Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Her talent for martial arts was only average, and he worried that pursuing it would bring her harm.

But if she didn’t practice, she would just end up as a pile of dirt sooner or later. No matter how he arranged it, nothing felt right, so he could only let Xu Qing choose for herself.

"With you as her big brother looking out for her, Junior Sister Xu is sure to be safe," said Sun Tao.

Others might not know how terrifying Xu Yang was, but he did.

Coupled with Xu Yang’s cautious personality and wisdom, as long as Xu Qing didn’t act recklessly, she was unlikely to run into any serious trouble.

After a peaceful year, once Xu Yang entered the Inner Sect, who would dare to touch his sister?

"So this is your younger sister, Junior Brother Xu. When she becomes a disciple of the Purple Sun Sect, I’ll have to do my duty as a senior brother and take good care of her." Li Qiang was all smiles, his gaze raking up and down Xu Qing’s figure in the arena.

Sun Tao’s eyelid twitched. That animal Li Qiang was poking a tiger.

Xu Yang had even slaughtered Xiao Chen, yet Li Qiang dared to use Xu Qing to provoke him.

Xu Yang’s eyes narrowed. "She has me, her big brother. There’s no need to trouble Senior Brother Li."

Li Qiang chuckled. "Of course there is. You call me Senior Brother, after all. How could I not look after her?"

’I’ve already sentenced Li Qiang to death,’ Xu Yang thought. ’He will never return to the Purple Sun Sect alive.’

Gu Haoming also chimed in, "Xu Qing’s talent is quite good. She’s qualified to join my Sharp Wind Hall. When I return to the Purple Sun Sect, I’ll report to President Cao Rong and have him accept her into our hall. Xu Yang, what do you think?"

He was already on bad terms with Xu Yang, and after Xu Yang had watched him nearly die without helping at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion auction, his resentment had reached its peak.

Now that he had the chance, he wanted to get under Xu Yang’s skin.

Xu Yang’s face was expressionless. "Your Sharp Wind Hall? One of your presidents is already dead. Are you even qualified to have my sister join?"

In his heart, he passed a death sentence on Gu Haoming as well.

’Last time, Jiang Fan and Jiang Yan appeared unexpectedly and saved Gu Haoming’s life. I refuse to believe someone will show up to save him again.’

"You..." Gu Haoming choked on his words, his face flushing red.

Yun Feng’s death had been a huge blow to Sharp Wind Hall’s prestige.

Gu Haoming fell silent, but his gaze grew even colder.

The morning passed quickly. During the noon break, Xu Yang left his seat to find Xu Qing.

"My little girl is amazing. A Martial Scholar already," Xu Yang said with a smile.

Xu Qing was very excited. "Ge, I remember you only got a Middle C-class grade back then. Does this mean I’m better than you?"

The little girl was getting a bit full of herself, thinking she was better than Xu Yang.

Setting aside the fact that Xu Yang had hidden his strength back then, just in terms of resources, the two of them were not on the same level.

Lin Cheng was constantly giving her private lessons and resources. The Qiu Family and her maternal uncle had provided financial support with silver coins. She had a constant supply of various cleansing Medicated Baths and medicinal supplements, and he had even sent her Blood Coagulation Pills from Cyan Yang City.

The resources the little girl had used to get this far were, at a conservative estimate, several times what he had used.

"Mhm! You’re better than your Ge. But you can’t get arrogant. You have to be low-key."

Anyone who’s often played the role of a father knows that you must never crush a child’s confidence at a time like this. You have to praise them.

"By the way, how is your comprehension of the Wind and Thunder Strength coming along?"

The little girl brandished a delicate fist. "It’s almost mastered. I can use it in a real fight."

Xu Yang nodded. "It looks like you’ll have no problem achieving Dragon Ascension. But don’t fight for a high rank. Once you’ve secured your spot, just stop fighting. Only fools would fight to the death for a better ranking."

"I’ll listen to you, Ge!" The little girl nodded.

The next day arrived quickly, and the practical combat assessments began. Xu Yang had instructed her to admit defeat if she couldn’t win and not to take any unnecessary risks.

If she couldn’t achieve Dragon Ascension, he would take the little girl and leave Qingyuan County anyway.

While he couldn’t say he was completely established in Cyan Yang City yet, buying a house for his little sister to live there wouldn’t be a problem. He was also confident he could handle any ordinary troubles that might arise.

The lots were drawn soon after. The little girl had good luck; her first opponent was just a Martial Artist who had recently reached Qi Gathering Great Success. After exchanging about ten moves, without even using her Wind and Thunder Strength, she knocked her opponent off the stage and advanced smoothly.

"As expected of your sister, Junior Brother Xu. Junior Sister Xu’s mastery of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist is very deep, and her strikes are decisive."

Sun Tao couldn’t help but praise her as he watched Xu Qing fight. Her performance was even a little better than his own had been, carrying with it a fierce streak and a hint of Evil Qi.

Xu Yang also nodded to himself. After experiencing the slaughter of the Cyan Snake Gang, both Xu Qing’s and Qiu Wenjie’s Martial Dao Will had been tempered. Their attacks were decisive and clean, without any hesitation.

