Insolence

The two gong-beaters had a falling out, and the news quickly spread throughout the entire Nightwatchers's office on their way to the drill ground.

The silver and bronze gong players called their friends to come and eat melons, and flocked to the drill ground behind the yamen.

"Have you heard? Apparently, it was all because of a gong."

"How could that be? A mere bronze gong could cause two golden gong masters to make such a fuss."

"You know what, it's true. A lot of people saw it. This morning, Lao Tao went to Li Yuchun to demand his person back, but he wasn't given the job, and they had a huge argument. Then they each went to Jinluo."

The Nightwatchers gathered together, asking those in the know what was going on. They discussed it animatedly, and when they learned it was all about a bronze gong, everyone was astonished.

A bronze gong is equivalent to a local police officer, while a gold gong represents a much higher status; the two are worlds apart.

This reason is truly unbelievable, and curious people have been trying to find out the reason everywhere, but no one knows the inside story.

I feel like I've become a femme fatale. Xu Qi'an had nowhere to vent his frustrations.

Having just met Jiang Luzhong in person, Xu Qi'an roughly pieced together what had happened.

When the Earl of Pingyuan was killed, this Jinluo had met him once. It is likely that he saw that the Earl of Pingyuan had a close relationship with the Warlock of the Bureau of Astronomy and took a liking to his talent, wanting to recruit him into his ranks.

Yang Yan disagreed, most likely because of his own superior aptitude, a mentality similar to how various schools competed for top students in his previous life.

Li Yuchun told him that Duke Wei had generously given him a top-notch evaluation.

Mr. Wei's generosity is purely because of my poem. This is an added bonus of empathy. I'm bearing pressure that I shouldn't have to bear with my qualifications. Xu Qi'an has the excited look of a green tea bitch, just hoping that the two of them will have a fight soon.

A fight between high-ranking martial artists is a rare occurrence.

As for who would ultimately win the position, he didn't care too much. Although he was reluctant to part with Chun Ge, Song Tingfeng, and Zhu Guangxiao, he was just an ordinary nobody, and personnel transfers were decided by the organization; his objections were futile.

In a pavilion near the training ground, several gong players watched all this from the window.

What's the deal between Yang Yan and Jiang Luzhong?

"Jiang Luzhong wanted one of Yang Yan's gongs, but Yang Yan disagreed, and they had a conflict."

"Yang Yan and Jiang Luzhong have no history of conflict, so it's probably not just an excuse to settle old scores. It means there's something wrong with that gong?"

"His name seems to be Xu Qi'an."

"The name sounds familiar, like the tax evasion case? But that's not enough to warrant a major commotion."

"I don't know. Let's watch the show first and ask Duke Wei later."

After the two men entered, they took off their capes and got right to work without any hesitation.

Xu Qi'an only heard a loud "boom" as the ground collapsed several inches, and Jiang Luzhong disappeared from everyone's sight.

The next moment, Yang Yan raised his elbow and struck an empty spot on his left.

Bang!

Clashing with a pair of fists.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The two men's hands and feet blurred into afterimages, and the sounds of flesh colliding were incessant.

It was too fast, too fast for the naked eye to follow. Xu Qi'an stared wide-eyed, trying to observe, but the fight between the two high-level martial artists was already beyond the limits of his vision.

They exchanged more than a dozen blows quickly before the sound of slapping rang in their ears a few seconds later.

Dozens of times per second? Xu Qi'an was stunned.

If we compare the human eye to a camera, the battle between these two highly skilled martial artists has already exceeded the limits of what can be captured on camera.

Xu Qi'an, whose physics grades were fairly good, immediately noticed a problem.

Don't these two have any recovery animation after casting their skills?

The movements are too fluid, but the forces involved are mutual. Why is there no reaction force when two powerful forces collide violently?

Is the fact that my movements were completely fluid, beyond the reach of my naked eye, or is it a unique ability possessed only by high-level martial artists?

If it's the latter, then what rank of martial artist possesses this exclusive ability? It must be rank seven or higher, because rank seven is about refining the spirit, which is a tempering of the mind.

Furthermore, when the two gong-wielding men fought, their energy was restrained and contained. This is easy to understand; if they were to go all out, they could raze the entire Nightwatchers's office to the ground.

