Chapter 77

The Poyang Poyang Wuzhengsuo!

This was the second time Lin Chen had stepped into this place.

Last time, Yu Yu Jiaoxi Yu brought him to the Poyang Poyang Wuzhengsuo to find the Master's wife and seek justice.

Unfortunately, the instructor was not in the county town. If the instructor were in the county town and knew that his Clear Wind Palm had reached perfection, he would also feel gratified.

This time, under the leadership of Yu Yu Jiaoxi Shen, Lin Chen went directly to the martial arts arena inside the Poyang Poyang Wuzhengsuo.

The martial arts arena covered an area as vast as two football fields from his previous life.

Students from various martial halls stood in different areas of the arena, clearly separated.

The appearance of Lin Chen's group attracted the attention of other martial halls.

In a martial arts arena filled exclusively with young men, the appearance of the female students from Jing Shui Wuguan brought its own aura of attraction, and as the only male student of Jing Shui Wuguan, Lin Chen was particularly eye-catching.

"Since when did Jing Shui Wuguan have male disciples?"

"If I had known Jing Shui Wuguan accepted male disciples, I would have chosen Jing Shui Wuguan back then."

The gazes of students from other martial halls toward Lin Chen were strange and varied.

There was envy, jealousy, and also disdain.

"Only those with no pursuit in the Martial Way would join Jing Shui Wuguan; it's a soft bed, a warrior's grave."

"Lin Lin Shixiong Zheng, not everyone has such grand pursuits in the Martial Way as you, Lin Lin Shixiong Zheng. Many people join a martial hall just thinking about breaking through to ten acupoints, and then relying on the martial hall's connections to see if they can obtain a position in the government office."

"You senior brothers don't know, this male disciple of Jing Shui Wuguan is named Lin Chen, from the townships below. It is said that he originally joined Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan, but Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan's quota for Acupoint-Opening Pills was full, so he finally went to Jing Shui Wuguan... I don't need to say much about the inside story, junior brother."

Hearing this, many students on the side suddenly realized. They didn't come from poor backgrounds, and they quickly understood.

This was someone who had been looked down upon by Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan and finally had no choice but to go to Jing Shui Wuguan.

As for why Jing Shui Wuguan would make an exception to accept him?

That was something only the leadership of Jing Shui Wuguan knew.

Regarding the gazes of those around him, Lin Chen turned a blind eye. Standing in the area where Jing Shui Wuguan was located, his gaze looked toward another entrance.

One by one, burly students, led by an instructor who was equally robust, stepped onto the martial arts arena.

The people from Zhenyue Martial Hall had arrived.

Lin Chen's gaze fell on Fu Ang of Zhenyue Martial Hall. Having not seen him for a few days, Fu Ang still had an arrogant look, standing in the first position of the queue.

Fu Ang was the second strongest student of Zhenyue Martial Hall, but he stood in the first position, so the strongest one in Zhenyue Martial Hall, like Jiang Jiang Shijie, had been taken away to other places by the Poyang Poyang Wuzhengsuo?

Yunyin Martial Hall, Kuangfeng Martial Hall...

Soon, the students of the eight major martial halls had all arrived, numbering over a hundred. Lin Chen also saw the three junior brothers, Lu Yongfeng, Zhao Zhao Jingchuan, and Cheng Ying.

The four of them made eye contact across the distance and nodded slightly, which counted as a greeting.

Withdrawing his gaze, Lin Chen was just about to close his eyes to rest, but he felt a gaze from the side seemingly watching him. Turning his head, his line of sight happened to meet Chen Chen Chunfeng's.

Chen Chunfeng looked at Lin Chen. He had just subconsciously searched for him on the Jingshui Martial Hall side. Even now, he still felt regret that Lin Chen had joined Jingshui Martial Hall.

Feeling the regret in Chen Chen Chunfeng's gaze, Lin Chen pursed his lips slightly, nodded slightly, and then withdrew his gaze.

He didn't know what kind of thoughts this Yu Yu Jiaoxi Chen had toward him, but he knew that from the moment Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan revoked his Grade-A treatment, he had no further connection with Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan.

A cup of tea's time passed, and Lin Chen saw Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu. Not just Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, but also the others from the seven martial halls, a total of eight people walking over from the front of the martial arts arena, but all eight of them had very serious expressions.

The appearance of the eight vice hall masters made the originally noisy scene instantly quiet down.

The ability to read the room was something all the students present possessed.

"Jiang Jiang Shijie Kong, how is the competition this time?" Shen Lin asked curiously when she saw Kong Kong Yinglei walking over.

"Each martial hall selects one seed student to enter the later trials directly, while other students are divided into eight groups, with only one winner in each group."

Hearing Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu's words, Lin Chen understood. The seed student of Jing Shui Wuguan was Jiang Jiang Shijie, and the seed students of other martial halls were also the number one ranked students of their respective halls. These seed players had been called away by the Poyang Poyang Wuzhengsuo in advance.

