Hidden Dangers

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Jiang Chen rose early as usual, patiently polishing his cultivation barrier.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the Si hour.

"Time is about up."

Jiang Chen rose and left his room, heading to the Thousand Fragrance Pavilion for the banquet.

"Jiang Chen!"

Just as he left the Inner Courtyard, a figure blocked his path.

"Zhao Xiaoyue?"

The person who arrived was none other than Zhao Xiaoyue, who had been lying in wait since yesterday.

"Qingzhu has something to discuss with you."

Zhao Xiaoyue looked Jiang Chen up and down. Only when she saw the Inner Courtyard Token at his waist did she believe that Jiang Chen had truly become an Inner Courtyard disciple.

"I don't have time."

Jiang Chen couldn't be bothered to pay her any mind.

"You..."

Watching Jiang Chen walk away so decisively, Zhao Xiaoyue was stunned.

She truly hadn't expected that even after Wang Qingzhu had lowered herself to extend an invitation, Jiang Chen would be so resolute and completely unmoved.

Could it be that he had become utterly disillusioned?

"Oh, right."

At this moment, Jiang Chen stopped in his tracks.

"Tell her to cash out the items I gave her in the past and return the value to me."

Just as Zhao Xiaoyue thought Jiang Chen was having a change of heart, he dropped those words and strode out of the Outer Courtyard.

"It seems Jiang Chen has truly given up..."

Watching Jiang Chen's disappearing figure, Zhao Xiaoyue murmured softly.

Wang Qingzhu had miscalculated.

The Jiang Chen of today was no longer the humble, fawning Jiang Chen of the past.

Even if Wang Qingzhu were to completely set aside her pride, Jiang Chen likely wouldn't look back.

Thousand Fragrance Pavilion.

"Junior Brother Jiang."

In the restaurant lobby, Sun Wu and the others had arrived early and waved at Jiang Chen.

"My apologies, I was delayed a bit on the way."

Jiang Chen walked over quickly, offering an apologetic bow.

"We only just arrived ourselves."

Sun Wu and the others smiled, and together they headed to a private room on the third floor.

"Waiter, bring out the dishes."

Sun Wu called out, and the waiter skillfully brought over fine wine and delicacies.

"We're gathering today for two reasons: first, to congratulate Junior Brother Jiang on his promotion to the Inner Courtyard, and second, to discuss the year-end Martial Exam."

After three rounds of drinks, Sun Wu spoke up.

"Senior Brother Sun, do you have inside information about the Martial Exam?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu and the other three looked over, quite interested.

Jiang Chen also set down his wine cup and looked at Sun Wu with curiosity.

"According to reliable information, there will be major changes to the sparring portion of this year's Martial Exam; it's possible we will have to engage in actual life-or-death combat."

Sun Wu lowered his voice.

In previous years, the Martial Exam was divided into two parts.

The first was testing the strength of one's cultivation, and the second was a drawing of lots for sparring matches.

The two were scored together.

Candidates were ranked according to their total scores.

Those at the top made the list, while those at the bottom were eliminated.

But this year, the sparring portion involving drawing lots might be scrapped entirely.

"Live combat?"

"What does that mean? Are they making us fight to the death with real blades?"

"That's absurd. Swords have no eyes; what if someone gets maimed or killed?"

"The Upper Sect just took over the Prefecture City; they wouldn't act so extremely..."

Zhou Yu and the other three changed color, feeling that this news couldn't be accurate.

"This matter is not without foundation; you had best prepare yourselves mentally."

Sun Wu cautioned.

"It seems the situation in Anning Prefecture is not very stable."

Jiang Chen's expression remained calm; he was inclined to believe Sun Wu's news.

His father had once said that after the Upper Sect took over Anning Prefecture, they would establish a City Guard in every region.

What was the duty of the City Guard?

It was to suppress unrest everywhere!

And since they needed to quell unrest, they couldn't just recruit a bunch of show-offs.

Seeing blood.

Killing people.

These were the most basic requirements.

And for him, this was naturally a good thing.

When it came to practical combat experience, he was more than capable of crushing the younger generation.

For the year-end Martial Exam, he had a very high probability of achieving a good ranking.

As for the top spot...

With Tang Mu, who possessed superior talent, it was unlikely anyone else would have a chance.

