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"Yes, you're right, I was being too obsessive," I nodded, realizing that after witnessing the pinnacle of sword saint power during that great battle, I had momentarily lost my composure. I quickly composed myself and continued, "So, can you tell me more about the details of the Saint Crest power?"

Leimen nodded and said, "Certainly. The usage of the Saint Crest differs between humans and us. They fuse the crest into epic divine weapons and then integrate it within a human body through the weapon. For human sword emperors, the crest's power would conflict with the channel to the Sea of Star Souls, causing a violent explosion, so they can only choose junior-level sword masters who have a physique capable of accommodating dual battle auras. These youngsters can rapidly grow strong and, if they have enough talent, quickly become sword emperors, gradually unlocking the vast power to reach the level of a Flame Saint within a few years. If they fail, they will explode and die."

"As for us orcs, it's different. We use the powerful body of a Martial Emperor to directly bear the impact of the Saint Domain power, instantly elevating to the level of the Dragon Saint, but further significant progress would be nearly impossible after that. The Saint Crest is merely a key to the energy cycle of the Sea of Star Souls, and the power it can unleash depends on the individual's talent and disposition, having little to do with its origin. That means the Saint Crest created with my power is no different from those of ordinary human sword saints. By the way, regarding the titles of Shamanda and Katherine after they become sword saints, I believe they shouldn't be called 'Saints,' nor should they follow the human way of being called 'Knights.' Since only the Martial Emperor can bear the power of the crest, and 'Martial Emperor' is already the title of the strongest orc warrior, they can each adopt a prefix that suits them. Shamanda has officially inherited the orc's first divine weapon, the Calamity Demon Axe, indicating he will take the name 'Calamity Martial Emperor.' If Katherine succeeds, she can choose her own title."

I nodded to show my understanding. In truth, my original plan was to use the Nine Yin Manual to help Katherine cultivate true energy, assisting her in training a second battle aura to eventually become a true sword saint like Leimen. However, after several experiments, I found that the Lion Tribe's physique was not suitable for true energy circulation, and Katherine's innate energy had already transformed entirely, losing the intermediate step. This made it impossible for me to replenish her essence with nine yin energy like Jin Luosha did. If I were to start her on internal cultivation now, it would take many years to transition from acquired to innate. Comparatively, Leimen's method was more suitable.

As for Katherine's chances of success, I wasn't worried. Although her Emperor Martial Overlord Art had not yet reached the peak of Sword Empress, I had already used accumulated pure star energy to fully enhance her body. Her capacity to bear the power is no less than Shamanda's, so if he succeeded, she should have no issues.

Thinking of this, I suddenly remembered something else and said with a smile, "So, back then, when you were hunting down those four sword saints in the Six-Star Demon Slaying Formation, but ignored the two with Saint Crests, was it because you were worried that humans might use them to create more Saint Crests? As for the remaining two, since they had already merged with divine weapons, they were useless to us orcs, right? But when they saw Shamanda, they must have guessed that we understood the secret of the Saint Crest, so Divine Blessing and Black Ice were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect the others. However, they underestimated your strength, and in the end, those four still perished."

Leimen smiled wryly and shook his head, saying, "That's not quite it. Actually, the weapons of Divine Blessing and Black Ice were imprinted with return arrays. Even if they were killed, the divine weapons would be summoned back to the humans through spatial magic. Besides, with a master like the King of the Undead, it might have been possible to remove the crest from the weapons. As for the four sword saints, although I truly wanted to kill them, they actually managed to escape."

"They escaped? Impossible! Even though the star energy was chaotic at the time, I watched carefully and they definitely didn't leave the Six-Star Demon Slaying Formation," I asked in surprise.

"Alas, do you think the Temple deployed four grand prelates just to fuse the domains of the sword saints? Their real purpose was to use spatial magic to rescue those four at a critical moment. When the Six-Star Demon Slaying Formation shattered, its ability to block spatial magic was lost. I was busy dealing with the Arrow of the Seraph and the final burst of star energy, and they seized the opportunity to rescue them. The Blade Saint and Flame Saint were beyond saving; even if they were rescued, they were probably just two corpses. I wonder if the humans can still make Saint Crests from them. As for the Ferocious Shadow Martial Saint and Jade Mystic Sword Saint, although their injuries were not as severe as the other two, they had been corrupted by the demonic power of my Soul-Devouring Sword. Even if the Pope intervened, he could only extend their lives by a year at most, but they would still die."

"In other words," I hesitated, "humans might have up to six more sword saint-level Knights. However, finding suitable candidates to bear the Saint Crest is not easy, and their growth will take several years. Our Martial Emperors don't have this problem. So, Xuanfeng, this is the first reason I sought you out. I want you to take the opportunity to infiltrate the human world in the coming years, hunt down the undeveloped Knights, and seize their Saint Crests." As Leimen spoke, a deep meaning flashed in his eyes as he looked intently at me.

"I understand... I will do my utmost to complete this task," I responded thoughtfully.

However, even as I said this, I suspected that Leimen might have intentionally let those sword saints escape. After all, the current level of civilization on the continent is not what it was 10,000 years ago when the orcs first rose. Although we successfully defeated the humans this time, it was mainly because the humans were not fully united and the major empires did not provide full support. If the orcs continue to advance in the future, it will inevitably provoke resistance from all of humanity. The potential of the human world has not been fully realized, and if they mobilize all their forces in the future, the orc alliance's military strength would be relatively weak in comparison. On the other hand, the orcs have always been able to suppress humans in high-level combat. If hope is left for the humans, the battle can be directed towards high-level duels. Given human nature, as long as someone is standing firm and they are not pushed to the brink, they won't unleash their full desperate courage. This way, we can control the pace of the war and avoid a scenario where humans fully mobilize and overwhelm us with numbers.