A piece of startling news spread through Qinghe County Town.

The Divine Mansion Sect, in a break from tradition, was recruiting disciples publicly!

This news undoubtedly rekindled hope in the Martial Artists who had long given up on joining the Divine Mansion Sect.

Huwei Arts Hall.

Old Xue frowned, a thoughtful look on his face.

Bai Yuan, Ma Dingjun, and Cheng Li stood at his side.

"Strange. Truly strange."

Old Xue muttered under his breath.

The tradition of Qinghe County recommending candidates had been in place for forty years. To think it would be broken this year.

One could only imagine how fierce the competition would be. Even prodigies from other counties would come, and it was bound to be an incredibly lively affair.

However, the eleven candidates recommended by Qinghe County still had some advantages.

This recruitment was divided into three rounds: a preliminary test, a secondary test, and a final test.

The preliminary test was to select Martial Artists with superior root bone aptitude from the pool of public applicants. If necessary, they might even have to compete on the spot. The specifics all depended on the whims of the two Upper Envoys from the Divine Mansion Sect.

That’s right. They were just that capricious.

The Divine Mansion Sect had given these Upper Envoys immense authority; in a way, they *were* the rules of this recruitment ceremony.

Of course, the one with real power was the Thousand-Handed Butcher, who had only shown his face once in Qinghe. The two Divine Mansion Sect disciples were merely his proxies and wouldn’t dare to overstep their bounds.

Those recommended by the Iron Saber Gang, Flying Eagle Castle, and Huwei Arts Hall could skip the preliminary test and proceed directly to the secondary test.

The rule for the secondary test was simple: the strong would prevail.

As long as one was a good enough fighter, one could pass. This was precisely why the other Martial Artists were in such a frenzy.

Previously, the Divine Mansion Sect had never used martial prowess to select its disciples. This year was a precedent.

"Go and prepare well."

Old Xue sighed and waved his hand dismissively.

Aside from Bai Yuan, his three disciples were only at the Bone Forging Pass. It would be extremely difficult for them to stand out in the competition.

After all, any Martial Artist under the age of thirty-five could participate in this recruitment.

There would surely be no shortage of Yijin Martial Masters participating.

With only seven spots available in the final test, Ma Dingjun and Cheng Li had almost no hope. Only Bai Yuan stood a chance.

"Yes, sir!"

The three of them, Bai Yuan included, replied in unison.

Ma Dingjun and Cheng Li showed no signs of dejection. On the contrary, their resolve hardened. As Old Xue’s True Disciples, even if they couldn’t join the Divine Mansion Sect, they absolutely could not bring shame upon their master.

...

Before the County Magistrate’s Office.

A faint smile played on You Shengnan’s lips.

The recruitment was going quite well. The preliminary test alone had attracted over a hundred Martial Artists.

Even the weakest among them were at the Bone Forging Pass.

Martial Artists flocked to Qinghe not just from Qinghe County itself, but from all neighboring counties as well—anyone who heard the news and met the age requirement.

What a lively scene it was.

The first stage was the root bone assessment.

"Root bone" was simply an assessment of whether one’s innate physical structure was suited for martial arts. For example, long arms were ideal for practicing Tongbei Fist, while slender calves were suited for learning Lightweight Techniques...

It sounded complex, but for an experienced Martial Artist, it wasn’t difficult at all.

One could tell about seventy or eighty percent just from a person’s physique, with a final confirmation made through bone-feeling.

For example, the gentleman in front of Bai Yuan—bald, with a prominent brow—clearly had the superior root bone for practicing the Iron Head Technique.

Root bone was always judged by one’s greatest strengths, unless a flaw was simply too glaring to ignore.

Huwei Arts Hall once had a disciple with the stocky build of a superior-grade prospect, but he was born with crippled legs, so in the end, he could only be rated as inferior.

Old Xue had felt Bai Yuan’s bones when he became an Inner Courtyard Disciple.

Average root bone.

Of course, that was after he had improved it with the Blood Tiger Saber under the guidance of the old man in gray. His original body would have been rated as inferior, without a doubt.

