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

Chu Hong quietly stepped into the battlefield, moving among the monsters and examinees.

He was very measured in his attacks, using both fists and feet without intending to kill, but each move would injure the cat demon and thwart its attack.

When encountering a candidate, one should either knock them unconscious with force or cripple their legs to render them unable to fight and thus unable to escape.

"Chu Hong! It's Chu Hong!"

Someone recognized Chu Hong and immediately shouted in terror, turning around to try to escape.

But with Chu Hong's agility, he had no chance to escape even a fraction of an inch.

He was like a lion charging into a flock of sheep, moving with composure and swiftly reaping the spoils.

In just a short while, the chaos on the entire site had been brought to a close.

The three-eyed cat demons suffered heavy losses. Seeing the situation was dire, the leader, who had been severely injured by Chu Hong, called out to the remaining cat demons and quickly fled into the dense forest, disappearing from sight.

The remaining candidates all fell to the ground, and none of them were able to stand up.

Only Chu Hong stood in the center, his expression calm and undisturbed.

He did not linger there.

Since several distress signals had already been sent into the air, the soldiers on duty must be rushing here at top speed.

If he doesn't act soon, these people's identity tags will become irrelevant to him.

Chu Hong bent down and wandered among the many examinees, feeling for their identity tags.

The movements were extremely swift and precise.

Before long, he returned into the night with his bountiful harvest, disappearing quietly into the distance.

At this moment, at the training ground outside the mountain.

The people who had been resting had already been awakened.

The constant ringing of fuses in the Canglang Mountains and the faint sounds of fighting made it impossible for them to fall asleep.

And with that glimmer of light, they learned the whole story behind Chu Hong's beast-summoning incident.

Surrounded and attacked in the dead of night, he did not show off but calmly left, then lured the beasts to launch a counterattack, and finally entered the fray to reap the rewards.

If any step had gone wrong, Chu Hong would have been eliminated, and it would have been impossible for him to achieve such a result.

But Chu Hong did it.

This mindset, courage, and boldness deeply moved everyone.

The entire venue fell silent, save for the occasional gasp of breath.

Everyone gazed at the figure disappearing into the darkness on the light screen, their eyes filled with deep admiration.

Looking at the soldiers' figures appearing in the light screen, Shi Potian couldn't help but sigh softly:

"Young Master Chu's decisiveness is truly rare."

Hung Hing of the Hung Family Martial Arts School felt quite uncomfortable upon hearing this.

Only now did he truly see Hong's methods clearly. Not only was he incredibly powerful in combat, but he also knew how to use the monsters of the mountains and forests to set traps, making him impossible to guard against.

If such methods were used when facing off against Zhou Mingrui, Zhou Mingrui would likely suffer a great loss.

By then, his ranking would have fallen out of favor, his hopes for martial arts would be dashed, and his long-cherished wish would be impossible to fulfill.

But no matter how worried he was, it was to no avail.

Zhou Mingrui was in the mountains and could not receive his message, nor did he know the specific situation.

He could only pray that Zhou Mingrui would be quick to react when the two clashed, or that Chu Hong would confront him directly and not resort to such tricks.

On the high platform, Xiong Zhen quietly looked at the light screen, his gaze deep.

A moment later, he turned to look at Magistrate Huang, his gaze slightly scrutinizing:

"Magistrate Huang, tell me, how did Chu Hong find that nest of cat demons so accurately?"

"Didn't you say that few people venture into the Canglang Mountain? Then where did he get his information?"

These words may seem ordinary, but they contain an extraordinary depth of thought.

The implication is whether the government has leaked information about the situation inside the mountains.

In fact, Xiong Zhen had already suspected Chu Hong's behavior during the day.

He discovered that Chu Hong's every move was driven by a strong purpose.

When Chu Hong first went into the mountains to search for medicine but failed, his fleeting disappointment, and his decisiveness in heading straight for the cave after hunting the wild deer, were truly unbelievable.

Such a situation would never have occurred if the layout of Canglang Mountain had not been known beforehand.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Huang felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat poured down his back.

A series of messages about Chu Hong flashed through his mind.

Pharmacy, martial arts school, escort services, apprenticeship, security escort agency, herbal medicine store...

Suddenly, he grasped a crucial piece of information and quickly whispered:

"My lord, I suspect that Chu Hong's information came from Gu Jin, the Pavilion Master of the Hundred Medicines Pavilion."

"Gu Jin?" Xiong Zhen's hand paused slightly, his expression turning grave. "That one from the Patrol Division?"

"Indeed, sir!"

Magistrate Huang glanced at Xiong Town discreetly.

Seeing that Xiong Zhen didn't seem to care, he breathed a sigh of relief and continued to explain:

"Chu Hong, who was previously an undercover agent of the Patrol Division, was ordered to investigate the collusion between Tianshui Escort Agency and Wuyou Sect, which is how he came into contact with Pavilion Master Gu."

"Before the martial arts examination began, Chu Hong visited the top floor of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion several times, presumably to check the map and understand the terrain, monsters, and medicinal herbs of Canglang Mountain."

Xiong Zhen paused silently for a moment, then nodded slightly.

In that case, everything makes sense.

"It seems that Chu Hong is the person Gu Jin has been secretly searching for."

Xiong Zhen thought to himself.

Otherwise, even if Chu Hong were a secret agent of the Patrol Division, he would never have seen a single piece of that map.

Not to mention checking it multiple times.

However, he did not revoke Chu Hong's qualification for the martial arts exam just because Chu Hong knew the map beforehand.

After observing for most of the day, he found that Chu Hong was outstanding in combat, meticulous in thought, and extremely measured in his actions. His temperament and character were all of the highest caliber, and he had been planning to cultivate him.

Now that Gu Jin is involved, he is even more delighted and is preparing to recruit Chu Hong directly.

There are usually two paths for outstanding martial arts talents.

One option is to join a sect for cultivation, and the other is to join the government's Sky Patrol Division.

Given Chu Hong's performance, he will surely be noticed and recruited by the sect in the future. However, Xiong Zhen is unwilling to let such a talent fall into the hands of the sect, and instead plans to bring him into the Sky Patrol Division.

"After the martial arts examination concludes, regardless of whether Chu Hong has achieved any official rank or not, please invite him to join the Sky Patrol Division for me."

"If he is unwilling, he should inform Gu Jin. With her persuasion, Chu Hong will surely agree."

Magistrate Huang quickly bowed and wrote it down, but a few doubts arose in his heart.

He vaguely heard that Xiong Zhen had received favors from the Gu family in his early years, but when the Gu family fell into trouble, Xiong Zhen not only did not lend a helping hand, but also kicked them when they were down, cutting off their chances of survival.

However, it seems that the situation is quite different from what was rumored.

At present, Xiong Zhen seems to have no grudge against Gu Jin, and even seems to be secretly helping Gu Jin.

Is this an attempt to make amends out of guilt for what happened back then? Or is there another purpose?

Magistrate Huang couldn't understand it, but the officialdom was a complex place, and he knew the principle that one should not ask what one shouldn't ask, and one should not guess what one shouldn't guess.

He suppressed his doubts and pretended to know nothing.

Xiong Zhen glanced at Magistrate Huang indifferently, without offering any explanation.

Old grudges and secrets are best left unsaid; they need not be explicitly stated.

His gaze returned to the Canglang Mountain, watching the figure flash across another screen of light, and he thought to himself:

If Chu Hong can truly rise steadily and rescue Gu Jin, then perhaps the Gu family's past injustices can be redressed.