Chapter 52

A quarter of an hour later.

Liang He defeated his opponent.

It was just that the methods were really not very honorable.

Everyone looked at the burly man who had been punched off the stage by Liang He and was now clutching his crotch and howling; they felt a chill in their own crotches, and the corners of their mouths twitched wildly.

The God of War of the lower three paths?

The Tiandi Alliance never claimed to be a righteous sect, but such low-class moves were still rarely seen.

"Interesting."

Han Qin, on the stage, sat up straight, revealing an interested expression.

Zhu Yue looked at Han Qin with a strange expression: "Senior Brother Han, do you think highly of that disciple?"

Han Qin nodded:

"In martial arts duels, winning is the key, especially when fighting others; one must seek out weaknesses, and not lose one's life for the sake of face."

Zhu Yue's eyelids twitched wildly.

He hadn't expected that Han Qin, who appeared gentle and refined on the surface, would actually say such things.

He silently shifted his butt to the other side.

He secretly swore in his heart that he must never offend this Senior Brother Han.

He didn't want to suffer such crotch pain.

Li Rui looked at the only two disciples in his hall with gratification.

"Not bad."

In this great competition, although Zhou Shulin and Liang He were far from as dazzling as Liu Tong, they had both won, which was already quite good.

"Your rankings have both risen; if you want to go to other halls, just let me know."

Li Rui was very open-minded about such things.

Since they had talent and were young, there was indeed no need to waste time in the Hun Tian Yi Hall.

But to his surprise, Zhou Shulin and Liang He both shook their heads directly.

"No, we want to follow the Hall Master."

"..."

Li Rui was silent, then smiled and shook his head: "As you wish."

The great examination lasted for a full two days.

The competition among ordinary disciples had come to an end; next were the duels between hall masters and deacons.

Unlike last year.

News of the breakthrough of that Alliance Leader Ning of the Tiandi Alliance had already spread, and many small-name martial arts masters in Qinghe had come to join.

But there were only so many positions for hall masters and deacons.

It was inevitable that there would be a situation where there were more monks than porridge.

According to past practice, as long as one was a ranked martial artist, one could at least get a position as a vice deacon in the branch.

But now, the Qinghe branch had over forty ranked martial arts masters, which meant that some people, even if ranked, could only receive the treatment without being able to get an official position.

Compared to the liveliness of the ordinary disciples.

The ring at this time was much colder.

No one went on stage for a long time.

The competition among ranked martial artists was inherently more cautious; whoever went on stage first risked exposing their trump cards in advance.

Finally, a burly man with a thick beard broke the deadlock, and he strode onto the ring.

The burly man scanned the hall masters and deacons below the stage, and his eyes immediately locked onto Li Rui, who was standing in the crowd.

He raised his large hammer and pointed at Li Rui.

"You, old man, stop looking; I'm talking about you."

Standing at the very back of the crowd, the inconspicuous Li Rui hadn't expected that he would have to go on stage so soon.

Wu Tu, on the side, whispered a reminder: "This red-bearded guy is called Sha Jinliang; he used to be the master of a small martial arts school in the west of the city. I heard he only came to join after the Alliance Leader broke through. He is good at using twin hammers and has some strength."

Li Rui nodded.

"Many thanks."

Afterward, he walked onto the ring unhurriedly.

Looking at the two people with a huge difference in physique standing on the ring, many people secretly felt annoyed.

"If I had known, I should have gone up first."

Without a doubt, Li Rui was clearly a soft persimmon, whether in terms of physique or age.

A hall master of the Hun Tian Yi Hall was still a hall master, which was better than being a big-sized disciple.

Moreover, as the Tiandi Alliance grew, the status of the Hun Tian Yi Hall would also rise, and the competition would only become more intense then.

The burly man chuckled.

He felt he had picked up a bargain.

The old man in front of him looked at least fifty or sixty, and his actual age would only be greater; martial arts cultivation is such that if you don't advance, you retreat, and at this age, his blood and Qi had long since declined, making him the easiest to bully.

"I am Sha Jinliang, old man; if you're sensible, get down yourself, otherwise I'll send you to the grave early!"

Sha Jinliang glared fiercely at Li Rui.

He had no psychological burden at all about beating up an old man.

Li Rui smiled slightly: "Little Brother Sha, is it? Just as well, let this old man loosen his muscles and bones."

Sha Jinliang weighed the giant hammers in his hands.

He opened his large mouth.

"An old man hanging himself—courting death."

Before the words had even faded, he strode toward Li Rui, waving his twin hammers, aiming straight for Li Rui's face.

Don't look at Sha Jinliang as a burly man with a sturdy build; he wasn't slow at all when running.

In the blink of an eye, he had killed his way to Li Rui's front.

Li Rui seemed to react a bit slowly.

It wasn't until Sha Jinliang's hammer was about to fall that he turned and barely dodged it, then drew his saber and tangled with Sha Jinliang.

He held the saber hilt with one hand and supported the back of the saber with his palm.

Changing the long saber to close-quarters combat, he stuck close to Sha Jinliang to wrestle.

Sha Jinliang felt more and more stifled as he fought.

He used twin hammers, which could only exert their greatest power when swung wide, but now the old man kept drilling into his embrace, and he couldn't even straighten his arms.

"Thieving old man, if you have the ability, stay further away, and let's fight again!"

Sha Jinliang was so angry that the veins on his temples were bulging, but the old man in front of him was as slippery as a loach, and there was simply no way to start.

Li Rui responded: "If you have the ability, come closer."

"Ah, ah, you old thief!"

Sha Jinliang couldn't help but let out a long roar.

But Li Rui didn't give him any chance at all; his set of saber techniques was tight and orderly, almost impossible to find a flaw in.

The two fought for a full two quarters of an hour.

Finally, Li Rui found an opportunity and smashed the back of his saber onto Sha Jinliang's back.

Sha Jinliang lost his footing and fell off the stage.

Looking at Sha Jinliang, who was scrambling to get up in the flying dust, everyone below the stage had a look of schadenfreude.

"That's what you get for bullying an old man!"

Anyone with a discerning eye could see.

Just now, Li Rui relied on his rich combat experience to easily defeat Sha Jinliang.

It sounds simple, but to cultivate such discernment requires a very long time of accumulation.

It is true that fists fear the young and strong, but don't forget the next line.

Staves fear the old master.

This refers precisely to using weapons in old age, where one can easily suppress those who only know how to be brave and fierce by relying on rich experience.

Li Rui walked off the stage calmly.

He turned a deaf ear to Sha Jinliang's shouts to fight another round.

The Tiandi Alliance great examination had a rule: those who had been challenged once could refuse to go on the ring.

Otherwise, no one could withstand a wheel war.

Tang Sheng, on the stage, looked at Li Rui curiously: "How old is this old man?"

Dao Xiong answered: "He just turned seventy this year."

"Hiss!"

Even Tang Sheng couldn't help but marvel: "Truly, old but vigorous."

Most seventy-year-old martial artists had already washed their hands of the world; someone like Li Rui was truly rarely seen.

Zhu Yue was also surprised.

The Old Li Tou now and the old groom in his memory were completely two different people.

"I probably wouldn't be his match either."

Once Zhu Yue thought of this, his expression became even uglier.

As a Huaqing Sect disciple, he was actually compared to an old groom; all his daily practice had gone to the dogs.

Jiang Yan's eyes drifted.

She seemed to be pondering something.

(End of chapter)