Chapter 9: Eleven secutive Victories

  “Ah?” The young man who had been watg An Jing crush the petition—nearly cheering “Go harder!” or “Knock that guy ft!”—suddenly froze. He stared in disbelief, pointing at himself. “Beat An Jing?”

  “Me?”

  This young man was one of the three who had pleted the entire mountain run but had not challenged An Jing. His name was g Linzu. He truly was skilled—he had eve some time at the Great Martial Academy and possessed sharp judgment.

  Precisely because of that, he khat two days earlier An Jing had probably just been a bit “tired,” whereas he himself had already been pushing his limits. Their disparity in stamina was difficult to overe.

  A person ought to know their own limits; why make life hard for yourself?

  However, now that the instructor had singled him out, g Linzu’s i iqued. He looked up at the ptform.

  At this moment, An Jing had indeed shown some fatigue after defeating nine oppos in a row.

  Anyway, there was no risk of a serious injury… this truly was a good opportunity!

  “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”

  —Don’t bme me, An Jing. You’re to. If I take advantage of your fatigue just a little, then maybe I’ll have a ce to face you properly.

  With that thought, g Linzu stepped into the petition circle—while the inal tenth challenger had already admitted defeat.

  An Jing turned his head, looking at g Linzu.

  He actually was not tired at all, but after defeating the fifth challenger, he had noticed Instructor Li’s reas.

  He wasn’t stupid. It was easy enough to figure out that this “challenge” enced i by Hanging Fate Manor, as well as all that meat he had beeing, was desigo push the disciples to pete against one another.

  , the manor’s training would bee increasingly strict, and the instructors would ence frequent sparring among the disciples—seleg those who excelled in both skill and strength. By the time they graduated, they would determihe true “Senior Brother.”

  But that hinged on the idea that the “number one” position wasn’t fixed, stirring everyone’s desire to tend for it.

  If he proved too dominant and no ohought they could win, people would lose all motivation. Faced with a pletely uable oppo, they would just give up.

  No wonder Instructor Li was so troubled.

  Still, that was none of An Jing’s .

  He had no iion of losing. At most, he would pretend to get tired so others would think they had a ce—that was enough.

  “Five me!”

  g Linzu chose not to use a on, so An Jing also tossed aside his short staff, apparently agreeing to a test of barehanded bat.

  After the two saluted, the wind seemed to swirl as g Linzu lunged forward, throwing out a solid “on punch.”

  The Great Martial Academy spahe eerritory of Great , and the imperial court used it to recruit talents from all over the nd. Every student who mao enroll would, in time, at least reach the realm of Internal Breath Like Tides, making them formidable guardians of their region.

  g Linzu had not trained long at the Martial Academy before the Frost Camity struck, f him into exile. Even so, his martial skill had been tempered by blood and fire. His fist teique differed from that of the other challengers; it carried a savage energy that roared like thunder and targeted An Jing’s heart.

  An Jing narrowed his eyes. He raised his left hand to parry, meeting g Linzu’s blow head-on. Both of their bodies gave a slight shudder. Then An Jing’s right hand reached out as though to strike, but in truth, his right leg took a step forward, aiming to stomp on his oppo’s foot.

  But g Linzu’s footwork was likewise solid. He twisted his left foot to evade An Jing’s stomp, then hooked his back leg around, making it hard for An Jing to dodge. Shifting his hips for power, g Linzu hurled araight punch at An Jing’s chest.

  An Jing had anticipated this. g Linzu’s punches and footwork were precise—the hallmark of formal training coupled with real-world experience. Even with An Jing’s superior skill, finding an immediate fw the way he had with previous challengers was tough.

  Thus, even before g Linzu unleashed his punch, An Jing’s right hand—which was already extended—lurched forward, smming into g Linzu’s right shoulder.

  This exge of blows fell outside g Linzu’s usual experience. His right shoulder took the hit, causing his strength to drop sharply, and his fist lost accurading only on An Jing’s left shoulder. The sensation under his knuckles was like striking a sack of hide packed with hard gravel.

  They eaded orike. Both stepped back, appearing evenly matched—but only a few onlookers could dis who held the advantage.

  —This is bad!

  Realizing he had missed his ce, g Linzu abruptly crouched and rolled. Sure enough, An Jing darted forward in pursuit, and his knee swipe hit empty air.

  Seizing this moment, g Linzu threw himself sideways, only to be met by a horizontal elbow strike from An Jing’s left arm. He was forced to bloce more, body momentarily immobilized in pce.

  This time, g Linzu was at a disadvantage. He had po retreat a step to avoid An Jing’s follow-up, but An Jing had already twisted sideways to bump into him.

  g Linzu tried to lift his leg froin kick to for Jing back, but An Jing had already stepped on his other foot, upsetting g Linzu’s ba the same time, An Jing leaned in with a forceful shoulder sm, driving the air out of g Linzu’s lungs and nearly causing him to bck out.

  “I yield!”

  Unsteady on his feet, g Linzu finally plopped straight down. An Jing did not pursue. g Linzu, having nothing more to lose, simply y there, shouting to the sky with a roguish grin, “Brothers and sisters, if anyone’s been hiding their strength, hurry up and step forward! If you want to beat Big Bro An, I’m afraid today’s your only ce!”

  An Jing panted slightly and then smiled, sweeping his gaze around at everyone present.

  But no one moved. Regardless of how many silent cues Instructor Li gave with his eyes, no one was willing to step forward anymore.

  From start to finish, the eleven secutive challeook less thaime of one and a half ke. By the end, An Jing had secured his pce as Senior Brother with overwhelming domihe challee was set for ten days ter.

  But everyone khat even ten days ter, no one would try to challenge An Jing—unless someone experienced some absurdly miraculous breakthrough. Otherwise, nobody would risk the humiliation.

  “Ugh. Alright, alright, An Jing wins!”

  Instructor Li announced An Jing’s victory in a thhly uhusiastie. Then, amid the cheers of Gu Yeqi, Zhang Ying, and the others, he said sourly, “Time for training!”

  He put this group of young people through their paces until they were g for mercy. Even An Jing, who ecifically targeted by extra sets of deep squat horse-stance drills, ended up with quivering legs. Only then did Instructor Li head back to the ter of Hanging Fate Manor, the Medie Pavilion.

  “Deputy Medie Envoy.”

  Instructor Li greeted the elderly man on the fifth floor of the Medie Pavilion, who had been watg the e of challenges from above. “An Jing is ihe top talent this time around, but I never expected him to be s. The others aren’t even willing to challenge him.”

  “If first pce is set in stone, what do we do?”

  “‘Set in stone?’” The old man turned and regarded Instructor Li as though looking at a fool. “If first pce is fixed, thehe sed and third pces have access to meat as well. Let those little runts fight for sed and third, problem solved.”

  “If that’s still not enough, make it the top five—give them extra rations.”

  “Are we so strapped we ’t spare a few hunks of meat?”

  After scolding Instructor Li, the Deputy Medie Envoy turned his gaze back to the training grounds with evident i. “But ihese disciples are quite promising—an ued delight.”

  He mulled it over for a moment, then nodded. “Let’s begin early, then. Elimihose among them whose stamina is too poor, and use the saved resources on the rest.”

  “It’s about time for them to bee truly addicted to ‘eati.’”

  (End of Chapter)