Su Yang City, County Magistrate’s Office.
Beneath the "High-hanging Bright Mirror" plaque, Magistrate Fang was missing an arm, and Liu City God’s soul body was dim.
The two n, who had once disliked each other, had now beco brothers in misfortune.
Magistrate Fang ford a spell with his hand and tossed out a handful of translucent Primordial Pearls. The Primordial Pearls struck the "High-hanging Bright Mirror" plaque. The seemingly wooden plaque suddenly rippled like water, and the handful of Primordial Pearls sank into it along the waves.
This was, of course, no ordinary plaque, but a Human Dao Magical Artifact imbued with the aura of the Mountain and River Mirror.
Throughout the Great Zhou World, every "High-hanging Bright Mirror" plaque hung in a Governnt Office possessed this function, which was primarily used for transmitting ssages.
However, because Su Yang was just a small city, the "High-hanging Bright Mirror" in the Su Yang County Magistrate’s Office was a severely nerfed version.
Not only could it transmit a ssage only once every ten days, but each transmission also required it to consu a substantial amount of Primordial Pearls.
Fang Jintai no longer cared about his image. He caught his breath, his face pale, and waited for quite a while before shakily retrieving a ssage from the "High-hanging Bright Mirror" plaque.
The ssage projected down onto a blank sheet of Talisman Paper in his hand. After Fang Jintai finished reading it, he handed it to Liu City God.
"The County Mansion’s Demon Extermination Envoy, Duan Xinghun!"
Liu City God’s voice grew heavy, tinged with a hint of joy and emotion. "This man... I heard he broke through to Divinity Transformation at the beginning of the year. On the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List, he is ranked thirty-seventh among the Human Race!"
Fang Jintai also let out a sigh of relief. "The Dragon Maiden’s whereabouts are unknown, and we don’t know if she’s alive or dead. Su Yang City’s Earth Vein Primordial Qi is leaking severely, and the strange aura at the bottom of Bibo Lake remains. I am powerless to do anything more. We need soone like him to co."
He had just finished speaking when a Governnt Official reported from outside that most of the citizens who had already left the city were still determined to get far away, and only a small portion who truly couldn’t bear to part with their hos and businesses were willing to return.
Fang Jintai fell silent for a mont and looked at Liu City God.
Liu City God waved his hand dismissively. Fang Jintai scoffed and shot him a glare.
Then he turned back to the Governnt Official and said, "Send people to persuade them. Tell the citizens that the crisis in the city has now been resolved. The wilderness is not safe, so please ask everyone not to travel blindly at night. Even if they must leave, it would be best to wait until tomorrow, pack their belongings, and travel during the day."
The Governnt Official received the order but did not leave, a hesitant and troubled expression on his face.
Fang Jintai frowned. "What is it?"
The Governnt Official quickly replied, "Sir, the Pill Masters from the Demon Refining Platform also say they want to leave the city. We subordinates don’t dare to persuade them. You see..."
Fang Jintai: ...
’Damn it! Whoever wants this job as a Seventh Grade County Magistrate can have it! I quit!’
Of course, ’I quit!’ was just sothing he said in anger. As the paternal official of this region, holding the Official Seal, he couldn’t just run away from his duties.
Unlike Song Ciwan. She was just a minor odd-jobber, a nobody, so she was naturally free of such burdens and ties.
Especially after the matter with Aunt Zhou had co to a close, Song Ciwan suddenly felt an ultimate sense of relaxation wash over her Divine Soul.
The True Qi within her body beca lively and harmonious, as if it had undergone a unique refinent.
In this life, only after seeing suffering could one truly appreciate the value of peaceful tis. Only after understanding the daily grind of life could one fully grasp how poetry and distant lands could truly cleanse the soul.
’Why cultivate immortality?’
’What you’re cultivating is clearly the confidence to be untethered from the world!’
The various scriptures and esoteric anings of the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting flowed through Song Ciwan’s mind as the Insight Technique panel opened.
Song Ciwan:
Age: 15 (Lifespan: 63 years)
Main Cultivation thod: Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting (First Layer, Skilled 1968/10000)
Cultivation Realm: Refining Essence and Transforming Qi (Late-stage Qi Transformation 9999/10000)
She hadn’t even started cultivating yet. Just by walking ho, her experience with the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting had naturally shot up, climbing from the previous Skilled Level of 359 points all the way to 1968 points!
No wonder people often said that a mont of epiphany could lead to instant ascension to immortality.
