Urban Martial Saint

Huang Yidao previously suffered at the hands of the Joyous Monk, so he certainly didn’t dare to challenge him again. He secretly glanced at Prince Nalan, but Prince Nalan didn’t even look at him, leaving him unsure of what to say.

The reason he’s been so bold is that he has a secret alliance with Prince Nalan, who would back him up. However, now that Prince Nalan hasn’t made any indication, his heart truly felt fearful, as after all, he was no match for these two monks.

”Hey, you three, can you trust me?” Shijia looked at Shen Tianjun, Helian Tiehua, and Prince Nalan, saying, ”If you trust me, we’ll begin. If not, we can discuss a new method on the spot?”

Shen Tianjun laughed and said, ”Of course I trust the master; I think there’s no need to discuss any new methods.”

Prince Nalan glanced at Helian Tiehua, who said nothing, so he also said nothing. Anyway, he was already very clear that in this marriage contest, his grandson had no hope at all, and he was lazy to stir up trouble.

”Since that’s the case, let’s begin!” Shijia turned to look at the three, Ye Qing, Li Qianqiu, and Nalan Tianyu, saying, ”You three come over in order; each of you can touch the Heavenly Mechanism Chart for a minute. In this minute, whatever you feel, you draw it out. Ultimately, I will judge you, and the winner will become the son-in-law of the Shen Family. Alright, without further ado, who’s first?”

”I’ll go first!” Nalan Tianyu stepped out first, proactively for once. However, everyone wasn’t foolish and naturally understood. In such situations, whoever goes first certainly gains some advantage. After all, the one who goes first has more time to think, and the result might be better.

Ye Qing and Li Qianqiu did not argue with him. With everyone watching, Nalan Tianyu went straight to the table in the middle of the hall.

”Begin.” Shijia called out, but Nalan Tianyu waved his hand immediately, saying, ”Wait a moment, I’m not ready.”

”Why are you so bothersome?” Shijia pouted, but indeed did not rush Nalan Tianyu.

Nalan Tianyu approached the Heavenly Mechanism Chart, carefully observing the patterns around it. The Heavenly Mechanism Chart was actually a turtle shell engraved with many patterns. Standing beside it, one could clearly see the patterns on the turtle shell. However, these patterns now seemed very complex and without any discernible order, neither resembling a design nor resembling text, looking like a complete mess.

Nalan Tianyu was very clever; the reason he asked to wait was to first clearly observe the patterns on the turtle shell. This way, when he draws later, just the visible patterns would be numerous, right? Could it not be drawn out then?

Shijia waited beside him. Seeing Nalan Tianyu couldn’t stop observing, he couldn’t help but ask, ”Are you ready?”

”Almost, almost.” Nalan Tianyu waved his hand repeatedly, stalling for time, watching for nearly fifteen minutes before nodding, ”Alright, you can start.”

”Let’s begin.” Shijia said directly.

Nalan Tianyu immediately reached to touch the turtle shell. He had already memorized the patterns surrounding the turtle shell; now he wanted to feel the situation with the patterns. However, as soon as his hand touched the turtle shell, his face suddenly changed, like something unbelievable had happened. He carefully touched the turtle shell, then looked at it again, his face full of surprise as he picked up the turtle shell and touched it all over, his expression even more astonished.

”This... how come there’s no pattern at all?” Finally, Nalan Tianyu couldn’t help but shout.

”Ha, after so much looking, in the end, it’s still of no use, right?” Shijia said, ”Didn’t I just tell you, those with mediocre aptitude can’t touch the patterns? Don’t think that just because you’ve memorized so many patterns, you can cheat. Let me be frank, it’s useless; if the Heavenly Mechanism Chart were that simple, how could it have been passed down for so many years?”

Shijia’s words made Nalan Tianyu’s face turn red; he widened his eyes and gritted his teeth, saying, ”Nonsense, who says my aptitude is mediocre? If my aptitude were mediocre, how could I have mastered such good martial arts?”

”Cut it out; you call your martial arts good?” Shijia pouted, saying, ”Nalan Jingwei taught you all the martial arts, personally taught you every day, and used so many things to change your constitution. Even if you replaced others, they’d be no less than Bei Shisan and Wan Yan now. You, on the other hand, with so many people present, how many can you defeat? Is this considered strong?”

”I...” Nalan Tianyu opened his mouth wide, but couldn’t say a word. In the Capital, no one ever fought him; he faced those spoiled children, so his skills were naturally unbeatable. However, coming to Xi Hang, he realized his skills weren’t worth mentioning. With Shijia saying this, he couldn’t even find a word to retort.

”Alright, hurry up and get down, don’t embarrass yourself here.” Shijia waved his hand, saying, ”You don’t care about your face, but your grandfather does. With your kind, if not for the good family name, you’d probably be fated to clean toilets in the Nalan Family.”

