Chapter 1676 The Miraculous Knight
Gerlane had little love for the Canon Sanctuary. Upon entering, she pouted and complained unhappily, "Xiaoshan, do we have to read? All the books here are way too profound..."
Sun Hao smiled, patting her head gently. "Don't worry. With your Guardian Knight here, no book stays profound. I promise it'll be easy."
"Oh... alright then, I'll try," Gerlane muttered, still pouting. Her voice was low. "But if I don't understand it, we leave early, okay?"
Walking ahead, Sun Hao inquired, "Do you recognize the Void Scripts?"
Gerlane responded softly, "Umm... vaguely. Not really well. I recognize them, sure, but only the gist."
Sun Hao finally began to grasp that perhaps his assignment as Knight Tutor wasn't going to be straightforward.
It seemed Gerlane might need him to explain the books for comprehension.
Reaching the foundational section where no reading prerequisites existed, Sun Hao casually picked up a travelogue and handed it to Gerlane. "Come on, Little Lan. Give it a go. Just ask if anything's unclear."
Frowning, Gerlane took the travelogue, found a chair, and plopped into it. Sun Hao also pulled a tome detailing the geography and customs of the Middle Void and sat opposite her, beginning to read.
The Middle Void, also known as the Domain Boundary, was composed of Domains and Realms. It was an entirely new world for Sun Hao, overwhelming him with its sheer scale and mystique.
Domains referred to the territories inhabited by the Myriad Races of the Central Void.
An axiom of the Middle Void declared: No domain, no clan. A race without territory couldn't be listed among the myriad.
The true measure of a race's territory lay in its ability to establish a vast inland expanse exceeding billions of square li within the Middle Void.
The stronger the race, the mightier its Domain, and the vaster its holdings. Mighty races of the Middle Void, like the Male and Female Shaman Clans, independently governed ten major Domains each. They also jointly presided over a sacred holy land—the Kaelmen Dragon Domain.
An aerial map in Sun Hao's tome depicted the Kaelmen Dragon Domain: a colossal, coiling dragon dominating the immense Middle Void space. Massive pathways, resplendent like seven-colored rainbows, connected it to the Shaman Clans' domains. Wide rainbow pathways branched into smaller trails radiating in all directions, leading to the medium and small domains opened or claimed by subordinate races nestled within the Shaman territories.
Records indicated that a single top-tier major domain in the Middle Void would likely surpass even one entire province of the Lower Void in scale.
Naturally, the texts also stressed the Middle Void was utterly incomparable to the Lower Void.
For besides Domains, the Middle Void held Realms—an element entirely absent in the Lower Void.
The concept of "Realm" within these archives deeply shook Sun Hao, fundamentally reshaping and expanding his worldview.
Essentially, Realms functioned like Secret Realms or large-scale Dao Fields in the Lower Worlds.
Powered by the vast energies of the Void Realm, however, these Realms evolved into genuine micro-worlds—true nations serving as pivotal bases for development, expansion, and cultivation by the Myriad Races of the Central Void.
Both the Male and Female Shaman Clans possessed their own "Lower Realms." The archives didn't specify the exact number, but certain figures astounded Sun Hao.
Legend stated that the mightiest races, those shining at civilization's zenith, commanded three thousand Lower Realms.
Within the Middle Void's hierarchy, the top ten races were invariably Thousand Realms Races. The top hundred were Hundred Realms Races. The combined Male and Female Shaman Clans ranked within the top ten. Therefore, they held at least a thousand Lower Realms.
This staggering number left Sun Hao utterly speechless.
Such a world was beyond his imagining. According to the texts, each Lower Realm was comparable to the Tianling Continent—the world he himself had Ascended from.
Did this imply the Middle Void interfaced with tens of thousands of worlds like Tianling Continent? Merely contemplating that scale was profoundly unsettling to Sun Hao.
Truly, the higher one's cultivation climbed, the grander the worlds unveiled, revealing how small one's previous perspective had been. That former state was akin to a frog within a well.
Sun Hao couldn't help but wonder if Tianling Continent was one of the Lower Realms belonging to the Human Clan.
