I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

There's an unwritten rule in the steel coil industry: whoever can carry a steel coil away by hand owns it.

The same applies now.

The people on the mountainside saw the sacred mountain, nearly four stories high, sway on the tip of his sword. Rocks fell from the edge of the mountain, hitting the ground with a dull thud, like heavy hammers striking everyone's hearts.

"No, no objection..." Someone spoke first, and then a few scattered voices of agreement arose from the crowd.

"I have no objection."

"The hero truly deserves the title!"

"That's incredible..."

The voices grew more and more unified, eventually merging into a chorus of applause and praise.

Ji Tian nodded in satisfaction, adjusted his sword-carrying posture to look more dashing, and took Elena's hand with his left hand, preparing to leave.

He had actually prepared lines like "I think this is a scabbard!", "Drawing the holy sword makes you a hero!", and "Go tell my Heaven-Turning Seal what you have to say!" to refute those who had objections, but unfortunately no one objected, and he kept all those lines to himself.

Just as he was about to ascend into the air to return to his sect and properly refine the sacred mountain, a trembling voice came from behind him from the high-ranking deacon: "Brave... Brave One, please wait!"

Ji Tian turned his head to look.

The senior butler jogged over, his forehead covered in sweat, his face pale, but he forced a professional composure in his eyes.

He stopped before Ji Tian, ​​bowed deeply, then straightened up, speaking as calmly as possible: "My lord, according to the church's rules, after a hero draws his sword, we will arrange suitable teammates for you to assist you in your travels and training... What do you think?"

Ji Tian waved his hand and said, "No need, I already have suitable teammates."

The senior deacon choked for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Elena before settling on the mountain-shaped sword slung over Ji Tian's shoulder. He swallowed hard and forced himself to continue:

"Hero, your act of uprooting the Holy Mountain is truly shocking. The Church has a formal process for verifying the identity of heroes, which requires making an identity plaque for you, registering your file, and announcing it to the entire continent."

If you leave now, it will likely cause you many inconveniences in your future travels. Please wait a moment, sir, while we report to our superiors and arrange a meeting with you.

Ji Tian's original intention was to become a hero through legitimate means, and he hadn't prepared any fake identity. Thinking about it, he agreed with the other party's reasoning. "Okay, how long will it take?"

Seeing that Ji Tian had agreed, the deacon, relieved that his job was finally safe, bowed repeatedly and said, "One hour! No, half an hour! The main church has a teleportation array; the cardinals will definitely arrive as soon as possible!"

"OK."

……

Holy City, Cathedral, Council Chamber.

Marcus was discussing follow-up support plans for the Elven court with several cardinals when the door was suddenly pushed open, and a messenger deacon stumbled in, his face ashen, and said:

"Cardinal... Cardinal! Urgent report from the Holy Mountain—the Holy Sword has been stolen!"

Marcus frowned, displeased, and said, "Drawing the sword was inevitable; it's happened before in church history. Why the panic?"

"But... that person also uprooted the entire sacred mountain!"

The quill pen snapped in his hand with a "crack," ink splattering onto the parchment. He even thought he had misheard. "What did you say?!"

The messenger swallowed hard. "When that person drew his sword, he also pulled up the sacred mountain itself, which was the source of the holy sword, along with the sword itself! The senior deacons dare not make a decision on their own; please, cardinals, proceed to the sacred mountain immediately!"

The cardinals looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief.

The sacred mountain itself contains ancient restrictions that can render most magic ineffective. Destroying the sacred mountain is already extremely difficult, let alone uprooting it with bare hands.

"Teleportation array! Immediately!" Marcus pushed back his chair and stood up, not even caring that his robes had knocked over his teacup, and strode towards the door.

The other cardinals looked at each other in bewilderment and then followed suit.

As dusk fell, the teleportation array lit up the holy mountain. Marcus, accompanied by several high-ranking church officials, hurriedly stepped out. When they looked up and saw the scene of a hero carrying a sword, the blade of which seemed to lift the holy mountain, their feet froze in place.

"This..." A young bishop opened his mouth, but couldn't speak for a long time.

Marcus, having seen his share of storms, was the first to regain his composure. He stepped towards Ji Tian, ​​bowed slightly, and said, "My lord, I am Cardinal Marcus, and on behalf of the Church, I respectfully welcome your arrival."

Ji Tian nodded slightly. "Thank you for your hard work."

Marcus straightened up, his gaze involuntarily drifting back to the mountain. He coughed lightly, "My lord, may we confirm the condition of the Holy Sword and the Holy Mountain? This is a church custom, and there is no offense intended."

Ji Tian was surprised by the other party's politeness. They didn't even react much when the Holy Mountain that gave birth to the Holy Sword was uprooted. His opinion of the Church improved. "I understand. Please go ahead."

Marcus gestured for the two older cardinals to come forward. They leaned towards the sacred mountain, placed their hands on the rock surface, closed their eyes and sensed for a long time before returning with complex expressions.

"Cardinal, there are no signs of damage to the Holy Mountain or the Holy Sword; they were simply pulled up as a whole," a bishop reported in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Marcus bowed to Ji Tian again, his tone even more respectful than before:

"The hero's power is unparalleled throughout history, and we are completely convinced of it. The Church will officially produce an identity plaque for you, register your file, and announce to the entire continent that [a new hero was born on the eve of the Holy Revelation Day]."

Ji Tian nodded, "Thank you for your trouble."

Marcus hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "As is customary, the church will provide a priest to accompany the hero to assist with healing and the blessing of holy light. Would you like—"

"No need."

Marcus glanced at the mountain on his shoulder and figured that given the man's physical strength, he really didn't need the healing power of a regular priest.

He nodded. "Then so be it, Your Excellency. However, a hero's party is never composed of just one member. I can make decisions about the church, but the elven archers of the Elven Royal Court and the mages of the Mage Guild are not matters that the church can decide on its own."

Ji Tian glanced at Elena and raised the hand he had been holding tightly with hers. "We already have a mage. Please inform the Royal Capital Magic Academy that Elena von Pompeii, an inner court student, will become my teammate."

"A student at the Royal Capital Magic Academy's inner court and a nobleman? The Magicians' Association probably won't have any objections then."

Marcus nodded inwardly. "I will personally communicate with the academy about this matter. Your teammate will graduate directly as an 'Outstanding Graduate,' qualifying to become a Grand Magister..."

After explaining the perks for having a hero as a teammate, he took out a silver-white nameplate from his sleeve, inscribed with the word "Hero" in ancient magical script, and handed it over, saying:

"This is a temporary nameplate. It has a positioning array inside, and once it's placed in your storage ring, it can no longer be located. You don't need to worry about your privacy being compromised. The official nameplate will take three days to make. The church will send someone to deliver it to you then."

Ji Tian took the nameplate, glanced at it, and then accepted it.

Marcus then took out a roll of parchment, which was densely covered with the terms that the hero must abide by and the rights he could enjoy:

"The hero has the right to move freely within the kingdom, and the garrison of each city shall not obstruct him; the right to apply for supplies from the local church; the right to meet with the leaders of various countries; and the right to receive a title of earl or higher and a fiefdom from the human kingdom upon retirement..."

Correspondingly, heroes must stand up when demons invade, assist allies in battle when necessary, and so on…

Ji Tian nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will not shirk the responsibilities I should bear. I will go to the Elven Royal Court after the Holy Revelation Day."