Hearing these words, Prince Nalan’s face suddenly changed, staring at Shijia in horror, his whole body visibly stunned.

The others didn’t pay much attention to this sentence, nor did anyone notice Prince Nalan’s expression, so they naturally didn’t know how shocked Prince Nalan was at that moment.

Prince Nalan’s panic lasted only for a moment. He immediately regained his composure and waved his hand, saying, ”Tian Yu, come down.”

Since grandpa said so, although Nalan Tianyu was somewhat dissatisfied in his heart, he didn’t dare to say anything more and could only walk over to Prince Nalan in exasperation. In this way, he was directly eliminated, leaving only Ye Qing and Li Qianqiu.

Looking at Li Qianqiu, Shen Tianjun was actually a bit worried in his heart. He had never heard of Li Qianqiu’s name before and didn’t know that Helian Tiehua actually had such a disciple. Moreover, Li Qianqiu’s strength was clearly well above Chen San’s. Seeing Li Qianqiu defeat Wan Yanming yesterday, Shen Tianjun vaguely felt that Li Qianqiu’s strength might even be comparable to that of Lu Zian who had appeared earlier.

Although Ye Qing’s aptitude was very good, the fact that Li Qianqiu could train to such a level of strength was enough to show that his aptitude was also top-notch. In this way, in terms of aptitude competition, it was really unclear who would win between him and Ye Qing.

”Which one of you will go first?” Shijia asked Ye Qing and Li Qianqiu with an easygoing demeanor, waving them over.

Ye Qing and Li Qianqiu exchanged a glance, both making a gesture of invitation at the same time, intending to let the other go first. Truth be told, Ye Qing had a favorable impression of Li Qianqiu. Although he was not one for smiles, he was very righteous, similar in many ways to Ye Qing.

What impression Ye Qing had of Li Qianqiu, was exactly the impression Li Qianqiu had of Ye Qing. Thus, both wanted to offer the honor of going first to the other. Seeing the same action, both were initially taken aback and then laughed out loud simultaneously.

”Brother Li, how about we play rock-paper-scissors?” Ye Qing suggested with a smile, ”The winner goes first, how about it?”

”Alright!” Li Qianqiu agreed readily, without the slightest hesitation.

The two played a quick round of rock-paper-scissors on the spot, and as luck would have it, Ye Qing won.

”Brother Li, I’ll go first.” Ye Qing said with a soft smile, and amidst everyone’s gazes, he walked to the table and approached the Heavenly Mechanism Chart.

All eyes were fixed on Ye Qing. Just now, when Nalan Tianyu touched the Heavenly Mechanism Chart, he exclaimed in surprise that there were no patterns. However, everyone could see that the Turtle Shell was covered with lines, so how could it be that there were no patterns to touch? Thus, people had begun to believe Shijia’s words, believing that this Heavenly Mechanism Chart could really test a person’s aptitude.

With Ye Qing’s aptitude, would he be able to feel the patterns on the Heavenly Mechanism Chart? Everyone was watching closely, wanting to see if this Heavenly Mechanism Chart was really as magical as Shijia had claimed.

Ye Qing did not observe for as long as Nalan Tianyu had. He just briefly looked, took a deep breath, and then began to reach out and touch the Turtle Shell.

Having heard Nalan Tianyu exclaim that the Turtle Shell had no patterns, Ye Qing found it a bit strange—how could he not feel the patterns with so many of them visible? So when Ye Qing stepped up, he was inwardly drumming, unsure of what feeling the Turtle Shell would give. As he reached out, Ye Qing was indeed somewhat nervous inside.

However, when Ye Qing’s hand touched the Turtle Shell, all his nervousness and tension disappeared, replaced by an odd calmness. Ye Qing closed his eyes, placing both hands on the Turtle Shell without moving, as if he were an old monk in a meditative trance, looking extremely peculiar.

Seeing Ye Qing like this, the scene became slightly restless, and everyone was shocked. Just now, Nalan Tianyu couldn’t feel any pattern, yet Ye Qing showed this expression and manner while touching. What was going on? Could Ye Qing have felt something on the Turtle Shell?

Shijia stood by, staring at Ye Qing with wide eyes, as if trying to discern something from Ye Qing’s face. This situation continued for nearly a minute, until Ye Qing suddenly opened his eyes, lifted his hands with a calm smile, and slowly retreated to the side.

Everyone present was even more astonished. Seeing Ye Qing’s confident demeanor, had he really felt something? Could it be that this... this Turtle Shell was truly so miraculous?

Among everyone, the most surprised was Nalan Tianyu. He clearly felt just now that the Turtle Shell was smooth, nothing could be felt. Yet Ye Qing’s expression clearly indicated that he had sensed something. This only increased his frustration, making him wonder whether his own aptitude was indeed inferior to Ye Qing’s.