69: Chapter 69 The First Life-or-Death Crisis

May 20th, a day of great misfortune.

At the Shuinan County government office, the atmosphere was filled with laughter and cheers. Martial Artists and Loose Cultivators from various Families were recounting the excellent performances of their Families in this Martial Examination. Only a few people wore expressions of sorrow, glaring angrily at a certain spot.

"The Cangjiang Ye Clan truly lives up to its reputation as a prefecture-level noble power; just this one Family obtained 88 points."

"The Shuinan Ye Clan also did well, obtaining 74 points."

"With these two great mountains spanning the Shuinan County region, it is difficult for other Families to stand out!"

"Fortune and misfortune are interdependent; with those two great mountains here, staying in Shuinan County is safer, isn't it?"

"Indeed. According to a cousin of my cousin's uncle, in Shuibei County on the northern bank, people often have to worry about harassment from the Weishui River Yao Beasts, and their suffering is indescribable."

The crowd discussed fervently, debating the point tallies of the various Families in this Martial Examination and sharing news from the neighboring counties.

The Weishui River borders the East Sea and is a key area requiring heightened vigilance. Great Yao Beasts from the East Sea often swim upstream to engage in acts of slaughtering cities and devouring humans.

Once, a grandson of the King of Donghai came here to sightsee, only to be plotted against and killed by a Great East Sea Yao Beast, his body left exposed in the wilderness. The Great Wei Imperial Court was enraged, and the King of Donghai was furious; he ventured deep into the East Sea, killed several Grade 5 Sea Yao Beasts, and slaughtered along the Weishui River for a month.

Afterwards, the Great Wei Imperial Court established three county cities along the Weishui River: Shuinan County, Shuibei County, and Shuixi County.

These three county cities formed a triangular Formation, encircling this 800-li stretch of the Weishui River to guard against the Sea Yao Beasts returning.

"The Magistrate has arrived!"

White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er shouted, and everyone immediately fell silent; they still had to give the Magistrate Face.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu walked out from the back of the government office, beaming with joy. Over the past few days, he had personally patrolled the southern waters of the Weishui River, and his anxious and worried heart had finally been put at ease.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu discovered that the River Yao Beasts were indeed much better behaved, showing no signs of emerging. He reckoned they must have been terrified by him, Magistrate Sun Nanyu, and were now forced to turtle up within the Weishui River, truly returning a clear river to his Shuinan County.

He glanced at Ye Yisong. With such a brilliant talent emerging in Shuinan County, his own official career was destined to be smooth, leading to a promotion to the prefecture city.

"I invite the top 100 Martial Artists of the Shuinan County Martial Examination to come up to the stage to sign with their spiritual sense. I will personally report to the prefecture government to have your names recorded," Magistrate Sun Nanyu said impassionedly.

Ye Yisong and the other hundred people went up to the stage together. Following their ranking order, they confirmed their Martial Examination scores and, after verifying them, signed with their spiritual sense.

The results had been publicly posted for three days, so everyone knew them well, and there were no points of contention. Everyone came up to the stage quickly and returned just as quickly.

Only Ye Yisong was kept behind by Magistrate Sun Nanyu.

When signing with his spiritual sense, Ye Yisong saw Zhao Wentao and Li Yuan look at him with complex expressions. He guessed they were thinking: 'With such formidable strength, why bother scheming to make things difficult for us?'

Song Yilun pushed his wheelchair, his Face cold, and glared resentfully at Ye Jiejing a few times before leaving the Shuinan County government office immediately after signing.

His inner pride would not allow him to be looked down upon here, and every time he tried to stand up but found himself powerless, he felt as if he were going insane.

Ye Yisong accompanied Magistrate Sun Nanyu, waiting for all the top 100 Martial Artists to finish signing with their spiritual sense, looking at the others as if he were an elder.

The others did not feel any discomfort; after all, this world spoke through strength. Ye Yisong being able to stand beside Magistrate Sun Nanyu and survey them was because his strength far surpassed everyone else's.

They would only strive to catch up, until the day they surpassed Ye Yisong and reclaimed the Face lost today.

