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"This strong man... are you sure you want to go to Daqing Mountain to engage in farming?"

Zhou Haitao, responsible for the registration, looked curiously at the sturdy man in front of him, somewhat baffled.

Because whether it was newcomers or those who had been in Lyuzhou for some time, none would consider farming in Daqing Mountain as their first option.

Farming on Daqing Mountain meant leaving the city to work the fields; many of the newcomers preferred to stay in a safe environment, so most initially resisted the idea. After gaining a better understanding of Lyuzhou, most able-bodied men saw joining the army as the preferable choice.

After all, military service came with better benefits, more decent housing, more generous treatment, and in the afterlife, soldiers could accumulate good deeds and karma more quickly despite the higher risks.

Each day, the Tiger Guard Army was saving lives, and their loved ones in the afterlife could enjoy better conditions than most. Many of the Tiger Guard Army’s relatives who had died tragically were now comfortable in their own homes in the afterlife, almost guaranteeing a safety net for all those who enlisted.

Even if they died in battle, with the good deeds earned through saving lives, they could live very well with their families on the other side!

This security was fundamentally why joining the Lyuzhou army was so popular, with its good benefits and esteemed status. And crucially, there was enough assurance for the safety of the deceased soldiers to make anyone willing to join. Who wouldn’t want such a deal?

If the threshold for joining the Tiger Guard Army wasn’t so high, Zhou Haitao felt that Lyuzhou might well have a situation where the entire population enlisted.

"My good man... with your stature, you must have trained in martial arts, right?" Zhou Haitao suggested with a smile, "The benefits of enrolling in the army here in Lyuzhou are quite good; why don’t... you try signing up for the Tiger Guard Army?"

"No thanks..." Wei Gongzhan grinned, "I used to be a soldier, tired of soldiering, I’m looking for a more peaceful life."

"I see..." Zhou Haitao remarked with a shake of his head, "That is a pity."

"Joining the army seems quite popular here..." Wei Gongzhan noted as he glanced at the bustling recruitment area, while the place for farming recruitment was quiet and deserted.

"The people of Lyuzhou are enthusiastic; not many wish to live a peaceful life farming the land.

.." Zhou Pangzi chuckled, "Many young people consider farming in Daqing Mountain only after being rejected from the military, and some even linger in Lyuzhou to prepare for the next military recruitment. It’s rare to see someone like you, coming here and deciding to farm right away. "

"Haha... everyone thinks differently," Wei Gongzhan said with a broad smile.

Now that his injuries had slightly recovered, his face was still a bit swollen, but he looked no different from an ordinary person, except that his smile was still somewhat stiff.

"Alright!" Zhou Haitao noted down the man’s name, "Wei Daotao, right?"

"Eh..."

"Take your token to the Government Office and look for Master Lu.

.. Oh, today the academy is enrolling students, and Master Lu is in charge of invigilating one of the examination rooms. You might have to wait a while after you get there; Master Lu might not be able to take you to Daqing Mountain until the afternoon. "

Wei Gongzhan, puzzled, asked curiously, "Master Lu? Isn’t he supposed to be a teacher? Does he also go out of the city?"

"Master Lu is indeed a teacher..." Zhou Haitao nodded, "But in addition to teaching the classics, he is also skilled in agriculture. Now he has improved several types of crops in collaboration with the Mountain God, and the Prefectural Governor highly appreciates his skills. They plan to open a separate branch of the agricultural academy just for him. You’ll understand once you meet him. "

"Agricultural studies?" Wei Gongzhan immediately felt that Lyuzhou was different as elsewhere, indulging in such fields would likely be frowned upon, right?

"Off you go, off you go..." Zhou Haitao yawned, shooing him away.

Recently, with more hands available, Zhou Haitao began selecting more relaxed tasks. Counting the farmers for Daqing Mountain was about as easy as it got, with few people coming by all day. He didn’t want this naive young man’s endless questions to delay his upcoming chess game with Old Wei.

