Time passed. In the blink of an eye, two days and nights had passed.
Ever since he became a second-class warrior, Chu Ming had never relaxed. He hadn't left the inn for the past two days. He had spent a lot of money to rent a separate courtyard to practice the Bull Fist Technique.
Compared to the skills given by the game space, the Bull Fist Technique was nothing. However, in Chu Ming's opinion, no matter how powerful the skills given by the game space were, they were still external objects. He could use external objects, but he couldn't rely too much on them. Otherwise, there would be future troubles. Only by cultivating hard could he truly obtain what he wanted. To put it bluntly, Chu Ming was still wary and suspicious of this game space of unknown origin. Moreover, even if there was nothing wrong with this game space, working hard to train and improve his strength would still be beneficial, right?
Just like that, as Chu Ming trained hard every day, the official start of the Martial Examination was getting closer and closer.
"Dang-"
"Dang-"
"Dang-"
Early in the morning, the loud and clear sound of bells spread throughout the entire city. Immediately after, the entire Imperial City was in an uproar!
"It has finally begun!"
In the room, Chu Ming, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed and resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes. He knew that this was the assembly bell coming from the Imperial Capital's martial arts arena, which was also the official start of the Martial Arts Competition.
Chu Ming got off the bed and walked to the side of the bed. He looked down and saw countless people walking out of the buildings. The qualified participants walked directly to the training field, while some ordinary people stood on both sides of the street, looking in the direction of the bell and discussing.
Thousands of participating martial artists surged into the martial arts practice field like a tide. The scene was quite spectacular. Chu Ming quickly joined the tide and slowly walked forward with the crowd. He was like the most ordinary drop of water and did not cause any waves.
After a long time, the tide of competitors surged all the way to the parade square outside the training ground before stopping. Then, the guide who had been waiting there for a long time arranged the competitors in an orderly manner.
"Dang-"
As the final bell chime sounded, the vast plaza instantly became incomparably quiet. At this moment, no one dared to whisper to each other. One could even hear the thousands of people breathing in unison.
A moment later, a mighty middle-aged man in black armor appeared in front of the contestants. This middle-aged man had a strong build and a solemn expression. His eyes swept across the entire arena sharply, and then he said in a clear voice,"Next, I will announce the name list of the participants for this year's Martial Selection Meet. Those who hear the name will report and enter the Martial Arts Practice Field with their qualification token. Those who do not report will be disqualified.”
Hearing this, everyone could not help but hold their breaths, afraid that they would miss their names.
"Zhao Guang!"
"Here!"
Upon hearing his name, a handsome young man in white immediately stepped out of the crowd. He quickly walked to the entrance of the martial arts field and handed his qualification card to the inspector guarding the entrance.
The inspector took the qualification card and carefully checked it. Then, he waved his hand."Pass!"
"Wang Zhan!"
"Here!"
"Liu Dekai!"
"Here!"
"Sun Hui!"
"Here!"
……
It had to be said that this list of participants was really long. After an hour, there were still more than half of the participants waiting outside the martial arts practice ground. However, even so, no one dared to show a trace of impatience. Even if some of the disciples from the aristocratic families felt drowsy, they still tried their best to stay awake. Otherwise, if they missed their names, they would regret it.
"Chu Ming!"
Finally, after another hour, Chu Ming's name was called. After that, Chu Ming entered the arena.
As he walked into the training grounds, he looked around and saw that the appearance of the training grounds was already very different from the day of the registration test. The originally flat training grounds now had ten huge arenas that were nearly ten thousand feet in size. Each of the arenas was shockingly cast from the black crystal stones used during the test that day. There were also quite a number of people gathered in the surrounding spectator stands of the training grounds. Looking at the temperament and attire of these people, they should be the high officials and aristocrats of the capital. After all, ordinary people did not have the qualifications to enter the training grounds to watch the battle.
After looking around for a while, Chu Ming walked toward the southeast corner of the training field. It was the resting area for the contestants before they went on stage. All the contestants who had entered the training field before were gathered there.
"Hehe, hello, brother!”
As soon as he stepped into the resting area, a plump young man in luxurious clothes approached him with a smile.
"What is it?" Chu Ming glanced at him and frowned.
This fatty had a square face, big ears, curved eyebrows, and a small mouth. When he smiled, there were two dimples on his face. He looked charmingly naive and harmless. However, Chu Ming never judged a book by its cover. In his previous life, his uncle, who had cruelly sent him to the mental hospital, was also a kind and benevolent elder. However, under that kind face was a greedy and vicious black heart. Since then, Chu Ming had never trusted anyone easily. In this life, the only person he trusted was the dead Feng Lie.
