Chapter 131 Ranking (1/2)

After the old man used the talisman, his figure immediately disappeared without a trace.

Ergouzi expanded all his consciousness, but could not find any trace of the other party.

He swung his sword several times in succession, but did not encounter the opponent's figure.

He used to like to wear invisibility charms and steal things, but he didn't expect that he would encounter such an enemy today.

The enemy is hiding in the dark and may attack you at any time.

Ergouzi held the sword quietly, with his consciousness fully open, and he was fully alert to the area within a few feet around him.

The scene fell into deathly silence for a time.

"Buzz buzz..."

A flying insect buzzed around Er Gouzi for several times. It couldn't find a place to bite, and finally flew away reluctantly.

At this moment, three feet to his side, where the little flying insect passed, it seemed to hit something.

"boom!"

"Boom boom boom..."

Ergouzi took action decisively, slashing out more than a dozen swords in the direction of the little flying insect.

At the same time, the old cult man also took action decisively, stabbing Ergouzi with the flying sword in his hand.

The two of them took action almost at the same time and were very close to each other.

Ergouzi had the upper hand in close combat. The old man's flying sword was slashed away, and another sword cut off one of the old man's arms.

The old man was struck by a sword but was lucky enough to save his life. Knowing that he was outmatched, he did not hesitate at all and quickly used the wind control technique to escape backwards.

He had already climbed over the iron thorn bush in one leap, and jumped down the cliff without looking.

But Er Gouzi has a goose, and he can't escape far.

Several big geese were already flying towards him.

The man was in the air, fighting with the goose for a while.

The old man had several wounds on his body from the goose's wings, and dozens of feathers were knocked off the goose's body.

Snap...

The old man fell to the ground, dying.

Seeing the big goose in the sky pounce again, I felt like I was doomed this time.

Just as the old man closed his eyes and waited for death, a hand suddenly touched him.

"Master!"

"Master, please be silent, I will take you away."

It turned out to be Zhang Youxin.

He seemed to be very experienced. He had put on the invisibility charm early and hid under the cliff, waiting for the master to fall.

Zhang Youxin affixed two new talismans to his master, disappeared, picked up his master and ran away.

"Good disciple, I owe you a lot for being my master today."

The old man lay on Zhang Youxin's back and sighed softly, luckily he had a good disciple, otherwise he would have died today.

"When my master recovers from his injuries, I will teach you my best skills."

Zhang Youxin said nothing, ran with all his strength with his master on his back, and finally succeeded in getting rid of the giant goose in the sky.

After running at full strength for a long time, Zhang Youxin finally returned to the cave. Zhang Youxin did not mobilize his true energy all the way, relying solely on physical strength. By this time, he was panting from exhaustion.

"Good disciple, my master has not made any mistakes."

The old man was seriously injured, his face was pale, and he was very weak at this time.

"It's a pity that Master has lost so much blood."

Zhang Youxin looked at the wounds on the old man's body with a heartbroken look on his face.

"Good disciple, don't worry, just rest for a few days and you'll be fine."

"But I don't want to raise it anymore."

Zhang Youxin said coldly.

"What do you mean……"

"Traitor!"

The old man lowered his head and found a short sword stuck in his Dantian.

The Dantian was sealed, and not a single bit of Qi could be mobilized.

"You traitor, why did you harm me?"

The old man was shocked, angry and angry, pointing at Zhang Youxin with trembling fingers.

"Since you are my master, you should help me practice!"

Zhang Youxin said, grabbing the old man's hair with one hand, like dragging a dead dog, and walked towards a stone room.

"You are treasonous and unethical, deceiving your master and destroying your ancestors!"

The old man struggled to his death and let out a feeble roar.

"Isn't it treason to bully your master and destroy your ancestors? Well done!"

Zhang Youxin snorted coldly, and his mother's frightened and twisted face appeared in his mind.

The old man was dragged into a stone room. There were more than a dozen pillars standing here, and a person was hung on each pillar. The essence and blood in his body had long been drained.

Take out all these useless medicine residues, and then hang the master up...

…………

…

Sanyang County.

County government office.

Ergouzi is here again.

In a few days, it will be the martial arts examination in Sanyang County.

Due to the turmoil in the past two years, the martial arts examination was suspended. It was re-opened this year, and there were still a lot of people applying.

"Brother Zhang, do you have any plans for this martial arts exam?"

In a hall of the county government office, Yang Tiebao stepped back and then asked Ergouzi.

"Just take the exam and get a martial arts medal. Do you need any plans?"

Ergouzi asked with some confusion. With his current level of Qi training at the seventh level, it is no longer difficult to pass the martial arts exam.

As for the knowledge of military books and strategies, he had already read them thoroughly and received guidance from Hime Cang.

I have used it many times in actual combat, and there should be no problems.

"hehe……"

"It seems that Brother Zhang hasn't understood it yet. I want to ask you, do you plan to get the first place on the list, or the top three?"

Yang Tie chuckled, took a sip of tea, and explained to Er Gouzi.

"I haven't considered this."

His purpose in taking the martial arts exam was to gain fame.

Then you don't have to pay taxes, you have some status in front of the government, and you are not so easily manipulated.

As long as he can pass the examination, it doesn't matter to him whether he is ranked first or among the last.

"The difference between the top ten in the exam, or after the top ten in the exam, is huge."

"As long as you can be among the top ten, you will have great advantages in being appointed as an official in the future..."

Yang Tie didn't know Ergouzi's true intentions, so he explained it to him in detail responsibly.

Let him understand the importance of martial arts examinations and rankings.

However, Ergouzi never thought about becoming an official, and these benefits were of no use to him.

"There are no outsiders here, I'll tell you the truth."

"The tentatively decided top one is Xia Yuan of the Xia family, and the second one is a son-in-law of the Xia family..."

