Chapter 173: Apologies!

Chapter 173: Apologies!

On the arena.

In the blink of an eye, the first round had already concluded.

Just moments ago, there were twelve participants, but now only six remain.

Among the six, the sole remaining competitor from Luoshui County is Jiang Ning, the local martial artist.

The other five are students from the Martial Academy in Dongling City.

Below the arena.

"Indeed! The elite among the Martial Academy's elite students are not easy to deal with. I couldn't even win a single match!" Liu Zhaonan sighed lightly, his expression filled with emotion.

"Brother Zhaonan, you've already made me see you in a new light. To think you could snatch the Squad Leader position! I'm far inferior to you!" Cao Zijian, standing nearby, looked at Liu Zhaonan with a complex expression in his eyes.

He never expected that Liu Zhaonan, who had once lagged behind him, would unknowingly surpass him to such an extent.

Cao Zijian had just stepped onto the arena and personally faced the elite students from the Martial Academy, gaining a firsthand understanding of their formidable strength.

It was a suppressing force that made him feel like victory was out of reach.

At this moment, upon hearing Cao Zijian's words, Liu Zhaonan couldn't help but sigh and shake his head.

"What does this mean for me! Jiang Ning is the one who truly changes our perception. Who could have imagined that an ordinary commoner like him, after practicing martial arts for just a few months, would reach this level? Even the once-in-a-century genius of Luoshui County might pale in comparison!"

Hearing Liu Zhaonan mention Jiang Ning, Cao Zijian's face became even more complex.

"Indeed! Who could have imagined he had such strength? This talent surpasses even my cousin Cao Rong!"

"Fortunately, my cousin Cao Bin chose to befriend him. If they had continued their animosity, after today, with Jiang Ning's influence, my Cao family would have been in real trouble!"

Liu Zhaonan, standing nearby, couldn't help but smile slightly upon hearing Cao Zijian's words.

He didn't share Cao Zijian's concerns.

The Cao family's current pillar was Cao Rong.

In Dongling City, Cao Rong was a prominent figure, but with his military duties, he rarely returned more than once or twice a year.

For Luoshui County, his influence was limited.

As Cao Zijian said, if Jiang Ning were to become a captain in the Inspection Bureau after today, targeting the Cao family, it would indeed become very troublesome for them.

With power in hand, causing trouble would be all too easy.

And with Cao Rong's limited reach, he couldn't provide immediate relief.

However, Liu Zhaonan had no such worries.

A few months ago, he had received extensive cultivation support from his clan.

And now, he had successfully secured the Squad Leader position.

As a captain in the Inspection Bureau himself, while he admired Jiang Ning's strength, he didn't fear him the way Cao Zijian did.

With Liu Zhaonan as a captain in the Inspection Bureau, the future troubles in Luoshui County would be safely navigated.

But the Cao and Xie families were in a different situation.

Xie Xiaojiu, the most outstanding member of the Xie family, had just lost to Jiang Ning in the Squad Leader competition. Like the Cao family, the Xie family had no one left in the competition.

Thinking of this, Liu Zhaonan felt a surge of satisfaction.

A decade ago, Cao Rong had emerged from obscurity, propelling the Cao family from the weakest of the three major families to a position that rivaled, if not surpassed, the Liu and Xie families.

And now, it was his turn to create a legend.

At this moment, on the arena.

With the first round concluded, only six participants remained eligible for the second round.

Qin Xuan stepped forward, the only remaining candidate for the Deputy Commander position.

Holding a slightly downward-sloping sharp sword, he exuded prestige in his black, gilded long robe.

"Who's next?" Qin Xuan challenged the remaining five.

"I am!" A man immediately stepped forward without hesitation.

With only one Deputy Commander position left, securing it required defeating everyone present.

To become the sole winner, there was no difference between going first or last.

Thus, the man showed no hesitation.

After the battle, Qin Xuan emerged victorious.

In this fight, he didn't sustain any additional injuries.

If He Jinyun were here, he would notice Qin Xuan's significant progress compared to just over a month ago.

The next moment, Jiang Ning took the initiative and stepped onto the arena.

"Who's up for a weapon battle?" Jiang Ning challenged the remaining three.

Then, he turned to the man overseeing the examination and said, "Please provide me with a saber."

"Here!" The man grabbed a saber from the nearby weapon rack, one heavier than the previous one, and threw it to Jiang Ning.

The long saber sliced through the air, and Jiang Ning caught it with an outstretched hand.

As the saber entered his grasp, its specifications appeared in his mind.

Three feet and five inches long, weighing one hundred and thirty-seven pounds, it was an exceptional saber.

The mirror-like blade reflected the sunlight, shimmering brilliantly.

