Chapter 162 The Lord of the Palace Appears The parade ground to the west of the outer city. dong dong dong- 4:45 pm. thump— thump— thump— The sound of drums beating began to be heard all around the parade ground. The drumbeats were like thunder, becoming more and more rapid. Tread-tap- Suddenly, there were bursts of uniform footsteps outside the training ground.

Everyone followed the sound. Suddenly, I saw two teams of soldiers in armor and with high morale running forward in unison. The armor on each of them was dark black, and it still looked gloomy under the sunlight. Holding a long spear, the cold light flashed. "Such momentum and sophisticated equipment, they are worthy of being the elite soldiers under the command of Captain Wang!" Cheng Ran behind him sighed. Jiang Ning looked at this scene and nodded secretly. Judging from the history of past lives, from ancient times to the present, except for a very small number of extremely elite soldiers, only generals in cities and the generals' personal guards have this equipment. The two teams of soldiers in front of them were nothing more than an army of a hundred people stationed in Luoshui County. It is obvious that the garrison in a mere county town has such momentum and such elite equipment. "This Wang Dutou seems to be very rich!" Jiang Ning secretly sighed in his heart. According to his understanding, although this kind of armor is definitely not made of fine iron that has been forged a hundred times, and the materials used are relatively ordinary, equipping a soldier with this kind of armor would be worth at least several hundred taels of silver. Without saying too much, just to equip these two well-equipped teams, tens of thousands of taels of silver were squandered. These are just two teams of armored and armed soldiers. What if there are more? at this time. The crowd was also separated by these two teams of soldiers. A man wearing a black robe with black and gold edges suddenly appeared in everyone's sight. This man was about forty years old, with a calm face and no expression of emotion, and it was impossible to tell what his true mood was. "Palace Master Hong is here!" Wang Jin spoke with a serious expression. "Master, is this person Hong Minghu, the Lord of the Hong Mansion?" Li Qing asked.

"It's him!" "What a strong aura! Walking like a dragon and a tiger, it makes me feel frightened from a distance." Li Qing sighed. Wang Jin said: "Of course, Palace Master Hong Minghu is said to be at the peak of the sixth rank, and it is possible that he has entered the fifth rank now." "He alone can easily sweep us all away." Jiang Ning was not surprised when he heard the conversation between Li Qing and Wang Jin. Because in the information Lin Qingyi gave him, there was a record about Hong Minghu's strength. He is at the peak of the sixth rank, possessing the power of dragon and tiger. He is invincible in Luoshui County. Behind Hong Minghu, Wang Dutou, whom he had met before, followed closely. Beside Wang Dutou, there were four people, three men and one woman, all of whom walked with the gait of a dragon or a tiger, and had extraordinary bearing. After that, two teams of soldiers followed closely and then dispersed around the parade ground. After a while. Hong Minghu came to the platform and sat upright on the chair on the platform. "Let's start!" he said lightly. The sound seemed faint, but it was clearly heard by everyone in the training ground. "Internal breath!" Jiang Ning's heart sank when he heard the clear words coming to his ears. Because he had seen this before, this was the method Lin Qingyi demonstrated at that time. "It seems that this mansion master may not be a sixth-grade master, but a fifth-grade master!" On the high platform of the school grounds. As Hong Minghu gave orders, a man suddenly stood on the stands. "The rules are very simple. The first step is to grab an 800-jin iron chain and hold it for three breaths to pass the level." After he finished speaking, the man waved his hand. In the stands where the Wuyuan students were, everyone stood up. They jumped down from the platform one by one. They were the first batch of examinees. Soon, there was no suspense in their hands. It took three breaths to lift an iron chain weighing eight hundred kilograms. This weight was not too difficult for an ordinary ninth-grade warrior. Because a ninth-grade warrior usually starts with a strength of 700 kilograms. Eight hundred kilograms, only one hundred kilograms higher than the threshold for entering the ninth rank.

