial Emperor Sect, he had now access to multitude of techniques and had busied himself learning them, but all of this is just on the surface. 

The truth is, Albert is quite anxious because up until today, Raven still hasn't adjusted his condition. Not just him, even Raul was worrying about him. But whenever they tried to offer their help, Raven would always wake up from his meditation and tell them that he was fine, even though it was quite obvious that he wasn't. 

None of them was aware of what's going on with him. While they knew that every ascendant from lower realms will experience something like this, they never encountered someone who experienced for a whole month. 

Unfortunately, under Raven's pleads, they could only watch as their clan's benefactor suffers from a worsening condition as time passed.