At this point, the only remaining female participant stepped forward.

She wore a fiery red leather battle armor and held a long spear in her hand, looking like a swift and graceful warrior with her ponytail swaying behind her.

"I'll take it!" The woman stepped onto the arena, standing before Jiang Ning.

"I love a weapon battle!" She lightly brandished the long spear in her hand, the red tassel resembling a flash of fire.

"My name is Feng Jiujiao!"

"Jiang Ning!"

Jiang Ning had some knowledge about this woman, as his extraordinary five senses allowed him to hear the whispered discussions from all corners below the arena just by standing there.

So, during the half-day at the training ground, he had learned a lot of previously unknown information from these discussions.

Among them was the news about the woman in front of him, dressed in a red skirt and battle armor.

This woman was the daughter of a captain in Dongling City.

Her martial arts skills were imbued with a military style, and her recent combat displayed a grand and open manner.

This style, in theory, was not suitable for arena battles but more for charging on the battlefield.

But the fact that she stood there as one of the remaining six people was a testament to her extraordinary strength.

"Are you ready?" The woman spoke to Jiang Ning.

"Bring it on!" Jiang Ning replied.

As his words fell—

The woman's figure moved, and a surge of killing intent suddenly enveloped Jiang Ning.

Such intense killing intent!

It seemed this woman had experienced the battlefield!

Jiang Ning instantly made a judgment in his mind.

At this moment—

No distracting thoughts arose in his mind.

He raised his hand, and the blade tore through the air.

Block—

The clash of metal produced a flash of fire.

Feng Jiujiao's long spear in her hand suddenly trembled and flew away, startling her.

"What terrifying strength!"

"At least three thousand eight hundred jin!"

"My strength is only three thousand jin; I'm no match for him in terms of power!"

Feng Jiujiao instantly made a judgment in her mind.

Then—

She seized the spear and smoothly shifted backward, both hands gripping the tail end.

Her arm trembled, and the spearhead that had just been thrown flew back into place, its three-pronged tip shimmering with cold light as it slashed horizontally towards Jiang Ning's throat.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning's figure slightly retreated, dodging Feng Jiujiao's strike.

Then, his long blade naturally rose.

His current blade technique was both heavy and swift.

In just an instant, he struck the spear shaft.

However, Feng Jiujiao's spear shaft had just risen, and under her control, the flexible and resilient shaft neutralized the power within it.

"It really works!" Feng Jiujiao's eyes slightly narrowed.

"It's time to end this!" She thought to herself.

The next moment—

The red tassel swayed, and the spear blossomed like fire.

Hidden within the fire was a spear tip as venomous as a snake.

Clang—

Clang—

Clang—

Flashes of fire streaked by.

Jiang Ning repeatedly retreated.

"What formidable force!" Jiang Ning thought to himself, feeling the power emanating from Feng Jiujiao's weapon.

He could clearly sense that the power Feng Jiujiao was unleashing now far exceeded what she had shown earlier.

Each strike of the spearhead against his blade forced him to retreat to neutralize it.

"It's somewhat like the Nine Levels of Force!" Jiang Ning thought to himself.

At this moment—

Feng Jiujiao wielded her spear with increasing ferocity.

The spear tip became a flame that continuously expanded, trapping Jiang Ning without a moment's respite.

As time ticked by, Feng Jiujiao's offense grew more and more fierce, each strike surpassing the last in power.

The flames at the spear tip gradually compressed Jiang Ning's space, pushing him towards the edge of the arena behind him.

"Is this the Miaojia Inferno Spear Technique? It's indeed domineering!" On the arena, Qin Xuan watched this scene, muttering to himself.

"Does Elder Brother Qin also know the Inferno Spear Technique?" A man beside him asked.

"Of course! The Inferno Spear Technique is a powerful Intermediate Level Martial Art possessed by the Miaojia. Captain Miao rose to prominence relying on the strength of this Intermediate Level Martial Art!" Qin Xuan explained.

"With Elder Brother Qin's insight, do you think Jiang Ning can handle Feng Jiujiao's all-out attack?" The man beside him asked again.

Qin Xuan opened his mouth, about to give an answer, but then he shook his head slightly, "It's hard to say, let's wait and see!"

On the other side—

In the arena, under Feng Jiujiao's fierce attacks, Jiang Ning had retreated to just two zhang from the edge of the arena.

The Inferno Spear Technique?

Hearing these three words, Jiang Ning was astonished.

He instantly recalled the words Wang Jin had told him about the River Tide Saber Technique.

According to Wang Jin, the River Tide Saber Technique was an extremely outstanding Intermediate Level Martial Art, capable of cultivating the Nine Levels of Force.

