A dangerous character

Fu Qingyang glanced at Ye Xicheng. "I'm afraid you misjudged him today."

Ye Xicheng sighed softly. "Chen Shi'an, you brat, you've made me lose face in front of my godfather. Even if the Song Family and Windrise Martial Academy leave you alone, I'll have to teach you a proper lesson."

Chen Shi'an adjusted himself briefly, crouched again, and lifted the stone slowly with a low grunt.

Then he rose to his feet, inch by inch.

His first attempt had already successfully fooled everyone present.

His expression was pained, but his spirits were excellent.

With Chen Shi'an's strength, lifting a four-hundred-jin stone was child's play.

There was a reason he put on this performance.

Ye Xicheng had said that he could only join the Demon Hunting Team after becoming a Squad Leader.

How could he become a Squad Leader? He still wasn't sure.

But there was no doubt that he would have to compete against the other candidates.

Showing weakness now would lull his opponents into complacency, without requiring him to reveal any more of his strength.

After a round of "grueling effort," he shakily straightened his body and raised the stone high above his head, passing the first round of the assessment "by the skin of his teeth."

Song Yuming and the other Martial Academy disciples were inevitably disappointed, but that didn't stop them from subjecting Chen Shi'an to another round of sneers and mockery.

Having passed, Chen Shi'an went to one side of the Reviewing Platform and stood with the others, waiting for the first round to end.

Fu Qingyang glanced at Chen Shi'an and said quietly, "He struggled that much just to lift a four-hundred-jin stone. With so little strength, becoming a Squad Leader might prove difficult."

Ye Xicheng looked chagrined. "Godfather, I've already admitted I misjudged him. Stop rubbing it in."

Fu Qingyang smiled faintly. "I'm not mocking you. If you hadn't specifically mentioned Chen Shi'an, that little fellow really would have fooled me."

"Fooled you?" Ye Xicheng asked in confusion.

"There's a very good chance that little fellow is hiding his strength," Fu Qingyang said confidently.

"Why are you so certain, Godfather?" Ye Xicheng pressed.

Fu Qingyang cleared his throat. "His performance was very convincing. Look at him now. His hands and feet are still trembling, an obvious sign of exhaustion. He looks exactly like the others who barely managed to lift the four-hundred-jin stone."

Ye Xicheng interjected, "Is there something wrong with that?"

Fu Qingyang said, "Haven't you noticed how composed he is?

"After failing his first attempt, he remained unruffled in the face of all those Martial Academy disciples' mockery and personal attacks.

"And although he struggled on his second attempt, the process was steady throughout. The Martial Academy disciples didn't affect him in the slightest.

"Put yourself in his shoes. How would you have acted in the same situation?"

Ye Xicheng thought for a moment. "That alone isn't enough to conclude that Chen Shi'an must be hiding his strength.

"What if he simply has exceptional mental fortitude?"

Fu Qingyang smiled faintly. "Wouldn't someone with nerves of steel be even better suited to our Demon Hunting Team?"

Ye Xicheng sighed softly. "Now that you've put it that way, Godfather, I'm starting to regret raising the difficulty for Chen Shi'an earlier.

"If he can't secure a Squad Leader position, we'll lose a good candidate for keeping Song Yuming in check."

Fu Qingyang shook his head. "Song Yuming is at the Eighth Acquired Stage, and his cultivation talent is considerable. He has a very good chance of becoming a Ranked Martial Artist."

"Xiang Chuxiong and Song Yuan have high hopes for him. That's why they arranged for him to join the Demon Hunting Team.

"If Chen Shi'an is so weak that he can't even secure a Squad Leader position, nerves of steel alone won't do him any good."

Ye Xicheng frowned. "That old bastard Xiang Chuxiong still hasn't given up his wicked ambitions. He's always trying to reach his hand into our Demon Hunting Team.

"Godfather, why don't we just be blunt about it and refuse all these Martial Academy disciples?"

Fu Qingyang shook his head. "Wouldn't that play right into Xiang Chuxiong's hands?

"Using the West Mountain Hollow incident as his pretext, Xiang Chuxiong bypassed Wang Tianye and stepped in personally to plant his people in the Demon Hunting Team. His justification is impeccable, and both the timing and public sentiment favor him.

"If we refuse, even those who were originally neutral will side with Xiang Chuxiong, leaving the Demon Hunting Team even more isolated."

Ye Xicheng turned his gaze toward Chen Shi'an. "Let's hope you're right, Godfather, and that brat Chen Shi'an really is holding back."

The first round of the assessment ended.

Of the more than seven hundred participants, one hundred and fifty-eight passed.

