Two of Xia Tingfeng’s three good sworn brothers had been eliminated, leaving only Tiger to easily secure a spot in the finals.
The day before their departure, Rat secretly ran to the Buddha statue in the main room of their small courtyard to offer his prayers. The Buddha statue had been purchased from a peddler a couple of days prior for one tael of silver. It was about a foot long and coated with a shiny layer of copper. With offerings placed before it and incense burning, it looked quite authentic.
Meanwhile, Monster furtively dashed to Tiger’s room early in the morning and dragged him out of bed.
"Brother Tiger? Brother Tiger?"
Tiger woke up groggily, sitting up in his sleeveless undershirt and loose shorts, his eyes bleary.
"Monster, what are you doing?!"
It had to be said, Monster looked truly stunning, especially with those captivating peach blossom eyes. But no matter how handsome, he was still a robust man. So... Tiger was still somewhat annoyed.
Monster sidled up to him secretively.
"Brother, I’ve secretly reserved six girls at Bai Fang Tower. Once you become the Martial Champion, we’ll go celebrate!"
Upon hearing about the girls, Tiger’s body reacted immediately. Though his dark face didn’t betray a blush, he was clearly quite embarrassed. "Girls..."
Instead of his usual scolding for lacking ambition, Monster patted Tiger’s shoulder. "Fight well, and the girls will all be yours." With that, Monster left.
Tiger slept for a while longer before getting up. Monster had prepared a feast of chicken, duck, fish, and various meats for him.
"Brother, Big Brother has already soared to prominence. This time... it’s all up to you!"
If Tiger achieved official rank, he could at least help Big Brother in the future. None of them were useless; as long as someone gradually promoted them, there would always be a place for them to shine. In this way, their faction would slowly strengthen.
「...」
On the martial arts tournament field, Tiger’s first-round opponent was a slender man. This man possessed a unique skill: Bone Shrinking Technique. It was truly incredible; his body was as flexible as noodles. Though Tiger often had him cornered, the man would suddenly slip away with a nimble movement. Tiger suffered several hidden setbacks and expended considerable energy before finally managing to defeat him! It made sense; this was the final showdown, and without some serious skill, it would be impossible to have gotten this far.
Like Xia Tingfeng, Tiger had never received formal Martial Arts instruction from a master since childhood. All his abilities were self-taught through hard-won, practical experience. They all had actual combat experience, so their fighting skills weren’t poor. However, compared to the elite young masters cultivated by the Martial Families, they still fell significantly short.
However, he possessed one distinct advantage: he was incredibly robust.
Standing nine feet tall, with a dark complexion and well-developed muscles, his mere presence was intimidating without him needing to make a move. Some opponents’ legs would turn to jelly, and they would consider surrendering just at the sight of him. He had defeated countless less skilled scions from Generals Families.
As the saying went: those with superior martial skills weren’t as robust as him, and on the rare occasion he faced someone of comparable strength, their skills didn’t match his. Round by round, competitors were eliminated, and somehow, Tiger found himself ranked in the top ten.
How would the final ten compete? Zhao Junyao looked towards Minister of War Yang He.
Indeed, this was the same official who was supposed to be spending a month in solitary reflection, though Zhao Junyao seemed to have forgotten. When it came to the final battle, the Emperor still summoned him to make the arrangements.
After pondering for a moment, Yang He suggested, "Why not follow the Ministry of War’s assessment system? Let all ten fighters engage, and whoever is the last one standing will be the Martial Champion!"
Yang Chenyi, standing nearby, immediately objected. "Father, that’s not a good idea. It’s just a competition, after all; ten people is too many! Soldiers in military camps are professionally trained and bound by strict regulations; they wouldn’t act recklessly. But this is different. These men have been fighting and struggling for so long that some have inevitably developed animosity towards one another. If they all rush in together, it’s impossible to predict who will be targeted or how many might gang up on a single person. If an accident occurs, the loss would far outweigh the gain. Furthermore, the allure of becoming the Martial Champion is immense, and these individuals might resort to treacherous tactics. So..."
Yang He wasn’t angered by his son’s interruption; instead, he listened attentively to his opinion. Zhao Junyao had long known that the young men of the Yang Family were talented and not prone to the rash pronouncements of naive youths.
He then asked with a smile, "Then what do you propose?"
Yang Chenyi pondered for a moment. "Perhaps we could have them fight in pairs. Five out of the ten would emerge victorious, and then those five could engage in a free-for-all. That might be better! With only five, they’d be less likely to act recklessly."
The moment Tiger heard this, he was inwardly delighted. A group fight? He excelled at those!
Growing up following his Big Brother, a day rarely passed where he didn’t get into three or four brawls; otherwise, he’d feel restless. He lost sometimes in the beginning, but later on... he became practically invincible!