Volume 1, Chapter 54 – Selection

The people on the drill field gradually dispersed.

Besides Shi Lan, Jiang Li, Yan Shan, and the other eighteen who had come on the first day, another twenty-three martial artists had passed the selection yesterday. In total, forty-one new recruits remained.

The centurions other than Huangfu Yun left one after another, each of them with plenty of matters to attend to.

The forty-one who stayed were all a little tense. Shi Lan couldn’t help feeling uneasy as well. No matter how many times she’d gone through life-and-death battles in the virtual space, here in the Lingyang Realm she had no chance to resurrect and do it over.

“Before we leave the city, there’s one more thing to do.” Huangfu Yun beckoned toward the edge of the drill field.

Four Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers led four Flood Dragon Steeds forward. The mounts were covered in dark scales as black as ink, their steps slow and steady as they came up to the line of recruits.

“In the past two days, forty-one of you have joined the Demon-Suppressing Army. You’ll be divided into four squads. I’ll be choosing the four strongest among you as squad leaders. These four Flood Dragon Steeds are the reward for the squad leaders.”

Everyone’s eyes burned as they looked at the four Flood Dragon Steeds.

A surge of desire rose in Shi Lan’s heart as well. She’d seen these mounts several times before, and she’d long coveted such a magnificent steed.

“Centurion, tell us—how are we choosing?” a loud voice called out from the crowd.

Everyone was decked out in black armor with visors down. No one could tell who was who.

“Simple. Paired matches. The ones still standing at the end will be the squad leaders.”

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The recruits who had joined the Demon-Suppressing Army varied widely in strength, ranging from the fifth to the ninth stage of the Body Tempering Realm.

Huangfu Yun couldn’t be bothered to probe each person’s cultivation, so he simply arranged them at random, splitting the forty-one into two lines with an easy smile. The extra one got a bye. In any case, the strongest among them would naturally still be standing at the end.

Shi Lan took the Demon-Slaying Crossbow off her back and followed her assigned opponent to an open area of the drill field, putting some distance between them and everyone else.

After loosening up her limbs a bit, Shi Lan lowered her stance slightly. She had no intention of wasting words—she stepped in with a driving punch and charged straight at the person in front of her!

Her opponent was wearing armor and was a martial artist as well, so Shi Lan held nothing back. She surged forward like a galloping horse, her bones and muscles stretching taut as she threw out a massive punch that carried a faint rumble of wind and thunder.

Her punch clearly startled the person in front of her. He didn’t have time to raise his hands to block and instead jerked back in retreat.

But with the Flying Cloud Boots on her feet, Shi Lan’s speed was far beyond what an ordinary person could imagine. In just a few steps she closed in on him, her punch losing none of its momentum as it drove straight for his chest!

Seeing he couldn’t evade, the man suddenly halted, his right leg stamping down hard enough to shatter the blue bricks of the drill field beneath his boot as he steadied himself. Then he raised his hand, palm surging with force, and met Shi Lan’s fist head-on!

“Boom!”

A thunderous bang rang out as fist and palm collided.

Shi Lan staggered half a step back, her expression changing slightly. In that palm, she had felt a force not much weaker than her own.

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The man in front of her retreated two steps in a row, leaving two nearly inch-deep footprints in the bricks underfoot.

Shi Lan gathered her focus and pressed forward, hammering out a flurry of blows like heavy mallets, once again driving straight for her opponent’s chest!

The man shook out his numbed wrist. Seeing how fierce Shi Lan’s punches were, he knew he couldn’t trade force with her and could only retreat again.

But the more he backed up, the more Shi Lan’s offense chased him, pouring down like mercury. She didn’t give him the slightest chance to counterattack.

The Vajra Divine Fist was a wide-open, hard-hitting style to begin with, its strikes powerful and dense. With Shi Lan now having seized the advantage, she naturally wasn’t going to let her opponent catch his breath.

