Confrontation

As I got closer to the capital, the roads and pathways were getting better. Stone slab tiles started appearing beneath my feet as I went down the main road. The vegetation had also gone down considerably; no more having trees block my views every ten steps of the way. Now, I could see great plains stretching for many kilometers at a time.

Large villages also started appearing, road signs each leading to places with special sounding names like 'Arching Dewberry Village', 'Bouncing Rock Valley' 'Jugtown', 'Steel tongue Village', 'The Hou Village', 'Stinking Well Village', or my favorite, 'Better Than Nothing Town'.

[A/N: Two of those names were real, see if you can find them.]

There were also more people sharing the road with me, merchants' wagons going back and forth from the capital, massive caravans of mercenaries taking all of the space the road had to offer, and most noticeably, groups of young people heading the same way as me.

The reason they were noticeable isn't because they're a large number of them, but because all of them had something in common.

They all looked alot worse for wear than the others on the road. Many teenagers around the age of 16 to 18 years old had rags for clothing. Some of them looked quite injured. Yet, they were still rushing across the road on their horses.

On the way, I could hear their shouting.

"Hurry, Hurry! We'll be late for the registration today!" The one leading the front shouted.

"Damn it, if only we didn't run into a pack of White-Eyed Oxen!" Another one cursed.

'Registration? Oh fuck, it's today?!' I panicked.

While the entrance assessment took place in the beginning of fall every year, the registration day for the exam was placed three months before the actual assessment. Not only that, the registration day is just a mere day, so if you miss this specific day, you'll have to wait for 6 months until the next assessment.

I looked up at the sun, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. I then looked back to the two bags of a chopped up bear on my shoulders. The smell was already starting to leak out.

'Welp, time to make history.'

…

At the foot of the Great Mountain Zhou lied a stretch of buildings extending up to twenty li (10km) in length. This is the area of operations for the Seven Profound Martial House and the Sky Fortune Martial House. A crowd gathered on the field before the Seven Profound Martial House.

The applicants were all lined up in three lines, with each line extending up to several meters in length, one for the Sky Fortune Martial House registration, another for the Seven Profound Martial House, with the other one being a special entrance.

And there I was, standing in the registration queue with bloody bags on my shoulders. Standing with me are the young heroes of the Sky Fortune Kingdom, very ahead of their times, I say, they were already practicing social distancing away from me.

If there was any consolidation for me, it would be that the same group of people who met the pack of White-Eyed Oxen were standing in line with me. All of us were wearing rags and weren't in the best of shape. I smiled out to greet them but it seemed they weren't in the mood to socialize.

A small gate was nearby. There were only a few people there. Furthermore, the ground was also paved with red carpet. From the writing on a sign, I remembered it was the entrance reserved for nobles.

Since the Seven Profound Martial House was built upon the grounds, buildings and resources of Sky Fortune Kingdom, it was only natural for them to give some face to the elite classes of the kingdom. In fact, many of the martial house's affairs would be handed over to the elites to manage. One such example would be today's registration for entrance assessment.

Just then, the doors of the gate opened. Two young males strode out from the gate; one of them was wearing blue clothes with a long sword attached to his waist. His hair was tied up into a gold coloured headgear and had a handsome appearance.

The noble was walking side by side with the other young man. A few other nobles waited outside before choosing to follow the two of them. It would appear that the handsome noble was bringing the other young man to register. The two of them continued walking forward until they stopped in front of a common looking youth.

At first, the handsome noble reaction was that of shock. After that, he frowned.

"You, you are called Lin Ming, am I right? How unexpected, you would actually follow us all the way here. You, with a mere cultivation level of First Stage in Physical Training, want to take the test to enter the Seven Profound Martial House?"

In the face of a high nobility, the common looking youth didn't back down however.

"Whether or not I manage to pass the assessment is my own problem. I am not here as a result of following anyone. I am here due to my pursuit of the Martial Way."

'Ah shit, this is the main story.' I instantly recognize them.

'This means, that guy is Zhu Yan.' I looked back towards the handsome noble.

"The Martial Way? A mere above average talent like you dared to utter the words of pursuing the Martial Way? Insolence!" Having said that, Zhu Yan's finger released a light sound; after that, his long sword shot out from its sheath! Zhu Yan grasped onto the sword and slashed the air, releasing an intense sword qi, which created an air splitting sound. A barely visible wave flew outwards, directly cutting down half the canopy of a nearby tree.

