{"id":739,"date":"2025-10-09T01:49:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T01:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sakuratranslation.com\/?p=739"},"modified":"2025-10-23T20:12:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T20:12:28","slug":"the-gate-of-heaven-24","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/www.velvetink.xyz\/hi\/chapter\/the-gate-of-heaven-24\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gate of Heaven 24"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 24 Frost Shield

“That’s right, you really should abandon that terrible idea.”

The door to the room opened with a creak, and Mikayla walked in carrying a tray full of delicious food, a faint, carefree smile at the corner of her mouth. She said, “The Crimson Castle sits at the core of the Empire. Not only is there a ten-thousand-strong army of the Light Knights garrisoned to the south, but there are at least thirty thousand troops stationed in the other three directions as well. And if you try to run, you’ll certainly be hunted down. With the sky-patrol tracking you, the Crimson Castle might even dispatch powerful Sky Knights to hunt you. Tell me, do you think you could possibly escape?”

“Instructor Mikayla…”

Aiver and Loran both stood up together, like students who had done something wrong.

“Sit down.”

Mikaela’s face was full of a gentle smile as she said, “None of you came to the Crimson Prison willingly, so it’s expected that you’d want to run away. But if this happens again, I hope this is the last time I hear about it. Otherwise, I’ll hand you over to Instructor Haimu and show no mercy.”

“What happens to those trainees who are caught trying to escape?” Loran asked.

Mikaela pursed her lips and said meaningfully, “Those with better talent and greater strength will have master-servant contracts signed and be sold to some nobles as battle slaves. As for the weaker ones, there’s no need to keep them \u2014 they’ll be executed somewhere at random.”

Avel bit her lips, remaining silent.

Loran then asked, “Instructor Mikaela, the Blood Castle’s wanton slaughter has long violated the Empire’s laws, and even runs counter to the doctrines of the Church of Light. Don’t the attendants of the Temple of the Goddess know about this?”

“No, they do know.”

“Then why tolerate the Light Church running wild like this if you knew?”

“That’s simple.”

Mikaela stepped forward, a smile in her beautiful eyes. She looked at Loran deeply and said, “Because if we didn’t, the Empire wouldn’t be able to train enough true warriors capable of resisting the northern beast legions. What do you think you’re doing in the Blood Prison?”

She nodded lightly and continued, “Your current efforts and sacrifices are meant to mold you into one-in-a-hundred elites, then send you up into the upper ranks of the Radiant Knights as important officers, or even to lead armies to wipe out the northern beast hosts. You all know that since the Sky Gate opened, more and more of those otherworldly beasts have arrived and now threaten humanity’s survival. If we can’t stand against the beast legions, then what good is the Empire’s law, no matter how just?”

“So you already knew the whole truth all along?” Roland asked with a frown.

“Yes, I know everything.”

Michaela looked at Loran with a calm gaze and said, “I’m just doing my job. Besides, I know this is the right thing to do, and I have no other choice.”

“Thank you, Instructor Michaela. Thank you for your honesty.”

Loran fell silent until his stomach began to growl; his physical strength had been seriously depleted, and it was already time to eat. He couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed and lowered his head.

Michaela smiled faintly: “Loran, whatever kind of person you want to become in the future\u2014whether a Knight of Light, a champion of justice, or even a powerful Harbinger\u2014the prerequisite is that you are strong enough. Otherwise, without sufficient strength to support you, no matter how noble the words sound, they are nothing but empty talk and delusion.”

“I understand, Instructor. Thank you for the food.”

“Mm, eat quickly. We’ll change the dressing tomorrow morning.”

“Yes!”

Not long after, Aivel and Michaela left, while Loran ravenously devoured all the food, then lay down on the bed to let his body recover and soon fell into a heavy sleep.

…

Days passed, and the weather grew steadily colder, yet the young trainees in the Blood Fortress still trained and attended classes each day in thin clothing. During this time, Loran’s injuries had long since healed, and his daily training in the Tempering Tower yielded remarkable results\u2014his strength grew steadily. He also completed the first stage of cultivation in the geothermal trial chamber, and his comprehension of the flame elemental law had nearly reached the same level as his understanding of the wind elemental law.

And so the weather grew colder day by day until winter arrived. When the first snowflake fell over the Blood Fortress, all the trainees shivered in their single shirts.

Inside the courtyard, Instructor Haimu still wore his knight’s armor and held a broadsword, his gaze fixed straight ahead at the group of trainees he saw every day. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, but they circled endlessly around Haimu’s body without settling, and in the wind a hissing sound split off threads of frost energy that wrapped around him.

“Winter!”

Instructor Haimu exhaled hot breath and said, “It’s the best opportunity to cultivate the Frost Law. From now on you’ll train a combat technique called the Frost Shield \u2014 a martial skill that can only be accomplished by grasping the power of the frost element. The Frost Shield is also one of the required techniques for intermediate knights throughout the Order of Light. Alright, Loran, come up!”

