fairy family

Chapter 89: Maoxuan County River Governance Inspection, Public Funds for Rest

Yu Que was the first to walk up to the high altar and greet the old man in black.

In addition to him, when he set off, the old man recited:

"Xie Qingjie, Luo Shanli, Lin Yu... Jia Sanjia! Where are they?"

"The students are here!"

Voices of response rang out from the front of the crowd.

The others also stood up under the envious gazes of the freshmen and followed Yu Que onto the altar.

They paid their respects to the old man in black one by one, who were the other nine people who ranked in the top ten in this year's county examination.

On the altar, the old man called everyone over, nodded, and bowed to the bronze tripod on the altar behind him:
"The student has arrived. Please ask the schoolmaster to grant him the position of a monk."

Hearing this, Yu Que and the others widened their eyes, wanting to see who Xue Zheng was and how he would appear. Some of them even glanced at the sky secretly.

However, after the old man finished speaking, the three thick incense sticks on the cauldron began to burn and intertwine, and soon a silhouette formed above the cauldron.

The man sat upright, appearing and disappearing, with a mysterious aura around him, because he was made up of incense. Yu Que and others standing in front of him could only see his pair of boots, which were official-style boots, not cloth shoes with patchwork soles.

This person's body is solid at the bottom and hollow at the top. Looking further up, his face is even more blurred with only a ball of golden air remaining.

But as Yu Que and the others were looking at them, they could clearly feel that the newcomer's gaze was like a knife, falling coldly on them, as if piercing their bodies.

After observing for ten breaths, the incense-like figure's gaze softened and he nodded:

"I am the head of the Seventh County School. You, the elite students, should each receive a scroll as a reward."

Hearing the incense shadow's self-introduction, Yu Que and others immediately understood that Xue Zheng had no time to come in person today. Now he guessed that he had used a spell, or sent a household god or a thought to come, intending to bestow the ordination on everyone from a distance.

Although the students were somewhat disappointed that they could not see the true body of the Seventh Scholar, the other party agreed to grant them the ordination. Once the ordination was completed, they would have both an official body and an official position, which would bring them many benefits!
In front of the benefits that were about to be obtained, even though there was only a shadow of a scholar in front of them, Yu Que and others still looked respectful, lowered their heads and did not dare to say a word, just obeying orders.

Buzz!
Suddenly, a trembling sound was heard.

At this moment, they raised their eyes slightly and found that in the hands of the figure on the tripod, a series of gray words appeared. Each line had four or five words at the shortest and seven or eight words at the longest.

These words are exactly the names of various talismanic positions, including:

There are exactly ten directions, with different shades of color, such as "the boy burning fire at the bottom of Mao Xuan's stove", "the herb collector at Mao Xuan Lao Mountain", "the river gas control inspector at Mao Xuan County", etc.

Among these names of talismanic positions, "Mao Xuan" refers to the Dharma position, which is actually the "ninth rank", rather than the eighth or seventh rank.

"Stove bottom" and "Laoshan" refer to the locations corresponding to the official positions, "burning fire" and "controlling air" refer to the powers corresponding to the official positions, and the last ones are the official titles, which vary.

The shadow of Xuezheng smiled, spread out his palms towards everyone and blew a breath.

Whoosh!

The words written in his hand suddenly flew out and landed in front of Yu Que and others, floating up and down.

The characters were intertwined with each other, forming the shape of talismans, waiting for them to accept them.

Among them, the one that fell in front of Yu Que was an eight-character talismanic position called "Mao Xuan County River Control Inspector". Just looking at the degree of popularity of this talismanic position, it was undoubtedly the best and most valuable of the ten talismanic positions.

"Students, why don't you quickly thank the schoolmaster?"

After being reminded by the old man in black clothes who was presiding over the ceremony, Yu Que and the others came to their senses and bowed to the shadow of the academician:

"Thank you for the teachings."

Xuezheng's shadow nodded again with satisfaction and whispered:
"Good. You all should practice well in this school, and I will leave now."

As soon as the words fell, the opponent's shadow shook like water waves, and suddenly collapsed and disappeared, turning into a wisp of green smoke and dissipating.

Yu Que and the others bent their bodies and waited until Xue Zheng left completely before they quickly reached out their hands to hold the talisman in front of them that was formed by the scent of incense. Almost everyone's face was moved.

Some of them stared at the talisman, their faces showing both joy and fear, and they were very cautious, as if they were afraid that a gust of wind would blow it away, and they were too nervous; others were stunned, and it was unclear whether their faces showed happiness or sorrow.

At this time, the old man in black clothes beside him said with a smile:

"Kids, why are you still standing there in a daze? Just take this energy and store it in your brain. This position will be your status from now on."

