September 7.

The square was bustling with people when the sun first rose, and now it's cold, but it's very popular and comfortable.

However, these chaos and clamours were firmly confined to a few feet away from the ring, and the huge space in the middle of the square was separated by nearly a hundred saber patrols, which seemed solemn and quiet.

Five huge rings lie silently in the morning air, stirring up the anticipation in people's hearts with those eyes that come from time to time.

In the next four days, only one hundred and twenty-eight people will be able to climb them.

Even though the whole city is happy, but this is not just an entertaining and powerful performance, the "Golden Autumn Martial Competition" is listed in the Shenjing Military Department Collection, which is a serious process for the selection of martial arts talents in the Tang Dynasty, which determines the qualification to participate in the highest martial arts examination in the name of "Bo Wang", and the winner will compete with the heroes of all directions in the city in the center of the world.

Only one person can receive this honor.

At this time, the viewing platform around the square was gradually full, and the back was better, but the first three rows were reserved for the relatives and friends of the reference, and there was no space at this time.

Master Huang and the children were sitting due west, still some processes before the beginning, and Pei Ye was cross-legged by his side.

From here, the view is excellent, with an unobstructed view of the five rings, each with crossbars on top of each other.

"That's for roll call." Pei Ye squandered the knowledge he heard from the girl, "When the time comes, someone will fly up with a big red cloth roll, and every enemy will be written on it." ”

Master Huang nodded: "It's only going to be one round today, right?" ”

"Yes, but there are sixty-four to watch." Pei Ye put his hand on his ankle.

Before Master Huang could speak, a child from behind suddenly pounced on his whole body and called, "Brother Pei Li!" Why don't you start yet! ”

Pei Ye grabbed him and said with a smile: "Don't worry, you haven't started the distribution of notes yet." ”

The other hand helped him hold the tiger head hat on his head.

Since that day when they entered the city in Cuiyu's carriage, these children have really been playing a little crazy for the past two days. first ate a beautiful banquet prepared by Cui Yu, and then one person got a small wooden sword, and all night around the girl to learn how to play the finger sword.

This kind of skillful and joyful game is really addictive, although most children can only have one "Open Door Sword", and they are all those styles when they fight back and forth, and they can't break each other's moves at all, but they still jingle until late at night.

The next day, Pei Ye talked to several masters in the house about "Cicada Sword", and Li Yiqing led a group of children to go shopping on the street, and when they came back, they all changed into new clothes, one of them had a small hat of different styles on their heads, and they all held one or two toys in their hands.

Pei Ye and several masters stood up in shock, and the children also blushed and bowed their heads knowing that something was wrong, only the girl smiled very happily.

In the afternoon, the girl didn't know where to go crazy with the children, and when she came back this time, she didn't bring anything more, but held hands and raised her head to take a bite of "Sister Ethereal".

The Cuiyu disciples, who have rarely seen newcomers for a long time, also like these children with different personalities, and they feel like there are suddenly many more junior brothers and sisters, and they are still playing with them in the courtyard at night, which is really noisy.

But the children's energy seems to be endless without true qi, and they got up earlier than Pei Li this morning, and they had already rushed into Pei Li's house before dawn and shouted, pulling him to get up and watch Wubi.

It was a month of anticipation, and the children were unbridled in their excitement.

So they arrived early in the morning, and now they have been waiting for almost an hour, and the children have stretched their necks one by one to look at it for a long time, and the first three rows have just been filled.

The Cuiyu disciples in Tsing Yi and the sword sat in the east stand, in fact, there were only more than twenty people, but nearly fifty seats around were given up, and the girl sat quietly in the middle, and the lost jade sword was placed on her lap.

The white bamboo pavilion is a water of white clothes, sitting in the north, their most prominent feature is that there is no blade on the body at all, but there are many people like to hold a fan, like a group of scholars who come to enjoy the scenery.

The position in the middle of the south was still empty, but there were already some people sitting next to it, and five men in strong suits were sitting in the middle, obviously waiting for comparison.

It is difficult for these people to recognize the way at a glance, but the girl also told Pei Ye - just looking at the four of them with knives, you can know that most of them are the quota of Shenxian County, because in addition to Xu Gu Zhang's family, there is only a famous knife restaurant in Shenxian County, and the owner of the museum is an old knife master of seven lives, who is highly famous, so that the local knife style is extremely prosperous.

Then there was Zheng Shou, they were sitting next to Cui Yu, Xiao Qiu was sitting in the middle, and next to him was a middle-aged man with wheat skin, long hair and short beard, and a straight and gentle face. He and Xiao Qiu talked from time to time, holding a knife in one hand and an empty sleeve in the other.

Xu Gu was on the side of Baizhu Pavilion, and the Zhang family looked obviously taller than others, and Zhang Junxue was a little out of sight when he sat in it. Xu Gu also has more than 10 places this year, and half of them are carrying the Zhang family's unique horse slashing knife.

