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South of Whale Island, Li Tongyun was holding the little hand of Jinguji Maki. The two little girls, dressed in sportswear, skipped and hopped along the mountain path.
Whale Island is too big; the area that the academy has developed so far is less than one percent of it.
As they gradually headed south, Li Tongyun could already see the dense forest to the south.
Before she even got close, she saw several shadows flash by in the darkness.
A sense of crisis struck her, preventing her from moving forward any further.
“Strange,” Li Tongyun said in confusion, “didn’t Kunlun explore or clear out this forest after landing on the island? It looks like a forbidden place, which makes me feel uneasy.”
Jinguji Maki was still learning Chinese, and she smiled as she imitated Li Tongyun's speech: "Mao Mao de!"
Li Tongyun looked at her irritably: "Don't learn this."
"Oh," Xiao Maki nodded.
At this moment, Xiaotongyun took out her phone and showed it to Xiaozhenji: "Mountain, I want a mountain that is more than ten meters high. Please materialize it according to this photo."
Maki understood. The next moment, a mountain more than ten meters high suddenly appeared before them. On the mountain was a platform, and on the platform was a large tree.
This mountain is particularly strange because one side of it is almost smooth and flat, with only a few gaps for leverage.
Li Tongyun pulled out another photo: "A hemp rope, I need a 40-meter-long hemp rope."
Maki reappeared.
Li Tongyun carefully tied a safety knot around Xiao Zhenqi with hemp rope, then easily climbed up the mountain, tied one end of the rope to a tree, and stood on the edge of the hill.
“You’ve watched a lot of rock climbing lessons lately, so let’s start formal training now, Maki. You said you wanted to become as good as your master and help him, so you have to take action,” Li Tongyun said earnestly. “Now that you have the strength of an adult, let’s begin. Remember, your master is in a situation where he really needs teammates, and there aren’t many people in this world he can truly trust.”
Maki seemed to understand, but she grasped what Li Tongyun meant.
She materialized magnesium powder, then took a deep breath and began to climb up the cliff, her small figure stumbling and bumping along the mountainside.
Learning by watching videos and putting them into practice are two completely different things.
Some things seem simple, but require constant practice to master; it's commonly said that your brain knows it, but your hands haven't learned it yet.
Li Tongyun stood on the cliff, holding the safety rope with utmost care, not daring to slack off for a moment.
Last night, Qingchen sent them Purple Orchid Star. Logically, Li Tongyun should be making the most of her time to cultivate, but she knew that Qingchen didn't have time to train Xiao Zhenji, so it had to be done by her.
Therefore, she decided to dedicate 8 to 10 hours each day to helping Jinguji Maki grow.
By the end of the day, Maki Jinguji was covered in injuries.
She leaned against Li Tongyun's chest, sobbing in the sunset on the mountain, while Xiao Tongyun chewed up chicken blood sprouts and carefully applied them to her wound.
Looking at the wound, Li Tongyun calmly said, "Back when your master was training, the conditions were much harsher than they are now. There was no medicine, no one to help hold the safety rope, and no Eternal Heaven fruit. You have the strength of an adult, but your body is small, which means you have an advantage over others in rock climbing. But with an advantage, you have to work even harder."
Little Maki nodded through her tears, clenching her little fists and saying, "Try it out!"
Li Tongyun continued, "Your master is the kind of person who likes to shoulder everything himself. I know he's currently under siege by the Chen clan's forces, and I know he just sent his brother away, but he's stubbornly refusing to tell us anything. Do you know why? Because we're still too weak. Even if he told us, it wouldn't make a difference. Maki, we're still too weak."
Li Tongyun: "Actually, I don't really care about other people's lives or deaths. As long as everyone is alright during the day, that's enough. Maki, remember this: from today onwards, I am your protector. Before you complete those life-or-death challenges, anyone who wants to kill you will have to kill me first. Let's go back to the dorm and continue tomorrow."
Maki nodded, wiped away her tears, and said forcefully, "Try your best!"
Chapter 655, The Knight's Path in the Otherworld
At midnight, Whale Island fell silent.
