Chapter 3

"Eight hundred vassal states have a total of thirteen thousand two hundred and seventy-three Wu Wangs? The Divine Martial Continent's Purple Profound Imperial Dynasty has forty-one thousand three hundred and two Wu Wangs? How does he know such detailed information?"

Wang Mei's eyelids suddenly twitched, her heart shocked.

Knowing that Canglan Country has thirteen Wu Wangs is not surprising.

As long as one is a citizen of Canglan Country, they basically know these thirteen Wu Wangs and can recount some of their famous deeds.

She originally planned to choose a Wu Wang from a neighboring country, which would be a bit challenging, and have Ye Fan recite it.

However, how does Ye Fan know how many Wu Wangs there are in the eight hundred vassal states and how many in the Purple Profound Imperial Dynasty?

This is a major statistical secret of the human race, which would never be easily leaked.

Otherwise, it would be easy for the beast race to take advantage.

Moreover, even as an adventurer, it would be impossible to memorize the biographies of over forty thousand Wu Wangs of the Purple Profound Imperial Dynasty!

"Xu Ling Wu Wang! Tell me about the life and deeds of this Wu Wang."

Wang Mei quickly changed the topic.

"There are a total of three Xu Ling Wu Wangs in the history of the Divine Martial Continent. One of them belongs to the Purple Profound Imperial Dynasty and died three thousand years ago, with little fame, and few people know about him.

Another one is in the Proud Fang Vassal State, who died five hundred years ago in a battle. He was the last Wu Wang of the Proud Fang Vassal State, and with his death, the Proud Fang Vassal State also fell.

The last one belongs to the Dongfeng Vassal State and is still alive. This Xu Ling Wu Wang was born in the year 11,752 of the Purple Profound Calendar, and is now 348 years old. He studied at the national-level martial academy of Dongfeng Country in his youth, excelling in martial arts, and was once hailed as a genius in martial arts."

Ye Fan spoke fluently.

His mental energy infused into the golden book in his consciousness, quickly flipping through the pages and searching for all the information related to Xu Ling Wu Wang in detail.

"Alright, you know this much! Sit down!"

Wang Mei quickly interrupted, her palms sweating.

She only wanted to test the Xu Ling Wu Wang of Dongfeng Country.

She didn't expect Ye Fan to dig out the other two Xu Ling Wu Wangs she didn't know and describe them clearly, far exceeding her knowledge.

If she continued to test him, and Ye Fan revealed some knowledge she didn't know, it would make her, a genuine adventurer, feel embarrassed.

"How does Ye Fan know these things so well? His knowledge is too profound!"

"Could it be that he specializes in the adventurer field? He has just been hiding his talent in this area and not showing off?"

"Very likely! His martial arts talent is too weak, with no hope of achieving anything in the martial arts field. He can only put in a lot of effort in the adventurer field. The adventurer field values broad knowledge and has lower requirements for martial arts. As long as he can memorize a large amount of knowledge, he can become an adventurer."

"Yes, it must be this way!"

The twenty or so young martial students in the classroom were all stunned by Ye Fan's performance and began to whisper and speculate.

They all looked at Ye Fan with shock and surprise.

A small martial student who was originally at the bottom of the class suddenly displayed astonishing talent in the adventurer field, which they found hard to accept.

"Hmph, you're overestimating this waste!"

Zhao Xing looked at Ye Fan with disdain, slowly stood up, and said to the surrounding martial students with a slight smile:

"How could this waste have such a good memory to remember the biographies of tens of thousands of Wu Wangs? Even an adventurer master might not be able to do that, let alone him, who isn't even an adventurer apprentice.

I think he just read a few obscure books about biographies recently and happened to encounter the question posed by Instructor Wang, so he deliberately showed off.

If it were another question, he definitely wouldn't be able to answer. Although I'm not majoring in the adventurer field, my knowledge is far more extensive and profound than his."

Some martial students were stunned, finding Zhao Xing's words reasonable, and nodded in agreement.

"Yes!"

"This is very likely. The higher one's martial arts cultivation, the better their memory. He is so weak, how much information can he remember?"

