Chapter 43 Punishment

The five levels of white, black, red, green, and yellow represent the extent to which the wielder of the stick has tapped into his own potential. Meng Yuanhou had not attached such a talisman to the stick before. He had his own reason: it was too early for the disciples to find out their own strength. People who perform poorly are likely to lose confidence, simply give up on the competition at the end of the month, and stop practicing hard.

Marquis Meng Yuan's judgment was particularly accurate when it came to Xin Youtao. The prince always thought that he could exert not only 80% or 90% of his strength, but 110% or 120%. But what disappointed him was that he swung three sticks with all his strength, The stick only turned into an impure black color, which meant that he had used more than 20% to less than 40% of his potential.

The good side is that Xin Youtao discovered that his potential is quite deep, but the bad side is that he can only tap a small part of it.

"How could this happen?" Xin Youtao was extremely shocked, not knowing whether to be happy or worried.

"It's my turn." Xiaoqiu gave Xin Youtao a reminder, and then struck with a stick. The stick quickly changed from white to black, blending with the last darkness of the morning. After pausing at this stage, it immediately turned red. When the stick is close to the opponent, part of it already appears green.

"I give up." He was usually okay, but now that he had an intuitive judgment standard, Xin Youtao had no fighting spirit, so he threw down the stick and shrank his neck in surrender.

The opponent was too weak, and Xiaoqiu failed to perform as well as he should, so he had to withdraw his stick and step aside to watch others compete.

Many people are like Xin Youtao, who underestimate their physical potential but overestimate their own efforts, thinking that they have used all their strength. As a result, the stick only reaches black, and some people even stay at white. After stopping, the color will not fade for a while. They can only hold it in their hands in shame and wait for the criticism from Tujiao.

Among the five levels of white, black, red, green, and yellow, less than half of the people's sticks turned red. More than twenty people had different shades of green. No one reached yellow, not even the five Taoist disciples.

Xiaoqiu was delighted to see that the young people in Yelin Town were all working hard. Some of the sticks in the hands of even the worst ones were red, Fangfang and Shen Hao were dark red, and Erliang Shen Xiuwei even used his potential to be green, which was better than Xiaoqiu's. Qiu was a little more pure, which made him smile from ear to ear.

The Pei family siblings from Furong Mountain are also outstanding. Xiao Qingtao is usually timid and timid, but this time he actually turned the stick into light red. If he hadn't inexplicably backed down at the last moment, the color would have been darker.

The sticks of the five Taoist disciples are all bright red. Shen Geng has nothing extraordinary, and his opponent is too weak.

After the first round of martial arts competition, Meng Yuanhou shook his head, "Poor, too bad, there is nothing worse than this. Some of you should stay here for a few more months. I hope that after breakfast, your strength will be better." A little bigger."

He selected fifty children to participate in the second round of competition. He seemed very reluctant to select the last few children, "Oh, there is only such a small piece of faint red. It would be nice if it could be as red as your face."

Some people lamented Tujiao's criticism, while others didn't care. Instead, they were more relaxed because they didn't make it to the second round, and they argued passionately about who would be the final winner.

Shen Geng and Xiao Qiu are still the most promising, and many people believe that if these two meet, they will unleash more potential.

At the dinner table, Xiaoqiu relayed the secret revealed by Xin Youtao - Shen Geng wanted to "come for real" in today's competition.

"What does this mean? Aren't we all 'serious'? No one is hiding their strength on purpose?" Xiao Qingtao said, then thinking of her own retreat at the last moment, she was very upset.

"It's another lie made up by Xin Youtao." Erliang Shen Xiuwei immediately came to the conclusion,

"I saw Brother Xiaoqiu asking Xin Youtao to do three moves. This time he can't ask for the dagger anymore. Look, he's here. Hey, it's strange..."

It was a little late for them to realize the strangeness. Many people had already stared at Shen Geng's table, whispering to each other.

Xin Youtao had a premonition that his poor performance would be criticized by his partners, but Shen Geng's behavior still surprised him - his seat was gone, and sitting there was another child who performed well in the competition that just ended. excellent.

Xin Youtao didn't know why he still walked over, but his steps were uncontrollable, and his face still showed a habitual smile, "Fellow Taoist Shen Geng, I just talked with Meng Dujiao, and he admitted that Pang Shan is not interested in Fu Lu. Very good at it, but may make mistakes..."

Shen Geng ate quietly, and his younger brother Shen Ji raised his head and said, "Please Taoist friend Xin, please eat somewhere else. We are not the same people, and there will be no chance for us to go together in the future."

Xin Youtao's smile froze. He had been reminded a long time ago that if he performed poorly in the competition, he would be kicked out of the circle, but he always felt that his treatment should be different because he was a prince and because he had given generously these days. The gifts are no less generous than those of the most generous official buyers in Xijie City.

But he still lost his position just like ordinary people. How much he hated the status of ordinary people.

Xin Youtao's stiff smile changed slightly, and he pretended to be relaxed and said: "Whatever, I don't care, as long as you..."

Shen Ji lowered his head to eat, and no one at this table paid attention to the prince of Xijie King who was standing beside him.

