Chapter 36 The Secret of Becoming Stronger (1/2)

The first round of strength test ended, and almost half of the candidates were eliminated.

Er Gouzi's performance in the test was too outrageous, which naturally aroused many people's suspicion of him.

It really looked like cheating.

Someone secretly touched the stone thrown by Er Gouzi afterwards, and used all his strength until his face turned red, and then he was sure that there was no cheating.

The next two tests were scored. The test scores of weapons and actual combat were divided into three levels: A, B, and C, and each level was further divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower.

The weapons test was a one-by-one demonstration, and the five examiners on the stage scored.

Unlike the previous weightlifting, this level was varied and showed their magical powers.

Eighteen kinds of weapons, such as swords, spears, swords, halberds, crutch, meteors, etc., were all practiced by people.

Among them, several candidates who used swords came forward to demonstrate, and Er Gouzi was confused. It was not the same as what the master taught.

The swords in the hands of these candidates looked very beautiful, shining coldly, and seemed very sharp.

But it was a bit flashy and too small, it looked like only three to five pounds, or ten pounds.

Er Gouzi felt that such a small sword was about the same as a young girl's embroidery needle.

Under the guidance of his master, he had been practicing with a hundred-pound sword, and he had long been accustomed to it.

As for the swordsmanship performed by other candidates, it was also very different from what he practiced, and it looked more smooth.

But their movements were too small, each time they jumped up only three feet high, and they stabbed only a few feet away.

Er Gouzi subconsciously compared his master's standards for himself with other candidates.

He saw a candidate who only jumped five feet high, but he also got a high score of A, becoming a popular candidate for the military scholar exam.

This confused him, what exactly is the scoring standard for swordsmanship?

After waiting for a long time, it was finally Er Gouzi's turn to play.

His appearance attracted the attention of everyone on the scene.

Everyone paid attention to him in the last round just because he looked like a farmer and wanted to see him make a fool of himself.

Everyone was still paying attention to him in this round because of his outstanding performance in the last round of weightlifting.

The county magistrate sitting on the high platform was already drowsy.

At this time, he saw a young man dressed as a peasant walking into the venue, with a door-plate sword on his back. He couldn't help but sigh and looked at Er Gouzi curiously.

"Whose nephew is this young man?"

The many leaders on the high platform looked at each other, and after a long time, no one could answer.

"Strange, since he is not your nephew, who has the ability to cultivate such an outstanding young man?"

The county magistrate said a little puzzled.

"At such a young age, he has the cultivation of the third level of Qi training. Is this person really a genius?"

After being reminded by the county magistrate, the people with higher cultivation on the high platform cast spells and looked at Er Gouzi.

Those who were not so good at cultivation could only stand by and stare blankly.

"Sure enough, he is at the third level of Qi training!"

"Whose son is this? He is very well hidden."

Sima Yi stood behind a bearded man, feeling happy for Er Gouzi.

I didn't expect that this friend I made by accident, who looked honest, was actually very well hidden.

His fourth brother Sima Hong was also called a genius by everyone. He practiced martial arts since he was a child. Now he is almost 30 years old. He just broke through to the third level of Qi training some time ago.

However, he thought that Er Gouzi bought so many Pei Yuan Gu Ben pills every time, so it didn't seem strange that he could practice to the third level of Qi training.

At the same time, Er Gouzi had already drawn out the big sword that looked like a door panel.

Compared with other candidates, his sword was really too exaggerated.

So many people were quietly discussing whether this sword was carved from wood and was actually not heavy.

"If this sword is made of solid steel, it must weigh at least 100 jin."

"This peasant, is he here to make fun of me?"

"He can easily lift 500 jin, so what's so strange about using a 100-jin sword?"

"What do you know? To use a 100-jin weapon, you must have at least 1,000 jin of strength."

Only Zhang Youliang remained silent, because he knew that the sword must be real.

In the arena, Er Gouzi held the sword in his hand, made a starting gesture, took a deep breath, and "whoosh" jumped up more than 30 meters high.

Then he shook out five sword flowers in the air and struck down from the air.

"Huh!"

"Ah!"

"Wow!"

...

The entire martial arts arena, including the five examiners on the stands, exclaimed.

At the same time, Er Gouzi slashed down from the air with a sword.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, the door panel sword hit a bluestone floor, sparks flew, and the five-inch thick bluestone was split in two.

