Chapter 440 A Strange Trial

Heng Imperial City was a huge city.

The so-called giant was not compared to ordinary cities, but compared to Great Zhou's Chang'an, this city still gave people the illusion of a great Magus seeing a small Magus.

To the east was the imperial palace of Great Xia, to the west and north were the offices of the people and the governors, and to the south was a huge mountain. This was something that was hard to imagine. In fact, the Heng Imperial City was built around mountains like this.

This mountain was called Long Yin, and there was a temple on the mountain. It was probably not more talkative, even if no one had come here. Hearing this, they knew that this mountain was Great Xia's Orthodox Dragon Yin Temple.

Compared to the three peaks occupied by the Linglong Pavilion-Xuanhe, Dahuan, and Zhongju-the Longyin Mountain, where the Longyin Temple was located, was actually not very lofty. It was only 800 feet tall, and the mountain was not steep. Even ordinary believers could normally come and go. Normally, there were quite a few pilgrims, and there were endless exchanges.

Of course, there were more than ten times as many pilgrims and good people at the foot of the mountain as before.

But today, these pilgrims were not lucky enough to go to the temple to worship incense buddhas.

Today was the 15th of March, and it was the 5th annual Swordsman Competition. This could be considered one of the most grand events in Great Xia's Jianghu. Long Yin Temple had closed its doors, and ordinary people were not allowed to enter. However, even so, they were unable to extinguish the enthusiasm of these people and good people. They surrounded the mountain gate of the Dragon Hidden Temple, and all of them looked forward to see the people who walked into the mountain gate.

These people who were qualified to enter were either great figures invited by the Dragon Hidden Temple and the Sword Handling Pavilion, or experts from Jianghu who participated in this grand gathering.

These normally arrogant Jianghu powerhouses naturally had an extraordinary attraction to ordinary people.

Therefore, everyone looked forward from afar. Whenever a familiar person appeared, someone would name that person. The crowd would be in a short period of chaos. There were even good people who would open their mouths to bet on who would become the new pet of the Great Xia Jianghu through the Swordsman Competition.

The people who opened the market were most likely people who knew everything about Jianghu. Their odds were extremely exquisite. Obviously, they had done detailed research on all sides. However, even though ordinary people knew that the odds of winning were slim, they were still unable to withstand the luck in their hearts. If they bought some, they would be able to win a lottery.

"Look at that skinny black-clothed man with a hooked nose and two Emei thorns on his back. This guy is called Ichivan. "He suddenly appeared at the Dragon Gate Gathering and overwhelmed the crowd. He won the silver ranking of the Dragon Gate Gathering organized by the old scholar Du Pingce. His cultivation level was unknown, but even the expert at the sixth realm, the Mortal Realm, could not take three moves in his hands."

'"Look at that middle-aged man with a half-tiger head mask and a Tang saber on his waist. His name is Ke Yuan. He was also the top of the silver ranking at a Dragon Gate Meeting. Everyone who saw him said that his saber technique was exceptionally fast, and few people could see his saber trajectory. His reputation was not obvious before. He suddenly appeared, but it made everyone at the Dragon Gate Meeting suffer a lot."

"Also, look at that…"

At the foot of the mountain, Chu Chouli pulled Yan Zhan and Fang Ziyu to chatter nonstop, pointing at the few people who were quite outstanding at the Dragon Gate Meeting. His fluent tone had the flavor of countless treasures.

Not only him, but also Xue Ning, who did not have the qualifications, was also in the mountain gate.

This was also different from the rules of the Dragon Gate Association. Everyone who was selected, regardless of whether they were on the Bronze, Silver, or Gold Rankings, could bring along an attendant. After all, the Swordsman Competition was not a life-and-death battle, but after all, swords and blades had no eyes. The outcome of success or failure was extremely important to cultivators. Which one of these competitions didn't use their full strength? Naturally, he would inevitably be injured and bleeding. It was reasonable for many close people to take care of him.