"It's just for fun, don't take it so seriously." Song Tingfeng patted Xu Qi'an on the shoulder:

"The battles between the Golden Roosters are rare, occurring only a few times a year."

Xu Qi'an asked, "Who do you think will win?"

Song Tingfeng laughed, "In a pure contest of physical strength and power, the difference between the Golden Roosters is not significant, so every time a Golden Rooster fights against a fake, it ends in a draw."

As for why they only fight with strength and physical strength, the reason is simple: fighting is not about life or death.

The fight lasted for more than an hour. Groups of night Nightwatchers and clerks from the yamen came and went. Some went to have lunch and never came back. Others came to check on things for a while after lunch, then went back to work. After finishing their work, they would come back to check on things for a while.

In the martial arts system, the characteristic of the ninth-grade Essence Refining Realm is physical strength, which is said to be inexhaustible. Although there is an exaggeration, it is enough to show how terrifying the physical strength of a martial artist is.

The courtesan wholeheartedly agreed with this.

After finishing lunch, Xu Qi'an stopped coming to watch the game. As a junior police officer, he had to patrol the streets with his colleagues.

After the two Jinluo finished their fight, they went to Haoqi Tower in silence.

Standing in the observation hall, Wei Yuan patiently watched the entire process. After the two ascended the stairs, he commented, "Yang Yan still needs to continue honing his physique. Otherwise, in ten years, his Qi and Blood will decline, and he will never have a chance to reach the third rank. Don't just focus on honing your spear intent."

Yang Yan nodded silently.

"Lu Zhong is overly concerned with his own Qi and Blood and wants to maintain his peak physique, but what you should really do is integrate sword intent into your fists and feet, which will greatly increase your combat power."

Jiang Luzhong sighed, "Judging from what Duke Wei is saying, I have no hope of reaching the third rank?"

Wei Yuan laughed and said, "The third rank is no longer the realm of ordinary people; it relies on fortuitous opportunity, not hard work. Our Prince Zhenbei fought on the battlefield for ten years, teetering on the brink of death dozens of times, surviving against all odds. You are all still lacking in that level."

The powerful eunuch, who was physically weak but commanded the complete respect of his subordinates, continued, "Since the battle is evenly matched, let's not discuss personnel changes."

Jiang Luzhong nodded regretfully and said, "But I have a question for you."

Wei Yuan nodded.

Jiang Luzhong asked, "What's so special about Xu Qi'an, the gong? Why does Yang Jinlu value him so much and refuse to part with him?"

Yang Yan's attitude was very unusual. If it were just an ordinary bronze gong, given the respect and friendship between gold gongs, he would usually not refuse.

He valued Xu Qi'an's ability to solve cases and his connections within the Bureau of Astronomy, but these were things that the martial arts fanatic Yang Yan never cared about.

After Jiang Luzhong finished speaking, he saw Nangong Qianrou curl her lips, looking somewhat disdainful, but more than that, she was unconvinced.

Sure enough, the gong named Xu Qi'an had an even bigger secret, a secret that Wei Yuan, Yang Yan, and Nangong Qianrou all knew.

"It's nothing serious," Wei Yuan said, taking a sip of tea and pushing a household register on the table to the side. "I knew you were going to ask, so I prepared this. Take a look for yourself."

Jiang Luzhong clasped his hands in a fist salute, reached out and opened the household registration book, where he saw the rating written in red cinnabar:

A on!

He stared at the two large, bright red characters for a long time without speaking. After a few seconds, he fixed his gaze intently on Yang Yan: "Fight again, and I'll take this guy."

Given the level of knowledge and insight that Duke Wei possessed, he would never have made such a claim without a clear purpose.

This means that Xu Qi'an is destined for greatness, at the very least reaching the rank of Jinlu (a high-ranking official) like himself.

We must seize this talent.

Yang Yan ignored him completely.

"Duke Wei!" Jiang Luzhong rubbed the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, Qi Ingestion. "You can't show favoritism just because Yang Yan is your adopted son."

Wei Yuan did not answer.

Jiang Luzhong shouted, "If you don't give it to me, I'll spread this around and see if Yang Yan can withstand the other Jinluo."

Wei Yuan frowned. "Insolence."