The Heavenly Knight

Chapter 9 - Blood Blade

Shinra Kazan, Kanezawa Mitsunari, and Daigo Renji arrived in front of a small inn at the edge of Tsukihara Village. The three of them immediately went inside to meet the innkeeper.

“Grandma Chiyo, we’d like to reserve two rooms for tonight!” said Kanezawa Mitsunari.

An elderly woman with a hunched back turned around and looked at Kanezawa Mitsunari and his two friends. “Oh, it’s you young folks again! All right, use those two rooms in the middle!”

Shinra Kazan glanced at the row of small rooms; there were only four rooms in the inn, lined up in a row, and in front of each room there was nothing but an empty chair and table.

“Young man! Where’s your teacher?” asked the old woman.

“Our teacher has to run an errand for a bit, Grandma. He’ll probably be back soon!” replied Kanezawa Mitsunari.

"Oh...! All right, have a good rest!" said the old woman. Then she walked off.

“Come on, Young Master!” said Daigo Renji, and then he and Kanezawa Mitsunari led the way, followed by Shinra Kazan.

"Young Master, you can sleep with the teacher, while we’ll sleep in the next room. If you need anything, just call us!" said Kanezawa Mitsunari, to which Shinra Kazan responded with a nod.

Shinra Kazan immediately went into his room alone, while Kanezawa Mitsunari and Daigo Renji went into the room next to Shinra Kazan’s.

Once inside the room, Shinra Kazan wanted to rest by lying down on the bed.

Shinra Kazan felt incredibly weak—perhaps because his body had shrunk to that of a child, or because his Ki was gone.

“Once I arrive at the Golden Lion Sect, I’ll have to practice my breathing first so I’ll be strong enough to resume my training,” Shinra Kazan muttered.

With the first-stage Black Blood Cells within him, it won’t be difficult for him when he begins intense training, but at the very least, he must be able to stabilize his breathing so he doesn’t tire.

Red Blood Cells have three stages, as do Green and Pure Blood Cells. Reaching the third stage of Black Blood Cell refinement will at least make his body twice as strong as usual.

All three Blood Cells offer crucial benefits for Knights, especially the Pure Blood Cell, which can make the heart healthier and the bones stronger and as hard as diamond-hard steel.

Even pure blood cells would make a knight who already possesses them the perfectly strongest knight who has ever existed.

However, to date, not a single knight has ever possessed Pure Blood Cells, because acquiring and perfecting pure blood is no easy feat.

Becoming a knight takes a lot of resources; it requires extremely rigorous training. Any knight can reach the Light tier with resources. However, possessing the Pure Blood Cell is nearly impossible.

With a deep sigh, Shinra Kazan was about to close his eyes when he suddenly heard someone speaking next to his room.

Slowly, Shinra Kazan pressed his ear against the wooden wall.

Shinra Kazan could hear the conversation in the next room, who turned out to be a gang of muggers—Kenzou Arata had already taken his two friends to the village chief’s house.

From their conversation, Shinra Kazan learned they were unaware of Koumei Hisen, who had incapacitated them.

The speaker was the second friend of the captured mugger; he was the knight who fled when he couldn’t handle Koumei Hisen.

“I have to warn Kenzou Arata about this!” muttered Shinra Kazan.

According to Shinra Kazan, they must have already known about Kenzou Arata and his group, but they didn’t know that Kenzou Arata’s group was staying at the same inn.

After quite a while, Kenzou Arata opened the door to Shinra’s room and stood there. “Oh, I’m sorry, Young Master. I thought you were already asleep!”

“Shh…!” Shinra Kazan put his index finger to his lips to signal Kenzou Arata to be quiet.

“What’s the matter, Young Master?” asked Kenzou Arata.

Shinra Kazan immediately approached Kenzou Arata and whispered to him.

“There are people staying in the room next door, and they’re part of that gang of muggers!” said Shinra Kazan.

Surprised, Kenzou Arata inquired, “Are you sure? You might be wrong!”

Shinra Kazan nodded and then recounted what he had heard.

"If everything you said is true, that means the village chief must be in danger—I have to get there right away!" said Kenzou Arata. He tried to leave, but Shinra Kazan held his hand.

“Young Master, if you’re afraid, you’d better just stay in Daigo Renji’s room!” said Kenzou Arata, as he tried to lead Shinra to Daigo Renji’s room.

Shinra Kazan shook his head, leaving Kenzou Arata confused. “Young Master, I can’t just sit idly by here while the village chief is in danger!” said Kenzou Arata.

Kenzou Arata thought Shinra Kazan didn’t want to be far from him, which was why he said that.

“Teacher! Mom said something. If a wolf is watching our sheep, should we wait for it to attack? Or should we go to its den first? We could scare them away before they reach us,” Shinra Kazan said.

“Yes… of course we have to go to the wolves’ den—that is, if we even know where it is!” said Kenzou Arata.

"Doesn’t the Master already know where the Wolves’ lair is now?" Shinra Kazan asked, feigning innocence.

Kenzou just remembered that the gang of muggers was right next to his room. “You’re still young, but you’re quite smart. Thank you, young master. Now, please come with me.”

Kenzou Arata took Shinra Kazan to Daigo Renji’s room and then explained the situation to his two students.

Kenzou Arata asked Kanezawa Mitsunari to come with him, while Daigo Renji stayed behind to watch over Shinra Kazan in the room.

Kenzou Arata and Kanezawa Mitsunari immediately headed to the next room, and he politely knocked on the door first.

“Excuse me, sir!” said Kenzou Arata as he knocked on the door.

Shortly afterward, a burly man in a sleeveless shirt opened the door, showing a black tattoo on his upper arm with two blades inside a circle.

The man realized with surprise that this person was the very one they’d been talking about earlier. “You…! How did you know we were in this room?”

“Um… so it’s true that you’re the Blood Blade Circle Bandits and the second member of that gang? It turns out the Young Master didn’t mishear after all!” said Kenzou Arata.

Shortly afterward, two more people appeared behind the burly man, one of whom was a knight wielding a sword belonging to the Fengrui Kingdom.

Kenzou Arata gave the man holding the Fengrui Kingdom sword a bitter smile, then spoke again.

"I know what you guys are up to, so since I’m already here, I’m going to catch all of you and take the three of you to the village chief—yeah, it’ll be a nice little side hustle!" said Kenzou Arata.

The three of them laughed at Kenzou Arata’s words.

“Hahahaha…! Are you sure about what you’re saying, Old Knight? Look—there aren’t just three of us, but five!” said the big man.

Two more people came out from the room next to Daigo Renji’s, and it turned out that the two occupied rooms were theirs.

Kenzou Arata let out a long sigh; he could sense that they were all at the Lower Knight, Stage Two level—except for the man wielding the Fengrui Royal Sword.

“Everyone, attack quickly and kill those two!” said the man wielding the Sword of the Fengrui Kingdom.

“This place is too small for us to fight. Let’s just the two of us go outside and play with the five of you!” said Kenzou Arata.

In the next instant, his hand was already on the tattooed man’s face, and he dragged him out of the inn.

Kanezawa Mitsunari didn’t just stand by either; he immediately attacked one of them with a claw strike and then leaped out as well.

The four bandits immediately followed their tattooed friend out; they all drew their swords, and everyone soon heard the fight.

They were part of the Blood Blade Circle gang.

"You two need to be careful—he’s a member of the Golden Lion Sect!" said the owner of the Fengrui Sword, then resumed his attack on Kenzou Arata.

They were unaware that Kenzou Arata was, in fact, a First-Stage Knight of Light.