Seeking Immortality in a Bizarre World-Chapter 560 - 555 Trading between Two Worlds? Lining One’s Own Pockets - 1
Jia Ren occupied Yan Yuankang’s Cultivation Room and arranged several new Formations around the perimeter.
My own Formations are always more reassuring. In the event of an unexpected exposure of my identity, I can still repel the enemy from the outside.
Once everything was ready, he closed his eyes and attempted to establish a connection with the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower.
Within moments, a continuous stream of Heavenly Treasure Spirit Power formed a special bridge, flooding into his body.
The depleted Spiritual Power gradually recovered as he entered a state of self-forgetfulness.
Jia Ren forgot all trivial matters, focusing solely on improving his Cultivation Level and solidifying his foundation.
The Spiritual Power flowed in an unending stream until all the Heavenly Treasure Spirit Power converted by the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower in recent years had entered his body.
His Realm was getting closer and closer to the fullness of the Mid-stage of Lianxu Stage. In at most a year and a half, he would be able to advance smoothly to the Late Stage of Lianxu Stage.
The newly infused Spiritual Power completed a full Grand Circulation within his body, solidifying the foundation and preventing instability that can arise from cultivating too rapidly.
Time in spiritual practice is lost to oblivion. He didn’t know how long had passed when a knocking from outside forcibly awakened him from his closed-door cultivation.
My Realm isn’t sufficiently stable, merely passable. I can only consolidate it slowly over time.
He had been in closed-door cultivation for a month.
When Jia Ren pushed open the main gate, a Steward saw him and quickly knelt down, "My lord, I wouldn’t dare disturb your cultivation unless it was a matter of great importance."
"Many things have happened in Wuhu City. There have been several disturbances at the Zhenyuan Office that require your decision. The county yamen has urged you to come many times, all of which I have tactfully refused."
"The three county elders have urgent matters to discuss with you. They have come in person and are waiting in the guest room."
Although the Wuhu Town Abyssal Chief was the most powerful person in the area, it had absolutely nothing to do with being carefree.
After a month of closed-door cultivation, too many tasks had accumulated, and the Zhenyuan Office was edging towards a temporary shutdown.
Handling cultivation in parallel with government duties meant higher positions inevitably came with miscellaneous affairs, affecting cultivation.
Jia Ren nodded, his divine consciousness already familiar with the area as he made his way to the guest room.
The three heads of Wuhu County—the County Magistrate, the County Magistrate’s Assistant, and the County Lieutenant—had been waiting for a long time, anxiously holding their cups of fragrant tea.
Upon seeing the Head of the Zhenyuan Division emerge, they were overjoyed and hurriedly congratulated him.
"Congratulations Chief Yan on ending your seclusion; your Cultivation Level has greatly improved."
The County Lieutenant’s face was dark, displeased. "You have finally arrived! While Chief Yan has enjoyed a month of leisure, we have been overwhelmed with work."
"Gan Capital has sent news that there has been a disturbance near Black Bull Town. Two members of the Qian Long Guard went to investigate and were killed by Evil Cultivators of the Crow God Cult. An envoy will arrive shortly, requiring Wuhu County’s assistance."
"A month ago, evildoers broke into the residence of the wealthy Bao Datong with the intention of contaminating the Dao Talisman Jade Credential. Chief Yan, please pay extra attention to this matter."
Jia Ren’s expression grew increasingly strange; the first two incidents were undeniably related to him.
Are you asking me to capture myself? Daring officials, how dare you accuse me!
Daqian Kingdom would send stronger Cultivators to resolve the Crow God Cult affair, the least of whom would be at the Lianxu Stage.
I wonder if I can bluff my way through?
Jia Ren was quite confident in the combination of Mirror Flower Divine Moon and Bewildering Spirit Bead. Deceiving Body Integration Realm Cultivators who mastered Great Divine Powers might be impossible, but deceiving Lianxu Stage Cultivators should not be a problem.
With that thought, he gradually calmed down.
After handling the important matters, Jia Ren sent the three off and proceeded to the Zhenyuan Office.
With a month’s backlog, most of the miscellaneous tasks at the Zhenyuan Office could be resolved by subordinates; it wasn’t work that required the Division Head’s effort. However, many issues did need the Division Head’s attention, and subordinates dared not overstep their bounds.
