In the face of his wife's blatant favoritism.
Master Liu was quite dissatisfied.
After all, no matter how strong Han Ye is, no matter how excellent he is, he is still a tenant farmer of the Liu Manor, his freedom is not his own.
Simply put, he was jealous of Han Ye.
So when faced with Madam Liu's suggestion, Liu Xinglong didn't take it to heart, and casually replied:
"A common man, if he has no cultivation base, no matter how many titles he has, they are useless. After all, he only possesses physical power and it's only those who have mastered divine power who could be considered as real talents."
Originally, he had high hopes for Han Ye, but under the insinuations of his wife, he inexplicably developed a repulsion for Han Ye.
Liu Lingqi, who was standing by, also nodded her head in agreement.
"Father is right. City warriors or knights, no matter how strong they are in martial arts, are mediocre. Only the path to immortality is the true route."
"As for Han Ye, whether he is a dragon or a worm, we will have to see how he performs."
However, Madam Liu apparently disagreed with their statements.
Seeing both her husband and daughter oppose her suggestion, she was clearly not happy.
But for some reason, whenever she saw Han Ye's face, she always had a inexplicable fondness for him.
This feeling wasn't out of the blue, but gradually emerged after hearing about Han Ye's bloody tiger-killing deeds.
Yet the thoughts of the people she was closest to contradicted hers, which puzzled her.
...
Martial Arts Platform.
The sky was clear.
After being assigned to a team, Han Ye came to the side of the waiting stable. He was surrounded by forage and was unaware of everything happening in the stands.
He was staring at the man before him, watching as the selected contender took a deep breath and lifted the stone lock in front of him.
The rules had already specified the three stages: Physical Body, Bone Exploration, Blood Marrow.
The first stage, Physical Body, was to see how strong one's body was, requiring everyone to lift stone locks of varying weights.
Don't worry about not being able to lift them.
Because there are stone locks weighing a hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred jin, everyone can get the corresponding score according to the weight of the stone lock they lift. The heavier the weight lifted, the higher the score; the lighter the weight lifted, the lower the score. It's that simple.
As long as one can lift a stone lock weighing a hundred jin, it's considered a pass.
It's to let others know that you're not a weakling. No high standards.
The man standing before Han Ye seemed to be a knight from another county, named Gao Qichang.
He took a deep breath, chose a 400jin stone lock, and centered his Qi in his dantian. He widened his stance and assumed a slight squatting position.
This way, he can exert more strength.
"Buzz."
The sound of the stone lock rubbing against the ground rang out then it, weighing 400 jin, was lifted directly up to his chest.
However, his entire face had started to turn red.
It was evidently because of the blood surging.
After enduring for about four to five breaths, he finally couldn't hold on and put the stone lock down.
He was panting heavily.
Even so, the stand erupted in excited cheers.
"Who is this man, he's so strong!"
"This man is Gao Qichang, a knight from the north, a swordsman belonging to the Long Rainbow Sword Academy. He's not known for his strength, it's a pity this isn't a swordsmanship competition, otherwise there might be some surprises."
Gao Qichang stepped down from the stage after putting down the stone lock.
"Next, Wang Da Niu from Liu Manor."
The old steward announced loudly with a roster in his hand.
"Brother Han, I'm off."
Wang Da Niu grinned and walked toward the martial arts platform.
"Go on, Da Niu."
Han Ye encouraged with a smile.
He knew, these stone locks were nothing for Da Niu.
When Wang Da Niu got on the stage, compared to Gao Qichang's solemn seriousness, he seemed more nervous.
Yet the seemingly ordinary Wang Da Niu, chose to stand in front of a 500 jin stone lock.
"Wait, is this man trying to lift the 500 jin one?"
"Is it real or fake? I've never seen anyone able to lift 500 jin. Aren't these stone locks usually just for show?"
"I think I've seen it once in the martial arts competition in Xiangnan Prefecture five years ago."
As the stands erupted in speculation, Wang Da Niu simply lifted the 500 jin stone lock with his right hand.
