61: Chapter 61 The Martial Artist's Sixth Sense

Ye Yisong stopped Cultivating, emerged from the cultivation room, and rendezvoused with Ye Jiesheng and the others; today was the second stage of the Shuinan County Martial Examination—the Artistry Assessment.

The point calculation rules for the Artistry Assessment were the same as the martial competition: first place received 10 points, second place 8 points, third place 6 points, fourth through tenth place 5 points, eleventh through fiftieth place 3 points, and fifty-first through one hundredth place 1 point.

The difference between the two competitions lay in the eligibility requirements.

For Martial Artists participating in the Shuinan County Exam martial competition, only two conditions needed to be met: first, the Martial Artist's household registration must be in Shuinan County, and second, their age must not exceed 20 years.

However, participating in the Artistry Assessment was different; one had to first participate in the first stage of the Martial Examination and reach the top 100 to be eligible for the second stage, the Artistry Assessment.

Otherwise, even a Tier 4 Artistry Grandmaster would be unable to participate in the second stage of the Martial Examination—the Artistry Assessment.

Of course, no Tier 4 Artistry master would fail to make the top 100 in the martial competition, as improvements in Artistry techniques were often matched by one's strength.

Just like Ye Yisong; if his strength hadn't reached that of a Tier 3 Martial Master, Ye Jiexin would never have taught him the Tier 3 Talisman-making Technique. Teaching him would have been in vain, as his Spiritual Qi could not meet the charging requirements for a Tier 3 Talisman, making it impossible to produce one.

As for those Talisman Makers who relied on external forces to complete the charging, Ye Jiexin collectively referred to them as trash, not worth mentioning.

Although Great Wei placed greater importance on the cultivation of Artistry masters in various fields compared to several other countries and had introduced numerous encouraging policies, even linking them to the Martial Examination,

this world ultimately relied on one's own strength to speak; if one's own strength was not strong, saying anything was useless.

Led by Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang and Ye Jiesheng, several dozen people marched toward the Shuinan County government office with soaring spirits, as if they were about to storm the place.

There were even more people this time than the last; this was mainly because everyone lacked entertainment in their daily lives, spending their time either Cultivating or on the road resisting the attacks of Yao Beasts.

During this period, the Yao Beasts had suffered a major blow and were temporarily dormant, so the Martial Artists from various families had relaxed and had some spare time.

In their dull and boring cultivation lives, having a lively event to watch was rare, so everyone spontaneously gathered to go, treating it as a few days of vacation for themselves.

When the Ye Family arrived at the Shuinan County government office, the Zhao and Li families, just like last time, had already occupied two corners early on.

The two families had intermarried for generations, and several familiar Martial Artists were whispering and exchanging anecdotes.

Seeing the Ye Family enter, all sound around the arena ceased for a moment. Everyone watched quietly as the Ye Family Martial Artists, led by Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang, reached the corner on the east side of the arena and took their seats.

Ye Jiekang and Ye Jiehua looked like victorious generals, heads held high as they looked back at the Martial Artists in the arena, waving their hands from time to time as if reviewing troops.

Ye Yisong touched his nose; he felt a bit embarrassed by everyone's gaze, and it even felt a bit strange. Especially from the south side of the arena, a slightly chubby middle-aged man dressed in form-fitting yellow clothing was looking at him with eyes that seemed to be observing some rare treasure.

"What an alert kid," the middle-aged man said to himself.

The more Ye Yisong looked at this middle-aged man, the stranger he felt; he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

"Father, that middle-aged man seems to have a problem." Ye Yisong decided to tell Ye Jiesheng; when in doubt, ask the big boss—Ye Yisong still possessed that level of awareness.

"Which one?" Ye Jiesheng looked in the direction Ye Yisong was pointing, but didn't see anyone, and gave his precious son a strange look.

The surprises Ye Yisong had given him over the past few days were simply too great, whether it was the previously learned Breakthrough to become a Tier 3 Talisman Master, or the later discovery that the green lotus could purify pill toxins.

Both were very shocking to Ye Jiesheng.

Now, he attached great importance to any potential safety hazards regarding Ye Yisong, fearing that some trouble might arise midway.

