On the stage.
Facing He Jinyun, no one stepped forward.
After a long while.
"How boring!" He Jinyun shook his head, clearly losing interest.
At this moment, the man overseeing the competition looked toward the stands.
That was where Hong Minghu was seated.
Seeing Hong Minghu nod slightly and hearing his voice in his ear, the man understood what to do.
Then.
He turned to the people at the edge of the stage.
"If no one steps forward to challenge He Jinyun, he will automatically secure one of the deputy commander positions!"
Even after this announcement, no one on the stage stepped forward.
The two rank-seven martial artists, a man and a woman, remained as calm as ever, watching the scene unfold without any urgency.
Since there were four deputy commander positions and only two of them were rank-seven, they had nothing to worry about.
The gap between rank seven and rank-eight was like a chasm.
After tempering their tendons, their explosive power became terrifying, allowing them to channel the strength of their entire body with every move.
This explosive power not only made their attacks unstoppable but also significantly increased their speed.
Especially in close combat, their agility and movements were several times faster than those of rank-eight martial artists. If they were at the peak of rank seven, with fully tempered tendons, the difference would be even more pronounced.
This gap was the source of their confidence.
With four deputy commander positions available, they could easily secure two.
Thus, they could afford to give this young lord some face and not compete with him.
As for the others, they all knew that despite He Jinyun's sallow complexion and seemingly malnourished appearance, he was born with immense strength.
Among the elite students of the Martial Academy, this innate talent made him virtually invincible.
Knowing they were no match for him, why would they dare to step forward and challenge him?
After a moment.
"Congratulations, Young Lord!" the man overseeing the competition said.
Then he took out a golden token from his pocket and tossed it to He Jinyun.
"Is it pure gold?" He Jinyun caught the token and examined it closely.
"Gold-plated," the man replied.
"So poor!" He Jinyun scoffed, his face full of disdain.
Hearing these words, the man felt a wave of helplessness.
A palm-sized token made of pure gold?
Who could afford that?
Then.
He Jinyun walked toward the crowd and said, "There are three positions left. You all fight for them! I'm heading back. This damn weather is too hot!"
As he spoke, he jumped off the stage.
The crowd made way for him, watching as he left.
"This young lord is something! He secured a deputy commander position without lifting a finger, becoming an eighth-rank official!"
Watching He Jinyun's retreating figure, someone exclaimed in awe.
Then another person said, "Of course! Look at his status he's a young lord! The son of a fourth-rank noble. To them, an associate eighth-rank position probably doesn't mean much."
Hearing this, someone immediately refute, "You're underestimating the deputy commander position. It's a position of real power, with the authority to kill and act first, report later. It's a level above other officials!"
This statement made others nod in agreement. "That makes sense! The Inspectorate's power is too great. It seems Luoshui County is in for some turbulent times."
"That's inevitable!" someone agreed.
"Speaking of which, do you think any of Luoshui County's prodigies have a chance to secure one of the four deputy commander positions?" someone shifted the topic.
"Difficult! Too difficult!"
"Yeah, too difficult! This young lord has already taken one position. Now there are only three left, and two of them will go to the two rank-seven martial artists. That leaves only one position!"
"So, Jiang Ning, Liu Zhaonan, and Ruan Hongmei have no chance?"
"Not necessarily!" someone immediately negatively. "Have you all forgotten Jiang Ning's performance earlier? Defeating an elite Martial Academy student with one punch with that kind of performance, he might still have a chance!"
"It's not that simple!" someone nearby shook their head and continued analyzing. "You have to understand that the Martial Academy students' martial arts skills are far superior to ours."
"The ones Jiang Ning will be competing against are the elite among the elite students, each having mastered several lower-tier martial arts to perfection."
"The Martial Academy student who ultimately secures the last deputy commander position will undoubtedly have mastered mid-tier or even higher-tier martial arts."
"With such a huge gap in martial arts skills, how can brute strength alone win?"
This analysis silenced the crowd, as they knew it was correct.
Strength and power alone couldn't determine the outcome of a battle.
