Grouping

By the time the results of the first subject had been tallied, night had fallen. All the candidates and their respective masters began leading their groups back to prepare for the second subject, which would begin tomorrow.

After Huo Shan led his disciples out of the training grounds,

Although it was already dark, Zhao Feng spotted his aunt and Qiao'er at once, waiting in the cold wind outside the grounds.

He hurriedly informed his master, then went to meet them.

"Aunt, Qiao'er, what are you doing here?"

"Feng'er, I brought you eggs." Zhao Youfang took three warm hard-boiled eggs from her robe. Zhao Feng did not know whether to laugh or cry, but he still tucked the eggs into his clothes.

"Cousin, how did you do?" Qiao'er asked carefully. Zhao Youfang looked at him nervously as well.

"Not bad." Zhao Feng nodded with a smile.

Zhao Youfang and Qiao'er immediately let out great sighs of relief. They knew Zhao Feng had become steady and reliable. Since he said it was not bad, it truly must have gone well.

"Aunt, Qiao'er, hurry home. It's cold outside. Don't come tomorrow either. There are still two days left. Once the exams are over, I'll naturally come back."

Only after watching his aunt and Qiao'er leave, turning back every few steps, did he hurry after the group again and board the carriage back to the martial arts school.

Once they returned to the martial arts school, everyone rested briefly. At Huo Shan's signal, Huo Yao distributed a list to the disciples.

"I'll briefly go over the fighting styles of several key opponents you may encounter tomorrow, as well as ways to deal with them," Huo Shan said gravely.

"The first is Lu Ye of Heaven Gathering Martial Arts School. He is at the peak of Dark Force and has intimidated the martial world with his Breaking Void Fist. The essence of Breaking Void Fist is to shatter the void with the fist and send force in a straight line. Its movements are simple and fierce, direct and aggressive. Its defining trait is concentrating power at a single point to instantly break through defenses. The style mainly uses thrusts, charges, and crashing blows, often cutting into the centerline. His fists are as fast as lightning and specialize in attacking the vital points along the middle gate. His style is swift and direct, often defeating enemies with one punch rather than getting entangled with them." Huo Shan drew a deep breath.

No one knew that during the closed-door sparring matches when he had first come to establish himself and open a martial arts school, the only person he had suffered a loss against was Chen Tianfang, the head of Heaven Gathering Martial Arts School. Lu Ye was the senior disciple, in his thirties and in the prime of life, at the peak of Dark Force. His Breaking Void Fist had reached the later stage of mastery, and few in the same realm could match him.

"Lu Ye's stance is extremely stable. Right from the start, he uses Breaking Void Force to forcefully break through the center. His reactions are also very fast. He simply fights head-on and tears openings by brute force, without any regard for reason. In that respect, it has something in common with our Eight Extremes Fist. If you encounter Lu Ye or anyone else from Heaven Gathering Martial Arts School, you can use long-range Pigua to deal with them and seek an opportunity."

"The second is He Mingchuan of Vast Sea Martial Arts School. He is at the peak of Dark Force, and his Surging Waves Palm has reached perfection. Surging Waves Palm is characterized by its unending flow, alternating hardness and softness, with layer upon layer of power, each wave stronger than the last. Its inner force is Tidal Force. When attacking, it is like furious tides crashing against the shore. When defending, it is like an ebbing tide that disperses force," Huo Shan explained.

The disciples around him listened intently. Zhao Feng recalled how he had felt when sparring with Xu Song. At the Dark Force stage, practitioners of Surging Waves Palm also possessed Tidal Force. They truly were difficult to deal with.

"To counter Surging Waves Palm, you must make use of our Void-Sinking Force. Withstand their successive palm strikes, build momentum, and break through. In close-range fighting, use Entangling Force to wear down the opponent," Huo Shan said.

Of course, neither Lu Ye nor He Mingchuan would foolishly allow an opponent to attack their weaknesses, nor would they stand there and let themselves be hit. There were far too many variables in the arena, and everything was closely tied to one's internal cultivation and mastery of fist techniques. In truth, Huo Shan did not hold much hope that his disciples could defeat those two. He only hoped they would not lose too disgracefully.

