Endorsement

Canglong City Martial Arts Association.

At the half-yearly martial artist assessment, the crowds were a sea of people.

Though there were not many examinees, nearly every one of them had family members and relatives accompanying them.

Added to the fact that it was only held once every six months, and there was only one test site in all of Canglong City, the area outside the Martial Arts Association was already packed so tightly that not even water could trickle through.

"Old Li, I'll drop you off here."

A few hundred meters from the Martial Arts Association, Fang Yubai had no choice but to stop his beloved car.

The road was completely jammed. There was simply no way to move forward.

"Thanks."

Li Pin said with a smile.

He did not say that he could have ridden over himself.

Fang Yubai driving him here was itself a gesture of goodwill in social dealings.

"Good luck. You have to make it. Once you get your certificate, send me a picture so I can post it on my Moments."

As Fang Yubai spoke, he gave a forceful wave of his hand. "The president of Hanyang University Martial Arts Club hasn't even earned his Level 2 certificate yet. Once I've got a Level 2 Martial Artist brother, won't I be strutting sideways around Hanyang University from now on?"

Li Pin waved back.

Then, following the stream of people, he headed toward the Martial Arts Association at an unhurried pace.

Jiang Qingyue, president of the Canglong City Martial Arts Association, was a Gang Jin grandmaster.

However, he was already past sixty, and his body had long since declined from its former state. He likely could not even compare to some experts who had mastered Dan Jin. The ones truly holding up the association's facade were several vice presidents at the Embrace Dan stage.

Li Pin was now absorbing Dan Jin experience from the internet at every moment, then turning it to his own use through his "Insight" talent.

Getting in touch with Embrace Dan practitioners and seeking guidance on Dan Jin was no longer so urgent.

At this moment, he instead observed the martial artist examinees coming and going with the feeling of immersing himself in a flourishing age of martial arts—some nervous, some expectant, some confident.

Most of these people had already cultivated force, while some taking the Level 2 certificate assessment had reached the stage where their force transitioned from visible strength into An Jin.

There were likely several hundred people in the bustling crowd.

Such a lively scene, where everyone practiced martial arts, would have been unimaginable on Blue Star.

Following the crowd, Li Pin arrived at the Martial Arts Association examination hall.

The martial artist qualification certificate assessment was divided into a written test and a practical examination.

Li Pin, along with dozens of others in the same batch, entered an examination room filled with computers and entered their identification information.

Once the time arrived, the examination began.

He answered the questions displayed before him.

"A martial artist's primary obligations... the obligation to safeguard national interests and maintain regional peace, the obligation to protect vulnerable groups and assist in resisting unlawful harm..."

"Primary rights... entitlement to various national preferential policies, higher-level emergency refuge privileges, and higher-level rights of self-defense..."

"Where martial artist sparring results in injury or disability, normal legal penalties should be waived or reduced... but fights involving life-and-death combat require prior application to the Martial Arts Association..."

Li Pin answered them one by one.

"True or false: Martial artists and martial artist organizations follow reciprocal retaliation. However, after martial artist Zhang San applied to the Martial Arts Association for revenge and received permission, he immediately found martial artist Li Si and killed him, avenging his great hatred. Yet the law convicted him of intentional homicide and sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment. Was this sentence correct?"

"Correct."

Li Pin filled in the answer.

Even if an application for revenge was approved by the Martial Arts Association, revenge could only be carried out after three working days.

The other party could make preparations within those three days and had the right to invite any friends to help face the battle of vengeance.

A ten-year prison sentence...

It fell within the category of martial artist sparring, where punishment had to be reduced.

"True or false... During a conflict, civilian A held a blade and threatened martial artist B without attacking. Martial artist B relied on his force to kill him... martial artist B was convicted of intentional homicide..."

"False."

Martial artists were flesh and blood too. They did not possess the ability to withstand blades or bullets.

A civilian holding a blade already posed a threat to a martial artist's life and safety. Given a martial artist's superior right of self-defense, even if the finest lawyer took the case, that martial artist would at most be convicted of excessive self-defense.

Li Pin continued answering the questions.

Although he had reviewed for half a month before the written test and understood that martial artists in this world possessed greater authority than ordinary people, he still found some of these questions rather outrageous.

Like this one.

Martial artist Zhang San owed civilian Li Si one million. He had fled his debts for three years without returning. One day, Li Si discovered that Zhang San had returned home, gathered a group of civilians, and broke into martial artist Zhang San's house unarmed, only to be killed by Zhang San. The law found Zhang San not guilty.

Because...

Martial artists were different from civilians.

Though there was a cause behind it, unless there were legal procedures in place, martial artists possessed unlimited rights of retaliation against anyone who entered their homes, including civilians.

This law had been proposed years ago after the disciple of an important figure killed someone in a match, then suffered qi deviation during Embrace Dan because someone barged into his home. It had gained the approval of all martial artists.

Martial artists truly could not endure any disturbance at certain critical junctures of cultivation.

Fifty minutes later, Li Pin finished answering the questions.

He had barely passed, right on the qualifying line.

Immediately afterward, he lined up and waited for the second-round practical examination.

The Martial Arts Association had a full range of equipment.

Vitality and blood testing machines, strength testers, reaction-testing equipment, and so on.

Li Pin passed every test in a single round.

Finally, he demonstrated a burst of An Jin and smoothly completed the assessment.

After the assessment ended, he waited at the certificate issuance counter for less than an hour before successfully receiving his Level 2 Martial Artist certificate.

"That was pretty fast."

Li Pin remarked.

But it made sense.

To a certain extent, martial artists had already stepped beyond the civilian class. Naturally, the Martial Arts Association would not treat them the way Taibai government departments treated civilians, making them wait three to five days over every minor matter.

After putting the certificate into his pocket, Li Pin went to a building nearby and registered for the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Tournament as a martial artist from Canglong City.

This process was equally smooth, and he encountered no difficulties whatsoever.

For official competitions strongly promoted by the government, such as the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Tournament, local authorities had to do everything possible to support them.

The more people registered, the more those above could see the level of support from below.

The staff would not urge Li Pin to think it over simply because he was a Level 2 Martial Artist.

The leaders above them might even have quotas, so they would proactively encourage qualified martial artists to participate.

After registering with ease, Li Pin headed outside the association, where the flow of people still had not ceased.

"Young man, please wait."

At that moment, a voice came from behind him.

Immediately afterward, a plump middle-aged man hurried over and handed him a business card with a beaming smile.

"Young man, I'm Yuan Tailai from Hongri Apparel. Forgive my abruptness, but I noticed you when you were collecting your martial artist certificate just now. First, congratulations on completing the Level 2 Martial Artist assessment."

"Do you need something?"

Li Pin asked.

With that one sentence, Yuan Tailai seemed to understand Li Pin's disposition and quickly got straight to the point. "Young man, to become a Level 2 Martial Artist at such a young age, you are truly a promising talent. Also, I saw you come out of the martial arts tournament registration office. Are you planning to experience the excitement of the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Tournament?"

"Yes."

"I've seen quite a few contestants these past days, but someone like you—young, handsome, striking, and sunny—is exceedingly rare. We at Hongri Apparel are a local Canglong City brand, and we have been seeking to expand beyond Canglong City and reach all of Jiangzhou. We happen to need a brand spokesperson, and your image fits our endorsement standards perfectly..."

Yuan Tailai said with a smile, "So long as you are willing to become our spokesperson, film a commercial and some promotional photos, and wear clothing bearing the Hongri Apparel logo when you compete in the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Tournament, we are willing to offer one hundred thousand."