The black seawater outside the island washes over Whale Island, which has remained unchanged for thousands of years. In the night sky, international flights occasionally fly overhead with their signal lights flashing, but the people on the planes are unaware that a magical island is hidden below.
In the dormitory area, the students were all asleep. Some of them would mutter things like "points" or "give me points" in their sleep.
Li Tongyun led Xiao Zhenji through the secret passage of the war fortress while crying.
The two little girls cried together, and while crying, Maki would comfort Li Tongyun, saying, "Sister, don't cry..."
Today, Li Tongyun took Xiao Zhenji to training. When they got back, Jiang Xue immediately saw the bruises on Xiao Zhenji's body and gave Li Tongyun a good spanking on the spot.
Even though Li Tongyun is now close to being at Grade B, she doesn't dare to fight back against her mother and can only suffer in silence.
When Li Tongyun cried, Xiao Zhenji cried too.
Then Xiao Tongyun ran out with Xiao Zhenji. Jiang Xue knew the little girl would definitely go to Qingchen to complain, so she didn't care.
As soon as the two little girls passed through the secret passage, they burst into tears inside the war fortress: "Brother Qingchen! Please do something for my mother! She doesn't love me anymore!"
"Master, please save my sister!" Maki said in Japanese.
The two children's voices were exceptionally loud in the war fortress.
The next moment, as soon as they entered the fortress, they saw sixteen golden family members sitting cross-legged on the ground, each with a tassel of purple orchid star in their mouth, silently cultivating.
"Oh! Xiaoqi, you guys are here too!" Xiaotongyun stopped crying, quickly wiped her own tears, and then quickly wiped Xiaozhenji's tears.
She could cry freely in front of Qingchen, but she couldn't let anyone else see it.
In Xiaotongyun's view, the dignity of the members of Daylight cannot be lost in front of outsiders.
Xiao Qi opened her eyes and glanced at them, then closed them again as if nothing had happened, muttering a reminder to the others: "Don't look, concentrate on your cultivation."
Xiao Qi had also cultivated in Luo Wanya's backyard, so she knew that these two were Bai Zhou's little princesses...
How could anyone else see the little princess crying?
Luo Wanya, a member of the Black Family, instructed that once they arrived on Whale Island, they should work more, observe less, ask fewer questions, and speak less, and follow the director's instructions in everything they did; this was the principle of their actions.
In fact, the family members all knew very well that the fact that the dean could make Lao Luo say such things meant that the dean's identity was self-evident.
After all, among all the parents at the meeting, only that parent held a higher status than Luo Wanyi.
Therefore, when Xiao Qi and the others saw Qing Chen, their eyes were filled with admiration, making Qing Chen feel a little uncomfortable.
At that moment, Qing Chen was also practicing the fourth stage of the breathing technique of the cultivator Wan Shen Lei Si. Hearing the crying, he opened his eyes and asked with a smile, "What happened? Did you get beaten up again?"
Li Tongyun pulled Qingchen aside and tearfully complained, "I know you're usually busy and don't have time to train Maki, so you took her to the south of the island and had her materialize a cliff she could climb for daily training. But when my mother saw her come home covered in injuries, she only felt sorry for her and not for me! She's a knight, after all; she'll have to go through this sooner or later. What knight in this world doesn't have to endure hardship?"
Qing Chen paused for a moment, then patted Li Tongyun's head and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Upon hearing these words, Li Tongyun's pent-up grievances burst forth, and she burst into tears again, sobbing uncontrollably.
Jinguji Maki stood to the side, holding the forbidden ACE-119 tissue box, and kept pulling out tissues for Li Tongyun.
The two forbidden items that Li Shutong had given them before, a talisman and a tissue box, have now been given to Xiao Zhenji, while the talisman has been given to Hu Xiaoniu.
A tissue box is perfect for little Maki. Maki cries all the time, and after Maki cries, Touka cries too...
Qingchen smiled and comforted her, "Don't cry. Your mother is just worried that you're too naughty. After all, in her eyes, you'll always be a little kid. You still have your mother to discipline you. I can't even find anyone to discipline me."
He knew that while he was imprisoned in Base A02, his family still had to rely on Xiao Tongyun to maintain morale. At that time, Xiao Tongyun was probably worried sick herself, but she still had to pretend to be nonchalant and urge everyone to cultivate.
