Chapter 167: On the Arena

Chapter 167: On the Arena

Within the wooden shed.

Zhao Hu smirked at Jiang Ning, his expression brimming with provocation and pride.

Then, he glanced at Li Qing, standing behind Jiang Ning, who wore a similarly smug look, baring his teeth in a wide grin.

As if to say,

Look at that!

I, Zhao Hu, have achieved the same!

Then, Zhao Hu turned to Wang Jin.

"Master, I have to go over there!" As he spoke, Zhao Hu pointed in the direction of the Liu Family.

"Why are you going there?" Wang Jin asked.

Zhao Hu replied, "I promised Liu Zhao Nan of the Liu Family. If he wins the Captain's position, then I must join his command."

"I see!" Wang Jin nodded slightly and said, "Go ahead!"

Just then—

Boom—

The drums thundered, reverberating across the training ground.

"Next, I will announce the process for the Captain's position."

"Let's go out together!" Wang Jin commanded upon hearing these words.

"We're going too!" Yu Yuan, standing nearby, also spoke up.

The next moment—

The crowd stepped out of the wooden shed.

By this time, the spectators surrounding the training ground had significantly thinned out.

It was high noon, not only was the sun blazing, but it was also mealtime.

As the crowd emerged from the shed, they saw that the man overseeing the assessment was still standing on the arena.

Below the arena, there was still a crowd of people gathered.

The man overseeing the assessment scanned the crowd and announced,

"The rules for the Captain's position are very simple!"

"The Seventh Stage Martial Dao practitioner doesn't need to participate in any assessment and will directly obtain the Captain's position."

"What about the others?" The man scanned the entire arena again, "Those who go up on the arena and fight as the champion, if no one challenges them within the time of an incense stick, will also obtain the Captain's position."

Hearing this, Wang Jin, who had just stepped out of the shed and was standing below the arena, frowned.

"Such outrageous rules?"

"Indeed, they are outrageous!" Jiang Ning nodded.

Zhou Xing also furrowed his brows, "With these rules, unless one's strength is absolutely invincible, the influence of luck and connections seems a bit too significant!"

"So, do you two still want to compete for the Captain's position?" Wang Jin asked.

"Master Wang, I want to watch first!" Zhou Xing replied.

"What about you, kid?" Wang Jin turned to Jiang Ning.

"I'll watch first," Jiang Ning continued, "Based on the assessment results, there should be more than a dozen vacant Captain's positions."

Just then—

The man on the arena added,

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you, there are only fifteen Captain positions available now!"

"I know some of you still want to participate in the later competition for the Deputy Leader's position, but the prerequisite is that you must win this Captain's position first."

As his words fell—

"I'll go first!" A loud voice resounded from below the arena.

The next moment—

A sallow-faced man leaped from the crowd, soaring through the air for several zhang before—

Boom—

He landed heavily on the arena.

"It's him!" Jiang Ning's eyes narrowed.

This person was the one who left the deepest impression on him today.

The host of the assessment was a young master of a viscount's family.

His status was evidently extraordinary.

At the same time, he was also a born Divine Strength possessor.

Among the entire training ground, this person was one of the more formidable opponents in Jiang Ning's eyes.

He wasn't the most formidable because, among the young master's family, there were two Seventh Stage Martial Dao practitioners participating.

The Seventh Stage Martial Dao, just by sparring with Liu Qingsong, Jiang Ning knew that their strength, in normal circumstances, far surpassed the Eighth Stage.

The strength gap of a single stage naturally brought more pressure than He Jinyun, the born Divine Strength young master.

In the direction of the three major families of Luoshui County—

"Cao Zijian, aren't you going up?"

"Do I look stupid to you?" Cao Zijian glanced at Liu Zhao Nan beside him and continued, "This young master's status is unattainably high, and the strength he just displayed is also exceptionally outstanding. Why would I, full and content, go and compete with him for the Captain's position?"

"On the contrary, there are still over ten positions, what's the harm in letting him have one?"

Hearing this, Liu Zhao Nan, standing nearby, couldn't help but smile faintly.

"Brother Cao makes sense. Since you're not going, neither will I!"

At this moment, those who intended to compete for the Captain's position in the training ground all had similar thoughts, more or less the same.

Especially the Martial Academy students, none of them had the idea to go up on the arena and compete with He Jinyun.

In their Martial Academy branch, He Jinyun had just entered the Eighth Stage a few months ago and was already among the top three in the branch.

And now, they didn't know how far He Jinyun had progressed in the Divine Strength Realm.

But they knew that He Jinyun was much stronger than a few months ago.

Because He Jinyun was a young master of a viscount's family.

