Starting from the pharmacy, he grew into a martial saint among men.

Wang Ping reached out and caught it, but remained wary and dared not take a bite.

The guard beside him swallowed hard and stepped forward, saying, "Young Master, why don't I try it first and see if there's anything unusual?"

After a moment's thought, Wang Ping nodded in agreement.

The guard took the venison and swallowed it in large gulps.

They usually eat a lot of meat and fish, but today, after a day of eating dry rations in the mountains, the guards' mouths were already tasteless.

At this moment, the venison was so delicious that it tasted far better than any other delicacy.

After a short while, the guard said, "Young master, the venison is fine, there are no abnormalities, and it's quite delicious."

Chu Hong waved the herbal powder in his hand and sprinkled it on the venison, instantly releasing an even more enticing aroma.

"Of course it's delicious; these are the perfect seasonings I specially sought out."

Wang Ping's mouth watered uncontrollably at the enticing aroma.

After persisting for about half an incense stick's time, they saw that the guards were indeed not acting strangely.

Seeing that Chu Hong remained calm and continued to eat several pieces of venison, I finally felt relieved.

"Chu Hong, um... could you...?"

Chu Hong smiled faintly and said, "See? I told you I wouldn't harm you."

He cut off several large pieces of meat, sprinkled them with seasoning powder, and tossed them to Wang Ping and the other two.

"Just eat as much as you want, and we'll grill more if you're still hungry."

The flames crackled, and the aroma of venison filled the air.

At this point, Wang Ping was no longer on guard at all.

Chu Hong sat to the side, quietly watching the three of them enjoy their meal, his expression calm and showing no sign of anything amiss.

On the training ground outside the mountain, everyone stared blankly at the scene on the light screen.

"What is Chu Hong doing? Instead of seizing the identity token, he has the leisure to grill meat and entertain guests."

"I don't understand. Does he think martial arts is just child's play?"

"Hey, do you guys think there might be something fishy about the powder Chu Hong sprinkled on the meat?"

Some people had doubts, but others immediately shook their heads in rebuttal:

"How could there be a problem? Do Wang Ping and the others look like something's wrong?"

Most of the martial artists present only recognized herbs for healing and strengthening the body, and had a limited understanding of relatively uncommon hallucinogenic and sedative herbs.

Moreover, they usually deal with dried goods prepared by pharmacies, so they would never recognize the fresh, wild herbs that Chu Hong had just picked.

Only a few pharmacists who had accompanied him stared at the powder Chu Hong had scattered, hesitant to speak.

Those around them noticed their unusual behavior and immediately bowed and asked:

"Master Huang, do you perhaps know the secret behind that powder? Why don't you just tell us and let everyone see it?"

All eyes turned to him.

Huang Yaoshi hesitated for a moment, but finally, unable to resist the urging from those around him, he had no choice but to speak in a deep voice:

"The red color mixed with wood ash is the Hellfire Pepper."

"Of the other herbs, only two are used as flavoring agents, so there's no problem eating them in large quantities."

"But the other three are Sleeping Herb, Thousand-Day Intoxication, and One-Night Confusion, all of which are hallucinogenic herbs that can make people weak in the limbs and fall into a drowsy state."

"The powder that Chu Hong sprinkled at the end was a mixture of these three herbs."

As Huang Yaoshi finished speaking...

Everyone was dumbfounded, and when they looked at the composed Chu Hong in the light screen, their expressions had changed.

"Isn't that just a sleeping potion...?"

"Chu Hong actually resorted to such despicable and shameless methods..."

"For a powerful figure to resort to such underhanded methods instead of direct confrontation is a serious breach of martial ethics."

"Exactly. Imagine if you and I were tricked into losing our identity tokens like this, it would be incredibly frustrating."

Upon hearing about the powder's effects, the head of the Wang family immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Wang Ping is his child. If he were to be eliminated in such a way, where would the Wang family's reputation be?

He stared intently at Wang Ping, who was engrossed in eating meat on the screen, his heart filled with anxiety.

"Stop eating! Stop right now! Let's go!"

But Wang Ping, who was in the mountains, could not hear his father's call.

