(Because this chapter also includes a part of the worldview refinement, it will not be divided into chapters.) ）

"So, how have you thought about it?" Louise walked into the reception room where Zhou Yan was and asked with a smile.

She seemed to be in a good mood, and had heard from the person who had brought Zhou Yan to this room that Louise had been meeting with a certain countess who had come to visit. Probably that countess was what made Louise feel so good.

Although he didn't know who the other party was, Zhou Yan felt that he could dare to come to Winter Stone City at this time, and the other party was still very courageous.

After all, even though the area around Winterstone City seems to be relatively peaceful, it is really preparing for a war with the demons here.

However, for Louise to come over and make him wait for nearly half an hour, Zhou Yan's heart was full of dissatisfaction at the moment.

Louise, who noticed Zhou Yan's affection, bowed slightly: "I'm sorry, that's my very important friend, and she's about to leave, so I'll stay with her for a while." I apologize for keeping you waiting. ”

Margaret, who was following Louise, was already frowning, and her gaze at Zhou Yan was also full of unkindness. She still can't tolerate her master, and as the princess of a country, she has to show a low profile to a nobody.

At the same time, since Louise has already lowered her profile and apologized, it would be too stingy to continue to put on a stinky face like this. Zhou Yan, who had dissipated the resentment in his heart, looked at Margaret and asked Louise, "Can you say it?" ”

To this, Louise immediately ordered, "Margaret, you go out first." ”

Margaret didn't say anything when she heard this, and left the reception room directly, leaving the space for Zhou Yan and Louise.

Immediately after Margaret left, Louise asked, "Your reply?" ”

"No, before I give my reply, I think there's something else you need to explain." Zhou Yan shook his head and said, "After learning about these things, I have many questions. ”

Zhou Yan has been thinking about Louise's purpose for the past few days, but the existing information is not enough for him to deduce Louise's thoughts.

And the appearance of Zhao Shukong made Zhou Yan realize that he was too weak now. He desperately wanted to get stronger. And the best way to become stronger is to fight. Only actual combat can test one's own ideas, and only the fight of life and death can force one's potential. Naturally, he also had the idea of participating in the Stardy martial arts show.

originally thought that Zhou Yan would answer her Louise directly, but she didn't expect Zhou Yan to say such a thing, she frowned and nodded: "Okay, you ask." ”

"How strong are the top 32 who can pass the audition?"

The STUDI martial arts show is divided into two rounds, the first round is the group knockout round, commonly known as the audition. There are a total of 16 categories, with two people left in each category. A total of 32 people can stay and participate in the subsequent qualifiers.

Zhou Yan asked this question just to know how strong the person who could enter the second round was. In this way, he can also be used as a reference to judge whether he has a chance to win the final victory.

"I thought you'd ask some questions." Louise seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after hearing Zhou Yan's question: "Let's talk about the last session, among the thirty-two people who were decided at that time, there were eight people who had the ability to fight the army, and three people who had the ability to fight the city, one of them was the sword king of the year, and the sword saint of the current Urakhanate was iron. ”

Louise's words made Zhou Yan feel frightened. Speaking of which, I have to mention the classification of power in this world.

But if I really want to say it, there is no standard grading of strength in this world. For example, in Xiuzhen's novels, there are one-two-three and three-level hierarchical power systems such as Zhuji, Jindan, and Yuanying, but there is no zài in this world.

As a different world in Zhou Yan's eyes, there is magic, vindictiveness, and other strange professions and abilities. But there is no hierarchy in this world.

For example, two people who also practice martial arts and fighting spirit, one of them has a strong fighting spirit, while the other is weak. Generally in novels, in order to distinguish them for convenience, they will be graded according to the strength of their fighting spirit, so as to distinguish their strength and weakness.

But in this world, there is no such thing as a zài. Although these two people have different levels of fighting spirit, in the eyes of others, they are both the same warriors, at most one is strong and the other is weak, and there is no zài who is senior and who is low. And many people are not convinced by the system of grading only one aspect of ability.

