A total of 172 young people participated in the Mantis Trial, divided into 86 groups.
However, the elders' time was precious and they didn't have time to watch each group fight one by one. To speed up the process, the matches began with ten groups at a time.
Soon, the twenty young people from the first ten groups stood facing each other on their respective fields. Except for a few who knew that their opponents were clearly weaker, most of them had solemn expressions.
Many of them were trembling, whether from excitement or fear. After all, they were all just teenagers of fifteen or sixteen years old, and had never seen such a cruel scene before.
"I don't want to participate in the Mantis Trial! I don't want to die! I want to leave, please let me go!" Suddenly, one young man broke down under immense pressure. He ran out of the combat zone, hugged the legs of a steward nearby, and begged the steward to let him go.
Unfortunately, the steward responded with a swift and fierce hand chop, showing no mercy. Snap! The chop hit the young man's throat, instantly shattering his Adam's apple. Blood spilled from his mouth and he fell to the ground, dead without closing his eyes.
Without even bothering to look at the corpse, the steward Luo Shan glanced at the roster and announced loudly, "Cheng Ye fled without fighting and has been executed. Hong Bo wins!"
Upon seeing this, all the young people on the scene couldn't help but shudder, and their desire to kill became even stronger. Because they knew that in order to survive, they could only kill the person in front of them! There was no other way to go!
Running away not only meant certain death, but also would result in their opponent winning without fighting, which wasn't worth it.
At this moment, no one dared to abandon the fight anymore. Soon, the Mantis Trial began, and the remaining nine groups of young people fought each other.
Although they had all practiced the Golden Mantis Body-Refining Technique for a year, they were not yet proficient in it.
At first, they were still able to use techniques to attack, but soon it turned into primitive wrestling and fighting. In order to survive, the young people used every means at their disposal, biting with their teeth, poking each other's eyes, and kicking each other's groins - all of which were allowed.
"The Mantis Trial is essentially an unregulated battle! What it triggers is potential, and what it cultivates is the intention to kill.
The scene quickly became bloody, with some people having their ears and fingers bitten off, and others having their eyes gouged out, blood flowing everywhere.
But the managers and elders of the Golden Mantis Clan seemed unaware of the brutality, and instead watched with interest, as if they were not watching a real fight but a cockfight.
"Golden Mantis Clan!"
Wei Ping's breathing became slightly heavy, and his complexion wasn't very good.
Because the bloody scene had a huge impact on Wei Ping, who had traveled through time.
But now, he must pass the trial first and then leave the estate, which is like a prison.
He had no capital to resist.
Soon, the first batch of Mantis Trials ended.
The nine winners were almost all injured, but after experiencing the battle, the fierceness between their eyebrows naturally increased, and they carried an aura of killing.
"Not bad!"
Elder Meng Hongzhou drank his tea and looked satisfied.
Although these young people were not yet of age, they had undergone a year of training in the estate, and their foundation had been laid.
In addition, after experiencing life-and-death battles, their killing intent and aura began to condense. Even if they were young, they were definitely more daring to fight and kill than ordinary people.
Even if they hadn't become martial artists in the Tendons Refining Realm, they would be excellent fighters.
Moreover, those who can pass the Mantis Trial must have decent skills in the Golden Mantis Form, otherwise, it would be difficult to win.
Given time, it would not be difficult for them to become martial artists.
Although half of them died, the Golden Mantis Clan obtained excellent clan members who had been selected through this baptism, which was definitely not a loss.
"Continue, Luo Shan!" Elder Meng Hongzhou spoke, and the steward Luo Shan hurriedly arranged for more people to come up on stage.
Ten groups entered in batches, and the efficiency was still quite high.
Before long, half of the participants had fought, and it was finally Wei Ping's turn. However, due to the many battles that had taken place, there was too much blood on the ground, causing it to become slippery. As a result, the steward had to send someone to clean the field.
Next to the field, Wei Ping and Zhang Yang stood side by side.
"Brother Wei Ping, we have no grievances or grudges, we are only fighting because we have no choice. I will burn paper for you every year after you die, and I hope you will not come to haunt me. If you want something, just say it. If you want crickets, I can burn them for you..." Zhang Yang spoke with a guilty expression, muttering in a low voice.
"Hmm?" Hearing this, Wei Ping was momentarily confused.
Crickets? What do I need crickets for?
Wei Ping was full of doubts.
"Do you not know what crickets are? They're the bugs you often catch! Or is it that you don't like crickets and prefer other bugs? As long as you speak up, I can find a way to bring them to you and make sure you have fun playing with them..." Zhang Yang explained with both hands and feet.
It was only at this point that Wei Ping also realized, suddenly enlightened. It must have been because he often caught insects in the grass to feed his praying mantis clone, which led to others thinking he was mentally ill!
Outside the field, seeing Wei Ping's confused expression followed by a bitter smile, Zhang Yang became even more relieved.
This person was indeed "different"!
Soon, the field was washed clean, and the trial continued.
"Everyone, prepare to enter the field!" Steward Luo Shan announced loudly.
----
The twenty young men were on high alert and quickly entered the battle circle, assuming attacking stances and ready to strike at any moment.
Only Wei Ping did not move, he just took a few steps back, creating distance between himself and his opponent.
However, his eyes shone brightly as he carefully studied his opponent.
