(Part One out of Two)
Mu Qing constantly sought more validation, opportunities, and achievements. He never stopped climbing ranks and he wouldn't till he reached a peak, he knew all too well, from watching it happen to friends and even family, that once you reached your peak, going down would be much faster and easier than coming up. He saw how Xie Lian climbed and fell from countless peaks but knew that in his case it would most likely be one rise and then one fall.
When he realized that Jun Wu was looking for an assistant among the upper-court gods, although he didn't want to step back into someone's shadow, it would be a quicker way to rise the ranks once again, especially by gaining the trust of the heavenly emporer. So when the tryouts were announced, he showed up right on time.
To his surprise Ling Wen, not only the number one civil god but one of his closest friends, who was originally treated like Jun Wu's right-hand man- or woman, was absent. Feng Xin and Xie Lian weren't there, but they had no desire to slip under Jun Wu's wing and were more like free spirits, mostly minor civil gods who wished to rise were there. None of them would stand a chance if Ling Wen was here.
As the tryouts came, Ling Wen was helping with the selection. "Since some of you do have major roles in the upper court, you will be allowed to tend to your other role, but this will make the process of being selected much harder for yourself." This was definitely directed at him as he was one of the rulers in the South. "If you wish to keep your other title, in the tryouts you have to display that you can manage both jobs." Ling Wen finished before returning to Jun Wu's side.
"Please leave now if you have reconsidered. This is a hard but rewarding job." About 2 or 3 officials left and the rest stayed there, standing tall. "Very well, please organize yourselves into lines of martial and civil gods." Mu Qing and two other generals whom he had seen around the communication array a few times, joined the martial god line, and the other part of the crowd made a long civil god line.
"You will first compete against each other in your lines... in the opposing category. For example, Martial gods will compete against each other, but rather than using martial skills, civil skills." Many shocked cries erupted, especially from those who had spent their time studying their own category down to the bone. "Since if we competed Martial against Martial or Civil against Civil in their own categories, the win would already be clear and some may have already given up."
Although this may eliminate the best choices, it was important for them to be skilled in both categories. "May the odds be ever in your favor. Good Luck." Ling Wen and Jun Wu stated at the same time before nodding their heads.
Mu Qing turned to the other two martial gods who were already sweating like mad, one of them was known to be a gambling wreck who ascended off brute strength, he spent his days in the communication array begging for merits from everyone ranked above him, the other however was more calm and calculated.
After an incense time or so, Jun Wu and Ling Wen returned with some scrolls and weapons. "Civil gods please arm yourselves and head to Nan Yang's training grounds, he has gladly agreed to host the martial tests. Martial gods, please take a scroll and head to the palace of Ling Wen." Everyone quickly cooperated and rushed forward to grab their equipment, Mu Qing waited for the crowd to disperse before calmly grabbing a scroll and brush.
The three martial gods made their way over to the palace of Ling Wen, accompanied by its owner, and started to hear the details of the task. "A part of being the emperor's personal assistant is filling out reports quickly and being able to memorize key information so that it can be called upon at any moment. You all have picked different scrolls of equal difficulty and length, memorize key information, and answer a questionnaire on them that will mimic filling out a report." Mu Qing found a spot with his materials and quickly got to work.