"Only extremely experienced adventurer masters might have such broad knowledge and a general understanding of many Wu Wangs. We young martial students, even if we read the information about hundreds or thousands of Wu Wangs, would quickly forget it."

Ye Fan couldn't help but look at Zhao Xing, feeling a deep sense of disgust.

Indeed, he is a very ordinary small martial student, inferior to Zhao Xing, a noble's son, in every aspect, and never provokes such noble's sons.

But Zhao Xing doesn't need to target him in everything.

Zhao Xing's constant suppression is clearly aimed at crushing him completely, leaving him no chance to stand up.

If left unchecked, Zhao Xing would become even more arrogant and overbearing.

"Oh, is that so! I know more than just this. Zhao Xing, are you sure your knowledge is more extensive and profound than mine?"

Ye Fan took a deep breath, a hint of cold sarcasm flashing in his calm eyes.

He decided to face Zhao Xing's provocation head-on and no longer back down.

"Ye Fan is too bold, daring to challenge Zhao Xing, the strongest martial student in our class."

The other young martial students in the class all gasped in shock.

"Hey, you're really不服气 (unwilling to admit defeat)!"

Zhao Xing laughed arrogantly and said loudly, "Then let's see who has more profound knowledge! We'll take turns asking questions, one each, and see who can't answer.

I'll let you go first. If I can't answer, I'll admit defeat. Ha ha ha, come on! Let me see your skills!"

Zhao Xing has the right to be arrogant because he is not only the strongest martial student in the class but also excels in the other eight fields, far surpassing Ye Fan.

Zhao Xing has read many more adventurer books than Ye Fan. The Zhao family's library is filled with hundreds of bookshelves, far beyond what a poor boy could compare to.

Ye Fan took a deep breath and was about to think of a difficult knowledge question.

Suddenly, he noticed that Zhao Xing's right middle finger was involuntarily twitching slightly, almost every breath.

Ye Fan's mind flashed with an idea.

Could it be that Zhao Xing's practice has a problem?

Zhao Xing practices the "Slanting Moon Thirteen Swords"! This is an intermediate martial technique that Ye Fan has never practiced.

In the past, Ye Fan wouldn't have noticed such a small detail.

Because he had no idea why Zhao Xing's middle finger would twitch slightly and knew nothing about the "Slanting Moon Thirteen Swords."

But now, he might know the reason.

Thinking of this, the "Shang" in Ye Fan's consciousness, supported by his mental energy, quickly "rustled" through the pages.

The book not only contains vast knowledge but also records numerous martial arts and knowledge from various fields.

Ye Fan quickly found all the information about the "Slanting Moon Thirteen Swords," including some unexpected situations that might occur during practice.

"Zhao Xing! The slight, uncontrollable twitching of your middle finger is a sign of overexertion in the seventh move, 'Chasing the Moon with Cold Stars,' of the 'Slanting Moon Thirteen Swords,' causing your middle finger to cramp.

Once you perform the seventh move, you can only attack and cannot stop. The subsequent moves will be completely out of control.

Now, I'll ask a simple question. In tomorrow's Luyang Prefecture's Ten Academies Joint Exam, on the martial arts field, what place will your crippled 'Slanting Moon Thirteen Swords' rank?"

Ye Fan narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhao Xing, a meaningful smile on his face.

The best way to challenge an opponent is to stab them in the heart.

If you dare to show off in front of me, don't blame me for being ruthless.

"Uh!"

Zhao Xing's arrogant laughter abruptly stopped, like a crazily cackling duck suddenly having its neck tightly squeezed. His face turned red, but he couldn't make a sound.

He stared at Ye Fan in disbelief.

The injury to his middle finger from practicing sword techniques, leading to problems with his sword skills, was his greatest secret, which he never wanted anyone to know.

If it were revealed, it could cause significant damage to him during the crucial exam tomorrow.

But now, it was exposed by Ye Fan in front of everyone.

This was like a sudden, fatal blow to him.

"Finished! If my competitors know this obvious weakness, they will surely seize it and spread it to attack me! My exam ranking will definitely plummet. What should I do!"

Zhao Xing's body swayed, his face drained of color. Thinking of the serious consequences, he felt dizzy and almost fell, sitting down in his seat.

