Chapter Eleven: Drawing Lots

  "Isn't today Miss Shangfei's coming-of-age ceremony? Where is Miss Shangfei?" Chen Xifeng looked left and right, but on the vast square, everywhere were fully armed barons.

  The muscular man said in a bad mood: "Are you stupid? This is just the place where the martial arts conference is held, and the coming-of-age ceremony is at night, and it's somewhere else. Besides, why do you think anyone can attend the ceremony? Ordinary barons don't have this qualification, only viscounts or the champion of this martial arts conference can attend."

  "Quiet, please! Teams participating in the competition, please send one representative to the stage for the draw." A tall and imposing man clad in full silver armor stepped forward on the makeshift high platform, addressing the crowd of nobles below.

  "This martial arts tournament is actually being hosted by the Silver Armor Knight!" The muscular man said with a look of reverence, gazing at the silver-armored man on the high platform: "I'll go draw lots, I want to take a closer look at the Silver Armor Knight."

  He didn't even wait for Chen Xifeng and others to respond, the muscular man excitedly ran up onto the high platform.

  "Luoke likes those guys who are as strong as him, like an ox, I don't know if he's got a screw loose." Chen Xifeng muttered under his breath.

  "Who is the Silver Armor Knight?" asked Bai Cangdong from the side.

  "Really? You don't even know the Silver Armored Knight, one of the top ten knights under Earl-sama?" Chen Xifeng and the other two looked at Bai Cangdong with surprise.

  "Is there something strange?"

  Chen Xifeng said, "Of course it's strange. The Silver Armored Knight is a man who has beheaded an Earl-level undead before. If he weren't the knight of Duke Kailin, he would already be a true Earl by now. Such a powerful man, and you, as someone from Kailin City, don't know about him? Isn't that strange?"

  "How can someone as powerful as you be willing to become a knight for someone else?" Bai Cangdong asked with some puzzlement.

  "I wonder what the reason is, but becoming a knight isn't bad either. Although the title disappears and the three major privileges are gone after becoming a knight, there are many benefits to it. For example, the life limit will become the same as the master's. The life limit of ordinary people is 200 years, and even if you have more life points, you'll still die after living for 200 years. Our baron's life limit is 300 years, and that of a viscount is 400 years. If an ordinary person becomes a knight under a viscount, their life limit will become 400 years. The benefits are too great."

  A weak-looking man chimed in from the side, "That's not all, although knights have lost their three major privileges, they have gained a status equivalent to that of their masters. For example, if a knight was originally a baron and became a knight under a viscount, he would no longer have the three major privileges to suppress ordinary people, but the three major privileges of other viscounts would also not be effective against him. Only when someone's title is higher than that of the knight's master will the three major privileges take effect on the knight."

  Bai Cangdong only knew that the fate of a knight would be controlled by his master, but he didn't know being a knight had so many benefits. However, he still had no interest in becoming a knight.

  Rog has drawn the sign back, with a happy face: "The Silver Knight is really too powerful, just standing beside him will make you feel suffocated by his invisible aura."

  "Rong, what kind of draw did you get? Who is our opponent?" Chen Xifeng shouted.

  "I haven't seen it yet, you guys take a look." Luo Ge handed the drawn slip over to Chen Xifeng.

  Chen Xifeng and several others looked at the sign, then looked at the published schedule, their faces all turned very unsightly.

  "It's all over, this time it's not even a question of getting into the top ten, it's hard to say if we can even get past the first round." Chen Xifeng called out with a bitter face.

  "Our first-round opponent is Du Changlong's team. If Knife Shield Baron was still here, our chances of winning would be great, but now it's probably only 30% even if we play at 100% of our strength. Even if we luckily win, the teams we face in the next two rounds all have top-five strength, and winning these three rounds will only get us into the top ten. This time is really miserable."

  Chen Xifeng and the other two glared at Luo Ge with gritted teeth: "It's all because of this guy staring at the Silver Armor Knight during the draw, that's why he got such a terrible stick."

  "Hey, hey, drawing lots is random, how can you blame me? It's just bad luck." Rong shook his hand and retreated repeatedly.

  "Never mind, now that Luo Ge is useless too, let's discuss how to get past Du Changlong." the weak-looking man said.

  Chen Xifeng thought for a moment, then said with a serious tone: "Du Changlong's team has five people who are all quite strong. Du Changlong himself is not to be underestimated, and among our team members, only Feng Lie is slightly stronger than him. The other four members of his team are almost as strong as Du Changlong, and they're all evenly matched with us. If Knife Shield Baron were still here, we wouldn't be afraid, but now it's really tough."

  "It's good that this martial arts competition is in a round-robin format, after one-on-one duel, the winner can continue to compete with the next opponent, only when all five team members are defeated will we lose, as long as the order of appearance is arranged properly, we still have a chance to win." Weak-looking man Li Yan analyzed.