No matter how strong the fighting spirit is, but if you can't beat yourself, isn't it also your own strength? So why is he rated higher than himself? There are many such ideas.

Taken together, the system is too complex, and for countless years no one has been able to develop a fair and equitable hierarchy of all abilities.

After carefully reviewing the information, asking Li, and analyzing it himself, Zhou Yan felt that this was a normal situation.

First of all, magic and martial arts are already two different systems. The difference between the two is so great that it is almost impossible to have a common grading system.

Even if it is a separate department, there are different occupations under it, and each profession has different requirements for ability. Forcibly using a set of system grading does not truly reflect the strength and weakness of each profession. Forced grading can only be meaningless.

Let's take the simplest example. Assassins and warriors who also practiced martial arts and vindictiveness.

Assassins naturally don't have a high demand for fighting energy that requires physical toughness, as long as it's enough. They are more concerned with various attack techniques and assassination techniques.

For fighters who need to fight hand-to-hand at all times and have a strong and resilient body, their fighting spirit is usually higher than that of the Assassins.

If you use the strong Cheng dù of the fighting spirit to rank, the assassin of the same level of martial arts will definitely be lower in rank than the warrior. But can't such an assassin beat a warrior? I'm afraid no one thinks so.

After all, the combat characteristics of assassins are to find the right time to kill with one blow, and this kind of combat method may not even need to use fighting spirit at the right time to eliminate a fighter whose fighting spirit level is much higher than his own.

And the winner is king, and naturally the one who survives is stronger. However, the level of fighting spirit alone can create the illusion that the warrior is stronger than the assassin.

Moreover, most of the strong people who stand at the top are arrogant. On what basis do they accept the grading of those who are weaker than themselves? And who determines this rating?

Having said all this, it is actually just an expression of a point. People in this world do not judge the strength of individuals by their strength in a certain aspect. They believe that only the victor is king. That is, the two fought to the death, and those who survived were naturally strong.

However, although there is no specific classification of power, there is a simple classification in order to have a specific understanding of the power that an individual has.

That is, the "against the army" and "against the city" that Louise just said.

This system of differentiation is based on influence and destructive power from low to high, which are people, armies, cities, and borders.

The so-called "right person" refers to the ability to affect the number of people between one and one hundred in one blow. Almost most of the abilities that martial artists and magicians can achieve are at this stage.

For the army, the number of people that can be affected by a single blow is greater than or equal to 100 and less than or equal to 1,000. Such an ability can already bring variables to large-scale clan operations, so it is named the opposing army.

As for the city, it is more than 1,000 people affected by a single blow, or the destructive power is enough to shake the city. This kind of destructive power and influence is already the limit of what humans or other intelligent beings can reach. For example, the combination of the great magic used by the demons to collapse the west gate of Winter Stone City before has a destructive power at the level of "against the city".

However, the final realm has gone beyond the limits of human beings or other intelligent beings, and it is said that only gods can wield this level of power, which is enough to cut the world. And this concept is no longer understandable to any living creature living under the concept of "world".

Of course, this rating still does not distinguish between strong and weak. For example, if you can kill a hundred people with a sword, your ability is only at the level of a person, and you can only kill one with a sword, and your ability is also at the level of a person. This classification is only used to distinguish the strength of influence and destructive power of a certain ability, but it is not the basis for judging the strength or weakness of an individual.

A great mage who has the power to destroy the city, if he is close to the assassin, he can only be killed by the assassin who only kills one person at a time.

As for Zhou Yan, of course, he only has the ability to deal with people on the bad street. After all, this ability is something that anyone can have. As long as you can attack others, your ability is to people.

In the last session alone, there were eight people with the ability to fight the army, and three people with the ability to fight the city. Such a proportion of people who exceed the ordinary ability level (to people) is close to one-third, which makes Zhou Yan feel powerless.

