Chapter 35: Hidden Identity, Fighting in the Arena

Chapter 35: Hidden Identity, Fighting in the Arena

The competition for the Martial Alliance throne was in full swing.

Several Protectors and Elders of the Beggar Clan had taken the stage to defend their turf, but Ning Xishi, their Gang Leader, was nowhere to be seen. Yet the crowds of martial artists flocking to watch the Beggar Clan's matches didn't thin out—if anything, they only grew over time.

Protector Ye had meant to warn Ning Xishi not to roam. They were deep in the mountains, and with none of the elders around, it'd be too risky if someone jumped him.

Ning Xishi replied, "Auntie Ye, I value my life too much to go wandering off."

Protector Ye nodded, but inside, she had her doubts.

When there was no conflict of interest, their Young Leader did stick to the motto "less trouble, better," never risking his neck needlessly.

But if someone threatened him or his family, Ning Xishi reacted fiercer than anyone.

Sometimes she'd think—this kid carrying such a heavy burden was only seventeen. It made them, the old-timers, feel ashamed.

Even though they were technically in Ningzhou territory, this place was in the boonies, and Ning Xishi had no plans to slip away mid-trip.

Besides, the lodgings here were rough—everyone from the various sects had to set up their own tents. Even if Ning Xishi wanted to sleep in, he'd always get woken up by someone practicing outside.

On the second morning he got woken up, Second Master Ning felt his rage had nowhere to vent. He slapped on a plain mask, changed into simple hemp gear, and went straight to challenge the early-bird arena champions.

Protector Ye usually slept fine and wasn't bothered by the orderly racket. This morning, since she wasn't slated to defend the Jule Clan's arena, she decided to tour the stages and scope out everyone's skills.

Then she spotted a huge crowd gathered around one particular arena.

— Before, only the Jule Clan's arena had gotten that kind of crowd.

Must be a hell of a match. She had to check it out.

Too many onlookers, so Protector Ye took a breath and hopped onto a nearby rock for a better look.

One look, and Protector Ye found it both absurd and hilarious.

Their Gang Leader, who'd sworn he wouldn't fight and would only show his stuff in the last four days, was right now on some family clan's stage, sparring with a stranger.

Ning Xishi had woken up with a headache and just wanted to burn off some steam with a few fights.

But as he traded blows, he suddenly found his groove. Some combat tactics his master had drilled into him were now taking concrete shape.

He'd always figured he wasn't good at fighting, that his go-to move in danger was to run. But now that he was actually on the stage, Ning Xishi found that sparring wasn't as scary as he'd thought.

This was mostly thanks to the elders and protectors scaring him as a kid—

"Young Leader's tough! But Young Leader, you gotta know, when we spar with you, we pull our punches. If you run into real bad guys, they don't play fair. So what do you do when you meet one?"

Little Ning Xishi answered without missing a beat: "Run!"

"Young Leader's so smart!"

Those childhood words seemed to echo in his ears, yet Ning Xishi had already traded at least twenty moves with his opponent.

His opponent this time was from a famous knightly sect, and since this was a spar, not a duel, neither side had to resort to dirty tricks.

Ning Xishi had never sparred with a stranger before. He'd planned to give up if he couldn't win, but surprisingly, the guy wasn't as tough as he'd expected.

And so the two of them went at it for nearly two full hours.

The crowd below was even stirring the pot—

"Now this is a true gentleman's duel! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

"I've never seen such a polite, proper match. The challenger's clearly stronger, yet he's willing to trade moves like this—it's like he's playing sparring partner!"

"Yeah, that young guy looks unfamiliar. Don't think I've seen him before."

"Could be an elder from their family in disguise, training the kid?"

"What are you talking about? The challenger's clearly younger. Look at that hand holding the bamboo flute—definitely a young guy."

The arena master, now being treated like a punk by the crowd, couldn't take it no matter how good his temper was. Unfortunately, he really was no match for the other guy.

Even when he sped up his attacks, the other guy effortlessly deflected them and steered him back to the slow pace.

Just like an elder feeding him moves.

But this wasn't practice—this was a match!

As the sun climbed higher, the arena master finally threw down his wooden staff in frustration and cupped his fists with a mix of grievance and indignation: "I concede. You are the superior fighter! I... hmph, I yield with all my heart."

His tone and attitude clearly said otherwise.

Ning Xishi was skilled at reading people. He could only offer an awkward smile and dared not respond.

This was the first time he'd felt genuine enjoyment in a fight. When he sparred with his own sect members, if he won by a narrow margin, everyone would react with exaggerated enthusiasm, making Ning Xishi feel like they were treating him like a child.

Fighting outsiders was completely different—unfamiliar techniques, unfamiliar patterns. He had to rely on his own eyes to see, ears to hear, and mind to predict the opponent's next move, then respond in advance.

The arena master had intended to jump off the stage and never look at this young man who'd humiliated him again. But seeing Ning Xishi's smile felt particularly grating, and he couldn't help but vent: "Since you have such skill, why did you keep dragging this out with me until now?"

