Chapter 17

Bai Cangdong once again refused to become Lady Honglian's knight, and her face immediately turned somewhat stiff.

"Since that's the case, you'll have to rely on your own luck." Lady Honglian got up and was about to leave.

"Lady, please don't be angry. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you." Bai Cangdong said with a serious expression.

Lady Honglian hesitated for a moment and stopped to look at Bai Cangdong.

"When do you think you will be able to advance to the rank of Count?" Bai Cangdong asked calmly.

"Advancing to the rank of Count is no easy feat. In our city of Daolun, the number of Counts can be counted on one hand. Although I have confidence in becoming a Count, I must be fully prepared. It's unlikely within ten years, but perhaps within twenty years, and at most, no more than thirty years, I will definitely become a Count." Lady Honglian looked at Bai Cangdong with confusion, not knowing why he was asking these questions.

Without responding to her confusion, Bai Cangdong continued, "When do you think you will be able to advance to the rank of Marquis?"

"Daolun has never produced a Marquis. Although I am confident, I cannot guarantee that I will become a Marquis." Lady Honglian looked at Bai Cangdong and asked, "What do you mean by asking these questions?"

"Lady, my goal is not just to become a Count." Bai Cangdong said lightly.

Lady Honglian laughed, whether out of anger or amusement, her laughter was uncontrollable. "You don't even look up to a Count, no wonder you refused to be my knight. You have ambition and ideals."

"That is my goal and my ideal. I will not give up. So please forgive me, I cannot become your knight. However, if you have any instructions, I will do my best to fulfill them." Bai Cangdong said.

"Having ambition is a good thing, but do you know why most people cannot become a Count, or even a Viscount, in their entire lives?" Lady Honglian asked.

"The gap in strength between each rank is enormous, and challenging a higher rank is extremely difficult, which is why it is so hard to obtain a rank." Bai Cangdong said.

"You are only half right. The gap in strength between each rank is indeed enormous, and this gap needs to be bridged by many things, such as equipment, the help of peers, and most importantly, martial techniques."

"Martial techniques?" Bai Cangdong looked at Lady Honglian with some confusion. He knew martial techniques were important, but not to the extent that they could affect the advancement of a rank.

"Exactly, do you know where martial techniques come from?" Lady Honglian asked.

"Uh!" Bai Cangdong really didn't know where martial techniques came from.

"Most people don't know. Martial techniques, like equipment, come from the Undead. The difference is that equipment comes from the Undead themselves, while martial techniques come from the Undead altars. Breaking an Eternal Crystal might yield a martial technique, but it's not guaranteed. You can imagine how rare martial techniques are. Fortunately, many martial techniques can be learned independently, unlike ranks, which can only be held by one person. The martial techniques we learn now are all obtained by our predecessors breaking Eternal Crystals."

"The Art of Longevity is also a type of martial technique, and it is the most important. With the Art of Longevity, you can promote the growth of your Life Wheel. Otherwise, the power of the Life Wheel remains unchanged. The power of other martial techniques is based on the Life Wheel. If your Life Wheel is strong enough and your martial techniques are powerful enough, defeating a higher-ranked Undead is not as difficult as you might think. Unfortunately, martial techniques are hard to come by, and the higher the rank, the rarer they become. At the Viscount rank, you have many martial techniques to choose from, but at the Count rank, the number of available martial techniques decreases by a hundred or a thousand times. Do you know how many Count-level martial techniques Count Daolun has?"

Bai Cangdong shook his head and looked at Lady Honglian with great curiosity, waiting for her answer.

"One. My brother has been a Count for many years, and to this day, he only knows one Count-level martial technique, and it's just a common Bronze martial technique. Do you think he can defeat a Marquis-level Undead with just this Bronze martial technique?" Lady Honglian glanced at Bai Cangdong. "This is with connections. For someone like you, who has nothing, it would be even more difficult. Are you still confident in your goal?"

After listening to Lady Honglian, Bai Cangdong was not only not afraid, but also somewhat delighted. Martial techniques were so rare, but his Sword Box could absorb equipment and evolve into martial techniques. From the previous two times, he knew that absorbing what level of equipment would evolve into the same level of martial technique. This meant he wouldn't have to worry about martial techniques in the future, as obtaining equipment was much easier than obtaining martial techniques.

He had only seen an Undead altar once in his life, and that altar didn't leave behind any martial techniques. It was extremely difficult to obtain martial techniques this way.

Seeing that Bai Cangdong was not intimidated by the difficulties but instead showed a joyful expression, Lady Honglian said strangely, "I don't know if you are crazy or foolish. Well, since you have such a goal, I won't force you to be my knight. After you encounter many setbacks in the future, you will naturally realize how naive your current thoughts are."

