Chapter 12

Chapter 12 The Returning Youth

It had been nearly two weeks since their last encounter. Why had this youth returned, looking so disheveled?

With such questions in mind, Lolan Hill returned to the campfire where Pulman had rested before. The fire was long extinguished, leaving only a few black charcoal remnants.

As Lolan Hill approached again, she saw the youth leaning against a large tree by the stream, panting heavily. His clothes were full of scratches, and his hands bore blisters and bloodstains, indicating he had endured much hardship on his journey.

Hearing the unmasked footsteps, the youth looked up.

The slanted sunlight illuminated the forest, with tiny dust particles floating slowly in the light. A white-dressed girl emerged from the shade, her silver hair glistening with a faint golden hue under the sun. Her azure and transparent eyes resembled a marvel sent down from heaven.

It took Poulman some time to recover from the shock.

“Please, tell me how to defeat those nobles and merchants!”

Seeing the doubt in the girl’s eyes, he began recounting the events that led him here.

Pulman had discovered his sister’s murder and wanted revenge. However, the noble’s guards were too numerous for him to launch a surprise attack. So he turned his attention to the merchant Moke, whom he ambushed while masked, injuring him. But Moke’s bodyguards quickly responded, and Pulman managed to escape.

Uncertain if Moke would recognize him, Pulman didn’t return home but fled directly into the forest. After being rescued by Lolan Hill, he planned to head north to the mercenary nation.

However, fearing his parents’ worry, he decided to go back home first, leaving a gemstone with them to improve their living conditions and reassure them that he was still alive and heading far away to develop himself.

But upon returning, he found his parents had gone mad searching for him, believing he had also been murdered. They confronted Moke, inadvertently exposing themselves. Moke, enraged, severely injured them.

By the time Pulman arrived home, the village’s poor medical conditions and lack of priests of the Angel Sequence meant his parents soon fell ill and passed away.

Grief-stricken, Pulman escaped from Moke’s men and re-entered the forest, with no other choice left.

All he wanted was revenge!

Despite his injuries, he trembled as he knelt, hands on the ground, pleading to the celestial-like girl for guidance on defeating his enemies.

“I’m sorry, I know these matters have nothing to do with you, and my request is quite impertinent.”

“But I can’t think of any other way. I am just a poor village boy, lacking both experience and strength.”

“Tell me what to do; I want revenge. Just show me how to defeat them, and I will give everything.”

Once, he might have harbored some hopeful fantasies, but now, anger and hatred overwhelmed all his feelings of inferiority, fear, and insecurity. Even if it cost him his life and peace, he wanted those people to face their due consequences!

“Stand up, Pulman,” the girl said after listening to his impassioned narrative.

“Only by standing up can you earn the right to receive knowledge.”

“From now on, you must never kneel before anyone. Not only that, but you must also tell everyone you know not to kneel before anyone.”

She turned her body, plucking a small branch and planting it in the ground.

“The seeds in one’s heart should grow in the right direction from the beginning. If they deviate at the start, even if they grow well, they are still wrong and need to be cut down.”

“All humans are born equal, so there’s no need to kneel before anyone.”

“Do you wish to change this country? This isn’t something one person can achieve alone.”

“First, you must become strong yourself, setting an example and leading others. Only then will people believe and follow you.”

Lolan Hill looked at the once simple youth before her. Despite his tattered clothes and wounds, his black eyes now burned with a desire for power and revenge.

Unlike before, when she advised him to preserve his life and seek survival elsewhere, things had changed completely.

Perhaps earlier, he could have started a new life elsewhere, letting time gradually fade his hatred and sorrow.

But the world was cruel, pushing him into a corner with no retreat. If he gave up on revenge, he would likely spend his life in self-reproach and torment.

Therefore, even knowing he might pay with his life for his revenge and ideals, Lolan Hill would still tell him effective methods.

The tragedy that befell this youth couldn’t be resolved simply by killing a couple of evil nobles and merchants.

She wouldn’t directly help him kill those villains. Victory obtained through external assistance would be false and wouldn’t bring about a better future.

So, she would offer Pulman indirect help, but she wouldn’t take action herself. Only by taking revenge personally could he find the greatest solace and avoid regret.

Task: Answering Pulman’s doubts—Complete! (100%)

Rewards: Formula for Extraordinary Creation [Twilight Cloth Weaving Manual], 5 System Lottery Chances.

—

In the following days, Pulman stayed by the campfire. Lolan Hill first retrieved the original gemstone she had previously given him and used Trinasha’s records to transform it into a simple inheritance gemstone.

Although material limitations meant it could only store limited information, even just textual data without images, she still imparted many crucial pieces of knowledge to the youth.

First, she taught him writing, followed by excerpts from the military cultivation paths of the Mercury Dynasty. Considering the Necromancer Sequence too conspicuous in the present, she chose a war sequence cultivation method. From War Sequence 1·Black Armor Squire to War Sequence 7·Tormenting Overlord, complete manuals were provided.

She also included various military tactics, strategies, and management techniques, all summarized over the Mercury Dynasty’s millennia of warfare.

It’s undeniable that from its founding until Trinasha’s passing, the Mercury Dynasty engaged in countless wars.

The entire dynasty’s systems were geared toward farming and warfare. It was this frenzied warfare and slaughter that saved humanity from extinction and eventually made them the sole dominant force on the continent.

“If Heaven does not lower the Purple Wisteria Crescent Flag, then eternity will remain in perpetual night.” A scholar wrote at the time.

—End of Chapter