Full-Time Martial Saint

At six o'clock in the evening, just as the banquet was about to begin, the main hall and courtyard in front of the Ning family mansion were filled with tables and chairs. After resolving some of Ning Yuhang's questions about boxing techniques, Chen Cong and the other person also arrived there.

The courtyard was now filled with people, all of whom were prominent figures from various circles in Xiangcheng.

Such banquets usually allow families to come along. Most people at the event either bring their partners or their children to broaden their horizons.

Adults have their own things to talk about, and young people naturally have their own circles of friends.

As soon as the two entered the courtyard, a voice suddenly called out to him, "Young Master Ning, over here!"

Ning Yuhang looked in the direction of the sound and saw several figures sitting in a pavilion in the corner of the courtyard. He quickly led Chen Cong over with a smile.

"Your presence at the Ning family's banquet, Mr. Ning, is hardly befitting of a host." The speaker was a richly dressed, slender young man with long hair.

Judging from his obviously weak and emaciated physical condition, which was drained by alcohol and sex, he should not be a martial arts student.

Ning Yuhang laughed and greeted everyone, then quickly introduced, "This is Chen Cong, my classmate and buddy."

"Chen Cong, who is this...?"

Ning Yuhang introduced the people in the pavilion one by one, but Chen Cong was too lazy to remember their names and just greeted them politely.

Similarly, the people in the pavilion didn't seem to care much for Chen Cong, but they still maintained proper etiquette on the surface.

"Sigh, it's only those of us who're just killing time and have nothing better to do that we arrive early."

"Look at Zhou Hao, Xu Baiwei, and the others. The banquet is about to start, and they haven't even had a proper welcome..."

"Who is it? I just arrived and I heard someone talking bad about me." Inside the pavilion, the young man who had called out to Ning Yuhang earlier was suddenly interrupted before he could finish speaking.

Everyone turned to look and saw Zhou Hao, dressed in casual sportswear and exuding a slightly nonchalant air, slowly walking towards the pavilion.

"Oh, Mr. Zhou is really punctual... Did you time this perfectly?" A heavily made-up rich young lady teased.

Zhou Hao seemed to be used to this and wasn't angry.

As he slowly approached, he was about to speak when his gaze suddenly fell upon Chen Cong beside Ning Yuhang, and he froze on the spot.

"Is it you?"

Chen Cong smiled and nodded.

Seeing the smile on his face, Zhou Hao's hands, which had been hanging down naturally, slowly clenched into fists.

But after a moment, he slowly loosened his fist, a smile appearing on his face as he said, "Shall we have another match after the banquet?"

Chen responded with a faint smile, "There will be plenty of time later, today is not suitable."

During the previous martial arts skills assessment test, he had already used all his methods against Zhou Hao, but still felt that his chances of winning were slim, so he had no choice but to admit defeat.

But now, with his overall physical fitness improved, and the "enlightenment" that night that made him quite advanced in both boxing and movement, Chen Cong felt an urge to fight Zhou Hao again and see how much of a gap there was between himself and this martial arts genius.

But not today. The banquet is going to go on for who knows how long, and he wants to go to the Void Realm to continue his cultivation after he gets back. He doesn't have time to fight this madman.

The people around them were clearly not very interested in martial arts; they were just watching the two of them with a gossipy attitude.

Ning Yuhang quickly tried to smooth things over, saying with a smile, "You two have become friends through a fight. There will be plenty of opportunities to spar in the future. Tonight, we'll just chat and eat, no fighting."

No sooner had he finished speaking than another familiar figure walked over from a distance.

The person who arrived was Xu Baiwei.

Tonight, Xu Baiwei wore her long hair down her back and a trench coat and jeans outfit, giving her a more mature and sophisticated look compared to before.

"Miss Xu is late."

Seeing Xu Baiwei approach, Ning Yuhang smiled and changed the subject, afraid that Zhou Hao, that madman, might not be able to resist making a move.

Xu Baiwei came up and greeted everyone with a smile and a nod. She was slightly surprised when she suddenly saw Chen Congshi.

Clearly, she hadn't expected to run into Chen Cong at this kind of exclusive dinner party.

She paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

Chen smiled and nodded in return, without saying a word.

After Xu Baiwei, several other young people of similar age arrived. Among them were students from Xiangcheng Martial Arts Academy, but Chen Cong did not recognize them and did not ask them any further questions.

Soon, the banquet officially began, and the young people took their seats one after another.

Xu Baiwei glanced at the empty seat next to her, hesitating whether to call Chen Cong over. She had something she wanted to talk to him about. Unexpectedly, a servant of the Ning family found Ning Yuhang, who was about to sit down, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Ning Yuhang nodded, then turned to the group of young people and said, "Everyone, I'm sorry, the old man asked Chen Cong and me to go inside. We'll come back to join you later. Have fun."