"This rule can be considered fair; other students are divided into nine groups, with each group fighting in pairs to determine the ranking."

Shen Lin thought for a moment. Although Lord Su's rules were different from previous competition rules, they only had some subtle changes. Jiang Jiang Shijie Kong's expression shouldn't be this ugly, right?

"Within the group, it's a single elimination; failure means elimination." Kong Kong Yinglei added.

"Single elimination means elimination? Then how is the ranking determined?"

Shen Lin was a bit puzzled. The contestants in each group came from different martial halls, so there must be a difference in strength.

"Drawing lots; the order of battles between members within the group is determined by unified drawing of lots."

"Determining opponents by drawing lots? Wouldn't that be unfair?"

Shen Lin frowned. If the strongest and second-strongest in the same group were drawn together in the first round, then the second-strongest would be eliminated in the first round. This would be too unfair to that student.

"All losers can participate in subsequent battles to determine the later rankings."

Kong Kong Yinglei explained, saying that in the words of her own senior sister, Lord Su's rules attached importance to the top ten students. As for the rankings of the students behind them, Lord Su didn't care at all.

To put it bluntly, the rankings from tenth to fiftieth were very important to the major martial halls because they related to resources, but Lord Su didn't care.

Is it unfair to the second-strongest student in the group?

In Lord Su's eyes, if one couldn't even win all matches within the group, one was destined to have no qualifications to compete for the top ten. As for whether the final ranking was twenty-first or thirty-first, why would Lord Su care about that?

"Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, then how are the groups divided?" After Lin Chen understood the competition rules, he asked the question he cared about.

Not to mention whether the battles within the group were fair, how was this grouping divided?

"Each martial hall takes turns arranging the first student in each group, and other martial halls subsequently select students to enter that group. Our martial hall is arranged in Group C."

Kong Kong Yinglei looked deeply at Lin Chen and the others. For students, the truly cruel part was actually the grouping.

Grouping represented the importance the martial hall attached to them.

If there were powerful students in a group, other martial halls would arrange their promising students into other groups to avoid the opportunity of strong clashing with strong.

"In a moment, when grouping, if any student is willing to enter the current group, they can take the initiative to speak up. If not, I will assign them."

As Kong Kong Yinglei's voice fell, at this moment, personnel from the Poyang Poyang Wuzhengsuo carried over a wooden board that was a full zhang high, with nine columns drawn on it with horizontal lines.

Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren!

Nine columns, representing nine groups.

The vice hall master of Tiexue Martial Hall walked to the wooden board first and wrote a name in the first column under Group A: Zhang Qing.

Seeing this name, there was quite a stir at the scene.

"Tiexue Martial Hall is truly confident, writing Zhang Qing's name directly."

"Zhang Qing is the only disciple in this batch of Tiexue Martial Hall second only to Fei Hong, proficient in Iron Collapse Fist, and has already opened six acupoints. Could it be that other martial halls have students who can be Zhang Qing's opponent?"

"Just watch, with Zhang Qing appearing in the first group, other martial halls will only put their most promising students in other groups."

On the Jing Shui Wuguan side, there was also a silence.

Opening six acupoints plus proficiency in Iron Collapse Fist was no worse than a student with seven acupoints. No one was confident they could steadily defeat Zhang Qing.

Seeing that several senior sisters didn't speak, just as Lin Chen was about to speak, Li Xue suddenly volunteered: "Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, this disciple is willing to go to Group Jia."

Fu Fu Jingya and the others' gazes instantly looked at Li Xue, not understanding why Li Xue would choose Group Jia.

Lin Chen saw the smile on Li Xue's face and guessed it in his heart.

Junior Sister Li knew she couldn't win from within the group and chose to sacrifice herself to create opportunities for herself and several senior sisters to win in the remaining eight groups.

"Good."

Kong Kong Yinglei nodded and wrote down Li Xue's name, handing it to the person from the Poyang Poyang Wuzhengsuo on the side. Like Li Xue, although she had also opened six acupoints, it was clearly impossible for her to break out of the group.

Soon, all seven martial halls reported the names of the students arranged for Group Jia. The people from the Poyang Poyang Wuzhengsuo counted the names and wrote the names of the students from other martial halls fighting in Group Jia under the Jia column on the wooden board.

The identities of the eight students in Group Jia were confirmed, and next was Group Yi.

The leader of the second group was Zhenyue Martial Hall.

The ranking of the nine groups was determined according to the rankings of last year's martial hall grand competition.

Tiexue Martial Hall was first last year, and Zhenyue Martial Hall was second.

What everyone didn't expect was that the vice hall master of Zhenyue Martial Hall didn't write Fu Ang's name at the very beginning, but another disciple of the martial hall, who also had six acupoints opened.

"Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, this disciple is willing to fight in the second round!"

Gu Gu Qingqing spoke up immediately. Lin Chen looked at Jiang Jiang Shijie Gu; Jiang Jiang Shijie Gu felt that without Fu Ang, this group had a great chance.

But the result was likely not optimistic, because there were probably not a few students holding this thought.

When the list was revealed, seeing the names of students from the other seven martial halls and hearing the exclamations of students from major martial halls at the scene, Lin Chen also shook his head helplessly.

Three students with seven acupoints opened were all on the list.

This was a death group in the true sense; Jiang Jiang Shijie Gu was in some danger.

Kong Kong Yinglei, Qihe, and the vice hall master of Mantis Martial Hall had a momentary clash of eyes, and then withdrew them.

The students with seven acupoints from their three families had actually bumped into each other.

Seeing the list, Gu Gu Qingqing's eyes also became serious.

The personnel for Group Yi were confirmed, and next was Group Bing.

Kong Yinglei's gaze fell on Lin Chen and Fu Jingya: "Group C is led by our Jingshui Martial Hall. Is there anyone among you who will volunteer?"

"Jiang Jiang Shijie Fu, please yield; let this junior brother take the lead in this round."

Lin Chen volunteered. For him, it didn't matter which group he was assigned to. On the contrary, Jiang Jiang Shijie Fu, if she chose well, still had a possibility of winning first place from within the group.

"Good!"

Kong Kong Yinglei was very satisfied with the look in Lin Chen's eyes. Fu Fu Jingya and Gu Gu Qingqing were still too concerned about gains and losses. It was correct for students to care about rankings, but the final ranking of this competition was the top ten. If one didn't enter the top ten, it was all for nothing.

To enter the top ten, one must have the confidence to win first place regardless of which group one was assigned to. Otherwise, even if one picked up a first place in a weak group, could one expect to have such luck in the subsequent battles?

When Lin Chen's name fell on the board, students from the other seven martial halls fell into deep thought.

Six acupoints!

This realm was not considered high.

They were deep in thought because of what happened in Group Yi just now. Because Fu Ang didn't go up, other martial halls wanted to pick up a bargain, but instead, it became the most difficult group.

They were afraid that the scene in Group Yi would be repeated in Group Bing.

"Kong Kong Guanzhu Qi, this disciple wants to request to fight!"

On the Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan side, Lü Lu Shuyu spoke up, and several disciples on the side looked at him with some surprise.

For Lü Lu Shuyu, the reason he volunteered was because of Lin Chen.

He had heard of the name Lin Chen.

After obtaining the Grade-A treatment, he had met Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhao, and Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhao had mentioned to him that his Grade-A quota had originally been snatched from Lin Chen's hands.

Yu Yu Jiaoxi Chen had always been wavering about the ownership of this quota; it was Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhao who supported him, and finally, the quota was given to him. He wanted to go on stage to defeat Lin Chen and prove to Yu Yu Jiaoxi Chen that giving him the Grade-A treatment was not wrong.

For Group C, the final list was determined, with only one student with seven acupoints opened from Yunyin Martial Hall.

There was no repeat of the death group situation, and the vice hall master of the major martial halls at the scene, especially Yunyin Martial Hall, breathed a sigh of relief.

Group Ding...

Group Wu...

Group Xu.

"Kong Kong Guanzhu, let me go up."

When it reached Group Xu, Fu Ang spoke up.

Other students around him were a bit curious; they didn't understand why Lin Lin Shixiong Fu didn't choose to go first during Group Yi.

Fu Ang knew what these junior brothers around him were thinking. He wouldn't say that the reason he waited until now was to avoid one of the three students with six acupoints from Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan.

He didn't know which of the three students with six acupoints from Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan was the guy who defeated him, so he simply avoided them all.

The three students with six acupoints from Clear Qing Qing Feng Wuguan had all been assigned, so he had nothing to fear.

PS: This chapter... when Jiudeng was writing it, I made a table, counting the students with eight, seven, and six acupoints from the major martial halls, and then discovered a bug. The original outline of Jiudeng was ten major martial halls, which was later changed to eight major martial halls, but it wasn't changed in the outline, so Feiying Martial Hall and Qingsong Martial Hall appeared (and no book friend reminded me in the book, are you all so careless ┗(▔，▔)┛.

If you find a problem after seeing this, please rest assured, Jiudeng has already changed it, and the data of the major martial halls will not have any problems.

In addition, I will notify you of another thing. It is estimated that it will be on the shelves in a few days. It is very likely that because of the excessive number of words, the first twenty or so chapters will also enter the VIP chapters after being on the shelves. Jiudeng is fighting with the editor not to reverse V, but it cannot be guaranteed for the time being, so it is best for everyone to follow the reading, so as not to raise it and then find out, damn, why is this chapter charged.

(End of chapter)