The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

Although Liu Ruyan was somewhat dazed, she had fought her way into the top four of the Grand Competition. Among the Martial Academy disciples, she was one of the outstanding few, by no means a fool.

She had a feeling that Wu Yuan had deliberately lost to her.

But...

"Why? Doesn't Wu Yuan want to go to Cloud Martial Hall?" Liu Ruyan's mind was a tangled mess. "Besides, if he was truly putting on an act, then his strength is far too terrifying."

The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.

Recalling that final spear strike, what if Wu Yuan had truly lured it out deliberately? If they really fought, he would likely be able to kill her in two or three moves!

Terrifying!

Yet despite the thousand doubts in her heart, not the slightest oddity showed on Liu Ruyan's face. She seemed to feel only delight, fortunate that she had won this battle.

How many people could refuse the chance to enter Cloud Martial Hall?

Did this little girl truly not notice? Or is she an actress too? Wu Yuan remained calm inside, yet his face was filled with frustration.

As though he truly regretted losing this battle.

Whoosh!

Wu Yuan rose to his feet, his face livid. Lowering his head, he swiftly walked into the waiting area, where Wu Sheng and Luo He, who had been waiting all along, immediately came up to him.

"Brother Yuan, what happened?" Wu Sheng could not help asking.

"Brother Yuan, don't lose heart. You're younger than all of them. It's normal to lose once." Luo He comforted him instead.

"I'm fine." Wu Yuan shook his head, forcing a faint smile onto his face.

"Hmph, Wu Yuan, I thought you were so powerful. Looking at it now, you're no different from us. You'll all be going to Nanmeng Martial Academy." A mocking voice rang out. "The one entering Cloud Martial Hall this year will be Senior Brother Xu!"

Everyone in the arena turned to look.

The speaker was none other than a Martial Academy disciple standing beside Xu Yuanhan.

As the Garrison General's son, Xu Yuanhan was strong enough himself and had a group of followers at the Martial Academy.

Especially the descendants of Nanmeng Army soldiers, who were naturally willing to follow him.

"Cheng Xiao, are you asking for a beating?" Wu Sheng glared.

Others might fear Xu Yuanhan, but Wu Sheng did not.

His father was a centurion in the City Guard Army, his status far below that of the Garrison General.

But the garrison forces and the Nanmeng Army were natural enemies.

As the two major military forces of the prefectural city, their mutual restraint and opposition had been deliberately maintained by Hengyun Sect's upper ranks.

"Wu Yuan, keep your man under control." Xu Yuanhan suddenly spoke, his voice cold.

"Wu Sheng is my brother, not my man." Wu Yuan smiled. "And I hope you keep your dog on a leash. Don't let it bite people for no reason."

"A biting dog deserves a whipping."

"Let's go." Wu Yuan strode directly toward the viewing stands reserved for Martial Academy disciples. Wu Sheng and Luo He exchanged smiles and hurried after him.

"He called me a dog?" The Martial Academy disciple named Cheng Xiao seemed to realize it only then, about to chase after him and curse.

"Quiet." Xu Yuanhan frowned. "The final battle is about to begin. Keep yapping, and you can get lost to the ceremonial stands."

"Senior Brother Xu, I was wrong." Cheng Xiao gave an embarrassed smile.

Xu Yuanhan watched Wu Yuan's distant back, equally puzzled.

Had Wu Yuan truly lost to Liu Ruyan by accident?

No matter!

Now, the only one standing in my way of entering Cloud Martial Hall is Liu Ruyan. Xu Yuanhan took a deep breath.

Entering Cloud Martial Hall was his desire.

Liu Ruyan? He had never placed her in his eyes.

"He actually lost."

Huan Xinyan, watching from seats to one side, frowned slightly. "Liu Ruyan is indeed quite strong, only a hair weaker than Xu Yuanhan. But in the previous several Grand Competitions, she had clearly been no match for Wu Yuan."

Outsiders knew little. Judging only by past Minor Competitions, they would merely think Wu Yuan, Xu Yuanhan, and Liu Ruyan were evenly matched.

But as a Martial Academy teacher, Huan Xinyan had personally witnessed the previous Martial Academy Minor Competition.

Wu Yuan had appeared to hold only a slight advantage, yet Liu Ruyan and Xu Yuanhan had actually possessed no power to fight back at all.

Could Wu Yuan have deliberately lost the duel? Huan Xinyan was both startled and doubtful. But it looked too real.

Losing deliberately was not difficult!

