The second checkpoint: the archery range.

Lu Jianzhi arrived first, took up his bow and arrows, and positioned himself at the shooting line. He stood motionless for a moment, then nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and pulled it into the shape of a full moon.

The mortises on both sides of the bow tips, bearing the full force from his arms, gradually began emitting slight creaking tremors under the strain.

Just as the bowstring seemed about to snap from being stretched so taut, he suddenly released his thumb that had been tightly gripping the arrow shaft.

The arrow instantly broke free from its restraint, leaving the string like lightning, shooting straight forward with a hissing sound through the air. In the blink of an eye, with a “thud,” it struck true and embedded itself right through the coin hole in the center of the target opposite.

A perfect hit!

Not only that, but throughout this entire process, his archery movements—whether steadying the bow or taking aim—flowed like water in one seamless motion without the slightest pause, absolutely beautiful to behold!

The target keeper opposite came forward to inspect and signaled with a flag that he had passed.

In an instant, the archery range erupted with cheers of approval.

Among the spectators, aside from disciples and friends of the Gao and Lu families, there were also those who normally had disputes with these two houses. Even they, witnessing Lu Jianzhi’s archery with their own eyes, had to admit his skill.

The eldest son of the Lu family truly lived up to his reputation.

Though the cheers from the archery range behind him continued rising and falling, Lu Jianzhi seemed not to hear them at all.

He set down his bow and arrows, looked up toward the third checkpoint—the direction of the scholarly debate venue—and broke into a swift run.

However, after running only about ten steps, the sounds around his ears suddenly fell silent.

It was a strange feeling.

As if the throats of those several hundred people in the archery range behind him had suddenly been gripped by a giant hand at that very moment.

Collective silence!

Lu Jianzhi instinctively stopped and turned around.

Li Mu had also arrived, following close behind.

Not only that, but in the brief moment—like the blink of an eye—that he had run only those ten or so steps, Li Mu had already released his arrow.

Deep in the coin hole at the center of his target, an arrow was also embedded.

The arrow shaft, still carrying residual force, was trembling rapidly and slightly.

Lu Jianzhi seemed to hear the special humming vibration it made.

The archery range that moments before had been filled with cheers fell silent with Li Mu’s appearance and the arrow he had shot.

Almost no one had clearly seen how Li Mu nocked and released his arrow before it had already left the string.

Not only was it fast, but the force was like carrying ten thousand thunderbolts, faintly containing killing intent.

Perhaps they hadn’t had time to react, or perhaps under such unexpected circumstances, they didn’t know whether they should offer the same cheers to Li Mu for shooting such an arrow, or whether they should pretend not to see—which was why such a dramatic scene occurred.

…

There was a fundamental difference between this kind of killing arrow honed in battlefield chaos and the exquisite archery that aristocratic sons had practiced with pride since childhood.

On blood-soaked battlefields, there was no time and no opportunity for an archer to always release arrows from the best angle.

Besides being as steady, accurate, and ruthless as possible, there were no other survival rules.

So those battle-hardened archers who could still survive in the end were all instruments of death.

Their movements might not be graceful, their actions couldn’t please the eye. But being able to shoot the most precise, most powerful life-taking arrows in the shortest time—that was the only way they could rely on to come back alive from each battlefield.

In his first few years after joining the army, Li Mu had served for quite some time as an archer.

He had been one of the most outstanding archers.

…

In barely the time it took to come and go, Li Mu set down his bow and arrows.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and headed toward Tiger Mountain.

Lu Jianzhi watched his retreating figure going toward Tiger Mountain, his gaze frozen, his face showing a trace of bewildered expression.

After a moment, he suddenly turned and actually chased after him in that same direction with quick steps.

The two men, one in front and one behind, climbed and reached Tiger Mountain.

This news was quickly relayed to the observation platform.

The second checkpoint for both men could be considered a tie.

But no one knew what Lu Jianzhi was thinking—for the final checkpoint, he actually abandoned scholarly debate and chose to go to Tiger Mountain with Li Mu.

This result was truly unexpected.

Lu Guang was clearly completely unprepared for his son’s choice.

He seemed quite surprised and probably also somewhat displeased. But he quickly concealed his emotions, sitting upright with a serious expression.

Gao Qiao gazed toward Tiger Mountain with furrowed brows. The others discussed among themselves, standing up and constantly craning their necks, curiously waiting for the final result.

