Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

Two days later, at Chen Shi (7-9 AM).

A crowd had gathered in front of the notice wall outside the main hall of the Cloud Pattern Town Celestial Bureau, three or four layers deep, as if they were scrambling for New Year's goods.

The list of job reassignments following the quarterly exams has been posted.

This thing is more exciting and intriguing than the quarterly exams themselves. The competition is fierce, but once it's over, the rankings are just numbers. What truly determines what you eat and drink for the next six months, and how many people you manage, is the arrangement and appointment on this piece of paper.

In the past two days, not only the people from the Sky Patrol Bureau, but also everyone who participated in the assessment have been looking forward to this list.

Some people with connections had already pulled strings to try and secure a better position based on their ranking, since better positions are more lucrative, which resulted in this crowded scene.

Yi Yang didn't rush to grab a spot. He stood outside the crowd, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and waited until the group of young guards in front of him had finished looking and dispersed before slowly strolling over.

My gaze swept from top to bottom.

First place: Qin Ju – Deputy Chief Steward of the Yunlin County Astronomical Bureau, concurrently serving as the head of the Martial Law Hall and the Contribution Hall, awarded one thousand taels of silver and five sixth-grade pills.

Yi Yang's eyelids twitched as he pondered in his heart, "What does it mean to be a deputy chief steward plus two halls? Apart from those three Inner Qi Realm experts, Qin Ju alone controls most of the lifeline of the entire Yunlin County Patrol Division. Since the previous patrol chief steward of Yunlin County was removed, no one has been appointed to replace him. Therefore, this position is extremely powerful in the county."

The Martial Law Hall was in charge of discipline and rewards/punishments; the Contribution Hall was in charge of the distribution of elixirs and the calculation of war merits. With these two departments in one hand, it was as if the government acted as both judge and treasurer, rewarding those who obeyed and punishing those who disobeyed.

Wow, the higher-ups are really generous.

Second place goes to Wang Qiongyu, the chief steward of the Qingshan Town Sky Patrol Office, who was awarded 800 taels of silver and five sixth-grade pills.

Yi Yang's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

The position of town chief is the same as that of Fang Yue, his superior in Yunwen Town, who is at the fifth level of Qi and Blood.

The title of "Commander-in-Chief of the Fourfold Perfection of Qi and Blood" sounds impressive, but what is it really like?

Yi Yang had heard about Qingshan Town twice from Zhao Gang; it was remote, poor, and desolate.

Going there is like being nailed to a remote mountain valley and forced to grow old. No matter how much reward money is given, it can't outweigh the hardship of being far from the core of power. Year after year, connections are broken, and information is slowed down. By the time you want to be transferred back after three to five years, it's too late.

A dignified exile.

Deputy Director Chen Wuyai's move was truly brilliant, thoroughly disgusting the Wang family and making them work harder if they wanted to interfere in the affairs of the Sky Patrol Division again.

Third place: Tang Ji – Deputy Chief Administrator of the Yunlin County Astronomical Bureau, concurrently serving as the Head of the Military Equipment Hall, awarded 500 taels of silver and three sixth-grade pills.

Fourth place: Zhao Tong – Attendant of the Celestial Patrol, with a monthly salary comparable to that of the Deputy Chief Steward.

Yi Yang looked through them one by one. The allocation of the fifth to twelfth places was quite standard. The positions of town hall masters and alternate chief stewards were filled in according to seniority.

His fingers twitched inside his sleeve, and his gaze fell on the thirteenth line.

Yi Yang – Candidate Inspector General of the Yunlin County Astronomical Bureau.

Position: Owner of Qianyang Tower.

Yi Yang's eyelid twitched.

The title of alternate inspector general is not surprising; it is reasonable for someone ranked thirteenth to be given an alternate position.

But what the hell are those four words after that?

Qianyang Tower?

OP?

Yi Yang's mind raced for a moment, but he couldn't come up with a solution. He had already familiarized himself with the structure of the Sky Patrol Bureau while flipping through the files in the Archives: the Hall of Martial Law, the Hall of Contribution, the Hall of Military Equipment, the Hall of Defense, the Archives, and the branches in each town. He knew these structures by heart.

I've never heard of Qianyang Tower.

What exactly is this place for?

Yi Yang pulled his hand out of his sleeve, touched the short stubble sprouting on his chin, and walked back with a belly full of questions.

Before he could even step out of the yard, Zhao Gang darted in through the side gate.