"Greetings, Division Head!"
The Zhenyuan Office was much grander than the prefectural office, with Cultivators coming and going, each with an air of Evil Qi, making them difficult to interact with. They dealt with Bizarre Demons and evil spirits all year round, tasked solely with resolving calamities. The mess left behind had to be handed over to the County Lieutenant to manage. No wonder he always had such a stern expression.
Jia Ren’s gaze swept over the documents on the Division Head’s desk, noting only a few major issues.
One involved the base of the Thousand Eyes God Cult in Wuhu City, which had three Divine Servants, all at the Foundation Establishment Stage. This required a decision.
Many evil cults and Bizarre Demons were intertwined, requiring intervention from both the county yamen and the Zhenyuan Office for cleansing.
A bizarre incident occurred in Mo Village; more than a dozen death warriors had been dispatched, none of whom returned.
Moving forward required mobilizing Cultivators, and the Head of the Zhenyuan Office’s approval.
Besides these, there were many similar cases, some involving demons and evil spirits, while others involved Bizarre Demons. The former were manageable, but the latter were troublesome.
Upon discovering powerful Bizarre Demons, they must be reported up the chain to evaluate the degree of difficulty and for the higher-ups to decide. If it could be resolved, they would find a way to seal it. If not, it would be classified as a forbidden area, with no one allowed to approach. Such forbidden areas were growing in number.
Jia Ren saw a map of Wuhu City at the Zhenyuan Office, marked with as many as seven forbidden zones.
If a single county can have seven unresolved forbidden areas, how many similar places exist throughout Daqian Kingdom? I had thought the Zhenyuan Office might possess certain advantages, but now it seems disappointingly inadequate.
People with suitable Spiritual Root Aptitude lacked opportunities for cultivation, and the number of Cultivators was limited, nowhere near comparable to the Mysterious Realm. Even with the same human race as the Mysterious Realm, the number of Cultivators probably amounted to only one percent, or even one-tenth of one percent, of those in the Mysterious Realm.
Most Cultivators ended up assuming high government positions, possessing either very high status or a lack of motivation to risk their lives dealing with Bizarre Demons. For Bizarre Demons that were difficult to handle, simply listing them as forbidden zones would suffice.
Cultivators can only grow gradually through cultivation; very few of the death warriors survive each year. Even fewer survive for three years. In the future, they will still have to face Bizarre Demons. Even if they train continuously during this period, their Realm progression is extremely slow, making them hardly of significant use.
How could the death warriors of the Zhenyuan Office possibly deal with Bizarre Demons and their evil curses? I wonder what treasures this world holds...
This world had few Cultivators, a rarity that came with a benefit—the fewer people absorbing nature’s spiritual energy, the more abundant it became. It was unclear if the nature’s spiritual energy in other regions was even denser, but here it was already comparable to the Lingbao Sect. With such dense nature’s spiritual energy, it was easier for Heavenly Earth Elixirs and treasures to be born, making the resources relatively plentiful.
After dealing with the miscellaneous affairs, Jia Ren went straight to the treasure vault of the Zhenyuan Office.
"Division Head, what are you looking for? I can find it for you," the Steward said, his face full of obsequiousness. He was well-acquainted with the treasures here and could even cook the books afterwards.
The treasures taken by the Division Head would be recorded at his discretion. If he took little, the Steward would find a way to pin the crime on a thief. If he took a lot, they could only resort to a versatile excuse like ’lost to fire or water damage.’
"I’ll look for myself!"
There were two treasure vaults in the Zhenyuan Office. One was for ordinary Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, mainly to supply the expenses of the Zhenyuan Office and the accumulation of treasures over the years. The second vault contained evil objects from heretical cults and Bizarre Demons or evil spirits; these items were unpredictable in quality and often strange. In addition to the suppression Formations, the place was frequently patrolled.
The vault Jia Ren entered was filled with Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. As far as the eye could see, it was a dazzling display. There were both familiar Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, as well as some that were completely alien and beyond his recognition. The Lingbao Sect’s illustrated guide to Heavenly Materials, Earthly Treasures, and Spiritual Medicines was comprehensive. Though not exhaustive of all known Spiritual Medicines and treasures of the Mysterious Realm, covering ninety-nine percent should pose no problem. Yet, at a glance in the treasure vault of the Zhenyuan Office, he found that half of the Spiritual Medicines and materials were beyond his knowledge.