…

Tiger Mountain was called a “mountain,” but it was actually a naturally formed cave within the mountain’s belly. It used to house fierce beasts that fought each other to entertain nobles. Later it was abandoned, but the name was preserved.

Today, this place had been reopened for use.

The obstacle for the third checkpoint was a fierce tiger trapped in the cave.

This tiger had not only survived multiple battles against its own kind and dominated until now, but had also not been fed properly for the past three days.

Its ferocity could be imagined.

The tiger’s den was located in a deep hollow below. The entrance had steep mountain walls, but with jagged rocks that could be used for climbing up and down. The light inside the cave was dim. Standing at the cave mouth, one couldn’t see the depths of the cavern, only faintly hear continuous dull tiger roars echoing up from below.

At the cave entrance stood a beast trainer—a foreign man with a high nose and blue eyes. Seeing Li Mu and Lu Jianzhi appear together at this checkpoint, he came forward, bowed, and said: “The fierce tiger is in the cave below. This slave guards the entrance here, with the exit on the west side. Both young masters must enter from here and exit from the west to pass. If you encounter the tiger along the way, you may kill it or not—it’s entirely up to your discretion. If any young master finds himself outmatched midway, you may return and strike the cave wall. This slave guards here and will hear it, then lower rope ladders to help you up.”

The beast trainer pointed to a weapon rack and said: “These are for self-defense. Please take what you need, young masters.”

Only two long staffs lay crosswise on the rack, nothing else.

Lu Jianzhi and Li Mu each took one, using hands and feet to climb down the mountain wall into the cave.

To reach the exit on the opposite side from here, one could only follow the cave’s terrain. But the cave was like a tunnel carved through the mountain’s belly—the deeper one went, the lower and narrower it became.

At the narrowest bottleneck, the width could barely accommodate two horses side by side.

The space for maneuvering was already limited, and with an evil tiger blocking the way, the only defensive weapon in hand was a long staff with limited killing power.

Though the distance between the cave’s east and west openings wasn’t long, the difficulty of this checkpoint could be imagined.

Lu Jianzhi and Li Mu each held their staffs, one left and one right, slowly walking toward the depths of the cave.

Along the cave walls, though torches were inserted at regular intervals for illumination, the light remained dim in the depths. The firelight cast their shadows on the cave walls. After taking only a few steps, suddenly a cold wind carrying a putrid, foul smell came rushing from the depths ahead.

Then a black shadow flashed, and a fierce tiger suddenly leaped out from the darkness, blocking their path.

This was a massive adult male tiger, exceptionally strong, its tiger eyes emitting two points of eerie green light, very frightening.

Hunger had made it unusually agitated and excited.

It stared at the two unexpected visitors who had suddenly appeared before it, green light flickering in its eyes, saliva constantly dripping from its mouth corners. It roared lowly while pacing back and forth, as if still undecided which one to attack first.

One tiger and two humans faced off like this for a moment.

Li Mu slowly extended his staff and tapped the cave wall beside him twice, making clear thudding sounds.

The evil tiger’s attention was drawn, and it suddenly pounced in his direction.

Li Mu didn’t move. Just as it was about to reach him, he rolled on the ground and dodged away.

The tiger missed completely.

Li Mu leaped up and sprinted forward.

Lu Jianzhi followed close behind.

The tiger turned around, roared angrily, and chased the two men from behind. The distance grew shorter and shorter. When it was about to catch up, it leaped and pounced toward Lu Jianzhi, who was closer.

Lu Jianzhi quickly crouched low, avoiding the pounce.

The tiger sailed over his head, landed with a thud on all four paws, and blocked the path again.

This section of the cave wall had already begun to narrow.

With the tiger’s massive body blocking the way, there wasn’t much space left to pass through.

Li Mu and Lu Jianzhi exchanged glances, and without prior agreement, both gripped their staffs and rushed toward the evil tiger from left and right.

Two dull thuds—the tiger’s skull received staff blows from both left and right.

Both men used their full strength in this strike, the force penetrating through the staffs.

Though the tiger had thick hide and flesh, it was momentarily struck dizzy, roaring once and swaying like a drunk, its body wobbling unsteadily.

In the blink of an eye, both men seized the opportunity, leaping past the still-dazed tiger and continuing their sprint forward, soon reaching the narrowest bottleneck area.

