Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint-Chapter 222 - 102: The Struggle for Deputy Commander_2
Reflecting on the various decisions he had made, Wang Jin felt he was extremely wise.
"Brother Jiang, congratulations!" Zhou Xing came up to Jiang Ning and raised his hand to congratulate him.
"Brother Jiang, congratulations!" Li Qing looked at Jiang Ning with a smile, and it seemed like there were stars twinkling in her eyes at that moment.
Jiang Ning then exchanged a few pleasantries.
Time silently passed.
Even with Jiang Ning leading the way, Zhou Xing still didn't dare to go on stage at this moment.
Zhou Xing was very clear that he was not only no match for Jiang Ning but also for the two whom Jiang Ning had defeated,
Miss Nine from the Xie family, as well as that elite student from the Martial Arts Garden who had gone on stage; he had no confidence in surpassing them.
In this case, Zhou Xing could only patiently wait.
Normally, as the competition progresses, the challengers tend to get weaker.
Because real strong players disdain to wait.
Like He Jinyun, who was the first to go on stage, and a few others who followed.
As one defender after another took to the stage,
everyone still realized that it was extremely difficult, too difficult, to hold the stage against the students from the Martial Arts Garden.
Even if their physical strength wasn't inferior, facing an elite Eighth Grade student from the Martial Arts Garden meant no chance of winning.
Because the students of the Martial Arts Garden had too superior a mastery of martial arts.
They generally possessed several lower-level martial arts skills at the Perfection level and some even mastered middle-grade martial arts.
With equal physical prowess, the battle was lost as they were at a disadvantage.
After a long wait, two hours had passed.
Zhou Xing finally took the stage.
However, just when he finally managed to hold off a challenger from the Martial Arts Garden, he was easily defeated by the next challenger and thrown out of the stage.
"It's not so simple after all! I'm nowhere near as good as Brother Jiang," Zhou Xing spoke while standing in front of Jiang Ning.
As he watched the disheartened Zhou Xing, Jiang Ning was about to say something.
Zhou Xing's expression perked up a bit, then he said, "It's okay! Brother Jiang, no need to comfort me, this was all within my expectations!"
Then he turned to look at Wang Jin.
"Disciple Zhou Xing has failed to make you proud, Master!"
Wang Jin stepped forward and patted Zhou Xing on the shoulder.
"You've done very well! Being able to join the Inspection Office, you have not let down your father's cultivation!"
Zhou Xing heard this and gave Wang Jin a forced smile.
Zhou Xing immediately adjusted his mentality.
Then he looked at Jiang Ning: "Brother Jiang, I wonder if I could work under you after I join the Inspection Office?"
"Very welcome!" Jiang Ning spoke.
"Then I'll be counting on Brother Jiang to look after me in the future!" Zhou Xing bowed to Jiang Ning and performed a ceremonial gesture.
"There's no need for such formalities!" Jiang Ning quickly helped Zhou Xing up.
Jiang Ning knew Zhou Xing as a man of deep thoughts who had rejected Cheng Ran's invitation to invest in him previously.
But Jiang Ning didn't dislike Zhou Xing.
Considering that Zhou Xing had been quite helpful to himself.
On his first day in the Martial Arts Hall, Zhou Xing had given him a Wild Ginseng.
Although it was Zhou Xing's attempt to win favor, it was undoubtedly a great help to him.
The batch of Wild Ginseng he bought from Zhou Xing later was practically given to him half for half price.
All these things also made Jiang Ning unable to dislike Zhou Xing.
Not to mention, Zhou Xing, an Eighth Grade in Martial Arts, was a capable talent.
In the future, joining the Inspection Office, he couldn't personally handle everything.
After all, advancing his martial arts skills was his first priority.
The Inspection Office was always a place of refuge in Jiang Ning's eyes, allowing him to grow.
He naturally did not want to deal with trivial matters.
Under such circumstances, capable people were needed.
Zhou Xing was an excellent choice.
Especially with the strength of an Eighth Grade in Martial Arts.
At this time,
Zhou Xing looked at Jiang Ning, feeling mixed emotions.
Originally, he had wanted to recruit Jiang Ning under his command.
But now, it was completely the other way around.
However, he did not regret this decision at all, as it was made after careful consideration.
When he decided to fight on the stage, he was already prepared to make this decision.
As soon as he failed to secure his position as leader, he would immediately side with Jiang Ning.
Because of everything that had happened, Zhou Xing knew that Jiang Ning was the star talent of Luoshui County once in a century.
Such a person, if not a friend, then not an enemy.