After saying this, he led Chen Cong towards the main hall of the courtyard.

Perhaps because of their different social status, the two tables in the main hall only had a total of twelve seats.

Chen Cong and Ning Yuhang went to Ning Zhenshan's table, and the servants temporarily added chairs for them.

Apart from Ning Zhenshan and Ning Shuang, the other four elders at the table all showed a hint of confusion when they saw the two.

"Old Ning, we all know Yu Hang. And this young man is...?"

Looking at Chen Cong's completely unfamiliar face, someone finally couldn't help but ask a question.

Most of these elderly people did not participate in the preliminary test of Xiangcheng No.1 Middle School and were not very familiar with Chen Cong.

However, some of the other people invited to the Xiangcheng No. 1 Middle School's preliminary test at the banquet had some impression of this boy, and for a time, whispers and discussions arose everywhere.

Ning Zhenshan looked around, chuckled, and cupped his hands in greeting to the speaker: "Since Brother Cheng has spoken, let me introduce myself first, and I would also like to ask everyone present to bear witness."

He slowly stood up and walked to Chen Cong and Ning Yuhang's side: "This is Chen Cong, Yuhang's classmate. The two are very close friends, and I also like this boy very much."

"I'll take a few minutes of your time today. Please bear witness as these two children become sworn brothers in front of us elders."

As soon as Ning Zhenshan finished speaking, the expressions of everyone in the room instantly became fascinating.

Those who had never met Chen Cong were curious about the identity of this seemingly ordinary young man, who had won the favor of Ning Zhenshan, the patriarch of the Ning family, and become the sworn brother of Ning Zhenshan's eldest grandson.

Those who knew Chen Cong's identity all had strange expressions, understanding in their hearts that this young man with good martial arts talent was probably "taken" after tonight. The reason why the old master of the Ning family chose to announce this at this time was probably to tell them to stop trying to take advantage of him.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, a servant of the Ning family prepared the items needed for the sworn brotherhood ceremony in advance.

Chen Cong and Ning Yuhang then held a simple sworn brotherhood ceremony in front of them.

The young people in the courtyard were stunned by what they saw.

"What era are we living in? Why are people still having such ridiculous things as sworn brotherhoods?"

"Exactly, even brothers can turn against each other, let alone sworn brothers who aren't related by blood..."

"Alright, just enjoy it for fun."

Several young people didn't quite understand this so-called sworn brotherhood and discussed it with laughter.

But Xu Baiwei looked at Chen Cong in the distance with a complicated expression, and shook her head with some disappointment.

During the placement test at Xiangcheng No. 1 Middle School, Xu Baiwei's father was also in the guest seats. In the past few days, her father had mentioned to her that he planned to take advantage of their acquaintance to invite Chen Cong to a banquet at the Xu family home, so as to take the opportunity to get closer to him.

Xu Baiwei wanted to ask Chen Cong to sit next to her, mainly because she wanted to talk to him about this matter.

But who would have thought the Ning family would act so quickly...

There are unspoken rules among the various factions in Xiangcheng. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Chen Cong is now essentially tied to the Ning family.

The dinner party suddenly became dull and uninteresting in Xu Baiwei's eyes.

……

At nine o'clock in the evening, as the banquet was drawing to a close, Ning Zhenshan invited the elderly people at the table to the side to have tea.

Ning Shuang, who was sitting at the same table, suddenly stood up and came to Chen Cong's side, saying, "My brother told me that you have a very strong comprehension ability."

Chen Cong turned his head and glanced at Ning Yuhang beside him.

Ning Yuhang smiled awkwardly: "I wasn't making this up. Your comprehension is indeed much better than that of ordinary people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ning Shuang spoke up again: "I have a few research reports on star artifacts here. Could you take a look and see if you have any different insights?"

Chen Cong was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

"Well... I know absolutely nothing about star artifacts."

"I also have related books and materials here, you can take your time to look through them."

After Ning Shuang finished speaking, she left in a hurry without giving him a chance to refute, leaving the two of them staring at each other helplessly.

"Well... that's just how this girl is, she puts all her emotional intelligence into her IQ, don't mind her, just deal with her casually later." Ning Yuhang explained somewhat awkwardly.

Chen Cong sighed and nodded helplessly.

A moment later, Ning Shuang indeed came over carrying a thick stack of books and a brown paper bag stamped with "Confidential Documents".

"My contact number is 75584012. You can ask me anything you don't understand." Ning Shuang piled the things in front of Chen Cong, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Chen Cong stared at the object in front of him, then kicked Ning Yuhang beside him with a wry smile.

Ning Yuhang realized what was happening, quickly arranged the vehicle with his wristband, hugged all the books to his arms, and personally saw Chen Cong off from the Ning family.