This is easy for Wuyuan students. Besides, they already knew the rules of the examination, and if they could not pass, they would not come to the training ground to humiliate themselves. After the students from Wuyuan returned to the stands, it was the turn of various forces to take the stage. People kept coming out of the wooden sheds and came to the center of the training ground to participate in the assessment of iron locks. Some people succeed and some people fail. Because they have just entered the ninth level, most of them only have a strength of 700 kilograms. However, it takes three full breaths to lift an eight hundred kilogram iron chain, and the strength just reaching the eight hundred kilogram threshold is not enough. The martial artists in Luoshui County are not like the students in Wuyuan who have to take medicated medicine to maintain their health from a young age to strengthen their bones and foundation. Therefore, most of these ninth-grade warriors in Luoshui County only meet the most basic conditions of ninth-grade warriors. Unless one's skin is refined to the level of stone skin, it is difficult to possess a strength of 800 kilograms. Under such circumstances, more and more people started failing the assessments. Even if some people managed to lift an 800-jin iron chain, they ultimately failed because they could not hold on for more than three breaths. As long as someone fails, the host on the podium will ruthlessly cross out the corresponding name from the list in his hand. If your strength does not meet the requirements, you will fail the assessment. In less than an hour, it was Shenwei Martial Arts School's turn. Five people, three men and two women, also walked out of the Shenwei Martial Arts School. "Master Wang, my disciples will take the lead!" Yu Yuan said. "Please come in, Master Yu!" Wang Jin raised his hand to signal. at the same time. The periphery of the school grounds. "Elder, if nothing unexpected happens, the man named Jiang Ning should be here right now." "I understand!" The middle-aged man in gray robe nodded slightly. Then he looked up at the center of the training ground. Lips move slightly. Hong Minghu's expression suddenly changed. He looked towards the periphery of the training ground. From his high vantage point, he instantly saw the figure of the man in gray robe. "Gongsun Yu is here? Shouldn't he, the third elder of Yaowang Valley, be in Yaowang Valley?" Hong Minghu whispered in his heart. Then he waved his hand and asked someone behind him to lead Gongsun Yu over. At this time, the five people from Shenwei Hall came to the center of the training ground.

When the person on the platform called out the corresponding name, someone stepped forward and grabbed the iron chain weighing eight hundred kilograms. Force measurement is the simplest way to test strength. The first four passed quickly. But when the last person came forward, the female disciple's face couldn't help but tremble slightly. Because she knew her strength, she had tested it privately, and it was about 700 kilograms, not 800 kilograms. "Lin Mu, let's start!" the man on the platform spoke. Hearing this, the female disciple from Shenwei Martial Arts School gritted her teeth. Then he leaned over and grabbed the bloated iron chain in front of him. Even though the iron lock is made of a block of iron, it weighs eight hundred kilograms and still looks a bit bulky. This is also the reason why when strength reaches a certain level, it is difficult to test it and can only be felt through the body. Because once the strength reaches two or three thousand pounds, it will be difficult to find anything that can be used to test its strength. Even if it was a two or three thousand jin iron block made of fine iron, its volume was too large, making it difficult to exert force. As Lin Mu's legs continued to tremble, his body swayed slightly, but the iron chain in his hand could not get off the ground. "Unqualified!!!" The host on the podium raised his eyes slightly, glanced at Lin Mu, and sentenced him to death. Hearing this, Lin Mu bit his lip and gave up trying again. The next round follows. Then it was the turn of Jiang Ning and the other four people to take the stage. the other side. On the high platform. Gongsun Yu came to Hong Minghu alone. "Brother Minghu, I didn't expect to see you here." said the gray-robed man. "Gongsun Yu, why do you come to my place instead of staying in Yaowang Valley?" Hong Minghu frowned slightly. Although he knew Gongsun Yu, strictly speaking, they were not very familiar with each other. Moreover, in the eyes of the Inspection Office, martial arts sects like Yaowang Valley are also their targets. Medicine and poison have been inseparable since ancient times. In recent years, there have been several cases of chaos in Da Xia that were related to those sects that were good at using medicine. The most egregious chaos in Danzhou was the outbreak of the Danzhou plague, which was deliberately spread by the Wan Du Men. After this action was discovered, the entire imperial court was furious. The gate of the Wan Du Sect was trampled, and nine out of ten disciples were slaughtered. So at this moment, Hong Minghu was not very welcome to Gongsun Yu's arrival.

