landbeastnovel Chapter 626: The Ledger of the Weak
Chapter 626: The Ledger of the Weak
Ethan watched the blood trail left by Lysander quickly dry into the stone plaza before turning back to the three shaken women. Reaching into his storage ring, he pulled out a spare, thick cotton traveling tunic he kept for wilderness survival and tossed it toward the two younger girls.
"Cover yourselves," said Ethan, his voice flat and practical. "I am Ethan Brightsword. It is a pleasure."
The eldest girl hurriedly caught the heavy fabric, wrapping it tightly around her two shivering cousins to obscure their exposed, pale skin. Once they were securely covered, the three of them bowed deeply toward him, their expressions a chaotic mix of intense relief and lingering fear.
"I am Cynthia, from the House of Sterling," said the eldest, her voice trembling slightly as she smoothed down her tattered robes. "And these are my younger cousins, Lily and Nina. We cannot thank you enough for your intervention, Senior Brother Brightsword."
As they began to walk away from the lingering crowd toward a quieter side path, Cynthia softly explained the sequence of events that had led to the brutal public humiliation.
Lily and Nina were brand-new recruits who had only successfully cleared the secondary entrance trials and arrived at the outer peak the previous evening. Cynthia, who had already spent three grueling years navigating the harsh, competitive hierarchy of the outer sect, had received a family transmission that her young cousins had passed. She had traveled down to the registration plaza specifically to escort them to their new living quarters.
Unfortunately, the two young, naive noble girls had instantly caught the predatory attention of Lysander.
"They still possessed the fragile, foolish arrogance of outside nobles," said Cynthia, letting out a bitter, self-deprecating sigh. "They didn’t understand that our family name holds zero weight inside the boundaries of the pavilion. When Lysander began to aggressively corner and harass them, they didn’t swallow their pride. Instead, they fiercely insulted him to his face, demanding he back down."
That petty defiance had instantly earned the two younger girls a swift, merciless beating that tore their robes to ribbons.
"I arrived right as they were forced to the ground," said Cynthia, her knuckles turning white as she remembered the absolute horror. "I tried to logically reason with him, offering spiritual stones to smooth over the offense. But Lysander was utterly unyielding. Because his grandfather rules the Discipline Hall, he demanded an absolute, disgusting compensation to restore his bruised ego."
Cynthia’s face flushed with a mixture of intense rage and shame as she spat out the final details. Lysander had given them a vile, non-negotiable ultimatum: either all three of them had to perform a degrading act of submission on their knees right there in the open plaza, or he would forcefully take one of them to his private quarters for the night to share with his lackeys, leaving the choice entirely up to them.
The disgusting demand had instantly triggered the desperate combat.
"I drew my blade to protect them, but it was an absolute, one-sided slaughter," said Cynthia, her voice dipping into a low, defeated whisper. "Lysander may be an entitled degenerate, but he is not a useless prop. His combat power is backed by the elite resources of the Discipline Hall, and he crushed my defenses within three exchanges. If you hadn’t stepped in when you did, Senior Brother... our lives on this mountain would have been thoroughly destroyed before they even began."
"The brat possesses a decent combat foundation," said Ethan, his piercing amethyst eyes scanning the quiet mountain pathway. "You truly need to exercise far greater caution from this day forward. On this mountain, if you rely on the hope that someone will always step forward to save you, you will merely become food for the crows."
"We will remember your words, Senior Brother Ethan," said Lily, her voice trembling with a mixture of raw awe and profound reverence as she looked up at him. "You truly are the brightest jewel of our generation. If it is ever possible in the future, we beg you to grant us even a fraction of your guidance."
Nina quickly followed her cousin’s example, bowing her head so low it almost touched the stone path.
Cynthia stared at her two young cousins in absolute, stunned bewilderment. She had spent three brutal years watching the younger generations of outside nobles strut around the outer peaks with unyielding, toxic pride. To see her own family members—who just hours ago were screaming noble threats at Lysander—bowing with such absolute, almost religious reverence toward a random new disciple was completely mind-boggling.
"Lily, Nina... what are you doing?" said Cynthia, her brow furrowing as she pulled them slightly back. "Do you actually know who this man is?"
"Sister Cynthia, you’ve been isolated in the mid-tier training zones, so you haven’t heard the news yet," whispered Lily, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "He is the absolute, undisputed champion of the entire new recruitment class! He is already a living legend across the borderlands!"
"He doesn’t belong to any high-ranking noble family or grand core clan," added Nina, her voice filled with intense admiration. "He came straight from the rugged outer frontier. He, Justus, and Lesly were the only three absolute monsters who successfully cleared the mythical supreme selection trial. There was another rookie who scraped through alongside them, but everyone knows he only passed through pure, unadulterated luck. Senior Brother Ethan is one of the three true local legends of our entire generation!"
Cynthia stood frozen for a long moment, the names of the supreme selection victors finally clicking together in her mind. Her eyes widened as she looked at Ethan with an entirely new level of profound seriousness.
"I apologize for my ignorance, Senior Brother," said Cynthia, bowing her head in a deep, formal gesture of respect. "I have been so buried in my own training that I hadn’t yet heard the rumors from the lower peaks. You truly live up to your legendary reputation. To possess such absolute power and extreme control while coming from the frontier... you are an entirely impressive existence."
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From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.
Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.
Body Refinement Realm
Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement
Spiritual Gathering Realm
Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation
Spiritual Core Realm
Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)
Spiritual Soul Realm
Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion
Golden Core Realm
Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction
Spiritual Sea Realm
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
Dao Manifestation Realm
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
Spiritual Transcendence
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
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Sword mastery levels
Sword Intent.
Sword Aura.