Chapter 409 - 409 - Half A Month
Ardim's current strength is not weak. At least, as compared to the others, he was already a First Ring Life Knight and was close to the peak.
He was just one step away from breaking the limit and becoming a Second Ring Knight.
He was already a genius to have such a result for his age. But for the current Ardim, such strength was not enough. He needed to improve as much as possible. And in terms of improving his strength, he had many ways.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Then, he looked at the outside world and gave a few orders.
He asked the servants to capture a few people from the surroundings in his name.
Ardim's identity was the heir of Duke Yaru, the future Duke.
It was a straightforward matter to capture a few people with his identity.
He just needed to say hello to others, and a few condemned prisoners would naturally be sent over to the noble son of the Duke without harming ordinary people.
No one knew what the noble son of the Duke needed these people to do. However, they only needed to do as they were told.
Soon, the men that Ardim wanted were all strong male adults.
According to the servant, these people seemed to be bandits roaming outside and were captured and imprisoned later.
Now, they were handed over to Ardim as experimental materials.
"Seems not bad..."
Ardim looked at the death row prisoners before him and couldn't help but nod.
Then, he directly walked forward and slowly pulled out his sword.
His sword was silver in color, made with various unique materials, and seemed remarkably different.
There were even fine lines on the sword, looking gorgeous at a glance. One could tell that it was expensive at first sight.
The seemingly ordinary longsword was a magic weapon. It had an incredibly sharp characteristic and was very expensive.
Of course, to Ardim, this was just an ordinary sword.
Swoosh!
In an instant, the sound of the longsword cutting through the air was heard, followed by a few muffled sounds.
A bloody smell emerged, and vaguely, there seemed to be a dripping sound, which was exceptionally clear.
A moment later, Ardim put away the longsword in his hand and wiped the blood off it. Then, he turned around and looked in front.
Under his gaze, everything was changing. The prisoners on death row had become corpses. Wounds appeared on their chests, with bright red marks.
At this moment, under the gaze of Ardim, their corpses were rapidly drying up. It was as if they had been dehydrated in a short period, losing all moisture.
The changes gradually began. In the end, the corpses shattered into fine powders and disappeared without a trace. There was no longer a human figure.
Only the clothes they left behind on the spot were still there, looking intact without any difference as before.
In Ardim's body, a faint warm current appeared and began to spread in all directions, enveloping Ardim's entire body and strengthening his body.
He felt unique and had an inexplicable sense of comfort. After a long while, this feeling completely disappeared.
Ardim stood there, feeling the power in his body churning continuously, and then slowly opened his eyes.
At this moment, the power surging in his body was none other than the slaughter divinity.
The slaughter divinity could plunder the essence of other living beings through killing, turning them into his power, thereby strengthening himself.
Chen Heng rarely used this kind of power in the past.
However, the reason was that Chen Heng had the power of faith from two worlds to supply him with enough divine power to support him. Therefore, he didn't need the slaughter divinity to support him.
However, this was not the case for Ardim.
He was merely a clone. Although he had obtained parts of the divinity and divine power when he left his original body, he couldn't strengthen this body to a mighty state, like his original body.
Therefore, under such circumstances, he could not help but shift his gaze and focus on the slaughter divinity in his body.
The killing was the authority of the slaughter divinity.
By killing other creatures, one could plunder the power existing in the bodies of other creatures and continuously become stronger.
This unique characteristic had a potent effect at all times, which was the case for Ardim at the moment.
Standing on the spot, he felt the changes in his body.
After only slaughtering three people, his body had slightly strengthened, and he was one step closer to the Second Ring level.
He believed that he would not be far from the Second Ring level if it continued like this.
Ardim was quite satisfied with this.
If there was nothing special in the following period, he was no longer prepared to go out. Instead, he was prepared to stay here quietly, waiting quietly, not ready to leave.
Time passed slowly. Unknowingly, more than half a month had passed.
Half a month was not a long time. However, during this period, a lot of things happened.
The most exciting thing was what happened to the successor of the Yaru family, Sir Ardim.
