Bai Shi was brought back to the Site of Grace behind the castle by Melina.
He glanced at the achievement panel, and sure enough, another one had been lit up: Arrived at the Roundtable Hold.
The uses for Fengling Yueying had also been restored by one, bringing the total back to three.
After confirming the restored uses, Bai Shi immediately hurried back to his room.
He was simply too tired—mentally exhausted.
Emerging from the Site of Grace had invigorated his spirit, but the recent long period of combat had kept his nerves perpetually taut.
Now, he had to get to bed and get some proper sleep, or he felt he would snap.
On his way back, Bai Shi took a moment to recall what Nepheli had told him in the Roundtable Hold about the usage of the game's multiplayer items.
They were similar to how they worked in the game, but with quite a few differences.
The Tarnished's Hooked Finger needed to be used in conjunction with a Hook-Calling Remedy.
He could leave a sign in certain dangerous areas, and if someone used a Hook-Calling Remedy, they would be able to see these signs.
Touching a sign would send a notification to the person who left it.
However, unlike in the game, the person who left the sign would need to find a Site of Grace, teleport to another Site of Grace near the sign, and then run over.
This meant that it would be very difficult to get help from others in an emergency, as they might not be able to make it in time.
Furthermore, they could simply refuse the call to come, merely by using a Finger Severer to cut the connection between themselves and the sign.
All in all, it was quite unreliable.
Bai Shi gave up on the idea of gathering a large group of people to fight bosses.
Unless he could cultivate a squad of Tarnished who followed his commands completely, the efficiency of assembling a group would be terribly low.
But if he really had a group of Tarnished loyal to him, why wouldn't he just take them to fight the boss directly? Using the Hooked Finger to summon people would be completely unnecessary.
After thinking it over, it seemed the only real use for this function was for Bai Shi to leave his own sign so that an NPC he wanted to save could summon him for help.
Or, he could use it to explore with others by pre-arranging it. He would scout ahead, and when the other person arrived at the location, they could touch the sign to notify him.
Ugh, too much trouble. He might as well just stick to using the Tarnished's Old Finger, leaving some messages and his footprints across the Lands Between.
Bai Shi quickly returned to his room, took off his armor, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep almost instantly.
Bai Shi awoke from the soft, large bed.
His sleep had been deep, serene, and peaceful.
Opening his eyes, he stared at the unfamiliar ceiling but didn't get up.
Instead, he lazed in bed for a while, rolling back and forth. The softness of the mattress reminded him of his past life.
But Bai Shi didn't indulge in the nostalgia for long. He had already crossed over, so dwelling on the past was meaningless.
Now, he had to get stronger. He wanted to become incredibly strong.
Strong enough to be the greatest master in the Roundtable Hold.
Strong enough to become Elden Lord.
But after leaving his room, Bai Shi was at a loss.
Because he didn't know where Edgar was.
He went out into the courtyard for a stroll. By now, more than half of the corpses in the courtyard had been cleared away.
Bai Shi quickly spotted Yulius carrying bodies in the courtyard and had him lead the way to Edgar's room.
Bai Shi knocked on the door, and Edgar's voice immediately sounded from within.
Bai Shi pushed the door open. Edgar wasn't wearing his armor, but rather an upper-class long robe with a blue surcoat.
It was the attire of lords, a proof of status.
Seeing Edgar writing and drawing on documents at his desk, Bai Shi suddenly felt it wasn't a good time to interrupt.
"My apologies, I seem to have disturbed you while you were working."
Seeing that his visitor was Bai Shi, Edgar was a bit surprised and quickly stood up.
"No, it's fine. The short-term work has been arranged, and the follow-up tasks can't be scheduled in a short while anyway. Please, tell me what's on your mind first."
The subsequent reconstruction of Castle Morne was giving him a massive headache.
Coupled with the shortage of manpower, he often had to participate in manual labor himself, wishing he could split himself in two.
Even so, returning to its former state was still a distant dream.
Since that was the case, he might as well hear Bai Shi out first. Edgar didn't think Bai Shi was here for a casual chat; he must have some purpose.
Bai Shi then explained his desire to learn martial arts from Edgar.
Edgar's first reaction was: is he joking?
In Edgar's view, Bai Shi's combat skills needed no guidance from him.
Edgar certainly couldn't take on a hundred Misbegotten by himself and then battle a Leonine Misbegotten for three hundred rounds.
"Hmm, your strength is greater than mine. I'm afraid my skills are not sufficient to instruct you."
Bai Shi quickly explained:
"I have no real form when I fight; my fundamentals are too poor. Only my combat instincts seem to be inexplicably decent."
"And I really want to learn the Storm series of battle arts. I want to train until I can command the storm as freely as you do."
Edgar was very perplexed. He had clearly seen Bai Shi use a storm to block the envoy's hidden arrow back then.
Such control was impossible without having mastered the storm.
At this moment, the Ancient King instructed Bai Shi in his mind to take out its ashes.
Bai Shi took the Ancient King's ashes from his small pouch.
A wisp of magic was drawn out, and a pure wind blew towards Edgar.
After deciphering the message in the wind, Edgar had a revelation. He immediately dropped to one knee, saluting the Ancient King's ashes. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕥⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥
"To think that I would be able to witness the legendary Ancient King."
Edgar stood up and looked at Bai Shi, his gaze having completely changed.
"The Ancient King has just told me everything. Because His Majesty is not of human flesh, he can only channel your magic to unleash the storm, but he cannot teach you how to unleash it yourself."
"Therefore, I shall be your instructor from now on. I will certainly do my utmost."
Bai Shi was dumbfounded. What on earth did the Ancient King say? Why had Edgar's attitude changed so drastically, to the point of using honorifics?
"May I ask what the Ancient King told you?"
"My apologies, the Ancient King asked me to keep it a secret."
Speechless. *Are you a child, Ancient King? At your age, still playing with mysteries.*
Bai Shi decided not to pursue it. As long as he could learn, that was all that mattered. Bai Shi was looking forward to dual-wielding greatswords and unleashing a lightning whirlwind slash after he mastered the art.
"So, when do we start?"
Edgar stroked his beard and thought for a moment.
"Please give me ten minutes. I'll delegate today's work and change into my armor."
"Then we'll begin training outside the castle."
Bai Shi went outside the castle first. The vast expanse of grassland was very wide, with a Site of Grace not far away. If he ran out of magic, he could replenish it immediately. It was indeed a good place to practice.
Soon, Edgar arrived wearing his Banished Knight armor. The abdomen still bore the dent from Singh's kick.
Seeing that Bai Shi was already prepared, Edgar took a stance.