Outside the Martial School.
"What's going on? Those are the disciples of the Canglang Martial School. Where are they heading?" someone asked, watching as Wang Jin led a group of disciples out of the school gate, their faces filled with curiosity.
"Where else? They're probably going to take the Inspection Office's assessment!" another person explained.
"How enviable! If they pass, they'll become officials!" someone else chimed in, their voice tinged with admiration.
For a moment, the air buzzed with chatter.
"Junior Brother Jiang, are you confident about the assessment later?" Li Qing moved closer to Jiang Ning and asked softly.
The faint scent of her perfume wafted into Jiang Ning's nose, causing his heart to flutter slightly.
Feeling the instinctive reaction in his body, Jiang Ning couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
Indeed, as a young and vigorous martial artist with abundant vitality, it was hard to maintain composure!
He subtly shifted his position, putting a little more distance between himself and Li Qing.
The memory of Li Qing's foot odor from that one time still made him feel a bit dizzy.
Then, he replied in a low voice, "Of course, I have confidence!"
"Junior Brother Jiang is so arrogant!" Zhao Hu, standing nearby, sneered. "Even I wouldn't dare say I'm certain to pass the assessment. How can you, who's only been training for two or three months, be so boastful?"
Seeing the fierce look in Zhao Hu's eyes, Jiang Ning felt a wave of helplessness.
It wasn't hard to guess that Zhao Hu's hostility stemmed from Li Qing's brief moment of closeness to him.
In the martial school, Zhao Hu's affection for Li Qing was an open secret.
And it wasn't just Zhao Hu many disciples secretly admired Li Qing.
Li Qing was tall and had a good figure.
Even in the entire Luoshui County, she could be considered a beauty.
Coming from a wealthy family, she had never endured hardship.
Even her martial training hadn't roughened her skin or made it dull.
At her youthful age, it was only natural for the disciples to admire her.
"The saying 'beauty brings trouble' is indeed true," Jiang Ning thought to himself.
He glanced briefly at Zhao Hu.
"Jiang Ning, what's with that look?" Zhao Hu demanded, his anger flaring in front of Li Qing.
"Are you looking for trouble?" Jiang Ning frowned, his gaze sharp.
The intensity in his eyes made Zhao Hu's heart skip a beat.
Jiang Ning had already taken dozens of lives, and the faint aura of killing intent he exuded was palpable.
"Hmm?"
Zhou Xing, sensing the aura, turned to look at Jiang Ning with a hint of surprise.
In the next moment, a thoughtful expression crossed his face.
"Jiang Ning isn't as simple as I thought. I initially assumed he was just a sheltered martial artist with no real combat experience."
"But now, it seems he's taken quite a few lives to have this kind of killing intent."
"After only three months of training, he's already developed such an aura."
"Impressive. Very impressive!"
At the same time, Wang Jin, noticing the commotion behind him, turned to look at Jiang Ning and Zhao Hu.
"What's going on between you two?"
"Nothing," Jiang Ning shook his head.
Zhao Hu, under Wang Jin's gaze, also shook his head. "It's nothing."
As Wang Jin turned back around, Zhao Hu silently withdrew his gaze, muttering to himself.
"What just happened?"
"Why did that kid make me feel a sense of fear?"
"Could he be a threat to me?"
"No way! Absolutely no way!"
Zhao Hu shook his head, dismissing the thought.
Meanwhile, at the Yunlai Inn.
"Greetings, Third Elder!" The disciples of the Medicine King Valley quickly bowed as a middle-aged man in gray robes appeared before them. Their anxious hearts finally settled.
"What exactly happened?" the gray-robed man asked, his voice stern.
"Elder, we're not sure either! Elder Liu went out at noon three days ago and didn't return that night. Neither did Senior Brothers Wang Jiu and Wu Sheng, who went with him," one of the disciples stepped forward to explain.
"We searched for them all night but found nothing. That's when we realized something was wrong and contacted the sect," the disciple continued.
