151: Chapter 151 Rewards

"Official Wu Tian, I'll give you a few days off. You must have been exhausted these past few days." Vice Prefect Wu Jin waved his hand gently at Official Wu Tian, signaling that he could step down. He would preside over the rest himself and generously granted Official Wu Tian a few days of leave.

"Thank you, My Lord." Official Wu Tian happily handed the Prefecture Governor's seal to Vice Prefect Wu Jin and bowed in gratitude. This was the treatment of a trusted aide—being able to take days off from time to time, with hardly any days spent working at the Prefecture Office throughout the year.

"Those named on the list, please come up to the stage and use your Qi to sign." Vice Prefect Wu Jin lightly tapped the screen in front of him, and one hundred names arranged themselves neatly in four columns in the sky.

First were the top three of this Prefecture Examination: First Place: Ye Yisong; Second Place: Wang Xianliang; Third Place: Young Master Qi.

Next was the list of the top ten of the Prefecture Examination: Ye Jiexuan, Wang Xiannan, Second Master Qi Zhenglu, Wang Xianda, Wei Jiajun, Wei Jiaming, and Fu Yihang.

Then came the names of the top fifty Martial Artists of the Prefecture Examination, and finally, the Martial Artists ranked in the bottom fifty.

Among the one hundred people, seventeen names were dimmed, including Sun Jiadong, who had been killed by Ye Yisong. He was the only Martial Artist who died on the arena after advancing to the top ten. Although they were dead, their points remained, which could be considered their final contribution to their Family.

In the past, the final rankings of the top one hundred in the Prefecture Examination were roughly similar to the rankings from the tournament stage, remaining almost unchanged. However, this session saw significant changes. This was because seventeen Martial Artists in the top fifty had died in battle. There had never been such a high mortality rate before; at most, two or three people would die, with a dozen or so sustaining serious injuries.

In this Martial Examination, twenty-one Martial Artists from the bottom fifty managed to advance into the top fifty in the final rankings. This tremendous surprise caused the Juniors from their respective Families to shriek with excitement; they had never been this lucky in their lives, advancing just by lying down.

Within the top fifty, Fu Yihang advanced to the top ten. This completely put the minds of the Fu Family Elders at ease. The pressure the Qi Family had been putting on them during this period was simply too great, almost leaving them unable to breathe.

Now that Fu Yihang had advanced to the top ten of the Prefecture Examination, if all went as expected, he should be able to enter the Prefecture Office and secure an eighth-rank position. After achieving a Breakthrough to Martial Ancestor, he could be promoted two more ranks to hold a seventh-rank official post.

With an official status, many of the difficulties the Fu Family had faced would no longer be difficulties. At the very least, within the Cangjiang Prefecture city, some of the Fu Family's businesses could operate normally without being targeted by other Families.

After confirming their results were correct, the eighty-three people signed their names one by one with their Qi on a roster. Once this roster was stamped with the official seals of the Prefecture Governor, Vice Prefect, and Prefecture Commandant, it would be submitted by the Prefecture Office to the Provincial Government for record-keeping.

This would also be one of the credentials for these eighty-three people to participate in the Provincial Examination five years, or even twenty-five years, later.

"The ten of you, stay behind. If anyone else is interested in working for the Prefecture Office, you may report to Official Wu Tian within seven days." After flipping through the roster and confirming it was correct, Vice Prefect Wu Jin kept the top ten of the Prefecture Examination behind, clearly intending to recruit these Martial Artists.

As the Vice Prefect of a prefecture, Vice Prefect Wu Jin held a high and powerful position and could not possibly handle everything himself. Having cultivated so many trusted subordinates in his daily life, their purpose was now fully realized.

Martial Artists ranked eleventh to one hundredth in the Prefecture Examination, once selected, would only be able to hold minor ninth-rank official posts, and most would have to be distributed to subordinate county towns to gain experience for ten or twenty years.

Gaining experience in a county town was not for gilding; one had to constantly fight on the front lines, engaging in life-and-death battles with Yao Beasts. If one was not careful, they might just lose their life.

