40: Chapter 40 The County Magistrate of Shuainan County

The Shuinan County government office was built in the northern part of Shuinan County, less than ten kilometers away from the Weishui River.

The primary mission of the Shuinan County government office was to defend against the Yao Beasts of the Weishui River. By building the government office here, they could better coordinate all parties in resisting the Yao Beasts.

The Shuinan County government office stood on the front line, setting a good example. If any Family dared to feign compliance while acting in opposition, the Great Wei Imperial Court would certainly make them pay the price.

Today was the first stage of the Shuinan County Martial Examination—the tournament.

The tournament arena was built in the center of the government office; it was square, very large in area, totaling one thousand square meters, with a thick line dividing the arena in two down the middle.

A resting area was built at each of the four corners of the arena, with five hundred seats in each, provided for the Martial Artists participating in the Martial Examination and their clansmen to rest.

The entire competition would last for three days, with two matches taking place simultaneously each time, continuing day and night without pause.

When the Ye Family group arrived at the tournament arena, the people from the Zhao Family and Li Family had already arrived. The two families each occupied a corner on the south and west sides of the arena.

Seeing this, Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang led the Ye Family members to the corner on the east side and settled down.

Although there was no one on the north side, it was conventionally reserved for the Shuinan County Magistrate, so Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang would naturally not go there.

"Brother Zhao, the fierce dragon has arrived again," the Li Family Clan Chief, Patriarch Li Hu, said to Zhao Jian, the Clan Chief of the Zhao Family.

"Brother Li, I see it," Zhao Jian replied.

Although the Zhao and Li families knew that the Cangjiang Ye Family was extremely powerful and a behemoth they could not afford to provoke, they were not at all worried that the Cangjiang Ye Family would pose any threat to them.

After all, what the Cangjiang Ye Family wanted to contend for were the resources of Cangjiang Prefecture City; they looked down upon the meager scraps in Shuinan County and would not come to seize them.

Every class had its own food chain, and one shouldn't be too unsightly in how they ate.

Ye Yisong sat in the shade, waiting for a dozen minutes, when he saw a middle-aged man with the appearance of a fair-faced scholar appear on the north side of the arena.

He was followed by a group of soldiers wearing iron armor. Judging by their attitude toward the middle-aged man, this must be the Shuinan County Magistrate, Magistrate Sun Nanyu.

In the System of the Great Wei Imperial Court, to become a local chief official, one's cultivation must reach the one-star Martial Ancestor level to have a chance.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu was a three-star Martial Ancestor expert. He had come to Shuinan County twenty years ago, and during these years in Shuinan County, he had been fighting against the Yao Beasts of the Weishui River.

According to regulations, this was his last year in Shuinan County. If the performance evaluation result was good or above, he would have a chance to be promoted to serve in Cangjiang Prefecture City.

If the evaluation result was only passing, he would still have to move, going to another county in Cangjiang Prefecture to continue serving as Magistrate.

If the evaluation result was failing, he would be stripped of his position entirely and sent home to grow sweet potatoes, his twenty years of hard work turning into bubbles.

In recent years, Magistrate Sun Nanyu's governance of Shuinan County had been commendable; by uniting the three major families to defend against the Yao Beasts of the Weishui River, the Yao Beasts basically dared not come ashore to harass the people.

The fourth-grade Spiritual Vein of Shuinan County was well maintained, full of Spiritual Qi, and the population had also skyrocketed over these twenty years.

Because of the existence of the Ye Family, the Martial Artists who left Shuinan County after the Martial Examination also performed very excellently in the Cangjiang Prefecture Martial Examination.

With so many political achievements in hand, it could be said that as long as Magistrate Sun Nanyu hosted this Martial Examination well, the promotion documents would appear on his desk.

"Ahem."

Magistrate Sun Nanyu flashed to the center of the arena and cleared his throat, attracting everyone's gaze toward him.

"All Martial Artists participating in the Martial Examination today, come to the arena to assemble," Magistrate Sun Nanyu said.

Hearing Magistrate Sun Nanyu's words, the Martial Artists from the three major families and the Loose Cultivators participating in the Martial Examination all moved and walked toward the arena.

Ye Jiesheng patted Ye Yisong on the shoulder and encouraged him: "Go."