Ning Xishi opened his mouth: "Ah?"

The other man clearly wasn't waiting for an answer, firing off questions like a string of firecrackers: "When you first stepped onto the arena, was that nervousness also an act? To make me lower my guard?"

Ning Xishi: "Well..."

"Is this how you force me to concede willingly? You might as well have punched me off the stage—I'd have been more convinced!"

Ning Xishi dared not listen further and fled in a panic.

Only Protector Ye watched his retreating figure with a thoughtful gaze.

Actually, her Gang Leader probably thought that punching someone off the stage would be even more humiliating. And given his eloquence, he couldn't possibly have been rendered speechless—it was just that if he told the truth... like "I'm really not good at fighting, I'm just here to practice," it would have been even more humiliating.

So he said nothing and simply ran off silently.

Although many arena masters criticized Ning Xishi's approach, he did make tremendous progress through these matches.

At first, he was nervous on stage and dared not truly compete. But gradually, he became more and more adept, until in the final few days, he could cleanly kick opponents off the arena with no room for recovery.

Ning Xishi thought it would all end there. But unexpectedly, the arena master he'd forced to concede in his first match had been silently following all of Ning Xishi's subsequent fights. After Ning Xishi finally kicked someone off the stage, the man shouted loudly from below: "See! You deliberately humiliated me that day, forcing me to concede on stage!"

Ning Xishi stumbled, then fled again in a whirlwind.

Over these days, word of a mysterious expert appearing in the arena matches gradually spread, even reaching Ming Hanche's ears.

"Which sect is he from?"

“No sect, no school, not even a name—he’s purely here to compete. He’s even ranked fifth among everyone currently challenging the platforms.”

The advisor said this, finding it hard to believe himself.

Everyone knew scores in these competitions were easy to game—just find a few friendly sects to pad the numbers and rack up the score.

Which made that fifth-place spot look all the more legit.

Of course, most of those high scores were quietly rigged by Ming Hanche, worried that in the final stretch, gang leaders would take the stage to defend their turf, and Ning Xishi’s martial arts might fall short.

If the Alliance Leader title slipped through their fingers at the last second, it’d be a total joke.

Sure, Ming Hanche was a big deal in the martial arts world, but something as huge as the Alliance Leader title wasn’t his call alone—he needed a solid excuse to win everyone over.

If Ning Xishi knew how far Ming Hanche had gone to get him that title, he might actually feel a little touched.

Even his own dad—the guy running the whole Ministry of Rites—had nearly beaten him half to death when Ning Xishi asked him to pull strings for a scholar title.

—His dad spoiled him rotten, but that was the first time he almost broke out the family discipline.

His dad had made him earn everything with real skill, so for Ming Hanche to scheme this hard over something as huge as the Alliance Leader title—that was genuinely moving.

A cold, ruthless glint flashed in the advisor’s eyes: “I’ve had our guards tailing this guy for days, but he shakes them off every time and melts into the crowd—gone.”

With thousands of people around, Ning Xishi could just duck into any tent—the Ming guards couldn’t exactly check every single one.

“Why not skip the tracking and just tell him straight up at the platform to throw the fight against the Beggar Clan Chief?” Ming Hanche frowned, seeing no reason to be sneaky about it.

The advisor: “...” Since when could you talk about cheating out in the open like that?

Ming Hanche stayed silent, his stare sending a chill down the advisor’s spine, who quickly responded, “I’ll handle it right away. I’ll wait right under the Jule Gang platform myself, and the second he shows up, I’ll pass the message along.”

Ming Hanche nodded. “If he plays along, offer him money and a title, and bring him into the Ming fold.”

The advisor quickly acknowledged.

Ming Hanche thought for a moment, then added, “Once Ning Xishi takes the Alliance Leader seat, go back and kill Old Fourth Ming. Keep his identity under wraps for now. Once he’s outlived his use, take them all out.”

“Yes!”

The advisor had just reached the Jule Gang platform when he spotted the notoriously lazy gang leader—who’d refused to defend his own platform for the first sixteen days—wearing a silver mask and clothes identical to that mystery guy who’d taken on twenty-seven platforms.

Ning Xishi smiled on the stage: “Didn’t someone say a few days ago they wanted to spar with me? Come on, then.”

The crowd below went wild—

“How is this possible? Didn’t they say the Beggar Clan Chief was young and mediocre at martial arts?”

“He is young, and aren’t young people usually not that skilled? Besides, he never appears in the martial arts world and never spars with anyone—everyone assumed he was weak, which is why he avoided fighting.”

“Then this—”

“Who knew the Beggar Clan Chief had such incredible talent? I watched almost every one of his matches these past few days—his predictive ability was astonishing.”

The advisor was utterly stunned. He scrambled back to find Old Master Ming: “Master, something’s wrong! That, that anonymous person—he’s actually the Beggar Clan Chief in disguise! His skills could rank in the top ten of the martial arts world!”

==========Author’s Note:==========

Ning Xishi: Thanks to everyone for being my sparring partners.

Single update.