The 500 jin stone lock answered him and rose up!
It only stayed by his chest for a moment, and soon raised above his head.
And Wang Da Niu looks like he's not even flustered, not panting.
He seemed to have strength to spare.
A wave of astonishment swept over the audience, apparently no one had expected Liu Manor to house such a powerhouse.
"Liu Manor surprisingly has such talent. This 500-jin stone lock, the last person to lift it was my son when he was 18," commented Liu Manor's lord, seated in the center, taken aback by the performance of Wang Da Niu.
Liu Lingqi nodded, "However, my elder brother lifted it only within the manor, the feat is unknown to outsiders."
"This simpleton is worth cultivating."
Liu Xinglong commented approvingly.
At the same time, it was then that,
Han Ye spotted a few green orbs silently falling, landing at Wang Da Niu's feet.
"More attributes to pick up, great!"
He was up next.
After holding the stone lock above his head for mere ten breaths, Wang Da Niu gently let it down.
The moment the stone lock hit the ground, a slight tremor passed through the floor.
Leaving the platform, Wang Da Niu nodded at Han Ye, his eyes full of trust.
Han Ye responded with a smile.
He stepped onto the martial arts platform, first scanning the spectators in the stands, noticing many gazes filled with reverence and anticipation.
Apparently, most had heard of his wrestling a tiger and were eager to see his performance.
He gave a slight smile, silently issuing a command in his mind to acquire.
「Acquiring attribute: Strength of an Ox+2」
「Acquiring attribute: Strength of an Ox+2」
「Acquiring attribute: Strength of an Ox+2」
...
「Promote?」
To Han Ye's surprise, the attribute 'Strength of an Ox' was now maxed out.
As he mentally affirmed the promotion, his mind was flooded with unparalleled green light.
The golden word 'Accumulation' shot out a beam of light, causing the green light in his mind to transform just like a power-up.
A mysterious deep blue beam began to flicker.
「Dragon-Tiger Physique (1/500): Extraordinary physical body, far superior to ordinary people, imbued with Dragon and Tiger Breath, never ceasing, capable of easily lifting a weight of a thousand jins. 」
The attribute 'Strength of an Ox' flawless, transformed.
Han Ye felt an unprecedented sense of comfort in his body.
Every inch of his muscle is bursting with vitality, filled with explosive strength, as if he had endless energy.
A faint hint of vitality was circulating in his dantian.
Could this be the Dragon and Tiger Breath?
Ignoring his speculation, he turned his attention to the 500-jin stone lock.
If points were scored by weight,
he should just max it out for this round, right?
Without wasting any words, he placed one hand on the 500-jin stone lock, before he could even get a feel of its weight,
It was swiftly lifted off the ground without any pause. At this, even Han Ye was taken aback.
He had not expected his strength to increase by so much.
The Dragon and Tiger Breath from his dantian seemed like swimming dragons, attaching to his hands.
He raised the stone lock above his head.
It felt like lifting a heavy cotton flower, sure it was heavy, but not pressuring at all.
Seeing another 500-jin stone lock at his feet, Han Ye decided to try lifting with both hands to see if it would exert a greater pressure.
Hence he lifted it effortlessly with his left hand.
The whole field was plunged into a brief silence.
All eyes were drawn to Han Ye, horrified.
To lift the two stone locks, weighing 1000 jin in total, above his head took less than thirty breaths of time!
Could this man possess supernatural strength?
As Han Ye dropped the 1000-jin stone locks, the entire ground shook with a tremor.
It wasn't that he could not hold on any longer, he simply didn't feel like holding them anymore.
After a moment of silence, gasps resounded from the audience stands.
Lord Liu Xinglong, stunned by the sight, could hardly believe his eyes.
The Madame of Liu Manor, spotting this, gently laughed, "Didn't I say so? Isn't my eye for people spot on? What does your lordship think of Han Ye's performance?"
"This... it's hard to comment."
The words seemed stuck in Liu Xinglong's throat.
...