Combat experience, on-the-spot performance, weapon advantages, and martial arts skills all these factors influenced the outcome of a fight.
And among these, martial arts skills had the greatest impact.
Mastering a powerful martial art provided an incomparable advantage.
A mid-tier martial art, even just proficiently mastered, could easily crush lower-tier martial arts.
Higher-tier martial arts were even more formidable.
And the biggest shortcoming of Luoshui County's prodigies was their lack of martial arts skills.
On the stage.
A man stepped into the center.
"Who will fight me?"
He looked at the crowd with confidence.
As one of the two rank-seven martial artists, facing a group of rank-six martial artists, he had every reason to be confident.
The crowd frowned as they looked at him.
They realized that if no one stepped forward, the same scenario as with He Jinyun would repeat itself, and this man would automatically secure a deputy commander position.
If that happened, only two positions would remain.
But considering this man's strength, they felt a pang of unease.
Rank-seven.
This was far ahead of their martial progress.
Moreover, they knew that these two rank-seven martial artists had come from the prefectural city.
From the capital of Guangning Prefecture.
They were also students of the academy above the Martial Academy.
To stand out in the Martial Academy and advance to the prefectural academy, this man must have been head and shoulders above his peers.
Even at rank eight, he would have been no weaker than anyone present.
Not to mention now that he had reached rank seven.
Thinking of this, everyone's enthusiasm waned.
As for the other rank-seven martial artist, a woman, she watched the crowd with amusement.
After a moment.
The man overseeing the competition asked, "No one is stepping forward?"
The crowd remained silent!
Jiang Ning did the same!
With only one chance to take the stage, one loss would mean losing the opportunity to compete for the deputy commander position.
Given the choice between rank-eight and rank-seven opponents, why would he choose to fight a rank-seven?
Jiang Ning still vividly remembered how powerful Liu Qingsong, the rank-seven elder from the Medicine King Valley, had been.
The only reason he had defeated Liu Qingsong was because of the advantage of fighting in water.
In water, his combat power doubled.
Naturally, he had no fear of rank-seven martial artists and could easily win.
But on land, especially in front of a crowd.
His strength and techniques were limited, so there was no need to provoke a rank-seven martial artist.
After another moment.
The man overseeing the competition spoke again, "If no one steps forward to challenge, Yuan Hua will automatically secure a deputy commander position."
The crowd remained silent, with no one showing any intention of stepping forward.
"Fine then," the man sighed.
Then he took out a golden identity token.
"Congratulations!"
Yuan Hua, from the prefectural academy, clasped his hands and accepted the golden token.
Then.
He returned to the edge of the stage and whispered to the woman beside him, "Tang Miaomiao, it's your turn."
The woman nodded. She gripped her sword and walked to the center of the stage.
"Who will fight me?"
Her gaze swept over the crowd, a hint of arrogance in her expression.
After Yuan Hua's display, no one dared to step forward and challenge her.
Not even having the courage to fight naturally made her look down on these people.
Seeing Tang Miaomiao's gaze, a few people showed displeasure on their faces.
Especially Qin Xuan and the others, who clenched their fists.
Martial Academy students from Dongling City, were used to receiving respectful looks wherever they went. When had they ever been treated with such disdain?
But considering this woman's background and her rank-seven strength, they could only endure her gaze in silence.
"How boring!" Tang Miaomiao scoffed, her tone full of disdain.
Then she turned to the man overseeing the competition and said, "Why don't you just announce it? I don't think anyone here will step forward to fight me."
Hearing this, the man didn't respond directly.
Instead, he looked at the crowd and asked, "Is anyone stepping forward to challenge?"
Silence.
After another moment.
"Fine then," he sighed.
Then he took out another golden identity token.
"Congratulations!"
"Thanks!" Tang Miaomiao accepted the golden token, her face full of excitement.
Although she had known from the start that she was just going through the motions.
After all, Yuan Hua also ranked seven, had already gone through the motions.
With Yuan Hua having done so, she naturally followed suit.
After putting away the token, she walked over to Yuan Hua.
On the other side.
The crowd began to stir, their faces full of eagerness.
Of the four deputy commander positions, three were already taken.