Ye Yisong saw a red-haired youth in the direction of the Zhao Family, whom others treated with great politeness; this should be Zhao Wentao.

On the Li Family side, however, he did not see the figure of that formidable opponent, Li Yuan.

Ye Yisong and the others lined up orderly on the arena, waiting for Magistrate Sun Nanyu's next arrangement.

"Verify your identities," Magistrate Sun Nanyu spoke again.

The iron-armored soldiers who had just been following behind him each took out an instrument similar to a brick phone and walked over.

A burly soldier walked up to Ye Yisong and asked a few questions simply and clearly, without any hesitation.

"Name."

"Ye Yisong."

"Household registration number."

"3155070503911."

"Next, please perform fingerprint, pupil, and Mental Energy verification," the burly soldier said, pointing the instrument at Ye Yisong.

This instrument mainly relied on Mental Energy recognition to confirm identity; everyone's Mental Energy fluctuations were different, making it extremely difficult to imitate.

After verifying his fingerprints and pupils, Ye Yisong channeled a wisp of Mental Energy into the instrument. The instrument's dial spun three times, and with a "beep," it displayed that verification had passed.

Ye Yisong paid one hundred Spirit Stones and received an admission ticket for successful registration, on which "Number 34" was written.

The process of registering for the Martial Examination was full of technological flair, making Ye Yisong feel as if he had returned to the scene of his previous life's college entrance examination. Inputting personal information into the instrument allowed the System to verify it in the background, taking only a few seconds to complete—quick and convenient.

It was said that the Great Wei Imperial Court had spent billions of Spirit Stones on the development and research of this instrument.

The subsequent maintenance of the System required massive amounts of Spirit Stones, so a fee of one hundred Spirit Stones was charged each time an identity was verified.

These soldiers were the main force for maintaining public order under the jurisdiction of Shuinan County and only obeyed the orders of the Magistrate.

Each of them had achieved success in their cultivation, at least at the seven-star Martial Warrior level. Their main task was to strike against the Yao Beasts of the Weishui River that came ashore, and they also handled some lawbreakers who did not follow the rules.

The iron-armored soldiers were very efficient; in less than ten minutes, they had verified the identity information of all 514 people present.

"Reporting to the Magistrate, all Martial Artists participating in the Martial Examination have had their identities verified, and there are no instances of fraud or cheating," a small leader wearing white armor reported to Magistrate Sun Nanyu after collecting the information.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu nodded slightly, signaling that he understood.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu had already organized three Martial Examinations in Shuinan County and was very familiar with the process of the Martial Examination.

He didn't need to do anything during this process; he could just watch quietly. His main role was that of a referee, treating every Martial Artist fairly and impartially so that everyone would be convinced.

"The Shuinan County Martial Examination officially begins."

Magistrate Sun Nanyu announced it like an old cadre. After speaking, he returned to his seat on the north side and leisurely began eating the spirit food on the table, as if the Martial Examination had nothing to do with him.

The small leader in white armor from before, holding a small booklet, came to the center of the arena and announced the tournament rules to the Martial Artists participating in the Martial Examination.

"The first round of the tournament is a single-elimination System; win to advance to the second round, lose and your admission ticket will be confiscated."

"During the tournament, the use of external objects is prohibited, and deaths or injuries are disregarded."

"If one side admits defeat, the other side must immediately stop attacking; otherwise, they will bear the consequences themselves."

Ye Yisong was still listening to the rules carefully, but the small leader in white armor had already stopped speaking.

The rules for the first round were just three sentences!

According to these rules, half of the Martial Artists would be eliminated in the first round; it was too cruel.

If one was unlucky and two Late Stage Martial Masters met in the first round, the one who lost would be in terrible luck.

"Everyone, exit the tournament arena."

The young general in white armor took out a square seal and inserted it into the groove in the center of the tournament arena. The surroundings of the arena were slowly enveloped by a yellow Spiritual light.

The yellow Spiritual light divided the arena in two, with no connection between them.

This Formation was called the Thick Earth Spiritual Light Formation, a third-grade High Grade Formation, mainly intended to protect the audience watching the tournament from being accidentally injured.

As for the life or death of the Martial Artists fighting inside, it was not within the scope of consideration.

"Arena No. 1, first match: No. 1 versus No. 514."

"Arena No. 2, second match: No. 2 versus No. 513."