I Came to Take the Imperial Guard Recruitment Assessment-What Does It Have to Do with You?

The two walked side by side into the Thousand Households Office.

The sight within the Thousand Households Office entered Su Fei's eyes.

The bluestone-paved ground was clean and tidy.

The two passed an open courtyard.

Shouts and cries drifted out from within.

Su Fei looked inside curiously.

A group of Imperial Guard Strongmen were training diligently within.

Some carried mulberry logs on their shoulders, pacing back and forth to build their strength.

Some punched the wooden training dummies in the courtyard, practicing their forms.

Others tied themselves to the stone mill in the courtyard with ropes, then pushed the millstone forward. The ropes stretched taut and straight, and every step was arduous.

Seeing Su Fei staring at the scene in the courtyard, the tall strongman accompanying him casually explained.

"They're all in the Body Tempering Realm, honing their strength. This is how everyone in the Body Tempering Realm cultivates."

Su Fei replied.

"They were already training so early in the morning. They're really grinding."

"Grinding?"

The tall strongman savored the word and understood its meaning.

"A strongman only earns three taels of silver a month, barely enough to feed a family. If you want to get ahead, you have to grind."

The two passed through a corridor and arrived at the Thousand Households Office's martial training ground.

It was also where the Imperial Guard recruitment assessment was held.

At this moment, forty or fifty young martial artists had already gathered on the training ground. All wore fitted martial attire, rubbing their hands together, their faces filled with nervousness and anticipation.

A circle of Strongmen stood nearby to watch the excitement.

Two Imperial Guards stood in the middle of the training ground, holding a register as they counted heads.

"The first round is a strength test, over there. Go ahead first."

The tall strongman pointed toward the stone-lock area on the eastern side of the training ground and gave him a quiet reminder.

Su Fei nodded. Just as he reached the registration desk, he heard an arrogant voice ring out.

"Well, well, isn't this Su Fei? What, a wastrel like you wants to sign up for the Imperial Guard too? What is it, did you come to the Imperial Guard to scrape together a living?"

"Don't think I don't know. You've never trained in martial arts at all, and you don't have the slightest talent for it, do you?"

"Other than places like brothels, what else are you capable of?"

Su Fei looked up. The speaker was a young man of around twenty, dressed in brocade robes with a glazed jade pendant hanging from his waist. His face carried an innate air of arrogance.

Su Fei knew this man. His name was Chen Hu. He had once fought Su Fei over a girl in a brothel, but Su Fei was better-looking, so the girl had ultimately chosen Su Fei.

Chen Hu had stormed out of the brothel in fury.

From then on, the two had become enemies.

It was said that he had an uncle who was a Hundred Household Officer.

Two martial artist lackeys followed at his side, looking at Su Fei with mocking expressions as they whispered among themselves.

Su Fei frowned slightly. The God-tier Insight Technique activated on its own, and he saw that Chen Hu's qi and blood were fairly vigorous. He had cultivation at the initial level of the True Qi Realm.

However, his true qi was somewhat unstable.

There was also a faint medicinal-pill scent on him.

He had broken through his realm with the aid of medicinal pills.

I see. Your martial talent really is quite "good."

Su Fei spoke blandly.

"Chen Hu, I came to take the Imperial Guard recruitment assessment. What does that have to do with you?"

Chen Hu sneered.

"Su Fei, you think you're worthy of coming here? I've investigated your past thoroughly. You haven't even entered the third level of the Body Tempering Realm, have you? I advise you to go home early and stop making a fool of yourself here."

"Even for the strongman assessment, you need at least fifth or sixth level Body Tempering Realm cultivation to pass."

"I advise you to leave. If you perform too miserably later, you'll become a laughingstock. Didn't you say at the brothel last time that you made a living with your face?"

Su Fei could not be bothered with Chen Hu and walked straight to the registration desk.

He reported his name for registration.

"Su Fei."

The strongman handling registration glanced at him, a trace of sympathy flashing through his eyes, then marked the register with a check.

"Next."

Chen Hu, standing behind Su Fei, gave him a sidelong glance before stepping to the registration desk with a proud expression.

"I am Chen Hu, first level True Qi Realm."

The strongman's eyes lit up at his words. He hurriedly made a note in the register, moving noticeably faster.

Although assessment registration only required a name and not one's cultivation level,

a True Qi Realm martial artist naturally deserved special treatment.

For a True Qi Realm martial artist, passing the strongman assessment was practically a sure thing.

The higher one's martial cultivation, the easier it was to earn opportunities for merit and rise to become a Banner Officer.

That was not something Strongmen in the Body Tempering Realm like him could compare to.