"Boom!" The entire martial academy erupted into commotion once more.
Liang Bo, who had made a name for himself with his superb saber skills, had defeated Sima Kai, a young powerhouse from the Ruyang Prince's Residence, using nothing but his fists and feet—not relying on his saber at all. The result left everyone stunned!
If the previous fight could possibly be explained by Sima Kai's carelessness, allowing his opponent to seize an opening and defeat him in one stroke, then the match just now clearly couldn't be explained away as carelessness. Liang Bo's unarmed combat skills really were superior to Sima Kai's!
"Liang Bo, well done!" Zhao Zhao, Zhao Wu, and the others had already jumped to their feet, cheering wildly. They looked so excited, you'd have thought they had won themselves.
"Ah, he actually lost!" The martial artists who had supported Sima Kai were now bitterly disappointed. Those who had bet at the gambling house on Sima Kai's victory were especially furious, cursing him one after another.
On the examiners' dais, Ma Wen smiled at the Limitless Sword Sect's representative. "Brother Liu, it looks like I've won our little wager."
"You were lucky. You actually managed to recruit Liang Bo into the True Martial Sect!" the Limitless Sword Sect's representative replied with a helpless shake of his head.
The Purple Sun Temple's representative looked thoroughly dejected. He gazed at Ma Wen with a hint of envy. Liang Bo's talent was simply too formidable. At such a young age, he was already skilled with the saber, and now even his unarmed combat was this strong. Given time, he would undoubtedly become a powerhouse in his own right!
It was a pity that such a prodigy hadn't joined the Purple Sun Temple, but had chosen the True Martial Sect instead.
On the spacious challenge platform, Liang Bo stood with his hands behind his back and smiled. "I told you you were too weak, but you wouldn't believe me. You just had to fight another round. Are you convinced now?"
Sima Kai stared at Liang Bo, his heart bleeding. "Impossible! I can't lose! Your martial skills are clearly only ordinary techniques, while mine are high-grade human-tier techniques. How could I possibly lose to you?"
Liang Bo shook his head. "There are no invincible martial techniques in this world, only invincible people! Your techniques are decent, but unfortunately, you're too weak. All right, enough talk. One million taels of silver. Hurry up and send it over—don't keep me waiting!"
"You...!" Sima Kai nearly passed out from rage.
One million taels of silver was a huge sum even for him. He would have to borrow money from all over just to pay it.
As for refusing to pay? The consequences would only be worse. When he and Liang Bo had signed their agreement, they had invited quite a few senior experts to witness it. On top of that, news of their wager had already spread far and wide. If he dared to welsh on the bet, he'd never be able to show his face in public again. Even the Ruyang Prince's Residence behind him couldn't afford to lose face like that.
"Pfft!" At the thought of having to pay a million taels of silver, Sima Kai couldn't help spitting out another mouthful of blood.
Liang Bo saw this and laughed to himself. He had already defeated his opponent in their first match. As long as he refused to back down, the chief examiner would have to declare him the winner. So why had he agreed to give Sima Kai another chance to fight? Did he really think Liang Bo was trying to make his opponent admit defeat wholeheartedly?
No, obviously not!
Liang Bo didn't care whether Sima Kai was convinced or not. His reason for agreeing was simple: he had won the first match too easily and hadn't injured Sima Kai badly enough. So he wanted another fight, to find an opportunity to deal Sima Kai a crippling blow, greatly weaken him, and keep him from placing well enough in this tournament to enter the True Martial Sect or another top sect.
In other words, Liang Bo was deliberately cutting off Sima Kai's future!
His goal had clearly been achieved. Seeing how badly Sima Kai was injured, the martial artists ranked below him lit up with excitement, ready to challenge him.
Sure enough, the martial artist ranked fifth challenged Sima Kai next. Still badly injured, Sima Kai was completely unable to defend himself, and his rank fell to fifth.
Then the martial artists ranked sixth and seventh, all the way down to sixteenth, challenged him in turn, sending his ranking plummeting.
By the time his ranking finally settled, he had fallen to thirty-first place!
This year, the True Martial Sect, the Limitless Sword Sect, and the Purple Sun Temple had only sixteen disciple positions to offer between them!
In other words, Sima Kai had no hope of joining any of the three great powers. He could only enter a second-tier faction, which would directly affect his future prospects!
By contrast, Liang Bo had already been famous for his superb saber skills. Now that even his fist techniques had proved so formidable, every martial artist present agreed that he deserved first place. No one wanted to challenge him and make a fool of themselves.
At last, the tournament came to an end as the sun set.
Liang Bo took first place by an overwhelming margin. Chen Feng came in second, while third place went to a youth named Liu Qi. Su Yan, who had originally been ranked third, was pushed down to fourth.
As for Sima Kai, he had it much worse. At first, he managed to hold on to a place in the top fifty. But by afternoon, the Spirit-Exploding Pill began to wear off and triggered a backlash, making his injuries even worse. His ranking continued to plummet, all the way to seventy-first.
There was no helping it. Liang Bo had injured him too badly, and he had then been challenged one after another, worsening his injuries each time. To have held on to this rank in the end was already quite an achievement.
The chief examiner announced loudly, "All right, the final rankings are in. Now, in order of rank, choose the sect you wish to join! Liang Bo, you may begin!"
"I choose to join the True Martial Sect!" Liang Bo answered immediately.
"Chen Feng, what about you?" The chief examiner looked toward Chen Feng, who ranked second.
"I choose the True Martial Sect too!"
Liang Bo paused and looked at Chen Feng. Chen Feng looked back and gave him a slight nod.
Liang Bo smiled. So, it seemed he would be fellow disciples with this chubby youth from now on.
Next, Liu Qi, ranked third, practiced swordsmanship, so he chose to join the Limitless Sword Sect. Su Yan, ranked fourth, surprised everyone by choosing to join the military.
After that, two more martial artists chose the True Martial Sect: Lu Hua, ranked seventh, and Jiang Xiaoman, ranked eleventh. That used up all four of the True Martial Sect's available positions for the year.
The Purple Sun Temple and the Limitless Sword Sect also soon filled their quotas. By the time it was the turn of Sima Kai, ranked seventy-first, he had only thirty-six sects to choose from, including the Golden Blade Sect, the Floating Cloud Pavilion, and several other bottom-ranked sects.
Given his abilities, he had originally stood a good chance of entering one of the three great sects. Now, though, he had fallen so far. It was nothing short of a tragedy—like someone who could have gone to Tsinghua or Peking University ending up at an ordinary university instead.
Of course, he could also choose to give up. But he was already eighteen this year, and he would be nineteen next year. The martial academy tournament only allowed martial artists under eighteen to participate.
In other words, he wouldn't even get the chance to "repeat the year"!
In the end, Sima Kai gritted his teeth and decided to join the Mystic Origin Sect, one of the stronger sects among those still available.
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