Six days passed by, and the first round of the personal disciples battle had ended.
As expected, all of Zhang Wentao’s disciples passed, out of which Sun Mo paid more attention to a young girl called Liu Yuzhi. Her martial prowess was quite high and she was also quite brutal.
However, the thing that puzzled Sun Mo the most was that he couldn’t detect this young girl’s data with Divine Sight.
On the Central Province Academy’s side, out of the three disciples Jin Mujie had sent out, two of them lost and one won.
The student who retained a hint of hope for her was called He Ben, a personal disciple she had just taken in last year. He had a great aptitude.
However, after the first round of battle, he was severely injured.
After Sun Mo used God Hands in addition to all sorts of medicine packets, He Ben managed to recover 90% of his battle prowess, but it was hard to say how the second round would turn out. They could only try their luck.
Hopefully, he could get a weakling as his opponent.
The second round onward was still decided by drawing lots.
This time around, the lucky mascot didn’t draw a red lot. She lost the chance to take the pick. However, Li Ziqi’s luck took a turn. She could draw lots to pick her opponent.
As for Ying Baiwu, she didn’t care about all of this. Regardless of who her opponent was, she only had these words: Fighting life for life! Fighting to the bitter end!
Ying Baiwu was picked in the third round.
When the iron-headed young girl got on the stage, she first asked her opponent, “Can I use this longbow?”
Shan Lian looked depressed. She was a lot older, and her cultivation level was also a lot higher than her opponent. If she were to say no, it’d be too embarrassing. But if she were to say yes…
That was a saint weapon they were talking about. In addition to Ying Baiwu’s peerless-grade saint-tier archery, even if Shan Lian were to win, she’d probably suffer and it’d affect her next battle.
Shan Lian was still torn when Sun Mo spoke up.
“Baiwu, don’t be rude!”
Helian Beifang couldn’t help but say. “Wow, I didn’t expect Senior Martial Sister Baiwu to know how to play tricks.”
“Baiwu has a headstrong temper and is a ruthless person who’d swallow a fallen tooth that was struck down. If it wasn’t to let Teacher advance, she wouldn’t resort to such tricks.”
Li Ziqi explained.
“I’ve got it!”
Ying Baiwu changed the longbow.
If she were to win, she was going to do it impeccably, not giving others a chance to criticize her.
The audience whistled. Although doing this was fair, why wasn’t one allowed to use a good weapon when they could afford it?
If that was the case, then saint-tier cultivation arts should be forbidden as well. The Saint Gate should let everyone use the same cultivation art to fight against each other. After all, this was something that broke the balance even more.
“Absolute fairness doesn’t exist in the world.”
Mei Ziyu sighed.
The reason the Saint Gate did this was to give the poor great teachers a way to be promoted. If people were to be able to use alchemical pills and weapons freely, then aristocratic and influential clans would take over all of the exam slots.
To speak the truth, great teachers with a commoner background like Sun Mo should be the type that the Saint Gate’s rules took care of. However, he had earned a massive wealth for himself.
His cultivation arts and wealth were a lot greater than those from the influential great teacher clans with 100 years of history.
“Start!”
The moment Tong Yiming’s note ended, Ying Baiwu immediately backed off, pulling the bowstring to send out explosive shots.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Semi-translucent arrows flashed in the air, looking exceptionally eerie.
Shan Lian gave chase while swinging her sword, creating a series of sword shadows in front of her that crushed those spirit qi arrows into fragments.
The game of cat chasing the mouse had started.
Ying Baiwu’s cultivation level was low, and she was a lot weaker than her opponent. If they were to have close-range combat, things would be over for her. Therefore, she could only move about and wear her opponent down.
Shan Lian had wanted to end the battle quickly. However, she couldn’t catch up to Ying Baiwu at all.
This young lady’s movement was outstanding!
“She’s too agile! This is definitely a saint-tier movement technique!”
“This is all because of the difference in their strength. Otherwise, Shan Lian would have lost.”
“Not only does this young lady have strong physical attributes, but she also has a strong mind!”
The great teachers talked amongst themselves, and some of them revealed a greedy expression.
They wanted such a genius disciple too.
“This can’t continue!”
Shan Lian felt embarrassed. She took a deep breath and exerted force in both her legs, shooting out and pouncing for Ying Baiwu.
Looking at her opponent rapidly getting close, Ying Baiwu didn’t even frown at all. After drawing her bow, she had a small pause to gather strength, and when Shan Lian charged up in front of her and slashed her longsword down, Ying Baiwu released the bowstring.
Swoosh!
The arrow shot out.
Shan Lian turned her body to dodge it. Although the movement wasn’t great, it was enough to cause her attack to be delayed by a second.
Looking at this scene, everyone thought that the iron-headed young girl would be relying on her outstanding movement technique to continue dodging, but she threw away her bow and crashed into Shan Lian instead.
Swoosh!
A dagger slashed out toward Shan Lian’s throat.
How brutal!
How decisive!
The great teachers cheered in exhilaration from watching this battle. This battle tactic was to go all in or get done in. Without the guts to bet on one’s life, no one would dare to use it.
Shan Lian was also caught off guard by Ying Baiwu’s abrupt retaliation. However, her cultivation base was really too high.
Pa!
She slapped away Ying Baiwu’s dagger and was about to do a hand chop on her neck to knock her out. But suddenly, a beam of light shot out from Ying Baiwu’s left index finger.
Ssss!
The distance between the two of them was far too close and in such a situation where it was a fast win or immediate loss, given Ying Baiwu’s experience and aptitude, there was no way that she’d make a mistake.
Pffft!
The light beam pierced through Shan Lian’s right chest. She frowned and instinctively raised her leg to kick out.
