Seeing that both Praetors had entered, Yang Ying asked, "You two should also help me deal with the spiritual entity within this sword. See if there’s a way to resolve this peacefully. If we can preserve the cultivation method under the Holy Light, that would be even better."

Yang Ying recounted the illusion previously shown by the silver speck of light, and everything that happened afterward, to the two Praetors.

The two Praetors pondered a solution.

The Praetors truly lived up to their title. The scattered orbs of light surrounding them were blocked by an invisible barrier the moment they made contact, unable to penetrate at all—just like the light net before. The two Praetors had practically squeezed their way in.

Yang Ying let out a sound of surprise and asked, "The plasma shield works here too?"

"Yes. Wherever our will is focused, a plasma shield can be formed," Boktana replied.

The silver speck of light, realizing it could not destroy Yang Ying and with two non-humans arriving from outside, flared brightly and emitted a thought akin to a furious roar: "Heretics, perish!"

Its very shape changed, extending up, down, left, and right to form a large, silver character, charging toward the group.

"I have an idea. Since the spiritual entity inside this sword is fundamentally a spirit, then mental control should be achievable," Grimorlen said to Yang Ying and Boktana.

"Mental control can also control a sword?" Yang Ying asked, surprised.

"It's certainly feasible, but although this spiritual entity is weak, its nature is no less than ours. Controlling it won't be easy. We need more Dark Praetors. For the Light Praetors, I alone will suffice, as my lightning is far easier to deploy than mental control," Boktana suggested further.

The spiritual essence of a Praetor is comparable to that of a Grandmaster who has attained transcendence. This level of essence possesses extremely high resistance to mental control. Therefore, quantity must substitute for quality here.

"More Dark Praetors?" Yang Ying chuckled. "This is the Floating Continent; gathering Praetors isn't difficult. How many do you need?"

"The more the better—ideally, all of them!" the two Praetors said in unison. "Additionally, our main bodies must enter here as well to exert our full power."

Outside the diamond at that moment, the bodies of the two Praetors holding the hilt flickered and vanished instantly. Because they existed in a purely spiritual state without material bodies, they could fully enter the diamond.

Seeing this, Katerina startled, thinking something terrible had happened, but unwilling to disturb Yang Ying, she stood aside, wringing her hands anxiously.

Yang Ying smiled upon seeing this. "Don't worry. We're just setting up to deal with this sword." Then he immediately shouted, "Summon all the Dark Praetors on the continent!"

Instantly, a flash of golden light appeared, and a cluster of red fireballs materialized before Yang Ying—twenty-three Dark Praetors had arrived, and with the Dark Praetor leader, Grimorlen, the entire force of Dark Praetors on the continent—two full squads—was now assembled.

"Enter the diamond in the sword hilt. Grimorlen will instruct you on what to do inside," Yang Ying commanded the Dark Praetors directly.

"Understood," the Dark Praetors responded simultaneously. They stepped forward one by one, gripping the sword hilt, and transformed into bursts of firelight, entering the diamond.

Grimorlen and Boktana, reinforced by the fresh troops, felt their spirits immediately surge. Boktana, having merged with his main body, was enveloped in dazzling lightning, transforming into a lightning field that instantly swept away the surrounding erratic orbs of light.

Then, facing the large silver character, he cautiously unleashed a bolt of lightning.

While he confronted the silver character, Grimorlen gathered the Dark Praetor troops behind him, explaining their mission.

As Progenitor Praetors, they could communicate entirely through telepathy; a single thought could be conveyed instantaneously, negating any need for spoken language.

The Progenitor language was one built upon the sixth sense, inherently complex and fluid in its expression, yet capable of conveying meanings with perfect precision—there was virtually nothing the Progenitor language couldn't describe.

Boktana and Grimorlen had once systematically described the Master realm to Yang Ying. Human language failed utterly to describe such a state, but the Progenitor language could.

It was a pity Yang Ying couldn't understand it.

After Grimorlen clearly explained the situation to the Dark Praetors, they all understood what needed to be done.

Boktana used his lightning power to engage the large silver character in a battle of attrition. As a Praetor possessing a Master-level spiritual essence, his power was sufficient to suppress the silver character. In a pure attrition fight, it was a one-for-one exchange, and with the Progenitors’ superior knowledge and technique, achieving a two-for-one exchange wasn't difficult, especially since the silver character’s innate psychic strength was only in the hundreds.

"Divine Might, like a prison!"

The enraged will of the silver speck of light permeated the entire diamond space.

Despite shouting this, it could not stop its power from being drained by Boktana. The silver light gradually weakened.

"You heretics, don't think you can obscure divine power with evil sorcery!"

