Chapter 38: Factional Strife

  In the next two rounds, Zhang Shan remained the same, and with this kind of play that seemed to have no intention of making progress in the eyes of outsiders, he successively dragged down his opponents.

  On the observation deck, Ma Qingyi said with a scowl: "What is this? He's completely lost face for all martial artists."

  Fang Yiru smiled thoughtfully: "I suppose he's reflecting on Master Ma's rebuke for being too harsh on his fellow disciples, so now he's restrained himself. Didn't Master tell him to take care of himself?"

  Ma Qingyi naturally knew that Fang Yiru was ridiculing him for his partiality and injustice earlier, and he hummed a low, inaudible sound from his nose, shutting his mouth.

  After the four-wheel match, the top four players advanced to the semi-finals. Zhang Shan and Shen Tui Sheng Dong were both undefeated in four games, ranking first and second respectively. Tie Fei Xiong and Si Tu Qing Yang ranked third and fourth with three wins and one loss.

  Qian Shaoyang's strength was originally stronger than Situ Qingyang, but he lost to Zhang Shan after exhaustion and then met Situ Qingyang in the third round.

  Zhenyuan hadn't recovered yet and couldn't even exert half of his strength, so Situ Qingyang won luckily.

  In the semifinals, Situ Qingyang drew Zhang Shan, and Shen Tuvshinbat's opponent was Tie Fei Xiong.

  "Does this mean we're going to fight each other?" Zhang Shan thought disdainfully.

  Shentu Shengdong slowly walked up to the ring, his match against Tie Feixiong was scheduled as the first bout.

  Tie Fei Xiong stood under the stage with a frown, deep in thought, and didn't go up.

  Just as the judge was about to hurry things along, Tie Fei Xiong spoke up and said: "I forfeit."

  Shen Tu Sheng Dong was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said: "Then thank you, Iron Gongzi, for yielding. After the match, I will definitely invite Iron Gongzi to get drunk together."

  He was confident that he could defeat Tie Fei Xiong with ease, but if the latter were to go all out, he might still end up getting slightly injured. It would be best if he could win without a fight.

  Tie Fei Xiong smiled calmly and said, "I, Tie, asked myself if I'm not a worthy opponent, then I won't humiliate myself. As for Shen Tu Gongzi's invitation, we'll talk about it when the time comes."

  Shentu Shengdong understood in his heart that this was a decision to be made after seeing the final result, and then deciding whether or not to make friends with him.

  At this time, he didn't care and actually stepped down from the stage.

  "It's probably because he wasn't confident in winning, so he was happy to do a favor and sell the Shen family a good one. Hey, this Iron Young Master is also a cunning person."

  Zhang Shan secretly made a mental note of Tie Fei Xiong's move and then jumped onto the stage.

  Situ Qingyang was also thinking of giving up the competition like Tie Fei Xiong, but Zhang Shan's gaze turned to him and shook his head slightly, indicating that he should go on stage.

  Situ Qingyang walked onto the stage with a puzzled expression and stood still in front of Zhang Shan.

  Zhang Shan cupped his hands and said: "I've always wanted to have a fight with Qing Yang, today is a good opportunity to ask for advice."

  He had been beaten for three consecutive games, and the true yuan he had absorbed was almost enough. Therefore, of course, he couldn't let Si Tu Qingyang give up without a fight. As long as he could absorb his true yuan again, he should be able to advance.

  Although Sito Qingyang didn't understand why Zhang Shan wanted to do this, after exchanging eye contact, he confirmed his meaning and nodded slightly to indicate understanding.

  He was the first to launch an attack, and when their bodies crossed, he asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"

  "We'll talk about it later, now go all out and give it your best shot." Zhang Shan said quickly.

  Situ Qing's eyes flashed, thinking of the several rounds of competition, Zhang Shan had always fought in this passive way, he must have a purpose, and he himself would not be able to hurt him.

  Then Situ Qingyang no longer held back, went all out and attacked Zhang Shan.

  "What's going on? Isn't Zhang Shan a member of the Situ family? Why does it seem like Situ Qingyang is really hitting him with all his might?"

  "I also thought it was just for show, but now it seems like there's internal conflict? Is Situ Qingyang out of his mind? This is helping the Shentu family instead!"

  "Could it be that the Sito family's plan is to let Zhang Shan be the pioneer, and their true intention is to escort Sito Qingyang into the finals?"

