6: Chapter 6 Martial Arts Examination

Since the recovery of Spiritual Qi, the entire population has valued martial arts, and for thousands of years, a large number of martial arts overlords have emerged across the continent.

Some live in seclusion in the countryside, acting as farmers tending to flowers and plants; some control territories, becoming local tyrants; others establish Sects, becoming generations of Ancestral Masters; some even build millennial Dynasties, controlling the world.

The State of Wei where Ye Yisong currently resides was established three thousand years ago by the Great Wei Old Ancestor, Li Ergou.

Li Ergou was originally a young son of a small merchant Family. Because he was weak and sickly since childhood, hanging on the line between life and death many times, the matriarch followed the advice of a servant woman working in the house and gave him a lowly name, Haoyang. Surprisingly, after taking this name, the young son's illness miraculously improved.

Furthermore, at the age of twenty-eight, Li Ergou's life took a shocking turn.

Originally born into a small merchant Family, Li Ergou could at most reach the Martial Master Realm in his lifetime. Unexpectedly, it really lived up to his name; in his twenties, he had a stroke of incredible luck and discovered a Martial Emperor ruin all by himself.

He was truly a 'dog' (lucky); after obtaining such a large amount of resources, he stubbornly cultivated in seclusion in a small city for over a hundred years. His cultivation base rose steadily from a one-star Martial Master to a three-star Martial Emperor. By the time the ruins were discovered by other powerhouses, only an empty shell remained.

After the ruins were discovered, he began to slaughter everywhere, framing others for stealing and digging up his Family's Old Ancestor's ruins. That performance was truly filled with tears; if it weren't for the tombstone clearly inscribed with "Tomb of Martial Emperor Wei Qihou," people would have really believed his nonsense.

Through Li Ergou's arduous struggle, he led a group of aristocratic disciples, suppressed various Sects, and finally established the Great Wei Dynasty.

...

In the 845th year of Great Wei, to consolidate the rule of the Li Dynasty and win over martial cultivation families in various regions, the third Great Wei Emperor created the Martial Examination system.

The Martial Examination has been passed down to the present and is now firmly tied to the rise and fall of every Family.

The Great Wei Martial Examination is divided into four stages: County Exam, Prefecture Examination, Provincial Examination, and National Examination.

The Martial Examination is not only a stage for Family disciples to make a name for themselves but also a redistribution of local Family resources.

This is also to ensure a relatively stable environment so that Martial Artists do not waste their energy on internal strife within their own families.

The Dynasty will redistribute 30% of the known local resources based on the competition points of each Family, generally divided into four tiers.

The Family ranked first monopolizes 40% of the resources, the second monopolizes 30%, the third monopolizes 20%, and the remaining 10% is distributed among all families ranked below third.

As for the remaining 70%, 30% is held by the government, and 40% is held by the various families.

The State of Wei does this mainly to absorb fresh blood, loosen the class structure, and facilitate long-term development.

The Ye Family Clan also developed little by little under this system.

As for whether any Family is dissatisfied and tries to seize resources privately, just ask if your Family also has two hundred and fifty-five Martial Kings standing around.

Each stage of the Martial Examination is divided into two parts: Craftsmanship and Martial Combat.

For the sake of fairness, each stage has strict age restrictions. Anyone who dares to violate the regulations without authorization will be dealt with severely by the Dynasty once discovered.

From the few families that have already disappeared, one knows that this 'severe' is not just a slogan.

The County Exam is held every five years, and Martial Artists under 20 years old can participate. The Prefecture Examination is held every ten years, the Provincial Examination is held every twenty-five years, and those under 50 can participate. The National Examination is held every fifty years, and those under 100 can participate.

Each time, only the top one hundred outstanding Martial Artists are admitted.

Everyone privately calls them the "Top 100 of the Martial Examination." Each of the Top 100 is the hope of the Family and a key object of cultivation. A portion of the Family's resources for the next hundred years depends on their competition results, so Family members are relatively kind to them.

The imperial court only redistributes resources every one hundred years, which is the month after the National Examination ends. Otherwise, if they were redistributed every few years, no one would be able to Cultivate.

The first place in the County Exam gets 10 points, the second place gets 8 points, the third place gets 6 points, the fourth to tenth places get 5 points, the eleventh to fiftieth places get 3 points, and the fifty-first to one hundredth places get 1 point.

The points for the Prefecture Examination, Provincial Examination, and National Examination are ten times higher than the previous level, meaning the first place in the Prefecture Examination is 100 points, and so on.

It is particularly emphasized that both Craftsmanship and Martial Combat have such points; there is no distinction between primary and secondary.

When the hundred years expire, the total points of each Family are calculated, publicized for seven days, and then the resource handover is completed within one month.

As for why the Martial Examination is not just about Martial Combat but also includes a Craftsmanship competition, it is for the sake of the country's future development, to continuously transport high-quality Alchemists, Medicinal Pill makers, Talisman Makers, Formation Masters, and artifact makers to Great Wei.

For a country to be powerful, it definitely cannot rely solely on Martial Artists being brave and fierce; in the end, what is contested is civilization.

Whichever country has more advanced martial civilization, the Martial Artists of that country are stronger, there are more resources, and naturally, the national strength is stronger.

This is also the reason why the various technologies of the State of Wei are more developed than the other four major Dynasties.

...

