He promised to become a knight, but what the heck is Astartes?

"My strength has improved too rapidly recently, and my foundation is somewhat unstable. Therefore, I plan to undergo a thirteen-day arduous training to hone my will and body, thereby solidifying my knightly foundation!"

Luo Xia looked very serious, and at this moment he even believed what he was saying.

But there was no other way. For the reward of the Great Emperor's Hook, and to be able to buy the Second Heart as soon as possible, Rorschach endured it!

"Asceticism?"

Upon hearing this, Gwen blinked, also somewhat puzzled.

After all, what knight would choose to eat black bread and drink plain water instead of having plenty of meat and life potions? Wouldn't that be deliberately making things difficult for himself?

Even the most devout ascetics in the church wouldn't torture themselves like this.

Now that you're a knight, why can't you enjoy yourself a bit!

"That's right, it's asceticism!"

Rorschach nodded heavily, then stood up, walked slowly to the French windows, and, with his back to Gwen, spoke in a very deep tone:

"True strength never indulges in comfort! Towering trees don't grow in greenhouses, and invincible knights don't emerge from a land of ease!"

"My achievements today are not due to talent! But to extraordinary effort and hard work!"

"And now, I've reached a real bottleneck, and I have to break through it with the most tenacious approach!"

Rorschach spoke with great passion and righteous indignation, as if he were truly a genius who was working hard and sweating profusely.

[Ding! The great Emperor has observed your actions and is very pleased with your awareness.]

"Well done, kid! That's it! Don't disgrace the great Emperor's Hook!"

[Rewards for obtaining the Emperor's title: +0.3 Free Attribute Points, 130 Emperor Honor Points!]

"Heh, nothing special."

Upon seeing this, Luo Xia sneered inwardly.

Could such a mere insight really elicit such an excited reward from the great Emperor Hook?

It seems even the great Emperor Hook has never had a good meal!

Gwen was completely mesmerized at that moment.

Gwen stared blankly at Rorschach's imposing figure, bathed in a sacred golden light in the morning glow.

Suddenly I realized that this is what a true genius should be like, and must be like.

"Perhaps it is precisely this self-discipline that has allowed Rorschach, as an illegitimate son of a nobleman, to get to where he is today..."

Gwen felt a pang of heartache; she didn't know how much hardship Rorschach had endured to achieve his current strength.

But Gwen knew that even after taking over the War Spire, Rorschach had not forgotten his true self.

Even on the very first day of enjoying preferential treatment, he voluntarily gave up everything and chose the extremely difficult path of asceticism.

"This is true genius, the heart of a true strongman."

Gwen was filled with mixed emotions, and her gaze toward Rorschach became increasingly ardent.

After all, only a man like this is worthy of Gwen Caroline entrusting her life to!

Chapter 74 Earthly Desolate Dragon Breathing Technique (Please continue reading, please vote with monthly tickets, thank you meow!!!)

"Since you have your own principles, I respect your choice."

Gwen took a few deep breaths to calm her wildly beating heart, then turned around and took out a schedule, giving it to Rorschach to arrange:

"This morning, I will take you to the library at the top of the War Spire to select a perfect-grade breathing technique, followed by the armory to reserve your exclusive knight armor."

"In the afternoon, Company Commander Taylor will personally guide you in practicing knight combat skills and knight breathing techniques."

Perfect-level breathing technique and exclusive knight armor!

This is the real highlight of the A-level contract!

Luo Xia's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Now that he had awakened the Great Sun Black Heaven's genetic talent, he had a great need for breathing techniques.

After all, once you grind it to level 50, a transcendent spirit will appear. Then, you won't need to put in any more effort to control it. Just let the Great Sun Black Heaven swallow it, and you'll have perfect control over it!

"Fire Serpent, Thunder Bear, Blood Tiger, this perfect-level breathing technique that I haven't chosen yet, and the legendary breathing technique 'Undying Forge' that Vulcan will create after I win first place in the freshman competition of the eight major war academies in the North..."

"This is enough for me to work on for a while."

Luo Xia was also thinking to himself, as he had originally planned to put the practice of the Thunder Bear Breathing Technique on his agenda soon.

But now that I have the opportunity to obtain the perfect breathing technique, I should naturally put it aside and focus on cultivating the perfect breathing technique.

……

The library at the top of the war spire.

As the guardian knight pulled open the heavy brass door, a stench of antiquity wafted out.

"At this moment, the entire Church of War has only eight perfect-level breathing techniques."

Gwen led Rorschach into the library, which was quite spacious, with only eight crystal stands suspended in mid-air, and on each stand was an ancient book that emitted a faint glow.