Ever since Princess Eloise's banquet, Sir Ardim, who was initially infatuated with Princess Eloise, seemed to have changed.
Not only did he not give the Life Gem he had bought at a high price to Princess Eloise as everyone had expected, but he also did many things.
Within just half a month, who knew how many people were driven out from the Yaru family's businesses.
These people were related to Princess Eloise.
As Ardim's predecessor was initially wildly infatuated with Eloise, he would never refuse Eloise's requests.
Ardim's predecessor would even agree to the requests from those close to Eloise.
As time passed, many outsiders entered the Yaru family's businesses.
Many people used Eloise's name to get involved in the Yaru family's business, cooperate with the Yaru family's businesses, or contract directly with them.
If these things happened, it would be expected.
However, many times, a lot of bad things happened.
Some people contracted the Yaru family's business but did not fulfill the profits as promised.
Some people directly and secretly embezzled the Yaru family's business. These were all immoral actions.
But in the past, for the sake of Eloise, Ardim's predecessor turned a blind eye to these things, feeling indifferent.
After all, to the future successor of the Yaru family, these were nothing.
But now, after inheriting everything in this body, Ardim was no longer easy to deal with.
He didn't care about Eloise's face at all and just did what he had to do.
Therefore, within a short span of half a month, who knew how many people were driven out.
Many people were directly detained, and it was unknown how long they would be arrested.
Within the Karkoen Empire, the Yaru family was a well-deserved giant.
And Ardim as the successor of the Yaru family, there weren't many people he couldn't deal with once he became serious.
Many people in Kaner City were waiting to watch the joke and preparing to see Princess Eloise's reaction.
After all, from the looks of it, Ardim, the son of a Duke, was not giving Eloise any face.
Faced with this situation, what could Princess Eloise do?
Many people were very interested and were ready to watch a good show behind her back.
Ardim himself did not care about this. He had been staying in his manor, quietly cultivating during the half-month.
As for what happened in the outside world, he did not care, although he was clear.
He was only clearing some worms with his status, so naturally, he wouldn't do it himself. As long as he gave the order, there would naturally be people who would resolve it.
Some people wanted to do this in the past, but there was no way because of Ardim's predecessor.
But now, Ardim no longer stopped them. He even gave the order, so these people naturally didn't hesitate and resolved the matter straight away. The whole process was straightforward.
It was another morning. When the sun shone on earth, Ardim calmly walked on the spacious training ground, feeling the unique feeling on his body.
"It's close to metamorphosis..."
This thought flashed through Ardim's mind as he practiced the breathing technique once, feeling the changes in his body.
Recently, he had been quietly training himself and killing people.
Utilizing his power, he could easily get many death row prisoners to provide him with the killing power.
The killing power was constantly baptizing his body, enhancing his power. Now, he has reached a limit.
The power in this body had already reached a specific limit, standing at the peak of the First Ring, close to the Second Ring level.
During this period, Ardim constantly used the killing power to temper himself, enhancing his power, which has already reached that limit.
At least now, Ardim felt that his body had already begun to transform. At this moment, it seemed that he was starting to evolve to the next level.
If what he felt was right, he would complete his promotion and become a Second Ring Knight straight away when he completed this transformation.
And it would be another world at that level.
Although there were not many First Ring Knights in the Karkoen Empire, there were not very few either.
However, there might not be the case for Second Ring Knights. At least in the Karkoen Empire, a Second Ring Knight would be a core force and core support of many families.
Even in a Duke family like the Yaru family, his status was not weak.
If Ardim could advance to the Second Ring, it would greatly help his status in the Yaru family— it was good news.
After completing today's training, Ardim put down the longsword and turned around, ready to leave this place and go back to meditation.
He was practicing the life Knight's cultivation and the mage's cultivation at this time.
After all, compared to his achievements in the Life Knight, what he had accomplished in magic was even more outstanding. Therefore, there was no way to give up.
Because of this, every time after training, Ardim would go to his room and continue to meditate to improve his spiritual power.
The same applied today. However, today seemed to be different from the other days.
