Chapter Fifteen: Playing is just different!

  "Xia Yang and Xia Yan have also reached the eighth level of Body Tempering. It seems that revealing one's true strength doesn't have much effect anymore."

  Xia Lin carefully considered it, anyway he was on the path of a repairer, as long as he didn't expose his own strength, others couldn't possibly see through his strength from the mysterious energy.

  As for the last one who participated in the Mountain Trial, he also had the strength of Tempering Seven Layers. Xia Ming, only eighteen years old, did not belong to the children of the several masters, he was just an ordinary disciple of the Xia family.

  Xia Ming, whose parents died in a riot a long time ago, is introverted and doesn't talk much. However, every time he goes out to fight, he rushes to the front line, is quite righteous, and has a good reputation in the mountain stronghold.

  Compared with others, he is undoubtedly the bravest.

  Without a father or mother, he relied on his own strength to make a name for himself in the mountain stronghold, and was also a character.

  At this time, everyone's strength has been demonstrated, and only five trialists, Xia Lin, are unknown.

  Xia Lin looked up and saw the reactions of the people on the mountain stronghold, including Xia Ye's eyes flashing with a hint of mockery, all clearly visible to him.

  "My good second uncle... The game has just begun, don't be too happy too early." Xia Lin smiled slightly, hiding all his strength.

  If we can't defeat them by force, then let's outsmart them.

  At this time, among the thousands of mountain disciples, some people came out one after another and walked towards their followers. These people were mostly young and strong warriors with considerable strength.

  Among them, the number of people willing to follow Xia Cheng was the largest, and almost immediately, 100 places were filled. Xia Cheng had no choice but to exclude some powerful figures with a mixture of self-satisfaction and helplessness.

  On the other hand, Xia Yang, Xia Yan and Xia Ming had a strong following due to their formidable strength. Although not as many as Xia Cheng's side, they quickly gathered around 100 people.

  Only in Xia Lin's place... it was a completely different situation.

  Only a few people came over, the rest would rather wait for their orders than come to Xia Lin's place, and for a time, the surrounding area was filled with disdainful glances.

  It's indeed like that.

  Although he is the son of the village head, it's also impossible for everyone to send him to his death!

  Following a four-time champion to rob, isn't that looking for death? If you encounter someone slightly stronger, there may not even be an opportunity to escape, let alone compete with the second young master and others, it's completely a rhythm of seeking death.

  On the mountain stronghold, Xia Ye still had some schadenfreude, while Xia Man sat in the middle with an unchanged expression, as if he hadn't seen anything.

  Xia's brow furrowed slightly, something didn't feel right.

  Even if his strength is weak, there shouldn't be only these six people. At least, there are many people who are loyal to the village master.

  After the successor of the mountain stronghold is determined, the original owner will continue to serve for three years before resigning and devoting himself wholeheartedly to martial arts. Therefore, Xia Man's tenure as the leader still has three years left.

  Given Xia Man's strength and prestige, those who pledged loyalty to him would not be few. Therefore, considering Xia Man's face, those who came to rely on Xia Lin would absolutely not be limited to these six people.

  So now this situation can only be explained by someone taking action!

  Xia Lin looked at Xia Ye on the fake stage, gloating over his misfortune, and thought to himself: "I'm afraid it's that second master who made a move again."

  At this moment, a young figure walked out and stepped forward to Xia Lin's side, standing firmly behind him.

  For a moment, it made everyone gasp in amazement.

  Sun Zhong!

  The young man behind Xia Lin was actually Sun Zhong!

  Unlike Xia Lin, this young master, Sun Zhong, being an outsider, naturally worked harder, starting to rob together from the age of twelve, and his strength has made rapid progress, now he is already at the sixth level of Body Tempering!

  Compared to the average Xia family disciple, he was even more powerful. Among a group of Triple Body Tempering disciples, a Six Body Tempering cultivator like Sun Zhong was no different from a fierce general. Even Xia Cheng felt his heart stir, but he never expected that Sun Zhong would choose Xia Lin instead - what reason could there be for this?

  Isn't this the village master's intention? Everyone suddenly started speculating.

  Xia Lin also looked at him with some curiosity, but found that Sun Zhong's eyes were firm and unwavering. He seemed to understand a little, it seemed that the palm that interrupted Lao Shu earlier had instead made Sun Zhong choose himself.

