Republic of China: From Street Performer to War God in a Chaotic Era

"Bang."

A muffled explosion resounded in the center of the training ground, like a muffled thunderclap in mid-air.

Lu Guan's right fist struck first, meeting He Fei's proud Iron Sand Palm head-on without any fancy moves.

"Click."

He Fei's right wrist, which was as hard as iron, was instantly broken at a bizarre angle.

But it's not over yet.

That extremely powerful and masculine tiger fist intent, as if it were a tangible substance, poured into He Fei's body, directly destroying all his defensive stances and will to resist.

He Fei felt as if his soul was being torn apart by a vicious tiger, and his mind went blank for a moment.

"boom."

He Fei's burly body flew backward more than ten meters, his feet leaving the ground, clearing the white lime circle, and crashing heavily onto the blue brick base under the governor's mansion's command platform.

He Fei spat out a mouthful of blood more than two feet high, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

one move.

Sold out instantly.

The entire Changqing Temple drill ground was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the sound of the wind and snow rustling the flags.

The Iron Sand Sect disciples who were just cheering for He Fei now looked like live ducks with their mouths agape and their bodies trembling, as if they had been choked.

The martial arts instructors who were initially wary of Lu Guan's exemption from the exam now looked at him with fear instead of skepticism.

"That...that's the intent of the fist?" Zhao Linchuan gasped, his inner clothes instantly soaked with cold sweat.

Just now, even standing below the stage, I could feel the suffocating sensation that hit me.

This is no friendly competition; it's a one-sided massacre.

If Lu Guan hadn't held back a third of his strength at the end, He Fei's entire arm and half of his body would probably have been smashed into a pulp.

"Good, what a tiger unleashed from its cage!"

On the platform, Feng Changshan suddenly stood up and burst into laughter, clapping his purplish-red hands twice in mid-air, his eyes filled with fanaticism.

"With this foundation of skill, how can we not solve the mystery of the Tianjin guard?"

He turned to the stunned examiner and shouted, "What are you all standing there for? Write down the score!"

The examiner suddenly realized what was happening and quickly wrote it down on the roster.

Surprisingly, the examiner still drew the character "甲" after He Fei's name.

The rules of the Governor's Mansion were strict yet fair.

Although He Fei was killed in one move, his Ming Jin strength, which had crippled three people, and his ruthless attacks, were indeed up to the standards of the Military Equipment Department.

However, he was just unlucky and offended a demon he shouldn't have.

Two soldiers stepped forward and dragged He Fei away to treat him.

Lu Guan put away his stance, not giving He Fei a second glance, and kept his hands hidden in the sleeves of his tattered cotton-padded jacket.

He walked back to the corner of the elite formation with seemingly slow but actually quick steps, as if he had just swatted away a fly.

But after that, no one dared to have the slightest objection to his position.

The second round of exchanges quickly came to an end after Lu Guan's stunning punch.

The training ground, which originally housed several hundred people, has been decimated after two rounds of brutal selection, leaving fewer than sixty people still standing.

The sky was completely overcast.

Thick, leaden-gray clouds pressed down on the eaves of Changqing Temple, creating a sense of oppression in the air.

"Waaah—waaah—"

Just then, several soldiers from the Governor's Mansion, wearing black rubber raincoats and gas masks, slowly pushed three large iron cages out of the cellar behind the drill ground.

The iron cage was covered with cinnabar and yellow talismans and was locked with thick iron chains.

As the iron cage approached, a nauseating stench of corpses mixed with an extremely cold and malevolent aura instantly swept across the training ground.

Inhuman roars echoed from inside the iron cage.

The sound was like fingernails scratching glass, sending chills down one's spine.

On the reviewing stand, Feng Changshan's smile vanished, replaced by a cold and ruthless expression.

"Those who survived the first two rounds, listen up!" Feng Changshan's voice echoed in the eerie wind.

"This third test of courage isn't about your fists, it's about your destiny to deal with filthy things."

He raised his hand and pointed to the center of the field.

"What's in the cage is a century-old living corpse spirit that the Ji Yi Ke just dug out of a mass grave outside the city."

"The iron cage will be opened in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Those who survive are the personnel from the Armed Forces Department. Open the cage."

"Clang—Clang—"

The iron cage door was pried open from a distance using a long bamboo pole.

"call--"

As soon as the cage door opened, a ghastly green aura of death, mixed with the stench and chill of something buried for a hundred years, poured out towards the surrounding area of ​​the training ground.

Several disciples in the front row who had just entered the Ming Jin realm and whose qi and blood were relatively weak were hit by the yin wind and their faces turned pale and their legs went weak.

