Chapter 146

In the eerie silence, only the Third Prince echoed Xue Jin'an's sentiments: "Fight?"

“Hit.” Xue Jin’an nodded.

"Alright." The Third Prince raised his fist without hesitation and, with lightning speed, made intimate contact with the face of the Prince of Ping's heir.

The force was so great that the prince's face was deformed for a moment. A sharp pain emanated from his bones, and his vision blurred. His swaying body was about to fall backward due to inertia. The Third Prince meant no mercy when he said he would hit him, and he had no intention of stopping there. He immediately grabbed the prince's shoulder and pulled him down forcefully, slamming his face into the raised knee.

The Crown Prince reacted swiftly, immediately blocking in front of his face and trying to break free from the Third Prince's control by lowering his shoulder. Naturally, the latter would not let him escape so easily, and his attacks became even more ferocious. The two exchanged blows several times in this position, and finally the Crown Prince seized an opportunity. He forcefully lowered his shoulder, and Xue Jin'an heard a crisp "crack" sound. He had actually dislocated his left arm!

The Third Prince was caught off guard and paused for a moment in surprise. The Crown Prince seized the opportunity, not only breaking free from his control but also turning defense into offense. He raised his foot to kick the Third Prince's lame leg, but missed. The Third Prince was no longer the one who only attacked and recklessly charged in. Since his injury, this lame leg had become his "biggest concern." The more the Third Prince cared about it, the more unwilling he was to admit defeat. He knew that his lame leg would definitely be used as a weakness in battle, so he paid close attention to it.

The Third Prince narrowly avoided the underhanded move. The Crown Prince's leg sank into the sand, and before he could pull it out, the Third Prince seized the opportunity to stomp on it, followed by a swung fist aimed at his face.

The prince had been on guard against the other prince's fists ever since his legs were restrained. After all, the third prince was now lame, and that lame leg could hardly bear even basic weight. Its role in the battle was not zero, but rather a complete negative effect. The third prince could only use his fists, and the fact that the prince had kicked his leg would undoubtedly enrage the third prince. The other prince's fists would inevitably be heavier than ever before.

Even though the two of them tacitly refrained from using internal energy, the Third Prince's original punch was already heavy enough. His cheekbone was still aching. If he were to be hit again in a fit of anger, there would be no need to continue the fight; he could be taken directly to the Imperial Hospital to see if his pig-headed face could be cured.

Just as the fist was about to touch his face, the prince suddenly lowered his body, one leg almost straightened, and with a forceful grab of his left arm, he snapped the arm back into place with a "crack." At the same time, he continued to verbally condemn the third prince, saying, "Don't hit someone in the face! Don't you know the rules?"

"Stop your nonsense! My rule is that whoever wins is the one who rules!" The Third Prince grinned grotesquely. The close-quarters combat, with its brutal punches, had him completely excited. In a daze, he even felt his pupils turn blood red.

As they talked, neither of them stopped moving. One grabbed the other's shoulder, ready to pull him up from the ground, while the other made a claw-like motion, as if to steal a peach from a monkey.

“It’s not the limit yet.” Xue Jin’an observed the prince’s legs, which were almost in a split, and suddenly said, “Third brother, press down harder.”

In the heat of a fight, those at the center of the action usually can't hear it, but this time the Third Prince not only heard it but also did it without saying a word.

The prince was lifted halfway up and then pressed back down. This sudden move disrupted his attack rhythm. What was worse, the third prince used too much force. Caught off guard, he was forced to sit on the sand with his long legs spread apart. The sudden tearing of his hips brought indescribable pain, causing his face to change color.

"Ouch~ That hurts." Someone in the crowd seemed to understand, and gasps of pain rose and fell.

Humans are indeed very good at finding emotional value—negative value is also value. Out of humanitarianism, Xue Jin'an comforted them, "Don't worry, you will all get through this."

"Hiss—" Even more people gasped.

After that, the Third Prince and the Heir Apparent exchanged blows for about a hundred more rounds. Xue Jin'an usually kept quiet, occasionally speaking up to remind the Heir Apparent about things like bending over and stretching. He would usually ask the Third Prince for help when he realized that the Heir Apparent hadn't reached his limit yet.

Xue Jin'an was originally there to test their limits. He wanted to memorize everyone's physical flexibility, endurance, and other data to ensure that their physical condition could withstand the training. He also wanted to use data analysis to predict the training they could perform at their strongest and to fine-tune the training plan accordingly. Those whose physical data did not meet the standards and were deemed unable to withstand the intensity of the training would naturally be sent back.

As for the vacant spots, Xue Jin'an would select from the list of elite soldiers given to him by Commander Wei. If they didn't meet the requirements, he would select again, until he found someone who did.

The prince was manipulated like this, and he lay on the sand, completely exhausted and unwilling to move. His complexion was not good, and every muscle in his body ached. The pain accumulated and even his nerves twitched.

