# Chapter 70: Lower-Class Commandery
The Bloodfeather Eagle was not only enormous in size but also extremely fast. It was said to be able to fly eighteen thousand miles in a single day. Many Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists dreamed of taming a Bloodfeather Eagle as their mount.
Only half an hour had passed before they had already flown out of the Royal Capital and entered the endless wilderness.
Sitting on the back of the Bloodfeather Eagle, Liu Chengfeng subtly signaled Zhang Ruochen with his eyes.
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat puzzled. "Brother Liu, what do you mean?"
Liu Chengfeng's gaze fixed on the purple-clad woman sitting next to Zhang Ruochen. He lowered his voice. "Ninth Prince, don't tell me you don't even recognize her?"
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the purple-clad woman again and shook his head. "I don't recognize her."
Liu Chengfeng was originally handsome and dashing, but when he smiled, he looked somewhat lecherous. Grinning, he said, "Her name is Zi Qian. She's quite famous in the Royal Capital. Not only is she young and beautiful, but her cultivation talent is also quite high. It's said that her cultivation has already reached the Mysterious Extreme Realm Small Extreme Position. If nothing unexpected happens, she will definitely become an Earth Extreme Realm expert in the future."
He continued, "In the Royal Capital, countless high-ranking officials, nobles, and sons of princes have wanted to marry her, but all have failed. None have won her heart. It's said that even your elder brother, the Third Prince, once pursued her, but she politely declined. Heh heh! I didn't expect her to go with us to take the examination at the Martial Market Academy. Maybe we'll even be classmates in the future. Truly, 'a waterside pavilion gets the moonlight first.' Ninth Prince, if you don't make a move, I will!"
Although Liu Chengfeng spoke very quietly, Zi Qian was sitting right next to Zhang Ruochen. As a young expert at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Small Extreme Position, she naturally heard every word Liu Chengfeng said without missing a single one.
Even Zhang Ruochen felt quite embarrassed, but Liu Chengfeng wore a smile and nodded gently at Zi Qian, already starting to chat her up. "Miss Zi, I am Liu Chengfeng, son of the Martial Market Bank branch master. I have long admired your reputation. Meeting you today, you truly are like a celestial maiden descending to the mortal world, incomparable to ordinary women."
Zi Qian was indeed very beautiful. Her eyebrows were like willow leaves, her eyelashes long and curled, her eyes sparkling like water, her lips red and moist like cherries, and her skin fair and smooth like congealed fat.
The Ninth Commandery Princess and Lin Yingshan were also extremely beautiful, but they were still too young, only maidens in their early teens. Zi Qian was different. Her figure was more perfect than the Ninth Commandery Princess and Lin Yingshan, every curve of her body well-proportioned and alluring.
Zi Qian glanced at Liu Chengfeng. "Son of the Martial Market Bank branch master? Your father is only the branch master of the Yunwu Commandery branch. Within the Martial Market Bank's internal structure, he can only be considered an elder."
Liu Chengfeng was not embarrassed at all and continued, "Miss Zi seems to have some prejudice against me?"
Zi Qian said, "Prejudice? Not really. I've just heard that Young Master Liu's character isn't very good, so I don't want to be friends with you."
She said it very bluntly. The surrounding young martial artists all laughed, feeling that Liu Chengfeng had brought humiliation upon himself.
One must know that among those who had been rejected by Zi Qian, there were no less than a thousand, and several of them had identities and talents no lower than Liu Chengfeng's. For him to try to pursue her, being humiliated was only to be expected.
Liu Chengfeng's smile finally couldn't hold. He said solemnly, "With my status, how dare you humiliate me like this? Do you believe that when we reach the Martial Market Academy, I'll make you kneel and beg for mercy? I have connections at the Martial Market Academy. Dealing with you would be as easy as turning my hand."
"Cough, cough!"
Zhang Ruochen coughed twice. "Brother Liu, weren't you going to reform yourself and start anew?"
Liu Chengfeng said, "Ninth Prince, you don't know. She's gone too far. With my status, she says my character isn't good and doesn't want to be friends with me. Isn't that slapping me in the face?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "If you truly want to reform yourself, you must first learn to be calm. Don't be too impulsive when encountering problems. Always look for the cause within yourself first. If you had truly been upright in conduct before, Miss Zi would naturally be willing to befriend you."
"But... ah... forget it. A good man doesn't fight with women. Ninth Prince, your advice is correct." Liu Chengfeng gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger. He sat back down and slightly cupped his hands toward Zi Qian. "Miss Zi, I was rude just now. All the faults are mine, Liu Chengfeng's."
Zi Qian glanced at Zhang Ruochen and nodded. "In the future, you should learn more from the Ninth Prince. It definitely won't be wrong."
"Of course, of course," Liu Chengfeng said repeatedly.
Another assassin, Chen Libing, sat behind Zhang Ruochen. He appeared very calm and said, "Since Young Master Liu is the son of the Martial Market Bank branch master, you must know much more about the Martial Market Academy's examination than we do. Could you tell us about it?"