Although he could skip the preliminary test and go straight to the secondary one, he still wanted to come to the County Magistrate’s Office to see the caliber of Qinghe County’s Martial Artists for himself.

The Martial Artists participating in the preliminary test walked one by one past the female disciple from the Divine Mansion Sect.

As each person passed, You Shengnan would announce their corresponding root bone quality.

"Upper-average root bone. Pass."

"Average root bone. Fail."

...

Only Martial Artists with upper-average root bone or better could pass the preliminary test. Of course, besides root bone, a Martial Artist’s talent was also judged by their comprehension.

The standard for judging comprehension was even simpler.

Anyone who had mastered a Cultivation Technique before the age of thirty-five was considered to have high comprehension and could pass even if their root bone was somewhat lacking.

’What sharp eyes!’

Bai Yuan stared at You Shengnan, inwardly astonished.

You Shengnan could make a judgment with a single glance. She had already assessed dozens of people, and not one had questioned her verdict.

It wasn’t just out of fear of the Divine Mansion Sect’s authority. These Martial Artists were, at minimum, Bone Forger Martial Masters, and their respective factions would have surely hired a Bone-Feeling Master to assess them long ago. The reason the preliminary test proceeded so smoothly was that You Shengnan’s judgments were consistent with those of the Bone-Feeling Masters.

’As expected of someone from the Divine Mansion Sect!’

’The Martial Artists of Qinghe County could never learn to have such a discerning eye.’

Bai Yuan secretly counted himself lucky.

’I only have average root bone,’ he thought. ’According to the standards of this preliminary test, I wouldn’t even qualify for the secondary test.’

’Of course, I’ve already mastered the Blood Tiger Saber, and my Tiger-Crane Form is at the grandmaster level. I could pass on comprehension alone.’

’But doing so would very likely expose the fact that I’ve cultivated the Tiger-Crane Form.’

’Unless it was absolutely necessary, I don’t want these two disciples from the Divine Mansion Sect to notice anything unusual.’

’However, my Tiger-Crane Form is already at the grandmaster level, which is practically cheating. Those two Divine Mansion Sect disciples are both Strong Internal Martial Masters; the chances of them discovering it aren’t high.’

Having seen enough of the excitement, Bai Yuan turned and left the crowd.

Meanwhile, You Shengnan sat before the County Magistrate’s Office on a Grandmaster’s Chair made of Yellow Flower Pear Wood.

Her decision to break with tradition and hold a public recruitment had a hidden purpose.

She was trying to find the person who had stolen a Cultivation Technique from the Divine Mansion Sect.

During a past rebellion, the Divine Mansion Sect had lost numerous Cultivation Techniques. The Tiger-Crane Form was merely one of them. In Qinghe County and its neighbors alone, four techniques had gone missing. Two had since been recovered, but all leads on the other two had gone cold. The Tiger-Crane Form was one of those.

Her plan was to gather all the Martial Artists in the area to one place.

Anyone who had cultivated one of the Divine Mansion Sect’s techniques would not be able to escape her notice.

Just as a dark, skinny man walked up to her—

You Shengnan, who had been lounging in the Grandmaster’s Chair, suddenly shot up!

Her slender fingers stabbed straight into the dark, skinny man’s chest.

The man was a Martial Artist from another county, at the Yijin Pass. His strength was considerable, but against You Shengnan, who was at the Strong Organ Pass, he didn’t stand a chance.

SQUELCH...

You Shengnan’s finger pierced straight through his chest and into his heart!

The dark, skinny man died instantly.

The surrounding Martial Artists were dumbfounded by this scene. They couldn’t understand why the Upper Envoy from the Divine Mansion Sect had suddenly lashed out and killed someone.

The corners of You Shengnan’s mouth curved upward slightly.

"How dare you take what belongs to my Divine Mansion Sect. You deserve to die!"

’The fish has taken the bait, just as I expected.’ 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

’There are always those who think they can get away with it. A pity for them... they ran into me.’