Chapter 57

As Viscount Ameno swung the Evil-Breaking Sword, the golden life-force light turned into a blade and slashed at the sword light formed by the Ayame Sword, instantly shattering it.

Bai Cangdong was greatly startled. Although his life-force light was far less substantial than Viscount Ameno's, it shouldn't have been so easily shattered.

"The Evil-Breaking Sword has the ability to shatter life-force light. Even if your life-force light were stronger than mine, it would still be no match for the power of the Evil-Breaking Sword. You are bound to lose today." Ameno swung the Evil-Breaking Sword, ruthlessly slashing down.

Bai Cangdong grew even more fond of the large Evil-Breaking Sword, but he didn't pay much attention to Viscount Ameno's arrogance. He was not good at direct confrontations; his superb footwork and exquisite sword techniques were his greatest advantages.

Viscount Ameno attacked fiercely, but Bai Cangdong did not back down. His footwork was swift, and his sword techniques were bizarre, with the Ayame Sword's light piercing at Viscount Ameno's vital points from all sorts of impossible angles, making him very frustrated and forcing him to retreat to defend himself.

What was initially an offensive situation for Viscount Ameno turned into Bai Cangdong attacking his vital points, while Viscount Ameno could only passively defend.

Viscount Ameno had a lot of strength but couldn't use it, feeling very frustrated. He thought to himself, "His footwork and sword techniques are too bizarre. If this continues, I might really lose to him. But he won't engage me in a direct confrontation, and I can't catch up to him. I need to find a way to force him into a direct fight."

Looking at the large flag on the city gate, Viscount Ameno had an idea. He forced Bai Cangdong back with a sword strike and ran towards the city gate.

"Masked Viscount, today's battle is about capturing the flag. The winner will be the one who captures the flag. I won't play with you anymore." Viscount Ameno shouted as he ran.

Bai Cangdong didn't get angry and also ran towards the city gate. His footwork was exquisite, but his straight-line running speed wasn't faster than Viscount Ameno's. They almost reached the city wall at the same time, both grabbing the cracks in the wall to climb up.

"Up here on the city wall, I'll see how you can dodge!" Halfway up, Viscount Ameno held onto a brick with one hand and slashed at Bai Cangdong with the other.

"I'll dodge however I want." Bai Cangdong spread his green wings, combining them with the Qingyun Step and the Eight Steps of Heaven, flying and dodging in the air. The sword light, like a venomous snake, pierced at Viscount Ameno's vital points from every angle.

Viscount Ameno originally wanted to use the terrain to force Bai Cangdong into a direct confrontation, but it turned into a more disadvantageous situation for himself. He couldn't dodge Bai Cangdong's bizarre sword techniques and was hit several times in a short time.

Golden light emanated from Viscount Ameno's body. His armor was also a viscount-level equipment, and combined with his life-force light of over forty units, Bai Cangdong's sword light couldn't even pierce through his armor, leaving only shallow marks.

"Haha, your life-force light is even weaker than I imagined, probably less than ten units. You can't even pierce through my armor." Viscount Ameno was delighted and ignored Bai Cangdong's sword light, pushing through it to climb the wall.

"Didn't you say earlier that the winner is the one who captures the flag?" Bai Cangdong, unable to kill Viscount Ameno, suddenly smiled strangely, stepped on Viscount Ameno's head, forcing him to stop and hold onto the bricks to stabilize himself. Bai Cangdong then flew up to the wall and grabbed the flag.

Viscount Ameno was unwilling to accept such a defeat and threw the Evil-Breaking Sword at Bai Cangdong.

Whoosh!

Just as Bai Cangdong was about to grab the flag, he heard a strong whistling sound from behind and quickly turned to dodge. The Evil-Breaking Sword almost grazed his body.

Bai Cangdong caught the hilt of the Evil-Breaking Sword with his hand, turned in the air again, and returned to the flag, pulling it out.

"I'll keep the sword and remove your equipment." Bai Cangdong raised the flag high and planted the Evil-Breaking Sword in the ground, firmly gripping the hilt. No matter how Viscount Ameno tried to summon it, it wouldn't return.

Once equipment is used by someone, others can only obtain it if the original owner removes it or if the original owner is killed while the equipment is summoned, making it ownerless.

If the equipment is still in the life-force disk and the owner dies, most equipment will disintegrate with the disk, leaving only some special equipment behind.

Viscount Ameno was furious, his teeth grinding as if he wanted to tear Bai Cangdong apart, but in front of the many viscounts and knights at the East Gate, he couldn't act dishonorably. He angrily removed his equipment, making the Evil-Breaking Sword ownerless.

