When Yudel raised his longsword, an impression magic circle lit up, magnifying his image and projecting it into the air above the military camp, allowing every Firefeather warrior to clearly see the scene.
This was a one-handed shortsword, no more than 80 centimeters in total length, with the blade itself about 60 centimeters. The sword was simple yet elegant in design, well-proportioned, showcasing its unique craftsmanship.
With a flick of his wrist, the shortsword danced with grace, its brilliance overflowing, reminiscent of a lotus emerging from the water in early summer—fresh, elegant, and dazzling. The patterns on the sword, reflecting the changing light, sparkled like the brilliant stars in the night sky; the glow on the blade, deep yet restrained, was like overflowing pond water, shimmering in the light. Yet, the sword itself felt as solid as rock, unbreakably firm.
Decorated with mysterious and profound black diamond-shaped geometric patterns, the sword resembled a star-studded night sky, exuding an aura of ancient power. Most eye-catching were the ancient divine runes etched on the upper half of the blade on both sides, emitting a thick air of mystery. Most peculiarly, when Yudel swung the shortsword, the rules of the universe itself seemed to resonate with it, the divine runes glowing brightly, making its ancient message clear to all who saw it: "To inherit the mandate of heaven, to enlighten all people."
The Sword of the Heavenly Son!
This legendary weapon, steeped in countless tales from the history of this continent, was not seen by many, but nearly everyone on the Pan continent grew up listening to its stories, familiarizing themselves with it.
The most legendary tale was that when the Sword of the Heavenly Son was held by the chosen one, its divine runes could harmonize with the laws of the universe, projecting their meaning into the consciousness of every person. And legend has it, the meaning of these runes was exactly that: "To inherit the mandate of heaven, to enlighten all people."
At this moment, the Saintess Lilith slowly approached Yudel, placing her hands gently on his shoulders.
In the sky, a pure, sacred light shone forth, devoid of colorful spectacles or intricate designs, coming from an infinitely distant place, piercing through the heavens and earth, and landing atop Yudel's head.
After a moment, a faint halo appeared behind Yudel's head, like an angel of holy light from the legends. The pure sacred light converged, pouring into the halo, which then vanished into the back of Yudel's head.
Lilith's melodious voice sounded, "Young general, you are the chosen of the holy light. You will wield the authority of the holy light, becoming the Sacred King who walks among us, spreading the blessings of the holy light to every corner of the world." As she spoke, Lilith placed her right hand over her left chest, performing a traditional blessing gesture of the Church of the Holy Light: "May the Holy Light bless you."
The Church of the Holy Light was rapidly expanding in the southeastern region of the Pan continent, with many followers within the borders of the Firefeather nation, including a significant number within the Firefeather military itself.
As Lilith completed the holy light blessing ceremony for Yudel, many devout followers of the holy light also placed their right hands over their left chests, slightly bowing towards Yudel and saying in succession, "May the Holy Light bless you."
Then, the leader of the Demon Hunter Legion's formation at the forefront made his way to Yudel. He removed his helmet, revealing a young, handsome face with a solemn and resolute expression, and knelt on one knee, proclaiming loudly, "I, Judah, Legion Commander of the Demon Hunters, hereby pledge allegiance to you on behalf of the Demon Hunters, to be your sharpest spear and your most formidable halberd. Wherever you point, we shall charge. Long live the Sacred King."
With a clang of metal, the soldiers of the Demon Hunter Legion uniformly knelt on one knee, with 6,000 voices echoing, "Long live the Sacred King."
Moments later, the commander of the Direwolf Cavalry stepped forward. The giant grey-black direwolf that had been sitting by his side did not follow, but a different, silver-grey giant direwolf, which had been lying some distance away, now stood up, shook its fur, and followed him. The man and the wolf approached Yudel, with the cavalry commander kneeling on one knee and simply stating, "The Direwolf Cavalry, Iwan, pledges allegiance to the Sacred King on behalf of all direwolf riders."
"The chieftain of the Direwolf Clan, Moonshadow, pledges allegiance to the Sacred King!" The silver-grey direwolf spoke in human language, then raised its head and let out a loud howl.
Subsequently, from the direction of the Direwolf Cavalry, 8,000 direwolves howled in unison towards the sky.
The officers of the Firefeather military exchanged glances, and one by one, the leaders of the various legions came forward to Yudel, kneeling on one knee.
"The commander of the vanguard, Long, pledges allegiance to the Sacred King."
"The commander of the left flank, John Limo, pledges allegiance to the Sacred King."
"The commander of the right flank, Bruce, pledges allegiance to the Sacred King."
...
As senior commanders pledged their loyalty, several mid-level officers started chanting, "Long live the Sacred King, long live the Sacred King..."
Soon, the entire camp resonated with the chants of "Long live the Sacred King."
"Soldiers, follow me, and we shall crush all our enemies until final victory!" Yudel's voice pierced through the massive chanting, resonating in everyone's ears, climaxing the atmosphere in the camp.
...
