Chapter Sixteen: The Martial Arts Competition Begins

  May 1st

  Early morning.

  Longmen Mountain, Chaoyang Peak.

  On the bluestone square, a stone platform with a diameter of about 20 meters was set up. Around the platform, more than 200 young men and women gathered, some were 18 or 19 years old, while others were 13 or 14 years old.

  It is the Dragon Gate Escort House's current generation of disciples who are about to set out on their own.

  When they first started, they were all 8 or 9 years old children, or 13 or 14 years old boys and girls. Now each of them has matured a lot.

  Zhang Yang, Zhang Tie and Li Qingyu were also among them.

  Shi Tai is used for graduation assessment, which is also known as martial arts competition.

  On one side of the stone platform, there is a wooden stage made of red wood, on which are placed high-quality red wood chairs.

  On the red wood chair sat a high-ranking official of the Dragon Gate Agency.

  The master of the sect, Shang Guan Hong, sat in the central position, with Wang Da Zongguan sitting beside him. There were also four middle-aged men who were Shang Guan Hong's confidants, three deputy commanders and the head of the law enforcement hall.

  Behind the six people stood some members of the Longmen Escort Agency. Those who were qualified to appear here were all close relatives of these high-ranking officials.

  Shangguan Hong gave Wang Zongguan a look, and Wang Zongguan immediately understood and nodded. He stood up, tapped his foot on the wooden platform, spread his arms, and flew towards the stone platform like a large goose.

  Although the wooden platform and stone platform were separated by five or six meters, Wang Zongguan crossed the obstacles between them in the blink of an eye, revealing a not-so-ordinary lightness skill. It made the crowd of disciples who were no longer novices in martial arts look on with dizzying admiration.

  Zhang Yang looked down and saw clearly that this was a light skill called "Golden Goose Skill", which could be learned in the Martial Arts Hall. It is said that after practicing to the point of enlightenment, one can freely borrow power in the air, like a wild goose soaring through the sky.

  In Zhang Yang's view, this should be somewhat exaggerated, and using lightness skill also requires internal energy support. If the internal energy can't keep up, even if you fly to the sky, you'll still fall down!

  In the end, it's just a lump of flesh.

  "Today is the day to test whether you have achieved anything. The drawing lots and martial arts competition, the first prize is one hundred taels of gold, the second and third prizes are fifty taels of gold, and the fourth to tenth prizes are ten taels of gold."

  Wang Zongguan smiled and said calmly:

  "Start drawing!"

  In front of the stone pedestal, a wooden table had already been set up, with bamboo skewers neatly arranged on top.

  As soon as Wang Zongguan's voice fell, more than 200 disciples came forward one by one in a very orderly manner and picked up a bamboo stick.

  Zhang Yang turned over the bamboo slip he had picked up, and it was No. 36.

  Of course, on the bamboo slips there are no Arabic numerals, but two Chinese characters. In this world, I'm afraid there were no Arabic numerals yet.

  Zhang Tie drew No. 142 and Li Qingyu drew No. 12.

  Before the assessment, they had already heard about the assessment and its rules. This time, there were 264 disciples in total, and it was a knockout system.

  No. 1 and No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4.

  The winner of the two then proceeds to the next match, and so on.

  The conditions for winning are also simple: either knock the opponent off the stage, or make the opponent lose the ability to resist, or the opponent admits defeat.

  It's inevitable that unexpected things happen during martial arts competitions, but no weapons are used, only bare hands.

  If you kill your opponent, it is a major taboo of the school, and you will be expelled from the Dragon Gate Security Bureau with your martial arts abolished.

  The people who drew No. 1 and No. 2 were somewhat unexpected for Zhang Yang.

  Bian Yunsheng, from Qingshi County, whose family runs a tailor shop, drew No. 1.

  Five years have passed, and the clever boy Bian Yunsheng from back then has grown a lot taller, with eyes that still sparkle with vitality, but his eyebrows now hold a few more hints of maturity and stability.

  The one who drew No. 2 was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy with a slightly chubby build.

  The two men stepped onto the stone platform and each made a fist and bowed, then began their contest.

  A slightly chubby young man took the lead, raising his fist to punch Bo Yunsheng. Although he was a bit chubby, his movements were not weak at all. With one punch, he brought up a whirring gust of wind.

  Bai Yunsheng did not choose to parry, but instead dodged nimbly.

  A slightly chubby young man rotated his fist and struck at Bian Yunsheng, who dodged with a quick misstep.