As a young master of a viscount's family, he lacked no resources in the early stages of Martial Dao, and even less so for ordinary heavenly treasures and earthly treasures.

Over the course of several months, He Jinyun had already achieved a level of distance beyond the Eighth Level Martial Dao.

After an incense stick's time had passed.

"Boring!" He Jinyun took the silver identity token from the man hosting the assessment, grumbled, and then jumped down from the arena.

"Who else is coming up?" The man handed over the token and called out to those below.

At this moment, the arena fell silent for a brief moment, and then someone leaped out from the crowd.

The person was dressed in an exquisite black robe with golden embroidery, and their figure gracefully landed on the arena.

"It's Qin Xuan!" someone from the crowd exclaimed.

"This person from our Martial Academy is even better than He Jinyun, our little master, from a few months ago!"

".

The crowd in the Martial Academy began to buzz with discussion.

Even the Eighth Rank experts who initially had some ideas suddenly suppressed the restless desires in their hearts.

On the other side.

"The students of this Martial Academy are really strong!" Zhou Xing expressed his admiration.

Wang Jin spoke up, "It's only natural for the Martial Academy students to be strong! After all, the Martial Academy was founded by the Martial Saint of Daxia as another institution!"

"It has a history and foundation of hundreds of years!"

Wang Jin then consoled, "But you don't need to belittle yourself. They have access to better Martial resources than you two, so it's natural for them to be ahead of you in strength right now!"

Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Master is right!"

And so, another incense stick's time passed.

Still, no one went up to challenge Qin Xuan.

As Qin Xuan, the captain of the representative team, took the silver identity token and left the arena.

"Liu Sansheng, I'd like to learn from all of you!" Liu Sansheng couldn't wait to speak up and bowed to the crowd below.

At the same time.

Several people who seemed to be Liu Sansheng's companions were also loudly discussing below.

"It's actually Liu Sansheng taking the stage?"

"He's so eager to go up. Liu Sansheng must be very confident!"

"Of course! He has already reached the Eighth Level Martial Dao, and he's the eldest legitimate son of the Liu Family. In the future, he's most likely to become the head of the Liu Family. The Martial resources he enjoys must be extraordinary!"

"In that case, Liu Sansheng's strength shouldn't be weak!"

"Absolutely!"

".

As their discussion spread.

Zhou Xing couldn't help but mutter, "Another strong practitioner in the Divine Strength Realm. This Martial Academy is really taking advantage of others!"

At this moment, Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Senior Brother Zhou Xing, do you think that those who are loudly discussing might be arranged by Liu Sansheng from the arena?"

Zhou Xing's eyes lit up.

"Junior Brother Jiang Ning, do you mean that this person is bluffing?"

"It's possible!" Jiang Ning nodded slightly.

"That makes sense!" Zhou Xing suddenly understood and turned to Jiang Ning.

On the other side.

He Jinyun watched Liu Sansheng on the stage and smiled at Qin Xuan beside him.

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"This Liu Sansheng knows how to take advantage of the situation. He's using our momentum to go up on stage and even sent people to bluff!"

Qin Xuan shook his head. "Taking advantage? Liu Sansheng clearly doesn't have the confidence that you and I have. It seems his strength hasn't undergone a transformation!"

"It should be!" He Jinyun nodded and then sighed, "It's a pity I went up first. Otherwise, I would have shown him what true strength is."

Suddenly.

"Fk!"

A bald, burly man shouted and landed heavily on the arena.

Below the arena.

"Hehe!" He Jinyun laughed, "Now this is interesting! One or two is fine, but three is too much! It seems Liu Sansheng's appearance has made the Eighth Rank experts in Luoshui County lose their patience."

Qin Xuan said, "Let's see if he can win. If he can't, then the embarrassment will be great."

At this moment.

Zhou Xing's gaze became serious as he looked at the arena in front.

"This person is called Fu Shiquan, the number one escort of Changfeng Agency."

"Not only does he possess the strength of the Eighth Level Martial Dao, but he's also extremely rich in combat experience! Even I don't have any confidence in dealing with him!"

"I wonder if he can defeat that Liu Sansheng from the Martial Academy."

The next moment.

The two of them stopped talking and started fighting directly.

The weapon Fu Shiquan used was a refined iron staff, while Liu Sansheng's weapon was a long sword.

As Fu Shiquan made his move, the refined iron staff in his hand stirred up a powerful tiger-like sound, and his momentum was formidable.

"This is the Eighteen Demon Subduing Sticks!" Zhou Xing explained from the side, "It's said that this is a Lower-Rank Martial Art from the Buddhist school! There are a total of eighteen sticks!"

"If it's perfected, one stick's power surpasses another, and if he can smoothly execute all eighteen sticks, their combined might is tremendous."

