Chapter 213: Bitter Struggle
The Boxing King came here with the purpose of taking Zhu Bufan under his wing as his disciple.
The Boxing King thought Zhu Bufan was excellent potential, whether he could on the fifth year's arrival once again train a student capable of entering the Anping Organization depended on the current Zhu Bufan, for this young man offered great hope.
Initially, over the past five years, countless new students repeatedly arrived, but none managed to enter the Anping Organization; the best they could get was to be reserve members.
It shows how difficult it is to enter the country's most powerful and mysterious Anping Organization.
Of course, the Boxing King wasn't the only mentor with this idea; did other mentors not share the same thoughts? It had almost been five years since they had managed to get a student into the Anping Organization; they felt somewhat ashamed towards the organization.
Huang Peng, Herbal Old Man, Chang Feng, Granny Li; each held such thoughts, having faced too much disappointment over these five years until Zhu Bufan appeared, instantly giving them hope. Thus, disregarding the usual processes, they directly burst forth.
According to the process, all selecting mentors gather in one place, then the students come to understand and mutually select the mentors.
Of course, it's not that other people had no hope, but comparatively, Zhu Bufan's chances of entering Anping Organization were much higher.
As mentors, their first choices for students are those with great potential.
Indeed, it's not surprising that these mentors behave this way, for everything operates similarly. For instance, if a school has any benefits to offer, teachers will first think of students with good grades rather than those with poor grades.
Like how women favor strong men, powerful men always attract women's admiration.
So, it's not that these mentors just pick the good ones and not the others; their current thoughts were to first secure Zhu Bufan, the student with the most promise, and then slowly consider other students.
As for Zhu Bufan receiving such favor from so many mentors, there were students who were envious, jealous, and, of course, some who wished him well.
However, most still felt Zhu Bufan truly deserved it, as he consistently ranked first in all three assessments; it seemed only fair that he should get this.
"Boxing King, aren't you going a bit too far! You are certainly the foremost among our mentors, but we are all serving the country and cultivating talents for the organization. By doing so, you are blatantly looking down on everyone here. You have strength, deserving to show off, but you shouldn't belittle us. We are all mentors; shouldn't you consider others when you speak?" Granny Li finally couldn't restrain herself and spoke to the Boxing King.
"Granny Li, I, the Boxing King, am not looking down on any of you. What I want to say is that, if this student is handed over to any one of you, he won't be able to fully utilize his potential. Essentially, we are all sending students into the organization; actually, there isn't much resentment among us as mentors, hence there isn't any need for hostility. But what I want to say is that in terms of developing potential, I understand it better and am stronger than all of you. So, to avoid wasting potential, this student, I, the Boxing King, must take him."
The Boxing King spoke, though his tone was somewhat softened, the undisputed and condescending attitude was not reduced at all.
Granny Li furrowed her brows, her expression turning unpleasant.
Initially, Chang Feng also wanted to speak a few words of protest, but seeing Granny Li being countered by the Boxing King made him not want to attract bad luck at this moment.
Simply enough,
"Since the Boxing King has already chosen Zhu Bufan, I, Chang Feng, will not vie with the Boxing King anymore, to avoid harming the harmony. However, I really hope the Boxing King can train Zhu Bufan well and add a strong warrior to our organization," Elder Chang Feng said, bowing to the Boxing King.
Then he turned and walked over to Shangguan Qingcheng's side, speaking in an extremely gentle tone: "Young girl, would you like to come with me?"
With the first withdrawal, Granny Li, Huang Peng, and Herbal Old Man successively withdrew, at this moment no one wanted to compete with the Boxing King, seen as a hot-tempered madman.
"Alright, lad, now only I have taken you in, so, come along with me!" The Boxing King, not paying attention to those mentors who had withdrawn, directly threw a pill to Zhu Bufan before speaking.
Having taken Zhu Bufan, the Boxing King truly didn't compete for any other student.
Huang Peng, Chang Feng, Granny Li, and Herbal Old Man gave up on Zhu Bufan and instead gathered around Shangguan Qingcheng.
And just at this moment, three more mentors walked into the courtyard, thus officially starting the so-called student selection process.