The reason why Xue Ning was able to appear here was naturally because of Deacon Yan Zhanjin's identity, while the reason why Chu Chouli was able to appear here was because of Eldest Miss Fang. This Eldest Miss Fang had cultivated the Heavenly Art of Devouring Demons, and her cultivation had greatly increased. In addition, she was also a jumping person, so she simply joined in the fun and easily obtained the identity of being a Copper Deacon.

"Alright! You've already said for half an hour, can't you be quiet for a while?" However, Fang Ziyu was not as good-natured as Yan Zhan, and he quickly interrupted Chu Chouli's chatter impatiently.

When the middle-aged man heard this, he immediately stopped. He was wronged like a little wife and muttered in a low voice, "Didn't I just warn you guys? It took a lot of effort to get this information. It's the so-called'knowing yourself and knowing your enemy. Hundred battles, hundred battles. '"

This appearance instantly caused Yan Zhan and Xue Ning to chuckle.

Unfortunately, Chu Chouli's words were pleasant to hear, but Young Miss Fang was very clever. Hearing this, she fiercely rolled her eyes at the burly man and said, "Ah, bah!"

"My surname is Xu and I are on the Bronze Execution Rankings, while Big Brother Yan is on the Golden Execution Rankings. Tell me, they are all people on the Silver Execution Rankings. What does that have to do with us?"

These words undoubtedly hit the middle-aged man's point of pain. He was immediately stupefied and stammered for a long time before muttering softly, "How do I know that this swordsman is much more evil this year? There are a few previously unknown geniuses on the Silver Execution Rankings. I don't know where they suddenly jumped out from."

This was indeed not Chu Chouli's fault. These past few days, Xu Han had not been around. Although Chu Chouli had listened to everyone's suggestions and hadn't gone out to look for him, his heart was filled with worry and guilt.

He wanted to do something for everyone, so he decided to sneak around in the streets on a few free days to gather information from all sides, wanting to search for some information for everyone, so as to deal with the upcoming Swordsman Competition.

However, he was not from Great Xia after all. It was obviously impossible for him to obtain too much detailed information when he was new here. At least in this short period of time, it would be very difficult for him to do so. Most of the information he received came from rumors in the streets.

Most of these rumors had one thing in common, and that was curiosity.

These people naturally did not dare to be interested in those Jianghu characters that everyone was familiar with before, or people who originally came from famous sects. Thus, most of the people Chu Chouli could inquire about were people who had not been famous before, but had suddenly shone with brilliance. Coincidentally, these people were actually almost all people on the Silver Execution Rankings.

Thinking of this, The middle-aged man also felt a little embarrassed. But at this moment, The burly man suddenly sounded as if something had happened. "Right, I also asked about a ruthless character on the Copper Board. I can't say his name, but he's said to be much younger than Xiao Han. He looks like he's only fourteen or fifteen years old, so he didn't even have the slightest bit of strength to fight back. He's said to be a monk, but there's still a little girl by his side."

At this point, Chu Chouli, who felt that he had finally said something useful, straightened his back. He looked at Fang Ziyu proudly and was about to say something when Fang Ziyu reached out to touch the man's shoulder and pointed to a certain place. He asked in a strange tone, "Is that what you said?"

The middle-aged man was a little confused, but he subconsciously looked in the direction Fang Ziyu was pointing at. At the mountain gate, a little monk with red lips and white teeth was leading a pretty girl of his age into the mountain gate.

"It should be." Chu Chouli nodded. He said this, but his brows suddenly wrinkled. He felt that this little monk looked familiar, but his memory couldn't be remembered for a moment. He turned his head to look at Fang Ziyu, only to find that the other party's expression was rather heavy. He couldn't help but ask, "Have we seen him somewhere?"

At this moment, Fang Ziyu no longer had the mood to fight with Chu Chouli. She stared straight at the little monk and said after a while, "I know more than that."

Perhaps it was Fang Ziyu's extremely unusual tone at this moment, or perhaps that memory fragment from the past had finally surged into his heart. Chu Chouli's body trembled, and his face revealed a look of shock. He pointed at the little monk, his mouth wide open, and he was about to blurt out a cry of alarm.

Fortunately, Fang Ziyu quickly jumped up and covered his mouth before the other party shouted.