Liu Chengfeng immediately smiled, looking quite proud. "My understanding of the Martial Market Academy is definitely much greater than yours. To tell you the truth, before I reached the Mysterious Extreme Realm, I had already gone to cultivate at the Martial Market Academy seven times. Each time, I gained considerable benefits."
"Last year, a total of one hundred and three young martial artists from our Yunwu Commandery participated in the Martial Market Academy's examination. During the exam, twenty-eight died, and thirty-seven were severely injured or crippled. In the end, only three passed and became outer academy students of the Martial Market Academy."
Hearing Liu Chengfeng's words, almost all the young martial artists drew in a breath of cold air. They had long heard that the Martial Market Academy's examination was brutal, but they hadn't expected the mortality rate to be so high.
Seeing the frightened expressions of the crowd, Liu Chengfeng felt quite pleased and continued, "Yunwu Commandery is, after all, only a lower-class commandery, with a population base of only eighty million. Each time, at most about a hundred people go to take the Martial Market Academy's examination."
"But have you heard of Sifang Commandery? Sifang Commandery is a middle-class commandery, with a population exceeding three hundred million. Every year, several hundred young martial artists from Sifang Commandery go to take the Martial Market Academy's examination. Last year, thirty-six people from Sifang Commandery became outer academy students of the Martial Market Academy."
Yunwu Commandery only had three people pass the examination, while Sifang Commandery had thirty-six. The gap was too great.
A martial artist who looked twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old sighed. "Sifang Commandery is the only middle-class commandery among the nine commanderies west of the ridge. Its national power is the strongest, and its territory is equivalent to five Yunwu Commanderies."
"Any commandery bordering Sifang Commandery is unlucky, often bullied by Sifang Commandery."
"Two years ago, Sifang Commandery wanted to seize a mine of our Yunwu Commandery in the Demon Ridge. The Yunwu Commandery King naturally refused to hand it over. So the two countries went to war at the Mo River. Sifang Commandery's army was five times the size of ours, deploying four hundred thousand troops. In that battle, our Yunwu Commandery was ultimately defeated, and even that mine was taken."
"It's said that in that battle two years ago, Sifang Commandery killed thirty thousand of our Yunwu Commandery soldiers, captured seven cities, and took millions of poor commoners as slaves to Sifang Commandery. Some of those people were sold to brothels, becoming lowly prostitutes. Some were sold to mines, digging in darkness underground every day. Some lived lives worse than pigs and dogs, bullied by the people of Sifang Commandery. Ah! How hateful!"
Liu Chengfeng glanced at Zhang Ruochen sitting beside him. "If we hadn't fought and let Sifang Commandery take that mine, wouldn't we be even more bullied by Sifang Commandery in the future?"
Everyone sighed. Who could blame them? Sifang Commandery was a middle-class commandery, and Yunwu Commandery was simply no match for it.
In that battle two years ago, even the Yunwu Commandery King was severely injured and nearly fell.
Based on each commandery's population base, territory size, and number of experts, commanderies were divided into three levels: lower-class commanderies, middle-class commanderies, and upper-class commanderies.
Generally speaking, lower-class commanderies had populations under one hundred million.
Middle-class commanderies typically had populations between one hundred million and five hundred million.
Upper-class commanderies almost all had populations exceeding five hundred million.
Of course, measuring a commandery's national strength couldn't rely solely on population and territory. It also depended on the number of experts in that commandery. The more martial arts experts, the stronger the national power.
For example, a commandery with only tens of millions of people could still become a middle-class commandery if it had enough Earth Extreme Realm and Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists.
Liu Chengfeng said, "It's said that this year, Sifang Commandery will have over six hundred people going to take the Martial Market Academy's examination, led by Prince Huoxing of Sifang Commandery. Sifang Commandery has always wanted to annex Yunwu Commandery. They'll probably suppress our Yunwu Commandery's martial artists again during the academy examination this time."
"During last year's Martial Market Academy examination, the reason so many young martial artists from our Yunwu Commandery died was said to be because the examinees from Sifang Commandery were causing trouble."
A young martial artist said, "No wonder only three people from our Yunwu Commandery passed the Martial Market Academy's examination last year. It must have been Sifang Commandery deliberately suppressing us."
"It's said that Prince Huoxing of Sifang Commandery is also a martial arts prodigy. At only seventeen years old, he reached the Mysterious Extreme Realm. Moreover, he is a Beast Tamer, having tamed many powerful war beasts."
...
Everyone was discussing Prince Huoxing of Sifang Commandery, and some were worried about this year's Martial Market Academy examination.
After all, the number of examinees from Sifang Commandery was ten times that of Yunwu Commandery. If they deliberately suppressed Yunwu Commandery, the mortality rate for Yunwu Commandery's martial artists this year would likely be even higher.
Just then, Zi Qian, sitting next to Zhang Ruochen, imperceptibly took a needle as thin as an ox's hair from her hairpin, holding it between two snow-white, jade-like fingers.
Her delicate body slowly leaned toward Zhang Ruochen beside her.
There were sixty-eight young martial artists on the back of the Bloodfeather Eagle. Even if Zhang Ruochen died from the poison of the Venomous Bee Needle, no one would suspect her.
She was about to strike!