After being reminded by the other party, the students on the high altar began to inhale and exhale towards the official in charge.

Sure enough, their breath was exhaled onto the talisman, and gray air surged on it.

Once inhaled by them again, the "Luzhi" turned into grey air and penetrated into their nostrils, sending waves of coolness straight through their crowns.

Yu Que was one of them, and his movements were neither fast nor slow.

After the talisman turned into gray gas and entered his body, he quickly closed his eyes and used his spiritual sense to look inward. He soon discovered that the gas was indeed floating up and gathering in his brain, seeming to be there and not there.

But in a trance, he felt as if his soul was wearing a piece of clothes, his whole body became heavier, and his sense of security suddenly doubled.

Yu Que's spiritual consciousness touched the talisman in his mind, and a stream of information suddenly flowed out from it, making him see things in a daze.

It turns out that the talisman is not only a symbol of immortal identity, but Yu Que can also receive a portion of incense from the imperial court every day with the help of this talisman.

Having this talisman on you is like a blessing, protecting your soul from being harmed by evil spirits and keeping away inner demons.

Once Yu Que suffered a fatal disaster, his soul, with the official seal at his disposal, would be blessed by the incense of the imperial court and return to the county government office nearby, thus escaping the fate of being torn apart.

In addition, the talisman position also has the functions of clearing the mind, calming the spirit, and investigating the land. It can assist the immortals in meditation and practice, and in using their authority, and has many wonderful uses.

However, the effects of all the above spells seem to be far less than the effects that a household god can bring, they are just some effect.

The greatest function of this item is that it can bring incense to the immortals every day.

As for how much incense a person can bring to the immortals every day...it is not calculated by weight, nor by the same amount of paper money, but by the "number of digits".

Among them, a ninth-grade lower-level talismanic position means that at midnight every day, the immortals can choose a ninth-grade household god to be nourished by the incense of the country to enrich their souls and bodies and make up for the deficiencies.

For a middle-level ninth-rank official, one can choose three ninth-rank household gods.

There are nine ninth-grade supreme talismanic positions!

As for these household gods, there is no limit to how much soul power they have lost in the previous day and how much incense they need to consume... As long as the household gods are not injured beyond cure and still have a breath of life, the incense of the national dynasty will fill them with vigor and vitality and restore their strength.

The talismanic position that entered Yu Que's mind allowed him to choose three ninth-rank household gods at midnight every day to worship together. It was a medium-level talismanic position!
After learning this, he was excited and thought to himself, "The wonders of the talismanic position are really exciting! No wonder Master Huang insisted on keeping it a secret for me, allowing me to experience the benefits on my own."

With the official title of "Mao Xuan County River Control Inspector" in hand, Yu Que will be able to support three household gods in the future and he will no longer need to take care of their food and drink. Instead, the public will help support them.

This will be a great help to his future practice, spellcasting and other aspects!
At the same time, he also felt a deep gratitude towards Huang Guishan. Because after he got the title, he realized that the saying that "the title is the only one" was not false.

An immortal can only be granted one position at the same time.

That is to say, the talismanic positions that a ninth-rank immortal can obtain are either low-grade, medium-grade, or high-grade. It is absolutely impossible to have two low-grade positions, or a mix of one medium and one low-grade position, etc.

This resulted in the immortals being unable to grow one level at a time when using public incense to support their household gods, and could only jump from one to three, and then to nine.

Otherwise, the positions of the immortals would be confused, and the souls of the immortals might be destroyed on the spot due to the collision of multiple incense sticks from the imperial court.

This also made Yu Que sort out the thoughts in his mind, and he couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder the middle-level talisman position is so valuable, it is not comparable to the three lower-level talisman positions.

A high-ranking official position is even more rare and valuable, and it is rare to hear of anyone being able to earn it.

I wonder how happy I would be if I could get a high-level position..."

You should know that for immortals to nourish their spirits, nine is the maximum number.

Even the legendary Yuanshen Immortal Family can only raise nine household gods in the ancestral temple. Even if these nine household gods are only of the ninth rank, they cannot raise any more.

Unless the ancestral temple of a person is naturally unique, there may be extra space to accommodate ten, eleven or twelve household gods. But even so, once the number of household gods exceeds nine, it is easy to burden the souls of the immortals and cause indelible effects.

The nine household gods are the result of the blood and tears experience and lessons of the Taoist secret world over tens of thousands of years. You should only keep fewer of them, not more.

And the "superior talisman position" that Yu Que was chanting in his heart at this moment could support nine household gods in one breath.

In other words, those who are granted the highest-level official positions do not need to raise all the household gods in their bodies themselves, as the government will help with all of them.

