Assessment (I)

Dawn had fully broken.

All across the courtyard of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, all kinds of clamor rang out.

Though the firewood shed was secluded, a distant yet constant din could still be heard.

Duan Rong, Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong stood in the yard when they suddenly saw two figures enter through the courtyard gate.

Walking in front was an elderly man with graying hair and a broad frame. His age was impossible to tell. Judging by his hair and the knife-cut wrinkles on his face, he must have been quite old, yet his back was ramrod straight, and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. He possessed none of an old man's twilight air.

But as he walked, his right foot rested on its toes, his steps uneven—he was lame.

Zhao Mu walked behind the old man, nodding and bowing as he said something.

Duan Rong, Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong all looked at the lame man with reverence.

The four of them knew who would be presiding over the assessment, and they immediately recognized the lame man's identity.

The Chief Instructor of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, Xiao Zongting.

Though Xiao Zongting had also come from humble beginnings, he had been a genius in Martial Arts.

At the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, he had once risen from escort master to Chief Escort. He and the Old Shopkeeper of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency—the father of the current head shopkeeper—had been sworn brothers.

But in a great battle seventeen years ago, though he and the Old Shopkeeper had fought their way out of the encirclement, the Old Shopkeeper had succumbed to his grave injuries several months later.

Xiao Zongting had survived, but all his Martial Arts had been crippled. He had thus stepped back from the front lines and become the Chief Instructor within the escort agency.

Though he was merely the Chief Instructor, the current head shopkeeper, Ruan Fengshan, had always treated Xiao Zongting with the respect due an elder.

At every New Year and festival, he personally paid him a visit. Whenever any major matter arose within the escort agency, he often sought his counsel as well.

Thus, everyone in the agency both revered his heroic deeds and feared his influence. They respected him, yet were afraid of him.

Watching Xiao Zongting approach with his hands clasped behind his back, limping step by step, Duan Rong unexpectedly grew nervous.

It was as though he had returned to the college entrance examination room in his previous life, about to cross that single-plank bridge called fate.

Duan Rong took a deep breath and steadied himself.

At first, he had assumed the assessment would be a fight among Menial Disciples who had trained for three months—the winners would remain, and the losers would be eliminated.

But after gaining insight into the entry-level Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber he had absorbed over this period, he had changed his mind.

Over the past few days, he had secretly watched Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng practice their forms. At first, he had merely felt that something seemed off about the way they performed them. Gradually, however, he had begun to see ever more clearly, nearly able to spot their main problems at a glance.

Sometimes, his hands even itched, and he could barely restrain himself from helping them correct their mistakes.

Fortunately, he had held back that habit of loving to be a teacher, carried over from his previous life.

Still, it made him understand one thing: when an expert made a move, one could tell whether there was substance to it.

He had only comprehended the entry-level realm of Martial Arts, yet he could already spot the problems. Xiao Zongting, the Chief Instructor, had once been the Chief Escort. With their little three-legged-cat skills, he could probably see through their depths at a single glance. Why would they need to fight each other?

The two men did not walk quickly. Xiao Zongting limped, so naturally he could not move fast. Zhao Mu usually strode with his head held high, but now he could only take tiny steps behind Xiao Zongting.

Xiao Zongting stopped half a zhang in front of them and said, "Perform a form for me to see."

Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong were slightly stunned. Only Duan Rong seemed to have long expected that there would be no sparring match, and he was already walking toward the weapon rack in the corner.

"What are you still standing around for? The assessment has already begun! Perform your forms! Can't you understand?" Zhao Mu roared at Kong Bin and the others from behind Xiao Zongting.

The muscles in Kong Bin's face twitched. He followed Duan Rong toward the weapon rack.

The group drew worn-out sabers from the rack, returned to Xiao Zongting, and began performing their forms.

Limping, Xiao Zongting walked up to them. Expressionless, he passed before Li Chong and Zhang Zheng without even lifting his eyelids. "Flower-show stances, dead forms! Is this Martial Arts? Isn't this just street-side monkey shows?"

Those words did not merely scold Li Chong and Zhang Zheng. They also scolded Zhao Mu, who stood behind him.

Zhao Mu's face twitched, and he glared at Li Chong beside him.

A trace of dejection appeared in Li Chong's eyes. His moves, already disorderly, fell even further out of rhythm.