Shi Lan had long since fully internalized the Vajra Divine Fist and was already not far from the realm of great accomplishment. Every move came at her fingertips, each technique flowing into the next without the slightest hint of awkwardness.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged nearly a hundred moves. As the saying went, defend long enough and you’ll slip. Faced with Shi Lan’s relentless pressure, the man finally made a mistake after nothing but defense.

Shi Lan blasted aside his guarding palms with one punch, leaving his centerline wide open. Without hesitation, she twisted at the waist and snapped her leg up like a steel whip across his chest!

His body shot back like a kite with its string cut, flying nearly three zhang before crashing heavily to the ground!

Shi Lan didn’t pursue. She watched as the man clutched his chest and climbed to his feet, then cupped his fist toward her. “I’m not as good as you. I concede.”

Hearing the familiar voice, Shi Lan raised her visor in surprise.

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“Brother Jiang?”

Jiang Li froze, feeling half exasperated and half amused as he lifted his own visor. “Brother Shi, you really hid your edge well. At your age, to have such strength—it’s remarkable!”

He turned his head as he spoke, casting a regretful glance at the four Flood Dragon Steeds. He’d thought that with his cultivation at the peak of the ninth stage of the Body Tempering Realm, he could at least earn himself a mount. Instead, he’d been knocked out in the very first round.

“Brother Jiang, sorry…” Shi Lan felt a bit embarrassed.

Jiang Li shook his head and laughed. “I’m the one who wasn’t up to par—nothing to apologize for. The fact we got randomly matched right off the bat just means we brothers are fated.”

Soon, the twenty winners of the first round were decided. Huangfu Yun didn’t give them any time to rest and launched straight into the second round.

The opponents Shi Lan met afterward were much weaker than Jiang Li. Few of them could withstand even three of her punches. At the start, because she hadn’t held back much, she accidentally broke two of a fellow soldier’s ribs.

Fortunately, injuries were inevitable in sparring, and wounded participants weren’t uncommon. By the final round, almost everyone was carrying some sort of injury except Shi Lan.

As for the one person who’d had a bye the whole time, he chose to forfeit outright in the last round.

Looking at Shi Lan, Yan Shan, and the other two final victors, Huangfu Yun turned to the crowd and said, “If anyone is dissatisfied with these four becoming squad leaders, you may step up and challenge them. Whoever wins may take the loser’s place as squad leader.”

Jiang Li’s eyes lit up, and he immediately stepped forward. Having learned from his experience with Shi Lan, he didn’t pick one of the other two unknowns. Instead, he chose Yan Shan, who had joined the Demon-Suppressing Army in the same batch as him.

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After all, you pick the soft persimmon.

Jiang Li had seen Yan Shan’s test that day—his full-force punch only left a mark a bit over seven cun deep. At best, his strength wouldn’t exceed the eighth stage of the Body Tempering Realm.

Hearing that Jiang Li meant to challenge him, Yan Shan’s eyes went wide. His thoughts tangled in a mess, and a string of curses almost burst out.

After a long silence, Yan Shan looked sadly at the Flood Dragon Steeds standing at the edge of the drill field, then slowly said:

“I concede.”

There were very few others willing to challenge, and soon the positions were settled. By then, the sun was hanging high in the sky.

After distributing some medicine powder to promote blood flow and dispel bruising, Huangfu Yun addressed the group: “You have one hour to rest. After you’ve eaten lunch, assemble at the east gate!”

He glanced at Shi Lan and the other three, with a hint of warning in his tone. “No riding mounts at a gallop inside the City Lord’s Manor, and do not disturb the townsfolk!”

Once Huangfu Yun had left, the four of them sprinted to the edge of the drill field. They loosed the reins and scrambled up onto their mounts.

The Flood Dragon Steeds were more than twice the size of ordinary horses, with powerful muscles and glossy black scales covering their bodies. They were incomparably magnificent—and exactly the sort of steed Shi Lan had had her eye on for a long time.