Chapter 464: Martial Evaluation, Rouge List, and Murong the Double Leader

A caravan entered Zhizhang City on the border of Hezhou.

The owner of the carriage was an extremely handsome young master; one could vaguely see an old man in a sheepskin coat sitting inside the carriage, who was picking his feet and lacked any air of a master.

For an ordinary carriage to enter the city, it was inevitable that the city gate guards would search it, or perhaps even extort it. It is truly said that the King of Hell is easy to meet, but the little devils are hard to deal with.

This carriage slowly entered the city without even stopping. The city gate guards just stood there motionless, like clay statues or stone carvings.

The guards were also people with a keen eye; this carriage was extremely luxurious, and the young master's air of a dandy was one thing, but the key was that nearly a hundred light cavalry guards followed behind the carriage, with strong horses and fierce men; a single charge would be enough to trample them into meat paste.

Going against these battle-hardened soldiers was simply courting death. If one happened to run into some dandy with a background and backing, it would be strange not to be ruthlessly skinned alive.

After entering the city, Xu Fengnian chose a very luxurious large inn. According to the dynasty's military regulations, the light cavalry behind him needed to submit military tallies to the government and then have the Zhizhang City authorities arrange for a military camp to station them, but clearly, this Beiliang dandy would not take that seriously.

The innkeeper was also a person with a keen eye; seeing from afar that this Beiliang Heir had an air of nobility and was followed by a large group of tiger-and-wolf soldiers, he dared not be negligent. He personally went out to welcome them, ignoring the problem with his waist, and before he even left the main gate, he was already bowing and fawning, leading the group into the inn.

Xu Fengnian did not choose an elegant courtyard; he casually picked a spot on the second floor and sat down.

The middle-aged proprietress personally brought over the food and wine; her originally plump waist was cinched to be extremely slender, which simultaneously made her buttocks appear very full. As the gaze moved upward, her chest was also quite spectacular, and that old man in the sheepskin coat stared at it without blinking, as if he were trying to see a flower bloom from it.

It was currently mealtime, so the inn was extremely lively, with people discussing things and spittle flying everywhere. Now that the world was unified, coupled with the relatively fast postal service and those martial artists with superb light-body techniques, information was often transmitted extremely rapidly.

There were two things that had been the most discussed in the past month.

As it happened, both things were related to one person.

The first was the battle at Wudi City, where the rising star Murong Tonghuang fought against the World's Second, Wang Xianzhi.

When this battle spread through the pugilistic world, it was a rare event in a century, causing countless martial arts experts to rush toward Wudi City.

But no one expected that the result would come out so quickly, and it shocked everyone.

Wang Xianzhi was defeated.

That Wang Laoguai, who had been invincible in the world for sixty years, was defeated.

If not for the many spectators, among whom were many titans of the martial arts world, one would have feared it was just false news being spread to fool people.

From now on, Wang Xianzhi remained an unshakable high mountain.

But besides Wang Xianzhi, another peak reaching the heavens had risen. It was too high to climb, and one could only look up at it.

What was even more terrifying was that Murong Tonghuang was younger than Wang Xianzhi, not even twenty years old.

Wang Xianzhi had been invincible in the world for sixty years.

Those whose martial arts were profound could often extend their lifespan. If Murong Tonghuang did not ascend, then how long would he be invincible in the world? Sixty years? Eighty years? One hundred years?

Without a doubt, the next hundred years of the pugilistic world would be shrouded under this youth who was beautiful to the extreme.

Of course, the influence of the East Sea battle did not stop there.

Before this battle even began, it had already spread far and wide across the world, with gambling dens offering odds of ten to one.

After the battle, no one knew how many people had lost their entire fortunes and were cursing Wang Xianzhi.

As for the second thing, it was the release of the Literary and Martial Evaluations and the Rouge List.

Since ancient times, there has been no first in literature, and since most people in the world were illiterate, literary evaluations were never very popular; what the common people discussed most were the Martial Evaluation and the Rouge List. This generation's Martial Evaluation lived up to expectations by ranking eighteen experts, with the ten most eye-catching experts.

Without a doubt, Murong Tonghuang occupied the top spot.

And the Wudi City Lord Wang Xianzhi continued to be his World's Second, truly and realistically the World's Second.