Just like the top one hundred Martial Artists from the Prefecture Examination ten years ago, among whom five Martial Artists voluntarily joined the government and were assigned to Shuinan County. Ten years had passed; two Martial Artists had died in battle, one Martial Artist had retired due to serious injuries, and two Martial Artists had been promoted to eighth-rank generals.

It could be said that danger and opportunity coexisted. For some Martial Artists from humble backgrounds, this path was the best way to restore their Family's glory.

Surviving meant promotion and wealth, which went without saying.

If they died, the government provided generous pensions. A ninth-rank official could also shelter one son or one daughter to enter a government academy to study martial arts or arts for ten years. For every rank promoted, one more person could be added. If there were no descendants, only then could another Martial Artist from the clan be recommended as a substitute.

This provision fully protected the rights of the deceased, preventing others from impersonating them.

County-level academies could teach up to Martial Artist-level Cultivation Techniques and second-tier arts; Prefecture-level academies could teach up to Martial Master-level Cultivation Techniques and third-tier arts, but one needed to be the child of an official above the fifth rank to enroll. As for Provincial-level academies, they could teach up to Martial Ancestor-level Cultivation Techniques and fourth-tier arts, but one needed to be the child of an official above the third rank to enroll.

As for the Capital Academy, only children of the Imperial Family or ennobled families could enroll. Legend had it that one even had the opportunity to learn Martial Emperor-level Cultivation Techniques there. This single point alone made all Martial Artists in Great Wei flock to this academy.

This series of generous conditions attracted a large number of Prodigies to join the Great Wei government system, either to enter politics or the military.

"Is there anyone among you willing to join the Prefecture Office to work?" Vice Prefect Wu Jin asked straightforwardly; he did not have much time to waste here.

"Lord Wu, this Junior is willing." Second Master Qi Zhenglu and Fu Yihang stepped out almost at the same time and bowed in salute.

The Qi Family had gone against the natural order during this Prefecture Examination by attacking the Ye Family. Their days ahead would certainly be difficult, and whether the Family could continue its Legacy was a question. If they did not cling to a powerful figure now, when would they?

The Fu Family was no better off. Ever since the Fu Family Head, Fu Xingqi, went missing, the Family's situation had gone from bad to worse. Now that a bright path had finally appeared, how could they not seize the opportunity?

Among the remaining eight, all were Martial Artists from the three major giant Families of Cangjiang Prefecture. They were not very interested in the olive branch extended by the Prefecture Office. It was not until a minute later that Wei Jiaming and Wang Xiannan stepped out, indicating their willingness to join the Prefecture Office.

From then on, a total of four people expressed their willingness to join the Cangjiang Prefecture Office. Vice Prefect Wu Jin waved his hand and granted them all the position of eighth-rank general, placing them under the command of Official Wu Tian.

"Ye Yisong, stay behind. The rest of you may leave." Vice Prefect Wu Jin secretly sighed with regret. The people he wanted to recruit all had deep backgrounds and looked down on these meager offerings. Alas, the pond of the Prefecture Office was still too shallow; it could not hold these few fierce tigers.

"Thank you, My Lord."

It is worth mentioning that before everyone left, Vice Prefect Wu Jin rewarded each of them with a fourth-tier Low Grade weapon as a gift to congratulate them on advancing to the top ten of the Prefecture Examination.

Wang Xianliang, Young Master Qi, and the others looked enviously at Ye Yisong, who had stayed behind. They knew in their hearts what kind of reward Ye Yisong would receive next. By the time they met again, Ye Yisong would surely have achieved a Breakthrough and become a Martial Ancestor expert.

A Martial Ancestor! Since the flourishing of the Martial Dao, this threshold had blocked so many Genius Martial Artists.

Ye Yisong looked at Vice Prefect Wu Jin with burning eyes, as if afraid of missing anything.

"Here for you." Vice Prefect Wu Jin took a jade box out of his Storage Pouch and handed it to Ye Yisong. "Kid, you are in luck."

"Thank you, My Lord."

After taking it, Ye Yisong impatiently opened the jade box. Inside, a jade-green Medicinal Pill with three pill patterns lay quietly; it was none other than the fourth-tier High Grade barrier-breaking pill.