The Martial Champion!

On the drill ground.

Drops of pale golden blood slid down the sword's edge, struck the ground, then spread.

Dust drifted down, as though a layer of gray flour had been scattered across the ground.

"I lost!" Mingxin admitted to Jiang Ning.

"Even Master Mingxin lost to him!" Zhang Ming watched the scene at the center of the drill ground, relief in his eyes.

Having lost to someone as young as Jiang Ning, he had felt somewhat unwilling to accept it.

But now, seeing that even Mingxin had lost, he felt relieved.

What was so unreasonable about losing to the martial champion?

Thoughts flashed through his mind. He looked toward Wan Jianyi, a trace of pity in his eyes.

Compared with him, Wan Jianyi was far more pitiful.

Before this martial examination, Wan Jianyi had ranked first on the Heavenly Rankings. His fame was unrivaled, and he was the strongest of the younger generation.

Now, his loss to Mingxin had exposed his top ranking as undeserved, sending his reputation plummeting.

And Mingxin had lost to Jiang Ning.

Set side by side, those defeats dimmed the halo that had surrounded Wan Jianyi.

Zhang Ming knew full well that after today, Wan Jianyi would fall from his pedestal.

The higher the world had raised him before, the farther his reputation would fall now.

Especially since there had already been friction among the three of them. That would only spread the talk further.

Meanwhile.

Wan Jianyi sensed several strange gazes from behind him.

The meaning in those gazes pricked his back like needles, making him squirm.

His fists clenched involuntarily. His nails dug deep into his flesh, and drops of blood seeped between his fingers.

No one had ever looked at him that way before.

This was the first time he had experienced