After everyone had finished signing, Magistrate Sun Nanyu took Ye Yisong's hand and walked to the center of the arena, saying, "Everyone, everyone! Today, our Shuinan County has produced a Prodigy that is rarely seen in a hundred years. He took first place in both the Martial Examination's combat and arts sections. He is the pride of Shuinan County, and it is my good fortune to have obtained such a brilliant talent."

"For such a brilliant talent, not rewarding him would be insufficient to praise his merit. According to the Great Wei legal code, I am hereby awarding Ye Yisong one High Grade Tier 3 barrier-breaking pill."

"I hope you all will take Ye Yisong as an example, Cultivate diligently, and win glory for Great Wei, for your Families, and for yourselves."

As he spoke, he handed a box to Ye Yisong. Ye Yisong did not act coy; he opened it on the spot to verify it. It was indeed a High Grade Tier 3 barrier-breaking pill, so he put it into his Storage Pouch with peace of mind.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu was still exhausting his vocabulary praising Ye Yisong at the front, but when he saw this scene, his words suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

"My virtuous nephew, why don't you even trust me? Your father and I forged a deep friendship back when we were hunting Sea Yao Beasts in the Outer Sea and pledged to be brothers of life and death; how could I deceive you?"

"Father instructed me that when out and about, one must be cautious and keep an eye on everything," Ye Yisong immediately trotted out the big shot's quotes. Anyway, all the words were spoken by the big shot, so he wouldn't bear any responsibility or infamy.

"Magistrate, Father is still waiting for me, so this junior will be heading back first." Ye Yisong wouldn't just take his word for it and believe that Magistrate Sun Nanyu and Ye Jiesheng had a deep friendship. Since the Medicinal Pill was already in hand, it was time to slip away.

"Hmm, give my regards to your father." Seeing that he could no longer continue the praise, Magistrate Sun Nanyu stopped, glanced at Ye Jiesheng under the stage, and said.

The knot between the two of them from back then had still not been resolved.

"Very well, Magistrate." Ye Yisong agreed and walked down from the arena.

Just as he reached the edge of the arena, he saw that slightly plump middle-aged man in yellow clothes again, standing a few dozen meters in front of Ye Yisong, though he didn't know when he had arrived there.

Ye Yisong instantly felt something was amiss. Alarm bells rang in his heart. He activated a Grade 4 Diamond Body Protection Talisman to form a protective barrier, wrapping himself within it. He also applied a swift-travel talisman. It was too late to return to Ye Jiesheng's side, so he could only move closer to Magistrate Sun Nanyu, that Tier 4 Martial Ancestor, and shouted, "Uncle Sun, don't go! I have something important to tell you!"

Magistrate Sun Nanyu looked back in surprise. This kid had been completely unmoved just a moment ago; why had he suddenly changed his tune and started calling him Uncle?

Magistrate Sun Nanyu's pupils rapidly constricted, as if he had seen something incredibly major: "You wretched beast, silence!"

"Kid, where are you running? Hahaha! It was worth your Grandpa Flower Snake waiting here for you for days and nights!" The slightly plump middle-aged man suddenly transformed into a gigantic Flower Snake, tilted forward, and swallowed Ye Yisong, who was rapidly retreating, into its belly in one bite.

"Magistrate Sun Nanyu, I've eaten your double first-place winner of the Martial Examination County Exam, and I ate him right here in your government office! Let's see how you explain this to the Great Wei Imperial Court. You might as well wash your neck and wait to be beheaded, hahaha!"

"Grandpa Flower Snake is leaving!" The slightly plump middle-aged man—no, it should be said, the Weishui River Great Commander Flower Snake—after swallowing Ye Yisong in one bite, did not linger. He turned and flew towards the Weishui River.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu felt like dying. The double first-place winner of the Martial Examination had been killed in the government office, and it was the Prodigy of the Cangjiang Ye Clan, as well as the only son of that fierce friend of his—he couldn't bear the consequences of any of this!

"Damn Flower Snake, I will perish together with you! If you won't let me live, don't think you'll live either!"

The monster-revealing mirror at the Shuinan County government office finally radiated spiritual light at this very moment, triggering the government office's Formation to form a natural cage that trapped Flower Snake, and it fired lasers, automatically attacking Flower Snake.

"Grade 4 Demonic Beast! Run!"