Chapter 15 Life is like a play
The next three games were completed quickly, and there was not much to note.
[Writing this, I hope readers will remember our domain name Taiwan Novel Network→𝙩𝙬𝙠𝙖𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢]
After the riding test was completed, three-quarters of the original more than 200 disciples from aristocratic families were wiped out, leaving only more than 50 people.
The archery project is relatively simple, that is, riding a horse and shooting at the target while running. The one who hits the most arrows wins.
Anyone who can pass the first level is not a mediocre player. This competition is equivalent to relaxation after strenuous activities. In the whole field, only six people missed the target once or twice, and the others all hit the target.
Zuo Lingquan didn't practice much bow and arrow, and he didn't want to be in the limelight anymore. He was the only one among the six.
After taking a short rest after this round, the court began to sort out the roster and arrange the next competition. Martial arts competitions can only be fought one on one, and no melee is possible, so the selection of opponents is very important.
Zuo Lingquan's jumping ability shown in the first game has already made most people afraid. The dignitaries behind the scenes are working secretly to catch weak people. Even Li Cang and other people with a training background are not the first to catch him just to be on the safe side. Zuo Lingquan.
As a result, Zuo Lingquan even competed with a rookie for two rounds. He was embarrassed to think that he would only lose one move after trying his best, so he ended up in the top ten inexplicably.
Among the top ten, nine people except Zuo Lingquan were all descendants of Prime Minister Li Jingsi, and their hunt for the prince-consort position had basically been successful.
On the stand, Li Jingsi saw this situation, felt a little relieved, tilted his head and said:
"We must squeeze Zuo Lingquan out first. Don't let him get too high a ranking, otherwise he will be remembered by the princess and we won't be able to win the top three. Li Cang, are you confident about dealing with Zuo Lingquan?"
"Uncle, don't worry, we will win this battle."
"Okay, then you'll be the first to attack. If you can't beat them, you must injure them and create opportunities for others."
Li Cang accepted the order happily.
On the terrace of the high-rise building, Jiang Yi saw Zuo Lingquan's smooth journey to the present, and her heart became more and more weird. After all, she was about to start selecting people. No matter how she looked at the ten people below, they were always the most annoying and pleasing to the eye.
"Three of the ten people are practitioners. Li Cang has entered the fourth level of Qi refining. Although he is not as good as me, he is by no means an ordinary person. As long as Zuo Lingquan doesn't use dirty tricks, he should not be able to defeat him... right... ...If he dares to use dirty tricks, kick him out..."
Listening to these soliloquies, Leng Zhu felt that the princess was a little guilty and entangled. She asked doubtfully:
"Isn't Zuo Lingquan a practitioner and very skilled in martial arts?"
Jiang Yi quickly sat up straighter, shook her head and said:
"It's not that high. If you're not a general of mine, you just have a lot of dirty tricks."
"oh……"
Leng Zhuzhen felt that the princess was guilty, so she thought for a while and asked:
"If Zuo Lingquan really takes the lead and knocks everyone down and takes first place, princess..."
"So what if I take it? I didn't choose the number one scholar when I chose my consort. What's the point of being good at martial arts? Who I choose is not based on who I like. He thinks he's guaranteed the position of consort because he's good at martial arts?"
"Didn't the princess say that his martial arts skills are not good?"
"..."
"Ahem...it's my servant who talks too much..."
———
For the martial arts competition, the venue was moved to a ring built outside the stadium. Colorful ribbons were hung around the ring, and swords, guns, swords and halberds were placed around it.
The swords have no eyes, and it is common for them to cut each other and accidentally injure each other. The referees in the ring have also been replaced by a few elders in military uniforms, who seem to be the royal trainers of the imperial court.
The old eunuch on the high building appeared on the edge of the terrace with a name list. He looked at the ten young men standing below and said:
"The first match is between Zuo Lingquan of Qinghe County and Li Cang of Jintang County. Swords have no eyes, so you just need to do your best and there is no need to force it; if there is any violation of martial ethics, you will be eliminated directly and severely punished."
The last sentence was added temporarily by Jiang Yi, specifically targeting Zuo Lingquan.
It's a pity that Zuo Lingquan, who is most concerned about martial ethics, is not prepared to win, and does not feel that these words are directed at him.
The expressions of the other nine people changed slightly, and they looked at each other, feeling troubled in their hearts.
