Chapter 146

"Brother Xu's physique is strong, and the Explosive Bear Strength is rigid and unmatched; I admire you."

He Dong cupped his hands and said some polite words, then turned and leaped off the ring to rest, conserving his energy to prepare for the second match.

"C-18, advances!"

The proctor shouted, and the people below the stage recorded it.

Xu Yang cupped his hands to the proctor and also turned to jump off the ring.

"Junior Brother Lu, congratulations on advancing."

Sun Tao, Zhang Hong, and Lin Wei smiled and came up to offer their congratulations.

Being able to advance to the next round unscathed was definitely something worth celebrating; on the neighboring ring, there had already been incidents of broken hands and feet.

"Luck!" Xu Yang laughed.

It was indeed luck; his opponent was not only weaker than him but also knew how to weigh gains and losses, not fighting to the death.

Not far away, Liu Qian nodded slightly, and Xu Yang cupped his hands in response.

The two could not be said to have a friendship, but during the year at the Liu residence, they had interacted a few times, so they were not strangers.

"You got lucky!" Jiang Yi said sarcastically from the side.

Xu Yang's opponent was not strong, and he won very easily, which made him extremely jealous.

"Where is that dog barking coming from? It's so noisy."

Xu Yang looked at him coldly: "Do you know what to do when you encounter a dog? Just beat it to death with a stick."

Jiang Yi's face darkened: "You had better not run into a disciple of my Fierce Wind Hall, otherwise, you'll find it hard even if you want to die."

"Idiot, if you have the ability, do it now, otherwise keep your dog mouth shut. Always 'don't run into people from the Fierce Wind Hall'—are all the people from the Fierce Wind Hall your fathers?"

Jiang Yi's eyes spat fire, but he dared not actually make a move under the ring.

"Junior Brother Lu, go recover your true qi quickly. Don't lower yourself to the level of a dog. If you meet on the ring, we'll see the truth in our skills; talking tough is useless."

Sun Tao knew Jiang Yi was deliberately trying to anger Xu Yang, delaying Xu Yang's recovery and affecting his state of mind, so he immediately pushed Xu Yang to leave.

Although the consumption was not great, he still retreated to the side and assumed the stance of the Turtle-Snake Great Stance, while simultaneously observing the battles on the rings.

One familiar person after another began to take the stage; Lu Ren defeated his opponent within ten moves, his spirits high.

Kong Yu's moves were rigid and fierce, defeating his opponent, who was in the mid-stage of Qi Gathering Major Success, in three moves.

He also saw Lu Ren's lackey, Zhao Hui, bleeding on the ring, being blasted off the ring by someone in five moves.

Sun Tao's luck was also not bad; he drew an opponent weaker than himself and won in twenty moves.

Lin Wei's luck was a bit worse; she drew an evenly matched opponent and only won with difficulty after nearly a hundred moves.

After getting off the ring, she didn't even have the heart to greet Sun Tao, hurriedly running to the side to recover her true qi.

Fang Xing and Xiong Kui's luck was relatively poor, drawing strong opponents, but the two were quick to see the situation, and upon realizing they were no match, they decisively conceded, still having the chance to fight another match.

There was also Jiang Ping; this guy's luck was bad, actually drawing Cao Rong, and he conceded without even getting on the stage.

Zhang Yong barely won against his opponent, sustaining minor injuries.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound came to his ears, drawing Xu Yang's attention back to the C-category ring.

It was Zhang Hong's turn to take the stage, and his opponent was evenly matched with him.

The opponent's fist tore through his body-protecting true qi and landed on his body, his bones cracking in response, but this was just a flaw he had deliberately sold to his opponent.

"Die!"

Zhang Hong's fist blasted out like lightning, striking his opponent's throat.

With a crisp "crack," his opponent clutched his neck in pain and retreated, blood flowing from his mouth.

"Bang!"

After retreating four or five steps, this person fell off the ring; someone went up to check and found that his neck bone had been shattered, and the person was already dead.

The whole arena was in an uproar.

Although fists and feet have no eyes in the martial arts examination, and deaths are common, this was the first death in this year's examination.

Several minor officials went up to inspect, and soon carried the body away.

"This guy is also a ruthless character."

Xu Yang didn't expect that the once smooth-talking Zhang Hong had also become a ruthless character, trading the price of one palm strike for his opponent's life.

He and Sun Tao went up to help Zhang Hong down, and found that besides the palm strike on his chest, Zhang Hong had also taken a palm strike to his ribs.

