Chapter 55

Two days before the county exam, Hua Su no longer used bizarre training methods to torment them.

He led them to complete all the preparations for the exam.

All the yuan cores were embedded again. The first chain could only use yuan cores of first rank or below, so they were all replaced with seventh-level ones.

The cultivation time every day could not be missed; the Ming force had to be absorbed to the fullest.

Hua Su also provided them with some equipment to wear during the exam.

On the day of the county exam, before dawn, the three of them had already woken up and gathered in the courtyard of the martial arts hall.

Hua Su sized them up and with a thud, threw two books onto the stone table.

"These two martial arts techniques are rewards for you. As long as you pass, I'll give them to you."

Ping Luan Shan, with his keen eyes, saw the words "Pouring Rain Blade" on the cover of the top book.

He silently lowered his head and, when he looked up, his eyes had changed: "Teacher Hua, I'll go make breakfast for you!"

Ping Luan Shan's cooking skills were indeed extraordinary. Since the celebration banquet two days ago, he had taken charge of all three meals at the Yuan Shan Martial Arts Hall.

According to him, his master used to run a noodle shop to make a living, and his skills were the best in the area. After his master passed away, the noodle shop was passed down to him.

If it weren't for the incident in Hezhong County, he might still be a noodle shop owner.

Before long, steaming bowls of clear broth noodles were served. There was not a trace of oil or a piece of meat in the noodles, but they were incredibly chewy and delicious, requiring great skill.

The three of them ate every last drop of the soup. Hua Su put down his bowl and lightly coughed. At that moment, footsteps sounded, and the other three disciples of the Yuan Shan Martial Arts Hall arrived.

These three disciples were from the county, with very ordinary family backgrounds. They only had half a day to study at the martial arts hall, and the rest of the time they had to work to earn money for their families.

Hua Su called them over and said casually, "This is the third year. Same as usual."

He extended his hand and neatly arranged three bronze-colored Tianzhao Orders on the table.

Tianzhao Orders! Three of them!

Ping Luan Shan's eyes almost popped out, but the three disciples were not surprised; they just showed complex expressions.

They stared at the Tianzhao Orders on the table, unable to speak. After a while, the tallest of the three stepped forward and said, "Master, this... let's just forget it!"

Hua Su raised an eyebrow: "Oh? You don't want to take the exam?"

This disciple shook his head vigorously: "No, of course we want to! But it wasn't easy for you, Teacher Hua, to get the Tianzhao Orders, right?"

He clenched his fists, looking ashamed, "We haven't taken the exam for three years, and the chances this year aren't great either..."

Hua Su asked, "Don't worry about that. I just want to know, Hong Cheng, have you reached the Dawn Realm?"

Hong Cheng pursed his lips and nodded: "Yes, we all reached it three years ago..."

Ping Luan Shan was even more surprised and couldn't help but turn to look at Jiang Feng. He never expected that these three local disciples, who looked so unremarkable, had already entered the Dawn Realm!

Hong Cheng said, "But, the exam isn't directly related to the realm. The past two years, we all..."

Hua Su cut him off sharply: "Just tell me, are you taking the exam or not? If not, get lost!"

Hong Cheng was silent for a while, then suddenly took a big step forward and grabbed the Tianzhao Order.

He turned and bowed deeply to Hua Su, saying loudly, "Master, rest assured, we will definitely pass the exam!"

Hua Su nodded in satisfaction: "That's right, I, Hua Su, don't want disciples without spirit!"

The three of them bowed together, and Hua Su turned and walked out.

Ping Luan Shan looked at his back and muttered, "Old Jiang, I think... Teacher Hua is actually quite nice..."

Jiang Feng laughed and patted his shoulder, saying nothing.

...

...

Linxian County was a quiet county with only two intersecting streets, and its area was less than half the size of Hezhong County.

The Yuan Shan Martial Arts Hall was located in the western corner of the county, very close to the Twilight Forest. The county government was diagonally opposite, located in the northeast of the county, with a very short straight-line distance.

Before the county exam, there was a ceremony to worship the sky, which all candidates had to attend, at the first light of dawn.

So, early in the morning, the five people from the Yuan Shan Martial Arts Hall set out and hurried to the county government.

Not long after leaving the martial arts hall, they noticed that there were many more people on the street than usual, and they all had an inner glow, clearly martial cultivators.

Jiang Feng and Ping Luan Shan walked behind, while Hong Cheng and the others walked in front.

Suddenly, the three people in front stopped, whispered a few words, and turned to look at them.

Jiang Feng and Ping Luan Shan had been in the Yuan Shan Martial Arts Hall for over a month, but they had only exchanged greetings with these people before, without any real conversation.

Hong Cheng walked up to them and extended his hand: "Hello, I'm Hong Cheng, a disciple of the Yuan Shan Martial Arts Hall."

In fact, Jiang Feng knew their names, but since the other party extended a friendly hand, he also smiled and introduced himself.