On the path of cultivation, ninety-nine steps were taken through practice, but the crucial final step still required enlightennt.
As for her Cultivation Realm, the increase wasn’t as great this ti, only going from 9566 to 9999.
She was stuck at the peak of the Late Stage without breaking through, partly because she had been rushing back using an Escape Technique, and partly because the Spiritual Qi in Su Yang City had beco truly thin.
As Song Ciwan circulated her True Qi, she could feel that absorbing Spiritual Qi from the outside world was much more difficult than before. She understood then: during the cataclysm at Bibo Lake, the Dragon Maiden had opened the Earth Vein, and the Demon-slaying General, Tian Junhong, had seized the opportunity to steal a massive amount of Earth Vein Primordial Qi.
As a result, the very foundation of Su Yang City’s Earth Vein had been damaged. The thinning of the Spiritual Qi now was perhaps just the beginning.
’I wonder if it can be repaired in the future?’
As a light breeze brushed past, Song Ciwan wound through streets and alleys, and before long, she was back in Jishan Square.
Jishan Square, normally bustling and chaotic, was now exceptionally desolate and quiet. The roof beams of so houses had collapsed, the doors of others had fallen in. Various odds and ends were scattered across the street, and there were even pots, bowls, and pans smashed on the ground.
She didn’t know which family had dropped them. They must have been fleeing the disaster, unable to carry so many things.
Such is the impermanence of the mortal world. No one ever knows what they will face tomorrow, or even what they will face in the next mont.
Song Ciwan passed through two more streets and finally stopped in front of her own courtyard gate.
The courtyard gate was still fine, not collapsed. It had held up quite well. The courtyard itself was silent, with no sign of movent.
Song Ciwan took a gentle breath, undid the lock, and pushed open the courtyard gate.
With a CREAK, the gate suddenly swung backward.
Imdiately after, a gust of wind rushed from behind the gate, followed by a shrill goose honk: "HONK! HONK HONK HONK—"
Snow-white wings started flapping and a proud neck craned upward. The Big White Goose was so excited that even its call had changed, from its usual "GANK GANK" to "HONK HONK."
Song Ciwan had thought she should remain calm and composed, but the Big White Goose’s enthusiasm imdiately broke through her composure.
"Big White..." she said.
Before she could finish the sentence, the plump goose had already taken flight and charged into her arms.
Song Ciwan quickly caught the goose. Big White’s wings flapped wildly while its red-crowned head kept nudging into her embrace, its goose-face rubbing against her again and again. Song Ciwan couldn’t hold back any longer and let out a clear, crisp laugh.
She laughed. "Big White, haha! Your... your back feathers haven’t even grown back yet! Can you please stop squirming like that... Hahaha!"
The last ti the Big White Goose fought the Lianfei, it had lost quite a few feathers, leaving its back still patchy and not fully recovered.
It hadn’t paid any mind until Song Ciwan ntioned it, but now it was a huge deal. The Big White Goose imdiately stretched out its wings, craned its neck back, and tried to peck at the bald spots on its own back with its long beak.
What a temper! It was truly sothing else.
Song Ciwan quickly grabbed its flat beak and, with a SWISH, pulled a basket of soybean pulp from the Heaven and Earth Scale. The Big White Goose’s eyes imdiately went wide, and its beak stopped pecking.
"GANK!" It struggled with its wings, jumped down from Song Ciwan’s arms, and ran swiftly toward its beloved delicacy.
Seeing it eat with such relish, Song Ciwan went to one side and began to tidy up the courtyard.
Her courtyard gate hadn’t collapsed, but the kitchen had. The clothes-drying rack that had been set up in the courtyard had also collapsed.
There were also so other odds and ends, too nurous to ntion.
By the ti Song Ciwan finished tidying up, the Big White Goose had also eaten and drunk its fill. Song Ciwan didn’t feel like cooking today, so she took out so previously stored food from the Heaven and Earth Scale to eat.
It was the broken-rice congee she had previously obtained by trading egg-fried rice.
The congee wasn’t filling, and Song Ciwan hadn’t reached the stage of Fasting yet, so she also ate a Strengthening Pill.
After resting up, Song Ciwan played with the Big White Goose for a while. As night fell, she returned to her room to ditate and cultivate.
She regulated her True Qi and consolidated her gains.
This continued until the middle of the night. As soon as Midnight passed, Song Ciwan imdiately opened her eyes, summoned the Heaven and Earth Scale, and began the long-awaited first trade of the new day!
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