"Thank you for your understanding, Lady."

"You don't want to be my knight, but you can still help me with that matter. Are you willing to help me?" Lady Honglian's eyes twinkled as she smiled.

"Of course, I will follow your orders." Bai Cangdong, who was counting on Lady Honglian to save him, could not refuse.

"Very well, then I am relieved. Rest well, I won't disturb you." Lady Honglian got up and was about to leave.

"Lady..." Bai Cangdong was waiting for Lady Honglian to tell him how to break the crisis of the Five Departure Fingers, but she was about to leave without saying anything.

Seeing Bai Cangdong's anxious expression, Lady Honglian couldn't help but laugh. "You are sometimes very bold, like a madman or a fool, but other times you are very timid and afraid of death."

"Don't worry. My brother is not a cruel person. He promised to give you a Longevity Art, didn't he? That Longevity Art is the method of Nourishing Life and Returning to the Origin. After using the Five Departure Fingers, you just need to practice that Longevity Art, and you will recover in ten to fifteen days, at most a month." After thinking for a moment, Lady Honglian took out a small, exquisite jade bottle and placed it on the bedside table. "Since you have agreed to do something for me, I should show some appreciation. This bottle contains a Jade Essence Pill, which can replenish your spirit and energy. After using the Northern Departure Finger, if you encounter any danger, just take the Jade Essence Pill, and you will recover immediately. However, this pill is precious, so if you don't encounter any danger, it's better to practice the Longevity Art to recover slowly and not waste the Jade Essence Pill."

"Thank you, Lady." Bai Cangdong carefully put the Jade Essence Pill in his pocket.

When Bai Cangdong looked up again, he found that Lady Honglian had quietly left without him noticing.

"Indeed, a Count is much stronger than a Viscount. I wonder how much of her true strength Lady Honglian used in the carriage!" Bai Cangdong was secretly alarmed. If Lady Honglian really wanted to kill him, she could have silently stabbed him in the back, and he wouldn't even know how he died.

However, thinking about Lady Honglian's plan to have him impersonate the Masked Viscount, Bai Cangdong couldn't help but smile with a hint of mischief.

The next morning, Bai Cangdong and the other four were called to the courtyard by the Silver-Armored Knight to assess their progress in practicing the Five Departure Fingers.

The results were very satisfactory to the Silver-Armored Knight. All five had successfully practiced the Five Departure Fingers, and the only thing lacking was experience and refinement, which were not what the Silver-Armored Knight needed. As long as the five could use the Five Departure Fingers and gather their strength to Li Xiangfei, they could kill the Viscount-level Undead.

"This is the Longevity Art promised to you. Memorize it now, as it will be useful later." The Silver-Armored Knight placed a book of the Longevity Art in front of the five.

Bai Cangdong and the others didn't say anything, and they all flipped through the book and memorized it.

"This trip to Li Feng Island will be a bit of trouble for the five of you." On a large three-masted ship, Li Xiangfei stood at the bow, her white gauze dress and black hair fluttering in the wind.

"Miss Xiangfei, you are too polite. This is what we should do." Li Xifeng said with a smile.

The Silver-Armored Knight said indifferently, "Li Feng Island is a place carefully chosen by the Count. There are about a hundred Viscount-level Undead and one Count-level Undead on the island. These Undead live alone and rarely gather together, so you should be able to handle them easily. To ensure Miss Xiangfei's advancement to the Viscount rank, I cannot intervene, and everything must be handled by you."

"Sir Silver-Armored Knight, what kind of Undead are on the island, and what are their characteristics and weaknesses?" Bai Cangdong asked.

The Silver-Armored Knight looked at him approvingly and said, "They are called Wind Spirits. They are not very fast and have quite fragile bodies. The only troublesome thing is that Wind Spirits can heal themselves in the wind. The island has a special wind called the Departure Wind. In the Departure Wind, Wind Spirits are very difficult to kill. You must wait for the Departure Wind to stop before hunting the Wind Spirits."

"The Departure Wind on the island comes from nowhere and disappears on the island. It will not leak out at all. For eleven hours a day, the Departure Wind will blow over every corner of the island. Therefore, you must kill the Count-level Wind Spirit during the one hour when the Departure Wind stops, or you will have no chance once the Departure Wind starts again."

After more than two days of sailing, the group saw a small black island appear on the horizon. Although it was still a distance away, they could already hear a strange, wailing sound coming from the island, as if devils were crying in the dark.

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