No one knew whether he had much of a chance to get into the Martial Arts Department of the Prefecture Academy.

"I can't talk to you anymore, I have to hurry to the exam site, can't be late!"

William Harris quickly washed up, bought a steamed bun on the way to fill his stomach, and rushed to the exam site.

Because this was a joint exam for the top ten junior martial academies of Luyang Prefecture, for promotion to the Luyang Prefecture Academy.

So the exam site wasn't set at any one martial academy, but was held in the renowned Prefecture Academy of Luyang. All examinees had to go to the Luyang Prefecture Academy to take the exam.

……

Luyang City.

Central Avenue, the Luyang Prefecture Academy covering several hundred acres.

When William Harris hurried to the Prefecture Academy, the entire martial academy was packed to the brim with thousands of martial students and even more parents, relatives, and friends. Even the two mighty stone lions, several meters tall, at the main gate were crowded with people.

There were also many commoners watching the excitement from nearby restaurants, and the whole street was bustling with traffic.

"Today is the most important Martial Arts Department assessment at the Luyang Prefecture Academy! I have a secret ancestral recipe for the Great Strength Pill—eat one and your strength will increase severalfold, helping you leap over the dragon gate! Five taels of silver each, you won't regret buying, and you won't be fooled by eating!"

"I have here a top-secret manual, containing the experiences and insights of previous top scorers in the Martial Arts Department exam. Who wants it? Only ten taels of silver!"

"Examinees, I, this old master, have roamed the Canglan Kingdom for decades, my calculations are never wrong. Let me read your fortune and see which department you can get into!"

There were stalls selling secret manuals, fortune tellers, and hawkers shouting their wares, making for a lively scene.

There was no shortage of carriages from the great clans of Luyang Prefecture coming and going. Many scions of these powerful families would also participate in this assessment, and the joint exam would undoubtedly have a profound impact on the future of each family.

At the main gate of the Prefecture Academy, a large notice board was hung high. Once the exam results were out, they would be posted on this board with bright red paper.

The results of the joint exam for the top ten martial academies of Luyang Prefecture, involving thousands of young martial students, as well as any honorary titles earned during the exam, would all be publicly displayed.

Meanwhile, inside the Luyang Prefecture Academy, on the martial training grounds—

A dense crowd of martial students lined up in dozens of long queues on the training field, waiting for the Martial Arts Department assessment.

The joint exam for the ten academies included assessments for nine departments: "Martial Arts, Runes, Beast Taming, Sacrifice, Commerce, Alchemy, Forging, Adventuring, and City Lord."

Of these nine, the most important was the Martial Arts Department.

On the Divine Martial Continent, the strong are revered.

Martial arts symbolize the highest honor and are the core orthodox power of the human race.

Any martial student at any martial academy on the Divine Martial Continent who wishes to advance to higher ranks—Martial Venerable, Martial Marquis, Martial King, Martial Emperor...—must study this department.

Moreover, if one is lacking in martial arts, no matter how talented they are in the other eight departments, their achievements will ultimately be limited.

This is because an ordinary martial artist has a lifespan of one hundred years, a Martial Venerable lives one hundred and fifty years, a Martial Marquis three hundred years... The stronger one is, the longer their lifespan. Without enough lifespan, no matter how amazing your talent, you will ultimately fall behind others.

Of course, the other eight departments are also greatly beneficial for cultivation.

For example, the Runes Department can deepen one's understanding of martial arts mysteries.

Or the Alchemy Department, which allows one to use medicinal herbs to aid cultivation and also earn money.

Martial arts cultivation is extremely expensive, requiring the purchase of weapons, martial arts rune scrolls, body-tempering herbs, and so on.

If you also study other departments, you can earn quite a bit of money to support your martial arts cultivation.

Of course, if a martial student's family is very wealthy and they don't have to worry about money for cultivation, they can choose not to take the other departments and focus solely on martial arts.

Those who devote themselves exclusively to martial arts are called "true martial artists," single-mindedly pursuing the martial path.

The joint exam for the ten academies assesses all nine departments in sequence. With so many martial students, it can't be finished in a single day—the entire exam takes nearly a month to complete.

The first day is the assessment for the Martial Arts Department.

William Harris found an instructor from his own academy, received his personal exam badge, and lined up on the training field, waiting for the Martial Arts Department assessment.

All the young martial students looked extremely nervous and serious. Many were practicing sword moves, muttering to themselves, making the most of every second for last-minute preparation.

Some who had already failed the assessment and been eliminated on the spot were leaving the field in tears, faces full of dejection.

This made those about to take the assessment turn pale with fear, their fingers clenching so tightly they turned white.

The acceptance rate for the Martial Arts Department at the Luyang Prefecture Academy was only one or two out of ten—extremely low, so low that most martial students felt hopeless.

Out of thousands of examinees, in the end, fewer than five hundred would be admitted to the Martial Arts Department of the Luyang Prefecture Academy.

William Harris felt a deep sense of empathy for those eliminated martial students.

His martial arts had always been weak; among the thousands of young examinees, he was almost at the very bottom, with even less chance of passing the assessment, and his situation was anything but optimistic.

Fortunately, everyone was so nervous that no one paid any extra attention to William Harris.

Some martial students from William Harris's class, seeing William Harris from afar, couldn't help but exclaim in low voices.

"Look, it's William Harris!"