From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Second stage: Knife skills

Lin Yan drew his hundred-refined steel sword, holding it horizontally in front of his chest. He was practicing the nine forms of military swordsmanship, starting with the decapitation strike, followed by the armor-piercing strike and the horizontal slash, one strike after another, the blade drawing arcs across the hall.

The law-abiding examinees who had been laughing at him gradually stopped laughing.

Gao Wenjing's hand, holding the pen, hovered above the booklet. He didn't write for a while, his eyes fixed on Lin Yan's knife.

As he executed the last three moves of his swordsmanship, he suddenly put down his pen and said, "Stop."

Lin Yan sheathed his sword and stopped.

Gao Wenjing stood up, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "Your knife skills are passable."

He put down his teacup, opened another booklet, squinted, and asked nonchalantly, "Do you recognize Zhao Yuanlang?"

Upon hearing the name, Lin Yan's grip on the knife tightened slightly. "I don't recognize him."

"What about his fellow disciple, Zhou Kaiquan?"

"I don't recognize it either."

"Those two were recently sent to Black Wind Ridge." Gao Wenjing slowly flipped through the booklet in his hand, but they've suddenly disappeared and haven't been found since. You're all together, don't you really recognize them?"

He looked up and stared into Lin Yan's eyes, but Lin Yan calmly looked back.

Gao Wenjing wrote a few words in the booklet and casually tossed the next sentence over.

"Come back tomorrow. Whether it can be approved depends on the investigation."

Ye Qingxue had been waiting outside the door. When she heard Gao Wenjing say "Come again tomorrow," she pushed the door open and walked in, taking out an iron token from her bosom and gently placing it on the stone table.

The token has the character "镇" (zhen, meaning town) engraved on its smooth side, and the mark of the Northern Military Government on its reverse side.

Gao Wenjing's expression changed visibly when he saw the token.

"Captain Ye—"

"Lord Gao," Ye Qingxue said calmly, "I'm taking this person with me."

Gao Wenjing opened his mouth: "The assessment is still..."

"Go ahead and investigate. Just have him come tomorrow."

Ye Qingxue put the token back into her sleeve and turned to walk out.

Lin Yan followed her out of the Martial Selection Office, through three security gates, and stood outside the military mansion gate again. It was already quite dark, and the soldiers on the street had changed. The night watchman passed by the alleyway, banging his clapper.

Ye Qingxue stood at the alley entrance for a while, then suddenly spoke up: "Gao Wenjing deliberately blocked you."

"I know."

"Those without a master are seen as easy prey by the Martial Selection Division. No matter how beautiful your swordsmanship is, they can find a pretext to make you take the test again."

Ye Qingxue paused for a moment, then handed the token to Lin Yan. "Go tomorrow. If he deliberately makes things difficult for you, just say my name and that you are my disciple. I believe Gao Wenjing won't want to cause trouble for the Northern Border Military Government."

Lin Yan nodded. "Thank you. I'll go again tomorrow."

……

The next morning, as soon as the gates of the military government office opened, Lin Yan was already standing at the entrance of the Martial Selection Office.

Gao Wenjing remained seated behind the stone table. When Lin Yan entered, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly: "You've arrived early."

This time he didn't mention Zhao Yuanlang again.

Third stage: Testing strength

The burly examiner walked over and placed a half-person-high stone tablet in the center of the hall. The tablet had a rough surface with several fist and palm prints of varying depths.

"Body tempering is complete, all bones in your body are fully tempered, ordinary strength tests are unnecessary." The examiner pointed to the stone tablet, "For this test—you can directly perform a set of punches, something a bit harder."

Lin Yan pulled out the thick-backed barbarian knife he had picked up from the bearded man, and gently placed the blade on the stone table, making a heavy, muffled sound.

Gao Wenjing's eyelid twitched.

Lin Yan didn't use the Great Yan's boxing style. He swung his barbarian saber, employing the berserk power of the Northern Barbarians. Each strike carried explosive force, one after another, crashing into the stone tablet. Shards of stone flew everywhere, and the few law-abiding examinees waiting in the hall all took two steps back.

