Blind Spot
Chapter 655: Research 601 One_2

Chapter 655: Research 601 One_2

The salon quickly reached its climax, with the Viscount himself speaking. His two daughters, twin sisters, made their entrance together, their identical looks and figures dressed in matching fashion, instantly drawing admiration from everyone.

Despite not being particularly beautiful, they managed to be quite charming with the help of their elaborate attire.

The atmosphere grew livelier, but Li Chengyi’s brow was furrowed as he sat quietly in a corner, sipping his juice.

The plan had failed.

He had not anticipated the mages’ knowledge to be so closely guarded that even his secret research was not permitted.

It seemed he would have to make some minor adjustments to his previous actions.

He pondered his future moves inwardly, his income from the three towns within his Baron’s domain was just enough for his daily book purchases.

But if he sought more funds to cover expenses related to mages, it would be far from sufficient.

Therefore, additional sources of income were necessary.

Moreover, since the sale and purchase of mage-related items were not allowed to be done privately, he needed to find a sufficiently covert channel.

Swirling the ruby-like juice in his hand, Li Chengyi thought quietly.

Suddenly, the sound of applause and the clashing of weapons echoed from outside the hall.

He snapped out of his thoughts to find that the hall had emptied of nearly all its occupants.

Those attending the gathering were local nobles and their families. Apart from his handsome features, he did not stand out much among them.

Because the Okra Domain was not considered strong, even somewhat weak among the surrounding domains.

Consequently, few people took the initiative to seek his acquaintance—elders disdained to stoop down to his youthfulness, and the younger crowd saw him as a Baron, out of their league.

Li Chengyi stood up and followed the crowd out of the hall, determined to just make an appearance and blend in, watching the two nobles engaged in a weapon duel on the grass field outside.

They were two unknown noble youths, their offensive and defensive moves were structured and methodical, indicating a clear mastery.

Amidst the clapping of the Viscount’s daughters, the two youths fought even more vigorously, like roosters spreading their wings in combat.

Soon, one of the youths took a chop to the shoulder and stumbled to the ground, defeated.

His face showed frustration.

"Babit wins, and the final victor will make a request within his means to the Viscount! Who else wishes to step forward and challenge?" a guard shouted aloud.

Shortly after, another noble youth stepped up, only to be easily dispatched with a few slashes.

The youth named Babit, stocky and strong, triumphantly raised his sword and shouted.

Li Chengyi stood aside, watching as noble youth after noble youth stepped up to challenge the man, but all were defeated, either quickly or after a prolonged struggle.

This Babit’s swordsmanship was not exquisite, but his strength was formidable, and his stamina was extensive, relying on his physicality to win seven or eight bouts.

Towards the end, the onlookers had completely fallen silent.

"Is this all the strength the knights of the Eastern region have?" Babit’s boastfulness grew as he flourished his sword, his face revealing a self-satisfied and arrogant smile.

"I merely came from the Royal Capital to visit my Cousin Alice, and along the way, I thought to test the strength of the younger generation here. Now it seems, they are somewhat lacking."

His words were implicit but managed to provoke a subtle frown from the onlookers.

Some looked towards Viscount Tislan, noticing that his expression too was somewhat displeased.

It was clear that this event was not orchestrated by him.

"This Babit is a disciple of a noble emissary who came from the Royal Capital, it seems the royal house has some criticisms of the Eastern side, and there appear to be some disagreements with the Viscount..." Mina whispered, sneaking up behind Li Chengyi a little.

"It’s intentionally making the Viscount lose face," she murmured softly.

"And what of it? What does it have to do with me?" Li Chengyi replied indifferently. He had no interest in such matters.

Human conflict held far less significance in his eyes than the pursuit of knowledge that could ignite Divine Fire. As long as it didn’t disturb him, it was fine.

"Relevance? Didn’t you promise to join the youth society? Why don’t you go up?" Mina suggested quietly.

"Not interested," Li Chengyi declined.