"The praying mantis knife stance has a big problem. It's impossible to fully exert force like this. The crouching motion is too large, the speed of standing up will definitely be slow, and it won't meet the requirement of swift drawing of the knife..."
With just a glance, Wei Ping discovered multiple weaknesses and vulnerabilities in Zhang Yang's body.
It was obvious that Zhang Yang's understanding of the Golden Mantis Refining Body Technique was far lower than Wei Ping's, roughly equivalent to a "60% mastery" level.
"This round won't be difficult at all!"
After confirming his opponent's strength, Wei Ping smiled slightly, feeling even more relaxed.
Next, he had to think about how to complete his "performance"!
But what Wei Ping didn't know was that after seeing his smile, Zhang Yang and Zhang Yao couldn't help but smile knowingly as well.
"This round seems to be secure!"
In their hearts, both brothers had a similar thought to Wei Ping's.
Only the steward Luo Shan frowned slightly.
Because of the covert manipulation he had done, Luo Shan was paying extra attention to Wei Ping and Zhang Yang's group.
It was clear to him that Zhang Yang's strength was indeed mediocre.
If they were to be assigned opponents randomly, the probability of losing would be more than sixty percent.
However, Wei Ping, his opponent, didn't seem to be weak at all.
Because Luo Shan had seen the few steps Wei Ping had just taken backwards, he realized that Wei Ping's speed was deceptively slow but had a lot of charm to it, and it was just that the opponent hadn't used his full power.
As a steward who had been a martial artist for over a decade, Luo Shan still had some discernment!
Unfortunately, now that the two had entered the arena, Luo Shan could no longer remind them or prevent the trial.
The elders were watching from above!
"Begin!"
With Luo Shan's command, the fight began!
"Die!"
Although Zhang Yang had just shown guilt towards Wei Ping, as soon as the fight began, his face was full of ferocity, with killing intent shining in his eyes, as if Wei Ping was his mortal enemy.
Rapidly approaching Wei Ping, Zhang Yang raised his right hand and launched a fierce hand chop towards Wei Ping's eyes.
The Golden Mantis Refining Body Technique imitated the demonic beast Golden Blade Mantis, and its most powerful move was naturally to draw the knife, but humans didn't have knife arms, so they could only use hand chops instead.
However, the power of a hand chop was not inferior to that of a fist.
Once hitting vital parts such as the heart, throat, eyes, and temple, it is entirely possible to achieve an instant kill. Especially the eyes, even if it's not a one-hit kill, it can still make the enemy lose their vision, thereby expanding the advantage and securing victory.
And Zhang Yang obviously thought so!
Facing Zhang Yang's attack, Wei Ping was not panicked and allowed him to get close to within three steps.
Seeing Wei Ping not moving, both Zhang Yang and Zhang Yao couldn't help but be overjoyed.
Wei Ping seemed to have lost the ability to resist?
But the next second, something unexpected happened!
Until Zhang Yang was only one step away from him, Wei Ping's body finally moved!
He suddenly shrunk his body and quickly avoided Zhang Yang's hand knife aimed at his eye.
Then, he took a step forward with his left foot and raised his right hand, forming a knife shape, fiercely stabbing towards Zhang Yang's chest.
Puff!
The hand knife hit, and under Wei Ping's sudden force, Zhang Yang's chest was directly sunken.
Zhang Yang's heart suddenly convulsed, and his body stiffened on the spot.
His mouth opened, his eyes widened, and his face was full of disbelief.
"You...how are you so strong? Aren't you crazy?"
Weakly, Zhang Yang's voice came to Wei Ping's ear, carrying deep incomprehension.
"I'm fine! You can rest assured and go! Don't worry!" Wei Ping said calmly.
However, despite his calmness, Wei Ping's actions were not slow. He quickly struck out with another hand knife, hitting Zhang Yang's temple.
In fact, with Wei Ping's strength, he could have smashed Zhang Yang's bones with a single knife strike, killing him with one hit.
But Wei Ping didn't want to reveal his full strength. He had his plan.
Therefore, he could only attack for the second time and fiercely strike towards Zhang Yang's temple.
With the temple damaged, Zhang Yang's body immediately went limp, and he collapsed on the ground, soon losing his breath.
Looking at Zhang Yang's body, Wei Ping's face showed neither joy nor sadness.
But this battle unintentionally caught the attention of many people, even causing some to exclaim.
Because Wei Ping killed his opponent with only two moves, it was extremely clean and almost no extra movements were made.
If not for his strength being "not enough," he would have been able to kill Zhang Yang with a single hit.
Wei Ping's battle with Zhang Yang was the fastest one to end in the mantis trial so far!
It was really straightforward!
Compared with the battles of other group members, it formed a sharp contrast!
"Isn't that Wei Ping? Didn't he go crazy? He locks himself in his room every day, and when he goes out, he either eats or catches bugs to play with!"
"F*ck! This kid is really cunning! He pretended to be crazy, but he was actually cultivating and deceiving us on the side!"
The onlookers discussed with each other, and there was a deep sense of jealousy in their eyes when they looked at Wei Ping.
Before this, when they saw that Zhang Yang was up against Wei Ping, they couldn't help but envy Zhang Yang's good luck in finding an easy target. But now, they were more relieved!
Even the gaze of the elder Meng Hongzhou couldn't help but be attracted by Wei Ping's heroic posture. The old man's eyes brightened and he said, "That kid seems to be a good seedling..."