At this time, the roars of the beast behind them had caught up, now right at their ears.

Its furious roaring shook the entire cave wall, causing debris and dust from the rock layers overhead to continuously fall down.

Lu Jianzhi gripped his staff tightly and said through gritted teeth: “Li Mu, let’s finish off this thing, then you and I will have one final duel. The loser withdraws from today’s competition and will never again be qualified to be a son-in-law of the Gao family!”

Li Mu kept his eyes fixed on the evil tiger that had pounced toward them again, smiled slightly, and said: “Exactly what I want!” His gaze darkened, and instead of avoiding it at all, he charged straight ahead, raising his staff and striking heavily against a tiger claw that was reaching for him with a loud “thump.”

With a howl, the tiger claw snapped.

The tiger’s pouncing momentum instantly dissipated as it crashed to the ground from mid-air.

Lu Jianzhi quickly followed up, joining Li Mu as their two staffs rained down on the tiger like raindrops.

The tiger initially fought like a madman, but gradually weakened, spitting bloody foam from its mouth.

With the final blow, Li Mu exerted his strength and struck heavily at the center of the tiger’s head, causing its skull to crack under the force.

That staff, unable to withstand such force, snapped in half with a crackling sound.

The tiger let out one final long, miserable howl, struggled to stand up from the ground, swayed a few more times, then collapsed again and lay motionless, completely dead.

Li Mu stepped forward, picked up the two broken staff pieces from the ground, passed through the narrow passage, and headed for the exit.

Lu Jianzhi followed.

The light ahead gradually brightened, and the space became more open.

The two men, one in front and one behind, came to stand opposite each other under the skylight at the exit.

Li Mu said: “Young Master Lu, please.”

The recent fierce battle with the tiger had splattered both men’s faces and clothes with spots of blood sprayed from the tiger’s mouth.

Lu Jianzhi’s eyes were also slightly red, making him seem like a completely different person from before.

He stared at Li Mu and attacked with his staff.

Li Mu met his long staff with two short broken pieces. After several exchanges, his arm took a sweeping blow from the staff head, causing his body to sway slightly.

Lu Jianzhi’s eyes grew redder. Without the slightest pause in his footwork, he swept his long staff and attacked Li Mu again.

With a “crack,” Li Mu’s left shoulder took another hit.

Li Mu narrowed his eyes.

The third time, when Lu Jianzhi’s staff thrust toward his throat again, Li Mu not only didn’t dodge but threw aside his two broken staff pieces, closed in, and with lightning-fast hands, suddenly gripped the staff head.

Both sides exerted force continuously, wrestling against each other.

Lu Jianzhi’s face slowly flushed red, and sweat gradually began forming on his forehead. After they had been locked in struggle for a while, he was pushed back by the opposing force, step by step, until his back was pressed against the cave wall.

Li Mu exerted force again, and the long staff bent in the middle, suddenly taking the shape of an arched bridge.

“Break!”

He called out lowly.

“Crack!”

The staff body indeed snapped, breaking cleanly into two pieces.

Lu Jianzhi’s arms were numbed by this terrible force he had never experienced before, and his chest also surged with churning blood.

Before he could react, with a “whoosh,” the broken staff end with its sharp wooden spikes was pressed against his throat.

The distance from his neck was less than half an inch.

Lu Jianzhi’s face instantly drained of all color, turning slightly pale.

If this had been swords, fighting to the death, he should already be dead with blood splattered three feet around.

The two men looked at each other for a moment.

Li Mu withdrew the broken staff, casually threw it to the ground, stepped back, and said: “I accept your concession.” Then he turned and left.

Lu Jianzhi leaned against the rock wall, motionless, his gaze fixed on watching Li Mu climb the rock wall like an agile ape, quickly disappearing above the cave opening overhead.

…

Those outside couldn’t see what was happening inside Tiger Mountain. They only heard continuous dull tiger roars from within the cave, the sound almost shaking the valley and frightening those aristocratic sons who couldn’t even ride horses properly.

Gradually, the tiger roars finally disappeared, but still no one emerged from Tiger Mountain. The crowd began losing patience, discussing incessantly.

Lu Guang was obviously somewhat anxious but refused to show too much in front of everyone, sitting there with an increasingly serious expression.