The others were all escorted out of the Demon Hunting Team's camp.

The camp became much emptier.

Chen Shi'an and the other successful candidates gathered together, waiting for the Demon Hunting Team's next instructions.

Ye Xicheng rose and strode over to them.

His deep, dark eyes slowly swept over everyone. "Very good. To think so many of you passed the first round.

"Unfortunately, the Demon Hunting Team doesn't need this many recruits. Another forty-eight of you must be eliminated. Only those remaining will qualify to join."

Everyone's expression changed at his words.

Those who had barely scraped through looked especially angry.

After the first round, they had already realized that their strength placed them near the bottom of the group.

If another forty-eight people had to be eliminated, their chances of being among them were extremely high.

Someone therefore voiced their displeasure:

"Didn't the notice make it perfectly clear? As long as we had a recommendation and could lift a four-hundred-jin stone, we could join the Demon Hunting Team!"

"How can the mighty Demon Hunting Team break its word and go back on its promises?"

"If word of this gets out, how will the Demon Hunting Team have any face left?"

Facing their objections, Ye Xicheng curled his lips upward. "The notice posted on the city wall is just a scrap of wastepaper. My words carry ten thousand times more weight.

"As far as the Demon Hunting Team is concerned, we earn our honor with the blades in our hands. Other people's mouths have nothing to do with it.

"If you're unhappy, you're perfectly free to leave."

At this point, his voice turned noticeably colder. "If you don't want to leave, then shut your mouths! If anyone keeps squawking, I'll cut out their tongue!"

Everyone instantly fell silent. No one dared utter another word, and no one chose to leave.

Ye Xicheng raised his voice. "For the second round, you'll run laps around the Martial Practice Grounds for half an hour."

"Anyone who fails to complete ten laps within that time will be eliminated immediately."

Chen Shi'an estimated that the perimeter of the Martial Practice Grounds was roughly a thousand meters.

Ten laps meant ten thousand meters.

Running ten thousand meters in an hour was a standard that professional athletes in his previous life could achieve with some effort.

For the people present, this assessment posed little difficulty.

That meant ten laps in half an hour was merely the appetizer.

At Ye Xicheng's command, the one hundred and fifty-eight candidates immediately began running around the Martial Practice Grounds.

Chen Shi'an's prediction proved correct.

After only two quarter-hours, someone had already completed ten laps.

It was Song Yuming.

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The watching Martial Academy disciples naturally burst into cheers, brimming with excitement.

Song Yuming walked to the center of the Martial Practice Grounds and stood proudly with his chin raised and his hands behind his back, savoring the cheers and the other candidates' looks of envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Meanwhile, Chen Shi'an calculated his time and pace, hanging back near the rear of the group and running with his head down, neither too fast nor too slowly.

Naturally, this earned him another round of mockery from the Martial Academy disciples.

Time slowly passed, and more and more people completed their ten laps.

Toward the end, with only half a quarter-hour remaining, fourteen people had yet to finish.

Chen Shi'an was among them.

All fourteen were panting, their footsteps heavy.

Chen Shi'an ran in the middle of this group, planning to hold out until the final moment before finishing.

At the same time, he noticed someone among his fellow runners.

The man was of medium build, with dark skin and a crudely stitched bear hide garment.

There was a reason he caught Chen Shi'an's attention.

He had been running ahead of Chen Shi'an the whole time, his footsteps heavy and his breath labored.

Yet every stride covered almost exactly the same distance, as though measured with a ruler.

Moreover, Chen Shi'an remembered that this man had also needed a second attempt to lift the four-hundred-jin stone in the first round.

Quite possibly-very likely, in fact-he and Chen Shi'an were birds of a feather.

Both were hiding their strength, playing the pig to devour the tiger.

Chen Shi'an silently committed the man's appearance to memory, adding an emphatic mental note: Dangerous character. Exercise extreme caution!

The half hour finally ended.

Chen Shi'an passed the assessment almost exactly at the deadline.

A performance had to be carried through to the end. After finishing, his face was covered in excited, joyful smiles.

Seeing him like that, the Martial Academy disciples couldn't even be bothered to mock him, afraid it would lower their own standing.

Fang Ruyu stood with the other Martial Academy disciples, her gaze moving back and forth between Song Yuming and Chen Shi'an, her expression unreadable.

Of the one hundred and fifty-eight candidates, only three failed and were escorted off the Martial Practice Grounds.

But before those who had barely passed the second round could catch their breath, Ye Xicheng spoke coldly:

"Keep running around the Martial Practice Grounds. Every sixty breaths, whoever is at the back will be eliminated immediately!"