And even if it is only at the level of a person, it is unimaginable for Zhou Yan to deal with a hundred people with one blow. After all, his cognition was still limited to the world of his previous life.

After listening to Louise's words, Zhou Yan couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

How, exactly? If there are so many such strong people, do you still have the ability to win? Although what is right for people, the army, the city, and the world does not directly affect the strength or weakness of the individual. Victory or defeat is not so simple to judge.

But that ability to surpass his previous cognitive concepts still makes Zhou Yan feel frightened in the unknown.

Zhou Yan's silence made Louise show a slight nervousness, but she covered it up well, just quietly waiting for Zhou Yan's answer.

After a long time, Zhou Yan raised his head, his gaze was firm, and there was no trace of cowardice: "So, can I ask why you think I can win?" I don't feel like I'm that strong on my own. ”

"What if I sue you sù is my instinct?" Louise replied with a chuckle.

"Then I'll leave without looking back." Zhou Yan rolled his eyes, not the slightest restraint towards Louise. I don't know if it's because the life in his previous life has made his awareness of the so-called prince weak, or because Louise rarely shows majesty in front of him, even if he occasionally shows the nobility of the princess, he will soon be in the play.

"Okay." Louise sighed, then said, "Actually, I don't think you're guaranteed to win. ”

This answer did not surprise Zhou Yan, in fact, if Louise said something absolutely believing him or something or predicting, Zhou Yan would only refuse Louise's request, and would be wary of Louise in the future.

In Zhou Yan's view, the so-called intuition or prophecy is all a trick to deceive children.

You say prophecy will allow me to win? Who prophesied? God? I'm sorry, but I have a god in my head who isn't very reliable.

"So, why did you choose me?" Zhou Yan was puzzled.

"I don't think you're going to win, but it's not impossible." Louise had a mischievous smile on her face: "And, if I meet someone else who is possible, I will make the same request." I'm not going to hang myself from a tree. ”

Hearing this answer, Zhou Yan shrugged his shoulders. But Louise's answer pleased him, at least dispelling his vigilance: "So, can you tell me the reciprocal terms you can pay?" ”

"Promise by example?" Louise showed a teasing expression: "After all, I am a princess of a country, and I think I should be at the level of a beauty!" How's that, heartbeat? ”

Louise is indeed a beauty, but she is only twelve years old and is not within Zhou Yan's range. Moreover, Zhou Yan knew from her smile full of mischievous expressions that it was a joke, and he sighed and said with a little impatience: "Your Royal Highness Princess, please stop joking. ”

Louise shook her head with a look of pity: "That's how you don't know how to be humorous and funny, you will be lonely for the rest of your life!" ”

Saying that, she laughed and teased Zhou Yan to make her feel a lot better: "Of course I will pay the same price." Do you want to go back to your old world? ”

"What?" Shock has covered all of Zhou Yan's thoughts.

Can you go back to the world of the past? If he could, Zhou Yan would choose to go back without hesitation. There are mothers and friends in that world. That's where he finds his sense of belonging.

Zhou Yan was shocked by this, Louise obviously expected this, she just smiled, and then said with a stern expression:

"I can swear by my name, my identity, and my soul that I will never lie to you, and I will exchange you for the Tears of the Goddess in exchange for returning you to the original world."

Although he has not witnessed how much the oath is binding in this world, Zhou Yan, who has been studying the basic common sense of this world for many days, still knows that the importance that people in this world attach to the oath has reached a point where he feels incredible. Of course, oaths are not a dead letter or a casual word in this world.

In particular, taking an oath by name, identity, and soul is already an extremely heavy oath. The oath is the strongest covenant in this world, protected and supervised by the gods. Those who break their oaths will be punished with the utmost horror.

