County Magistrate Wang Lichuan's Assessment!

Leaving the County Magistrate's study, Lu Feng's face showed a contemplative expression as he thought to himself.

"Unexpectedly, the Martial Examination has been moved up. I wonder if my current strength can secure a top-ten spot in the Prefecture City's Martial Examination?"

"Forget it, whether I can make the top ten or not, I'm still going to participate in this Martial Examination."

Having made up his mind, he returned to his room and continued cultivating Peiyuan Gong.

In his view, although he was already the County Yamen's Captain, there were still plenty of people who wanted him dead.

His status as Captain couldn't protect him; even County Assistant Zhou Yongsi had many ways to kill him.

Thus, he had to use the Martial Examination to elevate his standing.

If he became a formal official of the Great Yan Dynasty, Zhou Yongsi wouldn't find it so easy to touch him.

As Peiyuan Gong circulated, the panel continuously displayed proficiency increase notifications.

[You have cycled Peiyuan Gong once, proficiency +1]

[You have cycled Peiyuan Gong once, proficiency +1]

Before long, Peiyuan Gong's proficiency finally reached one thousand points.

[Your Peiyuan Gong proficiency has reached 1000. The skill's mastery level has advanced from Perfection to Mastery Realm]

[Your Martial Realm has successfully advanced to Fifth-rank Martial Master]

With the breakthrough in both his cultivation method and Martial Realm, Lu Feng felt another portion of his meridians being tempered.

Though this tempering was excruciatingly painful, it saved a great deal of training time.

Ordinary Martial Masters would need years or even decades to forge their meridians with Internal Force.

Beyond the changes to his meridians, a flood of new circulation methods for Peiyuan Gong surged into his mind.

After the time it takes a cup of tea to cool, he fully comprehended all these circulation methods and began cultivating according to this new set.

Fifteen breaths later, a new notification suddenly appeared on the Proficiency Panel.

[You have cycled Peiyuan Gong once, proficiency +1]

Finishing the cycle, Lu Feng snapped his eyes open, a look of pleasant surprise spreading across his face.

"Haha! So this new circulation method actually saves five breaths of time!"

Originally, completing one full cycle of Peiyuan Gong took twenty breaths; now it only took fifteen. Don't underestimate those five breaths—over long periods of cultivation, they could save a tremendous amount of time.

Beyond that, Lu Feng also felt that his total Internal Force had increased by about thirty percent.

If a normal Fifth-rank Martial Master had a hundred Internal Force points, then his current Internal Force was over three hundred, far surpassing peers of the same rank.

The main reason for this was that he had cultivated Peiyuan Gong to the Mastery Realm.

After sensing the changes within his body, Lu Feng willed the Proficiency Panel open with a thought to check it.

[Name: Lu Feng]

[Age: 19/70]

[Realm: Fifth-rank Martial Master]

[Cultivation Method: Peiyuan Gong (Mid-Grade, Upper-Tier, Mastery Realm 0/5000)]

[Martial Skill: Cloud-Dispelling Palm (High-Grade, Lower-Tier, Mastery Realm 0/5000)]

"Now that I'm a Fifth-rank Martial Master, I doubt anyone in Qinglu County can match me. Even that Enemy scout from last time, I could kill him within three moves!"

Looking at his panel information, Lu Feng spoke with confident assurance.

With his current strength, securing a top-ten spot in the Prefecture City's Martial Examination shouldn't be hard, but making the top ten in the Prefecture City or even the Capital City probably wasn't enough.

Thinking this over, he rubbed his chin and mused, "Mm, there's only a week left before I leave Qinglu County. I need to use this time to keep improving my strength."

And the fastest way to improve strength was to raise his Martial Realm, so cultivating Peiyuan Gong was the most direct method.

"In that case, I'll keep cultivating Peiyuan Gong!"

Having made up his mind, Lu Feng hesitated no longer and immediately closed his eyes to begin circulating Peiyuan Gong.

And so, under his diligent cultivation, five days passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, no more Enemy scouts appeared in Qinglu County, and the East Street and East Gate that Lu Feng was responsible for showed no anomalies either.

This eased the tense nerves of County Magistrate Wang Lichuan and the other officials considerably.

As for Lu Feng, in those five days, he had raised his Martial Realm by two minor levels, reaching Seventh-rank Martial Master.

Now, over eighty percent of his meridians had been tempered. According to Chief Clerk Lu Yan, once all meridians were fully tempered, he could step into the next major Martial Realm—the Grandmaster Realm!

Unfortunately, Lu Feng still knew little about the Grandmaster Realm, so before leaving Qinglu County, he needed to consult Chief Clerk Lu Yan.

Just as he was preparing to visit Lu Yan, Yamen Runner Xiao Wang suddenly came looking for him.

"Captain Lu, the County Magistrate requests your presence."

After spending these days together, Lu Feng and Xiao Wang had grown familiar, so their conversations had become a bit more casual.

Lu Feng nodded at the words. "Alright, I understand."

The County Magistrate suddenly summoning him most likely meant he wanted to test his strength; the man had mentioned this matter before.

Before long, Lu Feng arrived at the County Magistrate's study and knocked on the door. "County Magistrate, your subordinate Lu Feng requests an audience."

"Mm, come in."

Lu Feng pushed the door open and entered, only to find that not only was County Magistrate Wang Lichuan seated inside, but Chief Clerk Lu Yan and Strategist Wang Jun were also present.

Seeing the three men, Lu Feng first cupped his hands in greeting, then spoke. "County Magistrate, may I ask what orders you have for your subordinate?"

County Magistrate Wang Lichuan studied him for a moment before saying, "Captain Lu, I summoned you today to test your strength. If your Martial Realm has reached the Ninth-Rank Martial Artist, then the matter of the Martial Examination can proceed. If not, then this matter is dropped."

After speaking, Wang Lichuan turned to look at Lu Yan and continued with a smile. "Lord Lu, I called you here today to serve as a witness as well. Do you think Captain Lu can pass the assessment?"

"Heh, since the County Magistrate thinks so highly of Captain Lu, naturally he won't disappoint you." Lu Yan paused here, then smiled as he turned to look at Lu Feng and continued, "Don't you agree, Captain Lu?"

Lu Feng, seeing this, put on a confident expression. "Your subordinate is confident he can pass the assessment. Please begin, County Magistrate."

Hearing his reply, the hanging hearts of Wang Lichuan and Lu Yan immediately settled.

If Lu Feng couldn't break through to the Ninth-Rank Martial Artist, then Qinglu County would once again end up at the bottom this time.

"Good! Since Captain Lu is so confident, then follow me." Wang Lichuan said seriously.

With that, the group of four arrived at the County Yamen's Martial Arts Arena.

To ensure the secrecy of the assessment, the Strategist had long since cleared the arena, preventing any other Yamen Runners or Constables from entering.

Now, County Magistrate Wang Lichuan slowly walked onto the arena floor and looked at Lu Feng.

"Captain Lu, I will personally assess you next. If you can last ten exchanges against me, then you will have passed this assessment!"

Lu Feng simply nodded after hearing this. "Yes, then your subordinate will have to presume!"