From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 239 The Prefectural City: Ancient South City
"Yes."

Tuoba Hongyang gave a perfunctory reply, and his figure flashed, appearing in front of the candidate named "Zhao Fengyi".

The pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the peak of his cultivation suppressed Zhao Fengyi, and without allowing him to refuse, a hand was placed on his shoulder, and spiritual energy was used to probe his body.

The scene was silent, and all eyes were on the two of them.

Everyone was puzzled, not knowing what was going on.

A moment later, Tuoba Hongyang raised his hand: "You're eighteen years old, and you have a true spiritual root?"

"Yes...yes, Director."

Zhao Fengyi lowered his head deeply, his whole body trembling slightly as if he were extremely nervous.

"Surname, given name, place of origin, and family members."

Tuoba Hongyang asked very detailed questions.

"Reply, Your Excellency, my name is Zhao Fengyi. I live in Zhao Family Village, Puye County. My family consists of my grandparents, parents, and two and three younger brothers."

Zhao Fengyi answered in detail.

Suddenly, Tuoba Hongyang sprang up and struck Zhao Fengyi on the forehead with a palm. The force of this blow was just right, enough to shatter Zhao Fengyi's soul and instantly kill him.

"Ha, a mere demonic cultivator dares to dream of becoming a celestial official? Does he really think he can get away with it?"

Tuoba Hongyang looked at the Foundation Establishment Immortal Official in charge of maintaining order: "Someone, throw him far away."

He then summoned another Demon-Slaying Guard from the Demon-Slaying Division: "Go to Zhao Family Village in Puye County and investigate Zhao Fengyi's family."

In fact, Tuoba Hongyang was certain that his judgment was correct. This person had used demonic cultivation methods to alter his bone structure and disguise it as a "three-element true spiritual root". He also used certain methods to make his bone age able to deceive the examiners.

The reason for sending the Demon-Subduing Guards to investigate was simply to persuade the others.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"continue."

Nie Tingjun said calmly.

He did not doubt Tuoba Hongyang's judgment.

How could the head of the Demon Subduing Division not be able to distinguish a demonic cultivator?

The selection of celestial officials continues.

Soon it was Xu Yiqing's turn, and he passed the examiner's test without any doubt.

Of the 100 candidates, more than half have passed the background check, and Xu Yiqing's qualifications rank among the top five.

"Fellow Daoist, you have quite good aptitude."

A young man with a slightly immature face, wearing a robe that radiated light, spoke to Xu Yiqing.

"Forehead……"

Xu Yiqing looked at Fan Tianlin and said modestly, "Fellow Daoist is too kind. Compared to you, I am insignificant."

Fan Tianlin was the one who scouted ahead of Xu Yiqing. His dual-elemental earth spirit root aptitude and his cultivation level of the ninth level of Qi Refining at the age of sixteen made him the focus of all the candidates.

The name and family background of Fan Tianlin will spread throughout Yuanli County after today.

Just then, another candidate had an accident.

"Your registration information says you have three true spiritual roots?!"

The examiner still had one hand gripping the candidate's wrist, his face filled with disbelief.

The candidate had a youthful and inexperienced look on his face, and was clearly not very old.

His name is Yang Zhen, he is sixteen years old and comes from a poor peasant family.

"Yes."

Yang Zhen knew why the examiner was so surprised. He was nervous, but he pretended to be calm.

"This……"

The examiner was incredulous because what he detected was not a true spiritual root, but a dual-elemental earth spiritual root of metal and fire!
During the celestial official assessments, people often try to pass off inferior spiritual roots as superior ones, but no one ever falsely claims that an earth spiritual root is a true spiritual root.

He suspected he had made a mistake and asked another examiner to investigate.

However, the examiner's investigation yielded the same result: "This...why did you lie about your spiritual roots?"

Yang Zhen's answer was concise: "For safety."

As a rogue cultivator from a poor peasant background, he kept a low profile, having heard many stories about demonic cultivators and tribulation cultivators among the common people. He dared not boast of his genius-level cultivation talent, the Earth Spirit Root.

"..."

The examiner was speechless.

Indeed, if others were to learn of the Earth Spirit Root, it could very well bring about his death.

"Your Excellency, this man..."

The examiner did not reveal the findings in public, but instead whispered the results of his investigation to Nie Tingjun.

"Oh?"

Upon hearing that Yang Zhen possessed dual earth elemental roots, Nie Tingjun's eyes lit up. He sized Yang Zhen up and said loudly, "Since you've already come to participate in the selection of immortal officials, there's no need to worry about your safety. There are two people with earth elemental roots in this selection in Yuanli County!"

Earth elemental root?!

Upon learning that in addition to Fan Tianlin from the Fan family, another genius with an earth-elemental root had appeared, everyone looked at Yang Zhen in surprise.

Yang Zhen couldn't help but puff out his chest. Surrounded by so many Foundation Establishment Immortals, he felt a surge of pride and joy, filled with fantasies about the future. But he knew he was still weak and needed to keep a low profile.

At sixteen years old, his cultivation level was only at the second level of Qi Refining, a huge gap compared to Fan Tianlin's ninth level of Qi Refining.