"Ye Xicheng, @&%%@!"

One candidate who had only just stopped involuntarily burst out cursing.

Before he could finish, a nearby Demon Hunting Team man strode forward and knocked him to the ground with one punch, then carried him off the Martial Practice Grounds like a little chick.

The others froze for a moment, then sprang up and raced around the Martial Practice Grounds, scrambling to get ahead.

This time, everyone ran noticeably faster. No one wanted to fall behind.

Sixty breaths passed quickly.

A woman running at the very back was the first to be eliminated. She was led off the Martial Practice Grounds, her face downcast.

Time flew by.

Every sixty breaths, another person was eliminated.

Soon, the dozen or so candidates who had finished at the rear in the second round were eliminated one after another.

There were only two exceptions: Chen Shi'an and the young man wearing bear hide.

This time, they made the same choice. Instead of continuing to trail at the rear, they ran in the middle of the group.

Both ran with their faces contorted, looking as though they were mustering every last ounce of strength.

Their choice was undoubtedly correct.

At the rear of the group, candidates facing imminent elimination grew desperate and actually attacked the people ahead of them.

By knocking someone else down, they escaped elimination themselves.

Neither Ye Xicheng nor the Demon Hunting Team men nearby gave any response, tacitly permitting such behavior.

And so, while those at the front ran for all they were worth, those at the back periodically erupted into brawls.

Running in the middle spared Chen Shi'an the fighting, but it also attracted the attention of certain watchful people.

Ye Xicheng and Fu Qingyang, for instance, already suspected that Chen Shi'an was hiding his strength.

The Martial Academy disciples, too, had kept some of their attention on Chen Shi'an throughout.

Naturally, they were somewhat surprised to see that Chen Shi'an still hadn't been eliminated.

However, blinded by prejudice and shortsightedness, they felt that even if Chen Shi'an had concealed a little strength, he was still a hundred and eight thousand miles behind Song Yuming, who currently led the pack by a vast margin. He wasn't worth mentioning.

By now, Fang Ruyu's gaze no longer remained fixed on Chen Shi'an. From time to time, she looked toward Song Yuming.

When only one hundred and ten people remained, Ye Xicheng loudly called a halt, ending the third round.

Smiling, Ye Xicheng swept his gaze over them one by one. "Everyone, congratulations on passing the assessment and successfully becoming members of the Demon Hunting Team."

Hearing this, all one hundred and ten candidates stopped and released long sighs of relief, their faces lighting up with joy.

Ye Xicheng's gaze moved across them before finally settling on Chen Shi'an. "Except you. You can only stay in the Demon Hunting Team if you win a Squad Leader position."

Everyone immediately turned to Chen Shi'an, confusion written on their faces.

Chen Shi'an's performance in the first three rounds had been unremarkable. It could even be called abysmal.

Why would Ye Xicheng single out someone like him and hold him to a higher standard?

Chen Shi'an had done his utmost to keep a low profile so that fewer people would pay attention to him.

With this sudden move, Ye Xicheng had rendered all his earlier acting useless.

At that moment, everyone present, including the senior figures on the Reviewing Platform, focused their attention on him.

Naturally, Chen Shi'an instinctively offered Ye Xicheng and his family some heartfelt greetings deep in his heart.

Seeing Chen Shi'an singled out, Song Yuming actually felt a little jealous, even though it wasn't for anything good. He shot a meaningful glance at the sturdily built male Martial Academy disciple beside him.

The sturdy disciple immediately cleared his throat and asked loudly:

"Commander Ye, why is Chen Shi'an being treated differently from us?"

Ye Xicheng curled his lips upward. "If you'd like the same treatment, I can oblige!"

The sturdy disciple froze and didn't dare say another word.

Ye Xicheng continued, "The Demon Hunting Team is recruiting one hundred and ten people this time.

"To make management easier, I'll select eleven Squad Leaders from among you.

"Make the most of your time to rest. In a quarter-hour, we'll proceed with the Squad Leader selection."

Ecstatic expressions appeared on everyone's faces.

They had a chance to snag an official position without even earning military merit.

An opportunity this good came once in a thousand years.

Though both held the rank of squad leader, a squad leader in the City Guard Battalion could not be mentioned in the same breath as one in the Demon Hunting Team.

Whether in status or strength, a squad leader in the Demon Hunting Team stood overwhelmingly above the other and commanded greater respect wherever they went.

Thus, the one hundred and ten prospective members of the Demon Hunting Team hurriedly sat cross-legged, seizing every moment to recover their strength. They all wanted to contend for the squad leader position in peak condition.

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