I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 202 If I say no, will you believe me?

"It's Peng Tianxu!"

When Wu Zhenhang saw the tall man step onto the stage, his eyes blazed with fighting spirit. He said to his younger sister and cousin beside him, "Today I will avenge my humiliation!"

Five years ago, in the competition for the Qingyun Ranking, he lost to Peng Tianxu by a single move and failed to make it into the top ten. He has always felt ashamed of this, and the reason he came to participate in the martial arts contest to find a husband this time was because he heard that Peng Tianxu was also there. He came specifically to avenge the humiliation of that blow from five years ago.

"I come!"

To everyone's surprise, someone beat them to it.

He looked over and saw that the person taking the stage was none other than his cousin, the seventh son of the Gu family, whom his cousin had mentioned earlier. He was somewhat taken aback and turned to his cousin, Gu Yuyin, asking, "Isn't your seventh brother only a fourth-rank official?"

Gu Yuyin was even more shocked than him, and said incredulously, "Has he gone mad?"

With a cultivation level of Rank 4, how is challenging Rank 3 any different from courting death?
Unless, he has already broken through to the third rank.

But how could that be? He's only twenty years old!
Not only her, but Qiu Chundong was also taken aback. He never expected that the seventh young master of the Gu family would come on stage at this time.

That's a third-grade expert, how could he not tell?

……

"Humph!"

Peng Tianxu, seeing that the person who came up was a young man he didn't recognize, assumed he was some arrogant brat. He snorted coldly and raised his hand to slap him.

A semi-transparent, powerful hand of qi struck towards the man, leaving him no way to dodge.

Oops!
Seeing Peng Tianxu's ruthless attack, Wu Zhenhang knew he was in trouble. After all, Peng was his cousin's older brother, the seventh young master of the Gu family. If he were to be seriously injured in front of him, he would be held responsible.

Just as he was about to make a move to save him, he saw that Young Master Gu suddenly swung his body, rising several feet higher and gracefully dodging the large hand.

He was stunned. "This is...罡元?"

"Impressive footwork." "Beautiful."

Those present cheered.

Gu Yuyin was stunned. Although she had never seen this Seventh Brother make a move, she had never heard of his extraordinary agility.

Suddenly, she heard her cousin beside her murmur, "He is... a third-rank official!"

She thought she had misheard and hurriedly asked, "What did you say?"

Wu Zhenhang's expression was extremely complicated. "He's a third-rank official!"

A rank three official at the age of twenty!
As expected of a member of the Gu family, such talent is rare in the world.

"How is this——"

Gu Yuyin subconsciously wanted to refute, but then she saw Seventh Brother on the stage draw out the "Po Jun" sword, and a crystal clear sword aura, as solid as a physical sword, shone on the blade!
Sword Qi?

Her mind went blank, and she was completely stunned.

It's actually reached the third rank?
……

"He's actually a third-rank official!"

Qiu Chundong was stunned.

"Who is this person? He looks so young."

"He looks unfamiliar; I wonder which family's young master he is."

"Xiazhou has produced another young master..."

"..."

Those present immediately began to whisper among themselves.

On the arena, Peng Tianxu, seeing that this unfamiliar young man was also a third-rank cultivator, finally took him seriously and asked, "Who goes there?"

"Gu Xianyu has come specifically to seek your guidance."

Is your surname Gu?

Peng Tianxu thought for a moment, but couldn't think of any family with the surname Gu in Xiazhou, so he asked again, "Which family are you a disciple of?"

"The Gu family in the capital!"

After Chen Ming finished speaking, he immediately made his move, saying, "Take this!"

Beijing?

Peng Tianxu felt a chill run down his spine. Seeing that his opponent had already made a move, he dared not be careless and began to deal with the situation seriously.

……

Beside the arena, Xia Shaowen, who was sitting in the armchair, had also been guessing about the young man's background until he heard the name "Gu Family of the Capital," at which point his gaze sharpened.

Why are people from the Gu family in the capital here in Xiazhou?

Is this a trial for us?
He was somewhat surprised and suspicious. But upon closer inspection, he saw that Gu Xianyu's swordsmanship was unpredictable, appearing in front and behind in an instant, and was extremely exquisite. He had no more doubts.

This is the Gu family's ultimate sword technique, "The Lone Goose of Heaven and Earth," and this young man has already grasped its essence.

"This is trouble."

Xia Shaowen felt somewhat worried. The Gu family was not like the local power in Xiazhou. They were a family of founding nobles who had been passed down to this day. Although they were not well-known in the martial arts world, their foundation was extraordinary.

According to legend, the first Duke of the Gu family, who followed the founding emperor in conquering the country, is still alive today.

