Chapter 109: Wu Bi (Part 1)

Unlike the Feather Scale Trial which is open to the whole world, the Divine Capital Martial Examination is the most important and fair channel for the Great Tang to select martial talents. Its participants can only be Tang people.

The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel, after careful research, allocated different quotas to each prefecture and required that the determination of these quotas in each prefecture must fall on real sword-and-gun competitions.

That is, everyone who finally participates in the Martial Examination must have a clear document from their prefecture stating what year, what month, and what day they participated in which local martial competition and won what place.

And besides this, the two ministries also set up a "Competition Before Competition" in the Divine Capital, leaving a full two hundred quotas to feast the world.

Perhaps the geniuses in your prefecture are surging this year and the quota has not changed, perhaps you have encountered an unimaginable accident, perhaps you have suffered an injustice that is difficult to appeal... but no matter what the reason, as long as you are a Tang person, as long as you come to the Divine Capital, you can step onto the ring.

Here there are no other factors; what determines your destiny is only your fist. As long as you are indeed one of the two hundred strongest people, the quota naturally belongs to you.

And the ways for each prefecture to select talents are also different. Bowang Prefecture adopts the most common one.

First, allocate a part of the quotas for participating in the martial competition to the subordinate counties, let the County Magistrate select talents in the county, and if the reported person can win a place, the County Magistrate will have political achievements, and the county will also receive resources for martial arts.

Secondly, allocate a part of the quotas to the sects within the territory, and determine a fixed number of quotas through internal competition or multi-sect joint competition.

Thirdly, allocate three or five quotas to the big merchants in the territory, allowing them to select one martial artist each to participate in the selection, and the name of the merchant can be written on

Finally, imitating the Divine Capital, a "Comparison Before the Comparison" will be established in the prefecture city. Regardless of your reason for failing to be selected through the three paths above, and regardless of where your hometown is, as long as you meet the basic requirements of the Wu Ju, you can compete for the final spots in this trial based on your own ability.

Besides giving a chance to talent buried by injustice or misfortune, this move also gives outsiders a chance—what if some young expert on the Fu List happens to be unable to return home in time and participates in the trial in Bowang Prefecture? Once they reach the Divine Capital, wouldn't that become the face of our Bowang Prefecture?

This is a cheerful and optimistic expectation of Inspector Zhao.

In short, Bowang Prefecture will select a fixed number of martial artists through these four channels, and then gather these martial artists in the prefecture city to rank them first, second, and third.

This is not a trial held behind closed doors by the government office, but a grand event held on the largest square in the center of the city, under the watchful eyes of countless people.

In the strongly martial atmosphere of the entire world, the Martial Assembly is undoubtedly the most popular and widely appreciated grand event. One can imagine this just by seeing that even a small county like Fenghuai holds a Mid-Autumn Martial Assembly every year, and it is quite popular.

Therefore, the "Three Comparisons" of Bowang Prefecture are not just to complete the tasks assigned by the imperial court; Bowang Prefecture itself also wants to make these three comparisons as exciting and famous as possible.

Therefore, in addition to the highest reward of "Qualification for the Divine Capital Wu Ju," Bowang Prefecture itself will also provide—or extract from the hands of merchants—sufficiently substantial rewards to be gifted to the top eight.

This is the reason why many people know they have no chance of winning the championship and have no interest in becoming famous on the stage, yet still come to participate in the martial trial.

"The Jin Qiu Martial Trial you are going to participate in is the first of such grand events." Master Huang sipped his wine and continued, "The characteristic of this one over the years is: the intensity before the top four is significantly lower than the latter two, but from the top four to the top two, the level of intensity is the peak among the 'Three Comparisons.' If the runner-up of this one is not injured, they can often secure a spot in the Winter Comparison and Spring Comparison."

Pei Ye was stunned for a moment, but upon reflection, he understood in his heart.

The first trial has not yet seen any strong competitors secure a spot and withdraw from the competition, so it is naturally the most intense one.

But precisely because of this, many people in the second tier have no hope of winning the championship and are unwilling to use their full strength in this trial, so as not to expose their weaknesses or get injured. Some want to exert their strength in the second trial, while others want to see if they can pick up a bargain in the third trial.

Only when they reach the top four, and the chance to win the championship is right before their eyes, do the four outstanding talents begin to fight without reservation.

Pei Ye did not have such thoughts; he was determined to go all out. Even if he could not win the championship, he could still measure his own position.

If it doesn't work this time, he will go to the Divine Capital to compete for those two hundred spots.

"What kind of people are fighting in the martial trial?" Pei Ye pressed on the Liuli with one hand and peeled peanuts with the other.

The Jin Qiu Martial Trial is a grand event covering the entire prefecture, but it is not intended to select the number one expert of the entire prefecture.

What level the opponents are at is the most important question, and also the question Pei Ye cares about the most.

"What kind of people do you think they are?"

"Powerful people."

"Hahaha, they are people who want to get ahead."

"Hmm... right."

They are people who want to get ahead.

To know how intense the Jin Qiu Martial Trial is, one can actually infer a general idea from the nature of the Divine Capital Wu Ju.

For one thing, its lower limit is extremely low.

Because although it is one of the grand events most watched by martial artists in the world, it is, after all, only a trial to select martial talent.

Since it is a "selection," it means that most of the participants are not yet considered "martial talent," at least not yet recognized.

If those geniuses from the immortal sects and holy lands really wanted to be officials, the Immortal Platform and the Ministry of War would have long since reserved plenty of positions for them.

Famous families also have their own channels.

Only those who cannot find a way in, or are dissatisfied with the existing channels, will come to participate in the martial trial.

Therefore, the Divine Capital Wu Ju is actually a grand event very close to the Jianghu and the common people. It is an opportunity for those of humble origins to strive for a status, not a fighting arena for top geniuses to compete.

People like Jing Ziwang, who have no background and do not understand how to scheme, could reach the sixth rank locally while in the Eighth Life Realm, and were immediately promoted to the fifth rank upon entering the Master Realm.

Lin Lin became a county captain in the Fifth Life Realm.

The strength of those still seeking official positions through the martial trial can naturally be imagined.

As long as you are a clean Tang person and know a few moves, you can come to join the fun—even if you can't reach the prefecture city, you can at least participate in the county selection.

And if this county is really too weak, then picking the best among the short, someone in the First Life Realm might be able to come to participate in the prefecture city martial trial.

But on the other hand, its upper limit is extremely high.

Because the Great Tang is truly generous enough to the talent selected in this national grand event.

As long as one enters the top hundred, the potential for their future development is not comparable to that of a county captain in a remote small county.

If one can enter the top three, they will be a military star with boundless prospects in the coming year.

And if one can win the championship and take the name of "Great Tang Martial Seed," they will be among the thousands of ceremonial officials, wearing fine clothes and carrying a sword in the Taiji Palace, with the Saint's favor and the Princess's sash, naturally becoming a favorite in the political arena of the future, and the crown of the three armies in the future.

Therefore, in every Divine Capital Wu Ju, there is never a lack of participation from the Fu List.

(End of chapter)