Martial Examination Gathering!

Lu Feng knew a thing or two about the household registration system of the Great Yan Dynasty.

Ordinary people weren't allowed to leave their registered place of residence without a travel permit issued by the local authorities.

If they did, the authorities could arrest them as bandits or unregistered vagrants.

The guards at Baiyue County City were blocking these people from entering. They must have been following orders from above.

Seeing this, Lu Feng furrowed his brows. "Brother Wang, let's go take a look."

Wang Chen nodded, and the two of them headed over to the gate. Outside the city were at least a thousand people, men and women, young and old.

More and more people were also coming along the Official Road in the distance.

Looking at the scene before him, Lu Feng felt that if things continued this way, these refugees would either starve to death outside the city or gather in a mob and revolt.

"Brother Wang, there are more and more refugees outside the city. If the Northern Wei Army breaks through Yingmen Pass, I'm afraid these people won't survive!" Lu Feng said with a worried look.

Though he wasn't from this world, he couldn't bear to watch so many innocent people die outside the city.

Wang Chen shook his head helplessly. "This isn't something a mere martial artist like us can do anything about. Besides, it won't be easy for the Northern Wei Army to break through Yingmen Pass."

Hearing this, Lu Feng could only let out a long sigh before turning to leave.

He had originally wanted to explore more of Baiyue County City, but after learning about the refugees, he no longer felt like wandering around.

Back at the inn, Lu Feng had just been about to return to his room and cultivate when Wang Chen suddenly spoke up. "Lu Feng, Baiyue Tower will host a Martial Examination gathering in five days. Prefect Xu and some of the county officials will be there, along with many people who passed the Martial Examination qualification test. There'll also be disciples from Noble Families. What are your plans?"

"A Martial Examination gathering?!" Lu Feng suddenly remembered that County Magistrate Wang Lichuan had mentioned it to him. "Since it's a gathering before the Martial Examination, I'll naturally attend. It'll be a good chance to see the opponents I'll be facing this time."

"Good. I'll take you there myself."

After their conversation, Lu Feng returned to his room and began circulating Peiyuan Gong.

[You circulate Peiyuan Gong once. Proficiency +1]

[You circulate Peiyuan Gong once. Proficiency +1]

...

Over the next five days, aside from eating and drinking, Lu Feng spent all his time diligently cultivating in his room.

Five days of hard cultivation had not only raised his Peiyuan Gong proficiency to over 2,400 points, but also pushed his Martial Realm to the peak of Ninth-Rank Martial Master.

At this point, his physical strength had reached 9,900 jin. He was only a hundred jin short of reaching the tremendous strength of ten thousand jin.

But he could sense that this final hundred jin was like some kind of special limit. It would be exceedingly difficult to break the ten-thousand-jin barrier while still in the Martial Master Realm!

Unless he broke through to the Grandmaster Realm, even the Proficiency Panel might not be enough to get him there.

"Hmm, more than ninety percent of the meridians in my body have been tempered. I'm not far from breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm!"

As he spoke, he brought up the Proficiency Panel to check it.

[Name: Lu Feng]

[Age: 19/70]

[Realm: Ninth-Rank Martial Master]

[Cultivation Method: Peiyuan Gong (Mid-Grade, Upper-Tier, Mastery Realm 2458/5000)]

[Martial Skill: Cloud-Dispelling Palm (High-Grade, Lower-Tier, Mastery Realm 12/5000)]

Based on Lu Feng's judgment, if he raised his Peiyuan Gong proficiency to 2,500 points, his Martial Realm might advance straight to the Grandmaster Realm.

The Martial Examination was about ten days away. At his current pace, he should be able to break through to the Grandmaster Realm before it began.

By then, making the top ten in the county's Martial Examination would be easy. Even taking first place wasn't out of the question.

But both the first-place and top-ten finishers in the Martial Examination would become Martial Scholars. Aside from having greater renown, there wasn't much difference between them.

Just as Lu Feng was thinking about the Martial Examination, Wang Chen's voice suddenly came from outside.

"Lu Feng, are you up?"

Hearing him, Lu Feng got up and opened the door. "Brother Wang, are you here to take me to the Martial Examination gathering?"

Wang Chen nodded. "Mm. Since you're up, let's go."

Lu Feng didn't ask anything further. He simply followed behind Wang Chen in silence.

The two made their way through the streets and soon arrived in the central district of the county city.

A three-story pavilion stood there, its signboard bearing the words "Baiyue Tower."

Though the building wasn't tall, it was extremely spacious, with each floor able to accommodate over a thousand people.

Many martial artists in all sorts of attire stood outside the entrance on the ground floor.

Lu Feng observed them for a while, then asked, "Brother Wang, why aren't those people outside going in?"

Wang Chen explained, "Because, like me, they don't have the qualifications to enter. They're only here to watch."

Understanding dawned on Lu Feng's face. "I see!"

"All right, go on in. I'll wait for you at the tea stall outside," Wang Chen added.

Lu Feng gave a slight nod and walked up to the entrance of Baiyue Tower.

Two martial artists stood there. Just as Lu Feng was about to enter, one of them raised a hand to stop him.

"Brother, only those who passed the Martial Examination qualification test may enter. Everyone else is denied entry!"

Lu Feng stopped and took his Martial Examination certificate from his robe.

The two men looked at it and immediately changed their tune. "So you're taking the Martial Examination, sir. Please, go in!"

Lu Feng put away his certificate and walked in without another word.

As soon as he entered, he saw that the first floor was already packed with people.

He headed straight for the stairs to the second floor.

But as soon as he reached the foot of the stairs, he saw two more guards standing there.

This time, Lu Feng didn't blindly head upstairs. Instead, he looked at the guards and asked, "Brothers, what are the requirements for going up to the second floor?"

One of them cupped his fists toward Lu Feng. "Greetings, sir! To go up to the second floor, you need not only to have qualified for the Martial Examination, but also to have reached the Martial Master Realm."

"I see! How do I prove my strength?"

The guard smiled faintly. "Heh, simple! Just spar with me once, and we'll see if you're qualified to enter the second floor."

Lu Feng didn't immediately take him up on it. Instead, he turned to look at the many martial artists seated on the first floor.

There were at least several hundred people on the first floor. That meant none of them had reached the Martial Master Realm.

It stood to reason. Even Chief Clerk Lu Yan, a disciple of a Noble Family, was still a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist. These ordinary martial artists were hardly likely to be any stronger.

After looking over the martial artists on the first floor, Lu Feng turned back to the guard and cupped his fists. "In that case, I'd like to try my luck and see if I can get into the second floor."

The guard had already been sizing him up, so he nodded. "Certainly. Please, go ahead!"

As soon as he said this, everyone seated on the first floor turned to look.

Seeing yet another person challenge the guard, someone immediately scoffed, "Heh, another fool who doesn't know his own limits, trying to get upstairs!"

Another martial artist nearby looked on with disdain. "Tch, he's more than just a fool who doesn't know his limits. Even Chen Bufan failed the guards' test. This guy must be a hotheaded idiot!"

"Hey, you don't know the half of it. Those two guards at the foot of the stairs are both mid-stage Martial Masters. Even a First-Rank Martial Master would struggle to withstand one of their blows."