“Yes!”

Loran stepped forward holding his steel sword and bowed, “Instructor Haimu!”

“Mm!”

Instructor Haimu smiled slightly and nodded, “Next, I will use the Frost Shield, and you will attack me with the Blazing Slash you’ve been training. Remember, you must attack with full force \u2014 understand?”

“Yes!”

The next moment, Instructor Haimu murmured, his Star Origin Power surging across his body, transforming into wisps of frost that spun and quickly formed fist-sized, fish-scale shields around him. They gave off a bone-chilling aura, protecting his torso except for his head, legs, and arms.

“Loran, attack!”

“Yes!”

Loran took a deep breath; his body suddenly grew hot as the fire-law energies in the surrounding world answered his will, converging and igniting around his steel sword until it glowed red. It was a textbook blazing slash. Loran lowered his stance and lunged forward, moving with blinding speed as he unleashed three continuous slashes\u2014”swish, swish, swish”\u2014each striking toward Instructor Haimu from a different direction.

Instantly, the group of trainees was stunned. The speed and strength Loran displayed, even the intensity of the Blazing Slash, were feats few present would confidently claim they could match. These were the true markers of a person’s power. The level of Star Origin Power was not the most direct measure\u2014after all, strength is meant to defeat opponents, not merely serve as an assessment metric.

“Beautiful!”

Haimu watched the arc of the flame-wreathed blade in the air and couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t dodge; he simply used the Frost Shield to block. With three consecutive “thuds,” each of Loran’s strikes landed as if upon a glacier, forcing him to step back repeatedly. Each blow only left about a one-centimeter mark on the Frost Shield and could not break through it.

Clearly, compared to the Starlight Body protection, this Frost Shield technique was more profound and far more potent.

“Instructor, I can’t break through your defense.”

Loran frowned and said.

“Mm!”

Haimu nodded with satisfaction: “Alright, next I will explain to everyone the operational principles of the Frost Shield and the points that need attention. Everyone must remember them clearly.”

“Yes, Instructor!”

The group of trainees nodded in unison, while Loran, who had rejoined the ranks, fell into deep thought. Back when his mother was killed, Loran’s desperate strike had been repelled by Gray’s Starlight Protection. Now Loran was about to train a rule-based martial technique stronger than the Starlight Protection; the joy and excitement in his heart went without saying. Only by learning more and becoming stronger could he take his revenge!

\u2026

One hour later, Instructor Haimu finished his explanation, and the students stood amid the cold wind and drifting snow, each seeking to comprehend the power of the frost elemental spirit on their own.

Loran hoisted his steel sword, leapt up, and perched in one of the courtyard wall’s lattice openings, letting the cold wind buffet his body. To his left lay the flat ground within the castle; to his right stretched a sheer cliff. Snowflakes drifted through the air, stirring a bleakness in his chest. Memories of winters past rose in his mind\u2014the scent of the wheat cakes his mother used to fry, the way she gathered wild cotton to sew his winter quilts. Though there had been only two of them at home, the two of them together had been a family. Now, forever, there was only him.

Home will never exist again.

He couldn’t help but feel a bitter ache rise in his chest. Holding the steel sword, his eyes a little moist, he closed them and began to sense the presence of the frost-law power within the raging wind and swirling snow.

However, the frost law was different from the wind element, and different from the fire element as well\u2014sturdier, colder, and far more difficult to perceive.

After nearly three full days of meditating in the driving snow, at last, when Loran closed his eyes again, he felt threads of cold coalescing into filaments, winding around him. Indeed, the frost law was unlike any other: even the existence of frost spirits differed\u2014just a strand of chill, not a substantial presence.

“Found it!”

Loran felt a slight thrill. He hooked his finger gently through the wind, and at once a few snowflakes seemed summoned\u2014hissing as they condensed, forming and swirling around his fingertips.

…

In the distance, Instructor Haimu caught a glimpse and couldn’t help but smile faintly.

Mikaela also smiled slightly and said in a low voice, “Instructor Haimu, Loran actually perceived the presence of the Frost Spirit in just three days. His attainment in the laws is practically a miracle\u2014he sensed the Frost Spirit even earlier than Rodney. That’s really not easy at all.”

“Yes.”

Haimu leaned on his longsword with both hands, his gaze indifferent as he said, “It’s a pity. In the end Loran still doesn’t have Star Origin Power. Relying only on the power beyond his body\u2014even if he manages to master the Frost Shield, how could he possibly match the other students?”

“There\u2019s nothing we can do. The fact that he can comprehend it at all is already quite remarkable.”

“Hmm, when you take Loran to the Refining Tower tonight, we\u2019ll need to increase the potency of the medicine\u2026 No, I\u2019ll petition Lady Katherine to use higher-grade beast blood to temper Loran\u2019s body.”

“Yes!”
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