"So, Liu Qingsong still hasn't shown up?" the gray-robed man asked.
"No, Third Elder," the disciple replied.
Hearing this, the gray-robed man frowned.
"It seems Liu Qingsong is likely dead."
"Third Elder, are you saying... Elder Liu was killed?" a female disciple asked cautiously.
The gray-robed man glanced at her. "Most likely."
With that, he pulled out a white jade token from his robe.
Seeing the token, the disciples' expressions changed.
"A life token!" one of them whispered in awe. "The Third Elder brought Elder Liu's life token."
The gray-robed man channeled a surge of vital energy into the token.
"Follow me," he said.
"Yes, Third Elder!" the disciples quickly followed.
Soon, they arrived at the banks of the Luoshui River.
The gray-robed man glanced at the rushing waters and then at the life token in his hand.
He infused another burst of vital energy into the token, activating its power.
"He's in the water," he declared.
With that, he leaped into the river.
Splash
The sound of water echoed as he plunged into the river.
"Seventh Junior Sister, Junior Brother Xu, you two stay here. The rest of us will go down."
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
The two disciples nodded.
Moments later, more splashes followed as the others dove into the water, disappearing beneath the surface.
In the water, they followed the gray-robed man's descent.
After several dozen breaths, the gray-robed man spoke.
"You all go back up first."
Even underwater, the gray-robed man's voice was clear and powerful.
The disciples, their faces red from holding their breath, quickly swam back to the surface.
A short while later, the gray-robed man's feet touched the soft riverbed.
Guided by the life token, he soon found three bodies.
After days of being submerged, the bodies were barely recognizable, their flesh mostly eaten away by fish, leaving only bones with patches of decaying flesh.
"It's Elder Liu," the gray-robed man confirmed, recognizing the clothes on the skeleton.
He bent down and untied the stones tied to Liu Qingsong's bones.
Moments later, he did the same for the other two bodies.
Then, gripping the three corpses, he swam back to the surface.
Back on the shore.
Splash
The gray-robed man emerged from the water.
"Third Elder!"
"Third Elder!"
The disciples called out as they saw him.
"Catch!" the gray-robed man shouted, tossing the three bodies onto the shore.
The corpses landed with a thud.
In the next moment, the gray-robed man stomped hard on the water's surface.
Boom
The water beneath his feet solidified as if struck by a cannonball, and he leaped out of the river in a single bound.
A ring of white foam spread across the water's surface.
"Third Elder, is this Elder Liu's body?" a disciple asked, pointing to one of the decaying corpses.
"According to the life token and the clothing, this is indeed Liu Qingsong," the gray-robed man confirmed.
He shook his body, his tendons flexing, and with a sharp motion, he expelled the water from his clothes.
In moments, his clothes were half-dry.
"Third Elder, what should we do now?" a disciple asked.
"Find the killer who murdered Liu Qingsong and the others," the gray-robed man said, glancing at the bodies. "Do you know why Elder Liu went out that day?"
"Yes," a disciple nodded. "According to Elder Liu, he went to question Jiang Ning."
"Jiang Ning?" the gray-robed man asked. "Who is that?"
Meanwhile, in the western part of the outer city.
Jiang Ning had just arrived at the training ground, only to find it packed with people.
Despite the scorching sun, the crowd showed no signs of thinning.
Around the training ground, wooden sheds had been set up, already half-filled with people.
Wang Jin led his group toward a shed on the eastern side of the training ground.
That shed was reserved for the Canglang Martial School.
As they entered the shed, a tall man sitting on the outermost bench stood up and greeted Wang Jin.
"Master Wang, you're here!"
This man was Yu Yuan, the master of the Shenwei Martial School.
In Luoshui County, he was a true powerhouse, on par with Wang Jin, both at the seventh rank of martial arts.
Jiang Ning had seen him at the initiation banquet and recognized him immediately.
"Master Yu!" Wang Jin greeted in return.
