Eliminating Dissenters

Ke Chajing said, "The Second Martial Arts Club was originally a private club that I and a few friends established together. It wasn't for the honor of the school, but simply to have a place for us to play and have fun. As a result, we accidentally won the state championship. As for the First Martial Arts Club not qualifying for the competition, that's because they were incompetent, it has nothing to do with us."

If anyone thinks that 'the Second Martial Arts Club Martial Arts Club to everyone,' then please leave immediately. The Second Martial Arts Club is a private club and has never been open to the public from the beginning. Although we had to recruit new members due to the school's request, please recall that the Second Martial Arts Club has never invited anyone to join; you were the ones who actively requested to join."

These remarks, "I don't need to care about your opinions," immediately caused a huge uproar. Although, in retrospect, it seems that the Second Martial Arts Club really never recruited students, did not advertise, and did not recruit people to join. It was I who applied to join because of its reputation.

Hu Jixian chimed in, "If anyone finds this unacceptable, they are welcome to leave the club and form a third Martial Arts Club to participate in the Martial Dao League, just like we did back then. Believe in yourselves; if we can do it, so can you."

Many proud and arrogant students couldn't stand the sarcasm and turned to leave on the spot, but Ke Chajing and the others did not say anything to stop them, and didn't even glance at them.

Now it's others who are begging them, not the other way around. Although many people can't accept this fact, it's the truth. Unlike the long-established First Martial Arts Club, the Second Martial Arts Club was only founded two years ago, and all the founding members are here. Calling it a private club wouldn't be wrong.

The male student on stage protested, "What is this? This is going against the tide..."

Si Ming appeared in front of him in a flash, grabbed his face, covered his mouth, and lifted him up, ignoring the other man's kicking legs.

"I already told you, my hits really hurt. Are you a fish? Do you only have a seven-second memory?"

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the person out of the martial arts gym.

Among the crowd were some students who hadn't turned away and were still shouting loudly. Ke Chajing and the others took action, demonstrating the strength that made them the starters, throwing them all away one by one.

Si Jingyu watched the farce with amusement. "Now that the rear is stable, the front can fight seriously."

Chapter 766 Eliminating Dissidents

"It's much quieter now. I'm not used to all this noise."

Ke Chajing clapped her hands and said to the half of the students below the stage who were feeling uneasy, "Alright, now that these bad apples have been expelled, I hereby announce the selection rules. If anyone is dissatisfied with the list of twelve and feels that their strength is stronger than the candidates on the list, they can issue a challenge, and the winner will take their place."

The students in the audience had already given up hope on the candidate, since the other party was the founder and held 100% of the shares. Even if the other party played the role of dictator, they couldn't do anything about it. Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better, and they found that they actually had a chance to compete. Their hearts were suddenly filled with excitement.

Someone blurted out, "Is the president serious?"

Ke Chajing rolled her eyes at the other person and said, "When have I ever gone back on my word? The Mohist School's motto is 'respect for the virtuous,' so of course we must select talent fairly, justly, and openly. What I said just now was just to drive out those with ill intentions, so they wouldn't be bribed and cause trouble when we participate in the Martial Dao League in the future."

Si Ming thought to himself, "This is a brilliant move. Now, even if those who left the club go out and complain that the Second Martial Arts Club is unfair and engages in shady deals, no one will believe them. In fact, they will be ridiculed by the remaining club members for their wavering stance, failing the test, and being potential traitors. President Ke's move is simply to eliminate the bad apples."

Even if the leaders who put these people in there knew about it, they couldn't say anything. If the people they recommended were useless, who could they blame? Why are others fine while you're the one with problems?

"I want to challenge Hao Shuai."

"I want to challenge Senior Brother Zeng Aniu."

"I want to challenge... who was it again? That's weird, it feels like someone's missing."

The saying goes, "Pick the softest persimmon." The remaining students were well aware of the strength of the main players and didn't think they had the ability to challenge them. Therefore, they all focused their attention on the substitutes. Even if they felt that their strength was still a bit lacking, there were many variables in actual combat. What if they could seize the opportunity and win?

As one of the best among the younger generation, he certainly has the courage to take on this challenge.

However, Hu Jixian immediately added, "To prevent a situation where each contestant faces a challenge in rotation, each contestant will only accept two challenges per day for three days. After three days, we will submit the official contestant list."

The crowd questioned, "Each person can only accept six challenges in total. What if more than six people want to take on the challenge?"

"The decision is up to you internally. You can draw lots or settle the matter privately. The loser is not eligible to challenge. I want to remind you that only the winner can take over. A tie does not count as a successful challenge. After all, we also need to consider the cooperation issues in two-person battles. If it's a close contest, from the perspective of team contribution, it's better to keep the original list."

