117: Chapter 117 The Prefectural Examination Begins

The Tier 4 dragon-tiger golden pill is a precious treasure, unlike other Medicinal Pills; it is extremely rare. If kept in hand, it will needlessly attract the covetous eyes of others. Today you come to trade, tomorrow someone else comes to exchange, adding only trouble.

When that time comes, deciding who to give it to and who not to is truly a difficult choice.

It is better to let the Disciples within the Family digest it. By the time others hear the news and come seeking it, it will be too late!

Among the Jie-generation Disciples, only Ye Jiesheng and Ye Jiefeng possess outstanding Martial Dao talent. Ye Jiesheng has already achieved a Breakthrough to Seven-Star Martial Sect, so taking this pill would be too much of a waste.

Among the Yi-generation Disciples, most have not yet grown up. Currently, Ye Yisong leads the way, outshining even many Jie-generation Disciples.

There is still one Medicinal Pill left, yet for the moment, there is no suitable Disciple in the Family to bestow it upon.

After considering for a long time, the old man in hemp clothes thought of a candidate: the Family's only Tier 4 Talisman Maker, Ye Jiexin. Giving the pill to him should elicit no complaints from the Disciples in the Family, so he proposed this to Ancestor Ye Rongming.

Ye Jiexin's talent for Talisman Making is a once-in-a-century occurrence, but his Martial Dao talent is mediocre. To help him achieve a Breakthrough to Tier 4 Martial Ancestor, the Family used three Tier 4 barrier-breaking pills on him before he finally succeeded.

To date, under the supply of the Family's vast resources, he has only broken through to a Three-Star Martial Ancestor.

The same resources supplied to other Disciples in the Family would be enough to create another strong Martial Ancestor.

However, the Family provides Cultivation resources to Ye Jiexin willingly and gladly, wishing they could supply even more to him.

The Ye Family has been able to overcome many difficulties and establish this foundation; Ye Jiexin can be considered the greatest contributor to the Ye Family.

Bestowing the Medicinal Pill upon Ye Jiexin to enhance his strength and provide an extra layer of security is entirely beneficial to the Ye Family with no drawbacks at all!

"Agreed!" Ancestor Ye Rongming pondered for a moment before agreeing. He then took out a Medicinal Pill and handed it to Grand Elder Ye Ronghui, saying, "After Yisong participates in the Prefecture Examination, Seventeenth Brother, you can have him stay in the Prefecture City. Once he comprehends the Martial Dao Seed and achieves a Breakthrough to Martial Ancestor, you may let him take this pill."

"I have a premonition that this child is the next True Dragon of our Ye Family and will lead the Ye Family to rise to the next level."

The old man in hemp clothes was dumbfounded upon hearing this. The Ye Family was already a Family of Martial Kings; if they rose another level, could it be that this child had the potential of a Martial Emperor?!

Hiss!

The old man in hemp clothes gasped, then said with concern, "Should we secretly dispatch several more guards to protect this child and prevent past events from recurring?"

"Hehe, that won't be necessary. Tuanhui has already arranged for Little San to follow this child. Moreover, in this Prefecture City, I doubt they would dare to act recklessly." Although Ancestor Ye Rongming did not manage affairs, Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui often communicated important Family matters to him to avoid misunderstandings.

"Very well. How is your injury?" the old man in hemp clothes asked with concern.

"It is nothing. This time, the East-Suppressing General acted in time, so I only sustained some superficial injuries. I will recover after a few days of seclusion," Ancestor Ye Rongming said.

"Our Family has gained the most benefits this time, so it is inevitable that outsiders will be jealous. Release the news that the Wei Family hunted a Tier 5 Flood Dragon to muddy the waters. Once they go to verify the truth, they will naturally not focus all their attention on our Ye Family."

"Very well, Seventh Brother. I will handle this matter personally and make sure it is impossible for people to distinguish the truth from the false," the old man in hemp clothes replied.

...

This time, there were a total of 128 Ye Family Disciples participating in the Prefecture Examination: eight from the Tuan-generation, ninety from the Jie-generation, and thirty from the Yi-generation, spanning three generations in total.

