Who are you calling a stable boy?!

Only then did Ramuel arrive in front of Zheng Jing, raising his hand to deliver a powerful sword strike!

The massive black stone sword, weighing half a ton, compressed the air, and the shockwave from its explosion swept up dust and smoke tens of meters high, almost engulfing the entire battlefield.

It was indeed a powerful and imposing strike.

But by feel, Ramuel knew very well that he had missed.

At the same time, he lost track of Zheng Jing once again.

"Fight if you want, practice Zen if you want."

— Zheng Jing's voice rang out amidst the smoke and dust.

Having realized that this was a signal before Zheng Jing made his move, Ramuel instinctively coiled his greatsword, his eyes darting left and right with a hint of panic, trying to find Zheng Jing's figure that might appear from any angle.

"puff."

However, Zheng Jing had already arranged a position for him.

For the third time, he felt the pain of being shared, and for the third time, he heard the muffled thud from the flesh. This time, as the voodoo aura on the body dissipated, Ramuel didn't need to look to know who had fallen.

The next moment, a gust of wind suddenly swirled up and tore apart the several-meter-high dust curtain that was about to fall downwards.

Zheng Jing tapped his shoulder lightly with the staff. Capri, who was now motionless, stood at his feet. With his head held high, Zheng Jing glanced sideways at Ramuel, whose body was almost curled up under the greatsword.

This time, he remained silent.

But those sly eyes alone were enough for Ramuel to understand Zheng Jing's meaning.

At this point, Zheng Jing had made three moves.

Sing a line.

Make a move.

One person fell.

Now, it's his turn as captain.

Ramuel gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, trying to regulate his breathing to stop his body from trembling.

Zheng Jing's fighting ability remains unchanged...

How could there be no change?!

Looking at the data provided by his prosthetic eye, Ramuel gritted his teeth.

Since becoming famous, he has lost count of how long it has been since he felt such suffocating pressure.

At that moment, all thoughts of the mission vanished from his mind.

All that remains is the urgent thought of survival.

We can't wait—that was the first thought that came to Ramuel's mind.

Although he didn't understand why Zheng Jing's combat power remained unchanged, Ramuel, who had witnessed Zheng Jing's three moves, was certain that a combat power of 10,000 could not possibly achieve this level.

His own combat power dropped below 10,000 after losing the boost from the Voodoo Aura.

Therefore, waiting for Zheng Jing to take action is the most foolish thing to do!

He had to do something before Zheng Jing made his fourth move.

...To surrender?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Ramuel felt a sharp pain between his eyebrows.

This made him unconsciously tilt his head back, meeting Zheng Jing's sharp eyes.

Ramuel's breath hitched for a moment.

Then, he took a deep breath.

"Aaaaaaah!!"

He stepped forward, raised his sword, and roared loudly.

As if leaping into an abyss, Ramuel's instincts told him to close his eyes, but the last vestige of reason he possessed made him open them wide.

"when."

Zheng Jing struck the fourth blow.

A fourth person fell to the ground.

With a flick of his wrist, Zheng Jing twirled the stick, not even glancing at the four men gathered on the ground, including Ramuel. He took a sip of monkey wine from the gourd at his waist and shook his head.

"I, Lao Zheng, am naturally carefree!"

Overturning heaven and earth with a stick is my method of cultivation.

Anger and laughter are impermanent; this is my lesson in enlightenment.

Fight if you want, practice Zen if you want.

I, Lao Zheng, am naturally carefree!

The resounding poem, accompanied by this powerful music of unknown origin, along with the scene of defeating the opponent in four moves, was deeply imprinted in Ishida Koma's heart.

He just stared blankly, still not coming to his senses even as Zheng Jing strolled leisurely up to him.

He knew the strength of Qingxiang's four subordinates.

Although he had long suspected the identities of these four Quincy, Komagaru admitted that the combined strength of these four was indeed enough to be used as a trump card by the Quincy.

But Zheng Jing once again refreshed Ishida Komagaru's understanding of the strong.

"Hey, snap out of it."

It wasn't until Zheng Jing patted him on the shoulder that Ishida Komaki suddenly came to his senses.

"Splash!"

Ishida Seishan, who was standing next to him, stumbled and fell off his wheelchair, struggling with his hands as he scrambled to get away from Zheng Jing.