Ardim couldn't help but turn around and look at the outside world, frowning. He could feel a figure quickly approaching from the outside.
There was also the sound of hurried footsteps. He frowned and stood there, looking in the direction of the distance.
Under his gaze, a woman quickly came from the outside world. It was a woman wearing a red robe, looking tall and pretty. However, there was a hint of anger on her face as she rushed over in a hurry.
"Miss Ella, Young Master Ardim is inside. You can't go in without permission!"
A maid's voice with a vague sense of anxiety sounded around them as if she wanted to stop the woman, but she couldn't.
The woman walked over in a hurry with anger on her face.
"Ardim!" Her voice sounded from afar.
Looking at the woman walking toward him, Ardim looked at her calmly.
"Good day, Miss Ella."
Standing still, he calmly looked at the woman before him and the servants behind her, then said.
"What would you like to do here, at my place?"
"What would I like to do?"
Ella sneered, looked at Ardim, and shouted, "Why did you capture my people?"
"Your people?"
Ardim was a little surprised. "Who are you referring to?"
Recently, he had been in his manor and had not gone out. He really could not remember when he had captured her people.
Ella was also a noble who was about the same age as Ardim. Under normal circumstances, both of them should not have much interaction.
However, Ella seemed to be a good friend of Princess Eloise, one her best friends.
It was precisely why Ardim was familiar with Ella and had some form of communication with her.
"You don't even know?"
Standing still and listening to Ardim's words, the anger on Ella's face became even more intense." Just the day before yesterday, Your Knight rushed into my friend's chamber of commerce and captured all my friends!"
"Captured?"
Hearing this, Ardim was a little surprised, but at this time, he almost understood what was going on.
So, he smiled and continued, "Then, what was the reason? Why was your friend captured?"
"I don't care what the reason was!"
Ella was a little angry and seemed to be a little resentful. "Ardim, please let my people go and don't embarrass me in front of my friends!"
Looking at Ella's appearance, Ardim didn't say anything but secretly sighed.
He didn't understand what the predecessor was thinking at this time.
Forget about Princess Eloise. Even Ella seemed to be very presumptuous.
Technically, they didn't have the right to be presumptuous, but why did they dare to be so indulgent, howling in front of an even stronger person.
Ardim sighed and didn't have the mood to deal with it. He just looked at her, turned around, and prepared to leave.
However, seeing Ardim's reaction, Ella seemed even more furious.
"Ardim!"
She took a step forward and walked straight ahead. From the looks of it, she seemed to want to hold on to Ardim.
A figure walked over, wanting to stop her and prevent her from getting close to Ardim.
"Get lost! You pariah!"
Ella's somewhat rough voice sounded. Subsequently, there was a clear sound.
Ardim paused, then turned around. Behind him, the figure of a little girl fell to the ground. It was none other than Tina.
An apparent slap print appeared on her face. She fell to the ground, and a hand subconsciously touched her face as if she was afraid.
The smile on Ardim's face gradually disappeared.
"Was it you who made a move just now?"
Ardim looked at Ella calmly. Facing Ardim's gaze, Ella's body suddenly froze for some reason.
An inexplicable feeling surfaced, causing her scalp to go numb and the expression on her face to freeze.
"But... she's just a pariah..."
Ella finally spoke.
Thud!
A muffled sound was heard, and Ella's figure flew out straight upside down.
In just an instant, countless bones on her body were broken.
"I'm sorry."
Ardim's gentle voice sounded as he walked in front of Tina, pulled the little girl up, and lifted her. Then, he looked at Ella.
"Compared to her, you look more like a pariah to me."
Ardim shook his head. Then, he looked to the side and casually gave a few instructions.
A few guards quickly walked forward and unceremoniously grabbed Ella. If nothing unexpected happened, she would be locked in a cage until Ardim was satisfied.
Then, Ardim left this place. This time, he realized something.
"From the looks of it, the impression the predecessor had given was too weak..."
This thought flashed through Ardim's mind, and he shook his head secretly as he was walking on the road, recalling Ella's performance just now.