Crushing! (Seeking daily reads)

Two examinees capable of lifting a Thousand-Catty Tripod meeting early in the fourth round undoubtedly drew many eyes to the match.

Although Zhao An's performance yesterday was undoubtedly superior, Xu Hong was by no means a weak opponent.

Furthermore, Xu Hong appeared older and was in his prime, so it was reasonable to assume he possessed far more practical combat experience than Zhao An.

As for who would emerge stronger once they truly clashed, it was hard to say.

On the Martial Arts Arena, gusts of wind swept down, kicking up sand and stone until the field became hazy and indistinct.

It was then that Xu Hong made the first move.

He also regarded Zhao An as the greatest threat in this county examination, not daring to harbor even a shred of carelessness.

His opening move was a strike like thunder!

Internal Breath coiled through the tendons and bones of his legs, allowing him to leap over a zhang in distance; he seemed to arrive on the wind, reaching his opponent in the blink of an eye.

The Diancang Blade he practiced focused primarily on close-quarters entanglement, combining both rigidity and swiftness.

Zhao An saw at a glance that his opponent's blade technique was of a high level; after exchanging several rounds, he had not fallen into a disadvantage at all.

This was already quite remarkable.

Entangling the blade and wrapping around the bones, it has a certain finesse... Zhao An still had the spare energy to observe and appreciate the intricacies of his opponent's blade work.

Conversely, after ten rounds, Xu Hong felt increasingly strained, his spirit stretched to the breaking point.

Under Zhao An's perfected blade technique, he dared not let a single distracting thought enter his mind.

If Xu Hong's blade work was balanced between offense and defense, then Zhao An's was free-flowing, advancing and retreating with ease.

Xu Hong wanted to seize a flaw in Zhao An's defense, but after a long exchange, he found no opportunity.

Zhao An entered a state of flow, man and blade becoming one, resembling a Thunder-Galloping Fierce Tiger descending the mountain to hunt!

The blade light surged like a tiger's shadow, its sharpness shattering the wind!

The true intent of the beast within the long blade was perfect and flawless, maximizing the power of Zhao An's blade style!

He had pushed this ninth-grade blade technique to its absolute limit.

He was the King of Beasts!

Every strike carried a wild, ferocious intensity that chilled the hearts of those watching!

After another series of exchanges, Xu Hong quickly faltered.

The web between his thumb and forefinger ached, his arms felt weak and sore, and even his lower back was growing fatigued.

After a Wind-Stepping Blade Sweep, knowing his blade technique could not defeat Zhao An, Xu Hong gritted his teeth, abandoned his blade, and lunged forward with a palm strike, determined to risk everything in a final gamble.

Seeing this, Zhao An actually discarded his own long blade, letting it thud directly into the ground, and countered with a Silver Snake Emerges from Cave palm strike!

As their palms collided, their Internal Breath erupted simultaneously, and Xu Hong was on the verge of being repelled.

But Zhao An was faster; he stepped forward like a swimming dragon, his right hand hooking onto Xu Hong's wrist to yank him back.

Transforming his palm into a fist, he instantly switched from Silver Snake Hand to Mountain Crushing Fist!

By now, he had practiced Mountain Crushing Fist to the second level: Ridge-Splitting Peak-Crushing!

Rigid force penetrated through his arms; with a rapid succession of punches, each blow landed with the weight of a mountain, leaving Xu Hong red-faced and on the verge of vomiting blood. Unable to hold on any longer, he collapsed to his knees.

"I lose!"

Hearing this, Zhao An pursed his lips and retracted his fists, looking somewhat unsatisfied.

He had mastered many martial arts during this period, but unfortunately, he lacked a suitable opponent to let him fully display his expertise!

Among this group of examinees, even the strongest, Xu Hong, could not hold his ground.

His lost finger technique, Gale Palm, and Hard Bone Skill had not even been unveiled yet...

"I concede," Zhao An said, cupping his hands.

"For you to have such profound martial arts attainments at such a young age, this humble one is impressed," Xu Hong said with a helpless shake of his head.

He had spent half a lifetime in bitter training, thinking that a mere county exam would be a walk in the park, yet he never expected to be beaten so thoroughly by Zhao An.