Gao Qiao’s expression became exceptionally grave. He even rose from his seat, walked down from the observation platform, and gazed toward Tiger Mountain with visible anxiety.

At this time, an official finally came racing down from the mountain and rushed onto the observation platform.

Everyone knew the result of the third checkpoint must be out, and they all crowded around.

The official bowed to Emperor Xingping: “Your Majesty, the third checkpoint has determined a winner. General Li emerged from Tiger Mountain before Young Master Lu and is heading toward the summit.”

“Look quickly!”

Suddenly someone shouted loudly.

Gao Qiao turned sharply toward the mountain peak.

A black figure stood in the wind below the pavilion, nocking an arrow and shooting.

Following that arrow’s flight, the bundle of dogwood atop the pavilion was shot down and fell.

“What about Young Master Lu?”

Gao Qiao immediately asked.

“Reporting to the Minister, Young Master Lu is safe and has emerged from Tiger Mountain,” the man replied.

Gao Qiao breathed a slight sigh of relief, looked again at that figure descending from the summit, his mood a complex mixture impossible to describe in words.

Victory and defeat were decided; there were no more variables.

On the entire observation platform, the most pleased was probably Xu Mi.

He suppressed the urge to burst into laughter, glanced at Lu Guang, saw that his face had clearly turned livid yet he still had to force smiles with colleagues who came to console him, and felt even more delighted inside.

Li Mu walked down the mountain path from the summit toward the observation platform.

All along the way, wherever he went, people on both sides made way for him, their gazes varied.

Some envious, some jealous, some admiring, and naturally some heartbroken.

Eldest Princess Xiao Yongjia, who had been sitting behind the curtains throughout, immediately rose and hastily departed with her attendants before the conclusion.

Behind another curtain, a woman sitting with Princess Consort Zhu Jiyue of Yulin glanced at Xiao Yongjia’s retreating figure and whispered mockingly: “Did the Princess Consort see her expression? White as falling snow. Even if she normally powdered herself with three more pounds, she probably wouldn’t look this good. This time, even if she uses her Eldest Princess status to pressure His Majesty, I imagine it’s like spilled water that can’t be gathered. Who would have thought she’d have such a day…”

She spoke in low tones, but seeing Zhu Jiyue didn’t respond, her eyes seemed to be gazing at something through the light gauze curtain in front of them. Following her gaze, she saw Li Mu walking past on the nearby mountain path.

She stared at that sword-straight back for a moment, then seemed to have a sudden realization. Covering her mouth with a light laugh, she said leisurely: “Having seen so many men more delicate than us women, this Li Langjun has quite a different style. Looking at him, I imagine that thing of his must also be quite vigorous…” She leaned close to Zhu Jiyue’s ear and whispered something.

Zhu Jiyue seemed annoyed and pinched her. The woman giggled, her body trembling like flower branches, and her laughter drifted out on the wind, attracting another round of peeping from the idle young men below.

…

Under the gaze of countless eyes, Li Mu returned to the observation platform where he had started. After bowing to Emperor Xingping, he turned to Gao Qiao and respectfully presented the dogwood, but didn’t speak.

To say that Gao Qiao had no favoritism whatsoever in today’s three-checkpoint competition would be untrue.

Originally, by his calculations, Li Mu would definitely fall behind Lu Jianzhi in the first checkpoint. Even if he could quickly pass the second checkpoint, by the third checkpoint, with his martial skills and wielding only a staff, dealing with a fierce tiger shouldn’t pose great danger, but it wouldn’t be easy to pass either.

This way, as long as Lu Jianzhi didn’t perform too abnormally in the three checkpoints, his chances of winning today’s competition would be far greater than Li Mu’s.

What Gao Qiao hadn’t expected was that Lu Jianzhi, perhaps out of the inherent pride of aristocratic sons, disdained to win by passing through scholarly debate, and instead chose to go through the final checkpoint together with Li Mu.

Fortunately, Lu Jianzhi wasn’t injured. Otherwise, he would be unable to escape blame toward the Lu family.

At this moment, only the whistling mountain wind remained in his ears.

Gao Qiao closed his eyes, slowly opened them, looked at Li Mu standing steadily before him, and word by word finally spoke what was perhaps the most difficult sentence of his entire life: “In today’s examination, Li Mu is victorious. From this day forward, Li Mu shall be my son-in-law, Gao Qiao!”