Next, Er Gouzi turned 960 degrees on the spot and leaped backwards at an extremely fast speed. In the next moment, he appeared two meters away and stabbed with a sword.

This time, the whole audience exclaimed again.

"Wow..."

Next, as Er Gouzi's sword skills were displayed, the whole audience exclaimed continuously, so that the examiner on the stage shouted several times to stop him, and then he could temporarily quiet down for a few breaths.

Er Gouzi was also infected by this atmosphere and performed more vigorously.

He could jump two meters away, but he jumped three meters away by using the wind control technique.

His sword skills became more fierce, and all the bluestone slabs on the ground were smashed to pieces by him.

After a set of sword skills were demonstrated, the surrounding several meters of ground looked like land that had been plowed by cows several times.

Er Gouzi saluted to the examiner, put away his sword and stood, waiting for the examiner to give a score.

The scene was so lively, he believed he should be able to get a high score.

The five examiners whispered to each other, discussed for a long time, and finally showed a piece of wood.

"B-level"

Hearing the examiner report the score of B-level, Er Gouzi was stunned, thinking he had heard it wrong.

When he was demonstrating, the atmosphere was very lively and cheers continued.

In addition to the release of true energy, he used all his other special skills.

"Why only B-level?"

Er Gouzi couldn't help it, standing in a pile of rubble, asked the examiner.

I feel that I shouldn't be too bad, even if I can't get a high score of A, I should be able to get A-level or A-low.

In the end, I only got B-level.

Is there some shady deal, because I didn't give money to bribe?

Facing Er Gouzi's question, the examiner on the high platform did not use his power to pressure him.

The examiner with a full beard sitting in front of Sima Yi cleared his throat and said:

"I am Sima Gang, the lieutenant of Anchang County, and the chief examiner of this exam."

When Er Gouzi heard this, he bowed and saluted. Since his surname is Sima, he should be an elder in Sima Yi's family, and he would not deliberately pit him.

"Your swordsmanship demonstration is hard to describe, and it is unbearable to watch!"

"It can be said that you don't know swordsmanship at all, and you just danced randomly."

"Since your aptitude and cultivation are not bad, the five of us have discussed and reluctantly gave you the second place."

"Also, you smashed the bluestone floor tiles in the examination room, and you are ordered to compensate 100 taels of silver."

After Sima Gang finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter at the scene.

Er Gouzi realized that the atmosphere at the scene was so enthusiastic when he demonstrated just now, and it turned out that everyone was watching it as a circus.

In front of a real warrior, it is not worth mentioning.

For a moment, Er Gouzi felt his face burning and ashamed.

The master was right. His current level was still far from that of a martial arts scholar.

However, since he was already here, he still had to take the next round of practical tests seriously.

Although he was too weak, he had to go all out.

After waiting for about an hour, the second round of tests ended.

All candidates scored from C-level to A-level, and Er Gouzi's score was at the bottom.

In the last round of combat tests, two examiners took turns to fight with the candidates and scored them based on their performance in the battle.

The combat test was much more difficult than the weapon demonstration, and most of the candidates ahead of Er Gouzi only had B-level scores.

As long as he could hold on for ten moves in the hands of the examiner, he could get A-level.

When it was Er Gouzi's turn to play, he didn't dare to have too much hope, and just did his best.

"Go all out, see how many moves you can hold on!"

The examiner was a middle-aged man in his 30s, holding a three-foot-long sword in his hand, but he didn't draw the sword from the scabbard.

Er Gouzi saluted, raised the huge door-panel sword in his hand, and swept it across at the examiner.

As for the superb sword techniques taught by the master, they had long been thrown out of the window.

The examiner on the opposite side didn't care much at first, raised the sword in his hand, and blocked it casually.

Just when the two sides were about to touch, a strong gust of wind blew in his face, and then he realized that he was careless.

"Bang!"

The scabbard in the examiner's hand was broken, and the blade was broken.

The door-panel sword was still going on, and it was about to cut the examiner's waist.

Er Gouzi also realized that something was wrong. If this sword hit the examiner, it would be fatal.

He couldn't retract it in a hurry, so he could only turn his wrist to avoid the blade and hit the examiner with the sword body.

"Puff..."

"Bang!"

The examiner was hit by his sword and flew out, hitting a wall hard, and then sat softly on the ground, with blood still coming out of the corner of his mouth.

Er Gouzi stood there holding the hilt of his sword, and he didn't understand what had happened.