Seeing him like this, the Third Prince couldn't bring himself to clench his fist and frowned unhappily, saying, "Get up and continue."

With lifeless eyes, the prince chuckled weakly as he uttered the most defiant words: "Just kill me already."

Honestly, even though the fight between the two hadn't lasted long and he hadn't been seriously injured, he felt that he was about to die and was only one step away from returning to the Western Paradise.

The third prince ruffled his hair in annoyance, lifting his head slightly, but the man remained completely unresponsive, like a salted fish. Even the strongest fighting spirit, when faced with an opponent devoid of energy and spirit, will find no desire to continue fighting unless the opponent has some inherently perverse fetish.

However, since the Third Prince now follows Xue Jin'an's lead, he did not immediately stop, but instead looked at Xue Jin'an to confirm his thoughts.

"The data collection is complete. You can do as you please, but you don't have much time left." Xue Jin'an said, giving them a time accurate to the second, and telling them to time their work as fast as they could.

The third prince was deeply moved but disgustedly dropped the crown prince's head. The crown prince, adhering to the principle of lying down wherever he fell, didn't even flinch when his head was smashed into a sandpit and he was almost buried by the flying sand.

"Xue Langhuan, you do whatever he says, you're such a good dog." Although the man is now a couch potato, the prince's mouth is still open, and he can still spew venom, which is terrifying.

The Third Prince had calmed down after a period of intense excitement, and with Xue Jin'an by his side, he was much more at peace. He wasn't annoyed by what he heard, and even sneered back, "Young Master Xue's mouth is harder than his bones."

"Don't call me Prince Xue. I broke with Prince Ping five years ago and took my mother's surname." The prince reacted strongly to the title, so much so that he completely lost his lazy state and, ignoring the pain in his body, jumped up from the ground. Because of the sudden movement, he staggered and saw many dark shadows in front of him for a moment.

It took the prince a while to shake off the dizziness. The solid pain throughout his body brought him back to his senses. He made no attempt to hide his disgust and said, "My name is Zhang... never mind, you wouldn't remember it even if I told you, you brainless idiot."

The Third Prince almost laughed out of anger, gritting his teeth as he said, "What are you barking about, you defeated dog?"

However, this time the Crown Prince did not respond. He only emphasized, "Anyway, you are not allowed to call me Crown Prince Xue anymore."

After saying that, he stretched his aching limbs and supported his back, slowly moving out of the sandpit. Once he blended into the crowd, he was heard mutter a dirty curse: "**, just hearing the name Xue makes me feel disgusted."

The prince spoke very softly, almost to himself, and even the person closest to him couldn't hear him clearly. If it weren't for Xue Jin'an's ability to discern the wind's direction and his lip-reading skills, only the person who spoke the words would have known.

This statement essentially corroborated Xue Jin'an's previous speculation: the Crown Prince's previous confrontation with the Third Prince was a deliberate provocation, and the underlying malice towards them stemmed from their princely status.

I wonder if dragging the prince back now and squeezing him to his limit will be enough to pry his mouth open? Xue Jin'an couldn't help but look at the back of the person in charge and fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

The prince suddenly felt a chill, as if he were being watched by something. However, before he could react, the feeling disappeared. He frowned, wondering if he had met two men surnamed Xue today, which had left him physically and mentally exhausted, and that was why he had misjudged the situation.

The prince scratched his head, puzzled, and decided to go back and lie down immediately.

He didn't actually leave because Xue Jin'an was preparing to test the next person.

The prince immediately stopped in his tracks, stood with his arms crossed at the edge of the sandpit, and began to watch the show with a relaxed air. Just thinking about how these 199 unlucky guys would have to endure the same pain as him made him visibly happy, and his eyes were filled with undeniable affection and expectation as he looked at them.

Everyone: It would be better if this expectation wasn't for them to have bad luck.

“Next,” Xue Jin’an said.

The prince thought no warrior would volunteer and was about to suggest that Xue Jin'an call out names when he heard a somewhat somber voice say, "I will."

A tall, spiky-haired man with fierce eyes stepped forward. This was one of the troublemakers that Commander Wei had specifically pointed out earlier—a man of outstanding ability and unruly behavior. His surname was Fang, and his nickname was Monk. The origin of this nickname was quite interesting. His family was so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat, so he wanted to go up the mountain to become a monk and learn some martial arts. Fearing that the abbot of the temple wouldn't accept him, he simply shaved his head and even burned a scalp to show his sincerity.

As a result, after leaving the village, instead of going to the city, he was blinded by the silver offered for conscription and ended up in the army camp, which is how he got this nickname.

After Monk Fang stepped forward, his eyes were fixed on Xue Jin'an, and he said in a very sarcastic tone: "You want to fight me and become my superior? I want to see if you're qualified."

"Whoa~" A chorus of cheers immediately erupted.

"Okay." Xue Jin'an nodded in agreement, and even very kindly sought his opinion, "How much of a chance do you want to die?"