Are You Testing a Cadre with This?

Lianshan Xin was amused once again. "At a time like this, are you joking?" He Ruoyu felt his legs trembling. Of course there were martial artists across the land who did not fear the powerful. Before, Heavenly Sword had blinded a princess. And now, Lianshan Xin stood before him, having cleanly sliced down another. Yet clearly, He Ruoyu possessed no such courage. Fame and fortune were enough to bend his spine. "Senior Brother He, there is no need to fear him like a tiger." Seeing how useless He Ruoyu was, Zeng Ningbing knitted her delicate brows. Though she had intended to sit back and reap the benefits, she still stepped forward of her own accord. "So what if he knows Lord Heavenly Sword? Lord Heavenly Sword is fair and upright—how could he bend the law for personal favoritism?" Zeng Ningbing spoke in a calm, indifferent tone, not taking what had just happened to heart in the slightest. Such unbothered composure was completely beyond He Ruoyu's comprehension. He Ruoyu could not help but remind her, "Junior Sister, that was Heavenly Sword just now, currently the academy's acting headmaster. The Nine Heavens operate very differently from us." Clearly, He Ruoyu possessed ample awe and dread toward the Nine Heavens. Zeng Ningbing, however, did not. "Great Yu is a land governed by royal law. Even the Nine Heavens are no exception." Zeng Ningbing looked at Lianshan Xin with undisguised contempt. "A petty man lusting after fame and fortune indeed. Rather than taking the proper path through the academy and the imperial examinations, you chose the way of an opportunist. Even if someone like you holds high office in the future, you will surely be despised by court and jianghu alike." He Ruoyu's face turned even paler. Lianshan Xin looked at Zeng Ningbing, finding her reaction rather strange, and asked curiously, "Did I kill your father?" Genuine fury finally broke across Zeng Ningbing's icy face. "You court death! How dare you insult my late father!" "So your father died long ago? Elder Zeng is a woman, then? Since we don't even have the feud of a murdered father between us, where does all this resentment come from?" Lianshan Xin chided her. "So young, yet so narrow-minded. No wonder you're so flat." She was far inferior to Dai Yueying. Dai Yueying had been able to set aside even the vengeance of a slain father. Yet this Zeng Ningbing clung bitterly to a petty grudge over a recommendation. Lianshan Xin could only marvel at how vast the gulf between people could be. In flushed indignation, Zeng Ningbing snapped, "Lianshan Xin, do you dare duel me? Let us speak with our swords and see who is truly worthy of that recommendation!" Lianshan Xin felt a spark of interest. Though this woman was in the Qi Condensation realm, she had only just advanced. He was already on the verge of the True Intent realm. On top of that, he had grasped the Dragon Slaying True Intent. She was the perfect sparring partner for him. Qi Shiyun had been able to slay a fifth-realm Grandmaster with only Qi Condensation cultivation. With his half-step True Intent cultivation, defeating someone in the Qi Condensation realm should be child's play. "Harmony is precious, harmony is precious!" Just as Lianshan Xin was about to accept, He Ruoyu stepped in as peacemaker. "Junior Sister Zeng, even if you don't care about him, show some respect for the backer behind him. He does know Lord Heavenly Sword, after all," He Ruoyu cautioned. Seeing that Zeng Ningbing was not the least bit afraid of Heavenly Sword, He Ruoyu felt an inward sigh of relief, sensing that the Golden Scale Alliance's power far exceeded his imagination. Of course, he had to guard against the possibility that Zeng Ningbing was simply too young to know the heights of heaven and depths of earth, so he stepped forward to salvage Lianshan Xin's pride. After counseling Zeng Ningbing, He Ruoyu turned back to Lianshan Xin. "Junior Brother, Junior Sister Zeng is the daughter of Elder Zeng of the Golden Scale Alliance and has been doted on since childhood. I see today's matter as merely a misunderstanding. Why not let it end here?" Lianshan Xin chuckled. "You sure think highly of yourself." He Ruoyu clenched his fists. "Do you know why this woman can't stand the sight of me?" Without waiting for He Ruoyu's answer, Lianshan Xin