Saintess Trial
"Hey, I haven't even made my appearance yet, and I've only been used as background today?"
However, some members of the team didn't even make a background.
After the first day of the qualifying rounds, the news that the seeded team Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School was eliminated in the first round quickly swept through the entire martial arts circle of Linked Mountains City like a storm. Everyone turned their attention to the dark horse, the Second Martial Arts Club, and learned from some media reports that the Second Martial Arts Club had three top masters.
Chapter 452 The Saintess Trial
After a resounding victory over Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School in the first round, the Second Martial Arts Club easily defeated their subsequent opponents, encountering no formidable adversaries along the way and winning all their matches with a score of 3-0, thus securing their right to compete.
This is not surprising, because most of the teams participating in the qualifying rounds are amateur martial artists or second- or third-rate Little Wu. Strong teams with experts are directly selected from the qualifiers. Not everyone is as unlucky as Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School, encountering a dark horse for two consecutive rounds.
Furthermore, although it is said on the surface that the competition arrangements are random and everything depends on luck, how could there not be some behind-the-scenes manipulation? There are many cases on Earth that can be learned from, from small-town competitions to the Champions League. To say that there is no human intervention is an insult to people's intelligence. Besides, the qualifying rounds select the top eight, not the champion. If a very weak team is selected to enter the qualifying rounds, it will only be a disgrace to the martial arts community of Linked Mountains City.
Therefore, it is an unwritten rule to spread the strong teams evenly across different competition zones to avoid them meeting in advance. Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School was originally the "reserved qualification" for this competition zone, but it was taken by the Second Martial Arts Club. It is reasonable that the remaining teams are all weak teams. Even Hao Shuai has participated in three matches, gained a lot of attention, and successfully accumulated a wave of popularity. Recently, some girls have even taken the initiative to chat with him, which makes him laugh out loud in his dreams.
Naturally, the Second Martial Arts Club's "showy" performance attracted a lot of attention. Moreover, since the opponents in the subsequent matches were too weak and their battles were meaningless, everyone focused their attention on the three matches in the first round, studied them repeatedly, and finally concluded that the Second Martial Arts Club had three strong points: Si Ming, Murong Qing, and Chen Shimi.
Si Ming and Murong Qing need no introduction; they are truly skilled, and what they've shown is only the tip of the iceberg. Chen Shimi, on the other hand, gives off a very mysterious impression, making him unfathomable. Apart from the match against Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School, he only participated in two-person battles in subsequent matches. After all, his Sword Control Technique is not suitable for one-on-one combat. When he enters the arena, he basically does nothing, just stands there like a statue, with an expression of "I'm proud of my pose," while his teammates successfully take on two opponents at once. This makes one wonder if this guy has a "win-by-doing aura."
On one occasion, Si Ming couldn't stand it any longer and, with the intention of making a fool of himself, arranged for Chen Shimi to participate in a one-on-one battle. However, his opponent actually forfeited.
Subduing the enemy without fighting is the highest level of Military School strategy!
Such a record makes Chen Shimi seem particularly unfathomable to outsiders. After all, none of them are involved and cannot understand why he chose to forfeit the battle. For example, referring to Si Ming's method of "persuading the opponent to retreat", many people speculate that perhaps after that person went on the field, he realized that the gap in strength between them was too great and that he had no chance of winning, so he had no choice but to forfeit.
"Only by standing in front of him can you understand how terrifying he is."
No one knows who first spread this rumor, but it inexplicably spread throughout the martial arts community of Linked Mountains City. Its speed of spread was no less than that of celebrity gossip. Most people believed it, and a few more rational people held the idea that "it's better to believe it than not" and "it's never a bad thing to be cautious." Only a very small number of people resolutely refused to believe it, but this small group of people never had the chance to fight Chen Shimi, so they couldn't come up with any reason to refute it.
In short, this passive way of showing off left Si Ming completely speechless. It can't be described as "a happy accident," but rather as "circumstances making a hero."
On the other hand, as the Second Martial Arts Club gained fame, troubles followed.
"We need a mentor? But I remember the school rules say that informal clubs like ours, which are still in the probationary period, can still carry out their activities without a mentor," Murong Qing asked doubtfully.
Ke Chajing said helplessly, "But there are no other informal clubs that can achieve such outstanding results during the assessment period as we have. Moreover, the prestige of martial arts competitions is much higher than that of other sports. For the school, if we can get a ticket to the national competition, it is more valuable than a gold medal in a city-wide competition in some other events."
After all, this is a world where everyone practices martial arts and the strong have privileges. It's only natural that martial arts competitions are more valuable than other sports. It's much more reasonable than the kind of setting where "everyone in the world plays online games, game currency can be exchanged for real currency, and game competitions determine the ownership of land."