Sky shook his head, snapping out of the flashback state of his memory fragments, feeling his heartbeat accelerate and his breathing grow heavy.
Though the memory flashback was brief for him, the experience absorbed from the memory fragment was a complete battle.
For him, the flashback wasn't just about experiencing a segment of Yudel's life. It included Yudel's use of his own powers, the operation of his techniques, the deployment of his combat skills, and even his will and experience during battle, all fully experienced by Sky through the flashback.
"So, the cultivation technique 'Cosmic Insight' I've been practicing is such a formidable art," Sky couldn't help but feel secretly delighted. Just the 'Primordial Blood' aspect of the foundational phase, when perfected, could overpower a cultivator in the seventh phase of the Nascent Soul stage. If he could complete the subsequent parts of 'Cosmic Insight', wouldn't that be against the heavens?
As he was pondering, a soldier's voice came from outside the central tent, "Sacred King, the Saintess seeks an audience."
Sky adjusted his clothes, sighing internally, "From this moment, I have to play the role of the Sacred King, which really doesn't suit my personality. But I have no choice but to go along with it."
After taking a few deep breaths to stabilize his emotions, he spoke, "Let the Saintess come in."
With a swish, the heavy curtain of the central tent was lifted, and the early morning sun poured in, illuminating the interior with the light of dawn.
In the sunlight, a tall and imposing guard soldier led the Saintess Lilith and her two accompanying Holy Light priests into the tent.
Although Yudel and Lilith were quite close in the memory fragments, this was Sky's first real encounter with the Saintess. He had no experience with role-playing or crossover instances and wasn't sure if the NPCs could detect any differences between him, the crossover traveler, and the usual character.
"What brings you here, Lilianna, oh, no, Saintess Lilith?" Having just undergone the infusion and flashback of memory fragments, Sky's mind was still a bit foggy, and upon seeing the familiar face, he inadvertently called out Lilianna's name. The two women were strikingly similar, as if they were cast from the same mold.
"Huh? What did you call me?" Saintess Lilith stared at Sky (Yudel) with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
Sky internally cursed his carelessness, immediately turning to the tall guiding soldier to change the subject, "We've been marching day and night, and only last night did we get a good rest. The Saintess must be tired. Prepare breakfast, and we can sit and chat while we eat."
The topic shift was a bit abrupt, and the tall soldier blinked strangely, sensing that today's Sacred King seemed a bit off.
Sky (Yudel) remembered this tall soldier; his name was Xavier, a distant relative of the left flank commander, John Limo, with a natural talent and interest in military affairs. John Limo had arranged for Xavier to be a guard here in the central tent, allowing him close access to high-ranking officers to learn from them.
Despite his imposing appearance, Xavier lacked any talent for cultivation. At a similar age to Yudel, and even with the support of various techniques and elixirs from John Limo's family, he had only reached the early stages of the Fourth Rank Innate Realm.
In a world 6,000 years ago, filled with rich spiritual energy and magic, perfectly suited for cultivation and magic practice, Pan continent had developed a complete system of cultivation, creating a powerful civilization of cultivators and magicians.
Thus, the Fourth Rank Innate Realm was only the average level of ordinary soldiers in the main legions at that time. Xavier's position as a guard in the central tent was already due to John Limo pulling strings for him.
Moreover, this young man was fond of expressing his unique thoughts on military formations and tactics, which greatly diverged from mainstream military strategies, making him unpopular among senior officers.
In Yudel's memory fragments, Xavier greatly admired the military system of the Blackwater Empire, even practicing some of the empire's water, earth, and weather-related magics, believing that the systematic use of these magics to locally alter the battlefield environment was the most rational way to comprehensively enhance an army's combat effectiveness.
Just this point alone made Yudel dislike this guard who was always full of talk. Yudel had a strong aversion to the Blackwater Empire and naturally rejected the empire's military and governmental methods.
With his own formidable combat power, plus the Direwolf Cavalry and the Holy Light Demon Hunters as powerful forces, Yudel saw no need for these fanciful tactics when sheer strength could overpower the enemy. Thus, Xavier's views and suggestions were always dismissed by Yudel. If not for Yudel's good relationship with John Limo, Xavier would have been reassigned to a different position long ago.
Sky (Yudel) snapped back to the present and coughed dryly, telling Xavier, "Didn't you hear? Go prepare breakfast for me and the Saintess."
"Oh... Yes, my command, Sacred King." Xavier saluted and left the central tent.
Saintess Lilith stared into Sky (Yudel)'s eyes for a while, making him uncomfortable until she finally showed a meaningful smile and said to the two Holy Light priests following her, "Wait for me outside the tent, I have something to discuss with the Sacred King."
The two Holy Light priests bowed slightly and left the tent.
Saintess Lilith took a few steps forward to Sky (Yudel), her tone playfully asking, "Sacred King, what mission did the system assign you this time?"
"Ah?" Sky (Yudel) was taken aback, then surprised, "Are you really Lilianna? You've crossed over too?"