Seeing this, Ishida Komaga was about to go over to help him up, but Zheng Jing pressed his hand down on him.

"Old man, shall we continue?"

"...I apologize, Mr. Zheng Jing, it was my fault for not disciplining him properly."

Looking at his half-brother, now in such a wretched state, consumed by fear, Ishida Komagaru sighed deeply.

"Please rest assured, we will never go back on our word. As long as the Ishida family continues to lead the Quincy of the present world, the Quincy of the present world will no longer mention the matter of entering Hueco Mundo. As for the issue of dealing with the Hollows, we will also do so in accordance with the agreement."

At this point, Ishida Komagaru's aged body seemed to relax a little.

He clasped his hands in a respectful bow to Zheng Jing.

"No one died in the seven-day tournament; we are extremely grateful."

"It's nothing, it's nothing."

Zheng Jing waved his hand with a grin.

"Then you won't need these four for now."

He pointed his stick at the four men, including Ramuel, on the ground.

Koma-gen was taken aback.

What do you want?

"It's nothing, I just have some questions to ask them."

"this......"

After glancing at Ramuel and the others, and then at Ishida Seisho on the ground, Komagaru couldn't help but sigh again.

"If they have not offended you, please... have mercy and spare their lives."

Zheng Jing chuckled.

"Of course, of course!"

Chapter Twenty-Two: Is there anything else going on with global high-level martial arts?

"Wake up, wake up!"

In a daze, Ramuel felt as if he could hear the voices of his teammates.

He frowned and struggled to open his heavy eyelids.

"teacher!!"

"Uh--"

With Dole's pectoral muscles pressing against his face, Ramuel couldn't help but groan as if he were being coiled around by a giant python.

"Dore, let go."

With a blank expression, Tura grabbed Dol's long brown hair, finally preventing the tearful giant from wiping his snot all over Ramuel's head.

After a struggle, with the help of the android girl, Ramuel, now free, let out a long sigh and looked at Capri, who was kneeling beside him.

"Capri, you're all alright..."

He rubbed his throbbing temples, subconsciously recalling the last scene before he lost consciousness.

I lost.

He was defeated in just one move.

He couldn't even see that move clearly.

Could the gap really be so large?

"Zheng Jing..."

"I, Lao Zheng, am right here."

The moment he heard Zheng Jing's voice, Ramuel turned around abruptly, his body tense.

However, when he saw Zheng Jing sitting cross-legged on the rock, Capri pressed down on his arm.

Ramuel exchanged a glance with his vice-captain and understood what Capri meant.

"...Thank you for sparing my life."

He lowered his head and said respectfully.

"What are you thanking me for? I didn't set up a life-or-death contest, why would I need your lives?"

Zheng Jing pursed his lips, rested his chin on the back of his hand, and looked at Ramuel and the others.

"Could it be because you're players from who-knows-where?"

Ramuel looked up abruptly and met Zheng Jing's grinning face.

He instinctively dodged, avoiding eye contact with those piercing eyes, and instead glanced sideways at Capri beside him.

Seeing Capri nod slightly, his heart sank.

"...I never expected that you would be a colleague from the courtyard."

"Pshaw, what do you mean by colleagues and not colleagues? It's like the courtyard is some kind of iron rice bowl unit."

Zheng Jing chuckled, then, seeing that Ramuel remained unfazed, rolled his eyes and said, "Hiss... Could it be that where you're from, players are really considered some kind of secure, stable job?"

"In our material world, becoming a player does indeed require going through layers of assessments and screenings, with certification qualifications being distributed by the Federation."

"Whoa!"

Zheng Jing was now truly interested.

He jumped off the rock, came over, and pulled Ramuel to sit down on the ground.

"Come on, tell me, Old Zheng, how does the assessment and selection process work?"

Ramuel was quite surprised that this topic would pique Zheng Jing's interest. Although he was a little flustered, he still obediently followed Zheng Jing's lead and talked about his hometown.

In Ramuel's hometown, the existence of courtyards is well-known, and a set of effective player training, assessment and management mechanisms has long been established.

If Zheng Jing were to use an analogy, it sounds a bit like those martial arts novels set up annual martial arts assessments.

To give a simple example—

The Black Stone Swordsman Ramuel brought two of his university students, Dol and Tura, with him to work on a research project.