The students had no objection to this; they had not yet been corrupted by the societal trend of taking pride in shamelessness and still maintained the dignity of martial artists.

However, the scene quickly descended into chaos. Some demanded to draw lots, others wanted to duel, and still others formed cliques. Without a leader, it took half a day just to establish rules that everyone could accept.

"Judging from the situation, it's unlikely anyone will challenge us this morning."

Even if Si Ming didn't understand psychology, he knew that people's thoughts at this time were usually, "Even if it's a waste of a challenge spot, I can't let someone else benefit from it." When there were few people, there might be some wise people who would step forward and "share the pears Kong Rong," but when there were many people, there would inevitably be some bad apples who wanted to stir up trouble.

He couldn't be bothered to watch this pointless farce, so he walked over to Si Jingyu and asked, "Did you direct this whole show?"

"The Second Martial Arts Club has a bright future ahead, and many people are trying to take advantage of the situation to join. Some of them have quite a few connections. Although we can forcibly expel them, it would leave them with a handle against us and pose a threat to the club. Therefore, Senior Ke asked me if I had any reasonable way to get rid of these people, so I gave her this idea."

Si Ming had no objection to the approach of "pacifying the internal before resisting the external." If the hidden landmines weren't cleared out now, it would be troublesome if they exploded during the official competition. Even if these people couldn't make the roster, they could still sell inside information or tamper with their food. Although no one with a brain would do something that would leave such evidence, there are plenty of people in the world who are either brainless or lose their rationality when they act impulsively. It's not appropriate to place your hopes on other people's rationality.

"Get rid of the outspoken opposition, then get rid of the treacherous spies lurking within the team. What's left are the staunch supporters, the pseudo-supporters who have objections but lack the courage to voice them, and the indifferent followers."

For Si Jingyu, who had managed large Lineage, such methods of eliminating dissidents were as simple as eating and drinking; she could come up with seven or eight of them with a simple thought.

As Si Ming had predicted, the entire morning was spent in arguments, more chaotic than a vegetable market. Not a single challenge took place, and even when someone wanted to go up and challenge, they were stopped by others, wasting one-sixth of their chance.

By the afternoon, these people had finally organized themselves and set the rules for internal competition. They would fight among themselves first to eliminate the weaker ones, and only the winners would have the right to issue a challenge. However, the targets were limited to Hao Shuai and others who were relatively weaker, since each person only had one chance to challenge. If they failed to challenge the main players, they would not have the opportunity to challenge the substitutes as a second choice.

Liu Qingqing was not forgotten. There were only twelve people in total, and the other party could find her by checking the list one by one. However, even without using the Myriad Filth Tainted Blood, her strength was still a level above Hao Shuai's. The Seven Luminaries Archery was good for long-range attacks, and the Five Elements Spirit-Refining Formula was good for close combat. She had no weaknesses in terms of ability. Moreover, both of these martial arts came from famous schools and were considered Higher Vehicle among many martial arts. She had a great advantage against her peers.

A boy skilled in light-footed kung fu challenged Liu Qingqing, hoping to use his speed to quickly close the distance and prevent Liu Qingqing from shooting arrows. As expected, he was knocked out of the arena by Liu Qingqing using the Five Elements Fist Art. The entire battle lasted less than a minute.

Si Ming had the feat of testing a hundred people on his own, and since a large portion of the testers were present, no one dared to challenge him. So, they were bored and wanted to leave early, but they also had the obligation to be challenged and couldn't shirk their responsibility.

He thought to himself, why not leave a Sword Qi of sword Sword Qi on the stone and declare that whoever can neutralize it will win? That way, he could both extricate himself and show off a bit.

Just as Si Ming was about to take action, Ke Chajing walked over and said, "Junior Brother Ming, there's something I need to trouble you with."

What is it?

"I hope you can represent our Second Martial Arts Club in the draw."

Si Ming asked, puzzled, "Is there any particular reason for drawing lots?"

If it were just a simple formality, he felt there was no need for him to participate. Since the goal was the league championship, it didn't matter what number he drew. He just needed to defeat all the enemies he encountered. It was others who should be the ones worrying about being upset.

"The draw is just a simple draw, there's nothing particularly complicated about it. However, there's an unwritten rule in the Martial Dao League that the host country will give the representatives who come to draw lots a short test. The results of the test, along with past performances, will be used to rank the teams. This is to prevent seeded teams from being placed in the same group, thus delaying the time for the best matches."

For a moment, Si Ming thought it would be more dramatic to simply get the worst grade and then make a comeback. However, when he heard that previous years' grades would also be taken into account, he felt that doing so would be pointless.