Personal Disciples

In this world of martial arts, martial examinations coexisted with civil examinations.

It was only that in the martial path, literary pursuits were relatively diminished. A martial top scholar naturally ranked above a civil top scholar.

There was no absolute fairness in the world, but the martial examinations held by the imperial court could, to a certain extent, grant candidates absolute fairness.

As long as your strength stood out and your results were excellent, you could pass the examinations and become a martial scholar, a martial graduate, or a martial top scholar—ascending to the heavens in a single step.

The martial path had always placed contention first. Any martial artist who had stepped into Bright Force or above was qualified to enter the competition.

No one wanted to miss such an opportunity. Some hoped to pick up an overlooked prize, while others simply wanted to broaden their horizons.

In short, everyone had their own thoughts.

After briefly learning about it, Duan Xuan nodded. "Senior Brother Zhang Chen, do you want to give it a try?"

"That goes without saying. I failed last year, but perhaps this year I'll become a martial scholar on the First List in one stroke.

"Not only will I receive the martial arts hall's full support, but all kinds of forces will also place their bets on me.

"Though I may not necessarily meet their expectations, with such abundant resources to help me, my martial strength will surely rise by a great stride."

"Senior Brothers Song Dawei and Wu Hui?" Just as Zhang Chen and Duan Xuan were discussing the martial examinations, two more senior brothers arrived together.

But Duan Xuan spotted their differences at a glance. Though both wore the martial arts hall's uniform,

their temperaments were worlds apart.

The flat-headed, honest-looking senior brother on the left was named Song Dawei. He came from Snake Gall Village, on another hill.

He was usually diligent and taciturn, with very little presence. Like Duan Xuan, his innate bone quality was mid-grade B.

The senior brother beside him, Wu Hui, had thick brows, large eyes, and a full head of hair. He was the son of a shop owner from a fairly sizable business outside Yellow Snake County.

He had always been an idle good-for-nothing, and his innate bone quality was also mid-grade B. But his family had some money, which had helped him quite a bit before he reached Bright Force.

Thus, no matter how lazy he was, he still reached Bright Force five days before Song Dayuan.

Though he was not as silent as Song Dayuan, neither was he some conspicuous, troublesome thorn in everyone's side.

Back when Duan Xuan trained relentlessly from dawn to night, Wu Hui had even given him some small cakes from his family's shop.

They were coated in sesame seeds, fragrant with oil and delightfully crisp.

"Senior Brother Song, Senior Brother Wu." Duan Xuan respectfully cupped his fists in greeting.

Song Dayuan was an honest fellow and merely nodded silently.

Wu Hui shook his head and laughed a few times at Duan Xuan. "You're not bad, kid. You came a year later than Song Dayuan and me,

yet in cultivation, you're already no weaker than either of us.

"Back then, I couldn't even sense your blood and qi. Now you've changed beyond recognition!"

"I was fortunate enough to break through to Bright Force, and with all you senior brothers looking after me, my improvement naturally came a little faster."

"You're still far too hardworking, kid. Wu feels ashamed of himself.

"Oh, right—Lin Hu and Liu Mingze are back!"

Ever since Liu Xuan'er had called them away, the two had rarely appeared at the martial arts hall.

And since martial artists who reached Bright Force could take positions outside, no one in the hall had much to say about it.

But after everyone learned that they had taken positions at Dragon-Elephant Academy, they could not help feeling somewhat uneasy.

What kind of place was Dragon-Elephant Academy?

All martial learning under heaven emerged from its gates.

And the two of them possessed Grade A innate bones, talents seen only once in decades.

They had broken through to Bright Force in less than a month. Now that they had vanished for over half a month, none of them even dared imagine how terrifyingly strong they had become!

Zhang Chen furrowed his brow slightly. "The two of them were most likely called back by Master.

"There are a little over three months left. Around this time, Master usually prepares to convene the martial examination assembly in advance.

"He'll explain the rules to us and have us make thorough preparations.

"With their innate bones, they'll definitely break through to Dark Force within three months and catch up to us older disciples.

"And with Master's guidance and the nurturing of their employers at Dragon-Elephant Academy, they'll surely achieve top-ranking results in this martial examination!"

After two years of tempering, Zhang Chen and several veteran senior brothers had successfully entered Dark Force.