His gaze swept over to another stage, where Qiu Wenjie had also easily defeated his opponent and advanced to the next round.

There was also Tian Li. He had been practicing martial arts for nearly two years, and his talent was slightly better than Qiu Wenjie’s. He also advanced without issue.

"That Qiao Yong is so ruthless!" Sun Tao’s voice suddenly sounded by his ear.

Xu Yang looked over and saw an examination candidate whose arms were twisted like pretzels, wailing on the ground.

Qiao Yong, meanwhile, stood coldly on the stage, looking down at the candidate whose arms he had crippled.

"As soon as he got on stage, he demanded the guy surrender. The guy said he just wanted to exchange a few pointers, so Qiao Yong crippled his arms," Sun Tao said. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Xu Yang knew Qiao Yong was crippling people to establish his dominance, reduce the number of fights he’d have, and prepare to challenge for the top three.

In their year, there had been many people like that. That unlucky fellow Yang Jun had been crippled by someone trying to establish their dominance.

He had long known Qiao Yong’s character. The moment he gained a little success, he became wildly arrogant, even more so than Kong Yu back then.

Back then, Kong Yu had merely been conceited, but he hadn’t been this vicious.

’A person like that, in a place like the Purple Sun Sect, would easily provoke someone they couldn’t afford to offend. Sooner or later, he’ll come to a bad end.’

The drawing for the second round was held quickly. This time, Xu Qing also advanced to the next round smoothly, as did Qiu Wenjie and Tian Li.

In the third round, Xu Qing finally encountered a strong opponent—an expert at Qi Gathering Perfection. Left with no choice, Xu Qing had to use her Wind and Thunder Strength to defeat him.

There weren’t many candidates in this year’s examination who had comprehended Hidden Strength—you could count them on one hand. As for a female who had comprehended Wind and Thunder Strength, Xu Qing was the only one.

The moment the Wind and Thunder Strength appeared, it stunned the crowd. Xu Qing once again became the center of attention.

"Old Ghost Lin, you’ve actually managed to train another disciple who comprehended Wind and Thunder Strength. Impressive."

On the high platform, the various hall masters looked at Lin Cheng in surprise.

Weiyuan Hall had produced another disciple who comprehended Wind and Thunder Strength. After the Martial Arts Examination ended, they would probably see another surge in new disciples.

"It’s all due to the disciple’s own hard work!" Lin Cheng wore a self-satisfied expression.

But in his heart, he knew this wasn’t his achievement at all. He had taught Xu Qing for over a year, and she had never comprehended Wind and Thunder Strength. Xu Yang arrived, and in just a few days, she grasped it. It must have been Xu Yang who taught her.

’Just what realm is this kid at? How is he so absurd that he could get Xu Qing to comprehend Wind and Thunder Strength in just a few days?’

Lin Cheng looked at Xu Yang, who was not far away, with a sense of shock.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to guide Xu Qing, but after a few attempts, he found she couldn’t grasp anything, so he couldn’t be bothered to teach her anymore.

"Junior Sister Xu has already comprehended Wind and Thunder Strength!"

Sun Tao was astonished. "Congratulations, Junior Brother Xu! With Junior Sister Xu’s talent, she might even rank among the Ten Heroes."

Beside them, Gu Haoming and Li Qiang also wore shocked expressions, not expecting that Xu Yang’s sister’s talent would be this good.

Xu Yang smiled. "Senior Brother, you praise her too much. She’s still a long way from the Ten Heroes."

’If I hadn’t personally demonstrated it, showing Xu Qing the Wind and Thunder Strength from the perspective of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, she wouldn’t have comprehended it even if I gave her another year.’

’Besides, I didn’t want Xu Qing to be in the spotlight like this. If she hadn’t run into an expert, I wouldn’t have allowed her to reveal her Wind and Thunder Strength so casually.’

As evening fell, the Martial Arts Examination concluded. No one from the Demon Sect appeared to cause trouble. The group breathed a sigh of relief, assuming the Purple Sun Sect must have received unreliable information.

Xu Qing successfully achieved Dragon Ascension. Qiu Wenjie and Tian Li were also lucky; they had mostly avoided overly strong opponents and achieved Dragon Ascension as well.

Besides the three of them, two other disciples from Weiyuan Hall also achieved Dragon Ascension. Although the results weren’t as good as the previous year’s, they were still quite respectable.

With the examination over, his duty to protect Qiao Yong was also finished.

After agreeing on a time to return with Sun Tao and the others, he left with Xu Qing.

’He left without even saying goodbye? Xu Yang, you’ll regret slighting me like this.’

Qiao Yong had originally wanted Xu Yang to escort him home. He planned to show everyone that the previous year’s prodigy, Xu Yang, was now merely his guard. He wanted to flaunt how much the Purple Sun Sect valued his talent—so much that they sent someone to protect him during the Martial Arts Examination—just to show off his prestige a bit more.

But to his surprise, the moment the examination ended, Xu Yang left without so much as a word.