“YOU…” Zong Shichang was about to summon lightning to strike down his opponent, but in an instant, he lost his target.
It wasn’t that Zhao Xing ran too fast, but rather that many straw men suddenly stood up around him.
The yellow straw men blended in with the color of the earth, and with Zhao Xing covering them with some sand, they were practically undetectable!
This fellow actually buried the straw men underground like a hidden ambush!
“What’s the use of weaving so many straw men? Hmph, the Straw Man Technique is merely a trivial skill!”
“I can easily destroy it!”
Zong Shichang summoned lightning for an attack.
“Boom!”
A bolt of lightning descended from the clouds, accurately striking the straw man.
However, the result left Zong Shichang utterly astonished!
He discovered that the golden straw man only had a charred spot on its chest and did not exhibit the smoking and burning he had imagined.
“What’s going on? Can a straw man withstand heavenly lightning?”
Zong Shichang felt it was somewhat absurd.
He wasn’t skilled in the Straw Man Technique and had always looked down on such spells, thinking that weaving them was troublesome and complex. The young master Zong couldn’t engage in such delicate work.
Who would have thought that the straw men Zhao Xing crafted were completely different from any he had seen before!
“Boom! Boom!”
Several more bolts of lightning struck down, and Zong Shichang exerted a great deal of effort before finally taking down one of them.
“How many bolts of heavenly lightning can you summon?” Zhao Xing, hidden behind the straw men, looked at Zong Shichang with a half-smile.
These were merely the straw men he had placed at the edge of his territory as a warning, crudely made and not even reaching the strength of the first transformation.
The twenty Great Strength Vajras that emerged from the bamboo forest were the true guardians.
“Let’s give the young master Zong a taste of real strength.”
The twenty Great Strength Vajras surged forward.
“What? There are so many?!”
Zong Shichang was immediately taken aback.
The twenty straw men that appeared afterward were clearly not of the same caliber as the previous ones.
Each one was golden and not withered yellow, and they had a robust appearance, exuding a certain spirit.
Zong Shichang took a look; the Great Strength Vajras could leap three to four meters in a single bound. Was this the kind of mobility a straw man should possess?!
“Wind, come!”
Zong Shichang could no longer afford to attack; he first had to block these Great Strength Vajras.
Although he had already reached the Gathered Essence Fourth Level, with a strong vital Qi and considerable strength, he still didn’t dare let these straw men surround him.
The close combat ability of the Agricultural Affairs Bureau was relatively weak, and who would engage in melee like a martial artist while casting spells?
“Whoosh~”
A strong west wind blew toward the Great Strength Vajras.
Zong Shichang’s wind control technique was decent; he stirred up the sand and stones on the ground without wasting the wind power by directing it too far down.
“Clang clang clang clang clang!”
The sand and stones struck the bodies of the straw men, producing a sound like metal clashing.
It did manage to block them for a moment, but the effect was far from what Zong Shichang had anticipated.
Instead, the dust obscured his vision, and he didn’t notice that two straw men had quietly approached behind him.
“Swish swish swish swish…”
A different sound emerged from the wind.
“What the hell?!” Zong Shichang turned his head to see two vines moving on the ground, resembling agile snakes!
The grass and trees were his soldiers, entangling the straw men!
The entangling straw men, made from green vines, could extend their tendrils to ensnare enemies.
“Crack!” A vine whipped against Zong Shichang’s right arm. Although he managed to dodge, a red mark appeared on his right hand. “What kind of straw man is this?!” Zong Shichang jumped away, but before he could think, a second and third vine lashed out.
After dodging once and twice, he ultimately couldn’t evade more vines.
Zong Shichang’s hands were bound, one on the left and one on the right, pulled tightly.
He couldn’t cast spells, and thus the wind dissipated and the lightning faded.
He tried to break free but found it utterly useless; the green vine tendrils had astonishing resilience, reinforced threefold! The entangling straw men were difficult to escape from.
In the next moment, his feet were also ensnared, pulled apart left and right.
