Chapter 14: Assessment (Part 1)

The sky was bright.

Within the courtyard of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, various noisy sounds erupted everywhere.

Here at the woodshed, although it was remote, one could still hear the clamor from near and far.

Duan Rong, Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong stood in the courtyard, when suddenly they saw two figures walk in from the entrance.

Walking in front was an old man with graying hair and a broad build; his age was impossible to tell, and judging by his hair and the knife-carved wrinkles on his face, he must be quite old, yet his spine was straight and his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, showing none of the twilight spirit of an old man.

It was just that when he walked, he stepped on his right tiptoe, his gait uneven; he was a cripple.

Zhao Mu walked behind this old man, nodding and bowing while saying something.

Duan Rong, Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong all looked at this cripple with reverent eyes.

All four knew who was presiding over the assessment, so they immediately understood the identity of this cripple.

The Chief Instructor of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, Xiao Zongting.

Although Xiao Zongting also came from a poor background, he was a martial arts prodigy.

At the Yuanshun Escort Agency, he had once risen from an Escort to the Chief Leader; he was sworn brothers with the Old Shopkeeper of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, who was the father of the current Head Manager.

It was just that during a great battle seventeen years ago, although he and the Old Shopkeeper fought their way out of the encirclement, the Old Shopkeeper died of his severe wounds a few months later.

Xiao Zongting did manage to save his life, but his martial arts were ruined, so he retired to the second line and became the Chief Instructor within the Escort Agency.

Although he was the Chief Instructor, the current Head Manager, Ruan Fengshan, had always treated Xiao Zongting with the etiquette of a junior.

He would personally pay his respects during the New Year and festivals, and whenever there was a major event in the Escort Agency, he would often ask for his opinion.

Therefore, everyone in the Escort Agency, partly out of admiration for his heroic deeds and partly out of fear of his influence, both respected and feared him.

Watching Xiao Zongting walk over with his hands behind his back, limping, Duan Rong actually began to feel nervous.

It was as if he had returned to the examination hall of the college entrance exam in his past life, about to cross that single-plank bridge called destiny.

Duan Rong took a deep breath to calm his mood.

At first, he had assumed the assessment would involve the Miscellaneous Disciples like them, who had been practicing for three months, fighting a match, with the winner staying and the loser being eliminated.

However, after this period of time, having digested his understanding of the Entry Level Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber, he had changed his view.

In these last few days, he had secretly watched Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and the others practicing their routines; originally, he just felt their movements didn't feel right, but gradually he could see them with increasing precision, almost knowing their main problems at a single glance.

Sometimes he even felt an itch to practice and could barely resist wanting to help them correct their form.

Fortunately, he restrained this habit of being fond of teaching others that he had brought from his past life.

However, this also made him understand one thing: as the saying goes, once an expert makes a move, one knows if they have the goods.

He had only grasped the Entry Level realm of martial arts and could already see the problems; the Chief Instructor Xiao Zongting was a man who had once been a Chief Leader, so with their meager skills, he would likely see through their depth at a glance—would they even need to spar?

The two did not walk fast; Xiao Zongting limped, so he naturally could not walk fast, and Zhao Mu, who usually walked with his head held high and strides wide, now had to take small, quick steps to follow behind Xiao Zongting.

Xiao Zongting stopped half a zhang in front of them and said, "Perform a set of routines for me to see."

Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong were slightly stunned; only Duan Rong, who seemed to have anticipated that there would be no sparring, had already walked toward the weapon rack in the corner.

"What are you still standing there for? The assessment has already begun! Perform the routines! Can't you understand?" Zhao Mu stood behind Xiao Zongting and roared at Kong Bin and the others.

The muscles on Kong Bin's face twitched, and he followed behind Duan Rong toward the weapon rack.

The group pulled out practice sabers from the weapon rack, returned to stand before Xiao Zongting, and began to perform their routines.

Xiao Zongting limped over to the group, walked past Li Chong and Zhang Zheng with an expressionless face, and said without even lifting his eyelids: "Flowery movements, dead routines! Is this practicing martial arts? Isn't this just performing monkey tricks on the street?"

These words were not only scolding Li Chong and Zhang Zheng, but also Zhao Mu, who was following behind him.

Zhao Mu's face twitched, and he glared at Li Chong beside him.

A look of decadence appeared in Li Chong's eyes, and his already messy moves became even more disjointed.