The guy was so excited that his mouth stretched to his back teeth, and he almost bumped into the threshold when he ran over.

"Old man! Have you seen the list?"

Yi Yang hummed in agreement.

Zhao Gang rushed up to him and said in a low voice, "Qianyang Tower! Lord Chen has given you Qianyang Tower!"

Yi Yang looked at his face, which was as excited as if he had won the lottery, and curled his lips.

"Tell me first, what exactly is Qianyang Tower?"

Zhao Gang was stunned for a moment.

He then slapped his own thigh.

"I forgot, you spent so long going through the files in the archives. The things from Qianyang Tower are indeed not in the archives. They are the private accounts of the Sky Patrol Division."

He pulled Yi Yang to a secluded spot, looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, and then spoke in a low voice.

"Qianyang Tower, to put it bluntly, is the largest property of the Xuntian Division in Yunlin County."

"industry?"

"Yes, I'm in the business. Pills, weapons, medicinal herbs, exotic beast materials, cultivation manuals—I sell whatever makes money."

Zhao Gang rubbed his fingers together and made a "money" gesture.

"A large portion of the pills sold here are directly sourced from the alchemy hall of the Suining Prefecture's Heavenly Patrol Division. They are of legitimate origin, of high quality, and priced significantly lower than the market price outside. Just think about how many years the pill market in Yunlin County has been controlled by the three major families. Qianyang Tower is a weapon that the Heavenly Patrol Division uses to compete with them for business."

Yi Yang's fingers clenched silently twice inside his sleeve.

Zhao Gang continued, his voice filled with excitement, "Guess how much revenue this place generates? Just last month's accounts for pills alone exceeded three thousand taels of silver. Every month, the Heavenly Patrol Division takes a cut from this, then hands over a portion to Suining Prefecture, and the rest is all working money for the local Heavenly Patrol Division. The person in charge of this place has more silver in his hands than the Hall Master of the Contribution Hall."

He paused here, then leaned closer and stared at Yi Yang's face.

"Old man, do you know what this means?"

Yi Yang certainly knew.

He not only knew that, but he had already mentally counted the beads three times.

Qianyang Tower sells elixirs, which come from the alchemy hall of Suining Prefecture. The supply chain is internal to the Xuntian Division, and the prices are lower than those on the market.

Now that I'm in charge of this place, I can get the pills at the internal purchase price. I don't have to go to the contribution hall to deduct those pitiful contribution points, nor do I have to squat in the black market and scheme against the dealers like before.

As long as the money is right, there will be plenty of pills.

What Yiyang has in abundance is precisely silver.

After killing Tang Hao, Cao Tie, and Qian Jiu, and taking the silver looted from their corpses, plus the batch of pills Zhou Jiang sent, Yi Yang still had at least several hundred taels of cash on hand.

In addition, the position of the owner of Qianyang Tower comes with a salary and commission, so the income will only increase every month.

What does this equal?

It's like handing a granary key directly to someone who's starving.

Yi Yang's Yi Wood Health Cultivation Technique has a progress pool of 100,000 points. If he relies on the meager salary of the Xunzang Hall, that insignificant government office, to fill it up, he'll probably be filling it up until he dies.

But with the Qianyang Tower—

Silver is exchanged for pills, pills are used to progress, and progress is used to advance to higher realms.

The insurmountable barrier to the Inner Qi Realm, which was originally separated by countless mountains and rivers, has now been bridged to our doorstep.

Seeing that Yi Yang hadn't spoken for a while, Zhao Gang assumed he hadn't realized what was happening and patted him on the shoulder in a panic.

"Old man! Did you hear that? This is incredibly good news!"

Yi Yang finally raised his eyelids.

The old man's eyes were cloudy, revealing no emotion.

But the corner of her mouth still managed to curve into a slight smile as she said, "I heard you."

He patted Zhao Gang's hand on his shoulder, his voice still that hoarse, old tone.

"Alright, stop making a fuss. It's just a shopkeeper's job, not making me an emperor."

Zhao Gang was taken aback by his nonchalant attitude. He wanted to scold him but couldn't bring himself to do so. In the end, he could only shake his head and leave, muttering, "You old man are really good at pretending." He was happy for Yi Yang.

As Yi Yang watched Zhao Gang's retreating figure, he tucked his hands back into his sleeves and thought to himself.

A job watching over a shop?

Right.

However, what's displayed in this shop isn't firewood, rice, oil, or salt; it's his solitary path leading to the Inner Qi Realm.