I Only Stomp on Weaklings

After Chen Ming entered the grand hall, he found it unexpectedly spacious, roughly several thousand square meters, square in shape.

Inside the hall stood nine columns that required several people to encircle, with a staircase at the center leading to the upper floor.

The people who came in earlier had dispersed and gathered around the columns to look at something. After he entered, they just glanced at him and paid no further attention.

"Congratulations, young master."

An old man with a white beard in gray clothing stood by the door and handed him a wooden token, "In five days, bring this token to participate in the martial assessment."

Chen Ming respectfully accepted it, "Thank you, elder."

They just give out a token without even asking for a name. Aren’t they afraid I’ll give the token to someone else?

He shook his head secretly, thinking the event was too poorly managed.

The gray-clothed elder continued, "Please do not leave yet, young master. Wait until the assessment is complete. Feel free to explore the hall."

"Understood."

Chen Ming was about to leave but suddenly remembered something and asked, "Can I go up to the second floor?"

The gray-clothed elder’s eyes showed a hint of amusement, "You can, as long as you can get up there."

Understood.

Chen Ming bowed and walked towards the column with the fewest people around it. Everyone was gathered in front of the columns, so there must be something on them.

"So there are martial skills carved on them."

He glanced and saw a swordsmanship technique carved on the column, seemingly quite advanced, at least second-rate swordsmanship.

This World’s First Pavilion is quite generous, carving such martial skills on the columns for them to view. This should be considered a reward for passing through.

For the vast majority of grassroots martial artists, a martial skill like this is enough for them to fight over it.

All those who made it in are elite family disciples, and even they are memorizing the martial skills on the columns, showing the value of these skills.

Chen Ming walked around, observing all nine columns. The martial skills carved on each were different, including saber techniques, stick techniques, spear techniques...

Among them, the column with a body technique carved on it had the most people around it.

Chen Ming just took one look and lost interest.

His Vermilion Bird Swordsmanship had already reached great success, and he also had a body technique, so he didn’t need to learn other martial arts for the time being.

For him, the advancement in swordsmanship relies on leveling up; integrating the strengths of many schools is just talk for others.

He wouldn’t waste his time on that.

...

Besides the columns, there were also writings on the walls.

Chen Ming went to take a look and found it was the rankings released by the World’s First Pavilion, including this year’s, the previous year’s, and the years before that...

He looked for a while and then lost interest, finally turning his attention to the stairs leading to the second floor.

At this time, another person seemed interested in the stairs and walked to the front of the staircase.

Chen Ming vaguely remembered hearing those people outside discussing someone who seemed to have the last name Tang.

This guy surnamed Tang was also bold and stepped directly onto the stairs.

With a bang.

Before his foot touched the stairs, he was bounced off and landed flat on his back.

The commotion on this side drew quite a few glances, and the looks were clearly calling him a "fool."

Seeing his miserable state, Chen Ming thought it was good he didn’t act impulsively.

Forget it, better to look at the previous rankings.

Rankings like the Divine Weapon Ranking, Secret Treasure List, and the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures List had not only descriptions but also pictures, which his purchased book didn’t have.

Looking at them could pass the time.

After walking around and looking, more and more people came into the hall, and he estimated that there were over twenty people. He was a bit surprised; just Jiangzhou alone had so many young fifth-grade talents.

Adding the seed candidates from Jiangzhou City, there were probably thirty or forty people in total.

In the whole Great Jin, how many people would that be?

There were still too many geniuses in this world.

Before he knew it, more than an hour had passed. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

After the number of people in the hall reached thirty, there were no new people coming in for a long time.

Chen Ming felt that those qualified to compete for the Cyan Cloud Ranking were present here, including the seed candidates. Almost everyone who should come had arrived.

He estimated there were about forty or so people, which was quite impressive.

Thinking this, Chen Ming walked to the area of the Beauties’ Ranking, which displayed the rankings of beauties from past years. Unfortunately, there were no photos, making it hard to see how enchanting the beauties on the list were.

In a world with martial arts, the quality of beauties would surely be higher than on Earth.

As he walked and looked at the names, he suddenly caught a familiar name on one of the rankings.

Su Zhining?

Chen Ming thought he was seeing things, but another look confirmed it was indeed Su Zhining.

"Is it just someone with the same name?"

He wondered, then looked at the introduction, "Twenty-sixth-generation disciple of the Celestial Dao Alliance, twenty years old, with a heavenly appearance and a jade-like demeanor, a Gusha Immortal in the mortal world."

"..."

Chen Ming was dumbfounded since the ranking book he bought didn’t have Su Zhining’s name.

Could it be that I bought a fake list?