When the saber technique was perfected, the Nine Levels of Force would also reach perfection.

A perfected Nine Levels of Force could unleash the power of nine blades in a single strike, merging the strength of nine blades into one.

Enough to transcend the realm and fight.

At the same time, according to Wang Jin’s words at that time, there was also a middle-tier martial art called the Inferno Saber Technique.

If he could master the Inferno Saber and practice these two saber techniques to perfection, merging them into one, he could grasp an upper-tier martial art.

"Inferno Saber Technique? Inferno Spear Technique?"

"Could this be a variant of the saber technique?"

Jiang Ning pondered while fighting.

At this moment, even if Feng Jiuge went all out, she did not make Jiang Ning feel any pressure.

Though the spear technique was fierce and dazzling,

in front of Jiang Ning’s powerful five senses, the trajectory of Feng Jiuge’s large spear was clearly visible in his eyes.

Each time the spear tip emerged from the red tassel, it was easily detected by Jiang Ning, who would split it apart with a single slash.

He did not use his full strength to knock Feng Jiuge out of the arena, merely to keep her as a tool for him to gain combat experience.

After all, with such a weak opponent, gaining combat experience would be useless.

And an opponent as outstanding as Feng Jiuge was hard to find even in all of Luoshui County, so there was no need to rush.

However, after this brief exchange, Jiang Ning realized that this approach seemed useless.

Because he found that so-called combat experience was merely the muscle memory and bodily instincts developed during training.

For other martial artists, it was difficult to completely capture every move and technique of an equal opponent.

In unclear situations, the critical response in a split second was extremely important.

But in Jiang Ning’s current eyes, every move and the slightest change in the opponent’s actions were clearly visible.

His powerful five senses gave him the means to perceive every change, every reality.

So, no matter how fierce or dazzling Feng Jiuge’s offensive techniques were, Jiang Ning could easily see through everything.

Furthermore, his mastery of the saber had reached the level of Blade and Body as One, where the saber moved as he willed.

When his eyes saw, the saber followed.

The breakthrough in his saber technique made his saber swings as swift as a swift, allowing him to precisely fend off the incoming spear tip.

On the arena.

Feng Jiuge felt more and more alarmed as the fight progressed.

As Jiang Ning’s opponent on the same stage, she could clearly sense Jiang Ning’s terror.

Though it seemed she had the upper hand, she knew she was in a very precarious position.

Because after dozens of spear thrusts, each of her attacks was easily blocked by Jiang Ning’s long saber, without a single exception.

Up to this point, though it appeared she had completely suppressed Jiang Ning, she realized she had not breached Jiang Ning’s defenses even once, nor injured him in any way.

In such a situation, how could she not see through it? Though it seemed she had the upper hand, in reality, she was already at a disadvantage.

The moment Jiang Ning counterattacked would be the moment of her defeat.

Thinking of this, she clenched her teeth.

"Roar—"

Feng Jiuge let out a fierce shout, her attacks becoming even more violent and swift.

She narrowed her eyes, her gaze firmly locking onto Jiang Ning’s every move.

She knew that victory or defeat would be decided in the next few moments.

Since she could not injure him, she would force Jiang Ning off the arena with a fierce offensive.

That way, she could still win.

Because on the arena, the rules were clear: falling off the arena meant defeat.

Sensing Feng Jiuge’s more intense offensive,

"It’s time to end this!" he shouted.

In the next moment,

the force in his hands gathered, instantly creating a vast, surging momentum.

Clang—

He swung his saber once more.

This saber strike unleashed five layers of force.

The overwhelming power made Feng Jiuge’s expression turn to shock.

Even though she was holding the tail end of the spear, the force transmitted through the spear shaft was limited.

But at this moment, Feng Jiuge almost lost her grip on the spear handle.

While this grip reduced the counterforce on her arms, it also greatly diminished her control over the spear.

Under Jiang Ning’s fierce saber strike, the spear tip was flung several feet away.

Feng Jiuge quickly retreated, and with a fierce exertion of both arms, she tried to bring the spear back under her control.

But at this moment,

though Feng Jiuge retreated quickly, Jiang Ning’s forward rush was even faster.

In a few steps, Jiang Ning charged into the range of Feng Jiuge’s spear shaft.

Taking advantage of the spear being out of control,

Jiang Ning raised his hand and grabbing the spear shaft.

"Let go!" Jiang Ning lightly shouted.

With a powerful exertion from his left arm, the spear was pulled out of Feng Jiuge’s grasp, causing her to lunge forward.

colliding with Jiang Ning’s chest.

"Sorry!!" Feng Jiuge pushed away from Jiang Ning’s chest, her voice slightly stuttering.

Her face also flushed with a hint of redness!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end