Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

The quarterly exams are over, and everyone's gone.

Most of the people had already left the viewing platform on the north side of the drill ground.

The wealthy merchants and stewards of prominent families in the side corridors were the first to leave, their carriages rumbling along the bluestone slabs towards the city gate, leaving behind a mess of scraps and tea stains.

Only two people remained on the platform.

Chen Wuyai sat to the right of the main seat, with an iron staff across his lap. In front of him was a roster half a foot thick and a pot of tea that had been brought over.

Song Tiecheng sat opposite him, his hands clasped in front of his lower abdomen, his posture of closing his eyes to rest unchanged, but the two eyeballs under his eyelids moved a few times.

The two monks from Jinyang Temple left. Before leaving, Jingyuan put his hands together and said, "I hope the action can be carried out as soon as possible." The tall and thin senior brother did not say a word from beginning to end. The two got into the carriage and left.

The attendants on the viewing platform were also dismissed; their presence was deemed inappropriate for the occasion.

Only two cups of tea, a stack of rosters, and an aura between two martial artists at the Inner Qi Realm remained on the table, imperceptible to others.

After Chen Wuyai and everyone else left, he opened the roster that recorded the previous rankings and battle records, and tapped the first page twice with his fingertips.

Let's start with the top four.

Song Tiecheng lifted his eyelids slightly, finally focusing his attention on listening. Among the three of them, he was the least inclined to use his brain; he just wanted to do the work and leave the rest to his two older brothers.

For example, in this assessment, Qi Shujian was officially the chief examiner and Chen Wuyai was the deputy examiner, but Director Qi was not even present. So this time, everything was left to Chen Wuyai, the second brother.

Seeing that his third brother was still the same as always, Chen Wuyai sighed and pointed his finger at Qin Ju's name.

"Qin Ju, the deputy master of Cangyun Pavilion, is at the fourth level of perfection. He has mastered a mid-level spear technique. Today, almost no one on the field could withstand thirty moves from him."

He paused, his tone flat, as if Qin Ju's performance meant nothing to him, and said, "Although Cangyun Martial Arts School is considered the largest martial arts school in Yunlin County, and its master is at the sixth level of Qi and Blood Perfection, he is ultimately not at the Inner Qi Realm. Although their current senior martial arts brother has the Zhang family, one of the three great families of the inner city, behind him."

"But Qin Ju himself is not related to the direct descendants of the Zhang family. He is a talent cultivated by the academy itself, and his background is ordinary. Such people are easy to use, have shallow roots, and not many entanglements. They can be firmly bound by valuing and employing them."

Song Tiecheng's lips moved slightly: "Second Brother, what kind of position do you think he's best suited for?"

"Deputy Chief Administrator of the Yunlin County Astronomical Survey Office"

Upon hearing these five words, Song Tiecheng's brow twitched slightly.

The position of deputy chief is quite high. Before the three of them received their orders, this position would have been among the top five in the Yunlin County Sky Patrol Bureau.

Chen Wuyai picked up the teacup. The tea inside was as cold as well water. He took a sip without caring. People in the military don't usually care about such things.

"He will be given the position of deputy chief steward, and will also be in charge of the Martial Law Hall and the Contribution Hall. He will be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver and five sixth-grade pills."

Song Tiecheng's eyes widened, clearly surprised. The power of two palaces was in one person's hands; it seemed Qin Ju was being groomed for a major role.

"Before my elder brother went into seclusion, he instructed us that before we arrived, the Yunlin County Astronomical Bureau had been thoroughly infiltrated by the three major families, and its people were everywhere from top to bottom."

Chen Wuyai put down his bowl, traced the roster with his finger, and said calmly, "We've already purged a bunch of people in the last two incidents, taking advantage of the Nine Evil Sect. Now that some positions have become available, we need to fill them with our own people. Qin Ju has a clean background, comes from a martial arts school, and has no family burdens. Giving him power should make him understand who nurtured him and who he should be grateful to. Now is the time to use people, so this is a win-win situation no matter how you look at it."

Song Tiecheng nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Chen Wuyai then moved his finger to the second name.

"Wang Qiongyu, a direct descendant of the Wang family in the inner city."

The moment those six words were uttered, the atmosphere between the two subtly changed.

Song Tiecheng added, "People from the three great families."

"right."

Chen Wuyai's tone finally revealed a hint of emotion and hidden killing intent as he said, "A fourth-level perfect cultivation, exquisite swordsmanship, and in terms of strength, he is second to none on the field today, but his surname is Wang."

My finger lingered on the name for a couple of breaths.

"Placing it in the county town is like planting a stake in the Sky Patrol Bureau for the Wang family. He can sit in this chair today, and the Wang family can reach in from behind tomorrow. It's like trying to clean a dish only to have it smeared again. Wouldn't that be a waste of all the effort?"

"But the promised rewards can't be easily forgotten; we still need to give them some real benefits. After all, we represent the face of the Sky Patrol Division, and it wouldn't look good for the eldest brother if the Wang family were brought to the mansion. Most importantly, the Sky Patrol Division in the city has no one else to use, so they actually put a family member in second place."

Hearing his second brother's words, Song Tiecheng understood somewhat and asked, "External assignment?"

"Give him the position of the highest-ranking patrol chief in Qingshan Town, along with a reward of eight hundred taels of silver and five grade-six pills."

This arrangement sounds quite respectable—the town's chief steward, who holds absolute power over the region, is generous with rewards such as silver and medicinal pills.

But those in the know understand perfectly well.