The exclamation turned into a strange wuwu sound. Fortunately, the mountain gate was already filled with people from all walks of life who had come to participate in the Swordsman Competition. Such a small movement did not attract the attention of everyone.

Only after confirming that the burly man had stabilized did Fang Ziyu let go of the hand that was covering Chu Chouli's mouth. However, her hand was stained with a lot of Chu Chouli's saliva because she had used too much strength earlier. The girl waved her hand in disgust, as if she wanted to throw away the things on it. Then she said, "Don't want to die! That guy is so powerful, you provoked him. What if he comes to take revenge?"

Chu Chouli was stunned for a moment before he remembered the scene of the little monk slaughtering everyone in front of the gate of the Exquisite Pavilion, causing Zhong Changhen to be unable to retaliate. He immediately revealed an expression of resentment and tactful silence.

Fortunately, the little monk did not seem to have noticed them, so he led the girl to a place far away from them, which allowed Fang Ziyu and the others to feel relieved.

…

In the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed, and it was already six o'clock.

The people from all sides of the mountain gate had also almost arrived. There were thousands of people standing at the foot of the mountain of the Dragon Hidden Temple.

The expressions on Fang Ziyu's and the others' faces gradually became serious as time passed. However, not only was it because of the sudden appearance of Guang Lingui, but it was also because Xu Han had yet to arrive when he saw that the time for the swordsman to compete was approaching.

At this moment, they no longer had the mood to fight. They all looked out of the mountain gate. There were crowds of people who came to watch the fun, but there was no trace of Xu Han.

There is a narrow path for enemies.

The group of people raised their heads to look. They did not see Xu Han, who had not heard from him since the day they parted. Instead, they saw Lu Houde and the others walk through the crowd into the mountain gate.

The incident where Xie Min Yu drove the Vermillion Bird into the Crossing Imperial City caused a ruckus. For this reason, Jianghu people from all walks of life did not lack people who stood up and criticized him, However, as the Crimson Firmament Sect secretly operated in various directions, these words were gradually calmed down. They only said that it was due to the imbalance of power between the two sides in the intense battle. Not only was Master Wei doing his utmost to stop it, Xie Min Yu also tried his best to control his Vermillion Bird Divine Bird in the sky to calm down this calamity.

There were naturally many flaws in this statement, but those who could see it clearly either accepted the benefits or were unwilling to offend the Scarlet Firmament Sect, which was still very powerful, so they kept silent and kept quiet about it. Those who could not understand it quickly echoed this statement under the manipulation of someone with a heart.

Most of the things in this world are like this. You always think that you know a lot and understand a lot, but you don't know that everything you know is what the ruler wants you to know. What you think is right is what the ruler wants you to think is right.

Born to live in such a world, even if the occasional suspicion, in the tide of everyone, but will be instantly extinguished, drifting with the waves.

This was both unfortunate and fortunate.

Therefore, it was precisely because of this that when Lu Houde and the others walked into the mountain gate, most of the people present politely gave the three of them a kind gaze.

No matter how dissatisfied he was with the Crimson Firmament Sect, he didn't want to offend them even if he didn't get close to them.

It was the best and simplest way to protect oneself, be it in Jianghu or the Imperial Court.

"Huh? Why didn't you see that brat? Could it be that he was scared out of his wits and didn't dare to come here?" Fang Ziyu and the others were enough to arrive at Lu Houde and the others, and the other party also noticed their existence.

He didn't know that Lu Houde, who Xu Han had almost killed his sect leader that day, still had a great killing intent towards Xu Han. He was very self-righteous and blamed Xu Han for all the troubles that Sword Scarlet Firmament Sect had encountered in the past few days. Now that he saw Xu Han, he naturally couldn't help but mock him.

Fang Ziyu and the others didn't want to cause any complications, so they turned their heads away and ignored him.

"Little bitch." However, Hu Man'er, who was beside Lu Houde , harbored even greater hostility towards Xue Ning. She looked fiercely at Xue Ning and cursed softly.

This kind of whisper could not be concealed from Yan Zhan's ears. This man frowned. How could he let his sweetheart suffer such humiliation? He was about to step forward after a pause, but the girl beside him pulled him back and looked at Yan Zhan with a pleading gaze. In the end, he was unable to defeat the other party. He only stared coldly at Hu Man'er and did not make a move.

