Within the milky-white glow that enveloped Zhan Bai, it was as if a colossal painted scroll was slowly unfurling, drawing him into the heart of Medieval Europe.

He perceived a city encircled by towering ramparts, beyond which stretched an infinite, dense mass of soldiers. Their attire was bewilderingly complex: some clad in shining knight's armor, gripping lances and longswords, mounted atop snow-white steeds; others wore coarse, simple garments, armed only with knives, axes, or long pikes.

Under the command of a banner bearing a single character, their faces alight with fanatic fervor, they screamed war cries as they braced against falling stones and scalding water from above, hoisting ladders against the city walls and beginning their ascent.

Above them, along the battlements, ranks of lightly armored defenders loosed arrows, hurled stones, and poured down boiling water.

Flames licked up from numerous points within the city, and dense, rolling smoke utterly choked the sky.

The siege reached a standstill until, with a sudden flash of white light, a single knight burst forth from the ranks outside the walls. He wielded a familiar silver sword bearing a single character, and as he moved, two luminous, radiant wings erupted from his back.

He roared, launching himself from his saddle into the air. In an instant, he was upon the ramparts. The character-sword in his hand shone with dazzling silver light; a single sweep of the blade cleared a ten-meter path, and every enemy caught within that arc was cleaved cleanly in two at the waist!

Yang Ying started in alarm. The knight's power was immense; placed within the Holy Light Knights, he would be at least a High-Ranked Knight.

Furthermore, the sword he held was unmistakably the very character-sword Yang Ying had just been holding!

The soldiers on the wall gasped in horror, and dozens immediately raised their crossbows and bows, aiming them at the charging knight—

The knight paid them no heed. As the arrows approached, they seemed to strike a rippling field of force around him, deflecting sharply to pass above and to either side, not a single one connecting with his body.

The knight's face was obscured by his helm, revealing no expression.

He then turned ninety degrees, his gaze running parallel to the wall, and brought his sword down in a vertical slash, followed immediately by a horizontal sweep. This motion unleashed a single, character-shaped beam of sword light that shot forward from the blade's tip.

The soldiers on the wall shrieked and scrambled to evade. The quick-witted dropped flat, while some even leaped from the battlements to escape, but the defenders were packed too densely. Many, particularly those further down the wall, failed to notice the incoming character-shaped sword light.

The character-shaped beam traveled from one end of the wall where the knight stood to the other, slicing through every soldier in its path instantaneously. This single stroke killed nearly every standing soldier on that entire section of the rampart, and the ground itself was scored by the lower edge of the beam, cutting down several unfortunate souls who had managed to drop low.

The besiegers below saw the carnage and let out howls of raw fervor, their assault growing yet more reckless and fearless as they swarmed the ladders.

Then, with another flash of white light, the vision began to fade, coalescing back into a single, silver-shining speck, from which a thought resonated:

"He who receives divine grace, believe in the Lord, and accept the Holy Light of the Lord!"

"Who are you?" Yang Ying asked.

"Believe in the Lord, and accept the Holy Light of the Lord!" the sword's spirit did not reply, merely repeating the phrase.

"What do your words mean? How does one believe in the Lord, and how can one accept the Holy Light?" Yang Ying pressed.

"Believe in the Lord, open your soul and merge with me, and swear that the rest of your life will be spent fighting for the Lord until your final breath. Once you merge with me, the seed of Holy Light power will reside within your soul, which you can nurture with your spiritual energy until you become a Paladin!" the point of light replied.

Yang Ying frowned. A person's soul was paramount; how could he possibly open it to merge with this speck of light? Would that not forcibly compel him to worship?

So, Yang Ying addressed the light point directly: "I do not believe in God."

"Heretic!" The light point, the spirit of the character-sword, immediately began to flicker violently, pulsing erratically. A surging wave of intent flooded into Yang Ying’s mind: "Accept the judgment of the Holy Light."

The surrounding white light simultaneously exploded outward, transforming into myriad character shapes that shot toward him. Yang Ying mentally grumbled: From 'recipient of grace' to 'heretic' in an instant—this character-sword has quite the temper.

He had witnessed the devastating power of the white character-shapes in the illusion. Although this current, weakened spirit could not manifest the strength of that High-Ranked Knight from the vision, standing there to receive blows was not Yang Ying’s intention either.

I should retreat for now. I already gathered from that illusion that this spirit’s purpose is to absorb awakeners into the Church of the Heavenly Father and bestow the power of the Holy Light. I have nothing to gain by staying here, and if this spirit exhausts its last reserves, the sword will be useless.