This Gu Xianyu is so young, yet he's already at the third rank; he must be one of the Gu family's most core disciples. He's not someone you can easily deal with.

Xia Shaowen was lost in thought.

Over there, Gu Yuyin was completely stunned to see that her seventh brother had mastered the "Heaven and Earth Lone Goose" sword technique so skillfully.

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind: "So, he's been pretending all along!"

To be able to deceive everyone and break through to the third rank without making a sound, this Seventh Brother is definitely not as timid and weak as he usually appears.

I suspect that their request to come to Xia Prefecture this time is for another purpose.

At this moment, Gu Yuyin's impression of this Seventh Brother completely changed, undergoing a tremendous transformation. From her initial contempt and disdain, she became wary.

She thought back to her usual taunts to him; he never argued back, only remained silent. Before, she'd thought he was useless. Now it seemed he simply disdained to acknowledge her…

Just as Gu Yuyin was lost in thought, a huge cheer suddenly erupted from the crowd.

Upon closer inspection, she saw that Peng Tianxu's long sword had been cut in half, and he stood there, looking dazed.

Seventh Brother won!

"What amazing swordsmanship."

Wu Zhenhang, Wu's cousin, stood to the side, his eyes shining, eager to try it out.

On the arena, Peng Tianxu threw down the broken sword in his hand and said with a look of dissatisfaction, "You're just relying on the advantage of a divine weapon!"

After saying that, he jumped off the stage.

……

You have defeated a level 70 opponent and gained 3 experience points.

Upon seeing this prompt, Chen Ming did some mental calculations.

To accumulate 30,000, one must defeat over 300 third-ranked individuals.

It's normal that upgrading becomes more difficult as you progress.

He glanced at the panel.

【Level: 70】

Current points: 99896

[Techniques: Iron Horse Stake (Fifth Level Completed), Five Elements True Skill (Missing) (Seventh Level 187544/10000000)]

Martial Arts: Three Talents Fist (Mastery), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Mastery), Zhuang Family Flying Knife (Mastery), Swallow Return Sword Technique (Mastery), Vermilion Bird Sword Technique (Mastery), Phoenix Dance in the Nine Heavens (Fourth Level 3277/400000), Heaven and Earth Lone Goose (First Level 700000/1000000)

[Secret Technique: The Art of Disguise (Mastery)]

The "Lone Goose of Heaven and Earth" sword technique is indeed powerful. Even before reaching the second level, it was easy to defeat a guy who had just entered the third rank.

Those present were all young people under the age of thirty, who had not been at the third rank for long and whose skills were still immature. How could they be his opponents?
While quickly recovering his depleted internal energy, Chen Ming shouted, "Anyone else want to help?" "I will!"

Soon someone responded and leaped onto the stage. Looking at the sword in his hand, he said, "Your sword is not bad."

The implication is that he was able to defeat Peng Tianxu entirely because of this divine weapon.

Chen Ming thought to himself, "I haven't drawn my 'Mingfeng Sword' yet."

The sword he's using now is Gu Xianyu's personal sword, a divine weapon.

The difference between a divine weapon and an unparalleled divine weapon lies in whether or not it possesses a primordial spirit.

Of course, divine weapons are also capable of cutting through iron like mud, allowing a third-rank expert's internal energy to unleash its full power, but they lack some spirituality.

While peerless divine weapons are indeed extremely rare, they are also quite rare, and not every third-rank weapon can possess them.

This second opponent was about the same strength as Peng Tianxu.

Chen Ming managed to break his weapon on the eightieth move.

His opponent was still not convinced and threw half of his longsword at him. When he attacked again, he was sent flying off the stage by an invisible force.

The one who made the move was a second-rank master from the Money Gang, who was responsible for maintaining order in the arena.

He said in a deep voice, "This is a martial arts contest to choose a husband, so I hope everyone will stop when they make their moves. Young Master Gu, you may go and rest now."

"No need."

Chen Ming turned his head and asked, "Is anyone else coming up?"

This angered many people present.

Judging from his expression, he seems to want to single-handedly defeat all the young third-rank officials in Xia Prefecture.
The people present were all young; how could they tolerate an outsider being so arrogant on Xiazhou's territory? Especially in front of a beautiful woman.

So, the third person went on stage.

……

You have defeated a level 71 opponent and gained 3.3 experience points.

You have defeated a level 70 opponent and gained 3 experience points.

You have defeated a level 72 opponent and gained 3.6 experience points.

【…】

After Chen Ming defeated five enemies in a row, Xia Shaowen finally stepped forward and stopped the sixth person from entering the arena, saying, "Let's stop here for today. Young Master Gu has fought five matches and is quite exhausted. Continuing would be unfair to him. Let's fight again tomorrow."