Louise can talk about this, and Zhou Yan also understands that she will not lie to herself, as long as she can get the Tears of the Goddess and give it to her, she will definitely let herself return to the original world.

So Zhou Yan no longer hesitated, he nodded: "Okay, I promise you." ”

Then the two swore by their souls and names at the same time, and concluded a contract...... Or a deal.

After taking the oath, Zhou Yan felt that something mysterious had entered his body, but this feeling came and went quickly.

With a little doubt, Zhou Yan did not stay any longer and said goodbye to Louise. Now that the contract has been made, all he has to do is bring things to Louise in exchange for the payment he wants.

After Zhou Yan left, Margaret did not come in without Louise's call. Louise, standing alone in the reception room, quietly unaware of what she was thinking.

"Why ask him for help? I don't see a future. "The voice of a self-proclaimed deity sounded in my head.

"What if I sue you, it's my woman's intuition?"

"No kidding, you're only twelve. This self-proclaimed woman is too early for you. ”

The voice in her head was unimpressed by Louise's apparently mischievous answer.

"Okay." Louise muttered dissatisfiedly, "There aren't many irrelevant people I can find who can help, and since he is also a person chosen by the gods, he must have something unique." Either way, I'm going to get that thing, after all, I have to fulfill my purpose. ”

When she said this, Louise's eyes gleamed with determination. The steadfast love on one side is also passed on to the gods on the other side. The deity, whom Louise had previously called "Zhu", said with tenderness: "Because of the incredible fate of my ability and your purpose, I will do my best to help you, come on, Louise." ”

"Of course, I'm Pande's third princess." Louise had a proud and determined expression on her face, although there was also a hint of gloom in it.

When he walked out of the gate of the inner city, Zhou Yan heard a leisurely voice: "Mr. Yan! ”

"You're still waiting for me!" When he saw Youyou, Zhou Yan didn't know whether to be helpless or moved.

Zhou Yan was the only one called by Grudo, and Yoyo couldn't enter because he wasn't invited. Zhou Yan stayed inside for at least an hour, which meant that Youyou had been waiting for him here for an hour.

"Hey, hey." You smiled.

"Could it be that I didn't dare to go back to the Adventurer's Guild for fear of being called a shameful nickname?"

Well, if the problem of cheapness is not changed, someone may really deserve to be lonely for a lifetime.

Youyou, who was accidentally told the truth by Zhou Yan, blushed all of a sudden.

"Mr. Yan, Mr. Yan!" Yoyo stomped his feet angrily, but he was embarrassed by Zhou Yan who had exposed the truth, and he seemed in a hurry.

"Uh, sorry, sorry." Zhou Yan waved his hand and laughed.

The agreement with Louise made him have to go to the Stardy Martial Arts Show. But considering those possible strong people, Zhou Yan's heart was still full of shadows.

So he couldn't help but tease this easily shy girl to achieve the purpose of relaxing.

The two were arguing when shouting came from behind them. Zhou Yan immediately pulled her to the side of the road.

It was a carriage that was not luxurious in appearance, but it still made people feel that the owner was not an ordinary person. The spacious carriage, the complex shock absorption measures, and the two tall black horses without a trace of variegation are all the existence of the owner's identity.

Probably because I was so angry that the windows of the carriage were opened, so I could see the inside of the car from the outside.

Zhou Yan just subconsciously looked at it, and then stiffened in place.

"Mr. Yan, Mr. Yan?"

Seeing Zhou Yan's eyes widen in surprise, and his eyes had been chasing Zhou Yan away from the carriage, he couldn't help but call out in confusion. But Zhou Yan stood in place as if he had been immobilized, and it seemed that even his soul had been lost.

"How could it be her?" The shock and confusion made Zhou Yan feel that the whole world was upside down, and that feeling of dizziness even made him feel a strong discomfort in his stomach.

But compared to these discomforts, Zhou Yan cared more about whether he was dazzled. He had an impulse, he wanted to catch up.