Fang Jie didn't notice the somewhat forlorn look on Zhang Kuang's departing figure. What he wanted to know most now was why Xiang Qingniu had only just appeared at the training ground. His somewhat disheveled Daoist robe couldn't hide the fact that he had just been in a fierce battle. To be honest, Fang Jie was genuinely curious about Xiang Qingniu's cultivation level. He had initially thought Xiang Qingniu was just a conman, but who knew he would have such a high status in the Dao Sect?
How could a Daoist who could stand on equal footing with Master Xiao be a good-for-nothing?
Fang Jie had previously mocked himself as a useless person who couldn't cultivate, but now this useless person made a group of young men in fine clothes gnash their teeth in envy and resentment. Since even he had undergone such a change, Fang Jie wouldn't be surprised if Xiang Qingniu's cultivation was truly astonishing.
But this fat Daoist seemed only interested in Fang Jie's assessment results, only saying, "I just went to wipe your butt," and then refusing to say anything more. Fang Jie rolled his eyes at him and asked, "Are you really hoping I won't get into the Martial Arts Academy?"
"Yes!"
The fat Taoist smiled, looking harmless. "Why?"
"You think entering the Martial Arts Academy is fun? Every day will be a monotonous and boring experience, endless studying and more studying. Imagine, for three long years, your life will be devoid of delicious food, fine wine, and beautiful women. How painful would that be? Little Fang Jie, can you control your flirtatious nature? Although there are female students in the Martial Arts Academy, you should consider whether a woman who can get into the academy is even a woman..."
"Why does the word 'woman' sound so strange coming from your mouth?"
Fang Jie scoffed, "Wearing this Taoist robe has indeed greatly increased your magical power, cultivation, and even your skin has become much more hardened. Now you can even speak the word 'woman' without getting tongue-tied. Stop talking nonsense and tell me what you were doing just now."
Xiang Qingniu glared at Fang Jie and said seriously, "You lack the most basic respect for a reclusive master of the Daoist sect. If you swear again, believe me, I'll go to Dean Zhou right now and have him expel you!"
*Slap!* Fang Jie kicked Xiang Qingniu in the butt, too lazy to answer.
"Damn it, if anyone from the Qing Le Mountain Yi Qi Temple dared to kick my butt, they'd be caught and beaten by my second nephew in charge of punishments, beaten until their skin was torn and their flesh was ripped, beaten until they were infertile!"
*Smack!*
Fang Jie kicked again, this time with even more force.
"Hurry up and tell me what you were doing, or get lost."
"Can't you just beg me?"
"Tell me or get lost?"
Xiang Qingniu was exasperated with Fang Jie. He rubbed against Fang Jie's shoulder and smiled obsequiously, "Did you bring any candy? I was a little hungry, and I rushed here to see you make a fool of yourself, so I'm a bit flustered."
Fang Jie rolled his eyes at him, pulled a bag of candy he always carried from his sleeve, and tossed it to him. Xiang Qingniu caught it, quickly opened it, popped a piece into his mouth, and chewed with a satisfied smile, "My incredibly awesome second nephew found that person from the Buddhist sect, but he accidentally fell into that bald monk's trap. If I hadn't reacted quickly, I might be a pile of minced meat coming to you for candy right now."
Fang Jie imagined a pile of minced meat reaching out for candy, and it was indeed a bit disgusting.
"You fell into their trap and never found the person, right?"
"Of course not. My second nephew has superhuman eyesight, and with Mr. Zhuo's skills from the Imperial Guard, even if that Buddhist disciple could transform into a bird, he couldn't escape the high walls of Chang'an. We've already found the person's trail. If I hadn't been thinking about whether you'd been eliminated, I would have gone to watch the show long ago."
Fang Jie curled his lip and said, "Do I need to say thank you?"
Xiang Qingniu said, "Don't mention it."
"Get lost."
Fang Jie cursed and lay down on the grass to rest. Xiang Qingniu could tell from his expression that he was quite satisfied with the previous exam, so he chuckled a few times: "How was it? Any hope of making it into the top three?"
Fang Jie didn't answer, remaining silent for a moment before asking, "Fatty, tell me, is the most powerful sect in the world, the Buddhist Sect, truly invincible?"
"Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"
"I want to know."
