As William King spoke, the group arrived at the drink shop.
Mike went to the counter to place the order, and no one competed with him for the task since the school was covering the expenses. The rest of them found a quiet corner to sit down and eagerly continued listening to William.
"Knighthood is still a bit far off for you all, so there's no point in talking too much about it now. The key is getting accepted into a knight academy first."
"While it might seem like passing the knight academy exam involves jumping through countless hoops, it's not as daunting as it sounds. Out of the five stages, the political vetting is a formality, and the academic and professional exams will come down to how much effort you've put in. The real hurdles are the physical test and the practical evaluation."
Mike had just returned from the counter and, hearing this, quickly added, "William's right. Every year, those two tests have the highest elimination rate."
William chuckled. "With your blood energy levels all above 110 units, meeting the physical exam standard shouldn't be too difficult. The challenge lies in breaking through the threshold for acceptance. The gaps between your blood energy levels aren't huge. If you can get your hands on a good pill before the exam—like a Blood Energy Pill—it can change everything for some people."
"Of course, even with a pill, that might not be enough. I can teach you a few tricks."
For William, these might just be "little tricks," but for Mike and the others, any technique from a real knight was priceless.
Their faces lit up with excitement, and none of them dared to interrupt. They simply listened intently as William continued.
"The explosion of blood energy isn't just about your baseline level. It's also influenced by your physical state, mental state, and emotional state. Before the physical exam, you can do some warm-up exercises, but don't push yourself to the point of exhaustion. Keep your energy, spirit, and vitality high. And whatever you do, don't try cramming in last-minute practice on the day before."
"As for emotions, learning to control and channel them is key. Although reaching the extreme is difficult, emotions like 'joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness'—when they're at their peak—can cause blood energy to surge. That's why people often perform better during tests than in their usual training. But you're all still young and haven't gone through much yet, so getting your emotions to peak won't be easy."
"Channel emotions?" The group was now deep in thought, trying to grasp the idea.
William suddenly grinned and said, "Actually, I do know a way to get your emotions to peak instantly!"
Hearing this, everyone's faces lit up with excitement, but Eric couldn't help but cast a suspicious glance at William. After all, he had the system to boost his blood energy quickly, so these tricks might not be as useful for him.
Still smiling, William's eyes glinted playfully. "Some emotions are hard to control, but anger is the easiest. Right now, if I were to stomp on your faces and spit at you, all you'd have to do during the physical exam is remember the humiliation from today, and your blood energy would skyrocket!"
"Cough! Cough!" Mike and the others nearly choked at William's words. Was this legendary knight really that unreliable?
"Hahaha!" William laughed heartily before calming down. "I'm kidding, but there's some truth to it. Joy, sorrow, and happiness are harder to channel, but anger? That's simple. It's not uncommon for a surge of anger to boost your blood energy by one or two units."
Though William had been joking, the group couldn't help but mull over his suggestion. If it really could give them a one or two-unit boost, maybe… being humiliated wasn't such a bad trade-off?
Seeing the look on their faces, Eric shuddered. Surely, these guys wouldn't actually go looking for someone to insult them, right? It seemed like they just might.
William didn't seem to care whether they'd try his method or not. He continued, "After the physical exam, it's the practical evaluation. That test isn't too difficult—it mainly assesses your explosive strength, endurance, and flexibility. These are all closely tied to your blood energy. The higher your blood energy, the better your chances."
"Of course, there are those who only have high blood energy but are terrible in other areas. They've been coddled their whole lives, soaking in medicinal baths since childhood. But aside from their blood energy, their overall fitness is terrible. People like that deserve to fail."
"It's like if I gave you a chicken and you couldn't even kill it, how could you expect to defeat an enemy? Remember, killing a person is much harder than killing a chicken."
"Killing someone?" Eric's eyes narrowed slightly. William's calm tone when mentioning killing was unsettling, as if he'd experienced it firsthand. But in this day and age, even knights are bound by the law, aren't they? Surely, it wasn't that easy for a knight to just kill someone. Besides, William was only a college freshman…
Noticing Eric's confusion, William smiled faintly. "There are some things you'll understand once you become knights yourselves. Of course, that's assuming you get accepted into a knight academy and become real knights."
"Everyone's chasing the knight's path. Everyone dreams of becoming a knight. But how many really understand what it means to be one? Over the years, many people have complained about the privileges knights enjoy. A powerful knight can start a company and pay less tax, or even be exempt from it entirely. A knight in a government position, even with less competence, might still be allowed to get by. Knights have many privileges, so many that ordinary people often feel jealous and resentful."
"But so what? In this world, nothing is free. You have to give to get, and the rewards don't come without a price. Those who complain about fairness don't understand that there's another kind of unfairness that knights face too."
