The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 993: Becoming Divine Vanguard Knights

"Welcome to the place where you will reach glory, recruits who have passed all of my tests. You are now the knights of the Divine Vanguard." Aldrian said.

"To be honest, I initially only planned to accept two hundred people to join this knight order. However, I truly did not expect that there would be this many who could pass my tests. I am truly proud of all of you, and I simply did not want to throw any of you away."

"However, the moment you step into this place, there is no way back. Without the need for any fancy ceremony, the moment you step into this place, you have officially already become members of the Divine Vanguard Knight Order. Even if, for now, you are only members in name and not in strength."

"One hundred and fifty-six marquess stage, fifty-three duke stage, thirty-nine grand duke stage, and five emperor stage. In the normal mindset, emperor stage cultivators should already be the most worthy of becoming members of this knight order because of their strength, right?" Aldrian swept his gaze to all lines.

"Wrong. For me, you are all the same here, still not enough to reach my standard. If I were only looking for strength, then I would only accept those at the Immortal Transition Realm into this knight order."

"For me, creating formidable troops with powerful strength can be done as long as the right method is used. The real journey will begin after you start your activities as members of the Divine Vanguard."

"No matter even if you are emperor stage cultivators..." Aldrian looked at the line of emperor stage cultivators for a moment before looking at the others again.

"All of you will be reshaped into new individuals who will reach my standard in terms of strength. So you had better throw away any arrogant attitude because of higher cultivation here. There is no arrogance in this knight order, only a sense of unity and camaraderie among the members of this knight order."

"That is why my tests emphasized your character as a person, not only your strength. As I said before, for me, strength can be shaped, but character is much more difficult to change."

"I want to see how you will face all of those challenges and temptations. Will you drown in temptation? Will you give up under despairing situations? Will you forget who you are or what you will become under all of those pressures?"

"With the tests that I gave you, all of you passed them. You are the best of the best, and I have already set my eyes on all of you, those with great potential and talent to become my finest knight order. You will not only be powerful cultivators but will also possess great character, the true quality of the Divine Vanguard Knight Order."

"You have already become my force, one that will obey my command in the future, even if it means fighting in the harshest battle conditions. Are you afraid?"

"No, Your Majesty!" the knights replied in unison.

Aldrian nodded. "Good. Now let me introduce you to your commander, your leader in the Divine Vanguard Knight Order. I know all of you already know who this person is, but there is no harm in introducing him again here, as you will be working with him. Xin Haotian, or what you are more familiar with as the Sword Saint."

The others looked at Xin Haotian. They still did not expect that Xin Haotian would actually become a knight under Aldrian. They had thought that, with how solitary this man was, Xin Haotian would not join someone or work under anyone.

"He will be the one who will personally train you to reach my standard, so be prepared," Aldrian continued.

"Now, before you truly start your training as members of the Divine Vanguard Knight Order, I want you to cultivate this cultivation technique that I have created especially for this knight order."

The Xin family elders then gave each member a scroll.

"As you may have heard, I can create cultivation techniques that can be used without you having to destroy your cultivation foundation. From this moment on, I want you to cultivate this and abandon your current cultivation techniques."

The eyes of all the knights glimmered as they looked at the still-sealed scrolls. They had already heard about their emperor’s ability to create revolutionary cultivation techniques that caused an uproar everywhere.

Now, they could finally experience such a cultivation technique for themselves.

"I will give you one week to get used to this place and this cultivation technique. After that, your training will start for real. Once your training begins, you will enter what I call the time of evolution. For seven months, Xin Haotian will train you according to the training methods we have already formulated."

"During that time, you will be completely separated from the outside world, as you will spend your days inside secret realms. And this is only the first step for you to reach my standard, so please enjoy the training and whatever comes to you in the future."

"Don’t worry. You will not die, as we will not allow you to die. However, you might feel that you would be better off dead. But, I don’t think you will give up, right?" Aldrian asked with a smile.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Although the knights shouted in unison, they could not help but shudder inside upon seeing Aldrian’s smile. They knew it would be truly difficult training if their emperor had already given such a warning.

"Now you may return to the houses we have already prepared, as I promised when I first announced the selection for those who could join the Divine Vanguard. Those houses will become your properties."

"For those who brought their families, you don’t need to worry about their lives here. They may live normally here. Although there are certain rules they must obey, I do not think those rules will affect their lives much." Aldrian swept his gaze across all the knights one last time.

"I hope you succeed, ladies and gentlemen. Dismiss."

After saying that, the knights instantly dispersed to look for their houses. The Xin family elders also helped guide them so they would not get lost.

However, there was one person who stayed behind and approached Aldrian, causing Aldrian to look at him.

He instantly recognized this person as Revanus, the one he had taken note of during the tests. Aldrian looked at his face, which showed hesitation, as if he wanted to say something but was holding it back.

"Revanus Alberin, do you have anything you want to say?" Aldrian asked.

Revanus was stunned. He did not expect Aldrian to know him and call his name directly, but he did not find it too surprising, as he believed Aldrian must know everyone who had become part of the Divine Vanguard.

He immediately bowed to Aldrian.

"Your Majesty, I have something that I would like to request, if Your Majesty permits."

"What is it?"

Revanus released a sigh of relief when Aldrian showed willingness to hear his request, so he continued while still bowing.

"I have a sickly mother whom I brought here. Her condition has never improved since she fell ill, and it could even be said that as time passes, her condition worsens. This humble one’s request is whether Your Majesty knows someone who could heal her."

He actually wanted Aldrian to personally check on his mother, but he felt that would be too presumptuous. He would already be satisfied as long as his mother could be healed, no matter who healed her.

Aldrian raised his eyebrows and smiled upon hearing the request.

’I see. That might be his greatest motivation for passing the tests,’ he thought.

"I see. Then let me see your mother. I would like to check her myself," he said, which made Revanus lift his head and look at him with widened eyes.

Aldrian would check his mother personally?

His eyes glimmered as he bowed again. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generosity."

He really wanted to cry at that moment, as he believed that with Aldrian personally checking her condition, his mother would most likely be completely healed.

After that, an elder guided them to the house that had already been assigned to Revanus. The moment they arrived in front of it, Revanus was truly shocked.

He had not yet seen the house given to him, so he had no idea what to expect from his new home.

He had only thought that the house would be better than his previous residence, and as long as the place was comfortable enough for his mother to live in, he did not care what kind of house it was.

However, the house he received for joining the Divine Vanguard was nothing like what he had expected.

The place given to him as a home was more appropriate to be called a villa, and a large one at that. A villa surrounded by a vast and beautiful garden.

He wondered if he had been given the wrong house.

But he could only accept that this was indeed his house when the elder entered through the front gate and guided them toward the main doors, passing through the beautiful garden.

The elder opened the main doors and entered the villa, followed by Aldrian and Revanus.

After they entered, they immediately saw a woman standing not far from them, looking in their direction.

The woman looked astonished upon seeing the incoming guests, and her gaze quickly settled on Revanus. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Revanus," she said.