Sudden Turn

The crowd seemed drawn toward something, swiftly converging in that direction and forming a vortex of human walls.

Whispers spread like a rising tide, carrying shock, fear, and the complicated thrill of watching a spectacle.

"...Songfeng Martial Arts School is really vicious!"

"Qin Lie is finished. What a waste of that talent."

"Who told him to run into Gao Sheng?"

"Zhou Liang took a huge loss... His face has been utterly trampled..."

"I heard those two families have been enemies for decades... This feud just got even deeper."

"Make way, all of you, make way!"

Sun Shun's hoarse roar came from within the crowd.

Crash!

Crash!

The crowd instantly split down the middle, opening up a path.

Zhou Liang walked at the front. The habitual smile on his face had long since vanished, leaving only undisguised panic and anxiety.

Sun Shun and several Zhou Academy disciples followed close behind, carrying a crude stretcher.

Sprawled on it was none other than Qin Lie.

Where was his usual lofty arrogance and high spirits now?

He was like a heap of mud, his body twisted at unnatural angles. His arms and legs in particular were clearly not suffering from ordinary bruises or dislocations—the damage was plainly the result of someone deliberately breaking his tendons and bones.

His expensive training uniform was smeared with mud and blood, even bearing several glaring shoeprints.

As Zhou Liang and the others hurried away, a deliberately muted yet malicious snicker rose from the Songfeng Martial Arts School side.

"Who did this?"

The moment Chen Qing saw it, he was completely baffled.

Wasn't this a Martial Arts Examination match?

How had Qin Lie been crippled so badly?

Before he could think further, this round of matches ended, and another drawing began.

After the lots were handed out, Chen Qing stood at the edge of the field and watched the following practical bouts with rapt attention.

The Martial Arts Examination concerned one's future and fate. Every martial student in the arena fought with all they had, and the battles were exceptionally fierce.

Besides personally stepping into the arena to gain experience, watching experts exchange moves and studying their techniques and styles could also bring immense benefit.

Several of them even made Chen Qing's heart race.

Especially Mo Ziyu of the Blood River Gang. He had already achieved mastery of Hidden Strength three years ago, and had spent all this time painstakingly tempering his foundation and gathering momentum to break into Transformation Force. Below that realm, he could be said to have few rivals.

Anyone who drew him let out bitter sighs and turned pale as dirt.

"Little brother, your movements are clean and decisive. I truly admire them."

At that moment, Lin Sheng approached with a face full of smiles. "Today's Martial Arts Examination has gathered many experts. I am Lin Sheng, and I once trained at Jinghong Martial Arts School. May I ask your honored name, little brother? We are fated to meet, so how about becoming friends?"

Chen Qing glanced at him and smiled. "I am Chen Qing."

Seeing that Chen Qing had taken the bait, Lin Sheng immediately got to the point. "So it's Brother Chen! A pleasure, a pleasure! These drawings today are entirely down to luck. Which numbered lot did Brother Chen draw? Tell me—if we happen to face each other, we can show each other some mercy, haha!"

His laugh was blatantly false. He leaned forward slightly, looking eager to hear the answer.

When Lin Sheng saw Chen Qing's lot number, a flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes. After some casual small talk, he left.

Once Lin Sheng had gone farther away, Chen Qing quietly asked the Retainer Hong beside him, whom he had only recently met, "Retainer Hong, what is that man's background?"

Chatting and exchanging pleasantries at the Martial Arts Examination was common enough. Retainer Hong had seemed perfectly normal when making small talk with Chen Qing, but Lin Sheng's excessive enthusiasm had aroused Chen Qing's suspicions.

Following Chen Qing's gaze, Retainer Hong cast a glance over and said blandly, "He used to be with Jinghong Martial Arts School. His skills are not weak. Later... something happened, and he left the school. Now he serves as a Retainer of the Huang Family."

Retainer Hong's tone was subtle, as though he wanted to say more but held back.

Chen Qing understood. For someone with Hidden Strength to leave a martial arts school, either he had sought a better path, or he had done something filthy and been thrown out the door.