provided it: "I was recommended by Kong Ningyuan, and that recommendation spot was originally reserved for her by the Kong clan. Today, she deliberately used you to cause trouble for me. Do you understand now?" He Ruoyu took a deep breath. "Junior Sister Zeng is pure and innocent; she would never joke with her own reputation. Junior Brother, do not think you can make baseless accusations just because you know Lord Heavenly Sword." Lianshan Xin sighed. "You defend her so earnestly, but does she even appreciate it?" "I have no need for Junior Sister Zeng to appreciate it. Even if another junior sister encountered such a thing today, I, He, would still step forward!" He Ruoyu's spine gradually straightened. Zeng Ningbing's demeanor had given him confidence. He was trying to make up for his cowardly performance earlier. "Well said, Senior Brother He. The academy is a sacred sanctuary for study and martial arts, not a place for the court's hounds to run rampant." Zeng Ningbing gave He Ruoyu her approval. Yet the words she uttered made He Ruoyu's heart tremble. They also caused Lianshan Xin's pupils to contract slightly. "Zeng Ningbing, are those words your own sentiment, or the stance of the Golden Scale Alliance?" In Lianshan Xin's eyes, on the strength of that single sentence, Zeng Ningbing was already courting death. Yet Zeng Ningbing acted without the slightest fear. "Of course it is my own! Lianshan Xin, don't imagine you're someone important just because the Nine Heavens back you. Even if you join the Nine Heavens, you're merely an unranked hound, a complete waste of that recommendation. I refuse to accept it; there must have been underhanded dealings. I challenge you!" "Are you challenging me, or provoking the Nine Heavens?" "Lianshan Xin, are you afraid? We are both eighteen. In a clash between the two of us, neither the Nine Heavens nor the Golden Scale Alliance will intervene. Do you not even know such basic rules? But of course, you've never had much worldly experience anyway." Zeng Ningbing's voice dripped with disdain. Lianshan Xin came to an understanding. Qi Shiyun had reminded him before that the youth of Great Yu enjoyed a grace period; heavyweight figures generally paid no heed to young people's rivalries. That was why Qi Shiyun had dared to provoke the Crown Prince. By comparison, Zeng Ningbing provoking Lianshan Xin was truly no great matter; in Great Yu, it was entirely normal. His own mindset simply hadn't adjusted yet. Some things truly required firsthand experience to grasp; merely listening to others talk about them was useless. "Neither the Nine Heavens nor the Golden Scale Alliance will intervene in our fight," Lianshan Xin repeated softly. He realized that he not only needed to adjust his way of thinking, but also his way of acting. Catching Demon Cult fiends could not rely entirely on the Nine Heavens. Against peers like Zeng Ningbing, he had to roll up his sleeves and handle it himself. Great Yu had its own ways, and adapt he must. "Since you wish to challenge me, I shall grant your wish." With great martial virtue, Lianshan Xin accommodated Zeng Ningbing's request. Then he struck without hesitation. A dragon's roar rang out. Accompanied by a dragon-shaped wave of true qi. In the next instant, before Zeng Ningbing could even draw her sword, Lianshan Xin slammed her into the ground with a single palm strike. He Ruoyu stood dumbfounded. Zeng Ningbing had fainted dead away on the spot. Lianshan Xin wore a look of utter bewilderment. "That's it?" *No, that's not right.* Lianshan Xin was suddenly caught between shock and delight. Although the Dragon Slaying True Intent was the most destructive technique of the Dragon Subduing lineage, Lianshan Xin's combat experience was by no means superior to Zeng Ningbing's. Even if his realm was higher, theoretically he shouldn't have been able to defeat her in an instant. It was that his Dragon Slaying True Intent held an innate, absolute counter over Zeng Ningbing. The target that the Dragon Slaying True Intent naturally countered... Lianshan Xin looked down at Zeng Ningbing unconscious on the ground, then raised his gaze toward Shenjing, far away on the northern horizon. He was pondering two questions: First: Just how wild had His Majesty been in the jianghu during his youth? Second: Are you testing a cadre with this?