In the world of martial arts, grind your skill level to become a saint.

Zhou Zhengtang turned around and saw Wang Yan looking at him, holding a booklet in his hand, seemingly writing something down.

"Oh... Junior Brother Su can't answer anymore, he has his own things to do. What's up, Senior Brother Wang Yan?"

Zhou Zhengtang looked at the booklet in Wang Yan's hand and saw that it seemed to contain quite a few names.

"These are the names of people who want to join the Martial Arts Tournament, but after my screening, most of them are not qualified."

Wang Yan closed the booklet in his hand, shook his head and said, "I told you long ago that Su Hao's background is poor and he has no vision, but Junior Brother Zhou just wouldn't believe me. Now he dares to refuse the invitation to the Martial Arts Tournament. Does he really not know how valuable it is?"

"Junior Brother Zhou, don't put too much effort into someone like that. Just let him stay in your guard team for a few years. He won't amount to much."

Wang Yan spoke calmly and confidently.

He originally thought that Su Hao must have something special to be valued by Zhou Zhengtang so much.

So while they usually advised Zhou Zhengtang not to take things too seriously, they wouldn't say anything too absolute.

However, this person is now so ignorant of his own limitations that he has refused the invitation to the Martial Arts Tournament.

They really don't know their own limitations and are completely clueless!

In his view, a poor background can be compensated for by currying favor, so that better resources can be obtained. However, now that the opportunity is right in front of him, the other party has refused.

Wang Yan has determined that people like Su Hao are just arrogant, lacking in ability, and all talk and no action.

"Senior Brother Wang is exaggerating. Everyone has their own choices, and there might be other reasons why he doesn't want to come..."

Zhou Zhengtang began to explain.

In fact, he was also unaware of Su Hao's thoughts, and he had also told Su Hao about the benefits of the Martial Arts Conference.

But the other party remained unmoved.

If he hadn't spent so much time with Su Hao, he might have held the same opinion of Su Hao as Wang Yan.

But Su Hao was different. Judging from his behavior these days, his maturity, forbearance, and calmness made it impossible for Su Hao to understand his thoughts and plans.

Such a person, though of humble origin, is extraordinary in both his actions and his character, and should not be underestimated.

"He's just a blacksmith, what special reason could he possibly have?"

Wang Yan disagreed. When he heard Zhou Zhengtang seem to want to defend Su Hao again, he waved his hand, not wanting to continue the topic, and said directly, "Since you didn't bring anyone with you, then all the spots for today will be set. For the time being, these people will be the ones for the martial arts competition in the future."

"You still haven't told me what the membership assessment criteria are, and what about Senior Sister Jiang Yan?"

Zhou Zhengtang inquired.

"Senior Sister Jiang Yan went to see Tang Huang, and Junior Brother Mu Bai is in charge of the assessment standards. You should ask him; he and Senior Sister Jiang Yan decided on this matter."

After Wang Yan finished speaking, he walked towards Mu Bai.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengtang sighed and then followed.

He also felt it was a bit of a pity that Su Hao refused.

Although Wang Yan and others sometimes spoke harshly and looked down on the ordinary disciples in the boxing gym.

However, it cannot be denied that this martial arts forum is indeed a great opportunity for exchange. If we miss it this time, it will be difficult to bring Su Hao in next time.

After all, this martial arts forum was organized by several of them together, not by one person making all the decisions.

However, since things have come to this, there's no point in saying more. It's up to Su Hao to make his own choices in the future.

...

Before we knew it, several more days had passed.

In the blacksmith's shop, filled with the hot, metallic smell of iron, Su Hao, shirtless, wielded a hammer, repeatedly striking the red-hot iron block on the anvil with steady and even force.

The iron block was constantly hammered, deformed and lengthened, and finally became a rough iron needle about the thickness of a chopstick.

"That's about it..."

As Su Hao watched the iron needle gradually thinner, he stopped what he was doing, picked it up, and went to the water tank to cool it down.

The next step is to grind, shorten, and cut out the grooves for the mortise. Soon, the iron needles, sharpened to a fine point, are completed.

Next, Su Hao took a porcelain bowl, added water, and then took a small bottle from the shelf next to him, pouring out the purplish-black powder inside.

Once the powder had dissolved and the water had turned black, Su Hao put all the iron needles in to soak, and then began to assemble the mechanical sleeve arrows at the worktable.

Since he was leaving Yanshan City the next day to escort medicinal herbs with the Zhou family's herbal medicine team, Su Hao had prepared the protective measures he needed well in advance.

That was a hidden weapon, which he had found by chance at a place selling inferior weapons in Hongqiao Town Market.

Although the original sleeve dart was extremely rudimentary, Su Hao had specifically studied the manufacturing method of crossbows in his previous life, and could use it after making slight improvements based on the sleeve dart prototype he bought.

This was not a difficult task for Su Hao, whose forging skills had reached LV3.

He had never left the city and had no idea what he would encounter on this journey of escorting medicinal herbs, so it was always good to be prepared.

If it weren't for the imperial court's ban on crossbows and armor, Su Hao would have wanted to forge two crossbows overnight to carry with him.

But after thinking about it carefully, I decided to give up to avoid unnecessary trouble.

After the sleeve dart mechanism was assembled, Su Hao put the dart on his arm and then inserted an unpoisoned iron needle.

With a click of a trigger, Su Hao aimed at a wooden plank in front of him and pulled the fastened rope with his middle finger.

boom!

A dull thud was heard, and the iron needle shot out with a slight whooshing sound, embedding itself firmly in the wooden board!

"good!"

Su Hao nodded slightly.

With this kind of penetrating power, it should have no problem dealing with ordinary martial artists.

Moreover, the lethality of concealed weapons lies mainly in their concealment and poison.

For this purpose, Su Hao even went to the black market in Hongqiao Town to buy poison made from potent snake venom.

After completing the experiment, Su Hao removed the hidden arrow and left the shop, preparing to go to the Zhou family's pharmacy in Nanshan Town.

Since we're departing tomorrow, the escort team needs to make preparations today.

As one of the escorts this time, Su Hao naturally couldn't be left out.

Otherwise, it would be somewhat unreasonable to set off without knowing where you're going.

Nanshan Town is not far from Hongqiao Town. Su Hao left Kuroshui Street and walked south for about 15 minutes. He then arrived at a market town in Nanshan Town.

Following the address given by Zhou Zhengtang, Su Hao quickly arrived at the entrance of Zhou's Pharmacy.

The pharmacy was much larger than Su Hao had imagined.

It's even bigger than the Fukusen Restaurant in Hongqiao Town.

At this time, the pharmacy was bustling with people coming and going, most of whom were dressed in fine clothes.

Nanzan-cho is the southernmost part of the outer city that is closest to the inner city, so its market town is naturally one of the most bustling markets in the outer city.

As Su Hao entered the pharmacy, a young apprentice immediately came up to him and inquired about his situation.

After Su Hao explained his purpose and presented the token, the medicine boy became more respectful and led him to the backyard.

After passing through a long bluestone corridor, Su Hao arrived at a courtyard in the backyard and saw Zhou Zhengtang sitting in a pavilion.

Opposite him sat a middle-aged man with a composed demeanor.