One Month Later

Life became simple and regular...

Old Gu, responsible for transportation, often came with his medicine chest, delivering the Blood Activating Secret Soup to Young Master.

Meanwhile, Qi Yu cultivated under the companionship of Miss Song, and his comprehension of the killing techniques had more than doubled...

The Provincial Examination for martial artists was an assessment for Eighth Rank martial artists. To avoid casualties and the loss of talent, weapon combat was not included in the examination scope.

Therefore, Qi Yu did not learn spear techniques, but instead diligently practiced those two killing techniques.

A month passed extremely quickly.

On this day, it was the eve of the martial arts examination.

Qi Yu stood in place.

He glanced at his status panel.

[Qi Yu]
[Realm: Eighth Rank Blood Burst]
[Combat Power: 31~52]
[Skill Points: 18]
[Cultivation Techniques]
[Hunyuan Contending Force (18/36)]
[Spirit Serpent Skill Mastery (12/16)]
[Spirit Serpent Killing Technique Two Forms (6/16)]

Among them, the progress of "[Spirit Serpent Skill]" increased from "(6/16)" to "(12/16)", while "[Spirit Serpent Killing Technique Two Forms]" reached "(6/16)". The skill points also changed from the original "6" to "18".

His combat power increased from the original "27~42" to "31~52".

Qi Yu calculated that the increased combat power seemed considerable, but in reality, without "[Hunyuan Contending Force]", even if his foundation had been built to perfection, his combat power should only be "26~42". This was even less than Han Yan, the genius from Black Bear Martial Hall, whose combat power was "24~47".

This was the level achieved even with Miss Song's day and night guidance and dedicated sparring.

His comprehension and aptitude were indeed not very good.

At this moment, he glanced at the "18" skill points.

Since cultivation techniques became harder to practice the further along one progressed, and skill points were added normally regardless of the difficulty, he weighed his options.

After much deliberation, he leaned towards temporarily saving his skill points to use them in the following three ways:

First, to directly break through when encountering a "cultivation bottleneck"; Second, to add points when cultivating a technique as difficult as Hunyuan Contending Force, to skip it directly; Third, to add points temporarily when a sense of danger arose, to provide a sense of security.

Just then, the door to the Skill Transmission Chamber opened.

In the moonlight and the warm spring night breeze, footsteps could be heard.

A figure stood under the eaves.

It was Chu Xiao!

Qi Yu saw that Chu Xiao's combat power was "27~50".

Glancing at his own "31~52", he suddenly felt a sense of crisis.

After a brief thought, he decided to add points to "[Spirit Serpent Skill]".

After all, "[Spirit Serpent Skill]" was in its final steps, the most difficult and arduous ones, so the benefits should be the greatest.

Thinking this, he looked at the "+" sign after "[Spirit Serpent Skill Mastery (12/16)]" and clicked it four times.

A surge of powerful energy flowed into his body.

All his limbs and bones felt comfortable, and the usable internal heat increased significantly.

He checked his combat power.

"35~56".

Qi Yu stared at his "35" and then at Chu Xiao's "50", the sense of crisis in his heart remained strong.

The difference was a full 15 points.

If Chu Xiao was like this, how would Han Yan, who had defeated him, compare?

Moreover, this martial arts examination was not just for the East City, but for the entire Mount Wei City.

Most of these martial artists had emerged in the past three years, and some were from before... those people who had accumulated strength over time would not be weak either.

He also knew his family's situation.

The eldest and third branches would inevitably need to push him to compete with his cousins to suppress the second branch.

The better his performance, the more support he could obtain from the Qi Family.

The more Qi Yu looked at the combat power of both sides, the more dangerous he felt.

After a brief moment of thought, he looked at the "+" sign after "[Hunyuan Contending Force (18/36)]" and clicked it repeatedly.

Each time he clicked, a Divine Demonic Stake stance would "unlock" in his mind and integrate into his body, not only enhancing the flow of strength but also providing some peculiar techniques and physical flexibility.

For example, a month ago, during his duel with Green Bamboo, he had subconsciously used a movement from the Thirty-Six Divine Demonic Stakes, which allowed him to evade the waist-chop of Returning Wind Willow Dance.

His combat power also gradually increased...

As the points were depleted, his combat power finally settled at "38.8~63.5".

This was already his limit at the moment.

Qi Yu glanced again at Chu Xiao's combat power of "27~50" and sighed inwardly: I'll just have to be careful during the martial arts exam...

After Chu Xiao emerged from seclusion, his expression had calmed considerably. His steps were steady, his aura condensed, and a subtle sharpness, as if he had undergone a transformation, emanated from his brow.

Seeing Qi Yu from a distance, he didn't step forward to greet him as "Brother Qi." Instead, he gave a faint nod, his eyes holding a trace of indifferent arrogance.