He then took his seat, and Jiang Ning and the others sat on the benches behind him.
"Master Wang, do any of your disciples plan to compete for the squad leader position?" Yu Yuan suddenly asked, turning to Wang Jin.
"From the way you're talking, it seems one of your disciples is determined to take the position?" Wang Jin replied.
"Master Wang, you're sharp!" Yu Yuan laughed. "You saw right through me. There's no hiding it from you."
Wang Jin shook his head. "If you want to boast about your disciple, just say it. No need to beat around the bush. Is your disciple Du Yang already at the eighth rank?"
"Haha!" Yu Yuan chuckled. "You see right through me, Master Wang!"
Hearing this, Wang Jin turned to Zhou Xing. "Zhou Xing, do you plan to compete for the squad leader position?"
Zhou Xing nodded slightly. "I am also an eighth-rank martial artist."
With that, both Wang Jin and Yu Yuan understood Zhou Xing's intentions.
If he was already at the eighth rank, how could he not compete for the squad leader position?
Wang Jin smiled broadly. "Brother Yu, my disciple isn't too shabby, is he?"
"Not at all!" Yu Yuan's gaze fell on Zhou Xing, and he praised, "The prodigy of the Zhou family is indeed extraordinary. He has the potential to catch up to us in this lifetime!"
Wang Jin nodded slightly. "Naturally!"
At the same time, Jiang Ning scanned the training ground, his eyes landing on a distant viewing platform.
On the platform, a group of well-dressed young men and women had gathered, their clothing expensive.
Among them, Jiang Ning spotted two familiar faces.
Lin Jia'er, Lin Qingyi's niece.
Liu Sansheng, the younger brother of his sister-in-law, Liu Wanwan.
"Those must be the students from the Martial Academy," Jiang Ning thought to himself.
Li Qing, noticing Jiang Ning's gaze, leaned closer to him.
"Junior Brother Jiang, are you envious? They get to sit on a shaded platform, while we're stuck in this stuffy shed."
"A little," Jiang Ning admitted.
As Li Qing had said, the simple wooden shed became unbearably hot under the sun.
With so many people crammed together, the smell of sweat was overwhelming.
In contrast, the viewing platform was spacious and well-ventilated, far more comfortable than the shed.
Li Qing also looked toward the Martial Academy students with envy.
"Not just you, Junior Brother Jiang. I'm envious too!"
"That platform looks so comfortable!"
"But we don't have the right to go there. They're students from the Martial Academy in Dongling City. Their status is far above us, who come from this small town."
Jiang Ning replied, "Senior Sister, don't sell yourself short. Your family background isn't bad either."
"Not bad, yes," Li Qing shook her head slightly. "But compared to them, it's still a big gap."
At that moment, Zhao Hu, seeing Li Qing leaning toward Jiang Ning, clenched his fists tightly.
"Damn pretty boy!" he cursed inwardly.
Meanwhile, on the viewing platform.
Lin Jia'er had also noticed Jiang Ning sitting in the shed.
Jiang Ning stood out in the crowd, both in height and appearance.
Looking down at him from the platform, Lin Jia'er raised her chin slightly, a proud expression on her face.
It was as if she was saying, "See? This is the difference between us!"
Jiang Ning, seeing Lin Jia'er's little gesture, shook his head.
"Kids," he thought.
Then, he glanced at Liu Sansheng.
Liu Sansheng was surrounded by a group of people, clearly the center of attention.
"It seems Liu Sansheng wasn't lying. He has a good chance of becoming the Liu family's patriarch. Otherwise, his status wouldn't be so high."
Finally, Jiang Ning's gaze fell on the central platform, where a grand chair stood empty.
Jiang Ning knew that seat belonged to the head of the Luoshui County Inspection Office.
With the power of the Inspection Office, if the county magistrate was once the local emperor, then the head of the Inspection Office was the heavens of Luoshui County.
A figure who held the power of life and death, ruling with an iron fist.
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 410+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader