Counterfeit Visualization Method

The system's scans and comparisons showed that the guards under attack were generally stronger.

They were mostly between levels 11 and 13, while the bandits were around levels 10 to 11.

Among low-level class holders in the early stages, an average gap of two levels was already substantial.

Yet the bandits' performance surprised Lister. Despite being weaker than their opponents, they showed no intention of stopping.

They seemed utterly unafraid of death. Their reckless fighting style actually allowed some of them to get close to the two carriages.

"Thud!"

One bandit moved quickly, kicking the first carriage over the moment he reached it.

Two women tumbled out of the carriage, along with an assortment of small belongings and books that scattered across the ground.

The taller of the two women was pretty, with fine brows, almond-shaped eyes, an oval face, and hair swept up high.

Her blue robes gave her the distinctive charm of an eastern woman.

Compared with the beauties he had seen in the Kingdom of Lucian, Lister personally preferred the looks of eastern women like her.

Even if she might not actually be as beautiful as the nearly flawless Erica, her bearing was every bit as captivating.

Behind her was a woman in green, whose clothing was much plainer overall. She was probably the woman in blue's maid.

"My lord! Should we...?"

Lister raised a hand, cutting off Rolf's suggestion from behind him.

"There's no hurry..."

As things stood, crushing either group would be no harder for him than crushing an ant.

But playing the hero and rescuing a beauty wasn't his style. He didn't want to get involved in something that offered him no benefit, so for now, he quietly watched the two sides fight.

As the second carriage, loaded with valuables, was kicked over, its precious contents scattered across the ground.

The bandits' eagerness to attack dropped sharply. Drawn by the valuables strewn everywhere, they searched for something even as they fought.

Then the bandit leader seemed to finally spot what he was looking for.

He picked up a painting scroll from the ground and unrolled it. His eyes went wide, his face filled with delight and disbelief.

He then glanced in Lister's direction, whether intentionally or not. Seeing that Lister hadn't come forward, he made an immediate decision.

"Brothers! We've got it! Follow me, withdraw... Pfft!"

Before he could finish, a long saber suddenly pierced through his chest.

He'd actually dared to spare a hand to look at a painting in the middle of a melee. It would have been strange if he hadn't died.

Seeing their leader dead and their own numbers dwindling, the seven or eight remaining bandits finally scattered and fled.

The guards weren't particularly eager to pursue them either. They paid more attention to Lister's group, their eyes full of wariness.

Only then did Lister leisurely lead his party forward.

He had no interest in the people who had been attacked.

But he was quite curious about the painting the bandits had been after.

He recalled that, according to some forum posts in his previous life, the passive skills obtained through quests in the first act seemed to be stored in the form of paintings.

Of course, once players actually obtained the reward, it would turn into a proper skill book.

Lister leaped lightly off his horse and walked step by step toward the painting scroll in the dead bandit's hand.

"Miss! Please stand back!"

"This man is extremely powerful. You mustn't..."

"Get lost!!"

"You filthy servant, how dare you stand in my way!?"

A guard had tried to stop his young mistress, who had only just fallen out of the carriage.

After all, Lister's origins were unknown, and his aura was extraordinarily powerful, far stronger than that of the bandits who had retreated.

They didn't dare attack recklessly, much less let their young mistress approach him.

Unfortunately, the young lady they were protecting was rather overbearing, or perhaps she simply couldn't tell good from bad.

She showed no gratitude to the guard who had fought so hard to protect her. Instead, she cursed him and even gave him a kick.

Now she stood proudly in front of Lister, blocking his path.

"My father is the Marquis of Courage and Resolve, and I am his eldest legitimate daughter."

"Whose household do you belong to? Why did you stand by and do nothing just now?"

The woman looked displeased, as though she meant to condemn Lister on the spot.

She had been too timid to show herself when facing the bandits, but now she showed no fear of him at all.

It was as though she was certain he wouldn't hurt her. Lister was so speechless he wanted to laugh. Do I look that harmless?

When he had first heard the title Marquis of Courage and Resolve, he had considered offering a few words of explanation.

After all, Jiangling Prefecture, the setting of the first act's expansion, was the marquis's fief. Now it seemed there was no need. On the contrary, he was rather glad he hadn't saved her.

The legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Courage and Resolve before him had looked pretty enough at first glance.

But through the lens of her personality, even her looks appeared utterly ugly to Lister.

"Speak! Have you gone mute!?"

Receiving no answer, the marquis's legitimate daughter seemed certain that Lister was of low status. Her words grew increasingly harsh, without the slightest restraint.

But the next moment, Lister answered her with a straight kick.

He didn't dare use too much force, for fear of kicking her to death outright.

Even so, the marquis's daughter flew several meters through the air and landed on her backside.

"Shing!"

Seeing this, the guards beside her drew their sabers as one and slashed at Lister.

But in the next instant, before anyone could make out Lister's movements, the three guards who had approached him had already been beheaded.

The remaining guards froze where they stood, none daring to step forward and court death.

As Lister approached again, the maid in green proved loyal, spreading her arms to shield her mistress.

"Cough! Cough! Cough..."

The marquis's legitimate daughter was now suffering a stabbing pain in her abdomen and a tightness in her chest. She coughed incessantly, bringing up quite a lot of blood.

The pride she had shown moments ago was nowhere to be seen as she stole a glance at Lister.

Her face was full of terror, but deep in her eyes was a trace of profound resentment.

In the end, Lister hadn't been able to restrain himself just now. He thought of his current strength.

No one in Jiangling Prefecture was his match to begin with. Since that was the case, he might as well stop worrying about such things.

He had held back and spared her life only because he still had to stay in Jiangling Prefecture for a while longer.

"Stay away!"

Seeing Lister walk forward again, the marquis's legitimate daughter grew even more terrified, and even the resentment hidden in her eyes vanished.

Only when she saw Lister stop in front of the bandit leader and bend down to pick up the scroll did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He opened the scroll. Inside was an evocative landscape painting, with a tachi suspended in the air at its center.

"Congratulations, you have obtained the Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method."

[Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method (counterfeit) (passive, unranked) (mastered, cannot be improved!): See through illusion and ultimately reach the truth! Saber-art damage deals an additional 1% true damage.]

It really was a passive skill!

Lister was delighted, and even his breathing quickened a little.

As expected of the first act's expansion, there were far more clues to passive skills here than in the Kingdom of Lucian during the second act.

What's more, it was the very kind of top-tier saber-art passive he needed most, one that dealt additional true damage.

Unfortunately, this visualization painting was a counterfeit, but at least it had given him a clue to the visualization method he needed most.

He now turned a burning gaze on the marquis's legitimate daughter, who sat on the ground in a sorry state.

"You... what are you going to do...?"

"My father is the Marquis of Courage and Resolve. Even the bandits didn't dare kill me!! You...!"

"I ask, you answer! Otherwise..."

Lister raised his foot again, pointing it at her face.

Seeing that Lister wasn't going to kill her, the marquis's legitimate daughter hurriedly nodded and spoke.

"Young master, please ask. I promise to tell you everything I know."

Sure enough, his kick had worked. She had even switched to calling him "young master," which was much nicer to hear.

"Where did this scroll come from? Is it a painting passed down in your family?"