Those who received spirit furnaces from the temples, at minimum, must possess an inner spiritual power of fifty. This is the lowest threshold. Only talents can bring out the best in a spirit furnace! As for the Elemental Vortex Spirit Furnace, which is known for its potential to increase innate spiritual power, it has always been given to prodigious talents with high innate spiritual power levels, like Long Dangdang. The hope is that they could progress further even from their already advanced stages.
In the history of the 6 Great Sacred Temples, there was once a cultivator with innate inner spiritual power of fifty-five who managed to increase his power by ten points using the Elemental Vortex Spirit Furnace. This was a record high.
Through covert manipulation by Long Dangdang, Long Kongkong was definitely the one with the worst innate talent for spirit furnace to have ever received one. No matter what kind of spirit furnace, this notion holds true. But ironically, he fulfilled the requirements for the Elemental Vortex Spirit Furnace and successfully absorbed it.
Essentially, the host of an Elemental Vortex Spirit Furnace must be pure. Its property of drawing in the elemental energy from heaven and earth determines this. What does purity mean? The less one possesses themselves, the purer they are considered by nature. Long Kongkong's innately low level of spiritual power was a rarity even among commoners. This made him meet the criteria, reducing any interference the Elemental Vortex Spirit Furnace would experience when absorbing energy, resulting in an unprecedented level of fusion with Long Kongkong's body.
This led to the phenomena where Long Kongkong entered a meditative state where he lost track of everything else the first time he meditated under the influence of the Elemental Vortex Spirit Furnace.
On another note, Long Dangdang had a different experience after reaching the Knight's Academy dormitory.
After putting on the Enlightenment Necklace and started meditating, he understood what the fire-specialty mage meant about giving him a power-boosting array formation.
The enlightenment necklace was a simple and elegant piece, consisting of a silver chain with a rhombus-shaped pendant that looked like a chunk of silver crystal.
As he attempted to meditate, he vaguely sensed the presence of something peculiar within his consciousness. The next moment, a cooling sensation emerged from the pendant, instantly sweeping across his body, giving Long Dangdang a sense of clear-headedness.
The odd sensations he previously felt became more lucid. Within his consciousness, he spotted some faint colors. With the help of the Enlightenment Necklace, when he noticed these colors, the cooling sensation intensified, flooding into him, making his consciousness even more lucid, making the colors even more perceptible. Soon, Long Dangdang fully immersed in this cooling sense of clarity.
After an indeterminate period, when he involuntarily opened his eyes, he was startled to see that daylight had already broken. To him, it felt like only minutes had passed!
Blinking, Long Dangdang quickly got out of bed and looked out of the window. Suddenly, he felt as though the world had become more vibrant in his sight. All colors were so vibrant that if he focused, it seemed like he could see every detail. The sensation of being clear-headed was like relishing a slice of cold watermelon after being under the hot sun in summer — except this clarity was experienced in his brain.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. A deep voice from outside called, "Long Kongkong, are you awake?"
Long Dangdang got a start, then quickly realized it was him being called and hurriedly replied, "I am awake, yes."
He went to the little living room outside and opened the door. Upon seeing the person in front of him, he felt the man was nearly half his height taller and incredibly imposing.
"Lord Paladin, please come in." The formidable man stepped aside and gestured him in.
Behind him was a middle-aged man slightly shorter than the hulking man, but not by much. He emanated a profound aura.
Being a smart lad, Long Dangdang quickly recognized that these must be representatives from the Knights Temple. Surprisingly, they had arrived early in the morning.
On seeing Long Dangdang, the eyes of the Paladin lit up. Not because of Long Dangdang's good looks, but when he saw Long Dangdang's eyes, he was drawn to the lucidity they conveyed — a clarity signifying mental purity and pure spiritual power. As a Paladin, his sensitivity towards this was very acute.
"You must be Long Kongkong. With innate spiritual power of eighty-seven?" The Paladin asked. The hulking man had also stepped in and closed the door behind him. Long Dangdang guessed this must be Teacher Wei Huo, the head of Knights Class One.
"Mm-hmm." Long Dangdang decided to speak as little as possible to avoid giving away any inconsistencies to Teacher Wei Huo.
"Let's conduct a test." The Paladin took out a testing stone without wasting any words.
Suddenly, the whole room was filled with a brilliant golden glow, causing the eyes of both Wei Huo and the Paladin from the Knights Temple to glaze over.
"Good, good, good!" The Paladin was visibly satisfied. He handed over a storage ring.
Long Dangdang heaved a sigh of relief for stashing away the storage ring he had received from the Magic Temple when he heard the knock on his door.
"Your talent is exceptional and ranks among the top ten in the history of our Knights Temple. This is the aid provided by the temple. However, remember this: to become a true knight, having talent and working hard isn't enough; you need to have a heart full of righteousness. The ten tenets of knight's code must be engraved in your heart at all times. Never step out of line; otherwise, the Temple Judicial Court will come for you." The Paladin said earnestly, clearly not as casual as the mages from the Magic Temple the day before.
"Yes!" Long Dangdang replied seriously.
The Paladin's stern gaze softened a little. "In the next two years, strive to reach the 3rd Rank. Given your talent, this should be easy. After reaching the 3rd Rank, decide whether you want to be a Protector or a Punisher Knight. At that time, the temple will provide you with new aid. This Storage Ring contains two knight's swords, one knight's shield, a piece of inner armor for defense, and a rare Knight's skill. With your talent, I hope you can master this skill in the next two years."
"Yes!" It seemed like the Knights Temple offered similar aid as the Magic Temple, only without something to assist in cultivation.
Paladin said, "There are no shortcuts in a knight's cultivation. One must give their all, endure hardship and toil, steel their minds, and put their bodies under strenuous labor, only then can they breach all obstacles. I share these words of motivation with you."
"Thank you, Lord Paladin." Long Dangdang answered respectfully.
The Paladin nodded, then brought his right hand to his chest. A warm, white light was released instantly. It was gentle but had a certain energy pulsating in a rhythm. Nevertheless, it gave off a stable sensation.
This wasn't a flare of Divine Luminosity energy; as the Paladin swept his right hand across his chest, when he extended his palm again, there was a white light glowing. In the middle of his open palm was a tiny white cauldron about an inch high with three feet and two ears. The white light was radiating from it, giving off a gentle, pulsating glow imbued with an inviting charm that was hard to ignore.
A spirit furnace?
As expected, they're providing a spirit furnace!