Yang Ying mused internally. He had no desire to see this rare character-sword destroyed; even if he couldn't obtain the Holy Light power, keeping it as a collectible would be preferable.

"Heretic, perish! The might of God is like a prison! The grace of God is like the sea!"

The entire diamond space resonated with that voice. Character-shaped beams of light rained down upon Yang Ying like a tempest.

"I’m not staying here—"

Yang Ying immediately pulled back, dodging and weaving around the incoming character-shaped light beams. For those he couldn't avoid, he met them head-on. Thankfully, having already achieved the realm of a Lower-Tier Psion, his spiritual essence was vastly improved; the beams struck him only with a feeling of mild burning heat.

"Heretic, you shall not escape." The light point flashed, emitting a dense silver beam that ricocheted and refracted countless times off the surrounding diamond walls, instantly fracturing into multiple strands that formed a net of light. This net sealed off all directions, completely enveloping him. As it did so, the light point itself grew noticeably dimmer after emitting the silver energy.

Meanwhile, in the outside world—

The silver character-sword grasped in Yang Ying’s hand suddenly began to emit a shimmering silver glow that spread from the diamond in the hilt across the entire blade, rapidly engulfing it.

"Sir, what is this..." Katerina’s heart hammered, and she rushed to Yang Ying’s side.

"It’s nothing, just an argument with the spirit inside the sword. Its dying blow trapped a fragment of my consciousness inside," Yang Ying replied, his tone betraying no worry.

"Is it serious?" Katerina asked urgently. Her mind raced, searching for solutions, but found only a blank slate—she realized how little she truly understood about spiritual power. "Sir, I'll go find Boktana and Glimmorren!"

"That is an option," Yang Ying said with a slight smile, "but no need to search for them. Watch me pull them over."

After all, if he could summon individuals from the floating continent even from this far distance, summoning them while on the continent itself was child's play!

Yang Ying called out toward the front: "Summon Boktana and Glimmorren!"

A golden light flashed, and two fireballs, one blue and one red, materialized before the two figures. Within the orbs, silhouettes could be vaguely discerned, and their eyes shone brightly, like tiny light bulbs.

"Leader!" the two Consuls shouted simultaneously. Then, observing the scene, they immediately understood the situation.

"Has the Leader provoked the spirit within the sword?" asked the Dark Consul, Glimmorren.

The Light Consul, Boktana, focused his gaze on the diamond in the hilt. "It appears the spirit in the sword intends to eliminate the fragment of consciousness attempting to test the Leader, even if it means its own demise."

"The power of faith is intense and absolute; one can see that clearly," Yang Ying stated easily. With the two Consuls present, the problem would be manageable.

"Let us see," the two Consuls said, each extending a hand wreathed in flame, gripping the sword hilt.

"Be careful!" Katerina cried out, alarmed by the intense fire surrounding their hands, fearing Yang Ying might be burned.

"No need to worry, this flame generated by spirit has no actual heat," Yang Ying reassured her with a smile.

Simultaneously, the two Consuls sent a thread of their own consciousness into the diamond.

Inside the diamond—

Yang Ying’s consciousness was constantly grappling with the surrounding character-shaped light beams. Although the power of each individual beam was limited, their sheer number was overwhelming. He also had to be wary of the silver light net; brushing against it was far more painful than encountering the beams. One slight graze felt like touching a branding iron—a burn inflicted directly upon the spirit.

After evading for a time, Yang Ying noticed something crucial about the silver light net. The constituent light beams originated from the central point, traveled through dozens of reflections and refractions off the diamond walls, splitting into numerous strands, yet all these beams eventually returned to the central silver point.

Seeing this, he was instantly reminded of the principle behind a laser—it was identical. Energy is emitted and then reabsorbed for recharging. As long as the energy doesn't strike anything, it isn't lost; only the energy required to emit the visible light is expended, which is negligible, less than a household bulb.

He was confident that once the light point retracted the net, it would return to its original brightness, as if it had never been used.

The character-shaped beams operated similarly: any beam that missed Yang Ying struck the diamond wall and immediately reflected back. Fortunately, the character-shaped light was a peculiar form of energy attack that did not travel at the speed of light, making it relatively easy for Yang Ying, with his spiritual evolution and foresight, to evade.

I wonder how the Holy Light Knights managed to polish this diamond to form such an energy circuit. It is truly remarkable, Yang Ying thought admiringly.

At that moment, two fiery glows—one blue, one red—pierced through the light net from the outside, entering the center of the diamond.