Furthermore, reading these fundamental records about the Middle Void seeded another doubt. In his youth, cultivating on Tianling Continent, Sun Hao had delved into countless ancient texts. Coincidentally, many spoke of the "Nine Heavens" and the "Three Thousand Lower Realms."
Could this mean humanity too had once flourished, governing three thousand Realms? What catastrophe then precipitated Humanity's decline? The Witch Clan's archives held no answers.
Finishing his tome swiftly, Sun Hao glanced over at Gerlane. The girl seemed engrossed in her travelogue, making little appreciative sounds—clearly understanding it.
Had he perhaps chosen an overly simple text?
Sun Hao pondered this, replaced his current volume, and selected another detailing specialized cultivation resources within the Central Void.
Just as he was returning his book and fetching the new one, a faint mutter reached Sun Hao from across the room: "Too profound... it's just too profound now! I was following it fine a moment ago... why does it read like total gibberish?"
Heart quickening, Sun Hao picked up the tome and walked back.
Observing Gerlane carefully as he approached, he noticed an interesting shift. As he neared, she re-immersed herself in the travelogue's story, fascination once more evident on her face.
Standing near Gerlane, Sun Hao experimented several times. A clear pattern emerged: Gerlane could read without hindrance within thirty feet of him. Move past thirty? Difficulty set in. Beyond fifty feet? She became completely unable to comprehend the text.
The cause, Sun Hao deduced with near certainty, stemmed from the Knight Guardian Contract binding them and the unique power of his First-grade Purple-Gold Belt.
He realized that whenever the belt maintained proximity to Gerlane, faint violet light would emanate from his forehead. Through this light, it seemed a bond akin to the psychic resonance of Mind-Reading Insight formed between them, allowing Gerlane to read with ease.
This discovery instantly made his tutoring duties seem far simpler.
Spending some time crafting a large backpack from supple vines, Sun Hao coaxed Gerlane inside—a "ready means to guard her," he explained cheerfully. Hoisting her onto his back, he then began traversing the Witch Clan's Canon Sanctuary, searching for books.
For the first time, Gerlane experienced the sheer joy of barrier-free reading—a thrill that warmed her heart. Sun Hao's backpack was comfortable, allowing her to lean back almost like in a hammock. Content and feeling deeply cherished, she readily accepted this arrangement.
Thus commenced the towering Sun Hao’s new journey through the Central Void, bearing a sweetly naive young Witch slung in a vine basket.
Gerlane needed learning; Sun Hao needed learning.
The foundational section suited both perfectly. So they wandered unhurriedly through the Canon Sanctuary depths, emerging only occasionally—Sun Hao to check on Border Collie, Gerlane to visit her brother or mother.
In such reading rhythm, time slipped away unnoticed.
Over a year passed swiftly.
Immersion paid off. Gerlane's grasp of Central Void matters improved significantly. The distance she could read independently from Sun Hao also increased gradually.
Despite progress, however, once Sun Hao strayed beyond a certain proximity, Gerlane inevitably reverted to her muddled state—unable to decipher anything.
Stranger still, no matter how many books Gerlane devoured, she struggled profoundly to understand regular Cultivators' speech. Conversations with Border Collie invariably circled back to her refrain: "Too profound."
Sun Hao felt Gerlane's condition resembled an affliction. A definitive solution, he suspected, might require her cultivation to reach the Divine Separation Stage. Only then, upon separating a fragment of her spirit to mend her innate deficiency, could she finally break free.
Over the year-plus journey carrying Gerlane, Sun Hao’s own perspective subtly shifted. The little girl’s blossoming trust and reliance slowly forged genuine affection within him. Earlier, his kindness stemmed largely from obedience to the mysterious entity's command. Now, Sun Hao cherished this pure, earnestly naive girl from his heart.
Of course, over this year, the Witch Clan's view of Sun Hao also transformed dramatically. He was the Miraculous Knight who unlocked seamless reading for little Lan'er.
Moreover, after observing for a year-plus, the Witch Clan reached a conclusion mirroring Sun Hao's own: only safe atop Sun Hao’s back could Lan'er truly read with pleasure.