Chapter 65: New Rules for the Monthly Exam

July 30th.

Having just finished practicing his blade technique, Li Fei walked out of the practice building and saw Lu Zhangwu waiting ahead.

Ever since the previous attack, Lu Zhangwu had become increasingly friendly toward him; he had learned from Li Lei that the other man's father had contributed to the efforts during the attack, so he also maintained a good attitude toward Lu Zhangwu.

It was just that Li Fei was busy with training every day and had little time to interact much with Lu Zhangwu, so the two of them only exchanged greetings and chatted briefly when they happened to run into each other.

Today, Lu Zhangwu was waiting here specifically, so he clearly had something on his mind.

"Xiao Fei."

"Brother Lu."

"Tomorrow is the monthly exam, so I've come to discuss strategy with you."

Lu Zhangwu said.

Li Fei cupped his hands: "Please, Brother Lu, give me your guidance."

Lu Zhangwu smiled and waved his hand: "Xiao Fei, you are too polite. It's not really guidance; we are just working together to overcome a difficult situation."

"Including you, there are currently 83 Grade A students at the Xingcheng Martial Arts Hall. Every monthly exam for Grade A students involves dividing these dozens of people into ten groups. The top ten from the previous monthly exam are placed into ten different groups respectively. Afterward, there is a round-robin tournament within each group; the one ranked first advances to become the new top ten for the monthly exam. Only then do the ten who advanced compete against each other to determine the final rankings."

Lu Zhangwu briefly explained the rules of the monthly exam to Li Fei.

"Most of these 83 Grade A students have been subdued by the Tiger Blade Gang through coercion and bribery. So, for people like us who want to place in the monthly exam, we will hit a snag no matter which group we are assigned to. These 'snags' will go all out when they encounter us to exhaust us as much as possible, but they will throw the match when they encounter people from the Tiger Blade Gang, letting them win easily. Because of this, it is very difficult for our people to advance from their groups, and the top ten in the monthly exam are almost all people from the Tiger Blade Gang."

Li Fei nodded: "Then what would you like me to do, Brother Lu?"

Lu Zhangwu looked at him: "You are a student of Mr. Hao Yi, and everyone knows your capabilities. So, in tomorrow's monthly exam, if you are assigned to the same group as the disciples from our Inspectorate, they will do everything in their power to help you advance!"

"Oh?"

Li Fei was taken aback, not having expected this result: "If everyone helps me advance, then what about them?"

Lu Zhangwu laughed: "I'll be blunt. Among us, there are actually very few who have a chance to make it into the top ten of the monthly exam, so it is better to concentrate our strength to help those few with the best chances to secure a ranking. Of course, once it's done, we will naturally show our appreciation to the brothers who helped; we can't let them work for nothing."

Now Li Fei understood.

Although he didn't ask, he knew that the Inspectorate disciples Lu Zhangwu mentioned who had a chance to enter the top ten were definitely the children of the squadron leaders.

Judging by their methods, there was no essential difference between Lu Zhangwu and his group and the Tiger Blade Gang; it was just that the two sides stood on different sides.

Li Fei guessed that if he didn't have a special-grade lecturer as a teacher and hadn't displayed extraordinary strength during the graduation exam and the previous attack, his priority as the son of an Inspectorate squadron leader might have been ranked behind others, rather than the current situation where, as long as he wasn't in the same group as Lu Zhangwu, everyone else would do their best to ensure he advanced.

"Alright, thank you for the arrangement, Brother Lu."

Li Fei thanked Lu Zhangwu.

Although he felt he would have a chance to enter the top ten even without anyone's help, there was no need to refuse Lu Zhangwu's good intentions; after all, he had to consider Li Lei.

That evening, when Li Fei returned home, Hao Yi walked into a large conference room.

At this moment, the room was filled with the top brass of the Xingcheng Martial Arts Hall:

Two deputy hall masters, five special-grade lecturers, the director of the Academic Affairs Office, the director of the Material Office, and the director of the Implant Management Office.

"Everyone is here, we can begin."

A deputy hall master sitting in the center spoke after Hao Yi sat down.

He handed a document in his hand to the person beside him, signaling for it to be circulated:

"This document was just issued to us today by the Zige Academy; everyone, take a look."

The imperial court of the Great Lan Dynasty was mainly composed of the Cabinet and the Military Council. The Cabinet consisted of six ministries: the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Inspection, the Ministry of Supervision, the Ministry of Zige, and the Ministry of Orthodox Law. The Military Council was responsible for all military affairs and operations.

Distributed across various regions, the Cabinet became the Six Academies, while the Military Council only existed in the border regions. In a city like Xingcheng, the political structure was composed of the Six Academies.

The Xingcheng Martial Arts Hall was managed by the local Zige Academy, and the Martial Arts Hall had to execute any orders issued by the Zige Academy.

"As everyone reads, I will explain."

The deputy hall master in the center continued, "Most of the students who graduate from our Martial Arts Hall go into the military. Some cabinet ministers believe that the Martial Arts Hall should cultivate more of the students' practical combat abilities and increase their practical experience so that they can adapt more quickly after entering the military in the future.

This proposal was finally passed as a resolution by the Cabinet, and a formal order was issued, with the Zige Academies in various regions conveying the order to the local Martial Arts Halls, requiring us to change the current assessment method."

"Deputy Hall Master Wang, how exactly is it to be changed?"

A special-grade lecturer asked.

Deputy Hall Master Wang looked at him: "Specifically, it is to have our students participate in the external operations of the Zige Academy and the Inspectorate in the future, and to grade the students based on their performance during these operations."

The Inspectorate was responsible for local public security, while the Zige Academy was specifically responsible for events related to martial artists. In some vicious cases involving martial artists, or when people from the jianghu caused trouble, the Zige Academy would handle it.

Having Martial Arts Hall students participate in the external operations of the Zige Academy and the Inspectorate meant true participation in actual combat.

"But tomorrow is the monthly exam; is it too late to make a temporary change?"

Someone else asked.

Deputy Hall Master Wang glanced at the director of the Academic Affairs Office beside him. The latter nodded and passed out another document in his hand:

"This is a confidential document sent by the Xingcheng Zige Academy. The location of the nest of the Anshen Sect, which has been lurking in Xingcheng for over a year, has been found. Tomorrow, led by the Zige Academy and assisted by the Inspectorate, a joint operation will be launched to destroy the Anshen Sect in one fell swoop!

To respond to the order issued by the Military Council, the Zige Academy requires us to have all Grade A students participate in this encirclement and suppression operation, and this operation will replace the Grade A students' monthly exam."

"This..."

"Such an operation will surely be dangerous. What if the students are unwilling?"

"It is certainly based on the principle of voluntariness; we will not force students to do things."

Deputy Hall Master Wang said calmly with deep eyes, "Of course, if they are unwilling to participate in the operation, then there will naturally be no monthly exam grade for this time."

Everyone present fell silent.

If future monthly exams followed such rules, then students who were unwilling to participate in similar operations would no longer have monthly exam grades in the future.

(End of chapter)