The sounds of "pususu" could be heard as a large number of branches and leaves fell to the ground. The people around all stared with bulging eyes. Most of them were of roughly the same age as Zhu Yan and were not that much younger. However, Zhu Yan's accomplishment in the Martial Way had already left them far behind.

The reason Zhu Yan unleashed this sword slash was to give Lin Ming a mental blow, and show him the gap between the two of them. "I am a Grade Four Martial Talent. I began training in martial arts since I was twelve, consuming countless medicinal pills in the process and have now entered the Heavenly Abode's Sword Sect within the Seven Profound Martial House. I am currently at the pinnacle of the Third Stage of Physical Training. Even so, I am barely at the beginning stage of the Martial Way. And yet, someone like you with a mere First Stage in Physical Training dared to talk about the Martial Way?"

Zhu Yan's manner of speech was so arrogant, it caused the fat youth beside Lin Ming to become enraged. "Surnamed Zhu! You are simply someone born two years earlier than us! What are you boasting about? If our age were reversed, this senior would use just one hand to toss you away!"

Zhu Yan frowned and turned to look at the fat youth. He took a step forward, the primal energies within his body exploded outwards as he asked. "Who are you?"

"I…" Due to the oppressive pressure sent out by Zhu Yan, the fat youth's words were stuck in his throat. He took a step backwards, swallowed his own saliva and patted his chest before speaking. "This Young Master is called Lin Xiaodong, you better remember it!"

"Lin Xiaodong? *Heng*, those from the Lin Family that have the qualifications to talk with me can be counted with one hand. What makes you think that a clown like you has the qualifications to speak to me? That includes even you, Lin Ming! If not for Lan Yunyue, you have no qualifications to talk to me at all! I will give you this advice, a man must know his own limits. Someone like Lan Yunyue is not someone that you could match up to."

In Lin Ming's birthplace, Green Mulberry City, Zhu Yan had stolen away Lin Ming's first love – Lan Yunyue. For a great family such as the Zhu Family, their prerequisite in selecting future wives lay not in terms of appearances, but rather their martial talent. A highly talented wife would have a higher chance of giving birth to a martial genius. Although Lan Yunyue's family is only average, her Grade Three Martial Talent is very good considering her gender. In addition, Lan Yunyue herself is a beauty with an outstanding temperament. It was only natural that Zhu Yan would fall for her.

A female with Grade Three Martial Talent with good looks and bearing is rare within Green Mulberry City. Most of them would only appear in great families. However, considering the conflicts of interest between the great families, they would never allow their talented females to be married off into other families, leading to the strengthening of their rivals' bloodline. Thus, most great families would request that the male side marry into their family. This is the reason for Zhu Yan's statement.

"A thousand gold taels! From today onwards, I do not want to see your face again!" Zhu Yan said as he pulled out a stack of gold bills from his sleeves.

The people around were rendered speechless. A thousand gold taels is a very large sum of money, enough for a martial artist in the Physical Training Stages to buy up necessary high-grade herbs for training usage for up to three years.

"A thousand gold taels? Do you take us for beggars?" Lin Xiaodong pushed back the stack of gold bills. Although I knew, he was simply putting on a brave façade. Even for him, a thousand gold taels is a huge sum of wealth.

Zhu Yan flicked his hands and a powerful repelling force knocked Lin Xiaodong away. Zhu Yan coldly stared at Lin Ming, awaiting his answer.

Lin Ming took a deep breath before speaking out in a slow yet powerful tone. "Zhu Yan, I am not your match in terms of talent, I am even less so in terms of family support. However, the cultivation of martial arts does not depend only on talent and financial support; there is an even more important factor… the heart of a martial artist!"

"Your cultivation of martial arts is done for the sake of wealth, status and vanity. However, my cultivation of martial arts is done for the sake of pursuing the Martial Way. The Martial Way does not exist for those with talent, it does not exist for those with authority and it does not exist for those with money. It exists for those whose heart beats for the sake of martial arts! There will come a day when I will surpass you!" As he reached the end of his sentence, Lin Ming spoke out each word with emphasis and in a clear voice. Everyone who was standing nearby could clearly make out what he had said.

That's when I stepped in; I rushed to Zhu Yan's side. After hearing Lin Ming's words, Zhu Yan became momentarily stunned. I then took the opportunity to snatch the stack of gold bills.

"Do not worry sir, I'll make sure you won't see my face again." I said to him as if he was talking to me in the first place.

"W-who are you?" If he was stunned before, now he was shocked.

"I'm Peng Tian."