"Next is Shen Yan of Mountain-Splitting Martial Arts School. Shen Yan is at the peak of Dark Force, and his Mountain-Splitting Fist is equally famous. Mountain-Splitting Fist is fierce and domineering, using force to break skill. It emphasizes fists that shake the earth and strength that penetrates mountains. Its moves are plain and unadorned, yet immensely powerful and heavy. Its force is Mountain-Splitting Force. When exerting power, all the muscles and bones in the body tremble together. It focuses on unifying the waist and stance to drive inner force. Its footwork requires lowered shoulders and dropped elbows, with a stance rooted like nails. Its style is bold and ferocious. Against Mountain-Splitting Fist, strive to suppress them through fist techniques. They may not be as skilled as we are at close-range strikes with knees, elbows, twists, and collisions, especially Entangling Force."

As Huo Shan spoke, Zhao Feng listened with rapt attention. He also came to understand that although Breaking Void Fist, Mountain-Splitting Fist, and Eight Extremes Fist were all fierce and forceful styles, their techniques and forms differed greatly. At their core, their principles were different, especially in terms of inner force. It seemed that even among styles that followed the same hard and fierce path, their differences only grew greater the further one progressed.

"Next is Wu Peng of Wind-Shaking Martial Arts School. He is at the peak of Dark Force, and his Flowing Cloud Fist has reached perfection.

"Flowing Cloud Fist emphasizes adapting form to the situation and using qi to command drifting clouds. Its movements are broad and elegant, yet they conceal entangling force. In actual combat, it excels at using softness to overcome hardness. Pay attention to the word 'transform.' Its fist wind is like flowing clouds brushing across the face, yet it conceals inch force..." Huo Shan continued explaining the experts he knew from several martial arts schools.

"Besides these people, there are also Zhu Gui of the Zhu Family and Han Dong of the Han Family. Both are said to have studied martial arts in the prefectural city and are also at the peak of Dark Force, but the martial arts they practice are unknown, making them even harder to handle. If you face either of them, guard your openings as much as possible and do not expose weaknesses lightly."

He only discussed several popular experts. There was neither time nor need to cover the rest. Regardless, analyzing their traits and possible countermeasures was like sharpening one's spear before battle—if not fast, it was still better than nothing.

He then gave several core disciples practical combat guidance, feeding them moves, breaking down their techniques, and correcting their shortcomings in battle one by one. As for the Bright Force disciples participating in the competition, he could only offer rough guidance. He simply could not spare the attention.

The next day, at the Big Stone County militia training grounds, the second subject of the county martial examination officially began: arena matches.

By then, all the mounted archery and foot archery facilities from the previous day had been cleared away, replaced by eight arenas built overnight.

More than two hundred and fifty candidates were divided into eight groups for the preliminary matches. The top four from each group would advance, producing the final thirty-two. Ranking matches would then be held. Those rankings would apply only to the second subject, while the final rankings would be determined by combining the results of the first subject as well. This ensured the greatest possible fairness. It could be said that the martial examination established by the founding emperor of Great Yan still guaranteed as much fairness and openness as possible even five hundred years later.

"This time, ten Martial Scholars will be selected from the entire county. Based on my uniquely top-grade result in the first subject, archery and horsemanship, that means I may make the list as long as I reach the top sixteen in the arena matches. If I reach the top eight, I'll definitely make the list," Zhao Feng thought.

To achieve that goal, he first had to place among the top four in his preliminary group. The chief examiner, Commandant Xu, was now drawing lots to assign groups. Zhao Feng was assigned to the eighth arena. Although it was supposedly a random draw, he still noticed something unusual. The strongest experts his master had analyzed yesterday had all been separated into different arenas.

"Junior Brother Zhao, there's something to these arena assignments," Wei Yuan said as he came over and leaned close. He had been assigned to the fourth arena.

"Senior Brother, you noticed it too?"

"Of course." Wei Yuan stepped closer and lowered his voice.

"Each arena has one peak Dark Force fighter. That is to prevent them from meeting too early."

It was the same principle as seeded players in sporting events on Earth.

"That peak Dark Force fighter will definitely take first place in the arena. The remaining three qualifying spots will be fought over by the ordinary Dark Force experts. The rest, those Bright Force fighters, are merely there to fill out the numbers. It's enough for them to show their faces."

"Moreover, when lots are drawn for each separate arena, Dark Force fighters are unlikely to meet each other early on. And have you noticed? Our Huo Family Martial Arts School's Dark Force disciples have all been assigned to different arenas. The same is true for the other martial arts schools and escort agencies."

This was most likely arranged deliberately by the chief examiner and the others.