Chapter 29: Deng Xiaopo vs. Shen Ye

Before the ring tournament began, the competitors had to draw lots.

Twenty-eight people, twenty-eight lots.

They were labeled 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, all the way up to 14A and 14B.

Those who shared the same preceding number would be opponents in the first round.

Following the chronological order in which they joined the Special Operations Group, from earliest to latest, everyone stepped up to draw their lots.

As newcomers, Shen Ye and Hu Qi naturally drew their lots last.

Finally, it was Hu Qi's turn. He walked up somewhat trembling, stepped down slightly shaking, and then abruptly closed his eyes, suddenly spreading out his drawn lot: "Shen Ye, help me take a look, which number did I get?"

"The lot you drew? Twelve B."

"It's over, it's over, I got twelve B, and twelve A is Tang Mo!" Hu Qi finally opened his eyes, having reached the peak of anxiety: "Tang Mo is a three-pouch powerhouse with exceptional skill. How could I possibly beat Tang Mo? What should I do? What should I do? Could it be that I'm going to crash out in the first round?"

"My father's spirit in heaven surely expects me to achieve great things in martial arts." Hu Qi shook his head, seemingly trying to reinforce his own conviction, yet completely lacking any confidence in himself.

Shen Ye couldn't help but press a hand to his forehead. Was Hu Qi really a martial artist? His psychological fortitude was simply too poor. Look at him; when he first acquired the Grandmaster System, he was probably only at the one-pouch level. Yet, the first time he killed a man, his state of mind hadn't fluctuated in the slightest. When it was time to act, he acted. In the path of martial arts, mental resilience was actually crucial; poor psychological endurance meant total failure.

However, he had no time to comfort Hu Qi. Shen Ye took a direct, decisive stride forward and drew the very last lot: Nine A.

He wondered who Nine B was.

Once Hu Qi finished working himself up into a nervous frenzy, he actually started to care about Shen Ye, the fellow newcomer who had joined alongside him: "You drew Nine A? Your lot is quite a bit better than mine. Your opponent is named Deng Xiaozi, and she possesses the strength of a strong two-pouch level. Still, for newcomers like us, it's just too difficult, far too difficult. Sigh, I guess both of us will be eliminated in the first round."

Shen Ye smoked his cigarette, tossing out a casual reply: "Maybe so. But seriously, Hu Qi, your mental fortitude is too weak. Why don't you go find a nest of criminals one of these days and hunt them down? Go through that a few times to temper your psychological endurance."

"Is that so? But what if the opponent has a gun? When my father was training me, he told me to only engage in practical combat once I reached the four-pouch level. I'm only at the weak two-pouch level right now." Hu Qi began to think Shen Ye's suggestion made sense, but immediately rejected it.

Shen Ye could only shrug his shoulders.

...

The ring tournament began shortly after.

There were fourteen matches in total.

Shen Ye watched from the sidelines the entire time, but felt there were no true experts among them.

Judging by their performances, the strongest was merely at the strong four-pouch level.

Oh!

This was getting a bit interesting.

That tall, baby-faced woman wielding double swords and moving with nimble agility clearly possessed the strength of a weak five-pouch level, making her much stronger than the others.

However, Shen Ye was completely unfamiliar with the members of the Eighth Squad. Fortunately, Hu Qi happened to be right beside him and seemed quite familiar with these people's backgrounds: "Who is that woman? She's very strong."

"Her name is Ma Nuonuo. She has the strength of a weak five-pouch level, specializes in double swords, and focuses primarily on agility. It's recorded in the notebooks left behind by my old man. She is also a strong contender for the position of squad captain this time around. I heard her relationship with Deputy Captain Sun Hongshan isn't very good." Hu Qi mused: "My old man originally wanted to use her to keep a check on..."

At this point, Hu Qi abruptly stopped talking.

Although he had entered the Eighth Squad relying on the lingering sentiment of his father's old connections, he no longer had a patron, and his own martial talent was quite ordinary, so it was better for him to speak less and weigh his words carefully.

"Ma Nuonuo." Shen Ye pondered the name.

Soon, it was Hu Qi's turn to take the stage.

Hu Qi walked up to the ring looking somewhat nervous.

His opponent, Tang Mo, was already standing inside the arena.

Tang Mo stood around one meter eighty-five tall, with a long saber strapped across his back.

Sabers and swords were considered the most mainstream weapons.

Any other weapon was either too short or too long.

Regardless of whether they were too short or too long, they were actually quite unsuited for close combat.

The mere fact that Tang Mo stood there radiated an imposing majesty. His actual combat strength was formidable; in his most recent match, he had only lost to the Left-Handed Swordsman, Zuo Leng, simply because he couldn't handle Zuo Leng's bizarre sword techniques.

