Baiyue County City!

Upon entering the county city, Lu Feng and Wang Chen found a place called Yunlai Inn and settled in.

After a casual dinner, the two returned to their respective rooms to rest. The five days of arduous travel had indeed left Lu Feng feeling somewhat weary.

As soon as he got back to his room, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

The night passed without incident. When the morning sun of the next day scattered into the room, Lu Feng slowly opened his eyes.

"Mmm! Is it morning already?"

Saying this, he got up and went to the window to look outside. He saw that the streets were already bustling with people early in the morning.

Seeing this, Lu Feng quickly washed up and went to Wang Chen's room, knocking on the door and saying, "Brother Wang, are you awake?"

The next moment, the door opened, and Wang Chen slowly emerged from the room.

"I've been awake for a while. Let's go grab something to eat first, and then we'll head to the county government to register for the Martial Arts Examination."

Lu Feng nodded, and then the two of them headed out onto the street together.

At this moment, all the shops on the county city streets were open. Both breakfast shops and large restaurants were in operation.

This puzzled Lu Feng. "Brother Wang, why are the shops in Baiyue County City all open so early?"

In their Qinglu County, only breakfast shops were typically open in the morning. As for the large restaurants, they usually didn't open until close to noon.

Wang Chen heard this and explained, "Lu Feng, Baiyue County City is quite different from Qinglu County. The population here is more than ten times that of the county seat, and to serve wealthy merchants and large families, many shops are open all day."

"I see!" Lu Feng's face showed a look of understanding. "So, does that mean we can eat delicious food at the restaurants in the morning too?"

"Yes, you certainly can!"

Lu Feng raised an eyebrow and continued, "Are there any places in the county city that sell Exotic Beast Meat?"

He had been eating Exotic Beast Meat every day for the past while. Not only was this meat extremely nutritious, but its taste was also quite good.

Compared to ordinary pork and beef, it was a completely superior choice.

Coupled with the five days of travel, he hadn't had any Exotic Beast Meat.

That's why he asked!

Wang Chen understood when he heard him ask this and replied, "Several large restaurants in the county city sell Exotic Beast Meat, but the price isn't cheap."

Lu Feng's heart leaped with joy after hearing this. "Brother Wang, price is not an issue. As long as I can eat Exotic Beast Meat, I'll cover the Silver."

He had five thousand taels of Silver on him, so eating a few meals of Exotic Beast Meat was no problem.

Moreover, his Martial Realm progression speed was much faster than that of ordinary Martial Artists, so his body required more nutrients.

Previously, County Magistrate Wang Lichuan had provided him with two meals of Exotic Beast Meat daily, which made him not feel the craving for nutrients.

However, during the five days of travel, he hadn't eaten a single bite of Exotic Beast Meat, and his body's nutrient levels began to lag, with that sense of hunger slowly reappearing.

Wang Chen nodded. "Alright, since you want to eat Exotic Beast Meat, follow me."

With that, the two quickly arrived in front of a restaurant.

Lu Feng looked up and saw that the restaurant was called Yunwei Pavilion, and the entire building had seven floors.

As they stepped inside, a waiter approached them, smiling and asking, "Esteemed guests, how may I help you?"

Wang Chen said, "We'd like a private room, and some high-quality cuisine."

The waiter's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing "high-quality cuisine." "Certainly! Esteemed guests, please follow me!"

After the two were led to the private room, the waiter presented a special menu.

Wang Chen directly pushed the menu towards Lu Feng and said, "You order first."

Lu Feng didn't stand on ceremony, took the menu, and began to look it over.

However, as he looked, he was taken aback by the variety and prices on the menu.

The first page of the menu listed twenty dishes. The cheapest dish cost five taels of Silver, and the most expensive cost twenty taels!

However, it was clear from a glance that these twenty dishes were all made from Exotic Beast Meat. Among them was Braised Crimson Fire Deer Meat.

Furthermore, the first page of the menu was marked with "High-Quality Delicacy."

After finishing the first page, Lu Feng flipped to the second page. This page was marked with "Exquisite Delicacy."

As for the prices, they started at twenty taels, with some reaching as high as a thousand taels!

Upon seeing such terrifying prices, Lu Feng suddenly felt that his five thousand taels of Silver might not be enough.

He coughed and said to the waiter, "Ahem, waiter, I'll have four plates of this Crimson Fire Deer Meat, and two plates of this Heavenly Concubine Wild Chicken."

Lu Feng dared not order from the second page, so he only ordered a few plates of the high-quality delicacies from the first page.

After ordering, he handed the menu back to Wang Chen. "Brother Wang, see if there's anything you'd like to eat."

Wang Chen didn't reach for the menu. Instead, he said directly, "What you've ordered is enough for us. Bring me a pot of Baiyue Brew."