My stomach churned violently, and I vomited up bile.

"roar--"

With a piercing roar, three dark figures leaped out of the iron cage and crashed heavily onto the yellow earth covered with remnants of snow.

Everyone stared intently, and gasped in shock.

Those were three corpses dressed in tattered armor from the Qing Dynasty.

Its skin and flesh were shriveled and clung tightly to the bones, displaying an eerie bluish-black color, as if it had been cast from pig iron.

The fingernails of all ten fingers are three inches long, as black as ink, and shimmer with a ghostly light.

Their eyes rolled back, their pupils shrinking to tiny red dots. They stared intently at the sixty-odd healthy, vigorous people in the arena, like hungry dogs eyeing meat.

"Light incense."

On the command platform, Feng Changshan gave a sharp shout.

A specially made incense stick, about the thickness of a forearm, is lit and placed in the burner.

As wisps of smoke rose, this epic test of courage, waged with human lives, officially began.

"You inanimate thing, how dare you be so arrogant? I'll smash you to pieces!"

A generous reward will surely attract brave men. A martial arts master wielding the Bagua Continuous Palm technique, using the Bagua Step, circled around to the side of the Corpse Fiend.

He suppressed his fear, his joints cracking as he slammed his double palms into the corpse demon's ribs.

boom.

A muffled thud.

The martial artist's sinister smile froze.

His palm strike, powerful enough to split stone and shatter monuments, landed on the corpse's skin, yet only left a faint white mark.

The force of the recoil made his arms go numb and his tiger's mouth crack.

"A body of copper and iron?" the martial artist exclaimed in surprise.

The Corpse Demon gave them no chance at all.

It turned its stiff neck, its dark blue claws bringing a foul stench, and swung at an odd angle that defied the natural way a living person exerts force.

puff.

Blood gushed forth.

The martial artist screamed and fell to the ground, a large chunk of flesh torn from his chest, exposing his white bones to the cold wind. He flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing to the ground, his fate unknown.

"hiss--

The entire audience was astonished.

In a single exchange, the martial artist who had just entered the Ming Jin realm was severely injured. How could he possibly fight back?

"Run. This is a monster that no human can defeat."

The defenses collapsed.

The crowd, who had originally hoped to receive ten silver dollars as a resettlement allowance, were terrified and scattered in all directions.

There were more than a hundred Hanyang rifles with bayonets fixed around them, their muzzles pointed firmly at the drill ground.

Anyone who dares to step out of the white-gray boundary will be shot dead by the soldiers of the Governor's Mansion.

Advancing means death, retreating also means death.

More than sixty people scurried around like headless flies, constantly in danger as they were chased by the three-headed corpse demon.

"Don't wander off, form a formation, and don't fight alone."

Amid the chaos, a thunderous shout rang out.

Zhao Linchuan was, after all, a master of the Ming Jin stage, with extraordinary insight. He dodged the corpse demon's attack and roared loudly.

"The annual examination conducted by the Governor's Office tests whether one can perform duties for the Military Equipment Department."

"The task of investigating strange phenomena and resolving tomb raiding is never about showing off one's heroism; it tests the combined attack of troops and teamwork."

"This beast has skin of copper and bones of iron; brute force alone cannot break through its defenses."

Zhao Linchuan moved with unwavering composure, giving orders: "Those with swords, lock its joints; those with long weapons, brace its lower body. Those with external martial arts skills, hold it down from the front, trap it!"

A word to awaken the dreamer.

Su Ruoxue was the first to react. She drew her willow-leaf dagger and shouted.

"Disciples of the Six Harmonies, follow me and form the formation."

The remaining four or five disciples immediately gathered together.

The group worked in perfect harmony. Two disciples, each wielding a staff, struck the Corpse Demon from the left and right, stabbing it in the back of the knees, causing it to lose its balance.

The other two disciples used their broadswords to desperately block the corpse demon's claws.

Su Ruoxue seized the opportunity and darted in like a butterfly flitting among flowers.

The willow-leaf blade, imbued with the power of internal energy, sliced ​​into the joints through the gaps in the corpse-fiend armor.

"Sizzle—"

Amidst the scraping sounds, the Corpse Fiend's attack was finally halted.

Seeing this, the other disciples followed suit, setting aside their past grievances and forming groups of three or five.

Each person used their own strengths and managed to keep the other two corpse demons trapped in place.

On the platform, Feng Changshan nodded slightly as he watched this scene.

"Zhao Linchuan is quick-witted; he finally figured out the tricks of the Exorcist's Manual. When solving strange cases, one must be prepared to entrust one's back to one's comrades."