But Lin Hu and Liu Mingze's innate bones were simply too heaven-defying. They had caught up to them in just a few months. Zhang Chen could only envy them, unable to say anything else.

Song Dayuan silently lowered his head and looked at his hands and feet, his heart filled with a tangled medley of emotions.

For the poor, there was scarcely anything at home they could rely upon.

They had no money, no power, and no inherited cultivation art of any sort. They could only grit their teeth and cultivate with their lives on the line, perhaps fighting for a sliver of hope.

Without a great opportunity, exceptional talent, or backing from other forces, breaking through to Dark Force was harder than climbing to the heavens. Bright Force Completion was their limit.

Though Wu Hui seemed unconcerned on the surface, once he thought of how reaching Bright Force had already consumed so much of his family's savings,

he knew that if he wanted to secure a ranking in the martial examinations, he had to charge toward Dark Force.

But how could reaching Dark Force be so easy?

The time, effort, and money required would have to multiply tenfold, even dozens of times over.

Yet Lin Hu and Liu Mingze had superb innate bones and marvelous opportunities. With effortless ease, they had trampled veteran disciples like them beneath their feet.

The pride of martial artists made them unwilling to accept it, but the gap in strength forced them to face reality.

Now that the two had returned, who knew how many people would roll their eyes—and how many would fawn over them!

As they spoke, an enormous uproar erupted at the entrance.

"Junior Brothers Lin Hu and Liu Mingze, you two broke through to Dark Force?"

"Congratulations! Congratulations!"

"In less than three months, you leapt across two thresholds from commoners and achieved Dark Force. Looking across all of Yellow Snake County, it would be hard to find anyone who could surpass that speed!"

Just then, Chen Feng received word of their return and hurried out of the inner courtyard with his two daughters, Chen Jingshu and Chen Jingyun.

At the sight of the two senior sisters, both outstanding in beauty and appearance, the disciples' complicated emotions eased somewhat.

Meanwhile, Lin Hu and Liu Mingze's eyes roamed uncontrollably over the two sisters, from top to bottom and inside to out, as though they wished to strip them bare with their gaze.

"Greetings, Master!" The two suddenly dropped to one knee, cupped their fists toward Chen Feng, and said in unison, "We beg Master to accept us as personal disciples. The two of us will care for you in your old age and see you through to the end!"

Hearing this, Chen Feng's heart trembled. The two had gone to Dragon-Elephant Academy, yet they had not considered changing masters. Instead, they were asking him to take them as personal disciples.

Chen Feng was so excited that he did not know what to say.

It took him quite a while to recover, prompted by the looks from his two daughters.

Trembling, he placed his hands on the two disciples' shoulders and solemnly said, "Good, good, good! From this day onward, you two will be my, Chen Feng's, only personal disciples.

"I will pass all my lifelong skills on to you.

"Quickly, rise. Jingshu, Jingyun, serve the tea!"

"Master, in this martial graduate competition,

my brother and I will certainly earn a fine ranking and make our Broken Mountain Martial Arts Hall famous throughout the realm!"

The crowd surrounded Lin Hu and Liu Mingze as though stars encircling the moon, following their master and the two senior sisters into the rear courtyard for the ceremony granting them personal disciple status.

Zhang Chen patted Duan Xuan on the back. "Who would have thought? It hasn't been long at all, yet he's already broken through to Dark Force.

"And he even became Master's personal disciple in one stroke. From now on, the gap between us will probably only grow wider.

"Come on, Junior Brother. Shall we go join the excitement too?"

Duan Xuan had little interest and politely declined. "No. I need to watch over the herb garden. Senior Brother, see you tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow? You're not coming over tonight? Hey, Junior Brother Duan, are you even entering this martial graduate examination?"

Wu Hui and Song Dayuan also raised their eyes to look.

Duan Xuan had already passed through the gate, his voice echoing in the air. "I'm not."

The few of them shook their heads and followed the others into the inner courtyard. After everyone had gone inside,

Zhao Bastard and Zhao Hui suddenly appeared on the training grounds. Zhao Hui cautiously stole glances at his sister, while Zhao Bastard stared at Lin Hu and the others' retreating backs.

Her teeth ground together with a creak, and her fists clenched tightly...