When the three arrogant people walked away, Chu Chouli looked at their departing figures with a strange expression. He turned his head and asked without hesitation, "Xue Ning, why does your Master Mother hate you so much? She seemed to have been robbed of a man…"

This was originally a joke. Although it was somewhat inferior, Chu Chouli had always had this temperament.

However, the moment he said those words, Chu Chouli saw Xue Ning's expression change, and Yan Zhan's expression was also strange.

The middle-aged man's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that he was right?

He immediately stopped and fell silent, not daring to continue on this awkward topic.

…

Time continued to flow.

Xu Han was still nowhere to be seen, and the spectators of the Swordsman Competition had also begun to arrive. Of course, there were more than ten organizers of the Dragon Gate Gathering. Li Moding , who had stolen the chicken but failed to eat the rice, was also among them. However, looking at his smiling expression, he didn't think he was in a good mood. As for most of the others, Fang Ziyu and the others were unable to name them, nor did they have the mood to care about them.

The arrival of these people naturally indicated that it was time for the Swordsman Competition to begin.

The crowd gradually quieted down. After a hundred breaths of time, dozens of people dressed in white robes and embroidered with gold, silver, or red threads on their sleeves suddenly appeared aggressively from the stairs leading to the summit of the mountain and slowly walked to the front of the crowd.

At that moment, the last whispers of the already silent crowd dissipated, and the needles on the field instantly became audible.

This group of people didn't need to say anything, so they were naturally the swordsmen of the Sword Handling Pavilion.

Although they wore the same white robes, the embroidery on their sleeves had already revealed their different identities.

The leader was a plump woman in her early thirties, There were seven golden threads embroidered on her sleeves. One had to know that these three-colored swordsmen also had their own grades, and the number of golden threads represented the difference. Even the Sword Handling Pavilion's Pavilion Master, Xiao Ran, had only nine golden threads on her sleeves. From this, it could be seen how high the status of this woman in the Sword Handling Pavilion was.

She also seemed to be a famous person in the Jianghu of Great Xia. When she arrived, all the great figures present took the initiative to salute her. Although the women also saluted one by one, their attitudes were neither humble nor arrogant. It seemed that they did not place these Jianghu celebrities or nobles in their eyes. Only one of them, an old man dressed as a scholar, was treated with courtesy.

After doing all of this, the woman looked at the people who were waiting for the competition to begin. The woman's expression turned serious. At that time, she said loudly, "I am Nangong Jing! Thank you for lifting your love and participating in the swordsman competition."

The voice of a woman was different from the gentle and tactful voice of an ordinary woman. It carried a hint of a gentleman's deep voice, but it did not seem strange or ear-piercing. On the contrary, it possessed an indescribable strange charm.

She stood on the stairs, carefully explaining some details of the swordsman competition to everyone. Whether it was her appearance or voice, listening to such a woman's words could be considered a very enjoyable thing.

However, Yan Zhan and the others did not have the slightest interest in this.

Xu Han still hadn't appeared. They looked at each other with worry and anxiety in their eyes.

"Could it be that Xiao Han really gave up? Or did something unexpected happen?" Such thoughts inevitably appeared in the minds of everyone present, but at this moment, they did not know what to do.

Just as they were thinking about this, Nangong Jing finally finished her long speech. A strange smile suddenly appeared on this woman's face. She glanced at everyone and said, "Now, let's begin the first round of the competition."

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. Most of them naturally had already rubbed their fists against the competition. However, they were still at the foot of the mountain. There was no arena and no specific arrangement. They really did not know how the competition should be conducted.

As a result, their gazes at Nangong Jing were filled with all sorts of doubts.

At that moment, the strange smile on Nangong Jing's face became even denser. She clapped her hands. At that time, the line of swordsmen that had been lined up in front of the mountain gate retreated to both sides, leaving a five-person wide passage for everyone.

At that time, Nangong Jing's voice sounded, "This first round of the competition is very simple."

"Mountain climbing."

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