Chen Ming naturally had no objection to this.

The local young third-rank official from Xiazhou was unwilling to take advantage of him and agreed.

Thus, this highly anticipated martial arts contest to find a husband was suspended halfway through.

Gu Xianyu's name spread throughout the entire Wanlei City.

Just as Chen Ming was about to leave, Xia Shaowen stopped him and warmly invited him to visit the Money Gang.

He couldn't very well refuse.

……

Soon, at the Governor's Mansion, Liang Zongcheng received the news and was taken aback: "That kid is actually a third-rank official?"

"Yes, Father."

The one who came to report was his son, Liang Zhengye, who said with some worry, "I'm afraid our previous plan will not succeed. This kid's swordsmanship is quite good, and we're doing this right under Xia Shaowen's nose. It will be very difficult to kill him on the arena."

Liang Zongcheng's expression turned serious. "Why would the Gu family send him to Xiazhou? They know I'm here... Could it be that the Gu family also wants that spot?"

Liang Zhengye was taken aback. "How did the Gu family find out about this?"

Liang Zongcheng said in a deep voice, "There are no secrets in this world. Hmph, Gu Haoran must be crazy to send such a talented son to Xiazhou. Does he really think I wouldn't dare to kill him?"

"Father……"

"This is a battle for enlightenment. Whoever stands in my way must die!"

……

night.

After dinner, Chen Ming, at Xia Shaowen's urging, stayed at the Money Gang's place.

He's made such a big splash today, who knows how Liang Zongcheng will react? What if he sees him as a threat and tries to kill him at all costs? That would be like walking into a trap.

Therefore, the Governor's Mansion is no longer a place to live.

I originally planned to visit my cousin Gu Yuyin, but living in the Money Gang isn't so bad now.

The Money Gang occupies a vast area and is built in a magnificent and luxurious manner, living up to its name of "Money Gang".

In fact, after his inquiries over the past few days, he learned that the Money Gang did not have any business empire and was completely different from the Seven Great Merchants. The reason why this gang could become the richest in Xiazhou was simply because the Xia family owned a gold mine.

They must be rich!
Chen Ming was led by a servant from the Xia family to a rather secluded courtyard.

"Please wait a moment, young master, I'll be right back."

The servant who had led the way simply abandoned him there and ran off.

what's the situation?
Chen Ming felt something was amiss. Could it be that Xia Shaowen also had a grudge against the Gu family and planned to kill him here—

"Mr. Gu."

Suddenly, an extremely pleasant voice came from the other side of the courtyard. It was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. Just by listening to the voice, he could imagine that its owner must be an extremely beautiful woman.

"I am very sorry to have invited you here in this way."

"But Miss Xia?"

Chen Ming had already guessed the identity of the woman on the other side of the courtyard wall.

"Yes."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. May I ask what brings Miss Xia to see me?"

"To be honest, I have a favor to ask of you, Mr. Gu."

"Please say."

Miss Xia said softly, "To be honest, I already have someone I love. So, I would like to ask you to be lenient on the stage tomorrow and pretend to be defeated. I will definitely repay you in return."

So, it turns out they wanted me to throw the match.

Chen Ming resolutely replied, "I cannot comply with this request. It concerns the reputation of the Gu family, and I absolutely cannot lose the match on the stage."

Don't even think about it. Winning a match would earn you tens of thousands of experience points, but losing would mean a net loss of sixty or seventy thousand points. Of course, he couldn't agree to that.

Miss Xia said, "Young master can win a few rounds and then stop going on stage."

"Impossible. People would just think I'm scared," Chen Ming said. "It's impossible for me to fake a defeat. But don't worry, even if I win, I won't marry you. I already have someone I love. Besides, since you have someone you love, you can just tell your father."

A sigh followed, "If it were that easy, why would I have come to find you, young master?"

He couldn't help but let his imagination run wild, conjuring up a Romeo and Juliet-style love story.

Chen Ming said, "Miss, please forgive me for being unable to help. My personal gains and losses are a small matter, but the reputation of my family is a big deal."

He discovered another advantage of being born into a prestigious family: he could find many excuses.

After a moment of silence, Miss Xia suddenly asked, "Did you come here for that spot, young master?"

Quota?

What is that?
Chen Ming wondered if there was some other hidden story behind this martial arts contest to choose a husband.
There's a reason why Liang Zongcheng takes this matter so seriously!

His silence led Miss Xia to mistakenly believe he was acquiescing, and she said, "Does someone of your stature really want to get involved in this mess?"

If I say no, would you believe me?

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(End of this chapter)