Shennong Dao Master-Chapter 753 - 24: Court Fate Officer and the Chosen Son! Securing the Slot! (16,000)_4

Chapter 753: Chapter 24: Court Fate Officer and the Chosen Son! Securing the Slot! (16,000)_4

Because five days later, he still had fifteen hundred men available, and the city’s defense remained strong.

Of course, after five days, the situation would change.

Because the number of challengers would increase, while Long Xiao’s Azure Dragon Army kept decreasing.

"Let’s go, conquer the third checkpoint," said Yao Sifang.

"Let’s go."

...

"Someone has reached the third checkpoint." Outside the Canghai Cave Heaven, on the Golden Dragon Warship, Minister of the Ministry of Rites Ji Shu Chang and Junior Agricultural Officer Wang Tianzhi, along with Bai Yunwu, looked at the Earth Mirror.

"Only twenty people passed within five days; the Azure Dragon Army truly lives up to its reputation."

"Commander Long Xiao managed to train a seventh-level battle formation. His swordsmanship is graceful and fluid, unique and singular, with the bearing of a Sword Immortal. General Bai, you have trained him well."

Long Xiao and Bai Feng (Bai Ling’er being her childhood name) had been betrothed last year. The engagement was not loudly celebrated, mainly because the defense issues in the East Sea made everyone tense, and Bai Yunwu kept a low profile.

If he had held a grand ceremony, widely inviting guests, perhaps eighty percent of the top experts of the East Sea would have come to witness. If someone exploited this event, and caused trouble, a good thing would turn into a bad one.

After all, Long Xiao had insulted Prince Liang and had been reassigned to the East Sea because of it!

So it was just an engagement without an official wedding ceremony.

Hearing the praise from the two, Bai Yunwu felt pleased inwardly, but he humbly replied, "Junior Agricultural Officer, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, you’re too kind."

"Although Long Xiao is my grandson-in-law, he is young and impetuous and easily offends people. He still needs to go through hardships to take on great responsibilities."

Was Bai Yunwu being modest? Not at all.

When he pointed out that Long Xiao’s flaw was just being "young and impetuous, easily offending people," it was obviously a subtle jab at Prince Liang Ji Mingxian.

Suggesting that Long Xiao needed more experience before taking on great responsibilities was essentially saying Prince Liang is in the way of Long Xiao getting a high-ranking position.

Anyway, in the ears of Wang Tianzhi and Ji Shu Chang, that’s exactly how it sounded.

This topic was untouchable; Prince Liang was personally appointed by Emperor Jing as the Commander of Pacifying Barbarians. Criticizing Prince Liang was like denying Emperor Jing’s judgment.

So Ji Shu Chang changed the subject and self-deprecatingly said,

"Speaking of which, among the twenty who passed the checkpoint, only eight are true Beast Tamers."

"As the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, it’s quite embarrassing."

Wang Tianzhi laughed, "Why be so concerned, Mr. Ji? Isn’t it always like this?"

"Lord Wang has nothing to worry about. Among the top twenty, there is at least one fifth-rank Agricultural Officer."

"Zhao Xing is an exception," Wang Tianzhi said coolly, "He cannot be considered an ordinary fifth-rank. More importantly, his passage through this checkpoint was somewhat by luck. Long Xiao’s defensive focus was on the right, not the left."

"They are about to reach the third checkpoint." Bai Yunwu stroked his chin and asked, "Do you two know which official the court assigned this time?"

Destiny Island is a test of luck!

If one’s luck wasn’t enough, even entering the Dragon Court Ancient Land might yield nothing.

Being an official of the Fortune Dynasty, doing tasks, having weak luck was unacceptable.

So this checkpoint purely filtered out those with insufficient luck.

Even if one’s strength was somewhat weak, as long as their luck was strong, upon entering the Dragon Court Ancient Land, they might bring back great discoveries, great treasures for the court.

Of course, if the performance on the first two checkpoints was strong and the third checkpoint was weak, problems could also be identified.

This competition for slots had rewards; if one’s strength was strong but relatively weaker in luck, there would be compensation.

Since luck was involved, the third checkpoint’s setup naturally required a Fate Officer’s lead.

Bai Yunwu didn’t participate in the entire process; not only that, he wasn’t even clear about how many people were involved in the arrangement.

Court officials in Great Zhou were mysterious, and getting too involved with them was taboo. So to this day, he still didn’t know which official led the team.

But now that people had reached the checkpoint, it didn’t hurt to ask.

Ji Shu Chang thought for a moment and said, "The Fate Officer in charge of arranging Destiny Island is King Heavenly Destiny."

...

The third checkpoint, Destiny Island, was an enormous labyrinth.

"The labyrinth cannot be broken by force."

"Without rules to follow."

"Passing it relies entirely on luck."

"Timed scoring, the shorter the time, the higher the score."

Upon ascending to the Third Layer Heaven, Zhao Xing and others heard an ethereal voice ringing in their ears.

In front of them was a massive maze shrouded in mist. The walls stood a thousand meters tall, extending endlessly in all directions.

"All entrances to the labyrinth are identical."

"The exits, however, differ. If you exit through the Military Gate, it indicates your future gains in Dragon Court Ancient Land will focus on Martial Arts Realm or Martial Arts Secret Techniques. When exploring Dragon Court Ancient Land, you should choose relevant secret regions."

"Similarly, the maze exits include Finance Gate, Military Gate, Secret Skill Gate, Magic Technique Gate..."

Yao Sifang, Chen Feng, Zhao Xing, and the other twenty quietly listened.

The idea of fortune was not unfamiliar to them, but it was generally limited to longevity and enhancing one’s realm; details beyond that were scarcely known.

This intricate division of fortune was new to them.

"This is the foundation of Great Zhou," Zhao Xing said, looking up at the labyrinth.

The whole maze glimmered gold in his eyes, a Fortune Golden Dragon illusion coiling around—an Imperial Decree! novelbuddy-cσ๓

Beneath the golden dragon were several illusions, evidently court [Fate Officers], leveraging the nation’s fortune to deduce.

This maze essentially was a grand simulation of the future.

What were they simulating? The fate of the contestants.

To see in which direction their future explorations in Dragon Court Ancient Land would most likely yield results.

The contestants reaching this checkpoint likely numbered nearly ten thousand, mostly of the fourth rank.

Conducting such a large-scale simulation of future events, particularly ten years ahead, could only be managed by a fate-anchored dynasty like Great Zhou.

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