There are still a few months until the once-every-five-years Cangjiang Prefecture Martial Examination County Exam, which is why the Ye Yisong brothers took out their own cultivation resources to help Ye Yifan improve his Alchemy level, so that he could become a First-Order Low Grade Alchemist sooner.

Because even for the simplest Craftsmanship assessment in the County Exam, the minimum requirement for a Martial Artist is First-Order Low Grade; apprentices are not recognized, which is why Ye Yifan was somewhat anxious to have a Breakthrough and become a First-Order Low Grade Alchemist.

Entering the next level of the Martial Examination, the points are calculated based on the total score of both competitions.

Just think, no matter how powerful you are, if you are in the top ten in Martial Combat but have no points in Craftsmanship, it is hard to say what ranking your total points will be.

As for the few brothers, the other three had already achieved Breakthroughs in their respective fields of study.

Ye Yisong had broken through to become a First-Order High Grade Talisman Maker three months ago, Ye Yitian had become a First-Order Medium Grade Alchemist three months ago, and Ye Yiguang had become a First-Order Low Grade Formation Master last month.

"Fifteenth Brother, I believe you can definitely do it." Ye Yisong encouraged him.

"We also believe in you." Ye Yitian and Ye Yiguang echoed.

Looking at the expectant eyes of his brothers, Ye Yifan felt immensely powerful inside. It was truly worth it to have you brothers in this life. He took Ye Yitian's hand and ran toward the distance: "Fourteenth Brother, from today on, you will stay with me in the Pill Refining Room. I don't believe I won't come out until I have a Breakthrough to become a First-Order Low Grade Alchemist."

"Don't do that, you practice well on your own. Today I still need to ask Alchemy Elder Ye Jiefang about the precautions for refining First-Order High Grade Medicinal Pills."

"If you want to piss me off, just say it directly, don't beat around the bush."

"Hahaha..."

Watching these two lively characters, Ye Yisong couldn't help but smile. He greeted Ye Yiguang and walked towards Lingmu Peak.

Walking through the gate of the Talisman Hall, which was never closed, he arrived inside with trepidation and saw Ye Jiexin casually carving on a Third-Order Red Flame Talisman board.

"You're here, not bad, find a place to sit yourself."

Hearing Ye Jiexin say "not bad," he knew that he had seen through his cultivation base reaching the Five-Star Martial Master level. That's right, last night Ye Yisong had leveled up two more stars; those Medicinal Pills really hadn't expired.

What was somewhat annoying was that this old man was peeping again. Or rather, it wasn't peeping; he was watching openly, and you couldn't even get angry.

Watching Ye Jiexin still carving the Talisman board, Ye Yisong breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. It seemed he couldn't see the existence of 798. He didn't know if 798 was hiding it well or if the Martial Ancestor Realm couldn't see it.

He didn't know if he would be exposed if he met a Martial Artist with a higher cultivation base in the future.

Now he could only take it one step at a time, hoping it wouldn't bring him trouble.

After sitting for a while, Ye Yikang, Ye Yikai, and the other four, along with the young girl, also arrived. After paying their respects, they stood aside without making any sound. The six of them quietly watched Ye Jiexin carving the Talisman board.

"Seal!"

With a loud shout, the watching crowd was awakened, and a Third-Order Red Flame Talisman was completed.

Although they didn't know what grade this Talisman was, everyone was still shocked. The Spiritual Qi of this Talisman was too powerful; it was Ye Yisong's first time watching Ye Jiexin refine a Third-Order Talisman, let alone the others.

"Take it, consider it a reward from me, your Elder, for your advancement." Ye Jiexin threw the Talisman in his hand to Ye Yisong.

Ye Yisong said excitedly: "Thank you, Elder."

He knew that this Talisman was worth at least one thousand two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones in the chamber of commerce.

"You brat, you call me Elder sweetly when there's a benefit, and call me an old geezer when there isn't." Ye Jiexin rolled his eyes, then asked strangely: "How did you suddenly become a Five-Star Martial Master? How many good things did Fifth Brother give you to eat? Come over here and let me see how your Foundation is."

As he spoke, he took Ye Yisong's hand and checked it, then looked at the sweating Ye Yisong with contempt: "There is no problem. Properly settle down during this period, don't have another Breakthrough for a short time."

Hearing Ye Jiexin's words, Ye Yisong knew he had worried too much, and his heart could finally be completely at ease. If a Martial Ancestor said his Foundation had no problems, then it definitely had no problems. It seemed 798 was still reliable.

His cultivation base had become a Five-Star Martial Master, and since Ye Jiexin had already found a reason for him, he wouldn't explain it to avoid trouble. However, he couldn't see his father, Ye Jiesheng, in the near future; he knew his cultivation base.

If he found out he was popping pills like this, he would probably confiscate his Medicinal Pills.

"Congratulations, Thirteenth Brother (Thirteenth Brother)." At this time, the five people beside him could finally get a word in.

Ye Yikai finally knew what Ye Yikang was congratulating Ye Yisong for yesterday, and couldn't help but sigh: Fifth Elder is really good to him. If his own father sent him a wave like this, he would take off too.

Although he knew there was no comparison, he couldn't help but feel sour in his heart. They were all direct descendants, why was the gap so big? What kind of Heaven And Earth Treasure did he grow up eating?

Ye Yikang was also a bit stunned; Ye Yisong's progress was too great.

He himself was only a Five-Star Martial Master...