Although Liu Ruyan was somewhat dazed, anyone capable of reaching the top four of the Grand Competition was among the cream of the Martial Academy disciples, certainly no fool.
She had a feeling that Wu Yuan had deliberately lost to her.
But...
"Why? Did Wu Yuan not want to go to Cloud Martial Hall?" Liu Ruyan's thoughts were a tangled mess. "Besides, if he really was pretending, then his strength is far too terrifying."
The more she thought about it, the more alarmed she became.
Recalling that final spear strike, if Wu Yuan had truly lured it out deliberately, then in a real fight, he could probably kill her within two or three moves!
Too terrifying!
Yet despite the thousand doubts in her heart, Liu Ruyan showed not the slightest oddity on her face. She appeared to be filled with nothing but delight, relieved to have won this battle.
How many people could refuse an opportunity to enter Cloud Martial Hall?
Did this little girl really not notice? Or was she an actress too? Wu Yuan remained calm inside, though his face was filled with frustration.
As if he truly regretted losing that battle.
Whoosh!
Wu Yuan stood, his face ashen, then lowered his head and swiftly walked into the waiting area. Wu Sheng and Luo He, who had been waiting there all along, immediately came forward.
"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.
"It's nothing." 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 just like 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 one of the Martial Academy disciples standing at Xu Yuanhan's side.
As the son of the Garrison General, Xu Yuanhan was powerful in his own right and had a group of followers in the Martial Academy.
Especially the descendants of the Nanmeng Army soldiers, who were naturally willing to follow him.
"Cheng Xiao, looking to get smacked?" 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 beneath that of the Garrison General.
But the garrison troops and the Nanmeng Army were natural rivals.
As the two major armed forces of the prefectural city, their mutual restraint and opposition had been deliberately maintained by the upper ranks of Hengyun Sect.
"Wu Yuan, keep your man in line." Xu Yuanhan suddenly spoke, his voice cold.
"Wu Sheng is my brother, not my man." Wu Yuan smiled. "And I hope you keep your dogs in line. Don't let them bite people for no reason."
"A biting dog deserves a whipping."
"Let's go." Wu Yuan strode directly toward the spectator seats reserved for Martial Academy disciples. Wu Sheng and Luo He exchanged smiles and hurried after him.
"Did he call me a dog?" The Martial Academy disciple named Cheng Xiao seemed to come to his senses only then, preparing to chase after them and curse back.
"Quiet down." 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 looked at Wu Yuan's retreating back in the distance, equally puzzled.
Had Wu Yuan really lost to Liu Ruyan by accident?
Forget it!
Now, the only person standing in the way of my entering Cloud Martial Hall is Liu Ruyan. Xu Yuanhan took a deep breath.
Entering Cloud Martial Hall was what he yearned for.
Liu Ruyan? He had never regarded her as a threat.
"Wu Yuan actually lost."
Huan Xinyan, watching from a seat to one side, frowned slightly. "Liu Ruyan is indeed quite capable. She is only a hair weaker than Xu Yuanhan, but in several previous Grand Competitions, she clearly was not Wu Yuan's match."
The outside world did not know much. Looking only at past Minor Competitions, they would merely think that 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 certain advantage, but in truth, Liu Ruyan and Xu Yuanhan had been utterly unable to fight back.
"Could Wu Yuan have deliberately lost the duel?" Huan Xinyan was doubtful and startled. "But it looked far too real."
Deliberately losing was not difficult!
But to lose at precisely the right moment, without letting anyone spot the slightest flaw, was harder than winning outright!
Huan Xinyan was not confident enough to conclude that Wu Yuan had intentionally lost.
..."Wu Yuan lost?" General Xu, seated among the spectators, had a flash 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 can say anything further."
"Mhm." General Xu nodded. He understood what Dean Zhang meant.
If Wu Yuan had simply chosen not to participate in the Grand Competition, he could use his age as an excuse, but if someone reported it to the Inspection Team, there would still be risks.
To be publicly defeated in the Grand Competition? And not even by Xu Yuanhan? No one would have anything to say!
This was an open and aboveboard scheme.
"However, did Wu Yuan really deliberately lose to Liu Ruyan? Could Liu Ruyan have deliberately cooperated with him?" General Xu suddenly frowned again.
As a Fourth-Rank Expert, how sharp was his eye?
That spear strike with which Liu Ruyan had defeated Wu Yuan had been swift as lightning. In his eyes, it did not look faked at all.
And it was not only him.
The six Proficient Experts in the Inspection Team had not discovered anything unusual either.
"General, when the water is too clear, there are 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 has an obvious advantage in power." Dean Zhang said with complete confidence. "That girl Ruyan is not bad either, but she is clearly weaker."
He believed he understood his disciples very well.
But just a quarter-hour later.
"He lost!"
"Xu Yuanhan actually lost to Liu Ruyan?" Dean Zhang was utterly stunned. "How is that possible?"
General Xu's face turned livid.
Caught in their shock, neither of them noticed.
Not far away, on the central main seat, the middle-aged man dressed in an azure official robe revealed a barely noticeable smile. He muttered to himself, "Xu Shouyi, anyone may enter Cloud Martial Hall—except your son!"
He.
Was none other than the Li City Prefect, a third-rank official under Hengyun Sect—Jiang Dongque.
"General Xu, it is truly a pity for Yuanhan." Jiang Dongque spoke loudly, a trace of regret on his face, as though he genuinely felt sorry for Xu Yuanhan.
"Thank you for your concern, Prefect Jiang." General Xu's expression was icy. He then rose and left his seat, followed closely by the accompanying military officers.
This left behind the officials and military officers of the Prefect's faction, as well as the Inspection Team members.
