Martial Peak
chapter-4816

The boisterous crowd abruptly fell silent as they looked dazedly at the two figures on the stage.

Most of them didn’t have a sharp vision, so they were unable to make out the abstrusity of the exchange of moves just now.

Only a small number of the onlookers narrowed their eyes and gazed at Yang Kai with serious expressions.

There was now a winner on the stage!

There were no restrictions when it came to the battles today. It didn’t matter whether one would like to use a weapon or fight with his bare hands as long as he could win the battle; hence, Yang Kai didn’t break the rules by using his sword.

Luo An Guo didn’t collapse, but when he touched his throat, he realised that it was wet. When he looked down, he saw that his hand was covered with blood.

It wasn’t until this moment that he felt a pain coming from his neck.

A myriad of expressions came over him. He knew that the other party didn’t intend to kill him; otherwise, he would have been beheaded instead of getting cut slightly. Despite that, this kind of outcome was still unacceptable for him.

During the exchange of moves just now, he didn’t even manage to make out how Yang Kai unsheathed his sword.

He didn’t have a chance to counterattack as the other party’s attack was too fast for him to even perceive.

The old man with a goatee seemed to have received an instruction as he quickly went on stage and announced, “The winner is Yang Kai!”

Following that, he told the two of them to leave the stage and spoke no further.

For the next half a day, more people jumped on stage to fight. Some of them were weak cultivators with only flashy moves while some of them were truly powerful.

As Yang Kai observed it, he realised that there seemed to be a selection process going on here, though he wasn’t sure what it was for.

Fortunately, the people around him were talking among themselves, so he could deduce what was going on from the chatter.

The Meng Family ran one of the largest businesses in White Jade City, so it was expected that they were extremely wealthy; however, their wealth was coveted by many people as a result. Just a few days ago, the mountain bandits from Hidden Treasure Peak demanded that the Meng Family give them 100,000 silver coins and 10 beautiful maidservants every month; otherwise, they would destroy the Meng Family.

Hidden Treasure Peak was initially occupied by a small group of mountain bandits, and they didn’t pose any real threat at all. Some time ago though, a lot of fugitives came over and joined Hidden Treasure Peak, which significantly strengthened their ranks. In order to make a name for themselves, these new members of Hidden Treasure Peak decided to target the wealthy Meng Family in the nearby city.

Although there was a City Lord in White Jade City, who had his own soldiers, the Meng Family wouldn’t dare to entirely rely on others. Hence, they decided to set up an arena on this day and offered attractive salaries to hire some powerful private guards to protect them.

As Yang Kai listened to the people around him, he soon realised the situation he was in. Supposedly, he was there to apply for a job.

[Is Senior Sister Qu in the Meng Family?] Yang Kai couldn’t help but have this speculation; otherwise, he couldn’t explain why he had to take part in a selection battle right after entering this Samsara World.

Considering all this, he started looking forward to what was ahead of him.

It wasn’t until evening that the competition ended.

There were some powerful cultivators from the Meng Family who were hidden from the crowd here to watch the battles on the stage and make their judgments. Those who were qualified would be brought back to the Meng Family Manor while those who were not good enough would be given some money and told to go home.

Yang Kai had performed pretty well, so at the end of the day, the old man with a goatee called out to him and announced that he had passed the test.

Luo An Guo, who was defeated by Yang Kai, was also accepted. Although he had lost the battle, his power could not be underestimated. It was just that he had come across a stronger opponent named Yang Kai.

The powerful cultivators from the Meng Family had acute eyesight, so they didn’t accept the candidates solely based on the results of the battles; instead, they made their own judgments.

Those who were knocked out didn’t have any complaints as they were fully aware of their true strength. The reason they even took part in the competition was to get some money from the Meng Family. Now that they had achieved their goal, they were more than thankful.

There were many people left as there were forty to fifty of them. With a servant clad in green clothes leading the way, they entered the Meng Manor through a side door and arrived at a courtyard.

They would receive some training in this place for half a month. The Captain of the private guards would tell them where they could and could not go in the Meng Manor. He would also tell them the rules they had to follow and the consequences of breaking them.

On the first day, someone broke the rules. Perhaps he had lost his way while looking for the restroom, so he wandered into the nearby inner court. Seeing that, the personal bodyguards in that place immediately captured him.

The Captain had the intention of punishing this man to serve as a warning to everyone else. After this person was brought to him, he crippled him and threw him out of the manor right in front of everyone’s eyes.

The new batch of private guards were horrified. It wasn’t until this moment that they realised it wasn’t so easy to earn the attractive salaries the Meng Family offered. In this place, rules were everything, and one would end up in a horrible state by not following them.

The Meng Family was wealthy, so it was expected that their manor was huge; however, Yang Kai and the others could only stay in the same courtyard. Since the incident on the first day, no one dared to walk about as they pleased.

There was a test three days later, and more than ten people were eliminated.

After familiarising himself with this place for three days, Yang Kai decided to take action. He wasn’t interested in becoming a private guard in the Meng Manor. Since he had speculated that Qu Hua Shang might be in the Meng Family, he had to look for her.

