I have the face of a great demon.

Everyone else had already gone up to lift the stone lock, leaving only Liu Xingchen. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go up.

Liu Xingchen took the divine sword off his back and handed it to Tiezhu to lighten his load so he could better participate in the competition.

As soon as Tie Zhu took the divine sword, he sensed its extraordinary nature; it was incredibly heavy.

Although the weight of the divine sword was negligible to him, it had virtually no impact.

But this sword was noticeably heavier than an ordinary sword, which he could still sense.

Immediately, Tie Zhu's gaze towards Liu Xingchen changed.

This Brother Xingchen is a hidden master! His sword is so much heavier than everyone else's. He must be a pro. I'm going to watch Brother Xingchen display his prowess in a bit.

As soon as Liu Xingchen stepped onto the stage, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Everyone was very curious and wanted to see what this scholar was capable of.

Chief Shi also noticed the only scholar in the room.

He was, after all, a man of the martial world, and had seen the world. He knew that scholars in the martial arts world should not be underestimated, and that the truly powerful masters were all people dressed as scholars.

Moreover, he also noticed the sword that Liu Xingchen had taken down.

Martial arts practitioners typically don't wrap their swords in cloth. Doing so clearly indicates that they want to conceal their swords and prevent others from seeing them, suggesting that the sword is extraordinary.

Chief Shi has a keen eye; judging from how Liu Xingchen took the sword, he could tell that it was very heavy.

A scholar wielding a heavy sword is quite interesting.

Master Shi was even more excited about his upcoming performance.

Liu Xingchen walked to the center of the training ground and looked at the three stone locks. They were large stones that had been cut into squares and had iron handles on them.

These three stone locks are all quite large, and even the smallest one looks quite heavy.

Judging from everyone's performance just now, most people can only lift the smallest stone weight.

Then he wouldn't be presumptuous and would simply choose the smallest one, as long as he could lift it up without losing face.

As for passing the Ling Shui Gang's test, he had little hope.

In fact, if the spirit were willing to help, giving him a little magic power when he exerts his strength, he could easily lift even the largest stone lock.

However, the spirit was not in the mood to help him with this.

His master went to learn martial arts, which made him heartbroken.

What's the use of practicing martial arts? It doesn't increase lifespan.

He's feeling down right now; as long as his master's life isn't in danger, he won't bother to do anything.

Seeing that he had chosen the smallest stone lock, everyone was a little disappointed, and many people had a "That's it?" look on their faces. It seemed that there would be no big scene to watch.

Chief Shi seemed to be deep in thought; this was a way of concealing his true abilities.

Tie Zhu was also puzzled. He felt that he could lift the largest stone lock, so why would Brother Xingchen choose the smallest one?

He looked down at his palm and suddenly realized what was going on.

Xingchen's hands are smaller than mine, so it's not so convenient for him to grab the big stone lock. Of course, I should choose the small stone lock.

He then smiled in relief and focused on watching Liu Xingchen's performance.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Liu Xingchen gripped the stone lock tightly with both hands, took a deep breath as if to concentrate all the strength in his body between his arms, and then suddenly exerted force, pulling upwards with all his might.

However, embarrassingly, the stone lock seemed to be rooted to the spot and remained completely still.

Even the weakest person could lift the stone weight, but they failed during the lifting process.

He couldn't even bring himself to do it.

Chief Shi's eyes widened; he could hardly believe his eyes.

He rubbed his eyes hard to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"This...this scholar can't even lift the smallest one?"

Seeing this, Tie Zhu jumped up and down anxiously: "Brother Xingchen, try harder!"

When Liu Xingchen heard Tie Zhu encouraging him, he looked up and smiled at him. He composed himself, rubbed his hands together, and gripped the stone lock tightly again.

Hey--

Liu Xingchen's face turned red from holding back his anger, but Shi Suo remained motionless.

The entire room erupted in laughter; it turned out he really was a scholar who couldn't even kill a chicken.

Tie Zhu had already come to regard Liu Xingchen as his own brother. Seeing his brother being ridiculed, he was furious, but there was nothing he could do but cheer Liu Xingchen on in his heart.

"Xingchen, you have to work hard! You can definitely do it!"

Chief Shi frowned, muttering to himself, "Could this scholar really be a weak and frail scholar? Or have I misjudged him?"

Just as Liu Xingchen was straining his strength, trying to lift the stone lock but to no avail, the spirit ghost reacted.

He didn't like others laughing at his master. Even though his master was incompetent, only he could laugh at him; no one else could.

So the spirit did something, injecting a wisp of magic power into Liu Xingchen's hand.

Now, just as Liu Xingchen was holding back his anger, his face turning red, he suddenly felt as if the stone lock in his hand had been enchanted, its weight decreasing dramatically, like a large rock suddenly turning into a light, floating leaf.

In doing so, he overexerted himself.

He lifted the stone lock up in an instant and raised it above his head.

That wasn't all. The sudden change caught him off guard. He lost his momentum and his grip faltered. The stone lock shot out of his palm like an arrow and soared into the sky.

This unexpected turn of events brought the laughter of the entire audience to an abrupt halt.

People's mouths were agape, wide enough to fit a salted duck egg, and their eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the stone lock that was flying higher and higher in the sky.

The Stone Gang Leader stood up abruptly, his sharp eyes fixed on the stone lock in the air. To be able to swing the stone lock so high was simply superhuman strength.

Tie Zhu was overjoyed. Xing Chen was really clever; it turned out he was just teasing everyone.

Little did they know, Liu Xingchen was also completely bewildered, staring blankly at the small black dot in the sky, not understanding what was happening.

After a long while, the stone lock in the sky rose to its highest point and began to fall. It grew larger and larger in people's sight, and only then did people realize it.

"Run! The stone lock is about to fall!"

People panicked and scattered like a tide.

With a loud thud, the stone lock landed heavily on the ground, shaking the earth.

The stone lock shattered into several pieces on the ground, creating a crater. Several people, too frightened to run away, lay sprawled on the ground, their bodies soaked.

This unexpected result shocked the entire audience; everyone was astonished, as if they had seen a ghost.

This scholar swung the stone lock into the sky, making him undoubtedly the best.

But why couldn't he lift the stone lock even after trying for a long time?

Immediately, the audience erupted in discussion.

Some people started to speculate wildly, wondering if some master had secretly cast a spell on the stone lock, turning it into a "lightweight" thing.

Even more extreme, some people rolled up their sleeves and rushed forward to examine the stone lock, which was broken into several pieces, as if they wanted to find some earth-shattering secret.

The result was naturally that each side held their own opinion, arguing heatedly until they almost came to blows.

Whether Liu Xingchen's actions count or not is ultimately up to Shi Yong, the leader of the Ling Shui Gang, to make the final decision.