infodatos Chapter 274 I Can Afford It
Chapter 274 I Can Afford It
Chapter 278 I Can Afford It
Of all entertainment competitions, dance competitions are the most complex.
Apart from a few well-known musical troupes from the North sending official participants, nearly half of the applicants were quite special.
On their application forms, the occupation section listed them as "dancers".
But the person in charge of registration immediately saw through these heavily made-up women; they were actually prostitutes.
The manager felt something was amiss.
After all, it was a competition hosted by Chiffon, so the audience included not only ordinary people, but also lords from all over the North.
Would it damage Chiffon's reputation to have these people perform on stage? Or would it invite ridicule from other nobles?
After much deliberation, the person in charge dared not make the decision on his own and reported the matter directly to Richard.
Richard's meaning is very simple.
Accept everything without question.
A prostitute, or a courtesan.
This word was considered vulgar in aristocratic circles, and in the mouths of free men, it carried a connotation of contempt and frivolity.
When respectable women passed by them, they would even spit on them to show their disgust.
In the priests' sermons, they were nailed to the pillar of shame for "falling" and "impurity," and were lost sheep who needed to spend the rest of their lives repenting.
But few people realize that these women were first and foremost living, breathing human beings before they were called "prostitutes".
Some of them were born serfs.
He was favored by his master when he was young, but was kicked out after he got tired of him. Apart from his faded beauty, he had no means to make a living.
Some are daughters of free men.
After her family suffered a disaster, the teenage girl wandered to a strange town and was eventually pushed into a dark alley in a tavern.
No one asked her name, no one asked whose daughter she used to be. From that day on, she only had one identity.
Some of them were widows.
She was kicked out of her husband's family home by his relatives and had nowhere else to turn but to sell her body to earn a living.
In the future, at some sunset, she might die silently in a corner unnoticed, either suffering from the lingering effects of a sexually transmitted disease, being accidentally injured by a drunken customer, or experiencing severe bleeding during childbirth.
That outcome was almost inevitable for them.
Who is born wanting to be a prostitute?
Who hasn't dreamed of living a life of luxury?
There was no other choice.
Those high-ranking nobles wouldn't even glance at them.
Those free people who are also struggling at the bottom of society also use stepping on them to prove that they at least still have some pitiful dignity.
This world is cruel enough to the weak, so Richard doesn't intend to add another straw to their burden.
Chiffon's laws don't apply to other taverns and back alleys.
But on the chiffon stage, they are not prostitutes, not cheap commodities that can be exchanged for a night for two copper coins.
They were just dancers participating in a dance competition; who would stand on the stage until the end was a matter for the stage itself.
Moreover, the fact that they even came to participate in the competition speaks volumes.
Despite the scorn and curious stares of others, they mustered their courage to stand under the lights.
This in itself means that they still yearn for change and crave an opportunity to turn their fate around.
Even if the chance is extremely slim, like a firefly in an autumn night, or a fleeting shooting star in the night sky.
And chiffon cakes can afford to give this opportunity, and they won't be stingy with it.
The grand finale, of course, consists of two competitive events.
The number of participants in the regular competitive matches is close to one thousand, with a wide variety of backgrounds and identities.
Originally, the number was more than that, since this competition doesn't involve supernatural abilities; it's purely a contest of combat skills and physical strength.
Theoretically, if you're lucky enough, even a wild punch can kill a master.
So in the first few days after the announcement was posted, some lords even sent hundreds of reserve soldiers to sign up, as if they wanted to move their entire military camp over.
Isn't this ridiculous?
However, most of those who can do this are barons, and only they would covet that Iridium crop.
Lords of some standing tend to be more reserved, adhering to aristocratic decorum and disdaining such large-scale human wave tactics.
When Richard learned of this situation, in order to standardize the registration system, he simply sent a letter to all the territories that had registered to participate, explaining that each family could only send two people to participate.
As for free people, it's much simpler: at the registration point, there's a basket of stones; you have to be able to carry them around a few times to qualify.
This rule eliminated most of the participants.
It wasn't that Chiffon was deliberately making things difficult, but competitive events are ultimately not like the King of Endurance Whip Challenge, where you can test your willpower and see who can withstand the most.
Competitive sports are all about real fighting and killing. If a weakling goes up there, it's not a good look if he gets punched into a pile of chicken droppings.
Nobody wants to see someone die.
What truly attracts attention is the extraordinary competitive event.
While the grand prize for Iridium crops is certainly tempting, what contestants value even more is the championship title.
The 20-year age limit acts like a precise sieve, raising the prestige of this competition to an alarming level.
Those who can become extraordinary before the age of twenty are all exceptionally talented individuals.
Winning first place means reaching the top among your peers, and your backer will definitely spare no effort in nurturing you.
Number of applicants: 212.
As for the contestants, most of them were soldiers or knights sent by various lords, almost all of them were intermediate-level extraordinary, and very few were advanced-level.
The rest are all "wild" extraordinary beings.
There were leaders of slave-catching teams, key members of mercenary groups, lone adventurers, and even a few suspicious individuals who called themselves "wandering swordsmen."
These people spend their days in the wild, fighting monsters and clashing with their peers. When they are injured, they chew herbs to tough it out. They have accumulated a wealth of combat experience from crawling through piles of corpses.
In terms of sheer extraordinary ability, they may not be as good as regular soldiers, but when it comes to the sophistication of their combat skills and their mental fortitude in adapting to changing circumstances, they are arguably no worse than anyone else.
Celia also participated in the Extraordinary Challenge, but it wasn't at Richard's request; she wanted to participate on her own.
Richard certainly wouldn't refuse such a request; as long as these little ones are happy, it's not a big deal at all.
There are two truly important things:
First, all members of the Qifeng Imperial Guard were promoted to high-level extraordinary beings.
The last time Seria broke through to the intermediate level, it took the others half a month to catch up, but this time it took almost a month.
The gap is widening and will only widen further, because the Imperial Guard has reached its limit.
The retired veterans themselves did not possess extraordinary talent; it was Richard who used Iridium crops to elevate them to their current level.
But the threshold for Star Glory is different; it's an insurmountable chasm, a watershed that even those with exceptional talent may not be able to cross.
Countless knights and heirs spend their entire lives trapped at the pinnacle of advanced transcendence, only to sigh in despair. How much more so for ordinary people whose talents have already condemned them to death?
Richard had anticipated that food alone could not break through the barrier.
Fortunately, the veterans have unicorns.
They have a growth ceiling of Saintly Glory, and can directly cross realms by eating, without being limited by any talent or bottleneck.
As long as they are fed, they can continue to grow, and through fusion, the Imperial Guard can indirectly achieve combat power surpassing that of the Starshine.
However, legend has it that there are wondrous items in this world that can forcibly break through the threshold of starlight, such as the essence of the Holy Radiance Dragon's heart.
It's said that this stuff is even more amazing than Iridium crops; just a small sip can elevate an ordinary person to the extraordinary level.
Not only that, it can also reshape the life essence of the human body and break through the limitations of starlight, but unfortunately no one has verified it.
Also.
What is the concept of the Holy Dragon?
That's the pinnacle of the entire Star Continent's combat power pyramid. Kill it, then cut open its heart and take its blood.
This idea is as outrageous as free men boasting that "the champion of the King of the Ninja Tripod will be awarded a manor."
But Richard didn't think so.
Among rumors, there is always a trace of truth in nine out of ten falsehoods.
Once Qi Feng has completely settled down, he wouldn't mind leaving the empire himself to try and find a dragon.
The second important thing:
The mine has finally reached the last level!
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