When his gaze swept over Song Xue, who was standing beside Qi Yu, it remained as calm as ever, as if he were merely looking at an unrelated stranger.

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze passing over the two of them to look into the distance, his mind clear.

Teacher Song said he was a genius.

He himself knew this very well.

This time, he was determined to wash away his past shame.

From this day forward, he would soar.

As for Song Xue, he admitted she was a good woman, but since she had willingly fallen, choosing to associate with Qi Yu, she was no longer worth mentioning in his eyes.

In this world, only true prodigies should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him, Chu Xiao.

Qi Yu cupped his hands in return.

Song Qinghong's brow was still furrowed with a hint of tension. He had placed great hope in Chu Xiao. At this moment, he reached out and patted the young man's shoulder, saying gently, "Xiao'er, go rest first. The inner city martial arts exam is tomorrow at Chen Shi. You need to wake up at Yin Shi to prepare and depart at Mao Shi sharp."

Chu Xiao gave a solemn bow: "Disciple understands."

With that, he didn't look at anyone else and turned to leave.

Song Qinghong looked at Qi Yu and Song Xue. Seeing that the former had bright eyes and vigorous Blood Essence, he nodded and said, "Nephew, your progress this past month has been significant. Tomorrow's martial arts exam, you will surely achieve fame."

He paused slightly and sighed, "These past few days, I have been somewhat negligent..."

Qi Yu quickly replied, "Uncle Song, please don't say that. This past month, I've received a lot of care from Miss Song and gained a great deal."

Song Qinghong's gaze flickered between the two of them for a moment before he suddenly laughed heartily, "Alright! You two chat a bit longer, then go back to rest early. Tomorrow, you'll wake up at Yin Shi, have a meal at Mao Shi, and depart at Mao Zhong."

The third branch of the Qi family was in decline, and as the master of the Spirit Serpent Martial Hall, how could he not know?

Times had changed, and it was indeed not a good time to push for a marriage alliance.

However... if these two children had feelings for each other, even if the third branch of the Qi family completely declined, he would have no objections.

He, Song Qinghong, was never one to curry favor or be opportunistic.

These past few days, Song Xue had spent her days and nights with Qi Yu, and coupled with their sparring sessions, she had long since changed her impression of this fop.

Last year, in early winter, she had thought he was "putting on an act."

When she heard about the family's troubles, she thought he was "forced by family circumstances to practice diligently."

Now, it had transformed into a kind of trust—I trust my childhood sweetheart, he's no worse than anyone else. He'll surely make a name for himself at tomorrow's martial arts exam.

And after sensing Qi Yu's growing strength and progress, the romantic feelings in her heart were suddenly "activated," leaving her unsure of how to act.

Thus, Song Xue, like a buddy, heavily patted Qi Yu's shoulder. With a big-sister demeanor, she tilted her head away from him and said cheerfully, "This past month wasn't wasted after all. I'm leaving!"

Immediately, she waved her hand and left with a flourish, not even looking back at Qi Yu.

Qi Yu was a little taken aback and thought inwardly, Did I offend Miss Song somehow?

However, with the martial arts exam imminent, he also needed to conserve his energy. He could only suppress his doubts and walk towards the small courtyard alone.

Along the way, many people were still discussing tomorrow's martial arts exam.

The martial arts exam was divided into three rounds.

The first round: drawing a heavy bow and lifting stone locks.

Bows were divided into eight, ten, and twelve strength levels.

Stones were divided into five hundred, six hundred, and seven hundred jin.

Participants could choose one item as their primary and another as their secondary:

Primary: graded as Jia, Yi, Bing (Top, Middle, Bottom).

Secondary: graded as Shang, Zhong, Xia (Upper, Middle, Lower).

Once decided, there was no changing it.

After the results of both rounds were tallied, those who achieved Second Class, Middle Grade or higher would advance to the second round.

Second Round: Wooden Dummy Formation, Iron Man Formation.

The former tested movement techniques. Participants would wear lacquered clothing and walk through the formation, needing to dodge the wooden dummies' attacking arms to avoid being hit. Penalties were given for being hit once, three times, or five times.

The latter tested strength. Participants would wear porcelain armor and walk through the formation, needing to block the iron men to avoid damaging the armor. Penalties were given for one piece, three pieces, or five pieces of armor shattering.

This was the same scoring system as the first round.

After the results of both rounds were tallied, achieving Second Class, Middle Grade would mean passing the martial examination and earning the title of Martial Scholar. Their names would then be posted on the honor roll.

If, after combining the scores from both rounds, one achieved First Class, Middle Grade, they could participate in the ranking battles.

The names of the top three would be recorded, and they would be given priority consideration for future government appointments. Besides that... this would also bring considerable fame to the martial artist, and if managed well, could be converted into numerous benefits.