Xiao Zongting walked to in front of Kong Bin and glanced at him; his right hand, which was behind his back, suddenly flashed, and with a 'Ding!' sound, the saber in Kong Bin's hand flew out and embedded itself into the ground behind him, hilt-deep.

In Xiao Zongting's right hand, he was actually clutching a pipe; it was with this pipe that he had knocked the saber out of Kong Bin's hand just now.

Kong Bin stood there stunned, not yet having reacted, when Xiao Zongting already stepped forward, pinched Kong Bin's shoulder, elbow, and waist, and then snorted coldly, walking to in front of Duan Rong without saying a word.

During this, Xiao Zongting did not lift his eyes to look at Kong Bin once.

Xiao Zongting hadn't even paused his steps in front of Li Chong and Zhang Zheng, but he had tested Kong Bin; the difference was already apparent.

Xiao Zongting walked to in front of Duan Rong, and everyone present immediately turned their attention there.

But in front of Duan Rong, Xiao Zongting stopped for several breaths without moving, and his head was slightly tilted, as if he were showing an interested expression.

Perhaps it was the excitement and focus brought on by the exam-like tension, but Duan Rong was immersed in these six forms, the routine he practiced every day.

He actually performed beyond his usual level, the movements continuous and undulating, each strike heavy and powerful, like a lone army surrounded by thousands of troops.

And this was precisely the essence of the Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber.

Duan Rong did not even realize himself that his state at this moment was faintly showing signs of breaking out of the Entry Level realm.

The Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber was inherently a saber technique for a lone army against a group attack.

When the Escorts of the Escort Agency traveled the jianghu, if they encountered bandits from the green woods robbing the escort.

These bandits usually had only one or two leaders with some skills, while the rest were just scattered soldiers and stragglers.

And what ordinary Escorts had to deal with was the encirclement of these scattered soldiers and stragglers.

This was also the reason why Miscellaneous Disciples and Apprentices all had to learn this Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber; it could be considered a professional match.

Xiao Zongting suddenly used his pipe to tap at the edge of the saber that Duan Rong was swinging like the wind.

Duan Rong was focused on his performance when he suddenly felt a great force coming from the edge of his blade; almost as a subconscious reaction, he turned his wrist, the blade edge retreated diagonally, and then, flipping and swinging it up, he changed the upward slash into a downward chop at the head.

This was Duan Rong's split-second reaction: unloading the force, borrowing the force, and changing the move, all done in one go, without the slightest hesitation!

But with this change, Duan Rong's blade edge was actually slashing directly at Xiao Zongting's forehead.

Xiao Zongting's left hand reached out and grabbed the back of the saber that Duan Rong had chopped down, holding it firmly; but at this moment, the chipped edge of the blade was only a finger's width away from Xiao Zongting's forehead.

Everyone present was shocked!

Zhao Mu jumped back a large step and said angrily: "Duan Rong, what are you doing? Attacking Xiao Lao, are you tired of living?"

Duan Rong suddenly woke as if from a dream, his heart filled with shock; he immediately let go and knelt down, saying, "This disciple deserves to die! Just now I was too focused, with eyes only for the moves, forgetting everything else. I truly had no intention of attacking Xiao Lao!"

"Forgetting everything else..." A flash of brilliance flickered in Xiao Zongting's eyes.

But Zhao Mu's anger did not diminish, and Duan Rong was inwardly cursing himself, wondering how he had just now seemed as if possessed, sinking into the blade technique; this was not his style at all.

Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong all wore expressions of watching a show, and even the usually poker-faced Kong Bin revealed a brilliant smile.

"You bastard, you little turtle spawn..." Zhao Mu cursed loudly, for he was afraid this matter would blow up and implicate him.

Xiao Zongting, however, turned his head and glared at Zhao Mu, shouting angrily, "Shut up! I think you are the bastard! Are you conducting the assessment, or am I?"

"I am the bastard! Naturally, you are the one conducting the assessment. You conduct it..." Zhao Mu immediately said with a fawning smile.

Xiao Zongting snorted coldly and said, "That point I made just now cut off his force; if he wanted to keep his offensive momentum, he had no choice but to hack down directly! A fine attack!"

Hearing the four words "a fine attack," Duan Rong looked up at Xiao Zongting with some pleasant surprise.

Xiao Zongting was also looking at Duan Rong, and said, "Kid, those who practice martial arts must be obsessed with them. Not only were you not wrong, but you did very well! Get up!"

Duan Rong stood up feeling delighted in his heart, thinking to himself: It seems this old man has pegged me as the type of person who is a martial arts fanatic.

(End of this chapter)