The Paladin in the Abyss

"I am very satisfied, hahaha! I shall reward you!"

Lancelot was startled, ready to refuse, when a fearsome energy had already surged into his body.

"This bit of Flame Essence should be enough for your advancement. Perhaps one day you too will become a Lord like Baro. When that day comes, come before my throne, kneel down, and swear your loyalty to me in the name of the Stygian River, wahahaha!"

The flames spiked like an explosion to their maximum before suddenly extinguishing, along with the face of the Demon Lord that vanished into thin air.

Lancelot dropped down on his backside and immediately entered a state of cultivation. The energy that had poured into him was like a red-hot iron ball, rampaging through his body. Had the demon stayed a few more seconds, Lancelot's physical body might have been completely destroyed by the energy.

The True Qi that was extended outside was all retracted, wrapping the magma-like energy securely inside. He guided the energy, continuously conducting the Circulation Transfer, struggling to dissipate the ferocity and annihilation within it.

As he continued his Qi Cultivation, a vast amount of energy seeped from the Meridians into all his muscles, then expelled through the acupoints around his body, making his armor crack and fall off like dried bark. Of course, the expelled energy was merely wasted, but letting it continue to wreak havoc inside was an even greater loss.

Moreover, Lancelot himself didn't want this energy in the first place.

At this time, his companions returned to the cave. Everyone had heard the sounds from inside the cave, but the terrible high temperature inside made it impossible for them to approach. They were all prepared to find only ashes of Lancelot, but upon seeing that the Human Knight was still alive, they all cheered loudly.

"Ha! You're unscathed; you must have the bloodline of a Red Dragon running through you!" Bruto excitedly ran towards Lancelot but halfway, his beard suddenly caught fire.

The Dwarf retreated with loud cries, frantically patting his beard to extinguish the flames. Fortunately, the fire was quickly snuffed out, and his beard looked just as ugly as before.

"Err, that was close," Bruto said cautiously, cradling his beard and checking over each whisker before looking at Lancelot in confusion, "What's happened to him? Why is he sitting naked on the ground?"

"This seems to be Lancelot's unique method of cultivation," Kalalin stepped back, "Don't worry. I think he needs some time and doesn't want to be disturbed."

"Then let's wait," Bruto sniffed, "Oh my, that smell of roasted meat... the monster has been eradicated, right?"

The group left Lancelot aside and turned to check on the monster. Kalalin's magic was beginning to fail, and the floor was rising bit by bit. But the terrible carcass had been burnt to nothing, leaving not even bones behind.

"Did you hear that?" Kalalin felt she had heard some very faint whispers and questioned her companions.

"What?" the Dwarf cupped his ear, "I didn't hear anything."

"How clear that sound was," Eckmond chuckled, "But you living people probably can't hear it very well."

"That is the song of souls departing," Alamir's eyes glowed with golden light, "They have finally been liberated, and I can feel it—my Goddess is also very content."

"But I still don't understand, why would those zombies attack the cellar of the Withered Rose? That ghost seemed to have no motivation to do such a thing." Koula covered her nose, having transformed back into her petite halfling form.

"I have a theory." Kalalin stroked his chin, "Those zombies that ran to Agamemnon's cellar are most likely the guests who died in the Withered Rose."

"You mean... after these zombies escaped control, they were instinctively driven to return to the place where they died?" Alamir pondered for a moment, "I've never heard of such a thing, but that must be the reason. But why did they die in that tavern?"

"Only those corpses themselves would know." Kalalin shrugged, "Such a pity, they all burned to ashes. Are you planning to look into this matter further?"

"...As long as that Tiflin doesn't water down the beer, he's a good boss," Bruto made a face at Kalalin, "As for safety in the tavern, I trust my hammer more."

"Very good, can your hammer watch over my safety now?" Kalalin yawned, pulling out a roll of bedding from his backpack, "I've never released so many spells at once before, it would be great if I could catch a quick nap now... Lancelot is really warm right now, like a furnace..."

"Same here, that Mutagen puts a huge strain on the body." Koula also pulled out an identical roll of bedding, which apparently came as a premium with the purchase of Howard's convenience bags, "I want to sleep a bit too, just for a while..."

"Oh, you guys are so weak, you really need to train more." Bruto proudly flexed his muscles, "Rest easy, and let's hope Lancelot doesn't cool down too quickly."

Kalalin's snoring answered him; the Scholar had full trust in his companions, and he was indeed very tired, falling asleep almost instantly.

"You all go rest as well." Bruto waved at the others, "With me on watch, be at ease."

Meanwhile, Lancelot, who was in the midst of Qi Cultivation, was oblivious to the outside world, but he equally trusted his friends to protect his body. The 'gift' given by the Demon seemed to have a mind of its own, constantly trying to change Lancelot's body.

If it weren't for his ability to suppress it with his high-rank Qi Cultivation Stage strength, the Human Knight might very well have turned into something strange by now.

After repeated Circulation Transfers and purging impurities, Lancelot finally transformed it into ordinary True Qi, thoroughly taming the wild energy. Although about seventy percent of the energy was expelled from his body during the process, he ultimately assimilated the unexpected 'gift' safely.

He carefully continued guiding the True Qi to circulate within his body, gradually absorbing the energy into his Dantian. After dozens of repetitions, all the True Qi in his body were re-harmonized into the Dantian, fully amalgamating as one.

As someone in the latter stages of the high-rank Qi Refinement Realm, under normal circumstances, there should always be True Qi flowing through Lancelot's Meridians, like rivers in full flow. But at this moment, even his Dantian was half empty, with less than half of the depletion due to battle, the rest spent on absorbing the 'gift'.

Once he confirmed that his body had returned to normal, Lancelot slowly opened his tightly closed eyes.

"Boss, you're awake?" Eckmond was the first to react, noticing that the mental connection with his master had been restored.

"Oh? All better now?" Bruto's voice came from behind Lancelot, "Koula was saying you would shoot out scorching rays the moment you opened your eyes, burning a hole in me or something. Such nonsense, haha, I never believed it!"