Ao Qi glared fiercely at Zheng Quchi. Seeing that she had made up her mind, he rolled up his sleeves and said, "Fine, you want to compete, right? If you lose in a moment, I'll make you fly down."
"Is this young lady really here to challenge me?"
"Isn't this just banging a gong? Look at her, dressed like a wealthy person, why would she come here to compete with a craftsman? Is she just bored at home and comes out specifically to have some fun?"
"Don't make me laugh. She's trying to claim the ring? I bet she's just having fun, deliberately going to the ring to cause trouble. But she just had bad luck and ran into Ao Qi. That guy has a terrible temper. If she doesn't show any skill while she's on the ring, Ao Qi might actually make a move."
The audience was noisy and chattering, with everyone expressing their disapproval of Zheng Quchi and calling for her to step down.
What they wanted to see was a thrilling contest, not this pointless farce. The idea of a woman challenging others on the martial arts arena was absurd.
Zheng Quchi's ears were filled with all sorts of vulgarities, but her expression remained calm. She had been encountering this kind of judgment based on appearance a lot lately, so what could she do?
She smiled, the red lanterns hanging in the hall reflecting on her face, giving it a rosy glow. She said, "If you have the ability."
As soon as Ao Qi stood up, his imposing presence was immediately apparent in contrast to Zheng Quchi's short and delicate stature.
“I am the main player, and I have three gates to defend the gate. The first gate is to identify the wood, the second gate is to cut wood strips with the same specific gravity, and the third gate is to assemble fine materials.”
The champion of the Golden Terrace can freely choose three of the "seven gates" to defend the title. These "seven gates" are the competition content customized by the Golden Terrace. Each gate is a project, which is meant to be the entry point of a skill category. One gate is mastered and the other is neglected. The champion naturally has the right to choose first.
After listening, Zheng Quchi was somewhat stunned.
How are these three subjects evaluated?
"In one field, it's about who has the broadest knowledge and can identify the most."
"The second test is accuracy, and the supervisor will determine the winner."
"The three gates are about speed and completeness, and everyone present can be a witness."
After listening, Zheng Quchi sighed softly, "Alright."
So the competition in the hall was such a simple contest! She suddenly felt like she was being bullied by someone bigger than her.
Seeing her sighing and groaning, Ao Qi assumed she was stumped and sneered, "Scared? If you're scared, then get out of here."
Zheng Quchi now looks at the other person as if he were a naughty child, and just wants to teach him a lesson so that he can be more low-key in the future.
"bring it on."
Since she insisted on the competition, Ao Qi didn't hold back: "Bring the items out."
There were servants in charge of the arena. When they heard the summons, they carried a dozen or so logs in a box onto the arena.
"There are more than a dozen pieces of wood here. They are rare and precious woods that Golden Terrace has found in famous places. Please begin."
Ao Qi was brimming with confidence. He knew most of the wood in the chest by heart, having already competed in this category twice. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the other person point to the pile of wood and rattle off a list: "Dalbergia odorifera, small-leaf red sandalwood, ebony, and jasmine..."
She rattled off the names of more than a dozen kinds of wood in one breath, without pausing, leaving Ao Qi dumbfounded, going from doubt and suspicion to shock.
These are not the common willow, pear, or pine woods. They were purchased by the people of Huangjintai from far away places or from dangerous mountain forests. Most carpenters had never even heard of them, let alone seen them.
Ao Qi was the same; he only recognized a few of them, and he had never even heard of the remaining types of wood.
But the other person had already accurately identified the few that he recognized...
"Right, right?" He looked at the supervisor of Huangjintai with a trembling expression. The other party was obviously also quite frightened. After a long while, he nodded heavily: "Although there are some discrepancies in the names of the various types of wood, they are mostly correct."
Ao Qi's face turned deathly pale instantly: "Impossible! How...how did she know?"
The people below were in an uproar and started discussing it. Clearly, none of them had expected such a dramatic reversal of events.
Zheng Quchi was now focused on getting to the third floor as quickly as possible. Ignoring the gossip around her, she urged, "Don't waste time, keep going."
At this moment, Ao Qi was filled with confusion and speculation. He tried to comfort himself, thinking that perhaps it was because wealthy families had read more books and had the opportunity to be taught by famous teachers that she was so knowledgeable and knew things that others did not know. But next, it was time for hands-on practice, and there was no room for her to cheat or shirk her duties.
"Fine, you can continue then, but you certainly won't be so lucky this time!"
The supervisor ordered the servant to place the items for the competition on the stage.
“Here are two pieces of wood. Without using any rulers or measuring tools, cut these pieces of wood evenly into strips of the same size and the flattest possible. Each piece of wood should yield ten strips.”
The people below the stage then began to introduce the subject to the newcomers next to them: "This test requires skill in hand movements, which is very strenuous and laborious, as well as the carpenter's proficiency in controlling the wood. This is exactly what Ao Qi is good at. Countless people have failed against him before. Just by looking at this lady's thin arms and legs, she definitely won't be able to pull the saw for more than a few strokes before she runs out of strength and gives up."
"Yes, I saw several people go up to challenge this sect today and lose."
"He has been defending his title for three days. I estimate he will be eligible to advance to the second floor tomorrow."
"Once you go up to the second floor, your net worth doubles. It's truly something to envy."
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