They were ordered by their fathers to injure Zuo Lingquan even if they couldn't defeat him. However, they did not hold back when they were victorious, and they did not hold back when they were defeated. They did not follow martial ethics. It felt like the eldest princess had seen the signs and was deliberately targeting them. them.
In a flash of thought, Li Cang from Jintang County was already on the ring, holding a long black sheath sword and waiting quietly.
Zuo Hanchou knew that his nephew was good at martial arts, but he also knew the details of Li Cang, so he warned:
"Just do your best, don't get hurt."
Zuo Lingquan nodded and walked up the stairs to the ring. In a blink of an eye, he took out a bright silver gun and stood on the opposite side of the ring.
Jiang Yi saw Zuo Lingquan taking a gun, and her eyes were slightly surprised:
"Why did he use a gun? Didn't he use a sword?"
Leng Zhu had a very good impression of Zuo Lingquan and said:
"Well, every inch is longer and every inch is stronger. Maybe Mr. Zuo is proficient in all eighteen kinds of weapons. In order to win, he only chooses weapons that can restrain his opponent."
Jiang Yi thought it was possible, so she stopped talking and watched carefully.
As the two sides stood still, the Qiyuntai also became silent, everyone was waiting to see.
Zuo Lingquan held a two-foot silver spear in his hand, pointed the tip of the spear diagonally at the ground, raised his left hand and hooked:
"Qinghe County, Zuo Lingquan."
It has to be said that the white robe is like snow, the silver gun in hand, and the indifferent expression are full of style.
Li Cang felt a little guilty, but under the spotlight, he still acted calmly and raised his hands to clasp his fists:
"Li Cang of Jintang County, please give me some advice from Brother Zuo."
After the words fell, the whole place was silent.
In the arena where everyone is watching, two young men in their prime stand with weapons in their hands.
clang--
The clerk rang the gong.
It was at this moment that a deafening explosion erupted from the arena:
"Oh--"
Zuo Lingquan's momentum changed and he was the first to attack. He twisted the gun and shook it, and then the gun stabbed forward like a dragon and strode towards Li Cang.
The explosive roar spread throughout the audience.
Zuo Lingquan's unstoppable posture made many spectators present who knew some martial arts express their approval, while those who did not know martial arts were secretly frightened.
"What a loud voice!"
"Good marksmanship..."
As the saying goes, ‘A layman only sees the excitement, an expert only sees the door’.
Zuo Lingquan used real skills. No matter whether he was an outsider or an expert, he would not see any problems.
Except for the eldest princess behind the bead curtain!
Jiang Yi was staring nervously, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to analyze Zuo Lingquan, so that he could get the situation back in the next fight.
But when she saw Zuo Lingquan's movements, her eyes froze.
Why are you running so slowly?
On the ring, the two of them were only ten steps apart.
Zuo Lingquan charged forward with a gun, seemingly as powerful as a rainbow, but in Jiang Yi's eyes, it was no different from a turtle crawling. This time was enough for her to run back and forth three times, and Zuo Lingquan was only halfway through, which was a huge difference from last time. Don't. ♦♦ ♦♦
Jiang Yi said inexplicably: "What is this guy doing? Why is he running so slowly?"
Leng Zhu thought there was no problem: "Young Master Zuo is not a practitioner, this is already very fast."
Is this considered fast?
Jiang Yi had fought against Zuo Lingquan. Zuo Lingquan could not move at all, but moved like thunder, so fast that she couldn't see clearly. Even if he changed his weapons, he shouldn't be so slow, right?
Before Jiang Yi had time to think deeply, the enemy was already on the stage. She could only put her mind down and continue to look carefully.
On the stage.
Li Cang, who was standing with his sword in hand, raised his eyebrows when he saw Zuo Lingquan striding towards him. The fear he had just now disappeared.
In the early stage of Qi refining, a practitioner's combat power is not high, and sometimes he cannot defeat a martial artist, but only if he encounters an extremely powerful martial artist.
Li Cang's cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining is enough to occupy a place in the secular world. Judging from Zuo Lingquan's speed, he can only be ranked in the middle of the rivers and lakes. At most, it is comparable to a monk at the second level of Qi Refining. Moreover, without true Qi, he cannot compete with practitioners in terms of endurance or explosive power. On a par with that, if he couldn't beat him, he wouldn't have to practice sword practice in the future.
Seeing Zuo Lingquan rushing in front of him, Li Cang flicked his finger, unsheathed the three-foot green spear, and swiped the spear point accurately.
bite--
Gold and iron clashed, causing sparks and crisp sounds.
