My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar-Chapter 36: The Court’s Martial Examination
「The third day of the second month, Yuanlong 6th Year.」
After completing his daily Foundation Establishment, Wang Ping guided his two disciples in their Qi Cultivation as usual. When they were finished, the acolyte who managed the gardens came to report that Wang Kang was here to see him.
The mountaintop gardens had now flourished, so any disciples from the base of the mountain had to be announced before entering. A dedicated gatehouse had been built for this purpose, staffed by four acolytes on a rotating watch. Two rows of lofts were also constructed on the slope outside the gatehouse to serve as practice and living quarters for the acolytes on duty.
Wang Kang was the same as ever, lacking the tranquil detachment of a cultivator. To put it simply, he had little affinity for the Dao. Nevertheless, he was always in good spirits.
"Brother!"
Wang Kang stood at the courtyard gate, gave a casual fist-and-palm salute, and hurried inside. He launched right into his news before he even sat down. "Brother Su competed in the county’s martial exam half a month ago and took third place! He’s a Martial Scholar now. He had a messenger deliver a note today saying that he wants to come up the mountain in a few days to resume his training. Once he’s ready, he’s going to take the Martial Scholar assessment next year."
"Since when does the Court hold martial exams?" Wang Ping asked, a little surprised.
"It was announced right at the start of the year. The Lord Imperial Censor from the Prefecture City personally posted the notices in every county. Anyone who becomes a Martial Scholar will be granted an official position—at least an Eighth-Grade Military Officer, I hear!" Wang Kang was practically buzzing with excitement as he spoke. Perhaps his childhood had taught him that nothing in the world was better than a government post.
Wang Ping nodded thoughtfully but said nothing.
"And after becoming a Martial Scholar, if you’re willing, you can go to Shangjing City to compete in the imperial tournament. If you’re selected, you can stay and serve as a Captain in the Capital Camp or the Yulin Guard."
Wang Kang took the cup of tea Yang Zhiping offered him, took a sip, and continued, "Qi Cultivators can go straight to the Capital and bypass the Martial Scholar assessment entirely."
The two of them talked until noon, and Wang Kang stayed for lunch in the small courtyard before leaving.
"Master, it’s obvious Martial Uncle wants to leave the mountain... couldn’t you tell?" Liu Shuang asked Wang Ping after Wang Kang had left the courtyard. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
"And aren’t you thinking about leaving the mountain all day?"
"That’s different! I’m not obsessed with officialdom. I want to leave the mountain to be a righteous hero, and I’d come back to continue my cultivation. Martial Uncle, on the other hand, clearly wants to leave the Daoist Temple for good," Liu Shuang said, blinking innocently.
"To each their own. I won’t force him to stay, but the time is not yet right..."
After saying this, Wang Ping dismissed Liu Shuang and sent her to copy scriptures.
「Three days later.」
Sure enough, Su Dun arrived on the mountain for a period of arduous cultivation. He planned to stay and train until the end of the year, because it was impossible for him to cultivate properly down below. In his own words: "I’ll sleep straight through till noon!"
Unexpectedly, over the next half-month, nearly every promising young candidate in Shang’an Prefecture who planned to take the Martial Scholar exam flocked to Qianmu Temple for their own period of arduous cultivation. This earned the Daoist Temple a windfall of thirty thousand taels of silver.
Zhao Qing was overjoyed, but Su Dun was miserable. Every three days, he would run to Wang Ping’s little courtyard to complain about his suffering, putting on a pitiful act. In response, Wang Ping would use his Spiritual Qi to help clear Su Dun’s meridians.
One day, after Wang Ping finished clearing his meridians, Su Dun asked with a grin, "Brother, are there any Miracle Elixirs that could help me break through instantly?"
Wang Ping thought for a moment, then nodded. "There probably are, but I don’t know the specifics. You could ask Brother Zhao Qing to send someone to post a commission at the Daoist Scripture Hall. I expect it would be very expensive right now, though. If you’ve thought of this, you can be sure others have as well."
Su Dun said nonchalantly, "Money is no object this time. I’ll sell the shirt off my back if I have to, but I *will* become a Martial Scholar."
’This martial exam...’
Thinking of the exam brought other matters to Wang Ping’s mind. ’The Court must have suffered setbacks in the war in the Northwest, leading to a severe shortage of low-ranking officers. Some areas don’t even have enough Garrison Commanders, which is why local rebellions keep cropping up. The Court wants to use these martial exams to fill the ranks of local officers... or maybe send them to the front lines.’