Bai Cangdong and the Hua family became the winners of the East Gate battle. The Four Knights handed the East Gate command token directly to Hua Qianwu, who then publicly handed it to Bai Cangdong, keeping her promise and making him the East Gate commander.

Viscount Ameno was不服 (unwilling to accept the defeat), and Feng Xian felt the same. Viscount Ameno's strength was clearly above the Masked Viscount, but because his footwork was inferior, he couldn't capture the flag. If it were a life-or-death battle, they believed Viscount Ameno would survive.

Regardless, the news of Bai Cangdong defeating Viscount Ameno and becoming the East Gate commander spread quickly. With less than ten units of life-force light, he overpowered Viscount Ameno with forty units, showing the benefits of practicing footwork and martial techniques.

In Fenghua City, the price of footwork and martial techniques skyrocketed. Any slightly unique footwork or martial technique could be sold at a high price.

Especially the Qingyun Step and the Eight Steps of Heaven used by Bai Cangdong, which were hyped to an astronomical price, only slightly lower than viscount-level techniques and far surpassing other baron-level techniques.

Many people were also inquiring about the green wings under Bai Cangdong's arms and the accompanying martial techniques, willing to pay a high price for them. However, no one knew the origin of the Asura Wings and the green wings, so the prices kept rising, even surpassing some viscount-level techniques, but no one could obtain them.

The craze for footwork didn't last long. Ordinary footwork didn't significantly improve a baron's strength, let alone a viscount. Techniques like the Eight Steps of Heaven were found to be too difficult by many. To master such a technique, time, perseverance, insight, and talent were all required. Many couldn't even complete the first step, and most only reached the second or third step. Reaching the sixth step like Bai Cangdong was something many couldn't even imagine.

The East Gate battle gave Bai Cangdong fame but also exposed some of his weaknesses. Although he had golden life-force light, he only had less than ten units. If he faced a viscount who had been promoted for a long time, this would be his most fatal weakness.

Hua Qianwu thought this, Feng Xian thought this, and even Viscount Ameno was rubbing his hands, eager to find an opportunity to avenge the defeat and reclaim the Evil-Breaking and Ayame Swords.

"Less than ten units of life-force light, even if his footwork is divine, with a proper plan, defeating him won't be difficult. Please give me another chance, my lady. I swear on my life that I will defeat the Masked Baron this time." Viscount Ameno guaranteed to Feng Xian.

"Viscount Ameno, don't be in a hurry. Opportunities will come." Feng Xian didn't take the loss to heart. The Feng family already had the West Gate, and losing the East Gate wasn't a big deal. The East Gate commander was just a gatekeeper, and the Feng family didn't really care.

"The most important thing now is the interests in the Hurricane Abyss. The resurrection period of the Eight-Eyed Celestial is approaching. This time, the Feng family is determined to succeed. We must not let the Eight-Eyed Celestial Pearl fall into others' hands. You must prepare well. The Hua family will also compete for the Eight-Eyed Celestial Pearl. The Masked Viscount will be your responsibility. Don't disappoint me again."

"My lady, please rest assured. I will not rest until I kill the Masked Viscount." Thinking of Bai Cangdong, Viscount Ameno was so angry that he almost ground his teeth to pieces.

Bai Cangdong sneezed several times, rubbing his nose and muttering to himself, "I wonder who is thinking about me."

The position of East Gate commander was quite leisurely, with almost nothing to do unless the Undead attacked. The commander was almost useless, and the city gates and walls were guarded by regular troops. He only needed to patrol a few times a day.

"What a commander, just a gatekeeper." Bai Cangdong was in a good mood. He loved the Evil-Breaking Sword, which was more than twice as heavy as the pure white knight's sword but felt very comfortable to use. Most importantly, the Evil-Breaking Sword had the ability to shatter life-force light. On the day of the flag capture, if he had the Evil-Breaking Sword, he wouldn't have failed to pierce through Viscount Ameno's armor.

"Commander, a woman says she is your friend and wants to see you." A guard suddenly ran up to report while Bai Cangdong was playing with the Evil-Breaking Sword in the city gate tower.

"Who is it?" Bai Cangdong frowned slightly. He didn't know many women in Fenghua City, and even Yan Mengyun didn't know he was the Masked Viscount.

"I don't know. She refused to say, only saying that you would recognize her when you see her."

Bai Cangdong thought for a moment and went down the city gate tower. He saw a beautiful woman in armor standing by the stone steps, her eyes gazing at him with a watery look.

"Li Xiangfei, why are you here?" Bai Cangdong never expected the sole heir of Daolun City to come to Fenghua City.

What alarmed him was that Baron Daolun wouldn't let Li Xiangfei come so far alone. If Lady Red Lotus was also in Fenghua City, with her intelligence, she might see through his dual identity, which would be disastrous.