"May Inspector Liu bestow the token upon the first-place winner of the Grand Competition. This official shall then bestow silver upon her." Prefect Jiang was all smiles.
With the Cloud Martial Token, one could enter Cloud Martial Hall.
Five hundred taels of silver was the Sect's reward.
...The many wealthy families and common folk watching from all sides of the arena were in heated discussion.
"Liu Ruyan won!"
"She actually defeated Xu Yuanhan. That final spear strike was truly perilous."
"A win is a win! After all these years, Li City finally has another woman entering Cloud Martial Hall." Almost no one had expected it.
Liu Ruyan, an inconspicuous little girl, had defeated the two favorites, Wu Yuan and Xu Yuanhan, one after another and forcefully claimed first place in the Grand Competition.
Although the Central Land Continent had produced many female martial arts powerhouses, women were relatively fewer among martial arts experts due to their natural physical disadvantages.
On one side of the arena.
"Xu Yuanhan actually lost to Liu Ruyan?" Luo He and Wu Sheng both found it hard to believe.
Before Wu Yuan claimed first place in the Martial Academy Minor Competition, Xu Yuanhan had won first place more than ten times in a row.
With Wu Yuan already eliminated, he had actually lost.
He had truly capsized in a gutter!
"Capsized in a gutter? No!" Wu Yuan frowned slightly. "The spear technique Liu Ruyan used against Xu Yuanhan was entirely different from the one she used against me. She had never displayed it in the Martial Academy either."
This spear technique was not particularly ingenious. It even contained many flaws. In Wu Yuan's eyes, it was full of fatal weaknesses.
But her opponent was only fifteen-year-old Xu Yuanhan.
After thinking it over briefly, Wu Yuan understood that this spear technique, which she had never revealed before, was likely something Liu Ruyan had specially cultivated to counter Xu Yuanhan.
It happened to restrain Xu Yuanhan's weapon and his advantage in strength.
In the end, she narrowly won by a single-move advantage!
That makes sense. Liu Ruyan spent very little stamina fighting me, while Xu Yuanhan had expended a great deal in his earlier battles. Wu Yuan thought. And judging from their fight, Xu Yuanhan clearly underestimated her and fell into a disadvantage from the start.
In contrast, Liu Ruyan had been utterly ferocious the moment they exchanged blows.
The calculating heart had faced the unprepared heart!
She also held a certain advantage in stamina.
And since the gap in their strength had not been great to begin with, Xu Yuanhan's defeat was not unjust.
That was how martial artists fought. Strength was not absolute; one's performance on the spot and fighting will could both influence the final outcome.
"Truly, man proposes, Heaven disposes." Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.
His original purpose in participating in the Grand Competition had been to make this matter a settled fact, removing other risks and preventing Hengyun Sect's upper ranks from taking notice of him.
It had also been meant to ease General Xu and Dean Zhang's concerns.
Wu Yuan did not wish to waste time on such trivial matters.
Yet in the end, Xu Yuanhan had failed to take first place?
"Trouble." Wu Yuan muttered with a frown, a trace of coldness appearing 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, then he could only find a way to settle it.
The Grand Competition came to an end. More than ten thousand spectators gradually dispersed, and no great stir was caused.
Liu Ruyan entered Cloud Martial Hall.
The Prefectural Sect Martial Academy also began confirming the final list of those entering Nanmeng Martial Academy.
Just as many Martial Academy disciples had expected, Wu Yuan chose to refuse!
"Next year, I will participate in the Martial Academy Grand Competition once more and give it my all to enter Cloud Martial Hall." Wu Yuan's reason was entirely sufficient.
So sufficient that even the recruitment teacher from Nanmeng Martial Academy did not refute it.
If one had a chance to go to Cloud Martial Hall, who would be willing to go to Nanmeng Martial Academy?
"Brother Yuan, we're about to part ways. I thought you could go to Nanmeng Martial Academy with us." Wu Sheng spoke regretfully.
"Yeah!"
Luo He sighed. "If Brother Yuan went to Nanmeng Martial Academy, the Wu Clan is there. We would be more comfortable there too."
"The Wu Clan is not much stronger than your Luo Family. Your father is the family head, after all." Wu Yuan punched Luo He lightly in the chest and smiled. "Enough. Work hard, both of you."
"You'll only be at Nanmeng Martial Academy for three years. Its conditions are excellent, far beyond 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 Lineages set for their heirs.
"Brother Yuan, I will definitely work hard to become a Proficient Expert." Wu Sheng was brimming with fighting spirit. "At the end of the year, when we return, we'll meet again."
"A Martial Master?" Luo He wore a miserable expression instead.
Seeing Luo He's expression, Wu Yuan and Wu Sheng both laughed.
After the many Martial Academy disciples left, Dean Zhang did not seek Wu Yuan out for a private conversation. Naturally, Wu Yuan would not go looking for trouble, and he left the Martial Academy directly.
But just as he reached 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.
When the Grand Competition was held 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 still enough to lift their spirits.
It was simply that time had been tight then, and Wu Yuan had not spoken much with Patriarch Wu Qiming and the others.
"Patriarch, Mother." Wu Yuan strode over.
"Going to Nanmeng Martial Academy?" Wu Qiming asked directly.
"No! I'll participate in 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 far better than Nanmeng Martial Academy. I support you in fighting for it for another year."
Wu Yuan nodded.
The patriarch was clear-headed when it came to important matters.
"Patriarch, you and my mother did not come just to ask about this, did you?" Wu Yuan frowned.
This matter had already been discussed before the Grand Competition.
"We came because of your marriage." Wu Qiming said directly.
P.S. Thank you to "Song Chuyu" and "Wenxuan the Great" for the leader-tier rewards. Both are longtime leaders from my previous book. My deepest thanks.
Before you continue