Chapter 8: Reversal of Fate

  "Who is that?" Seeing Bai Cangdong rushing towards the altar, almost reaching it, many people were shocked and amazed.

  "What an impressive physique, seems like I've seen it somewhere before." Baron Douren rarely draws his sword in front of people, and ordinary barons have only seen the tip of his blade a few times.

  "That sword looks like Miss Shangfei's Lingluo Sword! How did it end up in that person's hands?" Someone recognized the Lingluo Sword.

  As the white-haired figure charged forward with increasing speed, the ghostly horde was unable to stop his advance. The crowd, who had already lost all hope, once again felt a spark of hope reignite within their hearts.

  The closer he got to the altar, the faster Bai Cangdong sprinted. In the instant he rushed onto the altar, his speed had reached its limit. Without any pause, he charged straight at the Split-Head Ghost with both himself and his sword. Against the powerful Split-Head Ghost, his only chance was a single strike that would kill, there wouldn't be a second opportunity to attack.

  The beheader ghost raised its giant axe without hesitation and chopped towards Bai Cangdong, tearing everything apart like thunder.

  And this was exactly what Bai Cangdong wanted. As he suddenly stopped in his tracks, with his right leg as the axis, he rotated and dissipated the powerful impact force. The sharp blade of the giant axe almost grazed his body, tearing his outer garment to shreds, but without harming his skin.

  In the instant of a full rotation, his left leg stepped out without hesitation, treading on the giant axe and then leaping up. The Ling Luo sword stabbed out from an unusual angle, its target not the Splitting Ghost's heart or head, but rather its wrist.

  "Roar!"

  Blood splattered everywhere, the beheader let out a miserable cry as he discarded his giant axe and retreated while clutching at his injured wrist.

  Bai Cangdong's gaze was icy and waveless, his footsteps closely following the body of the Split-Headed Ghost, his hand grasping the silk sword ready to strike at any moment.

  The skull-splitting ghost let out a furious roar and its uninjured arm swung down with a massive fist towards Bai Cangdong, who was charging forward.

  Bai Cang dodged the Ghost Splitter's punch by shifting his body to one side, then rushed into the Ghost Splitter's embrace. The silk sword suddenly stabbed out from below, entering the Ghost Splitter's abdomen.

  Everyone who saw this scene felt a tightness, and then they all cheered wildly. They had originally thought that there was no hope of survival, but the feeling of happiness came so suddenly that it left them speechless.

  Their cheers had not yet subsided when the excited expression suddenly froze on their faces. The heavily injured Splitting Ghost was not dead, and with a terrifying giant force, its hideous hands reached out to embrace Bai Cangdong. As long as it could hold onto Bai Cangdong, it could instantly crush all his bones into powder.

  At this time, Bai Cangdong's silk sword was still inserted in the body of the skull-splitting ghost, and he couldn't even pull it out. He could only stare blankly as the skull-splitting ghost pounced on him, its speed so fast that he didn't even have a chance to dodge.

  It was like falling from heaven to hell, everyone felt their body turn cold, unable to utter a sound, and disappointment reached its peak.

  Pfft!

  The Splitting Skull Ghost hugged him tightly, almost touching Bai Cangdong when a pure white great sword suddenly appeared in Bai Cangdong's hand, with the sword tip pointing directly at the Splitting Skull Ghost's heart.

  Without any hindrance, the splitting ghost pounced forward and was pierced through the heart by the great sword. Its two hands solidified on either side of Bai Cangdong's body, paused for about a few seconds, then crashed to the ground and dispersed into tiny sparks.

  Four items fell to the ground: a silk sword, a pure white knight's two-handed greatsword, a crimson-red two-handed greataxe, and a life-measuring light meter.

  Bai Cangdong picked up the three pieces of equipment and life gauge, rushing non-stop to the high platform in the center of the altar, raised his pure white knight's double-handed sword, and heavily slammed it into the black-red light pillar where a red crystal ball was floating, emitting a mesmerizing glow and ripples.

  The crystal shattered, and the soaring black-red light pillar suddenly vanished without a trace. The space around the altar began to twist violently, and the altar slowly rose from the ground, about to pierce through the shattered void.

  Bai Cang Dong didn't dare to stay, and with all his might, he rushed down the altar. Then, he watched as the altar slowly sank into the twisted void until it completely disappeared from sight.

  The altar disappeared, and those mutated skull spirits also returned to normal. The crowd of people who had narrowly escaped death vented their anger and excitement on them, and the thousands of skull spirits were soon slaughtered.

  By the time they calmed down and went to look for Bai Cangdong, Bai Cangdong had already gone missing.

  In the jungle, the Undying Altar appeared in the world, and the news that the last Eternal Crystal was shattered by someone quickly spread throughout the entire city of Kaldoren. However, even those who witnessed the battle at the altar did not know who the person was who shattered the Eternal Crystal, only knowing that the title he reported was "Masked Baron".

  The Masked Baron soon became the most talked-about four words in Dalun City, although no one knew the identity and appearance of the Masked Baron, but this couldn't stop their imagination.