The fat man didn't mind Chu Ming's cold attitude. He smiled and said," I am Fang Shaoyun from You City's Fang Family, may I ask brother…"
"If you have something to say, just say it!" Chu Ming interrupted Fang Shaoyun impatiently. He hated people who beat around the bush.
"Uh ~"
Fang Shaoyun was stunned for a moment. A trace of embarrassment flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his senses and laughed." Alright, looks like you're a straightforward person, Brother. I'll get straight to the point then. You should know that the first round of the Martial Selection Meet is a free-for-all battle in the arena. At that time, if you and I are in the same group, why don't we team up first…"
"Not interested!"
Before Fang Shaoyun could finish, Chu Ming turned around and left.
The rules were the same every year, and Chu Ming knew that the first round would be a free-for-all. Every hundred people would be divided into groups and fight in a free-for-all. The last person left in the ring would be the winner and advance to the next round. One in a hundred, the difficulty was obvious. It was obviously impossible to stand out among these hundred people just by relying on individual strength. After all, no matter how strong an individual was, it was difficult to fight against a hundred alone. Therefore, the way to go was to unite with other martial artists.
Although such an alliance was only a temporary stopgap measure, and in the end, there would still be a winner between the two sides, it was still better than fighting alone. Fang Ziyun obviously had the same intention for looking for Chu Ming. However, Chu Ming had no interest in teaming up. He was a second-rate warrior, and he could easily win the preliminaries. Why would he need to team up with other warriors? One had to know that only Body Refinement Realm martial artists needed to pass the selection of the preliminary competition. Those participants whose cultivation had reached the Postliminary Realm were the seeded contestants who skipped the preliminary battle and directly entered the second round of the arena challenge.
"Hmph, you don't know how to appreciate favors!"
Seeing Chu Ming leave without giving him any face, Fang Ziyun's smile disappeared. A cold glint flashed across his eyes. He turned around and walked towards another contestant who was walking towards the resting area. When he arrived in front of the contestant, his expression returned to his previous charmingly naive look.
Fang Ziyun wasn't the only one who chose to join forces with the other participants before the competition. In the next hour, at least ten people approached Chu Ming with the same goal, but all of them were rejected by Chu Ming without exception. It wasn't until all the participants had arrived that the rest area gradually quieted down.
"Silence!"
At this moment, a loud voice resounded throughout the entire arena. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged man in black armor inlaid with gold appear on the high platform on the east side of the martial arts field. He was eight feet tall and had a dignified appearance. Just by standing there, he gave off a sense of majesty, as if he was facing a mountain. Behind him, a row of black-armored soldiers stood in a line, like stars surrounding the moon.
"An Innate Expert?" Feeling the powerful aura from the person on the stage, Chu Ming's heart trembled. With his current strength, only martial artists above the Xiantian level could give him such a sense of oppression.
"Cough!"
With a light cough, the middle-aged man took a step forward. His sharp gaze swept across the entire scene as he said in a clear voice,"I am Yan Ju, the commander of the Imperial City's City Guards. Under the decree of the current Qin Emperor, I will be the chief examiner for the preliminary competition of the Martial Examination. Now, I will announce the rules of the preliminary competition.”
Following that, the commander of the city guards explained the rules of the preliminary round in detail. It wasn't anything special. Just as Chu Ming had expected, the preliminary round of the Martial Arts Examination was the same as the previous rounds. It was a free-for-all. Except for weapons, hidden weapons, and some drugs that could temporarily increase one's strength, there were no restrictions on methods or life and death. As long as one could stand on the ring last, they would win.
These rules could be said to be very cruel, and if one stepped onto the stage, they could lose their lives at any time. However, the main reason why the Great Qin Empire held the Martial Examination was to increase the number of reserve Generals for the Great Qin army. In other words, the participants who stood out from the Martial Examination would definitely have to go to the battlefield in the future. The rules on the battlefield were even bloodier and crueler than here. If one did not have the determination and courage to face life and death, what right did they have to lead an army into battle? It was better to give up this thought as soon as possible and find another way.
"Alright, let's cut the crap. Once you're on the ring, you'll be responsible for your own life and death. Now, I announce that the preliminary round of this Martial Arts Competition has officially begun!”
As soon as the head examiner Yan Ju finished speaking, the curtain of the martial arts examination finally opened…
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]