The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

The messenger surveyed the ranks, and seeing no disturbance, nodded in satisfaction.

"The so-called scouts, in addition to their martial prowess, must also be able to discern directions, survey mountains and rivers, read and write, and draw maps, so that they can shuttle between enemy lines and deliver information."

Time is of the essence. You 378 people, divided into groups of five or small flags, will be tested in five days. The tests will consist of four categories: riding and archery, reading and writing, drawing and surveying, and martial arts. Each group must send someone to take the test.

Once selected as a scout, regardless of whether they were ordinary soldiers or junior officers, their military pay would be upgraded and increased, and each person would be provided with two to three horses. If they were unfortunately killed in action, their compensation would also be paid according to the standards of the next higher rank.

The soldiers in the ranks were filled with excitement. If they could be selected as scouts, they would have to walk with their heads held high whenever they saw someone!

The commander remained silent throughout, only glancing meaningfully into the depths of the ranks. Only after the messenger explained the details did he speak calmly:

"Although Qifeng County is located on the frontier, there have been few wars in the past hundred years; even though the Tiger Might and Vanguard Battalions have always maintained their scout formations, they have rarely had the opportunity to engage in real combat. Now that our garrison has established scouts, they may not be any less effective than the two battalions."

"Soldiers, are you ready to unleash your heroic spirit and test the might of the barracks?"

Nearly four hundred people shouted in unison, which greatly pleased the commander, who then left the drill ground with his hands behind his back.

The procession suddenly broke apart, creating a great commotion; Li Yi, however, did not recognize anyone, so he called Li Erhu and the others to leave the mansion and find a tea stall to sit down.

"Archery, reading and writing, surveying, and martial prowess," Li Yi recited, word by word. "Leaving aside the last one, do any of you know the first three?"

The three confidants looked at each other in bewilderment.

Li Yi couldn't help but rub his forehead. "Come with me to the government office."

The four of them rushed about, but failed to find Gongsun Ling.

The tall guy was there, and upon hearing Li Yi's troubles, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Brother Li is worried about this matter, but don't others have their own worries too? We're all men who are half farmers, who's better than whom? At most, some patrolmen have an advantage in horsemanship and archery."

Those four assessments sound strict, but in reality, they're just choosing the best among the worst.

When it comes to reading and writing, you don't need to write in fancy words; just a few words to express the key information is enough.

Besides, surveying isn't something for literati to appreciate art. As long as it can depict the spatial relationships between mountains, rivers, and roads, it's not far off.

His bravery goes without saying, but his horsemanship and archery...

The tall man thought for a moment and said, "Brother Li cultivates the Gallbladder Meridian Wood Qi, which naturally makes him more perceptive than other body cultivators. He should be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort when practicing riding and archery. Why don't you practice in the government office and use hitting the target while riding a horse as the standard?"

He took the four men to the training ground of the government office, where they used the same set of bows and arrows to try out the weapons one after another, leaving only Li Yi and Guan Tian behind.

As for Li Erhu and Liu Zhi, they can only figure it out on their own for now.

The tall man found Guan Tian a set of bows and arrows, and they started practicing on the target from below the horse. Except for the first two arrows which went astray, the rest hit the target, which amazed the tall man.

Although Guan Tian is a novice in the Dao path, he is a rare and skilled cultivator. With some experience and the accumulation of military merits and titles, he can also serve as a junior officer.

Although the soldiers of Sanyi Village are few in number, their fighting strength is by no means weak.

As for Li Yi, after testing out a quiver of arrows and getting used to the drop of the arrows, he began to hit the target every time. He then mounted his horse and fired three arrows in quick succession while galloping.

Completely empty.

It was indeed much more difficult than target setting.

The two practiced their archery skills by shooting and retrieving arrows repeatedly, but once they started shooting on horseback, they missed nine times out of ten. It wasn't until an hour later that they started to improve slightly.

Li Yi suddenly had a brilliant idea. After bending his bow, he quietly activated the spell "Lingmingqing". Everything in front of him became clear, and even the movement of his mount seemed to slow down a bit.

The moving target was exceptionally clear in his eyes. He aimed with his four fingers and fired, and with a "clang," he hit the bullseye.