However, there doesn't seem to be much harmony in these Zhang families, and Zhang Junxue hasn't come to Cuiyu's side to meet for several days.

There are also some other groups of people who help the old and the young, all of them are places in the sect or county, and even if only one or two people are selected, there is always a group of relatives and friends to cheer and shout - by the way, rub the front row.

As for those who sit alone or two or three people together, they are Jianghu guests, most of them do not have the lively and happy of the locals, a seat is occupied by a place, there are few words and expressions, and knives or swords are habitually kept at hand.

Some of them follow the path of a business, but more often they come through the "comparison of the previous one", and the cheers of strangers in a foreign land do not excite them very much, and most of them just want to get a good place and grab a reward.

Pei Ye looked around like this, looking at several friends in his eyes, and further above, Qi Zhaohua, Fang Jidao, Zhang Dingyun and a group of scholars and academicians were sitting together.

Pei Ye waved at them and said hello, and the child behind him sighed softly: "When can I start?" ”

Before Pei Ye could answer, Zhang Xiaoyan beside him suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed: "Brother Pei Li, there are a lot of people over there." ”

Pei Ye looked at it according to his words, but it was the southern stand.

It is indeed a lot of people, about thirty or forty, and their clothing is uniform but different colors, divided into brown, blue, white, blue, etc., a total of seven kinds.

There is only a touch of blackness.

The tall man headed by him looked like ice, with high eyes and strides, in the Bowang Garden Gate, the Singing Danhui, the Guanlu Terrace, and even today's Golden Autumn Martial Arts Competition, this person has always been such a pace.

He was still wearing a dark military uniform, his black coat was as clean as washing, and he held a crimson sword with a scabbard in his hand.

Zhang Xiaoyan was caught at a glance: "Brother Pei Li, who is this person?" ”

"Shang Huaitong of Qijiao Cave."

"Oh." Zhang Xiaoyan looked at these people and sat down.

He has already gotten what he wants in the past two days, and he has seen Li Shaozhang, Yang Gongzi, Zhang Gongzi and other powerful people, but it is the first time he has seen this person who is the first to be the first and everyone is hostile, and he only feels that this tall and straight man does have a "first" temperament.

Just when the child behind him was about to annoy Pei Li's ears for the third time, a shout finally came from the field.

"Halfway through the hour, the warrior will come to the stage to draw notes!"

Pei Ye got up when he heard this, and said with a smile: "I won't come back after I finish drawing the note, and the martial arts competition will start, and it's going to be soon." ”

Zhang Xiaoyan raised his head: "Brother Pei Li, come on!" ”

The children in the back followed one after another: "Brother Pei Li, come on!" ”

Pei Ye smiled and raised his sword: "Wait and see." ”

With that, he turned around and walked under the stands.

Before stepping down the steps, the boy glanced at the audience, which was very different from the scene when he first arrived.

The stands are almost completely full, and there are still people coming in, becoming one of the crowds. Outside, the whole square was surrounded by silk and flowers, and one hundred and twenty-eight colored satins crossed the whole square from the sky.

Below, the person with Gao Guanbo is Bai Sibing, who is standing quietly with a golden book in his hand, which is what the Golden Autumn Martial Arts is different from other ordinary martial arts - the edict of the Tang Dynasty Military Department.

Behind him, there are twenty-four people who sacrifice to the heavens, just waiting to worship the heavens and pay homage to the stars. Zhao Zhang led all the officials to stand aside and wait.

On the stands on all sides, 10,000 people sat in the eyes, and one hundred and twenty-eight people slowly walked down from all directions to this high platform built for them, each with different beliefs.

Who is the Lord? Look at it today. Fight the sword and lift the body under the martial arts.

——

The warriors who came down did not gather in one place, but flowed to the four rings separately, and throughout the Golden Autumn Martial Arts Competition, the warriors would be bound to the ring they had chosen for the first time, and they would join together.

Of course, it is not a random choice, because the state government wants to ensure that the number of people in each ring is equal, so it always has to be adjusted in the end.

There are also a few people who can't choose by themselves from the beginning, and the state government has already divided them from the beginning.

Shang Huaitong, a beat.

Pei Li, two pounds.

Li Yiqing, three beats.

Yang Yan, Zhang Mozhu, four beats.

When Pei Ye walked down, most of the note had been drawn, and next to the box stood a young man with a sword, staring at the note in his hand in a daze.

Pei Ye recognized him, he was the only one of the five people in the county who had just used the sword. The players in the same county naturally tried to avoid it as much as possible, so at this time, he had no companions in the second fight.

Hearing the movement, the young man raised his head and looked at the young man in front of him in a daze. Obviously, he also recognized Pei Li.

"Pei, Pei Gongzi!" This person raised his eyebrows and said in surprise, "You're in the second fight!" On the day of the Luzhou Poetry Meeting, I was sitting next to the Cuiyu Gate! ”

"Ah, I'm glad to be happy, I wish you good results!" Pei Ye arched his hand, smiled and put his hand into the notebox, and took out a note.

