31: The martial arts exam begins!

Upon arriving at the Lingnan City examination center.

The stage scaffolding was seen collapsed in a heap.

It looked like an iron beast lying prostrate in the night.

In front of the scaffolding, several leaders, looking grim-faced, stood there pointing and gesturing.

Boss Zhang jumped out of the car, bowing and scraping, a humble smile on his face, and jogged over.

Those leaders each spat at Boss Zhang.

Shen Bei and the others stood far away, unable to hear what they were saying.

But it was likely a thorough cursing of Boss Zhang's entire family.

This was unavoidable.

The Martial Arts was a major national event.

Every year, it was hoped that a batch of Martial Artists could be recruited to help the country stand firm in a complex world and ensure its Legacy for thousands of generations.

The more brutal reality was that if a country's Martial Artists were not strong or numerous.

Once it displeased a major power internationally, the consequences could be catastrophic.

This destruction was not just the tragic sight of rivers of blood.

It also involved the forced transformation of a country's culture and Legacy, to achieve a complete collapse.

So much so that the descendants of this country would have no knowledge of who their Old Ancestors were.

Killing the spirit under overwhelming force!

Not long after.

Boss Zhang rushed back, sweating profusely, and called out to Shen Bei and the other workers: "Right now, I don't want to say a single word of nonsense. A wage of 300 per hour is already an exorbitant price! Get to work with all your might!"

As Shen Bei and the others were hired, they naturally had nothing to say.

They rolled up their sleeves and began to dismantle the collapsed scaffolding, piling it to one side.

What hadn't collapsed also needed to be reinforced.

If it wasn't reinforced and fell on the leaders who would come to visit tomorrow, Boss Zhang would surely be receiving silver handcuffs.

The process of securing the scaffolding took over four hours.

Late at night, Boss Zhang even bought late-night snacks for the workers.

"Take a break, eat!"

Boss Zhang called out.

This late-night snack was neither cheap nor expensive, but for the workers, it was definitely a reliable meal.

Boss Zhang squatted to one side, scrolling on his phone, and with an "Oh!" at a news item, he chuckled and said: "Look at this news, a female Martial Artist kept a gigolo, and this gigolo went out to find someone else, so the female Martial Artist cut him up. The man wanted to sue in court, but the judge immediately declared the female Martial Artist innocent, haha."

Shen Bei, shoveling his food, said indignantly: "This guy has no professional ethics, right? If I were kept, I'd guarantee three meals a day of chives and pig kidneys, to show the female Martial Artist what professional ethics are."

Boss Zhang was stunned, gave a thumbs-up, and said with an admiring expression: "My young brother truly has my full approval, I've long admired your talent."

After eating and drinking their fill, they immediately began to erect new scaffolding.

Gradually.

Day broke.

By seven in the morning, the work was still not finished.

Mainly because too much had collapsed.

Some steel pipes were bent and broken during the collapse and were completely unusable.

They could only piece things together, which delayed progress.

However, there was one thing to be grateful for.

According to the Martial Arts Exam schedule, this scaffolding wouldn't be needed until the afternoon.

There was still time.

The workers, who hadn't rested all night, quickly ate breakfast and, without resting, continued to work.

...

Changtu County.

At the entrance of First High School.

A luxurious coach bus was parked at the entrance.

One after another, many Martial Arts students arrived from home and, after being called by their respective homeroom teachers, began to wait for the bus.

Professor Gu Xinrou was wearing a light yellow dress today.

The dress, highlighting her graceful curves, swayed in the wind.

Whenever Professor Gu Xinrou's elegant figure turned, the light yellow skirt fluttered around her, blooming like a lotus flower, a stunning sight that was pleasing to the eye.

Professor Gu Xinrou checked the time, then looked around elsewhere.

Her brow furrowed, and her expression changed from sunny to cloudy.

"Damn it!" Professor Gu Xinrou's teeth gnashed: "It's already 8:60, why isn't Shen Bei here yet!"