Hao Shuai asked doubtfully, "Since you need a mentor, why not just find one? Cousin, aren't you well-connected in both the legitimate and illegitimate worlds at school? Finding a mentor shouldn't be difficult. If all else fails, I know a few very approachable professors; we can ask them to take on the role."
Si Ming suddenly realized something and asked suspiciously, "Could it be that the president of the Martial Arts Club intervened and spoke to the teachers, telling them not to be our instructors?"
Ke Chajing said, "How is that possible? Although that scoundrel Chu has some influence, he's not that powerful. There are so many teachers in the school, and many of them have connections. Why would they listen to a mere student's warning if they wanted to do something? Even if he were the principal's son, he couldn't do something like that. The situation is quite the opposite. Many people are optimistic about our Martial Arts Club's strength, and it's obvious that we'll achieve a good result in the selection competition. Becoming our instructor would be a free honor, at least adding a good accolade to one's resume. Therefore, we've become highly sought after, and many professors are vying to be our instructors."
Hao Shuai was even more puzzled. "Then this matter is resolved, what else is there to worry about?"
Ke Chajing rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "Do you think everyone is like you, only thinking with their lower half? I don't expect you to just take things one step at a time, but at least have some self-awareness. If you know you're stupid, then don't speak."
She continued, "That's the problem. What if the instructor they send over is from the Martial Arts Club? Chu Jianren doesn't have the power to control all the instructors, but that doesn't stop him from sending one he's close to to cause trouble for us. Even if this instructor has nothing to do with Chu Jianren but still wants to achieve good results, what if he's impatient for quick success and gives bad advice? What if he wants to send people into our club to gain prestige? Even if we ignore him and treat him like a decoration, trouble is still trouble, especially internal team trouble, which can easily affect our performance in competitions."
"Cousin, did you analyze this yourself? Your analysis is so clear, your logic so sound, and you can even anticipate other people's schemes. When did you become so smart?"
Hao Shuai's questioning resulted in the "Iron Claw Punishment," where his skull was forcibly lifted by a hand, his legs dangling and shaking uncontrollably. Unfortunately, he kicked Ke Chajing in the knee, resulting in a kidney shot as a reward, which knocked him to the ground, unable to get up again.
Si Ming ignored his classmate who was curled up like a shrimp on the ground. Although he also felt that the above deduction should have come from Hu Jixian, he would not say it out loud. This is the difference in emotional intelligence.
"Simply put, what we need now is a reliable mentor, preferably someone from our own circle, someone willing to act as a mascot and not cause trouble."
Hu Jixian said, "That's right. The other party also needs to have a certain amount of power, otherwise I'm afraid they won't be able to eliminate the other competitors. Things have come to this point, and it's no longer up to us students to decide who should be the mentor. The decision is not in our hands."
Si Ming thought for a moment and said, "Leave this to me. I have a suitable candidate."
The person he was referring to was naturally Yuezheng Yao. After all, he still owed her a favor, so it wouldn't be difficult to negotiate with her. And with the Yuezheng Lineage as her backing, Yuezheng Yao really asked for a position, the school wouldn't be able to refuse.
"Then it's up to you. The next issue we need to discuss is the selection competition..."
Ke Chajing trusted Si Ming completely and didn't question who the candidate was. She simply waved her hand and passed on the task.
After the club meeting ended, Si Ming was about to leave when he felt someone tugging at his cuff. He turned around and saw Liu Qingqing.
"You're here today... Is there something you need?"
Si Ming's tone revealed concern, after all, his childhood sweetheart rarely came to see him, so she must have something important to say now.
Liu Qingqing released her grip and said, "Our instructor, who teaches Divine Arts, assigned us an assignment, and I need a partner."
She used a declarative tone, without being overly polite by asking Si Ming if he was free or willing, and Si Ming directly asked, "When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow at noon."
How long will it take?
"No more than two days."
"I understand. I'll come to see you on time tomorrow at noon."
Then he switched to Secret Voice Transmission and asked, "Is it related to the Saintess Candidate?"
Liu Qingqing nodded and said, "I don't know the specifics either; I'll have to wait until we arrive at our destination."
See you tomorrow.
Si Ming was very interested in the Saintess Trial. There was almost no information about it outside, and no one knew how the internal evaluation and assessment were conducted. Considering the time limit of the mission, it was obviously different from the Grandmaster Trial and was a mission that could be completed in a short period of time.
The next day, Si Ming arrived at the agreed location and met Liu Qingqing, along with the other Saintess Candidate and their partners. There were only sixteen people in total, meaning there were only eight Saintess Candidate in total. Of course, this only included eight from one school, not including those who had already graduated; the total number was definitely more than that.