What Li Cang didn't expect was that when the sword's edge came into contact with the spear, the force returned was astonishing. His sword only deflected the spear slightly.
Zuo Lingquan's eyes narrowed, and when he saw that the spear was piercing the target, he twisted the gun's body violently and swept in all directions.
"ha--"
The two-foot-long silver spear opened and closed, sweeping the arena with strong winds.
Li Cang underestimated his opponent, and his defensive movements were a little hasty, but he did not lose his method. He raised his long sword to block, and put his fingers against the edge of the sword to block the incoming spear.
bite--
The spear that swept hard hit the light sword blade.
The blade was not bent, but the force transmitted by the gun still made Li Cang take three steps back "Teng Teng Teng".
"good--"
There were cheers from the surrounding stands.
Zuo Lingquan succeeded with one blow, held the gun in front of his eyes with both hands, and imitated the tone of the big-breasted and brainless girl from Linhefang, and said rather arrogantly:
"Is this all you have?"
The acting was so good that even Li Cang, the opponent, couldn't see anything wrong with it and even frowned and snorted:
"It's all about brute strength."
Everyone was fascinated by the drama, except Jiang Yi on the terrace, whose eyes were full of confusion and confusion.
She had fought against Zuo Lingquan and knew that Zuo Lingquan was strong in his astonishing explosive power and speed. Among ordinary people, this power might be regarded as a natural power, but when faced with practitioners who have true energy around them, it is not enough.
This can be seen from the way Jiang Yi sent Zuo Lingquan flying with one strike of his sword.
As for Zuo Lingquan in the ring, although he was fighting with great openness and precision, Jiang Yi could clearly see that he was only fighting with brute force, his skills and bodywork were a mess, and he was completely using short strikes to reach long ranges.
Jiang Yi frowned, and after a moment of confusion, she said displeasedly:
"How can it be so great to compete for the position of my consort? If he loses, I will see who he will cry to."
Leng Zhu also saw that Zuo Lingquan's skills were average, but he was very strong. Hearing the princess's words, she wondered:
"Master Zuo, didn't you give your best?"
Jiang Yi frowned.
Zuo Lingquan is not only not exerting his full strength now, but also just playing bastard boxing.
Li Cang's own cultivation level was not very high, and he was far behind her. When she and Zuo Lingquan fought that night, how did Zuo Lingquan react?
Ten steps away, she disappeared in a flash. She walked around to the side and raised her hand with a sword, which almost scared her to death.
What does that count now?
After running slowly for a long time, I reached him. I raised my hand and shot him, but the shot missed, and then I started beating him randomly.
If Zuo Lingquan could use half the level he did that night, Li Cang might not even be able to pull out the sword.
This is not Tuoda, what is this?
Fighting for the position of her consort is such a serious matter, shouldn't we go all out?
If you don't go all out, how can you be her consort if you lose?
Could it be that this guy still doesn’t want to be a prince-in-law...
? !
Suddenly this thought flashed through her mind, and Jiang Yi's delicate body trembled, her lips widened, and she was a little unbelievable:
"This guy still doesn't want to be my consort?"
The voice was almost trembling.
When Leng Zhu heard this, he came to his senses and knew something was wrong.
Her Royal Highness has been very arrogant since she was a child, and she hates people thinking she is inferior to others.
Nowadays, it is one thing for the princess to choose a consort, whether she likes it or not, but it is another matter that she clearly can be a consort but does not want to be one.
This shows that people look down upon her, the powerful eldest princess of the Great Dan Dynasty who has great power over the country.
Leng Zhu secretly thought something was wrong. He quickly pulled Jiang Yi to sit down and explained hurriedly:
"Princess, please calm down. There are no men in the world who don't admire the princess. How can there be a blind man who looks down on the princess? Mr. Zuo hides his strength, maybe there is something hidden..."
"What could he be hiding? He didn't hold back at all when he hit me. He took care of me in a few strokes, but he took his time beating Li Cang..."
"Um?"
Leng Zhu's expression was stunned and he looked at Jiang Yi with wide eyes.
She seemed to understand why the princess targeted Zuo Lingquan!
Oh my God!
Beat up the princess...
Jiang Yi accidentally let something slip. She kept her mouth shut and didn't speak. She just stared angrily at Zuo Lingquan on the ring.
Leng Zhu secretly shrank his neck, his mind raced, and explained:
"Then what... um... maybe Mr. Zuo doesn't want his opponent to lose too badly, so as to save some face for him?"
