I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

The door slammed shut behind them with a dull thud.

The girl's father re-latched the door and then tiptoed to check the window cracks several times to make sure no light could get through before he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Knights, ladies, please come in if you don't mind."

As he spoke, he gestured towards the inner room:

"Honey, take all those candles out of the cupboard and light them!"

A sound of rummaging through drawers came from the inner room. Soon, the girl's mother came out carrying several candlesticks, and the candlelight illuminated most of the main room.

Lilith crouched by the table, curiously watching the flickering flames, then glancing at the room with its doors and windows tightly shut.

"What are you doing? Why are you closing the windows in broad daylight?"

The little girl wasn't shy at all, peeking her head out from behind her mother:

"Don't you understand? These days are the days of sacrifice. The fairies will roam the town, and anyone who sees them will be captured and eaten by the long-eared demon!"

"Children say the darndest things, children say the darndest things!" The little girl's father quickly stepped forward to apologize, "The child is just being silly and doesn't know any better. Please don't take it to heart."

Ji Tian waved his hand: "It's alright."

A devil with long ears?

Lilith touched her ears, then subconsciously looked at her second senior sister, Ophelia, who had just used a concealment spell to change her appearance.

Those iconic pointed ears have become round and cute, and her short silver hair has grown much longer, falling smoothly over her shoulders.

How could an elf be a demon? Something must be wrong.

Yes, the little girl must be talking about goblins or some kind of monster!

Ophelia noticed her gaze, tilted her head slightly, and asked with her eyes, "What's wrong?"

Lilith hurriedly averted her gaze and shook her head repeatedly:

"It's nothing, I was just looking around."

Ji Tian sat down at the table, his gaze sweeping over the furnishings in the room:

Earthenware pots, wooden tables, dried corn hanging on the wall, chopped firewood piled up by the stove, a somewhat worn-out wood-chopping knife leaning in the corner, the only valuable item was probably the old picture book in the little girl's hand.

This was the home of an ordinary farmer, no different from the homes of the free people he had seen in the East.

"We're travelers from out of town, and we've traveled quite a distance, so we're not very familiar with this area. We just saw those... fairies on the street. Do they usually roam around town like that?"

The girl's father was somewhat surprised to hear this, but he didn't think they were aliens. He moved the bowl of cold wheat porridge on the stove aside and sat down again.

"It's not like this every day. Every spring and autumn, the town holds a sacrificial ceremony to worship those demon masters."

They will emerge from the mountains and forests, stay in town for a few days, and enjoy the offerings. The townspeople will keep their doors and windows tightly shut, remain indoors, and wait for them to leave on their own.

But this year, for some reason, they arrived exceptionally early and stayed longer than usual, and many families are running out of their stored dry food.

"Have you been the ones offering sacrifices to those fairies all along?"

"This is a rule passed down from generation to generation. As long as you make offerings on time, the demons will bless you with good weather, abundant harvests, and no trouble."

Primitive beliefs?

Ji Tian nodded thoughtfully.

The little girl leaned on the edge of the table, her hands supporting her chin, her light brown eyes fixed on the sword at Ji Tian's waist. Then she turned to Mia, her gaze lingering longer on her silver-white full-body armor.

She finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked in a clear, crisp voice:

"Sister Knight, are you a real knight? Do you know martial arts? Could you teach me some?"

Mia was caught off guard by this barrage of questions, and her body beneath her silver armor leaned back slightly.

"Fight...fight? I...I don't know how."

She had indeed seen the term "battle aura" in the Adventurers' Guild's records. It seemed to be a power system that was far less cost-effective than magic, but she had never come into contact with it before and was not sure if it referred to the same thing in this world.

Just to be on the safe side, she chose to deny it.

The little girl's eyes dimmed instantly: "No way...?"

The father hurriedly stood up, grabbed his daughter, and bowed repeatedly to Mia. "Please forgive her, sir. This child has been corrupted by the town's bards since she was little. She's always thinking about fighting spirit, knights, and the World Tree. She has no respect for elders!"

"N-It's okay," Mia, who was already socially awkward, became even more embarrassed by the apology, not knowing what to do with her hands and feet. "I-I didn't mean that..."

Ji Tian felt this was a good opportunity to learn about the world, and promptly took over the conversation: "Little girl, would you like to become a knight?"

The little girl suddenly looked up, her eyes lighting up again: "Yes!"

"Then let me test you. Do you know what a fairy is?"

The little girl answered without hesitation:

"Fairies are creatures with incredible abilities. They can bless the town with good weather and crops, and they can fight alongside knights to protect the World Tree!"

The World Tree? That doesn't sound simple.

Ji Tian first nodded in approval, then asked further:

"And what is the World Tree?"

"The World Tree is..." the little girl stammered for a while, "...the world's largest tree! The bards' lyrics say that the World Tree's roots are deep in the earth, its branches reach above the clouds, its canopy houses stars, and it possesses endless possibilities... In short, it's an incredibly powerful thing!"

After listening, Ji Tian had already made up his mind:

The little girl clearly knew nothing about the actual meaning of the "World Tree"; she only knew the fragments she had heard from the bards.

Either the World Tree no longer exists publicly in this era, or it is simply a concept that is gradually being forgotten.

"Have you ever seen a knight who has mastered battle aura fight?"

The little girl shook her head: "No, but Grandpa Blacksmith said he saw knights fighting in the northern fortress. He said the strongest knight in the North could cut a tree as thick as two people hugging in half with a single stroke of his sword!"

Ji Tian was now completely certain that this was indeed a low-level martial arts world.

The upper limit of battle qi is roughly equivalent to the level of an ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivator, while the so-called "strongest knight in the North" would probably only be at the early Foundation Establishment stage if placed outside.

As for concepts like "World Tree" and "fairy," they have degenerated into legends and taboos in the minds of the town's residents, with no concrete knowledge of them remaining.

Seeing that Ji Tian seemed lost in thought, the little girl mustered her courage and asked, "Then... Knight brother, can you teach me battle qi?"

Ji Tian looked down into her expectant eyes and smiled:

"Of course, but you'll have to wait until you're a bit older."

Why?

Since I don't even know what battle qi is, I'll teach you after I learn it.

Ji Tian inwardly complained, but outwardly remained calm as he explained:

"If you start practicing this at a very young age, you may not grow tall."

The little girl's face fell instantly.

Her father and mother often used similar excuses to brush her off, so she immediately concluded that "Knight Brother" was also fooling her.

Seeing this, Ji Tian smiled slightly: "But don't worry, I'm a knight, I keep my word."

The little girl's eyes lit up again: "Really?"

Before Ji Tian could answer, a dull tremor suddenly came from the ground, the candle flame on the table flickered, and the earthenware pot made a clanging sound on the shelf.

Immediately afterwards, a cacophony of screeching and fleeing sounds came from outside.