The Examination

"Chen Mo lifts a stone of five hundred catties, grade A." An old man with a goatee wrote down Chen Mo's result on silk paper.

Hearing this, Chen Mo slowly lowered the stone wheel he had lifted above his head. He was currently participating in the Guard Camp's monthly routine assessment alongside many other guards.

Every guard in the Guard Camp was assessed once a month, with grades roughly divided into four levels: A, B, C, and D.

Grades A and B earned rewards, grade C meant neither merit nor fault, and grade D incurred punishment.

Last time, Chen Mo had achieved a grade A, and this time he naturally wanted the same.

Grade A came with a reward of one tael of silver and a feast. Not only could he enjoy a hearty meal, but the silver could also be used to buy more meat.

Over the past two months, the Mortal Transformation Pearl inside Chen Mo had accumulated nearly fifty percent of its blood energy. At this rate, in just over two more months, he would be able to undergo his next Mortal Transformation.

Setting down the stone wheel, Chen Mo walked toward the training ground to begin the archery assessment.

Only by achieving fairly good results in all assessments could one ultimately receive a grade A evaluation.

However, though it was called an archery assessment, what was actually tested was drawing the bow—there was no need to actually shoot an arrow.

Of course, drawing a bowstring without an arrow could damage the bow, so after pulling it back, they had to carefully return the string to its original position.

The reason they weren't allowed to actually shoot arrows was simple: arrows were too expensive. A single high-quality arrow cost no less than one qian of silver. Even General Sun wouldn't dare let his guards shoot freely—it was simply too costly.

Only during daily practice did they have the chance to shoot a few arrows themselves, and even then, they had to retrieve the arrows afterward.

This clearly showed that the saying "poor study, rich martial arts" was no empty talk.

And this was just foot archery. If one wanted to practice mounted archery, they would need a horse, and the expenses would skyrocket.

So in the monthly assessment, archery only tested whether the drawing posture was standard and how many shi of draw weight one could pull.

Chen Mo had enough strength. Even though he had only practiced archery for a short time, his scores were never too low.

When the archery assessment ended, Chen Mo's evaluation was grade A-, a clear improvement from last time's grade B+.

After Mortal Transformation, not only did his physical strength increase, but his control over his own body also improved significantly. Simply put, he could better regulate and utilize his strength.

As a result, he didn't learn anything slowly, and his progress was faster than ordinary people.

After the archery assessment came flag signals.

On the battlefield, situations were complex and ever-changing. It wasn't always possible to rely on sound to convey messages, so the guards had to understand flag signals.

This was simpler. Except for a few naturally dull-witted people who couldn't remember things, most guards could learn it well within a month or two.

After these two assessments, the final one was spear technique.

Most of the guards trained in spears, except for a few who had family martial arts traditions and were skilled in other weapons.

Spear technique was easy to learn but hard to master.

Even a fool, given a spear and ten days or half a month of practice, could learn to thrust forward and kill.

But to truly integrate and master it to the point of proficiency required a long time.

Chen Mo had studied spear techniques for two months. The basic moves—thrusting, parrying, lifting, poking, and sweeping—were all practiced fairly well, but compared to the veterans who had been in the camp for a long time, he still fell far short.

In the end, he only got a grade B-.

However, when all four items were combined, he still received a grade A.

He wasn't the only one. One by one, the guards were assessed, and their results naturally varied.

Those who got grades A or B were happy. Grade C meant no merit or fault, and at least they could rest for the rest of the day.

But grade D meant not only additional training but also losing two days of their monthly leave.

They originally only had three days off per month, so now they would be left with just one.

The treatment these guards received might not be the best in the entire Great Qian, but within Xingyuan Prefecture, it was absolutely top-notch.

Thus, the training was also the most rigorous.

After collecting the one tael of silver for his grade A, Chen Mo walked back to his barracks, waiting for the midday feast that was their reward.

His barracks still had only him—no one else had moved in.

There were more barracks than guards now. The veterans mostly lived together in groups, and the dozens of new guards, even if each took a room, still left plenty of space.

Chen Mo had specifically asked Mo Hu to help ensure no one else was assigned to his room.

His excuse was simple: he had a friend still in training, and if that friend became a guard, they could room together later. If someone else moved in now, it would be awkward to ask them to leave later.

The real reason he wanted a room to himself was that he had some secrets he didn't want others to see.

As for what to do when Ma Cai eventually moved in, he would figure that out when the time came.

Mo Hu agreed to his request directly—he had some authority in the Guard Camp.

During this period, Chen Mo had focused entirely on eating and training, barely paying attention to other matters in the camp. Aside from being on decent terms with Mo Hu and knowing a few new recruits who trained with him, he wasn't very familiar with the others.

But wherever there were many people, factions would inevitably form.

The entire Guard Camp was roughly divided into three factions: the clan faction, the hometown faction, and the neutral faction.

The clan faction consists of General Sun's own relatives, all sharing his surname, with his direct nephew at its head.

The hometown faction's ties to General Sun are equally close.

Because General Sun has not only his paternal clan but also his maternal clan and his wife's clan, and this faction is led by General Sun's own nephew on his mother's side.

Within these two major factions, there are many smaller sub-factions, with both conflict and cooperation among them—though these are not things Chen Mo, as an outsider, can understand at present.

Beyond the two major factions, there is also a neutral faction of over thirty people, led by Mo Dao and Mo Hu.

Some are those who don't want to get involved in the struggles between the other two factions, while others joined the Guard Camp for various other reasons.

Chen Mo has had more contact with Mo Hu and is now classified under this faction.

There's no helping it—he's neither a clansman nor a fellow townsman. Aside from this faction, no other faction would accept him.

Taking sides isn't something he can simply choose not to do. To remain absolutely neutral, he would need to be strong enough.

And he's far from that now. Joining a faction is still better than standing alone—under a big tree, you get good shade.

Lying in the room to rest, Chen Mo took out the Crimson Bloodstone from his bosom again. Ever since he got this stone, he'd been taking it out to fiddle with from time to time.

Yet even now, he still hadn't discovered any use or abnormality in this stone.

"Hurry up, let's go eat. The foster father is here today too." Mo Hu knocked on the door and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Chen Mo had spent quite a bit of time with him lately and had roughly learned about his relationship with General Sun.

Both Mo Hu and Mo Dao were General Sun's foster sons, and the reason Mo Hu was called Fifth Brother was that he ranked fifth among the many foster sons.

Those ahead of him could call him Fifth Younger Brother, but most of the other guards called him Fifth Older Brother.

Taking on foster sons in the military camp was a common practice, mainly to deepen bonds.

Besides, only by taking on a foster son would a general feel confident enough to train and promote him.

The scorn heaped on a guard who betrays his master or switches sides, versus a foster son who stabs his foster father in the back, are worlds apart.

Especially for someone like Mo Hu, who had little connection to General Sun to begin with—if he switched sides, few would even gossip about it.

So before promoting and training him, they would first take him as a foster son.

If Chen Mo ever wanted to gain General Sun's favor in the future, he'd likely have to become his foster son too.

"Coming." Chen Mo sprang up from the bed and walked out of the room.

The midday meal today would be several times more lavish than usual—enough meat to eat one's fill, and if there was any left over, he might even sneak some back for a midnight snack.

As for General Sun coming today, he wasn't all that concerned.