  The wind was very calm, and it wasn't until Li Yan finished speaking that he took over the conversation: "Du Changlong is a cunning person, and he's also timid and suspicious. I guess he will definitely put himself last in line to appear."

  "Not bad, since he's going to make a last stand, then Wind Lethal can't be ranked first. If Wind Lethal is defeated early on, we won't have anyone who can suppress Du Changlong. Let's rank Wind Lethal last too." Chen Xifeng said.

  "That's not good, we're at a disadvantage in terms of strength. Even if we put Feng Lie last, he may still have to fight others before meeting Du Changlong. Why don't we just put him last? Anyway, he'll be defeated by anyone he meets, so it won't make a difference whether he's first or last. And who knows, if Feng Lie and Du Changlong end up fighting each other and both get injured, maybe he can take advantage of the situation." Li Yan said, pointing at Bai Cangdong.

  "This is a good idea, let's do it this way." Roger agreed.

  Bai Cangdong didn't say anything either and followed their arrangement. After all, he was just here to see the strength of other barons and it didn't matter what position he was in.

  The curious gaze swept across all the barons present, as well as the silver-armored knight hosting the martial tournament. His eyes passed over the VIP seats and suddenly froze.

  On the VIP seats sat several viscounts who came to watch the game, one of whom was that mysterious woman in black veil he met at the armory.

  "Who is that woman?" Bai Cangdong poked Chen Xifeng, who was resting and preparing for battle beside him, and pointed to the woman's location.

  "You can't tell that you're still a lecher, but I advise you not to have any ideas about her, it's better if you don't even look at her. Don't be fooled by her stunning beauty and captivating movements, she's actually a true femme fatale, the infamous poisonous widow of Kalundborg, the younger sister of the Earl of Kalundborg. She's been married three times and has killed off three viscounts, all men are torn between loving her breathtaking beauty to death and fearing being killed by her." Chen Xifeng said in a low voice.

  "Could it be that she is actually the younger sister of Count Doulton? Is she also a countess?" asked Bai Cangdong in surprise.

  "You think it's easy to become a countess? I heard she was a viscountess, and after marrying, the wife can get her husband's title and privileges. However, all three of her husbands were viscounts, so it was just a regular marriage, that's why everyone calls her Viscountess. Her real name is Honglian, some people also call her Madame Honglian."

  Li Yan looked at Chen Xifeng with a seemingly smiling yet not quite smiling expression: "Red Hair, you know so much about Lady Honglian, are you thinking of making a move on her?"

  Chen Xifeng shrank his neck: "I only heard others say it, how dare I make decisions for her, I haven't lived enough yet. Moreover, she doesn't even look down on me, with her identity and status, even if she wants to find a confidant, at least she would find someone of the rank of viscount, where does that put me?"

  The martial arts competition proceeded quickly because the first-place team had to be decided by daybreak today, and tonight the first-place team would still have to attend Miss Xiang Fei's coming-of-age ceremony.

  It was Bai Cangdong's turn to take the stage, and according to the predetermined order, Chen Xifeng took the stage first.

  Chen Xifeng summoned his own armed forces, with no less than seven pieces of equipment on his body, including three Baron-level equipment, including the fiery red long knife in his hand.

  The opponent is also weak, with seven pieces of equipment on his body, three of which are baron-level equipment, and the long sword in his hand is also baron-level.

  The battle was very intense, and Bai Cangdong watched with great interest from below. The two people on the stage had three or four different martial arts skills, although their application was not of high standard, they relied solely on brute force to fight, but the martial arts themselves were quite formidable.

  After a series of fierce battles, Chen Xi barely won, but he was no longer able to fight. The second Baron of the opposing side came on stage and kicked him down with just a few kicks.

  The second wrestler, Muscleman Roger, was even more violent. He went up and clashed fiercely with the opponent, Baron, who was also a stubborn guy. The two men exchanged blows, punch for punch, until they were both battered and bruised. In the end, Roger's strength paid off, as he kicked his opponent off the high platform, securing victory.

  Luoge himself was also seriously injured and was knocked down by the new opponent in a few moves, unable to get up. Feng Lie and Bai Cangdong went onto the stage together to carry him down.

  The third to take the stage was Li Yan, who was fully armed with all baron-level equipment. His weapons included a crossbow, longsword, and dagger, all of which were also baron-level. He directly suppressed his opponent, not suffering any injuries at all, and swept them away in an instant.

  "Alright, kill another one and we'll win!" Chen Xifeng cheered from below.

  "Damn it, we must rush into the top ten." Rog, who was seriously injured and receiving treatment on the side, also shouted loudly.

  The opponent's fourth baron came on stage, because Li Yan's armed forces were too luxurious, that baron was also suppressed by Li Yan like the previous ones, and seemed to have no ability to counterattack.

  Just as everyone thought they had won, Li Yan suddenly fell to the ground for no reason and was inexplicably kicked down by his opponent.