If able to submit, then not act arrogant.
Once he had his role adjusted, he naturally made this decision early.
But at this moment, there was still great regret in his heart.
Thinking back on his missed opportunity to invest in Jiang Ning, Zhou Xing felt immense regret.
If he had sent valuable gifts earlier, his relationship with Jiang Ning wouldn't have been merely that of sect brothers, but that of close friends.
The nature of their relationship would have been completely different.
Now that Jiang Ning had dramatically risen in status, the benefits brought to him were also completely different.
"What a pity!!!" Thinking back to that scene, Zhou Xing sighed deeply in his heart.
...
After Zhou Xing was defeated and descended from the stage, there were still martial artists from Luoshui County who went up to challenge or defend the position.
However, there were hardly any successful ones.
Until the battles for the thirteen team leader positions were over, including Jiang Ning, only three martial artists from Luoshui County had successfully claimed the positions.
One of them was Liu Zhaonan from the Liu family, and another was a woman from the Fuyuan Escort Agency, named Ruan Hongmei.
Her whip technique was as agile as a dragon, astonishing everyone.
For Ruan Hongmei, a daughter of the escort agency's owner, had previously not been well-known within Luoshui County.
Even less renowned than Jiang Ning.
But now she had surpassed all competitors and captured a team leader position, something no one had expected.
After the dust settled,
all the team leaders went on the stage again, totaling fifteen people.
Among them were two at Martial Arts Seventh Grade.
Martial Arts Seventh Grade, automatically giving the holder a team leader title.
"You all… not bad!!" The man overseeing the assessment looked over the fifteen people and nodded his head.
"Hurry and announce the next competition for the Deputy Commander!" He Jinyun said languidly.
Seeing this, the man overseeing the assessment smiled faintly, showing no sign of displeasure.
Because there was no choice—He Jinyun was the renowned Young Master from Dongling City.
A Fourth Grade Lord's Young Master, how could an Eighth-Rank Official dare to provoke him?
Even though He Jinyun was being somewhat rude at that moment, he could only respond with a smile.
The next moment.
His expression became more spirited.
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"Now that the Inspection Office has been initially established, there are four vacancies for Deputy Commander, a fact I believe you all are aware of!"
The man glanced at the crowd, then continued, "The four Deputy Commander positions will be contested by you, arising from amongst yourselves."
"As for the rules of the contest for Deputy Commander, they are quite simple!"
"Go up to the stage by yourself, one-on-one, defeat any team leader, and you move on to the next round!"
"The final four victors will obtain the position of Deputy Commander."
With that, the man added, "I remind you once more, the position of Deputy Commander is an Eighth-Rank official post. If you miss today, it will be difficult as ascending to heaven to obtain such a rank later!"
Having finished announcing,
the man moved to a corner of the stage.
"Alright! You can begin now!"
...
On the stage,
He Jinyun scanned the crowd, his face immediately showing excitement.
"I'll go first, who wants to fight me?"
For a moment, everyone stepped back to the edge of the stage.
Nobody stepped forward to challenge He Jinyun.
Jiang Ning made the same choice.
As the saying goes, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and he knew well that he wasn't a match for someone of He Jinyun's significant background.
There was no need to be the first to step forward now.
Even though he was confident he could defeat He Jinyun, there wasn't a need to do so.
Because defeating He Jinyun would merely qualify him for the next round.
And by hindering this Young Master's advancement, it would offend the Young Master from Dongling City.
Merely the words "Young Master" made Jiang Ning choose not to offend him temporarily.
Instigating trouble with such a powerfully connected Young Master was far more disadvantageous than advantageous, something he wouldn't consider.
Moreover, competing with He Jinyun was entirely unnecessary.
Because there were four Deputy Commander positions available.
After understanding the martial prowess of everyone present today, Jiang Ning was completely confident.
Among these fifteen team leaders, there were only two at Martial Arts Seventh Grade, all the rest were at Martial Arts Eighth Grade.
In Jiang Ning's view,
Among the twelve people with Martial Arts Eighth Grade, He Jinyun was probably the strongest.
With his Innate Divine Strength, such talent was naturally unbeatable at Eighth Grade.
Not to mention, He Jinyun also had the status of a Young Master.
With such a status, he was never lacking in martial resources or elite teachers. How could he be weak?
Thus, even without competing with He Jinyun, under the scenario where he couldn't surpass the two Martial Arts Seventh Grades, it just allowed those three to occupy three of the Deputy Commander positions.
But there were four Deputy Commander positions!
With one position left for him, how could he not secure it?