Eh, now that he thought about it... this na?ve-looking kid, doesn’t he bear a striking resemblance to Old Wei?

---------------------------------

Wei Gongzhan, carrying the token, asked for directions all the way to the academy, where he found some other men who were also heading to farm.

Lyuzhou had plenty of vigorous young men, and those set on farming were mostly youngsters not much over twenty, yet they now appeared listless.

"Yo, brother, are you also bound for Daqing Mountain?"

"Yep..." Wei Gongzhan replied with a simple smile.

"Brother, were you also rejected?" Several people suddenly showed interest, "That shouldn’t be right; with your physique, you shouldn’t have had a problem with the two hundred catty iron chains event."

A few of them familiarly came over to squeeze the hard muscles on Wei Gongzhan’s body, leaving him somewhat perplexed.

However, he didn’t dislike this feeling, for this was how things were in the military, where men were casual with each other. However, he hadn’t expected the civilians in Lyuzhou to have the same custom.

"I... didn’t plan on joining the military in the first place. I didn’t even sign up," Wei Gongzhan explained with an honest smile.

"Oh, that’s the case, I was wondering..." One tall, thin man immediately nodded, then said with a hint of regret, "You really are wasting potential, my friend."

"Yeah, who would farm if they could be a soldier? With your qualifications, it’s a real shame," several others also shook their heads in agreement.

Wei Gongzhan felt baffled. Was military service this coveted here?

"Gentlemen, if you’re so interested in joining the army, why come here at all?"

Upon hearing this, the faces of several young men turned grim, but seeing Wei Gongzhan’s honest appearance, they realized he might be new and unaware of their circumstances.

So, the tall, thin man patiently explained, "Brother, we’re different from you.

We have no choice. Counting this time, we’ve been eliminated three rounds already.

We can’t just loiter in the state city indefinetely, can we? "

"Yeah..." Another added, "It’s been three months. We’ve been hanging around North Street, eating and drinking just like the new refugees. We can’t keep this up forever, it’s endurable to live off farming, at least it’s honest work and won’t cost us our dignity, right?"

"Indeed, we’ve hung in there for a long time. Before us, the folks who couldn’t join the military would barely last a month on North Street before they couldn’t resist heading to Daqing Mountain; one can’t be so shameless as to press on indefinitely, right?"

Wei Gongzhan was taken aback. It seemed that not only was the martial spirit in Lyuzhou exceptionally strong, but the concept of honor and dishonor among its citizens was distinctly unique. To them, freeloading was considered a disgraceful embarrassment—an unusual perspective indeed.

He wondered if this was an isolated attitude or if it was reflective of the general sentiment.

As he pondered this, he suddenly noticed a familiar figure and quickly excused himself from the people around before hurrying after them.

"Brother Shen?"

The familiar figure who had emerged from the academy was none other than Shen Yuan, who had arrived early in the morning to take the academy’s entrance examination.

"Oh, Wei... *cough* Brother Wei, what are you doing here?"

Wei Gongzhan briefly explained his situation, then inquired, "How about you, Brother Shen? Did the exam go smoothly?"

Shen Yuan let out a cold snort, "The exam was quite mixed, involving Arithmetic, Heavenly Artisan’s calculations, and the principles of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. An ordinary scholarly type would probably have crashed and burned, but how could that possibly trouble me?"

"That is true. With Brother Shen’s exceptional talent, how could the test of some district academy trouble the illustrious Second Place Scholar?"

"That’s not necessarily the case..." Shen Yuan responded with a twisted mouth, "I just saw Gu Beiquan scratching his head inside, hehe, that blockhead who only knows the Four Books and Five Classics is probably going to capsize this time!"

His tone was full of schadenfreude mixed with a hint of pride.

Wei Gongzhan was stunned and immediately said, "Gu Beiquan? The top scholar of the most recent examination? He’s at the academy too?"

