parentshiftbook Chapter 77 Reciprocity
Chapter 77 Reciprocity
"A bandit fighting an official, and on the official's home turf no less! What, you think you can gain the upper hand?"
The scholar glanced at the servant: "Although His Majesty has not explicitly expressed his support for the Prime Minister's reforms, sending his strongest henchmen, the Dragon Tiger Cavalry, to the students taking the exams is already a tacit indication of his stance."
Our current efforts to stop the students don't necessarily mean we want them to lose everything; we just want to show our stance: reform is possible, but our interests must also be considered.
Furthermore, that young Tiger Rider is so strong. Judging from his fighting style, he already has true qi enhanced. Every move he makes is accompanied by swirling energy. With the forces we have at our disposal, besides you and me, who else is confident in assassinating him?
"Sir, you mean true qi?"
The servant's eyes lit up: "Judging from his aura, he clearly doesn't possess the bearing of a Qi Refining Stage martial artist, yet he can control true qi. Could it be that the Dragon Tiger Cavalry cheated by using a magical artifact?"
"No, this is the real power of that Tiger Rider. If you ask me, he must have been lucky enough to obtain a portion of the power of the gods of the previous dynasty. As you know, after the dynasty's fate was broken, the Heavenly Court that suppressed the nation's destiny also collapsed."
Countless divine powers were scattered across the mortal realm. Although most perished without the nourishment of a nation's destiny, a few survived, and it's not surprising that some were lucky and others unlucky.
The scholar paused, then changed the subject: "Let's not talk about that. How's the matter I asked you to handle going?"
"Don't worry, I've prepared everything. I'm following the Qi family's connections in the prefectural city, and all the resources and manpower I'm using are local forces from Gaoyang County. I haven't used any of our own people."
"That's good. Remember, if the other side doesn't make the first move, we shouldn't either. Whoever makes the first move is in the wrong, and will have to give up more benefits later. It's just a county, not worth us making such a big concession."
The scholar gave instructions.
"Understood, then I'll get ready to go, sir?"
"Go ahead. If you can't kill the Tiger Cavalry in Gaoyang County, can't you kill them in the mountains? It's not good to always be chased like a dog. Besides, isn't he trying to provoke me? Then let him have his way."
The released dragon riders and county soldiers also let the animals in the mountains roam freely. If they don't bring back heads to test our strength, it will be difficult to provide them with food again.
They targeted our most prominent banner, Qi Jia, so I'll return the favor and target their Tiger Cavalry, giving them a thorough dressing down.
"They killed me, stole my money, and now they want to slap me in the face? Do they really think I have no temper at all?"
The scholar put down his teacup, looked up at the chaotic martial arts training ground, and said calmly.
"yes!"
......
Martial Arts Training Ground.
The Qi family refused the pharmacist who came to treat Qi Wei and the others, gave them a simple treatment, and then left the martial arts examination site.
Splash!
Splash!
Although many people were happy to see the Qi family suffer, when it actually happened, they still didn't dare to provoke the Qi family like Fu Que did. As the Qi family approached, the crowd instantly parted to make way for them.
Two retainers led the way with grim faces, followed by Qi Tianfang, who had already composed himself. Several retainers and members of the Qi family followed closely behind, carrying several stretchers.
The unconscious men on the stretcher were the martial arts students who had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Fu Que.
At this time, the two Qi brothers were in a miserable state, completely devoid of their former high spirits and pride as scions of a local powerful family.
Qi Wei, the next generation leader of the Qi family who was on whom high hopes were placed, is now completely ruined.
His whole body was like a lump of mud, his legs were almost twisted into a pretzel, and his arms were not only torn off alive, but the severed arms were also shattered by the force, with no possibility of being reattached.
Unless there is a rare medicine that can regenerate severed limbs, Qi Wei's life is essentially ruined. However, such a rare medicine is extremely rare and hard to come by. Even if one were to come across it, the Qi family simply could not afford to buy it.
Moreover, even if the severed limbs were reattached, Qi Wei's dantian acupoints would be completely destroyed by Fu Que's wind elemental power, leaving him with no further progress and a cripple.
From the family's perspective, even if there were a precious medicine that could regenerate severed limbs, they would not use it on Qi Wei.
Regardless of how the two sides played their game, Fu Que and the Qi family, who were merely pawns, have undoubtedly become mortal enemies after this arena battle, with no possibility of reconciliation whatsoever.
Watching Qi Tianfang and the others hurriedly leave, a deliberately suppressed but sarcastic sneer came from the crowd on the training ground.
"The Qi brothers, Qi Wei and Qi Hong, along with several other skilled martial arts participants, were easily defeated by Fu Que, and left in such a miserable state?"
After Yu Ling left the arena, she vaguely learned from the discussions of the people on the sidelines how Fu Que had defeated everyone on his stage.
Although as ordinary people they may not know much about martial arts and their descriptions may be exaggerated, it is a fact that the Qi family suffered a crushing defeat.
Although Yu Ling was instructed to be a backup plan, 014's expectation was simply to defeat Qi Wei and Qi Hong on the stage.
Therefore, 014 will arrange for a martial arts performer who is at odds with the Qi family to take the stage. As long as Yu Ling makes the first move, and with the threat of the two Qi brothers' strength, there will be no shortage of people who will join forces with him.
But this step was skipped entirely.
"I was too narrow-minded. I never imagined that the divine legacy of the previous dynasty that I could control possessed such powerful abilities."
Amidst the clerk's announcements, Yu Ling entered her assigned tent, her expression complex.
As at the end of the first round, they were not allowed to leave the training ground before the martial arts course ended, and everything they needed, such as food, water, medicine, and bandages, was provided directly by the authorities.
The martial arts competition will last for two days, with the final round taking place tomorrow. The top five will become the best martial artists of the year, receiving certain rewards and priority access to the Da Zhao officialdom.
As for those ranked from the top five down to the top twenty, they will only receive certain rewards, representing the Emperor's recognition of their sincerity in serving the country, but they still need to continue to work hard in terms of ability.
After that, there's nothing left; it's all about participation.
The next morning around nine o'clock, the martial arts students who were participating in the final round of assessments filed out of the military barracks and arrived at the training ground.
Just as they entered the training ground, before the number plates were even rotated, several people simultaneously raised their hands to signal. After being given permission to speak, they all chose to abstain.
Faced with boos from the audience, some of those who chose to abstain blushed, while others remained unfazed.
Having stood out from over two hundred skilled fighters and passed through the two checkpoints set up by Da Zhao for lower-level martial artists, they have already proven their strength.