"A single perfected stick is enough to split a mountain. In Fu Shiquan's hands, a Seventh Rank Martial Artist can't match it!"

Fu Shiquan's long iron staff was wielded with utmost precision, its shadow creating a dense web that covered an area more than ten feet in front of him. The staff's momentum surged like a flood of giant waves, leaving Liu Sansheng no chance to catch his breath.

From the very start, Fu Shiquan unleashed his full power, holding nothing back.

Liu Sansheng's face slightly changed, and he retreated step by step.

Faced with the formidable iron staff, he dared not confront it head-on, relying instead on his longsword to primarily deflect the incoming force.

"Looks like Liu Sansheng has it in the bag!" Qin Xuan exclaimed from below the stage.

Just then, Liu Sansheng, who had been continuously retreating, suddenly reversed his momentum. His longsword moved with the speed of a thunderbolt, swift as the aurora.

Whoosh—

A burst of energy suddenly erupted from the sword's edge.

"Let go!" Liu Sansheng shouted lightly.

Fu Shiquan's iron staff flew out of his grasp, and his hands were now covered in blood.

"My apologies!" Liu Sansheng sheathed his sword and stood, bowing politely.

"I've lost!" Fu Shiquan said dejectedly.

With those words, he turned and walked to the edge of the arena.

Then, he leaped down from the stage, declaring his surrender.

Below the stage.

Zhou Xing's expression was solemn. "Liu Sansheng's sword skills are truly remarkable! Especially that last strike, like a thunderbolt—I didn't even have time to react! If I were up there, I wouldn't stand a chance against Fu Shiquan, let alone surpass him!"

Jiang Ning casually nodded, his gaze resting on Liu Sansheng, who stood proudly on the stage.

Should I go up now?

That was the question on his mind at that moment.

After witnessing Liu Sansheng's performance, he knew his own strength far surpassed Liu's.

Against Liu Sansheng, a single strike from him would be enough to defeat the latter.

He pondered for a long while.

"Forget it!" Jiang Ning thought to himself, then shook his head.

Although the previous incident had left him feeling somewhat annoyed with Liu Sansheng, he decided to let it go for the sake of Xiaodoubao and Jiang Yiming.

At that moment.

Liu Sansheng stood silently on the stage, waiting for time to pass.

After seeing Fu Shiquan's defeat, no one dared to challenge Liu Sansheng.

Liu Sansheng's flawless victory over Fu Shiquan had proven his strength and his qualification to compete for the squad leader position.

With plenty of squad leader spots still available, there was no need to take the risk of challenging Liu Sansheng for the current position.

After all, losing would mean forfeiting the chance to compete for the squad leader position.

So, everyone felt there was no point in challenging Liu Sansheng.

As for the Martial Academy students, they wouldn't dare step up.

The Inspector Guards were formidable! And the squad leaders were the ones in power! Before coming here, they had already established a rule of mutual non-aggression.

In the blink of an eye.

An incense stick's worth of time had passed.

Liu Sansheng took the silver token symbolizing the squad leader position from the examiner, his face beaming with joy.

Then.

He turned and looked towards the crowd below the stage, quickly spotting Jiang Ning in the audience.

Liu Sansheng leaped down from the stage and walked straight to Jiang Ning's side.

"Brother Ning, did you see that?" Liu Sansheng raised the silver token symbolizing the squad leader position.

Then Liu Sansheng continued, "I'm now the squad leader at the Inspection Office. Since your brother-in-law asked me to look after you, come join my team! As the leader, I'll definitely take care of you!"

After witnessing Jiang Ning's display of power, Liu Sansheng was also enticed.

Each squad leader could have nine Inspector Guards under their command.

However, Inspector Guards were typically ninth-rank martial artists, with varying strengths.

But if he could recruit someone like Jiang Ning, who was young and possessed eighth-stage Divine Strength, his team's strength would increase, and his position as leader would naturally rise.

So, when Liu Sansheng realized his initial assessment of Jiang Ning was wrong, he immediately set his sights on him.

"No!" Jiang Ning shook his head in response to Liu Sansheng's offer.

"Why not?" Liu Sansheng asked, "Brother Ning, your sister-in-law is my sister, so we're already family! If you join my team, it'll be a powerful alliance! I'll definitely treat you well! I can even arrange for my cousin to marry you, making us even closer!"

Liu Sansheng offered what he considered a generous deal upon Jiang Ning's refusal.

Jiang Ning chuckled upon hearing this.

"Because I also want to compete for the squad leader position!" Jiang Ning said.

As his words fell.

Jiang Ning stomped his right foot on the ground.

Boom—

His body suddenly soared into the air, then, in mid-air, abruptly changed direction, sweeping towards the arena!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end