Chapter 45: End

Surviving In A Martial Arts World To Become A Saint

The second round of the martial examination ended, and examinees filed out.

Some were joyful, others worried. Everyone already had a scale in their hearts regarding strength and performance.

Chen Qing, Luo Qian, Zheng Ziqiao and others hurried back to Zhou's courtyard.

The moment they stepped through the gate, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere hit them in the face, as if the air had solidified.

"Where is Junior Brother Qin?"

Luo Qian frowned deeply, the first to ask, her gaze sweeping over everyone in the courtyard, "How is he now?"

Not just Luo Qian, the other disciples who had just returned from the martial examination all cast inquiring looks.

Qi Wenhan's expression was grave as he shook his head, "Junior Brother Qin... encountered Gao Sheng from Pine Breeze Martial Hall in the first round and was severely injured. He remains unconscious. Junior Sister Zhou is watching over him, and Master has invited Doctor Fu from Renhe Hall and Doctor Tang from Jiuhua Hall... several famous physicians are all inside."

"What!?"

All the disciples in the courtyard gasped, especially the newly enrolled ones who were utterly astounded.

Who was Qin Lie? He was currently Zhou's courtyard's most brilliant genius, Master Zhou Liang's final disciple, the successor in whom he had invested his heart and soul.

Having entered the hidden strength realm in less than a year, his future was limitless.

Such a figure had actually been so severely injured in the martial examination arena?

Defeated, and miserably so.

This meant his martial examination evaluation would inevitably be extremely low, virtually announcing his hopes for official recognition were dashed.

More heart-wrenching was that with such severe injuries, how could he recover in the short term? Would his opportunity to break through to transforming strength be lost forever?

A new disciple couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Then... what's this Gao Sheng's background?"

To be able to cripple Qin Lie, what kind of person must he be?

This was truly too unexpected!

Qi Wenhan sighed deeply, "This person is also a genius. He's only been practicing martial arts for about a year, and now he's reached hidden strength perfection. He's been training hard at Pine Breeze Martial Hall all along, suppressed by their system, so his reputation wasn't prominent."

Sun Shun pondered for a moment, his tone grave, "Pine Breeze Hall Master Shi Wenshan has deep grievances with Master. This Gao Sheng's natural talent probably surpasses Junior Brother Qin by half a point. His heavy-handed attack this time was definitely not coincidental, he must have been targeting our Zhou's courtyard!"

"Even more formidable than Senior Brother Qin?"

"This... how is this possible?"

"Senior Brother Qin truly met with undeserved disaster!"

"Why did he have to encounter someone from Pine Breeze Hall..."

"The feud between Shi Wenshan and Master, this time..."

...

The disciples whispered among themselves, discussing in amazement while growing more worried.

There's always a higher mountain, genius upon genius.

Chen Qing's brow was deeply furrowed, his thoughts racing.

Gao Sheng's actions had indeed saved him trouble.

However, was this matter truly such a coincidence? How did Gao Sheng's lot drawing happen to match him against Qin Lie? Others might consider it luck, but Chen Qing caught a whiff of something different.

In previous years, the martial examination was presided over by the military commander, but this year it was changed to the county magistrate.

And this county magistrate had close dealings with the Zhu and Luo families among the five major families...

"It seems the military commander's big tree attracts too much wind. Qin Lie... ultimately couldn't withstand this storm."

In a flash, Chen Qing had an even deeper thought: what if this Gao Sheng was coming for him?

At this thought, alarms rang in Chen Qing's mind.

Although he had now entered hidden strength and his through-arm boxing had reached great achievement, the higher he climbed, the more eyes watched from the shadows.

One wrong step would mean being crushed to pieces, becoming someone else's stepping stone.

"Accumulating strength cannot be delayed. Trump cards... must be kept in reserve. Stay steady, must stay steady!"

Chen Qing warned himself internally. He absolutely would not allow himself to follow Qin Lie's path.

Luo Qian's expression shifted uncertainly as she pressed her lips together in silence.

Zhou's courtyard disciples showed various expressions, some gloating, others sighing and shaking their heads, hearts unsettled.

