Under the night sky, stars glittered, and a half-moon hung high above, like a cool gaze overlooking the earth.
Light pierced the thick fog, revealing a hazy figure. He wore a long coat and carried a saber, with a vest-and-shirt-style bulletproof vest and stab-resistant clothing underneath, topped with a set of armor seized from members of the Esoteric Cult.
"Student Qin is truly cautious. With a physique on the verge of breaking the fourth limit, he still takes such thorough precautions."
Old Zhang's gaze was sharp. He saw through Qin Shi's "full battle gear" at a glance and sighed inwardly. He had chosen a fine successor for Nanhuang Dojo. Qin Shi was at an age when he should have been arrogant and carefree, basking in youthful success, yet he remained so composed.
"Greetings, Master Zhang. Greetings, Chief Examiner."
Qin Shi crossed Copper Mountain and reached the oasis at the end of the Great Rift Valley, where he found Old Zhang in a wheelchair, along with Xu Sheng, the chief examiner specially dispatched by the Martial Arts Association.
"Student Qin, you deserved first place in this Top 100 Competition. You fought your way out of the outer region, claimed the championship as a dark horse, and even broke through the barrier of the Specialized Domain. Looking back over the past hundred or so tournaments, your victory stands up to scrutiny."
Xu Sheng spared no praise. The Martial Arts Association was divided into many factions, but broadly speaking, they fell into the Old Martial Arts Faction and the New Martial Arts Faction. The two sides contended through various competitions.
As for how one's faction was determined, it came down to one's background.
Just as in the imperial examinations of ancient times, where one stood often depended on who one's teacher and classmates