In chaotic times, one can become a martial immortal.

"This guy's got some serious toughness!"

Lu Yuan turned his head and saw Cao Yang who had come with Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu. He couldn't help but frown slightly.

Logically speaking, his knife should have pierced Cao Yang's heart; even a divine physician wouldn't have been able to save him.

"I just found out too. It seems Cao Yang's heart is located on the right side, so your stab wasn't fatal!"

At this moment, Huang Hui came to Lu Yuan's side and whispered.

"It's a mirror image!"

A strange look appeared in Lu Yuan's eyes. It seemed he would have to be more careful about finishing off his enemies in the future.

"Cao Yang is a top-notch genius that the Zhou family has nurtured with a lot of resources. The two masters will naturally not give up on him easily, so don't let this cause you to have any grudges against them."

Huang Hui continued.

"I see!"

Lu Yuan smiled and nodded.

What good is it if Cao Yang is alive? If he can kill once, he can kill twice.

"Brother Lu Yuan, I acted impulsively before, I hope you won't blame me."

At this moment, Cao Yang walked over directly, smiled, and clasped his hands in greeting to Lu Yuan.

It seemed that after his brush with death, he had truly realized his mistake.

There won't be a next time!

Lu Yuan said calmly.

He knew very well that one of them would die today.

Of course, the one who dies will not be him.

"That's certainly true!"

Cao Yang nodded with a smile on his face.

"clang!"

As the golden gong sounded, the chief examiner in full armor on the platform slowly rose to his feet.

"His Majesty has established the military examination system solely to select outstanding talents for the nation. He hopes that you will all give your all and demonstrate your abilities. He also hopes that you will strictly abide by the rules. Anyone who dares to cheat or falsify information will be severely punished according to the law!"

He paused, then shouted again in a loud voice:

"Start the course!!!"

It exploded in everyone's ears like a thunderclap.

With this, the martial arts exam officially began.

As the officials began calling out names, all the candidates lined up neatly and entered the examination hall one after another.

As in previous years, the martial arts exam will be conducted in three rounds.

The first round tests physical strength.

The assessment method was also very simple: pull a hard bow.

There are three bows on the bow rack: a three-stone bow, a six-stone bow, and a nine-stone bow.

Normally, it takes 120 jin of strength to fully draw a bow.

A three-stone bow requires 360 jin of strength, and so on.

Under normal circumstances, the strength of a Ming Jin martial artist is mostly between three hundred and five hundred.

Therefore, any true Ming Jin martial artist can basically draw this three-stone bow.

However, to draw the six-stone bow, one needs at least a martial artist with internal strength of 500 to 800 jin.

As for the Nine Stone Bow, only martial artists with strength exceeding a thousand jin (approximately 500 kg) can draw it.

"This first round of assessment is actually just for selection. Those who can draw a three-stone bow are classified as Grade C and basically have no chance of advancing to the next round of assessment, while those who can draw a six-stone bow are classified as Grade B and most of them have a chance of advancing to the next round of assessment."

Huang Hui turned to look at Lu Yuan and smiled, "With your strength, you can naturally draw the Nine Stone Bow with ease, placing you among the top-tier."

In fact, not only Lu Yuan, but almost all candidates who had reached the Transformation Realm were able to rank in the top tier and easily pass this first round of assessment.

As more and more candidates were called, they stepped forward one after another to pull the bow for testing.

"Number one, move up to C!"

"Number two, Class B!"

……

"Number 79, A down!"

As long as you can draw the bow more than halfway and hold it for three breaths, you've passed the test.

Furthermore, taking the Three Stone Bow as an example, if one can quickly draw the bow three times, it is rated as C-level (top); if one can only draw the bow twice, it is rated as C-level (middle); and if one can only draw the bow once, it is rated as C-level (bottom).

As time passed, the results of the tests for most of the martial arts students from the outer courtyards of Song Academy were soon available.

Apart from Gu Ming, Chen Pi, and Chen Yong, who are all in the upper-level category (C), the others are mostly in the middle-level or lower-level category (C).