The strength of the group ranged from Seven-Star Martial Artist to Nine-Star Martial Master.

It is worth mentioning that there were only two strong individuals in the Late Stage of Martial Master: one was Ye Jiexuan, an Eight-Star Martial Master; the other was Ye Yisong, a Nine-Star Martial Master.

These two were the seeded players for the Ye Family to compete for first place in this Prefecture Examination.

Just after leaving the Ye Family Villa, Ye Jiejing and Ye Jielu approached them. Ye Yisong enthusiastically introduced his new friends to Uncle Jiefu, Ye Yitian, and Ye Yifan.

That kid Ye Yiguang had snuck back to pick up Shangguan Yunque.

The group were all from the same Family, so they naturally felt a sense of closeness. With the chatterbox Ye Jielu connecting them, they quickly became familiar with one another.

When Uncle Jiefu and the other two learned of the strength of Ye Jiejing and Ye Jielu, they were thoroughly shocked, which deepened their desire to befriend them.

Ye Yitian was born into the Cangjiang Ye Clan and was even a direct descendant, yet his cultivation had only just broken through to a One-Star Martial Master.

Ye Jielu and Ye Jiejing were not many years older than them, yet their strength was so much higher.

In particular, Ye Jiejing was actually a Tier 2 Medium Grade Talisman Maker.

You are the one who is a Disciple of the Cangjiang Ye Clan; we are the Disciples of the Shuinan Ye Clan!

Uncle Jiefu and the other two thought that the only ones who could rival Ye Jiejing were two people: one was the Ye Yisong before them, and the other was Ye Jiexuan, who was walking at the very front of the many Jie-generation Disciples, who was also a Tier 2 Talisman Maker.

For the second half of the journey, the group all surrounded Ye Jiejing, asking how he had improved his strength so quickly.

The answer they received was actually exactly the same as Ye Yisong's experience of rapid growth: throwing money at it.

The group finally looked at Ye Jiejing with envy a few times and stopped asking, as this was a path to improvement they could not replicate.

The government office in the Cangjiang Prefecture City was far larger than the Shuinan County magistrate's office—it was over thirty times larger.

Everyone followed Grandfather Ye Tuantu to the southwest corner of the government office, where there was a regular sixteen-sided martial arts arena covering a hundred acres; the Cangjiang Prefecture Examination would be held here.

Around the martial arts arena, seating for a total of ten thousand people had been built in eight directions. Grandfather Ye Tuantu was not picky and led everyone to the south side of the arena, where they occupied a space and sat down.

Grandfather Ye Tuantu and Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang sat at the very front, while the others sat with the clansmen they were familiar with. The small group led by Ye Yisong, consisting of the original six plus Ye Jiejing and Ye Jielu for a total of eight people, sat neatly in the seats behind Grandfather Ye Tuantu.

By eight o'clock in the morning, Vice Prefect Wu Jin flew over directly from the office area and stood in the center of the martial arts arena. He swept his gaze over the crowd, his presence imposing without needing to show anger, and the entire venue instantly fell silent.

"I am the Vice Prefect of Cangjiang Prefecture, Wu Jin. Entrusted by Prefect Sun, I shall preside over this Cangjiang Prefecture Examination."

"I will not say much more. I hope all the Martial Artists participating in this Martial Examination can achieve excellent results."

"Official Wu Tian, begin!"

After finishing, Vice Prefect Wu Jin headed toward the pre-arranged chief examiner's seat, completely ignoring the subsequent matters as if they had nothing to do with him.

After Vice Prefect Wu Jin stepped off the arena, an officer in black armor with a dark face arrived on the arena; this must be the Official Wu Tian that Vice Prefect Wu Jin mentioned.

He waved his hand, and a hundred petty officials holding registration machines appeared, lining up neatly in ten rows of ten on the west side of the martial arts arena.

"Will all Martial Artists participating in this Prefecture Examination please come to the stage to register? After registration, gather on the east side of the arena."

Upon hearing this, the Martial Artists from all directions of the arena arrived on the stage one after another, found an available petty official, and neatly, quietly, and orderly entered their information into the machines.