Chapter 49: Gu Chen, Invincible in All Directions

Since no one is challenging Yuqitian.

A chief referee came onto Yuqitian's martial arts platform and shouted loudly at the crowd below,

Then Yuqitian will obtain a top-ten spot!

Letting Yuqitian continue to monopolize a martial arts platform and waste time is no trivial matter; Chief Referee Wang Hongwei thus came up with this plan.

As Wang Hongwei's words fell, some combat soldiers whose strength was comparable to Yuqitian's immediately became restless and eager to act.

Soon, Zhang Wei, a combat soldier from the Fourth Camp, jumped onto the martial arts platform to challenge Yuqitian.

Wang Hongwei saw this and gave a knowing smile.

He said that in order to stir up others' competitive spirit.

After all, the top-ten spots are limited; if Yuqitian takes one, the difficulty for others to achieve a top-ten ranking increases by a notch.

Any combat soldier aspiring to enter the top ten would certainly not want to miss this opportunity.

Meanwhile, as the battle progressed, the sparring among combat soldiers from all camps had already intensified.

As more and more high-ranking combat soldiers joined the fight, it also meant that more and more people were being eliminated.

And those who remained were all outstanding individuals.

Gu Chen also stepped onto the martial arts platform; even though he held back, he defeated his opponent without even drawing his sword sheath, doing so with ease.

"Damn, why are there so many tough nuts in the Second Camp?"

Yuqitian over there had already won three consecutive matches and stepped down from the fighting stage to rest.

Gu Chen's side, his victory over the opponent was even more relaxed and carefree, completely beyond the expectations of the other camps.

The combat soldiers from the Third and Fourth Camps each had solemn gazes.

"The instructors gave us a death order a few days ago: if we can't beat the Second Camp today, we're afraid there won't be any good days ahead!"

"Motherf***er, they said the Second Camp's bunch were all soft persimmons—what the hell, this is called a soft persimmon?"

"We must take down the one called Gu Chen and the one called Yuqitian!"

"If both of them make it into the top ten, even if their final stage battle rankings are unsightly, the general will have a reason to preserve the Second Camp's ranking."

"Zhao Zhen, Wang Lin, both of you go up; keep up the rotation battle, no matter how tough they are, I want you to wear them down!"

Yuqitian was still resting, and Zhao Zhen's spearhead was immediately aimed at Gu Chen.

The two sides were already enemies; Zhao Zhen didn't exchange a word with Gu Chen, stepped onto the martial arts platform, waited for the referee's whistle, and then lunged at Gu Chen.

That fierce gaze made it clear that if he got the chance, he would certainly not let Gu Chen off.

Gu Chen's eyes turned cold; although Guan Shan had never ordered them to definitely hold onto the Second Camp's position.

But during this period of fighting, he also realized that the other camps were not friendly.

Since the opponent was so ruthless, he wouldn't hold back either.

Gu Chen advanced instead of retreating; his long sword moved in a strange arc like a poisonous snake, knocking aside Zhao Zhen's weapon while thrusting toward his throat.

Zhao Zhen's face changed dramatically; he stared in terror at the sword approaching his throat.

But the incident happened so suddenly that he didn't even have time to shout surrender before he was about to die under Gu Chen's sword.

"Stop!"

The assistant referee, constantly monitoring the fight on the martial arts platform, rushed onto the platform at the critical moment and blocked Gu Chen's sword with a palm strike.

Yet the sword's aura still left a bloody trace on Zhao Zhen's throat!

"Th... thank you, referee..."

Zhao Zhen, feeling like a survivor of a catastrophe, broke out in a cold sweat from lingering fear and repeatedly thanked the referee.

The referee waved his hand, signaling Zhao Zhen to quickly step down from the fighting stage to check for injuries.

After Zhao Zhen left, the referee's gaze toward Gu Chen hid a hint of apprehension.

Indeed, he, a venerable martial master, actually felt apprehensive toward Gu Chen!

Gu Chen's sword just now was extremely fast; it definitely shouldn't be something a sixth- or seventh-stage martial practitioner could execute.

But if one were to say Gu Chen had already reached the eighth or even ninth stage, he would definitely be a key focus of the recruit camp.

Such recruits naturally exist in Mu Shan Cheng as well.

After all, among those conscripted through the lottery, there are also scions of major powers.

But these people simply look down on the so-called Ten Camps Competition.

To them, participating in the Ten Camps Competition is nothing but a waste of time.

Gu Chen is clearly not among them.

Then the strength Gu Chen displayed is somewhat surprising.

Gu Chen, however, secretly regretted and shook his head.

Had the assistant referee acted just a bit slower, Zhao Zhen would have died under his sword.

Unfortunately, his own strength was still somewhat lacking.

However, Gu Chen observed the reactions of the combat soldiers around the martial arts platform and found the earlier battle somewhat acceptable.

At least it intimidated these people, so no one would dare come up to challenge him and waste his time.

Wang Lin had originally planned to engage Zhao Zhen in a rotation battle to exhaust Gu Chen's stamina, giving Zhang Chuang a chance to defeat Gu Chen.

But upon seeing Zhao Zhen, whose strength was comparable to his own, he was almost instantly defeated by Gu Chen.

Even if the referee had acted just a moment slower, Zhao Zhen would likely have left nothing but a corpse on the martial arts platform.

Wang Lin instantly felt much clearer-headed and dispelled the idea of challenging Gu Chen.

He certainly didn't want to sacrifice his own life as a stepping stone for others!

Wang Lin decisively chose to challenge combat soldiers on other martial arts platforms, leaving Zhang Chuang to deal with his own headache.

"This Gu Chen looks even more ruthless than Yuqitian!"

Zhang Chuang's gaze gloomy, he said in a low voice.

Although Yuqitian defeated three sixth-rank Combat Soldiers, he did not show the crushing dominance displayed by Gu Chen.

Even without a relay battle, Zhang Chuang had a sixty percent chance of defeating Yuqitian.

But facing Gu Chen, he had no confidence!

"Forget it, aim at Yuqitian; as for Gu Chen, let's discuss it after the platform battle."

Seeing that Zhang Chuang did not continue issuing orders, others naturally would not be confused enough to actively challenge Gu Chen.

Gu Chen's Martial Arts Platform thus stood idle.

Wang Hongwei repeated his trick, went up to the Martial Arts Platform and began urging everyone to challenge Gu Chen, but still no one listened.

However, Gu Chen seemed not intending to directly take a top-ten spot, and actually stepped down from the Martial Arts Platform on his own.

On the general's seat.

The several other camp chief instructors looked at Guan Shan with jealous eyes, their envious expression almost spilling over.

"Old Guan, your camp's Combat Soldiers this year are not bad in strength."

The meaning behind those words was that this was entirely the Combat Soldiers' own ability, not Guan Shan's merit.

Guan Shan naturally understood their meaning, giving a cold smile.

"So-so, second in the camp."

That sentence froze the expressions on the others' faces.

The chief instructors of the Third and Fourth Camps, Du Heng and Li Kai, had faces as dark as water.

Guan Shan's words clearly pointed at the two of them, telling them to know their limits.

Do not covet the position of the Second Camp.

"Do you think you've already secured victory?"

Du Heng's eyes flashed with a hint of jealous fervor, and he seethed inwardly,

"If it weren't for your connection with General Guan, what qualifies you to hold steady the position of the Second Camp?"