Zheng Ziqiao, who had been coldly observing from the side, now crossed his arms, his lips unable to suppress an upward twitch as he tried to squeeze out some sympathy, yet the satisfaction deep in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

If he weren't in the courtyard, he would almost laugh out loud.

This peasant Qin Lie had made him lose all face, and now finally got his comeuppance!

"Junior Brother Zheng..." Sun Shun frowned, wanting to speak but stopping.

Zheng Ziqiao's gaze swept toward the back courtyard, his voice carrying a barely detectable note of schadenfreude, "Junior Brother Qin, as Master's final disciple, blocking punches and suffering for Master is only natural. Losing to Gao Sheng ultimately just means his skills were inferior."

He paused, his tone continuing with feigned "worry," "Master must be extremely angry this time. So much effort and heart's blood, all... hehe. Our future days probably won't be easy."

These words were like a huge stone thrown into stagnant water, instantly stirring up deeper panic and whispering among the disciples.

Just then, Zhou Liang's figure appeared at the doorway leading to the back courtyard.

The disciples scattered like startled birds, hurriedly lowering their heads to pretend practice, not daring to breathe loudly.

Zhou Liang forced an extremely strained smile onto his face, "The martial examination... is over?"

"Yes." Chen Qing and the others replied in low voices.

"Good, good... the results still need time to be announced. Just wait patiently."

Zhou Liang nodded slightly. He seemed to want to say something but ultimately only let out a deep sigh, turning and disappearing back into the rear courtyard.

In just these few days, he seemed to have aged ten years, his steps carrying an indescribable weariness and dejection.

Having his most promising disciple suffer such a devastating blow, especially at the hands of his mortal enemy, was too great a shock.

Soon, heated arguing could faintly be heard from the back courtyard, the voices of Zhou Liang and his wife.

The argument centered on Zhou Liang's insistence on bringing the severely injured Qin Lie to the back courtyard for careful care.

The disciples in the courtyard went through the motions of practicing their forms, the atmosphere even more oppressive than usual.

Chen Qing silently collected his thoughts, found an empty space, sank his waist into horse stance, and began moving his fists and feet again.

His mind was focused on one single thought: break through to transforming strength as quickly as possible! Only with greater power could he truly stand firm in these storms.

...

After the martial examination, the atmosphere in Zhou's courtyard completely changed.

Although Qin Lie had awakened, he seemed like a different person.

His face was gloomy, he rarely spoke, unwilling to say much to anyone, his eyes containing only cold resentment.

Luo Qian hadn't appeared for several consecutive days and hadn't visited Qin Lie either, as if she had vanished from the world.

Zheng Ziqiao had become a frequent visitor to the martial hall, often gathering with several followers, his words invariably containing mockery and ridicule of Qin Lie, taking pleasure in this.

Zhou Yu remained gentle and quiet, caring for ordinary disciples injured in practice while taking on the responsibility of looking after Qin Lie.

And Chen Qing became the most special existence in the courtyard. All the disciples' attitudes toward him had undergone earth-shaking changes.

In the first round of examination, Chen Qing had drawn the ten-stone bow, full as the moon with string like thunder, already shocking the entire venue.

His second-round performance was equally outstanding. Passing as a martial scholar was virtually a foregone conclusion.

Martial scholar!

In the eyes of common people, that was truly an important figure.

Even in the eyes of Gaolin County's major family powers, it was enough to become a core strength.

Everything became different.

When Chen Qing entered the inner courtyard, disciples who were practicing would unanimously stop their movements, respectfully call out "Senior Brother Chen," and actively make way for him to have the most spacious position with the best lighting.

When he practiced boxing, someone would always quickly hand him clean water and towels, and even when he needed a water basin, someone would eagerly rush to fetch it.

When you are weak, your reluctance to speak is seen as dullness, your bad temper as low emotional intelligence, your rudeness as poor upbringing.

But when you are powerful, your reluctance to speak becomes depth, your bad temper becomes personality, your informality becomes approachability.

Human nature is like this: when you are strong, you are surrounded by good people.