Qu Hua Shang was likely a female member of the Meng Family. Although Yang Kai had no idea about her identity in the Meng Manor, she must be living in the inner court as she was a woman.

When darkness descended, he walked out in silence and headed to the inner court.

There were many private guards who were hidden in different corners of Meng Manor; however, Yang Kai could easily detect them and avoid getting caught.

Just when he was ready to enter the inner court, he realised there was a problem. The security in the inner court was obviously much tighter. He could detect that there were many pairs of eyes in the periphery of the inner court that were paying close attention to the surroundings. It was impossible for him to sneak into the inner court without getting caught given his current power.

He waited patiently for two hours but still couldn’t find a chance, so eventually, he decided to take it slow and come up with a plan first.

Just when he was preparing to leave, he caught a glimpse of a figure flashing past in the darkness. The person seemed to have the same intention as him. Since there was no chance for him to get into the inner court, he had no choice but to give up.

However, this man gave up earlier than Yang Kai did, which was why Yang Kai noticed him.

Although it was pitch-black in this place, it still couldn’t conceal his burly figure.

Yang Kai frowned as he recognised this person and he wondered, [What is he doing here? When did he come?]

Yang Kai was careful with every movement he made, so he was certain that this other intruder didn’t notice him.

After the person was gone, he silently left.

When Yang Kai returned to his place, he jumped through the window and entered the room. His roommates were still sound asleep and no one realised that he had left and returned.

In the morning, they still had to receive training. The Captain of the private guards became even more demanding; as a result, some of the arrogant candidates were beaten up and thrown out of Meng Manor.

There were initially forty to fifty people, but presently, only about thirty were left.

At night, Yang Kai pretended to be sound asleep as he waited patiently. Last night, regardless of what the intention of that person was, he hadn’t achieved his goal, so he would definitely take action again tonight.

As expected, in the middle of the night, Yang Kai heard a faint noise. If he hadn’t paid close attention to the surroundings, he wouldn’t have heard it.

Upon making sure that his roommates were still fast asleep, Yang Kai got up in silence.

After leaving the courtyard, he saw the burly figure dexterously navigating the darkness and heading straight to the inner court.

Yang Kai followed him closely; however, he still couldn’t figure out the person’s intention tonight. Just like last night, the person remained hidden and observed the surroundings for two hours before leaving.

For the next half a month, other than receiving training every day, Yang Kai couldn’t discover anything. He hadn’t even managed to sneak into the inner court.

After this period of time, only twenty people remained, which was less than half of the initial number.

On the other hand, the Captain was pleased with that. Standing in front of these twenty people, he swept a stern glance over them and said, “Since all of you are still here, it means that you’re pretty strong. Those who are weak have all been chased away. Moreover, we’ve looked into your backgrounds, and no problems have been found. Since you’ve passed the test, you are now members of the Meng Manor. As long as you’re loyal to the Meng Family, you’ll not be mistreated. As private guards, we have to always be ready to protect the Meng Family even if we have to lose our lives. Those who don’t have the determination to do so can leave now. I won’t blame you.”

Certainly, no one left.

Regardless of their reasons for wanting to become private guards, the salaries offered by Meng Manor were attractive. They couldn’t get a better job elsewhere.

As expected, the Captain was satisfied while he nodded lightly, “It seems that none of you are willing to leave. Good. I have one last question. Does any one of you have any ill intentions against Meng Manor? Just be honest with me. I promise not to kill you.”

When the Captain saw that no one responded to him a moment later, he went on to say with a smile, “It seems that you’re not willing to admit it.”

He then turned his head and gazed at a stern-looking young man, “Lin Xiao Shan, how are the Managers on the mountain doing?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the private guards, who were behind him, instantly surrounded Lin Xiao Shan.

A sense of fluster flashed through Lin Xiao Shan’s face as he stared at the Captain, “What are you doing?”

The Captain replied impassively, “You know what we’re doing.”

Lin Xiao Shan frowned, but he soon put on a relieved smile, “How did you find out?”

The Captain slowly shook his head, “We have our own ways.”

Lin Xiao Shan nodded, “It seems that the Managers have underestimated the Meng Manor. Since you’ve found out about it, you can just kill me as you please.”

The Captain replied, “I certainly hope to kill you and send your head to those on the mountain; however, Master doesn’t like to shed blood unnecessarily, so he has ordered that you be allowed to leave this place alive. However, you have to pass on his words to the Managers.”

“Go ahead,” Lin Xiao Shan said in a calm and collected manner.

The Captain replied, “Master has said that the Meng Manor is a business entity, and he doesn’t want to offend the people on the mountain. So, let us be friends instead.”

Lin Xiao Shan grinned, “What can you offer, then?”

The Captain clapped his hands, then someone came over with a package. He took the package and tossed it at Lin Xiao Shan, “This is what the Master can offer, and the same amount of money will be sent to you all every month.”

Without hesitation, Lin Xiao Shan opened the package and saw a lot of banknotes. After some calculations, he realised that they were worth about 20,000 silver coins.