He was not afraid of trouble, but he disliked it.

Mina wanted to say more, but quickly, Jane, the youth from the society who had wanted to challenge Li Chengyi before, dashed forward.

"I’ll do it!" Jane, with his single-edged sword and shield in hand, dressed in light leather armor, charged at Babit with a furious overhead strike.

Clang!

The two locked their weapons together.

Then one kicked out, the other smashed with the shield.

With another dull thud, they separated.

In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged more than ten moves in succession, neither gaining the upper hand.

But that was only on the surface. In reality, Jane’s strength and physique were no match for his opponent’s. It was only because the latter had fought multiple battles and was greatly exhausted that Jane could barely hold his own.

As the fight progressed, he became increasingly aware of the problem, and the color of blood on his face grew more intense.

Ah!!

With a fierce roar, Jane leaped up, holding the shield in front of him and stabbing downward with his sword blade.

This move was his coup de grâce, the "Leap Shield Stab," a killing technique from the Tanta Swordsmanship Academy.

Unfortunately, his opponent anticipated the move and effortlessly avoided it with a roll.

Thump.

Jane, who landed, couldn’t dodge in time and was kicked over by Babit from the side. He fell to the ground, attempting to get up, but it was already too late.

His neck was pinned by a double-edged sword, immobilizing him instantly.

"The winner, Babit!" the officiating soldier shouted again.

The expressions of those around them subtly changed.

Continuing the fight at this point was actually meaningless. With Babit fighting so many matches consecutively, even if someone were to defeat him afterward, the face of the Eastern region had already been lost.

"Anyone else?" Babit roared, wiping the sweat from his forehead, his gaze haughty and dismissive.

"Is there no one else?" Viscount Tislan also got agitated, not willing to let Babit make demands of him.

Whether it was a matter of face or the interests of the Eastern region.

Yet there wasn’t a single young elite from the entire Eastern region who could best him.

No one spoke up.

The torches around them kept burning, the crackling sound filling the air, and the nobles who had been enjoying the show were now silent, the smiles on their faces gradually fading, replaced by frowns.

Seeing that no one else dared to make a sound, the arrogance on Babit’s face grew even more pronounced.

"It seems I have won."

The duel was over.

Babit successfully secured the right to make a request to the Viscount. This made everyone’s faces look rather sour.

Li Chengyi, after watching the play unfold and participating in it, also boarded the departing carriage.

Just as the carriage started down the road, an angry shout came from behind.

"Carlos!"

A swift horse rushed forward, coming to a halt with great speed next to the carriage, displaying the knight’s peak mastery of horsemanship.

Jane sat astride the horse, his face still flushed with anger, his eyes fixed on Li Chengyi inside the carriage.

"Why didn’t you step up? Why did you let Babit be so presumptuous?!"

"...I don’t like meaningless fights," Li Chengyi casually replied without lifting his head, continuing to flip through the book in his hands.

Although it was about breeding insects, he needed to absorb all kinds of knowledge to ignite the Divine Fire.

Anyone who hindered his pursuit of igniting the Divine Fire was his enemy; anyone irrelevant to this goal was simply a passerby.

That was the principle he had set for himself.

Protect himself, avoid trouble, steer clear of danger, and strengthen himself, these were the core tenets of his actions.

After all, he hadn’t forgotten that he was forcefully pulled into this Blind Spot.

So far, he hadn’t encountered any real threats that could endanger his life.

Thus, he had reason to believe that great crises and dangers were still lurking, waiting for him.

"Are you still a person from the Eastern region or not!?" Jane’s anger intensified further.

"What does it matter whether I am or not?" Li Chengyi responded.

"You!!" Jane was at a loss for words. The other party didn’t even care about being identified with the Eastern region. What could he say?

In his eyes, Li Chengyi should have had at least similar strength, and yet he refused to stand together against an outsider, which was a betrayal to the Eastern region!

But now...

Jane, mounted on his horse, his chest heaved with anger, could only watch the carriage silently move away.