He was about to offer a word of caution but found he had underestimated the other man’s shrewdness. Su Dun spoke first. "The Court is holding these martial exams right when there’s a war in the Northwest and instability on the Northern Border. My father says this is a golden opportunity for a minor family like ours, and I agree."
"You should discuss this with Brother Zhao Qing."
"Alright!"
After leaving this time, Su Dun never returned to the little courtyard on the summit.
Wang Ping’s cultivation continued to advance at its steady, unhurried pace. At the end of the year, on the eve of the Spring Festival, a travel-worn Zhao Qing arrived at the little courtyard. He handed Wang Ping a ledger detailing the year’s sales of the Power Pill.
Zhao Qing was beaming. "Thanks to your Power Pills, Brother, we’ve saved up five hundred gold ingots and 320,000 taels of silver this year."
On the Zhongzhou Continent, silver mining techniques were mature and reserves were decent, but gold was extremely scarce. As a result, one tael of gold could be exchanged for one hundred taels of silver. A standard gold ingot weighed ten taels, meaning that five hundred gold ingots were equivalent to five hundred thousand taels of silver.
Daily expenses were typically paid with Copper Coins. A string of one thousand coins could be exchanged for a standard silver ingot, which weighed ten taels.
Zhao Qing continued, "Of the five hundred gold ingots, you should take eighty percent, Brother. The rest can serve as the temple’s reserve fund. How does that sound?"
"Leave it all in the temple’s reserves for now," Wang Ping said, reiterating his previous instructions. "Use it to acquire Celestial and Earthly Treasures of extreme yin and extreme yang."
"I’ll come get it when it’s time to use it!" This time, Zhao Qing didn’t object.
「The next day.」
Zhao Qing personally delivered two storage pouches filled with gold ingots to Wang Ping.
After guiding his disciples through their daily Qi Cultivation, Wang Ping took out a gold ingot and studied it for a long while. He couldn’t detect the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.
’And yet, it is the root that connects all civilizations in this world. Master it, and you can mobilize the resources of the civilized world. You can command hundreds of thousands of Qi Cultivators and hundreds of millions of common people!’
’This... is wealth.’
’It forms the foundational rules of this society. As for the rules that govern the levels above...’ Wang Ping had not yet encountered them, and had no idea what they might be.
...
「The Fourth Year of Foundation Establishment.」
Wang Ping’s Qi-gathering progress reached (20/100). The biggest topic at the start of the year was the Northwest Rebel Army accepting the Court’s offer of amnesty. The rebel leader, Yu Fei, was granted the title of Prince Ning.
Reactions to the Court’s decision varied across the land, and it sparked endless debate within the government. This was because the Court had allowed Prince Ning to retain command of his original army and, furthermore, did not require him to travel to Shangjing to pay respects to the emperor.
This was tantamount to making him a king in his own domain!
Wang Ping heard this as just another piece of news and thought no more of it.
In early June, the martial exams in Shang’an Prefecture proceeded.
A month later, news reached the temple: Su Dun had placed tenth, successfully passing the examination to become a Martial Scholar. He had chosen to remain in Shang’an Prefecture and was appointed by the Court as the senior seventh-grade City Gate Order of Shang’an Prefecture.
Half a month after that, all the scions of prominent families who had trained at the temple and become Martial Scholars came to the gates bearing lavish gifts.
Zhao Qing was grinning from ear to ear...
「The Fifth Year of Foundation Establishment.」
Zhao Qing’s acquisition notice at the Taoist Collection Points finally received a response. A cultivator from the Pure Cultivation Sect of the Taiyin Sect was planning to sell an extreme-yin item in his possession called a ’Bone Stone.’
It looked just like an ordinary, smooth river stone, but it was ice-cold to the touch. The Spiritual Qi in its vicinity seemed to have frozen solid.
Very few people were looking to buy such an item, so Zhao Qing managed to acquire it for only 530,000 taels.
After getting his hands on it and examining it for a long while, Wang Ping entrusted it to the Yu Cheng Taoist for safekeeping.
「The Eighth Year of Foundation Establishment.」
A First Realm Secret Technique Cultivator from the True Yang Sect put out a notice. To prepare Foundation Establishment Materials for his son and daughter, he was selling a Fire Crystal he had obtained from a volcanic Earth Vein.
Once the news spread, many people scrambled to buy it, causing the Fire Crystal’s price to skyrocket. Zhao Qing had to spend nearly all the wealth Qianmu Temple had accumulated over the years to finally acquire it.
When Wang Ping got the Fire Crystal, even he winced at the cost. In terms of gold ingots, it was a full 1,200 of them. Still, it was worth it. If he had tried to find such an item himself, he might not have succeeded even after twenty years.
