Urban Martial Saint

Shen Tianjun's words immediately caused a slight disturbance among the crowd, and everyone began to ponder over this matter. They were going to discuss the next two projects together, which meant that the upcoming projects would not be solely decided by the Shen Family, making it much fairer than before.

Shen Tianjun continued, "And the remaining five talented young individuals will gather together, allowing them to monitor each other so that no one receives any information in advance, ensuring absolute fairness for the upcoming two projects. What do you all think?"

The crowd was slightly silent, with Prince Nalan being the first to nod and say, "I trust Shen's character; Shen certainly wouldn't cheat in this matter. However, to avoid rumors, choosing this method is better. Nalan supports Shen's approach."

Helian Tiehua also slowly nodded, expressing support for Shen Tianjun's method. As for the others, they certainly would not oppose it, as they had all been influenced by Huang Yidao's words earlier and were suspicious of whether the Shen Family was cheating. Now that cheating could be entirely prevented, they were naturally happy about it.

With these words settled, Shen Tianjun then instructed Shen Da to escort the five individuals who passed the first round to eat and rest. Meanwhile, the elders who remained began discussing the next two projects with Shen Tianjun.

Everyone wanted these upcoming two written examination projects to be as favorable to themselves as possible, so discussing two new projects turned out to be not a simple task. They debated for a long time, each holding their own opinions and wanting their own methods adopted, seeming unlikely to reach a conclusion anytime soon.

On the other side, Ye Qing and the five others were taken by Shen Da to a separate courtyard, and all members of the Shen Family were withdrawn to ensure absolute avoidance of suspicion. In fact, it was entirely unnecessary, as not even the Shen Family members knew what the upcoming two projects were. Moreover, now with five people together monitoring each other, no one could receive information in advance.

As soon as Shen Da left, Du Feng immediately approached Li Qianqiu sincerely and said, "Brother Li, thank you for what you did earlier!"

Li Qianqiu's expression was calm as he nodded, without saying anything. Du Feng didn't know what else to say, so he returned to the side of Ye Qing, saying, "Brother Ye, you too. If it weren't for you, I surely wouldn't have passed the first round. Thank you!"

Ye Qing smiled faintly and said to Du Feng, "It was a minor effort, no need to be so polite!"

"To you, Brother Ye, it may have been a minor effort, but to me, it meant a lot." Du Feng sighed and said, "I'm dull, failing to learn anything since childhood. My grandfather has such a great reputation, yet I have been nothing but an embarrassment to the family, never bringing glory to my grandfather once. You didn't see how happy my grandfather looked when I passed the first round; never in my life have I made him this happy!"

Saying this, Du Feng's tone choked up a bit, showing that he was indeed very excited in his heart.

Ye Qing glanced at Du Feng. Although Du Feng lacked potential, he valued loyalty and gratitude, and most importantly, he was exceptionally filial, better than many others.

"No matter what, it was thanks to you and Brother Li this time. I will remember your kindness!" Du Feng patted Ye Qing's shoulder and said, "If you need anything in the future, just let me know. The Du Family may not be much, but has some influence on the Yangtze River."

Ye Qing smiled faintly, ready to tell Du Feng not to be so polite, but Nalan Tianyu sneered sarcastically from across, "Hmph, talking so nicely, but didn't you cheat to pass the first round? Hmph, don't think that joining forces means you can play tricks behind others' backs. Without true skill, you won't get far in the end."

Du Feng immediately frowned, glanced at Nalan Tianyu, opened his mouth but didn't speak. He dared to challenge Bei Shisan because Northern Martial Zen's strength was comparable to his grandfather's. However, Nalan Tianyu was different, his grandfather was one of the Five Uniques. If he offends the Nalan Family, his grandfather wouldn't be a match for Prince Nalan.

Ye Qing also pretended not to hear, knowing Nalan Tianyu's character was sharp and mean, and extremely narcissistic. After Ye Qing made him suffer several losses last time in the Capital, he had restrained himself a bit. But evidently, a leopard never changes its spots, as his speech remained unchanged.

"Wan Yan, did you see?" Nalan Tianyu turned to Wan Yan and laughed, "A guilty conscience is like this, struck at the sore spot, suddenly left speechless, right? Hahaha, so you see, one shouldn't be too high-profile. Although you passed the first round, can you pass the second?"