  Thus, two young men on the stone stage, one chasing and one escaping, started a chase.

  Bai Yunsheng was just dodging and hiding, apparently wanting to exhaust his opponent's strength before counterattacking.

  The slightly chubby boy wasn't stupid either, but every time he tried to catch his breath, this agile opponent would turn around and sneak up on him with a few punches, leaving him helpless.

  Both of them have been cultivating their inner strength for several years, and Bian Yunsheng's fists are not to be underestimated!

  After a fragrant time, under the physical strength of the slightly fat boy, Bian Yunsheng knocked him down with one punch and won the victory.

  The first victory made Bian Yunsheng somewhat complacent as he stepped down from the stone platform. To say that he won, was largely due to Zhang Yang's influence. In those years, Zhang Yang's ghostly figure outside the Yi Yue Tower had left a deep impression on him, so after practicing martial arts, he leaned heavily towards lightness skills.

  Thinking of this, Bian Yunsheng glanced at Zhang Yang in the crowd, wondering what level his martial arts had progressed to after five years.

  He is no longer a novice who doesn't understand martial arts. Now, he is still far from Zhang Yang's skills five years ago.

  Shangguan Hong, sitting at the top of the wooden stage, watched as Bian Yunsheng emerged victorious, nodding his head slightly and saying in a light tone, "This young man is quite clever, not bad."

  Director Wang, who had returned to his wooden chair, nodded in agreement and secretly took note of the young man named Bian Yunsheng.

  Today is not just a test for this generation of disciples, but also has the meaning of examination, to decide where these disciples will go afterwards.

  The first five matches were nothing special, all of them were disciples with a few years of foundation and firework, everyone was practicing martial arts before, without much emphasis on fists and feet, now that the competition has started, it's completely about adaptability.

  The sixth round of trials was similarly uneventful, but the ones who appeared were a youth who drew number 11 and Li Qingyu who drew number 12.

  Li Qingyu did not reveal his innate mastery of martial arts, but instead conceded defeat after exchanging a dozen or so moves with the young man.

  The young man scratched his head in embarrassment and looked at Li Qingyu with a few points of admiration that belonged to his age.

  After several rounds of competition, it was soon Zhang Yang's turn, who had drawn No. 36.

  The young man who drew No. 35, Zhang Yang didn't know him personally, but they had all lived on the same mountain for five years and had more or less met before, so he looked a bit familiar.

  After a brief handshake, Zhang Yang didn't hold back either. With a sudden burst of energy, he pushed off the stone pedestal with his foot and pounced forward like a fierce tiger pouncing on its prey.

  He didn't show off his Wind Chasing Steps in public, also afraid that people like Shangguan Hong would recognize this lightness skill and associate it with the Divine Thief Sect and Situ Feng.

  Even so, his figure was extremely fast, almost in the blink of an eye he pounced to the front of his opponent, one punch out, bringing a fierce gust of wind, showing off internal skills that were different from those of ordinary boys.

  The young man who was fighting Zhang Yang's opponent changed color and dodged to the side, although he was blown by the fist wind, but still barely avoided it.

  Zhang Yang changed his fist into a palm and slapped it on the chest of the young man who was dodging sideways.

  Under one palm, the young man was injured and fell to the ground, his face darkened in defeat.

  This is actually the first time someone has won so cleanly after the opening, and Zhang Yang's internal strength has already caught the attention of Gao Xiang and others, which is not comparable to that of ordinary disciples.

  He naturally thought of more than ten years ago when Zhang Rang'er returned home, he had asked him for a copy of Xuan Yuan Gong to give to his younger brother.

  Seeing his younger brother's remarkable achievements, far surpassing those of his peers, enough to be called a genius, Upper Official Hong also nodded slightly in approval.

  To know that many people's homes are not lacking in internal skills and methods, it is entirely up to each individual whether they can cultivate internal energy at a young age.

  At the age of fifteen, he can cultivate internal power for over a decade without relying on external forces, that's a genius!

  Shangguan Hong was still familiar with his younger brother's family situation and naturally couldn't rely on external forces.

  Zhang Yang smiled and stepped down from the stone platform. Although he didn't reveal his innate cultivation, he was prepared to show some of his genius, so as to gain the attention of Shangguan Hong. His words would also carry more weight, benefiting him in all aspects.

  Long before the assessment, he had already planned these out, and it was Zhang Tie and Li Qingyu who chose to keep a low profile.

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