Jiang Yi actually felt the same way, mainly because she didn't believe Zuo Lingquan would be uninterested in her, the eldest princess.
She is famous for her beauty all over the capital, what's wrong with her?
She had to choose one, and she was beginning to struggle just now. Should she let Zuo Lingquan be successfully elected, regardless of past grievances, and then show up and scare Zuo Lingquan to death.
In the end, it was discovered that she had been obsessed with being sentimental for a long time?
Jiang Yi became angrier as she thought about it.
But it is a pity that Zuo Lingquan in the ring has no idea that the eldest princess behind the bead curtain is her.
Zuo Lingquan wanted to join Qihuang Valley, but he didn't want to have anything to do with the prince-in-law. At this time, he just wanted to lose better, finish work early, and go to Qihuang Valley to learn from his master.
After sweeping away Li Cang with one shot, Zuo Lingquan was as powerful as a rainbow. He stepped on the ground with both feet and jumped up high. He held the gun in both hands and chopped down with the force of a mountain.
Snap——
The Zhang Er Silver Spear swept an arc in the air and hit the wooden floor of the arena, causing two wooden boards to break immediately.
Li Cang had already 'figured out' Zuo Lingquan's strength, his expression was slightly sarcastic, his body was like catkins following the wind, he ducked sideways without any injuries.
"Where to run!"
Zuo Lingquan's shot missed, and he followed the trend with another sweep, hitting the pillars of the arena.
The pillar at the mouth of the bowl was directly cut off by the silver gun, and the broken wood flew to the bottom of the ring a few feet away. Before it hit the ground, Zuo Lingquan fired another shot!
Bang bang bang——
Broken wood flew everywhere on the ring, and gunfire continued.
Li Cang dodged with ease. In order to impress the eldest princess and win her favor, Li Cang also made particularly chic postures. Sometimes he would wear a sword flower or pull up his hair, which aroused the admiration of the audience in the stands.
Zuo Lingquan was completely different. He was as powerful as a rainbow and a wild horse, holding a silver gun. He opened and closed it widely, and when it was rounded, he would hit it. He would hit whatever he saw, but he would not hit Li Cang, but hit Li Cang with all his strength. Minimal output.
In just a few breaths, the originally gorgeously decorated arena was completely devastated by Zuo Lingquan.
The referees sitting next to him stood up to protect their chests in fear of the lunatic's deflected shot hitting them.
When the surrounding spectators saw this incomparable bravery, they were filled with admiration and exclaimed:
"What a domineering marksmanship..."
"This is too reckless..."
"Domineering and leaky!"
…
Exclamations continued, and everyone was immersed in the 'fierce' confrontation.
The only person in the audience who was not satisfied with watching was Jiang Yi behind the bead curtain.
The more Jiang Yi watched, the angrier she became. She gritted her teeth and waited patiently, muttering secretly:
It’s not that this guy looks down on me, he just wants to save face for Li Cang...
The beating was too fast so that outsiders could not see it clearly and would not be famous, so that’s why we hit like this...
This must be the case, Li Cang will be dealt with later...
Even if I win, I won’t choose you as my consort. I’m greedy for you, huh…
But the final result still disappointed Jiang Yi.
Zuo Lingquan was rampaging on the ring for a long time, but he didn't touch the corner of Li Cang's clothes. He seemed to be beyond his capabilities, so he yelled angrily:
"Suffer death!"
Then he rushed towards Li Cang with a spear and shot straight to the middle door.
Li Cang also felt that it was almost done. He raised his sword lightly and pointed it at Zuo Lingquan's chest and abdomen.
In this way, even a layman can see that this is the final all-out struggle, and his heart is in his throat.
Jiang Yi’s chest almost exploded with anger!
From her point of view, Zuo Lingquan's move was no different from hitting someone's sword directly. His wish to die rather than be his consort was written on his face!
That's too much!
Jiang Yi's eyebrows stood up, she couldn't bear it anymore, she slapped the tea table and stood up, scolding:
"Are you done yet?"
The entire audience was suffocating and silent, but this voice was very eye-catching.
The princes and ministers near the high-rise building heard this furious rebuke, but the battle situation was so anxious that they did not hesitate to raise their heads and look away. They were just wondering why the eldest princess suddenly roared like this.
On the ring, Zuo Lingquan, who was about to run into Li Cang's arms and "save defeat with one move," naturally heard this familiar voice.
This voice sounds so familiar...
It seemed to be coming from behind the bead curtain...
It’s over…