Chapter 1867 (Raw 1878): Competition at the Drill Ground, Part 2
When the little monk saw Long Hua’s confusion, he smiled and said, “You are really stupid enough. Just look. Who are the two with Monarch Yu now?”
Long Hua looked at Monarch Yu doubtfully. He saw that the two escorts accompanying him were now different people.
Monarch Yu arrived at the place where the Long Clan disciples practiced the spear.
That place immediately became the busiest area in the drill ground.
It was not just the Long Clan disciples that gathered there. Even the guards and subordinates of the Marquis’s Residence went over to take part in the liveliness.
Another person egged on Monarch Yu to display his skills.
Monarch Yu humbly replied but still did not make a move, getting his escort to do so instead.
That escort looked ordinary, but his skills with the spear were excellent.
Even the strongest spearman among the Long Clan disciples could not last more than ten moves in that person’s hand.
Many of the Marquis’s Residence’s guards were eager to test themselves. Even so, they only served to demonstrate the excellence of that escort’s skill with the spear.
Long Hua exclaimed in surprise, “What incredible spear skills! This is…”
He simply could not figure out what was going on. When he tried to think this through, this matter simply seemed shocking.
The little monk showed a look of disdain on his baby face. “You still cannot tell? There are many capable people under that monarch. The one you competed with earlier excelled in archery. That person is much stronger than you imagined. These are people whom that monarch deliberately prepared. Otherwise, do you think that just any one of his escorts possesses such scary archery skills?”
“Why?” Long Hua asked, still confused. Why would Monarch Yu find an expert archer to trample on him for no reason at all?
Long Hua did not believe it at first. However, he saw Monarch Yu strolling around the drill ground and casually bringing out powerful escorts.
The little monk frowned and looked up at Xiao Chen, who was beside him. His clean, oval face had a foolish expression on it as he asked, “Big Brother, why?”
“Dang!”
Xiao Chen struck the bull’s-eye again. He felt that this training field was quite useful.
If he trained here for a month, his mediocre archery skills should improve rapidly.
Then, if he sought a teacher to guide him and became an expert archer, it might even be possible for him to become a grandmaster.
“You little mischievous child, it turns out that you do not know, either,” Long Hua muttered under his breath.
Then, Long Hua went over to Xiao Chen and asked, “What exactly is the reason?”
Xiao Chen set the Goose Dragon Bow aside and glanced at Monarch Yu. Over there, it was bustling and noisy. Occasionally, people shouted praises.
“Probably building anticipation.”
“What?”
Xiao Chen explained, “Including the subordinates of the Marquis Residence and the disciples with different family names, there should be several thousand people on this drill ground. Everyone wants to see Monarch Yu’s strength, but he does not show it. He only gets his escorts to make a move, to shock the crowd and prompt them to sing his praises.
“The more the crowd wants him to make a move, the more he won’t do so. He will only use his escorts to pique everyone’s interest. What are you looking forward to seeing now?”
Long Hua replied without having to think, “Naturally, I want to see Monarch Yu’s personal strength. Even his escorts are so incredible. As their master, he should be stronger.”
“That’s right. That is the anticipation that he is trying to build up. He wants to bring everyone’s anticipation to the peak. Actually, there is also another thing that you are anticipating in your heart. While his escorts are that incredible, he might not be as incredible. You are also waiting to see him make a fool of himself.”
Xiao Chen appeared expressionless, his countenance not showing any changes. He seemed to be able to see what was going on in the human heart.
Long Hua said somewhat awkwardly, “I do feel that a little. After losing so badly, I naturally feel somewhat upset.”
Xiao Chen smiled while saying softly, “Don’t ever think that. Otherwise, when he makes his move later, you will despair even more. This is the effect he is going for. After raising everyone’s emotions to the peak, he will make a move while feigning reluctance to do so. He is trying to produce the effect that he just did not want to make a move, but when he does, it will shock everyone. This would drive everyone’s worship of him to new heights. It might even make people lose all hope of ever defeating him, inspiring others’ admiration in their defeat.”
“That’s impossible.”
Long Hua was in disbelief. Xiao Chen’s words dealt him quite a big blow.
Long Hua’s pure heart had difficulty accepting them.
This was overly complicated. Right now, his brain felt slightly dizzy.
The little monk, who was not even as tall as Xiao Chen’s calves, rubbed his chin and nodded.
Big Brother is truly the smart one. He immediately saw the crux of the problem. This Monarch Yu is also incredible. I should try out this move in the future.
Long Hua’s complexion paled. He still did not believe Xiao Chen, or rather, he did not want to believe him. He asked, “Does he have to trample on all of us first in order to make himself stand out?”