The fist and palm prints that were originally imprinted on the stone tablet were shattered by his sword strike.

"That's enough." Gao Wenjing stopped Lin Yan directly. "Let's move on to the next level."

Fourth stage: Real combat

The examiner cleared a space in the center of the hall and called in three border soldiers in armor.

All three were at the first-grade Body Tempering Realm, holding unsharpened iron military knives, and stood in a triangular formation surrounding Lin Yan.

Gao Wenjing, holding his teacup, said, "The rule for this fourth trial is: you pass if you are not defeated within one incense stick's time."

He took a sip of tea. "The Martial Arts Selection Division has seen candidates die before. If you can't hold on, give up. But if you accidentally die, don't blame me for not warning you."

Lin Yan picked up an unsharpened iron military knife from the side and held the blade horizontally in front of his chest.

The gong sounded.

The border soldier was the first to strike, aiming straight for Lin Yan's face with his blade. The other two simultaneously flanked him from the left and right, their three blades sealing off all of Lin Yan's escape routes.

This is no test at all; it's more like an ambush.

Lin Yan remained calm. He took a step forward with his left foot and unleashed the fourth move of the [Mysterious Blade Technique] – Lifting Blade!

The blade coming straight at him was forcefully deflected, and at the same time, Lin Yan twisted his body sharply.

His left shoulder slammed into the arms of the border soldier in front of him, sending the man staggering back three steps, his armor clattering loudly.

But in the blink of an eye, the two swords on the left and right had already arrived.

Before Lin Yan could sheathe his sword, he fell to the ground, rolled, and a few strands of hair fell to the ground with the gust of wind from the left blade. The right blade followed closely behind. Lin Yan turned his steel sword around and used the back of the blade to block the attack.

The clang of metal rang out, and sparks flew everywhere.

As he sprang up from the ground, the sniper's knife came from the left again.

Too fast. The three of them worked together seamlessly, one move after another, giving Lin Yan no chance to catch his breath.

Lin Yan gritted his teeth and stopped trying to dodge. He changed his swordsmanship, aiming each strike at the opponent's wrist and knee, not to injure the enemy, but to break the enemy's offensive.

This change of tactics proved effective.

The left flank soldier missed his target with a slash, his retraction a fraction of a second too slow. Lin Yan's blade had already struck his arm guard, sending a shiver down his spine. The right flank soldier moved to fill the gap, and Lin Yan ducked aside, the tip of his blade brushing against the soldier's kneeplate, causing the man to stagger in pain.

The border troops on the front charged forward again.

Instead of retreating, Lin Yan advanced, using a nimble footwork to squeeze through the gap between the two border soldiers and circle behind him. He then swept the back of his blade out, striking the man squarely in the lower back.

The three border soldiers turned around at the same time and surrounded him again, but after Lin Yan hit their vital points several times, their formation had already shown flaws.

The incense has burned to the third inch.

In order to avoid revealing more of his skills to Gao Wenjing and arousing his suspicion about Zhao Yuanlang's case and Lin Yan, this battle was quite difficult.

Lin Yan was panting heavily, sweat dripping down his chin. His hand holding the knife trembled slightly, but the tip remained pointed straight ahead.

The three border soldiers exchanged a glance and rushed forward at the same time.

"Hmph, trying the same old trick won't work!"

Lin Yan took another step forward, even faster than before, and almost slammed into the enemy soldier's abdomen with his blade. The soldier groaned and fell backward, landing on the ground.

Two swords came slashing down from the left and right at the same time. Lin Yan dragged the fallen border soldier in front of him to block them. The two men quickly withdrew their swords, and the sword strikes paused.

Taking advantage of the opening, Lin Yan used the back of his blade to strike downwards, hitting both men's wrists squarely.

Both steel knives fell to the ground at the same time.

The lobby fell silent for a moment.

Gao Wenjing put down his teacup and glanced at the incense.

It's only halfway burned.

The examiner went over and helped the three border soldiers up, then turned back and nodded to Gao Wenjing.