"Junior Brother Jiang, if you want to make a name for yourself in the Martial Exam, you must enter the True Martial Realm as quickly as possible, preferably breaking through to the second level of the True Martial Realm!"

Sun Wu then said to Jiang Chen.

In previous years, simply entering the True Martial Realm was enough to secure a decent ranking.

But this year was different.

As far as he knew, the major powers in the Prefecture City had been sparing no effort to cultivate their younger generation for a long time.

Therefore, this year's Martial Exam would be a stage for those at the second level of the True Martial Realm.

As for those at the first level, they would be reduced to mere background decoration.

"The second level of the True Martial Realm?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of Zhou Yu and the other three became somewhat subtle.

There were only five months left until the year-end Martial Exam.

Did Sun Wu actually think Jiang Chen could reach the second level of the True Martial Realm?

Wasn't he placing too much confidence in Jiang Chen?

Not to mention ordinary talent, even those with medium talent couldn't achieve consecutive breakthroughs and reach the second level of the True Martial Realm in just a few short months.

The difficulty of cultivation in the True Martial Realm was not something the Three Qi and Blood Gates could compare to.

"Understood."

Jiang Chen nodded. Since Sun Wu said so, he must have received some inside information.

This year's Martial Exam was destined to be exceptionally intense!

If he wanted to stand out, he truly needed to increase his strength as much as possible.

"Time to head back to the Martial Arts Hall."

Around the time of the sheep, the six of them, having eaten and drunk their fill, went downstairs to return to the Martial Arts Hall.

"Hm?"

As they left the Thousand Fragrance Pavilion, Jiang Chen suddenly felt something.

Someone was watching them!

Who could it be?

The Azure Dragon Gang?

Or some other faction?

"The Three Qi and Blood Gates are still too weak."

Jiang Chen grew secretly vigilant, his desire to become stronger growing ever more intense.

The Blood Qi Realm was merely the entry point to the martial path; it was fine for dealing with ordinary people, but if he encountered a true expert, even self-preservation would be a problem.

Before breaking through to the True Martial Realm, one must not rashly leave the martial hall!

"That is... the Jiang Clan brat!"

On the third floor of the Thousand Fragrance Pavilion, by the window of a private room, a man with a hooked nose stared coldly at Jiang Chen and his companions as they departed.

To be precise, he was staring at Jiang Chen.

"White Ape Martial Hall... Old Lin, are you still investigating the cause of the Seventh Young Master's death?"

A burly man also came to the window, recognizing the background of Jiang Chen's group.

In this East District, the training uniforms of the White Ape Martial Hall were known to everyone.

"He has become an Inner Courtyard disciple of the White Ape Martial Hall?"

The man with the hooked nose did not answer; his eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze flickering.

Ever since Zheng Hao died, the Zheng Clan had been secretly contacting the martial hall's disciples.

This was because Zheng Chengfeng suspected that the deaths of Zheng Hao and the others were the work of a martial hall disciple.

Regrettably, successive investigations had failed to turn up any leads.

He had originally intended to give up and return to report to Zheng Chengfeng.

Unexpectedly, he had run into Jiang Chen here at the Thousand Fragrance Pavilion.

As for Jiang Chen, he had naturally investigated him as well.

After all, Jiang Chen used to frequently run around with Zheng Hao and the others.

But upon discovering that Jiang Chen had been in the martial hall for over half a year without even grasping the Standing Post Technique, he had immediately ruled out Jiang Chen as a suspect.

Someone who hadn't even condensed their Qi and Blood could not possibly have killed Zheng Hao.

Who would have thought that seeing him today, Jiang Chen had actually become an Inner Courtyard disciple of the White Ape Martial Hall.

According to the regulations of the White Ape Martial Hall, to become an Inner Courtyard disciple, one's cultivation must have stepped into the Three Qi and Blood Gates.

In other words, his previous intelligence was incorrect.

Jiang Chen had long since stepped into the Second Qi and Blood Gate and had merely been hiding his strength all along.

If so, could the deaths of Zheng Hao and the others be related to Jiang Chen?

"This matter must be reported to the Clan Head."

The man with the hooked nose immediately made arrangements.

He would return to the Zheng Clan to report, while the others would go to gather intelligence on Jiang Chen.

He had a strong premonition that there was definitely some connection between Jiang Chen and the death of Zheng Hao.