Hearing Hong Minghu's words, Gongsun Yu immediately said, "Elder Liu in my valley was chasing a thief who robbed the tribute of King Huai'an, but he accidentally died in the Luo River a few days ago." "There's a guy here who knows something, so I came to check it out." "I see!" Gongsun Yu nodded slightly, then asked, "What's that person's name?" "Jiang Ning!" at this time. The five people from Jiang Ning have also arrived at the center of the training ground. According to the order of the names on the list, the first person to appear is Zhou Xing. In Zhou Xing's hand, the stone lock weighing eight hundred kilograms was easily lifted and held horizontally. Looking at Zhou Xing, his face was not red, he was not out of breath, and he looked relaxed and comfortable. The man on the podium who was presiding over the examination nodded slightly and looked at Zhou Xing. "He's a good candidate! It seems that he has the ability to compete for the qualification of captain. If he performs well later, it would not be a bad idea to assign him to my command." The man said in his mind and looked at Zhou Xing twice more. "Passed!" the man said, and put a red check mark on Zhou Xing's name. Next person. "Zhao Hu!" Zhao Hu then stepped forward. "start!" "by!" Hearing these two words, Zhao Hu immediately loosened his grip. boom-- The iron chain weighing eight hundred kilograms fell heavily on the ground. "Junior Brother Jiang, it will be your turn soon!" Zhao Hu grinned at Jiang Ning. "Zhang Tiesheng!" On the platform, another name was called out. Zhang Tiesheng hurried forward. He had already broken through to the ninth level, and after years of experience, it was no problem for him to grab an iron chain weighing 800 kilograms. After three breaths. "by!" After hearing these two words, Zhang Tiesheng released the strength in his hands and let the iron chain fall to the ground.

Boom—— The iron chain fell, a muffled thunder sounded, and then smoke and dust rose. "Junior Brother Jiang, what should I do? I haven't reached the stone skin level yet, and I don't have the strength to lift an eight-hundred-pound stone lock." At this moment, Li Qing saw that it was his turn, and he immediately spoke with an anxious look on his face. Jiang Ning heard this and shook his head secretly: "Senior Sister, I have no other choice!" "Li Qing!" On the high platform, the man spoke again and called out Li Qing's name. Hearing these two words, Li Qing took a deep breath and then slowly stepped forward. "start!" The man on the platform glanced at Li Qing indifferently, and then silently remembered her in his heart. This is also his task. He must remember the name and corresponding person of every person who takes the assessment. In this way, there will be no one who can get away with it and take advantage of the situation. After a while. The man shook his head with regret. If possible, he would like to recruit the woman in front of him into the Inspection Office and make her a member of the Inspection Guard. I don’t know how effective it is, but at least it looks pleasing to the eye. Moreover, there are too many men in the Inspection Office. After all, in terms of martial arts talent, men are inherently slightly stronger than women. Coupled with various factors, the number of men who practice martial arts is several times that of women. In this situation, a female warrior with good looks is naturally rare. But unfortunately, the rules of the Inspection Office are rules, and the decision is not made by a commander like him, but by Hong Minghu, who sits on the throne. "Unqualified!" He uttered three words. Li Qing immediately retreated dejectedly. the other side. In the wooden shed where the disciples of Canglang Martial Arts School are. "Ah? No way! Senior Sister Li Qing didn't pass the test?" "Senior Sister Li Qing has failed the test, so this is troublesome! Senior Brother Jiang will definitely have a hard time passing it too." "Who said it wasn't true? Senior Sister Li Qing had entered the Ninth Rank earlier than Senior Brother Jiang Ning, but now they both failed!" "An iron chain weighing 800 kilograms is enough to knock down a warrior who has just reached the ninth level!" "." For a moment, all the disciples of Canglang Martial Arts School looked worried.

Yu Yuan next to him also looked gloating at this time. "Master Wang, three of the five are wrong. It seems that your followers' abilities are slightly inferior to mine!" "Isn't it a bit too early to say this?" Wang Jin said. "Oh? Could it be that Master Wang is still looking forward to the disciples who are ranked later in the order?" Yu Yuan laughed when he heard that. Wang Jin said: "Why don't we make a bet?" "Bet? What's the bet? Tell me." Yu Yuan spoke immediately. Wang Jin said: "If my disciple passes the test, Master Yu will teach me your secret method?" "That won't do!" Yu Yuan immediately shook his head. It was not unheard of for Jiang Ning to play around with this kid. It seemed that Hong Chengtao had died at his hands. "Then what are you talking about!" Wang Jin glanced at Yu Yuan. "Haha!" Yu Yuan smiled and didn't take it seriously. the other side. The man presiding over the examination on the podium slowly called out the next person on the list. "Jiangning." at the same time. Right in the center of the stands. When Gongsun Yu heard the name on the list, he was immediately surprised. "Jiang Ning, is that him?" He murmured, looking at Jiang Ning in the training ground with his eyes slightly fixed. Today, he came to the training ground in a hurry because of the news, so he only knew the name, but had no idea what Jiang Ningjue looked like. Who is Jiang Ning? But at this moment, I finally heard this name. This name immediately caught his attention. (End of this chapter)