The delicious taste had already made him lower all his guard.

He chewed the meat heartily, expressing his sincere gratitude:

"Brother Chu, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy such delicious food in the mountains."

"I will repay this kindness properly after the martial arts exam is over."

"No need, no need." Chu Hong waved his hand and replied calmly, "It was just a small favor, Brother Wang, you don't need to worry about it. I just hope you won't blame me in the future."

"Brother Chu, you jest. How could I...?"

Before Wang Ping could finish speaking, he suddenly felt dizzy, and the scenery before his eyes began to overlap and sway, making him feel dizzy and disoriented.

Even Chu Hong, who was opposite him, appeared as multiple illusory figures in his eyes.

He was suddenly startled and instantly realized something was wrong. He forced himself to get up and tried to escape.

"Quick, let's go!"

But then he realized that his legs were weak and he was about to collapse onto the fire.

Chu Hong moved quickly and kindly helped him up.

"Oh dear, Brother Wang, why are you sleepy? Luckily I reacted quickly, or you would have fallen into the fire."

Wang Ping was still conscious. He stared at Chu Hong with wide eyes, wanting to speak but unable to say anything.

Finally, his head lolled to the side, and he completely lost consciousness.

"Since you seem tired, Brother Wang, let me take you to rest."

Chu Hong turned his head and saw that Wang Ping's two guards had also rolled their eyes back and were lying limply on the ground, unconscious.

Chu Hong showed no smugness or arrogance, but silently observed the three unconscious people.

The amount of powder sprinkled just now was sufficient; if all goes as expected, it should keep the person awake until tomorrow morning.

He didn't remove the three people's identity tags because he didn't want to alert them or expose his methods too early.

If anyone else saw Wang Ping come to their side, he would be eliminated in the blink of an eye.

Their own plans would be exposed immediately, making it difficult to lure others into their traps.

With this in mind, Chu Hong swiftly and efficiently cleared the battlefield.

They moved the three people one by one into the cave and hid them, then cleaned up the traces around the fire and restored it to its original state.

After doing all this, he sat back down by the fire, placed another deer leg on the grill, and slowly turned the grill, waiting for the next group of customers.

Outside the mountain training ground, after witnessing this scheme, everyone was at a loss for words.

The head of the Wang family looked utterly disappointed, while his own son was filled with gratitude, unaware that he had already fallen into the other party's trap and had been sold out without even realizing it.

Song Qingshan clapped lightly and said with a smile, "I am truly no match for Brother Chu's quick wit on the spot."

Shi Potian nodded repeatedly and slapped Shi Lin on the back of his hand: "Learn from this. Martial artists can't just rely on brute force. Assessing the situation and using skillful methods are also abilities."

In contrast, Hung Hing of the Hung Family Martial Arts School had a gloomy expression on his face and was filled with worry.

Chu Hong's methods are difficult to defend against. If he were to use such underhanded tactics on Zhou Mingrui, Zhou Mingrui would definitely fall for it.

At that time, there will be no hope of fame or fortune, and one's long-cherished wish will also be dashed.

Thinking of this, Hung Hing's face darkened, and he turned to the chief examiner on the high platform and said loudly:

"Lord Xiong, I request that Chu Hong be disqualified from the martial arts examination. The selection of talents in the martial arts examination should be based on fair competition, and such cheating and trickery should not be tolerated."

"If this trend is not strongly stopped, it will spread and the martial arts curriculum will definitely be affected."

On the high platform, Xiong Zhen stood majestic and calm, his fingertips tapping the armrest, producing a soft "tap tap tap" sound.

After a short while, he slowly spoke, his voice carrying throughout the entire hall:

"There are three rules for martial arts training; apart from that, anything else is permissible!"

"This examiner only looks at the number of identity tokens obtained in the end, and does not ask about the process or methods."

In short, it was decided to strictly adhere to the rules, effectively shutting down any further explanations from Hung Hing.

Hung Hing could only sigh inwardly, praying that Zhou Mingrui would be more vigilant and not fall into a trap.

Just then, someone in the crowd suddenly exclaimed:

"Look over there! Zhou Mingrui is surrounded!"