“Ahh…”
The young master Zong was forcibly split apart, performing a split in mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground.
“Hiss~”
The pain of a man, understood by those who know, left Zong Shichang unable to speak.
At this moment, the Great Strength Vajras charged over.
Without saying a word, one of them delivered a punch to Zong Shichang.
“I concede…”
Before he could even finish saying he conceded, he was directly knocked down.
“I concede!” Zong Shichang quickly shouted, fearing that Zhao Xing hadn’t heard him. He knew that the straw men executed the caster’s commands and wouldn’t stop until the goal was achieved.
Fortunately, after he fell, the Great Strength Vajras also ceased their movements.
As the dust settled, the straw men parted, revealing Zhao Xing’s leisurely figure.
“Brother Zong, how do you find it?”
“You lack martial virtue, actually sneaking up on me.” Zong Shichang maintained a calm demeanor, “I still have many secret techniques that I haven’t used. I just accidentally fell into your trap. Besides, what kind of skill is using straw men? Can farmers really engage in melee combat?”
Even lying on the ground in a position reminiscent of being torn apart by five horses, Zong Shichang still refused to admit defeat. Zhao Xing immediately retorted, “Didn’t you say there were no restrictions? How can there be a sneak attack? Moreover, isn’t the Straw Man Technique considered a farmer’s spell?”
“I…” Zong Shichang was left speechless. Even if he looked down on the Straw Man Technique, he couldn’t deny that it was indeed too lowly.
Snap! Zhao Xing snapped his fingers, causing the straw men to release Zong Shichang, then turned and walked back to his territory. “If Brother Zong hasn’t had enough, you can come again another day. I’ll be waiting for you to break my Straw Man Technique.”
Zong Shichang watched Zhao Xing turn away, immediately losing his composure, no longer maintaining that calm demeanor. He grimaced and reached down to check himself.
“Phew, luckily it’s just a scrape, it doesn’t affect me, doesn’t affect me…”
The duel between Zong Shichang and Zhao Xing came quickly and left just as swiftly.
Moreover, with the flying sand and stones during the process, only a few people could see clearly.
“His straw men are so fierce?” Wen Nanxing observed from the sidelines, “Zong Shichang couldn’t last even two rounds, only using lightning and strong winds before being defeated. It seems I need to reevaluate the Straw Man Technique.”
Wen Nanxing had also overlooked the Straw Man Technique. Over the years, the court had transmitted fewer and fewer methods regarding straw men. Initially, there had been dozens of techniques, but later only a few remained.
However, seeing Zhao Xing’s use of straw men, Wen Nanxing’s view of them changed significantly.
“Interesting, he actually excels at using straw men.” Xiao Ze’s eyes flashed with intrigue, growing more curious about Zhao Xing. “The Great Strength Vajra was mentioned in Liu Chuan’s Eighty-One Techniques; I didn’t expect he would use it… Should I ask him for guidance?”
Xiao Ze felt a strong urge; he also enjoyed using the Straw Man Technique, but his teacher only knew a few. After studying for a long time, he had only learned three techniques. Now seeing Zhao Xing, he couldn’t help but want Zhao Xing to teach him.
“Forget it, I’ll wait until the assessment is over.” Xiao Ze held back; not everyone was as reckless as Zong Shichang. The most important thing now was to achieve a good ranking in the Autumn Assessment.
On the examination platform, Gao Linong looked at Zong Shichang’s limping figure, feeling utterly disheartened. Just a moment ago, he had been gloating, thinking that Wen Nanxing and Xiao Ze had been robbed of their vital Qi by Zhao Xing. He never expected that in the next moment, it would be his disciple who suffered.
And it was in front of everyone; his proud student couldn’t even defeat a straw man. What a disgrace! Tang Wanchun and Pang Yuan, those two old fellows, must be laughing in their hearts!
Gao Linong secretly glanced over and, as expected, found the corners of his two colleagues’ mouths twitching like a waterwheel.
(End of Chapter)