Chapter 139: Growing Stability, Spring Has Arrived

Upon returning home, Ron continued his training. He didn’t stop until the sky had completely darkened, walking Liya home before resuming his practice.

However, the style of his training had shifted; he transitioned from micro-movement perception to static perception. The training he did at the training ground during the day could be termed “dynamic perception.” Through these various states, he perceived the changes in the force flowing within his body.

Through this, he steadily elevated his mastery over Whole-Body Force.

Among these, “dynamic perception” should have been the training method with the longest duration and the best results. Yet, because it was conducted at the training ground, Ron refrained from entering the Full-Immersion Knight State to avoid drawing any attention to his anomalies.

However, for micro-movement perception and static perception, Ron conducted his training entirely within the Knight State. Although the actual training time was shorter compared to his daytime sessions at the training ground, the results were precisely the opposite.

This was especially true for static perception. In this state, while Ron’s body remained completely still, the flow of force within him encountered absolutely no resistance. From his core to his surface, from bones to flesh, from skin to hair, it touched virtually everything.

It allowed him to experience a kinetic tendency akin to the Sword Stance, a state that seemed both moving and motionless. It was nearly the realm of perfect Whole-Body Force.

As for dynamic and micro-movement perception, they complemented the static perception. At any given moment, Ron increasingly felt as though his entire body was a single unified entity, a flawless circle devoid of any openings.

He continued this supplementary training until midnight before finally stopping. It wasn’t that he couldn’t go on, but rather that he had to consider the overall sustainability of his physical body.

At the end of the day, reinforcement, or cultivation, was a daily routine that required long-term commitment. One couldn’t expect to achieve success in a day or two; sustainability had to be factored in.

…

Ron’s mental will required no rest, but his physical body did. And while his body rested, his consciousness would once again return to his true form to study the Secret Patterns.

Over the next few days, Ron spent his time exactly like this. The matter of the cultists seemed to have completely faded into oblivion; rarely did anyone in the territory bring it up anymore.

It was as if, apart from the families of the casualties and those in East Town whose homes had been damaged by the cultist invasion, everyone had forgotten that the territory had recently been invaded and was preparing for a decisive battle against the cultists.

Faced with this shift, Ron briefly suspected that the Lord had used some sort of memory-wiping Wizard Relic to erase the memories of the majority. Yet, one day when he deliberately brought up the cultists to Monte, Monte’s reaction didn’t seem like that of an amnesiac.

…

Half a month later, the roads and houses in East Town that had been damaged during the cultist invasion were entirely restored. In addition, there now stood a Radiant Church, a structure the territory had never possessed before.

Every morning, noon, and dusk, territorial subjects would voluntarily gather at the church to recite the Radiant Maxims together.

Aside from the noon session, which Ron could not attend in time due to his training at the training ground, he was present for the morning and dusk collective recitations without fail. Ever since the church was built, he had never missed a single session.

This certainly wasn’t because he worshipped the Lord of Radiance with overwhelming devotion, but rather to bask in the special environmental effect generated by the collective recitation of the maxims.

The few million Pollution Secret Patterns covering the surface of his true form made Ron feel like he had thorns in his back, a fishbone caught in his throat, and was sitting on a bed of needles! Now that there was finally a stable method to completely eradicate the Pollution Secret Patterns, how could he not take it seriously!

After all, his very life depended on it!

Now, the upward trend in the total amount of Pollution Secret Patterns on his true form’s surface had finally been curbed. The daily fluctuation of Pollution Secret Patterns was no longer a net increase, but a net decrease.

Based on the current rate of reduction, Ron estimated that in another seven or eight years, the Pollution Secret Patterns on his true form would be completely eliminated.

Seven or eight years was not an unreachably long time. When he first confirmed this reality, Ron was so moved he nearly wept.

When he had first transmigrated, the Pollution Secret Patterns had continuously multiplied, requiring barely more than half a year to cover the entire surface of his true form.

It was only after stepping onto the Knight’s Path that the rate of increase slowed down. But that had merely treated the symptoms, not the root cause. It simply delayed the time it took for his surface to be covered; ultimately, he still couldn’t escape the fate of being entirely engulfed.

It wasn’t until the appearance of the Radiant Maxims that Ron learned for the first time that this world possessed a method to thoroughly eradicate Pollution Secret Patterns.

And then, upon hearing the news that the territory would build a Radiant Church in East Town, he had yearned deeply for the church to be completed.

In this matter, his behavior and mindset were in no way inferior to those of any devout follower of the Radiance.

…

Perhaps because life was becoming increasingly stable, even Ron stopped thinking about the cultists, from whom no news had been heard for a long time. As the days passed one by one, the weather also began to gradually warm up.

This caused Ron to let out a breath of relief. When he had first transmigrated, it was winter, and a particularly long one at that. He had even suspected for a time whether this world only had winter.

The memories of “Ron” and the descriptions provided by others were insufficient to completely dispel his suspicions.

Although winter wasn’t an unbearable season for Ron anymore, having progressed so far down the Knight’s Path, he was long past fearing the bitter cold. However, winter typically also signified the withering of life. He simply couldn’t bring himself to love such a cruel and silent season.

It wasn’t until the weather progressively warmed that he finally confirmed spring was coming. But if spring is here, can summer be far behind?

…

In front of Ron’s house.

Ron, having just completed a round of micro-movement perception training, set down the longsword in his hand, only for a charming, graceful figure to come darting to his side, offering a wet towel and a cup of water.

“Ron, you must be tired. Wipe off your sweat and have a sip of water!”

“Thank you, Liya.”

Ron took the towel from Liya, casually wiping his face with it before downing the water in the cup in one gulp. He finally understood why the Territory Guard’s recruitment drives were always held in winter.

Aside from the fact that territorial subjects had more free time during winter, a critically important reason was that winter was far more suitable for Knight training. To be more precise, it was more suitable for Knights who had learned the Ice Breathing Technique.

It was only spring now, with the temperature having risen just slightly, yet Ron already felt somewhat overwhelmed. It felt as though he were already in the peak of summer, and that was without factoring in the effects of not having fully embarked on the Knight’s Path.

“Liya, are you hot? Would you like to go inside first?”

“I’m not hot. Soaking up some sun is quite comfortable. I’ll just stay right here and watch you.”

“Alright then! I’ll continue!”

“Mhm.”

Subsequently, Ron raised his longsword once more, moving slowly across the open space in front of the house. The external “sweltering heat” constantly boiled his willpower, yet Ron never once gave up. He even threw himself entirely into perceiving the various states of his body.

“I must advance to the next stage as soon as possible!”

Although even a Knight-level body couldn’t entirely bypass the drawbacks of the Ice Breathing Technique, its tolerance was still much stronger than that of an apprentice. Ron genuinely did not want to be drenched in sweat after just a little movement.