At this moment, Byron closed his eyes, following the Promotion Ceremony’s guidance, and re-entered the spiritual world where his Spirituality had first awakened.
He transformed back into the amphibious reptile that had just surged from the deep sea to glimpse the vast world.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!...
Accompanied by the grand and distant tolling of bells.
Within the Law Network before him, the vast spiritual radiance coalesced into various majestic structures, imbued with a profound sense of history and vicissitude.
There were towering spires that reached into the clouds; military fortresses armed to the teeth; and solemn, dignified Tribunals with swords hanging high...
There were Holy Temples, clad entirely in snow-white, surrounded by countless Angels continuously singing sacred hymns. There were also ancient lighthouses silently radiating their light...
Each structure represented a body of prerequisite knowledge Byron possessed, a Transcendent Sequence in which he could be initiated.
From these, more than a dozen pristine, light-formed pathways extended—the Ladders of Glory.
A single sweep of his gaze across the undulating sea surface revealed images of Storm Knights, Pirates, Holy Knights, Fortress Guards, Navigators, Navigators, Artillery Experts, Musketeers, Law Mages, Naturalists, and other Extraordinary professions.
Byron, who had already made his decision, was not dazzled by the various other professions and bellowed,
The storm dragon emblem on his chest instantly shot out a luminous anchor cable, fiercely hooking onto the Ladder of Glory representing the Lighthouse Sequence. He then stepped onto it.
Instantly, Byron felt a powerful force lift him, sending him soaring into the sky.
Immediately, however, his vision was obscured by an inky storm and dark clouds, his ears filled with the roar of ferocious winds and colossal waves.
His body, formed from his spirit, swayed in the tempest, as if the surging waves threatened to drag him back into the sea.
At that precise moment, solemn oaths imbued with the aura of iron and blood resounded in Byron’s ears.
While helping to stabilize his mind, they also sought to sway his aspirations, to pull him decisively into their fold:
"Face formidable foes, fearless and undaunted! Be resolute and loyal, never dishonoring the Holy Father! Be candid and upright, preferring death to deceit! Shield the weak, never defying heavenly principles!"
"Humility, honesty, compassion, courage, justice, sacrifice, honor, faith!"
"I shall be merciful to the weak; I shall be brave against the strong; I shall fight tirelessly against the wicked; I shall fight for those who cannot fight themselves; I shall help those who call for my aid; I shall not harm women or children..."
Byron immediately realized that to pass through the storm before him, he first needed to endure a trial of the spirit.
The knightly path he had chosen originated with the Holy Knights of the Church.
This was a path of spiritual Cultivation centered on oaths.
It was similar to the Vinaya School of Buddhism from Byron’s previous life: the stricter the precepts one adhered to, the greater the Power one could attain.
Conversely, if an oath was broken, one’s Power would rapidly diminish.
The Church’s Holy Knights stood at the pinnacle of all knighthood precisely because they strictly abided by all virtues and precepts!
However, this also meant they had to renounce the Secular World and embark on an ascetic life, devoid of worldly desires.
Otherwise, their ideals and reality would inevitably clash violently, leading to mental disintegration long before they could mature.
Byron had once fantasized: if he suddenly gained Power beyond that of ordinary mortals, what would he become?
Would he become a superhero upholding justice, or a capricious tyrant acting on every whim?
Examining his conscience, he knew he couldn’t become a Holy Mother-like superhero, the kind who would let mortals point guns at their head; his moral standards simply weren’t that lofty.
Nor could he become a crazed tyrant, acting on every whim. Even though life had dealt him harsh blows in both his past and present lives, he always maintained a bottom line in his heart.
Uncontrolled Power would be the first to backlash against its wielder.
This was why all Transcendents had to adhere to their maxims and maintain a moral baseline!
What suited him, what he could uphold for a lifetime—that was the best path.
He didn’t want to be an Ascetic Monk detached from the Secular World, so he chose neither the Eight Great Virtues nor the oaths of a Holy Knight.
Nor did he opt for the ambiguous justice chosen by other noble knights.
Instead, mustering all his strength, he roared the Lancaster Family motto:
The vanguard of battle, of adventure, of pioneering, of the era...
This perfectly matched his ideals of exploring the world and pursuing freedom, and it was identical to the path of deciphering the unknown within the Sailing Logbook.
Instantly, the shouts of the other knights were drowned out, replaced by successive cries of, "I am the vanguard!"
These were the imprints left by every ancestor of the Lancaster Family within the Silver Law. Among them were Legendary High Sequence Knights and crowned sovereigns who had received Kingly Titles, their declarations no less formidable than orthodox knightly maxims.
