Way of the Knights

---

"Holy Shit!!!"

Even with his very experienced mindset, Raven wouldn't have been able to imagine that he'll earn this much from that events. 

1 Billion Merit Points…what an outrageous amount. 

If he only knew just how effective he was during the war, he himself would think that this much is just right. Nevertheless, this number is still a little too shocking. 

"I was expecting to earn a lot but not this much! What the heck!?" Raven murmured, he even totally forgot about the fact that he should be focusing on recovering his energies at this point.

What he didn't know is that, the Elder Council itself thinks that this amount wasn't enough to compensate his efforts entirely. 

How so? Well, if one would consider that Raven practically won this war by himself, then it wouldn't be too far fetched for them to reward him with this much merit points. 

It had to be known that under normal circumstances, this War will tally large casualties on their side on top of the uncertainty of winning. But with Raven there, the casualties were zero. 

Yes. Even the Grand Elder himself couldn't believe such a thing yet the records didn't lie. Everyone who participated on the War came back safe and sound. They made a killing and weren't injured badly. It was unbelievable.

They were against a horde consisting of Millions of Devils. Not only that, several Sin's Children were there and even the Sin of Lust descended. With that kind of line-up, casualties will almost be certain for their side yet not only did Raven managed to eradicate the enemy forces with his support, he did so without sacrificing anyone. 

What kind of achievement was that? Raven hasn't even been a Chosen for too long and yet his actions were almost on par with the older Chosen.

To top it all off, he even sealed the entrances on the 9th and 12th floor all by himself. His achievements were too dazzling even for the standards of the Elder Council, therefore there were almost no hesitation for them to rewards him this much plus some more…

"Young Lord! You've finally regained consciousness!" 

The voice of his personal Battle Maid Kyrie, sounded within the room. Raven woke up from his stupor and looked at her while nodding. 

"How long was I out?" He asked even though he already knew. This is just for her not to suspect him. 

"You've been out for a whole month Young Lord." Kyrie informed while sitting on the chair next to his bed. "How are you feeling? Do you need me to fetch something for you?"

Raven shook his head softly and said: "I'm good. It'll just take me a bit longer to fully recover but I'll be fine. Hopefully there will be no missions during this time."

"You don't have to worry about that Young Lord. The Grand Elder personally checked your condition and he probably already considered your well being. He wouldn't give you any difficult missions if he knows you won't be able to complete it."

"That's a relief." Raven sighed, "What happened while I was out?"

Once again, he only asked this in order to avoid suspicion. Still, he managed to learn a few important things from Kyrie. 

When he was unconscious, the War Gods who participated in the great battle against the devil horde all visited him. They originally wanted to be there when he wakes up but he was taking long and they have other things to attend to. 

Additionally, news about the great war and he results were announced throughout the whole sect. Even though Raven wasn't actively named, his merits and actions were clearly stated causing many disciples to be shocked and talk about him. 

Many of the said disciples participated on the great war and they themselves supported the rumors, some even exaggerated it. 

Raven sighed helplessly with this. Now that this matter had totally blown-up, his competitors would really be on-guard with him, which somehow gave him a headache. 

On another note, Kyrie also advised him to look at this Merit Points, which he did just for keeping up pretenses, he acted as if he was shocked and Kyrie began explaining how he managed to get this much. 

He didn't just receive 1 Billion Merit Points. The pocket dimension that he's in were also upgraded while he's unconscious as well as his personal Cultivation Chambers. He also received some benefits which he would discover once he completely recovered. 

This was undoubtedly a great boon for him. With these rewards, Raven's cultivation would remain at a constant speed. 

After telling him this, Kyrie excused herself and left Raven to recover on his own. 

Raven watched as she left. He made sure that she was gone before he placed a seal on the entrances of the room and entered the Crown Space which he hadn't visited since the start of the War. 

Once he's there, Raven immediately hopped inside the nebula of Equinox Waters and began recovering his energies. 

Although the energies contained within the Equinox Waters were plenty, it still took him a whole week to completely recover. 

Nevertheless, he's fine with that. He briefly checked his fully recovered body and sank his perception within his Inner World. 

The once dull and lifeless Cosmos were nor brimming with colorful lights and activity. The constellations which revolved around the cosmos had regained their brilliance and the Cleansing Flame Sprout remained at the core of the Cosmos, releasing pulses of pure white flames and ever so slightly siphoning some of his energies to feed itself. 

"Cultivating the Cleansing Flame Sprout from this point forward will be more difficult. It's either I feed it with Cosmic Energy or let it feast of Devil Flesh, these are the only ways for it to advance. Still, so long as I'm here at the sect, I should be able to sustain it's growth."

"I wonder what would happen if I fuse this with the seed of the World Tree? Hmm…would that even work though?"

Raven considered this thought but threw it at the back of his head for now since he had other matters to attend to. 

He stepped out of the Equinox Waters and began digesting the enlightenments of his Avatars first. Once he's done, he could feel an overall improvement on his strength. If he encountered that lousy Sin of Lust once again, he wouldn't need to sneak past it anymore. Killing it on his own would still be difficult but he has a chance. 

After a month passed inside, Raven stood up and went out of the Eden. 

He then began making his way towards the Scripture Graveyard in order to see if he could gain the acknowledgement of some things in there. 

Once inside, he felt a weird sensation of attraction similar to a pulling sensation. He then gazed at the direction of the pool and his eyes zoomed in on one of the taller hills inside the graveyard.

Raven started walking towards that hill, the closer he got, the stronger the pull he felt. 

Once he firmly stepped on the hill, it released a strong fluctuation that almost left him to be dazed. Raven fought the urge and walked at the very peak of the hill before sitting down and meditating.action

A wild surge of energies swept past him, it was then followed by a wave of new information appearing on his mind. Raven was unperturbed by the sudden information. He didn't feel surprised not felt any pain in the process. 

This scene lasted for a whole day before stopping. Raven didn't open his eyes, instead he started digesting the new information in his mind. 

According to that, he realized that this hill is the Graveyard of the Flame Emperor who followed Geezer in the past. The remnant Will of the Flame Emperor probably sensed the existence of the Cleansing Flame Sprout within him, causing it to acknowledge him. 

Raven received the lifetime experience of the Flame Emperor's flame control and manipulation. Although Raven had some unique ideas on his own, those couldn't possibly compare to the virtue and expertise of the Flame Emperor when it comes to controlling flames. 

It had to be known that at his era, the Flame Emperor was an unrivalled powerhouse. His flames could easily melt down a star, it was rumored that his flames were even hotter than the Sun itself. Additionally, the Flame Emperor's flame possessed some form of intelligence. Whether this was true or not, only the Flame Emperor himself could answer that.

These opened a brand new world to Raven. Surely with this, his control of his Cleansing Flames would become much easier and more natural compared before. He might even use these insights to form a unique method that's completely suitable for him. 

It took Raven another day for him to completely digest everything. After that, he decided to postpone his flame control training since he wanted to test out something which he had been putting off for quite some time now. 

He exited the Scripture Graveyard and walked at the very center of the palace. There, a huge stone monument which has several engravings of star patterns could be seen. 

"Alright, Monument of Stars..." Raven took a deep breath in.. "Let's see what you got."