"Your first extraordinary spirit is the fire-attribute 'Fire Serpent,' so I recommend you choose either the 'Lava Dragon Breathing Technique' or the 'Burning Sky Lion Breathing Technique.'"

Gwen was also making recommendations to Rorschach, since if a knight wanted to control a second extraordinary spirit, it was best to choose one of the same attribute, otherwise it would easily cause breathing technique confusion.

But this was of no use to Rorschach.

Rorschach's gaze swept over the eight breathing techniques one by one, then he walked to a crystal platform and slowly said:

"I'll choose this one."

"This is the Earth-attribute 'Earth Desolate Dragon Breathing Technique,' which focuses on physical constitution and defense. After mastering the spirit of the Earth Desolate Dragon, it can condense the Desolate Dragon Earth Armor..."

"But with the energy of your Fire Serpent Spirit, cultivating the Earth Desolate Dragon will be extremely difficult. Moreover, dragons and serpents do not live together, and these two extraordinary spirits will find it very difficult to coexist."

Gwen frowned and tried to dissuade Rorschach.

"What kind of dragon is the Earth Desolate Dragon? It's just an earthworm that burrows underground. Taking it down is as easy as turning my hand."

Luo Xia smiled slightly, reached out and took the "Earth Desolate Dragon Breathing Technique" down, then put it directly into his pocket.

His reason for not choosing a fire-attribute transcendent spirit was simple: the methods were too limited.

At this moment, Luo Xia's goal is to master all the breathing techniques of various attributes, and then use the Great Sun Black Heaven to devour and thus master all the extraordinary spirits.

In this way, he is almost a hexagonal warrior.

While it's satisfying to dominate in terms of basic stats, Rorschach still wants to experiment with some supernatural abilities; after all, that's a man's romance.

"Let's go to the armory to reserve my knight's armor."

Luo Xia patted his chest, speaking in high spirits.

"Ok."

Seeing that Rorschach wouldn't listen to reason, Gwen could only stomp her foot in frustration and lead Rorschach to the armory.

Beneath the entire War Spire lies a colossal armory.

The sounds of hammering and steam engines echo year-round here. Inside, a ten-meter-high furnace spews flames, while shirtless blacksmiths wield heavy hammers, forging the metal needed to manufacture equipment.

“Master Buck, this is Rorschach, a newly promoted core student of the War Academy. The Church has approved a quota of one A-grade knight set. Please tailor-make one for him.”

Upon hearing this, Buck, who was hammering metal with a heavy hammer, also looked up, his gaze sweeping over Rorschach behind Gwen, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"Wow, what a perfect skeleton!"

Buck threw down the heavy hammer in his hand, picked up the calipers beside him, and walked quickly to Rorschach, pinching Rorschach's arm with his hand.

"Extremely high muscle density and amazing bone strength, kid, you're practically made for heavy armor."

As he spoke, Buck took out parchment and a charcoal pencil and asked Rorschach:

"Kid, what kind of armor do you want? The heavy fortress armor of the Tower Shield Knight? Or the streamlined, formation-breaking armor of the Charge Knight?"

I want power armor, do you have any?

Luo Xia inwardly scoffed, but knew it wasn't realistic.

If this world could truly manufacture power armor by hand, that would be a real disaster.

After thinking for a moment, Luo Xia picked up a pen and paper, a smile playing on his lips, and said:

“Master Buck, I’ve drawn a sketch. Could you see if you can build it?”

As he spoke, Rorschach also leaned over Buck's workbench and began sketching.

As a seasoned Warhammer player in his previous life, Rorschach had also done some research on the power armor of Astartes.

He even 3D printed a life-size suit of armor for cosplay, so he easily drew the sketch of the Black Templar's power armor.

Of course, this is the non-powered backpack version.

Even without a power servo system, just an outer shell, it's still incredibly cool compared to other armors in this world.

Being handsome is a lifelong thing.

Even if Luo Xia doesn't wear it often, just having it there is a kind of enjoyment!

"What style of armor is this?"

Buck was also taken aback when he saw the imposing black armor drawn on the paper.

The armor's shoulder guards were unusually wide, and a raised black cross was visible on them.

Most notably, the armor features a massive eagle wing on its chest, with a skull symbol in the center, and its helmet is an outrageously designed skull mask.

No matter how you look at it, this is not ergonomic.

But I must say, if this armor were changed to red, it would actually be somewhat in line with the aesthetics of the Church of War.

"This is the Black Templar, my own creation of armor. Master, you just need to follow along and fight. I'll be satisfied if it's 30% similar."

Luo Xia also explained from the side, feeling slightly excited.

After all, what kind of Astartes is it if it doesn't have power armor?

Although it doesn't have a powered backpack, it looks the same, so it can probably be passed off as a backpack.

"Are you kidding me?"