Do Not Harm My Mistress!

Every year, the hunting event of the martial examination was often the one with the highest casualty rate.

This differed from the third round of competition. Dedicated referees watched over the arena, and fists and feet had no eyes—injuries and deaths were unavoidable.

But as long as the referees had not been bribed, the chances of casualties were very small.

The hunting segment, however, was different. The grounds were vast, the area immense.

With so many contestants, the imperial court could not monitor everything. They could only prevent large-scale slaughter.

Thus, in this competition, those with grudges could settle them, and those with hatred could repay it. Life and death were decided entirely by strength.

The best approach was to band together for warmth, with martial academies joining forces for nothing more than hunting, lest they be hunted by others.

Chen Jingshu's cold brows were tightly furrowed, and Chen Jingyun had quite the headache as well. Their group still had three Dark Force martial artists left, so protecting themselves would not be a problem.

But achieving a higher score would be rather difficult, because none of them were skilled at hunting.

Knowing only which areas valuable prey would appear in and how much it was worth was already the limit of their abilities.

"Senior Sister, what do we do now?"

Chen Jingshu swept her gaze ahead and said coldly, "Father instructed us that there are more than ten places in these mountains where prey is plentiful and highly valuable. All of you, follow me!"

At the same time, disciples from other martial academies were entering the forest from different hillsides.

Scale Python Martial Academy advanced with great fanfare and countless disciples. Within the forest, the smaller martial academies all had to give them a wide berth.

"Eldest Senior Brother, where are we going hunting?"

Lin Zhennan gave a cold laugh. "Hunting? How could hunting possibly be faster than taking things directly from other people?"

Xiao Xiangbei, the Second Senior Brother beside him, was equally ruthless. "Have you forgotten what Master taught us? This is Snakehead Ravine in Yellow Snake County, and we are Scale Pythons.

"Everything here belongs to us.

"To swallow heaven and swallow earth—that is what makes a python. Naturally, we should sit back and reap the rewards!"

Duan Xu, already arrogant by nature, folded his arms and secretly thought, Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother are right!

I really joined the right martial academy.

"But wouldn't we be breaking the rules by doing this?"

"Breaking the rules? This second round was established by the imperial court precisely to test martial artists' temperament, courage, combat skills,

"and survival ability. What rules are there to break?

"The strong devour the weak—such is the law of this world." Duan Xu kicked the disciple away, shattering his pelvis. The man collapsed to the ground, howling in agony.

Yet none of the disciples gave him another look, as though he were merely some weak piece of trash with nothing to do with them.

"Senior Brother, I was wrong! Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, help me! I'll never back out again!"

"Someone, please! I don't want to starve to death here..."

Duan Xuan crossed two mountain peaks in one breath, his face unflushed and his breathing steady, while the Bright Force martial artists behind him pursued relentlessly.

He strained his eyes into the distance and spotted three abandoned horses at the foot of the mountain.

The mountain was steep and rugged, difficult to traverse.

The higher one climbed, the steeper it became. Horses could not make it up at all, making the speed advantage of martial artists all the more apparent.

Though Duan Xuan had been fleeing all this time, he had kept his eyes on the owners of the three horses.

"Twenty minutes ago, that old bastard and two young people dismounted. They used an especially peculiar footwork technique and climbed even faster than I could."

"But this mountain is quite lively." Duan Xuan had naturally noticed the imperial court's soldiers and the disciples of the major martial academies taking the examination, moving about nearby.

"According to the direction Brother Zhao gave me, Liu Chunmei must pass through the examination area to get here. I just hope there won't be any more unexpected complications!"

"Second Brother, we've caught up to him! His blood and qi are running low! There were blood and qi fluctuations earlier, but now there's nothing!"

As Duan Xuan pondered, the four men below only needed to climb over one more steep slope to catch up to him.

"Hahaha, kid, so you're just an ordinary Bright Force martial artist too. Stop running. Further ahead, beasts run wild—they'll eat you until not even bone scraps remain!"

"Of all the sides you could have chosen, you had to stand with the Fourth Branch.

"Now every branch of the Wang family is targeting the Second Branch and Fourth Branch. Even if you escape from us brothers, you still won't come to a good end!"

Duan Xuan clearly committed this information to memory, then turned around and assumed a fighting stance.

"You're so sure I won't survive?"

"Of course. The First Branch and Third Branch madams sent out three Dark Force experts. You should know that old man from earlier, right?

"He's been at Great Accomplishment Dark Force for decades, yet his blood and qi have never declined. With him personally capturing Fourth Miss, no one can escape!"

Watching the lackey over there speak while panting ceaselessly, Duan Xuan said, "Over sixty and still unable to break through to Transforming Force.

"Looks like he truly is trash. I'll send you all to meet him shortly!"

No sooner said than done, Duan Xuan planted his feet in a fist stance. His muscles knotted, and his entire body resembled an iron tower as he slammed forward fiercely.

The Second Brother curled his lips, about to unleash his Bright Force strength and show Duan Xuan what a retainer raised by a great family was capable of.

Yet at the instant they collided, he discovered the gap between them.

Duan Xuan's force did not leak outward, but the moment their fists and feet met, Duan Xuan's force overlaid and suppressed his original force.

It even left residual force within the man's body.

Thus, in the eyes of the others, Duan Xuan stopped in place while their Second Brother became like a kite with its string cut.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, he flew down the hillside. From a height of more than ten meters, the back of his head struck the ground.

With a crack, blood and brain matter splattered out in a long trail, and his breath was gone.

"Second Brother!"

"Avenge Second Brother!"

The other three erupted with blood and qi, trying to force Duan Xuan back from where they stood.

But Duan Xuan no longer had the mood to waste time with them. Broken Mountain Fist crashed down from above, striking a depression in the hillside.

Rumble!

An entire section of earth began to roll. Though the surface was slick from rain, it could not serve as a point of leverage for them.

Worried that the three Bright Force martial artists might brace one another or find some opening, Duan Xuan picked up a large stone and aimed it at the head of the lowest Bright Force martial artist.

Thud!

That Bright Force martial artist's head burst like a watermelon on the spot.

The remaining martial artists likewise slammed their backs and heads into the ground when they landed, their internal organs shattered by the impact. They died on the spot.

Deep within the old forest.

"Help! Help!"

"I'm warning you, don't come any closer! This little knife in my hand isn't a toy!"

"Hahahahaha! Little maid, do you even know how to use a knife? Come on, let your big brother teach you."

An old man carrying a basket on his back and holding a small axe naturally heard the screams, but he had no desire to meddle in other people's business. Picking up the prey from the ground, he was about to leave.

"Grandpa Ma Jiancheng, save me! Grandpa Ma Jiancheng, I'm Wang Qingyan, daughter of the Fourth Branch of the Wang family in Yellow Snake County's inner district.

"If you can hear me, please come help us."

"So she's a young miss from a great family. No wonder she looks so delicate and lovely.

"Stop shouting. Out here in this wilderness, even if you scream your throat raw, no one will come help you.

"Be good and let us grandpas have some fun. We'll leave both of you with whole corpses.

"Hurry up, we still have an examination to take!"

"You shameless rapists, stay away from my young miss!"

"You filthy bitch, you dare bite me!"

The sounds grew increasingly chaotic, but the old man had already thrown down his basket the moment he heard that first sentence.

The axe in his hand gleamed, its cold edge exposed as killing intent surged.

Before the man himself could be seen, his voice arrived first: "Do not harm my mistress!"