Xin Youtao walked towards the village woman who delivered the meal. He remembered what Mu Xingqiu did more than half a month ago and felt that he could still save his face. However, he overestimated his ability to bear it. Before he reached the place, his will had already collapsed. Suddenly he ran out of the dining room and didn't show up again throughout the morning.

"He's so pitiful." Xiao Qingtao said sympathetically, trying to keep her voice as low as possible so as not to let the people at the table hear her.

Thus far, Xin Youtao had never made friends sincerely, so no one really felt sorry for him, let alone complained for him.

Xiaoqiu even felt that the whole thing was full of irony. Xin Youtao was full of profound principles of making friends, playing games, and fighting, but he himself was ridiculously simple in doing things. Didn't he ever think about how the Taoist disciples who even tried to eat light meals would be interested in the clothes and gold and silver he gave them?

Shortly after the meal, the second round of the competition began. Except for Xin Youtao, all the children came to the courtyard. Fifty contestants stood in groups, and the other children stood under the eaves as spectators.

Xiaoqiu took the initiative to walk towards Shen Geng, hoping to "get serious" as soon as possible, but was stopped by Meng Yuanhou halfway, and Du Jiao pushed him to the opposite side of Shen Ji without giving any explanation.

"Stronger opponents often inspire more potential. You have all passed the first round. Now it's time to work harder. If anyone performs worse than before breakfast-" Meng Yuanhou swept half a circle with a sharp look, "I will let him carry a stick to participate in the initiation ceremony."

The onlookers laughed, and the fifty contestants looked serious and began to accumulate strength secretly. No one wanted to embarrass themselves when they officially entered the martial arts world, which would make them laugh for the rest of their lives.

"Begin!"

The children shouted and rushed at each other, and Xiaoqiu was the same, with a louder voice than others. Opposite him, Shen Ji stood still, his lips tightly closed, and the stick in his hand swung lightly. The white and black colors flashed by and turned into deep red in an instant.

Xiaoqiu's stick has also entered the red stage.

The two sticks intersected, and they were evenly matched. Shen Ji was indeed much stronger than Xin Youtao. Xiaoqiu even felt a numbness in his palms. His fighting spirit rose sharply, and he was still shouting, and the stick rained down on his opponent.

Meng Yuanhou walked among the young men, and the sticks brushed past his clothes every time. He kept shaking his head and sighing, and was reluctant to praise anyone's stick skills. "If you practice for a few more months... you should learn more skills, instead of just hitting like monkeys - hit, hit hard! If you don't have skills, you have to be stronger than others in fighting spirit!"

The young men have all learned a set of stick skills, and have also figured out some skills in daily comparisons, but these are not worth mentioning in the eyes of the Dujiao.

The competitions ended one after another, and Meng Yuanhou chased those who performed poorly into the crowd of onlookers, leaving only the disciples whose sticks turned red, regardless of whether the disciple won the fight.

A quarter of an hour later, there was only a pair of contestants left on the field - Xiaoqiu and Shenji.

The sticks of both of them had turned emerald green by then, and each of them had been hit a few times, but neither of them had the intention of giving up, and the fight became more intense. Xiao Qiu stopped shouting, gritting her teeth and glaring, and Shen Ji also lost the elegance and indifference of a Taoist disciple, with red cheeks and a grudge.

Meng Yuanhou finally nodded, "Look, this is what I want, not giving up, and moving forward courageously. Do you think this is only useful for fighting? The path of cultivation goes against the will of heaven. Without this energy, how can you go further?"

The children hummed and perfunctorily responded, and their attention was all on the two fighters. They felt that they were not only energetic, but also fighting against enemies.

Shen Ji had a bulge on his forehead, and Xiao Qiu was hit on the stomach and almost fell down. The two of them really fought hard, and one end of the stick even showed a faint yellow color. wnh． m

"Be more ruthless." Meng Yuanhou circled around the two children, "You still have strength left, use all your strength."

Xiaoqiu's stick turned pale yellow, and the onlookers cheered in unison. Xiaoqiu was the first person to do this. Before that, even Shen Geng only had half of his stick showing a faint yellow color.

Shen Ji's stick did not change, and his eyes began to show a trace of panic. He was used to seeing immortal wizards, but he had never seen Xiaoqiu's ruthlessness.

Meng Yuanhou appeared between the two of them in an instant and easily separated them. "It's over, both of you have passed the test, take a break, and continue in the afternoon."

Half an hour later, Xiaoqiu applied the miraculous healing medicine, and his body was as good as new, and he could happily exchange experiences with his partners.

At lunch, Shen Geng did something that surprised everyone: Shen Ji, who was bruised and swollen, stood behind him, and neither treated his wounds nor was allowed to sit down to eat.

He was accepting his brother's punishment because he showed signs of defeat at the last moment of a competition.

"Didn't Shen Ji pass the test? Shen Geng's requirements are too high." Even Erliang Shen Xiuwei felt that Shen Geng was too strict. In fact, the color of Shen Ji's stick was no worse than his brother's.

The only sound in the whole dining room was the sound of chewing food, and Erliang was almost whispering.

Xiaoqiu didn't say a word. Was he impressed by the strict requirements of the Taoist disciples? He began to believe that Shen Geng was really going to "get serious" today.

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