Wan Yan smiled slightly, being a smart person, unwilling to get involved in such matters, so kept silent. Du Feng on the other hand couldn't help it, wanted to counterattack but was stopped by Ye Qing's hand.

"Don't bother with him," Ye Qing said calmly. "The second project may start anytime, replenish energy and prepare for the upcoming project is what's important."

"You're right!" Du Feng nodded, sat beside Ye Qing, ignoring Nalan Tianyu's words.

Nalan Tianyu muttered a few more times, but no one responded, letting him feel meaningless. Finally, he too closed his mouth.

After waiting for about two hours, the door finally opened, and Shen Da came in from outside.

"The second project has been decided," Shen Da looked at the five people and said, "On the mountain behind the Shen Family, three wooden plaques are hidden, each inscribed with the word 'Shen'. Anyone who retrieves any one of these wooden plaques and comes down the mountain will be considered as having passed the second project. So, a maximum of three people can pass the second round!"

Everyone looked at each other in surprise, was this the conclusion reached by the elders after such a long discussion? What is this, a treasure hunt on the mountain?

"How big are the wooden plaques?" Wan Yan asked, "Are there any clues? It's a big mountain, finding three plaques without clues isn't easy."

"Of course, there are clues," Shen Da said. "Each plaque's location is guided by a map, meaning there are three maps in total. However, the maps are not complete; each is divided into three parts, placed in different locations. Only when you gather all parts of a complete map can you correctly locate the hidden wooden plaques. If the three map fragments cannot be pieced together into a complete map, they have no effect."

"Isn't this too difficult?" Nalan Tianyu blinked and said, "These map fragments seem hard to find; when will they be pieced together completely?"

"The map fragments are not hard to find, all are placed on the necessary paths up the mountain. However, everyone needs to pay attention and observe, otherwise, they might miss them," Shen Da said. "Does anyone have questions?"

"Are there any other rules?" Wan Yan suddenly asked.

Shen Da looked at him and slowly shook his head, Wan Yan smiled slightly. With no other rules, it meant they could actually rob others' items on the mountain, which made it much more convenient. At the very least, Wan Yan had confidence in his own strength.

Hearing this, Ye Qing's heart moved, suddenly finding something wrong with this matter. Was this really the project discussed by the elders together? Not to mention what this project tests, honestly, it said it tests people's meticulousness and observation skills. But essentially, such a large mountain finding a few map fragments mostly involved luck. Moreover, the project had no other rules, which made Ye Qing doubt even more.

Now only five people remained, Li Qianqiu's strength was unknown, the other three's strength Ye Qing was aware of. Among them, Wan Yan had the strongest ability, followed by Nalan Tianyu, and Du Feng had the weakest. In this scenario, how could Prince Nalan and Du Longwang agree to such a project? Even if Nalan Tianyu and Du Longwang, through luck, found wooden plaques, they wouldn't be a match for the others, who could snatch the wooden plaques away, leaving them emptied-handed.

With Prince Nalan's strength and influence, he certainly wouldn't allow such a thing to happen, as this project didn't benefit his grandson at all. However, they came up with such a project together, making Ye Qing start to speculate what Prince Nalan's plan really was. Was there another mechanism allowing Nalan Tianyu to surely win, thus making him agree to this project?

"If there's no doubt from anyone, let's begin," Shen Da said, opening the back door and adding, "Please follow me."

Wan Yan glanced at Ye Qing and Du Feng, a cold smile crossed his lips, and he was the first to step out of the room. Li Qianqiu followed closely, with Nalan Tianyu trailing behind, the three of them left the room first.

"Brother Ye, let's head out too," Du Feng said to Ye Qing, appearing quite calm.

"Aren't you worried?" Ye Qing asked in surprise.

"Worried about what?" Du Feng smiled and said, "Passing the first round was tough enough for me, and I'm quite satisfied. I never even considered the second round. Anyway, the result will be the same, I'm just going through the motions; winning or losing isn't that important, so there's no worry."

Du Feng said, patting Ye Qing's shoulder, "Brother Ye, you must pass this round. I've heard about your affairs with Miss Shen, and I hope the one who finally marries Miss Shen is you!"