  "I heard that Viscount Mask was incredibly ugly since childhood, which is why he always wears a mask." This is what people who are jealous say.

  "It's said that the Masked Baron went through a great calamity, which ruined his originally handsome appearance, so he wore a mask. What a pity." Someone pitied him like this.

  "I heard that the Masked Baron was disfigured in order to save his beloved woman..."

  All sorts of rumors have been circulating, becoming increasingly bizarre.

  As the protagonist Bai Cangdong didn't have time to care about those rumors, he was happily counting the benefits obtained from the altar.

  "There were a total of 2,080 life units, but that skull-splitting ghost actually dropped over a thousand life units. It's really infuriating." After calculating silently in his heart, Bai Cangdong felt slightly disappointed: "2,080 life units is equivalent to 260 time periods, roughly about 20 days of life. Although it sounds like a lot, it's actually not that much. It seems that the skull-splitting ghost is still too low-level, even after undergoing changes from the altar, the dropped life units are still too few."

  Apart from the Life Gauge, Bai Cangdong did not gain any other material rewards. The skull-splitting axe was taken away by Bai Cangdong and absorbed into the sword sheath, never to be seen again. However, a new malevolent skill called "Skull-Splitting Axe" appeared on the sword sheath.

  What excited Bai Canghai the most was that after beheading the Split-Head Ghost, he finally obtained the Baron rank of the Order of Light, and the life mark on his heart transformed into a fate plate that only Barons possessed.

  The fate plate presents a golden color, similar to a compass with countless mysterious symbols engraved on it. Among them, four characters are shining brightly, which are the three major privileges "Exemption", "Trial" and "Arbitration", and another one is "Reversal of Fate".

  The three major privileges are nothing to talk about. With Bai Cangdong's current baron title, his privileges can only be effective against those without titles, and for him, they are basically useless.

  "The power of 'Reversal' was a surprise to Bai Cangdong, it's a privilege that only those who have shattered the Eternal Crystal can obtain. Its power is simple: those with the 'Reversal' privilege are exempt from the three major privileges of someone one rank higher than themselves."

  In other words, the three major privileges of the Viscount title, "Rebellion", are completely ineffective against Bai Cangdong.

  Apart from privilege, the life plate itself is also the core of a special power. Only after possessing the life plate can the longevity technique exert its true effect.

  By using the Longevity Technique to drive the rotation of the Life Plate, the power bursting out of the Life Plate strengthens the body, making the Baron's physical strength far exceed that of ordinary people. After reaching the rank of Viscount, he can also release the power of the Life Plate externally. However, for Bai Cangdong, who has just become a Baron, the rank of Viscount is still somewhat distant.

  Opening the martial power ranking list, Bai Cangdong found that his name had finally entered the top 100 million, with the title being "Fist Baron" which he had named himself.

  "I was originally penniless, with empty hands and fists, but I still want to fight for a piece of the sky." Although Bai Cangdong also thought that Lie Canghai letting him go defeat the Light Emperor was something he came up with when his brain went bad before death, every time he thought about this matter, Bai Cangdong's blood couldn't help but flow faster, his body temperature rapidly rising, with a certain kind of expectation that even he himself couldn't explain.

  "This martial art is called 'Splitting Skull Axe', but it's not an axe technique at all!" Bai Cangdong carefully studied the new martial art that appeared on the sword sheath, and found that this martial art had nothing to do with axes. It was a technique that shook the life plate, strengthened the palm of the hand, and delivered an unstoppable blow.

  "No wonder this is a Baron-level martial skill, without advancing to Baron, there's no way to cultivate the 'Cleaving Axe'." Bai Cangdong was still very interested in the "Cleaving Axe", after all, he only had this one Baron-level martial skill on hand.

  "Splitting Skull Axe" is a Baron-level martial skill, but it's actually easier to cultivate than "Painful Knife Technique". The latter requires precise control and self-judgment, whereas the former only needs to use the correct method to stir up the life force in the dantian, causing the corresponding strength to surge out and reinforce the palm.

  Simplicity doesn't mean lack of power. After the Axe of Beheading was partially completed, Bai Cangdong tried out its power and easily cut off a hard birch wood rod with his palm, then he found a real iron rod as thick as his wrist and still cut it off in one go, sharper than the pure white knight's two-handed greatsword, making Bai Cangdong almost unable to believe that was really his own hand.

  "The Baron's martial arts skills are indeed extraordinary." After his excitement, Bai Cangdong hesitated: "Should I go to the Knife Lun Society or not?"

  The Doulon Society is a noble society established by the Earl of Doulon, with the minimum standard for joining being a baronial title. Once you become a member of the Doulon Society, you can live in Doulon City permanently and free of charge, and also enjoy many benefits provided by the Doulon Society, which are too numerous to mention.

  However, after becoming a member of the Kirito Society, one must complete some tasks arranged by the society. Such organizations exist in every city, only with different names.

  In the end, Bai Cangdong still chose to go to Kurenai Society. This way, not only could he save a large amount of life points, but more importantly, the various martial skills within Kurenai Society were impossible for outsiders to obtain.