"Young Brother Zhao, which sect or school did you study under to have mastered so many martial arts?" Xu Hong asked, unable to suppress his curiosity.

"I'm a wild practitioner, I've trained in the arts of a hundred families," Zhao An replied.

Xu Hong nodded upon hearing this and did not press further, assuming Zhao An simply did not wish to reveal too much.

Without the guidance of famous masters, how could one reach such heights at such a young age through mere self-taught, wild methods?

After passing the fourth round, Zhao An continued to sweep through the competition until the very end.

In the final round, he faced an opponent with over three hundred wisps of Internal Breath, ultimately winning with ease.

As for Shen Pan, he had fallen in the final two rounds before the championship bracket.

Even so, he received a considerable amount of attention.

After all, Shen Pan possessed a heroic air and the face of a protagonist; it was hard not to want to recruit him.

In the eyes of many, aside from Zhao An, it was Shen Pan who possessed a boundless future and infinite possibilities.

When the sun dipped below the horizon, the great bell in the Inner City struck three times, its melodious toll echoing across both the civil and martial examination grounds, signaling the official end of this year's Lianjiang County examination.

The gates of the Inner City swung wide, and the examinees emerged in groups of three or five.

Some shook their heads and sighed, feeling their performance had been less than ideal, while others were radiant with high spirits, eager to recite poetry on the spot to express their grand ambitions.

Just as Zhao An stepped out of the city gate, he happened to run into the humble scholar Li Tianhuai.

"Brother Zhao, how did you find the examination?" Li Tianhuai asked with a smile.

"Those military manuals of yours were a great help," Zhao An replied.

"That is truly wonderful," Li Tianhuai said, looking even more pleased.

"I hope we both make it onto the golden list..."

"Let us hope so," Zhao An nodded.

He had a rather favorable impression of this young scholar.

He knew how to repay kindness, was polite to others, and was very friendly.

Outside the Inner City, the area had long been crowded with people.

"They're coming out, they're coming out, the examinees are all coming out!"

"My son, my son, how did you do?"

"Mother, I will definitely make the list this year!"

"Good, that's good! My son has a bright future!"

"..."

"Big Brother is out!" Upon seeing Zhao An emerge, Li Gou'er's eyes lit up, and he and Zhao Chunzi were the first to push through the crowd toward him.

"Brother Zhao, how did it go?" Zhao Chunzi asked.

"Need you ask? This year, our Brother Zhao is sure to be first on the martial list! No one can take that away from him!" Li Gou'er laughed.

"Mm, if all goes smoothly, that should be the case." Perhaps infected by the celebratory atmosphere, a smile tugged at the corners of Zhao An's mouth.

Back at home, the Female Physician and her sister also paid a visit; upon hearing that Zhao An had done well, they naturally offered their congratulations.

In the days that followed, the front of Zhao An's small courtyard saw a constant stream of carriages and horses, with countless visitors arriving at his door.

Most were sent by the wealthy and noble families from the Inner City, all coming simply to see Zhao An and offer gifts and congratulations.

Those masters had observed the entire county examination and naturally knew that Zhao An's success was a certainty.

Given Zhao An's performance, he was worth their every effort to recruit; even if they couldn't bring him into their own households, they wanted to support him while he was still rising, finding ways to ensure he remembered their favor.

Only then, when Zhao An soared to success in the future, might he be able to give their families a helping hand.

Zhao An had originally intended to ignore these trivial matters, planning to close his doors and hide away for some peace and quiet.

But in the end, he met with them all.

There was no helping it; these wealthy, noble families were simply too rich, and the gifts they brought were too heavy.

He was currently short on funds to maintain his daily need for pills, and these gifts were the perfect supplement.

"Brother Zhao, we're rich! We're rich!"

Li Gou'er and Zhao Chunzi finished their tally.

"The Li Family sent one hundred taels of silver and ten Earth Origin Pills!"

"The Shen Family sent two hundred taels of silver, fifteen Earth Origin Pills, and a fine blade to boot!"

"The Fan Family sent one hundred taels of silver and ten Earth Origin Pills!"

"The Zhou Family..."