The 16 students were very clear that the mentor standing next to Zhu Bufan, the Boxing King, was the most formidable among the mentors; they also wanted to become his students, but they were well aware that others looked down on them. Thus, they were filled with both envy and jealousy towards Zhu Bufan.
Aside from envy and jealousy, there was nothing they could do. Students who weren't favored by mentors were the most pitiful; they had to sell themselves.
Even Shangguan Qingcheng, who was surrounded by four mentors at the moment, knew that it was false to say she didn't envy Zhu Bufan. After all, she was a lady of talent, coming from a major force. She had excellent qualifications, so why hadn't the Boxing King taken notice of her?
Yet, she had to admit that she was somewhat inferior to Zhu Bufan.
Normally, the announcement would start tomorrow, and then everyone would gather in one place, similar to a job fair. But this was no job fair; it was more like a marketplace.
Right now, each mentor, in front of the students they fancied, constantly promoted themselves and boasted about their various strengths. Of course, mentors maintained their decency. For those they did not choose, they would show a regretful expression, give some encouraging words, and then move on.
Undoubtedly, the most mentors gathered around Shangguan Qingcheng. In addition to the "Medicine Devils," among the three newcomers, two approached her, leaving one mentor who likely thought they had no chance and instead went to Guang Jinqian.
The mentors around Shangguan Qingcheng vehemently stated: Should Shangguan Qingcheng become their disciple, it's guaranteed that within three months at the upcoming Dragon Rankings Tournament, although not promising the first or second place, a spot within the top ten was assured.
Each of them boasted more fiercely than the last.
Consequently, a noisy clamor filled the entire virtual assessment room.
Zheng Yue looked at the virtual assessment room, now resembling a marketplace, and his face turned somewhat grim.
However, he was helpless, only managing a wry smile with a shake of his head, then sighing: "Such a scene hasn't appeared for years. It seems this time someone really might enter the organization!"
He then joined Gui Lao and Jue Po in documenting the apprenticeships – essentially noting down which student followed which mentor.
The Boxing King did not leave with Zhu Bufan immediately; the apprenticeship had not been formalized yet. Without formalizing, Zhu Bufan couldn't be considered his disciple.
This formalization had to be performed by Zheng Yue, as he held the roster, and crucially it had to be written with Zheng Yue's Divine Emperor's Pen.
Therefore, the Boxing King stayed, waiting for Zheng Yue to formalize Zhu Bufan's apprenticeship.
When he saw that Zheng Yue had formalized Zhu Bufan's apprenticeship, the Boxing King then said to Zhu Bufan, "Kid, let's go! Follow me to my training ground!"
Within Dragon Valley, every mentor had their own training ground. Once mentors had chosen their students, they would bring them to train at their grounds.
The place where students originally stayed would also be moved to their mentor's training ground.
When the Boxing King handed Zhu Bufan a pill, Zhu Bufan had already opted to take it; now, he was surprised to find that his spiritual power had mostly recovered. It hadn't been long! Normally, Zhu Bufan could recover on his own, but it would take a long time. However, he didn't expect that this pill could restore most of his spiritual power in such a short time, which truly impressed Zhu Bufan. What exactly was this pill? It was truly remarkable.
Since he had already chosen the Boxing King as his mentor for these three months, Zhu Bufan didn't say much and just quietly followed the Boxing King to the indicated training ground.
After a walk of about an hour, a two-story villa appeared unexpectedly before Zhu Bufan. To say it was just a small Western-style house wasn't quite accurate because it looked more like a standalone villa environment.
Zhu Bufan used his Supreme Eyes to peer into the small Western-house, discovering four young men and women, two of each, who looked similar in age to himself.
Perhaps sensing their mentor's return, these two men and two women came out from the second floor of the villa.
Of the four, Zhu Bufan couldn't see through their strength, but he knew their abilities were definitely above his.
Moreover, unlike Zhu Bufan in his camouflage, they were dressed very casually, embodying the metropolitan trendy style elaborately and fashionably.
Zhu Bufan watched them in a daze.
Feeling Zhu Bufan's bewilderment, the Boxing King spoke up, "These few are your senior brothers and sisters; they've just returned from a mission outside."
Zhu Bufan became even more puzzled. Could it be that they also carried out missions outside of Dragon Valley?