Yang Tie told Er Gouzi about the rankings from first to tenth in this martial arts examination.

Ergouzi was temporarily ranked fourth.

"Isn't this the test yet?"

Ergouzi was surprised. These officials were so capable. They had already figured it out before the exam started?

This divine arithmetic ability is stronger than that of his master.

"It's just that the candidates haven't entered the venue yet, and the people behind it have already finished the exam."

"You will also enter the officialdom in the future. There are some rules you should know..."

There is really nothing to say about Yang Tie's treatment of Ergouzi.

If ordinary people have no one to guide them, they may not be able to understand these unspoken rules even if they get into trouble.

Today, he taught Ergouzi everything without reservation.

The military examination is of great importance. Before the examination, the forces of all parties compete with each other.

In the end, only by compromising with each other and reaching a certain balance can the ranking be determined.

As for the final candidates to enter, they just go through the formalities, how many points they should get, and whether they should lose or win during the competition. Those at the top know it well.

“If you want to get to the top spot, I can help you run it.

It will probably cost a few dozen spirit stones. I believe that even if the Xia family doesn't give me face, they will still give it to King Qi. "

Getting a useless first place would cost dozens of spiritual stones, which was like cutting off the flesh of Ergouzi. How could he be willing to do so?

"Thank you, Brother Yang. I won't fight for the first place on the list."

"And since the first one on the list is so valuable, can I, the fourth one on the list, also sell some spiritual stones?"

It's useless for him to hold the fourth place on the list, so why not get some practical benefits instead.

"You really don't want it? Even though it's only fourth on the list, if you don't have a strong relationship, you won't even be in the top 10."

"This will still have a great impact on your future official qualifications. Don't be greedy for temporary gains."

Yang Tie was still a little reluctant to give up. He had fought for this spot with the Xia family members in a heated exchange of words.

"Thank you for your kindness, Brother Yang! If you can exchange it for spiritual stones or other resources, I can rank in the dozen or so, no problem."

Ergouzi still firmly gave up this spot.

"Well, since you insist on doing this, I can't force you."

"Let me ask for you. If you exchange it for about a dozen spiritual stones, there will still be no problem."

Yang Tie shook his head with some regret.

There are still several days before the exam, and Er Gouzi lives in the county government office every day, rarely even leaving the front door.

It seems that the news that he got a Foundation Establishment Pill leaked out, and many people from the cult are already eyeing him.

He didn't ride a goose when he came to the county this time. He walked around quietly on a small road without alerting the cult monks.

The cult monks had many weird tricks, so it was best for him to go out as little as possible.

No matter how rampant the cult is, they will not come to the county government office to snatch his Foundation Establishment Pill.

Two days have passed since the last time I talked to Yang Tie.

As expected, Yang Tie got the job done.

Ergouzi, who was ranked fourth on the list, sold 15 spiritual stones, and his ranking dropped from fourth to 13th.

But these don't matter to him, as long as he has a reputation and can be exempted from taxes, it is enough.

On the day when the martial arts examination started, the entire county was crowded with people and full of joy.

Some Wu scholars from out of town, carrying the hopes of the entire family, beat gongs and drums along the way, making it extremely lively.

There are also some people who heard some gossip.

It is said that there is a huge turtle stone sculpture in the city.

Just hit the turtle on the head with copper coins or silver coins, and then make a wish to the big turtle, it will be very effective.

So many candidates, carrying copper coins and silver coins, went all the way across the country to throw money at them.

The one who hit it was so happy that he immediately closed his eyes and made a big wish.

Those who missed it gritted their teeth and continued to hit, so that Shi Gui was drowned in money several times a day.

There is also a restaurant, and it is said that if you drink their wine, you can win the lottery.

In every session, someone gets passed the exam because of drinking their own wine.

Some cloth shops in the city also carefully embroidered some auspicious words on red cloth, such as "winner", "good luck", "will be made a marquis immediately", etc., and the sales were particularly good.

In short, on the day when the exam started, the entire Sanyang County was both nervous and lively.

There was a sea of ​​people surrounding the examination room, and the place was filled with people.

Many people are quietly discussing, who is the popular candidate in this martial arts examination?

Some people even get red-faced because of the different people they like.

"I am more optimistic about Xu Wenshi. He has the strength of the sixth level of Qi training. There should be no problem in entering the top 10."

"You know what the heck, this martial arts exam is not a competition of brute force, there is also a written test."

"Having only cultivation strength is just a reckless man. You also need to have brains. You need to look at written tests, military books, and war strategies."

"So, I think Shi Xinghuai has a better chance of winning..."

"..."

Such arguments were going on in the crowd, and some friends even turned against each other and fought for this.

At this time, Er Gouzi walked onto the competition stage. Opposite him was a Xia family cultivator at the fifth level of Qi training.

Er Gouzi knew that this person was the 8th place in the internal selection, and he had to lose to him.

For the sake of spirit stones today, he had to lose some face.

Anyway, he had lost a lot of face since he was a child, so one or two times would not matter.

He was pale because of excessive blood loss, and his steps were weak, so he didn't need too much disguise.

After a few rounds of fighting, Er Gouzi was beaten badly.

For these 15 spirit stones, he still worked very hard.

After more than a dozen moves, Er Gouzi was defeated by this fifth-level Qi training cultivator.

Won a round of boos from the audience.

There were even some viewers who had been optimistic about him before, but now they started to curse him.

They called him a monk with kidney deficiency.

However, there were some reasonable people in the audience who defended Er Gouzi:

“Maybe there is something wrong with his body, he should be more sad.”

Hearing this, even Er Gouzi’s face turned red even though he was so dark.

But for the sake of 15 spirit stones, he still held back.

He couldn’t just give up the spirit stones for the sake of face.