Chapter 39: The Examination Begins

The twenty-eighth year of the Shizong era, the ninth day of the seventh month.

In the plaza before the City God Temple of Gaolin County, flagpoles stood like a forest.

Today was the official commencement of the martial imperial examinations.

Passing the martial exams meant obtaining the title of *Wuxiu-cai*, a distinction that not only granted tax exemptions but also afforded privileges far beyond the reach of ordinary commoners.

Consequently, the opening of the martial exams became a grand event in Gaolin County, even though the glory and clamor of this spectacle had little to do with the countless ordinary faces gathered outside the grounds.

Upon the command platform directly north of the training grounds sat the chief examiner and the proctors, flanked by several minor clerks holding brushes and styluses.

Their official robes varied in color—vermilion, azure, black, and white—arrayed in strict order, silently proclaiming the rigid hierarchy of their official ranks.

Below them stood the martial candidates for this year's examination. They had already lined up in formation according to their place of origin and assigned numbers, forming a dense, dark mass of several hundred men.

Each man possessed a burly physique with knotted muscles, dressed in various styles of tight-fitting martial attire, cinched with wide belts and wearing thin-soled fast boots.

Some possessed a youthful sharpness like a sword unsheathed; others were as steady and seasoned as ancient pines or weathered rocks.

Every pair of eyes was fixed intently on the command platform, filled with longing, tension, eagerness, and the desperate resolve of those who had burned their bridges behind them.

Beneath the side corridors of the training grounds sat the wealthy merchants and powerful clans of Gaolin County.

Ordinary commoners did not even have the qualification to step through the gates of the training grounds.

If a wealthy household sponsored a scholar, it required expenses for tuition, brushes, ink, and paper, but with a bit of grit, the family could endure by tightening their belts and cutting back on fine meals for a few years.

However, those practicing martial arts were entirely different; their consumption was like a great whale drinking water—continuous and inexhaustible.

Daily meat and refined grains were indispensable; otherwise, where would the strength come from to strike a wooden post thousands of times?

And that was merely the daily sustenance.

The greater expense lay in medicinal supplements. A single medicinal pill could cost an ordinary family several months' worth of expenses, making it difficult even for typical wealthy households to maintain such costs.

Within the training grounds, ninety percent of the martial candidates were either from prestigious families or practiced hereditary martial arts and possessed some family wealth. The remaining ten percent, even if they possessed extraordinary talent, had likely exhausted the accumulated wealth and lifeblood of several generations just to earn the chance to stand here.

Among that ten percent, those capable of standing out today were as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns; most were merely there to join the fray and gain experience.

Chen Qing understood very well: if, in the world of literature and scholarship, the scholarly families monopolized brushes, ink, classics, and lineages of teaching, then in this world of flourishing martial arts, the clans and powerful families that dominated certain regions controlled the martial wealth, the meat, and the secret martial arts.

"Chen Qing!?"

Xu Fang's gaze suddenly locked onto a figure in the crowd, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Xiao Fang, what is it?"

A well-maintained woman beside her, dressed in high-quality light blue silk, asked.

She was Xu Fang's aunt, Xu Xiuhua.

Coming back to her senses, Xu Fang said with a complex expression, "I saw an acquaintance here. It was quite unexpected."

Since arriving at the Huang residence, she had frequently seen the well-trained, physically robust youths of the household sweating profusely under the guidance of martial masters.

She had also seen the exorbitant costs of meat, medicinal diets, and the tempering of equipment.

She knew all too well the massive support required behind such training.

How could a "wild loach" from Yazi Bay possibly have the qualification to stand here?

Xu Xiuhua followed her gaze with a casual glance, her elegant brows knitting slightly. "Oh? Someone from a place like Yazi Bay?"

Xu Fang bit her lower lip and nodded vigorously, her eyes following Chen Qing's figure through the crowd with complicated emotions. "He... I don't know how much chance he has when he takes the field later..."

"Chance?"

Xu Xiuhua let out a scoff. "Xiao Fang, you must understand: this martial exam is a fire that refines true gold and a torrent that washes away the dross. Ninety-nine percent of these people are merely grains of sand swept up by a massive wave. Once the wave hits, what is sand remains sand; nothing can be faked."

"The fact that he managed to squeeze into this venue is already a sign of great ancestral luck."

The children of wealthy families and powerful clans had been taught by martial masters since childhood, ate meat at every meal, and never lacked medicinal supplements.

A fisherman from Yazi Bay wanting to compete with them? She thought they should save their energy.

Clearly, Xu Xiuhua was not optimistic.

Xu Fang nodded and said no more.

*Dong! Dong! Dong!*

Suddenly, three earth-shaking drumbeats rang out.

Immediately following, heavy and slow drumbeats rolled like muffled thunder, one after another, growing denser and more urgent, striking the hearts of everyone present and instantly pushing the already tense atmosphere to its peak.

Before long, the drumming ceased, leaving the echoes reverberating across the vast, empty grounds.

The chief examiner rose slowly and walked to the front of the platform with steady steps.

His gaze was as sharp as lightning as he scanned the crowd. "This year's martial exam is to select elite talents. On this examination field, let your true ability speak! Blades and spears have no eyes; you are responsible for your own lives! Any cheating or deception will be severely punished according to military law, without leniency."

He suddenly raised his voice, his sharp command exploding like a clap of thunder

"The hour has arrived—!"

"Begin the examination!!!"

With the announcement of the clerk, the martial examination officially commenced.

Squads of martial candidates marched onto the training grounds, each selecting a bow of a different weight from the racks.

The first round of testing was for physical strength.

The assessment was judged by the number of times the bow could be drawn. It required a force of one hundred and twenty catties to draw a one-dan bow to full tension, and a draw past the halfway point was considered valid.

The bows on the plaza ranged from one dan to twelve dan.

The grading was distinct: those who could draw a three-dan or four-dan bow were ranked *Ding* (Fourth Class); those between four and six dan could achieve *Bing* (Third Class); those between seven and nine dan were ranked *Yi* (Second Class); only those who could draw a bow of ten dan or more had the chance to claim *Jia* (First Class).

"There are only two rounds in total. The second round of actual combat has too many variables; I must secure a good result in this first round," Chen Qing calculated silently in his mind while observing the performance of the candidates on the platform.

Combined with his day-and-night hard training and the nourishment from the precious fish, his strength had now been tempered down to his internal organs. Although he was still quite far from achieving Great Success in *Anjin* (Hidden Strength), his *Tongbi Quan* (Arm-reaching Fist) had already reached Great Success, which was his advantage.

More and more candidates took to the platform; Luo Qian and Sun Shun were among them.

"Ding-6 (Sun Shun), Yi-Middle."

"Ding-15 (Luo Qian), Yi-Lower."

Both had drawn seven-dan bows. Sun Shun managed five successful draws, while Luo Qian managed three.

"Sigh."

Sun Shun shook his head and sighed, feeling a sense of frustration.

He knew his hopes of passing the exam this year were slim.

*Yi-Middle* was a threshold; if one failed to reach at least *Yi-Middle* in the first round, their chances of passing were negligible unless they displayed extraordinary strength in the second round to claim a *Jia* rank.

Luo Qian's expression remained unchanged. Having participated in the martial exam, she already had a realistic expectation of her chances.

Her gaze had long been fixed on those candidates with the potential to pass, secretly calculating whether she could find an opportunity to make their acquaintance.

If even the elite disciples of the Zhou Academy were in such a position, it was even harder for ordinary disciples. Most could barely draw a three or four-dan bow before gasping for breath, facing elimination in the first round with almost no suspense.

(End of Chapter)