Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

The arena was set up on a flat open space at the westernmost part of the camp, with torches erected at the four corners, illuminating the entire area as bright as day.

"Okay...okay...watch out on the left."

"Beat the son of a bitch!"

"That was a brilliant move, well done..."

Several hundred people had already gathered there, three or four layers deep, completely surrounding the arena. Before Zhu Gaoxi even got close, he could hear muffled sounds of hand-to-hand combat and cheers from the soldiers watching.

The soldiers on the outer perimeter were the first to spot Zhu Gaoxi. A short soldier who was tiptoeing and peering inside suddenly sensed movement behind him, turned around, and knelt down with a thud: "Your Highness, Prince Rui!"

As soon as he shouted, hundreds of people around turned around in unison, and then, like wheat fields blown down by the wind, a large number of them knelt down.

These men were all elites selected from their respective camps. They were all strong and powerful, and their voices were naturally loud as well. When hundreds of men shouted "Greetings, Your Highness Prince Rui" at the same time, the sound echoed several times in the camp before gradually dissipating.

Zhu Gaoxi glanced at the soldiers and saw the way they looked at him. How to put it? It was like a wolf that hadn't eaten for days seeing meat. It was a kind of heartfelt worship and fanaticism.

They were all attracted by the ferocious beast mounts that His Highness had personally conjured. In order to be able to ride those rhinoceroses and elephants, they had been training and competing here day and night, almost not sleeping at all.

"Get up, everyone." Zhu Gaoxi raised his hand, and after everyone stood up, he stepped into the arena. The deputy general in charge of the arena quickly ran up to greet him, saluted, and personally led Zhu Gaoxi to the best vantage point at the edge of the arena.

The martial arts competition on the field immediately resumed, and it was even more intense than before. After all, His Highness Prince Rui had come to watch in person, and who wouldn't want to show off their skills in front of the divine prince?

Two shirtless men were wrestling in the center of the arena, each punch landing hard and swift.

The man with the "Black Tiger Claws Out the Heart" technique delivered a powerful and fierce punch, landing squarely on his opponent's chest. The man groaned and nearly fell over.

"The Monkey Steals the Peach" - Who knew that the man who was punched would not retreat but advance instead, using the force to squat down and sweep out a leg kick, while shouting insulting moves, and one hand aimed at the man opposite him for a vital spot.

Zhu Gaoxi subconsciously frowned and hissed. Xu Jingchang and the others next to him also gasped. Zhu Gaoxi thought, "If this gets caught, I'm afraid I'll have to uninstall QQ on the spot." Those who have had similar experiences know how painful it is.

"Old...old...old man pushing a cart!" The man who was hit was in so much pain that his face turned white, but he gritted his teeth and didn't fall down. The veins on his forehead bulged, and he squeezed out a muffled groan from between his teeth. He pushed forward with both hands and pushed the man who had ambushed him several steps away. The man fell flat on his back with a thud.

"That Wang Laosan is really cunning, he specializes in attacking the lower body!" The soldiers below laughed hysterically, some of them clutching their stomachs and squatting on the ground, unable to straighten up.

"Third brother, who did you learn this trick from? Did your wife teach you?" someone shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Zhang Dagen, is your thing still usable...?" someone shouted at the victim.

The deputy general leading the way stood next to Zhu Gaoxi, his face full of embarrassment and helplessness. He rubbed his hands and said with a forced smile, "Your Highness, please forgive us. These soldiers are uneducated and are all brutes. They love to use these low-down tricks during the martial arts competition. They are really vulgar. I will definitely teach them a lesson later."

His ears turned red when he said this, clearly feeling that he had lost face for the army in front of the divine prince.

Zhu Gaoxi watched with amusement, thinking, "As expected of Old Wang next door, his moves are too ruthless! And this Zhang Dagen, what an awesome name! He deserves to be taken down. You're just a lowly soldier, how could you possibly be stronger than me? This name is no longer allowed."

He leaned against the fence of the arena, a smile playing on his lips, and waved his hand: "It's nothing. In a martial arts competition, winning is all that matters. On the battlefield, the enemy doesn't care about superior or inferior techniques."

"Cousin, this guy is a real talent," Xu Jingchang couldn't help but laugh, then said to Qiu Sheng, "Old Qiu, what do you think of this 'Monkey Steals Peaches' trick?"

"A man has his pride," Qiu Shengzhan chuckled, patted his dark face, and said four words in a low voice.