He now had no interest in causing trouble for Ye Fan but was terrified of the martial arts exam tomorrow.

He was a collateral branch of the Zhao family, and if he failed this crucial exam, his position in the Zhao family would be completely lost.

Seeing Ye Fan speak so confidently, Zhao Xing's expression changed dramatically, and all the martial students in the class were stunned, looking at Ye Fan with disbelief and shock.

"How could Ye Fan see through Zhao Xing's secret so easily?"

"The 'Slanting Moon Thirteen Swords' is an intermediate martial technique, and only Zhao Xing in the class practices it. Others have never practiced it, let alone know about its problems. How does Ye Fan know?"

"Zhao Xing only had a slight twitch in his middle finger, such a small issue, and Ye Fan could deduce that his sword skills had problems! Is Ye Fan just making it up?"

"It must be true. Look at Zhao Xing, pale and terrified. Ye Fan must have hit a nerve! Once this spreads, Zhao Xing will definitely suffer in tomorrow's martial arts exam, and others will take advantage of it."

"What terrifying insight Ye Fan has!"

"Insight is one of the essential talents of an adventurer. It seems Ye Fan has indeed put a lot of effort into the adventurer field!"

"Not just that!"

"Ye Fan must have a deep understanding of the 'Slanting Moon Thirteen Swords' to make such an observation. This shows that Ye Fan's knowledge of martial arts is not as weak as we thought."

The martial students in the class were shocked and discussed the matter.

Today was too shocking for them. In their last class at Nanchen Martial Academy, they witnessed Ye Fan's incredible performance, which left them in awe.

They couldn't help but feel extremely sympathetic and pity for Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing had a good chance of being admitted to Luyang Prefecture Academy as a top martial arts student. Now, although he might still be admitted, he would likely rank very low and be just another ordinary student.

Luyang Prefecture Academy would likely not pay much attention to students who rank low, and the resources allocated to them would be much less, leading to Zhao Xing falling further behind.

Zhao Xing's seatmate, Jiang Weiyun, one of Zhao Xing's loyal followers, suddenly stood up, pointed at Ye Fan's nose, and shouted angrily,

"Ye Fan! You despicable person, how dare you publicly reveal Zhao Xing's privacy! Apologize to Zhao Xing immediately, or I'll make you pay!"

"Jiang Weiyun, when Zhao Xing was insulting me and suppressing me, where were you? If Zhao Xing were to publicly humiliate me now, you would probably just clap and cheer on the side!"

Ye Fan coldly retorted.

Jiang Weiyun and Zhao Xing were always in cahoots. Jiang Weiyun jumping out now was clearly to take revenge for Zhao Xing.

"I don't care about the rest. You must kneel and apologize to Zhao Xing right now and admit your mistake! Otherwise, after class, I'll make you pay."

Jiang Weiyun snorted and said sternly.

Even as Zhao Xing's follower, his status in the class was far above Ye Fan's. He wouldn't tolerate Ye Fan's provocation. A beating after class would be enough to leave Ye Fan half-dead.

"No need to wait until after class. Before you make me pay, I'll make you look bad right now!"

Ye Fan, who was usually the most submissive in the class, a small martial student everyone could bully, was now angry.

Why should he endure all this humiliation?

From now on, he would no longer let anyone ride roughshod over him.

Ye Fan glanced at Jiang Weiyun's finger, a mocking smile on his face:

"Jiang Weiyun, there's still a bit of yellow powder in your right fingernail. You must have been forging a heavy sword using sulfur ore.

This mineral has only a very weak neurotoxicity, which is not obvious, so alchemists don't classify it as a toxic mineral. They only require alchemists to clean their hands thoroughly after each use.

Otherwise, over the years, it will erode the nerves in your fingers, causing you to lose sensitivity.

You clearly didn't take the alchemy instructor's advice seriously. The yellowish skin on your right fingers indicates that the toxicity has penetrated the skin and reached the nerve endings, reducing your nerve sensitivity by twenty percent.

For someone aspiring to be an alchemist, this is a fatal blow! Do you think the Alchemy Guild would accept someone with such impaired nerve sensitivity as an alchemy apprentice?"