He Lingchuan accepted his goodwill with a grin. Meng Shan's final blow had landed squarely on his left arm; not only had the bone snapped on impact, but the shockwave had rattled his internal organs as well.
Right up to the very last moment, Meng Shan's power hadn't diminished in the slightest.
The fellow was truly a troublesome opponent.
A single pinch was all A'luo needed. "Your arm is broken!" He popped a pill into He Lingchuan's mouth. "Swallow this. It'll help soothe your internal injuries."
Then A'luo swiftly set the bone, applied medicine, and bound it in splints.
Practiced though the movements were, they were anything but gentle. He Lingchuan hissed in pain several times, unable to keep from recalling how tender Sun Fuling was whenever she changed his dressings.
Looking down from the stage, his gaze met hers.
Her eyes curved like crescent moons and her smile bloomed like a flower—she must have won quite a sum, hadn't she?
"All right, all done. No running, no jumping, and don't put any weight on the injury for the next seven days." A'luo wrapped up his work with brisk efficiency, while Meng Shan was carried off on a stretcher.
A'luo hurried off with the other army medics to examine Meng Shan. He Lingchuan slowly stepped down from the stage. Along the way, patrol guards and soldiers gave him thumbs-up, jostled to slap him on the shoulder, and praised his prowess without end.
Meng Shan had strutted around both the North and South Courts with his nose in the air, an eyesore to countless men. It was He Lingchuan who had finally vented that bitter frustration for them.
Beyond the railings of Arena No. 7, the gathered townspeople were cheering wildly, and the young maidens especially looked his way with shining eyes.
This was the victor's moment in the spotlight, and the air hummed with the scent of triumphant satisfaction.
He Lingchuan took a deep breath. Though the metallic tang of blood still filled his mouth and nostrils, he felt thoroughly exhilarated.
Hu Min bounded up in long strides, waving several large gold ingots right before his eyes. "Struck it rich, struck it rich! Tonight's feast at Yixiang Restaurant is on me—don't any of you dare fight me for the bill!"
He Lingchuan stared with wide eyes. "How did you cash in for gold so fast?"
Hu Min pointed toward Skinny, who was grinning from ear to ear. Who knew which of his younger brothers' bride prices he had gathered from this haul?
Sun Fuling walked over. "You're heavily injured. No wine for you for now."
"Nonsense! When I broke my leg last time, I still drank—drank..." Sun Fuling narrowed her eyes at him, and Hu Min shuddered, instantly changing his tune. "I'm just a bachelor, what the hell do I know? But good food and meat are still on the table, right? I heard Yixiang Restaurant has a new dish called 'Two Dragons Seize the Pearl'..."
He Lingchuan couldn't be bothered with him. Grinning at Sun Fuling, he said, "I won!" A promise was a promise.
She caught his unspoken meaning and produced a mirror from who-knew-where, holding it up to his face. "Look."
He Lingchuan peered into the glass and recoiled in shock.
When he had been knocked flying earlier, his face had scraped right along the dirt. Half of his face was now engorged and swollen high, bruised purple and green, smeared with grit and sand, and looking unspeakably wretched.
"Now? Are you sure?" Sun Fuling asked, fighting back a laugh. "Can you even feel your face right now?"
It was indeed completely numb. He would just have to let the debt keep for now. He Lingchuan sighed and changed the subject. "How much did you win?"
"Not much." She pointed at Hu Min. "Just about ten times his."
"Ten—"
Sun Fuling patted his arm—the uninjured one, naturally. "You truly didn't disappoint me!" With one big bet, she had made everything back with interest.
Skinny scurried over and shoved a slip of paper into He Lingchuan's hand. Looking down, He Lingchuan saw it read: *Owes nine hundred taels of silver.*
"What's this?"
"I don't have enough change on hand, so I owe you for now. I'll pay you later!" Skinny was drenched in sweat from the bustle, his face aching from smiling so hard. For this bout, He Lingchuan's payout odds had been frighteningly steep, and now the winnings were just as terrifying.
He eagerly offered several gold ingots to Xiao Maoliang, flattering him obsequiously. "Chief Xiao, your winnings, sir!"
He Lingchuan: "..." *So Xiao Maoliang placed a bet too?*
Xiao Maoliang gave the gold ingots a slight wave toward him, his expression remaining as stoic as ever. "Well done."
He had a family to provide for, and he never said no to a windfall.
Still, Xiao Maoliang was more serious than the rest. He remembered to ask He Lingchuan, "Did you only use Returning Swallow and Wave Slash just now?"
"Yes, Swallow Slash." Combining the two techniques yielded extraordinary results. Furthermore, Swallow Slash could evolve into Falcon Strike, making the attacks even sharper and more ferocious.
That was a matter for later.
"How did you avoid his roar attack?" Meng Shan's Mountain-Shaking Roar had knocked spectators by the ring unconscious. He Lingchuan, standing barely two feet away, had taken the brunt of the frontal blast—how could he be acting as though nothing had happened?
He Lingchuan chuckled. Opening his right hand, two wads of cotton sat in his palm.
He knew Meng Shan's moves inside and out, so he had plugged his ears before stepping into the ring. A physical barrier like this was the most effective counter.
Of course, shutting off his own hearing was a risky gambit; against anyone else, he might not dare try it. *Sigh, I still need a divine ability to defend against formless attacks like that.*
Xiao Maoliang paused in surprise, then patted his shoulder. "Not bad."
He Lingchuan had lost to Meng Shan seven times—and died seven times. Now that he had finally turned defeat into victory, the vindication, exhilaration, and unburdened clarity were truly beyond words.
Even his thoughts felt completely unobstructed.
One could never underestimate such a state of mind. Many cultivators became trapped by a single crushing defeat, their minds clouded forever after, unable to advance with fierce determination.