  "It's also a blessing in disguise." Xia Lin slightly raised her head, looking at the dense but unwilling mountain bandits in front of her, as well as the crowd on the platform sneering at her. She let out a cold laugh, and had already made up her mind.

  You have Zhang Liang's plan, I have climbed over walls!

  Since you want to play, I'll play with you!

  "Cough, cough... what was that..." Xia Lin coughed a few times.

  The scene suddenly became quiet, after all, the other personnel had already been recruited at this time, and only Xia Lin was left, so as soon as he spoke, the surroundings naturally became quiet.

  "Come and participate in the mountain trial with me. Regardless of success or failure, each person will receive a subsidy of ten taels of silver." Xia Lin said without hesitation.

  A brief sentence, like a thunderbolt on a clear day, shocked everyone.

  "What?!"

  "Did I hear that right?"

  "Ten taels of silver can last a big fish and meat for a year."

  "Damn it, I'm all in, I'll participate."

  "I'm going too."

  The scene suddenly became very chaotic. Soon, those who were still hesitating swarmed in, looting for what? Money!

  One hundred people is as much as one thousand taels!

  In peacetime, the loot is usually only a few dozen taels, and even if luck is good, it's just a few hundred taels. It's extremely rare to plunder over a thousand taels, and even if you encounter such an opportunity, it will inevitably be a fierce battle with countless casualties.

  After all, a merchant who can carry thousands of taels of silver will not be short of money to hire a few powerful warriors.

  Even if everything goes smoothly and 1,000 taels are obtained, the amount that ends up in each person's hands is only two or three taels at most. After all, those who were injured or died need to be compensated, don't they?

  So, Xia Lin's one sentence almost moved everyone's heart.

  Anyway, following Xia Lin out to rob is just a matter of getting some soy sauce, and even if we fail, there's still ten taels of silver, which many people can't earn in years!

  As for Xia Lin's money, that doesn't even need to be considered. If Xia Lin doesn't have it, at least the village chief does. Something like getting fat from breaking promises definitely won't happen.

  Win or lose is not within their consideration range. For them, getting ten taels of silver is the real profit.

  Thinking of this, even the few people who were already following Xia Cheng's back hesitated, and in the end, many people rushed over from that side.

  More people came from Xia Yang and others, and for a while, Xia Lin was busy here, just like Xia Shang at the beginning.

  Among these thousands of disciples, those who are willing to take the lead for ten taels of silver are not in the minority.

  As for the other several trial-takers, they were naturally all pale-faced at this time.

  Joking, looking at the person originally chosen by their own family being lured away, this face can be said to have been slapped until it hurts. Only Xia Ming seemed to continue selecting some people as if nothing had happened, and supplemented those who ran out just now.

  As for the fake masters on the mountain, several of them were staring with their eyes wide open and their mouths agape.

  Since the mountain stronghold trial began, this is the first time I've encountered such a situation... direct bribery? This, this, this won't be too excessive, will it?

  The mountain stronghold trial has been conducted countless times, and when facing the elders, everyone is extremely respectful, afraid of not performing well. Who would have thought that Xia Lin would make such a reckless decision?

  "What nonsense!" Xia Ye slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed furiously.

  "Oh?" Xia Man asked calmly, "Why is Second Master so angry?"

  "Head of the village, the trial by fire is to test whether a disciple can become a qualified head of the village. Xia Lin's actions are simply disregarding the rules of the village as if they were nothing! I strongly demand that Xia Lin be disqualified from participating!"

  "Oh? May I ask, which rule of the village did he break?" Xia Man said lightly.

  "Uh..." Xia Ye was stunned, because at this moment he suddenly remembered that Heifeng Gang was actually relying on robbery and plundering resources, and there really wasn't such a rule.

  It's just because people in the past never did such a thing, so it gradually formed an unwritten rule.

  "This is an unspoken rule in itself, after many times of mountain stronghold trial and error, everyone has been following it." Xia Ye gritted her teeth and continued.

  Xia Man waved her hand: "Since it's unofficial, don't mention it. When the time comes and it becomes official, you can talk about it then."

  P.S: Seeking recommendations! Seeking collections!