He really didn't know that the examiner was so fragile. He only used 60% of his strength in the first move.

Not only Er Gouzi, but the whole audience fell into a brief silence at this moment.

You have to know that these examiners are not weaklings. Each of them is at least a martial arts scholar, and they are top-notch and powerful people.

In the past, when facing candidates, they only needed to use 10% or 20% of their strength and be careful not to hurt the candidates.

Today, the examiner was knocked away by the examinee with just one move. This kind of thing is unheard of.

Er Gouzi had already thrown down the sword in his hand and walked over quickly to check the examiner's injuries.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!"

"I will be more careful next time!"

Er Gouzi knew that he had made a mistake and apologized to the examiner sincerely.

After all, this examiner had rich combat experience. He used his arms to block a critical moment just now. At this moment, his arms and ribs were broken, but his internal organs were finally kept from being broken.

At this time, hearing Er Gouzi's apology was like salt in the wound.

You didn't mean it, you just did it by accident...

I suddenly felt extremely humiliated, I won't be able to face people anymore.

I finally couldn't hold back a mouthful of blood, it spurted out, and then I passed out.

Er Gouzi didn't know any medical skills, and when he saw the examiner was unconscious, he didn't know how to treat him, and he was at a loss for a moment.

Luckily, several people had already rushed over, checked the examiner, gave him some medicine, and then carried him down.

Er Gouzi was the only one left, not knowing whether to leave or stay.

"The exam continues!"

Finally, Sima Gang on the high platform shouted, drawing everyone's attention back to the examination room.

"After discussion among the five examiners, Zhang Ergou's score for this round of practical test is A-A!"

"Ah!"

"Full marks!"

"He actually got full marks!"

"..."

Suddenly, the whole examination room was boiling with discussions.

The practical test is the most difficult, and it is rare to get B-A.

If you are lucky enough to get A-A or above, you are definitely a child of destiny.

As for A-A, you dare not even think about it.

Today, Ergouzi has provided everyone with a template for reference. As long as you can knock out the examiner with one move, you can get full marks.

Many candidates are already eager to make a move, thinking in their hearts, what method can be used to knock down the examiner?

So many years later, there are still many secret tricks to knock down the examiner among the candidates.

However, no matter how many conspiracies you use, it is so difficult to knock out an examiner.

"Zhang Ergou, you hit too hard, causing the examiner to be seriously injured. You need to pay 100 taels of silver. Do you have any objection?"

"The student has no objection!"

How could Ergouzi dare to have any objection? After one exam, he owed 200 taels of silver.

But it was indeed his fault, and it was reasonable for him to pay the money.

After Ergouzi left, the examination room changed an examiner, and the next candidate came on stage.

After the candidate bowed, he immediately used a move of lurking his crotch to attack the examiner.

Such a despicable move angered the examiner, and he slapped the candidate away with a slap.

Obviously, this person wanted to sneak attack and knock down the examiner, but he failed to steal the chicken and lost the rice, and finally only got a grade of C.

It also caused a burst of laughter from the audience, laughing at this person for not knowing his own ability.

The next candidate who came on stage wanted to sneak attack and knock down the examiner, and at least weighed his own strength first.

Amid the cheerful atmosphere of the audience, only Zhang Youliang remained silent with a heavy expression.

He knew the examiner who was knocked unconscious by Er Gouzi. He was considered to be very powerful among the martial arts scholars and had a high prestige.

It is said that one is only one step away from becoming a Taoist through martial arts, sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and becoming an immortal cultivator.

But this person was knocked unconscious by Er Gouzi with just one move.

If he fought with Er Gouzi again, he would not have any strength left to fight back.

Others did not know the details, but Zhang Youliang knew Er Gouzi inside and out. He had watched him grow up, or he had grown up under the fists of their brothers.

The Er Gouzi who had been bullied and scolded by him and could only eat leftovers and steal pig food had undergone earth-shaking changes in just over two years.

Zhang Youliang guessed that there must be some secret hidden here, a secret that could make people become stronger quickly.

Thinking of this, Zhang Youliang gritted his teeth, left the examination room without saying a word, asked for leave from Zhengwu Hall, and headed out of the city towards Sanchazi Town.

He wanted to take advantage of Er Gouzi's absence to quietly climb up Shekou Mountain to investigate. He suspected that the secret of Er Gouzi's strength might be hidden in the mountain.