He continued to look at it, and none of the names matched the ones in the book he bought.

After a while, he finally figured it out.

Turns out, the book he bought was already outdated, it was the previous edition of the list.

Goodness gracious.

"No wonder she wears a veil all day long, her master keeps telling her to be wary of men. So this is the reason."

Although Chen Ming couldn’t see her face, he guessed she must be quite beautiful.

But he didn’t expect her to be so pretty, to have made it onto the Beauty Ranking, and ranked fifth.

This meant her looks could rank among the top five in Great Jin.

How beautiful must she be?

Chen Ming’s curiosity was piqued, he must find an opportunity to see her someday.

"Brother, do you also admire beauties?"

Suddenly, a pleasant voice sounded from behind.

Chen Ming turned his head to see a handsome young lad, looking excessively youthful, around sixteen or seventeen years old.

He was a bit surprised, already reaching the fifth rank at sixteen or seventeen, how extraordinary!

Looking more closely, oh, turned out she was female. Her figure was slender, and her youthful looks made him mistake her for a young lad.

If she’s a girl, it’s hard to judge her real age. Could be a teenager, or maybe in her twenties.

In this era, young women from well-to-do families are often judged by their attire and makeup for their age.

In male attire, it’s harder to discern.

Chen Ming nodded slightly as a response.

This girl must have just entered, but she seemed quite familiar, and said, "Brother, do you know that right in Jiangzhou City, there’s a stunning beauty from the Beauty Ranking?"

Of course, I know, she’s with me every day.

Chen Ming thought so, quickly realized she wasn’t referring to Su Zhining, and casually responded, "Oh?"

"Brother doesn’t believe it?"

The girl saw his indifferent reaction and pointed to the list, "It’s this third-ranked Yu Haitang. She’s currently in Jiangzhou City."

Before Chen Ming could reply, there was a thumping sound. Turning to look, he saw another reckless fool trying to get to the second floor and being thrown back, unable to get up for a while.

"Overestimating one’s ability." The girl mocked.

Chen Ming was quite curious about the second floor and asked, "Has anyone ever been up to this second floor?"

"Of course, five years ago Ji Baichuan went up there and reportedly received great benefits."

"What’s up on the second floor?"

"Some say there’s higher-level martial arts. Others say there are heavenly and earthly treasures, divine weapons. What exactly is up there, only those who’ve gone know."

"Thank you, young master, for enlightening me."

Chen Ming politely expressed his gratitude.

The girl smiled, "Brother Chen, no need to be so courteous. Actually, seeing you here makes me very happy."

Chen Ming looked at her strangely, "Have we met before?"

"I’ve seen you, at that time I was in the carriage and didn’t show myself." The girl said, giving a long bow, "A few days ago, my elder brother was quite disrespectful to Brother Chen, I’m here to offer apologies on his behalf."

Chen Ming guessed her identity, feeling more intrigued, "Is Jiang Shihua your brother?"

"Indeed."

This pair of siblings is quite interesting, one is arrogant and rude, and the other is generous and warm, impeccably courteous.

He asked, "Are you also vying for the Cyan Cloud Ranking?"

Jiang Yingxue said, "My brother is participating, why couldn’t I?"

"Does your brother know?"

"He’ll naturally find out by then."

Indeed she’s coming secretly, otherwise, she wouldn’t be dressed as a man.

The atmosphere in Great Jin is quite liberal, restricting martial arts for females isn’t common. In this hall, there are seven or eight women. About a fifth of the participants.

Chen Ming said, "If both you and your brother make it on the Cyan Cloud Ranking, that would truly be a great story."

Jiang Yingxue furrowed her brow slightly, saying, "Don’t flatter me. With my capability, it’s impossible to contend for the Cyan Cloud Ranking. Wait until five years later."

Judging from her words, she’s not yet twenty.

The Jiang Family indeed lives up to being one of Jiangzhou’s Three Great Families, and the oldest among them, truly brimming with talents.

Jiang Shihua is a seed candidate, and his sister hasn’t reached twenty yet and is already fifth rank, even more astonishingly talented.

At this time, Jiang Yingxue said, "Brother Chen, actually I’ve long known about you. Sister Yan mentioned you in her letters to me. I heard it took you only four years to progress from an ordinary person to fifth rank, truly impressive."

Her eyes sparkled, as if they were glowing.

Chen Ming sensed a familiar aura from her, overly flattering,

That tone of admiration, that bashfulness, mixed with affectionate glances, felt so déjà vu.

He calmly said, "You’ve overpraised."

Ps: It’s the last day of the month, how about rounding it up, still three hundred votes short of three thousand month votes.