"Yo yo yo!" Xue Bin immediately poked his head out from behind, his eyes narrowed into slits with laughter, and pointed at Qiu Sheng's nose, shouting, "Old Qiu, you're putting on airs with His Highness and us! Everyone knows that back in the military camp, you were the one who loved to use underhanded tricks, and now you're saying you 'have a face'? Since you have a face, then we'll specifically target you in the next martial arts competition and see if you'll still pretend!"

"Don't be like that." Zheng Cong stood to the side with his arms crossed, his expression serious, but his words were incredibly sarcastic. "What if you hurt Old Qiu? If you hurt him, his wife will be a widow."

Zhang Ni, listening from the side, couldn't help but laugh. He slapped Zheng Cong on the shoulder and smoothly chimed in, "So what if he messes it up! Who told him to pretend to be so proper in front of His Highness and us? He used to be the one who used the most underhanded methods. If he messes it up, we'll take care of his wife for him, and we'll take better care of her than he did!"

As he said this, he deliberately winked at Qiu Sheng and raised his voice a few decibels, "Don't let his sallow face fool you, his wife is a proper lady from a respectable family, incredibly beautiful. She's a perfect match for him, like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Bin grabbed Zhang Ni's sleeve and chimed in, "Back when Lao Qiu got married, I was puzzled. How could someone like him find such a good wife? I wondered if the girl was blind, or if Lao Qiu had saved her life?"

Zheng Cong crossed his arms, his expression serious, but his words were even more sarcastic than before: "This is definitely because of General Qiu. Otherwise, with Old Qiu's appearance, matchmakers in Yingtian Prefecture would avoid him like the plague. Where would he find a wife?"

"Even if he saved that girl's life, she would probably kneel down and kowtow three times, then say through tears, 'My benefactor is so kind and generous, I have no way to repay him, I can only repay him by being his servant in my next life.'" Zheng Cong even imitated the tone when talking about the girl's gratitude.

Zhang Ni was laughing when suddenly the military officer's mind started to race. He frowned, looking utterly confused: "Wait a minute, Old Zheng, in those storybooks, when a girl is saved by a hero, doesn't she usually repay him with her body? How come in your version it's her being his slave in the next life? Are you sure you've got the plot wrong?"

Zheng Cong crossed his arms, glanced at Zhang Ni sideways, and said with a look of utter disappointment, "You're so stupid! It depends on who saved her. When a girl sees a handsome man like us saving her, that's what you call a hero saving a beauty. She'll blush and say on the spot, 'My benefactor is so kind, I have no way to repay him but to offer myself to him.' Unlike Old Qiu—"

He glanced at Qiu Sheng, his tone full of disdain, "So dark-skinned, he's barely a bear!"

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! That makes sense, ha-ha-ha-hahaha-" Zhang Ni laughed so hard he slapped his thigh.

Hearing Zheng Cong's words, Xue Bin nearly burst out laughing. He clutched his stomach and squatted on the ground, taking a long time to recover. Pointing at Zheng Cong's nose, he laughed and scolded, "Old Zheng, you're too mean! Can't you give Old Qiu a little face in front of His Highness? You're so good at talking nonsense. How come I never noticed how good you were at making things up in the army?"

Qiu Sheng's composure finally crumbled, his face turning a deep red, like a piece of charcoal fresh from the kiln.

He glared at his three friends, his lips moving for a long time before he finally gave in, clasped his hands together, and bowed to them helplessly, saying, "Are you even human? I admit I was wrong! I was just saying it offhand."

"It's good that you know you were wrong. Just be more careful next time." Zheng Cong stood tall and proud, a victor's smile on his face, looking exactly like a rooster that had just won a fight.

After a while of laughter and joking, the deputy general led Zhu Gaoxi forward and then lowered his voice to explain that the rule for selecting elites was that each battalion would first recommend the most capable fighters. These people would not need to participate in the preliminary selection and would go directly into the Beast Battalion.

The remaining pairs will be drawn by lot, and elimination rounds will be conducted. Several batches have already been selected in the past two days, and there are only a few groups left tonight. The remaining pairs will compete tomorrow.

At this point, the lieutenant's tone became somewhat wistful: "Your Highness, ever since you conjured those ferocious beasts in the camp these past few days, these lads have been acting like madmen. No whipping, no orders needed, they train like crazy, they even sleep with their weapons in their arms." He looked at the soldiers fighting desperately on the field.

"After all, who wouldn't want to ride a rhinoceros into battle? Who wouldn't want to ride an elephant back to the capital after the war? That kind of prestige, bringing glory to one's ancestors, is something to brag about for a lifetime."