The Celestial Dragons' Point Assessment

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

After some friendly discussion with Lu Ye, several master goldsmiths had humbly accepted his guidance and redone their work dozens of times.

At last, they had successfully produced an imposing, murderous-looking Guan Yu with his eyes open, clad in full armor and helmet, holding the Azure Dragon Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his left hand and the Seal of the Marquis of Hanshou Village in his right...

Ahem, a pure gold pendant!

In G City, both the law and the underworld worshipped Guan Yu:

In government offices, they worshipped Guan Yu as the red-robed general in full armor and helmet, representing unwavering loyalty to the legitimate court. This was also called wearing red shoes.

In the underworld, they worshipped Guan Yu as the green-robed hero who had left Xuchang for the sake of brotherhood, shed his red robes for green, and left his seal and gold behind. This was also called wearing green shoes.

Lu Ye himself worshipped Guan Yu as he had been while undercover in Cao Cao's camp, serving Cao Cao while remaining loyal to the Han and protecting his sisters-in-law. That should have been called wearing green shoes with red socks.

Yet Lu Ye didn't know whether Guan Yu was unhappy with his own undercover career, in which he had been loyal to the Han but not to Cao Cao, or unhappy with Lu Ye for blowing up his own eldest brother and having a thing for sisters-in-law...

Ever since Lu Ye had crossed into the world of pirates, he had always been able to see traces of Guan Yu's micromanagement when bad things happened.

But now, looking at the gold-carved Guan Yu with his long beard flowing, Lu Ye still felt a profound sense of security.

After all, if you loved someone, you couldn't ask how deeply they had hurt you-

So said Lu Ye, Guan Yu's loyal little simp.

After first offering three sticks of incense, Lu Ye respectfully took down the gold pendant and hung it around his neck on a gold chain as thick as his little finger.

The application to requisition land in the family compound was approved quickly. After all, because of Lu Ye's madness, all the neighbors near Homing's palace had moved out.

Hoffman knocked down a small castle with each punch, putting an excavator to shame.

Just before work was due to begin on Lu Ye's Guan Yu temple, news spread like wildfire through the Holy Land Mary Geoise-

The Celestial Dragons were about to face the strictest point assessment in their history, covering Celestial Dragons of all ages.

Celestial Dragons who had reached seventeen but still failed to earn enough points to graduate would be designated as tainted blood of their families. Their share of the Heavenly Tribute would be reduced to twenty percent of its current amount, and they would lose the right to leave the Holy Land.

When Lu Ye heard, he slapped his thigh and laughed.

"Those old men are still too softhearted. If they can't leave the Holy Land, what are they going to do with that twenty percent of the Heavenly Tribute?

"How much can they spend on food and drink? Are they leaving the rest for me to rob? Hahahaha...

"Hey, Pucout, why aren't you laughing?"

The assessment's framework was basically the same as Lu Ye's proposal. Martial prowess, intelligence, and personal virtue remained unchanged, while appearance and speech were grouped together under the name noble etiquette.

The scoring criteria for the four categories had been specified in detail, with one thousand points available in each.

For martial prowess, a CP Agent proficient in "Six Powers Game: Kumite" would test their Doriki Value. A Doriki Value of five hundred or above would earn full marks, as would defeating a pirate with a million-berry bounty from Impel Down in single combat.

A Doriki Value of five hundred was the threshold for a CP Agent to be called a superhuman. An ordinary marine had only ten Doriki.

By comparison, killing a pirate with a million-berry bounty was actually easier.

For intelligence, they could take exams in specific fields such as natural history, military affairs, geography, meteorology, and technology.

For noble etiquette, nineteen family elders would conduct a joint interview, judging the two criteria of appearance and speech.

Personal virtue required benevolence, compassion, and fairness, tested through simulated behavior on a written exam.

Only by earning a full two thousand points could they graduate, gaining the opportunity to take a position in the World Government and earn vast numbers of points.

A year of adequate work in an ordinary position would earn enough points for a full annual share of the Heavenly Tribute. If their performance was outstanding, their share could even multiply several times over.

When the news spread, the Holy Land was in an uproar.

As Lu Ye had expected, Pucout and his group were nearly beaten to death by the enraged Celestial Dragons. Lu Ye, the real culprit, had to take up two swords to keep them safe.

