Chapter 146: Chapter 137: Radiant Holy Knight

"Well... I’ve never tested it, but I imagine killing a Giant with a single punch wouldn’t be a problem."

The Lord really hadn’t specifically tested his own Power, so he simply used a Giant as a unit of measurement.

’He’s full of it!’

Knight Si Kai hadn’t said a word, but the meaning was written all over his face.

He admitted this Lord might have transcendent Martial Arts and be a bit stronger than him.

But what kind of creature was a Giant? A Giant Beast over four blades tall, weighing several thousand pounds. Even a sword strike infused with his Combat Qi might not be enough to kill one. To think you could kill it with a single punch from sheer physical strength was a fool’s dream.

There were dozens of Giants at High Cliff Castle. Si Kai had personally seen a group of Beastmen, their arms as thick as wooden stakes, lashing these Giant Beasts with Cowhide Whips three fingers thick.

A human would have been killed by a single lash, but the Giants merely let out a pained howl before being perfectly fine moments later. They were the definition of thick-skinned.

But the next moment, a tremor ran through his body. He lowered his head and nonchalantly sipped his tea.

He had to admit, he’d been a little too loud just now.

He watched as the Lord rose and gripped an iron rod as thick as an arm. With just a light squeeze—CREAK—the iron rod bent, its two ends touching with ease.

As easily as breaking a chopstick.

CLANG!

The heavy thud as it hit the ground proved the rod wasn’t just for show; it was a solid bar of forged iron.

The simplest, purest brute force delivered the most stunning visual impact.

Zat picked up the iron rod. The blue veins on his marble-column-like arms bulged like pythons, and his face turned crimson with strain as he barely managed to bend it back to its original shape. He was utterly in awe of Levi, who had done it so effortlessly.

He was a Giant Beast standing two blades and seven tall. Compared to him, the boss was like a house cat to a tiger, yet their respective Power was completely reversed.

To bend an arm-thick iron rod with sheer physical strength... one could only imagine the colossal force his fists could carry.

Whether he could kill a Giant with one punch was debatable, but killing *him* would be no problem at all. Si Kai kept his head bowed, his eyes filled with utter shock.

"My dearest Miss Liya, what exactly are you trying to say?" the Lord asked, a little exasperated.

Only Liya could get away with being so mysterious with him. If it had been Sam, he would have slapped him long ago.

’If you have something to say, spit it out. What’s with the dithering? It’s not like you’re trying to take a crap.’

"Aside from its buffing-type Divine Magic, the main purpose of the Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual is to temper the body," Liya said slowly after taking a sip of tea.

"Oh." Levi instantly lost interest.

’No wonder Holy Knights always take the worst beatings. This simple and crude method might be more practical than Combat Qi in the early stages, but if you can’t achieve a qualitative transformation like I have, you’ll just get toyed with and killed by the more versatile Combat Qi.’

’Besides, Combat Qi can also temporarily boost physical Power, and it might even be stronger in that regard than the Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual.’

After all, Levi had never heard of any Holy Knight reaching his level through physical body alone.

’No wonder they’re eventually reduced to being healers, sacrificing themselves for the sake of others.’

"The physical Power tempered by it is increased by a multiplier," Liya said with a faint smile.

"What?!" The Lord’s hands trembled like a cafeteria lady’s dishing out rice. He shot to his feet involuntarily, placed his hands on Liya’s shoulders, leaned in close, and stared intently into her star-like blue eyes.

"Miss Liya, do you have any idea what you’re saying?"

"It is indeed the case. The greater the practitioner’s original Power, the greater the enhancement. If you have ten times the Power of an ordinary person, the enhancement you receive will also be ten times greater." Liya turned her head away, slightly embarrassed. The intense, masculine scent washing over her face left her flustered.

"Cultivating the Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual is divided into five stages. The first stage can temper the body to one and a half times its original strength, and the final stage can reach around twelve times."

"Damn!"