"Not necessarily. You know, the Buddhist Sect's power is spread throughout the world, except for our Great Sui, of course. Someone as smart as you should have already figured out that since the Buddhist Sect allows the Great Sui, which disrespects them..." "The very existence of the state proves that Buddhism isn't truly invincible. If Buddhism were truly so powerful that it had no scruples, how could the Sui Dynasty have stood for over a hundred years, growing ever stronger? Besides, don't forget the Sui Dynasty also has the Daoist sect. That guy at the Great Wheel Temple on the Great Snow Mountain, what's he called the Great Wheel Bright King? He has four disciples, supposedly the Four Heavenly Venerables of Buddhism. My senior brother is the leader of the Daoist sect in the Sui Dynasty, at least on par with that so-called Bright King. My senior brother also has four incompetent disciples, not necessarily weaker than those Bright King's four disciples."
Fang Jie nodded and said three words.
"I hope so."
"Damn it, are you even a Sui person? How can you act like that? Do you think my Daoist sect is inferior to that Buddhist sect?"
Xiang Qingniu questioned angrily.
"Me?"
Fang Jie paused, asking himself inwardly: Am I a Sui person? I guess... I guess I am. Seeing that he didn't answer, Xiang Qingniu was about to make a sarcastic remark when he heard a gong sound in the distance. It was the martial arts academy professor reminding the examinees that the final assessment was about to begin. Xiang Qingniu glared at Fang Jie and said, "Fine, I won't argue with you now. You go take the exam first. I'm one of the proctors for the final assessment, and I'll help you out a little later, considering the candy we had earlier."
"Thank you."
Fang Jie was unusually polite to Xiang Qingniu.
Xiang Qingniu was taken aback and asked awkwardly, "Shouldn't you have been a little more modest? Then proudly said you didn't need anyone's help and would get a high score based on your own strength?"
"So you're talking about being a gentleman? Which eye of yours sees me as a gentleman?"
Fang Jie asked.
Xiang Qingniu nodded in understanding and said, "Even if you looked at me with your ass, I'd never be a gentleman."
"I admire you!"
Fang Jie clasped his hands in a fist salute.
"You're too kind!"
Xiang Qingniu returned the salute. ...
As expected, the final assessment was an individual martial arts competition. The Martial Arts Academy had already arranged the opponents. Thousands of examinees gathered in the training grounds to begin the competition simultaneously. Winners advanced to the next round, each choosing their own opponent, and so on. The top ten at the end would receive excellent results.
Undoubtedly, this was a very brutal assessment.
Besides the opponents in the first round, which were pre-arranged by the Martial Arts Academy, the opponents from the second round onwards were entirely unknown. Moreover, those who finished the first round first were undoubtedly masters among masters, which was not good news for Fang Jie, who could not cultivate.
In team battles, the examinees from military backgrounds were well-trained. But in one-on-one combat, those from aristocratic families who had been instructed by renowned masters since childhood were clearly superior. Furthermore, Fang Jie was certain that as soon as he won the first round, someone would immediately come to challenge him. Today, in this setting, countless people wanted to take advantage of this final competition to trample him underfoot. Especially those scions of prestigious families; even if they performed poorly in their exams, defeating and utterly crushing them would instantly make them heroes among the elite.
Even so, not long ago, Fang Jie had sent the renowned Xie Fuyao flying with a single punch.
While Fang Jie was having a headache, the chubby Taoist Xiang Qingniu was also having one. Sitting on the reviewing stand in the training ground, looking at the densely packed crowd of examinees below, he couldn't help but mutter apologetically to himself, "Little Fang Jie, it's not that I don't want to help you, but in this situation, besides going to the martial arts academy to say a few good words and picking a weakling for you to crush in the first round, there's nothing else I can do. From the second round onwards, it's all up to you."
Meanwhile, in the crowd in the training ground, Lu Fan from Chenzhou looked at the name of his opponent, his lips twitching involuntarily.
Damn it!
Lu Fan cursed fiercely, then spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
His opponent was Fang Jie.
He didn't know if it was bad luck or someone deliberately messing with him, but not long ago he had been beaten twice in a row. First, his sneak attack on Fang Jie failed, and he was kicked away by that arrogant brigade commander. Then, when he sought an alliance with Cui Pingzhou and Pei Chuxing, he was kicked away again by Pei Chuxing. Although both attackers showed mercy, he still suffered some injuries. And at the entrance of the martial arts arena, he was easily sealed in his dantian by Jiangnan Xie Fuyao's Four Symbols Finger Spring Technique. Suffering repeated injuries, his current strength was less than half of his usual level!
