Duel for the Challenge Platform

The next morning, at dawn, the eastern sky showed the pale belly of a fish.

After spending the entire night regulating his breathing and circulating his qi, Xia Qi'an stood in the room like an ancient green pine.

At that moment, he was full of vitality and brimming with spirit.

Suddenly, a high-pitched rooster's crow rang out, like a sharp sword piercing the silent night sky.

Xia Qi'an abruptly opened his eyes, and the crimson hue within them slowly receded like a tide.

Throughout the night, he had used his Crimson Pupils to examine his own body from within, circulating his qi and blood continuously through the acupoints and sinews throughout his body.

Again and again.

With the ability to see his own meridians clearly, even the simplest breathing technique could be made to yield its best effect.

Seeing that the appointed hour was approaching, Xia Qi'an rose abruptly and left the training room.

After washing up carefully, he put on his official robes and went to the rear courtyard.

A new ancestral hall had been built in the rear courtyard of Xia Manor.

Inside the hall, three memorial tablets stood one behind another.

The tablet in the very center naturally belonged to Xia Qi'an's grandfather.

The other two tablets belonged to Xiao Cao's parents.

By rights, Xiao Cao's parents had no relation to Xia Qi'an and there was no need to establish spirit tablets for them.

However, since he and Xiao Cao had now become family, Xiao Cao's parents naturally counted as family too.

Now, every day after getting up, Xia Qi'an would come to the ancestral hall and offer several sticks of incense.

This had gradually become part of his daily routine, as indispensable as three meals a day.

After offering the incense and clearing away some of the ash beneath the tablets, Xia Qi'an headed to the Wei Dao Si branch to assemble.

Today's examination was a major event for the Jinling City Wei Dao Si, and all the Hound Guards in Jinling Commandery would be present.

Those scions of aristocratic families who held Hound Guard positions but had never once gone on a mission would appear as well.

This sort of arrangement, akin to drawing a salary without doing any work, had been the handiwork of Wang Yangshuo, the former Hound Guard commander.

He himself came from an aristocratic family, so it was only natural that he had privately allowed some other aristocratic scions to enter the Wei Dao Si.

However, the Wei Dao Si headquarters had suddenly established the position of steward.

No matter how one looked at it, there was something unusual about the matter, giving Xia Qi'an the feeling that a storm was brewing.

Xia Qi'an stepped into the Wei Dao Si branch.

Everyone present turned their eyes toward him.

Some were familiar faces, while others were complete strangers.

These people had different thoughts. Some hoped Xia Qi'an would make a fool of himself, while others simply wanted to see what sort of person he was, unconcerned with the matter itself.

Some harbored undisguised hostility.

Xia Qi'an kept a cold expression as he passed through the crowd.

He walked to Si Nanyue's side and stood solemnly.

Seeing that nearly everyone had arrived, Si Nanyue spoke. "Since all our fellow officers are here, I announce that the examination officially begins."

"The examination will take place at the ruins of the former city in Jinling City."

"I have ordered the Snake Guards to set up four challenge platforms in the ruins. You will make your own way there shortly!"

"The three people I recommended will be the platform defenders."

"Any fellow officer who wishes to participate in the steward examination may challenge these three."

"The person still standing on the platform at the very end will be appointed Hound Guard Steward!"

Once Si Nanyue finished speaking, the Hound Guards present displayed their individual skills and methods, rushing toward the ruins of the old city as swiftly as flying birds.

As one of the platform defenders, Xia Qi'an naturally could not fall behind. He moved, wind rising beneath his feet, and sped away like a bolt of lightning.

The ruins of the old city lay on the outskirts of Jinling City. It had once been a prosperous and flourishing metropolis.

However, after enduring countless wars and the erosion of time, all that remained was a broken and dilapidated wasteland.

The glory of old had long since vanished, leaving only ruins and shattered walls across the ground, as though silently recounting the vicissitudes and changes of the past.

Though the buildings here had fallen into ruin, one could still see the grand scale they had possessed in their day.

The important structures within the city, such as the plazas, palaces, and temples, had also been reduced to fragments, yet those remnants still conveyed the solemnity and majesty of the past.

Within the ruins was a broad open space.

A magnificent martial arena had been built every hundred meters across the open ground.

Xia Qi'an held himself straight and walked with steady steps toward the platform on the far left, his gaze unwavering.

He strode with the bearing of a dragon and tiger, quickly reaching the center of the platform.

The instant he stepped onto it, an invisible aura surged from his body.

Then he folded his arms across his chest and stood ramrod straight at the center of the platform, quietly awaiting the challengers.

Soon.

The examination officially began.

A gloomy-looking young man sneered as he climbed onto the platform where Xia Qi'an stood.

"You're merely at the early Bone Forging Realm, yet you dare compete for the position of steward!"