  "You're a pig brain, his level is two levels lower than Shentu's, even if Zhang Shan lets him into the finals, isn't he just going to be a stepping stone for others? I think there must be some hidden reason behind this, it all seems very suspicious."

  The audience began to whisper among themselves with strange expressions. Supervisor Ma Qingyi also secretly found it puzzling and furrowed his brow in contemplation.

  Half an hour later, Situ Qingyang finally exhausted himself and automatically conceded defeat, Zhang Shan won the qualification for the final.

  Before the final match, there are two hours of rest time, so that the last player to enter the final can recover their true yuan and go all out.

  Zhang Shan had already returned to the practice room by the side of the martial arts arena to rest.

  The door opened after a while.

  Situ Qing walked in with a frown, asking directly: "What are you up to? Earlier I thought you were hiding your strength for the finals and used that tactic, but just now I asked my brother and he said it was you who let him fight at full strength?"

  "Yes, I feel like I'm just a little short of advancing, but I need some external stimulation, which is related to my physical training method."

  Zhang Shan concealed the fact that the Sen Luo Wan Xiang Jue could absorb his opponent's true yuan, and instead attributed the reason to his own body refinement technique.

  "It turned out to be like this." Situ Qing said with a hint of surprise: "How do you feel now? Can you make a breakthrough like the time on Rouge Street?"

  "I'm going to try and break through the third layer of Lingwu Realm now, two hours of rest should be enough." Zhang Shan said with a smile.

  "That's great! If we can advance to the third round and win ten out of nine, it'll be a stable victory." Sito Qing was excited.

  "But I have a question in my mind, what's going on with that Supervisor Ma Qingyi? Given the relationship between your family and our sect, shouldn't you have received prior notice?"

  Zhang Shan changed the subject, but Ma Qingyi's attitude made him feel uneasy and anxious, so he hoped to clarify things before they rushed past.

  Situ Qing's face sank: "We just received a message from the sect, something big is going to happen in Qingyang City..."

  She briefly told Zhang Shan about the latest news she had just received.

  Qingyang City is a mixed bag of good and evil, but it's basically under the covert control of two major sects: one being the Xuantian Sect and the other being the Xuangwu Gate.

  Xuán Wǔ Mén is a medium-sized sect, but it has always had the support of the world's largest sect, Xuán Míng Gōng, behind it. It can be said that it is an affiliated sect of Xuán Míng Gōng.

  Xuán Míng Gōng and Wèn Tiān Zōng are arch-enemies, always at odds with each other.

  The mountain gate of Xuanwu Gate is closer to Qingyang City, while the mountain gate of Wentiangong is too far away. As a result, the power of Xuanwu Gate has always been pressing down on Wentiangong within Qingyang City.

  The academy in Qingyang City where Xuanwu Gate is located has a scale and faculty that are far superior to those of the Wen Tian Academy.

  The Qingyang City's Qitian Academy has only about 500 disciples, ranking at the bottom of the eight hundred academies in the Qitian Sect. In contrast, the Xuanwu Academy in Qingyang City has a large number of five thousand students.

  However, recently, the Tianzong sect has made a decision to thoroughly control Qingyang City and drive out the influence of the Xuanwu Gate.

  "If the sect really controlled Qingyang City, then secular affairs would generally be entrusted to the management of the aristocratic families who surrendered to the sect. There are many elders in the sect who intend for our Situ family to take this position, but there are also other factions within the sect that want to support the Shentu family's rise to power."

  After Situ Qingwan finished explaining the situation, he looked at Zhang Shan and said: "Ma Qingyi is just a supporter of the Shen Tu family's line, so..."

  "So it was!"

  Zhang Shan was stunned for a moment before letting out a long sigh. Power struggles were everywhere, and even the supposedly detached and isolated sects were no exception.

  "This rookie quota, you must take it down. In the past, it was related to the interests of our family and the Shentu family, now it is related to the struggle above." Si Tu Qing let out a sigh and said.

  "I understand, no time to lose, I'm going to make a rush for it, you keep watch outside."

  Zhang Shan's mind flashed and he knew the situation was precarious. He had to have a ten percent guarantee to win this game, no room for loss.

  "Father and Fourth Uncle have arrived, I'll ask them to come over and help you with the protection spell right away." Xīu Qīng'ān nodded and quickly exited the room to make arrangements.

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