With a great cry, the large silver character flared intensely and pressed down toward Boktana.

"It’s just a spirit with low intelligence; this outburst will only hasten its consumption," Grimorlen stated calmly, unconcerned.

As expected, Boktana merely slightly increased his lightning output, regaining the balance and stopping the large silver character in place, unable to advance an inch.

The rate at which the silver light on the character diminished accelerated.

"The power of the Holy Light originates from My Lord, the Omniscient and Omnipotent God. The heresies of infidels cannot save you; perish here and now!"

An explosive thought burst from the large character. The surrounding silver light net retracted, causing it to erupt again with ten times its former brilliance, its power massively augmented. However, Boktana casually spread his hands, and the lightning in his palms instantly multiplied tenfold, blocking the large silver character once more.

"It's going all out. Be careful not to let it self-destruct," Grimorlen shouted via telepathy. "It's time for us to act!"

Following Grimorlen’s command, a Dark Praetor beside him extended both hands, emitting a dull yellow light that enveloped the large character.

The amplified silver light on the character instantly dimmed somewhat. Boktana adjusted his lightning power downward in response, maintaining the balance.

"You heretics dare try to corrupt the Holy Light and lure me to fall! This is impossible! In the name of God, the Holy Light is infinite! All glory belongs to God, and all heretics shall be destroyed under the light of God!"

The will of the silver character erupted violently.

Seeing this, Yang Ying sighed. "Although I knew religious fanaticism could drive people to extremes, I never expected it could make a mere sword so extreme. Now, in the Age of the Universe, the influence of the Vatican Curia is reduced to just the Holy Light Knights Order of just over two hundred members." "All glory belongs to God"—even the members of the Holy Light Knights Order no longer say that."

"Judging by the degree of this spiritual entity's weakening, the Paladin who left it behind likely lived a very long time ago, perhaps even during the Middle Ages. In that case, its mindset would be very backward, which explains a lot," Grimorlen sent a telepathic message to Yang Ying.

Yang Ying nodded. "That's probably for the best. Since this sword has been lost outside for millennia, the Holy Light Knights Order is unlikely to bother me over it."

Because mental control was such a taxing spell, after one Dark Praetor used it, they quickly became somewhat languid, and the next Dark Praetor would take over.

Once shrouded in the dull yellow light, the silver character's own illumination flickered uncertainly, as if on the verge of vanishing, yet its will stubbornly persisted, incessantly shouting that heretics would be destroyed and that God was all-powerful.

"Roughly how many Dark Praetors will it take to subdue this fellow?" Yang Ying waited a while, watching the Dark Praetors cycle through, but the silver character showed no signs of being brought under control.

"Estimating from the current situation, fifteen or sixteen should be enough," Grimorlen analyzed.

"That many? Controlling the high-level Psion David last time only required twelve Dark Praetors. Now, controlling a spiritual entity weaker than even my newly achieved low-level Psion rank requires fifteen or sixteen?" Yang Ying asked, puzzled.

"This is a difference in essence. Although the power output is low, the essence of this spiritual entity is transcendent and far superior to David's. Mental control isn't always determined by power alone; essence has a much greater influence," Grimorlen pointed at the large silver character. "With our current Level One Mental Control, we can only control figures below the Master level. If this spiritual entity weren't so incredibly weak, we couldn't use sheer numbers to control it. If it were a true Paladin, it might take a hundred squads of Dark Praetors, a year's effort, just to have a chance at successful control."

"Level One Mental Control?" Yang Ying heard a term he had never encountered before.

"Yes. Level One Mental Control is the technique we Dark Praetors can use immediately upon birth. As we cultivate and our mental power reaches one hundred thousand, we can learn Level Two Mental Control, which is far superior to Level One," Grimorlen explained.

"Can it control a Paladin?" Yang Ying asked.

"No. It takes at least Level Three Mental Control for a single Dark Praetor to control a Paladin, and that Paladin's psychic strength cannot exceed the Praetor's. Level Three Mental Control requires a Dark Praetor whose mental power has reached one million," Grimorlen replied.

"It looks like I won't be seeing that in a few years," Yang Ying shook his head, focusing his attention back on the battle.

Boktana used lightning to tether the large silver character, while the Dark Praetors applied mental control against it.

Although mental control couldn't subdue the silver character in one go, it interfered enough to prevent it from executing its suicidal maneuvers.

After more than a dozen cycles, the Praetors shattered the character's final wave of suicidal attacks, finally managing to revert it to its original form as a silver speck of light.

"It's done. Leader, the power of the Holy Light has also been preserved," Boktana and Grimorlen conveyed simultaneously through a pleased telepathic message.

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