The blazing sun hung high in the azure sky, unleashing endless heat that scorched the earth, waves of heat rising from the ground. The entire landscape was covered with yellow sand and grayish-brown rocks, with only a few shrubs and withered blades of grass scattered across the desert. Hungry vultures circled overhead, searching for animal carcasses. Occasionally, a gust of wind would howl across the ground, whipping up clouds of dust.
A convoy was traveling on the ground; it was Green's convoy. Ever since they encountered pursuers from the Kingdom of Saladin, the convoy had been filled with anxiety. To reassure everyone, the Baron had been urging them to keep moving. During the long month-long journey, they encountered no more pursuers, only a few packs of wolves, but the guards alone were more than capable of handling such minor troubles.
During their month-long journey, the caravan occasionally encountered other nobles who had chosen to leave, especially at the forest's edge, where a large group of nobles gathered. These nobles, lacking the strength to traverse the wasteland, hoped to increase their power and improve their chances of success by forming alliances with others.
As Green's caravan left the forest, it was naturally spotted by the nobles. Although the caravan looked quite disheveled, the sharp-eyed nobles noticed that while everyone in Green's caravan was exhausted, their eyes were filled with confidence. In particular, when the people in Green's caravan looked at the carriage Green was riding in, their eyes were filled with pride.
Seeing this, the nobles naturally tried every means to inquire about the situation. Upon learning that Green's caravan had defeated five knights, the nobles stationed at the entrance to the wasteland were filled with disbelief. This was followed by a flood of requests to join them on the journey.
However, most of these nobles were weak and their caravans had little supplies, so they would only be a hindrance. After some discussion between Baron Green and Os, they finally decided to travel with one of the caravans.
Baron Candia is a lord located relatively close to the baron's territory. Only Baron Candia is a formal knight, while the captain of the guard is just a knight apprentice. Their overall combat strength is far inferior to that of Green and his group. However, Baron Candia was very lucky and did not encounter any pursuers. Otherwise, given the strength of Baron Candia's caravan, they probably would not have been able to leave the forest.
Baron Candia's caravan offered little in terms of military support, but it carried ample food and water. Baron Candia knew he was outnumbered and that if he didn't quickly assemble a force, Saladin's pursuers would likely catch up. Being forced into the wasteland would only worsen the situation.
Baron Candia successfully joined Green's caravan in exchange for three cartloads of food and water. With enough food and water, the caravan entered the wasteland of Visas.
"Lord Green, thank you for your instruction." Inside Green's carriage, two young men of similar age were receiving instruction from him. They were the Baron's eldest son, Kahn, and the son of the captain of the guard, Oskar.
"These are all the techniques I can teach you as a Breakthrough Knight Apprentice. I believe your father has also told you that the most important thing is for you to rely on your own efforts." Green closed his eyes slightly and waved his hand to let the two leave.
Upon seeing this, Kahn and O'Carter stood up, bowed, and carefully exited the carriage.
"Lord Green explained it in great detail, completely different from what my father told me. After my father finished speaking, I only had a vague understanding." After the two got out of the carriage, they walked towards the carriage at the front of the caravan, talking about the knowledge that Green had taught them.
Kahn, with his blond hair, nodded in agreement, agreeing that what Okater said made perfect sense. "It seems that even Father and the others don't know exactly how they broke through to the Knight Apprentice level. They can only describe the feeling instinctively, unlike Lord Green's clear description. I feel that following Lord Green's method would greatly increase the chances of success."
After the two left, Green opened his slightly closed eyes, glanced out the car window, saw the same unchanging Gobi Desert scenery, and then closed the window.
After entering the Vessas Wasteland, Saladin's pursuers could no longer reach it, and the group, now with nothing to do, began to look for things to do. The task of teaching Kahn and Okat was entrusted to Green by the Baron and Os themselves, who offered a cartload of valuables in exchange for Green's agreement.
There's practically no threat now, and passing through the Visas Wasteland is almost a certainty. The bandits in the Visas Wasteland are unlikely to pose much of a threat to the caravan. Green also needs to consider what will happen after reaching the Maslow Alliance, and having some funds would make things much easier. Naturally, he didn't refuse the offer.
[Ding! The Seed of Life has been solidified; you can now advance to the Formal Knight level.]
Green, of course, heard the chip's notification. In the vast wilderness, there was nothing to do but travel; there was simply nothing else to do. Naturally, Green kept a close eye on the tasks displayed on the chip.
An apprentice's first meditation must be conducted in a quiet environment, and Green has never had the opportunity to practice basic meditation techniques. This will likely only begin formally after settling down at the Maslow's Alliance.
After the seed of life solidified, Green wanted to break through to become a formal knight, and there were detailed records of this in Old Green's Storm Breathing Technique.
Activating the Seed of Life, in the context of chip analysis, means endowing it with a function similar to the heart, connecting energy channels inside and outside the body. This allows the Seed of Life to absorb energy from the outside world with each breath and replenish the body. Over time, the Seed of Life will continuously store external energy. Becoming a Great Knight involves activating this energy, allowing the Seed of Life to take root and sprout, enabling it to extract and manipulate external energy with greater power, ultimately forming a semi-transparent protective shield.
The Storm Breathing Technique records the details of each stage of a knight's journey in great detail, but there is not a single word about breaking through to the Great Knight level. Green knew the reason, of course: none of those who learned the Storm Breathing Technique had ever broken through to the Great Knight level.
As for the reason, given the unconventional breakthrough method of Storm Breathing, the risk of each breakthrough increases, and the transition from Knight to Grand Knight is extremely dangerous. Since there are already few people practicing Storm Breathing and the risks are high, naturally no one can break through to the Grand Knight level.
Just as Green was thinking about when to break through, someone suddenly knocked on his window.
"Lord Green, there's a river ahead. The caravan can camp here for the night and replenish their water supply before continuing their journey tomorrow. The two barons have sent me to ask for your opinion." It was like having a pillow handed to someone just as he was about to fall asleep. Green naturally had no objections.
"I have no objection. Everyone has been busy for so long, it's good for them to take a break."
"Yes, Lord Green." The person outside the car window drove away quickly, their footsteps fading into the distance.
The convoy soon arrived at the target river, and after forming a simple circular defensive position as planned, they began to set up camp.