Three more bouts followed, and Chen Qing passed each one by "narrowly winning."

That should be enough.

Chen Qing thought to himself.

Four straight victories was already an impressive record.

Most of the opponents he would encounter afterward were seasoned, ruthless experts who had made names for themselves in the county years ago.

To fight for a Martial Arts Examination ranking and make a name for themselves, these people gave everything they had, unleashing lethal moves without restraint. The danger was extreme.

Two of them were even severely injured and crippled on the spot, then carried away on stretchers.

The top fifty of the Martial Arts Examination would all be recorded as Martial Scholars. The precise ranking brought no tangible benefit.

Was it worth gambling with one's life for a hollow name?

And Qin Lie's crippling had set alarm bells ringing in Chen Qing's mind.

"Brother Chen, what impressive skills!"

Lin Sheng strolled over again, beaming. "If your luck stays this good, you might even have a real chance of reaching the top tier, no?"

As he spoke, his gaze seemed to casually sweep over the lot in Chen Qing's hand. Inwardly, though, he cursed this kid's absurd luck. Several opponents in a row had been mediocre, allowing him to win four consecutive rounds.

Chen Qing's expression remained calm. "Brother Lin flatters me. This time, I drew A-6."

"A-6!?"

Lin Sheng's eyes lit up. He instantly suppressed the wild joy in his heart, made a few perfunctory remarks, and hurried away.

After asking several times, he had finally been matched against Chen Qing this time. He rushed to report to Xu Xiuhua, thumping his chest and promising that he would humiliate Chen Qing so thoroughly in the arena that not a scrap of dignity remained.

Soon, a clerk called out loudly, "A-6, take the stage!"

Lin Sheng leaped onto the platform impatiently, then shouted harshly toward Chen Qing, "What are you dawdling for? Get your ass up here! Don't tell me you're scared? I heard you have some skill. Today, I'll properly weigh you up and see whether you're the real deal or just a piece of trash who knows how to wag his tongue!"

He deliberately stressed the word "trash," drawing sidelong looks from the surrounding audience. Then he could humiliate Chen Qing and vent his master's fury properly.

Chen Qing looked at Lin Sheng as if he were an idiot.

Lin Sheng sneered. "What? Scared stupid?"

Yet the one who stepped onto the platform was not Chen Qing.

A burly man with a face as cold and hard as iron slowly mounted the stage. The chill radiating from him seemed to freeze the very air.

"It's Mo Ziyu, the Blood River Gang's young gang leader."

"Has Lin Sheng gone mad? He actually dared to insult the Blood River Gang's young gang leader like that?!"

"That man doesn't have a good temper."

The smile on Lin Sheng's face froze at once. His expression shifted from wild delight to stunned horror in a spectacle worth seeing, and his face turned deathly pale with a swish.

He whipped his head toward Chen Qing below the stage. Chen Qing stood there with his arms folded, a faint, knowing smile on his lips as though he were enjoying a show. He even raised his brows slightly at Lin Sheng, as if saying, Surprised? Didn't expect that, did you?

Lin Sheng's mind buzzed. He understood—he had been played!

Chen Qing had simply made up a number on the spot!

Or rather, that kid Chen Qing had seen through his intentions and deliberately given him this number.

And he had actually spent all that time wildly provoking his real opponent—the Blood River Gang's Baleful Intent!

"Come."

Mo Ziyu's face was so dark it seemed ready to drip water, and his voice was icy enough to pierce bone. "Didn't you say you wanted to weigh this young master up and see whether I'm the real deal?"

It was over!

Lin Sheng's liver and gallbladder trembled. A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, and he hurriedly waved his hands. "Young Master Mo! It's a misunderstanding! Th-this is all a tremendous misunderstanding..."

"A misunderstanding?"

Mo Ziyu gave a cold laugh. His body suddenly lunged forward, and an iron fist tore through the air, carrying a suffocating gale as it blasted straight toward Lin Sheng's face.