Bang!
Ying Baiwu was kicked in the chest and rolled out in a forlorn state.
Drip! Drip!
Blood flowed out.
Shan Lian was enraged. She bit her teeth and was about to give chase when she was stopped by her teacher.
“Stop!”
Shan Lian stopped and looked toward her teacher, feeling baffled. “Why?”
“You’ve lost.”
This great teacher, who was past his sixties, let out a sigh. “If this was a life-and-death battle, that attack earlier would have pierced through your heart. How would you have been able to retaliate?”
“But… but her attack could have missed as well.”
Shan Lian rebutted.
“There’s no way. Given such a short distance, even a fool wouldn’t miss.”
This old great teacher looked toward Ying Baiwu and smiled. “Thank you young friend for showing mercy!”
He then looked toward Sun Mo and continued to express his thanks.
“The disciple that Teacher Sun taught is really kind!”
“Teacher, you…”
Shan Lian felt anxious. (You’re already in your sixties and you’ve been craving to rise to 4-stars for such a long time, so why are you giving up now?)
“Lian`er, the most important thing to a person isn’t their achievements but their persistence and bottomline. If someone shows me respect, then I’ll return it in folds.”
This old great teacher was very broad-minded.
“This old man is a guy with principle. Is he a fool?” Qin Yaoguang mumbled.
“Yaoguang, don’t speak recklessly!” Li Ziqi reproached, “Amongst the great teachers, many are noble and prestigious.”
Qin Yaoguang stuck out her little tongue, not daring to speak too much.
“You don’t have to admit your loss!”
Ying Baiwu clutched at her chest and stood up. After spurting out a mouthful of blood, she said with a calm expression, “The reason I didn’t hit you in the heart is because I don’t want to taint Teacher’s name, to have others saying that he has a ruthless female student. However, I wasn’t hoping to rely on you guys admitting your loss to win this round.
“I’ve guessed her attack.”
Ying Baiwu waved the longbow in her hand. “I’d take the opportunity after she sent me flying to pick up this bow again and continue my kiting tactic. However, because she’s injured, she won’t be able to catch up to me.”
(I can fly, but your actions will slow down after you are injured, so there’s no need to. You’ll definitely lose.)
Everyone was surprised. So this was an interlocked stratagem.
Shan Lian’s countenance turned grim because she discovered that the direction in which Ying Baiwu rolled out happened to be where the longbow had fallen.
This meant that everything had been planned.
Thinking of this while sensing the intense pain from her injury, Shan Lian suddenly felt lingering fear. If her teacher hadn’t stopped the battle and she was to continue fighting, it’d be really embarrassing.
“Does she have to be so brutal to herself? That kick must have broken at least two of her ribs, but this young girl didn’t even frown.”
The examinees were convinced.
Her guts and battle tactic were really above Shan Lian.
“Sigh, it was a great performance opportunity, but it’s a pity that this old man has stolen the limelight!”
Gu Xiuxun felt gloomy.
No one was paying attention to Ying Baiwu because everyone was praising that old great teacher for his noble character.
“No matter what, it’s a win.”
Mei Ziyu felt very happy. Sun Mo was only one step away from being a 4-stars.
The competition continued…
The next morning, a young man with a swollen face, as if he had been stung by over 100 bees, was limping toward the lot box.
The examinees instantly became nervous, hoping to get picked.
This young man was called Cao De. During the first round, he had a long struggle with his opponent. That round went on for half an hour and it was hard to decide on the victor.
In the end, he clinched the victory because his opponent’s stamina couldn’t hold up.
“Pick me! Pick me!”
The examinees prayed.
Lu Zhiruo put her hands together, blinking her big eyes and looking at Cao De. (If I am chosen, I’ll offer incense to Heaven Grandpa every day.)
Cao De drew the lot. When he saw the name on it, his big and swollen mouth instantly broke into a grin.
“Ka ka!” Cao De was elated. “Heaven is on my side this time around!”
“De`er, how is it?” his teacher quickly asked.
“It’s Lu Zhiruo! Sun Mo’s disciple!”
Cao De felt so happy that he had the urge to sing loudly. He had thought that it was all over but didn’t expect that the obstacle in front of him would be suddenly removed, with new hope being presented.
(As expected, I’m heaven’s most beloved child!)
“Don’t be careless!”
Although his teacher said that, he couldn’t help but smile as well.
Someone like Sun Mo stood out a lot.
After the first round had ended, everyone immediately started to gather data on his various disciples. Although they didn’t know the concrete details, they were clear about their cultivation levels.
They were at a level that anyone could crush.
“Teacher, just you see. I’ll definitely get you the 4-stars title!”
As Cao De said this, he walked toward the arena. Since he was too excited, in addition to everyone else also choosing to jump up the arena instead of taking the steps, he jumped like a champion.
However, his body was seriously injured. He had just exerted force when his entire body started to ache as if it was cramping up, causing his actions to become distorted.
The arena wasn’t high, being only five meters tall. Usually, a newbie at the first level of the Body Refinement Realm would be able to jump up with great ease. But this time around, Cao De’s distorted jump caused the base of his right foot to scrape against the edge of the arena.
“F*ck!”
The moment Cao De shouted this, he knelt on the floor.
Bang!
Along with the sound of a strong impact, there was also a crisp ‘kacha’ sound.
That piercing sound caused all the audience in the surroundings to shiver and their hearts to contract.
His kneecap must have been shattered, right?
They had no idea if it was shattered, but it definitely hurt a lot.
Even tears and snot were coming out. How painful must that be?
…
At the next instant, all the examinees turned to look toward Lu Zhiruo.