That was how people in the underworld operated: once they took the money, they got the job done.

Charlos, who used to leisurely sneak snacks from Lu Ye's food reserves, was now spinning around like a top with anxiety.

Rosy looked at Lu Ye, who was calmly forging metal. "Longinus, aren't you worried at all?"

"It's only two thousand points. Do I have any reason to worry?"

Lu Ye stopped working and rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing to say about getting full marks in martial prowess. Noble etiquette tests appearance and speech, and with Sixth Master's looks, I'd get full marks even if I spat!"

"Yahihihihi... that's the privilege of beauty!"

Shalria tossed her hair and gave a soft snort. The sweet girl was also determined to get all one thousand points for noble etiquette.

Charlos sniffled. For the first time in his life, he realized the difference between himself and Shalria. Lying on the floor, he kicked his legs and burst into tears.

They were brother and sister, so why did his sister look like their mother, while he looked like...

No! He was even uglier than their father!

Charlos cried so hard he squealed like a pig.

The Celestial Dragons, all of them covered in fresh injuries from their beatings, dropped to their knees before Lu Ye, sobbing.

"Sixth Master, you made this proposal. Please help us think of something!"

Lu Ye scratched his ear, his head aching from all the noise. One snot-flinging loser in particular had wrapped himself around Lu Ye's leg and wouldn't let go, no matter how much Lu Ye kicked him.

"I can't help you with the others, but personal virtue is fairly simple. Just remember one thing...

"When you answer the questions, treat the commoners as your own sons. That's called loving the people as your own children. It's the greatest benevolence a noble can show."

The Celestial Dragons only half understood.

Lu Ye licked his lips deviously. If you can't do it once you're out, don't blame my blade for being swift!

"Boo-hoo-hoo..."

Charlos still refused to let go. "Longinus, help me a little more..."

Lu Ye looked down at Charlos, whose face left him with only three thousand possible points, and couldn't help feeling a little more sympathetic. "But I can't help you with the others either..."

Charlos's mouth drooped. "Longinus, didn't you say you learned to read in three days? Could you teach me too..."

Lu Ye froze. "You're fucking eight years old, and you're still illiterate?!"

Holding his forehead, Lu Ye picked out a thousand common characters for Charlos.

A few days later, during the personal virtue exam.

Question: While carrying out official duties in a kingdom in the West Blue, you discover that a commoner's wife by the roadside is exceptionally beautiful. What do you do?

"Obviously, I'd seize her for my harem!"

Pucout's eyes lit up, but the light quickly faded.

"Calm down, calm down, genius Pucout!

"This lowly woman is both your daughter-in-law and your daughter...

"So what should I do? Let her go?

"But the question says she's exceptionally beautiful!

"Daughter... can't I do it with my daughter? Really?"

Pucout's eyes were bloodshot. His tiny grain of conscience fought desperately against his evil lust, and the hand holding his pen trembled ceaselessly.

"No, I can't. This really is hard! I'll skip it and do the next question first."

Pucout looked as though he had just fought a major battle, his forehead covered in sweat.

Question: While carrying out official duties in a kingdom in the East Blue, you find a child lying in the middle of the road with a sprained ankle, unable to move out of your way in time. What do you do?

"How dare a lowly commoner block my way!"

Pucout slammed the desk and shot to his feet, shouting furiously.

Bang, bang, bang!

At the invigilators' desk, a Celestial Dragon elder rapped on the table.

"Pucout, you stupid pig, sit down this instant. I said this instant!"

Pucout snorted coldly and wriggled back into his seat.

"The answer is obviously to shoot him dead!"

Pucout had only written two characters when he remembered Lu Ye's words.

If he's my son, shooting him would be too much...

Pucout rubbed his bulbous red nose and wrote earnestly:

"I would tell my slave mount to tread lightly when stepping over him..."

Meanwhile, in Charlos's examination room.

The illiterate Charlos chewed on the end of his pen and sniffled, muttering under his breath:

"Shoot... shoot dead... how do you write 'dead' again?"

Forget it. I'll just copy the all-purpose answer Longinus gave me.

Charlos quietly lifted his trouser leg. Three small characters-and only three-were tattooed on his calf.

At the time, Lu Ye had been unable to endure the torment. He had solemnly patted Charlos on the shoulder and praised this answer as humanity's highest virtue-

"Forgive him."