"Fortunately, Gongzi Yuyan." The young man hurriedly thanked him, and looked at Pei Ye's note and probed slightly, "What is the first time Pei Gongzi?" ”

Pei Ye unfolded it, raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "It's the first scene-what about you, brother?" ”

But before meeting, the young man's smile had frozen on his face.

He stiffly poured the note on his hand towards Pei Li: "What a coincidence. Ha ha. ”

It's exactly the word "one".

——

At that time, a loud bang sounded over the audience.

Suddenly there was silence.

Bai Sibing stood on the platform, read out the golden book to the audience, and set the tone of this meeting of "choosing a building for the country and extracting real talents", and then assassinated Shi Zhao Zhang to lead the officials to worship Kuixing, kill and sacrifice, and perform singing and dancing.

All the ceremonies were done, and everyone withdrew.

Then, after a moment of silence, the bells and drums rang violently, ringing for miles. One hundred and twenty-eight egrets flew high, and thousands of flowers rained down. Until another Qingyue ding, the bell and drum stopped in a flash.

After the sudden fall, the warrior flew to the top of the ring with a red silk roll, shaking the crimson curtain down.

With the sound of the roll call, the huge name catches everyone's eye.

"Bowangzhou Golden Autumn Martial Arts Cultivation Competition! The first game of the first round! "The singing celebrity is really full of spirit, and the voice reaches the audience.

"One beat: Shang Huaitong, Jian Zimin! Second beat: Pei Li, Feng Guangsui! Three beats: Niu Zhaoke, Hua Caiyan! Four beats: Ding Zhuo, He Wenhong! ”

For the first time, Pei Ye knew what a crowd was.

In the midst of such a large number of people, there is no need to shout fiercely at all, as long as people let out a small exclamation at the same time, it is a surging sound.

Obviously, the reason for this wave at this time is the two names that have just been read.

In the opening battle, you will be able to directly see Shang Huaitong and Pei Li.

Is this really a draw for paper? Who said that the state government will not vote for the audience!

In the cheers of everyone, the crimson silk cloth was rolled up by the horizontal wood, and at the same time as the curtain was closed, on the first beat, Shang Huaitong had already walked on the high platform first, and Jian Zimin, who came up on the other side, had a slightly pale face, and he was a disciple of Baizhu Pavilion.

Jian Zimin took a deep breath and hugged his sword and saluted.

Shang Huaitong didn't take off his big hat, and after he came to the stage, he still kept walking, and walked straight forward with his sword on his expressionless face, completely ignoring Jian Zimin's salute.

Jian Zimin's face turned paler.

Before today's opening, everyone already knew that the Qijiao Cave in the middle of the day had declined overnight, and the tepid Baizhu Pavilion had won a rich victory.

Everyone also expected the high-spirited looks of the Baizhu disciples and the gray eyebrows of the Qijiao disciples, but now it seems that everything has never changed.

The weight of the collapse of the sect did not affect the man's self-confidence in the slightest, because his self-confidence never came from the so-called lintel.

Tens of thousands of people are cheering for such a confident rudeness - Qijiao Baizhu has long been an enemy now! Fight to win, why bother with etiquette!

The man's outstretched blade was like a pitch-black eagle's wings, and the closer the eagle got, the more Jian Zimin felt like a lame rabbit waiting to be caught.

Not only was he overwhelmed by the man's heavy spirit in such a high-profile scene, but even the sword itself, he didn't know how to use the sword at this time.

For the first time, he realized the true weight of the words "No. 1 Sword Talent" of Bowang.

The man's crimson long sword was held in his hand like that, and it didn't even come out of the sheath, but Jian Zimin felt that his sword had been seen through everything. Those more than ten years of hard work are useless, and they can't sword in front of such a swordsman.

Jian Zimin gritted his teeth - he couldn't be defeated without a fight after all.

The short blade flashed, and the cold light came out of the sheath, this was the strongest style he mastered in "Cutting Bamboo Sword", and before the martial arts competition began, he had imagined no less than ten routines for how to use this style to turn defeat into victory.

Now it can only be used as a straw to tie up the last bit of dignity.

However, even this straw was cut off, Shang Huaitong did not give him a chance to use this style, and at the same time that his sword blade was just unsheathed, the man had flashed in front of him, and under the cold eyes of the eagle was a vicious smile.

The next moment, a sharp pain in his chest swept through his body, and his body flew up stiffly—only to feel that his sword blade must have been pressed into the flesh and bones.

Of course, this blow is not fatal, and it will not be disabled, but there is no need to think about defeating it again, and most of them will leave a lifelong disease.

Shang Huaitong's large sword that was lifted by the force fell, covering the crimson long sword. He didn't draw his sword, but only whipped the man out of the ring with a single blow that he didn't bother to know the name.

In the cheers of the tsunami after a moment of silence, Shang Huaitong did not step down, he stood calmly in place, and his sword turned to the side.

(End of chapter)