Chapter 32: No Honor in Combat, Resorting to Ambush!

"You..." Zong Shichang was about to summon Thunder to strike, but in an instant, his target vanished. It wasn't that Zhao Xing ran too fast, but rather that the ground around him suddenly sprouted numerous straw men.

The yellow straw men blended almost seamlessly with the earth, and with Zhao Xing covering them with some sand, they were practically invisible! This guy actually buried straw men underground as decoys!

"What's the use of weaving so many straw men? Hmph, the Scarecrow Technique is just a petty trick!"

"I can destroy them with ease!" Zong Shichang summoned Thunder to attack.

"Boom!" A bolt of lightning descended from the clouds, striking the straw men with precision. However, the result was surprising to Zong Shichang! He found that the yellow straw men only had a charred spot on their chests, without the expected smoke and flames.

"What's going on? Can straw men withstand heavenly Thunder?" Zong Shichang felt a bit bewildered.

He wasn't skilled in the Scarecrow Technique and had always looked down on such magical arts, finding the weaving method tedious and complicated. Zong Young Master couldn't be bothered with such meticulous work.

Who would have thought Zhao Xing's straw men were completely different from those he had seen before!

"Boom! Boom!" Several more bolts of lightning struck down. Zong Shichang expended a great deal of energy to finally destroy one of them.

"How much heavenly Thunder can you summon?" Zhao Xing stood under the protection of the straw men, looking at Zong Shichang with a half-smile.

These were just the straw men he had placed at the edge of his territory for warning, crudely made, not even reaching a tenth of their full strength. The real guardians were the twenty Great Strength Golden Gangs emerging from the bamboo forest.

"Give Zong Young Master a taste of strength." The twenty Great Strength Golden Gangs advanced together.

"What? There are so many more?!" Zong Shichang was startled.

The newly appeared twenty straw men were clearly not of the same caliber as the previous ones. Each was golden and robust, not withered yellow, and their forms were strong and spirited.

Zong Shichang watched as the Great Strength Golden Gangs leaped three or four meters in a single bound. Was this the kind of mobility straw men should have?!

"Wind, come!" Zong Shichang couldn't afford to attack anymore; he first needed to hold off these Great Strength Golden Gangs.

Although he was already at the fourth stage of Gathering Essence, with vigorous energy and considerable strength, he didn't dare let these straw men surround him. Sinoong's close combat ability was relatively weak, and who playing with magical arts would engage in physical brawls like a warrior?

"Whoosh~" A strong west wind blew towards the Great Strength Golden Gangs.

Zong Shichang's wind control skills were decent, stirring up the sand and stones on the ground without letting the wind force excessively waste energy.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!" The sand and stones hit the straw men's bodies, producing a sound like metal clashing.

It did indeed hold them back for a moment, but the effect was far from what Zong Shichang had anticipated. Instead, the sand obscured his vision, and he didn't notice two straw men quietly sneaking up behind him.

"Sss, sss, sss..." Amidst the wind, a different kind of sound emerged.

"What the heck is that?!" Zong Shichang turned his head to see two vines slithering on the ground like spirit snakes!

Every Tree and Bush an Enemy Soldier, entangling straw men!

The entangling straw men, made from green vines, could extend their tendrils to trap enemies.

"Snap!" A vine whip lashed at Zong Shichang's right arm. Although he dodged, a red mark appeared on his right hand.

"What kind of straw men are these?!" Zong Shichang jumped away, but before he could think further, a second, third, and more vines lashed out.

Dodging once or twice, he eventually couldn't evade the increasing number of vines.

Zong Shichang's hands were bound, one left and one right, pulled tight.

He had no method to counter, so he dispersed the wind and Thunder.

He tried to struggle free, but found it useless. The green vine tendrils were incredibly resilient, with triple firmness and elasticity! The entangling straw men were hard to shake off.

In the next moment, his legs were also bound, pulled apart left and right.

"Ahhh..." Zong Young Master was forcibly split, forming a character '大' in mid-air, then heavily fell to the ground.

"Ugh~" The pain of a man, those who understand, understand. Zong Shichang was in such pain he couldn't even speak.

At this moment, the Great Strength Golden Gangs charged over.

Without a word, they punched Zong Shichang.

"I admit..." Before he could finish admitting defeat, he was knocked down.

"I admit defeat!" Zong Shichang hurriedly shouted, afraid Zhao Xing hadn't heard. He knew the straw men followed the caster's orders and wouldn't stop until the target was subdued.

Fortunately, after he fell, the Great Strength Golden Gangs stopped moving.

The dust settled, the straw men parted, revealing Zhao Xing's leisurely figure.

"Brother Zong, how was it?"

"You have no honor in combat, ambushing me like that." Zong Shichang put on a nonchalant demeanor: "I still have many secret techniques I haven't displayed, just got caught off guard. Besides, using straw men isn't a real skill, who fights like a warrior with physical blows?"

Even while lying on the ground in a humiliating position, Zong Shichang still wouldn't concede.

Zhao Xing retorted, "You said no restrictions, so how is it an ambush? And isn't the Scarecrow Technique considered a form of magical arts?"

"I..." Zong Shichang was speechless. Even if he looked down on the Scarecrow Technique, he couldn't deny it, or he'd seem too petty.

Snap! Zhao Xing snapped his fingers, signaling the straw men to release Zong Shichang, then turned to walk back to his territory: "Brother Zong, if you're not satisfied, we can fight again later. I'll wait for you to break my Scarecrow Technique."

Zong Shichang watched Zhao Xing turn away, his composure breaking, losing that nonchalant demeanor. He gritted his teeth, looking at the ground, and dug at it with his hands.

"Phew, at least it's just a scratch, no impact, no impact..."

The duel between Zong Shichang and Zhao Xing was swift, coming and going quickly. Adding the flying sand and stones in the process, only a few people saw clearly.

"His straw men are that fierce?" Wen Nanxing, who had been watching from the sidelines, remarked, "Zong Shichang didn't last two rounds, only displayed Thunder and strong wind, then lost. Looks like I need to reassess the Scarecrow Technique."

Wen Nanxing had also overlooked the Scarecrow Technique. Over the years, the Imperial Court's Scarecrow Technique schools had dwindled, from dozens to just a few.

But seeing Zhao Xing use straw men, Wen Nanxing's view of the technique greatly changed.

"Interesting, he actually excels at using straw men." Xiao Ze's eyes flashed with curiosity, growing more intrigued by Zhao Xing. "The Great Strength Golden Gang was mentioned in Liu's Eighty-One Methods, didn't expect him to use it... Should I ask him for guidance?"

Xiao Ze was itching with curiosity. He also liked using the Scarecrow Technique, but his teacher knew only a few, just a handful. Xiao Ze had learned three after much effort, and now seeing this, he couldn't help but want Zhao Xing to teach him.

"Forget it, better wait until the assessment is over." Xiao Ze held back, not everyone was as impulsive as Zong Shichang. The most urgent matter now was to secure a good ranking in the autumn assessment.

On the Examination Platform, Gao Linong watched Zong Shichang's disheveled state, feeling uneasy. A moment ago, he was gloating, thinking Wen Nanxing and Xiao Ze had been outdone by Zhao Xing. He didn't expect the next moment his own brother would suffer a setback.

And it was under the watchful eyes of everyone, failing to even defeat a straw man, truly embarrassing. Tang Wan Chun and Pang Yuan, those two old foxes, must be secretly laughing!

Gao Linong sneaked a glance and indeed found the corners of his two colleagues' mouths harder to suppress than a water cart. (End of Chapter)