Furthermore, a Martial Artist's own intuition was sometimes very sensitive and reliable, especially when it came to bad hunches, which required even more caution and care.

Ye Jiesheng himself had relied on his astonishing intuition several times to avoid life-and-death crises and enemy death traps.

When Ye Yisong turned back to look, the slightly chubby middle-aged man was nowhere to be seen, and he didn't know how to answer Ye Jiesheng's question for a moment.

Recalling the feeling just now more carefully, the way that middle-aged man looked at him, when thought about now, didn't seem like looking at a rare treasure; it was more like a beast seeing exquisite food, drooling and wanting to swallow him in one bite.

Ye Yisong quietly walked to Ye Jiesheng's side and whispered a few words in his ear. Ye Jiesheng's eyes immediately widened and brightened, his aura exploded, and he fully unleashed his Divine Sense, scanning all the Martial Artists under the arena.

"The Ye Family is being too overbearing!" Patriarch Li Hu stood up and accused angrily, while Zhao Jian also stood to the side, glaring at Ye Jiesheng.

The Li and Zhao families of Shuinan were indeed not as strong as the Cangjiang Ye Family, but they couldn't allow Ye Jiesheng to scan their Martial Artists with his Divine Sense so wantonly, especially since Ye Jiesheng hadn't spared the two Clan Chiefs either.

"As fellow Tier 4 Martial Ancestor powerhouses, don't I have any Face?"

Ye Yisong hadn't expected his father to do such a thing at the Martial Examination site; it was simply too... badass.

This time, he deeply understood what his grandfather meant by "audacious."

"Hmph." Ye Jiesheng completely ignored the two Clan Chiefs, not even bothering to explain. Just as he was about to take further action, he was stopped by someone.

"Ye Jiesheng, you are too presumptuous. Do you really think there is no one left in my Shuinan County?" Magistrate Sun Nanyu said with a hostile tone.

"Magistrate," Patriarch Li Hu and Zhao Jian saluted.

He finally came out; the two of them could not stop this god of slaughter.

"Old Sun, how come it's been a few years and your strength hasn't grown much, but your temper has become so big?" Ye Jiesheng said with a chuckle.

"I suspect that there are members of the Yao Race mixed into your Shuinan County government office, and I was kindly helping you check it out. Why are you so unappreciative?"

"Talk nonsense! How could there be members of the Yao Race mixed into my Shuinan County government office? With this magistrate personally guarding it and the imperial court's monster-revealing mirror present, no member of the Yao Race can hide here." Hearing Ye Jiesheng's slander, Magistrate Sun Nanyu hurriedly shouted sharply.

"Magistrate is mighty!"

He should suppress Ye Jiesheng's arrogant attitude so he wouldn't be so unscrupulous.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu was at a critical moment for promotion; how could he allow Ye Jiesheng to spout such nonsense? Saying that members of the Yao Race were appearing in the Shuinan County government office wasn't that the same as saying he, Magistrate Sun Nanyu, was colluding with the Yao Race?

He glanced at Ye Yisong again; his strength wasn't much... although he was improving quite fast, he was as timid as a mouse and would not amount to much.

A few glances and he was scared like this!

Ye Jiesheng didn't dwell on it too much; even if he didn't trust Magistrate Sun Nanyu, he had to trust the monster-revealing mirror at the entrance of the Shuinan County government office. That couldn't be fake; no member of the Yao Race could hope to avoid its detection.

He temporarily put aside the idea of investigating, took Ye Yisong back to the Ye Family rest area, and went to discuss something with Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang.

Besides, he did have some friendship with Magistrate Sun Nanyu, and Magistrate Sun Nanyu was a person worth associating with, so there was no need to offend him too deeply.

Seeing that Ye Jiesheng was no longer pestering him, Magistrate Sun Nanyu didn't press the attack either. After comforting Patriarch Li Hu and Zhao Jian with a few words, he also returned to the back office to rest.

Leaving the little interlude just now aside, the Martial Artists participating in the Martial Examination Artistry Assessment today had arrived one after another, and the Shuinan County Martial Examination Artistry Assessment was about to begin.