But losing at precisely the right moment, without anyone seeing the slightest flaw, was even harder than winning outright!

Huan Xinyan was not certain that Wu Yuan had deliberately lost.

..."Wu Yuan lost?" General Xu, seated nearby, had a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

"Hehe."

Dean Zhang smiled and said softly, "General, I told you Wu Yuan knows when to advance and when to retreat. This way, no one will be able to say anything further."

"Mhm." General Xu nodded. He understood Dean Zhang's meaning.

If Wu Yuan had simply given up on participating in the Grand Competition, then even with age as an excuse, there would still be some risk if someone reported it to the inspection team.

Being publicly defeated in the Grand Competition? And not even by Xu Yuanhan? No one could say a word!

This was an open and aboveboard scheme.

"But was Wu Yuan's loss to Liu Ruyan truly deliberate? Could Liu Ruyan have deliberately cooperated?" General Xu suddenly frowned again.

As a Fourth-Rank Expert, how sharp was his eye?

Liu Ruyan's spear strike that defeated Wu Yuan had been as swift as lightning. In his eyes, it had not seemed faked at all.

Not just him.

None of the six Proficient Experts in the inspection team had noticed anything unusual.

"General, water too clear breeds no fish." Dean Zhang said softly.

General Xu pondered for a moment. "Fine, I understand. Let this matter end here. Now, we shall see Yuanhan defeat Liu Ruyan."

"Yuanhan's physical strength is extraordinary. He holds a clear advantage in power." Dean Zhang said with complete confidence. "That girl Ruyan is good as well, but she is obviously weaker."

He believed he knew his disciples very well.

But barely fifteen minutes later.

"He lost!"

"Xu Yuanhan actually lost to Liu Ruyan?" Dean Zhang was utterly dumbfounded. "How is that possible?"

General Xu's face turned ashen.

In their shock, neither of them noticed.

Not far from them, the middle-aged man in blue official robes seated in the central main seat revealed an imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth. He murmured, "Xu Shouyi, anyone can enter Cloud Martial Hall, except your son!"

He.

Was Li City Prefect, a third-rank official under Hengyun Sect—Jiang Dongque.

"General Xu, what a pity about Yuanhan." Jiang Dongque called out brightly, a trace of regret on his face, as if he truly felt sorry for Xu Yuanhan.

"Thank you for your concern, Prefect Jiang." General Xu's face was icy. He then rose and left his seat, followed by the military officers accompanying him.

Only the officials and commanders from the prefect's faction and the inspection team remained.

"Let Inspector Liu bestow the token upon the winner of the Grand Competition. I will then bestow silver upon her." Prefect Jiang beamed.

With the Cloud Martial Token, one could enter Cloud Martial Hall.

Five hundred taels of silver was the sect's reward.

...The wealthy, the commoners, and the many others watching from all sides of the arena were abuzz with discussion.

"Liu Ruyan won!"

"She actually defeated Xu Yuanhan. That final spear strike was truly perilous."

"She won, and that's that! After so many years, Li City finally has another woman entering Cloud Martial Hall." Almost no one had expected it.

Liu Ruyan, an inconspicuous little girl, had unexpectedly defeated both Wu Yuan and Xu Yuanhan, the two great favorites, in succession and forcefully claimed first place in the Grand Competition.

Though Central Land Continent had produced many powerful female martial artists, the innate disadvantages of the female body meant that female martial experts were relatively fewer in number.

At the arena to one side.

"Xu Yuanhan actually lost to Liu Ruyan?" Luo He and Wu Sheng found it hard to believe.

Before Wu Yuan claimed first place in the Martial Academy Minor Competition, Xu Yuanhan had taken first place more than ten times in a row.

With Wu Yuan already eliminated, he had still lost.

He had capsized in a gutter!

"Capsized in a gutter? No!" Wu Yuan frowned slightly. "The spear technique Liu Ruyan used was entirely different from the one she used against me. She had never used it in the Martial Academy before either."

This spear technique was not particularly ingenious. It even contained many flaws. In Wu Yuan's eyes, it was riddled with fatal weaknesses.

But her opponent was only fifteen-year-old Xu Yuanhan.

After a little deduction, Wu Yuan understood that this spear technique, which had never been exposed before, had likely been specially cultivated by Liu Ruyan to deal with Xu Yuanhan.

It happened to counter Xu Yuanhan's weapon and his advantage in strength.

In the end, she narrowly won by a single move!

