The charming widow of the Marquis's mansion: The stable boy carries the flag and raises the dra

On the morning of the fourth day, as dawn broke.

A long and clear bell rang out from the direction of the palace in the center of Sendai, piercing through the sea of ​​clouds and clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"Assemble!"

Ye Niannu pushed open the window, and the crisp, refreshing morning breeze carrying spiritual energy rushed in. She turned her head to look at Wang Long.

Wang Long stood up, patted his robes, and Ye Niannu tacitly took his arm.

The two walked out of the courtyard gate side by side and joined the crowd outside the courtyard that was converging towards the square.

In the square, hundreds of participants had already arrived one after another.

The holy sons and daughters of the five major domains each occupied a section of the territory. Their robes were of different colors and their auras varied, but they all carried a tense and focused air.

The holy sons and daughters of the four major sects in the Central Region still stood at the forefront of the square, their demeanor composed.

The contestants from the Southern Region, Western Region, and Northern Region stood in twos and threes behind their respective team leaders, each with a different expression.

The twenty-four contestants from the Eastern Region stood on the side of the square. Although they were the fewest in number, they did not appear timid.

Ye Wushuang stood at the front of the Eastern Region team, his expression calm, his gaze fixed on Wang Long, and he nodded slightly.

Before long, the familiar ripples once again spread across the space above the square.

The figure of Changsheng Emperor Ji Changgeng slowly emerged from the void, dressed in a green robe with white hair and a gentle face.

He stood still, his gaze sweeping casually across the entire room.

"Everyone's here, let's begin."

He raised his hand and waved it gently, and a huge jade slip appeared out of thin air in front of him.

"You will decide the format for the first round of the competition yourselves."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soft light shone on the surface of the jade slip, and the next moment, all the holy sons and daughters present raised their hands.

Infuse a wisp of energy into it.

Hundreds of streams of energy were injected into it simultaneously.

The next moment, several lines of ancient characters emerged and began to change rapidly.

It finally stopped at a line of text.

The square fell silent for a moment, then a low murmur arose.

"Capture the Flag? This is unprecedented."

"The rules are not complicated: one side defends the flag, and the other four sides try to capture it, with rankings based on points."

"The flag bearer who holds the flag for seven days gets full marks; if a flag is stolen, one point is lost..."

Wang Long's gaze fell on those few lines of rules, and he had roughly understood the mechanism of the first round.

Ji Changgeng's voice rang out again, calm and composed.

"The defending side will be determined by drawing lots, and the other four sides will be the attacking side. The rules are simple: the defending side scores one point for each flag they retain, and the attacking side scores one point for each flag they capture. After seven days, the rankings will be determined based on the total points."

After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved it again.

A jade token gleaming with a grayish-white light appeared in his palm, then floated into the air, slowly spun once under the watchful eyes of many, and then drifted down towards the Eastern Region.

The jade slip landed on the ground in front of Ye Wushuang, making a clear and crisp sound.

The square fell silent for a moment.

Immediately, countless eyes turned to the direction where Wang Long was.

"Defend the flag in the Eastern Region!"

Zhao Heng from the Central Region frowned slightly, then relaxed, his gaze falling on Wang Long, a meaningful glint in his eyes.

Wang Qingyan gave a soft "humph".

Wang Long stood at the front of the Eastern Region team, his expression calm, showing little emotional fluctuation despite being chosen as the flag-guarding side.

His gaze swept across the entire arena, noticing the expressions of surprise on the faces of his opponents, who outnumbered him several times over.

Whether with a gloating expression or a thoughtful look, they had already quickly mentally analyzed all the possible scenarios that the rules might bring.

Standing beside him, Ye Niannu realized they were in big trouble.

"The Eastern Region only has twenty-four people in total, each with a flag. On the other side, the Northern, Southern, Western, and Central Regions combined have hundreds of people. This isn't guarding the flag; it's clearly giving away points..."

Wang Long remained silent, but his gaze was unusually calm.

The flag-guarding side?

It certainly sounded disadvantageous, but there was one sentence in the rules that he noticed.

If the defending side can retain all the flags within seven days, the points they receive will be doubled.

The greater the risk, the higher the reward.

If he could get all the flags, wouldn't he be able to directly break through to first place?

Thinking of this, Wang Long instantly became excited.

Who is the hunter and who is the prey? We'll only know once the competition begins.

The next moment, the Emperor of Immortality waved his hand.

Twenty-four pale gold flags flew out from his sleeve and landed precisely in the hands of each participant from the Eastern Region.

The flag is about the size of a palm, soft yet with a heavy feel. Fine patterns flow across its surface, and it is warm to the touch, subtly connected to the aura of the person holding it.

Wang Long glanced down at the flag in his hand and could feel an extremely faint yet unusually stable spatial imprint attached to it.

That was his own aura, which could not be easily erased by others.

"The loss of the flag does not signify defeat."

The voice of the Eternal Emperor echoed across the square, peaceful yet clear, reaching the ears of everyone.

"You may reclaim your flag at any time within seven days."

"The final score will be based on the number of flags each person holds at the end of the seven days."

"The defending side scores one point for each flag they retain, and the attacking side scores one point for each flag they capture. If the defending side retains all twenty-four flags, the score is doubled."

As soon as the words were spoken, the contestants from the Eastern Region all gasped in surprise.

Doubled?

If all twenty-four flags are saved, that's forty-eight points.

This score would be enough to secure first place in the first round of any nationwide selection.

But the problem is...

There are only twenty-four of us.

Zhou Yanzhi stood beside Wang Long and whispered something, his voice filled with barely suppressed tension.

"The opposing side has nearly a hundred people from the four major sects of the Central Region alone, plus those from the South, North, and South Regions, making their numbers dozens of times greater than ours."

"Hold out for seven days? And keep all the flags? This…"

He didn't finish speaking, but the meaning was already quite clear.

The other contestants from the Eastern Region exchanged glances. Some gripped their flags tightly, some bit their lips unconsciously, and some looked down at their faintly glowing flags, as if weighing their weight.

All eyes fell on Wang Long without prior arrangement.

There were no words, but the meaning was written in everyone's eyes.

The prestige of this year's Eastern Region rests on the shoulders of this Holy Son and Holy Daughter of the Primordial Holy Palace.

Wang Long felt those gazes, but he didn't turn around.

He simply tucked the flag into his bosom, placed it close to his body, and then calmly raised his head to look in the direction of the Eternal Emperor.

Ye Niannu stood beside him and gently took his hand.

Her fingertips were slightly cool, but her palms were warm, like a silent promise, or a word that didn't need to be spoken.

The Eternal Emperor looked at the various expressions on the faces below, a faint smile appearing on his lips. He then raised his hand and waved it gently.

"After entering, you will be randomly landed, so please be prepared."

Before he finished speaking, several suppressed gasps came from the crowd in the Eastern Region.

Random landing means that players cannot group up at the start of the game; all 24 players will be scattered across the vast Sendai battlefield, fighting independently.

This was even worse for the people of the Eastern Region.