Having only recently gotten used to riding hands-free, Sekita couldn't help but shout out in praise upon seeing this:

"Great aim!"

Li Yi chuckled. This Lingmingqing was truly a pleasant surprise. With this, passing the teaching exam shouldn't be a problem.

However, the Lingmingqing technique is quite mentally and physically demanding and can only be used at crucial moments. To perform consistently well, one still needs to hone their skills through persistent practice.

The training ground was already too small, so Li Yi planned to borrow two sets of bows and arrows to set up several targets in the village at a much greater distance.

He found the tall man in the government office and asked him about Li Erhu and Liu Zhi. Unexpectedly, he also received a pleasant surprise.

Liu Zhi had attended a private school in his youth and knew more characters than Li Yi, making him one of the better candidates among the soldiers.

Li Erhu then copied a painting of a beautiful woman picking plum blossoms in the central hall, and his work was quite decent.

After thinking it over, Li Yi decided to go to the Zhang residence.

As a military officer in charge of household registration, Zhang Ling should have some knowledge of land maps and such. Although it doesn't involve military secrets, it can be a good opportunity for Li Erhu to practice his skills.

After going around in circles, it was already dark when they returned to the village.

Zhang Junyi was standing by the window when he saw a figure in the courtyard. He quickly got up to greet him.

"Why are you so late? Uncle Wang has reheated the dishes twice."

She took several sheets of Xuan paper from Li Yi, examined them, and said, "This is... Mount Dahan?"

Li Yi followed behind the girl and nodded, saying, "I went to visit my uncle and asked him for these. They're for Erhu to practice with."

A scout should naturally be able to write and draw, Zhang Junyi understood this, placed the Xuan paper on the table, and pushed open the door, saying:

"I have prepared two sets of cotton clothes for you, with silk floss inside, so you won't look bulky even when wearing armor on the outside; I have also prepared fifty Blood Qi Pills. It will be inconvenient for you to carry meat when you go to war, and supplies in the army won't be plentiful, so it will be more convenient to carry Blood Qi Pills."

Zhang Junyi walked to the octagonal table, flipped his right palm, and conjured two manuals out of thin air, placing them on the table. "Furthermore, how can such valuable items be casually placed in the cupboard?"

Li Yi listened from the side, like a humbly seeking knowledge, and suddenly chuckled, "Everyone in the official residence is family, no one would steal from us."

Zhang Junyi gave him a coquettish glance, "Tomorrow I'll teach you a method of storing items. These important things are best kept in your spiritual cave. Yi-ge, as a body cultivator, your spiritual cave is much smaller than that of a qi cultivator, so it's more than enough to store some odds and ends..."

Li Yi's eyes widened suddenly. "Spiritual acupoints have such wondrous uses?"

Zhang Junyi, seemingly trying to salvage some of the Qi cultivator's reputation, smiled and said:

"During the Qi Refining stage, Qi cultivators rely on absorbing Qi to open acupoints to increase their cultivation level. However, if they want to enhance their cultivation, they must continuously nourish their spiritual acupoints—just like physical cultivators need body tempering methods."

"Storing objects in spiritual caves is merely a common technique among Qi cultivators worldwide."

Li Yi listened with great interest, but then suddenly remembered the Investiture of the Gods hidden in Tongziliao, and his heartstrings tightened.

"If a highly skilled cultivator forcibly uses their Qi to explore another person's spiritual acupoint, wouldn't they be free to take whatever items are inside?"

Zhang Junyi slowly shook his head, "If a highly skilled cultivator could achieve this, the difference between the two would be like heaven and earth. If one wanted to forcibly seize it, they could succeed no matter what. However—"

She then changed the subject, "If you don't want someone to succeed, you can be ruthless enough to destroy your spiritual acupoints and cultivation level."

Li Yi frowned as he listened, and with a moment of distraction, he unleashed the Investiture of the Gods. The golden list vanished without a trace, leaving him utterly bewildered.

"Yi-ge'er?"

Zhang Junyi noticed the young man's unusual condition and quickly helped him to the bedside.

Li Yi carefully examined the inner workings and, although he could not see the golden list, he could constantly sense its presence.

With a thought, the golden list instantly materialized and returned to Tongziliao.

The thought vanishes again as if it had never existed.