"That Chen is clumsy in his methods. Only those who are registered residents get meat to eat. Gu Beiquan has always been a spineless fellow; probably he couldn’t stomach the porridge on North Street anymore," Shen Yuan shook his head. "But from what I saw of the exam content, despite Gu Beiquan having been top scholar, it’s not a sure thing he’ll be admitted. "

"Ah, Brother Shen’s knowledge is truly vast and diverse..." Wei Gongzhan said with a chuckle, finding his pretensions somewhat amusing. He hadn’t realized that Shen could be so arrogantly coy.

"How’s the situation inside the academy? Did you find anything out?" As they walked towards an out-of-sight corner, Wei Gongzhan brought up the main issue at hand.

Shen Yuan’s expression turned serious as he spoke in a hushed tone, "There’s something to it.

The academy is divided into four schools: Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow.

It’s said that those who pass the assessment and can comprehend magical formations will enter the Heavenly Institute, those who can understand talismans will go to the Earth school, and those who can only grasp basic techniques will be placed in the Mystic Academy.

It’s planned out quite decently, as if..

. they truly intend to train magicians. The specifics will only become clear once classes start tomorrow, and additionally. .."

"Additionally what?" Wei Gongzhan frowned. "Why are you speaking so hesitantly, Brother Shen?"

After hesitating, Shen Yuan finally said, "When I was here for the exam today, I saw a strange occurrence."

"What kind of strange occurrence?"

"This morning, wasn’t I coming here for the exam? As I passed by the City God Temple, I saw several scholars walking out from there."

"What’s so peculiar about that?" Wei Gongzhan frowned. "Though I’ve only been here a day, I know that the people of Lyuzhou appear to revere the Lord of the City God Temple, and even though most scholars don’t believe in ghosts and spirits, there are always exceptions.

What’s so strange about a few scholars walking out of the temple? "

"But those scholars came out of the City God Statue, appearing out of thin air!"

"What?" Wei Gongzhan was taken aback, "You... what are you saying? Appearing out of thin air, what do you mean?"

"I mean it just as it sounds..." Shen Yuan gestured as he explained, "It was as if by magic, those scholars just appeared out of the statue right there in front of us. I was so surprised at the time, I even went over to examine the statue carefully, thinking it might be some kind of mechanism."

"Appearing out of nowhere?" Wei Gongzhan furrowed his brow, "You’re suggesting that the scholars of Lyuzhou are all magicians?"

"That’s impossible!" Shen Yuan shook his head, "I met the scholars of Lyuzhou back in the day; I am sure that they are mere ordinary mortals. But this morning’s scene was indeed bizarre.

I heard later... that those scholars are supposed to serve in the afterlife at nighttime.

Now that I think about it... could it be that Lyuzhou truly has such a thing as the afterlife officials? "

"How could something that eerie be possible?" Wei Gongzhan was skeptical, "Take me there to see for myself."

So, the two made their way to the City God Temple not far from the academy. It was now midday, and there was no shortage of worshippers—a clear sign that the righteous City God was indeed celebrated in Lyuzhou.

This was the first time Wei Gongzhan had seen the City God statue, and he found it quite interesting. It wasn’t as exaggerated as other local deities with their multiple heads and arms; overall, it looked more like a masked human. But what struck him as odd was... why did it look so familiar?

Wei Gongzhan stared blankly at the statue, trying to recollect in his mind where he had seen that mask before.

It seemed... from a very young age...

Suddenly, Wei Gongzhan’s complexion changed as he remembered. When he was very young, he had seen it before!

A child of the Wei Family had caught the attention of an elder of the Weichi Clan at the age of seven and had been taken under his wing as an assistant. Since the child was very young, he wore a rather intimidating bronze mask while performing his duties in the military.

That child had been the object of secret envy among many of the Wei Family’s children, as well as the hero he himself had admired at a tender age...

Was it a coincidence?

Wei Gongzhan stared blankly at the City God statue; the mask was exactly the same, and even the overall stature and temperament were...