Xiao Zongting walked before Kong Bin and glanced up. The right hand behind his back suddenly flashed. With a clang, the saber in Kong Bin's hand flew away and buried itself to the hilt in the ground behind him.

Xiao Zongting was actually holding a tobacco pipe in his right hand. Just now, he had used it to knock Kong Bin's saber away.

Kong Bin stood there blankly, still unable to react. Xiao Zongting had already stepped forward and pinched Kong Bin's shoulder, elbow, waist, and hips. Then he gave a cold snort and walked silently to Duan Rong.

Throughout it all, Xiao Zongting had not once raised his eyes to look at Kong Bin.

Xiao Zongting had not even paused before Li Chong and Zhang Zheng, but he had tested Kong Bin with a strike. The difference was already clear.

As Xiao Zongting walked before Duan Rong, everyone present immediately focused their attention on them.

Yet before Duan Rong, Xiao Zongting stood still for several breaths. His head even tilted up slightly, as if he had taken an interest.

Perhaps it was the heightened focus and excitement brought on by exam-like nerves, but Duan Rong immersed himself in the six-move form he practiced every day.

He actually performed beyond his usual level. His movements rose and fell without break, each strike solid and powerful, like a lone army besieged by thousands upon thousands of troops.

And that was precisely the essence of the Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber.

Even Duan Rong himself did not notice that his current state faintly showed signs of breaking free from the entry-level realm.

The Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber had originally been a saber technique for a lone force facing a mass assault.

When the escort masters of an escort agency traveled the martial world while guarding shipments, they might encounter forest outlaws coming to rob the cargo.

Aside from one or two leaders with some skill, such bandits were usually nothing more than scattered rabble.

And it was these scattered rabble that ordinary escort masters had to fend off when they attacked in groups.

That was also why both Menial Disciples and apprentices had to learn the Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber. It could be called perfectly suited to their trade.

Xiao Zongting suddenly tapped the edge of Duan Rong's saber, which was whirling like the wind, with his tobacco pipe.

Duan Rong was fully absorbed in his form when he suddenly felt a powerful force strike the saber's edge. Almost by instinct, he turned his wrist, withdrew the blade diagonally with the force, then flipped it around and swung it up, changing the upward sweep into a downward chop at the head.

This was Duan Rong's instant response—dispel the force, borrow the force, change the move—all in one smooth flow, without the slightest drag!

But with that change, Duan Rong's blade came chopping straight down at Xiao Zongting's forehead.

Xiao Zongting reached out with his left hand and firmly caught the back of Duan Rong's descending saber. At that moment, the chipped edge of the blade was only a finger's breadth from Xiao Zongting's forehead.

Everyone present was startled!

Zhao Mu jumped back a step and shouted furiously, "Duan Rong, what are you doing? You dared attack Old Xiao? Are you tired of living?"

Duan Rong snapped awake as if from a dream, panic surging through him. He immediately let go of the saber and dropped to his knees. "This disciple deserves death! I was too focused just now. My eyes saw only the moves, and I forgot all else. I truly had no intention of attacking Old Xiao!"

"Forgot all else..." A sharp gleam flashed through Xiao Zongting's eyes.

But Zhao Mu's anger did not diminish. Duan Rong lowered his head and silently cursed himself. How had he become as though possessed just now, sinking so deeply into the saber technique? That was not his usual style at all.

Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong wore expressions as though they were watching a show. Even Kong Bin, normally stone-faced, revealed a brilliant smile.

"You bastard, you little turtle's spawn..." Zhao Mu cursed loudly. He feared the matter would blow up and implicate him.

But Xiao Zongting turned and glared at Zhao Mu. "Shut up! I think you're the bastard! Are you conducting the assessment, or am I?"

"I'm the bastard! Naturally, you are conducting the assessment, sir. You conduct it..." Zhao Mu immediately said with a fawning smile.

Xiao Zongting snorted coldly. "That tap of mine just now broke his force. If he wanted his attack to remain unbroken, the only option was to chop straight down at the head! A fine attack!"

Hearing the words "a fine attack," Duan Rong looked up at Xiao Zongting in surprise and delight.

Xiao Zongting was looking at Duan Rong as well. "Boy, one who practices Martial Arts must be obsessed with Martial Arts. Not only were you not wrong, you did very well! Get up!"

Delighted, Duan Rong rose to his feet. It seems this old man has taken me for the Martial Arts-obsessed type.