Next were old faces like the "Peach Blossom Sword God" Deng Taie and the "possessing eight dou of the world's romantic flair" Cao Guanzi; although they also caused a stir, it was nothing strange.

The Old Sword God Li Chungang, who had re-entered the pugilistic world, was also on the list, but unfortunately, he was only ranked eighth. Moreover, because he accompanied Xu Fengnian, a dandy with a bad reputation, he was quite controversial.

Lao Huang followed closely behind, ranked ninth.

Besides the main and secondary Martial Evaluations, the Rouge List was equally lively, though the controversy was even greater.

The Rouge List was meant to rank the world's beauties, and the top of the list was a name that was both unexpected and expected.

——Murong Tonghuang.

Some shook their heads in opposition, while others were in complete agreement.

Those who opposed it naturally believed that since the creation of the Rouge List, those on the list had always been women, so ranking a man on the Rouge List now was simply absurd.

Those who agreed believed that the original intention of the Rouge List was to rank the world's beauties, regardless of gender.

Murong Tonghuang's beauty was peerless, needless to say; just that air of being aloof from the world and his carefree grace were things no woman could compare to.

Murong Tonghuang taking the position of the Rouge List leader was well-deserved.

No matter how much of an uproar it caused, following the Master of Huishan, One Sword Brightens the Heavens, and Murong Wudi, Murong Tonghuang had gained another nickname—Murong the Double Leader.

One person occupying the top spot on two lists.

Some joked that it was said Murong Tonghuang was a man of great literary talent; if he were to write a few poems that would be passed down through the ages, just as there was a Huang Sanjia in the Spring and Autumn period, then there would be a Murong the Triple Leader in Liyang.

Besides Murong Tonghuang, women such as Nangong Pushe, Murong Wuzhu, Chen Yu, and Xuanyuan Qingfeng were also listed on the Rouge List.

"Tsk tsk, this Brother Murong is truly remarkable, holding two top spots alone. It's just a pity the world doesn't know that his literary talent and romantic flair are also excellent; occasionally he chants poems, and there isn't one that isn't worth spreading and praising. I think the next grand evaluation will see him at the top of all three lists; he is far more romantic than Huang Longshi."

Xu Fengnian waved the proprietress away, poured himself a cup of wine, drank it in one gulp, and glanced at the one-armed old man again, a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth: "Old Sword God, I think the guy who ranked the list truly has no eye for talent. You only lost to Brother Murong and Wang Xianzhi first, so you should at least be the Third in the World; they only ranked you eighth. Li the Eighth, how unpleasant that sounds."

The old man in the sheepskin coat withdrew his gaze from the proprietress's perky buttocks in the distance, looked at Xu Fengnian, and gave a cold, mocking laugh: "Little Xu, you have a lot of guts. Not bad, today I will teach you another move, the Rolling Dragon Wall."

Xu Fengnian shivered and said with a sheepish smile: "Old senior, I was just joking with you. You are a person of great stature, surely you can't even take a joke."

The old man in the sheepskin coat picked his nose, flicked his finger, and a ball of booger landed precisely in Xu Fengnian's wine cup.

Xu Fengnian glared at him.

The old man in the sheepskin coat said with a fake smile: "I was also just joking."

"This old man..." Xu Fengnian's mouth twitched; considering he was no match for this Li the Eighth, he magnanimously changed his cup and thought to himself.

"It's not far from Longhu Mountain and Huishan here; why not go to Longhu Mountain first to see how Huang Man'er is doing, and then visit Brother Murong at Huishan."

He still had a very good impression of that Brother Murong, even though the other party was blind and unwilling to accept him, the great Heir, as a disciple.

But if the other party could save his mother Wu Su, he would not hesitate even if it meant kowtowing.

Unfortunately, after Xu Fengnian saw Huang Man'er, he was unable to visit Murong Tonghuang as he had wished; it seemed the other party had gone on a long journey, and to Beimang at that.

By the way, the one who answered was a woman in black named Xuanyuan Qingfeng, who was considered the General Manager of Huishan.

Xu Fengnian had also heard of the other party's reputation and knew she was named on the Rouge List, so he had a thought and teased her with a couple of sentences, only to be beaten until he was crawling all over the floor.

……

－－－－－－Author's Note－－－－－－

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