Unfortunately, whether it's C1, C2, or C3, it's all just a formality; in the end, everyone will be eliminated and miss the next round of assessment.

Meanwhile, at Guangchuntang, Wang Chao and Chen Zheng quickly achieved scores of B1 (Upper Grade), while Zhang Feng and the others mostly achieved B2 (Middle Grade) and B2 (Lower Grade).

If there are more top-tier teams this year, the top-tier teams might be able to hold their own, but the middle-tier teams will likely be in danger, especially the bottom-tier teams, which may very well be eliminated in the first round.

At this moment, a girl with a baby face, wearing a tiger-skin skirt, and about sixteen or seventeen years old, walked up to the bow stand.

The young girl was beautiful, with a lithe and graceful figure and a healthy complexion. As soon as she appeared, she attracted most people's attention.

She simply reached out and grabbed the Nine Stone Bow from the bow rack.

"Am I seeing things? Isn't she only at the Inner Strength level? She's actually going to challenge the Nine Stone Bow?"

"The strength of a martial artist with internal energy is almost certainly less than a thousand jin; how could they possibly pull a nine-stone bow?"

Amidst the questioning gazes of the crowd, the girl lowered her waist and stood up.

Hold the bow back with your left hand and grip the bowstring with your right hand.

"open!"

With a soft shout, the bowstring snapped open.

Half a month... Full moon!

Breathe!

Two breaths!

Three breaths!

As expected, it was a success!

"Buzz!"

After the bowstring snapped back, the girl continued to exert force.

Half a month... Full moon!

Breathe!

Two breaths!

Three breaths!

As expected, it was a success again!

"Buzz!"

The girl did not stop, and drew her bow again.

Half a month... Full moon!

Breathe!

Two breaths!

Three breaths!

It wasn't until the bowstring snapped back and the girl put the bow back on its stand that everyone gradually came to their senses.

"Born with superhuman strength... he's definitely born with superhuman strength!"

"Incredible! It's one thing to forcibly draw the Nine Stone Bow with her Dark Force cultivation, but to draw it to a full moon, and even do it three times in a row, doesn't that mean that she is at least comparable to a true Transformation Force cultivator in terms of strength?"

"It's not just about being on par; she drew the Nine Stone Bow three times to its fullest extent, not only achieving the top score but also seemingly with complete ease. Her strength has probably surpassed that of an ordinary Transformation Realm cultivator!"

"She's just stronger; cultivation is the foundation of a martial artist. No matter how strong she is, a true master of internal energy can still easily suppress her!"

"That makes sense, but once she breaks through to the Transformation Realm, wouldn't she be able to easily sweep aside ordinary Transformation Realm cultivators?"

Everyone stared at the girl with disbelief, whispering amongst themselves.

"Master Huang, what's wrong with her?"

Among the crowd, Zhang Feng couldn't help but ask Huang Hui out of curiosity.

"There are only two possibilities. One is that she is born with superhuman strength, and her strength is much stronger than that of ordinary martial artists of the same level. Although this situation is peculiar, it is not uncommon. After entering the ranks, the advantage of strength will gradually diminish."

Huang Hui pondered for a moment, then continued, "Another possibility is that she is the kind of martial arts prodigy I mentioned before. There are countless geniuses in the world. A first-rate genius like Cao Yang, with his exceptional talent, would certainly be considered top-tier in Qinghe County, but if placed in the prefecture city or even the entire Great Zhou, he would not be considered top-tier."

"However, such martial arts prodigies are still among the top-tier beings above the first-class level. Even if they don't start building their foundation from childhood like the scions of aristocratic families and have resources piling up along the way, they can still grow up rapidly in a very short time and possess formidable combat power that absolutely overwhelms other martial artists of the same realm!"

"What exactly defines a martial arts prodigy?"

Zhang Feng asked with increasing curiosity.

"Innate martial bones!"

Huang Hui said, word by word.

……