His experience of being able to come to the county government office to participate in the selection of immortal officials felt like a dream.

He has not tested his spiritual roots.

He has never used a spirit stone to test his spiritual roots, nor has his spiritual roots been tested by any cultivator.

He knew that he could cultivate immortality purely because of his excellent aptitude for earth spiritual roots. Even if he didn't understand cultivation and just ate, drank, and slept, spiritual energy would still infuse his body and change his constitution.

When he was twelve years old, he woke up to find that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had automatically drawn into his body, opening up his dantian and setting him on the path of cultivation.

He was terrified at the time, being completely clueless.

Later, he guessed that he had become the legendary immortal. He did not tell anyone and continued to farm and work at home, working from sunrise to sunset, except that he would consciously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body at night.

Despite the sparse spiritual energy in the outside world and his complete lack of knowledge of cultivation techniques, he advanced from the first level of Qi Refining to the second level in four years. This is the Earth Spiritual Root.

He had secretly inquired about the deeds of immortals and determined that he possessed the aptitude of an earth-elemental root. This was not difficult, as earth-elemental roots have an extremely high affinity for dual-elemental spiritual energy, and he could sense the scattered dual-attribute spiritual energy in the space.

Not long ago, upon learning that the selection of immortal officials had begun, he finally told his family that he was an immortal and then registered with the information that he had "true spiritual roots".

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

All 100 candidates have been examined by the examiners.

Apart from that demonic cultivator and Yang Zhen, who lied about his earth spiritual root as a true spiritual root, there were no other surprises.

Afterwards, everyone waited quietly for the prefect to announce the list.

Nie Tingjun looked at the list of one hundred candidates and prepared to select twenty-two from them.

Fan Tianlin and Yang Zhen, these two geniuses with earth-elemental spiritual roots, will undoubtedly be chosen by the prefectural city. The remaining twenty will be the immortal officials of Yuanli County.

Some of them were undoubtedly granted the title of Celestial Official without any selection process, such as Xu Yiqing.

Some rankings require careful consideration and comparison, especially the last few.

Soon, Nie Tingjun selected more than a dozen people, leaving only four or five spots. All the selected immortal officials had three-element true spiritual roots; there were no four-element spiritual roots among them.

It should be noted that there are about forty people with the three types of true spiritual roots participating in the selection, while there are only twenty positions for celestial officials.

"Is this Ning Xuanyi a member of the Ning family, who has achieved Foundation Establishment in Kunxu Mountain?"

Nie Tingjun inquired.

"Yes."

Someone nearby responded.

The selection of celestial officials also requires consideration of one factor: family background.

There's a tacit rule in Zhennan Prefecture, though not explicitly written down, it's common knowledge. "Is this Gao Huifang a member of the Gao family?"

Nie Tingjun looked at Gao Chongshan, the forest supervisor beside him.

“Your Excellency, this person is from a branch of my clan that has been separated from us for a long time. He has no contact with the main branch of the Gao family and cannot be considered a member of my clan.”

Gao Chongshan knew the rules, so he made an excuse.

According to the rules for selecting celestial officials, a family can have a maximum of two celestial officials. Currently, the Gao family already has two celestial officials.

This rule is very important.

Without this rule, the strong would always become stronger, and powerful families would have more and more celestial officials, controlling more power and resources. This would crowd out other families, resulting in fewer celestial officials for other families and more for powerful families, creating a vicious cycle.

In a few years, Yuanli County will probably be occupied by two or three powerful families, and other families will only be able to survive by relying on the powerful families.

"It won't work if the surname is Gao."

Nie Tingjun was impartial and showed no leniency to Gao Chongshan, the forest supervisor.

After a long pause, he selected a list of twenty-two people: "Gentlemen, please take a look. Do you have any objections?"

The list of twenty-two people was shown to the assembled officials by Nie Tingjun.

This Yuanli County is not a place where Nie Tingjun can have his own say; he still has to respect the thoughts of the important figures present.

After the experts reviewed the case, someone suggested, "I think we can add one more person; this person has pretty good potential..."

Needless to say, the people recommended by these bigwigs must have some kind of close interest in them.

They may have business dealings with their own family, or they may come from an allied family of another family.

Nie Tingjun was already used to this situation.

He had to ensure relative fairness while also taking into account the thoughts and interests of many powerful figures.

He only selected twenty-two people, twenty of whom were celestial officials from Yuanli County. He could still add a few more spots.

These extra spots are precisely what we need to use now.

After some discussion, four more people were added to the list.

Nie Tingjun's voice boomed over the crowd: "Next, I will announce the provisional list of candidates for the Celestial Officials, a total of twenty-six people. Fan Tianlin, Yang Zhen..."

Those whose names were called were excited and overjoyed.

Those whose names weren't called felt lost and sad.

"After the selection of immortal officials in Zhennan Prefecture is completed, those who do not become immortal officials in the prefecture will be granted the title of immortal official in Yuanli County."

One month later, you will travel to Ancient South City to participate in the selection of celestial officials by the government. Except for Fan Tianlin and Yang Zhen, the others may abstain from the selection of celestial officials by the government.