The other two were named Wang Erhu and Xiang Sheng, both much older than Jiang Feng, with average talent, having taken five to six years to advance to the Dawn Realm.

In fact, in the entire Nine Heavens Continent, this speed was not slow, thanks to Hua Su's training.

Hong Cheng said a bit embarrassedly, "Sorry, you've been here for so long, and we should have treated you better, like taking you out for a meal."

Ping Luan Shan laughed and said, "It's fine, everyone has been busy with cultivation. Besides, after passing the county exam today, we can have a meal together!"

After a few pleasantries, they relaxed. Hong Cheng introduced, "Linxian County, though small, is still a county, overseeing eight towns and fourteen villages. During the county exam, people from nearby areas come, making it more lively than usual."

Not long after, they were close to the county government, where there were even more people. Hong Cheng suddenly stopped and whispered, "Be careful of the people from Shuilian Town."

"Shuilian Town?"

Hong Cheng nodded solemnly: "Shuilian Town's Guten Martial Arts Hall is our rival! They consider the Yuan Shan Martial Arts Hall their enemy from top to bottom. We will definitely run into their people, and when we do, ignore whatever they say."

Ping Luan Shan said nonchalantly, "If they're scum, then we'll beat them back!"

Hong Cheng warned, "No, their hall master is a Fuliuxue disciple!"

Fuliuxue disciple!

At the mention of these four words, Jiang Feng and Ping Luan Shan's faces immediately darkened.

Just as Hong Cheng was about to say more, a few people suddenly squeezed out of the crowd ahead, all in their twenties, dressed in martial attire.

Most of them had indifferent expressions, but two of them immediately smiled when they saw Hong Cheng and the others: "Hey, look who it is? So, Yuan Shan is sending people to embarrass themselves again this year?"

Hong Cheng frowned and whispered, "Let's go!"

Saying this, he pushed his way through the crowd with a blank expression.

Jiang Feng lowered his head and indeed saw the water pattern on the collars of these people, very light and few in number, but enough to identify them.

These people followed behind them, rudely pushing through the crowd. Some people were unhappy, but as soon as they saw the marks on their clothes, their faces changed, and they turned away.

They became even more arrogant, noticing two new faces. One of them approached them and said with a grin, "Look, two little followers! Young brothers, are you here to watch the show with these losers?"

"Bang!" Ping Luan Shan almost pressed the Tianzhao Order to their faces, "Sorry, we're here for the county exam!"

"County exam?" The other person's expression was a bit strange, "You're quite young, have you reached the Dawn Realm?"

Ping Luan Shan was very rude, "None of your business!"

The other person's face immediately darkened, "As expected, the Yuan Shan Martial Arts Hall's style, giving face and not accepting it!"

A large man rudely extended his hand, a huge palm aiming for Ping Luan Shan's face. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist, and the large man was thrown to the ground with a thud. His wrist then felt intense pain, already dislocated.

The large man let out a long, painful cry. Jiang Feng smiled and looked down at him, "Sorry, I'm young and inexperienced, so I hit a bit hard." He twisted his hand again, reattaching the wrist bone, the entire process so quick that the others didn't even react.

Jiang Feng looked up and smiled at the surrounding people, "Today is the big day of the county exam, everyone, please be patient. If there are any issues, we can talk about them later, okay?"

He was much shorter than the large man, with a completely disproportionate build. But his quick and ruthless actions, combined with his faint smile, made people feel a chill.

The people from the Guten Martial Arts Hall were all stunned. Jiang Feng turned around and said nonchalantly, "Let's go."

Ping Luan Shan came to his senses, laughed heartily, and patted Jiang Feng's back, "Well done, you're a true brother!"

Hong Cheng looked at Jiang Feng in surprise and followed behind him. The people from the Guten Martial Arts Hall finally reacted and shouted, "Stop!"

They rushed forward, but by the time they reached the county government, two guards were already blocking the entrance, sternly saying, "Tianzhao Orders!"

The people hurriedly fished out their Tianzhao Orders, but by the time they were allowed in, Jiang Feng and the others were already gone.

Ping Luan Shan was very excited, waving his fist, "Old Jiang, you're awesome. Why didn't I react just now? If it were me, they wouldn't have gotten away so easily!"

Jiang Feng looked at him and reminded, "We got away."

Hong Cheng quickly said, "This is best. We intimidated them and can leave quickly. Otherwise, if they really started to纠缠 (harass), it would be quite troublesome."

Inside the county government, they first registered with their Tianzhao Orders.

Next to the county government was a training ground. After registering, they went to the training ground as arranged and lined up.

Not long after, the people from the Guten Martial Arts Hall entered. But the training ground was surrounded by guards, who strictly enforced silence, not allowing any talking. They could only glare at the Yuan Shan group from a distance and line up nearby.

The entry was orderly, and before long, the training ground was filled with people, all the candidates for the Linxian County exam.

A short while later, the sky began to lighten, and a group of people walked into the training ground with a proud stride.