The other party only needs to sit there every day, accept the profits from the household gods, and polish his own Yin God. The speed of cultivation is naturally incomparable to that of other immortals!

Moreover, Yu Que also heard about it from rumors.

Anyone who has been granted a high-level rank, unless he dies young, will have made a breakthrough to the next level.

This may be related to the fact that the immortals who can obtain the superior talisman are very promising in themselves, but it is also very likely that the superior talisman will be of great help, or even a guarantee, in breaking through to a higher realm!

In an instant, Yu Que realized the middle-level position in his mind, and began to covet more, hoping that it would be great if he could get a high-level position early one day.

suddenly.

Before the old man in black clothes urged the ten students to leave the altar, Yu Que frowned slightly, vaguely sensing an unfriendly gaze.

He quickly withdrew his attention and looked to the side.

Among the ten students present, nine had already accepted the certificates, leaving only the last one. He held the certificate with a changing expression, but did not take action.

When Yu Que looked over, the man did not look away. Instead, he looked at Yu Que coldly for a few seconds, and then, pinching his nose, he took the talisman in his hand.

"Who is this person?"

Yu Que looked at the man's face carefully, but found that he had no impression of him.

If I had to say that I had an impression, it was only that they had met a few times during the exams before. But during the exams, Yu Que had no personal or public grudges against him.

This made Yu Que suspicious, and he really didn't understand how he had offended the other party.

He secretly speculated: "This person is also among the ranks of the talisman students. Could it be that he knows that my talisman position is of the middle level and is too jealous of me?"

Yu Que became secretly alert.

But now everyone was still on the altar, so he couldn't do anything and just kept his guard down.

Then, when the new students who had been ordained woke up one by one, they were driven down from the altar like chickens and ducks by the old man in black.

Each of the ten people walked briskly and returned to their seats one by one under the envious eyes of the freshmen below.

After the students returned to their seats, the old man in black clothes no longer performed magic, but sat cross-legged on the high altar and explained the rules of practice in the county school to the new students one by one.

Yu Que suppressed his distracting thoughts and listened carefully for a few times. Only then did he realize that the teaching in the county school was very different from that in the clan middle school.

The county school was more like the university in his previous life, divided into major and minor subjects.

There are only three major subjects: law, economics, and Taoism, which are called the "Three Treasures of Immortality" and are compulsory.

There are many different minor subjects, and you can choose to take them or not, it’s all up to you, and they are all free anyway.

Among them were refining, drawing talismans, refining equipment, formations, spiritual plants, geomancy, rooms, spiritual weaving, spiritual kitchens, taming beasts, mechanisms, raising poisonous insects, as well as actors, music and all kinds of other arts... It could be said that there were all kinds of arts for cultivation, and the freshmen present were overwhelmed to remember them all at once.

This also made many people suddenly understand why the county school only enrolled more than a hundred students every year, but the number of teachers in the county school was over a hundred.

It turns out that most of these teachers only hold positions in the county school and teach minor subjects.

In addition, the old man said that the county school would hold "quarterly exams" every quarter, four exams a year, and a total of twelve exams in three years.

After every quarterly exam, students will earn something called "merit" for free based on their scores.

Merits are divided into grades, which act like a qualification threshold. Only those who possess the corresponding merits can spend money in the county school to exchange for corresponding methods, purchase corresponding magic tools, elixirs, talismans, and even talisman positions, etc. It has many uses.

If there is no merit, money is useless.

Rumor has it that the merits of the county school are directly connected to the Taoist Palace. Not only can they be used after graduation, but they will not be wasted after entering the Taoist Palace. Instead, they will be more useful.

After explaining the subjects and merits, the old man in black began to explain the uses of the major courtyards in the county school one by one.

At this moment, although the old man was still long-winded and boring in the eyes of many freshmen, they all pricked up their ears, listened carefully, and showed anticipation in their eyes from time to time.

Finally, when the old man closed his mouth, let out a long sigh and said no more, he faced the gazes of everyone, tremblingly stepped down from the high altar, bowed, and left calmly.

Today's opening ceremony has finally come to an end.

However, many students did not stand up randomly, but instead focused their eyes on the altar on the second floor.

Those five figures have been waiting since the opening of the altar until now, and are still meditating.

These five people are the five Dharma masters in charge of the freshmen this year. Each of them will select thirty freshmen present, recruit them under their command, lead them to open the temple, and teach them the practice of "Dharma".

In the next three years, this person will be the most important teacher for the freshmen.

Yu Que also looked up, his eyes jumping around the altar, examining each one, wondering which wizard he should serve under.

(End of this chapter)