Liao Zhongyang and Qi Chuanyu, who were about to board the bus, heard Professor Gu Xinrou's complaint.

They exchanged glances, seemingly very surprised.

Today was a nationally important Martial Arts Exam day.

Shen Bei was actually missing?

Qi Chuanyu whispered: "Did that guy go down a shady path?"

Liao Zhongyang's eyes gradually widened upon hearing this.

At this time of year.

Some criminal organizations were also very active.

They would use hacker technology to aggressively infiltrate high school Systems, obtain students' comprehensive scores.

Then select qualified candidates, persuade them, bribe them, to give up the Martial Arts Exam and instead take a shady path.

Of course, these qualified candidates were not the top tier.

But rather students who had a chance to become Martial Artists, but it was highly uncertain.

Generally speaking, slightly normal students would not choose this path.

But some students had twisted minds, or were extremely poor, and the other party offered too much, so they went astray.

What Qi Chuanyu said was not without reason; he had inquired.

Shen Bei's family was so poor even the cockroaches starved to death.

In such circumstances, it was easy for him to be swayed by money from other organizations.

Liao Zhongyang said with a questioning tone: "No way, right?"

Qi Chuanyu flicked his fringe and chuckled strangely: "Who knows."

...

Professor Gu Xinrou was frantic, calling Shen Bei's phone but getting no answer.

At this moment, Jian Tong got out of the car.

This somewhat naive young girl was dressed very beautifully today.

Her black hair fell smoothly, reaching her neck, the edges cut as neatly as a sliced watermelon, and the ends of her hair curled slightly inwards towards her cheeks, with graceful curves.

Her bangs were also neatly cut, parting slightly from the middle to both sides, revealing a red cinnabar mark. On either side of her softly curved face, two thin strands of hair fell in front of her ears, looking somewhat cute.

"Teacher, is Shen Bei still coming?"

Jian Tong's eyes held some worry.

Professor Gu Xinrou snorted: "He's truly troublesome! He can come or not, we can't all wait for him. If he misses this Martial Arts Exam, he'll be held back and can take it again next year!"

...

At this very moment.

Within Lingnan City, Martial Arts candidates from the five subordinate counties were all gathered at the examination center.

Buses were parked in the lot.

Students disembarked with nervous expressions.

Colorful flags fluttered around, and the national flag waved.

Various advertisements were displayed one after another:

"Penglai Wonderland Bathhouse, wishing you success in the Martial Arts Exam! Candidates with admission tickets get 30% off on special massages!"

"Your Life Loan Company, specializing in unsecured loans for Martial Artists, super fast approval!"

"Eight-Day International Theme Hotel, men traveling together get 50% off!"

"Defying Ancestral Teachings Li Family Traditional Chinese Medicine, five generations of inherited Wang family Medicinal Pill secret recipe revealed! Buy now, even one pill is wholesale price!"

"No Medicinal Pills for the Martial Arts, you'll regret it with howls! Attribute-enhancing Medicinal Pills on big sale, all at rock-bottom prices, 800,000 per pill!"

...

The candidates were already used to the skewed advertisements outside.

But what surprised the students was...

When looking at the examination center.

The students were all somewhat taken aback and dumbfounded.

The examination center was still under construction!

Several workers were climbing up and down the scaffolding, and there was even a person who looked like a student, with a face covered in rust, moving with light and agile movements, leaping up and down, busy using an electric drill to reinforce the scaffolding clamps.

What kind of show was this?

Shouldn't it have been prepared long ago!

"Changtu County No.1 High School, all stand here!"

"Kaiyuan County High School, stand here!"

"Students from Faku County, don't wander off, stand still."

"Xifeng! Students from Xifeng County, gather!"

"Students from Diaobingshan, look this way!"

...

Teachers from various counties were rushing to gather students and position them correctly.

After some tidying up.

The Lingnan City Martial Arts Exam began!