Now, the other party is taking the initiative to share the pressure and train Jinguji Maki. Others may misunderstand Li Tongyun, but Qingchen cannot.
However, at this moment, Qingchen suddenly thought of a question: "You said that Maki manifested a cliff in the south of Whale Island?"
“Hmm,” Xiao Tongyun nodded, “I was thinking that since everyone can’t leave the island during the semester, let’s train on the island first.”
Qing Chen's eyes lit up: "Come on, take me to your training place. Xiao Qi, watch the house. Wan Shen Lei Si's training must not stop. If anyone tries to steal something, beat them hard."
"Okay," Xiaoqi replied.
When Qingchen and his two companions arrived at the southern part of Whale Island, Xiaotongyun tugged at his sleeve and said, "Brother Qingchen, look at that forest. When I came here during the day, I saw shadows flashing through it. It seems like someone still lives there."
Qing Chen nodded: "The things inside are very strange. Even when I get close, I feel a sense of danger, but as soon as I move away, the sense of danger disappears. Zheng Yuandong once thought of rushing in and killing everyone to prevent the students on the island from being hurt by what's inside. But after he rushed in, what's inside hid and didn't want to meet him. They seemed to be a group of very strange and cautious creatures. Later, the establishment of the Timewalker Academy became urgent, and Zheng Yuandong had no choice but to build the school first and then put this matter aside."
This is also why Zheng Yuandong rarely leaves the island now; he is worried that the things in this forest might harm the students, so he decided to guard it personally.
As he spoke, Qingchen felt he was being watched, and he suddenly looked toward the woods.
However, the forest was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.
That feeling of spying is fleeting.
Qing Chen didn't think much of it and turned to look at Xiao Zhenqi: "Can you materialize a snow mountain with an altitude of over 8,000 meters for me?"
This is the environment he needs for his next life-or-death ordeal.
Maki thought for a moment, and the next second, a majestic snow-capped mountain rose up in front of them.
The scene of the magnificent snow-capped mountain appearing out of nowhere was truly breathtaking.
However, a sudden change occurred. When the snow mountain reached 1200 meters, its peak seemed to exceed the height range of Whale Island, and it was as if it had been ground down into dust by the rules.
The snow-capped mountains below are still growing, but the mountaintops are constantly being worn away by the power of the rules.
Qing Chen shook his head: "Stop."
It seems that not every challenge on Whale Island can be overcome.
But if it could reach a height of 1200 meters...
Qingchen looked at Xiaozhenji: "Conjure for me a 20-meter by 20-meter sheet of white paper, and a pencil."
After saying that, he actually lay down on the newly manifested white paper and started writing and drawing, actually using a pixel-perfect replication technique to draw the green mountains and cliffs.
Qing Chen even marked the location where each senior left their name, as well as the details of the texture on the stone wall, in his notebook.
He meticulously reproduced the words left by Ren He, the founder of Knights, on the mountaintop, as well as the words left by the Knights themselves.
He spent a full two hours on this painting, working diligently and solemnly.
This scene doesn't look like painting; it's more like reminiscing about a beautiful part of life in the past.
Xiao Tongyun and Xiao Zhenji watched intently as a 600-meter-high green cliff rose abruptly from the ground.
Qingchen stood at the foot of the green mountain cliff, carefully stroking the stone wall.
In fact, free solo climbing is just one aspect of the life-or-death challenge. The path of a knight doesn't necessarily have to start here; you can find 600-meter vertical cliffs in both the real world and the outside world to replace it.
However, the sheer cliffs and green hills hold a completely different meaning for the knightly organization today. The names and words inscribed there mark the starting point for every knight.
Qingchen once thought that if children like Xiaozhenji couldn't go to the inner world to challenge, then they would never see the towering mountains and cliffs, and the path of knights would be like missing an important piece of the puzzle, the spirit left by the knight predecessors, and the process of climbing to the clouds with many knights.
But Qingchen no longer needs to worry.
Starting today, the world of Watch will also have its own green hills and cliffs belonging to knights, and many people's dreams will begin here.