"Even if Lord Sinan personally selected you, you should at least have some self-awareness..."

The young man's name was Wei Ren, and he was an early Bone Forging Realm martial artist.

The moment he came up, he subjected Xia Qi'an to sarcastic ridicule.

Wei Ren's words also represented the thoughts of most of those present.

But Xia Qi'an had no desire to trade barbs with him.

He knew this fellow was merely the first challenger, and that many more would come after him.

There was no point in wasting words. It was better to strike like thunder and end the battle swiftly.

"Whoosh..."

In the blink of an eye, Xia Qi'an's figure suddenly vanished, appearing before Wei Ren like a ghost. A large hand reached out toward him.

Wei Ren's pupils contracted sharply. His body instinctively used the Eagle Claw Technique, countering Xia Qi'an's Dragon Claw Hand.

Xia Qi'an's right hand was like a dragon's claw, astonishingly fast. His five fingers were as though cast from adamantine.

"Crack..."

The Dragon Claw Hand and the Eagle Claw Technique collided head-on.

As a crisp sound of breaking bones rang out, the result was utterly without suspense.

Wei Ren let out a miserable howl. His five fingers had twisted and deformed irregularly.

Xia Qi'an had clearly snapped his finger bones by force.

Immediately afterward, without giving Wei Ren time to react,

Xia Qi'an kicked out again, sending Wei Ren straight off the platform.

The spectators beneath the platform fell utterly silent.

"What happened...?"

"Wei Ren lost just like that?"

This was different from the scene they had envisioned.

It was not the scene they had wanted to see.

However, Wei Ren was only the first.

The truly formidable aristocratic experts were like leopards hidden in the shadows, silently observing and secretly weighing Xia Qi'an's strength.

Sure enough, after Wei Ren, two more Hound Guards stepped onto the platform to challenge him.

One was a man and the other a woman. They had crossed paths with Xia Qi'an once when he had first joined the Hound Guards.

The man's name was Zou Cheng, and he was skilled with the saber. The woman's name was Li Mei, and her weapon was a long vine-backed whip.

The moment the two stepped onto the platform, they launched a joint assault on Xia Qi'an.

Zou Cheng attacked directly, while Li Mei held the rear.

The two mid Bone Forging Realm experts had joined forces, and they did not believe Xia Qi'an would have any power to fight back.

Zou Cheng shouted coldly and swung his saber with brutal force.

With a move that cleaved Mount Hua, he struck straight toward Xia Qi'an's crown.

A trace of coldness flashed through Xia Qi'an's eyes. He raised his hand and punched, like a flood dragon surging from the sea, colliding with the saber's edge.

Yet, contrary to everyone's expectations, Xia Qi'an's fist was not cleaved apart.

"Clang..." The sound of metal striking metal rang out.

Zou Cheng's expression changed dramatically. His saber seemed to have struck solid metal or stone.

The tremendous recoil tore open the web between Zou Cheng's thumb and forefinger, and blood flowed without end.

The long saber in his hand also flew free.

Not only that, Xia Qi'an's punch carried enormous force and forcibly broke through his technique.

As a result, once Zou Cheng's saber flew from his grasp, his stance also became unstable.

Xia Qi'an seized the instant Zou Cheng lost his saber and his balance.

He used the Ghost Shadow Traceless technique to close the distance.

Then his fist changed into a claw, and he clamped one hand around Zou Cheng's throat.

He lifted Zou Cheng into the air just like that, as easily as an eagle catching a chick.

Xia Qi'an could have punched straight through his chest.

But this was, after all, only an examination. If he killed him in cold blood, he would inevitably give others something to hold against him later.

Meanwhile, Zou Cheng, held aloft by one hand, could not break free no matter how he struggled.

His face slowly turned the color of pig liver.

His eyes, as he looked at Xia Qi'an, were filled with terror.

Though he and Xia Qi'an had usually shared no more than a nod of acquaintance,

he had never once regarded Xia Qi'an as a person of consequence.

As an aristocratic scion, he naturally possessed an inborn sense of superiority.

Yet, in that brief exchange, his superiority shattered like a mirror.

Now he was filled with dread toward Xia Qi'an, this young fellow officer who ordinarily seemed not to associate much with others except when going on missions.

"Hiss...!"

Seeing this, someone among the spectators below drew in a sharp breath.

"Has this person's Iron Body technique really reached such a level?"

"Zou Cheng, a mid Bone Forging Realm expert, wasn't even his match for one exchange!"

People below whispered among themselves, discussing the matter in secret.

On the platform, Li Mei, who had been holding the rear, was also filled with astonishment.

She had planned to cooperate casually with Zou Cheng and merely go through the motions on the platform.

She had never expected Zou Cheng to lose so quickly.