He looked calmly at Hu Qi: "Captain Hu used to look after me, and you are Captain Hu's son. I'll grant you three moves, playing defense only without counterattacking. Put on a good show and don't be nervous. Rest assured, I won't hurt you."

Hearing this, Hu Qi finally became a little less nervous. He drew his own sword, gripped the hilt with both hands, and pointed the tip straight down toward the ground. This was the sword salute, a tradition passed down from ancient times. On the arena, polite martial artists would still perform this ancient sword ritual. As soon as the sword salute was completed, a movement stirred in the left sleeve of Hu Qi's robe, and a dozen starlight-like glints shot straight toward Tang Mo. At the same time, the long sword in his right hand fluttered into several blooming sword flashes, rapidly piercing toward Tang Mo.

Concealed weapons on one side, sword technique on the other.

As soon as he made his move, it was far from weak.

Yet Tang Mo merely smiled casually, his saber suddenly whirling into motion to shroud his entire body in an impenetrable defense: "We've already witnessed Captain Hu's dual mastery of sword and hidden weapons many times back in the day. Thinking you can hurt me with just this won't be so easy."

Seeing his first move fail, Hu Qi couldn't help feeling a trace of disappointment. However, he immediately rallied his spirit and continued his assault.

All sorts of hidden weapons rained down upon Tang Mo, accompanied by rapid, piercing strikes executed one after another.

Tang Mo retreated.

Dodge left.

Dodge right.

At worst, he would simply parry with his saber, easily evading Hu Qi's attacks.

Hu Qi launched yet another direct sword thrust at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo smiled: "Hu Qi, three moves have passed. It's my turn to attack."

His saber flashed forth abruptly. The strike was exceptionally ingenious; not only did it parry Hu Qi's hidden weapons with pinpoint precision, but the momentum of the blade did not cease, slashing directly toward Hu Qi. Furthermore, the saber momentum was extremely fast, leaving behind a blur of flashing blade shadows.

Hu Qi forced himself to dodge a step to the right, stepping out of the range of that slash.

However, amid what seemed impossible, Tang Mo's saber abruptly swept horizontally to the right.

Hu Qi's momentum was spent, and dodging sideways again was out of the question; he could only raise his long sword in a desperate block.

"Clang!"

Blade and sword clashed.

Hu Qi felt a tremendous force surge directly from the body of the opponent's blade. Unable to withstand it, he tumbled backward in utter disarray. All semblance of a defensive posture was completely shattered.

Meanwhile, Tang Mo's second saber strike had already descended with overwhelming force. Clang!

To recount, Hu Qi and Tang Mo had started in the exact center of the arena. The ring was ten meters long and ten meters wide, placing them five meters away from the edges. However, as the exchange progressed, they had been pushed toward the perimeter. At this moment, feeling the immense force crash down upon him, Hu Qi involuntarily stumbled and fell off the edge of the ring.

"Tang Mo wins."

"Next round. Deng Xiaozi versus Shen Ye."

...

At that moment, everyone's gaze converged on Shen Ye.

The newcomer Hu Qi had obviously ridden into the group on his father's past achievements and was quite unremarkable.

However, the newcomer Shen Ye was entirely too conspicuous. Upon joining the Eighth Squad, his very first mission was to cut down the Left-Handed Swordsman, Zuo Leng. Then, he immediately executed Deputy Captain Sun's subordinate, Guo Dong—truly brazen beyond belief!

Various discussions circulated within the Eighth Squad. Many claimed that Shen Ye slaying the Left-Handed Swordsman Zuo Leng was due to Deputy Captain Shen sending experts ahead of time, with Shen Ye merely tagging along to harvest the credit. How could he possibly defeat an established expert like Zuo Leng?

Throughout the entire Eighth Squad, absolutely no one knew the true extent of Shen Ye's combat power.

Now, this newcomer surrounded by intense scrutiny was finally about to make his move under everyone's watchful eyes.

As for Hu Qi, his intelligence records were only updated up to the time before his father's death. Although he had entered the Eighth Squad, he lacked connections and hadn't even joined the Eighth Squad's QQ or WeChat groups, remaining completely oblivious to the two feats Shen Ye had accomplished.

After stepping down from the ring, he tried to comfort Shen Ye: "Sigh, we newcomers all have weak strength and lack combat experience. I've already lost. You don't need to put too much pressure on yourself; the worst that can happen is just losing a match."

"Anyway, I've come to terms with it. We still have a long future ahead of us and can slowly temper our strength."

"Huh, why are these people staring at you like that?"