That makes sense. Liu Ruyan expended very little stamina fighting me, while Xu Yuanhan had consumed a great deal through several earlier battles. Wu Yuan mused. And judging by their fight, Xu Yuanhan clearly underestimated her and fell into a disadvantage from the very beginning.

In contrast, Liu Ruyan had been utterly ferocious the moment they exchanged blows.

The calculating side had caught the unprepared side!

She also held a certain advantage in stamina.

And the gap in strength between them had not been great to begin with. Thus, Xu Yuanhan's defeat was not undeserved.

That was how martial artists fought. Strength was not absolute; one's performance in battle and fighting will could both affect the final outcome.

"Truly, man proposes, Heaven disposes." Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.

His original intention in joining the Grand Competition had been to make this matter a settled fact, eliminating other risks and preventing Hengyun Sect's upper ranks from taking notice of him.

It was also to ease General Xu's and Dean Zhang's worries.

Wu Yuan did not wish to waste time on such trivial matters.

Yet in the end, Xu Yuanhan had failed to claim first place?

"This is troublesome." Wu Yuan frowned and muttered, a trace of coldness surfacing in his eyes. "I hope the Xu Family knows what is good for them."

He did not want trouble, but if it could not be avoided, he could only find a way to settle it.

The Grand Competition came to an end. The more than ten thousand spectators gradually dispersed, and it did not stir up much of a commotion.

Liu Ruyan entered Cloud Martial Hall.

The Prefectural Sect Martial Academy also began confirming the final list of those entering Nanmeng Martial Academy.

As many Martial Academy disciples had expected, Wu Yuan chose to refuse!

"Next year, I will participate in the Martial Academy Grand Competition again and give it my all to enter Cloud Martial Hall." Wu Yuan's reason was more than sufficient.

So sufficient that even Nanmeng Martial Academy's recruiting teacher had no rebuttal.

If one had a chance to go to Cloud Martial Hall, who would be willing to go to Nanmeng Martial Academy?

"Brother Yuan, we'll be parting ways. I thought you could go to Nanmeng Martial Academy with us." Wu Sheng said regretfully.

"Yeah!"

Luo He sighed. "If Brother Yuan went to Nanmeng Martial Academy, the Wu Clan is based there. We would be more comfortable there too."

"The Wu Clan is not much stronger than your Luo Family. Your father is the clan head, after all." Wu Yuan punched Luo He lightly in the chest and smiled. "All right, work hard."

"You'll only be at Nanmeng Martial Academy for three years. Its conditions are excellent, far surpassing the Prefectural Sect Martial Academy. Cultivate well and strive to return as Martial Masters."

Becoming a Sixth-Rank Martial Master was the minimum requirement many great clans set for their heirs.

"Brother Yuan, I will definitely work hard to become a Proficient Expert." Wu Sheng was full of fighting spirit. "At the end of the year, when we return, we'll meet again."

"A Martial Master?" Luo He wore a bitter expression.

Seeing Luo He's face, Wu Yuan and Wu Sheng both laughed.

After the many Martial Academy disciples dispersed, Dean Zhang did not seek Wu Yuan out privately. Naturally, Wu Yuan would not go looking for trouble, so he left the Martial Academy directly.

But upon reaching the entrance.

"Patriarch, Mother?" Wu Yuan stared at the carriage not far away in astonishment.

Patriarch Wu Qiming and his mother, Wan Qin, were waiting for him.

During the Grand Competition that morning, many members of the Wu Clan had come to watch.

Though Wu Yuan had not taken first place, reaching the top four was enough to lift spirits.

But time had been pressing then, and Wu Yuan had not spoken much with Patriarch Wu Qiming and the others.

"Patriarch, Mother." Wu Yuan strode over.

"Are you going to Nanmeng Martial Academy?" Wu Qiming asked directly.

"No! I'll enter the Grand Competition again next year and go to Cloud Martial Hall." Wu Yuan said.

"That works too." Wu Qiming nodded. "Cloud Martial Hall is much better than Nanmeng Martial Academy. I support you in striving for another year."

Wu Yuan nodded.

The patriarch was not muddleheaded when it came to major matters.

"Patriarch, you and my mother did not come here just to ask about this, did you?" Wu Yuan frowned.

This had already been discussed before the Grand Competition.

"We came for your marriage." Wu Qiming said directly.

P.S. Thank you to "Song Chuyu" and "Wenxuan the Great" for their Alliance Leader rewards. Both are longtime Alliance Leaders from my previous book. My deepest thanks.