Here I encourage you: having three types of true spiritual roots does not necessarily preclude you from becoming a celestial official in the government. I myself became a celestial official in the government based on my true spiritual root aptitude.”

Back then, Nie Tingjun was twenty years old, at the Foundation Establishment stage, with three true spiritual roots, and possessed unparalleled combat power among his peers.

Only in this way could he surpass everyone else and become a celestial official in the government office.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The selection of celestial officials in Yuanli County has come to an end here.

"Yiqing, well done!"

Xu Xiaoniu gave Xu Yiqing, who was walking towards him, a thumbs up.

From then on, the Xu family would have two celestial officials.

With Xu Yiqing's true spiritual root aptitude, advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm is a sure thing. Their Xu family's foundation goes far beyond just the Five Elements Stance Technique.

The "Meditation and Soul Refining Technique" can cultivate the power of the soul to the limit of Qi Refining. It also contains resources such as Spirit Branch Dew.

"Yiqing, go back and prepare well. You might just become a celestial official in the government office."

Xu Liyuan encouraged his son.

"A celestial official in the government office? I don't have that kind of ability."

Xu Yiqing did not feel that he was qualified to be selected by the government.

"In any case, do your best when you get to Gu Nan City and try not to leave any regrets. At the same time, you will also broaden your horizons. Neither your father nor I have ever left Yuanli County."

Xu Xiaoniu patted Xu Yiqing on the shoulder, not wanting to see him belittle himself like that.

"Ah."

Xu Yiqing nodded, filled with curiosity about the ancient southern city of Zhennan Prefecture.

"Let's go, let's try to improve our strength in this month."

After bidding farewell to Jiang Hao, the three members of the Xu family left the county government office.

The crowd that had come to participate in the selection of celestial officials dispersed.

Among them, the two who have attracted the most attention are Fan Tianlin from the Fan family and Yang Zhen.

Yang Zhen arrived in Yuanli City with his parents and elder brother in an oxcart. He had advanced to the second level of Qi Refining based on his aptitude, but he didn't even know the Lightness Technique.

When he arrived, no one paid any attention to him; everyone kept their distance.

Yang Zhen vaguely sensed that others were looking at her with disdain and mockery, but now the situation has changed.

A group of people surrounded him and started talking to him.

"Young friend Yang Zhen, where are you headed? Let me see you off."

“Fellow Daoist, my home is located on Lingyao Mountain next to Yuanli City. We are fortunate to meet today. Why don’t you come to my home as a guest?”

"Congratulations on being selected as a celestial official, young friend. This small gift is of little importance."

"..."

People were trying to strike up conversations, offering gifts, and inviting him to meals... Those seemingly aloof immortals in the eyes of mortals were now all crowding around Yang Zhen, actively trying to befriend and flatter him.

Jiang Hao was one of them.

The difference before and after made Yang Zhen feel quite smug.

His parents and elder brother, standing beside him, were even more dumbfounded. As mere mortals, they had no idea what a spiritual root was.

Although Yang Zhen is only at the second level of Qi Refining, his cultivation aptitude with the Earth Spirit Root is extremely rare.

Of the hundreds of millions of people in the entire Yuanli County, only two people with earth spirit roots are selected in this once-every-ten-year selection of immortal officials.

Once Yang Zhen goes to the government office, he will definitely advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm, at least to the late Foundation Establishment stage. There is also a high probability that he will become a Golden Core True Person!

In Yuanli County, these Foundation Establishment cultivators only need to pay a negligible price to befriend future Golden Core cultivators.

Making friends like this is very worthwhile.

This timely help is far better than any future additions to a brocade.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

To the northeast of Yuanli County, about ten thousand miles away, lies the capital of Zhennan Prefecture: Ancient Nancheng.

Zhennan Prefecture was one of the thirty-eight prefectures of the Qian Yuan Immortal Dynasty, and it contained fifty-four counties.

Long ago, the Qian Yuan Immortal Dynasty did not possess its current vast territory, and Zhennan Prefecture was not part of the Qian Yuan Immortal Dynasty's territory.

Throughout its long history, Zhennan Prefecture was the capital of several minor dynasties and had been known by various names such as "Sacred South City", "Nanling City", and "Ancient Sacred Capital".

It is now called "Ancient South City".

Its geographical location is extremely advantageous, situated in the highest-grade spiritual vein of Zhennan Prefecture: a third-order spiritual vein that stretches for hundreds of miles.

This third-order spiritual vein also has a large number of branch veins, with the branch veins ranging from second-order to first-order.

The third-tier spiritual vein of the ancient southern city is considered a dragon vein of the Qian Yuan Immortal Dynasty, symbolizing the dynasty's fortune!

Ancient South City covers a vast area, centered on a third-order spiritual vein, extending for 500 li in radius. It encompasses more than a dozen second-order spiritual veins and countless first-order spiritual veins.

The city has a population of over 100 million.

Due to its abundant spiritual energy, rich resources, and status as the power center of Zhennan Prefecture, Gu Nan City has no fewer than ten Golden Core families and countless Foundation Establishment families.

(End of this chapter)