This is a specialty unique to this world, priceless! Let alone anything else, acting as a merchant traveling between two Cultivation Worlds and selling the unique Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of each world would lead to wealth pouring in.
No sooner had this idea sprung up than it was extinguished.
Jia Ren wasn’t short of Spirit Stones, and more would be coming in the future; money wasn’t much of a concern to him. Top-tier Heavenly Spirit Material, and perhaps even Mysterious Heavenly Spiritual Materials and Heavenly Earth Divine Medicines, were what he truly sought. This world was rich in resources and had few Cultivators, posing a low threat to him. It was quite possible that the treasures he wanted could all be found in this world.
By gathering treasures from both worlds, I could craft unique and unparalleled items.
"Is there a catalog of the warehouse’s treasures? It’s too troublesome to look for them like this! It would be more convenient to follow a list."
Finding them by following a list was just a pretense; the real purpose was to learn about unknown Spiritual Medicines and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Jia Ren wouldn’t neglect low-level Spiritual Medicines, as there might be one that matched perfectly with a certain Heavenly Earth Elixir, enhancing its effects. Some Spiritual Medicines might even mutate when encountering Bizarre Demons, transforming into Bizarre Objects. The space within the Heaven and Earth Mountain and Sea Pearl was ample, and he wasn’t averse to stocking up on seeds for Spiritual Medicines; being well-prepared meant having no worries.
Jia Ren took the catalog of treasures given by the Steward and secretly noted down the unknown treasures, most of which were Spiritual Medicines and Artifact Refining materials, with very few Magic Artifacts and Talismans.
After some inquiries, he roughly understood the full story. In the Daqian Kingdom, there was no private crafting of Magic Artifacts and Magical Treasures. Specialized crafting was done by the Bureau of Heavenly Artifacts in various locations, resulting mostly in standardized Artifacts and Treasures. Custom-made treasures were few, mostly special proofs like the Dao Talisman Jade Credential, which could not be operated by any Cultivator other than the owner. Such treasures were often prepared for certain official positions. Upon promotion to such positions, corresponding rewards would be granted. After the promotion, the treasure would be left behind for the successor.
What a hassle!
Jia Ren inwardly lamented that Daqian gave him a feeling of being hamstrung at every turn, with many things needing to be done by the book.
For Magic Artifacts and Magical Treasures to be entirely entrusted to others—who knew if there were hidden dangers?
He picked up a Magic Artifact and looked it over carefully before casually setting it down. The Refining Level was pitiable, at best entry-level.
Along the way, Jia Ren took any treasures he found useful and handy and placed them into his Storage Bag. The number of treasures on the shelves kept decreasing, and the Steward following behind sported a slightly darkened expression, contemplating the perfect way to cover it all up.
No Heavenly Earth Elixirs were found, and the only Spiritual Material encountered was a piece of Inkstone, not a recognized Spiritual Material. Wuhu City was only a county-level city. Although its area was more than ten times that of an ordinary county city, it was ultimately still a county-level city. There, the highest-ranking Cultivator was at the Golden Core Stage; it was too much to expect treasures like Heavenly Spirit Material or Mysterious Heavenly Spiritual Materials. That one piece of Spiritual Material, found due to the abundance of treasures here, was already more than expected.
Jia Ren emerged from the treasure vault. The Steward, looking at the shelves that were nearly half empty, let out a long sigh.
Upon reaching the area containing the Bizarre Demons and evil objects, he was met with disappointment. The majority were low-level ghosts and Yin Charms, with no sign of Bizarre Demons; he only found a few new types of Bizarre Objects.
"Every year, the county city must send the captured Bizarre Objects and Bizarre Demons to the prefecture city for suppression, to prevent them from escaping."
No wonder!
Jia Ren understood the reason. He no longer had much desire to stay here.
His condition had recovered, and the county-level Head of the Zhenyuan Division was too low a position for him.
I could choose a more appropriate identity at the Divinity Transformation or Lianxu Stage.
