I Rely on Beast Taming to Take the Imperial Exams in Ancient Times

Beast taming means controlling demonic beasts.

In ancient times, demonic beasts stood at the top of the food chain, freely hunting and devouring humans and other creatures. Humanity hid in cellars like ants, barely clinging to life.

Then a great woman appeared. She discovered that a power in her mind called spiritual force could control demonic beasts and send them into battle on her behalf.

This ability became known as beast taming.

Those with the ability to tame beasts were called beast tamers.

At twenty-six, Chang An died in a war. After death, she came back to life in the body of a young girl with the same name.

It was an ancient world from over a thousand years ago, where women held power and men were subordinate.

As the only daughter in three generations of the old Su family, Chang An wanted for nothing. She had five married uncles who stole from their own homes to send things to her father's family, and more than a dozen male cousins below her to do the laundry, cook, farm, and wash clothes.

Her only physical duty was to carry on the family line.

Chang An could have chosen to lie flat, but she was born to a farming family. She didn't know how to farm, and relying on the young men to support her wasn't how a strong woman survived.

As luck would have it, the imperial exams were coming up. The martial exams pitted beast tamers against each other, and the winners could gain rank and title, leading their families to wealth and prosperity.

Chang An signed up without hesitation.

From that day on, the villagers noticed that in every competition, from the provincial and clan exams to the academy and metropolitan exams, Chang An swept aside all opposition whenever she entered.

A curious onlooker asked her how she'd gotten so good.

Chang An: "Uh, if I told you I served in the army and fought wars in my previous life, and that I wasn't just a six-star beast tamer, but had killed more beast tamers than you've eaten chickens, would you believe me?"

Before Chang An came along, no one believed battles could be fought like this, demonic beasts trained like this, or beast tamers be this ruthless.

From a family with nothing to her place above ten thousand people, from a country girl to the founding empress.

There were three great women in the history of beast taming in Zhongzhou.

When Chang An heard this, she was asleep at her desk, snoring away.

She never expected that one of those women would be herself.

tips:

1. Some of the details about this world's female-dominant society would take too long to explain here, so they're in the author's note for Chapter One. If you have questions, take a look.

2. The imperial exam system has been adapted to fit the worldbuilding. The author did their research.

3. This is my own take on beast taming. You don't study for the exams, you just fight. The worldbuilding isn't rigorous and has no logic at all, so remember to leave your brain at the door before reading.

Theme: Stand on your own two feet and grow stronger