The power of the maxim materialized, whisking Byron upward at high speed. In the blink of an eye, he broke through the storm before him.
When he came to his senses, he found himself in a small lighthouse built upon seaside reefs.
Beneath his feet lay a boundless expanse of pitch-black ocean.
The reef was narrow, and the lighthouse not tall, yet the light at its peak was exceptionally bright, illuminating the sea for kilometers around.
That was, in fact, Byron’s own Spiritual Radiance.
After his official initiation, as a Transcendent of the Lighthouse Sequence, he had finally gained his own lighthouse and the qualification to illuminate others!
Under the light’s radiance, he clearly saw numerous translucent, luminous anchor chains extending from his chest.
These represented all of Byron Lancaster’s intimate relationships, his every Anchor in this world.
Regrettably, after the catastrophe that wiped out his clan and the subsequent fall of the Lancaster Party, most of these Anchors had already completely snapped.
Only a precious few still clung on, maintaining a tenuous connection.
The most distinctive, one Byron recognized at a glance, resembled a golden chain and seemed unbreakable.
That was his Guardian Knight, Bruh, the "Iron Wall."
A Guardian Knight could be a Transcendent of any profession.
Their strength was not what mattered most. Rather, it was the contract they established through the Silver Law, becoming an absolutely reliable spear and shield whom their liege could entrust with their very life!
Even if separated, they could find each other within a certain range by following the connection of the Law.
Byron, his late cousin Prince Edward, and Guardian Knight Bruh had grown up together; their bond was exceptionally deep.
They were more like family, like brothers, than liege and knight.
Bruh, an Oath Knight of the Tribunal Sequence, had been dispatched back to the Sorenburg Principality in September.
He was to assist his father, the steward, with the principality’s autumn harvest affairs.
After the night of the clan’s extermination, separated by a great distance, they had completely lost contact.
Now, he didn’t know what had become of Bruh; even that golden Anchor chain was thinning, as if it might snap at any moment.
I used to not believe in God.
But now I truly pray that if the Creator possesses great power, He can bless Bruh and the others to safely escape York’s pursuit.
Compared to these interpersonal Anchors, the anchor chain behind Byron, hooked into the first layer of the Silver Law, grew ever more steadfast.
An unceasing flow of Power, knowledge, and experience began to surge into his body.
Looking back along the anchor chain, he saw a vast archipelago—or perhaps even a Continent—composed of countless islands behind him.
Like the Mediterranean Sea, they collectively encircled a vast expanse of clear water.
Before his ascension, Byron’s Spirituality had indubitably originated from there.
And along the coastlines to his left and right were lighthouses distributed like myriad stars.
Some were as modest as Byron’s own, while others were colossal towers looming into the clouds, emitting a radiance as bright as the Sun.
Clearly, each lighthouse represented a Transcendent of the Lighthouse Sequence. Together, they formed the first line of defense against that dark ocean!
And the light of humanity’s Silver Law seemed to be the sole illumination in that inky sea.
The stark, deeply stirring contrast between light and darkness.
This is the spiritual bulwark of humankind!
In a moment of realization, Byron gained a new understanding of the phrase, "Humanity supreme, honor to the collective."
However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the ocean, blacker than Dark Night itself, was constantly swirling and surging, slowly but relentlessly consuming this light.
He even sensed that the sea level was continuously rising, as if he might awaken to find this small reef completely submerged.
In short, this boundless ocean before him, teeming with the unknown and mystery, filled him with profound unease.
It was as if he had developed thalassophobia.
He constantly feared that from the abyss below, an Indescribable leviathan with eyes larger than lakes was staring up at him.
It might burst forth at any moment and swallow him whole.
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is Fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of Fear is fear of the unknown.
Mere words on paper could not describe even a ten-thousandth of this sensation!
Only the Law Network behind him and those few Anchors connecting him to the Silver Law, the Pirate’s Ten Commandments, and his interpersonal relationships could grant Byron a sliver of security.
As the Law Network fully bestowed upon him the knowledge and Transcendent abilities of a Storm Knight,
the words "Initiation Successful" appeared on the Sailing Logbook.
Phew, at last it’s over.
Just as the vision of the Sea of Origin Matter began to fade and Byron, heaving a sigh of relief, was about to return to reality,
he was horrified to see a nearby lighthouse abruptly extinguish. Then, as if something had violently dragged it into the sea, it vanished without a trace!
And on the Sailing Logbook, the deep blue ink suddenly bled into a horrifying, viscous, blood-red black,
issuing a stark warning to him:
—Remember! The Great Flood of this world has never receded! You MUST keep your "Anchors" tightly secured!!!