Qingshan Township is the most remote township under the jurisdiction of Yunlin County, more than a hundred miles from the county seat. The mountains are high and the roads are long, so messages take overnight to arrive. Going there would mean getting further and further away from the core of the Sky Patrol Bureau's power. Promotions and transfers would all depend on the whims of those above. To put it bluntly, it would mean being politely thrown into a corner and left to languish. Moreover, it would be difficult for the Wang family to extend their influence there.

They give you face, but drain you of real power.

"Tang Ji, Deputy Chief Administrator of the Sky Patrol Division."

Chen Wuyai turned a page, speaking a little faster.

"He's an old hand inside, thirty-eight years old, at the fourth level of perfection, with enough seniority. His greatest strength is his integrity; he doesn't have many hidden agendas and is the type to do whatever he's told. He'll retain his position as deputy chief steward, but he'll be put in charge of the Armory Hall. He'll be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver and three sixth-grade pills."

Song Tiecheng had no objection.

"The last one is Zhao Tong, a member of the Sanyuan Society."

When Chen Wuyai said this, his tone was somewhat indifferent.

"The largest of the three major gangs can't really let him into the Sky Patrol Bureau's system. They'll just give him a nominal title of 'official,' with a monthly salary comparable to that of the deputy chief steward. That'll give him face and substance, and the Three Elements Society won't be able to say anything about it."

Song Tiecheng hummed in agreement.

The plates for the top four have been stacked.

Chen Wuyai flipped through a few pages of the roster, running his finger over the densely packed names.

The arrangements for the fifth to twelfth places were nothing more than positions such as hall masters and alternate general managers of various branches. Chen Wuyai finished pointing it out in a few words, and Song Tiecheng occasionally chimed in with a supplement. The two worked together very smoothly.

When he flipped to thirteenth place, Chen Wuyai's finger stopped.

Yiyang.

These two words are not particularly eye-catching on the roster, but the information next to them is even more puzzling—age sixty, former patrol chief of the Imperial Library, declared cultivation level of Qi and Blood Level Three, actual cultivation level of Qi and Blood Level Four.

Chen Wuyai rubbed his thumb across the paper twice.

"What do you think of this person?"

Song Tiecheng frowned slightly: "I'm getting old."

Three words, crisp and concise.

In the world of martial arts, age signifies the rate of decline in one's vital energy and blood. A sixty-year-old at the fourth level of vital energy and blood, following the normal pattern of decline, can at most fight for another seven or eight years. After seven or eight years, dropping from the fourth level is a foregone conclusion.

Chen Wuyai did not refute.

He placed the roster on the table, leaned back in his chair, and twirled the iron rod halfway in his hand.

"You're getting old. But did you notice anything in those performances on stage today?"

Song Tiecheng didn't answer, waiting for him to continue.

"In the first match against Wu Zhongqin, he didn't make a move for over eighty moves, using his movement techniques to kite him the entire time. The stride and rhythm of that movement technique were not the kind of fluidity that someone at the early stage of the fourth level of Qi and Blood could achieve."

Chen Wuyai tapped the tabletop lightly with his iron staff.

"In the second match against Zheng Qiao, I wore him down in twenty-five moves, and then used a fake opening to lure him out. The timing of that match was too precise. It was a four-on-four fight. This kind of fighting style doesn't rely on brute force, but on brains. In the next four matches, even though I won each one easily, I pretended to be struggling in every match."

Song Tiecheng narrowed his eyes.

"You mean, he's hiding?"

"I'm not sure how much I've hidden, but before this assessment ended today, I had someone check it out. The things Fang Yue handed over last time—Tang Hao's death, the deaths of Cao Tie and Qian Jiu from the Red Tiger Gang, and the case of Lu Neng, the county constable—are all superficially attributed to the night of the Nine Evil Cult's turmoil, but the methods used in these three cases are incredibly clean."

Chen Wuyai's voice was suppressed to a distance where only the two of them could hear it.

"Three Luneng players were killed in one blow. Cao Tie was decapitated, and Qian Jiu's legs were severed. Do you believe someone who did this was only at the early stage of the fourth level?"

Song Tiecheng remained silent for a few moments.

"You want to use him?"

"The Sky Patrol Bureau has been operating in Yunlin County for so long, and its operations have grown bigger and bigger, but there is one place that they have never been able to find a suitable person to keep an eye on."

Chen Wuyai drew a circle with his finger in the blank space of the roster.

"As the old saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility, so I'll give him a position and see how it goes."

Song Tiecheng glanced at him: "With your elder brother not here, you make the decision."

Chen Wuyai's lips curved slightly, the curve was very shallow, but it carried the unique certainty of an Inner Qi Realm martial artist.

"My older brother said before he left that I would be in charge of making the assessments while he was away."

"Then let's arrange it for him."

Chen Wuyai closed the register and wrote two words next to Yi Yang's name.

Song Tiecheng peeked at the annotations, nodded, and said nothing.

After finalizing the list of the top fifteen, Chen Wuyai leaned back. The training ground below the stage was empty, with only a few servants cleaning up the broken wood and scattered weapons. The sound of brooms scraping against the bluestone slabs came from below.

Chen Wuyai gazed at the distant, hazy horizon, his voice softening.

"I hope my elder brother can get through that third hurdle as soon as possible. Once the Heavenly Rain descends by 10%, the three major families of Yunlin County should behave themselves."

Song Tiecheng tapped his fingers twice on his knee.

"Yes."

Two words, but they carry great weight.