In the warm bed, Dongbo Xueying was leaning against the bed, reading a book, while the light from the nearby fire crystal lamp illuminated the entire room.
The book was titled "The Ten Extraordinary Knights."
It was a biographical novel, and Dongbo Xueying loved reading stories, especially those about extraordinary legends. As a noble, with a mother who was a mage and had a vast collection of books, Dongbo Xueying had long known many common facts.
For example, knights could be divided into seven levels: Human, Earth, Heaven, Meteor, Silver Moon, Title, and 'Extraordinary'.
Among these, Human, Earth, and Heaven were considered ordinary knights.
Meteor, Silver Moon, and Title were considered Star Knights.
Above Star Knights were the Extraordinary.
There were three major levels... very difficult to surpass! His father and Uncle Tong were only Heaven-level knights.
As for Star Knights, what were Star Knights? They were knights who shone like stars on the battlefield, invulnerable to countless arrows, capable of capturing the enemy's general, and invincible.
However, these were still within the realm of mortals.
Even a Title Knight, who could destroy an army of ten thousand, was called a 'one-man army,' 'the limit of mortals,' and 'near-divine power,' but ultimately, they were still mortal, and could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
But to become Extraordinary!
That was a qualitative difference, a leap in the level of life. They were no longer mortals, but Extraordinary beings. The sheer number of mortals had no meaning to them; under normal circumstances, no matter how many mortals there were, they could not exhaust or even harm them. They possessed incomprehensible, transcendent power!
Even deities feared them.
Like the thousand-meter-tall lava giants and the great demons of the abyss, they were also Extraordinary beings. Humans could also become 'Extraordinary' through cultivation.
The Extraordinary human warriors repelled invading demons and eliminated all those who dared to resist!
They were the pillar of the human race, intimidating all other races!
"If I could become an Extraordinary Knight, I would play with a few demons, ride a giant dragon, and have a drink with a deity." Dongbo Xueying began to smile foolishly as he read the biography, as if he had transformed into one of the Extraordinary Knights. Suddenly—
The fire crystal lamp beside him automatically went out.
"Ah, why did the fire crystal lamp go out? So quickly?" Dongbo Xueying, who was excited by the book, immediately looked frustrated and helpless. "Having a mother who is a mage is really pitiful; even the fire crystal lamp turns off automatically when the time comes."
"Alright, time to sleep!"
Without any light, he could only go to sleep. Dongbo Xueying began to sleep soundly, dreaming that he had become an Extraordinary Knight, capable of anything. He couldn't help but smile in his sleep, clearly having a very sweet dream.
At this moment, Dongbo Lie and his wife were also in bed, preparing to rest.
"Dongbo, I've been feeling uneasy lately," the wife said, lying in her husband's arms.
"Ayu, don't worry. We've been in Yishui City for eight years, and everything has been calm. Your family hasn't come looking for you. Don't worry, nothing will happen. We will live a peaceful life, for ten, twenty years... until we grow old. They won't find us, never," Dongbo Lie gently embraced his wife.
The wife's head rested on her husband's chest.
She didn't say much. She knew very well how powerful her family was, and they would likely be caught one day.
She had a slight smile on her lips. She didn't regret her choice back then. If she had followed her family, it would have been a disaster. She had escaped, adventured in various places, and eventually found love and had a pair of adorable sons. She was already very content.
"Dongbo, will you regret it?" the wife whispered, "If we are caught, they won't let you off either."
"How many times have we faced life and death together? Why are you asking this now?" Dongbo Lie smiled.
The night was deep, and the castle was very quiet.
Except for the soldiers on duty, almost everyone was asleep.
"Boom~~~" A large bird, like a cloud, flew at high speed, its thunderous sound causing some of the castle's glass windows to vibrate.
The large bird stopped in the air.
A gray-robed figure and a silver-armored man looked down.
"We're here," the gray-robed figure said with a complex gaze. "Sister... I really don't want to take you away."
A powerful roar echoed throughout the castle, issued by the lion-man Tong San.
"Is that a lion-man from the Beastman race?" the silver-armored man looked down curiously.
"He was a lion-man slave assigned to my sister by the family back then. I didn't expect that after so many years, this lion-man is still with my sister, quite loyal," the gray-robed figure looked at the lion-man, recalling the young lion-man slave who was once kept in a cage, always silently following his sister, and now had grown so strong.
The castle covered two li of land, divided into an outer and inner castle. The outer castle housed four battalions of soldiers and servants, and knights could bring their families to live there. The outer castle's walls were patrolled by a battalion of soldiers at night.
The three hundred soldiers on the wall each picked up the large, dark red crossbows beside them. The thick crossbow bolts were already in place, aimed at the four-winged vulture in the sky.
"Go," the gray-robed figure ordered.
"Yes," the silver-armored man leaped down from the sky, landing on the stone ground of the castle without any cushioning from the nearly fifty-six-meter drop. The ground shook, and the stone slabs cracked outward.
The silver-armored man looked ahead, and at that moment, Dongbo Lie and his wife had already come out, along with Dongbo Xueying and his younger brother Qing Shi.
Outside, there were roars and booms, making it impossible to sleep.
"What's happening?" Dongbo Xueying held his younger brother, standing behind his parents.
"Mo Yang Yu!" the silver-armored man stood on the castle's open ground, facing the large number of soldiers on the high walls, and said coldly, "At this point, are you still going to resist? Or will you come with us obediently?"
"Look around you," Dongbo Lie shouted.
The silver-armored man glanced around, seeing the soldiers on the high walls and those surrounding on the ground, all holding large, dark red crossbows. His pupils slightly contracted, and he then smiled, "Star-breaking crossbows, impressive. A small fief within a county can actually be equipped with so many star-breaking crossbows? With so many star-breaking crossbows surrounding me, there is indeed a chance to kill me."
"You are a Meteor Knight. If it were one-on-one, no one in our castle would be your match," Dongbo Lie said. "But with five hundred star-breaking crossbows, each capable of injuring you, and with us all attacking together... we have a good chance of killing you."
"This is the territory of the Dongbo family," the purple-robed woman Mo Yang Yu also said. "Your invasion of a noble's territory is a provocation to our family. We have every right to kill you, and your death will be in vain."
According to the empire's laws, nobles have special privileges, and their territories are inviolable.
"You two should come with me, don't resist," the silver-armored man frowned.
"Nobles are protected by the empire's laws. Are you going to violate the empire's laws and forcibly abduct two nobles?" the purple-robed woman Mo Yang Yu said coldly.
A somewhat hoarse voice came from above.
Everyone looked up, seeing the gray-robed figure on the back of the large bird holding a staff. Suddenly, a terrifying and surging power gathered, and thick clouds appeared in the sky. Lightning flickered within the clouds, and electric sparks appeared in many places in the castle below. The night was filled with beautiful lightning, and the soldiers immediately screamed and convulsed, falling to the ground, and the star-breaking crossbows fell everywhere.
With a wave of his hand, hundreds of soldiers were rendered powerless. He had already shown mercy; otherwise, all the soldiers would have turned to charcoal.
The four-winged vulture also landed, and the gray-robed figure walked down, lifting his hood to reveal a slightly pale but still handsome face. The young man's face was about seventy percent similar to Mo Yang Yu's.
"Xiao Yu, are you still going to resist?" the young man in the gray robe said.
"Brother..." the purple-robed woman Mo Yang Yu's eyes widened, and her body trembled slightly.