The waiter heard this and immediately smiled in agreement before turning to leave the private room.

Seeing the waiter leave, Lu Feng immediately turned to Wang Chen and asked, "Brother Wang, aren't the dishes at this restaurant a bit too expensive? Those top-tier delicacies on the second page just now sold for over a thousand taels. Are the dishes made of gold?"

In reality, the purchasing power of silver in the Great Yan Dynasty was quite high. Ordinary raw beef sold for only twenty wen per jin, and one tael of silver could be exchanged for a thousand wen. This comparison clearly showed how terrifying the prices at this restaurant were.

Wang Chen didn't show any surprise after hearing this. Instead, he explained, "Lu Feng, you don't know this, but the premium delicacies on the first page of the menu are basically made from ordinary exotic beast meat. As for the dishes on the second page, they are made from spirit beast meat, so the prices are naturally much higher."

"Spirit beast meat?!"

Lu Feng was instantly shocked upon hearing this. He knew that the strength of spirit beasts was comparable to human Martial Master Realm cultivators.

Encountering a spirit beast under normal circumstances usually meant only one outcome: death.

The fact that this restaurant could sell spirit beast meat indicated that they had a supply channel for such meat.

Thinking of this, Lu Feng finally felt that Baiyue County City was incomparable to Qinglu County City.

While the two were chatting, the waiter brought the dishes and wine they had ordered.

Seeing the dishes served, the two stopped talking and immediately began to eat.

Breakfast was quickly finished, and Lu Feng paid a total of forty-two taels of silver.

Although this amount of silver wasn't much to him, spending over forty taels on a single meal was still quite expensive.

Wang Chen naturally noticed Lu Feng's thoughts and said, "Lu Feng, from now on, just order one or two plates of exotic beast meat for meals. As for other dishes, just eat the ordinary ones."

Lu Feng could only nod helplessly upon hearing this.

If he ate the same amount every meal as he did today, even his five thousand taels of silver wouldn't be enough.

However, living in Baiyue County City wasn't without its benefits; one could eat exotic beast meat anytime.

After eating his fill, the hunger Lu Feng felt inside finally disappeared.

Afterward, the two headed towards the county prefectural yamen.

A moment later, they arrived at the Prefectural Yamen of Baiyue County City. Looking at the tall and majestic yamen gate, Lu Feng only felt that the yamen of Qinglu County was rather shabby.

"Let's go. We'll register for the Martial Arts Examination first, and then see the court's arrangements for the rest of the examination," Wang Chen said, looking at the yamen.

Lu Feng nodded, and then the two walked towards the yamen gate.

Upon reaching the yamen gate, Wang Chen presented their purpose and credentials to the yamen runners for inspection.

The two yamen runners guarding the gate saw that Lu Feng was a participant in the Martial Arts Examination and let them pass directly.

After they entered the yamen and arrived at the registration area, they saw that some people were already lining up to register.

Lu Feng raised an eyebrow and asked doubtfully, "Brother Wang, why are there so many people registering? Are there many Ninth-Rank Martial Artists under twenty years old?"

The Martial Arts Examination he was participating in this time was the Youth Elite Competition, which required participants to be under twenty years old and have reached the Ninth-Rank Martial Artist level.

Such individuals could definitely be called martial arts prodigies.

But the people lining up before him were queuing; did he misunderstand what a martial arts prodigy was?

Wang Chen shook his head and said, "It's not as you see it. More than half of these people lining up do not meet the registration requirements!"

"Ah?! Then why are they registering?"

Wang Chen then pointed to a person in line and asked, "What do you think of this person?"

Lu Feng turned to look and found that the person Wang Chen pointed to was clearly over twenty years old.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was thirty.

"I can see this person is over twenty years old. Does he really think the court's assessors are blind?" Lu Feng asked doubtfully.

Wang Chen continued to explain, "This person is doing this for other considerations."

Lu Feng looked puzzled. "Oh?! What considerations?"

"As you know, many court officials and important figures will be present to watch the Martial Arts Examination. If this person can successfully pass the assessment and enter the competition, and if he performs well, he might be noticed by some important figures. I think you understand what I mean now."

After hearing Wang Chen's explanation, Lu Feng suddenly had an epiphany.

The purpose of these unregistered martial artists participating in the Martial Arts Examination was not to compete for the top ten spots, but to seize this opportunity to secure a good future.

Thinking of this, Lu Feng continued to ask, "Then you mean to say that the assessment officials in Baiyue County City are engaging in favoritism and corruption?"

"Cough, cough, you shouldn't speak such things. Just understand it yourself," Wang Chen immediately coughed lightly, interrupting Lu Feng.

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