And among those present, there were still twelve people left.
This meant that the last deputy commander position would be decided among these twelve.
Only the final victor would secure this position.
"I'll go!" Qin Xuan stepped forward confidently.
Almost immediately, someone else stepped forward as well.
It was Ruan Hongmei from Luoshui County.
She held a whip and wore tight-fitting martial attire as she walked to the center of the stage.
"Looks like my treatment is completely different! As soon as I step forward, someone challenges me!" Qin Xuan looked at Ruan Hongmei and chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"Enough talk!" Ruan Hongmei said. "There's only one deputy commander position left. Whether you go first or last, you still have to defeat everyone to have a chance."
"Well said!" Qin Xuan nodded.
"Weapons or hand-to-hand?" Ruan Hongmei asked.
Qin Xuan glanced at the whip in Ruan Hongmei's hand and nodded. "Weapons it is!"
In the next moment.
He asked the man overseeing the competition for a sword.
Then.
Qin Xuan, holding the sword, immediately engaged Ruan Hongmei in combat.
The two fought with full strength, holding nothing back.
Ruan Hongmei's whip moved like a dragon, cracking left and right in the air.
After just a dozen breaths, Ruan Hongmei was defeated.
She now had several deep sword wounds on her body, and her clothes were stained with large patches of red.
For an ordinary person, any one of these wounds would have been fatal, cleaving them in two.
The only reason Ruan Hongmei could withstand these injuries was due to the strong defensive capabilities of a martial artist's body.
At the peak of rank nine, the skin becomes as tough as bronze.
As one's strength grows, so does the resilience of the skin and muscles.
This is why martial artists have such strong survivability and rarely suffer fatal injuries.
Especially when armored, they become even harder to kill.
After witnessing this real, no-holds-barred fight, Jiang Ning gained a clearer understanding of a martial artist's physical resilience.
This was a path where defense outweighed offense.
From what he knew, having skin as tough as bronze at the peak of rank nine was not the limit.
There were two more steps beyond that.
The Diamond Temple had subsequent techniques, and he was now practicing the Indestructible Diamond Body.
A golden body was the true pinnacle of skin tempering.
"If skin as tough as bronze provides such defense, then a fully tempered golden body must make one truly impervious to blades!" Thinking of this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but murmur to himself.
At this moment.
After her defeat, Ruan Hongmei's expression remained calm and resolute, as if she hadn't suffered any injuries.
The wounds on her body had also stopped bleeding.
With her powerful control over her muscles, she had compressed the wounds to stop the bleeding.
Ruan Hongmei then walked up to Jiang Ning and suddenly stopped, whispering to him.
"I did my best! Qin Xuan is too strong. I'm no match for him, but I managed to injure his right arm. I believe you'll have an easier time against him later."
"I believe you can secure this position and create a miracle! Luoshui County needs a deputy commander from its people!"
After quickly saying this, Ruan Hongmei leaped off the stage and disappeared into the crowd without looking back.
Jiang Ning was momentarily stunned, then glanced at Ruan Hongmei's retreating figure and smiled slightly.
On the stage.
Qin Xuan had already moved to the side.
After defeating Ruan Hongmei, he automatically advanced to the next round and didn't need to fight again.
Then, another Martial Academy student stepped into the center of the stage.
"Hand-to-hand combat. Who will challenge me?" he asked the remaining nine.
"I will!" Jiang Ning stepped forward without hesitation.
Seeing Jiang Ning, the man took a deep breath.
"Let's go!"
At this moment.
Seeing Jiang Ning step forward, the crowd grew excited.
"Can Jiang Ning advance to the next round?" someone asked.
"It shouldn't be hard! From what we've seen in the previous matches, this guy doesn't have an unbeatable aura."
As the crowd discussed.
The two quickly engaged.
In just a few breaths.
The Martial Academy student was knocked off the stage.
"Good match!" Jiang Ning clasped his hands.
The man clutched his chest, his face red.
After Jiang Ning used the "Blind Man Collides with Tree" technique, the man was sent flying off the stage without any resistance, resulting in his defeat.
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