At this moment, his breath was gone, and he was also spitting blood.

"Are your injuries serious?"

As a qualified Senior Brother, Sun Tao asked about his injuries immediately.

"A few bones are broken, the internal organs are fine, but I'm afraid I won't be able to proceed to the next round."

His injuries were not considered severe, and he would be fine after ten days or half a month of recuperation.

But if he were to fight another match, it was basically impossible; let alone wanting to obtain a Dragon-Ascending spot, he would have to fight at least three more matches.

Zhang Hong looked at Xu Yang with a miserable smile: "I'm afraid I can't continue to accompany you any further. I walked with all my might, but in the end, I still couldn't keep up with your pace."

As people selected together from the Huang family, they had had their conflicts, but the feelings between them were special.

Even though Lu Ren and Xu Yang had broken off their relationship the earliest, he still had a special affection for Xu Yang; when he reached Qi Gathering Major Success, inviting Xu Yang, besides showing off, was also because of this special affection.

"Heal your injuries first; perhaps you'll have good luck in the next round, and your opponent's injuries might be heavier than yours. If you win one more match, even if you can't ascend the dragon, you can still obtain the Martial Scholar title, and there will still be hope when you participate in the martial examination in the future."

Xu Yang could only comfort Zhang Hong in this way.

Of the original ten people, only four remained now; it seemed Zhang Hong was going to fall behind.

"You're right, there is still hope."

Zhang Hong cheered up and sat to the side to circulate his true qi to heal his injuries.

The first round ended quickly; the winners advanced to rest, and the losers drew lots to fight again. If they lost this time, they would be directly eliminated.

Xu Yang's true qi had already recovered, and he watched the battles everywhere.

Soon the results of the second round came out; of the fourteen disciples of the Weiyuan Hall, only Zhao Hui and Fang Xing, who had been heavily injured in the first round, did not advance.

"Lu Ren is truly a jinx."

Xu Yang discovered that every one of Lu Ren's lackeys had no good end; Luo Dehu, Qian Jiaxing, and even Zhao Hui now, all seemed to have bad luck after following him.

"A-10!"

In the second round, he drew the tenth candidate to take the stage on the A-category ring; as for who the opponent was, it was currently unknown.

"Haha… I drew a bye."

Suddenly, a loud laugh attracted everyone's attention. Xu Yang looked back in shock, only to see Zhang Hong laughing up at the sky, waving a numbered slip.

"He really got lucky."

He had originally only been comforting Zhang Hong, and both thought Zhang Hong would be eliminated in this round; he didn't expect that out of 123 people drawing lots, Zhang Hong would draw the bye.

Ascending the dragon might be uncertain, but the Martial Scholar title should be secure.

By getting a bye in this round, he directly advanced to the third round, qualifying him to obtain the Martial Scholar title.

"Quite a few acquaintances!"

Xu Yang found the A-category ring and saw quite a few acquaintances.

Lu Ren, Gu Fang, Xiong Kui, and Yang Lin had all drawn the A-category ring; besides the four, he also saw Kong Yu and Zhu Yang from the Fierce Wind Hall, both of whom were looking at Xu Yang with cold smiles.

Suddenly, everyone's pupils shrank, only to see a burly figure striding toward the A-category ring, his powerful aura causing those along the way to retreat automatically.

Yun Feng!

A hot favorite for the top spot, the Marrow Cleansing expert Yun Feng.

Seeing that he had also drawn the A-category ring, no one's expression remained unchanged, all worrying that their opponent would be him.

Yun Feng's gaze swept over everyone: "Who is A-7? You had better concede directly later; don't waste my time, otherwise don't blame me for being ruthless."

Those who were not A-7 breathed a sigh of relief, and a man stood out with a miserable expression: "Young Master Yun, rest assured, I will concede directly later."

The second round began quickly, and it wasn't long before it was Xiong Kui's turn to take the stage.

He had fought two matches before advancing, and this time he encountered a strong opponent again; after fighting for no more than twenty moves, he actively conceded, intending to place his hope in the next match.

Then, the dramatic part came: Lu Ren's opponent was actually Gu Fang.

Lu Ren actively conceded, allowing Gu Fang to advance smoothly.

"It's not easy being a dog either!"

If Lu Ren had fought Gu Fang, he might not have lost, but because he was a guest retainer of the Gu family, naturally, he was the one to concede.

"A-10, take the stage!" The proctor finally shouted Xu Yang's slip number.

What you think about constantly will surely have an echo.