At this point, William paused, his expression returning to its usual cheerful demeanor. He smiled and said, "I've probably said too much. Every time I return to Yang City, I get a bit sentimental."
Mike and the others didn't seem to mind. To them, it was only natural that knights would enjoy special privileges. But Eric couldn't shake a feeling of unease. He had often wondered why knights, despite their strength, were so highly revered by ordinary people. After all, in this age of advanced weaponry, couldn't a group of a hundred or a thousand armed civilians stand a chance against a knight?
After hearing William's words, Eric sensed that there might be more to the story. Unfortunately, William wasn't willing to elaborate, and Eric knew better than to press him. He figured he'd uncover the truth himself once he became a knight.
As they were chatting, William's phone rang. He answered it without leaving the group, responding briefly before saying, "I'll head to First High this afternoon and meet up tonight."
After hanging up, William didn't offer any explanation, and no one asked. They chatted for a while longer before leaving the drink shop.
The school had planned for them to host William for lunch, but since he was a local and lived in Yang City, he decided to head home. Eric and the others knew it wasn't appropriate to tag along, so they set a time to meet in the afternoon, marking the end of their morning task.
...
After William left, Mike's face lit up with excitement. "We've learned so much today!"
Even without considering anything else, the technique for controlling emotions alone made Mike feel more confident. Combined with the practical test tips William had shared, Mike, who had already stood a good chance of getting into a knight academy, now felt even more assured. Even Jack and Lisa felt like they'd gained valuable insights and might try aiming for Southern Jiang Knight Academy.
On top of that, William had dropped a key piece of information: the governor of Southern Jiang Province was currently trying to break through to the seventh rank, the Master level. This was significant for them.
William had mentioned that the governor was a graduate of Southern Jiang Knight Academy, the only knight-dedicated institution in the province. While there were two other prominent schools that offered both academic and martial studies, the governor was an alumnus of Southern Jiang Knight Academy. If he managed to break through to the Master rank this year, he would undoubtedly secure more resources for his alma mater. That meant students entering Southern Jiang Knight Academy would receive more support.
William was certain about this, so the group had already set their sights on that academy.
With the morning task completed, they agreed to meet again in the afternoon to fetch William, and then they all headed home.
...
Meanwhile, William was just about to go home when his phone rang again.
Seeing the caller ID, William frowned slightly before answering. "Didn't we agree to meet tonight? What's the issue now?"
A respectful voice from an older man came through the phone. "I apologize for disturbing you, Mr. William, but we've just received word that the target has entered Cang Mountain. The mountain spans two provinces, and if we let him escape…"
William's frown deepened, and he interrupted, displeased. "We agreed you'd wait for me to arrive before taking any action. Now the target's on the run. Did you alert him?"
The voice on the other end hesitated for a moment, clearly caught off guard by William's accusation.
William sighed. After a brief pause, he said, "The original fee was three hundred thousand. Now it's five hundred thousand, dead or alive. Send the details to my house later. Don't worry about the rest."
"Mr. William, isn't five hundred thousand a bit—"
"Or maybe you'd like to have your chief go after him instead? Isn't he a graduate of Southern Jiang Knight Academy? Twenty years out and still just a second-rank knight—let's see him take care of it. Five hundred thousand. If that's too much, find someone else."
William's tone was sharp, his voice laced with contempt. "Otherwise, you can try looking in Ruiyang or even higher up in the province. I'm only taking this job because I just broke through and urgently need resources, and it happens to align with my return to Yang City."
After a moment of hesitation, the voice on the other end said, "Fine. We'll agree to the terms, but the target must be apprehended. Additionally, we'd like this operation to be carried out solely by Yang City personnel."
William's tone softened. "Of course. I'm getting paid, and I'll get the job done. My main reason for coming back to Yang City is to help some high school students prepare for their knight exams, after all."
"Understood, Mr. William. We'll send over the information soon. We look forward to you resolving the situation promptly."
"Don't worry."
After a few brief words, William hung up and rubbed his temples, sighing softly. "Let's hope he hasn't gone too far. There aren't too many fools willing to pay this much."
Thinking about the resources he needed after his recent breakthrough, William couldn't help but feel the pressure. His school would cover half, but the rest was up to him. Unlike wealthier students, he had to rely solely on his own efforts.
As he thought about the students he'd just met at First High, William shook his head. Everyone wants to become a knight, but how many understand the hardships? Even Mike, who seemed fairly well-off by William's standards, would likely face real struggles once he got into a knight academy.
Li Yuanjiang's failure to break through to knighthood wasn't due to lack of talent. It was because…
"Heh." William chuckled bitterly. Whether he was laughing at someone else or at himself, it wasn't clear.
With his hands in his pockets, William slowly walked toward his neighborhood.
Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.