For him, defeating Meng Shan was a milestone victory.
Only after kicking aside the shadow of that humanoid raging bear did he truly feel how vast the world was, with boundless possibilities lying ahead.
"Good. It seems you've comprehended a path of your own." A fine saber technique could be expanded infinitely, depending entirely on the practitioner's insight. In time, Panlong City might gain another stalwart general. Xiao Maoliang was deeply pleased.
At that moment, the Martial Review Hall sent a representative over to offer congratulations, who then pointed to the wooden board beside Arena No. 7 and asked He Lingchuan, "Do you want to hold the ring as champion? You can wait forty days before accepting challenges."
The forty-day window was for recuperation—quite considerate.
The board was the arena champions board.
He Lingchuan looked over and saw that there wasn't just a single champion; four names were listed.
Seeing his confusion, Hu Min explained, "Champions get injured too and need time to heal. Until they are defeated, their names remain on the board. These four successfully defended the stage previously and haven't been beaten yet."
Having finally settled accounts with everyone, Skinny pushed his way through, his face flushed red. "Unless someone is too severely injured, whenever a challenge is issued, the champion must accept within forty days. Otherwise, it counts as a failed defense and the name is automatically struck off. Also, the champions board can have no more than ten names; if it exceeds that, the Martial Review Hall will match champions against one another."
He Lingchuan looked up. In other words, there being only five champions right now was the result of them clashing against each other?
Skinny paused, then added, "Broken Saber, fighting here at Arena No. 7 is better than sparring in the South Court of the Martial Review Hall."
"Why's that?" Never hurt to ask what one didn't know.
"Everyone knows you're a champion, so anyone without real skill won't dare step up to challenge you. If you just look for sparring partners in the South Court, neither side might know the other's depth."
In plain terms, it was a matter of efficiency. Holding Arena No. 7 effectively filtered for stronger opponents.
Both men made practical points. After a moment's thought, He Lingchuan agreed to let the Martial Review Hall register him as the proud new champion of Arena No. 7.
He lacked real combat experience, and clashing with formidable experts was the fastest path forward.
Promptly, the Martial Review Hall wiped away Meng Shan's name, wrote "He Lingchuan" in bold red characters, and marked his status as "Patrol Guard."
On a bustling street where people came and went, this was... extraordinarily conspicuous. Long before breakfast tomorrow, half of Panlong City would likely know a new champion of Arena No. 7 had been born.
He Lingchuan stroked his chin. He liked it.
Since he was an injured man after all, after claiming his champion's reward, it was time to head home to rest.
A sea of people crowded before the front entrance of the Martial Review Hall. Sun Fuling took one look and said, "Let's take the back gate."
"There's a back gate here?" In all his eight visits to mess around at the Martial Review Hall, he hadn't known about it.
"Of course there is."
The group took a side path beside the North Court and slipped quietly out through a small gate to the northwest.
The further north they went, the quieter the Martial Review Hall became; most people had gone to watch the bouts. He Lingchuan glanced at the training grounds behind the wooden fences, wondering if Zhong Shengguang and the others also came here to stretch their limbs.
Outside the northwest side gate, it was indeed much quieter.
Yet no sooner had He Lingchuan stepped outside than forty or fifty people swarmed up with smiling faces. Some wanted to hire him as a retained expert for their merchant guild with handsome compensation, while others praised him as a promising young talent and wanted to take him as a son-in-law.
There were also seven or eight young maidens chattering away, coming forward to express their admiration. Two of the bolder and more forward ones slipped slips of paper right into the splints on He Lingchuan's arm, hoping to "seek guidance" from him.
He Lingchuan glanced down. What was written on them looked like addresses.
Girls of sixteen or seventeen, in the flower of youth, with rosy cheeks like fresh apples and eyes brimming with youthful spring.
He Lingchuan's throat felt a bit dry. He cleared his throat twice, just about to say something, when someone unleashed an aura. An invisible wall of qi erected itself, abruptly shoving the crowd three or four feet back.
The girl closest to him nearly tumbled onto her backside.
Skinny caught her, hurriedly smoothing things over. "He's an injured man! Save your words for later, all right? Don't crowd, don't rush, he'll be defending the ring here again later!"
He Lingchuan turned his head, wanting to see who had nearly knocked the poor girl over. But everyone else was just watching the spectacle, while Sun Fuling was staring intently at a chattering magpie on the rooftop, examining it with exquisite focus.
The carriage arrived just then, and the group quickly climbed aboard.
Hu Min tapped the driver's shoulder. "To Yixiang Restaurant."
He Lingchuan was surprised. "Going right now?"
"It'll be dark in another shichen. Better to claim a table early," Hu Min said with a grin. "I already told Chief Xiao, and he'll be along shortly. You did so damn well today, kid, that I'd say joining the Gale Army ahead of schedule is well within reach."
"Really?" This was an unexpected pleasant surprise, and He Lingchuan perked up instantly. "I don't have to wait until I become a squad leader?"
"There are exceptions to every rule, and exceptional promotions aren't unheard of around here. You risked life and limb to save General Nan Ke's unit before, and now you've defeated Meng Shan. In terms of strength, you're already qualified." As the carriage bumped along, Hu Min swayed his head. "Of course, it's not my call. We'll have to see what the higher-ups think."
As the carriage turned a street corner, Sun Fuling suddenly tapped the carriage wall. "Stop here. I'm getting off."
"Eh?"
He Lingchuan asked her, "You're not coming to Yixiang Restaurant?"
"No, I have things to attend to." The carriage halted. Sun Fuling donned her face veil and hopped down briskly, but gave He Lingchuan a wink. "Don't worry, I won't welsh on my debt. See you at home."
Though her expression was hidden, He Lingchuan could tell she was smiling.
Chapter 293