Therefore, fighting Fang Jie was a nightmare for Lu Fan.
He had sneaked up on Fang Jie, and that guy who had stolen the spotlight would definitely not hold back!
Thinking about this, Lu Fan's face turned ashen, as if he had eaten shit. He dared not think any further, dared not imagine how that guy would torture him in the upcoming match with Fang Jie. Initially, he was somewhat dismissive of Fang Jie. In his view, even if a deputy commander of a border army was somewhat capable in academics, how much stronger could he be in martial arts?
But when he saw Fang Jie send Xie Fuyao flying with a single punch, he knew he was terribly wrong.
How to fight?
Lu Fan pondered this with a headache, just then the gong sounded. The first round of the individual martial arts competition begins!
...
...
Lu Fan looked at the young man standing before him and swallowed hard.
"Brother Fang, um... hello."
Fang Jie politely returned the greeting with clasped hands, "Very good, very good. Hello, Brother Lu too."
Lu Fan's lips twitched slightly as he chuckled awkwardly, "Actually, not so good... Brother Fang, as you know, I was recently injured, so I hope you'll go easy on me during the match. It's not a life-or-death duel, so let's be gentlemen and stop when we've made our point, okay?"
"Alright."
Fang Jie smiled slightly, "I love gentlemanly fighting."
"Really?"
Lu Fan couldn't help but ask in surprise. "Of course it's true. Does Brother Lu think I'm not a gentleman?"
"Of course, of course. Brother Fang repays evil with kindness, a virtue of ancient times. I, Lu, am ashamed to admit my inferiority. Then… please enlighten me, Brother Fang… stop when you've made your point, stop when you've made your point."
Fang Jie nodded and said, "Understood."
As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Jie pushed off with his feet, his legs unleashing a powerful force, and his body shot forward like a cannonball. Lu Fan hadn't expected that Fang Jie, who had been speaking politely and courteously just a moment ago, discussing things like "stop when you've made your point" and "gentlemanly conduct," would so shamelessly charge at him and punch him squarely in the jaw.
This punch was powerful and heavy, almost dislocating Lu Fan's jawbone.
What's even more infuriating is that Fang Jie was muttering incantations as he threw the punch.
As his fist slammed into Lu Fan's jaw, he uttered two words: "Point hit."
After sending Lu Fan flying, he added two more words: "Stop."
Although the punch was powerful, Fang Jie hadn't used his full strength. He now discovered he could skillfully utilize muscle power, many times stronger than when he was in Fan Gu. The punch left Lu Fan's face covered in welts, but it hadn't truly injured him. So Lu Fan quickly got up, pointing at Fang Jie and cursing, "Shameless scoundrel! Didn't we agree to stop when it was over?!"
"We already did," Fang Jie said innocently, shrugging. "Look, you're not hurt at all, are you?"
Lu Fan glared at Fang Jie fiercely, just in time to see a proctor passing by. He immediately waved his hand and said, "Proctor, proctor, I admit defeat!"
The chubby, young proctor paused for a moment, then pointed at Lu Fan's nose and roared angrily, "Admit defeat?! You're not ashamed, but I am! No way!"
"No way?"
Lu Fan was stunned for a moment, muttering, "You can't admit defeat? What kind of logic is that?!"
The chubby proctor said seriously, "I'm the proctor. I say no, and that's final. That's the rule, that's the logic, understand?"
After saying this, he even winked at Fang Jie, then said in a very low voice, "That's all I can do for you...
On the reviewing stand... A professor pointed at Fang Jie with some surprise and said, "This is unexpected. I thought that candidate named Fang Jie would finish the first round of the competition quickly. With his strength, defeating Lu Fan shouldn't be difficult. And Lu Fan was injured before, so why is he taking so long to deal with him?"
"Slow?"
Dean Zhou curled his lip and snorted coldly, "I bet he thinks it's too fast!"
"Huh?"
The professor asked, puzzled, "Why?"
Dean Zhou raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Didn't you consider that the faster you finish the first round, the stronger your opponent in the second round will be? And the slower you finish the first round, the weaker your opponent in the second round will be. Fang Jie is deliberately stalling for time; he's waiting for everyone who can threaten him to choose their opponents for the second round."
The professor who asked the question couldn't help but grin, saying incredulously, "Is this considered a flexible use of tactics?"
Dean Zhou snorted and said, "You can just take it as shamelessness."