One person said: The essence of Wuhou Qimen lies not in Qimen, but in Wuhou.

Zhuge Bai's voice held a hint of worry: "I'm afraid Dad will really try to take down my older brother later—after all, he's still no match for Dad! Do you think I should go up and help him?"

Zhuge Ming's eyebrows twitched.

Zhuge Qing said, "Don't always compare him to me"? It seems that her twin brother still has quite a bit of a grudge in his heart.

This is a new situation.

However, Zhuge Bai's second half of the sentence almost made him burst out laughing.

"Xiao Bai," Zhuge Ming's tone held a hint of sincere praise—though the praise seemed a little off-target, "you're truly a model of filial piety. But your second brother is warning you, with your mediocre skills, Father could easily slap you so hard you'd lose your bearings. I suggest you don't act rashly."

He paused, then his tone became solemn and businesslike again: "Alright, Second Brother has to get to work. Second Brother is going to go among the people."

He hung up the phone and casually put it in the drawer.

Then he leaned back in his chair, the smile on his lips not yet completely gone.

He imagined Zhuge Qing kneeling on the floor of the main room, Zhuge Gong holding a back scratcher, and then he imagined Zhuge Bai trembling as he clung to the crack in the door. His smile deepened.

But he only laughed for a few seconds.

He stopped smiling and picked up the document from the table—"Application Report on Holding Religious Activities (Luotian Grand Ritual) at the Tianshi Mansion on Longhu Mountain in Shangqing Town, Guixi City, Yingtan City, Jiangxi Province".

His slender fingers turned the cover, his gaze falling on the neat and orderly wording of the official documents, his expression gradually becoming serious and calm.

The Grand Ritual of Luo Tian is about to begin.

Things are about to get chaotic.

Quanxing, the Eight Extraordinary Skills, Longhu Mountain—all sorts of eccentric characters and complex forces converge on Jiangxi.

The land where he was about to take up his post was about to become a huge whirlpool.

The center of the storm is the very activity that was applied for in this report.

And it's not just Jiangxi.

The neighboring provinces, and even the entire world of supernatural beings, will be affected by this storm.

These are all uncertainties, and each of them could give rise to countless variables.

Suddenly, the scene in the capital flashed through Zhuge Ming's mind.

That was the day he received the transfer notice. In an inconspicuous office building in Beijing, an elderly leader with gray hair sat opposite him.

The office was simply furnished with a table, two chairs, a potted plant, and a calligraphy scroll on the wall that read an old saying: "Seek truth from facts."

The old leader looked at him with a gentle yet profound gaze, and his voice, though not loud, was like nails driven into his mind.

He hadn't forgotten a single word of those words.

"Comrade Zhuge Ming, you have been completely selfless to the organization and made tremendous contributions to the country. Your extraordinary status is worthy of your ancestor, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty. You are a pillar of the nation."

The old leader paused, picked up the enamel mug on the table, took a sip of tea, and looked at him through the rising steam.

"Considering your injuries, the organization has ordered you to rest for a while. But—I know you can't stay idle. Also, your so-called 'supernatural' circle needs some management."

The old leader put down his cup and tapped his finger lightly on the table.

"Here's a small task for you, consider it a training exercise. Integrate the world of supernatural beings—they are all citizens of China, all members of the nation, and cannot always operate outside the rule of law."

Then the old leader suddenly smiled, his smile carrying a knowing and insightful quality unique to someone who had been through it all.

"By the way, those Eight Extraordinary Skills, right? They're all intangible cultural heritage. We should protect what needs to be protected."

This sentence was said very lightly and casually, as if it were just something mentioned offhand.

But Zhuge Ming understood.

Intangible cultural heritage.

This shift in definition means that the perspective on the world of supernatural beings has changed from "uncontrollable security risks" to "cultural resources that need to be incorporated into the management system."

His task is to implement this transformation.

Zhuge Ming sighed, pulling his thoughts back from his memories.

He stared at the report in his hand, his brows furrowing slightly.

These are turbulent times.

The starting point of all the chain reactions is related to this Luo Tian Grand Ritual.

If he doesn't approve this report, the Longhushan event won't be able to take place, and will everything that follows just stop happening? Will the butterfly effect be nipped in the bud?

But he knew it was impossible.

The inner vision had given him the answer.

He had rehearsed it countless times in his inner vision—the way of Heaven is just, look up and see, who can escape Heaven's mercy?

What's meant to come will come, and it will come in a different form.

Blocking is not as good as dredging, and dredging is not as good as guiding.

Rather than letting these forces collide and explode in the shadows, it's better to let them happen right under his nose, and then at every crucial juncture—

Intervene at the appropriate time.

He called out in his mind, "Tongzi, come out and get to work. I have a question for you."

A crisp system notification sounded in his mind: "Ding! Host, please ask. Within the scope of this system's capabilities, I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

Zhuge Ming leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the table: "How strong am I now? After all, I'm now the youngest director-level cadre in China. I've been doing scientific research for so many years and haven't used any supernatural methods much. But I can feel that the Qi in my body is very abundant, and so is my life cultivation."

He paused, then stated his assessment: "Leaving aside the Wuhou Qimen, I feel I could do what the Heavenly Master Tiantong Daoren did—slap them all one by one."

The system's voice sounded again, still in that unhurried electronic tone: "Ding! Host, you feel good. Every promotion is a leap in life. Host's current strength is on par with the pinnacle of this realm—Zhang Zhiwei, the Heavenly Daoist."

Zhuge Ming nodded slightly.

The system continued, "Considering factors such as combat experience, the host may not be able to defeat the Old Celestial Master. However, when facing others, with his powerful life cultivation, he can take them down with a single slap, which is not an exaggeration."

Zhuge Ming's lips curled up slightly; just as he had thought.

This is the ceiling of a one-person world.

不过也就那样吧.

He silently recited three sentences in his heart, the most profound philosophy of life he had summarized over the past twenty-five years—

"I read so that I can talk to idiots calmly."

"And cultivation is so that idiots can talk to me calmly."

He picked up the pen, its tip hovering above the signature bar of the report, the ink shimmering slightly on the paper.

"I'm taking the civil service exam so that even idiots won't dare raise their voices at me, and will still have to call me calmly—"

He put pen to paper.

"--lead."

The three characters "Zhuge Ming" were neatly and clearly placed in the signature column, with clean and crisp strokes, without the slightest hesitation.

Approved.

He capped the pen, making a crisp, soft sound.

His slender fingers closed the report and placed it on the stack of "approved" documents next to him.

"Hopefully, this time the case in Jiangxi is handled by the government," he stood up, straightened his shirt cuffs, and said in a nonchalant tone, "we won't run into that many idiots."

He paused, and the curve of his lips reappeared, carrying a hint of sharpness that was almost imperceptible.

"Otherwise—I'll show him what the power of the people is, and that it is unstoppable."