The Lord quickly sat back down and took a sip of tea to calm his nerves.

If his current Power were increased by a multiplier... he didn’t dare to imagine how strong he would become.

"And this is the real, tangible Power of your physical body. So, unlike Combat Qi, which requires time to recover once depleted, there’s no time limit as long as you don’t run out of stamina."

Liya’s words were like a bomb, setting off a cataclysmic wave in Levi’s mind.

A multiplier-based increase was the classic case of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. A two-times boost on a base of ten versus a base of fifty determined whether the final result was twenty or one hundred—a world of difference.

For an ordinary commoner, even if they cultivated to the final stage and achieved a twelve-fold increase, they could probably just barely handle a single Giant.

But for Levi, it was a completely different story. With his current Power, perhaps only a Giant Dragon or a Giant was stronger than him.

His starting point was the finish line for those Holy Knights of the Divine Hall.

However, this only applied to the Holy Knights of today.

A thousand years ago, during the age when Magic flourished, the Legendary Holy Knights were all top-tier powerhouses. A single Radiant Healing Technique could even resurrect someone who had been dead for less than an hour, and their physical Power was comparable to that of a Giant Dragon.

"Also, a body tempered by the Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual has a very high increase in Magic Resistance. After becoming a Holy Knight, you can also cultivate various Divine Light Techniques," Liya added.

The Lord had to admit, he was thoroughly tempted.

Increased Power, increased Magic Resistance, and the ability to cultivate various self-buffing Divine Magic... the Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual seemed tailor-made for him, perfectly suited to his current combat style.

More importantly, the advanced Combat Qi Secret Manuals were all tightly controlled. Getting one would take who knows how long. The Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual, which had fallen out of favor, was clearly much easier to obtain.

Of course, "easier" was only relative.

"I don’t know much about Holy Knights, but I do know you have to believe in the Holy Light Goddess to become one, right?" Levi asked.

The Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual had indeed fallen out of favor, but it wasn’t exactly a dime a dozen.

Debei believed in the Three Gods of Justice, and the Holy Light Goddess was one of them.

As for what it meant to believe in the Holy Light Goddess, that naturally meant joining Debei’s Holy Light Church.

As a pragmatist through and through, Levi was far more interested in the benefits the Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual could bring him than he was in the so-called doctrines, precepts, rules, and duties of the Holy Light Church.

’Useful Holy Light is good Holy Light. The same goes for goddesses.’

If it could bring him tangible benefits, Levi wouldn’t mind faking a little belief, maybe burning some incense and making an offering during festivals.

But if it was purely a matter of working for the love of the game, then he could forget it.

"For now, that’s not necessary. I’m on fairly good terms with the Saintess of the Royal Court Holy Light Church. I wrote to her and asked her to bring me the cultivation method for the Tier One of the Glowing Holy Word Treasure Manual."

Liya pulled a piece of silk from her clothes. When the Lord took it, a fragrance identical to hers wafted up to his nose.

It had clearly been carried close to her body for a long time, allowing the scent to completely permeate the silk.

"Miss Liya, to be honest, my admiration for you now flows as endlessly as the Bengyong River at High Cliff Castle," the Lord said with heartfelt sincerity, giving her a thumbs-up as he clutched the Holy Scripture containing the Secret Technique tightly in his hand.

He truly hadn’t expected Miss Liya to have connections with the Saintess of the Holy Light Church.

’It seems I still know very little about my Feudal Lord.’

She was the granddaughter of a Duke, after all, and likely to inherit the title. Her social connections couldn’t be that bad. In the past, there must have been plenty of people trying to curry favor with her.

It was only natural for her to know a Saintess or two. After all, the status of these Saintesses was transcendent, and ordinary people couldn’t get close to them. But as long as they were intelligent beings, they couldn’t completely cut off all social contact.

Therefore, whether it was to relieve boredom or to befriend more powerful figures to solidify the Church Court’s position, these Princesses and daughters of Dukes were the ideal companions for a Saintess.