“Why not? Within the same age of the Martial Epoch, the succeeding generations will remember only the brightest star. The other stars can only dot the night sky, serving as a backdrop to make the brightest star more resplendent and dazzling, fanning others’ admiration and awe of the brightest star. Such is the path of Martial Cultivation. Why would it not be so in reality as well?”
Xiao Chen added indifferently, “From the current situation, you were just unfortunate to share the same drill ground as him.”
“However…even if there really are people who think like that, would they act on it?”
Long Hua thought carefully about it. If this was really true, then the people in the Marquis’s Residence were not very good at scheming. Even after others purposely used them as stepping stones, they were still willing to admire the other party.
“The success of a general is built on ten thousand corpses. This has always been so since ancient times. While it looks like we are far from having this adage apply to us, in reality, it is happening at every moment. For the sake of reaching one’s goal, what are a few stepping stones and tricks? Every day, every hour, every moment, there is someone becoming a stepping stone for another.”
“Dang!”
Xiao Chen pulled back on the drawstring, and the arrow struck the bull’s-eye again. Then, he showed a faint smile.
I can increase the gravity to twentyfold now. I can already completely control it using my Veritable Essence Energy.
If Xiao Chen used the Soul Slayer Bow, even the half-baked archer that he was would not have any problems reaching the level of that expert archer under Monarch Yu.
When Long Hua heard what Xiao Chen said, a chill ran down his spine. Was this world really that terrifying?
Now, Long Hua already half-believed him. He could not help asking, “But what is his purpose? Why is Monarch Yu doing this?”
Xiao Chen looked at the tall platform. The Marquis, Long Yan, and the upper echelon of the Marquis’s Residence all had their gazes focused on Monarch Yu.
That was inevitable. Nearly all of the thousands of people in the drill ground had gathered where Monarch Yu was.
Monarch Yu was like a jade tree facing the wind, blossoming beautifully. However, he was not proud or arrogant. Just the escorts under him already had everyone singing praises and cheering. If the people in the drill ground did not pay attention to him, who should they pay attention to?
Could it be those solitary, confused, and disappointed stepping stones in the corners?
These people were dispirited, disappointed, and gloomy. They were all filled with negative thoughts. Compared to the cheerful Monarch Yu, who would one rather pay attention to?
The answer was very clear.
The outstanding talents among the Long Clan disciples who had been so eager and excited during the family banquet were now all like Long Hua, dispirited and disappointed, upset.
It was not that they were not excellent enough. It was that they met the even more excellent Monarch Yu.
This was a practice session that was originally prepared for them. With Monarch Yu playing some tricks, the main character became him instead.
This resulted in the Soaring Dragon Marquis and the Marquis’s Residence’s upper echelon casting their gaze and attention on his body.
These people had already forgotten the initial aim of this practice session.
After listening to what Xiao Chen said, even if Long Hua did not understand everything, he at least understood Xiao Chen’s words.
However, Long Hua still only half-believed him. He felt that Xiao Chen’s words were too exaggerated and not really realistic.
Suddenly, Monarch Yu seemed to have noticed Xiao Chen from the distance. Then, he casually called out some words of praise. “Brother Xiao, your archery skills are not bad!”
All the eyes on the drill ground immediately shifted to Xiao Chen, together with Monarch Yu’s.
As Monarch Yu spoke, he very naturally walked over, and the others quickly followed.
“Monarch Yu, do show us some of your skills,” someone shouted, immediately causing a commotion among the cultivators following behind Monarch Yu.
“Right, right, right. Monarch Yu, you possess the royal clan’s bloodline. You are surely skilled in the Confucian six arts. Your archery skills are definitely extraordinary. Just show us a little. Let us see how exquisite the royal clan’s archery skills are.”
“Show us your skills.”
After seeing Monarch Yu’s escorts make their move several times, these people were already agog over when he would truly display his strength.
He remained silent for a while, then said as if put on the spot, “Archery is not really my specialty. So, if I embarrass myself, please do forgive me.”
“Great! Great! Great!”
The crowd was thrilled. Monarch Yu was finally going to make a move. The many Long Clan disciples and the Marquis’s Residence’s subordinates all felt excited.
“Brother Xiao, if you don’t mind, may I use the bow in your hand?” Monarch Yu asked softly, showing a humble attitude.
Xiao Chen’s expression remained calm as he casually handed the Goose Dragon Bow to the other party.
Only Long Hua felt shaken and shocked. He was stunned speechless.
Xiao Chen really hit it on the nail. It went exactly as he said.
There did not seem to be any pretense. Egged on by the crowd, Monarch Yu appeared helpless and somewhat reluctantly made his move.
It is not that I want to show off. You all are the ones forcing me.
This…this…what level of scheming is this? This is totally inconceivable.
Furthermore, Xiao Chen had seen through this long ago.
Long Hua felt curious. He wondered, If Monarch Yu knew that Xiao Chen already figured out what he was doing, what expression would Monarch Yu show?
